Queen Chrysalis had been searching for a new source of food for her hive of Changelings. Changelings were magical creatures that could shape-shift into the form of anypony or anything, and their nourishment was love. Chrysalis had found that Equestria had more love than anywhere else in the world. Taking the form of a pony citizen, she had infiltrated the capital city of Canterlot and breached the highest levels of royal security.

She attended the Canterlot Hearts and Hooves Social. She watched as the grand birthday cake was bought out for Princess Cadenza. Chrysalis could have easily snatched the cake knife and, with a well-placed leap, cut down Princess Celestia in that very moment. But assassination of the nation's matriarch was not her plan.

Not yet, anyway.

No. The queen was deep undercover on covert reconnaissance. It was a military procedure called probing. Nopony could be hurt, and that was the getaway. She was there, not to engage, no, but to observe and evaluate the situation, evaluate the level of danger, and to make sure things were all clear... for the rest of them.

Her timing was not by accident. She had taken great care and planning to have insinuated herself among them in time for the Hearts and Hooves Day celebration, when the love in the air would be at its most potent. In the coming year's time, her hive would accompany her among the population and feed like locusts until every drop of love had been consumed, leaving behind only the empty husks that once called themselves ponies.

But what the queen did not anticipate was the surprise marriage proposal to the 'Princess of Love' by her bodyguard, Captain Shining Armor. The amount of love that was radiating off of the young alicorn was almost overpowering.

In that moment, Chrysalis's plan changed.

The target for the hive would no longer be the diffuse integration into Equestria at large. For Chrysalis, her personal mission became a singular pony: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

The plan was simple:
1. Eliminate Cadance's bodyguard and take his form.
2. Feed on the potent love of the Princess until Chrysalis was powerful enough to eliminate her, as well as the two elder alicorns.
3. As the sole remaining 'prince', she would have absolute control of the nation's defenses. The rest of the hive would be able to infiltrate with ease.

In the following days Chrysalis watched the newly-engaged couple and waited for the perfect time to strike. For the many, many vices that she indulged in, one virtue that she prided herself on was patience.

"So that's all of the invitations for the Canterlot V.I.P.'s, and my bride's maids," Cadance said, sitting beside Princess Celestia at the large table in the castle's meeting room. "Now we just need to send out the invitations for your side of the family," Cadance said to Shining Armor, sitting across from them. "One for your parents, one for each of your uncles, their father, and Velvet's parents." She filled out the invitations and passed them to Shining to sign. "Oh, and Twilight Sparkle of course!"

Shining's ear twitched so hard it nearly ripped itself from his head.

Oh fuck.

After everything that had happened since Princess Luna had set him on the path to propose to Cadance, he had completely forgotten about his promise to resolve things with his sister. He needed an opportunity to speak with her about everything between them before she found out about the wedding.

"This seems like the sort of thing that I should t-tell her in p-person," Shining said, a bit nervous as he tried to angle for an opportunity to go to Ponyville alone. "Otherwise it'll be quite a shock to her."

"That's true," Celestia agreed.

"It might also help if you made her your Best Mare," Cadance suggested. "Since you still have yet to pick one."

"She would be very good at helping to organize the wedding," Celestia added. "We could invite her Ponyville friends as well," Celestia advised. "We could use all the help we can get with planning this royal wedding. And they've proven to be very capable with handling far-greater challenges."

"They each have useful specialties," Celestia continued. "Rarity's talent as a seamstress could make the most beautiful wedding dress. Pinkie Pie could plan the reception party, and Applejack could cater it. I'm sure Fluttershy could organize a choir of singing birds. And Rainbow Dash..." Celestia tapped her chin with her hoof, considering what to do with the brash pegasus. "Hopefully Ms. Dash can remain perfectly still and not break anything with this visit to Canterlot."

"Wasn't she the one that did the Sonic Rainboom last year at the Cloudsdale competition?" Shining asked.

"Oh, I remember that!" Cadance said. "We could see that all the way from here!"

"You should ask if she can do that at our wedding!" Shining said with coltish glee. Celestia sighed. She could already see the stacks of monetary claims rolling in from the Canterlot citizens for the resulting broken windows.

"Please?" Cadance begged. Celestia rolled her eyes and added it to the letter to accompany Twilight's invitation.

"Ooh, we should tell Spike he can plan the bachelor party," Shining said with a chuckle. "You know, like as a joke. He probably doesn't even know what a bachelor party is."

"Speaking of," Cadance said.

"What?" Shining asked. Cadance waited. His eyes lit with understanding. "Oh, no-nono, I wasn't planning on actually having one," he said, looking back and forth between her and Celestia. "I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard. I could never do something like that." Celestia just smirked. Cadance tried to pretend that she didn't care.

"I'll get these sent out," Celestia said, breaking the tension. "I'll hold off on sending Twilight's directly until after you get a chance to speak to her. As for tonight, you two love birds head home... And stay out of trouble! Especially you mister!" She said to Shining with a teasing scold, then she bid them each a pleasant evening as they left.

Shining gave Cadance's shoulder a nudge. "It's you she should be worried about," he said.

"Oh, you know it," she agreed.

Back at Cadance's villa, Shining opened the door to let her into the house. Behind them, a pegasus chariot landed in front of the house.

"Captain!" the two pegasi called to him. He turned to face them.

"What is it?" Shining asked.

"You have to come with us to the barracks!" Sergeant Aegis said.

"It's an emergency!" Lieutenant Sea Cay said.

"What kind of emergency would need me?" Shining asked as he walked to them.

"Uh, a threat has been made against Canterlot!" Aegis said.

"Wha- the whole city!?" Shining said.

"Uh, yeah," Sea Cay said. "And so we needed to come get you right away!"

"We were sent by Princess Celestia herself!" Aegis said.

"Oh no! Cadance, stay here!" Shining yelled as he ran to clamor into the chariot. "This is it! The day I've always feared! Let's go!" he commanded. Cadance watched them fly away with her fiance. A third pegasus guard followed after them.

"So what's the situation? What was the nature of the threat?" Shining asked as they flew across the city. "Do I need to cast a giant magical shield to surround the entire city? If I did that, I'd have to stay in Canterlot, and I really, really need to be in Ponyville tomorrow! I can not overstate how important it is to me!"

"What? No!" Aegis said. "Maintaining a giant, city-wide, magic shield would be an incredibly contrived reason to prevent you from going to Ponyville."

"Okay. So tell me about the threat!" Shining demanded.

"The threat?"

"Against the city!?" Shining asked, getting impatient.

"Oh, uh, yeah, the city is going to lose somepony important," Aegis said. "They're going to be taken away and held hostage!"

"Who?" Shining asked as the chariot landed near a gathering of other Royal Guards in the city streets.

"You!" Sea Cay said. "Somepony is threatening to take our Captain away in bonds!" The two pegasi unhitched themselves from the chariot as the other guards approached them. "In the bonds of matrimony!"

"Wha-?" Shining looked up at the building where they had landed. The neon lights on the front of the building read 'The Rut Hut'. He realized then that they were in the red light district.

"We need to save the Captain!" Sea Cay said to the other guards, there for the bachelor party.

"Oh no-nonono-NO!" Shining said, trying to get away.

"Get him!" one of the guards shouted. Shining was immediately tackled by several of his squad-mates and fitted with a magic inhibition ring while they held him down. He was powerless to stop them from tying him to a chair and carrying him inside the seedy club. They set him down in front of the main stage in the club where mares would shake their tails for bits.

"Hey, New Guy," Sea Cay said to the pegasus Private in the group. "Keep an eye on him while we go get drinks at the bar!"

"Yes sir," he said, sitting in the chair beside Shining. On the other side of him was a dull-looking earth pony mare. She had dull-grey fur under her dull-blue flock, and a dull-lavender mane. She paid no attention to the stallion beside her. She was preoccupied with her conversation with the azure-blue unicorn up on the stage in front of them, shaking her silver tail.

"There aren't too many mares that come into a place like this," the mare on stage said.

"I'm like a geology hammer," the earth pony mare said in a flat monotone. "It has a blunt side, and a sharp, pick side. Both sides can be used. As such, the hammer, like myself, can swing both ways."

"Okay..."

"Maud," Maud said. "I was visiting Canterlot to explore the crystal formations that can be found in the caves under the city. The caves were once home to greedy unicorns who wanted to claim the gems that could be found inside. Most ponies have forgotten that the caves even exist. Geology is a passion of mine. I'm working on getting my Roctorate. How did you become a... 'dancer'?" Maud asked, using the most polite term she could manage.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is only doing this temporarily, until she has enough bits to replace her wagon that was destroyed by an Ursa Minor in Ponyville." Trixie said, speaking in the third person.

"My sister lives in Ponyville," she said.

"Mine too," Shining said. "Huh, small world?" Maud shrugged.

"Once Trixie has enough bits, she can get back onto a real stage and do magical feats of illusions instead of this stage and doing tricks," Trixie said, using the term in the pejorative sense.

"Rocks take on different properties when interacting with magic. With the right stone, you could rule all of Equestria. Some crystals even have innate magical properties. Many of them have been made into wearable amulets that can enhance a unicorn's power."

"Are you messing with Trixie?" Trixie asked. Maud shook her head.

"Such things are rare and expensive. But if you're looking for an... alternative income, you could always come work on my family's rock farm."

"Really?" Trixie asked. She nodded. "Anything would be better than this," Trixie said. "Trixie's shift ends in about an hour, then she can get your information."

"Trixie!" the club manager called out to her, "You have a bachelor party to do!"

"Ugh," Trixie groaned.

"Hey, I'm not thrilled to be here either," Shining said, still tied in the chair. Trixie noticed his restraints.

"I take it that you're the lucky stallion?" she said. He nodded.

"I assume your sister knows mine," Maud said. "Pinkie is friends with everypony in Ponyville. Whenever she visits home, she insists on telling me about all of them."

"Oh, so I guess she's mentioned Twilight Sparkle?" he asked. She nodded. Trixie's eyes lit up at the mention of her rival's name. She headed towards the champagne room.

"So, the lucky stallion is the brother of Twilight Sparkle!?" she thought to herself as a wicked grin spread across her face. "For once, Trixie will enjoy this." She put on her hat and cape and got her box of magic props for her special bachelor party routine.

Shining's squad-mates came back with their drinks and tied his mouth with a gag to silence his protests. They picked up his chair, with him tied to it, and carried him to the champagne room. The whole squad had pitched in. The weight of the bits in the bag they gave Trixie told her that they had ordered 'The Works'. Shining looked as the sign posted in the champagne room. It declared in bold letters: 'No Sex in the Champagne Room'. The used condoms on the floor told a different story. They closed the door behind him.

"Cum one, Cum all!" Trixie said to the snickering of the assembled horny stallions. "Cum and witness the amazing magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie!" She did a quick flourish with her cape. "Watch in awe, as The Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" The stallions in the room hooted and hollered. Except for the new Private, hanging back in the far corner. And of course, the one with the gag in his mouth.

"For her first trick, The Great and Powerful Trixie will need a volunteer from the audience!" Trixie said. Several of them raised their hooves. Her eyes scanned the relatively small room before they settled on the one stallion literally incapable of raising his hoof. "Ah, Trixie sees that she has a volunteer!" she said to Shining. "For this first amazing feat of magic, Trixie will need a magic wand. Watch in awe as she makes one magically appear right before your very eyes!"

Trixie began to dance and gyrate in front of Shining, turning and bringing her flank around to face him. She flagged her tail at him. It was heavy with her scent as she brushed it across his nose. Shining tried to pull his head back away but she followed him with her tail. She looked back at him.

"Are you ready to help give Trixie a magic wand?" she asked. He shook his head to the negative with aggression.

"C'mon, Cap! Enjoy it! It's the last time you can!" one of the guards teased, pushing on the back of his head. Trixie elicited a yelp, caught by surprise when she felt Shining's nose get pushed into her marehood. The others there laughed at the cute outburst. Shining's nose was wet with her nectar. Her scent was inescapable before, but now it was overpowering.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie... I need consent," Trixie said, dropping her character for a moment. "Legally."

"We are the law. We're not gonna arrest you," a guard said.

"And morally," Trixie said. Shining shook his head again.

"Fuck it! I'll take that dance then!" Lieutenant Sea Cay said. Grumbles came up from the others. He added bits to Trixie's bag. "I'll take that dance- first," he said. "Yeah, I'm pulling rank. You fuck-wits can fight over who goes next!" He pushed the Captain aside and sat in the chair next to Shining. Trixie huffed in disappointment that she would not be able to rub this night in Twilight Sparkle's nose the next time she saw her. But there was too much money on the table for her to object. Trixie shifted over to the other stallion and shook her flank in his face. She brought her free hoof back and gently massaged his balls and teased his sheath.

"Ah, here we go," Trixie said, switching up to stroke his shaft directly, serving to stimulate him further. He was at an impressive full mast in no time. Trixie turned back around and knelt in front of him, taking his shaft in her hooves, idly stroking it. "And for her next trick, The Great and Powerful Trixie will make this magic wand... disappear!" She licked her lips and opened her mouth, stuffing the tip of his dick in. She stood up and leaned over a bit more to line up her throat as she pushed herself further down. After getting about two thirds of the way down she gagged, quickly pulled off and coughed. She waited a moment to compose herself.

"Sit on it!" one of the other guards said.

"Yeah, make it disappear in your ass!" one said.

"In your pussy!" another shouted. Trixie turned her nose up at them.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is an erotic magician! Not some common whorse!" she said. A few hooves came forward to add significantly more bits to the bag. She sighed.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will now make this... magic wand... disappear." She climbed up onto the chair with him and squatted over his lap. She took his shaft with her hoof and aimed it at her pussy and squatted down. Without too much difficulty, her hips reached his lap. "And, tada! It's- it's gone!" she said. She readjusted herself to get up and move on. She felt a pony behind her lifting her tail and something prodding at her o-ring.

"H-hey!" she squealed.

"I got another wand for you to make disappear," he said, pushing into her. At least he had taken the time to wet it, with his spit, she assumed. It was more than some stallions would bother to do. She became acutely aware of the others around her jacking off. The next pony in line behind the one fucking her added more bits to the bag.

"I've got one too," he said.

"Can you make all our wands disappear?" another asked, with a pile of bits in his hoof.

Just this one last night, and then she would be out of this place forever, she thought to herself. She held onto that hope.

"It will cost extra, but The Great and Powerful Trixie can make all your... wands disappear!" she said, as enthusiastically as she could manage. The stallion began to rut her ass, even as she was still on Sea Cay in her pussy. She looked at Shining, or rather she looked through him as her bored eyes just sort of unfocused. "Oh yes. That's it. Your magic wand is so big," she said. But Shining could tell that she was somewhere else. Sea Cay felt her pussy quiver a little after a few moments and her eyelids fluttered as she came. He felt the stallion finish in her ass and pull out.

Trixie quickly climbed off of Sea Cay before the next stallion could get in place. She opened her bag and took out a small vial.

"To make all these wands disappear, The Great and Powerful..." she trailed off. "I'm gonna need a secret potion to make my magic super..." she dropped the act. "...to not get pregnant," she said, drinking it. She took a small top-hat out of her bag. The top of it had a large hole in it. She turned it upside down and put it on Sea Cay's dick so that his tip was just inside the hat.

"For my final trick, I'm going to pull a white 'rabbit' out of the hat," she said, stroking his shaft. The next stallion added his bits to the bag and mounted her while she jacked him off. Trixie could care less about the other ponies. Trixie pretended that it was indeed Shining Armor's cock in her hooves, intent on making the brother of Twilight Sparkle cum. And then the next time she saw that purple unicorn, she would rub it in her face. Rub in the fact that she did it, not the literal cum itself. But Trixie couldn't help but smirk at the thought of it though. She thought about taking a hoof-full of his cum and rubbing it in Twilight's face.

The next stallion came in her pussy. Or her ass. She didn't pay much attention to them anymore after the first couple. She put all of her focus into the cock in her hooves. She fantasized about letting Shining cum in her pussy without any protection, getting her pregnant, and being forced to marry her instead. Having Twilight as her sister-in-law, and making her live with the fact that she had taken her brother away for her own. Trixie was an only foal to a single mother. She fantasized about what it must have been like to be Twilight herself, growing up with such a stud for a brother. "Mmm," she hummed.

Sea Cay's cock throbbed thicker and she felt him pulse in her hooves. The flare of his tip filled the small hat and he spurted his cum onto her face. She had done her best to keep her mane pulled back. Cleaning that out was always a nightmare. His cum spurted onto her horn and down her forehead. It went across her cheeks, chin and into her mouth. The last of it dribbled down inside the small top-hat. She brought her hoof to her cheek and felt his cum on her. She pressed her hoof and imagined she was smearing it on Twilight, pushing more of it into her mouth, making her taste her brother's cum.

Trixie came again, more from the fantasy than whatever the pony behind her was trying to do. Trixie was unsure of which part of the fantasy she enjoyed more, degrading her rival with her brother's cum, or being her rival, enjoying it.

"Tada," Trixie said to nopony in particular, pulling the small top-hat off of Sea Cay's dwindling erection.

The new Private accompanying the group remained in the far corner of the champagne room. Behind the eyes of the guard pony exterior, Queen Chrysalis looked on in disgust.

Love was food to a changeling. Lust was like fast-food. It was filling, and tasty, but it lacked genuine nourishment. This wasn't even that. Chrysalis thought in revulsion. This was a bunch of savage animals gaining emotionless, physical pleasure from a desperate employee making shameful bits at a night job. The only love in the room was how much that mare loved herself.

Once the last stallion was taking his turn, Chrysalis could watch no more. After what she had just witnessed, she had absolutely no reservations about sending these so-called civilized beasts to the slaughter. She stepped out of the champagne room and walked out of the club, slipping into a nearby, dark alley. Certain that she would not be seen, she changed into the form of Princess Cadance. She walked back to the front of the club and went inside. At first, nopony could believe their eyes. Surely it was a costume, or the cider playing tricks on their eyes.

"Oh SHIT, it's Princess Cadenza!" one stallion yelled and ran for an exit. Other patrons followed suit, running for the nearest door or window to avoid her. The pandemonium could be heard from inside the champagne room. Every guard in the room ran out and scattered. Except the one currently rutting Trixie.

"Shit! Gotta finish quick!" he said, fucking her faster. Trixie used her free hoof to gather up her bits into her bag.

"Get off!" she yelled.

"I'm fucking trying!" he said. Trixie bucked him off with her (sticky) rear hooves and ran out with her money. The corporal scrambled to his hooves with his erection still bobbing under him. "Sorry Cap!" he said to Shining, still gagged and tied to the chair. "I'll say something nice at your funeral!" He ran out of the room and scurried for the back door. The whole club had emptied out.

Chrysalis, still disguised as Cadance, walked through the empty club. Shining could hear her kicking aside empty cider bottles as she waked closer to him. He closed his eyes and waited. All he could do was hope that his fiance could find it in her heart to give him a quick and painless death.

The door to the champagne room opened. She stood there and waited for him to open his eyes. He finally did and she looked at him. Her eyes scanned over him, and the room, and the sticky mess on the floor. She looked him in the eyes and could see his fear, remorse, and sorrow. She walked over to him and lifted her hoof. He winced, anticipating the beating to commence. None came. She undid his gag, untied his hooves, and helped him up out of the chair.

"Come on," he heard Cadance's voice say. She led him out of the room and he followed after her.

"I- I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be. You did nothing wrong. Because nothing happened tonight," she said.

"But I-"

"You did nothing. Nothing happened. Is that clear?" she said. "That is what you are going to tell me. That is what you are going to tell everypony. And that is what you are going to tell yourself."

"But my friends-"

"Your friends weren't here tonight," she said. "Those... creatures that did this to you do not get to call themselves your friends," she said. He thought about that. He thought about the ponies that were there that night. They were acquaintances from the old squad. But they weren't friends to him like Lieutenant Spearhead was, who was markedly absent tonight. In fact, he realized that all of the ones there had some kind of paperwork against them in their personnel files. That should have been a red flag right away.

"Can I show you something?" she asked. He was in no position to decline. She reached out with her magic and sought the hollow space beneath their hooves. In a flash of magic, they were both in a dark room. She lit up her horn, giving the space a soft, green glow.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The caves beneath Canterlot. Once home to greedy unicorns who wanted to claim the gems that could be found inside. Most ponies have forgotten that the caves even exist," she said. "Which makes it the ideal place for you to make up with me."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"Look, why don't we just put this whole, messy business behind us?" she said. "I know you and I can get over this. And I find that the best way from me to get over something, is to get under somepony else," she said, nuzzling the underside of his chin with her nose. "So why don't we make up for you doing something naughty by doing something a little naughty ourselves? How about some pre-marital sex?" she asked.

"But... we already do that. Like... a lot," he said.

"And yet I'm not pregnant," she said.

"Well, yeah, because we use protection," he said.

"Well, not tonight!" she said. "That's what makes it naughty."

"But what if you get pregnant?" he asked.

"I'm ready to roll those dice," she said, turning to lift her tail at him. "Now come on, before I change my mind."

Shining Armor had, up until that very moment, a very unusual life. Of all the things that had happened to him, he could identify the who, what, where, when, and how. But the one thing that always managed to elude him was the why of his life. And really, that could be said of most everypony. It was a deep, philosophical question to ask of one's own life.

Why? Why was this happening to him? What was the reason? Cadance was forgiving him, here, now, in this cave, via make-up sex. But why!? Shining Armor had lived a life less ordinary. Although it had altered his consciousness and given him a unique perspective of the world, and his role in it, he remained, irrevocably, a stallion. Ergo, he did not question why she was offering herself to him in this way. Hell, it could have been at his father's funeral and he would have still obliged. Perhaps it was the 'never say no to a good thing' mentality of those in the guard, acutely aware of their own mortality. In any case, he only accepted this good thing without question.

He mounted her. Aside from the location, there wasn't anything particularly exotic about their sex. Compared to the depraved gang-bang he had just witnessed less than ten minutes prior, it was quite tame. Perhaps that was what this was. A test of his preference to her in the face of a vanilla lifestyle. All those exotic and kinky couplings in the past, being exactly that, in the past. Curiously, he found that he was perfectly fine with this. He was willing to marry her and be perfectly content with their boring, vanilla lives. He loved her.

She could tell.

Chrysalis was expecting a bout of lust from the stallion being offered intercourse from a mare after such a bizarre evening. But the love Shining had for Cadance was very simple, very true and pure. It was the sort of rare, consummate love of not only passion, but of intimacy, and commitment. The kind that was never just one-sided, like lustful infatuation. This was real. She savored the anticipation of receiving such love from the alicorn Princess of Love herself. Her body quivered. It was as close to orgasm as a changeling could genuinely experience. The signs of her partner's orgasm were all too apparent.

She wore the outward appearance of Cadance, but inside, she was still a changeling. The stallion's penis could not tell the difference. It only required an enclosed space, preferably moist. But unlike a mare, Chrysalis had complete control of her physical form. She had as much direction of her vaginal muscles as her tongue. She moved and flexed herself to practically milk him, creating a suction for his seed. She felt him flaring inside her, signalling his climax. She opened her cervix at will, and pulled him in deeper, ensuring that his potent seed doused the clutch of fertile eggs waiting in her womb.

Chrysalis was nothing if not a brilliant strategist. Even if everything else went wrong, her Plan B was all but assured once she laid these eggs. But in the meantime, there was still Plan A to see to.

"Ah, that was wonderful," she breathed as Shining slowly pulled out of her and fell backwards onto his rump. "And what better place to do it? The caves beneath Canterlot. And now, your prison!"

"Wha- what!?" Shining asked, unsure of what he had just heard. Her form shimmered and changed in a flash of green magical flame. She revealed her true form, that of a black pony-ish, insect-like creature with transparent blue wings and a teal mane. Her entire body was riddled with holes. Shining tried to call to his magic, but found that he was still wearing the horn ring. He reached up to pull it off but she vanished in a flash. With his horn free, he called his own light to his horn. The small cavern he was in was completely enclosed with no exit.

"It's the perfect place to keep those that would interfere with my plans," he heard Chrysalis say in her shrill, multi-tonal voice. Her face appeared in the facets of the crystal walls.

"What plans!?" he asked.

"Why, the plans I have for your fiance, of course!" she said. Her form shimmered again, turning herself into him. He fired a shot of his magic at her image. He dodged his own attach as it ricocheted off of the reflective surfaces of the cave until it struck the dull dirt in front of his hooves. His memory hearkened back to a saying that Twilight had taught him. 'One day, Shining, a mosquito is going to land on your balls, and you are going to learn that violence doesn't solve everything.'

The impostor in the crystal face laughed at his failed attempt. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a princess to marry," she said in his voice. With another flash of magic, she vanished, leaving him in the pitch darkness.

Shining slumped down against one of the cold, crystal walls. He felt helpless. There was only one pony left that would be able to stop her now.

"Twilight," he whimpered into the darkness, "Twilight, please recognize that it's not me. Save Cadance from that monster."

He didn't waste his breath on a prayer to save himself. There were too many things that he felt guilty about. Not the least of which was his failure to talk to Twilight like he had promised he would. There were so many things that he regretted. Things that he did. But mostly it was the things that he had left undone. Things that he had left unsaid. Things that the ponies he cared about deserved to hear before he left this world. The prospect of his own imminent demise, albeit slow, by starvation or dehydration, strangely were of no concern to him. Certain death had a way of putting all of his priorities in order.

"I love you," he said into the darkness. The words were certainly not meant for himself. About that, he was damn sure. His mother had heard it enough from her colt. His would-be-bride heard it many times daily. He said it into the darkness for the one mare in his life, to whom he never said in the the way that he meant it. Not really. Not in the way that she longed to hear it. If for nothing else, he wanted just one last chance to tell her how he really felt, before he burned in Tartarus for it.

"I love you, Twilight."