A single changeling drone hovered over a small clearing amidst the trees, glowing red eyed pierced for any signs of life. He lowered himself into the clearing and observed his surroundings, keeping a close eye out for any unnatural disturbances in the terrain.
And they didn’t take long to find.
Several sets of hoofprints marked the dirt, three sets to be precise. The ground had also been disturbed in what appeared to be a small impact, something one might find if the target had been thrown rather suddenly from a hasty teleportation spell. The tracks led out of the impact and congested around one particular area where, if the drone was to take an educated guess, the alicorns he and his brethren hunted had conversed with one another.
Moving on from that, the drone examined the surrounding area in further detail in an attempt to locate any further hoofprints or other disturbances. However, even with the involvement of scanning spells the search came up fruitless. The Princesses had clearly elected to use flight while fleeing the area as quickly and tidily as possible.
Still, the drone had at least found their exit point. The impact and hoofprints showed that much. His fellow changelings had only discovered one other pair of hoofprints leading to the hive instead of away from it, which was not useful to them in their present situation. It wasn’t like the whole swarm didn’t know the alicorns had been already, the hole in the roof and charred corpse of their Empress’ birth form was a clue.
“My Empress,” the drone spoke over the hive mind. “I have discovered where they exited the younger alicorn’s teleportation spell. They have since departed, however, and left no discernible tracks to follow them by.”
He waited a moment with no response, but then he felt it. A presence fell over the drone, eyes looking through his eyes in a way it never had felt before. Without a body the Empress’ spirit was submerged in the hive mind at all times, and she was focusing herself on this one drone.
And now it was the Empress’ eyes that examined the impact, and then the tracks. She verified what the drone had told her, and then had him look in the general direction of Equestria.
“They run back to their shielded city, to their little ponies,” the Empress remarked. “As expected, where else would they go?”
The drone felt her presence lessen, melting away like snow under the heat of the summer’s sun. With his assigned task finished he buzzed his wings and took to the skies, heading back in the direction of the hive to assist in the repairs.
While that one cog in the enormous machine that was Immortalis’ hive turned back, the Empress herself observed it all. Deep within the hive mind she stood amongst the masses of pulsating orbs that were the changelings she controlled, observing them all in calculation. She let the drone she had just looked through be submerged back beneath the masses, the orb getting swallowed up into the abyss.
The Empress sighed, bringing up and taking a look at her hoof as it appeared within the hive mind. Here she still took on her appearance, and she felt a strange sensation at the sight of the hole ridden hoof. The loss of her body was regrettable, and even temporary, and yet…
She still felt as though she had lost something of great personal importance, a part of who she was. And for that insult she would make sure the alicorns felt every cut into their hides as she delivered them unto death. To make them feel the pain she had felt as her chitin burned and her lungs turned to ash. Her rage great, her reach infinite, she vowed they wouldn’t go unpunished.
And as expected, those alicorns had not made themselves easy to locate as they journey on home. Neither did she expect them to take a direct route, likely anticipating she had already sent her queens to search the direct path to Canterlot. Which the Empress had of course, it was better to be safe. But more likely they would make themselves as hard to find as possible, something the Empress had already accepted. They would, barring an accident, likely make it back to the capital. They were hardly incapable foes, and were more than up to that task.
But the swarm would be ready to meet them there. The Changeling Queens would direct their sights on that mountain, and the Empress herself guide them into Equestria’s end.
She could literally picture it, the image of Mount Canterhorn being conjured up within the hive mind itself. The city was burning, changelings attacking the already battered supports keeping it tethered to the side of the mountain. Amidst a flurry of green magical fire, the supports finally buckled and collapsed in on themselves. Rocks tumbled, dust flew, and the very foundations of Equestria’s capital cracked and groaned from the pressure. Those cracks became holes, and then those holes split. The lower city went first, falling amidst the ponies it had been home to. Then the middle section of the city, and then the upper city with their pompous nobles and aristocrats.
Finally, Canterlot Castle came tumbling down the side of Mount Canterhorn and did not stop until it was but a pile of rock and the odd tattered tapestry at the bottom of the mountain.
No leadership. Their capital gone. Equestria’s spirit broken. All remaining EUP disorganised. All resistance futile.
And an empire reborn.
She couldn’t give the ponies time to lick their wounds, time was of the essence. Equestria was still recovering from their recent losses, their forces out of their original positions in an attempt to recover. They had to hit Canterlot while the chaos lasted, otherwise the EUP response would be too quick and too numerous.
The Empress had to hit Equestria while it was down, so it would never get back up.
“Wouldn’t you agree, Twilight Sparkle?” the Empress asked as the orbs fell away, just leaving Immortalis with the entrapped Changeling Queen who held Celestia’s affection. “Your feedback is most crucial, you shall be there after all.”
Twilight didn’t answer, her head hung low as all too visible tears streamed down her face.
And so too did the odd tear fall back in the waking world, even if the Changeling Queen made no outward reaction to their presence.
The Empress tutted. “Tears, dear Twilight? Perhaps, just perhaps, you are finally beginning to see the futility of fighting natural order? Surely those chains must be so tiring, but you need not wear them. All I need you to do is behave.”
Still no answer.
Immortalis considered the despondent Changeling Queen, then putting her hoof to Twilight’s chin and bringing her muzzle up so she was looking the Empress straight in the eyes.
“Do you know how close she was to succeeding?” Immortalis asked. “Your beloved Celestia, do you know how close?”
“How could she have been?” Twilight spat, breaking her silence. “You… who outlives your own body. How could she have hoped to beat you?”
“Surely you were paying attention,” the Empress chided. “She entered the hive mind, albeit ever so briefly. She could have found me inside, attacked me in my domain. But instead she went straight for you, to save you.”
The Empress released her hoof from Twilight, laughing to herself at the Changeling Queen’s displeasure.
“She could have destroyed me, she had one chance. But instead she chose to save you, and her love for you has doomed Equestria. So you shall be responsible twice over, for now you shall finalise things in person.”
Twilight had fallen back into silence, so the Empress just continued her taunting.
“Love is a powerful thing, when used properly,” Immortalis noted snidely. “But the ponies are just… misguided. They have power, wasted all on parties and other pointless exercises. They control the sun and moon, they could have forged an empire that would have crushed me the moment I returned. Had Nightmare Moon or Daybreaker ruled, that is exactly what would have happened.”
“Then they would be as bad as you,” Twilight weakly responded.
Immortalis hummed. “Perhaps. But it matters little, it is just a hypothetical. What’s happened has happened, and there is no changing it. Your friends have retreated back to their home to die with their ponies, and I would be a fool not to oblige them.”
Twilight grunted, looking away again. Her pain was obvious, she so desperately wanted to do something and yet was unable. All she could do was listen, and nothing more.
She was so tired, the exhaustion evident to any who would examine her form. Privately, she worried the Empress would soon break her spirit, and it would be a changeling victory at Canterlot that would do it.
“You hold nothing private here, Twilight,” the Empress informed her, seeing her worries clear as day. “It will not be long now.”
“I will not give into you!” Twilight growled in fading defiance. “My friends will-”
“Will what? The Elements of Harmony are useless now, and the princesses will not be able to stand against every single Changeling Queen simultaneously. Canterlot shall be their final stand, and that is all it shall be.”
“Then maybe I’ll escape and purge you from the hive.”
“If you were going to, it would have happened,” Immortalis said, shooting down Twilight’s claims. “You couldn’t break free when forced to destroy your old library, nor when you attacked your dragon assistant. And neither when you fought Princess Luna and stood against the Princess of the Sun in full force.”
Twilight flinched, the Empress’ words ringing true.
“The sooner you accept reality for what it is, the sooner these chains may loosen,” the Empress stated. “And I will know if it’s genuine or not.”
“Why would you care?”
“For all your power now, you know full well you are more effective with more free will. More unorthodox and able to think outside the box. And your mind is particularly keen, I would like to make full use of it. But should you choose to remain an enemy, then I have no qualms leaving you chained like a dog.”
Then the Empress smirked, kneeling down and bringing herself close to Twilight. Immortalis brought her muzzle to Twilight’s ear, whispering her next words gently.
“But either way, I still have a use for you,” Immortalis informed her. “I still need a new body to replace the one that was taken from me.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, remembering the Empress’ previous declaration on the matter.
“I know everything there is to know about you, and I know what you would have named your daughter.” Immortalis chuckled in delight. “But that child shall never exist, her form shall serve as my own. There will never again be a Changeling Queen in this hive to hold the name Avia.”
Twilight’s pupils dilated, rage washing over her at the Empress’ threat against her future unborn nymph. With a violent snarl, Twilight lit her horn and lashed out with her magic, the lavender hue impacting the horn atop of Immortalis’ head and sending Twilight’s world into darkness.
The Changeling Queen walked through the halls of her hive, various drones passing by, various drones going about their daily tasks. None reacted to her presence, and neither did she expect them to. They had their jobs, pointless prostration would only delay things unnecessarily. The Queen had a long flowing mane of light teal colouration, being well groomed and maintained. The most notable about the Changeling Queen however was not the colour of her mane, but rather the visible bump across her belly.
Twilight saw that the Changeling Queen was pregnant.
Twilight had been confused when the images began to appear, but she was forced to watch, having no control over any of her normal motor functions. She suspected even her body in the real world had stopped dead, completely in a gaze.
More than that, she could hear no voices in her head for the first time in years. She was alone, and completely herself. Wherever she was, the Empress could not reach her.
Her joy over this fact was outweighed by her increasing curiosity at what she was seeing, and why she was seeing the vision of this unknown Changeling Queen.
The Changeling Queen in question came to a stop outside a set of bland and unmarked doors, two guards standing outside vigilantly. The changeling reached out with her magic and the door clicked, set to respond only to her specific magical aura, swinging open as the Changeling Queen slipped inside and sealed the door shut behind her. Twilight passed right on through, however, and bore witness to what laid within.
It was a personal study. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with ancient tomes, or at least tomes that would be considered ancient during Twilight’s time. And even then Twilight only recognised one or two, which were tomes that dated back since before official recorded history began during the era of the Three Tribes and the coming of the wendigos. They were Tomes that each only had a single known copy in existence, held in the deepest section of the Canterlot Royal Archives.
And yet here they were, seemingly brand new.
It was then Twilight knew she was seeing far into the past. And she had a distinct theory as to exactly what it was she was seeing.
The Changeling Queen had approached a small podium at the far end of the room, a single book sitting atop it. Just looking at that book gave Twilight an uneasy feeling, like some dark unseen force was trying to force itself into her very soul.
The Changeling Queen opened the book, her eyes glowing with dark magical energies as she laid a single hoof upon her belly.
Then things began to distort, and darkness fell again.
Twilight gave a sharp gasp as she was suddenly and violently pulled from her vision. It felt disjointed and incomplete, like she was only seeing one piece of a puzzle. But even as her brain scrambled to analyse what she had seen, she also noted the Empress glaring down upon her with fire raging in her eyes.
“That was… unexpected,” Immortalis muttered, barely containing her rage. “Those memories were not yours to take, but what’s done is done. Do not believe there is anything in them that will help you, I know for a fact they are useless to you. So, Twilight Sparkle, if you want to know what forged me you can go ahead, I hope it brings you some shallow comfort.”
The Empress turned away dismissively.
“But for now I have a war to win. I hope you consider where you want those chains to be when it’s all over.”
And with that, the Empress was gone.
Twilight stared in shock, drinking in what had just occurred. She had inadvertently taken some memories from the Empress, some that seemed to not even be Immortalis’ own. Scrunching her features, Twilight tried to access them immediately, to no avail. She had them, but she would need to work at accessing them again.
And yet the Empress claimed they would not help, and for some reason she only heard truth in those words. But it was clear those memories held significance to Empress Immortalis, and in her own words as to what forged her, and that was something Twilight could not resist.
It may not have helped her, but Twilight was going to discover exactly who the Empress was.