Something Remembered

Chapters

Chapter 1: An Adventure To Another Place
Chapter 2: I'm Home
Chapter 3: Getting Help
Chapter 4: Changelings, Changelings Everywhere
Chapter 5: Legends Reborn
Chapter 6: Long Time Coming

Chapter 1: An Adventure To Another Place

Fate had felt left out and unwanted all her life, and could only just barely remember the time before she was ten, though is seemed impossible that what she remember was real. While the people she knew were buying the latest Winter Industries gadgets, she was in his apartment that she could barely afford the rent for watchin My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, because that was all she remebered, but in greater detail than the show portrayed. Honestly, she would do just abot anything to get out of this feeling of not belonging if the opportunity came.

One gloomy summer day, though, it did.

Fate was walking back to her apartment. It was around noon, and she'd just been fired, again. It seemed to her that her life was just setback after setback after setback. She would lose the apartment by the end of the week, and she knew it. She felt something moist land on her head and realized it was about to start raining. She looked around to find she had somehow ended up in the park across the street from his apartment.

"Oh great," she said as the downpour began. She made a mad dash across the street for her house, lifting her arms to shield her eyes from the rain.

She didn't see the car that came speeding toward him.

For a second, Fate didn't feel anything, not even her own heartbeat. Then suddenly, the whole world went white and she felt immense pain, and felt like she was falling. All this together caused her to black out before she saw something that would've taken her breath away, as it was something she remembered from her fragmented memories.

Meanwhile in Solstice, North of The Crystal Empire...

Captain Flynn was sitting at one of the monitors in Solstice Radar Control when a blip appeared on the display. He though it was malfunctioning untilthe blip again appeared, same place as before...and again...and again. Now he knew something was up.

The display monitored unauthorized teleportations from Earth to Equus, which rarly ever happened, as they usually snch in using the Prince's lab on Earth. This wasn't a good thing, either way. He immediately began pressing specific buttons and turning specific nobs, as the radar imaging hadn't been focused in years.

Flynn soon got the image honed-in, and was superised to find it was an area just outside of Canterlot. He zoomed the image until he could clearly see the being that had teleported halfway across the galaxy.

Realizing who and what it was, due to it having hair, Flynn scrambled to get his headset on. "This is Captain Benjamin Flynn to Prince Winter, respond."

A few seconds of static passed before he recieved an answer. "This is Captain Stormcry of the Royal Honor Guard, what is it his highness need to see?"

"Code Blackbird, repeat, Code Blackbird," said Flynn, getting an immediate response.

"Understood," said Stormcry, "The Prince will be there momentarily."

~~~~~~

A few minutes later, I was in the Radar Control Room looking at the display, which was very blurry and distorted.

"May I," I asked Flynn, who nodded and moved from the console. I put the image onto the main screen of the Control Room and began focusing it in, and saw something miraculous when I did finally get it focused.

On the grassy plains before Canterlot lay a Changeling with Jet Black chitin, an actual mane and tail that were a sickening colour of green, and large wings. This was not Midnight Blue, as she was always on Equus. Code Blackbird was for another Changeling, much like Midnight Blue, but with the handicap of having to feed on emotions.

Queen Fate had finally come home.

Chapter 2: I'm Home

~~~~~~~~~~

I highly doubt anyone has heard of Queen Fate, so I'll give a brief history lesson. Queen Fate was originally a Drone serving Queen Chrysalis, who somehow became detached from the Hive Mind. She, unable to reconnect, created her own Hive Mind and began breeding. Her appearance slowly changed until she looked almost identical to Queen Chrysalis, except her fangs were longer, wings bigger, and her hair was more like that of Celestia than Chrysalis, flowing as if a breeze we passing through it. She eventually aided the Princesses in driving off Queen Chrysalis' invasion, and, as the history is written by the victor, made sure her actions were not recorded via an agreement with Celestia.

That still leaves us at how she got to Earth.

Queen Chrysalis pursued Fate relentlessly, slowly destroying her hordes until only Fate remained. Though it nearly killed her, Chrysalis managed to survive banishing Fate to Earth, nearly five hundred years ago. She was left in a limbo state until twenty years ago, when she finally appeared as a huan on Earth. The rest is history and this story, which we'll now get back to.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fate awoke to the feeling of soft grass beneath her and the smell of dew. She wondered what had happened when she realized it was well after dark. She scrunched her eyes to try and think. Okay, it had started to rain, she'd been runing across the road when...something...hit her? Yes, she had been hit by a car, so she was probably in a coma or asleep. Either way, she just needed to cause herself pain to wake up, and didn't like to pinch herself, so tried to get up before quickly falling back down.

Her entire body felt as if a car had run into it, which, coincidentally, had happened. How long ago, she could only suspect hours. She just lay there, looking helplessly up at the stars when she realized something. If she was on Earth, then why was the Milky Way Galaxy, which Earth was a part of, clearly visible in the sky above her?

She knew that she shouldn't be seeing what she was seeing, but at the same time, it felt like it was a sight she'd seen before. She thought long and hard until suddenly, without warning, what she thought was ten years of fragmented memories was piy back together into a few thousand years of memories that flooded over her, making her feel a million different things at once, overtaxing her brain in ways one cannot even imagine.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the rush stopped as the last fragment clicked into place. Fate remembered who she was, what she was, and what had happened to her...

...but it still hurt too much to move.

She decided to just recite to hersef information about herself, as she had forgotten it for the last twenty years, and still needed to recover a great many mental traits she knew she had before. "My name is Fate," Fate said to herself, "I am a Changeling Queen, formerly a drone of Queen Chysalis. I was severed from the hive for questioning an order given by Chrysalis, and sent to what they though was my doom. I adapted. I survived. I evolved. I became a Queen, built a horde of my own, and helped drive Chrysalis from Equestria many years ago. She retaliated, destroyed my horde and sent me to Earth. My name is..."

Fate lay there for the next few hours, reciting the exact same thing over and over until her throat and head hurt before she stopped. She knew she was tired, and hurt, and that the ponies had a hate for all of her kind, but the former two outweighted the latter, so she began calling for help.

~~~~~~~~~

Not to far away, on one of the outer walls of Canterlot, a guard who appeared to be a unicorn was eating a sandwich with his magic. He was an abnormally tall stallion, with a coat so white in shined in the sunlight and a gold mane that could do the exact same, and muscles that made even wrestler ponies look like toothpicks. He had a gold sun for a cutiemark.

Captain Elegance White was busy eating a daisy sandwich (which he really shouldn't have been doing, as he was Captain of the Watch, but would you argue with a guy who could actually buck you clear across Canterlot?). As soon as he finished, he heard a sound off in the distance, a short way from the wall calling for help. Against his better judgement, the took off his body armor and helmet and spread his large, magestic wings and took off. He used his horn to light the ground below him as he searched for the source of the cries, who he knew were coming from, as he had been their with his fellow guards as Fate had saved Canterlot, and his life.

He found the broken Changeling soon after her cries had stopped and looked over her. He could hear she was still calling, but that she was tired, and needed rest. Fortunately, being such an old pony, he knew of an abandoned barracks outside the outer wall, as he'd been stationed at it during Chrysalis' first failed invasion. He used his magic to lift the tied Changeling onto his back and began to carry her to the barracks, using his wings to hold on to her.

Fate was passing in and out of consiousness. Although she knew she was being carried, she couldn't figure out by who or what. She feared it might be Griffin, or a manticore, or Debra from her highschool class, but she realized all those assumptions, especially the last one, were utterly ridiculous, as Debra had died in a car accident shortly after graduation.

Elegance noticed that the Changeling on his back had begun to stir. "Stop moving, your highness, you're almost safe." She recognized his voice, and immediately did as he asked.

They reached the old stone barracks, which was in quite good condition due to enchantments and maintainence performed every few years. The door was unlocked, as Elegance actually lived in the old barracks, and he trotted right in. He went pver to a bed that he'd left for guests and gently lifted Fate of his back and onto the bed. He stayed with her for awhile before leaving. "I'll be back in the morning once my shift is over." He said.

Fate managed a weak nod, and fell into a deep, euphoric sleep soon after Elegance left.

Chapter 3: Getting Help

Fate slowly willed hrself from her dreams and back into the waking world. She had been dreaming of a land made entirely of cotton candy, and had been thoroughly enjoying herself all night without a care in the world. Now it was morning, so she had to leave the tasty land and return to the real world.

The first thing she felt was the pain throughout her entire body. It was less than the previous night, but was still unbelievably painful. In all the pain she was in, she couldn't help but start whimpering. She closed her eyes and began to cry softly, so as not to cause herself more pain.

She could now tell most, if not all, of the bones in her body were broken. It was really nothing short of a miracle she was alive. The car really had hit her, and that impact had caused her to release magic, which in turn ended up being a teleport spell, which in turn sent her here. Still, it was a rather long series of event, and was rather difficult to focus on through all the pain. At least she was in pain, which told her, despite breaking everything but her skull, that she might make a full recovery.

She felt something cool placed on her forehead and opened her eyes to see a familliar stallion standing over her, one that she remembered from the memories she'd regained the night before.

"Elegance, is...is that you," Fate asked in a whisper. Though the voice of most Changelings was hoarse, hers was soft and genlte, alot like Cadance's or Fluttershy's.

"It is, your highness," Elegance replied, "I'm superised you remember me. You've been gone for quite awhile."

"H..how long," Fate asked softly, "H..how l..l..long h..h..have I b..b..been g..g..gone?"

"More than five thousand years," Elegance said, "Celestia said you were in limbo until twenty years ago, when she couldn't detect you anymore."

"Oh," Fate said. She could vaguely remember the time in limbo, but not that well, as that's what she assumed caused her memories to fragment apart.

"But you're back now, and that's all that matters," Elegance said, dabbing the wet cloth on her head again, "You look like death."

"I f...feel like d...d...d..death," Fate said, "Got h..hit by a c..c..car."

"I take it that's a bad thing," Elegance said. It then dawned on Fate that Elegance had no idea what anything from Earth was, so she thought she'd do her best to explain.

"Yes," Fate said, "It's a m...m...miracle I'm n...n...not d..d..dead."

"Well, when you put it that way, I don't think I ever want to be on the wrong end of one of these 'cars' as you put it," Elegance said, "I might break it."

Fate chuckled a little at his comment. There was really no doubt that with his strength, it would be like hitting a rock with a toothpick, the car wouldn't stand a chance.

"I missed you," Elegance said as he continued dabbing the cloth on Fate's forehead.

Fate gave him a slight nod. "M..m..me too."

He would've hugged her, but he could tell she was in no condition to do any such thing. "So, what kind of damage did it do?"

"B..broken b..b..b..bones," Fate said, "All but m...m...my skull, b..b..roken."

"Every other bone besides your skull," Elegance asked, astonished she really was alive. She nodded. "Can you still feel?" She nodded again.

"Okay, I'll run to the hospital to see if the have anything that may help," Elegance said, "If not, I think I know a pony who might know something that could help. I'll be back soon."

Fate nodded and Elegance quickly made his way out the door. Thankfully, her horn was still in working order, and her restored memories taught her ho to use her magic. She used it to continue dabbing her forehead with the wet cloth.

After a few hours, Elegance returned with some medicatin and another, much younger pony, who she knew from having watched every episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic about a thousand times.

Princess Twilight Sparkle glanced nervously at the Changeling on the bed before her. Fate could sense this apprehension, so tried to ease it as best she could. At least her voice had returned to her, which made talking much easier.

"Twilight Sparkle," Fate said, "I've heard so very much about you, and I must say, I am a huge fan of your accomplishments."

Twilight looked at Fate for a second before responding. "Well, I, um, thank you. It's nice to know you appriciate the show."

Now it was Fate's turn to be shocked. "Wait, it's all real!? Every bit of it!? Queen Chrysalis really did try to overthrow Canterlot while I was gone!?"

"Yes, yes and yes," Twilight said, "Winter has his clients record big events here, then animate recreate them, but in two dimensions so people don't think we're really real."

"Hmm, clever of this Winter," Fate thought for a mpment before realizing something, "Does he own a company on Earth called Winter Industries?"

"Yes," answered Twilight, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious," Fate said, not wanting to bring up her short existence as a human any more than she needed to.

"Well, I;m glad you girls have had such a lovely chat," Elegance said, "But Fate's bones are going to fix themselves ant quicker by just standing around."

"Right," said Twiight as she went into her 'Professional Mage Mode', as I'd come to call it, "Okay, hold very still and I'll see what I can do."

Chapter 4: Changelings, Changelings Everywhere

Chapter 4: Changelings, Changeling Everywhere

Captain Flynn was once again at his monitor at Solstice Radar Control. The Prince had left on the train for Canterlot hours ago, so that left the city without much to do.

Suddenly, a blip appeared on the radar, whcih was focused on a wide-sweep angle of the Canterlot area. The scanner was curretnly set to detect Changelings, but not ones known to be non-hostile like Midnight Blue or Fate. The blip appeared again, but this time there were..two?

Captian Flynn watched as more and more blips appeared on the radar screen, all moving in one direction and only one. He put on his headset faster than he had the last time, almost breaking it it half. "Captain Flynn to any Royal Honor Guards, respond immediately! This is an emergency!"

"What seems to be the emergency," asked Captain Stormcry, who was on the train with Princess Luna and Prince Winter, "Whatever it is, be quick. We're pulling into Canterlot Station."

"Code Black, I say again, Code Black," exclaimed Flynn throught the headset.

"No," said Stormcry in dismay, "No, no, it..it can't be.."

"IT IS," screamed Flynn, "THE CHANGELING ARE MOVING ON CANTERLOT!"

"Calm down," Stormcry said after he himself calmed down, "How many?"

Flynn looked back to the radar screen to check, and what he saw horrified him.

"Flynn, how many," yelled Stormcry.

Flynn came out of his daze just long enough to tell Stormcry how many. "The entire screen's just one...big...blip."

~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours ago, in the Badlands...

Queen Chrysalis was busy thinking about how she would take Canterlot next time when one her free-minded drones burst in. "My Queen! My Queen! I have terrible but wonderful news!"

This actually piqued Chrysalis' curiosity, as the drones never brought her good news. "Spit it out, drone. I don't have all day to listen to you."

"My Queen," the drone began, "Our spies have spotted your rival, My Queen."

Chrysalis had not actually been paying much attention, but now was. "My rival? Which rival? Celestia? That Twilight Sparkle? ANSWER!

"Neither, My Queen," said the drone, causing Chrysalis to snort at the drone, "Yor rival, Queen Fate."

All emotion except those of hate drained from her face. "Where," she growled.

"Near Canterlot, My Queen," said the drone.

Chrysalis though for no more than a second before she responded. "PREPARE MY ARMIES! CANTERLOT WILL KNOW THE TRUE STRENGTH OF QUEEN CHRYSALIS! WE HAVE HIDDEN LONG ENOUGH!"

Present Time, Elegance's Barracks...

Twilight's spell had worked quite well, and almost all of Fate's bones were completely healed, though she had to be careful with a few of them.

"Thank you, Princess," Fate said with a bow, "I am forever in your debt."

"It's no big deal," said Twilight, "I do stuff like this all the time."

"Yes, you do," Twilight said, "But never for a stranger such as myself. I must admire your bravery in helping me, not knowing if I woulf or wouldn't replace you."

"I just had a feeling," Twilight said, "And besides, Elegance would've protected me, right?"

He nodded. "Fate my be my special somepony, but duty will always come first."

"Right! Wait, special somepony," said Twilight, now confused, "How do you two know each other? Becasue there's no way a regular unicorn could live five hundred years."

"I see you do your homework," Fate said before turing to Elegance, "I still am?"

"Always and forever," he said as he spread his wings.

Twilight was left in awe at the pony before her. He was an alicorn of legend who had helped save Equestria on many occasions, but had disappeared at around the same time...the same time that Queen Fate had.

"You..you're Flash of Gold, aren't you," exclaimed Twilight.

"Maybe once," Elegance said, "But now I'm just plain old Elegance White, Captain of the Canterlot Guard," he stopped to as Fate nuzzled him, "And madly in love with a Changeling Queen."

Twilight was about to say something when there was a lound explosion and sound of crumbling rock from outside. The three quickly galloped out to seen an army of Changelings, the likes of which had not beem seen since Fate's horde had been destroyed.

Queen Chrysalis was mounting her final assault on Canterlot in a do-or-die effort to kill every single one of her rivals.

This was it.

Do or die time.

Chapter 5: Legends Reborn

"Honor Guard! We must hold this city at all costs," I yelled to my my personal guard, "It's us or them!"

"We're with your, sir," said Captain Stormcry, as well as the ten elite guards under his command, "Glory or a glorious death!"

As I turned to face the gates of Canterlot, the Changelings broke through. I unsheathed the Sword of Solstice and gave my men the order.

"CHARGE!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at Elegance's barracks...

"Twilight! Get to the castle," yelled Fate as she scored a direct hit on a Changeling that had been coming at her, "GO!"

Without further hesitation, Twilight took to the skies and flew almost as fast as Rainbow Dash towards the castle. Thankful she had listened, Fate returned to the task at hand,

The whole of Canterlot was surrounded by thousands of Changelings, if not millions, it was hard to really tell, being in the middle of it all. She took down another one just before it managed to jump onto her. What was strange was when they died, they just turned into puffs of black smoke.

"Elegance," Fate called out, but to which she recieved no reply. "Elegance, where are you!" She once again recieved no reply, and feared the worst. Still, if she was next, she was going to take as many of these evil Changlings as she could with her.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is Prince Winter," yelled Celestia at one of her guards to overcome the noise of the fighting.

"I have no idea, your highness," replied the guard just seconds before he was overcome by the changlings. It took Celestia a second to realize that the oly thigs in the throne room were her and about thirty Changelings.

She fired off a magical sphere of pure energy that dispatched them, and took a moment to rest. The moment the changelings had attacked, about half of the Royal Guard had turned into Changelings, catching her and the real guards by superise.

Celestia lifted her head to see the room was once again filled with Changelings and an exact replica of herself that was charging a spell. But there was nothing Celestia could do. Despite the fact the she had nearly limitless magic reserves, her method of spell casting left her extremely drained. She closed her eyes, wait for obivion.

Suddenly, a bright light shone in from the enterance to the throne room. Celestia was luck she closed her eyes, or she would've been temporarily blinded like all the Changelings in the room. She heard the copy of herself release it's spell into a wall before she opened her eyes.

All that was in the room now was her and one other pony, an alicorn, but an alicorn of myth and legend who had disappeared nearly five hundred years ago, just after helping stop the last major Changeling invasion at her and Queen Fate's side.

"Get up," he said to her in an almost angelic voice, "Today, Queen Chrysalis will know what true defeat is."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Winter," Fate exclaimed as she reached the front gates of Canterlot, "Is that you?"

"Queen Fate," I exclaimed, "I was wondering when I run into you. Men, get Fate into the city! These Changelings want her dead as much as they want the Princesses dead!"

My men and I formed a perimiter around the Changeling Queen and quickly escorted her into Canterlot, keeping the Changelings at bay all the while.

"It was nice to see you again," said Fate as she blasted a Changeling with her magic, "Shame it isn't under better circumstances."

"Indeed," I said, "Hurry to the castle, though. I'm not sure how much longer my men and I can hold the gate!"

Fate nodded and began making her way to Canterlot Castle. She noticed most of the Royal Guards that were left were doing the same. She encountered a few badly injured ones, who looked in fear at her. She ignored this and placed them on her back, determined to make sure that as many as possible survived.

~~~~~~~~~~

I held the gate for a few more minutes, but since the Canterlot Guard was in full retreat, more Changelings committed to the gate, so I was forced to retreat, but did so slowly to buy the city more time.

Managed to cut their numbers in half by the time we reached the castle, but that still left thousands. The moment the heavy castle doors closed, I took amoment to rest and observe my surroundings.

The keep was filled the mares, non-guard stallions, colts and fillies of Canterlot. If those doors gave way, hundreds of ponies would die. I needed to think of something, and fast.

Suddenly, the idea struck me. "Everypony! These doors are strong, but they will not hold forever! Royal Guards, I want half of you to escort the civilian ponies to the basement and defend them, the rest are to remain here with my men in case that door gives way, understood!?"

Everypony in the throne room nodded. "Okay! Quickly, I don't know how long we have!"

~~~~~~~~~~

It took few minutes to clear the throne room, but all the ponies were safe in the basement area of the castle, th furthest point from any point of entry. The door was already starting to creak and bend with the weight of the Changelings pushing against it.

"Honor Guard, prepare to go to dragon form," I commanded. All my remaining guards nodded and readied their transformation spell.

"It's really that bad," asked Fate in a worried tone.

"I doubt even I'll be alive in an hour," I said honestly.

The door made a rather loud groan as the hinges partially came off. The next push would without a doubt bring down the door. I decided to give one last speeh.

"Though Canterlot may fall today, the rest of Equestria lives on," I said, "Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are not here, so Equestria will still live on in them. If this is where we must fall, then let us make sure that this stand is remember for ages to come!"

As I said the last word, the final push came, and the doors came crashing down, and I gave every pony and person in the room the order. "CHARGE! FOR CANTERLOT!"

The Changelings didn't even know what hit them as a flurry of pony, men any dragon came storming out of the keep, wiping out anything on it's path. It made it's way throught Canterlot, the dragonified Honor Guard lighting the streets full of changlings ablaze, but not even blackening the buildings or streets themselves. Soon, not a single Chageling remained in the city, save Midnight Blue, who was in the castle, and Fate, who ws fighting with me and the guards.

We stood at the entrance, distraught at the sight before us.

The Changelings had recieved reinforcements, and Queen Chryalis was among them, meaning this was the second of two waves of her forces. Canterlot could not withstand another assault like that.

Canterlot would fall...

Suddenly, the sun seemed the shine brighter for a moment, blinding the changelings and the ponies, dragons and men defending Canterlot. What stood before them when their vision cleared was something beyond words, almost.

A white alicorn clad in gold armor covering his individual feathers, body, neck, legs, and head stood before them. This was Flash of Gold, the greatest and most legendary of all Equestria's heros, and one lost to the passage of time, save for a few rare tomes in the Solstice Library.

Suddenly, Celestia, clad in her Royal Armor, landed right beside him, looking ready for a fight. Luna, too, came down and landed before us in her Nightmare Moon form, although the remains of Nightmare Moon were in Solstice, probably worried sick about her and me. And that's when she, too, landed in front of us, looking noticeably different from Luna. Me and Fate stepped forward to join them. Now, despite their numbers, the Changeling horde was badly outmatched...

...and they knew it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The battle lasted less than a minute, and ended with my sword quite firmly placed against Chrysalis' neck. She was very afraid. Fortunaltely, I was the only one there, as she had ran from the battle as soon as Fate and I stepped forward. While everypony else would have killed her on the spot, I was not so cruel.

Her eyes closed, I raised my sword...and sheathed it.

Chrysalis, confused as to why she wasn't yet dead, opened her eyes and stared at me.

"Why do you not kill me," Chrysalis asked, "They all would."

"I'm not any of them," I said, using my magic to get her on her hooves, "I'm reasonable."

"What do you imply, then," asked Chrysalis with genuine curiosity.

"Diplomacy, Queen Chrysalis," I replied calmly, "Diplomacy."

Chapter 6: Long Time Coming

"Members of the Council Of Equus," I said in a raised voice, "We are gathered here today to decide upon the status of the Changelings of the lands governed by this council. I know that the Changelings attacke this city only days ago, but that is because a meeting on this subject has not been held before."

Some ponies and griffins began to complain and yell profanities, but grew deathly quiet as Queen Fate and he guard, Elegance White, entered the council chamber, as it was now known he was the legendary Flash of Gold, and Fate was his future mate. They took their places between Celestia and me.

"Thank you both for coming," I said, "Where is Chrysalis?"

"Here," said a voice from the door. Everyone turned to see Queen Chrysalis standing in the door, "May I enter?"

"Oh, by all means," I said, "Find a seat and get comfortable, we may be here for quite awhile."

Chrysalis took a seat opposite Fate and Elegance, between me and Luna. "Now that we are all gathered here, we can begin."

"What is there to talk about," said a griffin ambassador, "Changelings are scum and deserve to be squashed like the love-sucking bugs they are."

"Even me," said a new voice.

Everybody again turned to see Midnight Blue standing in the doorway in her pony form.

"What're you so angry for? You're not a Changeling," said the griffin from before.

"Oh, really," Midnight said as she dropped her disguise, causing half the council to gasp.

"Did you know of this," yelled one of the ponies in the room.

"Yes," said Celestia, "All the Princesses knew."

This caused and unnerving silence in the council chamber, making even Chrysalis shift around.

"Oh, grow up," said Midnight as she took a seat beside Celestia, "I've given all of you spa treatments, or styled your hair. Didn't hear any complaints then, and don't say it's because you didn't know I was a Changeling. I'll also have you know that I'm not a lov-sucking beast, and do not eat emotion, but instead regular food."

This caused quite a lot of discussion in the room until I spoke up to explain. "Midnight Blue was born with a very rare condition. She was born of two drones, and this usually results in something like Midnight, an Alicorn crossed with a Changeling."

"Oh really," said one of the Zebra ambassador.

I sighed. This was going to be a long session.

~~~~~~~~~~

The council session was over less than an hour later, with the end decision being to recognize the Changelings as a major race and allow them seats on the Council of Equus. It wasn't that the other ambasadors were okay with it, but that they didn't want to argue with the hero that was.

"Thank you, Prince Winter," said Queen Chrysalis, "I cannot thank you enough."

"There isn't anything to thank me for," I said humbly, "I just decided to be the one to do somehing that should've been done centuries ago, that's all."

"Regardless, thank you," Chrysalis said before walking to the exit.

"Oh, and one other thing," I said.

"What would that be," Chrysalis said, turning around to face me.

"Call me Winter," I said with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fate and Elegance were in a meadow a short distance from Canterlot, just laying and taking in the colours around them. Enjoying the peace and quiet. Off in the distance, the sounds of construction could be heard, as the repairs to the damage done by the Changelings was already well underway.

"Well, that was one strange 'Welcome Home' party," said Fate, referring to the events of earlier that week, "I thought it would be more....well, not what is was."

"Only thing missing was party hats," Elegance replied, "And maybe some cake."

They both laughed for a good while after that little joke.

Elegance got to think for a moment, and Fate noticed his scrunched face. "Something on your mind?"

Elegance was caught off-guard. "Oh...uh...um...heh...well, maybe, just a little."

"Oh, spit it out already," Fate said, "You're too cute when you're flustered."

"Well, um," Elegance said, "I know you only just got back and all, but I was wondering if we should take our relationship to the, well, next level?"

Fate just stared at him.

"I mean, if not, then, I guess it's okay," Elegance managed before Fate put a hoof in his mouth.

"Elegance," she said, "I wanted you to say that before I left, and now I have my memories, there is no way I can say no," She smiled and gave him a hug, "I love you, and always have."

Elegance was once again caught off-guard, but quickly caught up with the situation. "I love you too, Fate. I love you, too."

"Love overcomes all obstacles, be it culture or race,

as love is a part of the magic of friendship."

-John Winter, Prince of Solstice