A Guard for The Princess

The sun is going down, and it’s almost time for the moon to rise. Princess Celestia walks through the halls of Canterlot Castle, on her way to her sister’s chambers. This was one of her favorite things to do during her rule, as it is the only time she can see her sister at all. However, Celestia has been worried about the Princess of The Night lately. Not because of any health related issues, but the fact of her recruiting Proteus to be her personal guard. Celestia was suspicious to see the young colt become Luna’s aid, as the nights went on, she became more and more wary of what Luna’s true intentions were. She knew that her sister was attached to Strong Heart, and was affected the most when he died; it almost seemed like she only wanted him, because she saw a little of his father within Proteus. Maybe she felt she was being worried over nothing, but even so, it couldn’t be helped.

She knocks on Luna’s door. Normally, she would hear her sister call for her, allowing her to enter. Instead, she hears the sound of hooves trotting rapidly on the floor.

“Just a minute.” Luna says, muffled from behind the door. After moments, the door opens, and Celestia is surprised to see Luna wrapped in a robe, with her hair still frazzled. “Celestia? It’s early.”

“Actually, I’m right on time. Did you have a rough morning’s rest?”

“You could say that.”

“Where is Proteus? Usually, he’s up around this time.”

“He’s...getting ready.”

Knowing her for this long, Celestia can tell when her Sister is lying, and right now, she’s lying big time.

“Luna…what’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Celestia listens close inside her Sister’s room. She cannot hear the sounds of Proteus putting on his armor, or walking around, Instead, she can hear movement in Luna’s bed. She gives Luna a look, letting her know that whatever secret she has is about to be uncovered, and brushes past her, into the room. Looking at Luna’s bed, she sees Proteus, lying in bed, fast asleep, moving to get a more comfortable position. Celestia’s suspicions were correct.

“Sister…” Luna says, “Let me explain…”

Celestia walks past Luna, out the door. She doesn’t walk away, just stands in the hall, waiting for her sister to follow. She does.

“What are you doing?”

“Close the door, Luna. Let him sleep.” she orders. Luna closes the door. “I should have seen this coming. I should have known you were going to do this.”

“Celestia, please…”

“Is this the reason why you made him your Guard? Why you pressured me into letting him into the Academy? So that you can treat him like you did Strong Heart”

“Just listen to me…”

“Did you do it? Did you mate with him?”

Luna doesn’t say it; she can only nod.

“Don’t be mad, sister…”

“Mad? I’m not mad, Luna. But I expected better from you. Does he know about you and his father?”

“Do you?”

“I’ve known you for a long time, sister. I can figure things out just by looking at you. Now, answer the question.”

“He knows that he used to be my guard.”

“Anything else?”

“No, and I plan to keep it that way.”

“He’s going to find out sooner or later, dear Sister. One way, or another.”

“Don’t tell him. Please!”

“I won’t tell him. But I hope it’ll be you that will.”

Celestia begins to walk away from Luna, but she turns back.

“Do you love him?” she asks. Luna is silent. She doesn’t say anything, or do anything. Celestia knows the answer. “I thought so.”

She leaves Luna in the hall, alone with her thoughts.

Luna walks back into her chambers, gently walking back to her bed, where Proetus still sleeps softly. He doesn’t snore, like most colts do, instead, he breathes like he would when awake. Luna caresses his cheek, and then his forehead, seeing the scratch he received the night before has fully vanished. Proteus lets out a slight groan, as he finally awakes, seeing Luna laying before him, with a hoof on him.

“Good evening.” he practically whispers to her, “How did you sleep?”

“Better than the day before.” she tells him.

“I’m glad I could help.” he chuckles, “So, what happens now?”

“Now, you watch me raise the moon. After that, we can do anything we want….anything.” She sees the sly look on Proteus’ face, as he guides his hoof down her waist, to her flank. It’s not hard to guess what he is thinking, but she pushes his hoof away. “Well, anything Guard related.”

“Okay.” he says, giving her his best pouty face.

“But…maybe as morning approaches…THEN we can do the thing you want to do.” she guides her hoof to his flank. He laughs at her touch.

The two stand on the balcony, as Proteus once again watches Luna raise the moon, and brightens the stars. It’s the start of a new night, and now, they are together.

Proteus was happy, and in love with Princess Luna. She was perfect, and he would periodically bite himself to make sure he wasn’t just having the best dream ever. He couldn’t imagine how lucky he felt, having her as his marefriend, and for the next couple of months, they were some of the happiest times he’s ever had.

Being her personal Guard, they were inseparable. They went everywhere together, and did everything together. They did their duties during the night, and made love as the sun rose from the sky. They still made their trips to Tartarus, and with each passing visit, Proteus became braver and braver, to the point where the creatures inside the prison no longer frightened him. He would look at each and every one of them with the same stone faced bravery that is required of all the Guards in Canterlot.

As for Princess Luna, she cared dearly for Proteus. She enjoyed his company, and was more than happy to please him whenever he wanted. He was gentle with her, and during their throes of passion, he would only be rough with her when she commanded. He always left her in a great deal of satisfaction. But…deep down, she wanted more…she wanted the stallion that Proteus isn’t.

She wanted Strong Heart.

Not many ponies, if any at all, are aware of the story between Luna and Strong Heart. He joined the academy the same time as the colt that would become his enemy, Shining Armor. Like his son, Strong Heart was a capable fighter, with unparalleled strength, but he was also reckless and more than a little irresponsible. When the Captain at the time was sick of Strong Heart’s behavior, he considered kicking him out, but Celestia saw potential in the colt. After some counseling, he decided to refine his attitude, and soon became a fantastic student.

In the time that followed, Strong Heart rose up, from being a private, to a corporal within a few years of joining the academy. During his stay, he felt an attachment to the mare who would be the mother of his child, Twilight Sparkle. Shining Armor never knew about the Corporal's love for his sister, and always thought he was just close friends with her. It was when Strong Heart received his first scar, that he became the emotionally distant Guard that everypony would come to know. One became many, and though he still loved Twilight, he backed away, and never saw her for the next five years.

One day, he gets word that Princess Luna, had returned from her banishment that lasted 1000 years on the moon. When she first arrived at the castle, she was small, appearing to him no bigger than the average mare, with a light blue sparkling mane. As the months went by, her age began to catch up with her. Before his eyes, she ceased to be a filly, but a tall, beautiful mare, who stopped his heart, every time she entered the room.

After a few months of being held inside the Castle, Princess Celestia assigned Strong Heart to be her personal Guard. Their first meeting went as well as expected, with him being nervous around her, and the way she talked at the time, using the Royal Canterlot dialect, took a while to get used to. Still, he did his job well, and Luna took a shine to him, finding his personality charming, and decided to become close friends with him. Rumors circulated the grounds that they were officially together, but they would deny it, saying that their relationship was strictly professional.

It was only after he saved her life from a Cerberus attack, which left him hospitalized for weeks, that Luna began to have romantic feelings for him. When seeing him at the hospital he told her that he also felt something for her. When he got better, they started to date, and soon, they consummated their love for one another in a night of passion. It was here, that she made a mistake, which she regretted ever since. Instead of telling him that she loved him, she told him that what happened between them was a fling, and nothing more.

This crushed Strong Heart, to the point where he no longer talked to her the same way he normally would. Instead, he treated her like she was only a job. Months later, he was let go from being her personal Guard, and back to basic duties. She talked to him later on, and while she wanted to tell him that she didn’t mean what she said, she could see that the love she saw in his eyes was completely gone. Instead, she chose to keep the love she had for him a secret, and asked him to just be her friend. He agreed to do so, and since then, up until his death, he was her best friend, and he never knew that she truly did love him.

Now, his son stands before her, with the same love in his eyes that his father once had for her. Though she knew what she was doing was wrong, she saw Proteus as a second chance to make up for her mistakes.

Little does she know, she’s making a lot of new ones.

In the month of November, fell Proteus’ birthday. Hitting the age of nineteen years old, Twilight chose to throw a party over at her house. Though initially, Proteus wanted to spend his birthday alone with Luna, he couldn’t pass up a chance to catch up with his old friends from Ponyville, namely, Twilight’s friends.

Everypony arrived at the house in the afternoon, except for Princess Luna, who told Proteus she would meet him in the evening. They were all there; Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash took the time out of their days to wish him a happy birthday.

The party was fantastic; Pinkie Pie, the Queen of the party animals, set up a ton of games for everypony to play, from pin the tail on the pony, to bobbing for apples, everypony was having a good time. Though some would think of this kind of party, especially one for a pony who is only a couple more years away from being considered a stallion, is for little fillies, nopony cared, they were having too much fun. Proteus was showered by gifts, and he adored every single one of them. Seeing his true friends once again, was a joy for him, and they all gathered together for a group photo as the sun began to go down.

As evening fell, the guests left, leaving Proteus, Twilight, and Spike alone to clean up the mess that they made.

“Well…” Twilight said, “Time to clean up.” she picks up a broom, and a dustpan to scoop up some trash. Proteus and Spike were all too happy to help out.

“Thank you for the party, Mom. It was nice to see everypony.”

“It was my pleasure. After all, they hadn’t seen you for months. When I told them I wanted to hold the party here, they couldn’t wait to see you again.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t stop talking about you, since you left.” Spike said, annoyed.

“Come on, Spike. You missed me too.”

Spike grumbles something incoherent. Proteus leans in closer to hear.

“Hmmm, yeah. I guess so.” he admits.

Proteus smiles, as he throws away some garbage. Suddenly, he hears the clang of the broom and dustpan being dropped to the floor, as Twilight has a coughing fit. He rushes to her side.

“Mom! Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just a bit of dust got into my throat. I just need some water.”

Proteus watched her go to the kitchen, getting a cup of water. Looking closely, he sees her put a small pill in the cup, before drinking it all down in one gulp.

“What was that?” he asked.

She looks back down at the cup, knowing that she wasn’t sneaky enough to hide the pill from him.

“It’s just some…cough medicine. That’s all.”

“Mom…” he gives her a stern look. “I know when you’re lying, remember?”

She can’t hide it; not from him.

“Okay, okay. I’ve been…a bit sick, that’s all.”

“That’s all? What is it?”

“It’s nothing. Just a bit of a cold. Doctor said it’s common with fall weather.”

“It can’t be nothing if you tried to hide it from me.”

“I just didn’t want to worry you on your birthday, that’s all.” she sees Proteus still giving her a suspicious look. “Don’t worry. I’m alright.”

There’s no time to continue, as they hear somepony knocking at the door.

“Who could that be?” Twilight wondered.

“It’s probably Luna.”

Proteus answers the door. His guess was right, it was Luna. She stands on the porch, holding up a big box with her magic.

“Happy Birthday, Proteus!”

His smile upon seeing her grows a mile long. He stands out of the way, letting her inside.

“I’m sorry I’m so late. It looks like I missed the whole party.”

“No worries, Princess.” Twilight says, “We understand that you have to sleep in the day. May I get you some cake?”

“I’ll get it.” Proteus says, “Sit down and rest.” He tells her. As he rushes to the kitchen, Twilight and Luna look back at one another.

“Don’t mind him.” says Twilight, “I told him I was a little sick, now he’s all worried.” She glances at the present, before looking back to her. “So, how has everything been going?”

“It’s been great.” Luna says, “Proteus has made a fine Guard.”

Twilight smiles and nods, as Proteus returns, giving Luna a slice of cake.

“So, Proteus. What’s it like sleeping with the Princess?”

Proteus nearly trips, when Twilight asks him that. Luna keeps her composure surprisingly well.

“Mom!” he says.

“You sleep in the next room from her, don’t you? All personal guards do.” she sees Proteus breathes a sigh of relief. She doesn’t know that he and Luna are together. “Oh, you thought I meant…” she laughs, “No! Wait…are you?”

“No, Mom.” Proteus chuckles, “Just the way you said it, made it sound like we were…”

“Oh my. Apologies, Princess.”

“It’s no problem. Just a simple misunderstanding, right Proteus?”

“Right. To answer your question…it’s great; keeps me from having to walk a mile to her quarters every night.”

“More time to do my duties, and less time waiting for him to get over there.” Luna laughs, “This cake is delicious, Twilight.”

“I didn’t make it. It’s all Pinkie Pie’s doing.” Twilight smiles, “Time for your present, Proteus.” She motions him to Luna’s present.

“That’s a big box.” he says, “You didn’t get me a puppy, did you?”

“Just open it up.” Luna smiles.

Like a filly, Proteus opened up his present with overly excited glee. He didn’t expect Luna to get him a present at all, so this was very much a surprise to time. By the time, the wrapping was shredded, what was under it was a big box. He took the lid off of it, and looked inside. His eyes widened, so did his smile.

Twilight watches his and he reaches inside, and pulls out a shining helmet, not unlike what royal Guards would wear. Luna then took out the rest of the pieces, placing them on Proteus. He looked at his new armor in awe, marveling at its unparalleled craftsmanship.

“What do you think?” Luna asked.

“I love it!” he says, “What do you think, Mom?”

Twilight nearly gasped at the sight of it. This was no ordinary armor. Not only was it finely crafted, given to only the most loyal Guards, but the style, the symbols…they were familiar to Twilight. She had seen this armor before, about twenty years ago.

This armor…belonged to Strong Heart.

“Mom? Are you okay?” he asks.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” she shakes herself from the shock, “It looks wonderful!”

“What do you think, Spike?”

Spike leans in at the armor, seeing his reflection inside of it.

“Ooooohhhh….” he says, “Looks awesome. Not a scratch on it.”

“I wonder how it looks at night. Come on, Spike.” Proteus says.

Spike follows Proteus to the backyard, where they check to see how the armor looks when reflected on the moonlight. As they talk amongst each other, Twilight looks back to Luna, who turns to her, confused.

“What is it, Twilight?” she asks. Twilight doesn’t look pleased. “Don’t you like the armor?”

“I may be many things, Luna, but an idiot isn’t one of them. Egghead maybe, but not an idiot.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t expect me to believe you had that armor specially made for him, did you? I’ve seen that armor before. It belonged to Strong Heart.”

“How can it? The armor is made for a Pegasus, not a Unicorn.”

“Don’t think I can’t tell the difference between personally made armor, and modified. I can tell you had it changed. I read a lot about these things, don’t forget.”

Luna can’t hide the truth for much longer. There was no fooling Twilight. She is caught.

“I noted the look on his face when I asked about him sleeping with you. Are you sleeping with my son?”

“Twilight, I…”

“Answer the question!” she demands.

Luna nods in response. Twilight is about to raise a ruckus, but she gets into another coughing fit. She rushes back to her cup of water, drinking what is left of it.

“How…*cough*…dare you?” she seethes with anger, “You’re sleeping with my child, so you can make up for your past failures, aren’t you?” Luna doesn’t answer her, but Twilight can see it. “Now that’s not enough?! You…*cough*…have to make my son look like his father, too; like some kind of sick fantasy?!”

She coughs uncontrollably. Proteus and Spike rush into the room, hearing the coughing. He goes to his mother’s side.

“Mom! What’s the matter?”

Her coughing subsides. She glares at Luna, who is pleading with her eyes for her not to tell Proteus. Against everything, she doesn’t say a word about it.

“Nothing, sweetie. I just need some more water.”

Proteus takes her glass to the kitchen to get more water.

“Whatever you’re doing with him…” she whispers to Luna, “You stop it…or I will.”

Proteus returns with the glass. She drinks it up as he and Spike lead her to bed. After laying her down, they say their goodbyes, with him wishing her well, and telling Spike to keep close watch on her. He could always count on the dragon, even if he can be arrogant at times.

Proteus and Luna fly back to the castle.

It took a while for Luna to fall asleep during that morning. The truth begins to eat away at her, like a plague. However, she couldn’t tell Proteus, how could she? How does one tell somepony that she’s only with him because of his similarities to another? For now, it had to continue to be her little secret.

Afternoon came, and Proteus got up earlier than usual. He put on his armor, and took to the skies. He flew all the way to the cemetery, where he stops at Strong Heart and Chrysalis’ grave.

“Hey, Dad.” he says, “I know I haven’t been around much, I’m sorry about that. Chrysalis, it’s nice to see you too. Hope you’re taking good care of my Father.” he smiles, “It was my Birthday last night; I guess you can call it a ‘birth-night’ instead.” he chuckles, “I got some great presents, and this beautiful armor from Princess Luna. I’m sure you’d love it.” He puts a hoof on the gravestone. “There’s…something else I’d like to tell you. Promise you won’t get mad?” Silence, like he’s expecting an answer. “I’m in love with the Princess. Luna, in case you were wondering. She’s everything to me. I can’t imagine not spending the rest of my life with her. Maybe, I’ll ask her to marry me when I’m older. Who knows?” He’s silent again. “Well, I’d just though you two might want to know that.”

A nearby twig breaks. Proteus turns quickly to see Princess Celestia walking towards him.

“Oh!” she says in surprise, “Good afternoon, Proteus. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Good afternoon, your Majesty. I was just visiting my father and Chrysalis. I hadn’t seen them in a while.”

“Understandable.”

“What are you doing here? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all. I like to travel around Canterlot. Can't just sit down on the throne all day now, can I?” she chuckles.

“I guess not.” he shares the laugh with her.

“I heard it was your Birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you.”

She sees his armor. She is impressed by the make of it, but like Twilight before her, she’s seen it before.

“I see you have a new suit or armor.” she says. Not telling Proteus of its origins. “It’s very nice.”

“Thank you, your highness. Princess Luna gave it to me.”

“She must think very highly of you as her Guard, to give you armor like that.”

“It’s nice to know I’m doing a good job, then.” he smiles. Looking at the sun, he sees it going down. “Sorry, Princess. I have to be heading back. It was nice talking to you.”

“Likewise, Private.” she watches him fly back to the castle. Her look of happiness turns into one of sadness. She heard every word he said to the grave, and she now prays he never finds out the truth of what is truly going on.

Proteus flies back to Luna’s chambers swiftly. He crawls back into bed, keeping his armor on, in a slight act of laziness. Slowly, he wraps his forelegs around behind Luna, embracing her tightly. She mumbles with pleasure, as she starts talking in her sleep.

“Hmmmmmm…I missed you.” she silently says. Proteus smiles at her words. “Ssss…Strong Heart….” His smile quickly disappears. “Don’t leave me ever again…I…love you….” His mouth opens wide, as he allows her to continue. “I love you…Strong Heart…”

He can’t hear any more. He quickly gets off the bed with such force, that Luna wakes up violently from her slumber. She quickly looks around, before seeing Proteus behind her.

“You’re up early.” she says, a smile creeping on her face.

“Strong Heart…” he silently says.

“What?”

“You just called me Strong Heart. I heard it in your sleep. Why did you call me that? Why are you even dreaming about him?”

Luna struggles to answer his question. Only stutters come out of her mouth.

“P-Proteus, I…”

“No!” he shouts, “Tell me right now!” He has learned to control his anger during training, but now, he’s starting to lose control. “Were you in love with him?”

“Why would you even ask tha----?”

“You told me that you loved me, thinking I was him!” he shouts, “Did you love him?!”

She flinches at his anger. There was no more hiding it. She slowly nods.

“Yes…I did.”

Proteus steps back from her; in shock, practically hyperventilating, trying not to burst out in rage.

“Do…you love me?” he asks.

She is silent. “I care about you, a lot.” she replies.

“That’s not what I asked. Do you love me?”

She can barely reply to the question, as tears flow from her eyes.

“N…n…no.” she responds.

He does his best not to scream at her. Instead, he continues to look at her. But she can see it, the anger, the fire in his eyes.

“What is this armor, then? If you don’t love me, why did you get me this armor?”

“It…was your father’s armor…”

Proteus’ eyes go wide. He couldn't believe it. The Princess, the one that not ten minutes ago, he wanted to marry, now stands before him, telling him that she never loved him at all. He can’t control himself now. He rushes to Luna, holding her forcefully by the head. She gasps in terror.

“Is this what this was?! You were using me?! You seduced me, slept with me, pretended to love me…all because you were in love with a GHOST?!” he throws her against the wall, and onto the floor. She whimpers in pain. The colt that was so gentle with her whenever they made love, had become a brute. “How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?!”

He raises a hoof to strike her. She screams in fright, covering herself from his blow. He stops himself instantly. He is frozen now, unable to do what he was about to do. Though he was angry with her, he wasn't going to hit her. Despite feeling betrayed, he would never strike her, and even felt bad for throwing her. He steps away from her, inching closer to the window behind him, tears flowing in his eyes. He looks down at his armor, and the rage comes back. He tears the armor from his body, slamming down to the floor, like it was garbage. He turns his attention back to Luna.

“I loved you…” he said, “I wanted to spend my life with you…”

In an instant, he unfurls his wings, and rockets out the window. She reaches for him, but it’s too late. He’s long gone.

He flies through the skies faster than he’s ever had in his life. Tears pour from him like a fountain, as his crying becomes uncontrollable. It begins to hamper his flying, but he can’t stop now. He doesn’t want anypony chasing him, especially not Luna.

Evening begins to fall, and Proteus is getting tired. He had been flying for a couple hours, and his speed has slowed considerably. Unable to continue, he descends down to the edge of the Everfree Forest, close to the Badlands. It’s a particularly foggy night, one where any pony who doesn’t know the area could easily get lost in. Proteus treads carefully through the fog, praying his next step doesn’t lead to a cliff, or face first into a rock.

The night has finally arrived, and Proteus still hasn’t found a place to rest. The forest echoes with the sounds of Celestia knows what in the distance. Proteus had to keep on his guard, as one moment of incompetence could lead to his downfall.

WOOSH! He hears the sound of somepony, or something dashing through the trees. He looks around. Nothing. As he continues on, the sound becomes louder, but instead of one sound, he hears many. He rapidly looks around the forest, but he sees nothing. The whooshing becomes buzzing, the buzzing of insect like wings. He had never seen one before, but he is all too familiar with them.

It’s the sound of Changelings.

Suddenly an army of Changelings descend forcefully onto the ground below. There are many of them, about forty of them, maybe even more. Their eyes glow with intense emerald green, as they lick their fangs, savoring the meal to come. Proteus looks around at the situation before him. Whatever sadness, or fright he was feeling, has been replaced by annoyance…and anger. He looks up at the sky to see more Changelings hovering above him. Flying is out. He has no choice…but to fight.

“Is this what you want?” he says, “Fine. What are you waiting for? I don’t have all damn night.”

The Changelings hiss at him.

“COME ON!” he shouts, no longer caring for his own safety.

All the Changelings charge at once. All of them.

Proteus uses his training to his full advantage. He is fast, powerful, he uses efficient, deadly strikes against is opponents. Changelings are going down left at right. But though he should be landing killing blows, these creatures are strong. They aren’t dying, but they are hurt. Soon, his anger begins to overwhelm him. In minutes, he becomes sloppy, unfocused, everything Stone Shield said he was during his second day of training. The Changelings have an opening now, many of them. They strike him, biting down into his flesh, sucking the blood from his wounds. He screams in pain, as he kicks them off. But for every two Changelings he kicks off, four more come to continue their work. He is getting weak now, he has no idea how much more pain he can take before blacking out. Is this how his life was going to end? Becoming Changeling food?

Suddenly, a loud, terrifying hiss echoes through the forest, stopping the Changelings from their feast. They back away from Proteus, who falls to the ground, barely able to stand, bleeding from his many wounds.

Slamming onto the ground is another Changeling, but this is no normal Changeling. From what he can see, that is not obscured by shadows, is a dark, feminine figure, with her most prominent and visible feature being her striking, glowing insect-like blue eyes. She looks straight at him, with both sadness, but also recognition.

“Proteus….” she says. Her voice sounds like two voices, both feminine, but in different pitches, going off at once.

“You know my name?” he asks, weakly.

She doesn’t answer him. She turns to the center Changeling, and delivers a powerful strike to his face, causing him to fall, bleeding on the ground.

“What did the words ‘alive and unharmed’ didn’t you understand?!” she demands of the Changeling, putting a hoof on his neck.

“Apologies my Queen! He gave us no choice!”

“All you had to do was keep him from leaving! How hard was that?!”

“Forgive me, my Queen!”

She takes a hoof off of him. She looks back at Proteus.

“I’m sorry, Proteus. They were never meant to hurt you.”

“Who are you?” he asks, “How do you know my name?”

“I know a lot about you, Royal Guard. As for me; I’m the Queen of The Changelings.”

“You can’t be. Queen Chrysalis is dead!”

“She is. There can be more than one Queen, you know.”

“Show yourself.” he says. “SHOW YOURSELF, CHANGELING!” he demands of her, loosing patience fast.

“Now, now. There’s no need to be rude. After all…”

She emerges from the shadows and fog, revealing herself to him. He nearly goes into shock when he sees her. She is no ordinary Changeling. She is a hybrid. Half Pony, half Changeling. She has a black coat, as opposed to the hard exoskeleton; holes in her hooves, but not in her wings, and a gorgeous blue mane. She grins at him, exposing her fangs.

“…we’re practically family.”

This is her. This is Chrysalis’ daughter.