//------------------------------// // INTERMISSION // Story: The Return of Princess Nightmare Moon // by Aegis Shield //------------------------------// The Return of Princess Nightmare Moon INTERMISSION: The Twins Go On a Date “Aegis, why am I wearing a pink bowtie?” grumbled Stalwart Hide. He and his brother were walking down the spiraling staircase to the lower dungeons where the changlings were staying (not as prisoners, they just liked the cool darkness). “Bowties are cool.” Aegis insisted, adjusting his collar a little. Both stallions, though they were of brown fur and blonde mane, had dressed differently so they could easily be told apart. “Besides, I look better in a long tie anyways.” He smirked a little. Stalwart rolled his eyes. They both looked the same, neither looked ‘better’ in anything! Finally, they reached the bottom of the stair and worked their way down the torchlit halls. The dungeon was rarely if ever occupied by anypony, a relic of the past that only occasionally housed a devoted criminal. The foreign changlings were used to such cool, dark locations, though, so it was quite comforting for them. The two brothers stopped to inspect each other. Stalwart adjusted his brother’s tie, and Aegis pushed his sibling’s mane just so. Nodding at each other in perfect unison, they came to the archway with no door on it. Queen Chrysalis and her two guards were staying there, they could tell, since the studded iron door had been taken off its hinges and set to one side. “Anypony home?” the two of them called as one. “Skree!” “Skree!” There was shuffling in the darkness until two sets of glittering eyes peered at them out of the darkness, from the ceiling. Both ponies looked up curiously, finding a trio of cocoons on the ceiling. They were a sickly green, crusty and recently made. Little flaps opened and two heads poked out of two of them, peering down at them curiously. It made them look like beds… if your bed hung you upside down from the ceiling. “Whuh?” A third, larger voice made itself known. The biggest of the three cocoons shifted animatedly, and a pair of gossamer wings exuded out of the slits in it. It wobbled back and forth, until Queen Chrysalis poked her head out as well. “Whossat?” she said, her droning double-voice matching her bizarre appearance. “Pupa! Geode! We have guests.” She pressed her way free and, still upside down, crawled out of the insectoid enclosure. Her wings unfurled all the way, then started going like a buzzing copter. The changling Queen buzzed down to the floor as her twin guards crawled down the sides of the walls to peer at the newcomers. “Oh, its you two again.” Chrysalis grinned a bit with her front feeding fangs. “Princess Nightmare’s guards. Come to summon me to her for dinner, perhaps?” she asked hopefully. Both stallions shook their heads a bit. “Oh, perhaps she’s skipping the wine and dine and getting straight to the good part…” she clapped her hooves together a few times, licking her chops. Alicorn love was, for lack of better words and puns, the most divine food a changling could ever hope to taste. A mere sip of it was enough to keep one going for years and years, and Nightmare had offered up a feast when they’d shared a bed during their… political trips, many years ago. “Er, actually we’re here to pick up your guards.” Stalwart said. Aegis punched him in the shoulder with a scowl. He didn’t have to put it so bluntly! “I-mean-uh! Can they come out to play?” he got punched in the shoulder a second time. “I-mean-uh! Can we-!” Aegis put a hoof over his mouth to shut his stupid brother up before he dug the hole any deeper. “Ahem!” said Aegis Shield loudly, perking his ears forward into a friendly expression. “In the interest of uh… foreign relations, your majesty, my brother and I would like to escort your two guards around to see the Canterlot night life. To uh… foster… good…” he struggled to make it sound good, his eyes darting back and forth like he was reading a badly-penned script. “Friendliness! Between national guards!” he ended it so lamely that his brother moaned, pushing his hoof away. Chrysalis was more than amused, she was elated. “Hahaha! Go on then!” she gestured. “Pupa! Geode! You’ve the night off! Shoo!” she pushed both her guards forward. Both changlings chittered in their odd insect tongue, looking at their queen in concern. Leave the queen alone and unguarded? That didn’t sound safe… They were in a foreign nation after all, what if something bad happened? “Ah, I’m in the Canterlot Royal Palace, down in the dungeon. Not only will I be safe, but nopony would look for me here. I’ll be fine to nap for a few hours.” She chuckled, watching the two stallions’ faces light up. Her guards hesitantly went along, looking curiously at the tie and bowtie they were wearing. “Have them back in a timely fashion, or I’ll suck out your intest-innnes!” she called melodically, waving a massive hoof at them as they were leaving. Both brothers looked at each other, unsure if she was serious or not. Gulping a little, they started forward and nosed their dates to come along. Little red hearts danced between all four of them as they trotted away. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Some wine-ing, dining, and sight-seeing later… =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide sat on a nice hill in the Canterlot Royal gardens, staring up at the moon together. They’d paired off with their dates, but they’d not separated by more than five feet or so. The boys got separation anxiety when taken away from their siblings, and the two changlings seemed to feel safer with each other nearby. “Bon, gurf skambit…” Aegis apologized for dinner in twin-speak. He’d not known that changlings literally could not eat regular food like ponies. They really did survive from feeding on the positive emotions of others. “Yaka-mare, eye-neilo.” He said, reddening in the cheeks and looking to one side as his ears turned nervously back. His date gave a chittering giggle, her hoof over her mouth. She leaned and said something in the changling tongue to him, stroking his cheek a little with a soft expression. Aegis looked into her eyes quietly, seeing the moon reflected in them. They were an icy blue—very beautiful. “B…bon.” He whispered, and her cheeks pinkened a little. While they sat their on their haunches, looking up at the moon and admiring the night, he slowwwwly edged his hoof over until it rested next to hers. Their ankles touched, and he quietly wrapped them together. She looked down, ears perked, then up at him with questions in her eyes. “Soo-mat, ibella.” He whispered romantically in twin-speak. She flushed darkly, chittering in a mix between nervousness and genuine flattery. Touching her chest as though to say ‘me?’, she waited for him to nod, then leaned into his chest. He smiled when she gave a purring little chittering sound, her wings opening. They gave off a lovely obsidian light, all the colors there were all at once. Looking up at him, the changling extended her feelers quietly. There was definitely affection there. He was quietly glowing, on the magical level, with positive energy. Well… as long as it was leaking off of him and she wasn’t sucking it out of his body like a leech… Aegis’ date quietly sipped at the air around them, where he couldn’t see, filling her belly with his boyish puppy love. It was tasty, like some odd mix of cream and peaches. It made her red-cheeked and even more giggly—not to mention it helped with a few hunger pangs. She would have to share with the queen when she got back, yes, but for now she could gently enjoy him. “Hahhhh…” Aegis sighed quietly, pulling at his tie a bit. Did he kiss her? Did he hold her hoof? Say something else nice? He’d not gone on a lot of dates, being hardly separable from his brother, Stalwart. Neither pony was good at expressing a lot of mushy feelings. They were still soldiers, after all. He found his date looking up at him with her eyes, her big pretty blue eyes. “Chitter-murr?” she said in the changling tongue, blushing and looking to one side as she let him see the full span of her wings. Aegis smiled coyly at the quiet invitation, eyes lidding. He opened his mouth to consult his brother, looking to one side. But he gave a start when he saw that he and his date were already furiously making out by a tree some distance away. How had they moved away without making any noise? Aegis felt her hoof on his cheek and she steered him back to looking at just her, chuckling. They knew what they wanted. They were soldiers after all. They strove for speed and efficiency in all… in all things and… her face was so close… so pretty. Her wings so beautiful… leaning in… hyesss… The handsome stallion felt his lips press to hers in a quiet, coy little kiss. It was a kind and innocent kiss, not lusty, and the warmth travelling between them made him shudder. She wrapped her arms around him, and they pulled close, quietly embracing under the moon as the kiss slowly deepened. He slowly let his eyes slide shut, and leaned into her. “Bon…” he gasped in a soft way when the kiss broke, his wings rising happily. “Bon.” She nodded in quiet agreement before slowly returning to his soft lips for another kiss. She delighted in his firm, broad chest and silky blonde mane as one of her hooves rushed up and through it greedily. Both sets of twins knew they’d found their dates for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala— as long as neither of their respective royals did anything to mess it up, that is. END OF INTERMISSION