Gavios sat in his cell, the bars seeming to block off everything, even his fellow changelings. His stomach gave out a rumble, and he knew exactly the reason why. He was indeed that hungry. The meals that they fed their prisoners were indeed hearty, and enough to keep a normal sized pony alive and kicking, but for one of his size, and for the rate his body burned through energy, he would die soon in this place unless he received more.

The guards in the hallway left, this was their time to sleep for a few hours at the least since he heard the soft snoring of all of his soldiers nearby. He heard another thing as well, a soft set of clops on the ground as Shining Armor's wife, Cadance, if he remembered right, walked down into the hall. On her back she carried a fairly large meal. She opened up the door to his cage and walked in unafraid of him. She set the meal down and looked up to him, trying not to make eye contact.

"Why are you doing this? I try and kill your husband and you feed me behind his back?" Gavios asked, weakly standing on his three legs. They decided not to chain his legs because he could not pull away with enough force to break any chains at this moment. Instead they put a single massive metal collar on him and attached it to a long chain on the wall.

"I heard your stomach growling. Going hungry isn't an easy thing to deal with. Especially with something with as big of an appetite as yours." She spoke sweetly as she nudged the plate a bit closer to him. He lunged forward and pinned her to the ground, his massive weight holding her down. Before she could even scream his claws had wrapped over her mouth.

"Trusting a beast is dangerous." He spoke, looking at her hyperventilating form. Her eyes widened in terror at the shocking amount of speed this creature moved with, even while crippled. "But yet making an ally of a beast is a worthwhile investment." He spoke as he calmly removed his hand from her mouth and went to the food, nudging it over into a corner and starting to take large bites out of it. She gave a few more deep pants as she looked at him, sprawled out on the ground.

She quickly pulled herself up and closed the cage but just before she left she heard something else. "Thank you." She smiled and walked up the stairs, walking back to her and Shining Armor's bed quietly and falling asleep.

The changelings awoke, and from the orders they had received while his own cage was opened for those few moments he told them to start digging. And so they did. A single changeling starting to burrow down into the stone making a small hole in it before morning came. Then it slept there, covering up the hole with its body.

A few changelings went and grabbed the food they were given, moving it back and forth between the others, especially the one that had started digging. Gavios hid the plate that Cadance had given him, and took the one the soldier gave, eating the meager rations that counted as a lunch in a few moments.

The guards looked at him, "No wonder why we keep him locked up. He is just like what the others said. A beast." Gavios Growled and threw the plate hard at the bars, lodging it an inch into the bars solid metal. They guards looked at him for a moment before one grabbed the plate and yanked it out of the steel, walking away without another word after that.

The night came quickly and the changelings started their digging up once more and almost as if she was scheduled to do this, Cadance showed up with another meal once more. She had gotten one just as big as the one he had eaten yesterday, but instead of leaving, Cadance looked at him, and sat down, watching him eat for a bit, fascinated with this creature.

He looked up to her and swallowed the mouthful he had, "Do I interest you Cadance?" He asked, taking another bit of the food set in front of him.

Cadance nodded, "I've only ever met changelings once and it wasn't on the best of terms. Why do you feed on love? Why do you hate ponies so much?" She asked.

Swallowing this mouthful he looked at her, and he stood. Walking over to her he stared down into the small Alicorn's eyes. Then he sat down. "We feed not on love, but the essence of it for some reason it seems to invigorate me and my species to new heights and we do not truly hate ponies. You just all give out the most love out of any of the other kinds of races out there so we actively seek you out as prey. As it turns out, when our prey fights back, that also gets our blood rising to new heights, so we fight more ferociously, more beast like." He spoke his carapace seeming to bulge with the muscles that lay hidden underneath.

She looked at him, "I always thought that changelings could be nicer if they earned that love instead of having to steal it from others." She spoke softly, her head avoiding the contact with his eyes.

Gavios snorted and went back to his meal, "That would be if we didn't already have a reputation and didn't get chased out or attacked every time we had tried to do something like that. It reminds me of an old story my queen told me while I was still a grub." He spoke, his eyes dipping down to the ground as he took one more massive bite of the food.

Cadance spoke softly, "I wouldn't mind hearing that story, as long as it explains why you all are so..."

He finished her sentence, "Mean." She nodded and looked at him as he downed the last of the food.

"It could not hurt. Alright little pony. I will tell you." He spoke, laying down on his stomach and covering up the plate.

"The queen was young, barely standing on her legs. She had been abandoned for some time and had lost her way in the Macintosh Hills. She discovered a small pony village. It was dark and looking like it was ready to storm out so she decided to go and ask the ponies there for shelter for the night." He stopped and gave an irritated sigh, green smoke coming from his mouth. "But instead of allowing her to stay in for that night, she was turned away by rocks and other stones while they screamed monster at her. She was not born hating ponies, it was mixed into her by the cruelty that some of them held in their hearts. Not everything is what you think of it little pony. Remember that."

He looked out of the one window in his room as saw the first streaks of dawn. "You should go."She nodded and looked at him, smiling a bit as she worked her way out of the dungeon.

Shining Armor waited for her at the top of the staircase. "Late night?" He asked as she stopped in front of him.

She knew she had been found out, "Look I can explain-"

Shining Armor looked at her and scoffed. "Sure you can. Explain how you are bringing extra food down to the enemy in wartime. How you feed him more than he needs to be fed."

"He-"

"He is a prisoner Cadance. Not some sort of guest that needs to be babied."

She turned her head away from him, "He needed that extra food you stubborn colt!" She yelled at him.

"He burns through the two meals you give him each day in a small amount of time afterwards! His body naturally needs that much more energy. With the amount of food you were giving him, he would have died within a week! And I thought you would have been perceptive enough to realize that!" She spoke as she brushed past him.

He tried to grab onto her shoulders but she merely brushed past. He gave a sigh. He had just messed up, big time. War was putting more stress on both of them than he needed, and with that remark about how he hadn't needed the extra food. He was so stupid! He hadn't even bothered to check.

Shining Armor gave a loud sigh as he walked back to his room, taking a seat on his bed as he rubbed just below his horn, a headache already building and it was barely dawn out. He frowned even late into the day. He hadn't seen Cadance, and guessing she was planning the next meal for him.

He hadn't thought about Gavios' size, or the energy burn that regeneration must have on his body. He would let her keep with the feeding, and he would apologize later. For now, he had to organize the new troops Celestia had sent him.

It was that time of night again and Gavios saw a somewhat down princess Cadance bring him his late night meal. He really didn't care, but he thought he would ask anyways. "What is the matter little pony?" He spoke just before he dug into the meal.

She looked at him and sighed, taking a seat close to him. "Shining Armor and I had our first real fight, all about me feeding you."

He looked over at her, gulping down his food. "So, let me guess, he wanted you to stop feeding me because he thought he was giving me enough in the first place, and you figured out that I need more than the average pony. So you two argued over it, and are now somewhat steamed at each other?"

She looked at him, "That was surprisingly accurate..." She spoke solemnly. She felt something odd, a muscled limb pulling her in close. The changeling commander's face close to hers. "Now listen here. I might not be the biggest fan of your husband, but I know one thing for a fact. He would never have said those things without good intentions at heart. He was probably worried about you being so close to the thing that almost killed him. I would be if it was my mate."

She blushed at the word mate, "We haven't actually..." He paused and looked at her, "Done that..." She finished turning her head away from him.

Gavios laughed a bit, "A mated pair who hasn't mated? How laughable!" He spoke as he gave off enough rumbling laugh. She used her wing to cover to her face, somewhat embarrassed by this. He used his arm to nudge her, "Do not worry. I can understand in a way. You two will do that when you are both ready, though it might not come soon enough." She looked at him. "Do not worry about what I said. Just go back to Shining Armor, you two both have a lot to say to each other." She nodded and walked out, holding the plate she had given him.

Gavios smiled as she left. Tonight was the night, the one where he and his brothers would escape. She had fed him the meals to make sure he had enough energy to put it all into action. He might have been a beast, but he was not stupid. He looked at the plate that was still underneath of him and ripped it apart using his one claw. Taking a look a large jagged shard from it, he shoved it into his disabled shoulder joint, making sure to nearly sever the entire thing.

His blood dripped on the floor, and it would be mere minutes before he was ready to break out of here. He had destroyed the seared wound, and with the excess energy, he would be able to regenerate and be almost fully functioning again soon.

The changelings in the other massive cell started working faster, shooting beams of energy at the hold to make it go by quicker. They would escape today and Gavios could hear the sounds of more wings in the distance. Today the Crystal Kingdom would fall...

Shining Armor was waiting in the bedroom, his eyes closed as Cadance walked in on him a few minutes after leaving Gavios. She walked over to her husband. "I'm Sorry Cadance..." He spoke. To let him know she already knew she walked over to him and let her lips press against his. She shoved him back a bit before continuing her rapid kissing.

Then came the sound of steel being ripped apart, and the sound of an explosion, both from the dungeon area. Shining Armor bolted upright, "The prisoners!" He rushed over to a wall and grabbed a horn, blowing it he heard several more from across the city. Alarms were from all over the city, as another wave of changelings, this time a swarm more than twice the size of the last one had started attacking, and this time they were organized, like they weren't purposely trying to-

"I'M AN IDIOT! Why else would a commander get captured with such a small force?" The door to their room burst open, and about 20 changelings rushed in, pinning down both Cadance and Shining Armor in mere moments. The changelings that had Cadance pinned started laughing as they all looked over her body. They had wanted to milk this female's love for some time and some of them might have had that chance. If they were not all blown back by a single swipe of Gavios' claw. He lifted Cadance up by her neck, his claws wrapping around it even as he walked over to Shining Armor and did the same thing.

"IF ANY OF YOU TOUCH A FEMALE OR SHINING ARMOR WITHOUT ASKING ME! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEADS!" He roared as he walked out of the room on his hind legs. He looked somewhat odd on his back legs, but still had that commanding presence.

Cadance had nearly blacked out in his grip, and Shining Armor was still struggling to break away. He looked down at the now unconscious Cadance and dropped her when he reached the balcony. He looked out at the city, and saw that most of the guards had already been overwhelmed. Gavios let out a commanding roar as he held out Shining armor for all of the remaining guards, "WE HAVE YOUR LORDS! DROPS YOUR WEAPONS AND SEE YOURSELF ALIVE FOR A LONGER TIME!" The remaining ponies looked up to him, and to Shining Armor in his grasp.

Seeing their commander captured made them lose hope. They threw down their weapons and walked to the middle of the Crystal Kingdom, every single townsperson gathered near the Crystal heart filled with the dread and fear that activated the heart once more. This sent out a wave of dark energy across all of Equestria, one of the biggest hits to all of them as every single pony felt the darkness and dread slowly creeping into their hearts. War was inevitable, and this was the first major loss.

The massive spire of the Crystal Kingdom turned black as coal and started to grow odd crystalline structures on it. Then something formed in the middle of one of the crystals. A pony black as night, his eyes green and slitted. his horn had a red tint to it and in that moment, Gavios knew why he had been sent here in the first place.

King Sombra lunged forward, breaking free of the crystalline structure he had regrown in and looked around. "I LIVE AGAIN!" He shouted out, followed by a maniacal laugh. "And yet you are not in control Sombra." Gavios Spoke as he threw Shining Armor Down next to Cadance. He went back down onto all fours as he walked over to the much smaller unicorn.

King Sombra looked up at him, "You have no right to tell me what I don't rule slave." He spoke as crystals erupted underneath Gavios. To Sombra's surprise, they merely broke on the extremely hard carapace of Gavios. "You are powerless." He spoke as he walked over, smacking the powerful pony into the wall. He left a mark and looked up at Gavios, a snarl escaping his lips. He wouldn't argue.

Then things would shift for the worse. "Commander Gavios. The queen send for you to return with some of the changelings, a number of the female ponies, and of course, Shining Armor and Cadance. She wishes for King Sombra to have control once more." King Sombra smiled smugly.

Gavios gave out a small roar and walked over to Cadance and Shining Armor, calling a few changelings to encase them in cocoons while they travelled. As he left the kingdom he had the slightest bit of regret. He had turned against the one woman who had shown him any kind of true kindness. Maybe he wouldn't take her to the rulers but he would not betray her again...

Nymphalos gave a laugh and stood out looking from the massive tower of the Changeling lair. He saw the massive black wave of energy, and felt himself almost invigorated by it as it burst from the distance. "You were right my love! All in due time!" He laughed again as he nearly jumped to her.

She smiled at him and let her lips get pressed against by his, their tongues intertwining for a moment. She smiled and looked at him. "Now it is time for you to fulfill the half of your promise." He nodded and looked at the three newly created commanders, sending them off to their own small forces, and letting them handle the work until his companions got here.

He sat down and his queen pressed close to him, their warm bodies touching lightly.

Gavios reached the Hive soon after he had left from the Crystal Kingdom. He ordered some of his soldiers to carry Shining Armor to the queen, but he kept a firm hold on the cocoon that held Cadance.

One of the changelings walked up to him, "Queen sssssaid both." A single glance from him sent the changeling scampering away. He wouldn't care if Nymphalos himself came down and tried to fight, he would not let anyone touch this pony.

Nymphalos looked at Shining Armor in the cocoon, thoroughly unimpressed with the unicorn.

Chrysalis looked at him with a smirk as she freed him. "Chrysalis? Why am I here, where is Cadance?!"

Nyphalos added on, "A thing I am also wondering..."

Shining looked up to the two, "Gavios! He must have her...If I find him I will-" He was silenced by a swift hoof across the face from Nymphalos. That single hoof sent him flying across the room and into the wall. Even harder than one from Gavios. "You will do nothing you arrogant colt. Unless we allow it."

Chrysalis giggled, "Oh my... Still as willful as ever aren't we? Maybe some time in the dungeons will fix that?"

Nyhmpalos gave a chuckle, "Why do you steal the thoughts from my head?" He spoke as the guards came in and dragged away the barely conscious Shining Armor.

Shining Armor looked around. He had been dragged to the heart of the Changeling Colony. He looked around and nearly threw up from what he saw. Several of the soldiers that had been taken with him, all of them female, most being raped by the changelings in the masses. He heard their screams and knew he could not do a single thing to save them at this moment.

The same crushing despair washed over him as he closed his eyes, passing their cells. He squinted his eyes shut, but the images of them, the changelings deep inside of them, shooting seed into them made him shudder, even as he was thrown roughly into the cage he was assigned.

He sat up weakly, trying to drown out the sounds of his former soldiers and their torture, all because of a lapse in his judgment...

He sat his head down, tears flowing from his shut eyes, trying to think of a way out of this. He could not see one that didn't involve an entire army coming to save them. He didn't sob. Just the tears came. He Imagined the same thing was happening to Cadance.

"LET ME OUT!" He screamed as he rammed against the entrance of the cell, over and over again, worked into a panic by the thought of that monster raping Cadance, over and over again. Eventually he fell down, his body exhausted and then he let the real sobbing start.

Gavios had freed Cadance, and she had done nothing but sit in the corner and sob. She had almost no chance of seeing Shining Armor now that Chrysalis had a hold of him.

He felt sorry for her, and to see a pony like her, one so kind, in tears of her own made him wonder. Why would he have done such a thing? What if they had met in the better of circumstances?

He walked over to her, and put one of his front legs around her. She pulled away and turned to him, a mix of rage and sadness, "MONSTER! YOU DID THIS TO US!" She screamed at him.

His temper flared, "I AM NO MONSTER! THE REAL MONSTERS ARE THE ONE WHO ORDERED ME TO DO THIS!" He roared at her. She went silent underneath his gaze.

He snorted in anger, the green flames coming from his nose. He sighed and sat down next to her, "I will go and speak with Chrysalis and Nymphalos to try and get an arrangement for you two." He spoke as he left.

The membranous door opened up and let him through before sealing shut afterwards.

He could not believe he was doing this, all to make her happy.

He looked at the guards of the royal chambers and brushed past them, looking as Nymphalos was snuggled up close to Chrysalis. He looked at the two for a mere moment before Nymphalos opened a single eye to look at him.

"What does my favored commander want?" He asked. Gavios bowed a bit before standing up straight, "I wish to be the personal warden for both Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor. I will accept all punishments should they escape." Nymphalos gave a growl.'

Chyrsalis looked at Gavios, "An apt request for a 'favored commander' I shall allow it." She spoke for her own husband, looking at him.

Nymphalos nodded, "I suppose, but if indeed they do escape, you shall no longer be a favored commander, or counted among the living."

Gavios was a creature that knew no fear and he gulped down his own that he felt in the face of this powerful being. He was smaller than him, and much scrawnier overall, but he still had that aura of dominance. Gavios walked out of the room, and down through the heart. He grimaced at the few of his soldiers enjoying the females. They gulped and pulled away from them, scared of his earlier statement back at the castle.

They walked away from the females, leaving them to take in the massive commander that walked down the halls of the cells filled with their ranks. He walked to one in particular. The one that had the only guard sitting outside of it. With a single swipe the guard was flung aside and he ripped open the cell.

Shining Armor looked at him and charge almost immediately, rage and tears blinding him. A single slam with his arm knocked out the enraged pony and Gavios slung him onto his back.

A few moments later Princess Cadance opened her eyes at the sound of the membrane door opening once more. The unconscious Shining Armor was laid down at her feet. She looked down at him, immediately checking if he was okay. She got no answer from him.

Gavios had knocked that pony out cold. He lay down on his massive bed, and then lay his head down, curling up a bit into a comfortable sleeping position. "Thank you." Came from Cadance as she tended to wiping the tears away from Shining Armors face, and treating the bruises he had received from both Nymphalos and Gavios.

"I could not bare to see you so unhappy for you were the first one to ever show me true kindness." He spoke as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

This did not remedy all the things he had done but it certainly helped in the long run.