The Queen's Shining Armor

Chapters

The Changeling Princess
Black and White
Cake Partake
Her Sortie
Shifting Priorities
Reflections and Decisions
The Message
Shower of Emotions
New Beginnings
A New Home

The Changeling Princess

It was a glorious day in Equestria. The sun was shining warm and bright among the clouds in the blue sky. Young aspiring stallions from all over Equestria gathered upon the majestic city of Canterlot with each of them hoping to become proud members of the Royal Guard. Streamers, loud horns and banners paraded the barracks, welcoming the new recruits. The usual dull gray walls of the barracks suddenly became colorful for the very event.

About a group of fifty ponies, unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies combined, gathered in the entrance gate of the barracks surrounded by the peering eyes of the guards leaning on the walls of the barracks. Mixed emotions circulated within the circle. Some were getting restless and fidgety. Some were getting sweaty and anxious while others were yawning. Some of the guards watching the group of stallions made bets to see who will enter or leave while some were measuring the capabilities of each of the potential recruits by sight alone.

In the back of the crowd stood a particular white unicorn stallion with a blue mane. His eyes and expression were calm and composed; unaffected neither by the constantly peering eyes of the guards nor by the anxious gossips and whispers of the crowd beside him.

“You’re sure to pass!” a purple unicorn filly suddenly popped behind his back with a small purple baby dragon asleep sucking his thumb. “You aced every part of the examination there is.” She grinned towards her brother.

“Thanks,” he turned around with a warm thankful smile on his face. The innocent cutesy grin of his sister alone was able to eliminate every ounce of doubt and worry deep inside him. “But we still can’t be sure of ourselves Twily…” he ruffled her mane in delight.

The massive gate finally opened with the roaring sound of the horn blown in chorus. The slow creaking sound of the door opening made everypony in the circle feel like they lost their will already. From inside the barracks came three armored ponies marching towards the lot. The two in the sides seemed like the regular guardspony but the one in the middle had more distinct equipment over the rest. He was adorned in a heavier looking armor and a larger helmet compared to the two beside him.

In front of the circle, he stood high and mighty dwarfing the entire crowd with his presence alone. All of the guards, including the potential new recruits performed a salute in respect of the arrival of the captain of the royal guards.

“NOW LISTEN UP! JUST BECAUSE YOU MAGGOTS HAVE PASSED THE EXAMINATIONS DOESN’T MEAN IT’S GOING TO BE THE SAME AROUND HERE!” his thunderous voice roared throughout the barracks. His voice alone sent chills down the spines of several of the aspiring stallions. Some were taken aback while others were given a dash of reality.

“I’D LIKE TO KEEP THIS SHORT SINCE I’M NO POLITICIAN!” he stretched out his hoof and one of the guards swooped down from above handing out a scroll to the captain. “THOSE WHOSE NAMES I HAVE CALLED ARE THOSE WHO PASSED! AND JUST A HEADS-UP, THE LIST IS ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY SO IF YOUR NAME WAS SKIPPED THEN GO HOME AND BE A FAMILY STALLION!”

One by one he read out the names of the stallions listed in the scroll. When the stallion’s name was announced, he prompted his way in front of the captain and performed a salute before he enters the barracks. The numbers quickly dwindled as the captain approached the bottom of the list. With just a handful of stallions remaining, the white unicorn in the back also began to feel the tension eating him up.

“AND LASTLY, SHINING ARMOR!” A huge sigh of relief fell upon the young unicorn the moment his name was called. The guards surrounding him all saluted Shining Armor standing in the center, welcoming him to their ranks. Quickly regaining his composure, he saluted the line of guards in return with a proud and warm smile on his face.

After the ceremonies, the young purple filly along with her baby dragon was asked to leave the area. The young filly was hesitant in leaving her precious brother, grasping tightly to his hoof.

“Don’t worry Twily, it’s not like we’re not going to see each other again.” He patted the filly’s head and smiled a warm smile which gave the young filly a form of reassurance.

The young Twilight slowly detached herself from her brother as she was escorted out of the area along with her baby dragon. Her eyes didn’t stray away from her brother the moment she left the barrack until it was no longer to be seen and Shining Armor’s eyes didn’t leave his little sister either from boarding until the chariot was no more to be seen.

A month has passed since Shining Armor’s enlistment into the Royal Guard. He had been stationed in an outpost town on guard duty. The location itself was strategic due to the lush green forest residing beside the outpost town. The town itself was built on the flat portion of the mountain to serve as checkpoint for anyone entering Equestria’s borders. The town was fortified with thick wooden walls and four watch towers towering in the four corners of the town; two in the north section and two in the south.

Before the relocation, the platoon was told that there had been changeling sightings around the area. Although none of them knew what a changeling is, they were only told that they should look out for anything that looks suspicious.

Accompanied with a yellow stallion Pegasus, Shining Armor was stationed at the northern end of the town. As the sun descended over the horizon, night took place over Equestria; however, this change in time didn’t wave Shining Armor’s dedication to his duty. He stood attentively on his watch tower, surveying the forest.

“It’s been hours already. And what we have seen so far are trees, bushes and more trees.” The pegasus yawned and grumbled after he lighted the torches in the tower. “How ‘bout it? We ditch duty and head over to the local pub for some drinks and mares.”

“They could be out there. I just can’t leave my post.” Shining Armor took out a pair of binoculars, ignoring his fellow guard’s suggestion. “Who knows what could jump out in the night?”

“Come on, just one or two mugs. Besides, we’re just offsetting our shift for an hour. What could possibly happen?” The pegasus replied nudging Shining Armor to come with him. “Just this one time…”

“No thanks, but maybe I’ll catch up as soon as my shifts over.” Shining Armor continued to ignore the pegasus’ nudging and persuasion as he looked left and right, continuing to survey and scan the area.

“What’s the point of ditching if you’re just going to leave on time?” The pegasus scratched his head. “Besides, there are many things that could happen in the pub within just an hour. If you know what I mean.” The pegasus nudged his elbow on Shining Armor’s shoulder with a ridiculous perverted grin on his face.

Shining Armor sighed and removed the binoculars from his sight. “Look, I’ll catch up with you, make sure that those mares are still there by the time I arrive. After all, you have to balance work and play right?” He turned towards his companion and gave a small chuckle. “Besides, I’ll be staying to vouch for you when the captain comes to check up on us just in case… We’ll just meet up there, okay?” Shining Armor resumed scanning the forest area with the binoculars back in his sight.

“I didn’t think about it like that.” The pegasus stopped and thought for a while. “Gee… Thanks buddy. I’ll make it up to you someday.” He replied while excitedly heading down. “You better not ditch me later.”

“That Sharpeye.” Shining Armor simply smiled as he slowly shook his head to his companion’s eagerness to hit the pub. “At least things have been more peaceful without him around.” he said while turning his attention back to the forest.

After half an hour, the area still remained stagnant; no problems caught Shining Armor’s attention. Boredom and complacency soon took its place in the stallion’s mind. He began to think about what Sharpeye had said earlier. The temptation of the drinks and mares were slowly getting to him as he looked inside town, seeing all the shops and homes lit and the pubs active for the night.

The peace and tranquility was soon disturbed by a sudden fierce rustling sound of the bushes and leaves. Shining Armor quickly responded to the sound by turning back with his binoculars in place and saw something moving back and forth behind the bushes nearby. Focusing his sight on the target, he saw a faint silhouette creeping behind the forest. At first glance, he saw something similar to wings of insects, but the figure somewhat resembled that of a pony.

“What was that?” he thought to himself wondering what in Equestria did he just saw.

With curiosity and hesitation mixing in his mind, his movement stuttered between going or not. With the thought of losing the creature, he cleared his mind and shook his head, removing the doubt and fear shrouding his mind. The next thing on his mind was capturing the said creature. Leaving the watchtower unmanned, he left a note behind saying that he’ll be out investigating the forest.

With his horn illuminating the way, he walked through the thick forest in search of that mysterious ‘thing’ he saw earlier. Looking left and right, back and forth, all he saw were trees and bushes. His heart pounding with excitement and fear, he continued the search and soon found himself in a clearing. With no luck in finding the creature, he decided to go back to his post until the same shadow figure rustled back and forth in the surrounding bushes and trees.

“Whoever or whatever you are, come out!” Shining Armor shouted as he attempted to follow the swift movement of the creature with his horn charged-up.

From the bushes, the mysterious creature jumped out. Shining Armor was shocked to see the creature for it wasn’t anything like he had seen before. Its entire body was dark and had a long teal mane and tail with different pupils for its green eyes as well. At his first glance, it seemed like a regular mare, but upon closer inspection its legs had several holes in them. It also had a pair of wings and a horn that were slightly more different than those of a pegasus and unicorn. The wings were similar to that of an insect with holes and her horn was crooked and twisted-looking compared to that of a unicorn. Unlike usual circular shaped pupils, its pupils were elongated and oblong-shaped.

Shining Armor sensed the creature’s hostile eyes as it stared at him fiercely as if he was food. Both of them stared down at each other sizing up one another while slowly moving in circles around the clearing. The beating of his chest intensified, unsure of how he will fight the creature despite remembering all the training he did.

At his surprise, the creature immediately bore its sharp fangs and propelled itself towards him. Shining Armor erected one of his barrier spells in desperation; deflecting the creature’s attacks and sending it flying to the ground.

The creature quickly stood up; unfazed by the damage he caused, and went deep inside the forest. Refusing to let the creature flee, Shining Armor quickly chased it. Hunger and weariness soon took its toll for the creature as it quickly lost stamina, slowing it down. With their distance closing-in, the creature quickly opened its wings and started to take off from the ground.

Seeing this turn of events, Shining Armor mustered all of his strength and stamina and dashed towards the creature, giving him the momentum needed to tackle the creature down before it even took off; However in doing so, both of them rolled off far deeper into the forest down a cliff without either of them noticing.

“Ugh…” Shining Armor was still feeling the after effects of the fall tried to stand on his hooves; his vision was still blurry as he looked around. Although everything was hazy, there was one figure that he noticed quickly. The creature that he persistently pursued was staggering trying to take flight and escape. It desperately tried to fly away but it seemed that one of its wings was injured during the fall. With one wing propelling it, the creature quickly fell down to the ground the moment it got up.

“Wait!” Shining Armor quickly got up on his hooves. He immediately approached the creature, unfazed by the constant jolts of pain gushing throughout his body. “Just what are you exactly?” he asked the creature while trying to resist from falling down.

“I am a changeling!” It suddenly spoke, with an echoing voice. “Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to the Queen.”

“You can talk?!” Shining Armor was shocked to hear the creature talk in words he could understand. Clearly the creature (or ‘changeling’ as it called itself) was capable of speech unlike creatures that he had met so far.

“Of course I can.” The creature looked irritated as it stared at the white unicorn. “That’s the problem with you ponies, always thinking that you’re the only ones who are civilized.” The creature swiftly turned away from Shining Armor and started struggling to drag its feet away from him.

Shining Armor was taken aback with its words, feeling ashamed of himself thinking like that. He looked towards the injured changeling. “Where is this Queen you speak of?”

“And what? You’ll send your other pony friends to come and attack us.” The creature seemed cynical and critical to every word he had said.

“No!” He strongly denied the accusation. “It’s not like that, I want to help you. Besides it’s my fault that you ended up like this.” He felt sorry for himself while looking down to the ground.

“Help me?” The creature soon burst into laughter but the pain suddenly shot through its senses, reminding itself of its injuries.

Shining Armor quickly came to her aid without hesitation. “You’re injured, you can’t possibly go back, not the way you are right now.”

“Just leave me alone!” It suddenly screamed at him and pushed him away. “I don’t need your help.” It staggered to get up. “Especially not from a pony.” The creature soon fell to the ground, noticing that its ankle seems to be sprained from the fall earlier.

“Why is it that you hate ponies so much?” Shining Armor started to lose his temper over the creature’s disdain towards his kind.

“I am a changeling!” The creature pointed a hoof to itself. “Do you even know what we think of ponies?”

“Sadly I don’t!” he replied as he continued to approach the changeling.

“For us, you are food. That is why Equestria banned us from even entering your borders.” The changeling continued to raise its voice in its explanation.

Shining Armor was shocked to hear that statement, stopping him in his tracks. He touched his forehead while slowly walking away from the changeling, confused and terrified. “But that’s…”

“Now that you know, it’s best that you leave me be before I consume you.” The changeling whipped its mane away from him and turned towards itself, looking at her swollen hoof.

Shining Armor closed his eyes and strongly shook his head. With his determination renewed, he opened his eyes and said “No! I will help you get back to your queen. I have given my word and that’s final!”

“What?!” The changeling suddenly turned towards him with a surprised look on its face and its prideful persistence slowly died down. “Ok fine! Since you’re so persistent about it.”

“I’m Shining Armor.” He chuckled to see the creature agreeing with him. “By the way, do have a name?”

“Of course I do!” The changeling suddenly became agitated with his question. “What do you think I am?”

“I’m so sorry about that… may I know your name?” Shining Armor apologized with a sincere and honest look in his eyes.

“Fine! It’s Chrysalis, Princess Chrysalis.” She replied.

Black and White

The night continues on for the two as it seemed like hours have passed ever since their encounter. Hunger and weariness were also taking their toll on Shining Armor. Fear for what the creature would do if he dozed off; Shining Armor shrugged off all signs of drowsiness invading his senses. With the sound of his stomach grumbling and unable to leave Chrysalis alone, he walked in circles hoping to find something that could at least satiate his hunger and probably hers as well.

“So… Chrysalis... What were you doing here anyway?” Shining Armor asked trying to find the right words so to not offend the proud changeling behind him.

“That’s Princess Chrysalis! And you will address me as such!” acting all smug, she commanded the white unicorn.

Shining Armor pressed his hoof against his face, stressed out with the changeling’s attitude. He ignored her and went a bit deep into the forest to find something to eat.

“W-where are you going?” her mood suddenly changed the moment Shining Armor started to slowly fade to the darkness in the forest. “Y-you can’t just leave me here.”

Alone she stood in the middle of the clearing, helpless and injured. The sound of the crickets chirping in the dark night and being surrounded by the unknown in the dark sides of the forest made her uneasy and a bit frightened. If her leg wasn’t bothering her, it would be like a walk in the park. She started being frantic over every rustling sound that she heard as she quickly turned her head towards the sound.

A loud rustling sound suddenly came up front, closing in on her. Her heart pounded like crazy the moment she saw a four-legged figure slowly approaching her. With her magic depleted as well, she scanned her surroundings and grabbed a twig beside. With the small twig in her grasp, she braced herself for combat only to find Shining Armor along with a dozen apples floating beside him through his spell.

“Relax it’s just me.” He smiled and chuckled a bit finding her behavior humorous.

“You should have at least told me where you were going.” She threw the twig away and shrugged at the unicorn.

“Here…” he levitated one whole apple towards her hooves.

“What in the hay is this?” She asked wondering what the red round object was in her hoof.

“It’s an apple.” He replied while taking a bite on an apple he was holding.

“Apple?” his words puzzled her mind more than give clarity. She stared at the red object in all angles, trying to figure out what was inside the fruit.

“Think of it as food.” Shining Armor said after finishing one of the apples.

Hearing the word ‘food’, she took a bite on the red luscious fruit. She slowly chewed on the foreign object in her mouth, gauging its taste. A horrible taste jolted her taste buds as she quickly spit out whatever it was in her mouth. It was utterly disgusting; it was like the morning garbage. She looked at her tongue carefully inspecting if there were traces of that ‘thing’ she just ate.

“What in the hay are trying to feed me?” she shrieked at him. “Garbage?”

“An apple? Is there something wrong with it?” Shining looked confused the moment she suddenly acted like that.

“That was disgusting! Is there something else to eat?” she looked around the area but saw nothing that caught her attention as a source of food aside from Shining Armor.

“Don’t look at me like that…” Shining Armor started to back away in fear for his own safety. “What do you changelings eat aside from ponies?”

“We don’t really eat ponies, what we consume is the essence of love that is inside you. That’s why we consider you as ‘food’.” she narrowed in her eyes at him a bit annoyed to his ignorance of her kind. “And using the essence that we absorbed from you ponies, we convert that into nourishment for our bodies.”

Shining Armor steadily walked towards her. “And what happens to those ponies you’ve sucked dry?”

“They just simply pass out feeling drained.” she replied with no sense of concern in her mind.

“But isn’t that harmful or anything?” Shining Armor replied with a concerned look in his face.

“Really now, do you need to know every little detail…” she again started to become irritated of the stallion’s persistent inquiry. “Now leave me be, I need some rest.” She laid down on the grass and turned her body away from the stallion.

“Do what you want…” Shining Armor also laid down on the ground as he turned his head away from her.

There was an awkward silence that filled the air between the two as moments have passed since the two stopped talking to each other. Unable to rid herself of some guilt she felt towards Shining Armor, she began taking flickering quick glances at the unicorn.

“I told you I’m not food…” Shining Armor noticed her constant stare at him.

“I wasn’t thinking about that…” she suddenly became red and flustered of Shining Armor’s accusations. “Besides, you’d be—“ her words were soon interrupted by a loud thunderous roar in the forest. The roar sent chills down her spine, the images of wild and dangerous creatures lurking in the forest kept playing inside her mind. In her state of unrest, she nearly lost touch with her senses until she felt something nudging her bringing her back to reality. The moment she regained her senses, the first thing she saw was the white unicorn who so persistently pushed her back and forth.

“We need to get out of here.” Shining Armor said, looking into the depths of the forest. “Can you stand?” he turned his head back to her.

Chrysalis tried to get back on her feet but her sprained ankle proved to be more troublesome than she thought. The pain made her drop a hoof and her sudden fall sent the stallion coming to her aid.

“I said don’t touch me!” she pushed the stallion back.

Without saying a word, Shining Armor suddenly lifted her with his magic.

“How dare you! Unhand me at once!” She screamed at him feeling violated with the unicorn’s sudden ‘touch’.

“Sorry about that but this is the only way I know right now so both of us can escape.” He replied while moving her in mid-air. He slowly released the spell the moment she was directly above his back. “You’re surprisingly light…” he said the moment she landed on his back.

“Hmph… I’ll take that as a compliment…” she shrugged putting off her pride for the moment since she had no choice as of the moment.

“Better hang on tight; this is going to be bumpy ride.” Shining Armor positioned himself into a sprinting position.

“You don’t possibly mean to—“ the sudden thunderous roar as if it was closer to them than before sent her into a pause followed by the sudden take-off of Shining Armor. She unconsciously grabbed the stallion’s neck.

Everything was going too fast, the trees and woods whooshed past her senses. The wind vigorously brushed against her mane as she tightly grasped the stallion’s neck. “Where are we going?” she asked while Shining Armor galloped through the thick woods.

“Anywhere, just away from that thing,” Shining Armor kept moving forward.

The roar kept getting louder and louder as if it was following them. A large shadow appeared underneath the two of them enveloping the entire area in its shadow alone. Chrysalis gulped as she imagined the size of whatever was following them. She realized even if she was in tiptop shape, she wouldn’t be able to suppress that thing; she just simply felt secured to have a knight in shining armor at that moment. The strong gust of wind blew violently as the creature flew further up removing its presence from the two, giving them a sense of relief.

The two soon found themselves at a foot of a cliff. With the creature taking flight, both of them felt a sense of relief as if a huge weight was lifted.

“That was close…” Shining armor said, gasping for air.

“Now that it’s over, care to put me down?” Chrysalis commanded him wanting to get rid herself of his ‘touch’ but deep inside her thoughts played differently. She was starting to find respect and admiration for the young guard, but her pride kept her from speaking her mind.

“Sorry about that…” Shining Armor suddenly recalled still having her in his back, making him grin sheepishly.

As soon as Shining Armor bended his knees, strange howls suddenly echoed in the night. Countless pairs of glowing yellow eyes suddenly popped up and covered the entire darkness within the forest surrounding the two. Shining Armor quickly stood up with Chrysalis remaining at his back. Slowly backing away from the hungry stares of the dark, he soon found himself pinned by the very walls of the cliff behind him. With nowhere to run, he turned around and faced the wall looking up.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to—“Chrysalis figured out Shining Armor’s plan.

“Scale up this cliff? I’m surprised that you can read my mind.” Shining Armor seemed to smile at her for the observation.

Not giving her a time for a reply, he suddenly jumped towards the face of the wall and started climbing up. She grabbed tightly on the stallion’s belly as she looked down observing how the creatures would react.

Refusing to let their prey escape, the creatures in the dark revealed themselves to be Timberwolves. The wood-bodied wolves were relentless in their pursuit. They managed to catch up to the pair by quickly jumping on one ledge to another. Shining Armor in turn casted the same barrier spell he did to repel Chrysalis earlier.

“At this rate you’ll run out of magic.” Chrysalis pointed out noticing Shining Armor’s struggle to keep the spell activated as well as climbing the cliff, not to mention with her hanging on.

“Don’t worry… I’m a soldier of Equestria. It would take more than this to bring me down.” Shining Armor huffed as he continued to scale up the mountain. The timberwolves soon lost interest in their pursuit due to the barrier, but for them there was only one way, up.

She knew that the stallion was bluffing. His breath was getting shorter and shorter and his grip was getting weaker and weaker.

“Almost there…” Shining Armor said nearly a few yards away from the goal. But his exhaustion kept him from even raising a hoof to grab on the next ledge.

“Don’t you dare give up!” Chrysalis said trying to encourage the stallion as she grabbed on his belly even tighter.

“Geez…” he chuckled in his exhaustion. “Is that how you encourage ponies?”

“Oh just shut up.” her cheeks turned red at his statement.

“Thanks. “He smiled. “But seriously, I never thought that climbing a mountain was this hard.”

“He’s clearly hiding his exhaustion.” She thought. “I could save myself but…”

The feeling of being indebted to the pony started to make her feel uneasy and guilty. She couldn't stand the feeling of being so dependent and weak. Using every last ounce of her magic, she lifted her entire body along with Shining Armor towards the top of the cliff. The two of them were suddenly coated with a green aura courtesy of Chrysalis’ magic. Her eyes glowed green as she pushed herself to her limit. Her body was screaming, demanding her to stop. She persisted on until they were on a safe landing spot on top of the cliff.

“I never thought you were capable of something like that…” Shining Armor huffed and puffed as he laid flat on the ground.

“You should never underestimate a princess.” Chrysalis replied, giving off an exhausted laugh while looking at the unicorn. “But you were kind of awesome back there holding out like that.” She beamed a warm gentle smile towards him.

“You know, you would look lovelier if you could at least smile more.” Shining Armor said staring at her.

Flustered by Shining Armor’s sudden words, she simply whipped her head away from the stallion; shrugging off her red cheeks in front of Shining Armor. “Idiot…” she whispered to herself. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why you would go that far for me?” she curiously asked as her flustered mood suddenly changed.

“Well I don’t know, I guess I’ve kind of grown attached to you…” he chuckled as he continued to look up in the star-filled sky.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” she quickly turned to him and stomped the ground with one of her hooves.

Hours have passed as the two took a short break from all what has happened to them in the night. With the stallion’s last words lingering in her mind, she couldn’t help herself from taking quick glances over him similar to earlier.

“Why? What’s with this pony that makes me so…” she thought with her eyebrows twitching as she looked at Shining Armor, resting on his back like nothing happened.

“Anyways, we have to be on our way.” Shining Armor suddenly opened his eyes and got up. He then approached her and offered her a ride on his back similar to earlier.

“Where are we going this time?” she asked while getting on the stallion’s back.

“I was hoping to go back to town and resupply but…” Shining Armor felt unsure of himself. “I guess it’s gonna work out somehow…” without any further explanation, he simply walked forward shrugging off the thought.

Moments have passed since they started moving from their spot, the sun was already starting to rise. The warm light engulfing the darkness of the night seemed like a fresh new start for the two. As they looked into the far stretches of the forest, they saw small figures of houses and structures.

“Finally, we’re here.” Shining Armor puffed and smiled pointing out the town.

It seemed that it was like a long journey for the two despite having their adventure beside the town. It was like a beacon of an easier life; however, the young changeling princess thought otherwise as she gazed on the town.

Cake Partake

The sun was slowly rising up the horizon with the new day about to begin. Ponies started to stretch and get out of their homes for work. Some were with their families enjoying breakfast, Young fillies and colts jumped around excited of the new day in class. Guard ponies, from morning till dawn, were diligently patrolling the streets. Shining Armor looked left and right as he passed through one corners of the town to another through the alleys. Hoping that nopony saw him, he waved his hoof forward and from the shadows behind him, a cloaked figure approached him.

“Why should I be covered in rags!” the hood fell off revealing Chrysalis’ head. “I am a princess and I shall be treated as such!” she stomped her hoof on the ground in her fit of rage.

“It’s not every day you get to see a changeling walking around town” he replied as he peeked out of the corner hoping that no pony noticed her sudden bicker.

“Still I don’t see the point of why must I go around like I’m some kind of criminal.” She stared at him with knitted eyebrows as she shrugged.

“We certainly don’t want any ruckus…” Shining Armor replied as he turned her back to her trying to explain why the effort of sneaking around town. “You’ll certainly get hauled in.”

“Fine! We’ll do it your way.” She finally agreed as she put the hood back on.

“Whew!” he wiped his forehead “If we can just cross this street without any pony noticing you then we’ll get there…” looking back outside, the street and establishments were starting to be crowded. Guards merchants, workers and customers were already gathering around town. With his thoughts solely focused on how to pass through every pony without being conspicuous, he didn’t notice the small nudges behind him until it became a push.

“How dare you ignore me?” her impatience seemed to reflect on her face. “And what’s taking so long?”

“Sorry about that… “Shining Armor apologized “If there’s only a way we can get past everyone without looking like sore thumb…” he sulked, having no idea at all. “If only she’d look like a normal pony then there won’t be a problem.” He kept his thoughts to himself knowing that will surely irritate the ‘princess’.

She suddenly chuckled and chortled the moment he finished talking. “Is that all?” she suddenly asked. “You forget that I am a changeling I can change into almost anything.” She soon closed her eyes and her horn suddenly glowed in green. The ground beneath her hooves was soon engulfed with green flames. Shining Armor was surprised to see the changeling bursting into flames. Out of concern, he suddenly tried to approach her. The flames were different from the usual it was neither hot nor cold but it was something magical something that he cannot explain.

From what he can see, her entire body was changing. Her once black and porous hooves turned whole and white. Her wings and carapace disappeared the moment the green flame reached those parts. Her whole head was no different the moment the green flame engulfed it. The once teal color of her mane burned into a more pinkish color. Her horn suddenly became straight and somewhat shorter. The moment the flame died down she was like an entirely different pony. The moment she opened her eyes, it revealed themselves to be pink and with circular pupils unlike her original elongated ones.

“You can do that?” Shining Armor slapped himself of what he saw. His eyes wide, jaw agape as he stared at her blankly with disbelief and amazement.

“Of course I can, why do you think that we’re called ‘changelings’?” she chuckled, finding his face humorous. “You should have seen the look on your face.”

“Hahaha… Very funny…” Shining Armor looked at her flatly while the shock on his face dies down.

“Shall we be on our way?” Chrysalis went on outside from hiding,

“I guess so…” Shining Armor replied following Chrysalis from behind.

“So this is how a pony town looks like.” Chrysalis looked amazed while she around the shops, stands and crowd as they conduct their business.

“First time seeing one?” Shining Armor said after seeing her enthusiasm and amazement.

“Not really but this is the first time that I get to it this colorful and lively.” She replied back as she continued to look around town.

“I don’t get it. Why?” Shining Armor looked puzzled in her reply.

“Trust me you wouldn’t want to know.” She smiled playfully and turned back in her sightseeing.

Losing his will to further ask questions, he sighed and dropped his inquisitiveness. He turned his head around to start looking for way back to the station among the busy street until the sudden sight of the café just down the corner distracted him along with the emptiness of his stomach. He turned back at the wandering changeling. He reached out and grabbed her hoof.

As soon as she felt his touch, she immediately swept her hoof away. “I told you not to touch me!” She said loudly. Her face quickly turned bitter “Don’t get any wrong ideas. Last night was an exception.” She shrugged away “Now tell me what’s so important that you have disturbed me?”

“Want to grab something to eat” he reluctantly answered back unsure of what would she reply.

“And eat another of your pony food?” she replied with a smug look on her face “Remember last time it didn’t turned out so well. unless you would want me to ‘feed’ on these people?”

Shining Armor scratched his head for a second. He gave out a sigh and looked at her again in the eyes. Reaching out his hoof towards her again, he smiled and said. “Come on, trust me on this okay?”

“Fine!” she slowly turned around taking small peeks at first but she suddenly turned away from him the moment she saw his face. “But remove that dirty hoof in front of my face.”

He simple shook his head chuckling as he went on towards the café. She soon followed Shining Armor hiding a small faint smile on her face.

“Care to tell what this place is?” She asked while seeing the various tables and bales of hay. She somewhat found the place intriguing while observing the whole café as ponies come and go, ordering their food, eating, paying then leaving. Some come in groups and couples while others are alone.

“It’s what you call a café.” Shining Armor replied while browsing through the menu.

“Café? Tell me more about this café.” She seemed intrigued

“To put simply, it’s one of the places were ponies eat or drink or to spent some time.” Shining Armor felt slightly embarrassed in his answer.

“So it is about pony food.” She replied coldly.

“Come don’t be like that.” Shining Armor sheepishly grinned. He was at his wits trying to please the ‘princess’. He was barely holding on until the cake he ordered came out. He felt like a new hope has arrived the moment the dish was being served on their table.

“And what in the hay is this?” she pointed out the cake on the table. She stared at the object deeply as if she was peering to the very ingredient’s soul themselves. The fresh luscious pair of strawberries in the middle lay on top of a layer of rich thick strawberry syrup, slowly dripping from the sides, on top. The sweet white icing covering the entire cake gave of a faint sweet smell around it.

“This is a cake, strawberry shortcake to be exact. “ Shining Armor replied. “You should try it.” Shining Armor took the fork on the table and used it to slice a portion of cake.

“This is pony food. We all know what happened back then" she reminded of him the 'apple' incident

“Come on just try it, they say it’s good.” Shining Armor continued to persuade the changeling.

Ignoring her constant blare, Shining Armor suddenly fed the cake.

At first she thought that it was disgusting and wanted to throw it out, but the more she chew on the sugary treat, the more she could taste the sweetness of the cake. The strange sensation flooded her senses with delight.

“I’ll take that you liked it.” Shining Armor suddenly said smiling at her delightful expression.

She simply shrugged away but her eyes proved otherwise as she took peeks and glances on the cake. Shining Armor chuckled noticing her desire for the cake. “If I may be excuse I have to use the washroom.” He pushed the plate near Chrysalis leaving her alone with the cake.

Moments later after he came back, the cake was no more only bits and icing were left on the plate. He quickly turned to Chrysalis and smiled at her.

“No it’s not what you think.” She feverously denies his assumptive stare yet there were a few icing marks on her cheeks and mouth. “That thing it was staring at me. It was Evil!” she said so strongly.

Shining Armor simply laughed in delight, he can’t believe his eyes. But his laughter soon stopped when a fellow guard approached him from behind.

“Private Shining Armor!” the call quickly grabbed both of their attention. “It is imperative that upon returning from an investigation, one should quickly report to the station not play hooky.” He stared at him furiously.

“Sorry sir.” Shining Armor saluted the superior ranking guard. “I was just about on my way and…”

“I don’t want to hear excuses, report back to the station immediately unless you want to be like that Sharpeye fellow.” His words felt strongly on Shining Armor’s ears.

“Yes sir!” Shining Armor complied and went on his way taking Chrysalis along with him.

“Who was that rude stallion?” Chrysalis curiously asked.

“That was the lieutenant. “He replied “he’s kind of the pony in charge around.”

“Look at you, aren’t you so small.” She started jeering at him with her smirk.

“Hey, I don’t want to take that from those who have icing on their cheeks.” He chortled as he pointed the icing left on her cheeks.

“Name?” the stallion on the front desk asked.

“Ugh…Alice” Chrysalis quickly thought up a fake name. Before Shining Armor was able to say anything she gave him an elbow on sides.

“Alice… Alice…” he was talking to himself while his eyes were rolling down reading his list on the desk. “Sorry, can’t find no Alice here, you probably came from another town I presume?” he turned back to her dropping his list on the desk.

“I don’t really recall where exactly, my mind’s kinda blurry and all.” She replied scratching her head.

“I see no problem to that.” He replied. “Just wait for moment, we’ll find you a temporary place to stay until we can find your home.” He took a quill and started writing something on the piece of paper he brought out.

“Thanks…” she smiled and thanked him leaving the front desk.

“Why did you gave a fake name?” Shining Armor suddenly asked the moment they were isolated in the station.

“If you were suddenly told that my name is ‘Chrysalis’ won’t you find that strange?” she replied flatly.

“You have a point there. “He replied giving thought to her words.

Moments later, her name was called out. The stallion in the front desk handed Shining Armor a piece of paper containing a name of a place and a note signed by the lieutenant and instructed him to accompany her to the said place. Following the instructions, both of them soon found themselves in an inn. Shining Armor handed the note to the innkeeper and escorted them to the 2nd floor.

“This will be your temporary home till we find just where exactly you do live.” Shining Armor opened the door revealing the entire room. The room was simple in fact. It had a bed near the window on the corner. Beside the bed was a dresser. Across the dresser was a simple desk with a few parchments and quills on the table and a burned out candle sticking on the edge of the table. There were 2 windows in the room, one’s beside the bed while the other is facing the bed which gave an ample amount of lighting. “I’d love to stay and chat but… “ he grinned sheepishly “Duty calls.” He soon left her alone with the room all to herself.

“There you are!” a familiar voice called Shining Armor from behind the moment he left the door. “I heard the moment you went back you were seen playing hooky. Never thought that you had it in you.” he laughed as he patted Shining Armor’s back.

“I wasn’t playing hooky. “he removed the stallion’s hoof “she was just lost and it’s my duty to help her okay?”

“Right…” he smirked back. “So how was your date?”

“I told you it was no date!” he argued strongly. As their arguing voices continued to fade away while walking across the corridors the last words that were heard from Shining Armor was “… she was sort of okay…” before completely fading out.

Chrysalis walked towards the window as soon as she felt Shining Armor was no more. She opened the window and rested her right hoof on the edge of the window staring down on all of the ponies busy with their lives unnoticing her.

“Hello? Mother?” Her horn suddenly glowed green. The voice of the Queen of the Changelings projected inside her head like some form of telepathic communication. She slowly walked to the middle of the room. “Yes Mother. He doesn’t suspect a thing. Fortunately I was able to infiltrate the town without resorting to ‘those’ means. “She smirked. “No Mother of course not! He is just a pawn for our plan to rule Equestria that’s all.” She suddenly became annoyed. “I am a changeling, Mother! I feed on love not the other way around. “Her face became serious. "I will complete my mission. Anything for the swarm." she said with a determined tone on her voice.

Her Sortie

“I still can’t believe that you actually had the guts to ditch morning guard duty for some mare.” the yellow pegasus exclaimed with surprise and joy. “Wait till the guys back at Canterlot hear about this!” he was laughing out loud “After Captain Sonic Boom said to all of us we should follow YOUR example.” He was vehemently laughing that he fell on the floor thinking about what he said. “This is too much.” He said wiping off the tears from his eyes.

“For the last time, I wasn’t ditching morning duty. It was already morning by the time I got back.” Shining Armor vehemently shook his head as he tries to deny the pegasus’ claims. “Come on Sharpeye, give me a break. I had a rough night yesterday, really rough night.” He pressed his hoof between his eyes trying to rid himself of the drowsiness he was feeling as of the moment.

“Sure a rough night…” the pegasus smirked and grinned towards Shining Armor.

“It’s not what you think!” Shining Armor quickly replied hoping to make himself clear before Sharpeye thinks of something else. “I was only trying to show her around town and have something to eat. Nothing more happened!” Shining Armor stared at the pegasus with his eyes crossed on him. “Okay?”

“Lighten up…” Sharpeye tried to push himself back “I was only kidding.” His laughter started to sound sheepish “Listen, I heard that Captain Sonic Boom’s been pushing the lieutenant lately and with the sudden appearance of the dragon last night, I can’t blame him for blowing of some steam.” Sharpeye’s face started to become serious.

“A dragon?” Shining Armor recalled the massive shadow flying over them. Since he didn’t bothered to even look up he had no clue that it was a dragon flying over them. His face was blank with the horrifying realization. “I had no idea…”

“You okay?” Sharpeye waved his hoof left and right in front of the daydreaming unicorn in front of him.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” Shining Armor shook his head noticing Sharpeye’s calls. “I’m just relieved that nothing happened.” He let out a sigh of relief. “What’s this about Captain Sonic Boom and the lieutenant?”

Darting his eyes around their surroundings making sure that no other guards or the lieutenant was in the vicinity, Sharpeye went a little closer to Shining Armor in response to his question. “Rumor has it that the lieutenant used to be part of the Royal Guard, in fact he was even nominated by the Captain himself to be the next captain of the Royal Guards.” He whispered behind Shining Armor’s ear.

“What happened?” Shining Armor in shocked to hear the piece of info asked.

“I don’t know exactly but I heard that he went home to be a family stallion?” he replied still maintaining his whispering voice. “I don’t really know the details but that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Well anyway, it’s best that we start our duties don’t want to have the lieutenant yelling at us.” Shining Armor replied as he waved his hoof and went their separate ways.

“Hmm… That stallion…” Chrysalis, still in her stolen form, recalled the incident from the café earlier. Walking around the room back and forth, she was slowly weaving her plan inside her mind. “I see…” A malicious smile slowly crept on her face. She slowly walked towards the window as she furnishes her plans inside her mind.

First, take control of the lieutenant, invade his home and take his form. Then send most of the guardspony in town to a trap and have her troops assume the missing guards’ form. Lastly with the town unprotected have it populated with changelings under the guise of the townspony. If the plan is successful they can easily enter Equestria without anypony noticing their arrival.

The mere thought of the plan excited the changeling princess as she squeals in glee. The moment she had her thoughts sorted, she peered onto the window hoping to find the unsuspecting target in sight. Darting her glances left and right, she saw no pony resembling the lieutenant.

“Don’t worry the morning is just starting I’m sure he’s bound to come here.” She told herself reassuring herself of her thought-out plan. Unsure of the place and her time limit of her stolen form, she was hesitant in doing the search by hoof so she decided to stay and wait until he arrives.

Moments have passed; she still hasn’t seen signs of the target. “He’s a guard so he has to come around sooner…” she was starting to panic. The time limit of her form was slowly ticking away the more she waits. If she wasted her time, she would lose her stolen form and be trapped inside the room like an escape convict hiding from the authorities. “I guess taking a initiative won’t be so bad…” her thoughts of hiding and waiting were starting to get swayed. She slowly walked towards the door. Her heart was pounding the closer she is to the exit. She thought of everything, she did mental simulations; but the thought of actually doing it proved to be more nerve-wrecking. Her hoof was already at the door knob by the time she got her mind back into reality.

“You can do this Chrysalis…” she tried to motivate herself. “This is your duty and your mission.” She took one big gulp and a deep breath; she twisted the knob opening the door taking the first step of her mission.

It wasn’t so bad. She thought as she looked upon the warm morning over the bustling town. Everything was bright and cheerful. All of the shops were opened. The town nearly had everything covered from fruits and vegetable stands, to furniture shops. Over at the father side of the town were the spa, local taverns and other forms of relaxation to the ponies in town. On the opposite side one can see a glimpse of the barracks. There were several guardsponies were stationed near the area. Just besides the bazaar area were the inns, hospitals and other forms of service establishments. Her attention quickly diverted upon seeing the familiar café where she feasted on the cake.

“I wonder where Shining Armor is?” she asked herself as she walked closer to the café. “I mean the target” she shook her head stopping on her tracks. “Why should I concern myself with that idiot, I have no further use for him except for the cake but that aside, I have a more important mission to carry out “She reminded herself of the task at hand.

Hoping to find the lieutenant, she lost track of time. In one fateful step, she noticing something was happening to her body. She immediately looked down and was horrified of what she saw. Her hoof was changing back. Her left hoof was already black and holed in contrast to the upper part of it which was still white. Without hesitation, she quickly galloped back towards the inn. The reversion was too fast at her pace, her whole leg already changed back. She quickly changed her goal and focused on finding the nearest alleyway to hide herself.

“This can’t be happening…” she was starting to panic as she looked at her two front hooves and only saw her familiar black and holed hooves. She took a quick glance at her body and to her fear; it was her own body that she was seeing. Everything was falling apart, her plan, her goals, and her mission, not to mention her life if one of the guards saw her that would be the end of it She thought. She turned around hoping that no pony saw her reverting back. Her eyes quickly widened in surprise and shock to see the turn of events. “This might not be so bad after all…” She smirked after seeing her target in sight. “If only I could grab his attention.” She snickered and quickly thought of a way to lure the lieutenant to her trap.

“What the?” the lieutenant quickly turned towards the alley after seeing weird green glows emanating. He tilted his head wondering what the strange light could be as he comes closer and closer to it. He was left dumbfounded the moment he saw there was nothing. He scratched his head perplexed. Before he could even turn back, all of his energy was suddenly sucked away by an unknown force from behind.

“Gullible fool!” Chrysalis laughed maniacally at her fallen prey. “That was quite of some tasty love you have there…” she snickered “Now to set my plans into motion.” She said as she prepared herself to emulate the form of the lieutenant’s loved one. the similar eerie green flames engulfed her body burning away her original form into her targeted form.

What did I turn into? She thought, excited of her new form and unable to contain the suspense, she quickly looked around for something that could work as a mirror. The closest she could find was a broken window fragment just beside her. Excitedly, she took a glimpse of her new form. her excited mood quickly turned into confusion the moment she saw herself. It was blurry, but she could picture out a white coat, a spiked blonde mane and a pair of blue eyes. Upon closer inspection she can finally see bits of details of her new face. Her face became a bit muscular and square shaped. Her body became bulkier and muscular. Her wings were also as muscular and ripped. She wasn’t freakishly muscular but her body was too ripped to be considered the regular kind.

“This can’t be right…” she said to herself. The mere sound of her voice made her shiver. Her voice was coarser and rougher. She couldn’t belief herself of what did she become. She never expected to become a stallion not at this time. Her heart was racing against time trying to think of a plan B. Acting concerned as a mare was easy though but as a stallion for another stallion it was different. Her cover would be blown so easily if she dealt with him in this form now, but her target. He was simply lying beside her at her mercy. She thought.

The lieutenant groans in pain as he was starting to regain consciousness. Lost, confused and frustrated at the turn of events, she quickly ran away leaving the lieutenant alone down on the ground.

“How can this be possible?” She thought still feeling confused about her transformation. In her rush, she suddenly crashed into a familiar white unicorn guard sending both on the ground. “Watch where you’re standing!” she shouted in her newly found rough and coarse voice.

“C-Captain?!” Shining Armor’s eyes widened to see none other than Captain Sonic Boom right in his face.

“Shining Armor! I’m so glad to see you!” oblivious to her current appearance she quickly hugged the unicorn stallion tightly.

The two’s display were somehow garnering the attention of several bystanders. Shining Armor noticing the questioning stares of the public pushed the stallion away. “What are you doing here?” he asked still believing that the pony in front of him is the Captain.

“It’s me!” she forced herself coming closer to Shining Armor. Her eyes suddenly glowed in green revealing the original form of her eyes In response to her emotions.

“Huh?” Shining Armor noticed the flickering changes in the eyes. “No…” His voice dropped from the disbelief. “This can’t be serious.” He finally caught the true identity of the muscular pony in front of him. Without hesitation he grabbed the stallion’s hoof and dragged him into the nearest hiding place available.

“What happened? How did you ended up like this?” Shining Armor raised his voice asked Chrysalis wearing his Captain’s appearance. “Where did you get this form?”

“Well I-“She looked away from Shining Armor as she tries to think of a solid and sound alibi. “I decided to look around town and before I noticed I was changing back.” She gave a huge sigh and looked at Shining Armor directly in the eye. “I panicked okay?” She started raising her voice “I just grabbed whatever I could find to disguise myself.” Her eyebrows crossed. “Before I realized I ended up in ‘this’ appearance” she was filled with contempt as she looked over her new appearance. She looked at him steadily hoping that he will buy her story.

“Well anyway let’s just head back to your room” Shining Armor suggested. “That way no pony can see you like this.” he continued. “We can’t let any pony see you especially the guards.”

“Why?” she curiously asked.

“Well…” Shining Armor quickly trying to conjure up an excuse so that Chrysalis would quickly follow his suggestion. “That pony is a wanted criminal.” He tried his best keeping a straight face but his nature made a few of his face muscles flinch and twitch.

“Criminal?” She replied seeing pass through Shining Armor’s lie. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes! He’s a criminal so it’s best we quickly hide you so that none of the guards might mistaken you for him.” He quickly turned around hiding his facial expressions from her.

“Okay…” Seeing that Shining Armor seems to be sticking with his lie, Chrysalis went along. “But first you have to take me at that place you called ‘café’ I want to try that cake again.” She smiled a playful smile wanting to see how Shining Armor will react.

“What?!” Shining Armor quickly turned to her. “You just had cake this morning!”

“I told you it wasn’t me.” She shrugged and turned away from Shining Armor revealing a slight blush on her cheeks.

Shining Armor felt a bit awkward seeing his ‘Captain’ act like that. “You win… “Knowing that he can’t argue with Chrysalis anymore he gave out a huge sigh and nodded in agreement

“Yes!” she smiled feeling a sensation of victory.

“But on one condition you have to put this on.” Shining Armor’s horn glowed purple. Using a simple conjuration spell, he drew out a figure resembling a cloak. The cloak softly landed behind Chrysalis’ board shoulders courtesy of her new form. The sparks of magic soon fell out of the cloak as it solidifies turning it into a full-fledge cloak.

They soon went towards the same café with Chyrsalis still oblivious that she looks like an overly buff pegasus, and Shining Armor worried sick hoping that no pony would see the them especially on how Chrysalis looks like right now.

**Author's Note**

Sorry for the delay, I had a hard time trying to connect the last chapter and the succeeding plans for the fic plus i got caught up with my other fic (Hope you guys can take a glimpse of it) added with the disappointment for not having the specs required for Diablo 3...

Shifting Priorities

“I find this get-up really annoying and irritating.” Chrysalis said in gruff and manly tone, ignorant and indifferent to her current appearance.

It was high noon by the time Shining Armor and Chrysalis got down on the same café they went to earlier morning. The sun was furiously up above with the cool mountain breeze providing a warm, cool and dry air to the town. For the young changeling princess, it was all hot and humid wearing the cloak Shining Armor conjured to hide her current form. Beads of sweat were starting to roll down her forehead and all over her bulky and muscular body. She continued to act like her usual self without her knowing she was wearing the Captain of the Royal Guard’s appearance, yet she remained doubtful of Shining Armor’s explanation to the identity of her disguise.

“I’m really sorry about this, but you can’t reveal yourself looking like that in the public.” Shining Armor said in a soft, whisper-like tone.

“Fine!” she shrugged “Just get me something to eat.” She maintained her spoiled princess-like attitude as she commanded the unicorn in front of her.

Shining silently nodded in agreement with his eye was twitching and lips slightly inclined to burst out of laughter from the mixed emotions he had at the moment. Never will he again see his captain the same way ever again. The images of Captain Sonic Boom acting all prissy were burned into his head courtesy of Chrysalis.

Soon after their conversation, the waiter came in and gently placed their food on the table.

“You’re having that cake again?” Shining Armor noticed the same dessert he had given her earlier this morning. “I thought you didn’t liked it?” he asked with a sly and playful smile in his face.

“Oh just shut up!” she raised her rough and deep voice as she took a bite out of the cake. She sat silently chewing on the sweets. But something perplexed her, it didn’t tasted quite the same. There was something missing. She placed her hoof under her chin and recalled that missing piece. She then darted her attention towards the white unicorn in front of her.

“Hmmm? What’s wrong?” Shining Armor noticed her stare.

“Feed me!” she said with a straight face.

“What?!” Shining Armor’s jaw dropped along with his sandwich levitated through his magic. His eyes were staring at her widely surprised to hear her command. There is no way in Equestria that he is going to spoon-feed an overly buff stallion especially when that stallion is his captain he thought. He clearly knew that it was Chrysalis behind that bulk exterior but still it felt awkward to him.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said Feed me!” she pushed the plate forward to Shining Armor prompting him to do what she commanded.

“But…” Shining Armor could only recognize the rough deep voice of the captain despite it coming from Chrysalis. He was starting to get angst from the judging stares of the crowd slowly growing, looking at them like some queer couple. He slowly came closer to Chrysalis and whispered. “I know you’re already aware of this but right now you’re a stallion… a really muscular kind of stallion.”

“So?” She argued back. “It may seem that I look like stallion but inside I AM A PRINCESS” she emphasized the last few words of her statement. The sudden volume made the other guest turned their heads towards the source of the sound. Hearing the intense masculinity of the voice and the mixture of the queerness of the message and seeing that that certain pony is together with a guard, they started murmurs of gossip and whispers of rumors and speculations.

A huge surge of embarrassment welled up inside Shining Armor finding himself in the hotseat. Never did he was in a situation like this. It was more nerve-wrecking than the time they were sent to their first sortie. The scheduled escorts of Princess Celestia and acting as bouncers proved to be less stressful compared to the situation he was in right now. It was too late; any form of denial would sink him down into a deeper hole.

He was sweating profusely, The images of ponies laughing at him with such smirks on their faces, looking at him in some weird way, pointing at him like some kind of odd ball were painted into his mind. “Can you believe that?” “A guard going out with a stallion of all the things” “I can’t believe they let those kinds in to guard the town.” the messages played back and forth like a broken record coming from the imaginary ponies in his mind. Without hesitation, he followed the first thing that popped into his head, Run!”

Grabbing Chrysalis’ muscular hoof, courtesy of her disguise, Shining Armor quickly charged up his horn for a spell.

“How dare you touch me without—“ Before Chrysalis could finish her sentence, they were instantly gone, teleported by Shining Armor’s spell and panic to find the most private place he could think of at that moment, leaving only puffs of smoke and dust, several blue sparkles and some bits lying on the table as payment for their food.

“—my permission” she continued on, the moment she reappeared along with Shining Armor. Noticing that they have gone off from the café, she took a quick glance around their new environment. It seemed so familiar, in fact too familiar that she realized that they were back in her room. “How did we?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“I don’t know…” Shining Armor replied trying to regain his breath. “I panicked?” he huffed. “and casted a teleportation spell to who wherever nearby with some privacy… and here we are back into your room.” he took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Chrysalis.

“What about the cake?! Why did you do it?” She quickly pushed herself towards Shining Armor, shaking him back and forth insisting to know why the stallion parted her with her delectable delight.

“WAIT!” Shining Armor pushed back as he shouted. “Before you do anything, I mean ANYTHING” he huffed emphasizing on the last word. “Would you please go back to your original form.” his voice lowered down. “I kinda preferred that look of yours.”

“You… liked the way I really looked?” she replied with a joyful shine gleaming in her eyes; thinking that Shining Armor was implying something, something pleasing to every mare’s or in her case lady’s ear.

“Trust me, its way better.” Shining Armor continued on oblivious to Chrysalis’ feelings.

“I supposed I could give in to your” she cleared her throat before continuing “’unreasonable request.” She removed the cloak hanging on her body and changed back to her true form. She shied her face away the moment she changed back “Do I look better right now?”

“Yes, definitely, compared to earlier. “Shining Armor quickly replied as he remained dense. “That form earlier was too ‘ugh’” he shook his head stopping his sentence for he had no word to describe the feeling of disgust he had.

“Is that why?” Chrysalis expressed an annoyed look her once joyful feeling turned grim and dark. She began to catch up with Shining Armor’s denseness and his motive in asking her to change back and she was not too happy about it.

“Yeah!” Shining Armor nodded still unknown to the dangers that lies in front of him “I mean honestly you look terrifying back there. I rather see you like this.”

“You uncouth excuse of a Bollusk!” she was steaming furious. A lot could easily tick her off but they were only quick burst of annoyance. In this case, she felt that no pony, changeling or whatever got her riled up and fidgety for no reason at all. She dug her hoof on the wooden planks of the floor as she begins to attack the white unicorn in front of her.

“What I do?” Shining Armor slowly backs off fully aware of the danger yet still oblivious to his crimes against Chrysalis. He quickly did a 180 turn, turning his back and prepared to dash away from the crazed changeling princess.

“Come back here!” She quickly jumped tackling down Shining Armor before even run off.

Shining Armor struggled to escape Chrysalis’s fury pushing away and trying to remove the holed hooves of Chrysalis wrapped around him. Chrysalis, in turn gripped tighter and tighter and if the stallion managed to push away one of her hooves, she quickly grabbed hold another spot. The struggling continued on until Chrysalis accidentally poked Shining Armor’s side sending the stallion shocked jumping while chuckling and laughing all of a sudden. She quickly took chance to pin down stallion as she felt him softening up due to her discovery.

“Surprise surprise…” She looked down and said with a devious sly smile written all over her face. “Who would have thought that guards do have soft spots despite their hard exterior?”

“Ugh… Call it truce?” Shining Armor sheepishly grinned in full knowledge to the princess’ plans for him.

“I don’t know,” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about it.” without warning, she took advantage of Shining Armor’s ticklish spot and started tickling him down to submission. The sheer delight in putting the stallion in a ‘torturous’ position made her smile and laugh in ways she never felt before. For the first time she didn’t had to wear disguises and pretentions. She was happy the way she is right now. Although the feelings seemed foreign to her, she enjoyed the last bit of joy it had to offer.

Chrysalis continued her ‘attacks’ to Shining Armor sending him into a fit of laughter nearly breaking him into tears. After a few minutes, Shining Armor raised his hoof prompting the changeling princess to pause her ‘torture’ for a while.

“Had enough?” she asked positioning herself to continue as a form of threat.

“Okay I give up.” Shining Armor responded out of breath. He had never laughed like that for months or years even. it was quite refreshing in fact to simply laugh because of getting tickled. Although forced, it made him forget the incident at the café and focused on the changeling in front of him; “I’m sorry…” he apologized, although he had small hints of what he did to tick her off but he still haven’t got the whole understanding, perhaps pony or changeling a lady will always be a lady. “I guess what I mean is I prefer that look of yours rather than any other form you might take. I mean the original is the best right?” he quickly thought of something hoping to quell down the moody princess.

“You seriously mean that do you?” Skeptical of the stallion’s words, she asked staring at him with eyes narrowed down on his every facial expression.

“I mean it. You look way better or should I say cute when you’re yourself.” Shining Armor quickly replied.

“I do?” her face instantly beamed in joy and delight turning red but quickly turned serious and flat “I mean… of course I am “ she coughed and gloated. “But I suppose I could let you go now…” she placed a hoof under her chin thinking about Shining Armor’s words.

Shining Armor saw Chrysalis’ opening and quickly flipped her turning the tables into his side. From Chrysalis being over him now he was on top standing above the laid down changeling princess.

“Now I have the upper hand.” Shining Armor declared. “Now time for some payback.” He smiled the same way Chrysalis smiled at him earlier implying the same train of thought. Guessing that the most common tickle spot is at the side he began nearing his hoof towards that spot.

“Don’t you dare!” Chrysalis demanded but her words fell into deaf ears as Shining Armor started his ‘attack’ sending her into the same burst of laughter like Shining Armor before.

“I guess we had at least something in common.” He smiled after his joyful discovery. Who would have thought both of them had the same tickle spot.

“The nerve of you I’ll—“ Chrysalis quickly responded the moment Shining Armor stopped but her sudden words only prompted the stallion so poke her 'spot' sending her back laughing and unable to finish her sentence.

“I’ll have you beheaded for this—“

“My changeling army will—“

“I’ll will send you straight to the—“

Every single sentence she tried to make, Shining Armor interrupted it through tickling her, but his fun soon turned grim when one poke signaled Chrysalis’ back hoof to kick upward, sending him squirming in pain on the floor with a sharp kick to Shining Armor’s shining balls of glory.

Shining Armor instantly fell, groaning in pain and groveling on the floor.

Chrysalis quickly stood up and went to Shining Armor’s side. “Well, I did tell you to stop.” Chrysalis said with a pretentious uncaring tone. “Does that really hurt?” her façade began to melt away seeing the stallion still in intense pain moments after.

“Well I’ve been through worse.” Shining Armor replied covering his pain through jokes and chuckles.

“Just remember that you brought this all upon yourself.” She shrugged.

“That’ll remind me to not incur the wrath of the princess.” He smiled and looked towards the changeling princess still feeling the stinging pain of the kick earlier.

“If it really hurts that much...” she stammered trying to avoid eye contact with the stallion. “Fine! I’m sorry…” she mumbled.

“What?” Shining Armor barely heard her last words asked.

“I’M SORRY!” she shouted in front of Shining Armor and shrugged afterwards. “You should consider yourself fortunate enough that I haven’t had you beheaded for your insolence…” she quickly got up and went towards the bed. She sat heavily on the edge of the bed still feeling grumpy after being forcing herself to apologize to Shining Armor.

“If this is fortunate then I’m afraid to know what does being unfortunate meant to you.” Shining Armor chuckled as he rolled himself to his hooves in firm contact with the floor and got up.

“Now that I recalled… ” Chrysalis placed a hoof under her chin. “You still haven’t properly introduced yourself.” She darted a gaze at him. All she knew of the stallion was his name and his occupation although partially. “It seemed unfair that you know quite a deal about me.”

“Seems fair enough; our first meeting wasn’t in the most hospitable environment.” Shining Armor nodded. “Where should I start?” he gave his introduction some thought. After a few seconds his mood lit up ready to do his introduction. “I’m Shining Armor, well you know that already.” He sheepishly grinned for informing her something she already knew. “Well, I came from Canterlot.”

“What?!” Chrysalis asked surprised to hear that the stallion she belittled so much hailed from Canterlot. “You came from Canterlot? Why are you doing in a backwater town like this?” she quickly noticed Shining Armor’s sudden change in expression to a more offended look. “I mean compared to Canterlot that is…” she interjected before Shining Armor was able to say something.

“Well, truth be told I’m part of the Royal Guards, well still in probation though. And we’re tasked to do guard duties in this town.” Shining Armor dropped his offended look.

“Hold on!” Chrysalis suddenly interrupted with her hooves pushing forward, eyebrows angled and with a puzzled look. “Not only you came from Canterlot, but you’re also a part of the Royal Guards?” she asked hoping for a clarification.

“Yeah!” Shining Armor smilingly nodded.

“One lie at a time.” She pressed her hoof against her forehead.

“What?!” Shining Armor surprised to hear the accusation.

“You’re serious about that?” Chrysalis noticed Shining Armor’s disbelief.

“Of course I am!” Shining Armor firmly replied. “Just what do you peg me for?” He asked a bit annoyed at the changeling’s reply.

“Well, I thought you were some common local guard at a backwater—“she cleared her throat pretending to correct her last word. “I mean outpost town such as this one.”

“That hurts you know that…” Shining Armor replied, his tone dropping giving an impression that he was hurt by her remark with his eyes drooping down and his expression turning sad.

“Cease your useless feigning, I know how to spot a fake cry miles away.” Chrysalis quickly said the moment Shining Armor wore his sad face. “So how is it like in Canterlot?”

Shining Armor quickly regain his usual self when Chrysalis brushed off his teasing expression. “For starters, it’s a beautiful city; full of all sorts of ponies from artists to artisans, from engineers to designers and different types of business ponies. Although most of the upper crust ponies are snobs, don’t tell them that. You’d best be avoiding them.” He chuckled. “Mostly you can find almost everything there, from food to dresses and to other knickknacks and novelties.” He tried to recall as much as he could picture but as he tried to put them in words those were the things he could describe about his home. “You can visit me in my home and I’ll give you a tour around, it’s much better than me describing Canterlot, I assure you.” he suggested. “And of course, there’s the royal palace. Well I think you already know that.”

“I’m quite aware of that.” Chrysalis replied with a flat tone but deep inside her, she remembered her life’s mission ironic to the stallion’s offer to tour her around the city she was meant to destroy.

“What’s wrong?” Shining Armor noticed the deep sadness welling up inside her.

“Nothing, there’s just a lot in my mind.” Chrysalis brushed off the stallion coming to her.

“I know it’s a bit cliché but i was told by my friend that whenever a mare tell you that there is nothing wrong, there is definitely something wrong.” Shining Armor continued on despite Chrysalis pushing him away. “Can you tell me?”

“Just look at me!” Chrysalis pointed herself. “I am a changeling, how will you give me a tour if there’s no way that they will just let me waltz in any city especially in the capital of Equestria.” her voice was raising.

“Can’t you just change?” Shining Armor suggested confused with what was her problem. She could just slap into her disguise and problem solve.

“I don’t want to!” Chrysalis strongly rejected his idea. “I look best in this, and a lady always wants to look her best.” She shrugged at Shining Armor’s insensitivity to her feelings . she did consider his suggestion but she also wanted to go as herself; no disguises no pretentions no falsification of identities, just herself.

Shining Armor recalled to what Sharpeye told him before that the most important rule is that one should never ever argue with a mare even if she doesn’t make sense. He scratched his head hoping to come up with something again; his face quickly lit up. He gently placed his hoof on her shoulder “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of everything. Trust me.” Shining Armor warmly smiled staring closer to her eyes. He looked at her with a sincere look “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Chrysalis in turn looked at his sincere and dreamy sky blue eyes. Her heart was pounding and melting at the same time. Her blood was gushing to her face making look like a tomato. She quickly pushed the stallion away. “You’re an oaf you know that?” she turned her head away hiding away her redness.

“I’m an oaf now?” Shining Armor replied. Again he was dumbfounded by Chrysalis sudden mood swings.

“Yes you’re an oaf!” Chrysalis nodded still maintaining her head away from the stallion’s view.

Shining Armor groaned in confusion. His head was hurting trying to figure out Chrysalis.

“When you said you’re only here because you were tasked does that mean you’re going away after your job is over?” Chrysalis again quickly changed her expression.

“Guard Duty!” the keywords ‘task and job’ quickly reminded Shining Armor he still had guard duty for that day. “What time is it?” he asked panicked and in a hurry to know the time.

“If I’m not mistaken it’s about 5’o clock. “ Chyrsalis looked outside the window and used the position of the sun as basis for her time.

The huge yellow red ball of light was already in between the two mountains in the far side of the town. From the sun was still in the middle of the sky and in just a few moments now it’s already setting down, time flew so fast that Shining Armor didn’t even noticed it.

“I’m sorry to leave you like this but I have to get back at the barracks.” Shining Armor apologized and hastily went towards the door. “I’ll probably come back again tomorrow. “And in a flash he was out and gone, leaving Chrysalis alone in the room.

Moments later after Shining Armor got back to the barracks, he was immediately sent to the lieutenant’s office. A loud voice was heard inside Lieutenant Flash’s office in the barracks. Furious jabs of harsh words came from the lieutenant’s mouth after Shining Armor came back and he was instantly sent to Flash’s office. It took almost half an hour before Shining Armor was able to leave the office. Shining Armor gave a huge depressing sigh the moment got out.

“Heard what happened!” Sharpeye quickly approached him. “But still I can’t believe that you did that.” He said with a smirk on his face.

“What do you mean?” Shining Armor still feeling the depression looked at his friend.

“I mean, no offense but I can’t believe your dating stallions.” Sharpeye replied with a devious grin on his face.

“What?! No!”Shining Armor strongly denied “That’s not what it is… Not you too.” His expression was filled with disbelief and shock.

“Right…” Sharpeye replied maintaining his sly and devious tone. “You’re my friend, I can accept you even if you’re dating stallions.”

“Shut up!” Shining Armor said. “You’re my friend right?” he looked left and right making sure the coast was clear.

“I guess but let’s keep it In a platonic way of course.” Sharpeye felt unsure of what was Shining Armor getting to.

“Just shut up!” Shining Armor was starting to get annoyed at his friend’s jokes “Can you keep a secret?”

With Shining Armor all gone, she giggled and smiled like a school filly on her first win on a contest. “I can’t believe he just said that.” The words still echoed in her mind. “I like you the way you are.” “I won’t let anything happen to you.” although edited in her interpretation. She still felt warm and happy about those words. It might be the break she was looking for. No more lies and deceit, no more use and abuse. It was everything she dreamed of ACCEPTANCE and with the hope of being loved.

Her train of happy thoughts was soon interrupted by a sudden glow in her horn. “Mother?!” she was surprise to hear her mother’s voice echoing, calling her. “No! it’s nothing like that!” she nervously shook her head. “I’m only getting close to him because…” she tried to think of some excuse. “…because, he’s part of the Royal Guard!” She hoped that her mother would buy that. “What do you mean we’re still sticking to the original plan?” she asked raising her voice. “You don’t understand, we could seize Canterlot with him!” she tried to reason out. “There’s nothing between us!” she said. “Yes… I understand…” her voice lowered down into submission. Moments after her last words, she felt that it was like a reality slapping her. It slapped so hard that it sent her breaking into a few tears. There was no chance to begin with; she will forever be a changeling trapped in her duties to the swarm.

Author's Notes:

Sorry it a while with Diablo 3 and all. and by far this is most wordy chapter i have ever done. So again thanks for the time and enjoy

Reflections and Decisions

The same bright sunny day beamed across town as it rises from the horizon, as if Princess Celestia herself ordered the fine weather they were experiencing in the few days. But the warm and bright glow of the sun oppositely reflected the gloom and puzzled mood of one certain white unicorn. Alone and thinking in his quarters inside the barracks, he tried to recall their heart-to-heart conversation with his friend last night and the thought of his dwindling performance in the duties. Shining Armor lay flat on the bed still confused about his steadily increasing desires to see Chrysalis despite it has affected his record. He closed his eyes and let out a huge depressing sigh. Slowly reopening his eyes, he could clearly see the wooden frame supporting the upper part of the double layered bed he was laying on. He then darted his attention to the drawer beside the bed revealing a picture frame of a young pink mare and a purple filly playing by the swing.

“What would you think of your brother now?” Shining Armor said with a weak smile on his face, he then looked back up reflecting on his recent actions. Recalling what Lieutenant Flash harsh words last night, he knew that the lieutenant was right, he is distracted, in fact too distracted. Though he refused to admit it at first it, deep down he knew that once he was with Chrysalis he loses track of time and his duties as a consequence.

“Hey there Princess Taker!” a cheerful voice suddenly came in greeting the puzzled stallion. Sharpeye came busting in the room with his usual cheerful grin. A yellow pegasus wearing a standard guardspony armor came barging in.

“What do you mean Princess Taker?” Shining Armor jumped up from the bed confronting his friend.

“Let’s see…” Sharpeye pondered around “During the academy days, you had Princess Cadence. And now you have this Princess Chrysalis.” He turned to Shining Armor with a playful smile. “If I were you, I’d change my cutie mark into something that involves around knocking Princesses.” He burst out into laughter.

“Shhh!” Shining Armor quickly muffled the loud pegasus with his hooves. “Somepony might hear us.” He then looked straight at Sharpeye “And for the record, Cadence and I were just good friends.”

“Relax…” Sharpeye slowly removed Shining Armor’s hooves. “Everypony already left for duty, we’re the only ones left, well technically you’re the only one left and I was called to drag you out.“ he then walked towards the exit. “I know we already talked about this last night but you’re really messed up in the head to even think of starting a relationship especially with a changeling and all.”

“I guess I really am…” Shining Armor replied with weak and faint smile on his face following his friend as they both exit their quarters to do their job.

Sharpeye suddenly stopped and turned around to his problematic friend. “You should consider yourself luck that I am your friend.” He sighed as he took a quick tap on Shining Armor’s shoulder “From what I heard from the local mares, there will be a meteor shower tonight.” He smiled “Although they did flock to me and asked me to see the stars together.” He boasted.

“Just get to the point” Shining Armor didn’t took a bit of liking to his friend’s boasting.

“What I’m saying is…” He came closer to the white unicorn “Take her there, do whatever you have to do.” He said calmly.

“But isn’t it too early for that? I mean we just a few days.” Shining Armor asked feeling concerned and uneasy to his friend’s suggestion. Although he always had the changeling on his mind for a few days ever since they met, he felt that their ‘relationship’ was still too premature to take it to the next level. In addition, he still was worried to the fact that he feared that Chrysalis might reject him for being a pony and all.

“Well,” Sharpeye rolled his eyes. “It’s up to you, but you have only up to this night since we’re going back to Canterlot tomorrow morning.” Sharpeye replied.

“What?!” Shining Armor was shocked to hear the sudden news. “But I thought we’re going to stay here for another month? I mean why?”

“I don’t know.” Sharpeye’s voice toned down. “The details are sketchy but orders are orders, I already received an official statement from Lieutenant Flash.” He took out a piece of parchment from his armor and revealed its contents to Shining Armor. “I’m quite surprised you still haven’t heard about it.”

“Even I am surprised about the whole thing” Shining Armor took the parchment from Sharpeye’s hoof by his magic and floated it on his eye level. His eyes scrolled left and right as he silently reads the whole order statement. He rolled the parchment and levitated it back to Sharpeye’s hoof after reading the whole thing. “It’s strange that the lieutenant would do such a thing.”

“I don’t know what in Equestria he is thinking.” Sharpeye sighed “But orders are orders.”

“Me neither, there’s something definitely wrong about this.” Shining Armor replied now puzzled with the sudden order. “As if…” a sudden realization struck him like lightning “It can’t be…”

He was now torn between two choices, to take his friend’s suggestion or to investigate the sudden change in protocols. Whichever between the two he would choose, it was filled with uncertainties.

If he did choose to tell Chrysalis how he really feels about her, he is still unsure if she also feels the same. Is he just infatuated with the new experience or is his heart really honest and true to him? Would it even work out if they did become a couple? Would all of Equestria accept them? After all he is a pony and a Royal Guard while she is a changeling and their princess if he might add. But whatever the result at least he can settle it in one day and if he did wanted to live his life with her then he had to give up his position as a Royal Guard. Such thoughts were plaguing the young guard’s mind thinking about this option.

If he did choose to investigate the reason for the sudden order, he had all to lose but he felt compelled that it was his duty. Not only will he lose the chance to tell Chrysalis his feelings, he might not see her again forever and he might be accused of treason if the investigation didn’t went well. it was all in the plain text of duty that he would do this.

Whatever his choice is, one thing is for certain he must choose and he wanted to do both one out of his new-found focus and the other is due to his duty.

“I’m going on ahead,” Sharpeye resumed his exit “They might think otherwise especially after your incident at the café yesterday.”

“Buck off!” Shining Armor instantly replied following the yellow pegasus from behind.

“Stay away from this Shining Armor she said, it’s for my own good she said.” Chrysalis blew-off some steam as she furiously threaded back and forth in her room. “Mother obviously underestimates me. I’ll show her that like in my past dealing that this is just the same, Use, abuse and discard.” Her tone seemed so full of determination and uncaring of the pony involved.

“Besides I’m sure that he’s not even interested in me.” She continued talking to herself. “He is a pony and I am a…” she paused and raised one of her holed hooves towards her eye-level. “…changeling.” Her tone quickly turned to a more depressing one giving a huge sigh.

Her mind stated to wander off from her initial topic. How did it become like this? Before she even met this stallion, she was all for the swarm. Town after town lies after lies and deceit after deceit. Did her meeting with the stallion made her soft? Is that even possible? What does this stallion have that made her like this? What made it unfathomable is that they just met a few days and now she is acting like this. Maybe it was he was the first pony to ever accept her as she is. Most of the ponies in her encounters are usually frightened and terrified to death the moment they saw her true appearance. or she revealed herself too fast that he became accustomed to her. Whatever the reason was it felt insignificant to her feelings towards the stallion.

Shining Armor this and Shining Armor that. It was all about Shining Armor until she shook her head vigorously to remove his images playing in her mind. She has a mission to carry out, topple down Equestria and subject it to changeling sovereignty. She tried to think of negative images of Shining Armor to rid herself with this preposterous thought.

“…”

She can’t think of any. She wanted to stay. She wanted to explore a whole new Equestria with Shining Armor at her side. She wanted both Shining Armor and Equestria but she can only choose one. Why does she have to be a changeling? If only she was only born as a pony, then things wouldn’t be so difficult and complicated. If only she wasn’t the next-to-be ruler of the changelings she could easily abandon her kin. The thought of abandoning her kind, leaving them without a ruler for the next generation, for the sake of one, ONE pony felt so excruciating, uncertain and painful. Twisting and turning her expressions was as the endless questions kept popping out of nowhere.

However in the recent days, by being with Shining Armor, she realized a life with no heavy responsibilities or burden, no lies and deceit. She can enjoy such sweet delights but only if Shining Armor was present. She could be like any regular mare that enjoys shopping, dresses, sweets and being with the stallion of you love.

Giving up something was a part of life, but the price of what she truly wanted was so heavy she could decide right now. “NO!” She told herself. She wanted to believe that she can still perform her mission even with the stallion at her side. She wanted to find out for herself. She wanted to put herself to the test. Her eyes burning with determination “I am Princess Chrysalis! I can do this!” she pumped herself with her strong words.

‘Knock Knock Knock’ three knocks thudded on the door the moment she finished her self-empowerment. “It’s me!” a familiar voice called from behind the door. “Is everything alright?”

Her eyes widened in surprised to hear his voice, of all ponies. What’s he doing here? Doesn’t he have guard duty? She quickly took a glance outside the window. The sun was no more to be seen between the mountains but it was shining bright and hot above the clouds. How long did it took her to do that whole monologue? She pondered.

Three consecutive knocks thudded again. “Chrysalis?” the concerns in his tone were growing.

“Yes! Everything is fine, you have permission to enter!” she poised herself.

The door slowly creaked open revealing a white unicorn peering between the walls and the door. He turned his attention towards the center of the room where Chrysalis was standing, always with her annoyed look staring at him. Still thinking about the things boggling his mind early morning, he hesitantly and slowly went inside quickly gaining Chrysalis’ annoyance.

“What?” she quickly ask after noticing he was taking his time entering the room.

“Nothing.” Shining Armor’s eyes rolled around the room getting all fidgety and restless. “How does Sharpeye makes this look so easy?” He thought to himself. “Have you eaten lunch?” he suddenly asked without thinking. He was now shaky and nervous after coming self-conscious of himself and his feelings.

“Are you joking?” Chrysalis found his question dumb and stupid. “Unless along the way you came across several drained ponies.” she added with a sarcastic tone and shrugged away from the stallion.

Shining Armor lightly scratched his head laughing faintly at Chrysalis’ statement. there was brief moment of awkward silence that filled the room as Shining Armor started collecting his thoughts. He took a deep breath to remind himself of what he has came here to do. He cleared his throat, renewed his determination, paced himself and mustered up his courage. Ignoring all the increasing heartbeats of nervousness he was experience at the moment “Would you go with me later this evening?” he said it.

The sudden announcement made her heart race. Her heart beat was getting faster and faster her cheeks redder and redder. “Is he asking me out?” she whispered to herself. She wanted to shout ‘yes’ but she felt like her throat was being blocked by some unknown force. She wanted to throw herself but her upbringing told her otherwise. “Just where exactly do you plan on taking me?”

“Well,” he scratched his head for a second “There’s this meteor shower later this night, and I was hoping that you would…” his cheeks were slowly turning red. “...come and watch it together with me.” He sheepishly grinned.

“| supposed I could put watching some useless rocks fall with you in my busy schedule this evening.” She smiled with poise starting at the young white unicorn hiding her excitement. Although she did thought of more exciting ways to accept the stallion’s proposal, this was enough, enough to send her message.

“Really?!” Shining Armor smiled in victory “I’ll pick you up by…” he paused trying to recall what his friend told him regarding the time that the shower will occur. “…seven?” Seven was the best time since the shower is said to happen by eight and with an hour as allowance, they can at least prepare for the trip or something he thought confirming his decision.

“Just make sure it’s worth my time…” she continued her poker face but still unable to contain a small smile leaking out.

“Don’t worry It will be the best night ever.” He said it with excitement and confidence. Shining Armor quickly left after saying his goodbye's and later’s resuming back to his guard duty.

Shining Armor continued to patrol around town feeling excited for later evening, trotting gleeful albeit weird for a guard on duty. Forget the investigation forget his issue with Lieutenant Flash he thought. He has decided to go home with Chrysalis if ever things would work out. He felt comfortable with his choice. He had a huge smile on his face full of hope and energy but somewhere inside he still had bits of nervousness he can’t shake out like during the day before he got accepted into the Royal Guards.

Chrysalis felt her will waning away, sapped like how she does her victims. Her effort to build-up her determinate simply faded away along with Shining Armor, but deep inside she felt a satisfying defeat smiling helplessly thinking about the new life she has decided upon. She slowly went towards the window and stared at the departing guard steadily pacing away and soon out of her sights. If only the circumstance would be kinder, but now she just realized something she couldn’t simply give the stallion up. Without notice, her black and twisted horn suddenly glowed an eerie green with an incoming message from her Mother.

The Message

A/N: I know this chapter seems to a bit shorter compared to the others but at least this keeps the story going and give it more direction as i write/type the next chapter.

Shining Armor hummed an uplifting tone preparing himself for his big night. Grooming gels and waxes were all around the washroom sink. The whole washroom in the barracks smelled like a manly scented perfume with some of its scent leaking away throughout the vicinity. His mane was shinier and slicker than the usual. His coat was neatly primed and groomed. It seemed like newly washed sheet free from ruffles and smudges of dirt and mud. He opened his mouth and focused his sights on the mirror checking for any bits and pieces left from lunch.

Unaware of his surroundings, his yellow pegasus friend approached him from behind with a concerned look his face. “Are you sure you’re going to do this?” Sharpeye suddenly approached the busy stallion. “I mean seriously do you really plan on doing this?” he repeated his question emphasizing his point.

“Of course I am,” Shining Armor replied combing his mane with the comb’s enveloped within a purple glow.

“I mean seriously she’s a changeling. And they are not famous for being honest and truthful.” He tried to persuade his friend.

“She’s different.” Shining Armor argued back while trying various mane styles by controlling the comb’s movements with his magic.

“How different exactly?” Sharpeye asked.

“I can see it in her eyes,” Shining Armor tried to form his mane into a spiked-styled and reverting it back to normal after a few seconds. “This won’t do…” He told himself after feeling unsure of that mane style.

“And that alone proves it?” Sharpeye seemed puzzled with his friend’s reply. “I know I was the one who told you to go for it,” Sharpeye looked down and started walking around behind Shining Armor. He stopped and raised his head back up “But I never expected you to really go it.”

“What can I say?” Shining Armor smiled “Love is blind”

“Okay! I get it,” Sharpeye raised his hoof directed towards Shining Armor. he closed his eyes and hoped that he doesn’t hear anymore cheesy lines from his friend. “I guess there’s no stopping you.” he resumed back a standing position. “If you need me I’ll be with some mares dancing in the moonlight along with the anticipated meteor shower,” he went back to his usual cheerful tone.

“That won’t be necessary.” Shining Armor replied feeling sure of himself not to be bested tonight by his friend when it comes to the ladies. “I guess this will do,” he finally decided to go for his natural look as he looks at himself in the mirror.

“I was wondering,” Sharpeye placed a hoof under his chin “what are your plans, IF you two are going to be together?” Sharpeye asked.

“It’s a given that I can’t continue being a Royal Guard” Shining Armor replied while fitting a silver plated shield ornament on his chest. The crest on the center of the shield bears a resemblance on the star on his cutie mark, a purple six-pointed star. “Should I go with this?” he asked himself.

“Dude! Relax, it’s just a date night.” Sharpeye answered. “No need to go all out like that. Just be clean, neat and presentable.”

“You’re right.. ” Shining Armor nodded in agreement as he placed away his shield-like accessory. “But still it’s important,” His head jolted up “Is it really ok to go out like this?” he pointed at himself showing that he looks plain and simple no special accessories, hats, suits nor garments just plain vanilla.

Sharpeye gave a quick smile “What’s important is how you feel,” He pressed his hoof against his friend’s chest. “That’s more important especially in a night like this.”

“You’re the expert.” Shining Armor chuckled.

“That, you are right.” Sharpeye boasted as he laughed afterwards.

“Although, I’m quite nervous on how my parents will react and especially Twily.“ Shining Armor suddenly spoke but with a more concerned look on his face. “She was so proud of me when I was admitted into the Royal Guards.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand.” The yellow pegasus replied. “As long as they see that you’re happy and didn’t regret that decision, they’ll sooner or later accept it.”

“But still I never imagined that it will turn out like this.” Shining Armor sighed.

“I’m more surprised that Lieutenant Flash gave us the night off despite this being our last day.” Sharpeye said.”Isn’t that suspicious?” he added goading his friend to be like his usual investigative self.

“Haha! Nice try…” Shining Armor scoffed at his goading. “Before I would do that, but it’s just that tonight is a special night,”

“It was worth a shot.” Sharpeye snickered “But you still should be careful.” He said reminding his friend of what kind of creature his date will be.

“I know, besides I trust her.” Shining Armor replied confident in his trust in the changeling princess.

The night has finally arrived. Bustling crowds, eager and excited, were all waiting for the anticipated meteor shower. The stars sparkled, twinkled and shined all over the black night sky like glitters sprayed all over a black paper. Ponies all over the town were doing there own preparations to ensure a great view over the spectacle. Some were already going to hilltops with a clear view of the sky. Some were already sitting comfortably with their loved ones in establishments that offers a view in the night sky. Some preferred to be alone with their vast telescopes and books, while some were with their friends and with packed sandwiches on a nighttime picnic. Despite the festive-like atmosphere, there were guards stationed around the town to ensure the safety and security and to be there when trouble arises.

In the midst of the crowd stood Shining Armor, looking like his normal self but his mane, coat, hooves even his face were clean neat and well-groomed as his friend advised him and without his regular suit of armor. Feeling a bit heart-pounding nervousness beating inside his chest, he slowly approaches the inn where Chrysalis was staying for the meantime. Passing through the rough crowd also busy with their own agenda, he was soon blocked by a brown coated earth pony with a spiked-darker shade of brown mane.

“Is there a problem?” Shining Armor felt taken aback by the stare of his blue eyes.

“You’re Shining Armor right?” he asked in a gruff and impatient tone.

“Yes?” He replied using his military instincts, he cautioned himself around the stallion. “Is there anything I could do for you?” he asked.

“Here!” He pushed a parchment paper he took out from his saddle strapped on his back on the unicorn’s chest.

Knowing what the brown stallion was implying, Shining Armor levitated the note to his eye level and began reading its contents.

I don’t know who you are as much as I care about it but one thing is for certain, STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER! You have no right to meddle in with the affairs of us Changelings so I suggest you do so and STAY AWAY or there will be dire consequences. But I’m not that heartless, I’m giving you this one and only night as your chance to say your farewells to my daughter as I will take her back home this very night. She is already waiting for you in the cliff side of the nearby forest of this town which I am sure is pretty significant to the both of you. I know you are a smart pony and will do the RIGHT Thing if you know what’s good for you and you’re loved ones.

Consider this a Warning.

Shining Armor slowly crumpled the parchment with his magic as his mood turned grim and dark. The messenger was already gone the moment he finished reading the letter. He felt a sharp knife stabbed him after reading the message especially the sharp words STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER which was written in a deep red color emphasizing the point of the message. Without considering or giving a second thought, Shining Armor rushed towards the cliff where Chrysalis lifted him with the little magic left in her to escape from the timberwolves.

Shower of Emotions

“Did any pony come by here earlier?” Shining Armor asked a yellow coated, green curly maned earth pony mare standing behind the wooden counter at the inn Chyrsalis was staying at. His once well-groomed appearance now sweaty and messed-up; he was breathing heavily in his rush to make it in time before something happens to the changeling princess.

“You have to be more specific soldier boy.” the innkeeper answered with a flat tone as she kept filing her hoof. “A lot of ponies come and go, especially with the festival going,” she continued to file her hoof.

“Okay,” he started thinking. “Did a brown earth pony came by? He had a spiked mane sort of.” Shining Armor added.

“Sorry never seen him before.” the innkeeper replied.

“Okay,” Shining Armor closed his eyes thinking for more questions as hints. “Is Alice still in her room?” he asked hoping that the answer is yes.

“Alice, Alice,” the innkeeper kept tapping the hoof file on her chin trying to recall some events regarding the pony named Alice. “Ah!” her eyes widened. “I’m afraid she already left, although I did remember her leaving with two strange looking stallions.”

“What?!” Shining Armor slammed the wooden counter. “Where were they headed?”

“Easy there soldier boy, How should I know?” the innkeeper replied indifferent to the stallion’s concern.

Shining Armor gritted his teeth in frustration he was too late. He quickly dashed outside with only the letter he received as his clue.

“A thank you would be nice,” the innkeeper said with an indifferent tone as she resumed filing her hoof. As soon as the white unicorn stallion was out of sight, the innkeeper smirked as small green embers flashed within her eyes.

Shining stood tall as he stared upon the entrance of the forest, concealing what is inside the grove in the ever stretching darkness. It felt nostalgic to the stallion, it was like two days or so that he first met Chrysalis.

Everything felt ironic as Shining Armor entered the forest. A cold chilling air breezed through Shining Armor’s white pelt. Staring down at the unknown, Shining braved his way towards the forest hoping to find and bring his black princess back.

Walking through the thick forest, Shining Armor took left and right glances around the surroundings. It was dark, with just the moonlight and a purple light generated from his horn his source of illumination.

The night crickets chirping sounds echoed thought out Shining Armor’s trek inside the forest. The dried leaves cracking and breaking with every step he made. Preparing for anything that may come, the white unicorn walked through in full attention to anything that sounded other than the sounds that he was making; putting the training he did in the barracks to good use.

A swoosh sounded from up above as the first meteor showered down in the vast night sky. Shining Armor darted his attention towards the sky seeing a few meteors fly by. With their nearly untraceable speed, the meteors looked like they were racing towards the far end of the sky; one by one the bright white lights passed by; some were already moving in a circular pattern swirling around in a make shift center in the starry night sky.

The sudden shift of the stars instantly grabbed Shining Armor’s attention, leaving him open to most surprise attacks. Shining Armor’s stare on starry spectacle made him realize how much wanted Chrysalis on his side. It made him desire for her even more, stay by her side, hold her hand, caress her mane and stare at her deep green eyes. The image was already forming in his mind distracting him from the situation. With his mind drifting off somewhere, Shining Armor left his guard open. Slowly walking forward with his head tilted upwards gazing at the meteor shower it reminded him of his colthood days with his parents and younger sister who was by then just a foal. The memory made the depressed stallion curve up a smile.

From the dark side of the forest, a hoof-like figure suddenly stretched out rustling the bushes and grabbed the inattentive guard pulling him away from the pathway and into the deeper parts of the forest. It was only a matter of time until the trained-guard quickly overpowered his attacker and freed himself from its clutches.

“Who goes there?” he asked.

“It’s me,” The figure revealed itself to be Chrysalis.

“You’re ok!” Shining Armor without hesitation squeezed the changeling princess.

Chrysalis quickly turned red with the sudden hug. “What are you doing?” she pushed the stallion away as reflex from her nature. “Didn’t I tell you never touch me without my permission?” she shrugged.

“Sorry about that,” Shining Armor scratched his head apologizing to the changeling princess. “It’s just that I was so worried about you.”

“You are?” Chrysalis’ mood quickly brightened in delight. “I mean, I had things to do.” Her mood quickly died but she averted her eyes away from the unicorn.

“Are you hurt or anything?” Shining Armor held Chrysalis on her shoulders ignoring her earlier words due to his worry. “I heard that you were taken here.

“One of Mother’s messengers came right?” she asked.

“How did you—“Shining Armor was quickly interrupted by the holey hoof muffled in his mouth.

“Actually, Mother has been aware of my recent failures.” Chyrsalis sighed.

“Failures?” Shining Armor asked with a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean by failures?”

“Take me away!” Chyrsalis suddenly held firmly on the stallion’s shoulder. “Take me somewhere far away from my Mother.” Her face was begging in desperation. “After meeting you, I realized that I don’t want to live a life full of deception and lies.” Her face writhing in agony remembering all the times she would put up to her Mother’s commands. “But,” her face turned away from the stallion. “you’re one of the Royal Guards and I am a changeling princess, there’s no way that it would work.” She smiled with a pitiful look on her face. “I harm ponies, you protect them.” she slowly pushed the stallion away and slowly getting up leaving the stallion alone.

“Wait!” Shining Armor grasped his hoof over the changeling’s shoulder. “Please hear me out.”

“Hmm?” Chyrsalis turned around with half of her already set to leave the white unicorn.

“True, we are so different.” Shining Armor sighed. “But after meeting you, I realized that there is more to life than simply serving those you are familiar with.” He looked deeply into Chyrsalis’ green eyes. “I—“ his lips were stammering. “I want to do something for you, I want to change this strive between changelings and ponies. I want to be with you in that change.” His mind was made up.

Chrysalis turned around back at the stallion, with a more serious look on her face. “If you’re serious about what you have said then,” She paused. Slowly her cheeks were turning red hoping to finish her sentence; her eyes moving restlessly left and right up and down. “K-ki-kis,” she was stuttering nervous as her heart pounded vigorously even by just thinking of the word. “Kiss me!” she said it but the intense pounding in her chest didn’t stopped.

Shining Armor stiffened up his expression; sensing Chrysalis’ words true and serious. With closed eyes, Shining Armor’s lips drew closer and closer to the changeling’s showing that he was also serious about his feelings through the kiss.

Chrysalis also closed her eyes waiting for the kiss from her prince or knight in shining armor. as the stallion’s lips draws near, she tilted her head and moved behind the stallion’s ear.

“I’m sorry” she whispered behind the stallion’s ear as she drains him with her spells as drops of tears jerked out from her.

Shining Armor quickly loses his senses before he could even react to Chrysalis’ whisper. His grip slowly losing and weakening, his sight getting blurrier and blurrier as the eerie green glow kept feeding his strength. His hooves were already wobbly and soft as they were staggering just to even keep him upright. His vision soon faded into black with the changeling princess as his last sight.

Seeing the stallion down and unconscious, Chrysalis waved her punctured hoof as a signal. From the depths of the forests and trees, appeared two changelings. Their body structures seemed somewhat similar to the princess but were a bit smaller compared to her and their eyes were of a solid blue with no pupils rather than Chrysalis’ green eyes.

“Take him back to town.” Chyrsalis commanded the two changelings. “He has fulfilled his purpose and I have no further use for him.” She remained stern, vigilant and unemotional in the issue of her command. “Ensure that he is safely returned to town.” She added one last addition to her command.

The two drones bowed in agreement as they carried the unconscious stallion up and hurried to leave the princess alone who was starring at the starry night sky being showered with countless of meteors dancing in the moonlight.

Chrysalis now alone, sat on the edge of the cliff staring on the bright starry night that seemed barren and blank in her eyes; the stars raining down like little droplets of water falling as they move about the night sky. Each passing moment of the night seemed to reflect onto the changeling princess’ greenish eyes.

A loud thud echoed in the lonely scenery as Chrysalis slammed her hoof on the hard rocky terrain. She had her teeth gritted and her expression writhing in frustration. She slowly opened her eyes seeing the vast expanse of the forest below the cliff; it made her recall the few events that transpired with the few days from their first meeting.

Chrysalis gave out a huge depressing sigh with the thoughts of betrayal lingering inside her. She felt like being stabbed directly in the heart. The searing pain of betraying the stallion pierced through her. The guild was slowly consuming her eating at the cold heart she developed through the years of lies and deception.

Chrysalis got up hoping to bring closure and end her attachment to the young guard. She quickly went back towards the area where she drained and left Shining Armor alone with two of her changeling minions. She galloped quickly as she can, hoping that they were still inside the forest or not to near the town.

The two changeling minions looked at the unconscious guard with other plans in stored. Setting the stallion as their ‘target’, they started the transformation spell. Small green embers rose up from the ground under one of the changeling minions. Its body was soon covered In the eerie green flame burning away its former appearance for a more deceiving one based on their target.

Her eyes widened in shock. One of the changeling minions transformed into something so familiar to her. The body structure, the mane, the tail, the face, every physical features from head to hoof were all so familiar to her it was like seeing herself in front of the mirror. It was all clear, the changeling transformed into Chrysalis herself.

Puzzled by the transformation, the changeling minion brushed it off and continued the mission given by the Queen. “Transform into that unicorn’s loved one, infiltrate the town and continue where her daughter has failed, and of course drain the unicorn to Death.”

Sensing the imminent danger, Chrysalis leapt at the two changeling minions catching them off guard.

“What are you doing to him?” Chrysalis raised her voice “Didn’t I told you to bring him back to town?”

The one wearing Chrysali’s appearance suddenly dropped the disguise shocked to see their princess standing near them with rage forming insider her. The two changelings looked at each other confused. Starting at each other with the question “whose order to follow or better yet what to do?” boggling their minds. Lesser changelings were simply followers, unquestioning, and blindly following the instructions of those in the upper echelons of their colony. They were never given the capacity to disobey those higher than them and only those in the top of the colony were given free wills and a mind to think for themselves and for the colony.

“Leave us be,” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes giving an intimidating look towards the lesser changelings.

The two changeling minions suddenly recalled a last minute statement regarding their order. Everything was clear for them, they were losing their princess and this is entirely the stallion’s fault. Preparing to do away with the stallion by draining him to the point of death, their horns glowed in an eerie green pointed at the stallion.

“STOP!” Chrysalis cried, knowing what is going to happen if it were to continue, Chrysalis jumped on one of the changelings striking it down. Surprised of their princess’ actions, the standing changeling attempted to flee reporting the events back to their Queen.

“No this is,” Chyrsalis trying to explain herself.

The changeling minion slowly backed away hoping to find an opening. It quickly pivoted around attempting to flee the scene.

If one of them were to escape then word would quickly be sent out to her Mother. Being faster and more powerful compared to the lesser changelings, she was able to pounce on the escaping changeling pinning it down.

“Please, I don’t want to do this.” She begged. “Just let him escape, and don’t tell Mother about this.”

With its Queen’s words only in its mind, it bore its fangs towards Chrysalis recognizing her as a traitor and as an enemy.

It was beyond talking, Chrysalis realized. The mere thought of killing her own kin sent shivers down her spine, but she would be reported as a traitor to colony as she knew how the lesser minions think. It was either let her Mother know or end the changeling’s life.

Moments later, Chyrsalis returned with a grim look on her face. She stared onto the other unconscious changeling with grim intentions.

With the surroundings all hazy, Shining Armor slowly tried to open his eyes, still feeling the effects of the drain earlier. With everything still unclear, he only relied on the sounds generated from his surroundings as a mean of grasping his current situation. He could hear sniffs of cries, turning to the direction of the sound, he saw a familiar black figure. It was a changeling, a familiar crying changeling. Her back was facing him. He groaned in pain trying to regain consciousness.

“Shut Up!” she cried upon hearing a familiar groaning sound.

“Just shut up!” tears were flowing down her cheeks. She tried to cover her tears with her hoof but they seemed to endlessly flow from her eyes.

Shining Armor looked around the area still laying down flat on the ground. To his surprise he found two changelings unconscious and lifeless; laid down on the ground. “Chrysalis,” he looked at her. “you…”

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” she bawled at the stallion. “I don’t know what came over me.” She interrupted the unicorn before he could even ask. “I saw them,” she burst in tears “the moment they attempted to take you life.” She went on crying “I- I” she was losing her will to even complete the sentence.

She was lost, confused with what she did. Does seeing her own reflection made by her very minions in attempt to execute her mother’s other plan waved her resolve to leave the stallion and return to her kin? Did losing the stallion meant greater than the loss of two of her changelings? She thought as the tears continued to fall down

Shining Armor was at a lost for word. He didn’t know what to say or react; there was only one thing he knew what to do in that moment.

“I’m sorry.” Shining Armor whispered behind her ear; embracing her comforting the changeling princess in her confusion. Forget what she did to him earlier, that moment she needed him and he was there.

She turned to the stallion. “This is your fault,” her voice stammering and her hoof hammering the stallion’s chest. “If I hadn’t met you, things would be simpler for me.” she looked at him with bloodshot eyes from the excessive tears.

“I’m sorry.” Shining Armor apologized again sincere with his words.

“Because of you,” tears were falling down on the changeling’s cheeks. “because of you…”

Shining Armor continued to be silent embracing the changeling princess, not letting her go.

The night continued to pass on with the two in their sanctuary resting in the edge of the cliff. Shining Armor still feeling the massive drain, rested on Chrysalis’ lap. Stroking the stallion’s mane, the changeling princess smiled as she stared into Shining Armor’s sky blue eyes feeling at peace.

Chrysalis stared off in the forest below the edge of the cliff, countless of trees stretched out towards the mountains in the end. The eventful night sky has simmered out leaving a simple starry sky. A cool and gentle breeze swept through the grasses swaying left and right following the wind. Tranquility as one would say describe the setting, all was in a stand still except for the dancing leaves and grasses.

“Look!” Shining Armor pointed towards the sky. “It seems that they still haven’t forgotten about us.” Shining Armor smiled weakly staring off into the wide night sky. “Want to make a wish?” he smiled at the young princess pointing out a few shooting stars passing by.

“I don’t believe in making wishes,” she deeply stared at the stallion’s pupil.

“Well I do.” Shining Armor replied with a gentle smile on his face. “I know it’s a bit wrong to say this especially in your case but,” he paused for a second. “Will you be my mare or princess whichever you feel comfortable?”

“Princess, I’ll be your princess.” Chrysalis replied with a simple gentle smile as her lips draws closer and closer to Shining Armor’s taking the initiative for the kiss. This time she meant it; no lies and no deceptions.

For the two, it felt like an eternal night as if time has stopped. An exchange of feelings, doubts and memories brought an unlikely couple together. Together with the star’s blessing, the two held on to each other in the cold but warm air of the night breezing from the forest to wherever the end of the horizon stretching out in the forest below and beyond.

~1 week later~

Canterlot barracks was as busy as always, armored ponies marching left and right through the vast training grounds. New recruits and some regulars busy with their training; running through series of rubber tires without tripping over; dashing through a 40 yard field with hurdles along the way. The pegasus soldiers were flying rounds around the barrack’s obstacle course vying for the best time in the barracks. Earth ponies were training to improve their strength by pulling blocks nearly larger than their size and handling some melee weaponries. Unicorn soldiers in turn were practicing and improving their defensive spells all day long.

“Should we call of the search?” a weakly armored messenger asked.

“NO!” Captain Sonic Boom slammed his wooden desk. The sheer power of his hoof sent several of his desk items bouncing off his desk. “CONTINUE THE SEARCH, UNTIL WE FIND A CORPSE, WE WILL KEEP ON SEARCHING!” he bawled at the meekly messenger pegasus.

“But sir,” the messenger was shaking “Shining Armor has been MiA for a week now every since the attack on their carriage on the way back to Canterlor.”

“ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY AUTHORITY?” the larger captain stared straight into the eyes of the smaller messenger sending greater fear towards the messenger.

“No sir! On it sir!” the messenger quickly stormed out of the room hoping to escape the captain’s rage.

The captain’s office was never colorful. It had dull grey unpainted blocks serving as the four walls, a wooden trophy and medal case resting on the left corner of the room showing the captain’s numerous achievements and awards, a metal filing cabinet on the other side of the trophy case storing several files and documents. The center of his office was empty only a simple bear rug personally slain and carved by the captain himself. And directly in front of the door was the wooden desk of the captain. On the desk were Sonic Boom’s heavily armored golden helmet, a few papers and a quill dipped in an ink bottle.

A soft thud knocked on the captain’s door.

“Enter!” the captain commanded with a lower tone compared to his usual speaking voice.

A familiar brown earth pony entered the room with a serious look on his face. “I have a message that I think you might find interesting.” An evil smile crept up his face with his eyes burning in a small green ember.

New Beginnings

A week has passed since Shining Armor’s disappearance. The news has spread all over Canterlot like wild fire. Pony after pony gossiped and told other ponies about the sudden raid on carriage coming from one of the frontier towns to Canterlot. It was all over the Daily Canterlot’s headlines, the leading newspaper publisher in Cantelot. They had they headlines printed with Shining Armor’s picture and the caption “BANDITS ATTACK CARRIAGE, ROYAL GUARD DEAD!”

A picture of a burned down carriage was fitted into the front page of the newspaper. The picture was taken at night a few moments after the incident. The focus of the image was a wrecked wooden carriage, burned to be barely recognized as a carriage. Only a few parts managed to be keep their form intact despite the flame; one wheel, fragments of shattered glass, and bits and pieces of wood.

The news even reached the sensitive ears of a young Twilight Sparkle, who was then at under the tutelage of the Regal Princess of the Sun herself, Princess Celestia. At the first sprung of the news, Princess Celestia had to suppress Twilight’s energy due to her intense concern for her brother; her magic spilling all over Canterlot turning bricks into cheese, guards into toads, giving life to inanimate objects, enlarging and shrinking random objects around the castle; all because of her of desperate attempts to find her BBBFF.

A certain pink alicorn also grew weary, worried and restless after the sudden breakout of the news; unable to concentrate on her foalsitting, and her training in the royal courts. Similar to Twilight, she was also worried about Shining Armor, although she believed that the news was assumptive and false and hoped that Shining Armor is still alive somewhere, there were still doubts and what if’s lingering in her mind.

Shining Armor’s parents were also worried sick about the fate of their son. They knew that being part of the Royal Guards meant to risk one’s life. They accepted it the moment Shining Armor was accepted but it seemed it was hard to swallow the moment something has happened despite all the mental preparation they did by the time their son was selected as a Royal Guard.

It was grievous and grim for Shining Armor’s relatives and loved ones. For each passing day without news or updates regarding the said stallion was like slowly killing them. It was like a dilemma, they want to know but they don’t want to know that Shining Armor is dead; but they were all clinging to a small glimmer of hope that Shining Armor would come back to them, someday.

Two figures, both wearing a beige-colored cloak, were trekking together along a green grassy plain. The green grass swayed along the direction of the wind. The sun was already at high noon giving a warm breeze passing along the

grasslands. The clouds were big white and fluffy hanging on the great blue sky showing clear signs of a good weather.

“I told you, you shouldn’t worry too much.” A familiar female voice spoke from one of the cloaked figures

“I’m just too worried, I mean with his plan and all.” A male voice replied with his features covered by the hood of the cloak.”What if…”

“Shh,” the female voiced figured hushed her partner, interrupting him. The cloak slid down revealing a black holey hoof from her sudden movement. “We’re going to be fine, as much as I hated that stallion, he knows what he is doing.”

“I hope so,” he replied as he gazed on the bright sun above the skies.

~A few days back~

“So you’re Chrysalis Shining Armor has been mentioning.” A yellow pegasus said scanning the changeling princess from head to hoof.

“That’s Princess Chrysalis.” Chrysalis demanded the pegasus to address her with the title.

“Are you sure, this is the one?” Sharpeye turned to the white unicorn standing beside Chrysalis. “I mean you told me that she’s fun to be with, she always brings a smile to your face and she’s the one you want to be with. And right now, those descriptions don’t match.” The pegasus archer’s face was all skeptic.

“How dare you?!” Chrysalis stomped her holey hoof preparing to attack the yellow pegasus.

“Please forgive him, he’s always like that,” Shining Armor immediately stepped in breaking the two.

“Fine, I’ll forgive this imbecile for your sake and just this time,“ Chrysalis looked at Shining Armor. “I’ll be watching you,” She deeply stared at Sharpeye’s yellow red eyes with feelings of rage and malice.

Sharpeye stuck his tongue out continuing to mock the changeling princess.

“I hate you.” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes on Sharpeye.

“Kidding aside, what are your plans Shining?” Sharpeye’s expression turned serious upon the question.

“Well I was planning to go back to Canterlot.” Shining Armor replied feeling doubtful of his answer.

“You’re seriously planning on taking HER, along with you back to Canterlot?” Sharpeye answered questioning Shining Armor’s intent.

“Is there something wrong with it?” Shining Armor replied with a puzzled look on his friend's question.

“Being the Academy’s top graduate, you’re quite the genius.” Sharpeye answered with a bit of sarcasm. The pegasus sighed. “Heading straight to Canterlot is one sure way to end your ties with, “he paused for a moment “Princess Chrysalis.” He chuckled a bit afterwards.

“If I were only the head of the state, I would immediately behead this buffoon.” Chrysalis said slowly losing patience to the pegasus’ consistent mockery.

“You really have to forgive him, he’s really like that.” Shining Armor apologized on the behalf of his friend while stroking Chrysalis’ teal mane.

“You’re really a shining armor. in this case, my armor against her.” Sharpeye mumbled to himself. “Anyway,” his voice became clear again “I pretty sure things won’t go well if you go to Canterlot.”

“What do you mean by that?” Shining Armor asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Come on, It’s not like Captain ‘Go Home and be a Family Stallion’ will easily approve and accept this.” Sharpeye answered with his voice becoming deeper while he was addressing the captain as a form of mockery. “And besides,” the pegasus rolled his eyes. “I think you know you who won’t take this easily.”

“I’m sure Twiley will understand...” Shining Armor replied, unaware to whom Sharpeye was pertaining to.

“The other you know who.” Sharpeye interrupted.

“Oh.” Shining Armor realized.

Chrysalis cleared her throat interrupting the two stallion’s conversation. “May I know who is this…” she paused as she raised her hooves mimicking the quotation symbol “You know who?” she stared at Shining Armor.

“It’s a stallion’s secret.” Sharpeye immediately answered before Shining Armor could even talk. “But I assure this hunk of a stallion is now yours, one hundred percent.” He grinned as he slung his hoof over Shining Armor’s shoulders.

“I’m watching you…” Chrysalis narrowed her green eyes towards the yellow pegasus with such disdain.

“Anyway,” Shining Armor turned to his friend. “What are you planning?

“Well, you have to die.” Sharpeye replied with a serious tone.

“What?!” Shining Armor jumped back surprised to hear the recommendation.

“Not really literally die,” Sharpeye shook his hooves hoping to clear the misunderstanding. “What I mean is, lay low, keep a low profile on the Captain’s and any pony who knows you and stay out of their sight. And the best way to do that is feigning death.”

“That’s just stupid!” Shining Armor argued. “My family will be worried sick, grieving and crying if I do that.” He paused, thinking of an alternative “Can’t I just appeal to Princess Celestia? I’m sure the captain can’t do much if the Princess herself approves.”

“No!” Chrysalis suddenly interrupted the discussion. “I will never bow down to Celestia!” she adamantly refuses. “I still have my pride as a changeling royalty and I just simply cannot fathom myself bowing down to Celestia, it was due to her proclamation that we were banished from Equestria to begin with.”

“But,” Shining Armor tried to voice out his opinions and reason with the two.

“Besides, I’ve seen how the captain does things.” Sharpeye interrupted Shining Armor as he recalled some events. “He’s ruthless and intimidating, even if the princess approves it, he won’t let it stop at that.” The yellow pegasus continued about several information about the captain of the royal guards. “Hidden from the general populace, he is more inclined in using torture, purge and forceful negotiations. I’ve seen it; after all I was part of the scout division during the academy days so obtaining information like this is like setting up perimeters and barriers for you.” Sharpeye finished with a proud tone.

“Fine.” Shining Armor sighed, reluctantly agreeing with Sharpeye’s plan. “But,” his heard jerked. “You have to tell my family about this plan. I don’t want them worrying about some false death about me.” Shining Armor added.

“Sure,” Sharpeye nodded in agreement. “But it may take some time since, they would surely jump for joy to see you and that alone would alert our ‘beloved’ captain; not to mention him seeing me snooping around Canterlot which makes it more suspicious especially days after the supposed incident thus defeating the purpose of the plan.”

“Okay okay I get it,” Shining Armor agreed seeing no other choice. “I just can’t believe I’m lying to my family like this,” He looked down. “It just seems wrong.”

“I know it’s hard but you have to understand,” Chrysalis caressed Shining Armor’s cheek staring deep into his eyes.

“It’s just that this scheming thing,” he held onto the changeling’s hoof on his cheeks. “It just seems new for me.” He reluctantly admitted. “I just don’t want to cause my family grieve over this.”

“And you think it wasn’t hard for me as well.” she blared at the white unicorn. “for pony’s sake , I—I—“ she couldn’t utter the next word still feeling the traumatizing events.

“I’m sorry” Shining Armor warmly embraced the changeling comforting her. “I believe in your plan,” he turned to Sharpeye with a stern look on his eyes. “Do it.”

Several hours have passed; the night grew still and cold after the passing of the meteors. Everypony was asleep, tucked and secured under the roofs of their homes. The village was under the watchful eyes of the local guards. The torches burned slowly as they give light to the empty streets of the town with a few armored guards patrolling the area.

The gates were always active, well lit and guarded. It served as the easiest access to enter and leave the town. Carriages from different parts of Equestria come and go by these heavy wrought iron gates. The guards ever vigilant in keeping check what goes in and out alert for any fugitives wanting to escape through blending in with the cargo, illegal imports and prohibited goods shipped inside of Equestria and those included in the wanted list for crimes against Equestria.

Slowly the gate creaked open, allowing a simple wooden carriage to exit the town. The carriage was basic; it had a plain box design with a few metallic reinforcements, with a window at each side. the carriage had room space good for two ponies to comfortable fit themselves inside. The wheel attached was also made of wood with a steel outer rim. Two earth ponies were stationed upfront assigned to tow the carriage towards their next destination.

Shining Armor’s and Sharpeye’s schedule to move out was pushed earlier due to a sudden recall order by the captain. From morning, they were ordered to leave the town immediately.

“Thanks to your marefriend, we were able to leave town during the night. With the night covering our tracks and making the act, courtesy of some of my contacts, more convincing, we might be able to pull this off.” Sharpeye whispered. The rocking and creaking sound of the mechanical parts of the carriage served both as filters and noise for the two stallions’ whispering conversation. “Hopefully, she’s trustworthy enough to pick you up after we pulled this through.” The archer pegasus’ words seemed doubtful of the changeling.

“She will,” Shining Armor placed his hoof over Sharpeye’s shoulder maintaining the low volume of this voice.

“I know I have been persistent, but are you really sure about this?” Sharpeye asked his friend one more time.”I mean we can ditch her and go back your family, to her, return as Royal Guards,” He reminded the Shining Armor the things that the unicorn will leave.

Shining Armor smiled. “Yes I am.” He replied and nodded with a determined look on his face.

“I guess there’s no stopping you,” Sharpeye shrugged. “By the way, will I still tell her about this little fiasco of yours?”

“I’m pretty sure she won’t take it easy the moment she finds out of this.” Shining Armor replied.

“Shall we begin?” Sharpeye asked.

Determined to start his new life with Chrysalis, Shining Armor nodded.

~Present Day~

“I just can’t believe that all went well.” Shining Armor still full of disbelieve commented on what they did a few days back.

“Do you have any regrets?” Chrysalis asked.

“I’m happy with this,” Shining Armor looked at his changeling partner. “How about you?”

“I still can’t forgive myself for doing that to my own kin but.” She paused and affectionately leaned over to Shining Armor. “As long as I’m with you, I feel at ease.” She stared deeply into Shining Armor’s blue pupils.

“Me too,” Shining Armor embraced the changeling princess with one of his hooves and pecked a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s find ourselves a shelter; we don’t want to spend the night outside.”

“Agreed.” She giggled.

“So far we were kicked out of every town for the past few days.” Shining Armor took out a map from his saddle bag hidden by the cloak.”After leaving we went straight here, here then here,” he crossed out three images of the map depicting a town.

“It is clearly not my fault,” Chrysalis shrugged.

“I don’t see how it is not your fault, we had our first lunch date and you suddenly jumped for joy upon dessert.” Shining Armor continued looking at the map routing their destination.

“I am simply enjoying myself, how is that my fault?” she argued back.

“Our cover was blown the moment you went ‘Huzzah!’ in public,” Shining Armor stood up packing the map back to his bag.

“How dare you say I went ‘Huzzah!’ on the pudding nor on the parfait,” she pressed her nose over Shining Armor’s face. “I did not say such thing, you hear me” She hissed.

“Okay.” Shining Armor replied out of fear, sweating profusely as the changeling princess pinned him down mentally.

“Good!” she released her hold on the stallion and turned towards the far end of the horizon. “So where are we headed to?”She turned back towards Shining Armor.

“I was checking the town nearby indicated by the map but there was also an abandoned farmhouse just in the outskirts of the town.” Shining Armor replied. “We could stay there while we slowly mingle ourselves in with the towns pony.

“Why can’t we just conquer and enslave them?” Chrysalis asked.

“Because, it is against Equestrian law to subdue, enslave let alone conquer a defenseless town.” Shining Armor sternly replied.

“Fine, we do it your way, again.” She groaned. “If it was me I would have had my army swarm in and take over.” She mumbled behind the stallion’s ears

The couple quickly set out towards the abandoned farmhouse Shining Armor mentioned. Upon reaching the farm, they saw a nearly broken down barn. The paint was already washed off, scrapped by the elements. There was also a broken down shed lying next to the barn. Other than the structures, the farm itself was dead as the barn. Untilled soil muddy and unfertile, with dead crops still planted on the soil. Weeds have already taken over the farmlands. Rocks and sediments scattered around the farm. The plow rusted through the ages and elements unused and unmaintained for several years. In one word to describe the farm it was dead.

“We’re staying here?”Chrysalis asked filled with disgust as she saw the place. It was filthy, there was no way that a changeling royalty such as herself could even dare to step hoof inside.

“As much as I am also disturbed by the place, we have no choice.” Shining Armor taken aback by the mere sight of the place and slightly inclined to agree with his partner’s disgust.

“No way!” she vehemently refuses “There is no way we are going to stay there.”

“We could at least tidy up the place.” Shining Armor replied hoping to find some way to convince Chrysalis.

“That thing is beyond repair, even swarm creatures dare not live there.” Chrysalis answered back.

Shining Armor placed a hoof under his chin trying to find words to convince the princess to agree with him until he felt a sharp poking sensation stabbing behind his back.

“Who in Equestria are you vermins trying tah’ steal mah’ Farm!” an old frail voice shouted behind them.

A New Home

A/N: Took me some quite of time with this one i hope you guys like it. Anyway enjoy and here's a carrot

“Ya’ll are trespassin’ at mah’ farm, so git!” the old frail voice continued poking, forcing the couple to leave the farm.

“We apologize for trespassing into your farm; please relax, we’re not going to do anything to your farm,” Shining Armor tried to take a peek at their captor.

Not wanting to tick off the enraged farmer, Shining Armor cautiously turned his head, with his eyes reaching the limits of his peripherals just to get a glimpse but he did see he was being held by a pitch fork pointed towards him; however with too much caution, Shining Armor could just barely see the farmer’s appearance.

“Listen, we mean you no harm, we were just passing through.” Shining Armor added hoping to avert the situation.

“You lyin’ vermin!” the old farmer raged on. “That ain’t what ya said earlier,” Shining Armor felt the poke from the sharp object got stronger.

“We’re sorry about that Ma’am, we thought that this farm was abandoned” Shining Armor identified their captor to be an old mare from her old frail voice as he tried to talk their way out. “Please let us go, you won’t hear from us anymore.”

“You city folks and yer fancy words,” the old mare was getting even more agitated. “Ya’ll show up with yer papers and fancy rides and ya’ll just gonna take ‘em all.”

“We’re not those kinds of ponies,” Shining Armor tilted his head to get a better glimpse of the old mare farmer. Instead of what Shining Armor hoped for, he felt the grip on the pitch fork tightened and the poke got more intense.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Chrysalis blankly said losing her patience to Shining Armors lack of action.

“What are you…?” Shining Armor asked but was quickly interrupted by the changeling’s sudden impulse.

A swift tackle from the cloaked changeling princess sent the old farmer pinned down on the ground.

“This is what you get for sticking a pitch fork behind MY Shining Armor,” Chyrsalis pinned down the old mare. Parts of the cloak slid down from the sudden movement, revealing her featured hooves, twisted horn and her green eyes and her dark colored appearance.

“Chrysalis the cloak, wait—“Shining Armor rushed to calm the changeling princess. “You said your Shining Armor?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Yes,” she darted a look on the white unicorn. “You belong to me, any problems with that?” she stared at him with ill intent.

“Nothing,” he rolled his eyes out of fear. “But how did you managed to tackle her down?”

“I just turned back and tackled her down,” Chyrsalis pinned down the old farmer. “I was surprised she didn’t react to it.”

Shining Armor finally saw the old farmer mare’s appearance as he looked down on the mare Chrysalis pinned down. She was an old earth pony; her body was sort of thin to the bones due to old age type of structure. Her white aging mane and tail was tied to a bun-like shape. She had a yellow-orange colored coat and her face was full of wrinkles due to her age. Her eyes were hidden by a pair of heavy dark shaded sunglasses. Her cutie mark was a slice of cake with a carrot sticking on top.

“I’m so sorry about this, “Shining Armor went besides the two attempting to aid the old mare to get up from the ground and apologizing for Chrysalis’ sudden tackle. “We really mean you no harm.”

The old mare suddenly burst out laughing to the couple’s confusion.

“You’re laughing?” Shining Armor asked puzzled by the farmer’s sudden burst of laughter.

“I don’t understand how you manage to still laugh at the face of me striking you down.” Chrysalis was also bogged by the sudden laughter.

“I like this mare of yours. She’s got spunk and guts; unlike you.” she said pointing out to Shining Armor. “In my days, stallions were tough, brave and certainly they don’t let their mares do the fighting.” She babbled on lying down on the ground pinned by the changeling princess.

“I know, besides I can’t imagine a pony such as yerself bein’ harmful and all.” She gave out a soft chuckle as she got up with the stallion’s aid.

Chrysalis smirked chuckled at Shining Armor upon hearing the old mare’s remarks. “She got you right on there.”

“It’s not my fault that I am ‘soft’ “Shining Armor defensively replied.

Chrysalis shook her head. “That’s one of the things that I liked about you. You may not be the roughest toughest stallion out there, but that’s all I need.” Her lips curved up a smile with a hint of redness blooming in her dark colored cheeks.

“I take it you two are a dating?” the old mare suddenly asked.

“You could say that.” Shining Armor replied.

“What do you mean ‘could say that’?” Chrysalis said with her eyebrows crossed. “Yes, yes we are,” she turned to the old mare with a stern look on her face.

The yellow earth mare chuckled a bit. “So when did you two started going out?” she asked.

“We just started going out recently.” Shining Armor replied.

“Ah, a new couple I see.” The old mare replied.

“Quite a fighting mare you got sonny boy.” The old mare laughed.

“Actually as you can see she’s quite different.”Shining Armor tried to correct the old mare.

“Too bad sonny boy Ah can’t see a dang thing; been blind for a couple of years now.” she coughed and cleared her throat.

“Just who are you exactly?” Chrysalis suddenly asked.

“As much as gutsy as ya are, ya still hav’ta respect yer elders,” the old mare bopped a hoof over Chrysalis’ head.

“How dare you!” Chrysalis stomped her hoof.

“Ok,” Shining Armor cut himself between his changeling and the old mare. “Sorry for being rude,” he turned to the old mare “And that we trespassed into your farm.” he apologized once more. “I’m Shining Armor,” he pointed to himself. “And this is,” he turned to the changeling beside him “my marefriend, Chryssie..”

“I told you that name is for private use only!” she blared out at the unicorn stomping her dark holey hoof onto Shining Armor’s hoof as her cheeks were fuming red.

Shining Armor agonized in pain from the sharp stomp against his hoof. “But you said it’s ok,” tears were forming around the unicorn’s eyes.

“Not unexpectedly like that.” Chyrsalis reasoned out.

“Come on, “Shining Armor rested beside the changeling princess and softly embraced her.

“You’re so unfair,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes hiding her smile as she too liked the sudden embrace.

“You two sure are a cute couple,” the old mare smiled at the two. “Mah’ name’s Carrot Hat and Ah own this here farm,” she pointed her hoof towards desolated land that was used to be a farm.

“It has been boggling me,” Chrysalis looked at the old mare puzzled. “You said that you’re blind but how are you still able to locate where we are despite the huge and dead land here.” She asked, skeptic about the farm mare’s blindness.

“Don’t worry little missy, Ah’m really blind,” she took of her dark colored shades revealing her disabled eyesight to the couple. “It’s just that Ah’ve been too familiar with this here land, been blind and living here for years now.” she gave off a proud smile. “Ah’ know it sounds ridiculous but sometimes there are more things that you can see when yer blind that with yer own two eyes.”

“I guess it wasn’t just an old mare’s tale.” Shining Armor pondered about Carrot Hat’s last words. “Hmm,” he turned to his partner. “What seems to be troubling you?” he noticed a boggling expression on Chrysalis’ face.

“Little missy?” the changeling whispered as her eyebrows crossed. “Shiny dear, did she just called me little missy?” she turned to the unicorn beside her.

“No, not really” Shining Armor tried to lie as he remember on how Chrysalis was easily aggravated when not addressed properly. But the crooked smile, the awkward eye twitches and cold sweat gave it all away.

“She Did!”

“Ah’ really like you two youngins,” she tapped the couple’s back simultaneously. “Come Ah’ll show you around if there’s still somethin’ to show that is.” She chuckled as she went back towards the barn house. She slowly tapped the pathway in front of her walking towards the structure in the middle of the farm.

“What happened here?” Shining Armor asked looking around the dead farmlands with several dead crops lying on the soil.

“Ah’ use tah’ plant carrots here until some ponies from Las Pegasus came over,” she walked along the dead plantation. “Handed me some weird plants and told me if Ah’ could grow ‘em they would pay me top bits.”

“I take it they were scamming you?” Chrysalis asked with an indifferent tone.

“As a matter of fact, they did pay me bits with zeroes Ah’ have never even heard of.” Carrot Hat replied.

“Just how did it turn into this?” Shining Armor asked with a puzzled on his face as he stared on the dead crops.

“Ah’ never knew that what Ah’ was plantin’ was illegal,” she looked down in shame.

“What do you mean by illegal?” Chrysalis curiously asked.

“Turns out I was plantin’ illegal drugs, in plant form of course.” The old farmer said. “Ah’ wanted tah’ stop, but them Las Pegasus folks kept pushing me, forcing me until Ah’ told the authorities.”

“I take it that all war broke loose?” Chrysalis replied.

“Not just any war, the whole field got boom blang kapow bang crash whoosh,” the old mare reenacted the sound effects with her hooves. “and by the time they were done. All they left of mah’ farm was dead soil. Tried restorin’ the farm but the damage was too big.” She looked down in sadness reminiscing one of her painful past. “Mah’ life’s work, gone.”

“I’m sorry that we made you remember those events.” Shining Armor sympathized with the old farmer mare.

“That’s okay sonny boy.“ She smiled a frail smile towards the direction of Shining Armor’s voice. “That was a long time ago.”

The trio finally arrived at the wooden cottage house; it was simple and wrecked over time. it had a simple cottage design with a standard front porch with a wooden rocking chair swaying back and forth carried by mild winds passing by. Inside, habitable as it may, everything looked old and weary. There was a mix of broken and still usable furniture lingering around the living room. Across the living room, there was a doorway leading to what appears to be a kitchen. If there is anything still intact it was the kitchen. Though old and aged, the oven, utensils and the counter top were still usable to bake something.

“It looks,” Chrysalis observed the whole place top to bottom. “Habitable in the very least.” She continued with disgust in her eyes. “So what are we going to do now?”

“What do you mean?” Shining Armor looked at his partner.

“Surely you don’t mean to stay here forever?” Chrysalis asked. “I mean I did told you about that ‘thing’ meant to track us down. Being the second in command, I can weaken the connection between my Mother and I, but I don’t know how long will it take them to find this place.”

“Till then we have to do something to earn for our next travel.” Shining Armor replied.

“Ever tried farming?” Chrysalis jokingly asked.

“What?!” Shining Armor was taken aback by the question.

“Farming,” she looked at him. “You know, shoving seeds in the dirt, drowning them with water, leaving them to burn in the sun and the next thing you know food.”

“That’s not what farming is.” Shining Armor tried to correct the changeling princess. “It is…”

“I know what I said,” she interrupted the stallion. “Now, have you tried it?”

“No.” he replied.

“Today is a good day to start.” She smiled at him deviously challenging the stallion to take up farming.

“I have never farmed in my entire life. It’s not that simple.” Shining Armor replied. “I mean you have to plow the fields, carefully place each seeds so they don’t get clustered too much, give them the right amount of water.”

“Quite knowledgeable for somepony who hasn’t done farming.” Chrysalis replied questioning the stallion.

“I just read them in books in the Libraries of Canterlot.” Shining Armor replied. “Anyways I can’t do it.”

“You haven’t even tried.” Chrysalis said.

“I am a unicorn,” he pointed to himself. “It’s just impossible; there are no records in history that a unicorn is successful in farming.”

“Are you disagreeing with me?” Chrysalis’s eyes widened.

“No, I am simply saying that it is impossible.”

“So you ARE disagreeing with me.”

“No I’m not.”

“You just disagreed with me.”

“But that was...”

Shining Armor soon felt his energy depleting, leaving his body. His hooves wobbled and became shaky; his head

suddenly starting throbbing in pain. He soon found himself surrounded in a green aura slowly depleting his energy.

“I’m so sorry about that.” Chrysalis quickly shut up her draining spell and reached out towards Shining Armor.

“I just need some fresh air,” Shining Armor raised his hoof stopping Chrysalis’ holey hoof to reach him. He slowly got up with his hooves still staggering due to the ill-effects of the draining magic and walked towards the exit of the cottage.

“Ah’ just heard you two were fightin’ from the inside” Carrot Hat appeared afterwards Shining Armor left.

“He started it,” Chrysalis shrugged.

“Sorry tah’ say but Ah’ heard the whole thing.” The old mare confessed.

“You were eavesdropping on us?” Chrysalis found the act invasive.

“Now now little missy.” she answered calmly “None of them loud volume shouts.”

“Fine!” Chrysalis said. “What do you want?”

“Ah’ dunno what ya’ did to sonny boy back there,” she looked towards the direction Shining Armor left. “It ain’t gonna do you two good if it keeps that way.”

“What do you know about it,” she looked the other way.

“Trust me on this little missy,” she tapped Chrysalis’ shoulder. “Ah’ maybe old but that doesn’t mean Ah’ know nuthin’”

“It was out of habit,” she turned back to the old mare. “Whenever ponies disagree with me, I just drain them of energy to shut them up.”

“Poor old sonny boy,” Carrot hat shook her head in pity of the stallion.

“And I thought you were sympathizing with me.” The changeling shrugged.

“Look, little missy,” she reached out for the changeling’s hooves. “You two really seemed like a cute couple, and that would be darn shame if you two would break-up just because of some habit.”

“What do you mean by ‘Break-up’?” Chrysalis wondered about the ominous word.

“It means that you two are no longer together. Splittin’ ways, you two are over kaput!” she emphasized on the meaning of the word.

“He won’t do that would he?” Chrysalis started to panic. “I mean, he loves me right. I’m sure of it” she started stroking her teal mane anxious of what may come. “It’s just a simple misunderstanding I’m sure he’s not yet fed up.” she laughed.

“Just how many times hav ya’ done that to sonny boy?” Carrot Hat asked.

“Two, three, four, everytime we had an argument. “She started to realize something horrible. “This is bad.” She became frantic.

“Hold yer horses, just because I said that it doesn’t mean that he’ll really do it.” Carrot Hat explained grasping the changeling to calm down.

“He won’t?” Chrysalis sighed in relief.

“But it doesn’t mean yer safe,” the old mare said. “What Ah’m tryin’ to say is cut down on that thing you do to sonny boy when you two are arguin’. All couples argue but that’s not a way to resolve it okay.” She faced the changeling with a sincere expression.

Shining Armor sighed in depression as he walked aimlessly away from the farm. It has been not that long since they have been together. He never knew it would be that tough to be with Chrysalis. His head was still hurting from the drain earlier. he never knew that changeling magic bore such effects, despite the training he did back at camp. Before everything, he thought that it would be an exciting experience to date and love a changeling but not like this. But he did also recalled that most of those times were brought by his stubbornness. His cling to his past role, to the normal pony life.

“Maybe I was a bit stubborn,” he said with a guilty tone. “I guess there’s no harm done in trying it. and she did say sorry before I left.”

As he sighed once more, he turned his back facing the farm once more. He smiled on his way back.

“You’re back!” Chrysalis excitedly welcomed the stallion, but soon remembered their little argument and the result. “I mean you’re back.” She repeated with guilt ruining her excitement.

“I’ll try farming.” Shining Armor sheepishly agreed.

“You will?!” Chrysalis excitedly embraced the unicorn. “I mean,” she quickly let go. “I’m glad that you have seen it in my terms.” She remained stoic in her appearance.

“I guess I was being stubborn and all.” Shining Armor sheepishly grinned as he scratched his head. “I guess I’ll start by tomorrow or so.”

“I’m sorry for draining you for the nth time.” Chrysalis mumbled in her apology.

“What was that?” Shining Armor barely heard a word.

“I SAID I’M SORRY!” She shouted at the stallion’s ear. “I don’t want to lose you just because of some stupid habit of mine.”

“I’m actually surprised,” Shining Armor shocked to hear the words that came out of the changeling’s mouth.

“Surprised?!” Chrysalis replied shouting. “Is that all what you’re going to say? After you have made me, a princess, lower herself that is all you’re going to say?” she stomped forward giving an intimidating presence.

“Shhh…” Shining Armor hushed the changeling princess embracing her with both hooves. “You know that won’t happen. Remember what we promised back then?”

“Through any kind of weather…” Chyrsalis calmed down.

“We’ll always be together.”

“You claim that Shining Armor is alive and is hiding somewhere along with your princess?” Captain SonicBoom was skeptic of the information delivered to him by the disguised changeling messenger. “And you have the means of tracking them down?”

The brown earth pony nodded in response.

“On what basis should I aid your search, let alone believe the words of a deceiver?” the muscular pegasus sternly looked at the disguised changeling in front of him still skeptic of the messenger’s story.

“It’s up to you captain to believe us or not.” The changeling smirked. “But it would be your loss if you refused to work with us and if in case we found them.” he paused. “We will surely end the life of that wretched unicorn as per our Queen’s orders,” He stepped forward towards the muscular captain. “If you work with us, then you get your precious unicorn back and we get our little princess back,” he stopped reaching the front of the captain’s wooden desk.

Captain SonicBoom closed his eyes thinking of the changeling’s words. In just a split second he grabbed the changeling’s head and slammed it against his desk. The changeling lost its disguised due to the pain and pressure dealt to it. A loud thud echoed within the room, the papers, quill on top of the desk were knocked over by the intensity of the slam. “Never use that method of coercion to me,” he pressed his hoof harder against the changeling’s head. “Sure his talents maybe one of a kind but he is still just a pony. And I can just find another pony who has the potential to be the next captain,” He stared at the struggling changeling. “You, on the other hand only have ONE princess, ONE heir to the throne as far I remember. And it would do me great service if your race would be just wiped off. So you better think again on who needs who. Got it?” he pressed his hoof even harder against the changeling’s head.

He tossed the changeling from his desk after his statement. “I hope your ‘Queen’ gets my message.”

“Our Queen has heard everything,” the changeling held its head recovering from the sudden assault.

“And her reply?” the captain didn’t waste any second.

“She agrees with you and is willing to work with the guards in searching for our princess.” The messenger replied.

“Since you’re on the requesting end, I would also like to add a little condition in case we are successful.” The captain added. “You changelings are to leave Equestria and never show your faces around here ever again. “ He didn’t minced words as he gave his condition

“Our Queen has agreed,” the changeling messenger looked at the Captain. “Since finding the princess is the utmost importance in the survival of our race.”

“Then onwards, following this so-called hive mind of yours we’ll track them down.” the captain stood bearing his intimidating presence and marched outside his office a in forceful yet disciplined manner.