The Man and The Moon

I stand in the hives 'war room' as Chrysalis calls it, it mostly consists of a large circular table with a map surrounded by chairs. I suppose that it's no issue seeing as how this is just a place to plan.

"So, what do you think on my war room?" Chrysalis asks curtly as I'm mostly fixated on the map itself.

"Simple, but this is a place for planning so it doesn't need much. Figurines would be nice though."

"And why is that?"

"To have something that represents our opponents." I skim the contents of the map until I see the forest that the griffon army was planning on attacking. putting a finger on it I turn to Chrysalis. "What is your standing with the griffon rebels?"

"Oh, we don't communicate much but we're not hostile to each other."

"Is there any way we can get in contact with them?"

"I can arrange a meeting but it won't be right away. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, they don't like the state the griffon kingdom is in right?"

"That's correct."

"If we put a drone in a position of power, we can use that to convince them to lay down arms."

"And why would they do that?"

"Because the griffon that I plan on having replaced is Galiah."

"And who would that be?"

"The one who will take over for the current king when he dies."

"I see..."She takes a moment to ponder the scheme I'm brewing before continuing. "And what will allying ourselves with the griffons accomplish? They can't use magic."

"No, but they are strong and can fly, besides the fewer allies that Celestia has at the time of our attack the better."

"That is fair."

"Is there any possibility that we can have a drone infiltrate in advance?"

"Oh, most certainly, but they need time to study them, learn their ways, and relationships before they can insert themselves."

"That's fine. Have the trainees returned from their walk yet?"

"They've gotten used to walking and are turning around."

"Faster than expected there's hope for them after all."

"Why did you make them walk into the wilderness anyway?"

"Learning by doing. Also, the threat that they might die out there is a good motivator. Plus they'll be more willing to hit me when they get back. Can't train someone if they have reservations about striking someone that their queen brought in."

"You act like you've done this before."

"I remember how I was trained, and now I'm just passing on what I know, that's all."

"That make's sense. Say, who did you write letters to?"

"One went to Joseph, the other to Mystic Haze."

"I can understand Joseph, but why this, Mystic Haze?"

"He was the one who reported directly to me, he's also the most competent guard that Luna has. He keeps his ears open, and I'm just letting him know that I'm fine and to relay that message to Luna."

"You must tru-"

"Also, I invited him to tell Luna I'd like to see her sometime." Chrysalis puts on a mocking face as if to make something out of what I just said.

"Oh? Is she your-"

"No, this is strictly so I can try to get her on our side."

"Luna? Working with me? That's ridiculous, there's no way she'd betray her sister... Again."

"Really? Because I heard that Luna betrayed Celestia because Celestia was deceptive and controlling of her and took all of the glory."

"That is true."

"And it's happening now." Chrysalis raises a hoof to retort my point before lowering it with a face of realization.

"Oh, you're right."

"Not to mention Luna and I are friends and Celestia left me for dead so either way, I think she'd want to see me."

"And when will we be able to launch an attack on Celestia?"

"Once we get the griffons on our side, and get enough drones on the inside is when we can strike. But we'll have to make sure that the six elements aren't in Canterlot or at least spread out. And out of the six Twilight would be the most dangerous seeing as how she's also an alicorn so if anything we'd need her away from the action."

"You know you're cute when you're plotting to overthrow my enemies." And in an instant, my train of thought was derailed and I'm left asking why she feels she needs to play these games and begin telling myself to ignore ignore ignore.

"I have a feeling you'd say that to anyone who could come up with a half decent plan." Not my best retort but I've never been one for verbal stand-offs. Trying to restore my previous train of thought, I think of what I'm going to call the attack on Canterlot. "But the final phase of our plan is attacking Canterlot and bringing the downfall of Celestia... I think I'll call it Operation: Fading Dawn."

"You name your plans?"

"Yes, it's something human's do help's us keep track of what plans happens when."

"It's catchy."

"Better yet, it's fitting," I say half-heartedly.

"Is something the matter, Edward?"

"Not at all. I just thought I was done with war."

"How does it feel to be back?"

"I never left"

"Oh, poor thing." She says placing a hoof on my shoulder, before continuing to attempt to comfort. "Once we take over you can leave all that behind... This time for good."

"I wonder about that." Chrysalis gives me a look before turning and starting to trot off.

"Come, I have something to show you." Without turning to make sure that I'm following she leaves the room. Deciding that I have no choice I follow after her all the while watching the drones make their rounds. Some still give me scornful looks, others don't even acknowledge my existence, I suppose that just because Chrysalis brought me in doesn't mean they have to like me. The walk itself is a silent one, the only sounds present being the sound of our steps and the buzzing of the other changeling's wings as they fly. It isn't long before we arrive at the throne room.

"So, what is it you wanna show me? It's just your throne." I say bluntly not exactly sure what I was expecting.

"Exactly. My throne, the throne that every being in Equestria will bow to someday. Hopefully within my lifespan."

"I thought you were immortal," I said curiously. "Like Celestia and Luna."

"Not quite. While I can live for an extremely long time, I am by no means immortal." She says before releasing a long sigh, "And soon I will need an heir."

"So how is this going to work?" I ask while walking over to her throne and leaning on it. "Are you going to choose someone out of the current hive or will you specifically birth it." Which leads me to question how mating for changeling's went. Did they reproduce asexually? or did they need a partner like most animals?

"There are two ways to make a Changeling queen, the first and most common is for her to be conceived and birthed, the less common way is to take a pre-existing mare and transform her into a Changeling queen."

"Which one are you?" I ask, depending on her answer it could possibly explain her hatred towards everything a bit more.

"However, I'd much prefer to birth her." She says blatantly ignoring my previous question, inhaling I proceed to ask,

"Her?"

"Yes, any leader of the Changelings must be female. While queens can mate with any creature to produce a strong replacement, it will always be female, the only gender difference comes from A-sexual reproduction, of course, Changelings born like that are infertile."

"Interesting, so you say you want to actually have a mother-daughter relationship. Any suiters yet? Or are you still looking."

"It is difficult after all who would willingly bed a Changeling and have her child no less."

"A love-sucking brood mother hell-bent on destroying her enemies is worried about concent?" She looks at me for a solemn moment before turning her gaze more towards the throne as she went on to provide an answer.

"Trust me, Edward, though I may be the villain..." She says, hanging her head down, her hair draped over her face hiding it from view. "But concent is important... Even to a monster like me."

--->Mystic Haze<---

My partner and I stand in front of the large wooden house, it's far larger than any house belonging to any pony outside of the wealthy but this is just to compensate for the human's size. My partner stands beside me, her dark purple armor matching her mane almost perfectly but not so much with her navy blue coat. The rest of her armor was form-fitting and gave her wings a good amount of space to operate.

"This the place?" She inquired, seemingly impatient, as she looked forward towards the large building.

"Yes, it is. Shall we?"

"We shall." She finished as she trotted up to the door and entered without knocking, as we entered we were greeted with the sight of two earth-pony guards playing poker, with marble white coats and the traditional golden armor emblazoned with the sun's mark. However slowly it took they realized who's presence they were in, dropped their cards, and snapped into a salute.

"At ease," I said and as quickly as they went into attention they relaxed and continued.

"What are you doing here lieutenants? Is something the matter?"

"No, we've simply come to relieve you of your current position. You are henceforth to return to Canterlot and pick up stations there. But before you leave what is Prince Joseph's twenty?"

"He is currently in his chambers on the second floor, first door to the right, Sir!"

"Very well, Dismissed!" They both salute once again, before heading out of the building but not before giving the old 'Sir yes sir!' Turning to my companion, her and I share a look before I break the silence. " You go up and check on the price, I'll erect a force field around the perimeter and join you shortly." She gives me a salute before silently trotting off and upstares, without a missed beat, I channel magic through my horn, as it builds it begins sparking at the tip before I unleash it casting a spherical shield with a thirty-foot radius around the house with as strong as a shield I could while making a layer just underneath making a soundproof enclosure. Anyone who wanted to gather intelligence from verbal communication was in for a rude awakening. Only the caption of day guard and new prince Shining Armour could bypass my shields. And that is why I am first Lieutenant, Mystic Haze.

I walk up the stairs only to find my partner standing outside of the Princes' room, she gives me a look before beckoning me forward a head turn.

"He's asleep. Should we wait for him to wake up?"

"It's almost noon, I knew humans could have drastic sleep episodes but still... Let's wait for him to wake up."

"Yessir!" She says while springing into attention, Sighing I address her.

"You know, I may be your superior, but we're going to be here a while so let's just skip the formalities okay? Let's get comfortable, Joseph is going to have reservations about us if we're all business all of the time."

"Yessss- Mystic Haze, I understand."

"Just Mystic is fine. Come on, let's grab something to eat while we wait." I begin to move towards the stairs with my partner in tow before she picks up.

"Think we can finish their game of poker?"

"I think it's best if we started over. They were both cheating."

---><---

"Wait so, how were they cheating again?" She asks more confused than when I had first started explaining it.

"Slight of hoof my dear," I continue to explain while shuffling the deck "As the dealer you would focus on the cards you wanted and moved them to whatever location would help you best."

"Alright, but how was the other one cheating? He didn't have a chance to touch the deck right?"

"He had cards hidden in his armor. Would've pulled them out at some point and used them as needed."

"Okay... And back to the dealer, how'd he know which card he wanted? You're only allowed to see the backs."

"You can tell what card you're holding based off of the design on the back of the card. Each one has it's own and somepony who's good at reading the back of the cards can tell what card is where. It's best learned by experience and just memorizing the backs of the cards."

"How do ponies even figure these things out?"

"Somepony gets a little observant, finds an exploit, then proceeds to tell all of his friends about the exploit and it continues from there." She's about to ask another question when we hear steps coming down the steps, we both look over to the stares to see Joseph, with messier hair than usual with his eyes still almost fully shut. He yawns and stretches before addressing his guards.

"Hey, where did you guys put the toothpaste I had you buy the other day? It's not in the bathroom." He says as he wanders into the kitchen. My partner and I share a glance before I stand, clear my throat and address him back.

"Prince Joseph, First and Second Luetanents Mystic Haze and Misty Night, we have relieved the other two guards from this post and will be protecting you until further notice." A moment of silence fills the house before he walks out, chewing on a piece of bread as he registers the news of updated security.

"Night guards you say? You know there are rumors about some of you being vampires. Please tell me that you're vampires."

"No, sir we do not have any vampires enrolled into the military."

"Well, that's no fun."

"Prince Joseph there is important news we need to tell you."

"And what would that be?"

"My direct superior, your friend, Edward is alive."