CADANCE POV

I rubbed my tired eyes and got out of bed. Another night in bed alone. I could not blame Shiny for not being able to stay with me all day and night. We are both ponies with jobs to do; me being a princess, with all the formal meetings and paperwork which came with being one, and Shining a captain of the guard always having to remain diligent in the case yet another force of evil comes to invade. I walked into my bathroom and started my lengthy process of getting all of the bed ugliness off my face. I was interrupted by a knock on my door. It was weird since no-one, not even the maids came to my bedchambers at this time in the morning. The knocking continued until I heard an annoyed sigh and an explosion sounded as my door came flying off its hinges in tiny pieces. I quickly ran back to the room to a shocking sight; Noire on the floor in chains as my aunts in full battle armour stood over him and a smug-looking Shining Armour to their side. Before I could even ask what was going on, a magical inhibitor was wrapped around my horn, and I was hugged by them. I could not even process what was going on as everything was just going on to fast.

"Oh, sweet niece, we are so happy thou art okay," said the blue one, Luna as she nuzzled me and held me even tighter. So, this is what Noire felt when he was hugged but times two "When we received Shining Armour's letter about this foul changeling, and we came as soon as we could".

Then the white one, Celestia held me tighter "We are lucky we got here before they corrupted you completely". I was completely lost then, which did not go unnoticed by Celestia "I see you are confused. You see this changeling was sent to corrupt you but before he could, Shining managed to realise and sent us a letter explaining the situation".

I looked over to Noire. He was bound in chains from head to toe and had a cloth over his mouth to prevent him from talking. However, something irked me. One; he was not resisting, merely laying on the floor with a deadpan look on his face he just heard a terrible pun. Two; Shining was looking at Noire even more smugly than before. Three (probably being the most suspicious one); He was still in his human form. I felt the pieces starting to slowly fit together. I could only sigh in frustration, gently pushing the concerned princesses away from me and walked over to Shining. He must have gotten the wrong idea from my advance since he started to lean in closer for a kiss. In a rage, I gritted my teeth and abruptly stopped him with a slap to the face. I heard the gasp from my aunts behind me as Shining turned back to me with a red hand-shaped mark on his cheek. He yelled "CADANCE! WHAT THE HELL?!!!"

Luna also joined on the shouting "WHAT HAS COME OVER THOU MIND!!! IS THAT SCOUNDREL STILL IN CONTROL?!" she exclaimed, turning to Noire with daggers in her eyes and her hands. She charged towards Noire with a fury until I stood in front of her, arms spread wide ready to defend him.

"Noire is not a changeling, aunty! He is human! Whatever Shining said in that letter is completely false" I said. Luna stood back slightly and Celestia came towards me in confusion.

"Then explain how he knew about the Royal Canterlot Wedding when he wasn't there at the time," Celestia said in her calm tone, removing the cloth from Noire's mouth. I knew she wanted to banish Noire to the hottest part of the sun for what he supposedly did but I couldn't allow a friend to be falsely accused and punished, even if he was of a questionable species. I turned to Noire who now blushed and turned away from me for a second before looking at me with an embarrassed face.

"I found it in that pink book on the floor when I got here," he said, blushing even harder. He motioned at the book on my desk, and I walked over to the pink book. I know this book. It is the one I write in every night before I go to bed or after something eventful happens like changeling attacks or humans falling from the sky (or the fourth wall as Pinkie calls it). He read my diary! I turned to him and blushed madly. My aunts and Shining looked at both our blushing faces and got the hint, except for Shining since he's a dunce.

"Did you read page 47?" I said quietly but at a volume where he could hear me.

"And 78. I didn't know you would've been into... that stuff" he said. The moment was consumed by an awkward silence before Celestia went to Noire and undid his chains and took off the magic inhibitor off me. When Noire had the chance to stand, he was greeted by a bowing Celestia. She apologised for her behaviour and attacking him.

"It looks like I have come to a big misunderstanding. I must apologise for my rude behaviour," This was a shock, you know, seeing as an immortal princess of the sun was bowing to a commoner who hasn't been here for a week yet.

NOIRE POV

It was certainly a shock to hear a princess bow to ME of all people but nevertheless, I accepted her apology and bowed as well. I forgot that the princess was roughly 6 foot 5, and I was a little too close, resulting in me banging my face into the back of her head. The shock caused her to rocket her head back in pain, crashing her head into my chin, causing me even more pain. We grabbed our faces in pain before laughing aloud. "Sorry about that. I did not take into consideration that your mighty height would hurt my face" I said chuckling. Celestia chuckled as well, still rubbing the back of her head.

"It is okay, Mr Noire. At least we know you are not a changeling. Since your pain hasn't resulted in you changing back" she said.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia, and just call me Noire. Mr. Noire is my father" I said jokingly.

"As long as you call me Celestia. All my friends do" she replied. We both shook hands, solidifying our new friendship. I was then shown another bowing princess, this time it was Luna.

"We must also apologise for attacking thou.”

"Thank you too, Luna. Wow, I never expected to have princesses as friends. What next? Is Cadance gonna start bowing to me?" I spoke. I turned to where Cadence was supposed to be only to find an empty space. I also found Shining gone as well. I could only assume they were having a little spat. "I hope those two can make up after this. I don't want a good marriage to be destroyed because of me" I whispered. A hand belonging to Celestia touched my shoulder, reassuring me and giving me hope that this 'power of love' Cadance mentioned in her diary can solve this.

CADANCE POV

I dragged Shining to an isolated room of the castle, locking the door behind me and soundproofing the room. "CHANGELINGS!!! BUCKING CHANGELINGS SHINING?!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!!" I exclaimed furiously. Shining only looked at me calmly, enduring the harsh onslaught of swearing and shouting. Before I could go off on another tangent, he closed in on me, grabbing and kissing me passionately. I wasn't having any of it though, pushing him away violently.

He only looked at her calmly and said "Cadance, can't you see what he is doing to us? He has only been here for a few days, and he is already tearing apart years of love. I thought that the princesses were going to get rid of him, but his magic has already infected them as well. He may not be a changeling, but he definitely is something dangerous and manipulative that needs to be contained or destroyed."

I felt my anger rise as my fists clenched and scowled at my husband, yelling once again "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO YOURSELF?!!! Noire has done NOTHING to harm our relationship. We both saw his scans; He has no magic, nothing. If you would look past your petty jealousy, you would realise what is right in front of you; a lost, lonely soul in need of compassion. I thought you were above this, but I guess it will take a few nights away from me to see how much of a fool you've been these past few days." I turned to walk out the door and before closing it, I whispered to myself "I hope you and Noire can actually become friends."

Slamming the door shut with an audible smack, Shining felt his own anger rise as he stood there helplessly watching as the love of his life left him to his thought and feelings. Angry thoughts and feelings. I hope you burn in Tartarus for what you have done, creature... he thought as his palms started to bleed with red, hot fury I hope you burn...

That idiot... what was he thinking? I thought as I walked through the empty hallways, sobbing with each step I took. When Shining was justifying his reasons for writing that letter, almost every fibre of my being wanted to strangle him. The rest of me, however, wanted to agree with him, to hug him and throw Noire out of the Empire- no, out of Equestria for good. That part of me thought if we did that, it would end the current issue we were facing. We would be able to rekindle the love we lost from lack of contact with each other. I still loved him, no doubt about that, but what he's been acting like made me wonder if our love life was about to crumble like one of those tragic love stories. Faust I really needed a break...

I went to my balcony. My secluded area where I could relax and watch the sights without any interruptions... is what it would've been if a rock didn't fall on my head and a voice didn't holler from above me. Looking up, I saw yet another shocking sight; Noire on the roof with a bag of chips looking out at the sunrise. He yelled, "Come up here, the view is great!". I was in shock at the sight. He just recovered from a stab wound and now he is climbing castles?! I flew up to the roof where Noire was hanging out and immediately started chewing him out for his actions. He only sat there, looking out into the horizon, smiling.

Once I noticed he was not listening, I was really upset but before I could go off again, he turned to me, still smiling as he did. "Should I really stay here with you?"

"..." That left me in a perplexed state. Was he... thinking of leaving? Was this to do with me and Shining's fight. I just continued to stare at him, not showing any kind of emotion as to not give him the wrong idea. He finally turned away from me and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not too sure either. However, when I saw how it hurt you were to see me tied up How it drove you to defend me from your own aunts when you could have easily let them do whatever they would've done to me and fixed the gap between you and Shining... it inspired me... inspired me to look after you should you ever be in trouble. Even if you may decide to kick me out."

I was still at a loss for words. Noire was willing to help me, a hopeless princess of love that could not even solve her own love problem, even if today results in me throwing him out. I started letting loose a couple of tears before becoming a steady stream. I quickly embraced him in my bone-crushing hug. He did not retreat from it though, only hugging me back, chuckling and sighing as he petered out a few words "Joining the guard may not be a good idea though. I have just gotten this leg fixed. Would not want Shining breaking anything important".

I chuckled as well, loosening my grip on him so he could catch a few breaths "Maybe being my assistant would be appropriate. You did tell me you got high grades in school".

"Perhaps to be a professional note-taker. Don’t count on me too much for that professional stuff," he said, nodding his head slightly. We let go of each other and looked out at the bright sun, gracing the sky, marking a new day for pony and mankind.

??? POV

My plans were coming along quite nicely. Not only has 'Noire' befriended the princess completely but has also gained allies with Princess Celestia and Luna. This new guinea pig proved to me that he would be quite useful in my future endeavours...

Author's Note

Oh my God... The amount of times I almost tripped up on a tense makes me quit being a writer and work at a McDonalds but I finally finished the chapter and just in time for me to focus on preparing for college.

Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Was it as saucy as you thought it would be? Post your thoughts and opinions in the comment section (Please... I can't keep pretending to be good at this stuff. Honest to Faust, I'm struggling with this whole 'being a writer on a fanfiction website' thing)

Next chapter will be a short that will make me feel like scum and make you hate Shining Armour as I do. It will kind of be important to the story but you may be able to realise what is going on without it and it will make sure you guys know I'm not dying or anything. I want to actually finish this story, unlike so many others.

...Damn shame...

25/09/18- Edited for grammar and pacing.