In the land of Equestria, the alicorn princess named Mi amora cadenza, better known as Princess Cadence, defeated a creature of darkness with her love for her fiancée, Shining Armor and with the help of the elements of harmony. The princess was happily married, and ruled her kingdom, the crystal empire. She thought the changelings and their nefarious queen Chrysalis, but what the pony of love didn't know was they were closer than she thought.
As the alicorn Cadence held her newborn foal, she smiled. The baby had pink fur and a yellow, purple, and pink mane that fell into curls. She was a alicorn and looked almost exactly like her mother, except she had her father's blue eyes. "Hello, my little princess." Shining Armor whispered. The filly didn't do anything, just looked into his eyes and scrunched up her own in confusion. "What should we name her?" Shining asked. "I want to name her Skyla, that was my mother's name." Cadence said. Princess Skyla looked between her parents and saw a pink aura surrounding the couple as they looked at each other. This aura was very powerful and the baby felt very full suddenly. Her parents, however, felt very weak all the sudden, but that didn't get in the way of their love for their newborn daughter, and that was one of the worst things they could've done
The new born princess was celebrated by the crystal ponies, the villagers of the crystal empire. They loved their new ruler and that made the crystal heart glow and spin. Princess Skyla gave a small "oh" in wonder of the sparkling relic. No pony noticed her eyes glow green for a few seconds, then back to sapphire blue. The baby started to sob and cry when she was taken away from the heart.
The royal family went to Canterlot to show the new princess to the rest of the alicorns. Celestia and Luna were overjoyed to see Skyla, but their happiness combined could not match that of Twilight Sparkle's. She was shedding "liquid pride" as she cradled her little niece with her magic. Skyla giggled with delight as she felt a warm sensation inside her. But, Twilight suddenly was swaying and she fell to the ground. Skyla was still tightly encased in magic and squealed with surprise. Cadence quickly elevated her child onto her own back and she and Shining raced over to Twilight. "Twilie! Are you ok?" Shining said, helping his little sister up. "I'm okay" Twilight said, weakly. "It was strange.. It was just like.." The aunt looked at her niece. "Like what?" Cadence asked. "Oh, nothing. oh, also.. I have a surprise for you two!" Twilight said, brightly suddenly. "What is it?" Shining asked, levitating Skyla closer. "I'm pregnant!" Twilight cried. Candace screamed and the mares started jumping up and down together. Shining just stood there, jaw open. "What?" He said, dryly.
5 years later, Princess Skyla flew around with her wings, while a young 4 year old orange unicorn with a purple and violet wavy mane chased after her. "Skyla! Wait up!" She giggled, trying to reach the alicorn. Skyla stopped and flew to the ground. "The point of tag is to try to run or fly away from the other pony, Fable!" She said. Fable Sparkle, daughter of Princess Twilight and Flash Sentry, looked annoyed at her older cousin. "You said you would read to me when we were done with the last game!" She pouted. "Fine! We can read your silly book!" Skyla laughed. The unicorn started to levitate a book, but it only went for a few centimeters before dropping to the ground. Skyla used her own magic to bring it to her and Fable stared at her, envious. "I wish I could do magic.." The filly sighed. "You'll get there eventually" Her cousin said, bringing the foal close to her. Skyla felt a familiar sensation pass through her, she shut her eyes and thought to herself
Stop it! Why can't I stop it?!
"Skyla.." Fable yawned. "I'm sleepy.. Don't feel good." She said. "I… I understand if you want some rest then! Don't let me stop you!" Skyla laughed nervously. "Nah, I want to stay here, with you!" Fable giggled. "I don't want anything to make you more sick, that's all!" Her cousin huffed, trying not to drain any more energy from the filly. Fable closed her eyes and yawned. "Fable! Please go away!" Skyla protested, trying in vain to shake her awake. The princess still felt the intense, almost unbearable, energy draining from the small unicorn. Skyla pushed the filly away, but the energy still came to her. She backed away until her body touched cool glass. Skyla gasped and turned to a mirror. Instead of herself, a horrifying alicorn stared back, but it was not a pony. It was a filly with a sleek black body with holes in it. She had beadle green eyes and cobwebby curls for her mane. Skyla screamed and the door burst open. Shining Armor, Cadence, and Twilight ran into the room. Twilight gasped at the sight of Fable, sleeping on the ground and ran to her. Cadence went to her daughter and Shining Armor helped try to wake his niece. Skyla was hyperventilating and staring at the mirror but only saw the princess she saw every day. "Honey, are you okay?" Cadence asked, hugging her close. "Mom, What do I look like?" The filly whispered, trembling. Cadence, Twilight, and Shining stared at Skyla. "You look… Normal?" Shining said, raising a eyebrow. Skyla glanced back at the mirror, to reassure herself then looked back at the ponies. "Mommy?" Fable asked, finally awake. Twilight exhaled and hugged her child. The little unicorn looked at her older cousin and frowned. Skyla gulped. Had she seen it? Would she tell? "You silly pony! You didn't wake me up! Did I drool on you?" Fable laughed. "Er, sorry!" Skyla said, nervously. "That's ok!" Her cousin giggled. "Skyla, are you sure you're okay? Do you know what happened to Fable?" Twilight asked, concerned for the safety of both her niece and daughter.
Don't you know I'm draining energy from you too? Skyla thought.
"No, I-I don't know what happened, she just fell asleep…" Skyla murmured. "I was just sleepy!" Fable said. Twilight looked straight at Skyla. "I see.." She said. "Cadence, Shining, shall we continue planning the crystal fair? The others have a few ideas." Twilight said, looking to her brother and sister in law and they walked out the door. "Others?" The young alicorn asked Fable. "The elements of harmony!" Her cousin cried with delight. "Oh, of course" Skyla remembered her mother telling her the story of how the elements had used a lot of things to beat the changelings, she gulped at how her reflection from earlier had looked just like the evil queen in her mother's story. She shuddered at the thought of Queen Chrysalis, but even more at the little filly she had seen in the mirror. "Skyla? You're shaking!" Fable gasped. "What? I'm fine!" The princess tried to assured her. "You know I'm a princess of friendship, right? I can almost tell when someone isn't using a element!" Her cousin said, almost as if reprimanding Skyla. "Err, I have to get something from my room" The filly coughed. Without waiting for her cousins to reply, she ran up the stairs.
Skyla lay on her bed, trying to understand why this was happening. "Why do I keep taking my family's energy? Why do I take every ponies energy?" The princess asked herself. She looked in her own mirror and thought
I wish I could be some pony else!
Suddenly she was engulfed in green flames and saw the changeling alicorn again. Skyla gasped and realized it wasn't just the mirror, she was a changeling, a real changeling. "No…" The changeling whispered. "I'm the enemy.. I'm a monster!" She sobbed.