"So, where are you two off to next?" Twilight Velvet sipped away the last of her tea.

Cadance almost froze where she stood, she was being given quite the serious look from her mother-in-law. "We are headed to Ponyville." The change in Twilight let Cadance know that she had hit the mark correctly. "A friend is taking care of things in the Crystal Empire for us. I thought it very important that we be open with our family."

Twilight Velvet gave her daughter-in-law the biggest smile she had. "This wasn't his idea, I take it?"

Giggling, Cadance shook her head. "He would have come here eventually, but I am sure you know him, being his mother. Poor dear has not been taking it too well, although him bringing up eggs himself is a major step forward." She lifted up her own cup, sipping down the last of the soothing tea. "Any messages you want delivered to Twilight Sparkle?"

"Tell her I am very proud of her." Twilight smiled widely. "If you want to get there before midday, you are going to need to catch the next train."

"Thank you." Cadance had no more words she could say to the mare. "Shiny." She got up and looked around, finding her husband missing. "Where would he have gone?"

"Night just rebuilt our basement, I bet they are all down there." Twilight made her way to some stairs and called down, "Changelings and gentlecolts, please, we require your attention."

The clank of Shining's armor echoed as he came up the stairs. "Mom, have you seen what dad built?" Excitement was clear in his voice and features. "It is amazing down there!"

"His stallion-cave, yes. I am not allowed down there." Twilight Velvet wore a long-suffering smile. "But it is time for you and my daughter here to go. You have a train ride ahead of you."

Cadance's ears snapped forward and she felt a bloom of love in her heart at the mention of "daughter" and not "daughter-in-law." Cadance walked toward Shining, leaning in for a chaste kiss. "Come on, your sister is next on the list."

"Twily?" Shining brightened, he loved visiting his "LSBFF." "We are going to visit Twily next? Come on!"

"Ahem." Cadance grabbed her husband's head in her blue magic and turned him to face Twilight Velvet. "You need to say goodbye first."

Shining realized he had made a big mistake and blushed. Clomping hooves carried him to his mother; he leaned down to kiss his dam on the cheek. "Thank you, mom." He held his cheek against hers for a few moments. "I love you."

"I love you too, my little colt." Twilight Velvet closed her eyes and focused on her son. She knew something, he wouldn't pull away first. "Okay, your father now." Twilight gave a giggle and drew back. She looked at the two changelings that guarded him, at his wife, and marveled at how well the stallion wrapped himself in ponies who cared about him. "You two." While Night and Shining said their goodbyes, Twilight approached the two changelings.

"Yes Ma'am?" Gilt stood as tall as her changeling body would let her.

"Keep him safe, and Cadance too." Twilight's eyes focused on the changeling's blue ones, she wasn't sure at first if her "motherly stare" would work, but she saw a wing twitch, then the changeling's tail lowered. "If I find out you let him get hurt I will have to pay you a visit."

Gilt had received calmer, less scary looks from Queen Chrysalis. She gave a nervous nod. "I will guard them as my queens!" She saluted quickly. It was the absolute truth.

"Good girl." Twilight reached up and kissed the changeling on the cheek.

"Are we all ready?" Shining strode back from his brief but heartfelt farewell with his father. "If we get there early we could catch the train back-"

"No, we are spending the night." Cadance led the way to the door, but had Bright insinuate herself between between her and the door. "Really? This is Canterlot, there are a total of two changelings here, neither likely even knows we are here."

"There is two that I know about." Bright's eyes changed along with the rest of her. "Gilt made the promise, but she is my hive-sister, I must honor it too." Looking like the big strong stallion he had been when he first arrived, Bright opened the door and stepped out. His eyes flicked about, studying every place a changeling could hide; none were close enough that he couldn't intercept. "It's safe."

Cadance rolled her eyes and stepped out into the noonday sun. "Oh Celestia it is a lovely day." She pranced along after Bright, halting just behind her guard. "Is it all clear?"

"For now…" Bright kept a dutiful lookout lest an army of changelings leap out from behind one of Twilight Velvet's flowerpots.

"Bright, take it easy, let's just go to the station. You will be staying here to continue your mission." Shining watched the changeling—now a unicorn stallion—stand up straight as a die at the reminder they had a mission. "When this game is no longer needed, I will send a message for you to come back to the Crystal Empire. Now, take us out."

His heart beating with pride, Bright Flash started marching forward, he at least knew the way to the station.

"I give up, we try disguises later." Shining spared a weary smile to Gilt. "Totally not your fault, this might just take some work." He felt a little drained, but with the unending torrent his reserves of magic—or love as it was now—he possessed, he was not really anywhere near "low."

"Of course, my Queen." Gilt felt a little annoyed, but wouldn't let it show. "We are nearly there?" She hadn't been to Ponyville before, such was typically off-limits to changelings.

"We will start slowing any-" Shining cut off, grinning as the train gave a jolt, the mighty engine pressing back on the cars. "Second now. I have to warn you, Gilt, Twily can be," Shining paused to think of how to put it, "full on. We have to tell her what I am becoming, and what you are. She is probably going to be a little worried first, then she will settle down and probably want to study both of us."

"She," Gilt licked her lips, "she is the bearer of the Element of Magic! She could fry me where I stand." A heavy foreleg landed atop her shoulders. "My Queen?"

"She is my little sister, just relax. This is literally the safest town in all Equestria." Shining walked for the end of the carriage, offering Cadance a hoof up as he passed. "I bet Twily will be so surprised!"

Trotting up to the library in the middle of town, Shining leaned across to Cadance. "I wonder how she will react when we-" The moment Shining's hoof came down on his next step a magenta wall of force suddenly flew up and into place. A siren started to blast and, a moment later, a surprised unicorn shot out of the front door of the tree-house.

"Ah ha! I have caught-" Twilight stopped and blinked at her brother and sister-in-law. "BBBFF?"

"Could you… drop the shield? What happened?" Shining lifted a hoof and gently pressed against the barrier. A small spark jumped from the field and jolted the stallion. "Hey, what is this, somepony could get hurt."

"It must be malfunctioning." Twilight trailed off, her own magic flaring and tearing down the shield. Shining Armor was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug that he couldn't stop himself returning. "Shining." The name spoke volumes for the mare's love for her brother. "Are you a changeling?"

Shining froze dead. "I… I can explain!" He let go of his sister. "Uh, can we do it inside?"

"Twilight, you can use a spell that detects changelings?" Cadance was intrigued more than surprised. "How does it work?" She tilted her eyes toward Shining.

"Oh, well, not a spell, but an artifact. Here, I'll show you!" Twilight turned, her distrust suddenly layered under by the delight of being asked to explain something magical. "You see, I used a little of the magic Chrysalis left behind when she fled. It flares when it detects a changeling nearby. I hooked that up to a shield barrier and…" Twilight hadn't realized she was inside the house now, and that one or all of her visitors were changelings.

"Twily!" Shining reached out both his hooves to try to get Twilight's attention, but it was Cadance who suddenly stole all of it.

"Sunshine, sunshine…" Both Twilight and Cadance fell into the special song. "Do a little shake!"

"Cadance!" Twilight shot into the alicorn's tight hug. "What is going on, is that really my brother?" She peeked out around the pink forelegs hugging her.

Panic had risen a little too far for Gilt. Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn who had not only cut a swathe of destruction through their best fighters during the invasion, but had allowed herself to get captured to trick Queen Chrysalis into letting her free Queen Cadance, stood before her. Worse, she had a way to detect changelings. "I am sorry!" She let her disguise drop and she fell to her belly, covering her snout with a hoof. "It was me, I didn't mean to, I am just trying to protect my queens!"

Everypony froze at the distraught changeling. "Wait, your guard was the changeling?" Twilight looked between the trembling and crying "enemy" and Cadance. "What is going on?"

"She isn't the only one." Shining lifted his helmet off, revealing the long, jagged horn. "It was Chrysalis, she did something to me, Twily." He started to strip his armor, the green glow of his magic quite obviously changeling in nature. "Can you help me?" Shining revealed his forelegs first, the large, gaping holes. It also revealed that the fur was falling out, replaced up to his fetlocks with black chitin.

"BBBF… F?" Twilight looked at her brother, or what she now realized really was her brother. She closed her eyes, reached inside. "Rainbow Dash, thank you." She opened her eyes again and jumped forward, hugging Shining tight.

"Twily." Shining hugged his little sister tight. "I wanted to tell you a little more," he fished for a word, "calmly."

Cadance, meanwhile, attended to their guard. "Gilt, you are safe. Twilight isn't going to blast you. Please get up." Not able to rouse the changeling from her terror, Cadance decided on the next best way. She marched up to Shining and Twilight. "Excuse me, Twilight." She gave her sister-in-law a half grin and put a wing around Shining's withers, pulling him into a kiss.

"Cady-" Shining's protest was cut off and all the energy he had burned on the train poured back into him. He pushed back, feeling power and warmth saturate his body. Just as he pushed to take the lead on the kiss, Cadance pulled back, sticking out her tongue.

"There, how is Gilt?" Cadance turned and saw the changeling had passed out cold. "Too much…"

"It's a real changeling?" Twilight pointed her hoof at Gilt.

"She, Twily. Gilt is a very different changeling now." Shining half-leaned against his sister. "Come on, let's see if we can wake her up." He walked over to where Gilt lay, the 'ling wearing a silly grin as she sucked on a hoof. "Gilt? Gilt!"

Twilight was stuck in a continual state of surprise. Her brother and sister-in-law were not only acting very strange, they seemed to know this changeling. "But-"

"Ugh, what happened?" Gilt wobbled in the green glow that was supporting her. Her brain immediately told her it was the magic of one of her queens. "Shining Armor?"

"Gilt, please relax." Shining took a deep breath. "This is my little sister, Twily." He deliberately kept Twilight's full name out of his words, then paused and wondered when he got that sneaky.

"Twily?" Gilt blinked her eyes and looked up. "The Destroyer!"

Twilight realized suddenly that the changeling was a lot more afraid of her than she was of it. "No, please, I won't hurt you." She looked to her brother and saw him nodding. "I… I am sorry if I scared you. I promise I won't hurt you." A black head with vivid blue eyes looked up at her.

"You promise?" Gilt saw surprise and something she never expected "The Destroyer" to show, friendship.

"I do!" Twilight smiled, finding the wariness of the changeling a little endearing. "Any friend of my brother's is a friend of mine." Suddenly wrapped in black limbs, Twilight had an overly relieved changeling hugging her. Then the unicorn spotted the changeling's horn. "You can do magic?"

"Cady," Shining looked to his wife, "did we just bring a changeling who is a master of their magic to my little sister?"

"I am afraid we did. Maybe you should dress back up, we could probably go and have some lunch." Cadance heard a double-flow of words now that flew above her head not five syllables in. "Actually, I insist on it."

Author's Notes:

A small group of ponies lay on the stage. "I'll go first." Shining Armor looked around and saw no complaints. "It was... I can't lie, relief that is second only to knowing my Cady is still with me." He leaned across and kissed his wife.

Twilight Velvet cleared her throat next. "Next one." She quickly scanned the card with her questions. "My little colt married the Princess of Love, foals were never going to be a problem. The number... I am still getting used to. Just in case, I have started knitting socks. Lots of socks." She looked down at the card again. "I could tell you that all the socks are different, that each will have a monogrammed name on them, but that won't be all. If Princess Celestia can watch over every pony in Equestria, this old dam can watch over her colt's hive."

"Me next!" Cadance seemed positively excited. "I don't need to use my magic to see that they love me. When I first heard Bright's description of how happy she was to have me as a queen, or the first time Gilt realized she would never again go hungry." The alicorn trailed off a little. "I love them all, and I know they love me back."

"I have one more." Twilight Velvet turned her card over, finding her last question. "Shining and Cadance's foals are all going to be precious, but seeing little Gilt's face, the adoration when she looked at them," Twilight chuckled, "I might have to knit even more socks. I bet those holes get cold in winter..."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

There you go, all the questions answered because I was a terrible person and missed an update.

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I They will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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