Lovers of the Night

        He woke up with a gasp. Lance turned around to see it was morning. Everything was just a dream. He was glad. He looked down to see Princess Luna asleep. He had just realized he slept with a princess. Though he was happy, he felt it was wrong. They may like each other, but he thought this might have been a bit too early. He had also realized that he was still a bit ashy from the incident. He decided to take a shower.

        He stepped out of the shower room and was dressed normally. He proceeded to his room to get his armor. Before he could enter, he was stopped by a guard. "Sir," he said. Lance thought he was still a recruit. "I have a message for you. Here." The recruit handed Lance an envelope.

        "Did whoever give this to you say who he was?"

        "No sir, someone in a large jacket gave it to me."

        "Could you make out some of this pony's features?"

        "We'll, the only thing I could make out was that his hooves had some holes through them."

        "Holes...?"

        "Yes."

        Lance slowly began to think. It had to be the same person. Could it? Lance also began to wonder. Holes in this pony's hooves? He started to think. Then it hit him. A Changeling! He ran inside his room. The recruit looked in but left. Lance grabbed his armor, put it on and began to look through books. With all this ruckus, Princess Luna had woken up. She blinked and yawned until her vision cleared. She saw Lance looking through books and mumbling. She got up and walked to him. Now Lance's mumble was clear. He was saying, "Changeling."

        "Lance," Luna said. "Are thou okay?" Lance continued to look through the books seemingly ignoring Luna. He finally flipped to a page about Changelings. "Changelings?" Luna asked. "Yes. One of the recruits came here and gave me this envelope. He said it was given by a pony with holes in his hooves," said Lance.

        "What did the message say?"

        "I haven't read it yet."

        "I'd recommend thy to read it now."

        Lance nodded and opened the envelope. He read through it. He dropped the letter onto the table. He yelled, "We've got to tell Princess Celestia!" Before Princess Luna could respond, Lance had already ran out of his room and headed to the throne room. "Princess!" he cried out. But it was too late. Somehow, the Changelings had broken through the magical barrier and began to invade Canterlot. Ponies ran frantically through the streets. they all tried to get to safety. Guards and soldiers desperately fought to keep Canterlot. But failed. The Changelings began to swarm the castle.

        "Protect the Princesses!" yelled Shining Armor. The guards swung at the Changelings. They were outnumbered. Lance and a few other guards tried to keep the throne room safe. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were to be kept there until further orders. Suddenly, the door burst open. Shining Armor was tossed through it. He landed on Lance. He was critically injured. He was bleeding from his head down to his body. Amazingly, he still had strength to talk. "Lance, whatever you do, do not let them take the princesses. Keep them safe, Captain." Slowly, Shining Armor faded away. His last words to Lance was to command the troops and keep the Princess safe. But then two Changelings walked in.

        One looked like the queen. The other was male. But he seemed familiar. "Sparking Blade," said Lance. "So, you finally caught me," said Sparking.

        "How did you change into such a vile creature?"

        "Vile? How dare you!"

        Sparking Blade shot a bolt of light at Lance striking him in the head. The blow didn't kill him but caused a minor amount of bleeding. As soon as that happened, the other guards tried to help but were blown apart by the powers of Sparking Blade and the Changeling Queen. "Chrysalis," said Celestia. "You may have defeated our guards, but my sister and I shall not let it fall to your hands!" Luna and Celestia sprang forward both using their combined powers. But at the same time, so did Sparking Blade and Chrysalis. Lance layed there, dazed. All he could do was watch. Somehow, Sparking Blade and Queen Chrysalis managed to overpower the two and blew them back. "We are even powerful together than I thought, husband," said Chrysalis. Sparking nodded.

        Celestia slid back and hit her throne. But Luna wasn't as lucky. She was thrown through the window. Lance saw this happened and sprang into action. He jumped out the window and spread his metallic wings. He dove for the unconscious Luna. He managed to catch her. But he was moving to fast. He tried to slow himself. He managed to slow himself enough. But he was still going to impact the ground. He flapped his wings in an attempt to crash land. He hit the ground hard. He rolled through the ground and stopped. Luna flew off his back. Lance was breathing hard. If it hadn't been for the armor or his metallic wings, he could've been killed. He could feel he had broken something. He also has ripped most of his silver armor and his right wing. He slowly got up and felt the pain. He shrugged it off and went to Luna. He saw she was only scratched and bruised. He carried her on his back and travelled on. He looked back up and took one last look at Canterlot. He would have to help. He was their only hope. He turned his head and limped on. It wasn't over yet. Not while Sparking Blade was still breathing.