Shining Armor had expected a lot of things when he’d marched with the First Crystal Empire Corps towards the Empire’s borders. The ponies he marched with were among the best, mostly comprised of those who joined him on the very first expedition to the Empire, just before Sombra’s siege, though some crystal ponies had since bolstered their ranks. They had trained hard, to the point where he could trust every stallion and mare around him to hold a knife to his throat. Now, he knew he would need that trust and training.

When they began their march out of the Crystal Palace with ponies gathered in the streets to cheer the departing army marching for Equestria’s liberation, he’d told the ponies around him to expect ambushes, booby traps, maybe even a suicide charge or two. “Don’t underestimate the enemy,” he’d said while waving and smiling to the cheering families. “Chrysalis has now taken Canterlot not once, but twice. She’s outthought and outmaneuvered us every time we’ve encountered her. She may have been defeated before, but that doesn’t mean this is gonna be an easy fight. In fact, I expect this to be the hardest fight of our lives.”

He’d expected all these things, every possible angle had been covered. His stallions were trained and battle-tested, and they had a route planned which would allow them to march through open fields and easily-defended ruins with little to no chance of ambush. Every eventuality had been accounted for from when they hit the Empire’s boundary to when they would march upon occupied Canterlot. And still, he was taken completely aback by the undisguised changeling leaning against a rock just over the border, their hooves resting in the grass just outside the Empire’s magically-induced snowstorms.

He raised a hoof, calling for a halt, and his stallions just eyed him curiously. “It’s the enemy, sir,” his Lieutenant, a stallion by the name of Strongshield, said. “Shouldn’t we be attacking?”

Shining glared at the changeling as they stood away from the rock and walked slowly to the head of the army, only stopping when the ponies at the head lowered their spears and raised their shields. “No,” he replied as he strode through his armies’ ranks, the soldiers clearing a path for him without a word. “This is something else.”

He pushed aside the spears levelled on the changeling, striding towards it with his chest puffed out, the very image of intimidation. At seeing him leave the line of pointed spears and glowering ponies, the changeling drew near, allowing Shining to confirm that it was actually a she, and she walked to him with her hips swaying slightly. To his annoyance, he found his eyes invariably drawn towards her flank, watching the muscles flex and relax in that way most stallions couldn’t help but watch. Only the thought of his wife awaiting his safe return back home kept that little flex from awakening certain fantasies within him. Fantasies of rushing across the border marked by the end of the driving snow, throwing her against that rock wall, and taking that changeling in every way a stallion could take a mare. Ignoring her fangs, ignoring her monstrous appearance, watching the way those nice long eyelashes fluttered as he spread her hind legs wide and…

He grimaced again. So much for those hopes. Damn.

He ran the usual distraction protocol, imagining Cadence spread out in a bed with an eyebrow raised, biting her lip in that needy way she knew drove him wild, which managed to clear his mind as he met the changeling mare just over the border marked by the end of the rapidly-melting snow dunes. She looked up at him, then over the stallions arrayed behind him, and smirked. Shining’s grimace deepened. Obviously, most of the stallions with him weren’t faring so well in keeping the lust from their eyes.

“I suppose I should thank you for not running me through the moment you saw me,” the mare said. “Lot more than some changelings can hope for these days.”

“Professional courtesy,” he remarked, poking his head around the changeling nonchalantly before focusing back on her. “I gotta say, this is different from the greeting we expected from your kind.”

“Oh, I take it you were expecting a massive army arrayed with swords and shields, ready to charge upon your ranks and forge many a story of bravery and truth and the Equestrian way?” She asked, amused. “So sorry to disappoint. I promise you, no matter what we wind up doing together, I won’t disappoint again.”

If Shining Armor’s grimace got any darker, it would be able to spawn a grim, noir fantasy. Something with dead parents and orphaned foals, most likely. “What is this? You’re not a soldier. No armor, no sword, and you’re practically presenting yourself to me.”

“Oh,” the mare pouted. “Do you not like the mares that present themselves so easily? Because I can play hard to get…” she trailed off, leaning in just far enough for the scent of her breath to trail up his nostrils.

His face remaining at a stoic neutral, Shining took a step back. “No more games, changeling, where is your army?”

Again, the mare pouted. “You’re no fun,” she moped. “But if you must know, they’re focused in Canterlot. Emperor Wright is keeping them busy with the trial.”

“Emperor Wright? What of Chrysalis?”

“Still with us, thanks to his mercy,” the changeling said, suddenly growing interested in studying the chitin around her hoof. “Things have changed within the Hive. But that’s not the question burning on your mind, is it? Go on. Ask.”

Shining took a step forward and closed the distance he’d lost. “My sister?”

The changeling blinked in surprise. “Huh, didn’t think you’d go with that one, military man. I see where your priorities lie. That’s good,” she sighed, studying her hoof again, and just when Shining thought things would have to get ugly for him to get some answers, she continued. “The Element Bearers are all okay. They are being fed and cared for in a way that is more than adequate. The Princess too, so when you run into Mooncheeks again, you let her know. Now, what’s the next question?”

Shining’s expression softened, though his stance didn’t relax in the slightest. “What’s preventing me from putting you in chains and marching you with us right to the gates of Canterlot?”

“Chains! Kinky!” The changeling giggled, a not-too-unpleasant sound, Shining Armor found to his dismay. “And thankfully, nothing is stopping you. You can even put a ballgag in my mouth if you so wish. Perhaps a collar?”

Shining’s glare hardened again, his muzzle wrinkling with it, and the changeling sighed. “No fun at all. Fine. Yes, you could do all those things, you could very well march upon Canterlot towing me along in chains, and do battle with our forces while both your remaining princesses take on Governess Chrysalis and Emperor Wright, you could carry out whatever plans you had to their fruition, and you could very well succeed. But if I was in your horseshoes, I wouldn’t do any of that.”

“And why not?”

At this, the changeling’s entire persona shifted, a predatory grin crossing her muzzle like a lion spotting a wounded gazelle on the plains of Zebrica. “Because if even one of your ponies crosses this border, we’ll send you one of your sister’s wings,” the grin widened. “And nothing else.”

The pony took a step back. He hid his fear well, but that single step back was all the changeling needed to know what he really felt. “You wouldn’t,” the pony hissed with manufactured anger, his voice quivering just a bit too much to just be fury.

“Try it. See what happens.”

Shining’s teeth ground together, his throat closing up. It didn’t matter: words would never have been able to express his rage in that moment. At any rate, he lowered his head, almost looking ready to strike. The changeling didn’t even flinch. “So what happens now?” He hissed.

“Now, you and your ponies act like good little boys and stay on your side of the border,” she replied, humming carelessly for a moment. “Emperor Wright has some unfinished business with Equestria, and he asks that you respect his wishes and let him finish it.”

“I would like to meet this…Emperor,” Shining said. All the aggression had left his stance, his voice turning passive, as if he were under a sleeping spell.

“Perhaps you will, in time.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes…ooh! One other thing!” She said, holding up a hoof. “I’ve been assigned to be your liaison. In fact that’s kinda the whole reason I’m here, so if I were you, I’d make damn sure I was safe and happy.”

Shining nodded passively, then turned and shrugged in the general direction of the line of stallions behind him, giving two quick nods. Two stallions stepped out of the line and strode to the mare’s side. “This way…madam…” one said. Smiling Shining Armor’s way, the mare trotted alongside them, happily skipping along as though she were being led off on a play date.

“Can I get a name for my liaison?” Shining asked as they walked off.

“Cheery!” She chimed, prancing alongside her new escorts with that pert, little flank bouncing around.

Blinking a few times, Shining Armor sighed. “Very well, Miss Cheery, are there any special needs we should be aware of?”

“No, just a snippet of love every now and again to keep my strength up,” came the reply, the changeling pressing a hoof to her chin in thought as a mischievous grin spread across her face. “Although I won’t say no to those chains if the wish so arises!”

“Don’t tempt me, changeling.”

“Funny, I was about to say the same to you!” She giggled, winking as she retreated with her new escorts.

Shining watched them go, then turned his gaze towards Canterlot. After a while, he sat upon the frozen ground, and still his eyes never left the direction he knew the castle was in. After a while, one of his soldiers laid a bowl of steaming soup at his side, and he took it at sips so as not to interrupt his constant vigil.