Captain Jackdaw, Royal Guard, was many things. A thestral with enough handsomeness and charm to sweep a dozen mares, and stallions, into a single bed. An innovative soldier intelligent enough to assess a situation with a single glance and respond appropriately. First and foremost however, above all else though, he was a good damned friend. That was why he was currently standing outside of the door to Aurora’s chambers.

He’d just finished knocking when the door opened to reveal Echo standing there. The blue changeling had a hard, almost threatening scowl on his chitinous face. Apparently he’d been expecting someone other than Jackdaw because the moment he saw him, the scowl vanished. His expression didn’t become a smile, but all the same, it was not a scowl so Jackdaw took that to be a good sign.

“Jack,” Echo said slowly, the single name came out a combination of several different emotions attached to it, mainly surprise.

“Me,” Jack agreed. “Aura up for a visit from a good friend?”

Echo stared at him for a moment before letting out a hesitant rumble from within his chest. “I don’t think she’s really in the mood, Jack.”

“I’m just here to help, I promise, Echo,” Jackdaw said, giving Echo his most winning smile.

Echo continue to stare at him for a long moment, not quite sure whether or not to let him into the room when Aurora’s voice rang out from behind him, its tone calm and cool.

“Let him in Echo, you know as well as I do that he’s smart enough not to be here for a lecherous reason.”

The Queen’s tone may have been calm, but her voice itself came out as a rasp, as if her lungs were coated in sandpaper, not at all like the smooth, sensuous sound Jackdaw was used to.

The stallion frowned and then stepped forwards as Echo stepped aside and let him through. Jackdaw walked in, his quick thestral eyes quickly taking in the sights before him. The room was... spotless. Not a piece of trash, nor broken furniture littered the floor as he’d half expected it too. Queen Aurora lay on top of the bed, her head resting against a pillow. To Jackdaw’s slight surprise, there was not a hint of a tear stain, nor was there any visible sign of grief on her face.

“Aura,” Jackdaw said, giving her a small smile as he walked closer to her.

“Jack,” she replied, her voice smooth once more, much to his barely controlled astonishment. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I came to make sure that you were doing alright,” Jackdaw replied, closing the distance between the two of them so that he was standing before the side of the bed.

“Ah, I suspected as much,” Aurora said, closing her eyes. “Though, I anticipated you to be here earlier...”

“Apologies, I was watching Lulu and her lover,” Jackdaw said, casually flapping onto the bed so that his warm fur could brush against her tepid chitin. “I’m a guard first after all.”

“Yes, of course,” Aurora replied, her voice distant. “I should have expected.”

Jackdaw looked up at her, a line of worry crossing his face. Echo had taken up residence on Aurora's opposite side and without needing to be asked too, the pair of stallions leaned against the Queen. Jackdaw did not speak again, instead all he did was lean against Aurora, offering his silent, unjudging, and perhaps most importantly, loving support.

It took an hour, and night casting its wings over the world, before Aurora finally spoke.

“She was... always the most mischievous of them,” the changeling Queen said, her voice still smooth though Jackdaw detected a hint of a warbling break in it. “Always... always getting into trouble, always playing pranks on her sisters... and not one of them was intelligent.”

A great sigh traveled through the changeling Queen’s body.

“Her sisters... they always saw through them, which of course only spurred her to further acts of stupidity and.. and I suppose it was my fault,” Aurora said, her voice breaking a bit more. “After all... what mother cannot control her children?”

That caused Jackdaw to frown faintly. He thought Aurora was the eldest sister of them all.

“I did all I could for her... I counseled her, I trained her, I gave her more time than any of my other daughters... and yet... yet she never seemed to get any better,” Aurora continued, her voice straining to hold onto its rapidly dying smoothness. “Eventually, I just... wrote her off. I decided that she had had more then enough time to impress me with her talents, more then enough time to improve. So... I stopped paying her any attention.”

A slow shudder worked its way down Aurora’s body and Jackdaw leaned closer against her, for all the good it would do.

“Then... she attacked Canterlot in what I am sure was a bid to get my attention... well she got it alright,” Aurora said as her voice gave up on any attempt to hide her inner pain. Jackdaw winced at the tone and leaned up to place a soft kiss on her neck, letting his love flow through it. The Changeling Queen let out a soft sigh, appreciating the gesture but it was not enough to make her stop speaking, nor heal her torn voice. “I thought if I explained the situation to her, she would understand. That she wouldn’t do anything else foolish. That she would for once in her life be intelligent about the situation.”

“I guess it was a small hope,” Aurora murmured softly, her eyes finally beginning to tear up. “An ever so small one.”

“Aura...” Jackdaw said slowly, gaining her attention.

“Yes?” she asked, tiny tears rolling down her chitin, looking more vulnerable than Jackdaw had ever imagined her capable of.

“You did what you had to do,” Jackdaw answered quietly. “If you hadn’t ended her then Celestia would have, and she would have done it far more painfully than you did I’d imagine. After which, she’d probably have flown to your hive, or one of your sis-daughters and done the same.”

“No, she would have been far too depleted for that,” Aurora said, her voice taking on a tone of cold analysis. “But... it would have lead to war. I know. That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“I know,” Jackdaw said quietly. “Believe me... I know.”

Aurora let out a choking laugh. “Echo said much the same.”

“Huh, Echo, sounds like you’ve got yourself an echo,” Jackdaw said, glancing over at the changeling who rolled his eyes slightly as he pressed his neck against the Queen’s.

“It seems like it, first for everything,” Echo said softly.

The three remained silent after that for a long time before Jackdaw finally voiced the question that he’d been pondering for quite a while.

“I thought you were the eldest sister....”

“I shall explain another time Jack,” Aurora replied, her voice absolutely exhausted. “For now... I feel like rest would be best.”

“Sounds about right,” Jackdaw said as the Queen pulled the covers out from underneath them with her magic, golden eyes glowing, and then covered all three of them with one motion.

Then she turned to her right and wrapped her hooves around Echo leaving Jackdaw to cling to her back. The stallion didn’t mind of course, he was her friend, probably her best, but Echo was more important to her then he was, he’d been with her far longer. So, with a happy smile, Jackdaw nestled his head against the back of Aurora’s neck and closed his eyes.