As Shining sat in the room Cadence and Sombra had given him, he lay on the bed, still in shock. He had hidden it well, he was the former royal guard captain, after all, but once he had gotten to his room, he , well, I refer to his crying in slice of life. Yeah.

If it had just been his sister being Sombra's daughter, he could have handled it, but the fact that Cadence, the one love of his life, was, not only Sombra's wife, but Twilight's mother, and it was Celestia, the princess he had followed for just about his entire career, that had caused it. Needless to say, his entire world view had been flipped, turned, and nuked all in the span of an hour. Can you blame him for crying.

He hadn't left his room since the day before, not even to eat.

He heard a knock on the door. "Shining, open up," he heard Chrysalis say. She had been outside his room for the length of time he'd been in it. "And stop acting like a baby, would you? It's pathetic and unbecoming of a guard."

"Did you miss the past day, Queen Chrysalis," he said. "I just just my wife, who turned out to be my little sister's mom, and she isn't even my little sister. The only reason I'm here in the palace is because I don't have any money to get a place of my own. I don't even have a job."

"Which is why I wanted to offer you one," Chrysalis deadpanned.

"What," Shining said through his crying.

"Yes, you heard me. I have an opening for guard, and I want it to be you."

"Chrysalis, I-"

Before he could say more, the changeling queen decided to bust his door off the hinges. "Just shut up and listen," she said. "Even if your life was just destroyed, I can say with certainty that Cadence and Twilight still care for you, and even Sombra is grateful to you for looking over them, even without knowing the truth."

"What does that have to do with you being here?" Shining asked, looking at her. "They could have come and told me themselves."

"Because I wanted to in person," Chrysalis said, looking away.

"And why's that?" Shining asked before he got a face, and lip, full of the changeling queen, who instantly backed away.

"Sorry, sorry sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have done that."

Shining looked away, a small blush on his face, as well as Chrysalis'. "Why?" he asked.

"Because, ever since Canterlot, I always was attracted to your honor, your skill and your personality," Chrysalis said. "My memories being returned simply gave me the courage to say so."

"Chrysalis, I'm certain there are other changelings-"

"No, there aren't," Chrysalis said sadly. "You see, most changelings, including those in my military, are female, and even if I was interested in mares, I can not reproduce with one of them, and the few males are all stupid, young, or something else that just doesn't make them good mates."

"Like what?"

"Thinking that if they mated with me, that means I actually love them, as even some changelings don't know how our biology works. Males, for the most part, but there are some females that are like that as well," Chrysalis said, sitting down on the bed, a sad look on her face. "Sometimes, I just wish the racism between ponies and changelings didn't exist entirely."

"You do realize most ponies have accepted the changelings, right?" Shining asked.

"And how many of them simply because of their princesses?"

"Okay, you have a fair point," Shining said before looking away. "I was actually one of those ponies before I got to know more about you."

"Don't you mean changelings in general?"

"No, I don't," Shining said as he put an arm around the changeling queen. "I mean you."

Her face immediately lit up, and she looked away. "Shining, I'm flattered, but I didn't think I'd be the one to change your views, given what happened seven years ago."

"As cruel as this sounds," Shining said, "does it really matter what happened then, given the current circumstances."

Chrysalis laughed, a pleasant sound, almost like a calm stream, at this. "No, I suppose not." She waited a second, then said, "I'm a little surprised you didn't try to go with Celestia when she escaped."

"I was tempted, but I wanted to look after Twilight and make sure she was okay," Shining said. He sighed and added, "Probably a good thing I didn't, huh?"

"Yes, I guess it is," Chrysalis said.

A minute of silence passed before Shining spoke. "Chrysalis, look at me," he said.

"What," she said, turning to face him, curiosity in her features, before her eyes widened in surprise upon feeling his lips upon hers. She pushed him away. "Shining, why? I didn't think-"

"Because you were the one who actually made sure I was alright, even when you could have only made it worse," Shining said. "Besides, out of everything that threatened Equestria, you are the only one who was doing it for a good reason, and it was to save your people. And I guess I'm willing to give you a chance."

"Really," Chrysalis asked.

"Yeah, I am," Shining said as one of the palace servants came by.

"Queen Chrysalis, Shining Armor, their Highnesses invite the both of you to dinner."

"Then let's go," Shining said, taking Chrysalis' hand in his. "Together."

"Together," Chrysalis repeated, looking at Shining with the first, truly genuine smile on her face in years as the two walke dout of the room, and made their way to the dinner hall. Next Chapter: Dinner Estimated time remaining: 33 Minutes