Gleaming could always appreciate the sashay of a mare's butt any day of the week, she could stare at one for hours. But she never really stopped to analyze why they would do that. But it just felt natural to her, like second nature. She mentions this because she was doing it right now.

The halls were spare of almost nopony aside from the occasional guard. And it would seem that she would get very confused looks as she drew attention to her flank. As this continued for quite some time she looked at her flank and saw her, or rather his, cutie mark. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and astonishment and realization flooded her senses. She still had Shining Armour's cutie mark...anybody that knows him, will know that she is him. Duplicate cutie marks never happen, at least as far as her sister has confirmed, while a special talent can be repeated the cutie mark is specific to that individual. So, of course these guards would look at her with strange looks. She tried to cover it up with her tail and then remembered the demon tail, that swished back and forth seeming of its own volition.

She shook her thoughts and continued down to her destination. Her guard like instincts kicking in, keeping her alert and focused. Nothing could have sneaked up on her, one does not get captain of the Equestrian Guard for nothing. Her hoofsteps were hard and yet firm, her new lithe form was stilling something she was getting used to. Had she gotten taller? Her horn? Longer? She felt it, albeit subconsciously but she did feel it. It was all slight, and she could only discern her size was similar to that of little miss Princess Luna. Her earlier escapades filling her vision. It was excellent, the love power she had taken thrummed fresh and lively within her chest.

She rounded a corner and passed some of the guard's and servant's quarters. She halted in her steps, faltering in her constant vigilance as she felt strange. The power within her shifted and changed, a warm feeling turning cold and stinging. Pointing her to attention, her chest puffing out in indignation at this feeling. She looked to the doors separating the servants and guards. She felt them. As she hungered for love she could sense others nearby who did so as well. This infuriated her, that they were here to steal her quarry.

She opened the doors and closed it behind her. A large open room came into vision, the break room if her memory were serving her correctly. Off to the right and left were the barracks for the guards and the quarters for the servants. Hazelnut coloured floors and the oak pine walls brought many memories back to the shape changed former captain of the guard. A knowing smile crossed her lips, remembering the good times she had when her life was much simpler, not as simple as this, but back then there was a level of innocence that could never be repeated.

But her thoughts returned to the present, her hoof falls quiet on the hard wood. Sticking to the shadows of the room offered by the torches on the far walls and the nearest ones. Her jet black fur cloaked her, wreathed her in a blanket of shadows and darkness. It tickled her, and she called upon the pool of magic within her and she focused he energy.

With a flex of her horn she barely flinched as she changed shape to a dark flowing mist. A large swirl of smoke as she travelled up to the ceiling and weaved to stay out of the light. They were here, they were very near. And she would not compete for prey.

She would corner this market, for the throes of love of the ponies of Equestria. And nopony would stop her in that respect.

Traveling quickly to the servant's quarters as she squeezed through the cracks of the door. She held her gaze down as many freshly showered servants were drying themselves off. They had a communal bath, a rare concept for the rest of Equestria but in the serving business of both guard and maid this was a norm. She silently prayed to Celestia, thanking her that ninety nine percent of the servants were female. Even in this wraith like state she could feel her nethers tingle with the sight of the freshly wet ponies that congested the halls. It was bath time, and Gleaming was gladdened at that respect.

She knew the layout well, attending to some of the needs of the servants when she was Shining Armour. It was how she met Cadence, after a few misfires and shots. But it all worked out in the end, and she prayed to her stars that Cadence would be on board for what she had planned.

She slipped with ease into the shower room, not being noticed and stealing peaks at some of the ponies. She could feel them, they were ever near. The power within radiated and guided her to these interlopers. The thought caused her to growl inward, the fact that they had the audacity after what had happened at her wedding day.

It was dimly lit and scarce ponies were inside the pool of steaming water. She clung to the ceiling, one of them was in this room. She scanned the ponies still inside and there were perhaps five of the castle staff in the large bath. Many faces she knew in passing but largely never paid close attention to, either out of just not getting to know them or just not fitting to her tastes.

The steam freshly rolled off of the thin layer of water beneath, mist filled the room obstructing view for some ponies. She levitated her way through the mist at the top and searched. She was near one of them, they were so close she could feel it.

She then wove her way to the ground and regained her physical form. She stood tall and proud making sure not to make a sound despite the ponies that were in conversations and would likely not pay her any mind. She scanned at a better view and opened her ears as she heard gentle sloshing and ripples in the pool. They were sporadic and very much random, but the moans and creaking wood explained exactly what was going on. She slithered her way through the fog, using her magic in a unique way to phase in with the fog and becoming nigh invisible. She crept slowly to the sound of satisfaction.

She came closer to the far right corner of the pool and saw the sinful acts that were being enacted. She looked and saw two slender forms pressed against one another. One being a cool grey while the other was a salmon pink. She looked a little closer and saw the salmon coloured mare was Cherry Blossom, a former suitor of Gleaming Shield's. And the other mare unidentifiable, and the magic she sensed felt as though she was at ground zero. It was the cool grey mare that was the changeling. Her lip curled in anger and continued to grow as it showered Cherry with false affection, at least hers was not fake.

Cherry moaned as the grey mare slowly planted gentle kisses down her chest and then wanting to travel further. Before it could go any farther she leaned in close to it's ears and whispered, "Mind if I cut in?"

The grey mare was startled, having their love sucking session interrupted. Cherry came to out of the reverie and asked with a heavy breath, sweat dripping down every inch of her, "Is everything alright?"

The grey mare stared directly into Gleaming's eyes but did not know because of the thick mist that she molded with. Gleaming leaned in again, "No, because you are a dirty little insect wanting to infest this place with your skittering brothers and sisters."

The grey mare's eyes grew wide at this and shot her head around, her violent throws of her head around to try and find the source of this voice. Cherry asked, worried, "Is everything alright Dahlia?"

Dahlia, that was the changeling's disguise. Dahlia looked to Cherry, snapping her head to her lover, "Huh! Oh...um...yes...everything is fine."

"No it's not, changeling filth," Gleaming growled with all the ferocity of a lion. Her words promised pain and suffering. Having been raised in a world of harmony she had never once had urges to harm or injure unless out of protection of the princesses or the nation. But this was merely hate for a race of beings that tried to brain wash him to breed with their ruler.

It was this fact that lead to her sloppy handiwork.

Gleaming Shield phased physically and startled Dahlia, with her magic she pulled Dahlia out of Cherry's hooves and pulled her towards Gleaming, throwing her into her hooves. But her's was much more harmful than loving. She clenched her hoof on the changeling's neck and began to slowly crush its windpipe. It struggled for air, and Cherry stood up in shock of the situation and exclaimed, "What are you doing? Let her go!"

She was still unclear who this pony was and Gleaming preferred that she was unknown at least for the moment. She explained, "Your little lover over here is not who she claims to be. Go on, no need for the facade any more."

Dahlia looked with hate at her and then fear as she gazed into her hellish eyes and knew what she was. Out if fear it did as Gleaming commanded, something that surprised her. In a burst of green flames it transformed from a grey unicorn to a changeling drone. Cherry huddled back and looked disgusted, both at the changeling and at herself, heaving.

Gleaming met the fearful drone's light blue, void filled, eyes. There was true fear in its eyes, it knew something that she did not know. She crooked her eyebrow, "What am I?"

A series of choked clicks and clacks within its throat was her answer. Answering in a language she did not understand. She rumbled and slammed the drone to the ground, lifting up her forehooves she stood up and smashed the prone changeling.

Her hooves demolished the chest and neck of the quadraped insect, a horrifying crunch of external bones and a swath of black ichorous blood splattered over her chest, neck, and face.

Gleaming Shield breathed heavily, she let some of her pent up aggression release but hate still burned fervently in her heart. She looked over to Cherry who sobbed quietly.

Bringing herself out of her rage she breathed calmly and flicked the black blood off of her. She stepped over the corpse of the changeling and asked in a soothing and welcoming tone, "Are you alright Ch-miss?"

She did not want a reunion, especially with how it ended with Cherry Blossom. Cherry looked up from her hooves and then looked to the changeling. She curled up, she was clearly disgusted with herself as she answered, "No...no I am not."

Gleaming Shield sighed at this display and decided to fix the situation. She stepped forward, hesitantly and slowly like one would approach a wounded deer. She leaned in, feeling some of the steam rolling off of the frightened mare. She whispered soothingly, "It is not your fault. You need not know what it was. But you do not need to hide, darling."

Cherry unfolded herself slightly, her bright green eyes and gentle maroon mane and tail made even Gleaming Shield shiver in her hooves. She leaned closer, breaking boundaries and huskily whispering into her ear, "You were close weren't you? I can help you relieve that confusing energy."

Cherry pondered the offer but after a few looks, even she could not resist the curse that bore itself on Gleaming Shield. She turned towards Gleaming Shield and opened up more, her hooves falling to her side. Gleaming Shield took the sign and smiled, "That's a good little filly."

She repeated the actions of the changeling, her's however was slower and more deliberate. She moaned softly as she pulled tufts of her fur in her teeth. Cherry croaked, uncontrollably by Gleaming Shield's expert lips and tongue. Drawing closer and closer to the mare's flower. A smile on her lips as she was near the puffy lips, another to fall victim to her. At least she was not faking the love she projected, a little coax to get the soft creamy center. The feeling of being in complete power over another pony, was exhilarating. There was no hesitation as she relentlessly attacked Cherry's flower.

"I don't know anything! I swear!" Cried the drone, straining and writhing under Gleaming's hoof around its wind pipe. She pressed harder on its neck and held her mouth with anger and hatred. The floorboards creaking and cracking under the pressure. She held unworldly strength when she had to and she was even surprising herself with the amount of strength that boiled inside of her.

She threatened as she pressed harder, nearly collapsing its windpipe, "Is your loyalty so important that you would forfeit your life for a petty and evil queen?"

Her hoof felt dampened by the green ichorous blood that oozed out of the wound under its chin. Sweat glistened off of the chitin exo skeleton. The steam room near the barracks, this was her interrogation chamber apparently. The drone writhed, as it did Gleaming looked at it.

This one appeared more slender and held more characteristics of a pony. Feminine curves sloped over her hips and was accented by long slender legs. She held features more befitting that of a noble lady of Canterlot. Her chitin as well was less identifiable as that as it held a certain soft quality to it. Like stiffened silk. Gleaming let a cruel smile crawl over her lips as she cooed, "Oh...am I in the presence of the future queen? Am I in the presence of insect royalty?"

She offered no answer and would not connect her gaze, she held a stare befitting one who has accepted their inevitable fate and was waiting for the end to draw near. Her fearful emerald eyes connected to the ground. She closed her eyes and coughed as Gleaming leaned in, "This is almost too sweet...Mmm...sneak out of the house to defy your mother?"

She paused in her careful whispers and lifted her hoof off of the princess' throat. She coughed violently and curled protectively, folding her hind legs in and clutching her throat to ease the pain. Gleaming purred like a cat as she analyzed the injured drone at her hooves. Eating up the delectable princess with her eyes. There is more than one way to send a message to your enemies.

Heavily exaggerating her hoof steps she purred, "So, you left to see what Equestria was really like? Tired of that life of isolation and decided to not only disobey your mother but also to make her proud by finding a way to infiltrate the den of your mother's enemies?"

It looked with tearful eyes and sputtered in fear, "I...no...I never-"

Her words were cut off as gleaming pulled on the drone's legs and pulled her closer to her, just underneath her. Gleaming Shield leaned in, the drone pressing her head and face back away from Gleaming's as she whispered, "What's your name, deary?"

She squirmed as Gleaming Shield kept herself leaned in close, her breath softly striking her cheeks. She choked, "A-Au-Aurelis..."

"Aurelis," Gleaming Shield lowered her hooves unto her chest and softly straddled the young drone. Pressing her thighs together, sandwiching her soft curves in her own she ensured her escape was futile. Gleaming Shield cooed, "What a beautiful name..."

Bringing out her tongue she gently licked the soft silk chitin of her cheek near the corner of her mouth. She shivered and quavered underneath her. As her tongue gently caressed the pseudo skin, Aurelis writhed and thrashed against Gleaming Shield. She cried out, "No! No please! No..."

Gleaming Shield grabbed hold of her wildly throwing hooves, and pressed them agains the floor. Using her magic she chained her hooves to the floor and grabbed her cheeks and turned her gaze towards her. For face was very pointed yet held soft curves and gentle strikes as well. Very jarring, but none the less desirable.

She leaned into Aurelis' lips and whispered, "I know that it is not your fault for being born under Queen Chrysalis. But...I need to send a message to her. Telling her to stay off of my hunting grounds."

She gently pecked the pair of obsidian lips, she tried to pull back but felt her head press against the ground with no escape. Her lips were dry and lifeless, something that she would change sooner or later. She plunged in and forced her mouth open with her tongue, wetting her lips in the process and gently gliding her tongue over Aurelis'. She squirmed and despite her disability to move, she writhed and squealed in resistance. Her mouth was like silk and everything about her was soft, even her submissive personality.

Gleaming broke the kiss and a string of saliva connecting their mouths she arched her back and lied on top of her and gently squeezed her thighs against the princess. A moan escaping Aurelis' tainted lips, no resistance in her moan. Gleaming Shield's damp lower lips slid gently against Aurelis' pelvis and eventually found Aurelis' own. She gently rubbed them together, eliciting a surprised squeal from Aurelis. A loss for words and breathing heavily Gleaming Shield smiled deviously and whispered as she ground against Aurelis' soft lower lips, "And what better way than to deflower her pride and joy?"

Fear erupted in the drone princess and she cried, "What!? No! Please! Please don't! I can't-"

"Shh," She gently pecked Aurelis' lips and her neck as she continued, "Just let it happen."

Slowly, she began to grind her marehood against Aurelis' own. Every thrust was reverberated by a quiet wet smack. She she quickly found a rhythm, Aurelis shook her head and strained against the bonds, "No...no please...no...please...please stop...no...I...beg...I beg of you...no...please..."

Author's Notes:

Sorry no sex guys, well at least not a lot as it is currently now unavoidable for Gleaming Shield. But, we will return to your regularly scheduled clop after this chapter, I promise. And hey, sets up a possible confrontation with Chrysalis maybe....you'll have to wait and find out.