A Feast For A Queen

Chapters

I: Into The Depths.
II: In The Halls Of The Hive-Queen.
Epilogue.

I: Into The Depths.

"Captain! Captain Shining Armour!"

Growling, Shining Armour turned his head from the armoured wagon his soldiers were currently unloading, a look of aggravation fixed upon his muzzle at the sight of a pack of journalists swarming towards him, quills and note-books at the ready. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the wagon, telekinetically lifting a crate from the interior before setting on the ground, the contents giving off a heavy thud.

The captain and his soldiers were currently situated at the centre of the busy intersection on the main through-fare of Canterlot, unloading weapons and armour from the backs of two armoured wagons, their golden plating shimmering in the glorious sun-light of Celestia's holy sun. They'd barely pulled up, yet already members of the Canterlot Guard were forming a cordon across all four junctions of the cross-road, their imposing forms easily pushing back the aristocratic inhabitants of the city, many of whom watched with a mixture of curiosity and tangible fear; living as luxurious and care-free life as they did, the threat of trouble that was always implied by the presence of the Guard never failed to inspire in them a sense of unease.

Arrogant pigs. Shining thought to himself, pulling out two short-swords with his telekinesis and giving the blades several testing swings, measuring up their weight in his grip. If they'd done even a quarter of my duties...

The first of the journalists had reached him, a young mare with the characteristic look of an inquisitive spirit sparkling in her eyes as her quill, raised like some mighty battle-axe, stood poised to jot down any word that left her target's mouth. "Captain Shining Armour; what is the exact cause of the deployment of the Celestial Guard within the city walls?" Shining Armour didn't dean to instantly reply, deciding to keep the mare on-edge as he inspected one of the blades held in his grip, watching the light gleam across the polished steel.

"Her royal highness has deemed that the Celestial Guard shall perform a sweep of the Canterlot sewer system in search of any remaining changelings from the recent invasion." The reply was blunt, designed to provide an answer without giving away too much detail. In an ideal world, it would have served as sufficient explanation, but unfortunately, journalists were a damnably curious lot. Worse yet, others were now crowding around him.

"How long has the crown suspected the presence of changelings in the sewers?"

"How large is the swarm beneath the city. Should the citizens of Canterlot has cause for concern?"

"Did the crown intentionally keep this information from the public?"

"Are rumours of infiltrators in the city's infrastructure true?"

"What is your response to the allegations that you were a willing pawn of the changeling queen?"

The Celestial Guard suddenly came to a dead halt, armoured heads turning to gaze upon their captain; every warrior aware that a very, very dangerous line had been crossed. Of the events leading up to the changeling invasion of Canterlot on the day of his wedding, Shining Armour spoke very little. Truthfully, no one knew exactly how long Queen Chrysalis had been hidden within the walls of the palace, the lone individual infiltrating dozens of layers of security to take up personal residence within the hallowed walls of the structure. The incident was embarrassing enough for the Celestial Guard as it was, having served their vigil for well over two thousand years as ever-loyal protectors of the royal bloodline. But the fact that their captain, their leader, had been held within the clutches of the very being who had orchestrated the entire event, was a mark of shame upon the Guard that wouldn't soon fade.

For Shining Armour himself, the event had touched on a much more personal note; twisted his pride in a way that had caused a deep instability within his sense of self. Since he was barely a colt, Shining Armour had dreamed of nothing but serving in the ranks of the Celestial Guard, of being one of the elite few warriors who could serve the ancient bloodline of Equestria. From the moment he could walk, he'd practised marching. From the moment he could read, he'd spent days locked within his bedroom, pouring over texts that told of the great victories won by Equestria's armed forces. From the moment he'd be eligible for military service, his whole life had revolved of attaining that rare and singular honour; of being captain of the Celestial Guard. Many were the awards and accolades held by the stallion, and there wasn't a soldier alive who didn't know the name of Shining Armour: he was a hero, an icon, something to aspire to.

And yet that monster, that... thing, had played him like a foal.

On the matter of which transgression was worse, Shining didn't know where to begin. Which sin was the heaviest? The fact that he'd let the queen of an invasive species take up residence within his own chambers? That such a creature had come within an inch of ending the life of the monarch he was sworn to protect? The undeniable truth that under his very muzzle Chrysalis had taken the mare he was preparing to devote his life to, and then occupied her place so perfectly he'd never been able to tell? Or perhaps it was the fact that even when his sister Twilight, a mare he'd been able to trust implicitly for his whole life, had warned him that something wasn't right, he'd shrugged off her warning and rejected her very being?

Of the many regrets and failures that continuously circled within the mind of the captain, these were but a bare few: grains of sand upon the great beach of self-doubt, walked by a colt with broken pride.

"I have my orders," the captain answered with a calm, well composed voice, pulling two sheaths from the crate he had unloaded and strapping them across his flanks before sliding the two short-swords into them, the well-oiled steel releasing a faint shing. "For any further information regarding the crown's official stance of the threat level presented by the changeling swarm, you should contact the public department of information. That concludes the questions." Raising his voice of over the protests of the journalists, Shining Armour selected two of the Canterlot Guard from the perimeter boundary. "Get these ponies out of here, we've got work to do!"

Waiting several moments before the journalists were pushed back to the opposite side of the boundary, Shining Armour let out a high pitched whistle, nineteen of the Celestial Guard falling in around him. Though a full forty members of the Canterlot guard had been deployed to this specific junction, only ten members of the Celestial Guard, Shining included, were present. Though they wore similar regalia, the ponies forming the barrier against the civilians were only members of the Canterlot Guard, as denoted by the purple trim of their armour. As for the ten Celestial Guard present, they were only a single team, one of dozens spread across the city that were preparing to enter the sewers. Looking about himself, Shining confirmed he had each pony's undivided attention before pulling out a map from the crate behind him and laying it flat out on the ground, his soldiers forming a circle around it.

The map itself, formed of newly printed, crisp paper, and vibrant inks that had yet to fade away, was a depiction of the most up-to-date layout of the Canterlot sewers below them, criss-crossed with dozens of faint, curving lines and foot-notes in spidery script. Main tunnels were marked out by broad strokes of green ink, interconnected with small lines of orange representing tributaries. Cutting across several of the main lines were dashed lines of purple ink representing maintenance corridors, whilst larger reservoirs and filtering stations stood out as large, clearly defined circles amidst the spider's web of rainbow ink.

"Listen up, Celestial Guard," Shining barked in the most authoritive voice he could muster, the ponies instinctually snapping to attention. "Our target is this primary junction station here," Shining pointed to a particularly large circle towards the north-east of the map. "Intel from preliminary scans suggests that the changelings are congregating in this section of the tunnels, and if their aethereal signature is anything to go by, there's a least a few hundred down there. We enter from this access-hatch here." The hoof slid across the map to where several of the larger tunnels met in a octagonal junction, whilst the other pointed beyond the huddled soldiers to the large iron disk in the centre of the cross-roads. "Once in the tunnels we follow the main line until we reach sub-station B. From there we rendezvous with Bravo team and head into this tributary tunnel. We can't take the main routes, as it is more than likely the swarm will have those well scouted. However, if Intel is correct this tributary is all but unguarded, and should give us clear transit straight into the heart of the enemy."

Shining looked from the map to his soldiers, each nodding in confirmation. "Bear in mind, gentlecolts, that this may be our one chance to crush what's left of the swarm. If we mess this up, they'll either disperse again, and we'll never be able to track each one down, or, if we leave them too long, they may elect another queen and grow too large for us to stop. I want complete cohesion and co-operation, and if I see anyone stepping one hoof outta line, there's gonna be more than a court-martial! The Solar Princess has designated the eradication of the swarm as our top priority, and we shall not fail, shall we?"

"Sir, no, Sir!" came the unison reply.

"Good, now, one more thing. Intel has been patchy on this, but we've had several unconfirmed reports from scouts claiming to have sighted Queen Chrysalis within the sewers, and we all know what that means." A rumble went through the assembled soldiers, not a single word spoken, yet the air about them seemed charged with the realisation that they had an opportunity to avenge their damaged pride. "Should we encounter Chrysalis, it is imperative that she be detained and brought in for questioning. Bear in mind that she has incredible physical agility, strength, and hypnotic capabilities, so stay sharp down there. Should she not be encountered, than the operation shall continue as planned, and I don't wanna see anyone going out on a limb because they're jumping shadows. Now, move out!"

Breaking their huddle, the soldiers had the large access-hatch open within moments, two members of the Celestial Guard descending into the depths. For several long seconds, the soldiers top-side waited with baited breath before a flare of pink light from the bottom of the access-shaft signalled that the coast was clear. One by one, the Celestial Guard mounted the iron rungs of the ladder and began their descent, until only Shining Armour remained. Taking a brief moment before he to descended into the darkness, Shining Armour took one final, deep breath of fresh air; savouring the slight summer fragrance of wild-flowers before donning his helmet and swinging out onto the ladder, the rusted rungs clanging lightly beneath the weight of his armour, flakes of red metal hail coming loose with each step. Looking up, Shining Armour could just make out the blurred silhouettes of several guards up on the surface, the intense radiance of the holy sun behind them, before, with an action that seemed to take an eternity, they slid the access-hatch back into place.

Then, there was nothing but darkness.

Reaching the bottom of the ladder, Shining Armour flared his horn, sending a dull cyan illumination across everything within a two meter radius around him. The sewers were dark and foreboding, the rank stench of sewage much stronger within the depths of the subterranean network then when they had been at the top of the shaft. Save for the dim, aethereal glow of Shining Armour's horn and those of his soldiers, no light penetrated the depths; shadows draped across every surface, jealously guarding the detail of the tunnel's interior with a cover of dark obscurity. All about was silence; save for the faint movements of the armour plating worn by the soldiers who scanned about themselves warily, senses heightened by years of training to perform the hardest and most adverse operations. For a few moments none moved, each pony straining to hear even the slightest sounds from the encircling shadows, some sign that the enemy was nearby; watching and waiting.

When none came, the squad drew their blades, and by the silent command of their captain, began the mission.

They were making their way along a wide ledge on what seemed to be the left side of a large sewage tunnel, the landing beneath them big enough for five ponies to walk abreast. Though everything beyond the thin aura of light that surrounded them lay hidden in shadows, what the dim glow of the soldiers horns revealed did much to change the squads initial impression of their operating environment.

Canterlot had always been created with the expressed purpose of serving as the capital city of Equestria, an accolade that no mere conglomeration of urban zones could suffice. Following the tragic events of the Nightmare Heresy, and the subsequent abandonment of the Ancient Palace that had serviced the royal bloodline for close to four thousand years, the Solar Princess had commissioned the construction of a new city, a new capital, with expressed purpose of showcasing to the citizens of Equestria, and the rulers of the foreign nations, that theirs was still a nation of strength and pride. Built on the side of one of Equestria's most iconic peaks, Canterlot was a place of refinement, a place where everything from the access-hatches to the sewers, to the gas lamps that lined the boulevards, to even the public balconies on the city's rim, was to be considered a work of art in its own right. Truly the surface city was an incredibly beautiful place, but it wasn't only the sun-lit lands that the architects had seen fit to beatify.

Beneath the surface of Canterlot, the sewer system of the great city was a cavernous place; the tunnels and junction stations more akin to the great vaulted halls of a cathedral than any mere waste-removal system. At least fifteen meters above the squad, thick pillars supported a heavy, vaulted covering; gargoyles, sculpted in such a way that they seemed to be carrying the weight of the roof upon their backs, twisted faces leering down upon those who passed below. Beneath them, even the ledge they walked upon was yet another piece of ornamentation, blunt, angular geometrics carved into the stone's surface. The whole place seemed possessed of a much dark aura than the city above, a gothic mirror-image of darkness and containment in comparison to the light, airy city above.

The journey towards the rendezvous point with Bravo team went without incident, nought emerging from the shadows save for the occasional scurrying rat. None-the-less, the lack of the enemies presence didn't serve to dissuade the mounting tension that hung over the squad. Though each member of the Celestial Guard was a warrior honed by years, possibly decades, of intense training and heroic conflict, there seemed to be something that just wasn't... right, about this place, something that seemed to rouse a sense of dread in one's soul. Shining could feel it rising with each step he took, a strange sense of foreboding that simply refused to dissipate. Feeling fear wasn't something to be ashamed of, all soldiers knew that, but this was something different, something... artificial, as if it was being actively induced within him by something that didn't want him to pierce any deeper into the network.

Shining let a grim expression pass across his muzzle, such a thing could only mean one thing: the changelings were watching them.

"Tighten formation," he ordered, the squad pulling together a little closer, ears perked and listening. Though he knew that for now it was more than likely the swarm was simply monitoring his squad, Shining could tell by the warrior's instinct within him that it was simply a matter of time before the changelings realised that his squad was merely one team in a co-ordinated assault against the new hive, and that when such a realisation was reached by the swarm's hive-like consciousness, the changelings would not hesitate to launch their own desperate attack before the Celestial Guard became a threat to their new home. Though a full thirty minutes had passed since they'd initially entered the tunnel, there was still no sign of enemy activity; and yet still Shining Armour could feel the fur on his nape bristle with the uncomfortable sensation of being watched.

Of course, there was more than just changelings down here in the darkness; there wasn't any guarantee that the creature's watching them were the same enemies Shining and his soldiers had been deployed to eliminate. Many were the tales of wide-eyed sewer workers recounting terrifying beasts and unnatural life-forms that were said to dwell in the filth beneath the city, and though the aristocrats above continued to sneer at such stories, brushing them off and the ramblings of drunks and swindlers, Shining Armour knew that for every ten lies that made it to the surface, there was one nugget of truth. More than a few times he'd had the duty of de-briefing terrified workers returned from the depths, listening with a keen ear to stuttered claims of beasts bigger than ponies who walked on ten legs, or leviathans who dove beneath the filth of the sewage channels, simply waiting for the right moment to pounce on unsuspecting prey. Once or twice he'd even been given accounts of spirits drifting through the tunnels, aethereal, incorporeal beings who were said to hunger for the warmth and vitality of living flesh, doomed to an eternal limbo of soulless existence within the black labyrinth of the Under-City.

Most of the stories that reached the captain's ears he knew to be lies, but there always those rare few accounts who seemed genuine in their claims, and it was on those whispered warnings that Shining's mind dwelt.

They came upon Sub-Station B roughly five-hundred meters later, the sewage tunnel they were following suddenly opening up into a cavernous octagonal chamber at least fifty meters wide. At each corner rose a fat-bodied pillar, more leering gargoyles perched atop each peak, whilst in the very centre of the chamber, where the eight inflows met, a dais rose above the centre-point allowing anypony travelling the network to cross the streams and select a new path. Thankfully the thick miasma of the sewers seemed a little thinner here, the foul air fractionally more tolerable. As they entered, Shining Armour's gaze swept across the hall, taking in each detail within seconds, analysing and noting everything he saw, and everything he didn't.

There was no sign of Bravo Squad.

Perhaps if Shining Armour had been performing the operation with a unit of provisional garrison soldiers, the lateness of Bravo Squad wouldn't have surprised him given the sub-par standards he would have had to use. But he wasn't working with provisional garrison soldiers, he was working with the Celestial Guard, and the absence of Bravo squad instantly put him and his soldiers into a state of alert. In the Celestial Guard, there was no such thing being second-rate. The products of intense training, each member of the Celestial Guard was conditioned to be but a single cog in the engine of the Guard, each piece working together with those around it to ensure that every operation occurred with slick precision. That meant that everything worked in accordance with a strict time-table, each and every warrior knowing where he needed to be and when down to the last centimetre and millisecond. In the operations assigned to the Celestial Guard, there was no room for error, no cushion-zone for a slight miscalculation, either everything worked with stopwatch perfection, or nothing worked at all.

In such a state of affairs, the absence of Bravo Squad could only mean bad news. Second only to Shining Armour's own soldiers, Bravo Squad was headed by a strong willed stallion named Tiberius, a pony Shining almost attributed paternal pride too. Tiberius had been by Shining Armour's side since their induction into the guard, and had always served well as second in command, whether in the heat of battle or in the creation of new strategies, and was a pony Shining Armour knew to trust, which only served to make his absence even more worrying. The survivors of over twenty engagements, it was highly unlikely that Bravo Squad's absence was due to their leader's map reading ability, and unless nearly every single horror story he'd ever heard about the sewers proved to be true, Shining also doubted that something else was the cause behind their disappearance. That left only one explanation left, one that Shining hoped against hope wasn't true.

Bravo Squad had already fallen to the enemy.

"Listen up!" Shining Armour called out, the soldiers of his squad snapping to attention as they recognised the tone of his command, one he only ever used when he required absolute attention. "Given Bravo Squad's absence, we can only conclude that the soldiers of the unit have already fallen to the enemy, and as we can all guess, that changes thing." Turning, Shining Armour pointed down the tunnel directly opposite the one they had just left, its large entrance arch like the maw of some epic stone beast in the half-light of the shadowed chamber. "As of this moment, the operation is compromised. We shall continue onwards to the tributary tunnel and through it until we reach the perimeter of the hive, where we will regroup with the others and commence a withdrawal of the area. From this moment on, each and every one of us is to be considered within hostile territory, is that understood?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"Then let's move it, you colts!"

They crossed the chamber swiftly, the squad shifting to a brisk jogging pace. Originally, the plan had been to rendezvous with Bravo Squad in the Sub-Station before pushing onwards to the perimeter of the hive, where the combined might of two of the Celestial Guard's units would then be used to penetrate into the heart of the swarm, whilst the remaining units maintained the perimeter and purged anything that attempted to escape. Now, without Bravo Squad, it could only be assumed that the enemy had already mobilised, and it wasn't beyond consideration that the same could have also occurred with the other units already. For all they knew, the soldiers of Shining Armour's squad could have been the only living ponies in the whole damn network, the last remaining souls preyed upon by un-equine enemies. Shining cursed bitterly to himself.

Bloody Changelings.

If the operation was already comprised, Shining didn't even want to consider what implications such a situation implied. To begin with, the best case scenario was that Bravo Squad either really had only gotten lost, or they were the only casualties of the operation; worst case scenario was that they were the only ponies left alive, and they would never see the light of Celestia's holy sun ever again. An image came to Shining Armour's mind: that of himself and his squad as they fought wave upon wave of changelings, backs to the wall as they were slowly drowned through weight of numbers before their corpses were set upon by ravenous beasts seeking nourishment. The very idea that such a death awaited him sent shivers up the captains back, along with a strong resolve that he would not die down here, that he would return to the surface and make passionate love to his wife in celebration of his survival.

Yes, that was a much more preferable image than that of the changeling swarm.

The squad had moved roughly six-hundred meters down the new tunnel before Shining Armour's ears perked, the stallion's warrior instincts subconsciously identifying that something was amiss. His squad-mate's must have felt the same instinct, as the group came to a stop of unanimous accord, each warrior present straining to detect some sign of an enemy presence. At first Shining Armour could make out nothing; the rank air was stagnant, save for the faint trickling of the filthy stream beside the walk-way, and the baited breath of his companions. Tuning his instincts yet further, Shining felt his sensory awareness expand. Gradually, his auditory comprehension pushed outwards, his olfactory senses piercing the miasma of filth and muck of the sewer to pick out a greater variety of scents. As he pushed further and further outwards, Shining suddenly came across something that made his ears twitch: a bizarre cross between clicking and rustling, as if someone were knocking ceramic tiles together, a lot of them.

Instantly, Shining Armour felt the hairs on his nape rise as he spun back the way they had just come; his horn lowered and ready to unleash aethereal death. By reflex, the stallions of his squad copied the move exactly, presenting the darkness with an additional nine horns of magically charged ivory. For several painfully long seconds, the time seemed still, as if the whole universe was waiting with baited breath for whatever came next; even the strange rustling seemed to have stopped. Growling from the back of his throat, Shining Armour gazed into the darkness before charging his horn.

"Flare out."

A pulsing ball of cyan light leapt from his horn, streaming away into the darkness with a contrail of sparkling cyan particles. As it moved down the length of the tunnel it bathed everything in a five meter radius with cold, frigid light; painting the length of the tunnel with stark, anatomical clarity. For a good hundred or so meters the tunnel was empty, the sphere's light falling upon nothing save the bare, gothic ornamented walls, and the disgusting green filth of the open sewage channel. Briefly, as the sphere drew closer and closer to the entrance to the tunnel, Shining Armour allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief, admonishing himself for jumping at shadows. It must have been the air of the sewers filling him with dread; the dark, claustrophobic confines of the tunnel stirring his mind alive with images of dark creatures and vicious killers.

Then, the illusion of safety was shattered.

One moment the tunnel was empty and deserted, the next, the cyan sphere of light was sailing over the heads of a thick swarm of changelings. In the cold light of the small orb, their large, green eyes glinted like dull emeralds; the spheres devoid of any visible structures such as pupils of retina. There must have been dozens of the creatures, easily a hundred or more, the swarm of armoured beasts creeping forwards with uniform precision, as if driven by a collective consciousness unfathomable to the equine mind. As the cyan orb continued to reveal more changelings as it travelled onwards, Shining Armour felt something in his resolve gradually slip; the discipline instilled in him from years of training becoming lost beneath the weight of primal fear. As the first rank of changelings was revealed, the swarm came to a complete halt; empty eyes staring with unnerving intensity towards the small squad of ponies. The orb made it another twenty meters before dying, and the shadows leapt forwards to reclaim their realm.

Then, the air erupted with a piercing, blood-curdling shriek.

Shining Armour felt himself become locked in place, his mind at war with itself, even though he knew that with each moment spent in thought the swarm drew closer to ending the lives of himself and his squad. On one hoof, his fight reflex screamed at him to attack: to kill the changelings before they could kill him, with his years of experience in the field demanding he do just that. On the other side of the debate, the flight reflex railed against such a notion, knowing that the swarm was far too large for himself and his squad to take on, that if they attempted such a stand his earlier visions of dying beneath the face of the earth would become true, and he would never be able to make sweet love to his darling wife. For what felt like an eternity, the stallion was held on a knife-edge, teetering between suicidal attack and cowardly retreat, before his mind reached a compromise that snapped him out of his self-induced paralysis.

Fight or flight: why not both?

Charging his horn, Shining Armour released a bolt of energy from the ivory protrusion, sending a blinding lance of intense cyan light into the heart of the approaching swarm before turning and running for his life, the stallions of his squad following suit. From behind them came a cacophony of shrill screams and shrieks as the bolts hit home: searing flesh from bone, and vaporising anything that was left. Sprinting onwards, Shining didn't turn to see how much damage their attack had caused, his mind instead focussed on staying alive for as long as possible. Already adrenaline was surging through his body, muscles pumping and heart-rate climbing as millennia of survival instincts began to flood the stallions consciousness. Putting his sprinting legs into auto-pilot, the aloof, calculating portion of Shining's mind took stock of the situation, taking into account every factor and devising a plan for survival.

The squad was approximately five-hundred or so meters from the tributary tunnel that would have allowed them to access the newly-forming hive, had the mission gone to plan, of course. Though others would call taking such a route suicide now that they had roused the anger of the swarm, Shining knew that taking said route would be the best plan for survival. The current tunnel they were in was far too large to mount an effective defence; in order to do so they would have to find somewhere where they could funnel the changelings into an enclosed space, thus negating their clear numerical advantage, and given that the tributary tunnel was the only location for at least three kilometres in any direction where such a thing could be accomplished, Shining knew they didn't have any choice in the matter. It was either the tributary tunnel, or death. Glancing over his shoulder, Shining squinted into the darkness, trying to make out any sign of their pursuers.

Though the darkness was heavy, and unyielding, Shining could still make out the strange, alien vocalisations of the swarm that chased them. The noises were beyond strange; a bizarre conglomeration of clicking, chittering, and shrill squeals that seemed to act as the changelings substitute for cohesive language. The unnerving sounds echoed and re-echoed off the confining walls of the sewer, growing louder and louder until it seemed as if the ponies were surrounded by an endless swarm of unthinking beasts, simply running for an eternity through foul darkness. Behind them, the captain could make out not trace of the enemy, the faintest flitter of relief running through him as he realised they were out-running the swarm.

From the shadows, a changeling leapt from the darkness behind them, its chitinous body gleaming in the dim light of the squad's still-lit horns. Chittering with victory, the changelings armoured hooves grasped at the gold-plated form of Titus, a young guard bringing up the very rear of the squad's retreat. For a few moments the pegasus used his wings to successfully bat away the changelings attempts to seize him, before, with a sharp yelp, the changeling managed to sink its fangs into the soft, feathered flesh of the pony's wings. A look of almost surreal disbelief seemed to cross the guards muzzle, as if he couldn't quite believe that this was how he would die, before his hooves caught on the floor and brought him toppling to the ground, his cry for help swiftly drowned beneath the chittering cries of the swarm.

There was nothing that could be done for him, the squad pushed onwards.

For what seemed an age they simply ran, pushing further onwards into the darkness whilst their pursuers kept pace. Following Titus' loss, a further two members of the squad had gone down, brought low by the changelings and dragged to the ground to provide a feast of flesh for the ravenous hunters. The shame of knowing that three of his soldiers had died down here, in the cold, unforgiving darkness of the sewers, burnt within Shining Armour's soul, only made worse by the fact that in the frenzy of the squads escape he'd been unable to make out exactly who was gone, the missing ponies no more than faceless blurs as he fled for his life. No pony could fault him for what had happened: the changelings had them out-manoeuvred, and out-numbered, plus, every soldier knew the risks entailed with military service, yet still Shining Armour couldn't help but feel shame at his inability to protect his squad; the soldiers who'd looked to him for guidance and leadership.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tributary tunnel emerged from the shadows, appearing as if it had been hidden from the world until the very moment Shining and his squad stumbled upon it. Turning as he reached entrance, Shining Armour paused long enough to push his surviving soldiers inside the shadowed entrance of the tunnel before diving in himself, telekinetically drawing his swords as he rolled across the hard floor; rising with his blades bared and instincts ready for combat. The tunnel was only two meters wide, the perfect length for his short-swords; as Shining noted when he brought both blades down on the first changeling to try following after him. Thick, greenish-black ichor stained the walls, the dead body dropping with a dull thump as Shining used an aethereal blast of power to send another two of the beasts flying from the tunnel and into the river of filth just beyond the entrance.

Knowing that even with such an advantage he still would be unable to hold off the swarm indefinitely, Shining Armour began to slowly pull back; forcing the changelings to pay for each surrendered inch with yet another of their aberrant lives. In the space of only twenty seconds Shining had already managed to kill thirteen of the creatures, both his blades and the entire front of his body stained with the vicious fluid of changeling blood. Hacking down on a neck with enough force to nearly severe the attached head entirely, Shining Armour felt his ears twitch as cries of surprise and desperation from his soldiers reached him over the din of combat; pausing long enough to repulse the oncoming hoard with another blast of magic, Shining turned and galloped as fast has his hooves would carry him, the swarm not far behind.

He was running through utter darkness, the light from his horn too dim, and his movements too frantic, to allow him to be able to see more than a few meters ahead of him; the world reduced to the black stone-work of the walls, roof, and ceiling. Behind him came the ever-present chittering, ripples of fear and disgust running through the captain's body as he felt fanged maws try to seize at the errant fibres of his tail. Charging straight-ahead, Shining suddenly felt the walls around him disappear, the unicorn emerging into a wide, circular room. Calling out for his brothers, it took Shining Armour's mind several moments to process the scene that was suddenly laid bare before him, so unexpected and shocking was its composition.

His brothers were defeated.

All about the chamber's dusty floor, dotted here-and-there in a discarded fashion, were the armoured forms of his squad-mates, their bodies still, and unresponsive. In the dull light of his horn, Shining Armour couldn't tell if they were dead or alive, his legs locking into place with shock as he tried to rationalise what could have possibly done this. A movement from the very centre of the room caught his attention, drawing the unicorn's eyes towards a black, armoured form that stood, tall and elegant, with its back to him. Held in the creatures telekinetic grip, one of the Celestial Guard, floating within an aura of sickly neon green, struggled feebly, the stallion fighting with every ounce of his strength as the... thing leaned in before sinking two needle sharp fangs into the pony's flesh. The guard squealed like a young colt, legs twitching before falling deathly still; the creature drawing out the pony's essence for several long moments before its aura dissipated, and the stallion fell lifelessly to the ground. With slow, unhurried movement, the creature turned to face Shining Armour, presenting the visage of a being that had haunted his dreams for months.

Chrysalis; hive-queen of the changeling swarm.

The moment she came fully about, Shining Armour felt something with his soul wail in despair, the colt taking a half-step backwards in shock and fear. The hive-queen before him smirked, the expression a terrifying mixture of playfulness and hunger. His mind screamed for him to run, to turn back and die before the encroaching swarm rather than face the terrible beauty stood before him. Yet even as his instincts sought to escape, Shining Armour found himself, unable to move, hopelessly transfixed by the intense, emerald gaze of the hive-queen. Chrysalis took a step towards Shining Armour, then another, then another, until she was so close the captain could feel her breath upon his muzzle, the enticing fragrance causing shivers to run down his spine. Smiling cruelly, Chrysalis leaned in until her muzzle was but inches from Shining Armour's ear, the colt trembling beneath her gaze.

"Hello, my love," she whispered in a perfect imitation of Mi Amore Cadenza. Shining Armour felt something within his resolve come loose, slipping away until it had vanished into oblivion.

And then he was falling, and falling, and falling, and falling.

II: In The Halls Of The Hive-Queen.

"Rise, my love, it is time to pay homage to your queen."

The words pierced through the murk and darkness, jolting Shining Armour to wakefulness near instantly. The stallion's breaths came shallow and quick, his whole body feeling exhausted, as if he had run a hundred miles in the space of an instant. Groaning, the colt raised a hoof to his head, where a splitting head-ache threatened to tear his skull in half. Yet as the limb moved, something brought it to a jarring halt, the gentle clinking of chains suddenly informing the captain that has hoof was bound. Springing from his stupor, the stallion opened his eyes fully, taking in his surroundings with a clear and tactical mind.

From what he could make out, it seemed as if he was somewhere within the changeling hive, and not as an invader. He was in the centre of a small cell, legs tucked beneath him, that was roughly ten meters by ten meters, stalagmites and stalactites jutting from the floor and ceiling, strange, perfectly circular holes bored straight through their structures. Everything seemed to be comprised of a deep, toxic green coloured material that at once seemed like rock and chitin, the smooth surfaces glinting in the dim light of the chamber. Indeed, it seemed as if even the material of the hive itself was reminiscent of insectile life. Giving his head a quick shake, Shining's mind was already calculating, formulating a plan of escape and factoring every variable that may be detriment to his goals. Firstly, he needed to find out if there were any other survivors, and once that was done, he needed to reach the surface and inform the Solar Princess that the threat lurking beneath the very roads of the capital city had been grossly underestimated. Nodding to himself in conformation, Shining Armour moved to rise, muscles tensing as he pushed himself back to his hooves.

He made it roughly an inch off the ground before a hoof planted itself on his back and pushed him back to the ground.

A weight suddenly settled itself upon the captains back, the sensation of smooth, polished chitin against his fur causing a shiver to run up the length of his spine. Grunting, Shining Armour felt a muzzle just beside his right ear, warm breath tickling at his flesh. "Ah, ah, ah, my love," came a voice, the same that had woken him earlier. "I'm afraid I can't have you leaving just yet..." Shining Armour didn't need to be told who the voice belonged to, a growl of anger rising at the back of his throat as he replied.

"Chrysalis."

A giggle came in return. "Of course, my love. Who else would it be?"

The changeling queen giggled once more, her hot breath causing the stallion's ear to twitch before she opened her maw and engulfed the very tip, her sharp teeth nibbling the tender flesh ever so gently. A shiver ran through Shining Armour at the sensation, a gentle, soothing tickling emanating from the ear that caused the faintest groan to pass his lips. Chrysalis giggled at the noise, her tongue lapping at the ear's tip for a few moments before she pulled away, though she left behind the faint echo of the tickling sensation behind. Smiling to herself, the queen raised a hoof and gently began to pet Shining Armour's mane, the stallion himself resolutely staring straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge any of the changelings movements.

"So, how has my husband been since our wedding? I've been a good wife and waited, but it's disappointing that it took my stud so long to finally return to my side."

Shining Armour felt anger rise in his stomach at the changelings audacity, gritting his teeth as he fought the urge to give a bitter reply. The debacle of his wedding was something that had troubled the stallion for the long months since its occurrence, and in more ways than the tarnish it left upon his pride. Though Cadence had long since forgiven him for his unwitting part in the changelings scheme, consoling her husband with reassurances that the love she felt for him could withstand even the insanity of Discord, Shining Armour had been finding it much harder to forgive himself. The knowledge that for months he'd shared his bed with a changeling, and treated her with love, kindness, and unwavering devotion, all whilst his true wife had been locked within the crystal-catacombs beneath the palace, cold, starving, frightened, and alone, was something that burned within his consciousness day and night without end; even his very dreams haunted by the leering visage of the Daemon he'd thought to be his wife.

If only such knowledge was his sole sin, yet Shining Armour had emerged from the encounter with a much different, and specific form of knowledge: carnal knowledge of the changeling queen.

"Do you still think about it?" Chrysalis asked with her mocking, yet gentle voice, her hoof idly playing with a lock of his mane. "I do. I have shared chambers with griffons and nobles, mares and stallions, yet I have never met another being as virile as yourself. As a changeling, it is my function in life to extract love from others, often physically, yet you proved yourself to be quite the match for my innate talents, my dear husband. So much so that I've even found myself yearning for your touch. True, you were an unwitting pawn in my scheme, yet it seemed that even under my influence there was no way to dampen you spirit. Cadence, if I do say so myself, is a very lucky mare to have a stallion such as yourself."

"You leave my wife out of this!"

"Oh, have I touched a sore spot?" Once more the changeling let out her infuriating giggle, the sound gentle and melodic, yet tainted with a heavy undercurrent of devious intent. "What's the matter Shiny? Does your new wife not meet your expectations?" The changeling queen smirked, lowering her muzzle until it was alongside that of her estranged lover. From the moment she had first laid eyes upon him, the changeling queen had always found admiration in the stallion's strong form: the sharp, well defined features of his face, the strong jaw-line of his muzzle, the excellently toned and sculpted form of his muscles. Though she had bedded hundreds throughout her life, Chrysalis wasn't lying when she had stated that Shining Armour had been one of the most fervent and passionate lover's she'd ever had the fortune of encountering. Pausing for a moment to revel in the look of anger and shame that marked her prisoner's muzzle, Chrysalis leaned in and ran her tongue across the stallion's cheek, Shining trying to pull away sharply, yet held in place by his bonds.

"I can hardly fault her for being unable to match our performances, after all, there are very few creatures in the world capable of matching the sensual talents of a changeling." Smirking at the look of anger that flashed across Shining's muzzle, Chrysalis slowly lifted her hoof from his mane, reaching up to gently place its rim against the very tip of Shining Armour's horn. "As a changeling, my sole sustenance in this life is the love of others, that delicious, honey-dew emotion you ponies give so willingly. Of course, there are many ways to elicit such a thing from you creatures, and to ensure I am always fed my whole body has evolved many little tricks and skills should I ever need to draw out such love physically. Going against such an arsenal, how can even the Princess of Love hope to match the talent of a changeling queen?"

When Shining Armour had felt Chrysalis lay her hoof upon the tip of his horn, he had felt himself freeze with dread, both knowing and terrified of what was to come. Pausing long enough to let her prisoner know what was coming, Chrysalis began to slowly drag her hoof down the ivory length beneath it, grinning as a low moan of arousal and shame slipped past Shining Armour's lips. She'd originally noted the unicorn's love for such horn play during their first night together, and it was something that she had employed in every subsequent encounter. Though not exactly a rarity amongst unicorns, the sensitivity of Shining's horn seemed greater than that of others she'd performed such a similar action to, and it was a weakness she knew how to exploit to the fullest. "Mmm, do you like that, my love? Do you like it when your wife plays with your horn?"

Gasping for breath, Shining felt a wave of shame rise in his soul as his cheeks began to flush a vibrant rose-red, unable to resist the stimulation Chrysalis' actions brought to his body. "Y-you're not my wife...!" he managed weakly before another moan escaped him, Chrysalis continuing to grin.

"You were mine once, my love. But I can please you in ways your wife couldn't even imagine. My body is irresistible, my love, the product of generations of adaptation to create the ultimate form of sensual delight." Moving up to Shining's horn, Chrysalis lowered her hoof before replacing it with her mouth, suckling upon the ivory protrusion whilst her tongue skilfully slathered up and down its length. The effect was near-instant, Shining Armour letting out a deep, husky moan as his body tensed, electrical shivers of delight racing up and down his spine whilst diffusing into each limb. Grinning, Chrysalis began to bob her head slowly up and down the horn, drawing it deeper into her moist maw before slowly retreating, much to her unwilling partners dismay.

"I can mould your body like clay in my hooves, Shining. I can deliver you to ecstasy over and over with but a single hoof; there is no limit to the ways I can gratify your every desire," the changeling queen stated as she pulled away, the stallion beneath her shivering slightly as the cool air of the cell met the stimulated length of his horn. Already, Chrysalis knew, his body was responding, his cock growing hard beneath him as it reacted to the stimulation she provided, even as her own began to prepare for the feast that was to come. The changeling cooed as protective plates between her hind legs began to partially retract, the hive-queen moaning as she began to slowly grind her now-exposed need against the hard ridge of her captive's spine, each little bump pressing against her sex with a delightful burst of sensation.

Shining Armour was panting beneath her, his cheeks flushed with shame and arousal. This was wrong, he knew, this was beyond wrong. From the moment he'd been reunited with his true wife, Shining had promised to never commit an infidelity ever again, to never give to another mare the affection and attention that was promised to his one true love. Yet here he was, trapped beneath the warm body of the very creature who had played with his heart and mind for sport, and worse yet, his body drew arousal from the administrations of his captor. His horn almost seemed to throb from the stimulation Chrysalis had given him, screaming out for more even as his mind protested against the very principle of such an action. He opened his mouth to protest against this, to say something that demonstrated his defiance, but as he did so, Chrysalis took his horn into her mouth once again, and all that passed the stallion's lips was a hoarse moan of desire. Bobbing her head rapidly in quick succession, Chrysalis tormented the male beneath her for a few moments longer, savouring each and every little squeak that her captive gave.

Yet, as much as she enjoyed tormenting the stallion, she knew that there were more pressing concerns to see to, mainly the gratification of her own needs.

Raising her body off of Shining Armour, Chrysalis gazed down upon the captive stallion, taking in every inch of his form; from his flushed cheeks and dual-toned mane, to the faint stain her arousal had left across the length of his back, right down to his muscular hind legs, muscles twitching as they responded to the growing need between them. Seizing Shining Armour in her telekinetic grip, Chrysalis rolled him onto his back, the cell filling with the faint clinking of his binding chains. From this angle, his muscled form served only to drive her arousal yet further, her eyes greedily drinking in the chiselled definition of his barrel and chain-bound fore-legs, before drifting downwards to what she truly hungered for, Shining's throbbing and impressive cock.

On the other side, Shining Armour gazed up at his captor through a haze of confusion and desire, the two emotions warring with each other as they fought for dominance. Chrysalis towered over him from this angle, her long, spindly legs rising from the ground up to her lithe body, itself armoured in dark green-black chitin plating. There was something almost magnetic about her face, every feature formed with perfect symmetry. Her large, emerald eyes, half-lidded, looked down upon him with an intensity that was both unnerving and highly arousing, her long, serpentine tongue slowly licking her lips as she inspected his cock, admiring every hard, throbbing inch of his length. Her mane was a collection of long, cascading locks of deep blue, swaying with each movement the queen made, whilst around her abdomen was a natural corset of neon green chitin plates, a pair of insectile, iridescent wings rising from her back, a faint buzzing emanating from them with each faint movement. Jutting from the centre of her forehead was a twisted excuse for a horn, little more than a jagged shard of onyx bone; more like an implement of torture than a focus for aethereal abilities.

Though he should have found such a creature disgusting, Shining Armour couldn't help but feel his arousal increase as he looked up at the form of the changeling queen, his cock twitching with need.

Somewhere inside of him, a voice was screaming out in resistance, demanding that he end this travesty and stand up. What was happening here violated every vow and moral that he'd been taught to hold sacred since he'd been young enough to even understand the concepts of right and wrong. Grinning a devilish smile, Chrysalis leaned into him, moving closer and closer until her muzzle was but an inch away from his; her vibrant eyes captivatingly intense. Shining felt the voice wail in despair, its pleas for action diminishing, though still they refused to die. For several eternal seconds, the pair seemed frozen together: Shining Armour transfixed by the emerald gaze of his captor, aroused and fearful, whilst Chrysalis simply savoured the erotic rush the manipulation of another being gave her. Shining's mind willed him to do something, anything that would demonstrate his resistance and defiance. But even as his thoughts struggled to organise themselves, Chrysalis closed the gap and kissed him.

Shining Armour felt his resistance melt before her.

The kiss was simple at first; nothing more than a chaste peck similar to the small kisses he gave Cadence whenever he got the chance. The changeling's lips tasted sweet, a mixture of honey and summer air, intoxicating and comforting in equal measure. Images flashed through the stallion's mind, visions of all the moments he'd shared such intimacy with the imposter that brought shame to his soul. For several seconds longer Chrysalis held him upon her lips, before she gradually began to deeper the kiss, her mouth gently parting with his, whilst her long, serpentine tongue slinked into his mouth and wrapped around his own. At once the sweetness of the embrace intensified, Shining Armour reacting as something in his mind ordered him to seek out more of the sweetness, to take in the changelings essence. With slow hesitant movements, his tongue began to push back against Chrysalis', a faint vibration racing down the changeling's tongue as she giggled at the stallion's attempts to match her.

As the kiss continued to deepen, the two beings fighting against each other with sensual instinct, Shining felt something within his soul beginning to slip away. Already he could feel that faint voice of resistance drowning beneath the delicious tide of Chrysalis' tongue, even his own will unable to resist the talents of the changeling queen. He became acutely aware of a thick musk permuting the cell; its scent rich and intoxicating him further with each breath he took. Chrysalis smiled as she felt her captive's passion begin to rise, the stallion's instinct within his soul reacting to the presence of a mare who was ready and willing. Little could poor Shiny know that his fate had been sealed the moment her lips had been placed against his. Many were the tricks and traps of the changelings, every aspect of their being designed to attract the attentions of those they could feed off.

Even now hormones and chemicals were seeping into the stallion's system, causing, with each lap of his tongue and snorting breath taken, Shining Armour to slip deeper into the vices of lust and desire. Even for a soldier as strong-willed as he, there was no way to resist the changeling's advances, or fight against the urges of his own instincts. Pulling away, Chrysalis allowed her grin to widen as she looked down upon the face of her captive stallion, their lips connected by a gossamer thin link of saliva. Shining Armour gazed up at her with an expression both of adoration and confusion; his eyes glowing a luminous, pale green, barely the faintest hint of resistance behind them. Chrysalis allowed herself a faint giggle, placing a perforated hoof against his cheek and gently stroking his soft fur.

"I have waited months for this," Chrysalis whispered in a breathy voice, her hoof tracing down the stallion's barrel at glacial speed. Though Shining Armour was under the effects of her own potent aphrodisiac, behind the miasma of lust Chrysalis knew that some part of the captain continued to rail against what was unfolding, watching with mute horror as he was powerless to stop the queen, his queen, from taking what she wanted, and she intended to toy with the small fraction of consciousness to her heart's content. "I am a changeling, I have bedded hundreds in my life, Shiny. Some have been excellent bed-fellows, others no more than colts fated to premature release. But you, my love, you are something much, much different. These past few months I have experienced sensations I have never encountered before, I have found myself... yearning for your touch..."

Chrysalis' hoof met the tip of Shining Armour's cock, the stallion's fleshing twitching sharply at the sensation as Chrysalis gripped it in her hoof and began to slowly stroke its length, her grip feather-light, teasing at the desire of the colt beneath her. Already her pheromones were stimulating the stallion's body, Chrysalis bringing her other hoof to Shining's twin orbs, where she knew the production of his precious seed was already increasing at an exponential rate. As the changeling hive-queen began to gently fondle with his orbs, Shining Armour let a faint, husky groan emanate from his throat, his hips weakly attempting to thrust upwards into the changeling's hooves. "I have felt desire before, my love, but never what you instilled within me. I find it harder and harder to continue without your affections, my body driven to seek out satisfaction that only you can provide. Many are the drones I have sacrificed to bring you here, but looking at you now, I would gladly sacrifice a hundred fold more for this very moment."

Raising the hoof that was stroking the stallion's cock right up to the very tip, Chrysalis rested the tip of Shining Armour's cock within one of the many perforations of her foreleg, the inner rim of the hole slick and sticky with fluids that continuously seeped from within her chitin-armoured body. Turning her attention to her captive's muzzle, Chrysalis watched with rapt focus as she slowly sunk her hoof down the length of Shining Armour's cock, the impressive length twitching rapidly within the warm, moist confines of the ring, whilst the hive-queen took in every beautiful micro-expression that flickered across his face. Reaching the very base of his length, Chrysalis marvelled at the look of pained ecstasy that marked the captain's muzzle, his throbbing cock begging already for release, yet the stimulation provided too little for him to reach his threshold. Giggling to herself, Chrysalis began to slowly pump her hoof up and down Shining's length, fucking the stallion with her fore-leg's perforation.

Shining Armour let out a mute whine at the sensation of his cock being trapped within the tight, hot, and moist confines of the leg-hole, Chrysalis replying by slowly increasing the speed of her strokes. The sensation was unlike anything he'd felt before, disturbingly unique in the way the inner muscles of the ring seemed to constrict and squeeze at his cock, all to similar to a mare's sex, and yet lacking all similarities simultaneously. The speed of the strokes began to gradually increase, Chrysalis slowly working at the stallion's excitement, driving his lust further, yet not quite providing enough stimulation to provide him with release. The cock trapped within her perforation twitched rapidly, Shining Armour grunting as his hips began to weakly thrust into her hoof. Simultaneously, the hive-queen's other hoof continued to fondle his orbs, the objects themselves having become plump and heavy with their building load of seed.

Looking back to Shining Armour's muzzle, Chrysalis felt a fresh surge of excitement soak her sex as she saw the rising flush that stained the captains cheeks, the stallion gazing up at the darkness of the ceiling with pained, pleasured, passive eyes; the luminous green tint deepening as he sunk further into her embrace. Moving the hoof fondling the stallion's orbs to his thigh, gently rubbing up and down the firm, muscular limb, Chrysalis leaned into the stallion's shaft and took a long, deep draught of his musk, moaning faintly as the scent of that which she had longed tickled at her senses. "Shiny," she whispered, the stallion's ears twitching as he heard her voice, "Look at me."

Instantly, Shining Armour felt a compulsion settle over his body, the stallion slowly raising his head until his gaze met that of the hive-queen slowly working his cock. Chrysalis nearly lost control of herself when she saw the tell-tale signs on the captain's muzzle, signs that he was breaking beneath her ministrations. "Do you like it when your wife plays with your cock, my love? Do you like it when I service your needs?"

A faint whimper slipped past the stallion's lips, Shining Armour hesitating for the briefest of moments before his head nodded a fraction of an inch. "Yes..."

"Tell me you like it."

"I... I like it when you play with my... with my cock."

"Again!"

"I like it when you play with my cock!"

"Good boy..."

Leaning in, Chrysalis brought her muzzle over the very tip of Shining Armour's throbbing cock, her hoof lowering itself to the very base of his shaft before constricting ever so slightly. Shining groaned with both pain and pleasure as he felt the hive-queen's hot, sweet breath tickle at the tip of his shaft, his cock twitching as it begged for mercy, to be allowed to release.

"I think someone deserves a reward."

Without hesitation, Chrysalis opened her maw wide and engulfed the stallion's cock, savouring each and every inch of flesh as she slowly sunk the stallion into her throat, right until her muzzle brushed against her hips. A long, dull groan leaked from the captain's throat, briefly attempting to buck his hips into the moist warmth of the changeling's throat before the changeling's hoof gripped more tightly around the base of his cock; an implicit threat that unless he remained still, there would be consequences. For several long, blissful seconds, Chrysalis held him there in her mouth, the muscles of her throat rhythmically contracting down the stallion's length his sensitive tip twitching in delight at the sensation. Pulling herself back up at glacial speed, Chrysalis began to slowly bob her head along the length of Shining Armour's shaft, revelling in the sensation of each inch as it past her gullet and down her throat.

Shining Armour groaned once more, unsure how long he would be able to last beneath such ministrations. A red-blooded stallion, Shining Armour was hardly a virgin in any sense of the word, and more than capable of holding his own in a game of sexual stamina. More than a few times Cadence had confessed her feelings of inferiority in comparison to his own skill, and it was hardly a rare occurrence for the stallion to have to finish himself off after a bout of passionate love-making with his wife, the mare herself too exhausted and sexual gratified to even move. But whilst in his own chambers he was lord and master of the marriage-bed, here he was simply a servant of the hive-queen, of the true regent of sensual pleasures. For some reason he couldn't identify, the idea of failing before the eyes of his queen, of reaching a premature release before the changeling had fully gratified herself, filled him with an odd sense of fear and shame.

As if she could sense this, Chrysalis giggled, the sound translating into an incredible vibration down the length of her throat. As if such a sensation wasn't enough to threaten Shining Armour with a premature release, the hive-queen's long, serpentine tongue began to wrap around what was available in her maw, slowly stroking the stallion's cock even as her throat continued to rhythmically contract around the tip. Shining arched his back, a harsh grunt ripping from his throat as the pleasure became too much, his cock twitching and throbbing with such virility that it became painful. His breaths began to become more shallow as he felt himself rush towards his climax, the bliss stained by the knowledge that he would fail before his partner. For several long seconds he could do nought but groan loudly as Chrysalis brought him closer and closer, stimulating the stallion until she had brought him to the very brink, Shining gasping for breath and his eyes jammed shut as he reached his peak.

Chrysalis abruptly pulled herself from his cock.

A sharp, pleading cry tore itself from Shining Armour's muzzle as the blissful peak of his climax was suddenly denied, the perforation of Chrysalis' hoof constricting until it painfully tight, preventing him from releasing his essence prematurely. The hive-queen allowed herself a laugh of cruelty as she watch Shining Armour's muzzle contort in an expression of absolute agony, denied his climax and unwillingly forced to withhold his release. The stallion's limbs tensed in anguish for felt like an eternity whilst his cock twitched, unable to cross its threshold without any further stimulation. Opening his eyes, Shining Armour gazed up with pleading eyes at the cruel hive-queen before him, wordlessly begging for her to end his agony. Leaning in, a devilish smile still fixed upon her muzzle, Chrysalis allowed her tongue to gently lap against the tip of the pleading stallion's cock; enough to send his sensitive nerves into spasms, but not enough to bring him to a climax.

"Ah, ah, ah," she admonished in a condescending tone, her tongue spiralling around the throbbing length, much to Shining Armour's delight and anguish. "You may not have your release yet, my love. I have still to achieve my own bliss."

Pulling her hoof up the length of Shining's shaft, Chrysalis removed the stallion's cock from her perforation with a faint pop, the captain groaning as his cock somehow managed to harden even further, the turgid length twitching as the cool air of the cell caressed his shaft. Pulling herself to her hooves, Chrysalis planted both her fore-legs on either side of Shining Armour's head, her eyes locking with his as a fiendish, cruel smile marked her muzzle. The hive-queen leaned in, capturing the stallion in a brief, passionate kiss of lust and desire, forcing more of her hormones into his system, before pulling away, Shining attempting to follow after her before a firm push of her hoof returned his back to the cold floor. Lowering her hind-legs, Chrysalis let out a faint whine as the protective chitin plates that guarded her sex fully retracted, exposing her hot, dripping sex to the cool air of the cell, before she began to grind against Shining Armour's throbbing cock, the hot, firm length of flesh spreading the plump lips of her sex.

"Tell me you want me..." the hive-queen whispered as she slowly stroked the stallion's cock with her dripping need, her sex winking against his shaft. Shining Armour could do little but groan in response. "Tell me how much you want me. Beg for me to ride you..."

"Chrysalis..." Shining Armour began.

"My queen," The changeling corrected, a particularly long groan leaving her muzzle as she brought herself right up to the tip of Shining Armour's cock; her sex winking against the flared head as she pushed it within her ever-so-slightly.

"My queen... please... I'm begging you..." Shining Armour managed, his eyes threatening to tear up at the sensation of his cock being on the very verge of penetrating the female atop him. "Please... end my agony, I-I... I need it." Grinning, Chrysalis savoured the sweet taste of victory before slowly leaning back on the stallion's cock.

"If that is what my husband desires..."

In an instant, Shining Armour's cock spread the plump lips of the changeling's sex wide apart, the hive-queen letting out a loud, feminine cry as she took the stallion straight to her core, her sex coiling around it with expert skill, Chrysalis in direct control of each and every muscle. Taking panting, shallow breaths, Chrysalis took a few moments to savour the sensation of Shining Armour spreading her apart right to her very core; finally sating the yearning desire she'd felt towards the stallion for months. Though he'd mounted her, and she'd ridden him, many times during their brief time together prior to the invasion, there was something that seemed infinitely more desirable and pleasurable in performing such an action in her natural form, forgoing all disguises and ruses to indulge in simply pure, unadulterated lust. Already she could feel a trickle of love begin to slowly seep into her body through the stallion's shaft, the perfect addition to what was about to unfold.

Loosening her grip on Shining Armour's cock just enough to move, Chrysalis began to slowly pull herself up the hard, throbbing length buried deep within her; rising until the flared tip of the shaft threatened to leave her sex, before bringing her toned, smooth rump down on the stallion's cock with as much force as she could muster. Both partners let out gasps of lust as Shining was re-hilted within the body of his queen, her sex coiling around him once more as it milked his shaft, attempting to draw out his precious seed. Within the stallion's mind, all attempts at resistance had finally died, the captain finally surrendering before the devious sensuality of the hive-queen. Concerns such as marriage and infidelity seemed too distant for him to care about anymore, thoughts that were too abstract and removed from the immediate reality of Chrysalis's velvet flesh to warrant any of his attention.

The pace of the rutting began to gradually increase, Chrysalis letting out a sharp squeal of delight every time she took Shining Armour within her most sacred place, permitting him to pierce into the very depths of her core and surrender with each forceful drop a little more the sweet, honey-dew loved she craved of him. There was something infinitely unique about the stallion's love that titillated her senses to no end. She had dined on the affections of almost every creature on the face of Equestria, and yet somehow this lone stallion had managed to reach the fore-front of her desires, driving her, a hive-queen, to actively seek him out, and now that she had him trapped between her toned thighs, Chrysalis had no intention of releasing him until she had extracted every last drop of love and seed from the stallion.

Shining Armour let out a sharp grunt each time he hilted within the changeling queen, his mind lost in a delirium of lust as the changeling's dripping sex clutched fiercely at him; beads of her feminine desire running down his throbbing length and staining his thighs. The luminous tint of his eyes had reached full intensity, the stallion's mind swamped with hormones to the point he could register little other than the sharp lances of pleasure, and also pain, that raced up his spine with each drop Chrysalis made onto his begging length. A low, droning buzz filled the air as the hive-queen's insectile wings began to flutter with each hard thrust, still more squeals and yelps of desire leaping from her throat as the changeling rode her husband.

"Shining!" she called out after a particularly harsh thrust, her body dropping onto the stallion's shaft at such an angle that it grinded against the small bundle of nerves just within her sex, causing an intense, involuntary contraction around his cock. "Call me your queen!"

"You are... my... queen," Shining managed between shallow gasps for air, his mind clouded to the point that it was difficult for him to formulate a reply that wasn't yet another guttural groan. "You are... my... true queen..."

"Do you serve me?"

"Yes... with all my heart..."

"Tell me I'm pretty!"

"My queen, you are... radiant... beautiful... I can't... I can't begin..." Another deep, masculine groan slipped from Shining's muzzle, the stallion acutely aware that he was reaching the end of his tether.

"Call me your wife! Tell me you love me!"

As the words slipped from her muzzle, Chrysalis realised she had never intended to utter such words in the first place; they had simply slipped out of their accord. Rising once more, the changeling brought herself down hard, the muscles of her sex coiling around the stallions shaft with such force that for several long seconds she was unable to rise again, forcing her to remain with the stallion's cock fully hilted within her inner-most core. Briefly she wondered what could have possibly driven her to make such a demand, yet as she looked down upon Shining Armour as fresh surge of pure, unadulterated love flooded into her, the stallion gazing up at her with genuine adoration.

"I love you... my queen... my wife... my gorgeous... gorgeous wife..."

It was too much.

Raising herself one last time, Chrysalis dropped herself down on Shining Armour's cock one final time with as much force as she could muster, gasping with intense pleasure as she felt the stallion's flared head pump into the entrance to her oviduct. The muscles of her sex clutched tightly at the thick length of stallion cock within her, Chrysalis letting out a sharp, feminine cry as she reached her climax, her velvet flesh coiling around Shining Armour's cock and milking it with such force that she completely overwhelmed the stallion beneath her, finally granting Shining Armour his long-awaited climax. The stallion let out a sharp groan of his own as he began to climax deep within the burning warmth of Chrysalis' sex, ribbon after ribbon of his seed shooting from his cock further into the hive-queen's depths, pumping her full with pulse after pulse of hot, sticky seed.

For an instant the two lovers were held in nirvana, every nerve and fibre of their joined beings alive with electric ecstasy, before, after too brief an eternity, their climaxes reached their conclusions, and Chrysalis, filled to her very limits with the love and seed she craved, slowly removed herself from Shining Armour's throbbing length; the protective chitinous plates around her sex returning to their natural positions in order to ensure not a single droplet of the stallion's liquid love was permitted to leave her being. For several moments, Shining Armour could do nought but stare blankly up at the ceiling, panting for breath as his mouth hung partially open and the intense green luminosity of his eyes continued to burn on, before, heeding the bidding of his queen, he gradually rose to his hooves, his stance unsteady on his shaking limbs as he waited attentively for his queen's next order.

Chrysalis stood before her husband, moaning faintly as she felt the intense heat of his seed begin to diffuse into her body, the inner-workings of her being already at work extracting the love from his essence. Placing a hoof upon her chitinous belly, the hive-queen paused to savour the sensation of her lovers seed deep within her most sacred depths, closing her eyes in bliss before she leaned in and pulled Shining Armour into a deep, passionate kiss; not a frantic one driven by lust and desire as before, but a kiss of softness and love. Within her, she felt more of the strange yearnings begin to rise, even though they had been sated not moments before, and as they pulled apart Chrysalis realised she was experiencing emotions no changeling had ever faced before. Placing a hoof upon Shining Armour's cheek, Chrysalis discarded her worries, too satisfied and too exhausted to care for such issues at the moment.

"You have done well, my love," she managed in a low, breathy voice, her serpentine tongue snaking out to lap affectionately at Shining's cheek. "Should I ever require you again... I shall find you..."

Epilogue.

First Nightmare Moon, and now this...

The Solar Princess, monarch of the holy sun and regent of Equestria, was currently stood within a private room of the castle's infirmary, waiting with a patience that had been millennia in development, as she gazed out upon the city of Canterlot through the panes of a large glass window, watching as the city, her city, came to life in the growing twilight, speckles of gas-light blooming across the city as the lamp-lighters prepared for the onset of true night. Though the sight was beautiful from her vantage point, a sight that could inspire poets and artists to works of the more impeccable grandeur, the vista was lost upon the Solar Princess, locked most bitterly in contemplation.

Little more than a year had passed since she had first sent Shining Armour into the depths of the Everfree, tasked with the duty of eradicating a rising threat to the security of the nation, when in reality he had been offered up as a tribute of sexual appeasement to her half-sister: the Luna Goddess Nightmare Moon. Jealously was an emotion unfamiliar to the Solar Princess, living as life as she did, when her every want an desire could be satisfied, yet whenever she thought back to that day, when Nightmare Moon had made a conquest of her personal guard, Celestia could help but feel a bitter twinge of such emotion run through her soul, poisonous and foul to a creature birthed light such as herself.

Turning her attention from the window to the chamber's small bed, Celestia moved from the window to stand by the prone form of her captain, who, having been returned to the palace only a few hours ago, slumbered deeply upon the soft white sheets, his ears idly flicking at random as he dreamt his own little dreams. Looking down upon him, Celestia felt a faint ache in her heart, a melancholy sadness that once again she had been forced to surrender that which she desired to the hooves of a rival. Did other mares feel like this when they saw their desired stallion's in the hooves of another? The Solar Princess wondered to herself. Somewhere out in the world, was there another mare such as herself, forced to watch as others took what they wanted whilst she was too shy to say but a single word?

Worse yet, how would she ever possibly be able to tell Shining Armour that she had willingly given him to the changeling hive-queen for her own purposes?

The door creaked out, the head of a small earth-mare popping around the corner as she looked into the room. "Pardon me, your highness," the mare stated when her eyes landed on Celestia, entering the room proper before bowing in the presence of her monarch. "If you would permit, I'm simply here to check on the patient."

"Carry on,"

The petite mare bowed once again, advancing upon the stallion's prone form before lifting his hoof and taking a quick pulse check, lips moving as she silently counted each beat of his heart. Once that was done the mare placed a hoof upon the captain's forehead, Shining Armour stirring at the limbs presence, yet failing to fully awaken from his dreams. Nodding to herself, the mare briefly fluffed the patients pillows before bowing once again and turning to the door with the intent to leave.

However, as she closed the distance the door suddenly swung shut, a dull clunk signalling that it had been locked. Turning back to the princess, the mare looked upon her regent with an expression of innocent confusion. "Your highness?"

"Drop the act, Chrysalis," Celestia responded with a dead-pan voice, looking over towards the petite mare with an unimpressed expression upon her muzzle. "I wasn't born a century ago."

Instantly the young earth-mare allowed a devious smile to crawl across her muzzle, tongues of green fire rippling across her body as she morphed and transmuted into a form that came much more naturally; the tall, elegant frame of a changeling hive-queen. Giggling, Chrysalis advanced to stand by Celestia's side, joining the mare in looking down upon the slumbering Shining Armour. "So, what gave it away?"

"Aside from the fact you had no idea what you were doing?"

"Ah, true, true. But I must admit that such a form also provides positive results from my many suitors. It would seem the 'sexy nurse' is a highly acclaimed accolade in your society."

"We prize that which upholds life."

"And that which doesn't?"

Celestia grimaced, the granite form of her last lover flashing before her eyes, his mocking, insane grin twisted in a rictus of agony as he perpetually cursed his own love. "I have no current wish to speak of such things, and no wish to waste any of my own time. Why are you here, changeling?"

"Oh, simply checking on how my husband is doing. We made hot, passionate love, he and I, and it is not uncommon for me to... wear out my suitors, shall we say? After all, given how no other being has ever managed to rouse my spirit as much as he, I would simply hate it if anything were to befall my little stud." Chrysalis giggled once more, reaching out with a perforated hoof to stroke Shining Armour's hind-leg, the limb twitching at initial contact. "Truthfully, sometimes I wish I had simply maintained the charade of being his wife indefinitely. There is no doubt in my mind this one stallion could generate enough love to feed my entire swarm."

"And as for the rest of the Celestial Guard?"

"Oh, you needn't worry, I have instructed my drones that they are not to be harmed, and no changeling may refuse an order from its hive-queen. Once my swarm has replenished itself, your ponies shall be returned safe and sound without a scratch. Have no fear, Celestia, I have no intention of violating the treaty between our species."

Celestia nodded absently, a faint twinge of jealousy running through her soul as she watched Chrysalis pet Shining Armour's hind-leg. Though she would never openly admit it to another soul Celestia longed for herself to be the one who was comforting Shining Armour, for herself and herself alone to be the sole mare in the stallion's life. Many were her dreams and fantasies of the captain and his muscular form, many were the idle day-dreams she escaped to where Shining Armour had herself pranced in utter bliss and happiness, content in each other's hooves.

Then Chrysalis cleared her throat, and the dreams vanished.

"If I may, Celestia, it would seem that you yourself are quite enamoured with my husband. Tell me, have you had your needs satisfied by so proficient a stud?"

A harsh blushed stained the pure, snow-white coat of the Solar Princess, her muzzle opening and closing to formulate a response. "I-I have no idea what you could possibly be implying!" she replied with as much indignation as she could muster, but it was a poor lie, and Chrysalis merely rolled her eyes, giggling her infuriating giggle once more.

"Come now, Celestia, surely you don't think you can fool a hive-queen, do you? For Faust's sake, you silly mare, I'm a changeling, I feed on love! And believe me, you're leaking the stuff for this colt." Chrysalis batted her long eye-lashes, a devious smile creeping across her muzzle. "So, have you two ever been at it?"

"Been... at it?"

"Yes, you know. Have you two ever fucked? Has he ever thrust that thick cock of his in your tight little hole and rutted you until you were squealing like a filly?"

"How dare you ask something so outrageous, of course not! I am his ruler, his superior, It is expected of me to rule a nation, I have no time dally about with common unicorns, social distinctions must be maintained; all of that ignoring the fact that he's married to my niece!"

"And? That never stopped me."

The flush of Celestia's cheeks deepened to a rich scarlet, the Solar Princess stammering as she tried to process the lewd, uncouth, and sheer rudeness of the changeling's words. "Chrysalis, please, have some decency! What are you, a hive-queen, or a whore?"

"In my experience, there is little difference. One filly, and a whole load of colts trying to strike lucky. Of course, in my species, once copulation has been achieved the male promptly keels over and dies. It doesn't really make for good pillow talk."

"I... How... You..." Celestia managed, her whole muzzle flushing an intense red. Chrysalis merely giggled.

"Calm yourself, Celestia, you look as if you're about to explode from impropriety." Leaning in to give Shining Armour's cutie-mark a delicate peck, Chrysalis turned and made her way back to the door, unlocking it with her aethereal talents and slipping back into the petite form of the earth-mare she had worn earlier. Opening the door, the changeling moved to step out, but not before briefly pausing and looking back towards the Solar Princess, an expression of genuine concern upon her muzzle. "Be careful with your affections, Celestia. I've seen many a pony's heart broken by unrequited love, do not allow the same to happen to you." With that Chrysalis left and closed the door behind her, leaving the Solar Princess alone with Shining Armour and her thoughts. Glancing to the still form of her captain, Celestia's mind rested upon the changeling's words, her eyes sparkling with the threat of tears.

Oh, Chrysalis, how little you know...