Equestria Changes

by Nuly90

Chapter 1: Equestria Falls

Twilight and her friends were in the throne room in Canterlot Castle. There were changelings everywhere, and Princess Celestia hung suspended in a cocoon from the ceiling. Queen Chrysalis was distracted; now was her chance. Quickly, Twilight freed Cadence of the bonds keeping her feet rooted to the floor and whispered: “Quick, go to him while you still have the chance.” As Cadence ran to Shining Armor, though, Chrysalis took notice.

“Ah ah ah,” Chrysalis said in a sing-song voice, “I can’t have you spoiling my plans now, when I have you firmly in my grasp.” Chrysalis’s horn lit up and Cadence found herself transported by portal to a dungeon somewhere. Green light obliterated consciousness, and the last sound Twilight heard was Chrysalis’s laughter.

***

Dr. Whooves stood in the street, eyes frantically searching as his head swung back and forth. Other ponies ran, but he wanted some idea of a destination first; blindly running would do no good. He looked up and saw cracks in the shield. There was little time left. He had been hoping for something he could use as a weapon, but he now abandoned his search. “Come Roseluck!” he shouted. Doctor Whooves sprinted to the nearest alleyway. If he and Roseluck were going to be fighting hoof-to-hoof they would need some sort of defensible position, and that alley was the best they were going to get.

Secured in the alley, or at least as secure as they could be, Doctor Whooves and Roseluck stood facing away from each other. Changelings rained down from the sky like Daleks on Gallifrey. He shuddered. It was too much like Gallifrey, and just as hopeless. As the changelings attacked, he lost himself in the fight. He fought with every part of his body, just as fiercely as any day in the Time War. For a moment that felt like years this carried on. The changelings that fell before him seemed to be Daleks, and cries of “Exterminate!” seemed to fill his ears, though he knew it to be all in his mind.

A grunt from behind him brought him back to reality. “Roseluck?” he called, fear in his eyes. He couldn’t lose her; he just couldn’t!

“I’m here!” replied Roseluck’s voice behind him. Relief flooded through him, and he fought on. Something struck the back of his head, and just for a moment he lost his balance. That moment was a moment too long. In no time he had a changeling on each limb, secreting a green substance from somewhere. He would have been fascinated if he weren’t terrified. He turned his head and saw Roseluck in much the same condition. In no time they were both bound tightly, and Doctor Whooves could see no escape.

A glance around showed that he had lasted longer than most. There were few ponies still free, and they were quickly subdued. It looked like the invasion had been successful. Doctor Whooves looked at Roseluck with tears in his eyes. She had her head held up high, and there was no fear in her expression. She was so brave. He heard a sound from the castle and looked in that direction. Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were surrounded by a glow. He could see them floating in the air through one of the windows. Waves of magic expanded from the royal couple, and he looked down to see his restraints dissolve. He glanced around to see everypony else being freed as well before fighting his way to Roseluck. A laugh escaped him; there was a chance!

He fought with a furious intensity, beyond even what he had done before. Changelings fell before him and he and Roseluck ran to join the guards they saw running the changelings out of the streets. Without an enemy directly before him, though, he began to feel his exhaustion. Roseluck was flagging as well, he saw, so he stopped in the street and let the guards do their jobs. Soon there was not a changeling to be seen in all of Canterlot, and nopony noticed that there were far more guards than there should have been.

***

Princess Celestia addressed the ponies of Canterlot. Narv supposed that was her name now, just as Narv supposed it was now a female. Celestia paid little attention to what she said; imitating the words of the princess was no more difficult than imitating her form, and Narv had practiced for years. She rambled on for a while, the only difficult part was stifling moans of ecstasy as the ponies’ adoration filled her with power. This was a feast, and it would never end. Narv couldn’t help but smile at that; fortunately she was spouting some rubbish about how ponies would recover stronger than ever from the changeling attack, so the smile didn’t look out of place. Her speech ended, and she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as she soaked up the ponies’ love. This was going to be a good job.

Narv turned to go back into the palace as the ponies milled about outside. The ponies were thoroughly excited about their supposed victory, and the changelings dispersed among them fed their excitement. This was the start of a new era for the changeling race, and as the second to her queen, Narv would be playing a large role in bringing it about. Chrysalis was waiting inside, and with no eyes to think it odd, Narv bowed in deference. “How does it feel, Narv?” Chrysalis asked.

“It is everything I dreamed and more, Your Highness,” Narv replied. “I cannot thank you enough for granting me this position.”

“Nonsense,” said Chrysalis. “I could give my second nothing less. You have earned this through your service.”

“Nevertheless, I thank you.” With that, Narv strode closer to her queen to discuss their plans for the changeling race.

***

In Ponyville, Mayor Mare beamed as she looked around. Balloons all but covered the ceiling, and streamers hung down. Everypony was smiling and dancing, and even Berry Punch seemed to have little time between dances to drink. It wasn’t quite up to par with Pinkie Pie’s parties, but Pinkie had only just returned from Canterlot and the party had had to be prepared without her. Still, the occasion helped to make up for Pinkie’s lack of involvement. The majority of the credit for everypony’s smiling faces went to the changeling defeat. Besides, their heroes were here now, and Pinkie was, as always, the life of the party. The Mayor’s only concern was a logistical one: had she bought enough cakes?

***

Twilight woke in darkness. She tried lighting her horn, but felt something blocking her magic. Of course magic would be inhibited in a cell. She got up carefully and began feeling out the dimensions of the room. Two steps and she felt something soft under her hoof. This soft lump shifted and said in Rainbow Dash’s voice: “Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry, Rainbow.”

“Twilight?” Rainbow said. “Where are we?”

“I’m not sure, Rainbow. It seems to be a cell of some sort, but I don’t think we’re in the dungeons under Canterlot Castle. All I know for sure is that my magic is blocked.” The others woke then, and Twilight heard voices from Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie in turn. There was only one voice missing. “Where’s Spike?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t hear his breathing, Twilight,” said Fluttershy. “He must not be in here.”

“Maybe he managed to escape, and he’ll come rescue us,” said Applejack.

“Perhaps,” said Twilight, “but we shouldn’t count on it. They might just have him in a different cell. We need to start figuring out how we can escape on our own.” With that, the six ponies gathered together and began to discuss their plans. In each of two other cells, the same six ponies went through almost the same routine, discussing the same plans almost word for word.

***

Deep within an underground labyrinth, Spike woke with a start. He looked around, wondering how he had gotten there, but he had no time to puzzle anything out before a white pony flashed through one of the tunnels, carried by changelings. There were three diamonds on that mare’s thigh. Spike immediately gave pursuit, shouting “Rarity!” but they were out of sight. Spike almost sat down and cried, but stopped himself. Crying would not help Rarity. Realizing he would have to be careful if he wanted any hope of success, he set off at a steady trot in the direction Rarity had gone.

***

Celestia’s cheeks flushed with rage at what the changelings had done to Equestria. Around her was what looked to be gray fog, save for a window that displayed Equestria under changeling rule. On Luna and Cadence’s faces she saw the expression she knew must be on her own. They both looked ready to kill, and frustration at not being able to do anything had them shaking. Tears rolled down their cheeks from the sorrow they felt at knowing what was happening to their ponies. Celestia knew that she would have her revenge, and refused to admit to herself that she had already considered and rejected every possible way to achieve that. There must be a way.

Author's Note:

This chapter changes points of view rapidly to give the full picture of what the changelings are doing. Future chapters will change points of view much less frequently.

Comments

[Ryan Martin]

Great concept, keep going.

[Nuly90]

5396588 Thanks! I will.

[Periphery]

Well, for the most part it seems like it's off to a pretty good start. The first two paragraphs gave the impression that it was going to be rushed, but I didn't mind the pacing and perspective changes in the rest of it, so I guess it was just because the very start was a quick summary.

I've gotta say, though, it always jars me when I'm reading a story and suddenly, boom, Dr. Who outta nowhere. I realize it's popular fanon, but I've never understood why so many people throw that in that way. Including characters from any other story would warrant a crossover tag and a mention in the synopsis, but with that one show, people treat it like just a regular thing, and every story I've seen do that has instantly become harder for me to enjoy or take as seriously. It feels as out of place as if Gandalf were suddenly there beating up changelings, with no explanation for what he has to do with anything. Hmm, I guess the main page does have a Doctor Whooves character tag, now that I look again, so either you added that in later, or I just didn't notice initially, because I usually pick stories to read based on the genres and synopsis, looking at the character tags mainly when it seems crucial. Either way, I guess it's not quite as out of nowhere as it seemed, but it'd still be nice if the synopsis mentioned that, if it's going to be important to the story.

So yeah, that one portion distracted me quite a bit, especially since it was a relatively large chunk of the chapter, but otherwise the story seems like it has good potential. I'm guessing the crossover aspect is going to remain fairly prominent throughout, though, so I don't know, the fic might not be quite for me.

[Nuly90]

5403952 You'll be pleased to know that the crossover bit was really just a small thing to amuse readers. I included that part because I needed some description of the actual fight with the changelings and how they convinced everypony that they were defeated, and Dr. Whooves was a convenient, popular background pony.. The crossover aspect isn't going to influence the story. It will probably still be included somewhat, but other than his thoughts Dr. Whooves will be no different from what any other background character would be.

I'm glad you enjoyed the fic aside from that aspect. Chapter two is from Twilight's perspective for the entire way, so feel free to come back and sample another chapter. I will be ready to update soon, as I'm on vacation and am really enjoying writing this fic.

[Periphery]

5404011 Okay, good to know. That's what I assumed at first, but then when I noticed he was tagged, I started thinking he must have a larger role.