As he, Moon Dancer, and the two changelings quietly trotted down the dimly lit stone corridors, Shining took a few minutes to look around him.

He wasn't sure where he had ended up, but he had the feeling they were all somewhere below ground. It wasn't nearly as cold as it should've been if they were still anywhere in the Frozen North, and that made him wonder just where they were.

"Hey, Moon Dancer." Shining asked, still observing the stone pathway, "are we still in the Frozen North? It... doesn't really feel like we are."

"Oh, we're still in the Frozen North," Moon Dancer replied casually, not looking back at the stallion, "though I guess technically it's more like we're below the Frozen North. About a mile below to be precise."

Shining turned back to the mare, his brow raised in surprise. As it turned out, he'd been more right than he knew. Moon Dancer noticed his gaze and chuckled lightly as they all turned a corner and continued down another corridor.

"It's not like we built this place," Moon Dancer continued, "believe it or not, it was Cadence that stumbled upon the entrance. She and a few of the original Crystal Guards that managed to get away when Sombra and Chrysalis attacked, found it during their escape."

"Where exactly is the entrance?" Shining asked, "I've never seen anything out in the Frozen North that would indicate there was a hidden passage into a large network of tunnels below ground."

"I'll let Cadence tell you when we get back to the base," Moon Dancer replied, "we're not too far from there now, and she'll explain everything once we're there."

"Cadence," Shining muttered, a small worried frown crossing his face, "I still can't believe she managed to make it out of that nightmare."

"From what she told me, you were the one that gave her a chance to escape," Moon Dancer said with a small smile, "according to her, she never would've made it if you hadn't drawn the Bug Queen's attention back then."

"Yeah well," Shining sighed heavily, "I'm just glad I'll get to see her again. Then maybe we can talk about... well... everything."

He went quiet and Moon Dancer eyed him with a curious and slightly pitying expression. Shining noticed, but didn't say anything about it.

Instead, he decided to ask another question that had been on his mind since Chrysalis smuggled him out of the dungeons.

"So... Chrysalis," he began, resuming his inspection of the surroundings, "how long has she been a part of this resistance?" he turned back to Moon Dancer, his eyes slightly narrowed, "and how do you know you can trust her for sure?"

"She broke you out of jail, didn't she?" Moon Dancer asked with a raised eyebrow, "I'd think that'd be enough proof that she's on the level, especially since it was right under Sombra's muzzle, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe," Shining conceded with a nod, "and I am grateful that she busted me out, don't get me wrong, but... well... I don't know. It's... difficult, with everything she put me through."

He shrugged helplessly and looked away.

"When she broke me out of prison, she told me she was dying, and that she was doing all this to save her children," he said before looking back to the yellowish grey mare, "she sounded sincere then, and with the way she looked..."

He shook his head as he and the others passed through an opening and into a larger circular room that was empty save for a winding stone staircase that led up.

Shining paused in his explanation and glanced upwards. Though the walls were dotted with more sconces, he still couldn't see above a certain point.

There was a point where the light of the sconces stopped and the staircase itself blocked out the rest of his view. Not seeing anything else of note, he continued to follow after Moon Dancer and the two silent changelings up the steps.

"Honestly, I think she was telling the truth," Shining said, picking back up from where he left off, "but even if she's working to protect her children, that's still working in her own interests, and if she deems working with the resistance to be a threat to her children..."

"I know what you mean," Moon Dancer replied quietly, glancing back at the two changelings who remained silent, "and to be honest, I'm worried about that too."

She fell silent for a moment before speaking again, her voice a bit more confident.

"But you have to understand, Shining," she argued, "we actually owe a lot to Chrysalis. Cadence may have found the entrance to these tunnels, but even if she was acting in her own interests, it was ultimately Chrysalis that gave us the means to survive down here."

"What do you mean?" Shining asked with a tilt of his head, "what happened?"

"We... when Cadence first found this place, it was just her and a few Guards," Moon Dancer explained, "they discovered that these underground tunnels led all the way out of the Frozen North and south into Equestria."

"They really go that far," Shining said in disbelief, "I had no idea... where's the entrance in Equestria?"

"Like I said, I'll let Cadence explain that one," Moon Dancer answered impatiently, "now, like I was saying, they explored the tunnels as best they could, but this place turned out to be a lot bigger, and far more complex than they thought."

Shining thought for a moment, and realization dawned on him.

"They were still on the run... they didn't have enough supplies for a full expedition," he surmised with a grim expression, "they wouldn't have been able to survive down there for very long."

Moon Dancer nodded gravely.

The staircase evened out as they reached another circular room. The room itself was smaller, but was far from empty, as several crates—both large and small—were stacked atop each other near the walls.

A single stallion sitting slumped over in a chair next to a small and rather nondescript looking wooden door caught Shining's attention and his eyes widened.

The stallion looked to be an earth pony, and had a light cobalt coat with a darker cobalt mane and tail. At first glance, Shining thought the stallion was dead, but was quickly proven wrong as the stallion gave a loud snort followed by a gentle, lengthy snore.

Moon Dancer just groaned in annoyance in response to the sight.

"Moon Dancer, who—"

The mare raised a hoof to silence the bemused unicorn stallion. She signaled for him and the changelings to stay put before briskly trotting over to the sleeping pony.

She stopped in front of the stallion and did nothing for a moment. Curious, Shining took a tentative step forward to get a better look at what Moon Dancer was doing.

A sudden dull thud followed by a pained grunt made Shining wince slightly, and he frowned in concern as the stallion hunched over and fell out of his chair holding his stomach.

"Gah! Holy buck, Moon Dancer!" the stallion gasped in pain, glaring at the pitiless mare, "there's better, more normal ways to wake a guy up!"

"Yes, there are," Moon Dancer replied casually, shaking her hoof lightly before setting it back on the ground, "but I did tell you I'd sock you in the gut if I caught you sleeping on the job again, Noteworthy."

"I thought you were joking, you crazy nag," Noteworthy muttered, grimacing as he rose back onto his seat. As he repositioned himself, he finally caught sight of Shining Armor, "hm? Who the..." his eyes narrowed before widening suddenly, "wait... isn't he the—"

"Don't worry about it," Moon Dancer interjected, motioning for Shining and the changelings to follow, "just give the signal so we can go through."

Noteworthy looked between an impatient Moon Dancer and a confused Shining Armor in bewilderment before shaking his head and leaning over to knock on the door.

He knocked twice in quick succession, and for a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Shining saw the door light up, a large sigil etched itself into the door.

The surprised unicorn stallion watched as glowing cyan lines and runes traced complex patterns in the wood before making a complete circle about half as big as the door itself was.

Then the sigil flashed once and the simple wooden door vanished, leaving an opening unblocked and the party unhindered.

Shining had heard about runic magic, but he had never actually seen it up until now. He eyed the earth pony stallion as he and the rest of the small group passed through the doorway.

Noteworthy stared right back with a look somewhere between wariness and curiosity. After a second Shining looked away, only to be greeted by the surprised looks of several ponies in the much wider stone hallway he now trotted down.

He blinked and looked around at the unfamiliar faces. There weren't that many ponies around, but it was still more than he was actually expecting.

As he observed the others, he realized what he thought was a larger hallway was actually just a room much longer than it was wide.

There were five doors—two on either side of him—and a larger set of double doors just further up ahead.

Like the rest of the tunnels he'd seen, the room was made of stone on all sides and was completely bare bones aside from a few more stacked wooden boxes covered by beige tarps.

Many of the ponies that moved in and out of the side doors regularly paid him no heed, but many others stopped and stared with varying looks of surprise, fear, and suspicion.

Moon Dancer ignored them all as she made her way directly towards the double doors. She spoke again, and it took Shining a moment to realize she was picking up from where she left off.

"You guessed right," the mare continued, "they could only take what they could carry on their backs, and it wasn't much at the time."

The door creaked and groaned as Moon Dancer pushed them open. She stepped inside and into a narrower hallway. Shining could see another staircase further up ahead, but couldn't see beyond it.

He idly glanced behind him as he followed Moon Dancer, and couldn't help but notice the changelings weren't following.

In fact, they had vanished altogether at some point when he wasn't looking.

He frowned as he scanned the area behind him, but Moon Dancer's voice soon pulled him out of his thoughts.

"It was the changelings that first spotted Cadence and her team wandering around the tunnels," Moon Dancer said before hanging her head somewhat, "from what I understand, there was some sort of... misunderstanding and a fight broke out."

"Not surprising," Shining replied with a knowing nod, "Chrysalis had only just attacked the Crystal Empire after all."

Moon Dancer nodded in return.

"Thankfully nopony was seriously injured," she said as they began trotting up the steps, "Cadence saw that the changelings weren't actually attacking, and she stopped the fighting."

"They didn't attack?" Shining asked incredulously, "wait... so if they weren't trying to attack Cadence, then what did they want? How did they even know she was there?"

"We never found out how she knew, and Chrysalis never said, but after some convincing, the changelings led them to the place we now use as a base of operations... and speaking of which..."

They reached the top of the steps and the hallway widened out slightly before coming to an abrupt stop.

Another set of double doors blocked their way—these ones large and ornate, with an image of what looked like two alicorns rising up onto their hindlegs on either side.

Moon Dancer stopped before the doors and turned back to Shining Armor, her expression serious.

"I don't know how long they were down there before the changelings came," she continued, as though they hadn't stopped trotting, "but by the time they found them, Cadence and the others had long since run out of supplies and were practically starving."

"So.... the changelings saved my wife and her group by leading them to this place," Shining Armor guessed, flicking his gaze behind the mare, "and I take it that leads to your 'base of operations'?"

"You're right on both accounts," Moon Dancer replied with a nod, "but I wanted to make something clear before we head inside."

Shining furrowed his brow curiously and motioned for her to continue. She glanced behind her before looking back at Shining Armor.

"Cadence... didn't make it out of the Crystal Empire unscathed," Moon Dancer said hesitantly, "Some of the Umbrum tracked her team down and... well..."

"She suffered an injury," Shining nodded, "as long as she's alive and no longer in danger, that's all that matters to me."

He gave Moon Dancer a level stare.

"Let me see my wife, Moon Dancer," he practically intoned, "I'll let her explain the rest."

Moon Dancer bit her lip and nodded.

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure you knew so you weren't... you know, shocked or anything—"

She yelped in surprise as the doors behind her suddenly creaked open of their own accord. She whipped around and saw that the door was bathed in a bright cyan glow.

"If I know my Shiny," came a familiar voice, "I don't think he'll mind a scar or two."

Shining's ears perked up and his jaw dropped open as the doors were pulled back far enough to see behind.

Behind the door was a cavern so large that Shining couldn't see the back, nor could he see the ceiling, just a dark empty space above.

It was as though the ponies here had built another Crystal City below ground. Looking further back, Shining could see all manner of crystal made structures, as well as the crystal ponies that most likely built them.

It wasn't just crystal ponies, or even ponies in general either.

There were a surprising amount of diamond dogs milling about as well, though given how deep beneath the surface they were, it wasn't all that surprising.

What was surprising, were the few griffons he could see through the doorway. He thought he even spotted a few adolescent dragons somewhere further back.

It wasn't exactly an orderly looking settlement. It was as though the buildings were set up wherever the builder felt like setting it up.

There had clearly been no planning behind the structure, but none of the buildings seemed to get in the way of each other and there was plenty of room to trotted or walk about.

From where he was standing, he couldn't see too much, but it was enough to know that this was more than the small base he had been expecting... much more.

This was a new home away from home.

Shining took all of this in in almost an instant, but he pushed all this new information to the back of his mind for later.

Right now all of his attention was on the pink mare standing before him. His eyes were wide and tears threatened to spill down his cheeks as the mare smiled at him.

He stepped past Moon Dancer and through the doorway, completely ignoring the two mares in crystal armor on either side of her.

He ignored the stares he got from passing ponies, he ignored their mutters and whispers, and he ignored the angry red criss-crossing scars that covered most of the pink alicorn's chest.

In that moment, nothing mattered except the fact that Cadence was alive and well, standing here to greet him.

Though he couldn't help but set a small thought aside for the much shorter cut violet, rose, and gold mane that fell across one side of her face.

"Hello, Shiny."

Two words from the mare.

"Cadence..."

A single, strained utterance from the stallion.

It could only be called an exchange by the simplest of terms, but the love in each word was clear for everypony there to see.

It was there, and it was strong, even after all these years.

Shining stopped in front of his wife, causing the two mares on either side to back away. He looked into her eyes and she looked back.

Bright purple met brilliant cerulean, and the rest of the world was forgotten as they embrace for the first time in ages.

The crowd went unheeded as their lips met, and any more thoughts about what Chrysalis or even Sombra was up to, were pushed aside for the time being.

It ended all too soon and Cadence pulled back with a happy smile and eyes glossy with tears.

"I missed you... so much," she whispered, "I would've stormed the Crystal Palace myself and taken on Sombra if I had the strength, but... I'm not very good at fighting just yet so there wasn't much I could do."

"Didn't stop you from trying," came a hushed voice from behind and to the left of Cadence, "had to stop you from galloping off after him more than once..."

"Fer Celestia's sake, shut it, Scoots!" hissed another voice from directly behind the pink alicorn, "this is supposed ta be a heart warmin' reunion, so don't ruin it!"

"I'm just saying," the other voice muttered, fluffing her wings petulantly, "coulda made our jobs a bit easier on us if she wasn't trying to go out there and—ow! Alright, I'm shutting up, sheesh..."

The orange pegasus mare rubbed her foreleg, the spot beneath the armor sore from where the yellow earth pony mare struck her.

They glared at each other for a moment before noticing that the exchange between Shining and Cadence had stopped.

Their ears folded back as they turned back to the two lovebirds with sheepish chuckles.

Despite the yellow earth mare's best efforts, the mood had been completely ruined, and both Cadence and Shining Armor turned their attention to the two of them—Shining looking on in bemusement, and Cadence in amusement.

"Cadence?" Shining asked with a raised eyebrow, "who are these two?"

"I'm sorry, Shining," Cadence replied with a giggle, "these are my two personal Crystal Guards, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and yes, they're right... I've caused them a bit of trouble in the past with my... ah... antics."

"Darn right you have," muttered Scootaloo, "nearly cost me a wing trying to sneak into the city the last time."

"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom growled before turning back to Shining with an apologetic smile, "you're Cadence's husband, Shinin' Armor, right? Ah'm Apple Bloom, and this here's Scootaloo. It's nice ta meetcha."

"Likewise," Shining replied with a friendly smile, regaining his bearings after the emotional whiplash, "I see you've been doing my job for me while I was away."

"You don't know the half of it," Scootaloo replied with a roll of her eyes, "it wasn't easy, but we manage to pull it off somehow."

Cadence laughed and shook her head before turning back to her husband.

"Don't let them fool you," Cadence said with a smirk, "they're even more reckless than I am."

Shining frowned.

"Cady—"

"I know that tone," Cadence interjected with a serious frown of her own, "and don't worry, Shiny. Despite what these two say, I know when to pull out of a dangerous situation, and they're a lot more capable than they look, trust me."

"But you shouldn't even be in any dangerous situations in the first place," he argued, taking a step forward, "I didn't fight Chrysalis off and get thrown into a cell for sixteen years just so you could suffer the same fate."

He winced at Cadence's guilty expression.

"...I'm sorry, Cadence," he finally said with a heavy sigh, "I'm... I'm just worried about you. I haven't seen you in ages and... and for the longest time I thought you'd died."

He hung his head, but a pink hoof quickly reached beneath his chin and pushed it back up. Cadence searched his eyes for a moment before giving him a warm, understanding smile.

"I know it hasn't been easy for you, Shining, believe me," she said quietly, "I've been worried sick for so many years myself, wondering if they'd finally decided that... that you weren't worth keeping alive."

She released him and stepped back.

"But none of that matters now," she said in a louder, more encouraging tone, "we're both here and alive. We have each other now... we have the rebellion. We'll take back the Crystal Empire and Equestria from Sombra."

"How?" Shining asked, before looking around, "Cadence, where even is this? What even is this?"

Cadence's smile faded and she followed Shining's gaze, looking at all the creatures going about their business.

With a sigh she turned back to Shining Armor, her countenance grim.

"These are all the crystal ponies we've managed to rescue from Sombra's clutches, along with some allies we've picked up over the years. The diamond dogs in particular have been a big help in maintaining this place."

"I see," Shining replied, turning his questioning gaze back to Cadence, "and what about this whole deal with Chrysalis and her changelings?"

Cadence chuckled and Shining raised an eyebrow.

Rather than answer right away, the pink alicorn turned on the spot and started trotting away deeper into the city—Scootaloo and Apple Bloom moving to follow behind her.

She stopped and turned to look at Shining over her shoulder.

"I think you and Moon Dancer should follow me... we have a lot to talk about, Shiny."

I was gonna wait until I finished the epilogue to post this, but it ended up taking way longer than it should've so I'm releasing this now and the epilogue later today.