Atalanta followed the prince, not sure if she had ever seen such a hefty colt. Where she was still just a little over average in weight for her age, she found Star Journey a study in unhealthy appearances. He kept looking at her, smiling oddly and quickly looking away with a blush. The colt and the filly found the edge of the koi pond and sat down next to each other and for a good while there was awkward silence. Star wanted to impress the changeling filly somehow. But how to go about doing it? He wondered, thinking maybe if he started up a conversation with her it might break the ice.

"I'm a prince," he blurted. "My mother's an Alicorn princess and she's smart and pretty and more powerful than any other Unicorn in the world!" Star spoke haughtily, sounding self-important. Convinced he had awed the pretty changeling with his title and who his mother was, he grinned at her, adding the piece de resistance, "And I can do whatever I want."

Atalanta replied, "I'm a princess. One day I get to be queen!" She smiled at him politely, remembering her manners when speaking to unpleasant ponies who were still important. At least her mother was expecting her to behave. Nopony in their right mind disobeyed mother. "I can do whatever I want to, so long as it's something nice."

Queen? Star Journey blinked at her. He mulled that over in his young mind, realizing there was a good chance a queen outranked a prince. Equestria didn't have queens. Only princesses. Did that mean changelings outranked ponies? Nopony had bothered to explain the details (rather, he refused to study despite the best efforts of his frustrated tutors). Deciding his rank was not impressing her, he stood and flexed his chubby legs, feeling if he could puff himself up and look big and impressive, Atalanta take notice. Could he be a king? It wasn't hard to imagine such a thing. Maybe the crown was just bigger.

He flexed a forehoof, arching his neck backwards, his neck shrinking into the folds of his skin. Star reared and hopped gamely on his rear legs, his belly jiggling with each little grunting jump. Just like cousin Prince Blueblood had told him to do.

"What are you doing?" Atalanta arched an eyebrow at the prince's antics, clearly not at all doing what Star Journey was expecting. She could hear the contents of his belly. Are pony colts this weird? She never recalled Silent Wing being like this. Where was this one's pride in himself?

"Nothing," he said sullenly, slumping back upon his rump. Mom always laughed when he did that. Princess Atalanta obviously was not amused. Star spied the bridge spanning the width of the pond. An idea spawned. "I'm going to get a closer look at the fish. Want to come?"

The princess took one look at the little bridge and blanched. "It doesn't look safe," she said, throwing a hoof at it. "I don't think it will hold our weight." Atalanta discreetly did not say what was on her mind, fearing the colt's girth alone would make the rickety bridge collapse.

Confident of himself and wanting to show off to the pretty changeling filly, Star Journey ignored her warning. "I'm not scared of a dumb old bridge," he announced imperiously as he set the first hoof on the edge of the bridge.

It was already wobbling precariously. Noting this and still wanting to impress the filly, Star swallowed hard and grinned bravely. He took another step. More wobble. A third step. Slightly less rickety now, almost as if something settled. There was a dry creaking. Another step and there was an eerie silence. There was one more wooden squeal of board against board, but it felt stable now. With a smug expression of supreme superiority, Star Journey gloated at Atalanta, who was simply staring as she noticed something the colt did not.

The bridge was slowly sagging in the middle. Then it gave out dramatically, the dry wood snapping, popping, and splintering as if the bridge had simply surrendered to Star Journey's weight after a gallant attempt at supporting him. A chubby colt began to fall as planks gave way under his weight. Panicking, his horn began to glow as he tried to teleport just as the bridge fell to pieces beneath him. Water was splashing from bits and pieces of wood falling, sections of the little bridge falling into the mirrored surface. Panicking fish darted away from the micro disaster as their clear watery world was invaded by strange objects.

Star Journey concentrated, his horn glowing pink. He teleported just as his backside was about to touch the convulsing surface of the pond, squeezing his eyes tightly shut and exerting out a loud grunt. He added unintended force in the wake of his spell, causing a small explosion to send what was left of the shattered bridge flying in all directions. The colt reappeared in midair, hovering for a singular, confusing of where am I? as the last of his magic faded.

He fell on top of Princess Atalanta who was darting her head from left to right, searching for Star Journey. She had been startled when he blinked from her vision. When his weight came down on her back, she cried out loudly in pain and surprise. Star yelped when he landed, legs and hooves flailing everywhere, whacking Atalanta a couple of times to the back of her head and clipping her cheek when she tried to scramble away from him. The colt rolled to his back, catcher her hoof in his right eye.

It was a horrible little mess. Both began to cry, calling out to their respective mothers. Atalanta's dress was dirty, caked with mud and grass stains, as well as hoof marks from the Star Journey.

Twilight Sparkle and Chrysalis were there in moments, eyes searching out for threats, both horns aglow. The Queen was more inclined to think there was a threat nearby. Twilight Sparkle was ready to counter anything the angry monarch might do by mistake. She was acting like a dragon whose eggs had been stolen, the lavender mare noted. None of the guards seemed alarmed, coming in to investigate the commotion. Seeing the colt prince and filly princess were not seriously hurt, they did not investigate further, but hovered nearby as their eyes searched out for something amiss. Warnings were called out and soon all the guards were on high alert. The castle came alive as horns blared and the general alarm sounded.

"What happened?" demanded Chrysalis to her bawling daughter. She was already kneeling in the grass and gathering up Atalanta in her hooves. It seemed out of place she was both yelling and embracing her daughter, but she was also upset and thought an attempt had been made on her life.

Atalanta snuffled and sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of a hoof. She then thrust it accusingly at Star Journey. "He fell on me!"

Guards were swarming everywhere now. They called out to each other, searching for a nonexistent threat.

Twilight looked at the remnants of the bridge, noting the splintered wood everywhere and slowly began to put the events together in her mind. Hugging her son, she held him back and lifted his chin with a hoof. "What happened? You can tell me."

Chrysalis snorted, "You heard my daughter. His fat fanny flattened her!" She eyed the young prince as a spider might consider a fly in her web.

"I didn't mean to!" he wailed as Twilight shot a withering glance at the queen. "I didn't know the bridge was going to break."

"There, there," Twilight hugged him again as Chrysalis snorted with contempt. "I've told you many times to not go on that bridge. I've told you it was not safe. I've also told you to not use magic you are not ready to use." She had also told herself to remind the gardener to have the thing replaced or repaired or removed, but her work always distracted her.

Star Journey looked pitifully up at his mother. "But I didn't want to g-g-g-get wet."

A white armored Pegasus swooped in and landed, bowing politely to the queen and princess. "The alarm was sounded. Is all well here, Princess Twilight?" he asked politely.

"Everything's normal, captain," Twilight assured him. A frown was aimed at her colt. "It was a spell gone awry."

"Of course." Clearly he was not happy about some pony calling out a false alarm.

Twilight tossed her mane. "I don't think so. Sorry about the false alarm. It was completely unintentional." She sighed, disappointed with Star Journey. He should have known better than to try magic he had not mastered. Some form of punishment was in order, but she did not want to be harsh on the colt. It was an accident, after all and nopony got hurt.

Chrysalis muttered something under her breath, standing firmly as Atalanta clung to a foreleg.

"I heard that, Chrys," Twilight said to the queen tartly. "My son is not fat. He's just big for his age." She was becoming very defensive, clutching her colt to her and grinding her teeth.

The changeling queen opened her mouth to retort, then realized Twilight was either completely blind to her son's obesity or had come to accept it as something she could not do anything about. Wisely she bit her tongue, not interested in pushing Twilight by insulting her offspring any more than she already had.

Atalanta followed her mother, casting one more glance over her shoulder at a puffy-faced prince trying very hard to stop crying, with his face red and almost apologetic when his eyes met hers. When he noticed her staring at him, he frowned and looked away, his nose up in the air after wiping it with the back of a hoof.

"What a spoiled brat," she said to herself before buzzing her wings after Chrysalis.

Silent Wing was tired of not being able to use his wing, tired of feeling the throbbing pain, and tired of the melancholy hovering over his heart. He sat in the chariot pulled by two Pegasus, a silent statue who cared for nothing around him. Staring off into space for hours, he waved off any attempts at either Feidole or Frakas from engaging him in conversation. The two wounded changelings would recover and he was glad for that. The two brothers were able to at least convey that news to the prince before his growling sent them away.

It still weighed heavily on his heart and in his mind. Lunch remained uneaten at his hooves on the floor of the chariot. Silent simply stared out into the distant clouds painted the colors of the setting sun. Canterlot was minutes away.

The changeling prince stirred from his thoughts, aware someone was speaking to him, but without a voice. His peripheral vision caught a blue form on wings. Silent swiveled on his neck to see Luna not far away, a graceful form riding the wind. The moment she sensed his eyes on her, she banked away with the flick of her tail. The Alicorn appeared indifferent to his attention. The voice was correct. Death in combat was the most honorable and desirable way for a changeling to die.

Not feeling hungry, the colt dabbed a hoof at the sunflower sandwich. The bread slices were already beginning to harden, the flower petals wilting. He began eating anyway, mostly because he would hear it from somepony sooner or later. Munching slowly he peered ahead at the gleaming white spires of Canterlot gleaming in the rays of the setting sun. The colt already knew he was going to ushered into a hospital for examination of his wounds. The medics were sure he would be fine, save for a few scars. Especially on his left flank.

His right wing was freshly bandaged, wrapped snugly against his side. It was essentially a sling, the hyperextension unnoticed and painless so long as the wing stayed put. Silent Wing sighed, finishing off the sandwich.

He shook with a start, turning this way and that for the source. The chariot shifted as something settled next to him. The prince turned and found Luna landed lightly, folding her wings neatly as she looked at him coolly.

"You do care about your charges," she observed as she focused her attention on Canterlot. "This is a good thing."

"It hurts," he said quietly after a moment of silence. "I never thought it could happen."

She leaned in towards him slightly. "We never do until it does. Did you know him well?" Luna asked curiously.

"He was in my first class when I was really small and just starting in the academy. We used to copy off each other during tests." Silent smiled briefly, his voice very soft. "Daggle lived with his aunt and uncle. His father lives in an asylum. His mother ran off with somepony else."

"He was a good friend." Silent did not want to talk about him anymore. He had been thinking about Daggle since his death. Other ponies might see one changeling and easily confuse them with other changelings, especially the common ones, but Silent Wing knew them individually through their mannerisms and scents. It was true the noble classes or more powerful of the changeling strains like Queen Chrysalis could have more unique appearances and it was very easy for those unfamiliar with changeling society to assume the common changelings to be nothing more than obedient servants.

If they had known the serious and quiet Daggle, they would have found a complex individual who dreamed of one day being an sculptor. Silent knew him well. He knew every single one of his changelings as well as anypony could. Each one was practically family. Their mothers did not want them, presenting them before their respective family matriarch who would out of politeness ask other houses if they needed a male changeling who could not fit in the niches available in the noble house of whoever was in charge. Queen Chrysalis knew of this and decided having colts her adopted son's age to train with would help to create a cohesive group of warriors to eventually reshape her great armies from being backwards laughingstocks in the eyes of the world to a formidable machine feared by all. Daggle had been one of them. One of a hundred chosen to stand by his prince. He was the first to fall in service of Silent Wing. The changeling prince knew he would not be the last.

"I do not think you will forget him," noted Luna. "I apologize for thinking you weak, young prince."

Silent shook his mane and shifted his forehooves. "There's nothing to apologize about, Princess Luna. I have to own up to my responsibilities. It's not looking good for my people and I'm finding myself thinking of what's coming at us." Luna's face reflected in his golden orbs as he turned his head to her. "Civil war, maybe something worse. That's why my mother wanted to come to Equestria."

"So why did you leave the airship?" she urged gently. "I want to be your friend, Silent. You have a part to play in all of this. Your mother knows this. My sister knows this. I know this."

The colt scooted from her, knitting his brows together. "Why do you want to know?"

"No, I'm not!" His temper flared, but Luna placed a hoof over his mouth, effectively silencing his protest. Silent's eyes crossed down upon her hoof. Sweat immediately beaded upon his brow.

"Yes, you are. More specifically, you are an incomplete form of a hybrid between a dragon, a pony, and a changeling. You are a chimera, a creature with the aspects of many placed into one body." Luna held him in place with her eyes and her gentle tone. She lowered her hoof. "You have power within you, young Silent Wing. Immense power. But it is locked away and hidden for reasons unknown to my sister and me."

"No," he said again, a fierce growl rumbling deep in his chest. Luna was not frightened by it. "Mother tried to tell me the same thing. Why?"

"I do not know why," she told him plainly. "But you must first accept certain truths about yourself."

"No!" Silent had nowhere to go on the chariot. He tried pulling as far from the Alicorn as possible.

"How do you explain your appearance, then? There is no pony else in the world who looks like you, Silent Wing. There is no other pony as unique as you."

Luna had to use her magic to keep the chariot from tipping over. The two Pegasus pulling it cast annoyed glances over their shoulders at the prince. She held the chariot level, offering an apologetic smile to the flyers.

"I promise you answers when we get to Canterlot," she continued, never altering the gentleness in her tone. "My sister has worked very hard to understand your origins though they have just recently come to light. It changes nothing about how your family feels about you, please believe me when I tell you that. You are loved dearly. You are cherished. I have seen into your heart and into your dreams."

Luna sidestepped from the colt, giving him room as he was starting to breathe rapidly, his pupils dilating. She was concerned he was going to have a heart attack. It began to dawn on her it was not her words making him act like this.

"You precious thing." Luna was giggling now. "Think about what I've said, young prince. I shall leave before you panic." She was about to drop off the chariot, but paused long enough to add coolly, "You're not that bad a kisser, you know. I have no idea what you're worried about!"

Then she was gone, her wings carrying her from a very confused and perplexed young colt. "What?" he asked the empty air. Silent Wing wailed, "I don't understand!"

The reunion of the Royal Family of the Changeling Kingdom was emotional publicly and soon after privately. The colt hopped off the chariot before it came to a stop, limping towards Chrysalis and Atalanta with proud, almost prancing steps as if on parade. His mincing steps were eloquent and regal, turning a quarter of the way to his right and approaching them as his hooves pounded away at the stone. His bandages were evident, marks of honor.

His changelings fell in step behind him without orders. They were as one unit, the rhythm of each step echoing as one sound in the courtyard in front of the hospital. Even the two wounded changelings, though they could not participate, stood perfectly still, their dark forms statues in the fading light of the day. Three deep, three across they were behind their prince, each one a perfect image of the other, showing their loyalty and dedication to the one who had hand picked them so long ago as younger colts. Solid blue eyes glowed with the confidence of those who had tasted victory.

Each one was blooded now and very proud of Prince Silent Wing. They understood what the training meant now. The battle was still fresh in their young minds. They had survived.

The ceremony was very old, dating back to the early days of the Changeling Kingdom. The victorious general would approach his queen with his honored Chosen and present the victory before her as a gift in her name. Silent's warriors halted as a single entity, their wings now thrumming against their armored black carapaces. In one voice, with Silent counting his among them, they said:

"As one, we serve our Queen,

As one, all our love to our Queen!

As one, our lives in service of the Empire,

As one, our souls in devotion to the Empire!

In life do we seek Love,

In death do we find Love!

Love is nothing without our Queen!

All hail Queen Chrysalis, Mother of all Changelings!

All hail Queen Chrysalis, this victory we give to thee!"

Silent stepped forward, mastering his pain for one moment to finish the ceremony by stepping up to the Queen and kneeling. The moment his left foreleg touched the ground, eleven left forelegs joined him a split second later, all foreheads touching the stone floor. The thrumming wings suddenly stopped. The whole of the castle had seemed to go silent as a tomb, save for the songs of nearby birds in the trees.

The prince spoke words Chrysalis had not heard in over a dozen years. "I give unto thee, my Queen, victory against your enemies, smitten in your name. Do you accept this gift paid for with the blood of your warriors?"

Never before had she felt so proud of her son! Chrysalis fought the trembling lips, swelling herself out, her head erect as her eyes glistened with liquid pride.

Twilight Sparkle was off to the side, watching the whole ceremony, having never before seen anything like it. Star Journey was with her, watching the changelings with fear in his eyes. They looked so fierce! She leaned over and pointed out the one that looked like a bandaged up pony with funny black legs and strange golden eyes had to him as the Prince of the Changelings, Silent Wing. The young colt was not too impressed with this Silent fellow. He looked like a poor impression of a mummy and Nightmare Night was still months away.

Luna landed next to her and the two Alicorns greeted each other with a smile and a nod, not daring to speak at this remarkable display going on in front of their eyes. They found it impressive and also disturbing. The precision of these troops were unmatched by anything but the discipline of the Royal Guards.

"Prince Silent Wing," Queen Chrysalis announced in her ringing, disjointed voice, "I do accept this victory with great pride and pleasure. Let it be known your bravery and the gallantry of your soldiers will forever be remembered as a beacon by which other changelings will follow in the years to come! Step forward, my son, and let me greet you!"

"Shh," she replied, squeezing him as tightly as protocol would allow. "We shall talk of this further. For now, I am so proud of you and your guards. You have not disappointed me."

"Momma, you're hogging him!" complained Crown Princess Atalanta loudly, causing the whole courtyard to erupt in tittering laughter.

Chrysalis smiled and released Silent Wing to his sister. The little princess practically flew into his neck, wrapping her little hooves around it and smothering his cheek with little kisses. She cried because he looked so battered and wrapped up in bandages. It was a bit embarrassing, but the prince was happy to see his little sister.

Silent dismissed his guards, giving Feidole and Frakas last minute instructions before handing them over to Captain Myzanum to take them to their billets. There would be a debriefing in the morning and the captain wanted to hear the prince's account of the battle after speaking with his guards.

They went into the hospital where a doctor awaited them respectfully. Guards were everywhere, but somehow managed to not be intrusive to the other patients there. It was not an exclusive hospital, but it was meant for the castle and therefore did not have a large number of patients in it. Silent Wing would get a quick checkup on his wounds, have them cleaned again, have his right wing examined for the umpteenth time, and finally be wrapped up again and given pain medication.

It was getting to be a very old and tiresome routine for Silent. Chrysalis hovered near him, clucking like a murderous mother hen and frightening the color out of the doctor and nurses. It took the prince a moment to speak quietly to get her to agree to wait in the hallway.

She had never once in her life ever heard someone say to her, "You're embarrassing me in front of the ponies." Silent Wing gave her a peck on the cheek and grinned.

It brought her up short and she gave the colt an amazed look before she barked a short laugh of disbelief. Brushing a strand of his hair from his eyes, she smiled, patted him on the cheek and went to wait in the hallway.

"My son just grudged me," she said to no pony in particular. The Queen found it enormously funny and chuckled darkly, as if some evil scheme was hatching in her mind.

About an hour later, Silent was declared well enough to be released with a healing salve placed on his most serious wounds to help aid the healing process. It would be several days before the wounds closed completely and he would have scars for the rest of his life. Luckily for him the treatment received at Grazeland was very good. Atalanta crawled on his back and made herself comfortable, wrapping her hooves around his strong neck and resting her chin on the top of his thick mane. Her head was just about level to her mother's chin as the three headed down the wide halls and outside, surrounded by guards.

"It's a zoo out there," said the uniformed Unicorn bearing the rank of colonel to the queen. "The press is having a field day with you here, your Majesty. We could keep them away for only so long before somepony figured out where we were keeping you."

"It's fine," Chrysalis said with a nod. "I assume you have everything under control?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll treat you as if I was guarding Princess Celestia herself. I am a professional, after all." He nodded politely. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure your carriage is ready for you. You'll need to move quickly once you're outside and head straight for that carriage, please. Your safety is paramount and I would be sorely distressed if I disappointed my princess if word got to her any harm came to you or your children."

"Your devotion to duty is noted," agreed the Queen with a nod. "I won't keep you from it."

He gave a short bow and went ahead of them, barking at his subordinates and sending them scrambling in an orderly fashion.

Flashes from dozens of cameras greeted them as photographers from several dozen news agencies snapped away the minute they stepped outside. Reporters shouted questions as they shoved microphones over shoulders of Canterlot's Finest, drowning each other out as they tried to be heard. Some questions were polite and gentile, but others were downright rude and even insulting. The rest fell somewhere in between. It was a dizzying din to listen to as a path was forced open to an awaiting carriage. The three royals smiled for the cameras politely, with Queen Chrysalis almost basking in the attention (she did so love it contrary to popular belief back home). She even offered a couple of dignified, yet sexy poses that made both her children groan inwardly with embarrassment.

Once inside, they rode towards the castle and towards their quarters. It took seemingly a lifetime, but the family said nothing, simply enjoying each other's company. Chrysalis sat on the opposite cushion facing Silent Wing as Atalanta had settled into his front hooves and promptly fallen asleep. Happy to have her son in on piece, her mind swirled some things she wanted to talk to him about in private. Getting around the how still presented itself as a problem to her.

For now, the problem would take a back burner. Perhaps Celestia would be able to help with it. It was not a moment she was looking forward to. It was difficult enough coming to terms with the simple fact she was in the same castle she had nearly taken seventeen years ago and she felt as though she was begging her greatest enemy for help.

There was no time to reconsider her decisions. Chrysalis was committed and time was running short. Since having her daughter bathed and changed for the second time that day, she had received a report Princess Celestia shared from her intelligence in regards to what appeared to be changeling armies massing along the borders of nations nowhere near the Queen's kingdom. Nor were these changelings bearing the same solid blue eyes. Unconfirmed reports were beginning to stream in of massive troop movements through unclaimed territories from the unexplored regions to the far west. Even more disturbing were the numbers. "Innumerable" was the exact word in the reports. The Griffon Kingdom was mobilizing, as well as other countries shaken by this sudden appearance. Nopony knew there were other changelings out there.

Chrysalis knew. She bit her lower lip as she thought of what was happening. The old stories were true. Princess Celestia knew. It had to be an invasion. Flamespyre was making his move, or was preparing to. Large armies were difficult to conceal from alert eyes. Griffons were among the best in the world and their scouts were the first to notice small groups of strange changelings moving between the jagged peaks of the western spires.

The Queen found herself wondering how much more time she would have with her children before they were taken from her. She wondered how many days were left before everything was scorched by the flames of war. Shaking her head, she dismissed that notion, grinding her fangs.

It was getting late by the time they made it to their quarters. Chrysalis carried her daughter and wished Silent Wing a good night, almost coolly. His quarters were across from hers. She kissed him on the forehead and nuzzled him.

"I thank the Creator you are safe," she whispered. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

The colt sheepishly smiled, made the impossible promise, and disappeared into his room.

Tomorrow presented a different problem. There was to be a day with the Mane Six, followed by a state dinner with dignitaries and potential allies. Most importantly would be her promise to meet Princess Celestia once Silent Wing was safely within the walls of Canterlot. That would have to be seen to immediately.

She set her daughter on the bed, then pulled on one of the bell pulls. Atalanta was gently roused and undressed, her blue silk pajamas going on through tired complaining. There was a little bit of a trick to it, Chrysalis discovered as she used her magic to gently fit the sleeves in the right places. Once the princess was properly dressed, a triumphant smile creased her mother's tired face as the filly was finally tucked into bed. Satisfied, the Queen yanked on a bell pull.

Moments later, there was knock at the door. Captain Myzanum opened the door, noted the expectant monarch and ushered in an Earth pony stallion with a white coat and golden mane.

Rise of the Dragonking

by Scarheart

RotDK Chapter 17: The Pride of a Monarch