"Please, I don't really have anypony else, my Queen." Slick stared at Shining's blue hooves. The parade ground was busy, but that just meant there was plenty of noise. "I just don't know what to do!"

Shining stopped in his search for Gilt and turned to Slick. "I am your queen." Slick's ears flicked backwards and Shining watched his stance wilt. "So of course you can talk with me. Let's find somewhere less infested with alicorns." He threw a worried expression up to the castle.

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?" Slick's trouble was weighing on him, but if his queen needed help he would gladly give it.

"Female problems." Shining's brain did a few mental somersaults as he realized that technically that meant him too, now. "How about we go and have dinner somewhere quiet and talk?"

Realization that mares were the basis of both their problems made Slick smile a little. "Of course, Your Majesty." He trotted along beside the bigger form of Shining Armor, and when Shining stopped he did as well. Of course it was the coffee shop where all his problems had come to light.

"It wasn't all that long ago, really." Shining took a booth in the back of the shop, walking past all the other customers on the way. Sitting up, he reached out his senses and felt all the ponies' emotions; love, happiness, and a general feeling of warmth permeated the establishment. He didn't need to drink from them—he was still full from the last time Cadance blasted off her emotions—but he took the tiniest taste.

"Your Majesty?" Slick watched as his queen smiled wider and wider. "I guess I need to explain." He got comfortable on the seat and looked down at the table. "I really loved Jade, and she loved me. I couldn't help the lies, though, it… it was all just how changelings lived. Drones would go their whole lifetime among ponies, and never tell the truth to the mare or stallion they loved."

"You didn't realize that it was wrong?" Shining waved down the waitress. "Just a coffee for each of us." He fished out some bits and put them on the end of the table. "She took it hard."

"Yeah, she did. I guess I didn't realize how much the absolute truth meant to her. I just—" Slick's senses tipped him off to the waitress' return.

"Here you are, coffee." She set the cups before Shining and Slick. "And a nice gentlecolt asked me to give you this." She passed a note across to Shining, and then left them.

"She needs me to be perfect now." Slick looked into the drink.

Setting the note down, Shining pretended to sip at his coffee—he had worked out that drinks were easier to deal with than solid food. "And it isn't working?"

"No." The word took a lot for Slick to say, but once it was out he slumped in the chair. "What am I supposed to do?"

"What do you want to do?" Shining studied Slick intently, wishing he could sample the drone's emotions. "Do you—" Having idly unfolded the letter, Shining stared at the words scrawled on it.

We know what happened, we found the journal. If you are still able to think, come to the back of the building alone.

"M-M-My Queen?" Slick saw panic and terror plain on Shining Armor's face. "What's the matter?" With his queen looking in a panic, Slick scooted around the table, and read the note. "By the First Egg…"

"Somepony ransacked our bedroom last night, and now this. They found Cady's journal of my changes. They know what I am." Looking at Slick, Shining Armor had never felt so afraid. "What am I going to do?"

"They are ponies, not changelings." Slick's mind rushed into overdrive, he plucked the note from Shining's magic with his own. "Quill work is not terrible, and hastily done, so it wasn't a unicorn." He looked up from the paper to Shining. "You are not going, Your Majesty."

"I'm not?" Shining blinked at the intensity of Slick's look. "But they are going to reveal everything if I don't."

"Has Careful trained you how to do inanimate things yet?" Slick folded the note closed again and slipped back to his side of the booth. When Shining answered his question with a quick shake of his head, Slick moved on. "We go to the bathroom, one after the other, and I will leave as you. Is there a pony you have been disguising as that won't stand out too much?"

Shining stared at Slick for a few seconds and shook his head. "Not really, is there somepony you would recommend?" He stood up and walked casually to the bathroom. With his heart racing, Shining waited in the empty room for Slick to enter after him.

"Well, since you are going to stumble into the middle of this to rescue me, pick somepony powerful enough that they would run rather than fight." Green flame poured around Slick, reshaping the changeling drone into a perfect copy of Shining Armor. "How do I look?"

"Perfect…" Shining was a little lost for words as he stared at his doppelganger. "S-S-So what…" He gave a bark of laughter. "Okay, this should be somepony that fits the bill… and is a little creepy for me to do." He pulled up the image of the most powerful pony he could think of that would forgive him.

Green fire swirled around Shining Armor, starting at his hooves and rushing upwards. Slick Dive watched as the green fire left only soft purple fur in its wake, and a much smaller frame. When the green finally left Shining's form, the spitting image of Princess Twilight Sparkle stood in his wake. "Very good choice, Your Majesty." He gave a salute sharply. "Teleport a block away, and give me a few minutes to grab the journal."

Shining Armor felt very strange, and it wasn't just being female anymore. Her thoughts raced with ideas and plans, ways to flip the situation around and then the thought of paper sparked something else in her head—books. "Oh, wow. I promise I will not mess this up, Twily." Her voice was so perfect it almost made her jump.

Slick turned from his Queen and walked out of the bathroom. Heading for the front of the little shop, he looked around. "Excuse me," he managed to secure the waitress' attention, "may I please ask, who delivered the note?"

"Well isn't that just the oddest part of all this, it was one of the Royal Guard themselves. Was the message urgent?" The waitress' attention seemed to be squarely on getting good gossip, rather than helping her prince.

"Nothing so exciting." Slick stepped for the door and made it outside before any further questions were asked. Looking left and right down the street, he pulled out the note as if he were reading it for more information.

From one side of Slick a soft voice said, "On your left is an alleyway; walk slowly and calmly or we all fade into the shadows."

Shining Armor charged her magic and brought up the memory of the walk to the coffee shop. Flashing purple magic, she felt the chill and rush of teleportation occur. It was amazing! Shining had never actually consciously teleported herself before, but she knew how great her sister's aptitude with it was. Looking at the streets, she ruffled her wings and turned to look back at the shop in the distance, and waited for Slick to move away from the front of the shop.

Following the instructions, Slick stepped left and walked to the side of the building. Sure enough there was an alley, and he could hear the hoofsteps of the pony that had given him the directions. He lit his horn with Shining Armor's pink light and stepped into the alley.

"Cut the light, Sir!" Dropper practically snarled the words. "Your Highness, it's good to see you aren't completely under her sway!" He backed up to let the bigger form of Shining Armor's to move further into the alley.

"You found the journal?" Slick felt nervous, he didn't recognize the two pegasi at all, and severely disliked that one had walked up behind him. Turning his head, he looked at the pony that had given him directions at the shop. "What is this all about?"

"He doesn't know…" Dropper gave a little snarl. "Those damn bugs are just ripping Equestria apart! I can't believe they have infected a princess this much!" He pulled out the journal. "I found proof, Captain Shining, that your wife is… that Princess Cadance is turning into a changeling!"

Slick felt the moment perfect for a gasp. "But… but how?"

Dropper puffed his chest out a little, and fetched the book from his pack with a careful wing. "It's all in here. You wouldn't believe this stuff—I could only get into the start of it when the better part of me kicked my gag reflex again and again until I was forced to stop or cover your wife's precious diary in my bile. That bitch Chrysalis put something nasty in her, poisoned her. Now your wife is under Chrysalis' control!"

The gig was almost up, and so Slick lit his horn and reached for the book. "I need to see it, please…" His magic wrapped around the book and pulled it free. Flicking it open, he gave a feigned cry of shock.

"Big Brother?" Shining Armor stepped to the alley way that was barely wide enough a pony to fit, and she was suddenly so glad she was in her sister's lithe form. "What are you doing, Shining?" She lit her horn, the glow of her magic illuminating the whole alley.

"P-P-Princess Twilight! Perfect!" Dropper looked past the form of Shining Armor, to the alicorn at the entrance of the alley. "We were just telling our Captain what happened. We have proof that Princess Cadance is turning into a changeling!"

Shining Armor stared at Dropper, incomprehension plastered all over her face. "She… Princess Cadance?" She remembered herself before using any of her normal terms for her wife. "That is terrible. Shining, is this true?"

"It seems to be." Slick was pretending to read the book, while keeping a close eye on the pegasus in front of him. "This is everything?" He looked to Dropper. "We must take this to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna at once!"

"Of course!" Shining backed out of the alley and looked around for anypony who might be watching. "Come on, there is no time to lose!"

Slick, flanked by the two pegasi, and with his Queen leading the way, trotted along with the book held tightly in his magic. "I can't believe all this, but it is all right here." He looked to Dropper. "Where did you get this?"

"We had to infiltrate your room at the castle." Dropper blushed a little, remembering the state he had left the royal suite in. "Sorry, Your Highness, but it had to be done."

The sun was setting by the time they reached the castle, and Shining led them to the guards who watched the main stairs. Her mind spun through what to say, but gave up and just walked forward as if she were Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Both guards on the door saluted and pulled to the sides to let them past. Racing up the stairs, Shining rushed forward into the throne room and spotted Cadance, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. She breathed a sigh of relief that her sister was not present. "Princess Celestia!"

"Arrest that traitor!" Dropper stood in clear view and pointed at Cadance. When his command was not immediately obeyed, he tried again. "Princess Cadance has been taken over by a changeling!"

Celestia looked to Shining Armor, and then Slick Dive. The source of a knowing wink came from her student, and not the Prince, however. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We have delivered evidence to Prince Shining Armor," Dropper gestured to Slick, "that reveals that Princess Cadance has been turned into a changeling, and she is under the control of Queen Chrysalis!"

Clamping her snout shut, Luna was doing her utmost to keep from breaking into wild laughter. The tears rapidly forming in her eyes threatened to ruin the deception, however. "Present the evidence." She put on as stern a voice as she could, falling back on the Royal Canterlot Voice to impart the measure of seriousness she hoped was expected.

Slick stepped forward and floated the book forward, passing it to Princess Luna. "Your Highness, I can explain—"

"Shiny!" Cadance dismounted her throne and bounced down the steps from it, trotting right up to Slick. "I was just telling Princess Luna about my manuscript. 'A Pony Lost,' is the title I am working with." She leaned in to nuzzle her husband, and immediately sensed something was off. "Sombra."

Shining put on an appropriate amount of blush, and stepped up to her wife. "BBBFF! Really, hugging at an important moment like this?!" She looked at Cadance, and as their eyes met she saw recognition.

"Twilight," Slick was putting on a show, and wanted it to be convincing, "Cadance and I are married now." He gestured at the book that Luna was now perusing. "So this is what you were writing about, Cady? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to laugh at my plot! ... I mean theme!" Cadance turned back to face Princess Luna.

Luna barely stifled a laugh and ended up making a choking cough instead. "Oh, this is quite graphic!" She ruffled her wings a little.

With a blush, Cadance remembered some of the other details she had put in the journal, and had a renewed urge to retrieve it as soon as possible. "It is all research. Just a mare's distracted musings on what it would be like to be turned into a changeling." Cadance looked to the mare she was sure was her husband. "Remember, Twilight, this was the book I was telling you about."

"It was?" Shining blinked, fighting to keep up with the charade that was going on. "Oh, that book!" Trotting up to Princess Luna, Shining reached out for the journal of her transformation. "May I take a look, Princess Luna?"

Luna was quite intrigued with the descriptions, and wondered how the two pegasi could have thought that it was anything but the details of a stallion transforming. "Of course you may, Princess Twilight." Luna floated the book back. "So what was all the shouting about, again?"

Author's Notes:

Shining: ready to ingest a thousand new immigrants?

Shining Armor shook his head. "No, nowhere near it. We are underpopulated still, but we are working at it. The start is going to be creating more jobs in the city to attract more ponies from Equestria."

Jade: "Do you actually plan to get with Slick after the year and a day is up, or will you continue to lead him along and then say no?"

"I'm not leading him along! I don't... I just don't know what to do." Jade ruffled her wings, and seemed like she might just fly off. "To be honest, I haven't been with too many ponies as long as I had been with him, it was a shock to find out everything was a lie. I don't know if I can come back to a relationship from that."

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

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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