A Guard for The Queen

Chapters

Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
Act 5
Act 1

Act 2

The morning after, she wouldn’t look at him, not even acknowledge his presence. He would try to talk to her, attempt to explain himself, but he couldn't. She still ate the food that was given to her, but talking was out of the question. It was back to square one.

As the days continued on, she began to look at him, and he looked back, but only small glances at best. As time passed, he saw that she was no longer mad at him; at least, that’s what it looked like. There was a day where she opened her mouth to talk, but she refrained.

“What did she want to say?” Strong Heart wondered. He didn’t want to ask her, afraid of her reaction.

During one particular afternoon, somepony knocked on the dungeon door. Thinking it was Princess Celestia making an early visit, Strong Heart opened the door.

It was not Princess Celestia. It was Shining Armor.

“Hey!” Shining Armor said, happily.

He surprised Strong Heart, coming down to the dungeon to see him. He was more than happy to see his good friend, but the last few days have made him down.

“What’s the matter? You look upset.” Shining Armor asked.

“Nothing.” said Strong Heart, “Long night.”

Shining Armor walked in, glaring at Chrysalis, who wouldn’t give the courtesy of looking at him.

“How is it, taking care of this beast?”

Strong Heart flinched behind Shining Armor’s back. Chrysalis had no reaction to the comment. She had heard it all.

“It’s been…fine.” Was all that he could muster.

“I know you’ve been away from home for a few months. Celestia only knows how stir crazy you must be. If you need somepony else to watch her…”

“No!” Strong Heart quickly interrupted, “I don’t mind, really.”

“Personally, I think this is a big waste of time. If it were up to me, I would just get rid of her, if you know what I mean. Things would be much different if I ruled this kingdom, that’s for sure.”

Strong Heart winced at the idea. All this time with her would have been for nothing, if that came to pass. In that moment, he was happy Shining Armor wasn’t ruler of Equestria.

“You look out of it, Strong Heart. You know what you need? A Marefriend.”

Shining Armor laughs at his own comment. Strong Heart could only conjure a halfhearted chuckle.

“I’m serious. How long has it been since a mare was interested in you? Two? Five years, tops? I have an idea, how about I set you up with my sister, Twilight? You remember her, right? I think she’ll be a good…”

“I appreciate the thought Shining Armor, but…”

He quickly glances at Chrysalis, whose head is perked up, looking at him. Not only did the name Twilight ring a bell with her, she was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

“I met somepony already.”

Shining Armor looked at him, surprised with a brow raised. Chrysalis looked back down at the floor. She knew he was talking about her.

“Really? When?”

“Recently.”

“Who is she?”

“I can’t say yet.”

“And why not?”

“Because…” Strong Heart had to think fast, “We haven’t made it official yet. I told her how I felt, and she’s…not sure. If she agrees, then I’ll introduce you to her.”

A pause. Strong Heart sees Chrysalis looking back at him.

“Hmm…okay.” Shining Armor says, “When this is all over, AND she agrees to be with you, I want to meet her. I can’t have just any mare trotting around with my best friend.”

Shining Armor walks out the door, unaware that behind him is the mare that Strong Heart had been speaking of.

“Do you want me to bring Cadence down here? She got some great treats from Manehattan and…”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, considering…” he motions to Chrysalis, hinting at the past between the two.

“Oh, right. I’ll see you later. Remember, when this is finished, I want to meet her!”

Shining Armor walks out of Strong Heart’s sight.

“You already have.” he says quietly.

Nopony but Chrysalis heard him say it. As he closed the door, he looked back at Chrysalis. The two stared at each other for what seemed like ages, before she put her head back down.

It was quiet later that night. The storms from the last few nights left as quickly as they came. The moonlight bled into the dungeon chamber. Chrysalis was fast asleep, but Strong Heart was wide awake, watching her.

He slowly walked to her, his horn glowing. Subsequently, her chains quickly snapped open, waking her from her slumber in an instant. She looked up at him, wondering what he is doing. He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he walks back to the door, pulling it wide open. She could see the hallway to freedom, but the question she had still remained.

“I’m sorry.” he tells her, “I shouldn’t have done what I did. You probably hate me more than you already do. Just so that you don’t have to look at my face again, I’m letting you go. You can change into me, and walk right on out of here. If anypony stops you, tell them Shining Armor took my place.”

Chrysalis stands up, and walks to the door. She never stopped looking at Strong Heart.

“Why?” she asks.

Strong Heart looked into her beautiful green eyes. He knows she wasn’t asking about her escape, but why he felt the way he did for her.

“I know you’ve done terrible things, unforgivable things, things that I don't want to imagine. When I saw you for the first time, I thought what the others out there think now; that you wouldn't change, that this would be a waste of time. But, after a while, I had this unexplainable need to help you, to be kind to you, to show you that maybe there was somepony out there that…cares about you. I guess what I’m trying to say, if I'm saying anything, is that…I wanted to save you.”

“I told you, I didn’t…”

“I know you did. But, I’m an Equestrian Royal Guard. It’s my job to save ponies.”

Chrysalis chuckles at his statement.

“I’m not a pony.” she says.

“I don’t care.”

She shakes her head, but a smirk has graced her face.

“Stubborn colt.”

The two continued to look at one another, until he steps away from her, preventing himself from wanting her to stay.

“Go.” he tells her, “When they find me, I’ll just say you overpowered me.”

He looks away from her, as a tear rolls down his check.

She stands still, unsure of what to do. On the one hoof, she could finally leave this place, return to her army, and be free. But, on the other, she could lose the one colt in all of Equestria who cares for her. To some, this might be an easy decision, but at this moment, for her, it was an impossible one.

Strong Heart hears the door close. He finches at the noise, then takes a deep breath, ready to accept that she’s gone.

Suddenly, his helmet and armor glows green, as they float off him, and onto the floor. He looks to see Chrysalis still in the room with him, smiling.

“What are you doing?” Strong Heart asked, in disbelief that she is staying.

She doesn’t answer him. Slowly, she walks up to him, and floats her hoof across the large scar on his face.

“What happened here?”

Strong Heart smirks, his heart racing at her slightest touch.

“Manticore attack. First year as a Guard.”

She looks down to see an even bigger scar on his chest that his armor was covering. She puts her hoof on it.

“And here?”

“Attacked by a Hydra; third year. Got hit by its tail after I pushed Shining Armor out of the way. Almost got myself killed that day. Not exactly my proudest moment.”

There were plenty more on his body, some more interesting than others. There appears to be a giant bite sized scar that goes from his back, all the way to his stomach. His cutie mark, which is a dark red heart, has a scar right across it, making it look like a broken heart. But, the last one she stops at is fairly recent; located on his cheek.

“And this one?”

Strong Heart paused.

“A few nights ago, I was fighting a Queen with a really sharp horn.”

Chrysalis smiles.

“But she was beautiful. Even though I knew what she’s done, even after she threw food at me, threatened me, and tried to kill me, I couldn’t help but…fall in love with her.”

Chrysalis moves closer to him. She nuzzles the side of his face.

“If you were any other colt, I’d think that what you just said to me, was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.”

“But I’m not any other colt, am I?”

Chrysalis wraps her forelegs around him.

“No…you’re mine.”

She brings him down hard to the floor, and the two engage in a passionate kiss. They roll around, lips locked so tight, you couldn’t separate them if you tried. They slammed each other against the wall, not out of violence, but out of uncontrollable ecstasy. While Strong Heart didn’t tell her explicitly, she knew that he wanted this for a long time.

It was the first time he really felt her skin, considering he was fighting her mere days ago. It wasn’t fur, like ponies have, but a soft, yet tough exoskeleton, that was smooth, and to him, very alluring. He rolled over on top of her, and proceeded to make his way down her body, kissing every part on the way down.

However, before things got too far, Chrysalis suddenly stopped. She wanted him to go on, but she fought to refuse it. She pushes Strong Heart off of her, leaving him on the floor, confused.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asks her. She is slow to respond.

“I’m sorry.” she says, “We can’t do this. Not now.”

He gets up off the cold hard dungeon floor and grazes his cheek against hers. She grazes back.

“It’s okay. This floor isn’t exactly the most ideal place.”

A genuine laugh is heard from her. Her smile turns to tears, even as her laugh turns into a chuckle. Strong Heart comforts her, holding her against him. She revels in the moment.

“In all my years, I never felt this before.” she tells him.

“What?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Strong Heart smiles. He knows exactly what she’s talking about.

“You know, I’m going to have to put the chains back on, when the sun comes up.”

“Will you take them off tomorrow night?”

“Of course.”

He slept next to her the whole night. True to his word, he put the chains back on her the moment the sun came up. She woke up, soon after that. She saw Strong Heart standing back at his post, but instead of staring at the wall, or the window, he was looking at her…smiling.

The nights like this continued for the next couple of weeks. When the sun would go down, he would unshackle her, letting her roam around the room. It was nice; considering her chains made it very uncomfortable to sleep. He would lie next to her, keeping her warm during the cold nights. Some nights, they would lie together, kissing. Others, they would simply hold one another, looking into each other’s eyes. In some ways, that was even more intimate.

It was approaching the end of the month; and Celestia would be coming by in the next couple of days. Neither Strong Heart, nor Chrysalis wanted to tell her about their newfound affair, and agreed to keep it secret, for the time being.

Just then, somepony came knocking on the door. While they were both surprised, they were also prepared.

Strong Heart opened it to greet Celestia, like it was any other day.

“Princess Celestia, I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of days.”

“I decided to do my evaluation early.”

“Hello, Celestia.” Chrysalis said.

Celestia is taken aback by the friendliness in her tone. Normally, it would be an evil hiss, or silence, but here, it was different.

“Good morning, Chrysalis.” Celestia quickly composes herself, “How are we this morning?”

“Much better.” She replied, her manners being much more polite. Celestia can’t help but grin at Chrysalis’ newfound attitude. She takes note of her fuller physique, even better than how it was when she faced her all that time ago.

“How has the Lieutenant been treating you?”

“Very well, thank you.” she said. Celestia couldn’t find a shred of doubt in her voice. “I’m feeling much better now, thanks to him.”

She looks back at Strong Heart.

“A moment, please.” she tells him, escorting him out the door, closing it.

“It appears she has improved exponentially during the last month, both in health, and manners. Tell me, Lieutenant, what’s your secret?”

“I have none, your majesty.”

“Whatever it is, it’s working. I have some good news. Well, possible good news.”

“What is it?”

“Shining Armor has been…adamant about getting Chrysalis out of Canterlot. He finds her presence uncomfortable, to say the least. I told him if she didn’t improve in the next few days, I would have no choice, but to banish her from Equestria.”

“And if she did?”

“Naturally, I would set her free. So far, a strong case has been made to let her go.”

“Just like that? After speaking to her for only a few moments?” Though the thought of her being free made him happy, he had to put on a good show for the Princess. Still, his question was quite genuine.

“I’m a good judge of character, believe me. But, before I make my decision, I need one more thing; your opinion.”

“Are you asking for a consensus from me and the other guards, or my personal opinion?”

“You’ve known her longer than anypony has. I’m asking for your personal opinion.”

Strong Heart thinks about this for a while. He had to make sure that what he says next, wouldn’t hint to Celestia that he and Chrysalis are involved.

“I admit, the first couple months were…rocky. She threatened to kill me a few times, and tried to escape just as many. But, the months that followed, especially when we started to treat her with a little bit of respect, she has shown considerable improvement, and made no attempts to threaten mine, or anypony's safety. I guess to sum it up, I think she is fit to leave the castle, and go wherever she pleases.”

A pause. It was so silent; you could hear a pin drop. Celestia inspected the look on Strong Heart’s face. It was a perfect stone cold expression. You could never guess that he was hiding something big from her.

“Then…she is free.”

Strong Heart tried hard to not show how pleased he was with her decision.

Celestia opened the door. Chrysalis stood there, anticipating the verdict.

“Queen Chrysalis, I hereby set you free.”

Celestia’s horn glows, unlocking her shackles. Chrysalis looked at her freedom and at Celestia with unimaginable gratefulness. Tears welling up in her eyes, she could almost hug her.

“Celestia…” she quietly says to her.

“Lieutenant, I have one more job for you.” She sees the Lieutenant stands at attention, awaiting her orders. "I want you to escort the Queen to wherever she wants to go. A train will be waiting outside Canterlot. After taking her to her destination, I want you to report to me and my sister, Luna, back here.”

“Yes, your highness.”

As Celestia turns to face away from them, the two looked at each other with happiness. In the back of Strong Heart’s mind, though, doubt that she would stay with him settled in.

The long walk to the train was an awkward one. Chrysalis and Strong Heart looked at every guard, including Shining Armor and Cadance, looking back at them, mainly at Chrysalis. They were all happy to see her go, but they didn’t shy away from the hate that they had for her, glaring into her very soul. She looked away from them, avoiding any eye contact.

“Everypony is staring at me.” she whispered to him, wanting to get closer to his side. He gently nudges her away, not wanting to draw any suspicion.

“Don’t worry.” he whispered back, “We’ll get to the train soon.”

Sure enough, after a couple miles of judgmental eyes, the two arrived at the Canterlot station. The train was empty, save for the conductor, practically a ghost train. Once the two got on-board, the train immediately exited the station.

Compared to the miles long stares, the train ride was calm, peaceful, and an opportunity for Chrysalis and Strong Heart to be alone for a few moments.

“I suppose you want me to take you back to your army?” Strong Heart says, prepared to say goodbye again.

“My army abandoned me the day before I got captured. They probably think I’m dead, by now. I want to keep it that way.”

“Then, where would you like to go?”

Chrysalis pauses. She looks into Strong Heart’s eyes, lovingly so.

“I want to see where you live.”

After arriving at the station, and another walk, the two make it to Strong Heart’s home. It’s a nice two story home, no doubt because of the hefty salary being a guard earns. Being away from it for the past few months did leave a couple of side effects. The lawn had grown substantially, the small flower garden has wilted, and the windows have gathered a large amount of dust.

Strong Heart led Chrysalis through the grass, into the walkway, leading to the door. With a quick flick of his horn, the door opened, revealing the dark interior.

Only the sunlight came through the windows of the house, and Strong Heart had to light a couple candles to make it brighter.

The inside of the house could be considered clean, if you excuse the dust all over the place, and cobwebs on the ceiling. Chrysalis didn’t mind, though. She found the house rather charming.

“This is it.” he said, “Sorry about the mess.”

“No, it’s fine.” she replied.

“There’s a shower upstairs, and my…bedroom is right next to it.” Strong Heart clears his throat, nervous that she is in his house.

Chrysalis looks around the living room, spotting a shelf full of pictures. She sees Strong Heart as a foal, popping a ball with his horn.

“Is that you?”

Strong Heart looks at the picture, laughing at the image.

“Yeah, I was only a few months old.”

She scans through the other pictures. She sees pictures of him as a young colt with Shining Armor, pictures of him with Cadance, during his training as a guard, smiling with a young Twilight Sparkle, who has her head buried in a book. Chrysalis smiles at the history lesson she is getting.

“So, what do you think?” Strong Heart asks.

“It’s lovely.”

Strong Heart smirks as a noticeable blush is seen on his dark grey cheeks.

“I…have to go back.”

“Now?” Chrysalis does not want him to go.

“Yes. I have to tell Princess Celestia where I took you.”

“What will you tell her?”

Strong Heart pauses, giving a deep sigh. “The truth.” he looks into her eyes, “Will you be here, when I get back?”

Chrysalis moves closer to him. She softly kisses him for a few brief moments.

“Of course I will.”

Strong Heart returned to Canterlot; nervous, afraid, but he held it all in. He didn’t want anypony to see what he was feeling. That was the easy part; it was a skill he was good at. His return was quick, with ponies turning their heads to him in surprise. When he got to the castle, he was greeted by the other guards, congratulating him on a job well done. The last two at the end of the crowd were a proud Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance.

“Strong Heart!” Shining Armor said. He was happy to see his friend return.

Cadance gave him a warm hug.

“We’re so glad you’re back. Where did you take her?”

“I’m going to brief the Princesses on it now.” Strong Heart said, skirting the question.

“We’ll come with you.” Shining Armor said.

While walking to the throne room, Shining Armor and Cadance tell Strong Heart all about their honeymoon, unaware of the truth that is eating away at him.

Entering the massive throne room, he saw Princess Celestia, and her sister, Princess Luna, awaiting his arrival. Guards from the castle come into the room, to hear of the news. Strong Heart is overwhelmed by the congratulatory greetings that he is receiving; knowing what awaits them in mere moments.

Cadance and Shining Armor go off to the side, as Strong Heart bowed to the Princesses. Celestia was the first to speak.

“Lieutenant Strong Heart, your arrival was expected…but not this quickly. Did everything go alright?”

“Yes, your highness. Queen Chrysalis was very specific in her destination, and finding it was no problem.”

“I take it she is back with her army, outside the Everfree Forest?”

“No. She was sure her army had abandoned her, and wanted to go somewhere else.”

“Very odd, for a Queen to leave her army.” Luna interjected.

“I thought so too, but I made no arguments.”

“Tell me, Lieutenant.” Celestia continued, “Where did you ultimately take her?”

This was it; the question he was dreading. The pause was the longest he ever experienced. He looked to Shining Armor, to Cadance, to the Guards who were happy for him, and finally to the Princesses awaiting his reply.

“I took her…to my home.”

The confused murmurs from the ponies inside were immediate, just as expected. Cadance looked at Shining Armor with worry. He couldn’t help but laugh at Strong Heart’s answer.

“Forgive him, your Majesties. It appears Strong Heart decided to bring his sense of humor to the proceedings. He is only joking, I assure you.”

Strong Heart looked to Shining Armor.

“No, it’s not a joke.” he said, deadpan as possible.

“Strong Heart, be serious!” Cadance stepped in, “You wouldn’t bring such a monster to your home!”

He had no words for her as she looked into his eyes. She saw that he was as serious as he could be.

“You…you did, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Why would you do such a thing?” Shining Armor demanded.

“I…” Was all Strong Heart could say, before relapsing back into the silent treatment. It didn’t take long for Shining Armor to finally see what is going on.

“Wait…” he said, “You don’t…fancy her, do you?”

More silence. Shining Armor is figuring this out without a word being spoken. He bursts into laughter.

“Are you kidding me?! Whatever she said to you, do you really think that any of it was real?! She’s tricking you, just as she tricked me! When you return home, she’ll be back with her army, and she’ll come back for Canterlot! Be smart about this, Strong Heart, she’s playing you!”

“Maybe you’re right. A part of me does think she won’t be there when I return. But, it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

Shining Armor pleads to the Princesses.

“Your Majesties, please! Show him reason! Chrysalis has poisoned his mind into believing this…dreck!”

“My eyes aren’t green, Shining Armor. My mind is my own.”

“Is it?!”

Shining Armor and Strong Heart stare each other down. If nopony stops them, they could have a brawl on their hooves.

“Dost thou love her?” Princess Luna asks.

Strong Heart was so distracted by Shining Armor, he didn’t hear the initial question.

“What?”

“Tis a simple question, Lieutenant. Dost thou love her?”

Strong Heart thinks about this for a few moments.

“I do.”

“Ridiculous!” Shining Armor scoffed, stepping back from his now former friend.

Princess Luna stepped down from her throne, approaching Strong Heart slowly, methodically, like she is thinking of her response as she makes her way over to him. Celestia watches her sister carefully; she has never done this before to a Royal Guard.

Even though she is shorter than Celestia, she is still taller than Strong Heart, though just by an inch or two. He bows down to her, full of tension. She gently lifts his head up to her with her hoof, she is smiling.

“We wanted to see thine eyes. We see so much love in them.” she silently tells him, “We have never seen anything like it for a long time.”

Luna looks to Celestia. They don’t say a word to one another, only a nod. She looks back to Strong Heart. Her horn glows, and in an instant, Strong Heart’s armor falls off his body, onto the floor. He looks at her in surprise, but her smile never leaves.

“Lieutenant Strong Heart, thy services as mine Royal Equestian Guard are no longer needed. However, we have a new duty for thee to fulfill.”

“Anything.”

“Watch over Queen Chrysalis. Care for her. But most of all, love her. For as long as it lasts.”

Strong Heart smiles. “Thank you, your highness.”

“We are no longer your highness. Call us Luna. As thou once did.”

“Thank you…Luna.”

Strong Heart bows to Celestia and Luna for the last time in his life. Shining Armor cannot believe what has transpired.

“Celestia! You can’t--!” Shining Armor protests.

“My Sister has made her choice, Captain. This hearing is finished.”

Shining Armor and Cadance chase after Strong Heart, who has already left the throne room.

Strong Heart was greeted by many of guards, all of which now look upon him with the same level of hate and disdain that they gave Chrysalis. He is no longer one of them, his scarred body now uncovered for every pony to see. He is now nothing but an outsider to them.

“Strong Heart, wait!” Shining Armor yells as he and Cadance catch up to him, “What are you thinking?! You have to go back, and tell them you’re sorry.”

“I’m not sorry, Shining Armor. They made their decision.”

“Now, you’re going back to her?” Cadance interjects, “You know what she is! What---“

“What she’s done?!” Strong Heart’s stone cold demeanor breaks in an instant. He is through with playing the statue. “I know! I’ve been told more times than I can count! It hasn’t stopped me then, what makes you think it’s going to stop me now?!”

“Hey!” Shining Armor yells back, “That’s my wife you’re yelling at! Your friend! You dare turn your back on everything we’ve stood for? On our own friendship?”

“We can still be friends.” he replies, “Just respect my decision.”

“It’s unnatural!” Cadance yells, “She’s a Changeling! You can’t do this!”

“I don’t want to talk about this. You can come by the house, when you grow up.” Strong Heart has had enough. He turns to walk away.

“It won’t last, you know!” Shining Armor says.

Strong Heart stops in his tracks.

“One day, you’ll see what she truly is. When it comes, I’ll be there to do the job that you, and the Princesses could not.”

Strong Heart realizes the friend he once knew is gone. The friendly personality, the kindness he showed him before, has been replaced by a soldier, with only Chrysalis’ downfall on the mind. He never believed that she could be redeemed; all he wanted was to see her banished, or worse, executed.

Even when she is free, he will continue to see her as a threat to Equestria, and he will never know the Chrysalis that Strong Heart knows and loves. He won’t stop until Chrysalis is no more, and now, his closest friend, has become a barrier, an obstacle…an enemy. One that must be avoided…or destroyed.

Strong Heart faces Shining Armor. No emotion, no tics, no nothing. A blank wall of non-emotion.

“You listen to me. If you ever harm her, if you even come near her, with the intent to harm…I will kill you. I will not hesitate, or even give you a warning. You understand me, Shining Armor?”

Shining Armor says nothing. He is frozen in absolute shock. Strong Heart walks away from the both of them. Cadance goes after him; Shining Armor stays.

He makes it to the station, the last train out of Canterlot for the day. Before he can step on-board, Cadance calls out to him, stopping him.

“Strong Heart!” she yells, “You didn’t mean that. Please, tell me you didn’t mean that.”

As he approaches her, she becomes increasingly nervous, scared of what her friend has become. She flinches as he gently touches her cheek.

“You’ve been a good friend, Cadance. For a time, I was jealous of Shining Armor, when you two got together. I always thought somepony like me, would have a chance. Now, I’m happy for you. Please…feel the same for me.”

“I can’t. She’s a monster.”

Monster, the word he has heard most often when others spoke of her. Before he met her, he thought nothing of it. Now, it stings him every time it is uttered. They can’t understand, they never will understand, how much she now means to him. He backs away from Cadance, unable to look at her. It hurt him to see Shining Armor turn against him, but seeing her do the same, hurt him even more.

“If you love Shining Armor, you best keep him away. I will not warn you again.”

He steps on the train, leaving the life he knew, leaving his friends behind. He is still a guard, but he is a different guard…her guard. As the train approaches his stop, he prepares to step into a new life, one without Shining Armor, without Cadance, only himself, and Chrysalis.

He came home as the sun went down. It was quiet. The candles were still lit, the place had been cleaned. He looked around for signs of Chrysalis. None.

“Chrysalis?”

Nothing. Not even a creak of the wood. Had she left? Was everything he said at Canterlot all for nothing?

“Chrysalis?” he says again.

“Up here…” Chrysalis quietly says, voice coming from upstairs.

The source of her voice came from the bedroom. Strong Heart slowly walks in to see her laying the bed, tired, cozy, and most interesting of all…clean.

“You have no idea how dirty that dungeon was. I think a few cogs fell off me.” Chrysalis jokes.

“I think I had a good idea. You did throw me all over that muck.”

Chrysalis chuckles, thinking about their little scuffle that fateful night. Strong Heart blushes at the sight of her. The way that she lays on the bed, to him he finds quite sensual. He hadn’t felt this flustered feeling in a long time; his heartbeats becoming erratic.

“I should…um…take a shower too.”

“No.” she says before he can leave, “Come here. Lie with me.”

He paused for several moments before giving in to her request. He slowly, nervously lies on the bed, making his way down to face her. She takes his hoof, and places it on her cheek. He caresses it with much care.

“Did you tell them?” she asks him.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“The Princesses took it rather well. Shining Armor and Cadance, on the other hoof…”

Chrysalis holds him close to her, bodies pressed together. The warm sensation that emanates from her comforts him.

“Don’t worry about them.”

“I said some things; things that I shouldn’t have said. But, the thing is, I meant what I said. It’s just us now.”

She looks into his eyes, pressing her forehead against his, their horns connecting. His eyes begin to water.

“What’s the matter?” she says.

“I…I apologize. I just don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Do you doubt this?”

“I shouldn’t. But I…”

Chrysalis places her hoof over his mouth, silencing him.

“I don’t blame you, you know.” She tells him, an air of gentleness in her voice. “Everything they told you about me, everything I’ve done, was all true. I’ve tricked, I’ve seduced, I’ve killed. You have every right to question my intentions. But I promise you, that what is happening right now, what will happen from here on out, will be as real as it always was. Besides, I cleaned your house, and I never do that.”

Strong Heart chuckles, the tears fading away. He kisses her softly on the lips, she kisses him back. The two embrace one another as she rolls on top of him, pinning him down, like she did the first time they fought.

“Are you sure about this?” he asks her.

“Absolutely.” she says, no doubt in her voice.

They made love for the first time that night.

Act 3

Eight months.

It’s been eight months to the day Chrysalis and Strong Heart met, and four of those months were spent in that dark, filthy dungeon. They are out now, and living happily together in his house outside Ponyville. It wasn’t an easy transition for the former Queen; their trips inside the town were met with a bunch of scared ponies, running in fear at the sight of her. They even encountered a couple of the ponies that she faced on Cadance’s wedding day; a blue pony with a rainbow mane, and a cowpony with a southern drawl, who made an attempt to attack, but Strong Heart got in the way. He attempted to quell their somewhat rightfully aggressive attitude, but they weren’t convinced. They left her alone for the time being.

With a chance at a normal life, Chrysalis would be friendly with the other ponies, but it took a while for them to warm up to her. Even then, they still saw her as a sort of time bomb, one that could go off at the slightest push. She’d do her best to persuade them otherwise. After a while, she wouldn’t need Strong Heart to escort her around town, gaining enough confidence and courage to face the citizens on her own.

The quiet life was something Chrysalis never had before, especially when commanding an army of rowdy, messy Changelings. Every once in a while, she did wonder what they were up to; if they learned to find power on their own, but she would just as quickly forget about it.

In the four months they’ve officially been together, Strong Heart didn’t hear a word from Cadance, or Shining Armor. He would send letters to Princess Luna, informing her and Celestia of Chrysalis’ progress, and asking how his former friends were doing. Every message he got back would say that Cadance and Shining Armor were refusing to talk about him, as if he did not exist. This saddened Strong Heart, but he endured.

Strong Heart taught Chrysalis to cook, even though he wasn’t exactly a world class chef either. In a way, they were learning together, though these so called lessons would end with them covered in a mess of food, and a barrel of laughs. They did get better at it as time went on, and their love for each other was stronger than it has ever been. Chrysalis had been using her powers for normal everyday activities, which took some time to get used to. Strong Heart’s love for her had made her very powerful, and just moving a book around initially resulted in the book being flung out of the window.

These four months together had been the happiest the two ever were.

One afternoon, they heard a knock on the door. Strong Heart decided to check it out. To his surprise and delight, he opened the door to see somepony he had not seen for a long while; Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight!” Strong Heart said happily, as he embraced Twilight, “It’s been too long. How have you been?”

Twilight had been reluctant to visit Strong Heart ever since he got back, even more so when she got a letter from Shining Armor the moment he arrived into Ponyville with Chrysalis. She had been forbidden to visit them, despite her knowing Strong Heart for almost as long as they did

“Hi!” Twilight said, carefully hiding her thoughts, “I’ve been doing great! How about you?”

“I’m good. I’m better than good, actually.”

“Oh? So it’s been fine with…?”

Strong Heart knew where she was going with this. He wasn’t deterred by her tone of voice.

“Yeah, it has. Would you like to see her?”

Twilight slowly backed away from him. To say she was nervous would have been too kind. The last time she saw Chrysalis, she attempted to imprison her in a crystal cave, all the while possessing the identity of her foal sitter.

“I…I really shouldn’t. I have a lot to do today, and I just wanted to say…”

“Is that Twilight?” Chrysalis’ voice said from inside the house, “Let her in!”

Strong Heart said nothing. He merely smiled to Twilight, extending his hoof to the inside of the house. She summoned all her courage to enter. It was a slow walk to the kitchen, she was scared. That feeling then shattered in a matter of moments, when she saw Chrysalis, the mare who attempted to ruin the lives of everpony in Equestria, wearing a cooking apron, lightly covered in white flower.

“Oh my. I’m so sorry you had to see me like this, Twilight. I was clean a moment ago, I swear!”

Twilight stood there, in awe of the drastic change that the Queen has gone through. She had no idea what to say, or even how to react to this. It was an awkward pause, to be sure. Suddenly, a light giggle emerged from Twilight.

“It’s fine.” Twilight said, “What are you making?”

“I was making a cake…I think. I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”

“My friend, Pinkie Pie, is an expert on cakes, but I know my way around one, myself. Need some help?”

“Oh yes, please.”

Strong Heart watched as Twilight aided in Chrysalis’ attempt to make a cake. It was a pleasant sight, and it was nice to see somepony not react out of fear or aggression towards her.

There were a few slip ups, but the cake was ultimately made. As they waited for it to be done, Twilight, Chrysalis, and Strong Heart talked for a long while. Never once was the issue of her past wrongdoings ever brought up. They talked to each other like they were old friends, meeting each other for the first time, in a long time. She talked to Chrysalis with kindness, and respect. In many ways, Twilight was reminded when she met Princess Luna during Nightmare Night, which was the first time she met her after their battle in those ruins many months ago.

Chrysalis listened as Twilight and Strong Heart started to talk about the days when they were younger, the trouble they got themselves into before he joined the Academy, and how he managed to save her from a gang of bullying colts when she was in school. Even before he became a guard, his loyalty to his friends was always present.

The time went by so fast; they almost forgot that a cake was baking in the oven. Their attempt ended up being better than they thought, though it was still a little rough. Overall, not bad for a first time cake.

Twilight noticed that night started to fall during her time at the house.

“Oh my, it’s late. I have to get going.” she said.

“Come by any time.” Chrysalis said.

“I will. Strong Heart? Can I talk to you outside?”

Strong Heart led Twilight out the door. Chrysalis couldn’t help but be curious, so she lightly opened the front window, listening in on their conversation.

“Is everything okay?” Strong Heart wondered.

“Everything is fine. It’s just…I can’t believe that’s the same mare that imprisoned me, took control of my brother, and tried to destroy Canterlot. I’ve got to ask; what’s you’re secret?”

Strong Heart chuckles, remembering that Princess Celestia asked the exact same thing four months ago.

“I don’t have one.” he replied.

“Well, whatever you’re doing. Keep doing it.”

Twilight and Strong Heart hug. Chrysalis could see from their embrace that they haven’t seen each other for far too long. She could also see Twilight looking upon him with admiration, but also disappointment. Almost as if…no…it couldn’t be. Chrysalis shakes her head, repelling any thoughts away.

“Don’t let it be another 5 years before I see you again, okay Twi?”

“Promise.”

The two share their goodbyes. Strong Heart was too afraid to ask about Shining Armor, and Twilight was too afraid to tell him about how she wasn’t supposed to see them at all. They simply just parted ways.

Strong Heart walked back inside the house to see Chrysalis no longer in the living room. He checked the kitchen. She wasn’t there either.

He walked upstairs and found her lying in bed, waiting for him.

Without saying a word, he sat by her. Immediately, she rested her head on his shoulder. This surprised him, but it wasn’t unwelcome.

“I think she’s starting to like you.” he breaks the silence.

“I was getting a little worried there. Was the cake alright?”

“It was good.”

“Liar.” she chuckles.

“No, I really mean it.”

Strong Heart looks to see her in a deep thought.

“What’s the matter?”

“I saw the way Twilight was looking at you. How you looked at her. I could tell that she had feelings for you.”

“Chrysalis, that’s….”

“And I could tell that you had feelings for her.” She interrupts, finishing her thought. Strong Heart doesn’t deny her statement, nor did she expect him to.

“I wouldn’t normally do this…” she continued, “…but just for tonight…”

She changes into Twilight. The likeness is uncanny. The voice spot on.

“Maybe I could be her…for you?”

It’s been so long since Strong Heart thought of Twilight in that way. In the days that they knew each other, Twilight took a shine to Strong Heart, which he noticed almost immediately. As she was coming of age, and increasingly more beautiful, he thought about telling her how he felt. The day before, however, was when he got his first scar. One scar then became two, and eventually, he decided not to pursue a relationship, fearing his appearance would scare her away.

Twilight was one of many reasons why he chose duty over everything else.

Now, Chrysalis lies before him, transformed into a mare that he had feelings for. Slowly, he runs his hoof over her lovely lavender body, those feelings coming back to him.

“I won’t lie to you. For the longest time, before I met you, I dreamt of her in my bed.”

He guides his hoof to her face, taking in every sensation.

“But over time, there were others.”

“Others?” she said. Not mad, but interested.

“You’ve met them before.”

“I have? When?”

“They’re pretty hard to avoid in Canterlot.”

She begins to understand. Chrysalis turns into Cadance, then Celestia, and finally Luna. She was quick to catch the glimmer in his eyes, when she was in this form, and ceased her changing. He looked upon her form, reminiscing about another time, another place.

“Luna?” she asked him, finding this new insight unexpected.

Strong Heart only nodded in response. Chrysalis chose not to ask about the story between him and Luna, but she didn’t have to. She saw it all in his eyes, and he allowed her to see. He carefully caresses her now dark blue face, and mane of what looked like flowing stars, treating her like she was the princess herself.

“You have a habit of falling for royalty, don’t you?” she says coyly.

“How could you tell?” he asks, not hiding his feelings.

“Your eyes. They’re easy to read.”

“Only when I want them to be. I wouldn’t be much of a guard, if everypony could read my thoughts.”

“I suppose not.”

Strong Heart smirked.

“You loved her, didn’t you?” she asks.

“I did…once.”

He leans in for a kiss; Chrysalis opens her mouth to receive it. But then, he stops, just inches away from her mouth, hovering over it, teasing it. Then, he leans back ever so slightly away, just enough for him to look into her eyes.

“However…whatever feelings I had; they are gone.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I don’t dream of her, or any of them. Not anymore.”

“What do you dream of now?” she asks.

“Nothing…” he replied, “I have everything I need, right here.”

Slowly, she changes back into her normal form. He feels her body, no longer of dark blue fur, but of a black, smooth, and soft shell. A familiar sensation washes over her. She can feel his love pour into her, making her strong. She couldn’t feel it when she was in the other forms, only when she was herself, did the rush of affection return.

“You have no idea how simple it is to believe what you say.” she tells him.

“I think I do.” he completes his kiss, now that she is normal again.

Chrysalis grabs onto him, bringing him down to her as he rolls on top of her. Another night of lovemaking awaits them.

Just a few hours before morning approached, and Strong Heart woke up to a rather disturbing sound. It was the sounds of retching, and it was coming from the bathroom. He turned to see Chrysalis not in bed with him. He walked to the bathroom door, still in a groggy state.

“Chrysalis? Are you okay?” he says, knocking on the door.

“I…I don’t know.” she replies.

Strong Heart opened the door to see her hunched over on the toilet. She vomits again. He holds her hair back to prevent it from going into the toilet.

“Was it something you ate?”

“I didn’t think the cake was that bad.” she joked. Even in her condition, her newly developed sense of humor was present. “Sorry you had to see me like this.”

“I’ve seen far worse, believe me. I’m taking you to see a doctor.”

Chrysalis chuckles, as Strong Heart wipes her mouth with a cloth.

“I hate to tell you, but I don’t think they treat insects.”

“Well…you look like a pony. It couldn’t hurt. If you’re sick, you should see a doctor. Come on, let me help you up.”

It wasn’t a busy day at Ponyville Medical Hospital, only a few were in the waiting area, where Strong Heart and Chrysalis sat. Strong Heart read the town newspaper, but Chrysalis just sat there, worried about what the doctor might say if he or she saw her. Her thoughts were pulled away from her; when she looked down to see a young earthfilly, with a doll in her mouth, looking straight up at her. It wasn’t out of fear, but of curiosity. She hadn’t seen Chrysalis around Ponyville before, and her unique appearance caught her young eyes.

Chrysalis had nothing to do but look back at the filly, who had no facial expression, other than wide eyed curiosity. Chrysalis gave her a smile, showing her sharp teeth, but the filly didn’t recoil, but instead jumped onto the couch, and leaned in closer, inspecting the teeth. As she leaned in closer, the doll dropped from her mouth, onto the floor. She looked back at the doll, tears welling from her eyes. Using her magic, Chrysalis picked up the doll, and handed it back to the young one. She takes it back, happily, and trots back to her parents. For Chrysalis, the moment was oddly comforting.

“Chrysalis?” Nurse Redheart says, catching Chrysalis’ attention, “The Doctor will see you.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Strong Heart asks.

“Yes, please.” Chrysalis replies.

She’s never been inside a Doctor’s office before. She found the pure white walls and brown floor more than a little unsettling. For a place meant to invoke calm and safety, she sure didn’t feel it. Strong Heart looked at her with reassuring eyes, calming her nerves.

The Doctor showed up after a few uncomfortable moments, holding a chart up to his face with his magic.

“Okay.” he said, “Miss…Chrysalis. Am I saying that ri----“

He looks at Chrysalis. He almost drops his chart to the floor, but catches it quickly.

“Are…are you a Changeling?”

“I am.”

“Fascinating.” The Doctor replied, “I’ve never seen a Changeling with my own eyes.”

He looks over Chrysalis with the same kind of curiosity as the filly back in the waiting room. He then goes back to his professionalism a Doctor usually holds.

“So, what seems to be the problem?”

“I’ve been feeling sick for the past few days.”

Strong Heart throws her a look. This is the first he’s heard of this being on going. She looks back at him, embarrassed for keeping it from him.

“I’m sorry. I was going to tell you.”

He doesn’t look at her with anger, but of concern. He rests his hoof on her back. They look back at the still thinking Doctor.

“A few days? Hmmm…how long do these spells last?”

“Only in the morning. I wake up with the urge to vomit. After that, I feel a bit nauseous and light headed for most of the day.”

“It sounds like a case of morning sickness to me.”

“Does that mean there’s something wrong with me?”

The Doctor thinks over any and all possibilities. Only one seems to make any sense.

“When was the last time you menstruated?” he asks her.

Chrysalis cocks her head to the side, unaware of the term.

“What?” she replies, “What is that?”

Before the Doctor could explain any further, Strong Heart takes him aside.

“She…doesn’t do that.” Strong Heart whispers to him. The Doctor’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Really? But, she is female, right?”

“She most definitely is, but I think Changeling anatomy is a bit different than us.”

“How do you know she doesn’t menstruate?”

“I spent four months on constant watch over her in a dungeon. Trust me, I would know.”

The Doctor opens his mouth, ready to ask about that last part, but he quickly shuts it. After seconds, he nods, understanding the situation. He turns back to Chrysalis, who was unaware of the conversation that just took place.

“Nevermind. I’m going to perform a scan using my magic. Don’t worry; it’s completely painless, though you may want to cover your eyes for a bit. It’s a little bright.”

The Doctor’s horns glows brightly. He scans Chrysalis’ body up and down. It looks like it could go on forever. The bright light hurts both her and Strong Heart’s eyes. The Doctor stops, and Strong Heart can see a look of shock on his face.

“Oh…my….” was all he could say.

“What is it, Doctor?” Strong Heart asks.

“Well, despite some obvious differences, her anatomy is surprisingly similar to us. Almost exact, even.”

“Is that all?” Chrysalis asks.

“No. The good news is that you are not sick. You’re actually very healthy.”

“What the bad news?”

“It’s not bad news at all. You’re pregnant.”

Silence. Strong Heart was surprised, but Chrysalis still didn’t understand.

“Preg…nant?” she says slowly.

“Yes.” the Doctor replies, “You have a foal growing inside you.”

Chrysalis gasps, immediately pressing against her stomach. The concept of pregnancy eludes her greatly, not that she wasn’t aware of the term, but that it’s happening to her.

“I…I don’t understand. Ponies and Changelings can’t…” she stops herself, looking at her stomach, softly touching it.

“Like I said before, your anatomy is similar to ours. Maybe it was just luck.” She doesn’t respond to his explanation, still focused on her stomach area.

“How long until…” Strong Heart asked, trailing off before concluding his question.

“It’s hard to say. Normal equine pregnancies take around eleven months, but her foal is growing faster than that. She said that she developed morning sickness a few days ago, but here, the foal is nearly half a month old in development! At this rate, the filly will be born in seven months, eight at the latest.” Chrysalis didn’t respond to any of that, like she wasn’t listening. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

The Doctor slowly walked out of the room. The moment the door shut, Chrysalis started to cry. Strong Heart leans close to her, putting a foreleg on her back.

“You must think I’m stupid.” Chrysalis demeans herself.

“Not at all. I take it your army wasn’t made like this.”

“Of course not! The army was made with magic and cocoons filled with slime! Giving birth to so many Changelings would be excruciating! This…I’ve never experienced this…”

“Are you…happy?”

“I don’t know. I should be, but I…”

“If you don’t want it…”

“No!” Chrysalis stops what he is implying, “I’m just…afraid.”

“Afraid? Queen Chrysalis, afraid?”

“I can be scared too, sometimes! Just not very often.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I don’t know if this foal will look like me, you, or some kind of combination.”

“Neither do I, but would you love it any differently?”

“I’m not sure if I can. Love a creature of my creation.”

He places his hoof on her stomach, caressing it.

“We both created it. I don’t know much about parenting myself, but I can show you, if you’d like.”

Chrysalis smiled, resting her head onto Strong Heart’s.

“I’ve never been in command of a single foal before. How different will it be, from commanding my army?”

“More than you think.” Strong Heart laughs.

“What will you tell the Princesses?”

Strong Heart thought about this. They had to know what was going on, but he was also afraid that Cadance and Shining Armor could get the news, too.

“I’ll tell them what has happened, but I’m going to use some level of discretion. For now, nopony can know, other than them.”

“Not even Twilight?”

He had to think about that for a second. Chrysalis had taken a liking to Twilight, considering her as a friend, even after the past between the two of them. But, what if she found out, and told her brother?

“I don’t know. It’ll only be for the time being. We’ll tell her soon enough.”

“Okay. Strong Heart?”

“Yes?”

“I am happy.”

“Me too.” he smiles.

Night was beginning to fall, and Celestia was retiring to her chambers. Before she could, she decided to give her sister Luna a visit. They almost never see each other, apart from them attending to royal duties, celebrations, or during events like now, switching places so that Luna can rule over the night.

She entered Luna’s chambers, and the dark princess was in the middle of waking up, brushing her flowing mane with her magic.

“Good evening, sister.” Luna said, “We are ready, and awake to raise the moon, and watch the night.”

Though Luna had learned to address herself, without the use of the royal dialect, she would slip in and out of it from time to time, especially when talking to the staff around the castle, including the guards.

“You don’t have to address yourself as ‘we’, Luna. I’m not a Royal Guard.”

“My apologies. I must still be a little drowsy from my morning sleep.”

POOF! A letter pops into existence in front of Luna. This is not a surprise to her. It’s the letter that Strong Heart wrote, and is addressed to her only.

“A letter? I wasn’t expecting one for another couple of weeks. This must be important.”

Celestia watched Luna open the letter with curious eyes. The frequent letters to Luna had begun to concern her for a while, but now, she has to know.

“Luna, why does Strong Heart send his letters only to you?”

“He always sends his letters in the night.”

“Because he knows that you would be awake.”

Luna ignores what Celestia is suggesting, and reads the letter. Her eyes widen in amazement. Celestia takes note.

“What is it?”

“It appears the Queen…is with child.”

Celestia snatches the letter away with her magic. She reads the note, what the message says is true.

“I do not believe it. I thought it was impossible for Ponies and Changelings to conceive!” Celestia says, bewildered at the news.

“You, Dear Sister, also thought it was impossible for Ponies and Changelings to fall in love.”

“Point taken. Still, this news could prove to be…disconcerting to some of our other subjects.”

“You refer to Shining Armor and Cadance?”

“Yes. Like this letter says; they mustn’t know of this union. The results could be most troubling. We mustn’t tell them, until after the foal is born.”

Luna is taken aback by Celestia’s dark tone.

“You don’t think they’re capable of doing something like THAT?”

“They hate Chrysalis more than anypony in Equestria, I’d say that they are definitely capable.”

“Okay. Then they will not know. In the meantime, I’ll send my congratulations to Strong Heart and Chrysalis.”

“Don’t think I forgot my question to you, Luna.”

Luna stops writing her letter. She sighs.

“I’ve never seen you treat a royal guard such as he, that day.” Celestia says, “Was there ever a moment…?”

“Sister…” Luna interrupts, “We are merely friends. He used to be my guard when I returned from my banishment. Remember? You assigned him to me personally.”

“I do remember. I also remember him having less scars, and less of a cold shoulder to the other guards. If something happened between you two, I want to know.”

Luna pauses, chuckling at her sister's implications.

“It doesn’t matter now. Strong Heart finally found somepony that he loves; hopefully one that loves him back. Whatever happened between us is all in the past. The only thing we have now is an understanding. That is all I’m going to say.”

Celestia shakes her head.

“Oh, my dear Luna. Always filled with secrets.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Four Months Later.

Shining Armor trains his guards bright and early. It is mid-morning today, and his training regimen consists of constant sessions of agility training, flying training with the Pegasus’s and magic training with the unicorns. Even at such an early hour, his guards are tired by the time it gets to afternoon. He’s a tough Captain, but he sees all of his guards as his friends. It’s only now, that the absence of one particular guard has taken its toll on him.

Princess Cadance arrived as the afternoon broke.

“Soliders! Fall in line! The Princess is here!” Shining Armor shouts, with the air of intimidation. The guards waste no time getting into line. As Cadance passes by every one of them, they would bow to her. She would smile, nodding her head back to them, before greeting Shining Armor with a peck on the cheek.

“At ease. Go back to your training.” Shining Armor tells the guards. They do so. “Nice to see you, Princess. Come to train with the others?”

“No.” Cadance chuckles, “I’m no solider like you, Captain. I just came to see how you were doing.”

“Been better, but been worse.”

“You were awfully quiet last night. Is there something wrong?”

Shining Armor sighs, something is definitely wrong, and Cadance can see it.

“You probably think I’m being silly, but…I miss Strong Heart.”

“Me too.” she admits, “I do wonder what he’s up to lately…with her.” The way she mentions Chrysalis is said with a hint of venom. “He’s been sending letters to the Princesses, so we know he’s alive.”

“Or Chrysalis killed him, and is sending false letters.”

“Now you are being silly.”

“You saw how she was on our wedding. There is no good in her.”

“I know. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fear for Strong Heart’s safety. But, there’s nothing we can do. You remember what he said to you?”

“He wouldn’t dare, after everything we’ve been through together. Still…I might want to check up on him.”

“Well, we are going to Ponyville to see Twilight today. Maybe we could pay him a quick visit?”

Shining Armor thinks for a bit.

“I wouldn’t know what to do, if we saw him again. It might not be such a good idea.”

“It’s your decision, Shining Armor. We leave in an hour.”

“Everything has to be perfect!” Twilight yells, as she runs around her house. “This place is in no condition for royalty!”

Her constant running causes her to knock over a nearby lamp. She sighs in frustration.

“UGGGH!! Just another thing to do!” she uses her magic to brush away the lamp shards.

Many months have gone by since Twilight saw her big brother; the last time she ever saw him was when she said goodbye to him before he went off on his honeymoon with Cadance. Since then, she received only letters from him. They went into great detail about his days at the academy, training the new recruits, his new life with Cadance, and then, his troubles with Strong Heart. Twilight didn’t inform him that she had been visiting Strong Heart and Chrysalis frequently, and that she became aware of the Queen's pregnancy a couple months ago, when they told her in confidence. She was afraid of his response to her disobedience. She loved her brother, and hated seeing him angry.

She sent her pet dragon, Spike, to take care of some business in Canterlot, while she stayed to prepare the house for Shining Armor and Cadance’s arrival. Like she always is, she was a bit of a neat freak, even going so far as to make a checklist for all the things she had to do to prepare. Soon, everything was set, everything was clean, and everything was ready.

Just in the nick of time, too. Twilight hears a knock on the door the moment she finished her last chore.

She opened to door to see Shining Armor and Cadance greeting her on sight.

“Twily!” Shining Armor said happily, hooves outstretched to give her a brotherly hug. Twilight accepts the hug with great enthusiasm.

“It’s been so long, my BBBFF.” she said. Shining Armor chuckles. She then turns her attention to Cadance. “Princess Cadance!” she hugs her former foalsitter, “It’s been too long, as well!”

“How wonderful it is to see you, Twilight.” She notices Twilight’s disheveled mane. “Oh my, did we catch you at a bad time?”

Twilight looks at her mane, embarrassed, but she shrugs it off.

“No! Of course not. Just, tidying things up for you two, that’s all!”

They walk into the clean house, admiring Twilight’s handiwork.

“This place looks great, Twily!” Shining Armor says, impressed.

“It’s much cleaner than our room.” Cadance playfully bumps Shining Armor with her hoof, he bumps her back in response, chuckling as he does it. Twilight shakes her head, laughing as she closes the door.

The three converse for a long while, catching up on lost times. All of them were so happy to see one another, that the subject of Strong Heart and Chrysalis never came up, like they truly did not exist in those hours. Everything was going perfect.

As evening was falling, it was time for Shining Armor and Cadance to take their leave. Twilight was sad to see them go, but understood that they had duties to attend to.

“We’ll see you as soon as we can. We promise.” Shining Armor said.

Shining Armor opens the door…and that’s when he saw them. Strong Heart and Chrysalis were walking through Ponyville; laughing, and having what looked to be a good time. He saw how in love they were, how happy they were. While he was relived his former friend hadn’t become Changeling food, his deep seeded hatred for the Queen out-weighed any positive thoughts. She had a cloak draped along her body. Hiding the small bump that is her pregnant belly.

"It's not cold outside. Why is she wearing that?" he wondered.

Strong Heart looked up from Chrysalis’ gaze, and saw Shining Armor staring right back at him. Chrysalis looks to see what he’s staring at. She almost gasps to see the stallion captain turning his attention towards her. She could practically feel the anger rising from him, as his eyes pierce her from outside in. She clutches Strong Heart out of fear. This surprises Shining Armor, he had never seen fear on her face before. Seeing her like that somehow brought a deal of satisfaction to him, though he wondered why she’s afraid of him now.

Strong Heart takes Chrysalis, and the two walk away from his stare.

“Shining Armor?” Cadance said, unaware of what just transpired. “Is everything okay?”

Shining Armor turns back to her, the look on his face leaving no clues as to what he saw outside.

“Yes…everything’s fine.”

Shining Armor did not tell Cadance of what he saw, but he made no attempt to hide his feelings from her on the ride back to Canterlot. She looked at her husband, as the look of contempt and hatred was still planted firmly on his face. Whenever she caught his attention just enough to break him away from his thoughts, he would become as he was before, happy and content. It was a long ride back, so she decided to finally address it.

“Okay, what’s the matter?” she said.

“Nothing. I told you I’m fine.”

“I can tell when you’re lying. Your ears flutter when you lie.”

“My ears do not flutter!” Shining Armor scoffs, ears fluttering.

“They are fluttering right now.”

Shining Armor knows he is caught, but he merely shakes his head, chuckling off the discovery.

“Look, ever since we left Twilight’s you’ve had that look of anger on your face. So, spill it.” Cadance demanded of him. He was caught off guard by her forceful attitude, but he knew that he couldn’t hide the truth from her forever; she was bound to figure it out eventually.

“When I was walking out the door…I saw them.” he told her. She was quick to figure it out. “They were just walking, talking, laughing. They seemed happy.”

“Then, what’s the matter? We now know that Strong Heart is alive and well.”

“Yes, and I should be happy about that, but…it’s her. Every time I look at her, I think about everything that she done to us, what she tried to do. And, there she was, in the forelegs of our best friend, who she has turned against us. That’s not even the strangest part.”

“What do you mean?”

“She saw me staring at her…and she was afraid.”

“Afraid?” Cadance was bewildered.

“I have never seen her like that. She was so scared; she practically grabbed Strong Heart, as if he was some kind of shield.”

“Why would she be afraid of you?” Cadance wondered, “It’s unlike her.”

“You’re telling me. Maybe she thought I knew something.”

“Like…something she’s hiding from you? From us? That seems like a bit of a stretch.”

“I’m just making a guess, okay?” Shining Armor thinks for a moment, “What about the Princesses? You think they might know something we don’t?”

“Probably. They have been keeping quiet about Strong Heart’s letters, recently.”

“We should ask them about it, and see what we find out.”

The next morning, Shining Armor visited Princess Celestia during her usual morning stroll along the castle garden. She did not expect to see the Captain that day, figuring that he was still busy training the new recruits. Nevertheless, Celestia wasn’t perturbed by his company; she always thought of him as loyal, a good captain, despite his recent behavior in the past few months.

When the day Strong Heart chose love over duty came, Shining Armor was devastated. He would constantly plead to both Celestia and Luna to cure Strong Heart of his “illness”, and make him normal again. They tried to convince him that there was nothing wrong with Strong Heart, but refused to believe it. For the next four months, he resented the Princesses decision, and would barely talk to them when it came to personal matters. Celestia would try to read them the letters that were sent, letting them know that their former friend was okay, and living a happy life, but they were received with scoffs, or just pure silence.

The only time they ever talked, since then, was when the Princesses would give him orders to carry out, which he would, but the way he would respond to them would hint that he was still ever so sour about the events that had transpired.

Now, Shining Armor is walking with her in the garden, talking to her like nothing has happened between them in the past few months. That is, until…

“I’ve noticed you’ve been rather quiet about Strong Heart’s letters, recently.” Shining Armor says rather bluntly. Celestia is taken aback by his forwardness, and he's aware of it.

“Oh. Well, you and Cadance have proven time and again that you no longer have any interest in the former Lieutenant’s personal life. So, Luna and I decided not to disclose any more information on the matter. Tell me, why the sudden interest now?”

“I’m asking because yesterday, I saw her and Strong Heart as I left Twilight’s, and she was a bit…distraught when she saw me.”

“She probably wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Or, there was something she was hiding from me. Do you know something about her that I don’t?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. The letters aren’t anything of much importance, just your usual updates.” A gift Celestia has is making lies sound utterly convincing. While Shining Armor still had his doubts, he had to admit that what she was telling him sounded genuine.

“Just, the way she looked at me seemed to imply…”

“Look…” Celestia interrupts, “…I understand how you feel about her, I really do. But, she’s happy now, reformed, and living a new life with the former Lieutenant. Listen to me, Shining Armor, you’re a good soldier, and a valuable asset to Equestria. So, I’m telling you this, not as a Princess, but as your friend…let it go.”

Shining Armor is unable to say anything. He couldn’t just defy her, or argue with her. He’s seen her bad side, and even though he still distrusts Chrysalis greatly, getting on Celestia’s “list” wouldn’t do him any good.

“I will see you later, Captain.” Celestia says, walking away from him.

Shining Armor flinches at the way she said “Captain”. She always referred to him by name. Now, it feels so impersonal. He didn’t have to argue with her, for all he knew, he WAS now on her bad side. This did not deter him from finding out the truth. He knew the Princess was a good liar, and what she told him probably was a straight up fabrication of facts.

If he wasn’t going to get the truth from her directly, he had to go behind her back to get it.

Act 4

For the next month, in between his duties as a Captain, Shining Armor made attempts to find out the hidden truth about Chrysalis. He snuck into Celestia’s chambers, as she would make her bi-monthly trips to Ponyville, looking for any of the letters that were from Strong Heart. He found none; he wasn’t aware that the letters were exclusively sent to Luna, but she was his next stop.

During the night, as she watched upon Equestria, he searched through her things, and found most of the letters. THE letter, and the letters that followed, though, were out of his grasp. Unbeknownst to him, Luna destroyed the letters, knowing that if they fell into prying hooves, it could bring about some unpleasant events.

Cadance felt for Shining Armor; she knew what he was doing, and grew as frustrated as he did. Unfortunately, for the time, her duties as a Princess prevented her from assisting in his search. It wasn’t until over a month of search had passed, when she was able to get away from her responsibilities, and could help her husband.

One particular afternoon, Shining Armor was called in to escort Celestia into the Everfree forest, to settle a matter of an escaped hydra from Tartarus. Taking the opportunity, Cadance took the next train to Ponyville. She knew that if she wasn’t going to find answers in Canterlot, she was going to find them at the source.

Visiting Strong Heart and Chrysalis made her incredibly nervous, it’s been months, since she last saw one of her best friends threaten Shining Armor’s life, in favor of a Queen who she was convinced to be made entirely out of evil.

The Princess disguised herself; hiding her royal looks with a cloak, so that nopony in town could recognize her. She went to the door, and cautiously knocked on it a few times. Within moments, the door opened, revealed Strong Heart on the other side. The disguise didn’t fool him; he knew who he was looking at. Cadance tried to give her best smile, but he was not impressed.

“Cadance?” he said, “What are you doing here?”

“I can’t visit my friend, after all this time?” she asked. He did not respond. He’s waiting for the real answer. “How have you been?”

“We’ve been good.” he replied, “We were just about to have lunch.”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

He cocked an eyebrow. Instincts tell him to say no, but the thought of her being genuine crossed his mind. Maybe she wanted to apologize, make up for her behavior to him, and maybe make an attempt to be friendly with Chrysalis. Their encounter with Twilight proved to be a success; maybe this will too. Still, he was cautious.

“One second.” he said, closing the door.

For a full minute, Cadance stood there, wondering what was going on inside the house. She considered leaving, before the door opened back up.

“Okay.” he said to her, allowing her to enter.

Strong Heart lead her through the house, into the dining room, where Chrysalis sat, waiting for her. She was all smiles, like there was no past between her.

“Princess Cadance, it’s so nice to see you.” she welcomed Cadance, pleased to see her.

The Princess on the other hoof, was the opposite. However, learning from Celestia, she was able to master the art of the lie, and could fool Chrysalis into thinking that she was there with friendly intentions. Cadance sat down across from her, as Strong Heart served her a daffodil and daisy sandwich, along with a glass of dandelion wine. She had to admit, the food looked quite tasty, but one thing caught her eye. Strong Heart was having the wine, but Chrysalis was drinking plain old water. It was interesting, but she disregarded it.

“It’s not often we have visitors. The last one who visited us was…Twilight. Right?” she asks Strong Heart, who nods. Cadance was shocked to hear that Twilight disobeyed her brother’s orders, but now was not the time to dwell on it.

Looking at her figure, Cadance was surprised to see that Chrysalis didn’t look like her usual, seemingly frail self. Instead, she was much fuller, especially around the stomach. Not fat, but definitely different from the last time she saw her.

“I must say, Chrysalis; your physique has gotten much more defined.”

The Queen looked at her stomach, giving it a quick pat, and letting out a flattered chuckle.

“All this time in Ponyville has gotten me a little rounder, I do admit.”

“I still think you’re beautiful.” Strong Heart was quick to tell her, giving her a peck on the check, which she enjoyed.

“Thank you.” she tells him timidly.

“Speaking of which…” Cadance continued, “How do you like it in Ponyville?”

“It’s certainly better than living in a cave full of slime for most of your life!” Chrysalis laughed, “Sure, we had some uncomfortable moments in the beginning, but I really like living here.” she takes a sip of her water, “Actually, I’m glad you’re here, Cadance. I’ve wanted to talk to you.”

“You have?” Cadance wondered, “About what?”

“It’s about what I did to you, and to Shining Armor.” she was being serious, and Cadance listened intently to see where this was going. “I have no excuse for doing what I did, I could come up with one, or many if I want to, but the truth is that I have none. That…creature you saw, was all me. In some way, I feel that I deserved my imprisonment. However, my time with Strong Heart has shown me that even a creature like me can find happiness. I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while, and now I think it’s a good a time as any. Cadance…I’m sorry; to both you and Shining Armor. I hope that one day, we can be friends.”

Cadance hid what she was feeling at that moment. Instead, she smiled.

“Me too.” she said, as she took a bite out of the sandwich. It was good.

Shining Armor trotted around his bedroom, wondering where his wife had gone. It was nearly night time, and he hadn’t seen her all day. He was ready to go outside to search for her, when she then walked into the room. From what he saw, she didn’t look happy.

“Cadance? What’s wrong?” he asked her, concerned.

“I visited them.” she said with disgust. Shining Armor immediately knew of who she spoke of.

“What did you learn?”

“Nothing. Just that they’re happy, and in love. I suppose that’s a good thing, but…”

“But what?”

“Every time I looked at her, my stomach turned, my blood boiled, I just wanted to jump over there and crush her long neck with my hooves! Strong Heart was holding her, kissing her! It made me sick!”

Shining Armor liked this angry side of Cadance. He doesn’t see it often, but when he did, he feels even more attracted to her than he already was. She was seducing him with her anger, and she didn’t even know it.

“They saw Twilight, as well. Even after you told her to stay away from them! I can’t believe her!”

He doesn’t respond, but a look of disappointment falls on his face.

“You know what the worst part was?” she asked.

“Hmmmm?” was all he could get out.

“She said she was sorry about what she did to us, and hoped that we would be friends! Like an apology was all it was going to take for me to forgive her! What did she think? That we would be friends and the story of our wedding day would be some funny story to tell to the fillies? ‘Oh hey my little foals, let me tell you the story of the time a Changeling put me in a crystal cave, and tried to take over Equestria! It’s a hoot!’ Like that’s going to happen!”

Shining Armor approaches her slowly, and embraces her.

“I love it when you’re angry.” he tells her. He then gives her a passionate kiss. She was more than appreciative of it. After a while, they break from it, just long enough for him to ask “What are you going to do now?”

“They’re definitely hiding something. The next time I have the day off, I’m going to visit them again.” she puts a hoof on his chest, “Enough of me, I want to know what YOU’RE going to do now?”

Shining Armor gives her a look that she is all too familiar with.

It wouldn’t be another month, before Cadance would have the opportunity to come down to Ponyville again. She arrived at their doorstep with a bottle of Dandelion Wine, ready to greet the two with all smiles. Knocking on the door, she is surprised to see Chrysalis to be the one to answer. Her physique, particularly her stomach had grown quite a bit since Cadance last saw her.

“Princess Cadance?” Chrysalis says, not unwelcoming to her presence.

“Hi, Chrysalis. Is Strong Heart home?”

“You just missed him. He’s out buying some…furniture for the house.”

“Really? You two seem to have more than enough.” Cadance is suspicious.

“Well, you never know when we might have…guests.” Chrysalis sees the wine, taking the opportunity to change the subject. “Is that wine?”

“Yes. Vintage Dandelion Wine.” she proudly proclaims, holding the wine up with her magic. “I figure you and Strong Heart would like to have it.”

“Thank you, I know Strong Heart would like it. He enjoys a drop every once in a while, but I don’t drink it.” Chrysalis takes the bottle, and places it at a nearby table.

“You don’t? I’m surprised.”

“I used to, but I’m off it, for the time being.”

“How come?” Cadance questions her. She can see that she’s verbally pushing Chrysalis into a corner. The Queen looks nervous.

“It doesn’t agree with me, right now. That’s all.”

“What, are you pregnant or something?” Cadance jokingly says.

A pause. A pause was all that it took for Cadance to figure it out. Chrysalis couldn’t lie her way out of it, she knew she was caught. All she could do was fix her gaze down to the floor in embarrassment, as Cadance’s eyes grow wide.

“You’re pregnant?!” she said.

“Yes…” she said softly.

“But…but I thought…how?”

“I don’t know. It just happened.”

Seeing the Queen’s stomach, it all made sense. She could slap herself for being so stupid, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

“When is it due?”

“A couple months maybe. They said the development cycle would be faster than most pregnancies.”

Cadance was in complete shock. Slowly, she steps forward, setting her sights on Chrysalis’ pregnant belly.

“May I?” she asks, kneeling down. Chrysalis was nervous, scared even, but she allowed Cadance to proceed. The Princess put her ear to the Queen’s stomach, listening to the heartbeat of the creature inside of her. It sounded normal, but to her, it was still unnatural. She feels a light kick, causing her to lean back. “It kicked.” She said.

“It does that.” Chrysalis chuckled, “It must mean it likes you.”

“If it does it constantly, it must like you a lot.” Cadance laughed. Chrysalis returned the emotion. “Congratulations.” She said.

“Thank you.” Chrysalis replied, “It’s nice to hear.”

“I have to go.” Cadance said, “I’ll see you and Strong Heart later. When the foal is born, enjoy the wine.”

Cadance walks away, as Chrysalis stood there, now confronted with having to tell Strong Heart of what has transpired.

Strong Heart returned to the house a couple hours after the Princess’s visit. He has a wagon with him, filled with items and furniture for the foal. After detaching himself from the wagon, he walks inside the house.

“Chrysalis, I’m back.” he announces himself. No response. “Chrysalis?” Still nothing. He walks into the living room to see her on the couch, sad. “What’s the matter?”

“Cadance came by today.” she says.

“What did she do?” he said sternly, fearing the worst.

“Nothing. But…she knows…about the foal.” A tear rolls down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

He holds her. He’s not mad at her. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

“It’s okay. We were going to tell them, but I was hoping after it was born.”

“She did seem to be happy, but I don’t know how Shining Armor will react, when she tells him.” Chrysalis thinks a terrible thought. “You…you don’t think that he’ll…!”

“No!” Strong Heart interrupts, “I told you what I said to him, back at Canterlot, and I meant it.” She rests her head down on him. “The foal will be born in a couple months. If he tries anything, I’ll be ready.”

“I wish I could fight with you.” she says, “My magic has been dwindling lately.”

“Don’t worry about it. Save your strength.” he tells her.

Being pregnant is having an unfortunate side effect of Chrysalis. Though Strong Heart’s love for her has been keeping her healthy, most of her power is being concentrated on the foal growing within her, making her feeble when it comes to spells and strength. She could barely even stand at this point in the development process, regulating herself to the couch on most days. She hates being so weak, but she is also grateful for Strong Heart’s loyalty to her.

“Soon…” he says, “It’ll just be me, you, and our foal.”

As the sun came down, Shining Armor retired to his quarters after a stressful day at training. As proud as he is of his soldiers, everypony was off their game today, and that made Shining Armor disappointed in them. However, he did ultimately cut them some slack, as he remembered that he and Strong Heart used to slack off in their days at the academy. He chuckled at the situations they would get themselves into, but after a while, reminiscing about the former Lieutenant makes him upset.

He enters his chambers to find Cadance lying on the bed.

“Not tonight, Cadance.” he says, mistaking her position for something else. “I didn’t exactly have a good day.”

“Chrysalis is pregnant.” she says, getting straight to the point. Shining Armor freezes in mid-disrobing, his armor floating in the air. He looks back to Cadance. “I found out this afternoon.”

His armor drops to the floor. He’s too shocked to put it away normally.

“Are you sure?” he says.

“I felt the thing kick me. You better believe I’m sure.”

“Kick you? How long has it been inside her?”

“I don’t know, but she says it’s due in a couple months, at least.”

Shining Armor stays in place, the news rocks him to his core, to the point where anything he would try to say, results in an incoherent sequence of stammers. Cadance has no such trouble.

“Shining Armor…we have to kill it.”

He shoots a look at her, but he does not disagree. He’s just surprised that it came from her. More and more, does the idea sound good to him, but…

“It’s too risky…” he says, “If Strong Heart is aware of our intentions…”

“He won’t be.” Cadance is confident, “I think I know what to do about him.”

“We can’t kill him!” Shining Armor again misunderstanding her.

“No. I know of a spell, but it will take time. He is very resilient to magic, so I have to make sure what I have is particularly powerful.”

“What about Chrysalis?”

“Her pregnancy has made her fragile, but she could probably still try to take us, to protect her foal. I don’t know about her, yet.”

It was then, that Shining Armor remembered the dungeon that she was in; the chains that bound her. An idea forms in his scheming head.

“I know what to do.” he tells her, “But, like your spell…it will take time. We will have to move quickly. The foal must not be born.”

For the next month, the two began to make their plan a reality. Like most ponies with a secret, they were subtle about their behavior around the castle. Both of them wouldn’t risk getting caught, and would only continue with progressing their plot when they weren’t distracted by their duties. The two discussed how the plan would go down, with variations, back up plans, and outs. Shining Armor became concerned about a particular part of the plan, but Cadance convinced him that it had to be done, to which he agreed.

Neither Celestia, nor Luna were aware of what they were up to, nor were they even suspicious.

The time went by in a flash, and soon enough…the day arrived.

It was mid-morning; Chrysalis was sleeping on the couch, while Strong Heart watched over her, getting whatever she needed to relax. The foal was to be born soon, and he wanted to be sure that she was as comfortable as possible. She’s never experienced foal-birth before, and he wanted to guide her every step of the way.

He hears a knock on the door. He wasn’t expecting visitors today, so he approached the door with caution. Slowly opening it, he sees Cadance on the other side.

“Cadance?” He was even more suspicious of her visit than he was the last time he saw her. “It’s weird that you keep coming here once a month.”

“Hi. I’m sorry I haven’t been visiting more often. I would, but you know how it is.”

“What are you doing here?”

“We came to visit you.”

Strong Heart looked around her, he sees nopony.

“Who is ‘we’?”

“Shining Armor wants to talk to you.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s waiting for us at Twilight’s house.”

Strong Heart chuckles, shaking his head.

“Our foal is due in less than a month, if he wants to talk to me, he can talk to me here.”

As he tries to close the door, Cadance blocks the door with her hoof, preventing it from closing.

“Please. He wants all of us to talk. Me, you, him and Twilight.”

“What does Twilight have to do with this?”

“She wasn’t supposed to see you, but she did. He was pretty mad about it, but he’s calmed down now. We’ve all known each other since we can remember, and now he wants all of us in a room together, like we were before.”

Strong Heart glances at Chrysalis.

“I can’t.” he says, “Chrysalis can barely stand; I can’t take her along with me.”

“It’ll only be for ten minutes.”

“Does he really think ten minutes can fix what he’s done?” Strong Heart is in disbelief.

“I promise. It’ll be like you never left her.”

He thinks about this for a few moments. He doesn’t want to leave Chrysalis, but the prospect of Shining Armor wanting to be friends again could be a step to him accepting the Queen, and the foal to be.

“Okay.” he replies, “Fifteen minutes, at the latest. I don’t care how rousing his speech is, if he doesn’t make his point in fifteen minutes, I’m gone.”

“Alright. Fifteen minutes it is.”

Strong Heart goes to Chrysalis, adjusting her blanket, covering more of her.

“I’m going to Twilight’s for a few minutes. I won’t be gone long, okay?” he gently tells her.

“Mmm…okay…” Chrysalis mumbles.

“I love you.” He kisses her on the cheek. She mumbles something back, but he doesn’t hear it. He goes back to Cadance. “Let’s go.”

The two make their way to Twilight’s house, his suspicion of Cadence never leaving his thoughts. Though she has treated them with a small amount of respect in the last couple months, something was eating at the back of his mind that this could be a set up.

They get to Twilight’s house within moments. Strong Heart knocked on the door, preparing to see Shining Armor on the other side. The door opens, and instead, he sees Twilight. Something is wrong from the outset; she looks at him like she wasn’t expecting him.

“Strong Heart? Cadance? What are you two doing here?”

“We’re here to see Shining Armor. Cadence told me he was here.”

“What? Shining Armor isn’t---“

A burst of magic EXPLODES from Cadance’s horn as Twilight and Strong Heart look at each other. She’s done this spell many times, but never at this level. She knew Strong Heart could withstand many mind control spells, so she had to make this one with an extra kick. His eyes began to flicker, so did Twilight’s. He fought to shake himself out of the enchantment, but it was to no avail. In seconds, the spell left as quickly as it came, and Twilight and Strong Heart looked at each other, not in confusion, but out of love.

“What were we talking about?” he asked her.

“I…” Twilight pauses, looking at Strong Heart with seductive eyes, “I believe you were going to come in for a…talk.”

“…Right.” He said, wide eyed and happy, like a young colt going on a date for the first time. He goes inside the house, shutting the door behind him, forgetting that Cadance was outside with him. The plan was working.

Shining Armor emerges from the side of the house, happy that the spell was a success.

“I told you it would work.” Cadance said.

“How long will it last?”

“Quite a while.”

“Will Twilight be okay?”

“Of course, she will. He’s not going to hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Okay. Come on, we have work to do.” he tells her, prepared to do what he came to do.

Chrysalis is sleeping peacefully, no worries in the world. The front door creeks open, and she can feel the warmth of the sun. She’s half awake, but she can hear the approaching hoofsteps.

“You’re back. What happened?” she said practically in a whisper.

A ring is suddenly, forced onto her horn, jerking her out of her slumber. A pair of hooves grabs her by the head, moving it to the assailant’s face. It’s Shining Armor, giving her a sadistic grin.

“Hello, Chrysalis.”

He throws her off the couch, and hard onto the floor. The impact with the floor gives her a nasty cut on the head. She crawls away from Shining Armor in a panic. Immediately, she attempts a spell. Nothing. She tries again. It’s not working.

“Your magic isn’t going to help you, my Queen. That ring on your head was made from the chains that bound you back in the dungeon. The only way to remove it…is through a magic user.”

Chrysalis is too weak to run; she can only continue to crawl. She backs herself into a corner.

“L-leave us alone! If Strong Heart finds out, he’ll…”

“I’m afraid he won’t be coming to your rescue.” Cadance says, walking into the room, shutting the door.

Chrysalis’ eyes widen in horror. “Cadance? W-why?” she can’t believe Cadance is a part of this.

“WHY?! You tried to ruin our lives! You took away our best friend, and now you’re having an abomination of a foal!”

“B-but I thought you wanted to be friends…” Chrysalis is in tears.

“Friends?!” Cadance and Shining Armor share a laugh. “I hate you! Why should we allow you, a monster, a parasite, to share the same kind of happiness as us?! You don’t deserve it! And now, my dear Shining Armor is going to take it away.” Cadance and Shining Armor look at each other with love and admiration.

“P-please…” Chrysalis pleads, “I’m pregnant…”

“We know…and we don’t care.” Cadance says to her, with all the hate she can muster. “I’m going to let my husband do whatever he wants to you. I know he’s been waiting a long time for this.”

Shining Armor approaches Chrysalis. She tries to get up, but she can’t. She is frozen with fear.

“When I’m through with you…” Shining Armor tells her, “You will beg for death.”

Hours pass, evening approaches. Shining Armor and Cadance walk inside Twilight’s house, filled with accomplishment. Cadance lovingly wipes off a hint of green blood on Shining Armor’s horn. They then turn their attention to where they are.

They walk into Twilight’s bedroom upstairs to see Strong Heart and Twilight sleeping peacefully together. They are in each other’s forelegs, bathed in sweat; it’s obvious that they have made love.

“See? She’s fine.” Cadance assures him.

“I feel a bit bad that we had to involve her in this.”

“Don’t worry about it. She won’t remember a thing, when we’re done. Neither will he. We have to clean them up.”

“Alright, you take Strong Heart, I’ll take Twilight. There’s a second bathroom downstairs you can use.”

Cadance carries Strong Heart with her magic down the stairs, taking him to the bathroom in the far back. Shining Armor carries Twilight on his back, bringing her to the bathroom nearby. He placed her in the bathtub, and fills it up with water. Gently, he rubs her body with a bar of soap, cleansing her of what she received from Strong Heart. He looks at her with affection, but also ashamed.

“I’m sorry I had to do this to you, Twily.” he tells her, “But, believe me, if there was any other way, I would have taken it. Then again, you did disobey my order. I know you won’t remember any of this, but I did it with the best intentions.”

Twilight softly moans. Shining Armor sees that it’s the result of the way that he’s touching her. He recoils his hoof back from her body, shaking it like it was possessed. He looks back at Twilight, as she relaxes in the warm water. He gently caresses her face, smiling.

“I love you, my Twily.” He approaches her face, and kisses her. It’s a simple kiss, but then, it begins to evolve into something else, and the brotherly kiss becomes a lustful one. His kisses become harder, more passionate, driving his tongue into her mouth. Her mouth eagerly opens for him; he assumes she’s having some kind of dream. He prepares to put himself in the bath to finish what he started, but before he could go any further, he pushes himself away from her, realizing what he’s doing.

“Sweet Celestia.” he whispers to himself.

He shakes his head, trying to forget what he just did, and goes back to cleaning her. This was something that neither Cadance, nor Twilight would ever know.

Strong Heart groans as he lies on the wood floor. He is suffering from the mother of all headaches. He grabs his head, feeling his horn, as he slowly opens his eyes. He sees that he’s in Twilight’s house, and along with her, Cadance, and Shining Armor are looking down at him.

“What happened?” he asks groggily.

“You fell down, buddy.” Shining Armor replies, “Fell right onto Twilight. You were both knocked out.”

“I’m sorry, Twi.” Strong Heart tells her, “Did I hurt you?”

“Not at all. I’m fine. A bit sore, but I’m okay.”

He nods, happy that he didn’t cause her any harm. Looking out the window, he sees that evening has almost arrived.

“Oh no!” he says, “I’ve been gone for too long. I have to go.”

“Wait!” Shining Armor yells to him. “I haven’t said my peace, yet!”

Strong Heart pauses. He wants to go back to Chrysalis, but he did agree to hear him out, if only for a little bit.

“Fine.” he reluctantly accepts, “What is it?”

“I…I feel really bad, how we left things back at Canterlot. I know we both said some things that we regretted, and I just want you to know that…I’m sorry.”

Strong Heart stares at him with a blank slate face. Shining Armor smiles, with an attempt at looking sincere. Suddenly, Strong Heart bursts out laughing. Nopony in the room has ever heard him laugh like that in a long time.

“Really?” he says, in between fits of laughter. “It took you over a year to say that?” He laughs some more, before abruptly going into a serious face. “I don’t believe you.” He walks right out the door. Shining Armor follows.

“Wait!” he calls out, “Don’t go! I’m trying to apologize!”

Strong Heart turns, getting close to Shining Armor’s face.

“I gave you fifteen minutes, and you barely talked for fifteen seconds. Did you think that apology was going to work? Maybe, if you said that the week after I left, I would have believed you, but now it’s pathetic!”

“I’m trying to say I’m happy for you!”

“You’re happy for me? Now? After all this time? After you turned you back on me?”

“You turned your back on us first!”

“And it was a long time coming!”

Shining Armor’s mouth is agape.

“What do you mean?”

“I stuck by you, through thick and thin, when we were young colts. We were best friends, brothers even, and I never left your side. Not even when you started dating Cadance, when you KNEW that I liked her. I was mad for a little bit, but you know what? I forgave you, because that’s what friends do. You want to know how long it took me to forgive you? Two weeks! Not a year, two weeks! I was happy for the both of you. From then on, I was always happy for the both of you! And when I tell you that I found somepony, you refuse to talk to me for over a year?”

“That’s not fair! This is different!”

“Oh right, I forgot, she’s a monster, she tried to ruin our lives, blah, blah, blah! I don’t care what you think, anymore! I’m in love with Chrysalis! We’re going to have a foal, and I plan on marrying her, once it’s born, and you cannot stop me! We’re done, Shining Armor. I never want to see you again.”

Strong Heart turns to walk away, but he sees something off in the distance. More specifically, he doesn’t see something.

“What’s the matter?” Shining Armor says, knowing that he’s finding out.

“Chrysalis turns on the lights, when it’s getting dark.” he says.

Strong Heart takes off running to the house. Shining Armor doesn’t follow.

Upon getting there, Strong Heart burst through the door, nearly tripping over a fallen lamp.

“Chrysalis!” he yelled. It’s a mess. Tables are knocked over, sofa has been flipped, books, papers, all on the floor. As he slowly walks though, he notices traces of green blood. His heart races, his breaths become shorter; he is in a full blown panic.

Then, he sees her…back against the wall, bleeding profusely. Her face is bruised, bloodied, her once beautiful face is barely recognizable, and she is unconscious.

“CHRYSALIS!” he screams at the top of his lungs, rushing to her. He cradles her body in his forelegs, shaking her, desperately trying to wake her up. “Speak to me! Speak to me, please!” Tears are flowing out of his eyes. “Chrysalis…wake up…”

She’s not waking up. Thinking fast, he places her on his back, and races to the hospital.

The rest went by so fast. The doctors questioned him about what happened; he couldn’t tell them, how could he? He was in complete shock; he wasn’t going to talk to anypony. Shining Armor and Cadance were there with him, feigning support, when in reality; they were there to see if she was going to die.

The hours of the night were flying by; Strong Heart didn’t move a single inch as he sat in the waiting room. Soon, the Doctor that told them that Chrysalis was pregnant, came out of the ER. For once in the past few hours, Strong Heart moved, rushing to the Doctor.

“Doctor…” he said, “How is she?”

The Doctor was hesitant to tell him. “I’m…afraid that I have some bad news…”

Strong Heart prepares himself, “Is she….?”

“No. She’s alive, but barely. She…” The Doctor shakes; he’s never seen anything like this before. “She was beaten pretty bad. Multiple fractures, internal bleeding, and…we found…her lower body had traces of…”

Strong Heart couldn’t hear any more. He backs up to a nearby wall, sliding down, as he starts to cry. In between his sobs, he could only say two words, "The…foal?”

The Doctor kneels down, facing him at eye level.

“I’m so sorry. The trauma was too great.”

What was sobs, became a total breakdown of tears. Cadance and Shining Armor looked upon their once stone faced friend with pity, but a hint of satisfaction. They succeeded in their goal; the foal is dead. Still, their deception had to continue.

Shining Armor places a hoof on Strong Heart’s shoulder.

“I’m so---“

Strong Heart gets up in the beat of an eye, pushing Shining Armor away from him so hard, he nearly broke the window behind him.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance yells.

“Both of you…get out.” he tells them. They do not move. “GET OUT!!” They approach him, still trying to seem genuine. “Don’t even TRY to touch me. You never wanted me to be happy! You’re glad this happened. Get out!”

The two stop their advance. Slowly, they back away from him, until they finally leave the hospital.

“The foal…was a girl.” The Doctor said, causing Strong Heart to turn around to see him.

“A girl?” he asks, “I always felt we were going to have a girl.” He smiles, thinking about times that will never be. “Can I see her?”

“I don’t know if…”

“Please. I want to see what she looks like.”

The Doctor looked upon his pleading eyes; he couldn’t refuse his request.

“I’ll have the Nurses clean her up.”

The Doctor walked Strong Heart slowly down the hospital corridor, giving the nurses time to clean up the deceased foal. They passed by a room filled with crying fillies, awaiting their parents. Strong Heart felt the sting inside him, knowing that she wasn’t in one of those tiny beds.

He is brought into a nearly empty, darkened room, with a single light shining over a hospital crib. The Doctor stood back, as Strong Heart walked to the center of the room, where the crib lied. He looked inside to see her; a beautiful foal, half pony, half changeling. He smiled, noting all her features that made her unique.

“She’s perfect.” he says, lips quivering, trying not to cry again. “She has a black coat, not a shell.” Slowly, he reaches inside, and picks her up with one hoof, cradling her carefully, like she was alive. “Her wings are definitely like her mother’s…and a horn like mine.” He opens an eyelid, revealing a gorgeous blue eye. Finally, he looks at her hooves. He chuckles. “Her hooves are like Chrysalis’…she definitely would have been looked at funny. But, we would’ve been there for her, protecting her, caring for her.”

“Did you have a name for her?” The Doctor asks.

“No. Chrysalis wanted to be the one to name her.”

A tear falls on the foals face. He places her back down into the crib.

“Where is she? Where is my wife?”

“She’s in intensive care.”

“I want to be with her.”

“Of course.”

In minutes, the Doctor leads him into Chrysalis’ room. Strong Heart looks in horror at her condition. The Queen that he loved is covered in casts and bandages, her face is swollen, and jaw nearly wired shut. The heart monitor is beeping, but slowly.

“Can…I be alone with her?” Strong Heart asks. The Doctor nods, and takes his leave.

He comes to her side, placing both his hooves on her, kneeling down on the floor.

“I made a promise to always be there for you…and I wasn’t.”

Chrysalis’ eyes slowly open. She is conscious. He looks at her, and sees she’s awake. He has no look of surprise, but deep down, the news he’s about to tell her will be even more difficult.

“The foal…didn’t make it.” he grits his teeth, fighting the tears, “It was a girl, too. She was so beautiful, Chrysalis. You would have loved her.”

Tears flow out of Chrysalis’ eyes. She could barely open her mouth; any attempt to cry only resulted in pained whimpers.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Chrysalis tries to speak. It’s unbearable for her to talk.

“My….h..or..n…..”

“What?” he could barely hear her.

“My….horn…”

“Your horn?” He looks at her horn. As he looks closer, he sees a small shimmer of a metal ring at the base. “What is that?” he whispers.

“Re…m…ove….it…” she strains in her speech.

Using his magic, he removes the rings from her horn, freeing her of its effects. He examines the ring much closer. The material looks familiar to him.

“I’ve seen this metal before…”

Chrysalis’ body begins to shake…violently. Strong Heart drops the ring, placing everything he has on her, trying to hold her down.

“Chrysalis?! What’s wrong? Chrysalis!”

Suddenly, her eyes snap open, revealing a bright green glow. It’s so strong; he has to shield his eyes. He can hear her bones snapping back into place, healing her. When the light calms, he sees her bruises disappearing, her swelling subsiding. She opens her mouth wide, ripping the wires from her jaw, and the resulting wounds closing up. He looks at her; amazed…and terrified.

Minutes ago, she was in indescribable pain, now…she’s healed…and angry. When the last wound is healed, she yells a loud roar of absolute rage, and an EXPLOSION of magic rocks the room, knocking Strong Heart back into the wall, and destroying nearly everything inside. He recovers from the shock, looking up to see his love, floating in the air, slowly descending back down. She walks over to him, helping him up to face her.

“Did I hurt you?” she asks. He shakes his head, still amazed at her recovery.

“That ring…” he stutters, “W-was it from the dungeon?” She nods. “Who did this to you?”

“Shining Armor.” she replies.

Strong Heart feels the same sensation of rage that she is feeling right now. He is ready to kill.

“We’re going to Canterlot, and he will pay for his crimes.”

“Not just him…all of them.”

“What?”

“I’m leaving, Strong Heart. I’m getting my army, and when I do, I’m going to kill them all. Every guard, every servant, anypony that is loyal to him…will die.”

“He’s the one that wronged you, nopony else!”

“They wronged me just by looking at me with the same hate that he did!”

“What about Celestia and Luna? They supported us!”

She remembers the kindness they gave her by allowing her romance with him to go on. She smiles, gazing at the floor, and then back to Strong Heart. She inches closer to his face, and delivering a soft kiss on his lips, which he was more than accepting of.

“I’ll be there at dawn.” she tells him, after breaking from the kiss, “Take them somewhere safe. Tell them what happened, and why. When I arrive, no pony can stop me…not even you.”

“I won’t stop you from killing Shining Armor, but I can’t let you kill anypony else.”

She smirks. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Wait!” he yells to her. She stops. “If you do this…there’s only one way this story can end.”

“I know.”

Suddenly, a bright surge of magic fills the room, blinding Strong Heart, and just as quickly, it leaves. He looks around the room. She is gone.

It’s time to go to Canterlot.

Act 5

For over a year, Queen Chrysalis’ army of Changelings had been hiding in the catacombs of the Everfree Forrest. Without a ruler, they were lost, misguided, and savage. They thought that leaving her behind was a good idea, when in the end; it was the worst mistake they ever made. They cannot gather power themselves, and without their Queen to supply them with the energy, they gave in to their primal instincts, forcing themselves to hunt, and kill, sometimes feasting on each other to get the sustenance that they need. There are hundreds of un-hatched cocoons, unable to open without their Queen’s magic, and their numbers are dwindling.

“So…hungry…” A Changeling says.

“We’re all hungry! We haven’t had food for days!”

“Maybe you would like to go out and get some?”

“Look at us! We’re too weak to do anything.”

“None of this would have happened if we abandoned our Queen!”

“It doesn’t matter now. She’s dead. There’s nothing we can do.”

Almost on cue, a light flashes inside the cave, blinding the Changelings inside. The light leaves, and the Changelings look on in amazement to see their Queen, alive and well, standing before them, with rage in her eyes. She looks at her army, pleased that they are still standing, but disappointed at their low numbers. She promised an army, and she will get her army.

“So few of you, I see.” she says, that familiar evil tone of voice from so long ago, returning like it had never left.

“Our Queen!” The Changeling army bows to her. As weak as they are, their loyalty is back.

“I should kill you weaklings for leaving me to be Cerberus food!” She shouts. “However, I need all of you.”

“What is your command, our Queen?”

“We will return to Canterlot, and kill everypony that stands in our way.”

“But, we failed the last time! And now, we have no power!”

“When I was gone, I gathered more love than we will ever need. It will be enough to destroy the castle, and rule all of Equestria!”

The Changelings cheer in response.

“Who is worthy of receiving my power?!” More cheering erupts.

Chrysalis walks to her cocoons, smiling at the prospect of gathering more troops.

“When I’m finished here, we will have an army greater than any we have had before. Prepare yourselves, my subjects, for your Queen shall make you all powerful!”

Her horn glows bright, and a light envelopes the entire cave. The love she had gathered overtime from Strong Heart has made her, and will make her army stronger than anything anypony has ever faced. The thoughts of her enemies dying by her hooves makes her laugh louder, and more sinister than ever.

The cocoons break; underneath all the slime and muck is newborn Changelings, full grown, and prepared for war. The ever expanding army roars with delight; their sounds echoing throughout the catacombs.

In a few hours, she will be ready.

It’s the middle of the night in Canterlot. Inside the castle, Cadance and Shining Armor are preparing to retire in their chambers. The events of the day still playing in their heads, still victorious over their conquest. However, one thing eats away at the back of Cadance’s mind.

“What if she wakes up?” she asks.

“It won’t be for a while. You saw how she was.” Shining Armor replies.

“I think you should have killed her when you had the chance.”

“I had my fun, Cadance. If you wanted her dead, you should have done it.”

“Killing isn’t very Princess-like.”

“Yet this was all your idea, and I supported it immensely. Trust me, the damage that has been done to her, I wouldn’t be surprise if she didn’t wake up at all.”

If there is anything Strong Heart has in common with Chrysalis, it’s their talent for showing up on cue. He bursts through their door with such force, that the door is knocked off its hinges, crashing onto the floor. Both Shining Armor and Cadance look on their former friend, and see the look of absolute murder in his eyes.

“SHINING ARMOR!!!!” he screams.

Shining Armor had no time to react, or any time to think, as Strong Heart flew at him with blinding speed and fury. Upon impact, the two are sent rocketing back, crashing out the window. Cadance screams in terror as the two plummet.

Being in free fall hasn’t deterred Strong Heart from what he came for, as he wails on Shining Armor in the air. The two hit the top of a nearby tower, and Shining Armor is separated from the death grip of the former Lieutenant. Unfortunately, that grip was saving him from rolling off the tower, and he restarts his descent.

With nopony beating the life out of him, he uses his magic to create a bubble. He hits the courtyard ground, and bounces safely. That moment is cut short, when he looks up to see Strong Heart falling towards him. When he hits the bubble, it pops, causing Strong Heart to smash the Captain into the ground.

The two are strong against such damage, but Shining Armor is in too much surprise to try anything. Strong Heart throws him around the courtyard, using both his magic and his hooves, smashing sculptures and cracking walls with the Captain’s body. Though he agreed to let Chrysalis do the honors of killing the Captain, he wasn’t going let her do it, without him first brandishing his own form of justice on him.

Shining Armor struggles to get up, his former friend is too strong for him, and he knows this. Having been through training with him in the academy, he saw that when it came to brute strength, he was no match for him. If nopony stops them, Shining Armor could very well be dead. However, before Strong Heart could deliver another charging blow, he is suddenly stopped in place by a bubble of blue magic. Luna’s magic.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Luna yelled, dragging Strong Heart away from the beaten body of Shining Armor. Cadance, Celestia, and the Guards come pouring out, with the Guards aiding their Captain.

“He’s trying to kill the Captain of The Guard!” Cadance shouts, playing the innocent.

“Let him speak.” Celestia tell her.

“No! Throw him in the dungeon! He’s crazy!”

“Silence!” Luna commands her, “We are the ruler of the night, and we say he stays with us!” She looks back to Strong Heart, who is floating in the air. “What is going on?”

“Luna!” Strong Heart said, “Chrysalis is coming here, with her army! She intends to take this castle by force!”

“Chrysalis?” Celestia wondered, “Why?”

Strong Heart turns from inside his magic field, and points directly at Shining Armor.

“Because of him!” he says.

“What?” Shining Armor scoffs, “What did I do?”

“You know exactly what you did!” he turns back to Luna, “Luna, please. Chrysalis is going to kill every last pony here, but she has allowed me to take you and Celestia to shelter.”

Luna thinks for a moment, and then lets him free of his magic prison. She looks to her sister.

“Sister, we go to the shelter.” Celestia nods. Luna then looks at Shining Armor. “Captain, tend to your wounds, and prepare your soldiers for battle.”

The two Princess and Strong Heart leave the area, as Shining Armor is being healed by the medics.

The three walk along the hallway, heading towards a metal door, which leads towards stairs that go underground. All three are silent, not mentioning anything that has or will happen. They go down the stairs to a dark corridor, the Princesses light the way, and the three go to a large door. Going inside is the shelter for the two, it looks very much like their royal chambers.

Luna shuts the door. They can now talk.

“The only reason why we have not sic’d the guards on thou, is because thoust our friend.” she tells him, “What hast happened?”

“Shining Armor…killed her.” he replies, “He killed our foal.”

Both Celestia and Luna gasp.

“How did he find out?” asked Celestia.

“Chrysalis’ told Cadance last month, and I guess when she told Shining Armor, he planned to have the foal killed.” He reaches into a small pouch that he brought, pulling out the ring with his magic. “This was made from the chains in the dungeon. He nullified her magic, so she couldn’t fight back.”

Luna and Celestia examine the ring carefully.

“If thou doesn’t mind…may we ask what he did?”

Strong Heart didn’t want to say, he gritted his teeth at the very thought of recalling the damage she sustained, but they had to know.

“He…he beat her…maimed her…and…violated her.” he says quietly, but they heard, “The foal inside her couldn’t take the trauma.” Tears flow out of his eyes.

Luna embraces her dear friend, and he returns the gesture.

“We are so sorry. We should have watched them more carefully. We feel it’s our fault for what happened.”

“No, don’t blame yourself, Luna.”

“What will you do now?” Celestia wondered.

“I’m going back out there. Her army will come at dawn, and I promise to protect the other guards.”

“And what about the Queen?” asked Luna, “What will thou do when thoust see her?”

Strong Heart sighs.

“I always valued my friendship with you. Even if it didn’t look like I showed it. But, if you’re asking me if I’m going to kill the one I love, I’ll tell you, right here and now…no.”

“And what if she comes into contact with Shining Armor?” Celestia said.

“I’m counting on that happening, and when she does…I’m not going to stop her. You may say that revenge is wrong, but right now…it’s only fair. If you don’t agree with this, you are free to stop us.”

The Princesses do not move. They understand.

“If you believe it’s right, we will not stop you.” said Celestia, “But, the others won’t be as understanding. Are you prepared for the consequences of your actions, when this is all over?”

“I am.”

“Then, we will see you after the battle.”

“Thank you, Celestia.” he looks to Luna, “Thank you, Luna.” She nods to him. He leaves, prepared to face what is out there.

The armor that Strong Heart left behind was now gone; given to another recruit, probably. He had to make due with regular armor, which belonged to the trainees in the Guard. It was better than nothing. It’s been a long time since he fought the Changeling army; as powerful as he was, if that burst of magic that knocked the Changelings away didn’t arrive, he would have been overpowered.

He never forgot his training, he still knew how to fight, how to kill, but his true intentions were always in place. He could probably kill Chrysalis, but he never would; he would rather die, than be forced to kill her. If he was to face her on the battlefield, it was to protect the innocent Guards who had nothing to do with the plot that had transpired up to this point.

Walking outside to the other Guards, he can feel the distrust being brought down upon him. He did not blame them; they were just woken up to the sounds of him beating their Captain within an inch of his life. He could see their angry eyes, but he chose not to react to it, instead walking out to the front line, where Shining Armor and Cadance stood, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

“I want you to go into the shelter, where the Princesses are, okay?” Shining Armor tells her.

“No, I want to be there, when…” she stops, seeing Strong Heart approaching them.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be…Princess?” he says to her.

The old personality that he once had is back, and in full force. There is no emotion on his face, nothing to indicate what he is truly feeling. This scared Cadance more than it had before. She walked away from both of them.

“Are you ready, Strong Heart?” Shining Armor asks him. Strong Heart does no reply to the question, choosing to look out onto the soon to be battlefield. “We installed these new weapons…” he points to the row of ballistae off to the sides, “The spears move so fast, not even magic can stop them. When she’s in my sights…”

Immediately, Strong Heart shoves him into the side of one of the ballistae, holding him up by a hoof. The other Guards come to their Captain’s assistance, preparing to blast the former Lieutenant away with a combined burst of magic. He’s unfazed.

“You better hope you don’t miss.” he tells the Captain, “Because she has worse plans for you, than I do.”

“Would you really try to kill me? After all, we’ve been friends since foalhood.”

Strong Heart lets him go, allowing him back on the ground.

“If I didn’t promise her…I’d kill you where you stand.”

“Then, why are you helping me?”

“I don’t care about you. I care about the other Guards. Unlike you, they’re innocent, and I would gladly protect each and every one of them.” The soldiers hear this. Reluctantly, they stop charging their magic, much to Shining Armor’s dismay.

As the sun begins to rise, so does a familiar droning noise. It’s the sound of hundreds, maybe thousands of flapping insect-like wings. Everypony stands at attention, preparing for their home to become a battleground for the war to come. Shining Armor and Strong Heart postpone their struggle and stand side by side, looking on at the oncoming horde.

From afar, it looks like nothing but a massive crowd of black dots, but as it gets closer and closer, the army becomes clearer. There are more Changelings than they have faced before. If one soldier falters, then ten Changelings have a greater chance to overtake the castle. The soldiers are shaking in their armored horseshoes, terrified at the army. Strong Heart places a hoof onto a nearby soldier, trying to calm him down.

“Easy.” he tells the rookie, “Don’t let them see you’re afraid.”

The ballistae are being loaded up, reeled back, and ready to fire. One spear could impale multiple enemies, should a crowd make the mistake of lining up behind one another. One could call it overkill, but the situation calls for it.

The army is close now, enough to see the bright green in their eyes. Leading the charge is Chrysalis herself. Strong Heart can see her, but he does not call out to her. She is in control, ready for anything; so is he.

“Kill them all!” Chrysalis shouts. The army swoops down at top speed.

“Fire!” says Shining Armor.

In rapid succession, the ballistae fire, sending scores of spears out at the invading army. Changelings are impaled, some in groups, others in singularity. It doesn’t stop the rest of the horde from advancing. The guards, ready their magic, hoping the training they received in the academy would not go in vain.

The Changelings roar in anticipation, as they rocket towards the soldiers, casting a green barrier around their bodies for the eventual impact. They crash into the ground with all the power of a small meteorite. Guards are flung into the air by the impact, and a couple of ballistae are destroyed by direct hits. Dozens of the Changelings make it onto the ground, and it becomes an all-out war. Rookies are the first to go from the attack; unprepared by what they were facing, their training was all for naught, as the creatures are quick to sense out the weaklings in the army. Their screams are heard throughout the battlefield, as they are torn limb from limb by the advancing army. Nothing could be done to save them in the ensuing chaos.

Strong Heart looks on at the carnage that is happening before him. These are not the same Changelings that he fought over a year ago; they are stronger now, fueled by his love for Chrysalis. Soon, the soldier inside him knocks him from his guilt, he made a promise to these soldiers that he would protect them, and he was going to honor that.

He charges into the fray, screaming his best battle cry, as his blasts his way through the swarm. One by one, he takes on the large army, using his magic, and his incredible strength to combat them. His strikes are calculated, and brutal, sometimes killing a Changeling with one well-placed blast or one strike of his hooves. He races along the battlefield, helping his fellow pony, everypony…but Shining Armor.

The Captain is having trouble on his end of the fight. The moment the creatures came down to the ground, the orders he would shout to his troops would be unheeded, or unheard. Panic falls on his face, but nevertheless, he continues to fight. He’s not as skilled as the former Liuetenant, but he makes due. On the back of his mind, however, is the possibility of the both of them surviving the battle, and what would happen, should they face each other again.

Other Guards, some with more experience than other, manage to hold their own. Working together in tandem seems to be the best strategy they have, taking out multiple swarms at once. Most of them don’t even need the assistance of Strong Heart, but they know that he is willing to help them. In a way, the mere gesture is putting him in a more favorable light, even if he is partially responsible for the enemies’ newfound power. Then again, they don’t know that.

As the fight rages on, Strong Heart is knocked down by a swarm of Changelings. They prepare to tear him apart, baring their fangs to him. One of them digs their fangs into his foreleg. It’s painful; he can feel it sucking the blood out of him. Having no plans to die, he bucks them off of him with powerful strikes, before being able to back away from the crowd of knocked out creatures.

He backs into what he thinks is just another Changeling, but when he turns, he sees Chrysalis turn to him. The two of them about to strike one another, suddenly stop in their tracks. Despite everything, they weren’t going to hurt each other. She takes a look at the bite marks her minions have done to him. She caresses his bite mark, ashamed that her army hurt him.

That’s when she sees him; Shining Armor has managed to command a functional ballista. He prepares to fire.

“Get down!” Chrysalis screams, throwing Strong Heart to the ground. The ballista fires, Chrysalis tries to dodge it, but it rips through her wings like they were paper. She screams in pain, but the pain become anger, and soon…rage. Her eyes glow a bright emerald, as her horn gathers a massive amount of energy,

Shining Armor tries to reload the ballista, but nopony is around to help him. Suddenly, she blasts a gigantic ball of energy right at him. He tries to run, but it’s all for nothing. The ballista explodes, taking Shining Armor with it, along with a few hapless Guards and Changelings. Strong Heart gets up, and comes to his Queen’s aid. She’s in pain, but she puts on her bravest face.

“Are you okay?” he asks her.

“I’ll be alright.”

He looks at her destroyed wings, saddened by their state, and then back at the wreckage that was once a ballista, and a Captain of the Royal Guard.

“You got him, Chrysalis. He’s dead.” he looks around the warzone. To his amazement, the Guards are gaining the upperhoof, taking out more swarms than he thought possible. “You have to get out of here; your army is going to lose.”

She looks past Strong Heart to see her; Cadance, standing at the foot of the doorway that leads to the throne room. They share a look, and Cadance is absolutely terrified. She opens the door, running straight inside.

“No…” Chrysalis says, the hate in her voice rising, “There’s one more left.” She pushes past a confused Strong Heart, heading for the throne room.

“Chrysalis!” he yells, following her.

Cadance desperately tries to close the door, but it’s in vain. Chrysalis jumps at her, tackling her to the floor. In a swift motion, she bites Cadance’s neck, drinking the blood from her wound, causing her to scream in pain. Suddenly, Strong Heart pulls Chrysalis from her prey.

“What are you doing?!” he shouts at her.

Chrysalis looks to see Guards heading for the door. Using her magic, she shuts it, and a giant wooden plank comes down, locking the door. As the banging from the guards is heard, she turns back to Strong Heart.

“Get out of my way, Strong Heart.” she demands.

“Not until I know why you’re doing this!”

“She was there! She was there with Shining Armor!”

He looks at Cadance. She shakes her head rapidly.

“No! I didn’t know!”

“LIAR!” Chrysalis roars.

“I was with you, Strong Heart! Remember? I took you to Twilight’s house!”

“You were…” he turns back to Chrysalis, “She was with me. She couldn’t have been there!”

“You would believe her, over me?!” Chrysalis screams, practically in tears, “She was there! In the house! Where Shining Armor defiled my body, and killed our foal! I will not allow you to believe her lies!”

“No! Don’t listen to her! She has killed Shining Armor, now she’s trying to find an excuse to kill me!”

He looks into the Queen’s eyes. She had no reason to lie to him, why would she? Then, something comes forward in his thoughts.

“Wait…” String Heart begins to remember, “I…recall going to the house…but then…it was all a blank.”

“Yeah.” Cadance said, “You fell down, and knocked Twilight and yourself out.”

“And, when I woke up…it was almost night.” He throws an accusatory glance at Cadance, who backs away from him. “You had more than enough time in between to go back to my house.”

“S-Strong Heart…p-please! I beg you! Save me!” Cadance’s lies are breaking.

“What did you do to me, Cadance? You know I can’t get knocked out that easily. You tried once before, remember?”

Cadance has nopony now to save her. Strong Heart is becoming increasingly enraged.

“How did you do it? How did you prevent me from saving her? TELL ME!”

Using his magic, he enwraps Cadance in a bubble, throwing her hard into the ground. She is shocked at his willingness to hurt her. She struggles to get up. Chrysalis stands back, allowing Strong Heart to enact his anger upon the Princess.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!” he slams her again into the floor, cracking the pristine marble.

“I…put…a spell on you…” she spits a tooth out.

“You what?” he asks. Chrysalis wants to hear this as well.

“I knew you were going to be the hardest part.” Cadance continued, “I had to refine my famous love spell on you, so you would be distracted long enough for Shining Armor to do his dirty work.”

“Love spell?”

“Yes. Surprisingly, it was more potent than I imagined. So, while my dear Husband was having his way with your whore Queen, you were busy mounting his sister!”

Chrysalis and Strong Heart’s eyes widened, but it was Strong Heart who had a more violent reaction. He throws Cadance hard into the wall, she yelps in agony by the impact. She coughs up a bit of blood, her perfect mane is unkempt, messy, and her once beautiful coat is now dominated by bruises and cuts.

“Are you going to kill me now, Strong Heart?”

“I want to know why. Why did you allow this to happen?”

“Everything we did was entirely your fault! You weren’t supposed to fall in love with this beast, mate with her, and conceive an abomination upon ponykind! We just wanted to bring balance back to Equestria, where ponies mated with their own kind, and not with monsters!”

Both Chrysalis and Strong Heart look like they want to tear her apart.

“So, what are you waiting for? Kill me!”

“I’m not going to kill you.”

Cadance looks at him, confused.

“I’m going to let my MONSTER kill you.” he turns to Chrysalis.

Cadance laughs as she gets back up. “You shouldn’t have turned your back on me!”

“Strong Heart!” Chrysalis yells. It’s too late.

Magic wraps around Strong Heart’s body, and he is flung around the room at blinding speed, hitting everything Cadance sets her sights on. His armor proving useless to the attack; shattering little by little on each strike, before fully coming off. Whatever damage he did to her, she’s delivering tenfold. Before she can give the final blow, Chrysalis knocks her down, causing her to drop Strong Heart from her grip, seemingly unconscious.

The two fight all over the throne room, blasting at each other with powerful bursts of magic, destroying pillars, windows, and even the throne. They fire a bolt of energy at the same time, the two blasts colliding with one another. Neither one is advancing, neither one is backing down. In moments, the energy explodes, knocking them both back onto the floor.

Cadance tries to get back up, but the fight is taking its toll on her. She doesn’t even have a second’s notice; when Chrysalis tackles her to the floor, holding her down, as she pummels her face with her hooves multiple times. You couldn’t stop her fury if you tried.

Whatever damage Cadance did to Strong Heart…Chrysalis is delivering tenfold. She hits the Princess with such force, that her strikes break Cadance’s muzzle.

Catching an opening, Cadance blasts her off with a burst of magic. Chrysalis hits the ceiling above, and slams on the floor with a sickening thud. Cadance gets up, bleeding profusely from her face. It’s a miracle that she is still standing.

“This is for Shining Armor!” She prepares to use her horn as a stabbing tool. She rushes at Chrysalis when…

Strong Heart gets in the way of her, allowing her horn to penetrate his shoulder. She tries to move, but he grabs her head, preventing her from getting away from him.

“DO IT!” he screams to Chrysalis.

“What are you---“ Cadance’s question is cut short as Chrysalis drives her sharp horn straight into her neck. Cadance’s eyes are in shock, blood is pouring from her wound, and her mouth. Any form of speech is a bunch of incoherent gurgles.

Chrysalis rips her horn from Cadance, allowing the blood to pour out like a fountain, and Strong Heart removes her from his shoulder, throwing her onto the floor, letting her wriggle around in her final moments.

“W..wha…t….h..ave…you……do…ne……?” is all she could say, before going limp, as her body is surrounded by a pool of her blood.

It’s quiet now. There is no noise from the room, only the sounds of battle still being waged is heard outside, even then, it’s dying down. Chrysalis sighs in relief, but it is cut short, when she hears Strong Heart collapse onto the floor.

“Strong Heart!” she yells, rushing to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.” he assures her, holding pressure on the wound, “Just another scar, right?” he chuckles, so does she. Chrysalis looks upon his nearly broken body; the punishment he received has made him all but immobilized. He can barely move.

“She did a number on you.” she tells him.

“This is nothing.” he shrugs it off, pretending it doesn’t matter. “You should have seen me in my second year.” He spits a few drops of blood. “Listen, about Twilight…”

“It’s alright.” she says, “You weren’t yourself. Whatever you did, it was Cadance’s doing.”

He smiles. Without warning, something hits the door hard enough to throw them out of their moment of brief peace. The Guards are breaking through. Within minutes, they are going to enter the room, and see what the Queen has done to their Princess.

“You have to get out of here.” Strong Heart says, “Teleport back to the house. I’ll say you escaped into the Everfree Forest.”

“No…” Chrysalis shakes her head, “I can’t do that.”

“What do you mean?” He wondered. “You can use your magic to get out of here; I’ve seen you do it.”

“It’s not that I can’t…it’s that I won’t. I’m staying.”

Strong Heart tries to get up, but his wounds keep him down.

“If they see you here, they will…”

“I know. And I’m going to let them.”

He puts a hoof onto her, in an attempt to stop her.

“No! Don’t do this! I won’t let you!” He’s in a panic, rapidly spouting alternatives. “We’ll get out of here, get away from Ponyville, and live somewhere else, away from here! Anything, but this, I beg you!”

She kneels down to his level, getting close to his face. Tears are pouring from his eyes.

“And do what?” she asks, “We’ll be on the run for our entire lives. There was only one way this was going to end.”

“No, there has to be another way!”

“Look at me, Strong Heart. I’m practically an Alicorn. I am approaching over one hundred years of age. I would live to be over a thousand. You are just a unicorn. You will become old, frail, until finally, you will die, and I will still look as you see me now.”

“I don’t care!” he shouts, “I…I can’t live without you.”

She smiles. Slowly, she plants one final, gentle kiss on his lips. He savors the moment, knowing that it will be the last.

“Goodbye.”

He tries to get up again, but the fight has made him weak, bloodied, nearly powerless. He watches as Chrysalis backs away from him, continuing to smile, as she turns her attention to the door. She has accepted of her fate, but Strong Heart has not.

The door bursts open, and behind it is somepony Chrysalis thought to be dead. Shining Armor, half his body burnt horribly, but with all the hate in his eyes remaining, stands with his army, and a still standing ballista, primed, ready to fire.

Shining Armor sees the corpse of his beloved, lying in a pool of her blood, and her neck split open like it was nothing.

“CADANCE!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. He looks back at Chrysalis, ready to kill her as quickly as possible. “You bitch!” he yells at her. She isn’t fazed by the comment. She’s heard it before.

Chrysalis hisses at him, firing a few magic shots at the Captain. He ducks down, allowing the shots to hit his fellow soldiers. He was not going down without seeing her die. Her horn starts to glow brightly, preparing to deliver a powerful strike.

“FIRE!” Shining Armor orders his remaining soldiers.

The ballista fires. The spear sails through the air with massive speed. It collides straight on into Chrysalis’ horn, strong enough to break it off, and utterly destroyed it. Strong Heart can only look on in horror as pieces of her horn sprinkle onto the floor.

She stumbles around, caught off guard by this attack. She sees the pieces of her horn on the ground, her eyes glow brighter than ever. She screams in rage, the magic explodes out of her head, all over the throne room. She cannot control the out-pour of her power; her horn was the only thing keeping it all in.

Every window explodes into uncountable shards of glass, that rain down on the floor. Pieces of the pillars crack and crumble. Tears pour from her face like a waterfall. Strong Heart struggles to get up, as the raining glass cuts him; he fights through the pain as he finds the strength to straighten himself out. He looks at her, her rage is strong, and her magic causes her to levitate off the floor.

She is determined to kill everypony that gets in her way. Even then, even after everything that has transpired on this day, he still loves her with all his heart. He is still willing to do anything and everything for her. He knows that there is no happy ending, no version where she can live, there is only one more thing he can do.

The ballista is being re-loaded.

“Aim for the heart, if she has one.” Shining Armor says.

The ballista finishes reloading. The soldiers aim it directly at her.

The magic that had enveloped the entire room vanishes. She no longer has any power, no will to fight back. She is vulnerable, easier to kill. She continues to give Shining Armor a defiant look, refusing to give him the satisfaction of her demise.

“Fire.” Shining Armor softly says.

The ballista fires once more. She closes her eyes, waiting for the impact. Suddenly, she feels the warm body of somepony embracing her, and she opens her eyes to see Strong Heart, holding onto her. Before she could react…

The spear skewers them both.

Silence fills the air. The impaled bodies of Strong Heart and Chrysalis kneel down, with the spear keeping them from completely falling to the floor.

Shining Armor sees what he has done, unable to comprehend why his former friend was willing to die for her. Slowly, he approaches their corpses. But then, Strong Heart gasps for air. He is still alive.

“Strong Heart!” Shining Armor says, shocked to see him still breathing.

A pause. His ears perk up, hearing Shining Armor fairly close behind him. Suddenly, the spear glows with Strong Heart’s magic, he has enough power for one more thing. It rips out of their bodies, and heads straight for Shining Armor. He isn’t fast enough. He is speared through the chest, and out his flank. He had become a Shining Kabob. He staggers around, confused…dying.

Strong Heart turns his head to him. He made due on his promise.

Shining Armor realizes this, and chuckles, as he lifelessly falls to the floor, blood pooling out of him.

Strong Heart and Chrysalis fall to the floor. He gasps for air, as he looks at the hole in his chest. From what he can gather, he doesn’t have long to live. He feels the blood leaving his body, combining itself with his Chrysalis’ green blood. Slowly, a hoof caresses his face…Chrysalis’ hoof. He looks up to see her sad eyes looking upon him.

“Why?” she asks him.

“Because, I love you.” he smiles.

She shakes her head, “Stubborn colt.”

He replies with a chuckle, but he coughs up a small amount of blood. She holds onto him, attempting to keep him focused.

“I…never told you.” she said, “I never told you…that I loved you.”

“You..d-didn’t have to.” his speech becomes stuttered. It hurts to simply talk. ”I-I always k-knew.” he makes a halfhearted chuckle again, “Yo-you’re not the only o-one who can r-read eyes.”

She smiles at his comment. His voice is getting more strained; it’s getting hard for him to breathe. Breaths become gasps.

“I-I’m sorry. I sor-ry I couldn’t protect y-you. I wish I-I had mo-more time…”

Blood pours from his mouth, he is convulsing from the blood loss, there’s only so much he can take. He is in an excruciating amount of pain. He rolls onto his back, as Chrysalis holds him down, trying to keep him comfortable.

“I’m scared…” he admits, “C-can you be-believe that?” tears are flowing, “I’m s-so scared, I c-can’t feel an-anything!”

“Don’t you dare!” she cries, “Don’t you dare go without me! I don’t want to be alone!”

The surviving Guards, and the Princess come in. They are stunned to see the carnage inside, and the two lovers dying in each other’s forelegs. Luna gasps in horror at all the blood.

“It-it’s okay…I-I’ll be waiting f-for you…” he tries to assure her.

“Promise?” she asks him. He cannot talk anymore; he can only nod. Death is taking hold of him, and he has no time left. She grabs onto his face, making him look at her, wanting her to be the last thing he’ll ever see. “I love you, Strong Heart. I love you, so much.”

He smiles, finally knowing that after all this time, he was right, and that she really truly loved him. The breaths are now in rapid succession, his struggle to stay alive is more and more an impossible task. She tries her hardest to keep the smile on her face, not allowing his final moments to see her sad. Finally, he takes one last breath, and exhales slowly, as his body finally goes limp.

“Strong Heart?” she asks. No response. “Strong Heart?!” She shakes him. Nothing. She kisses him, hoping that it would bring him back for a few extra seconds, but it’s no use.

Strong Heart is dead.

She can’t hold back any longer. Her voice is now the heartbreaking sounds of wailing, as she cries the loudest, strongest cry she ever had. The others around her can’t do anything but stand there, watching the Queen, the one who tried to destroy their kingdom, crying over the body of the Guard she loved.

Soon, the familiar grip of death returns; this time for her. Her cries of anguish are now stunted breaths. She slowly lays her head onto Strong Heart’s chest, moving his forelegs onto her back, simulating an embrace. Green blood leaves her mouth as she struggles to breathe, but instead of fighting it, she lets it take hold of her, welcoming the feeling of dying. Her last breath leaves, and she expires.

Those around their bodies have no idea what to do. The battle is over, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are dead, and most of Canterlot is destroyed, because they couldn’t accept the happiness of whom they perceived to be their enemy. The surviving Changelings fly into the throne room through the broken windows; their gaze falling on their dead Queen.

“Our Queen!” one shouts. The small swarm flies to her body to remove her from Strong Heart’s embrace.

“Don’t touch her!” Celestia commanded.

“She’s ours! She belongs to us!” The Changeling says.

“If you lay one hoof on her, we will kill you all!” Celestia was serious, and the Changelings can see that. “Get out of our kingdom. You are hereby banished from Equestria. All of your dead belong to us…including the Queen.”

The Changeling swarm backs away from Chrysalis’ body, adhering to Celestia’s statement. They reluctantly bow, and fly off, never to return. Luna turns to the guards by her side.

“Take the bodies of the Princess and the Captain.” she orders them. They do as they are told, carrying their bodies out of the room, a blood trail following them out. Luna and Celestia walk to where Chrysalis and Strong Heart lay.

“What do we do about them?” Celestia asks her sister.

“We bury them.” Luna replies, “Just as they are now. Together.”

“And the foal?”

“The foal will be buried alongside them. They will be a family…just like they intended.” A tear comes down across Luna’s cheek. Their deaths hit her harder than Celestia. She was the one who allowed it to continue, who allowed them to be together. Luna kneels down, closing the eyes of Chrysalis and Strong Heart, making them look as if they are in an eternal slumber.

Celestia nods to a few more Guards, who come in to carry the bodies away.

“Gently.” she tells them. They complied with the order, handling their bodies with great care, allowing their embrace to hold.

“What do we tell Twilight?” Luna asks, “What do we tell their parents? They won’t believe us.”

“I don’t expect them to. But, they will…in time.” Celestia turns to walk away, until something crosses her mind. ““Do you regret it? The decision to let him be with her?”

Luna thought about this question for what felt like a long time. Their romance attributed to the destruction of Canterlot, to Cadance and Shining Armor’s deaths, but that was hardly their fault. Even so, if she did not allow it, if she chose to keep them apart, none of this would have ever happened.

But, if she said no, they would have still found a way to stay with each other. This thought made her smile, and made her forget every negative thing that it brought upon. However, she had not answered her Sister’s question.

“Even if I did…would that have stopped them from being together?”

Celestia smiled. She knew Luna was avoiding a real answer, but she saw her point. In their dying moments, she saw how in love they were, how they stayed in each other’s forelegs, and how she comforted him before he passed. That wasn’t hard to understand, what mattered was that they were happy, even in the face of their deaths.

“I suppose not.” Celestia replied.

In the weeks that followed, the story of Chrysalis and Strong Heart became widespread, as did the treachery that was Cadance and Shining Armor. Twilight and her parents didn’t believe a word the Princesses told her, just as they expected. Then, on a routine checkup at Ponyville General, Twilight discovered that she was pregnant, but she did not remember the act which resulted in the foal’s conception.

It was only when Twilight was looking through Cadance’s old things, shortly after the funeral, did she find the notes to the spell that was casted on her and Strong Heart, specifically outlining who the spell was meant for. She couldn’t believe her brother, and her former foalsitter were responsible for what had happened, and how they used her as an instrument in their plans.

One morning, she chose the visit the grave of Strong Heart and Chrysalis. The Princesses were true to their word; the two lovers were buried together with their foal. The graves of Cadance and Shining Armor were placed far away from them, and nowhere near as extravagant; something that a few members of the Royal Guard, among others, were not pleased with.

Twilight walked up the hill to see an odd sight; Princess Luna placing a bouquet of fresh flowers at the foot of the grave. The two paid no real mind to each other, just a nod between friends, as they passed by one another.

Twilight looked upon the grave with sadness; though her first encounter with the Queen wasn’t the most pleasant, once she was with Strong Heart, they became friends. She wished that she did something, anything that would have avoided their fates. It’s was too late now. They are dead, and Strong Heart will never know what his actions, though not his own, resulted in.

“Are you going to keep it?” A voice calls to her. Twilight turns to see Luna not far behind her.

“Princess Luna?” she wondered, “I thought you went back to the castle.”

“I never left.” she said. Since the tragedy, she had no longer felt the need to use her old dialect, choosing instead to adhere to the new standard. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t know.” she replied, “I don’t feel like it’s mine. I probably should, but…”

“It’s not my place to give you suggestion, or give you council. Admittedly, Celestia is better at that, than I am.” Luna smirks at Twilight, who returns the expression. “But… the foal is the only thing that’s left of him.”

“It’s also the only thing that’s left of what happened. I just don’t know if I am ready to take that step. I’m worried that when it’s born, that I will look at it, and only think of how it was conceived. That my foal sitter, and my own brother made us do this. Strong Heart wouldn’t have wanted this.”

“He didn’t want many things.” Luna looks back at the grave, her eyes watering. “I can’t tell you what to do with your life, I can only tell you to do what you think is best.”

“Did you love him?” Twilight asks. Luna looks back at her.

“Let’s just say I made a choice, and I regretted it ever since.” she answers cryptically. Luna always was a secretive one. Twilight could only shake her head and chuckle.

“It seems we have something in common, Princess.” They both smile at one another. “I just don’t understand, though.”

“Understand what?” Luna wondered.

“How he fell in love with her. He knew everything she had done, yet he gave her everything that he could give her. A life, a home, everything. But, I don’t understand why. It’s not that I didn’t support it, because I did, but…”

“I wondered that myself, but love is a strange thing, something that we may never understand. But, the moment I looked into his eyes that day in the throne room, when he came to tell me and my sister the truth, I knew he was in love with her.”

“And her? Do you think she loved him?”

Luna slowly walks to Twilight.

“I’m going to tell you something; something that not even my sister knows. A couple months into her pregnancy, Chrysalis sent me a letter. We never personally met, but she knew that Strong Heart and I were friends. In that letter, she wrote to me, and thanked me, for allowing them to be together. That every day she spent with him was a gift, and that if the foal was a girl, she was going to name her Selene, as a sign of gratitude for the kindness that I bestowed upon them.”

“And what if it was a boy?”

“I believe she said Proteus.”

“Proteus…” she smiled at the name, “I like that.”

“So, Twilight Sparkle, did I think she loved him? My answer would be yes. Absolutely; without a doubt in my mind.”

“Thank you, Princess. I appreciate the council.”

“Anytime, my dear Twilight.” Luna says. She takes off to the skies, heading back to the rebuilt castle.

Twilight, now alone with her thoughts, puts a hoof firmly placed on her stomach.

“Selene…or Proteus…what should I call you?” She has made her decision. She looks back at the gravestone, marveling at its craft; it truly was a sight to behold. But, a tear runs down her face, as she remembered all the times she spent with the couple, back in better days.

On the bottom of the grave, is a plaque. It reads:

-Here Lies-

-Chrysalis & Strong Heart-

-The Queen of the Changelings-

-And the Guard that saved her-

Act 1

“Her name is Chrysalis; Queen of the Changelings. A few weeks ago she attempted to sabotage the wedding of Shining Armor, by stealing the identity of his bride to be, Princess Cadance. Fortunately, due to the efforts of Princess Celestia’s faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, the real Cadance was found, and Chrysalis was ultimately defeated. A few days later, we found Chrysalis in the Everfree Forest, wounded and weak. Her army of changelings left her, probably thinking that she was done for. We brought her back here, to Canterlot, where we have kept her under lock and key. However, she has attempted to escape countless times, almost succeeding too. Despite my objections, Celestia is certain that she can be reformed. She’s probably trying to make up for her rash actions against her sister a thousand years ago, but I think this Chrysalis is a lost cause. Nevertheless, I can’t leave her alone to her own devices, even though she’s now bound by specially made chains, nullifying her powers. Until Shining Armor gets back from his honeymoon, I’m Captain for now. I asked him who was his best guard, and he said that he trusts nopony more than you, Lieutenant….?”

“Strong Heart.” The guard pony said.

Strong Heart looked like he lived up to his namesake. He was tall, athletic, and proud. A unicorn you wouldn’t want to mess with if you were on the wrong side of the law. He was Shining Armor’s best friend for many years in the Canterlot Royal Academy; you could almost say they were like brothers. He knew Shining Armor and his wife Cadance very well; the three were practically inseparable when they were young. Even after becoming a royal guard, he would see them whenever possible. Strong Heart always put his friends above himself. If that meant throwing himself in front of danger to protect them, he would do it with no hesitation.

Unbeknownst to many, it’s because of that mindset that Strong Heart had many scars underneath his fancy armor. Only Shining Armor and Cadance knew each and every story those scars held.

The events in his life made Strong Heart tough, intimidating, and above all soft spoken. If you were his friend, he would be more than happy to tell you about his day, but if you were his enemy, he would give you the coldest stare imaginable. There were a few mares out there in Canterlot that took a shine to him, including Shining Armor’s sister, Twilight Sparkle, but he had no time for that, always favoring duty over love. Among those who did not know him, other than for his demeanor, he gained the nickname “Cold Heart”, a name he wasn’t too fond of, but didn’t let it bother him.

When Shining Armor got the job of being Captain of The Royal Guard, Strong Heart never resented him. He was proud of his best friend’s accomplishment, and stuck by him. Even when he was assigned to the outside of the castle, when Shining Armor and Cadance got married, he was undeterred, happy for their wedding day.

During the siege by Chrysalis’ army, Strong Heat was preoccupied fighting off the Changelings, to know the true story of the events that day. Only now, has he discovered the true mastermind behind what happened.

“Here’s the deal, Strong Heart,” the Captain said, “I was told that she needs to be on permanent watch, twenty four seven, until she decides to behave herself. You think you can do it?”

“If Shining Armor thinks so.”

“That’s good to hear. Despite her bounds, I’d watch my distance. Her powers may be nullified, but she’s still a manipulative one. Don’t listen to anything she says, don’t even talk to her.” The Captain was stern, almost as if he’s fallen victim to her tricks before.

“I won’t let you down.” Strong Heart said; unmistakable certainty in his voice.

The Captain led Strong Heart to the dungeon. It was a cold, grimy place, a massive contrast to the beautiful castle above. All along the dungeon were various doors, all empty. Canterlot had barely seen any dangerous prisoners, until now.

“Here she is.” The Captain says, stopping at the last door at the end. There was no window, no way to look inside, unless you had the key.

The Captain gives the key to Strong Heart, which he places around his neck, slipping it into his chest plate.

“Keep this on you, at all times. If you need to take a break, just step outside, and lock the door. You remember what I said about her, right?”

“Don’t listen to what she says.”

“Good.” He pauses, trying to remember anything else about this Chrysalis, “Oh, don’t stare at her hooves. She hates that.”

“Sir?” Strong Heart inquired.

“That’s all. Good luck.” The Captain leaves in a hurry. He was afraid of her, Strong Heart could sense it from the moment he met him.

Nevertheless, this was a job he had to do, and he wasn’t going to let somepony, even one as allegedly evil as this Chrysalis, get the best of him. With one deep breath, he entered the room with no hesitation.

It was dark, dim, with light from the sun protruding from the single window on far right side of the wall. Strong Heart sees for the first time, Chrysalis herself. Her hooves were bound to the floor by glowing chains, with her neck chain attached to the wall. She can move if she wanted to, but not by much.

Strong Heart took note of her thin physique, her contorted horn that looked more like a sword, and the holes in her hair and hooves, as if chunks of her were missing. If anything, he found her to be a curious sight.

“What’s this? Another Royal Guard?” she says. Her voice sounded as if two were talking at once, both unmistakably feminine, with one voice being higher pitched than the other.

“Let me get a good look at you.” She raised her head to Strong Heart, a devilish grin stretching across her face. Her sharp fangs gleaming in the sunlight; if Strong Heart was any other pony, they would be quaking in their hooves. She looks over Strong Heart inch by inch, licking her fangs with evil intent.

“Hmmm….not bad.” she admits, “You look strong. Stronger than the other pathetic excuses for guards that I’ve seen. Not much for the face, though. You care to take that helmet off, young colt? I want to see what you look like under there.”

Strong Heart stayed silent, remembering the Captain’s words. He looks away from her, staring at the walls instead.

“What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll give in to me?”

Nothing.

“Speaking of which, where is that temporary Captain of yours? Is he too cowardly to face me again?”

Strong Heart doesn’t answer with words, nor looks back at her; he just gives her a nod. She laughs, pleased with his silent honesty.

“Why are you so quiet, hmm? Did he tell you not to talk to me? That I’ll try to control your mind? It’s only happened once; with him. I had him clawing at my hooves. You should have seen it, it was positively darling.” she chuckles.

Strong Heart remains silent.

“Come on, young colt. If you’re going to watch over me, you can’t ignore me forever.”

Strong Heart didn’t budge. Even though staring at a wall would be pretty boring, he made a promise.

“If you won’t talk to me, the least you can do is look at me. I’m all chained up, see? I don’t bite. Not anymore.”

Strong Heart rolled his eyes. “What the hay?” he thought to himself.

He turns his head and makes eye contact with her. For somepony who was built up as evil incarnate, she did have a gorgeous pair of green eyes.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it? What’s your name?” She asks him. He doesn’t say anything. She cocks her head to the side, giving him a very annoyed look. “I’m waiting…”

“…Strong Heart.” he tells her, breaking his vow of silence.

“Ah, an admirable name. Sounds like royalty to me. Are you royalty, Strong Heart?”

“No. I’m just a guard.”

“I doubt that. It’s not often I see a unicorn in the Royal Equestrian Guard. Last one I was aware of was Shining Armor.”

“There are a few of us around.”

“I see. So, Strong Heart, what did the temporary Captain say about me?”

“That, if I talked to you, you would try to…seduce me.”

“Seduce ? That’s a strong word, with many meanings. Obviously couldn’t have come from somepony as simple as he. Were those really his words?”

“No. I just figured that’s what happened.”

“And what gave you that idea?”

Strong Heart became silent again. He sits down, looking away from her once again. Chrysalis stares at him. She laughs.

“I see how it is. Put on the spot, and you shut your mouth, just like all colts. How…disappointing. I was hoping you would be different.”

He continues to remain silent.

Suddenly, she runs at Strong Heart, a terrifying hiss leaving her mouth. With a loud CLANG, she stops inches away from his face, the chains holding her back.

He looks back at her. She snaps her jaws at him, attempting to scare him. Strong Heart keeps looking at her with the deadest of expressions. Nothing can get through to him.

“You may look like a big tough guard, but I see right through you. You will take pity on me, treat me like a friend, and then, you’ll try to save me. I don’t need saving, I don’t WANT saving! I’m not some helpless Princess calling for a Knight. I am a QUEEN! And one day, you will bow to me.”

He continues to look at her. His blank expression never changing.

“Are you afraid, Strong Heart?”

“No.”

“You will be.”

Strong Heart’s horn glows. He gets her chains to pull her back to where she started.

“Stay back.” he tells her.

She glowers at him, hatefully. She sits down, keeping her eyes on Strong Heart, while he looks away from her, once again focusing his attention on the wall. If that’s how it was going to be, then so be it.

A heck of a first meeting.

The extent of their relationship for the next month could be summed up by their first meeting alone. Any attempt from Chrysalis to frightening this strong willed guard proved unfruitful, some failures bigger than the last. She tried scaring him, telling him stories of her exploits throughout Equestria. How she killed unsuspecting ponies, and the gruesome methods of her army. Despite all that, Strong Heart didn’t say a word, nor showed any sign of being afraid of her.

Her daily meals were disgusting slop, while Strong Hearts’ were nicely made daffodil sandwiches. She ate the slop for a while, despite its horrific taste, and the displeasing effect it had on her stomach, but eventually, she would toss it at Strong Heart whenever she got the chance. She even managed to hit him with the sludge one day, which got a great deal of amusement from her. Not only was he covered with the stuff, but his own meal was ruined in the process. The next day though, before she got the chance, he lifted the tray up with his magic, splashing her with the food. She didn’t see it, but he actually smirked upon seeing his successful payback. To say she was unhappy about that turn of events would be saying it far too kindly.

Days turned into weeks, and Strong Heart continued to fulfill his duties like a good solider should. The only time he ever left her sight, was when either one of them required a bathroom break, or when he had to sleep. Keeping watch while sleeping would be a task all on its own. He only slept for a couple hours, after that, he had enough strength to watch her for hours on end.

There were some nights where Chrysalis attempted to get the key from him, thinking that it would unlock her chains. While her hooves were too far to reach him, she made attempts to use her horn. Whenever she was close, he would awaken, sending her right back to where she started. She became more and more agitated with him, while he continued to be as emotionless as ever.

The first month passed. Princess Celestia stopped by to check up on Chrysalis. Strong Heart was kept out of the room during their initial conversation, but what he saw and heard when the door re-opened didn’t signify any sort of hope for the Queen’s rehabilitation. Celestia came out of the room, with Chrysalis screaming at her, cursing her name and her family, throwing out any possible insult she could think of. Even so, Celestia kept her cool, never raising her voice to her.

“Keep watching her.” Celestia said to Strong Heart, “She’ll come around.”

When he re-entered the chamber, Chrysalis stopped with her flurry of vulgar words. Seeing that the Princess was gone, she laid back down on the floor. Turning back to Strong Heart, she noticed that he had been looking at her since he came back in.

“What are you looking at?” she questioned, left eyebrow raised. He did not answer her, instead going back to his normal guard-like stance.

Since Celestia’s less that peaceful visit, Chrysalis had been refusing to eat, more than usual. Strong Heart started dodging her food strikes daily, rather than every other day. Her newfound habit begun to affect her appearance; her already thin body was becoming even thinner. Small, but noticeable looks of pain could be seen on her face. Two weeks later, it got to the point where she could barely even walk. Not even Strong Heart could have ignored this.

“Let her starve.” he thought to himself, as he watched her groan in pain, “She’s been nothing but trouble since you met her.”

“She may be evil, but Celestia seems to think she can change.” he continued to battle with his thoughts, “I can’t stand by, while she starves to death.”

One day, when their meals were delivered, Chrysalis no longer had the strength to even kick the food over at him. It was then, Strong Heart did something that she didn’t expect; he walked up to her, holding his sandwich up with magic, and placed it down at her muzzle.

“Here…” he tells her, “I’m not hungry.”

He then kicked the sludge to the wall for her. As a sign of good faith, she probably presumed. Despite her continually aggressive attitude towards him, even she couldn’t pass up a good meal. Once he went back to his position, she ate the sandwich rapidly, as if it was her last meal in Equestria. She reveled in its deliciousness. The sensation was strong.

Even so, she refused to thank him, though a small part of her wanted to. The only thing that came out of her mouth was a halfhearted scoff.

Strong Heart could take what he could get.

Halfway into the second month, and Strong Heart decided to give her half his meals every day. In return, she didn’t throw her bad food at him. Instead, she would toss it at the wall, where the occasional rat or two would come out from the window to feast. They still didn’t talk to each other, neither one believed that they even liked the other, but they came to an understanding. It was a small step, but a step nonetheless.

Strong Heart tried to order the chefs in the castle’s kitchen to make her good edible food, rather than what she was given. He was hesitant to tell them that he was giving her some of his meals, as he was concerned that something like that could have been interpreted wrong. He was adamant about keeping her healthy, despite being told numerous times by not only the chefs, but the Captain, about what she is, and what she had done.

They refused his request outright, much to his chagrin.

One night, Strong Heart couldn’t take the silence any more. Despite being told not to, he asked her about the one thing that crossed his mind when looking at her appearance.

“Why are your hooves like that?”

Chrysalis stopped eating her half of his sandwich.

“Excuse me?” she sounded offended.

“I was wondering why Changelings have holes in their hooves.”

She scoffs at his question. The fact that he doesn’t know the basics of Changeling anatomy insulted her to no end.

“How long, have you been a guard here, exactly?” she says, in a condescending tone.

“About…five years.” He couldn’t believe it had been that long.

“And you do not know a thing about Changelings?”

“Not much, Ma’am.” he shakes his head, “I wasn’t aware Changelings existed, until you invaded Canterlot.”

Chrysalis wasn’t sure what to make of him calling her ‘Ma’am’, but she was too caught up on his ignorance to have much of a reaction to it.

“We’re what you NORMAL folk call insects.” she answered, the word ‘insects’ leaving her mouth like a wave of bile. “Enough, I don’t want to hear any more of this.”

“I find it interesting that Changelings look like ponies.”

“Ha!” she laughs, “More like you ponies look like us Changelings!”

“I meant no offense. It’s fascinating that compared to your army, you look so…..”

Chrysalis shoots a look at him, waiting for his response. Strong Heart stops himself. Chrysalis almost smirks; she managed to see a genuine emotion from him. He looked nervous.

“Ummm…” he clears his throat, “Nevermind.” Strong Heart says.

Silence envelops the room. Chrysalis goes back to eating her food.

“I can’t imagine how hard it must have been, though.” Strong Heart continued.

“What?” she inquired, mouth nearly filled with food.

“Being different.” he replied, thinking nothing of what he said.

Once again, Chrysalis stops. She looks at Strong Heart, fury in her eyes. If it weren’t for her chains, and that she was still weak, she would attack him with all she had.

“What would you know about being different?”

Strong Heart saw a look he thought he would never see; the look of somepony that he just hurt, and he instantly regretted ever saying anything.

“I..I just...” he stammered, trying to calm her.

Chrysalis runs at him, once again stopped by her chains.

“You think you know me? You know nothing about me! I told you, I don’t need your pity! I don’t need anything from you! I’m not looking for help!”

“I…I didn’t mean…”

Chrysalis goes to whatever remained of her sandwich, and kicked it at him. It’s a direct hit; he made no attempt to avoid it. He sees the tears welling up in her eyes.

“I don’t care that I’m different! I didn’t care that they laughed at me, made fun of me, and bullied me! I didn’t care about any of that! Look at me now! I am the proud ruler of the changelings, and when I get out of these chains, I’ll show you how powerful I really am! You’ll see! You’ll be the first to see what I am truly capable of!”

Slowly, Strong Heart started walking to her.

“Chrysalis, I…“ It was the first time he ever called her by name.

Chrysalis quickly shoots a murderous look at him.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” she shouts at the top of her lungs, stopping Strong Heart dead in his hoofsteps. “You take one more step towards me, and I’ll kill you! You understand? I’LL KILL YOU!”

Chrysalis lay down on the floor, crying. He couldn’t help but look upon her with sad eyes.

“I’m sorry.” he said, “I’ll let you be.”

Strong Heart walked out of the room, and stayed outside for the whole night, allowing her to cry away the pain that has been held up inside her for years and years.

They didn’t talk to each other again for weeks. He kept his mouth shut, and she stayed in one place. He continued to give her food, but at a distance. He either believed her threat, or he just wanted to be careful. She would look at him occasionally, but the look was never good. It was always one of anger and hate. As the days continued, the look began to fade.

The beginning of the new month came, and Celestia stopped by again; this time, Strong Heart was allowed to stay in the room.

“Hello, Chrysalis.” Celestia said, her voice gentle as always.

Chrysalis raised her head slightly, acknowledging her presence.

“How are we today?”

“Okay…” she says, quietly.

Celestia looked at her for a while, noticing her sad expression. She looked back at Strong Heart, almost judgmentally.

“Is the guard treating you okay?”

Chrysalis looked at Strong Heart; no longer did she have hate in her eyes whenever she saw him.

“He’s…fine.”

Celestia sees her thinner frame. A look of worry crosses her face.

“Oh my. Have you been eating?”

Chrysalis remained silent. She was embarrassed to even talk about Strong Heart’s generosity to her. Tried as he might, he couldn’t remain stoic any longer.

“Your majesty…” Strong Heart spoke out. Both Celestia and Chrysalis looked at him, surprised.

“This probably isn’t my place to say, but for the past couple months; her meals have been…less than satisfactory. I’ve tried to get the chefs to make her something else, something more edible, but they’ve refused, saying that because of her…actions, she couldn’t have the same treatment at everypony else. So, I’ve been giving her some, sometimes all of my meals to try and keep her healthy.”

The pause felt like it could have lasted a lifetime. Finally, Celestia looks at Chrysalis.

“Is this true?”

Chrysalis thinks for a long while, looking at both Celestia and Strong Heart back and forth.

“Yes…” she responds sheepishly, “It’s true.”

Celestia’s confused look turns into a small smile.

“Then, I suppose I’ll have a little talk with the chefs.” Celestia gives Chrysalis a nod. “It appears you have somepony watching out for you. Get well soon, Chrysalis.” As she walked towards the door, she looked to Strong Heart. “Strong Heart, I would like to talk to you, in private.”

The two exit the room, closing the door to prevent Chrysalis from hearing them.

“I appreciate you taking care of her like that.” she says, “I’m sure she appreciates it as well, even though she may not show it.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“However, I still recommend caution. She seems to be improving, but this could be an act. Try not to fall into it.”

“With all due respect, if we’re trying to reform her, why do we continue to treat her like a monster?”

Celestia has no reply. She didn’t want to admit it, but she saw his point clearly.

“Just…keep your distance.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Chrysalis was from then on treated like royalty, at least from a food standpoint. She regained her strength enough to stand for long periods of time, and her body was becoming much fuller to its normal state. Slowly, but surely, she even began to engage with Strong Heart into conversation, though they ended up talking more about his own past than hers. It was still a sour point that she refused to talk about, but Strong Heart didn’t mind. He kept to his own business.

He told her about his friendship with Shining Armor, and his days at the Royal Academy. Chrysalis personally found his stories of Shining Armor boring, considering their history, but she still listened to him, allowing him to go on about his life. The material he spouted may not have been the most interesting, but it was better than seeing him standing there like a statue for most of the day.

One particularly cold night, Chrysalis was shivering. Strong Heart was given a blanket for himself, and though it was large enough to support both of them, he didn’t want to take the chance, but he also didn’t want to see her uncomfortable. Cautiously, he draped the blanket over her, and slept through the night without it. His strong body could handle a little thing like cold weather.

When she woke up early in the morning, she was shocked to see the blanket on her. She quickly kicked it off her, like it was a giant spider. She saw Strong Heart sleeping peacefully, and all she could do was look at him. It was as if in that brief moment, she felt something for him, something that she never felt in her life. She brushed it off as quickly as it came, and went back to lying on the floor.

Even after spending so much time with him, Chrysalis couldn’t get a bead on him. On the one hoof, he was a fine guard, friendly, when need be, generous, compared to the other ponies that she’s met, and not too bad looking, though the helmet covered most of his features.

On the other, he was an obstacle to her potential escape.

There was a storm one fateful night. The window showed strong winds and showers; lightning strikes and booming thunder. The perfect cover, if there ever was a lot of noise. Strong Heart left the room while Chrysalis ate, thinking that everything was going to be alright. He felt their relationship was becoming friendlier, and she was less hostile to him that she initially was.

When he came back, he found her on the floor, not moving. No sign of life. Instantly, panic fell across his face.

“Chrysalis!” he yelled.

He ran over to her and put his ear to her mouth, she wasn’t breathing. Did she choke? Or worse, did somepony poison her food? He attempted to administer CPR, but her chains prevented her from being moved into the proper position. Against his better judgment, he unlocked her chains, using his magic.

Instantly, her eyes snapped open.

She tackled Strong Heart to the floor, holding him down. She was shocked at her own strength. Even being imprisoned for the past few months, she didn’t miss a beat.

“You’re mine!” she shouted with triumph.

Her powers now active, she attempted to control his mind, making him her slave. The green beam from her horn hit his head. For moments, his eyes were flickering green, but he was resisting. He was stronger than she thought. She became confused, angered even.

He kicked her off of him. Not able to control him, she tried to blast him with a powerful burst of energy, hoping to knock him out. He fired back, and the two beams collided, neither one moving.

“Why won’t you yield?!” she yelled.

Frustrated to her very core, she charged Strong Heart, and the two tussled all over the room, smacking each other into the walls and floor, neither one showing any signs of giving up. His training at the Royal Academy was proving him to be more than a formidable match for the Queen.

He slams her against the wall, and headbutts her, causing her bottom lip to bleed green blood. Seizing the opportunity, Chrysalis spits the blood in his eyes, and hits him so hard, that she managed to knock off his helmet, giving her a good look at his features. Black hair, brown eyes, and a large scar across his face; compared to what he’s probably been though, this is nothing.

It didn’t matter, though. She continued to fight him, managing to cut his cheek with her sharp horn. Another scar for the collection. She grabbed onto him, and again, slammed him onto the floor, this time with greater force. She held him down with all that she had. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Both stared at one another, both breathing heavily, both bloodied, both still able to fight, the moment could have lasted for longer than it did. He had the opportunity to try and knock her off; she had the opportunity to end him, once and for all. But then, for the second time, Strong Heart did something that she never expected him to do.

He leaned up and kissed her.

She was wide eyed in shock, to say the least. She was ready to push him back down, but for whatever reason, she chose not to. She let it continue, treating it like a curiosity at first. Then, she got into it, and the simple kiss became a passionate one. Every fiber of her being was telling her to stop and just kill him, or at the very least, knock him out, but she couldn’t…she wouldn’t.

She was so conflicted with her feelings, that she didn’t notice his horn glowing, and the chains approaching her.

In a quick series of snaps, the chains latched back on to her hooves and neck, dragging her back to her spot.

She tried to break free again, but it was to no avail. As hard as she struggled, nothing happened. She looked at Strong Heart, and finally realized what was going on. She realized why her powers were still strong, why she was able to take him in a fight, but most of all, why he had been showing kindness to her almost the entire time during her imprisonment, it all made sense to her.

Strong Heart was in love with her.

The one thing nopony told him was that she fed off of the love of others, and his love for her had constantly been feeding her power, even when she couldn’t feel it. This made her strong enough, that if she defeated him, she could have escaped the castle easily.

She couldn’t talk, couldn’t say anything, not even a simple word. This revelation left her stunned, confused, but most of all…enraged.

She delivered a loud primal roar of anger at him, tears streaming from her face. How can this simple guard pony, fall in love with a monster such as herself? Her mind raced with this question as she screamed at him, still trying to break free, still trying to get to him. The thunder from outside deafening her screams from being heard by anypony else. He continued to look upon her, saddened, but his love for her was still visible in his eyes. Deep inside though, he felt guilty. He watched her scream at him for as long as she could, until she eventually broke her voice, stopped, and cried herself to sleep.