"You..." Thunder started. "Stay away from me you...you monster! You liar! You bug!"

If Shade didn't cry already, he surely would be now. All those things Thunder said hit him right in the heart. "Thunder...what are you saying? I'm you best friend! And I'm sorry for making you so upset! I really, really am!" Shade's voice made it clear that he was begging for forgiveness at this point.

"Friend!? Don't you dare call me your friend! I'm only friends with people I can trust and who don't try to brainwash me for their evil, little bug plans!" Thunder didn't care to keep his rage in at this point, he yelled at Shade from the depths of his lungs, as loud as he could.

"Evil plans? I...what are you saying Thunder?" Shade asked, still in tears from Thunder's outrage.

"Oh please, give me a break. I heard Chrysalis! I know about it all! Your stupid little plan to brainwash me and invade Equestria. Nice try 'pal', but you can't fool me."

Shade couldn't believe him. He must be hearing things in his dispair and rage, how else could he think Chrysalis said something like that? "That's not true, Thunder! I'm sure you're just imagining things right now, I'm sure some rest right now would be the best for-" Shade's speech was cut off as Thunder once again began yelling at him.

"Imagining things!? Oh, I think I'm seeing and hearing more clearly than ever, thank you very much. Now that I know what you cheeky little bugs are really up to."

Shade still couldn't believe him, this simply didn't make any sense. It couldn't be true. He was very close to Chrysalis and in a high position in the Hive, seeing how he managed to learn dark magic, but he had never ever heard about anything like that from Chrysalis, or anyone else in Hive. "Please Thunder, this isn't true! You've got to believe me!"

Thunder began to feel sick of Shade's sorry begging all the time. After all, he was just a liar, a false friend, a bug. "Right, tell me one reason why I should believe you."

Although Thunder was being sarcastic and didn't expect a real, serious answer, Shade knew this was the best chance he would get to regain the trust of his best friend. Unfortunatly, this would mean bringing up old, hurtful memories. But he had to, there was no other way.
"Because we have more in common than you think. I...I'm not like the other 'normal' changelings in here." Shade said in a deep tone.

Thunder, although surprised, believed no word of what he said. "So you're telling me I should believe you because we have the same hobbies or because you have one more hole in your hooves than the other bugs in here? Sure, I think that's a great reason to-" He was cut off by a quiet speaking Shade.

"Thunder..." Shade interrupted. "I...I used to be a pony. Like you."

Thunder stepped back a bit at Shade's revelation. However, Thunder was unsure if he was being serious or if this was just yet another dirty trick from the changelings to regain his trust. "But...no...no, that can't be. A pony would never be loyal to these things!" Thunder said, trying to not yell for a change.

Shade was afraid that Thunder would never believe him. Not yet at least. Now Shade would need to go deeper into this. Much deeper. "I have my reasons, Thunder." Shade replied in a monotone voice.

Thunder wanted to laugh at him, but couldn't quite manage to bring out a laugh in a situation like this. "What reasons could possibly make you trust that thing called Queen Chrysalis?"

Suddenly, the two heard voices in the distance. They came from the direction where Thunder had come from, the throne room. Shade knew they couldn't stay here forever. "I'll tell you. But not here. Come with me." Shade turned around, running off into the darkness, fully expecting Thunder to follow him.

Luckily for him, Thunder did decide to follow him. "I guess he's still better than whoever is coming up behind me right now..." Thunder thought, still distrusting than angry at Shade and the changeling's in general.

Thunder soon managed to catch up on Shade as they both ran through the tunnel systems. Thunder followed Shade blindly through the dark tunnels, which he was still uncomfortable with, even though he now posessed night vision. Shade on the other hand knew exactly where he would need to go in a situation like this. The Hall of the Elders.

It was quiet as Shade poked his head out of the tunnel. His eyes seemingly fixated on the two, big doors, but he looked around for anyon else to spot him and Thunder. Luckily, there was nobody there. He waved for Thunder to come out after he left the tunnel himself.

"You better tell me why you brought me here right now or-" Thunder started, his rant was interrupted as Shade lifted a hoof to silence him.

Shade was now completely focused on the doors. His eyes simply would not look away from the symbols on the doors. The black and green changelings on the doors. Shade didn't need to look around to know that Thunder himself was curious as to what those symbols meant, It was the only reason he wasn't already yelling at him again. Shade himself though...he knew exactly why those symbols are there...and what they were supposed to mean and represent.

"You don't believe me..." Shade said in a quiet, calm voice. "You don't believe me because you are unknowing, Thunder." His head turned to Thunder for a moment but quickly focused back on the symbols as Shade continued. "Unknowing of all the things I lived through. All the tragedies, the loss, despair...Nopony should ever live through the things I have experienced..."

"Anyone can say that, you know. You'll have to convince me of it first." Thunder countered.

There really was no alternative for Shade, he had to tell his story. The story he had sworn to never tell anyone of, a story he just wished to forget and leave behind. He had no choice now. "As you wish..." Shade started in a weak voice. He sighed and continued. "My story starts a long time ago, back when King Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire."

"Wait...what?" Thunder interrupted. "You're telling me you lived thousands of years ago? When King Sombra reigned? Even before Princess Luna was imprisoned? You really have to work on your lies, pal. I've seen better." Thunder was about to laugh at Shade, however, Shade continued with his story, not impressed or bothered by Thunder's words at all.

"I grew up in a small village near the Crystal Mountains. A blue unicorn, that was me." Shade stopped for a moment as good memories of his family and childhood overcame him, something be didn't expect nor want right now. He quickly brushed those feelings off and continued. "We were a normal family. My dad, my mum and me. Nothing special. And my life really was nothing special. At least not until...it happened."

"What do you mean 'it' happened'?" Thunder asked.

"King Sombra happened." Shade stopped for a couple of seconds as he took in what he was about to live through once again. "He took over the Crystal Empire and enslaved every single one of his subjects. Soon though, his own Empire was not enough for his tyranic mindset and he marched forth into Equestria."

"But..." Thunder asked again. "I've never heard of him actually marching into Equestria...It's said that Celestia and Luna both defeated him before he could even try anything like that."

Shade would have laughed if the topic wasn't this serious, for him anyway. "That is true. However, the reason Sombra's troops never reached Equestria is because of the Crystal Mountains. The people who lived there, including me and my family, were the first and only ones to confront his evil army and defend Equestria from what would be a landslide for sombra's army. Luckily we managed to held firm. But...at a great cost..."

Thunder wanted to ask what he meant but at the very moment he opened his mouth, he realized what he was going at.

"My family, me and the others in my village set up barricades in front of the passage to the Crystal Empire. We hoped this would give us enough time to properly set up a defence...but we were wrong. Our defences were nothing for them. They crushed them, pushed them aside, some managed to climb over them. Panic erupted immediatly as Sombra's troops were starting their raid. I...I was only 9 years old when all that happened. But...it happened. It happened right in front of my eyes. I saw our neighbour trying to run off into his house but he couldn't run fast enough...they got him...an axe in his back ended the suffering as quickly as it came."

"Is...that what you meant when you said 'loss' earlier?"

"If only I was..." Shade looked down in sorrow, tears soon started forming a small puddle on the ground under Shade. "Me and my family watched everything from our house. I myself looked out of the windows with my mother while my dad was looking for things we could use to defend ourselves with. Unfortunatly, our house would be next after the soldier that killed our neighbour looked over to our home. My mum pulled me away from the window and covered my mouth as we both sat in the corner right next to the window. The room was already dim, there were no sources of light except for the moonlight and erupting flames outside. We could soon see a shadow coming up to the window. My mother and me watched it closely as the shadow slowly took his steps away from us, ever so carefully and observate. As the shadow began disappearing, it suddenly stopped and walked backwards, back to the window's center. He had heard something. However, it wasn't me nor my mum...it was my dad who was in another room, looking for weapons. He didn't even know that they were already at our house and looking for us. He walked into the living room where we hid with a slowly quicker pace than normally, carrying two baseball bats and a crowbar. Then...he made eye contact with the soldier at the window and vice versa. My mother loosened her grip around me and my mouth as she realized what was about to happen. During the few seconds that my dad and the soldier stared at eachother she whispered to me "run, take the back entrance. Don't look back and don't stop." She then stoped for a brief second as she took in what she just said and finished her phrase with "I love you". And then it happened, the soldier began screaming, alerting all nearby soldiers. My mother then quickly stood up and pushed me onto my hooves as she once again yelled "run! now!"
I don't know how I managed to leave them in that situation...but I did as she said. I ran. I took the back entrance and looked back into the hallway another, final time where I saw my dad swinging his baseball bat at a soldier that had just come crushing through the door. I looked back front and ran into the open. At this point, I'm not entirely sure if it was a good thing that there were no soldiers in our backyard yet or not. At that time though, I didn't care. I ran. Through our backyard, into the cornfields of our small village and eventually...I ended up in the midst of the Frozen North..."

"The...Frozen North? But it is said that nothing can live there for more than a couple of days, maybe only a few hours. How did you manage to make it out of there?" Thunder's questioned was met with silence at first as Shade took in the memories that came over him. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to be rude. I'm so sorry for what happened to you and your family." Thunder corrected himself, trying to cheer Shade up at least a little bit.

"No apologies can give me back what I have lost. My parents, my friends, my village...my life..." Shade's voice was filled with bitterness and sorrow.

By now, Thunder felt awful for not believing Shade in the first place. He was the one who had caused him telling this story after all. Maybe this choice, the choice to believe Shade's story, was rushed...maybe...but if he really was lying then he was really damn good at it. "I feel you...It feels the same to me...I mean, of course my family and friends are still alive. But...I can't see or talk with them anymore. This whole changeling thing just...really messed everything up."

Shade looked over to Thunder who now stood right next to him and looked him in the eyes. Thunder meant what he said mainly to conform Shade, but he had no awaited what he was about to hear. "Maybe it did for you, yeah. But...not for me." Thunder's eyes grew larger as he heard that. Before Thunder could interrupt though, Shade continued. "As I found myself completely lost in the Frozen North, I had already given up on my life. I knew there was no coming back from the Frozen North. Not like this, not for somepony like me. I was too young for anything like that, I wouldn't survive the constant snow storms longer than a day. As it turned out, I was right. After a few hours of hopelessly marching through the snow and ice, my strength gave in and I fell onto the ground, my hooves unable to make me stand up anymore. I rolled mysef on my back with the last of my strength as I told myself "This is it. My last few minutes. I'll surely be reunited with mum and dad soon. I can feel their warm embrace already."
Suddenly, as I began to black out, I heard a buzzing in the distance. The buzzing quickly became louder and louder and I tried to look around to see what it was...but I couldn't. My state didn't allow it. I remember how my eyes felt heavier and heavier as my strength continued dwindling. The last thing I remember seeing is a black creature in the distance. Then...It was all black."

"I...I don't know what to say..."

"Good, cause I'm not entirely done yet." Shade took a deep breath before he continued once more. "As I slowly woke up, I realized that I was indeed not in a completely white, cold area anymore. I was not in the Frozen North anymore, I realized that immediatly. I tried standing up but my still very weak body after the pure torture didn't allow me to do that just yet. I instead tried looking around, however, my vision was still fairly blurry. The only thing I managed to see were black objects. After a few moments though, I realized those were not objects...they were changelings. As my vision cleared up, I could see them step closer to me. I started to panic, even hyper-ventilate. First my village was raided and my parents were killed, then I almost died in a giant blizzard and then changelings...however, the changelings didn't intend to harm me as I soon happened to realise. They simply stopped in front of me, formed a circle around me and celebrated. I looked around in confusion, thinking I was still dreaming or that this was some kind of joke, but It seemed too real to me. Especially because soon the actual Queen of the Changelings stood in front of me, Chrysalis. I instinctively tried standing up and running away, but...once again, my legs failed me as I fell to the ground immediatly. I decided to simply lie there, completely still, waiting for whatever fate they had in store for me. What I was met though, once again surprised me. "I see our first test subject is well and healthy. What a delightful sight." Chrysalis said to the other changelings around me, making me look around. Apparently there was something going on and I was not filled in. at all. "Don't worry my son." Chrysalis said to me. "You don't have to be afraid. You are safe now." It was then that I first noticed my new, changed hooves. I pulled them up in front of my eyes as I looked at them in shock. The worst thing was: I could see Chrysalis smiling at me as I saw right through my new hole-filled hooves. "We have much to talk about, my son." Is all I remember right now. After then my thoughts are all relatively blurry. I still remember her teaching me all this new stuff, like night vision, feeding on love and flying. Like I am teaching you right now."

"So...that's how you...became a changeling?" Thunder asked quietly. Shade nodded as he continued looking at the Symbols of the doors. "Wow...I...I don't know what to say..."

Shade now looked away from the symbols on the door and looked straight at Thunder. "Don't say anything. Please. Don't. I've suffered enough to go through this once, I barrely managed to go through it a second time. I once swore myself to never talk about those things in my past ever again. I wanted to burry my bloody past as fast a possible, wanted a restart, a happy life again."

"Oh...but-" Thunder's speech was cutoff before he managed to say anything.

"So please, Thunder...Don't say anything. All I want...is that you forgive me and that we can still be friends. That I don't have to loose another person that's close to me." Shade sighed deeply before he continued. "If you do decide on turning your back on me though...then go ahead. I won't stop you. Turn around and go. However, I do hope you decide against that. In the end though...it's your choice, not mine."

Shade once again looked away from Thunder and towards the opposite direction, awaiting Thunder's decision. Thunder himself had no doubt that Shade was being honest by now. Sure, the others may be liars and evil, but not him. He was...different. He was a pony, not a changeling.

"Shade..." Thunder started as he walked towards Shade who now turned around to him again. "I am more than sorry for what you had to go through in your past. I am sorry for all you have lost and all you have experienced. But I can tell you right now...I won't leave you. Never."

Shade's sad look quickly turned into a joyful smile as he heard his best friend say that. "Thanks man. Thanks so much." With that, Shade grabbed Thunder and pulled him into a friendly, tight hug. One which Thunder didn't expect, but was certainly not opposed to.

"Oh...but...I do wanna ask..." Thunder said as he pulled himself out of the hug.

"That would be?" Shade asked.

"What do those symbols on the door mean? And why did you bring us here specifically?" Thunder asked, much to the surprise of Shade

"Oh..." Shade started as he realized he had forgotten about that part. "I forgot to tell you. I guess I'll do that now."