To Love Your Torturer

Princess Celestia had always been a very observant mare. A trait that had served her well for mallinia now. It had helped her evate wars, capture traitors, create unlikely alliances, and find her hidden Christmas presents.

This time, her keen eye had led her to discover yet another potential threat to her everlasting regime.

The movements of an enemy near Equestria, the changeling hive lead by the manacing Queen Chrysalis, had become rapid and unpredictable. Whether this was just random outbursts or a sign of them preparing for something, she did not intend to sit idly and wait to find out.

She decided to infiltrate their ranks with a spy, just for a while. She wanted to send somepony who could find out what they were planning, if anything. Somepony to find out whether there was any need to be afraid, and to bolster her army.

A job as important as that couldn't be given to just anypony. It had to be someone with great military experience. It had to be someone who could work under pressure, and if at all possible, somepony who had been face to face with the changelings before.

There were multiple soldiers with the potential to take upon this quest, but knowing the danger of the mission, and feeling better equipped for the task than the others, Captain Shining Armor volunteered, despite his wife and mother trying to talk him out of it.

He had told them, that if somepony's life had to be put in grave danger, the one with the best chance of survival should be that pony. He could not live with himself if another soldier had to give his life because he was too important to go.

Neither his lover, sister, nor his mother agreed with him, but they could not argue against his morality, and begrudgingly they allowed him. But Twilight Velvet insisted on following him to the farthest military post possible, so she had a chance to follow up on his progress. Even though the outer posts were dangerous places, and Shining didn't like his mother doing this, after her allowing him to take Celestia's quest, there was no way he could deny her this.

They had arrived at night, and with the help of some unusual magic, Shining Armor had been given the form of a large changeling they had found dead in the woods. He had then been explained the changeling behavior and how to act around the queen, as to not be discovered, and he had agreed to stay for as long as it took to get the information he was seeking.

And then, after hugging his mother goodbye, he had left to begin his mission.