> A Captain's Duty > by Captain-Brony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Captain's Duty > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Queen Chrysalis groggily picked herself up, her entire body protesting with pain against the action. She, like the rest of her kind, had been sent flying through the sky by Shining Armor and his love. It looked like she had landed in a swamp of all places, perhaps there was some kind of poetic justice here what with her insect like body. She had been so close to having her invasion become a complete success. "Oh well..." she said to herself. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." She was about to set out to find her minions when suddenly she was trapped in a force field bubble. She recognized it instantly, there was only one unicorn in all of Equestria (to her knowledge) which could produce a shield bubble like this. She felt a presence coming from the shadows to her left, she looked in it's direction and smirked. "Shining Armor. To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?" Out from the shadows Shining Armor emerged with a stone hard expression on his face. "You and I aren't done yet." "Oh don't tell me your holding a grudge; I was only trying to feed my poor starving children." Placing her arm against her forehead she feigned fainting. "You mean the parrots?" Shining's expression didn't change but his sarcasm was obvious. "Excuse me?" "You call them children but let's be honest here for a change. I think you and I both know the better term is 'minion', they only speak what they hear and correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going to say that they have a hive mind." When he saw her flinch he knew he hit the nail on the head. "Meaning they aren't really individuals but extensions of yourself." "Hive mind or not we still need love for sustenance, otherwise we would starve to death." She pretended to cry but her crocodile tears fell on death ears as Shining Armor merely waited her to finish. "If that was really the only thing you and your minions could consume you wouldn't be standing here in front of me. There obviously must be something else out there for you to consume or else you would be dead by now." Chrysalis frowned, he was being no fun today. "Bravo, how did you figure this out?" "It wasn't that hard actually. Nothing living only feeds on one thing, there needs to be variety in a diet. I didn't come here to debate your lifestyle though." "Oh? Did you come for a goodbye kiss?" she puckered her lips against the bubble shield to mock him but he seemed completely unaffected. "I came here because of my duty as Captain of the Royal Guard. To eliminate all threats to the royal family, Canterlot and it's citizens." "Please!" she rolled her eyes. "I was catapulted through the air! Don't you think I've been punished enough?" "Not when I know you can try the same thing again tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that, or the day after that..." "Oh yes, because clearly I have nothing better to do. I swear you weren't this grumpy when we were dating." Shining Armor said nothing but the glare he sent her said a thousand words. "What that pink idiot saw in you is beyond me. You're such a stick in the mud." Again he said nothing, his silence was starting to irk her now. "If you think you can scare me in to thinking you're here to kill me or something stupid like that than you're just wasting both of our time. We both know you're too much of a boy scout to do something like that." "You honestly believe that?" "Of course 'Shiny', we both know that all you're going to do is try to put a little scare in me and then let me free. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can plot my revenge. So why don't you go ahead and 'read me my rights' already?" "Let's go over your list of crimes then. You invaded my home!" Chrysalis's bubble got smaller with a sudden magical flash. "Brainwashed me!" The bubble suddenly shrunk again. Chrysalis was starting to feel cramped. "KIDNAPPED MY WIFE!!" With his shout the bubble had gotten so small Chrysalis couldn't even move anymore. Shining Armor took a moment to calm himself down and regain his composure. "Oh! And just recently..." he added with a smirk. "You were picking on my little sister." The bubble was so small now it was actually pushing against her horn. There was no doubt that if the bubble got any smaller it break her horn off. "Sh-Shining Armor...please!" "Let's get something straight here 'your majesty'. You threatened me, my home, and everypony I have ever come to care for. There are no limits I will go to for the sake of protecting them. Whether it is protecting them from current threats or nipping potential ones in the bud before they can form." Her horn was starting to shake from the pressure. "Shining Armor, don't do this!" "Give me reason not to! You even admitted it yourself, you'll probably go back to plotting your revenge as soon as I let you go!" The cold stare in his eyes told Chrysalis he was not bluffing, he was fully ready to end her right now for the sake of protecting others. "I-I won't! I swear!" "Likely story!" "No!! Really!! You will never see me again!" "Convenient promise coming from a changeling!" "I'll be good!! You know your little sister wouldn't want you to cross this line!! What would your wife think?!" With a loud *POP!!* Chrysalis landed in the swamp water below. She stared up at the stallion in fear, the look on his saying he was more than ready to put her back in the bubble shield at the drop of a hat. "You're right, Chrysalis. For their sake I'll spare you, but you had better hope we never cross paths again." In a flash of light the stallion Shining Armor disappeared. Now completely alone in the swamp, Chrysalis found herself feeling very vulnerable. Whatever her next move was, she would be sure it didn't involve crossing paths with Shining Armor.