Luna looked up at her sister, who was laying down in front of her with an amused smile upon her face. She shook the daydream from her mind, her sister giggling at her. Luna blushed lightly beneath her fur, which was unnoticeable through her dark coat.

"Pleasant daydreams?" Celestia asked smugly.

Luna sighed, "My mind seems to be elsewhere..."

"Tell me about it," the white alicorn said. "Where is your mind?"

"Read my mind. Perhaps you would know better than I," Luna replied.

A knock at the door interrupted the two. It swung open a moment later, revealing the fully armored unicorn that had become the Lunar Guard Captain. Luna smiled without noticing, though Celestia did.

"Princesses. If you could follow me," he called gruffly. "We have a problem."

*

The trio arrived in the dungeons in relatively good time. The dank place did not get much use nowadays, seeing as there were higher security prisons elsewhere. However, there was one equine within the cold stone dungeon that was on the bad side of the bars. The one pegasus stallion had been sitting silently for roughly twelve minutes, and was casually tapping his hooves against the cold stone floor.

"Caught this one impersonating the guard he knocked out cold," Darq growled as he stopped before the cell. "He smells like a Changeling, but I know not the spell to expose one."

"So you were wondering if one of us could check?" Celestia asked rhetorically. Sarcasm nearly dripped from her voice. "I suppose I could check."

"Did I mention he had this under his backplate whilst sneaking through the Lunar Wing?" Darq hissed, removing a rather long dagger from his front right boot. The blade left a long narrow scratch on his boot where the blade slid along. He set the dagger upon the ground, a dull green luminance emanating from within the transparent blade.

Both alicorns gasped at the sight. Darq shuddered slightly, his rattling armor being the only indication that he had done so. "I don't believe that an enchanted diamond dagger is a standard weapon for the Celestial Guard."

The white alicorn of the day cast a quick spell, her horn glowing slightly, though no layer of her signature golden aura formed. The blade glowed gold for a moment, before fading back to green.

"That blade is meant to kill alicorns. It is enchanted by Changeling Royalty," Celestia shuddered. With considerably more magic, her horn glowed once more, this time with the aura forming an amorphous blob around her horn. The white pegasus within the cell was plucked from the ground without warning. As a second layer of aura formed, the pegasus' disguise burned away with green embers.

A small Changeling stood behind the iron bars. Its maw was pulled back in an annoyed snarl, and its wings twitching every few seconds. Darq's stance widened slightly.

"Well. I can only assume you were here to kill Princess Luna," Darq growled with restrained malice that made Celestia cringe. "Are you not here for that purpose? Is that not your task?"

The Changeling glared at him for a moment. Its insect-like eyes narrowed, as if focusing a beam of sunlight to burn ants with a magnifying glass. With no warning, the Changeling spat through the bars, hitting Darq's helm.

Darq did not react to it, not even activating a spell to clean the armor. "You know, I just got the Captain position. Less than twenty four hours ago. I'm not a lenient old-fart like the last Solar Captain. I know over two-hundred ways of killing a pony. Pegasus, unicorn, earth pony, sea pony, bat pony..." he paused for a moment. "Changeling... It doesn't matter to me."

"I think that's enough," Celestia interjected lightly.

"I could easily kill you here and now. I could make absolutely no mess, or a mess that would keep the castle-keeper staff busy for weeks," Darq continued.

"Stand down, Captain," Celestia asserted firmly.

"I'll be a fair pony one time. I'll let you go. Your weapon is mine, and if I see you again, I will not hesitate to end your life," Darq hissed, activating a light spell. A thin cut made its way over the Changeling's left cheek, zig-zagging into a rough sketch of a blade, an insect-like hiss of pain echoing through the stone dungeon. "That cut will heal over in about twelve minutes. It'll make a scar that will show even through a Changeling disguise, and is impossible to recreate. I never forget a scar. Don't let me see your scar again."

Luna's near incoherent thoughts bolted through her mind like Rainbow Dash clearing the Ponyville sky. The threat that Darq had just made against her potential assailant was impressive to say the least. She smiled inward at his act of defending her, knowing full-well that should the Changeling have gotten much further, she could be dead or dying right then. Many ponies might not see him as such, including her sister, but she had begun believing that Darq was a hero. A very rough, unconventional hero, but a hero.

However, Darq had absolute calm in his mind. One thought permeated his mind, filling it like a pitcher of lemonade. I'm going to kill you. His eyes beneath his helm narrowed in a glare, focused upon the Changeling that had so rudely intruded upon his day of exploring the wing of the castle he'd be working in for the next unknown period of time. He finally activated a spell to clean his helm, and walked away, leaving the two dumbstruck princesses to deal with the changeling.

Author's Note

It's been a while, eh? I've been a bit unsatisfied with this one, but I can't move forward without transitioning to a new chapter.

<3 DarqFox