In the grounds of the castle in Canterlot, thousands of the Shadow Knights stood in formation, waiting for their king to arrive for an important announcement. Lucifer walked out on the balcony, his soldiers saluting to him in his presence.

"My loyal soldiers!" he said, using his magic to enhance his voice to reach out to them. "For many years, you have all served me, and after fifteen long years, the alicorn who threatens me has been slain! Now that Equestria falls under my rule, and my coward of an enemy has been vanquished, I believe now is the time to show the world just how powerful we are!" Many of the Shadow Knights cheered, the majority being the young and reckless delinquents while the seniors who were forced to convert themselves from Celestia and Luna's royal guard were greatly worried. "For so many years, our kingdom had been attacked by those who wished to destroy this kingdom, making our species considered weak to the eyes of other races across the globe. This changes now.

"Your princesses had stood idly by, doing nothing to stop the most dangerous of threats with their own power. Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, the changelings, just to name a few who almost succeeded, only to fall at the last moment by mystical artifacts, or last minute aid from another. Celestia was a false goddess, claiming to be more powerful than any of you, your fears only subjugated by what your eyes saw of her figure, not her strength. I, on the other hoof, can prove I have that strength, and will make this kingdom known as the most powerful nation in the world!

"Griffons, minotaurs, zebras, yaks, every single creature with a mind will know we ponies are not pushovers! A grand war will be told in history books, where we shall be victorious, Equestria as a kingdom that holds more power than any other! We do not need alicorns to scare our foes, for they are strong in appearance, not in power! We Equestrians will be known as the master race! WE ARE ALL POWERFUL!"

The soldiers cheered, pumped up for the war they will soon attend. With his little speech given, Lucifer made his way back inside, chuckling maniacally as he made his way to the throne room.

"Fools," he said to himself. "We will go to war, but they'll die before they even reach the walls of the rival kingdoms. Nothing but scapegoats for me to easily eradicate anything that will stand in my way." Behind him, "Zero" teleported in the throne room, bowing to the king as he turned to face the mercenary. "Ah, Zero. Glad you arrived. I'm sure you've heard the news."

"Yes, Your Highness. I'm sure you excited your soldiers to the world war you'll start." Shining sneered under his visor, already well aware of Lucifer's future ploys and having warned the other kingdoms beforehand. "Though, I do have some unfortunate news about the battle against the Resistance around Cloudsdale. Many had either become imprisoned or slain, no casualties on the enemy's side."

"Hmph. Let those Resistance fools believe they won the fight," Lucifer said, not worried in the slightest. "Their little coup won't do much if they plan to take me down. I'm practically invincible with my magic. And with that alicorn brat dead, nothing can stop me."

The throne doors opened as a Shadow Knight barged in, though he looked like he had been in a war and barely survived an ambush by the skin of his teeth. "King Lucifer, your grace!" He limped toward the confused unicorn, tripping over his hooves. He saluted to his king, trying to avoid wincing from the pain he was in. "We have a big problem!"

"What is it?" Lucifer asked.

"It was horrible!" the soldier exclaimed. "Those Resistance soldiers were ruthless! They killed many of my platoon, and I was lucky to make it out alive! It was awful. One of those griffons...he was blind! Yet he was able to see everything around him, even slashing through flying arrows in the blink of an eye!"

"...A blind griffon?...Interesting." Lucifer was intrigued by a handicapped griffon who was able to take out many of his weaker soldiers sent to find the Resistance. "...But, Zero, you just said to me earlier that there were no survivors."

"Zero!?" the injured soldier shouted, speaking out before Shining could. "You actually ordered this lazy servant of yours to help us!? He was nowhere on the battlefield!"

"He was ordered to monitor the fight without assisting you." Lucifer's horn glowed, causing dark chains to pop up from a dark void beneath the soldier, tying the frightened stallion down as he was moments away from being murdered. "Don't you dare question the loyalty of my hired hoof."

"W-Wait, don't kill me, please!" he begged. "There's something else you should know that Zero might not have given in his report!"

"Then speak!" Lucifer ordered, summoning an ethereal blade, holding it up to the soldier's neck.

"The alicorn is still alive!" He winced, waiting for his life to end as he winced in fear.

Lucifer's eyes widened, highly confused as his anger began to boil, while Shining Armor worried for the safety of his nephew. "...What did you just say?"

"The alicorn...I saw him escape on the train the night the battle against the Resistance began back in Cloudsdale." Lucifer slowly moved the blade away from the soldier, loosening the chains around him. "He and two other mares escaped with him, headed south. I don't know exactly where, but then I got attacked by that blind griffon, knocked unconscious."

"...And you are speaking the truth? This is not a joke?" the king asked.

"I would never lie to you, my king," the soldier said, bowing before him.

The room was silent, Lucifer slowly turning his gaze to his loyal mercenary, the injured soldier trembling in fright, and Shining Armor panicking on the inside. "...Zero? You confirmed that the alicorn had been crushed along with his entourage in Saddle Arabia..."

"...He might have teleported out at the last minute," Shining said, though his lie wasn't believable. "I searched the rubble and didn't see his body. I thought he was crushed by a heavy piece of the temple I couldn't move with my magic, and he tricked me."

"He would have done so when we trapped him, Discord, and those mares long before we knew he was in there..." Lucifer immediately began to doubt the stallion, becoming suspicious of Zero's actions this past month. "...And you were on leave far longer than planned a couple weeks ago..."

More silence. Lucifer stared down Shining Armor, his magic creating his ethereal katana, held firmly in its aura sheath. The unicorn pulled out the sword, a quick flurry of slashes hacking through the air at blinding speeds, the weapon out of its sheath as the other two stallions were silent. Slowly, Lucifer re-sheathed his blade, Shining's outfit falling apart as the katana was back in place, revealing himself under his broken armor.

"...Ponyfeathers," was all Shining Armor could say in that moment.

He finally reacted, summoning his crystal spear and thrust it at Lucifer, only for the tyrant to slash through the tough mineral weapon, shattering it to pieces. Before Shining Armor could teleport away, Lucifer was far faster, shooting a beam of darkness directly at his horn, nullifying his use of magic as dark crystals formed on his horn. Distracted by the backlash of his sealed magic casting, Lucifer trapped the stallion's limbs with dark chains, keeping the ex-royal guard captain from fleeing.

"...Shining Armor..." The unicorn king approached the bound stallion, green mist began to seep out of his eyes as his anger grew dangerously intense. "...How have I been so blind?"

"Heh...You were too paranoid," Shining answered. "I'm surprised you didn't find me out the first time you met 'Zero' a decade ago. Too frightened about your mortal foe to even bother realizing I had been a spy all this time."

Lucifer jabbed Shining hard in the chest with the pommel of his favored magical weapon, knocking the wind out of the older stallion. "You have no right to mock me! You were a fool to even stay longer than you should have!...I even gave you my life story that led me to who I am..." His aura grew out of control as he growled, summoning thousands of blades around Shining Armor. "I should kill you a thousandfold for humiliating me!"

"Go ahead then," the captive unicorn said, not afraid of the magical blades ready to run through him. "By now, Solaris has already finished his final test, and is ready to take you down."

"Tests!? What tests!?" Lucifer moved the blades closer to Shining's neck, the sharp blades threatening to chop his head off.

"You really are blind, aren't you?" Lucifer's eyes began glowing red as the mist flowed out dangerously, his growls turning demonic. "You didn't even notice what he was wearing back in Saddle Arabia? He's been busy going through specific trials, created by my sister, to test his power to prove he can beat you. I happened to be one of them who gave him one of these tests. He was able to win against me, an experienced veteran of the royal guard and youngest stallion who became captain of the royal guard. You won't stand any chance against him when he arrives in Canterlot, confronts you, and ends you."

Lucifer was about to end Shining Armor's life, but he stopped as he noticed something else strewn about the pieces of the stallion's armor beneath him. His eyes turned back to normal as he noticed what seemed to look like shredded remains of a photo. Ignoring the chained unicorn and the injured, and now surprised, Shadow Knight, Lucifer levitated each piece and began putting them together like a difficult puzzle.

Taking his time, he began to form most of the picture, so far looking at Shining Armor with his wife, Cadence, his sister, Twilight, and their parents, all of them smiling for the camera. Unfortunately, there was one part that was missing, and it was between the lavender alicorn and her older brother. The captive unicorn's eyes widened, having forgotten he kept that picture hidden in his disguise when he wanted to reminisce on the photo's moment while out doing his duty as Zero while no one else was around.

Lucifer found the remaining pieces, putting them together to show Spike with an alicorn foal sitting on the dragon's head. His eyes widened in shock, the colt in the small part of the picture having the same coat, hair, and eye color as his enemy. He connected the last piece, now seeing the picture as a whole, looking at the whole family. He began to grin, laughing to himself as he figured out the connection between Solaris and Shining's shocked expression.

"Well, well, well," Lucifer said, slowly turning the photo around to show the stallion. "...This child must be your nephew...Am I right?" Shining was speechless, wincing as he had made a horrible mistake keeping that picture. "I am...You couldn't have had a foal if you were busy trying to stop me, depressed and dead set on getting vengeance to care about continuing your bloodline and settling down with me around...You really should have done the latter, Crystal Prince."

"...Just kill me and get it over with." Shining lowered his head, cursing to himself for being careless. "It's already too late for you. You'll never win."

"Oh. I'm not going to kill you, Shining Armor." The unicorn looked up in confusion, his eyes widening as he saw the manic glee in the tyrant's eyes, wielding a large ethereal hammer. "I've got something else in mind for you. But first..."

The chains suddenly pulled Shining's front half down, holding his forelegs out straight along the floor. The moment he tried to pull away, Lucifer slammed the hammer down hard on his legs, making him scream out in pain as they were crushed by the heavy aura weapon. The chains disappeared as the dark unicorn king watched Shining writhe in agony, unable to move his forelegs from the bone crushing hammer. He turned to the soldier, who was completely silent as he watched the identity of Zero discovered up to the agonizing groans of pain coming from the ex-royal guard.

"Get to some medics to heal your wounds, and tell them to put his legs in casts," he commanded. "I don't want him dead yet. I just don't want him to try and escape through brute force." The soldier saluted and hurried off to find the medics while Lucifer stood over the broken stallion. "We'll see just who will defeat whom when your nephew decides to confront me. Then, as he falls by your inconsideration to stay safe, being the only family he has left, you will watch me kill him, very...very...slowly."

Lucifer laughed maniacally while Shining slowly began to pass out from the pain, a lone tear rolling down his face as he knew exactly what the king had planned to keep him alive for.

Solaris explained what had happened to him to Chrysalis, after they laid Trill down in her bed from her lack of sleep last night. It was surprising for the queen to hear about a plane of existence only available to alicorns that can see every moment from every living being's life, growing curious as to what it looks like and what it can see.

"...And you aren't miserable anymore after hearing a heartfelt speech from your mother, from a recorded crystal, snapping you away from your mental breakdown by her words from the past?" she asked the teen, having taken off his armor due to his aching chest. Solaris nodded, making Chrysalis groan. "...Whatever. It worked, at least. Your brain is somewhat stable, but your body isn't. Let's just hope you find some sort of plan that can get you into the castle."

"Wait. What plan?" Solaris asked.

"Well, what were you expecting!?" Chrysalis exclaimed. "Do you really think you'll just waltz right on in without getting involved with his guards? 'Oh hello! Don't mind me! Future ruler of Equestria ready to take down your boss! I'll make my way to him! No need to escort me!' Use your brain, foal!"

"...Oh...I never really thought of that." Solaris scratched his head, unable to think of anything at the moment. "I was too busy worrying and fleeing to different parts of Equestria just to pass my trials...Do you have any ideas?"

Chrysalis sighed after a moment of silence. "Maybe...but, considering this is your fight, you'll have to make up the plans. You have an inherited IQ passed down from your mother, so start thinking while you rest up." She began heading down the halls, stopping for a moment to look back at the alicorn. "Though, admittedly, Lucifer is everypony's problem, including my kingdom...I think it's time we did something instead of cowered in fear, knowing we have you."

"You really believe I can truly stop him?" he asked.

"No...but Trill does. We won't know what'll happen unless we do something soon." Chrysalis continued on her way, leaving Solaris to himself.

He didn't feel like laying down and resting until his wounds healed, feeling too anxious to sit down and wait. Solaris decided to get a better look around the changeling hive, since he was no longer a prisoner and free to wander around. Hopefully, none of the changelings would glare at him if he passed by, especially after he broke out of his cell, knocked out a couple of the guards, and threatened to kill a hatchling using his fire.

As his unfortunate luck would have it, he ended up bumping into the changeling soldier the other day, the same one who's daughter the alicorn threatened to burn. He heard a tiny squeak of fear, and the filly hatchling was hiding behind her father's hind legs. Solaris cursed to himself, not wanting to remember the heartless act he did just to keep from getting captured again.

"Uhh...Sorry. Just...a little lost," the alicorn said, trying to spark some conversation to steer them away from yesterday.

"You are lucky my queen has decided to keep you around," the spiteful changeling said. "Even if you're this hero all of us were supposed to be aware of for the last fifteen years, I will gladly look past that and kill you after what you've done to my daughter. She has been so terrified of you that she can't go anywhere without me keeping an eye on her."

"...I'm sorry...I wasn't really going to hurt her. I was outnumbered, and I-" The soldier aimed his horn and began to charge a spell, stopping Solaris's apology as he backed away.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses. Leave us." Not wanting to get in another conflict, and risk worsening his injuries, Solaris heeded his warning and walked away.

Solaris looked back at them, feeling bad he had greatly traumatized the poor filly. He needed to make up for his actions, immediately perking up as he had an idea to help fix his mistake. He arrived back to the two a moment later, wearing the chaos pendant. The changeling hissed while his daughter hid behind him again.

"Before you yell at me or attempt to attack me, I just want to apologize and give your daughter a little something I know she'll like." The changeling kept his hateful gaze on the alicorn, but he heard Solaris out.

Given a chance, Solaris focused on the pendant, the golden figure of Discord glowing brightly. He summoned a pink cotton candy cloud, making sure it was filled to the brim with chocolate milk. The soldier stared at the randomly crafted cloud in confusion, while the filly watched in slight curiosity.

"What is that?" he asked.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's a cloud made of cotton candy, and it has chocolate milk inside it. I kinda discovered changelings like chocolate as a substitute to love from Trill...Though, is it supposed to be addictive to you guys?" Solaris asked, receiving a shake of the head from the soldier. "Then I guess it's just Trill..." He tore off a chunk of the cloud and took a bite, revealing the chocolate milk seeping out of the chunk of cottony sugar. "It's really good."

The hatchling began to sniff the air as the scent of chocolate reached her senses. Slowly, she approached Solaris as he gently lowered the bit of pink fluff to her level. She sniffed around the cotton candy for a moment, then decided to give it a small nibble. The instant her tiny fangs poked into the cloud, she squeaked when a burst of liquid hit her mouth, her taste buds exploding from the taste of chocolate. He tiny wings fluttered as she let out chirps of glee, taking the rest of the torn piece from the alicorn's hoof as she munched down on the delicious snack.

Seeing her daughter actually enjoy it, the father decided to try some himself, becoming surprised as he bit into his chunk. "Mmm...It is good."

"See?" Solaris crouched down to the content filly's height, looking at him with small bits of cotton candy on her face. "Can you forgive me for yesterday?"

She nipped his nose, making the alicorn yelp as she went to work on eating the rest of the cloud hovering above her, the soldier chuckling as he watched Solaris rub his snout. "I think that's a yes."

"Mrf," Solaris grumbled. "Do you teethe that much as soon as you're hatched?"

"Nope." Solaris sighed in annoyance, his ears perking up as he heard the sound of dozens of tiny wings flapping as they smelt the chocolate milk. The hatchlings spotted the alicorn, their gaze more set on him than the delectable treat the filly changeling was already snacking on. "And it looks like the others see you as a favorite uncle."

"Oh no." The other hatchlings shrieked as they flew at Solaris. "Not again!" The tiny group of changelings rammed into him as they swarmed and nibbled on him, making him yelp in pain as some of them pressed their hooves on his chest. "OW! Why do you bite me!? I'm not a gigantic chew toy!"

While Solaris was "attacked" by the hatchlings and the soldier laughed uproariously at the scene, another changeling ran around the corner in a panic. "Young ones! You can't be out of my sight like-" The changeling froze, its voice sounding feminine, watching them piled on the flailing alicorn beneath them. "...Umm...What is going on?"

"Oh, nothing," the snickering guard said. "They just 'love' our guest."

The two changelings just watched, doing nothing to save Solaris as he begged for help, not wanting to use his fire to scare them off him again.

In the changeling princess's royal bedchambers, Trill squirmed in her sleep, drool leaking out of her mouth and on her pillow. She began rolling over, slipping off her bed and waking up as she hit the ground.

"Nah! Falling!" She looked around, finding herself in her room, wiping off the drool on her cheek. "What happened? Why am I in my room?...Oh wait. I passed out." Trill sighed, rubbing her eyes, still feeling tired. "Solaris came back...But he is going to have to explain a lot to me about where he went, why he left, and beat him up for leaving and worrying me half to death."

The door to her room opened, looking in the direction to see who was checking on her. Her eyes widened, snorting a little as she struggled not to laugh at what she was seeing. Standing in front of her was Solaris, his body covered in little fang bites and bits of cotton candy stuck to his body, his eye twitching as his left ear was being held on by one of the changeling hatchlings, dangling off his ear like a large earring.

"Trill," Solaris said, wincing as he felt the foal's fangs digging deeper in his ear. "I think you need to tell me everything about your kind...Especially the part about the babies. I was told they bite you when they like you...I think they bite me because I'm not a changeling. And this little...I don't know what gender this one is, is really stuck on my ear!"

The princess giggled at her coltfriend's misfortune, walking up to him and tickled the foal's belly, making it let go of his ear. "They bite you because they're playing, and the have a liking to you. And you better scoot off to your parents, you little rascal." Trill shooed the hatchling, the colt flittering out of the room and back to its family. "Saves me the trouble of beating you up for running off on us...again."

"Trill, I was trying to tell you before your sleep-addled mind kept thinking slapping me in the face was going to give you answers," he said, rubbing his sore ear. "I wound up in some dimensional plane, through a hidden enchantment on my armor a while after losing Aunt Pinkie. I didn't leave by my own will. So before you yell at me, or hit me again, that is EXACTLY what happened."

"...Oh..." The teens were quiet, Solaris leering at his irritating marefriend while she tried to find an excuse to yell at him. "...Ok. I got nothing. You really didn't leave."

Solaris sighed, feeling more sore than ever, getting bitten by his new "cousins" only adding more small injuries that needed healing. "They even managed to get cotton candy on me after I have some to the filly I scared yesterday to apologize. Nopony even bothered to help me while I was swarmed by changeling foals." He looked down at himself, pulling off the ruined bandages around his chest. "Please tell me you have a bath or shower here. I need to get cleaned up."

"Well, we wouldn't have this hive made if we can't get any water. Follow me. I'll show you mine and mom's personal bathhouse." Trill lead Solaris down the hall to their bathroom. As soon as she opened the doors, the alicorn's jaw dropped at how big the room was. In the center of the large bathroom was a big tub, filled with warm water that flowed out from a statue of a previous changeling queen's mouth. Though the room was built out of obsidian and rock, it looked as elegant as any royal bathroom. "Here we are! Looks a lot better than your bathroom in that cave of yours."

"I'll say..." He was speechless, approaching the edge of the large tub and tested the water, feeling the steam hit his hoof before he touched the warm water.

"We changelings aren't savages, or sexual deviants. We like to keep ourselves clean." Trill walked into the tub, sighing in relief as the warm water enveloped her.

Solaris climbed in after her, the warmth soothing his tired and aching body. He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling some of the stress he had gone through for the past month melt away. A moment had passed with the two in blissful silence, Trill slowly waded behind her coltfriend and began massaging his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Solaris asked, though he wasn't complaining.

"Just helping you relax a bit more." She continued massaging him, making him relax further and give out pleasant moans. She soon wrapped her hooves around him, peppering his neck with soft kisses, feeling his body shiver under her ministrations. "You're always so tense. It's nice to see you be calm and actual enjoy yourself."

"Mhmm," he mumbled, feeling Trill's lips brush against his shoulder. "Just don't nip me. I've had enough bites to last me a lifetime."

The changeling giggled, ignoring his request and moved her head up, taking one of his ears in her mouth and nibbled on it. Solaris groaned, questioning why he bothered to tell her not to do something when she's just going to do the exact opposite. She let go of his flicking ear, resting her head against his shoulder as she nuzzled him. Distracted by nuzzling him, Solaris smirked, grabbing Trill and flipped her over his shoulder, sending her splashing into the water with a yelp. She poked her head up from the water, leering at the stallion as he grinned.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"That was for biting my ear," he said, sticking his tongue out at the princess.

"Oh...So you wanna play that game, eh?" Trill pounced Solaris, and the two began to wrestle with each other, splashing water around them.

It was a one-sided battle; Solaris was far stronger and kept flipping Trill into the water, while the changeling kept lunging at him and failed to even bring his head down in the water every time. Their playful struggled ended with the mare flailing her forehooves to try to grab him while the alicorn held her back a foreleg's length away.

"You give up?" he asked, watching as Trill panted heavily, completely soaked and exhausted.

"...Yes..." The moment she stopped flailing, Solaris moved his hoof away, making her yelp as she hit the water again. He sat back near the edge of the tub, watching the changeling crawl toward him, glaring intensely as she sat in his lap. "You don't even give me a chance."

"I did a few times. You just didn't have enough leverage to knock me down." He grabbed one of her forelegs, looking through one of the holes at her. "Sweep your opponents legs, and they'll come tumbling down."

"Then what if somepony has beefy legs? That's impossible." Trill tried to pull her leg back, but Solaris kept a firm grip on her hoof.

"You just need to hit the right spots to turn a towering behemoth into a crumbled heap," he said, pulling Trill closer and kissed her. Slightly surprised, she kissed him back, eyes closing and pressing closer to him, her hoof set free as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Solaris pulled away, making her whimper. "Even turning you into a whimpering, needy mess with a kiss."

"S-Shut up." Trill looked away, blushing heavily. "Is this who you are when you're not miserable? Poking fun at me and being a tease? That's my job."

"Just giving you a test of your own medicine. Payback is oh so sweet." He kissed her cheek, receiving a splash of water to his face.

"Well, there's one thing I can do to get back at you. But you wouldn't want it, considering where we are right now." Trill grinned, rubbing her tail along Solaris's inner thighs. He blushed, feeling it brush dangerously close to his pelvis while also realizing her little ploy. "That's right. Every single changeling in the hive, including my mom, will feel the love YOU will give off when we go nuts, and instantly swarm us. If kissing me was strong enough to catch everypony's attention, imagine how powerful it is when we have sex. Romantic, erotic, LOVING sex..."

Solaris shoved Trill off him, pushing her into the water and quickly getting out, shaking himself dry. "Nope! That's not happening! Nuh uh! Do NOT want an audience!" He quickly ran out of the bathroom, hearing the princess laugh as he headed into her room.

As it grew late in the evening, Solaris pouted as he sat on Trill's bed, still fuming at his marefriend's little joke from their bath. The changeling sat behind him, dressing his bruised chest with new bandages. His burnt forelegs were healing quickly, his affinity with fire lessening the first degree burns he had received, even though they should have been worse. After finishing dressing his injury, Trill plopped down on a pillow in front of him, winking at him.

"So, what was it you said earlier about payback?" she mocked.

Solaris said nothing, grabbing her hind legs and pulling her closer to him. Trill's forelegs were curled up against her chest, pretending to be scared as the alicorn crawled over her, pressing his weight down on top of her. He leaned his face closer to hers, getting a quick kiss on the nose from the changeling.

"You drive me crazy," Solaris said.

"And that's a good thing." Trill patted his head. "You need that crazy to get rid of that serious attitude of yours."

"I would also like it if you put your brain in your skull every now and then." Solaris poked her forehead. "You need to seriously think about the consequences some of your actions take, even life-threatening ones where I would live and you get yourself killed for no reason."

Trill's grin melted into a frown, her playfulness quickly turned into sadness. She buried her face in his chest, being careful not to disturb his bruises.

"...I thought you were gonna die..." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she pulled him closer. Solaris was forced to lay down next to Trill, feeling the mare tremble. "That other you...Nova...He was winning..." She sobbed, the fight between Solaris and his evil self haunting her as she could only watch him lose, being powerless to do anything to help him. "He was going to kill you. I was so scared...I thought I was gonna lose you..."

Solaris held her tightly as she cried. Even he thought he was a goner after getting struck by Nova's dark flames, but he did survive. He would have lost if his evil persona hadn't drove his anger over the edge, threatening to hurt Trill and abuse his power if he did end up winning and taking Lucifer down. He was worried about losing her, and that fear was what drove him to claiming victory against his darkness.

"Trill?" She pulled herself away from his chest, looking up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. Solaris wiped them away with his hoof, staring deeply into her emerald eyes. "I know you worry about me, but I'm more worried about your safety. I can defend myself, and now I have armor to fully protect me. Last I checked, you were barely able to beat me when we first met, and you had a preemptive advantage sneaking up on me."

"B-But-" Trill was immediately silenced, her lips locked in a deep kiss as Solaris pulled her close to him, gently caressing her cheek.

Her eyes closed as she kissed him back, moaning into his mouth as her limbs wrapped around his body. Any protests she had wanted to say were quickly forgotten. She parted her lips, feeling his tongue slowly enter her maw, their kiss deepening as their slick organs wrestled one another, the alicorn's easily dominating hers. Her body shivered in delight, horn glowing brightly as she felt and tasted his love. Solaris gently pulled away, leaving a thin trail of saliva from their lips as he parted.

Trill opened her eyes, gazing at him with need, the alicorn gently rolling back on top of her. "No buts," he said, giving her a light peck on the lips. "You, my family, everypony who's helped me so far...You've done a lot for me to get me this far. Now, it's my turn to repay you all in kind. You won't lose me. Not if I still draw breath."

"...S-Solly..." The changeling smiled, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at her lover. "That was so corny..."

"Yeah. Kinda had some inspiration from some romance novels I read when I was little," Solaris chuckled, rubbing his nose against Trill's. "But I am serious. I know now I can do this. You believe in me, right?"

"Mhmm," Trill nodded. Solaris lowered his head, gently pressing his lips against her neck, making the changeling chirp in bliss. "Solly?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled, hearing her sigh as he softly kissed her neck.

"I love you...so much," she said, flinching a little as she felt her tail being wrapped up by Solaris's.

"I love you too." He moved his lips up back to hers, kissing her again, deeply and filled with passion, both teens moaning as their bodies rubbed against each other's.

Outside the princess's room, Chrysalis walked down the halls of her castle to rest in her room for the evening, only to stop when she felt love energy come from her daughter's room. She pressed her ear against the door, hearing their moans as well as the soft creaking coming from Trill's bed. She knew exactly what was going on in there, and as much as she wanted to stop them, she couldn't.

Chrysalis sighed, trying her hardest to ignored the succulent energy leaking out in the princess's room as she entered her chambers. "I'll let him have this little...moment with Trill. It might be his last if he doesn't make it out of this alive." She climbed into her bed and stared at the ceiling, her ears twitching slightly. "...And I hate myself for saying this, but he kind of is handsome. Almost like Shining Armor..." The queen soon groaned, growing anxious as to what will come as soon as Solaris was fully healed. "I can't believe I'm putting all of my subjects' faith in his hooves...but, he can do this...He proved it by defeating himself...Though, it's going to be much more difficult against...Lucifer..."

She rolled onto her side and pulled the covers over her. The epic showdown between the unicorn king and the alicorn prince will be upon the kingdom, and it's unknown who will be victorious in the clash of darkness versus light.