The halls of the castle echoed with the hoofsteps of the medical team, the two changelings following them, and Princess Luna. The medical wing was not tremendously close to the catacombs, but Luna assured them that the trip would be short.
"How did this happen to her, Chrysalis?"
"These bastards are tough," The Queen replied, "She killed two of them and knocked out a third. The fourth was just a bit too much, and he got the drop on her."
"What do they want?" Luna tilted her head, keeping pace.
"Most likely their goal is to subjugate the entire population of Equestria using them as cattle to farm love." Chrysalis turned to face Luna as they walked. "It's what I would be doing."
Luna shook her head. "They've been killing ponies. You can't harvest love from dead ponies, can you?"
"You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette." Chrysalis shrugged. She looked back at Luna again and waved a hoof. "Hey, I'm not saying I endorse the action, but you asked."
"Be that as it may, this seems like a poorly thought-out plan, does it not?"
Chrysalis sighed. "I would think you'd have learned by now that a changelings' strong suit is not in foresight... didn't I effectively illustrate that point?"
"I slept through most of your invasion."
Chrysalis had to stifle a snicker at that. "Well. At any rate, I hope these doctors of yours are as capable as they seem."
"I assure you that they are."
A door was flung open, revealing a large white room lined with hospital beds. The majority of those beds were occupied by injured guards, but some were occupied by Canterlot citizens. Nurses and doctors rushed around the room from patient to patient, but many of them gasped as they saw all the changelings enter the room. The guards were well-disciplined enough to not react too violently, but some of the injured citizens were visibly distressed.
An ICU was open at the end of the room, and Echo was quickly brought into that room and set on the bed. The doctors shut the blinds on the room's window, and turned to Echo and Ricochet. "Apologies, but there is limited space. We have to ask you to wait out here."
"Bullshit, I'm not leaving her!" Ricochet shouted in an unusually vigorous response.
"Sir?" The doctor seemed unsure of Ricochet's gender. "I understand, you are free to wait right here, but we need the room to work in order to save your friend. He's going to be fine."
"Echo is a mare!" Ricochet snarled.
The doctor looked over his shoulder for a moment and then back at Ricochet. "So she is. I'm sorry. The point still stands though that we need the space to work. We will let you know as soon as we have something to report." The doctor retreated and closed the door behind him.
"How good can they be if they can't even identify a female as opposed to a male?" Chrysalis snarled at Luna. "It's not that hard to figure out, you know!"
"I'm sure that the doctor intended no disrespect, Chrysalis."
"Oh, I'm sure, yes."
"Chrysalis, we understand your frustration, but we must insist that you calm down..." Luna began to show impatience, reverting to the royal "we".
"You want me to c--"
"Your highness!" A tattered Solar Guard rushed into the medical wing, snapping to attention at the sight of Princess Luna. "A report from your sister!"
"What is it, captain?"
"She said to tell you it was time for Moonsong. She said you would know what it meant."
Luna's ears fell flat, and her jaw opened wide. She shook her head. "Are you certain she said Moonsong, Captain? This is very important."
"Absolutely certain, Princess."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "Not a soul but felt a fever of the mad, and played some tricks of desperation... as it goes, Tartarus is empty and all the devils are here." Luna turned to the medical wing. "Doctors, Nurses, your attention! We must gather all the patients and transport them to the ballroom where the rest of the citizens have gathered for protection. I will explain later, but for now I must insist you trust me and carry out my orders as quickly as possible. Everything, absolutely everything, is secondary to moving these patients."
"Yes, Princess!"
"Princess," Ricochet began, "What is Moonsong?"
"Moonsong... is a contingency. It is a plan my sister and I created for the dire situation of our capital being overrun by an enemy."
"Why do you sound so sad about it?"
"... nevermind. Please, if you could, help move some of the injuried?"
"... I don't want to leave Echo."
"I will ensure she is safe. I need your help, Ricochet. Yours, as well, Chrysalis."
Chrysalis huffed, not eager to follow a Princess' orders... a request was a bit more amiable though. "Very well. I will assist."
"Thank you." Luna trotted back to the ICU where Echo was being treated and knocked on the door as the other two changelings began to assist the nurses and doctors in moving patients.
* * *
Celestia took a deep breath, the fiery light around her calming down to a barely discernible orange glow. She closed her eyes as she tried to calm down.
The pounding on the door continued, and she could hear the hinges creaking and the wood splintering. The distinct buzz of dozens of changeling wings began to find its way through the gaps in the wood. This continued for another five minutes before the doors broke inward, falling to the floor of the throne room with a thunderous noise. Celestia let out a gentle sigh and opened her eyes. Ahead of her, she saw at least a platoon's worth of these new changelings. Looking through the door, there were changelings extending out as far as she could see.
"Well... you've all been busy, haven't you?" She said calmly. "I will warn you once, and only once. If you come any closer, you are going to regret it." The fire in her eyes reignited, and her mane and tail seemed to shimmer like hot oil.
The changelings hesitated for only a moment before one of them sent a blast of blood-red magic flying toward her, and charged after it.
The bolt of magic stopped a meter away from Celestia, as if stopped by an invisible wall. The room filled with an incredibly bright flash of light as Celestia's mane and tail transitioned to a fiery red and orange. Her eyes were replaced with an impossibly white void. The changeling that was charging her continued, unfazed. She stood with her hooves rooted in place and lit her horn. A bolt of fire shot forward and struck the attacker square in the chest. In a fraction of a second, he had been reduced to a pile of ash and a cloud of smoke. "If you wish to hurt my subjects, you will have to fight through me."
There was another pause from the changelings, but they were undaunted. An otherworldly screech rang out as the crowd of changelings simultaneously roared and charged forward.
Celestia remained exactly where she stood as rays of plasma shot from her horn. The few changelings hit by the blasts who were not instantly vaporized were reduced to little more than piles of carbonized and unrecognizable detritus. She could only hope that her efforts here would buy enough time for Luna to get everypony to safety. She knew she couldn't keep this up forever. The amount of magic she was burning through was astronomical. Eventually, she would tire out, and while she wasn't sure what would happen to her then, she had a good guess. She needed to end this. She needed to do something so spectacular that it would stop these changelings in their tracks. Something that might convince them that she *could*, in fact, take them all out... even though she knew that wasn't true.
She flapped her wings, sending a shockwave forward toward the attackers. It pushed them back to the other end of the room, giving her time enough to charge another attack. She inhaled sharply as the glow around her horn intensified. In a single swift motion, the Princess bowed her head low, pointing her horn toward the door and unleashing a blast of such intensity that it could only be described as hellfire. It was like a tornado of solar plasma erupting from her horn and extending out through the doorway in front of her, past the castle courtyard, and out over the valley below the mountain on which Canterlot was perched. She wasn't sure how many homes and businesses were caught in the blast, but she knew the only survivors of the changelings' attack were safe in the ballroom. Canterlot was lost, and the city wasn't as important as its citizens anyway. She had to buy them time... property damage was an acceptable cost. The ground in front of her and leading out the door had been reduced to glowing molten glass, and at least half of the changelings had been completely vaporized.
Only half. Only half of them. I can't keep this up. She huffed, beads of sweat dripping down into her eyes, stinging them and clouding her vision. She tried her best to still seem dangerous, but knew she wouldn't be able to put up a substantial fight anymore. The remaining changelings chittered angrily and began to close in around her.
"Stay back!" She sent a half dozen more blasts out, striking a few targets. They were obviously hurt by the impacts, but found themselves still intact. The jig is up. They know.
The horde smiled maliciously as they closed in, like lions around an injured wildebeest. Celestia's snarls and solar flares no longer intimidated them. They were upon her now, and she prepared for their attack.
* * *
Ricochet and Chrysalis returned to the medical wing just in time to see the team responsible for Echo wheeling her out of her room. Luna, true to her promise, was with them.
"Come, we must hurry." Luna declared. The noise of the battle from above was growing more and more intense. It was almost as though the heat could be felt and the light could be seen through the stone walls of the castle.
"Is she still okay?" Ricochet asked the doctors as he hurried alongside them.
"She's still critical, but she's close to stable. We need space, though."
Echo had a mask sealed tightly over her muzzle which fogged as she breathed. The wounds on her legs and her back had been patched over with a white material that looked like unlacquered ceramic. Her wings were now gone.
"What did you do to her wings?" Chrysalis seemed to notice this as well. "You expect her to be able to live without flying?"
The unicorn and earth pony doctors looked over at Chrysalis for a split second before one of them, the unicorn, replied curtly, "It never stopped us."
"As for what happened," one of the earth ponies spoke next, "In order to graft the patching material to her back wounds -- which were substantial, by the way -- we unfortunately had to amputate the wings. There was no way to graft over the wound with them interfering. Would you have preferred we let her die?"
Chrysalis snarled but didn't reply to that.
The group turned into the ballroom, and at the sight of the two able-bodied changelings, ear-shattering screams filled the hall.
Luna filtered past them and flapped her wings to float above the crowd. "ATTENTION, SUBJECTS!" She briefly employed the Royal Canterlot Voice to break through the panic, "These changelings are under my protection. They are seeking refuge just as you are. I have orders from Princess Celestia, I will be keeping you safe. I must ask you all to gather together as closely as possible and remain calm."
The castle shook violently, and a sound filled the air like the roar of a freight train. Luna knew the sound. Celestia had just deployed her most volatile ability. Half of Canterlot was likely ash now. The panic predictably resumed.
"SILENCE!" Luna belted again. She got her wish as everypony settled down, wide-eyed and full of fear. "Gather together, as tightly as possible. All of you. Keep the injured in the center."
Echo was wheeled forward through the crowd, to the collection of hospital beds in the center of the room. The rest of the ponies crowded around, packed like sardines. Ricochet and Chrysalis followed suit as well. The mare who was forced to stand next to Chrysalis exuded pure, unadulterated terror.
Luna inhaled deeply and slowly as a silver glow began to surround her. It gradually grew brighter as she concentrated. Her horn began to give off white sparks which grew in intensity as the seconds ticked by. Without warning, there was a deafening crack, and the vision of everypony in the room instantly went black.
* * *
Celestia fought her own emotions, struggling not to show the absolute terror with which she was currently filled. If she was going to die, she wouldn't give these monsters the satisfaction of seeing her fear. She snarled, and her eyes darted around the room at the beasts drawing closer. She felt her knees shake as the intensity of her battle got to her. She fell to the ground, barely able to keep her head held up.
"What are you waiting for, then?" She hissed defiantly at them. Taking their cue, the changelings lunged for her.
A loud male voice called out next. Its language was incomprehensible, and was accompanied by the trademark buzz of a changeling's voice. The attacking changelings literally stopped in mid-air, and flew backwards, clearing an aisle from the destroyed entrance of the throne room leading to the fallen Princess.
She looked up weakly and saw a new changeling. He was at least a horn's length taller than she was, and remarkably bulky. He reminded her of the stallion from Ponyville, Big Mac, except far, far larger. His eyes were serpentine, like Chrysalis'. The outer ring of his iris was ruby-red, the inner was a deep crimson. In contrast to Queen Chrysalis, his crown was metallic. It was gold, studded with all different kinds of stones, and sat a little askew atop his head. He trotted over to Celestia and gave her a malicious and crooked smile. He kicked her roughly, sending her toppling onto her side, and placed a forehoof over her ribcage. He continued to speak in that same incomprehensible language, but his body language told Celestia everything she needed to know. He was bragging about his conquest.
At that moment, Celestia heard a concussive sound rock the castle, and she smiled. "They're gone. You have lost."
The King tilted his head, obviously failing to understand. He barked orders to a few of his drones, who began to scatter through the castle. Once they had departed, he looked back down at Celestia and snarled in anger. He lifted his hoof and held it above her head. She continued to smile up at him ruefully, even as the hoof fell and her consciousness slipped away.
* * *
Ricochet lurched forward as light returned to his vision. He felt that same sensation he had felt earlier when Twilight Velvet had teleported him, as though he had been turned inside-out. A quick glance around showed that the majority of the other ponies present were having similar reactions.
The notable exception was Chrysalis, unflappable as ever. She instead turned her head to survey the area they were in.
The entire crowd had materialized in a grassy clearing. The moon was directly overhead, and thankfully was also full. The moonlight was enough for Chrysalis to be able to see clearly. Turning behind her, she saw a dilapidated old castle looming above them. "Luna," she started, "Where are we?"
Luna stood in silence, staring down at the ground. Her ears were plastered against her head and everything about her seemed to droop. "This... is our old castle. The castle where I became ... something else. Where I betrayed my sister. This is the former seat of power for Equestria."
Chrysalis looked over at the castle again, and was able to sight a single brick on one of the ancient towers fall out of place toward the ground. "... charming."
"Your sarcasm is not welcome presently, Chrysalis."
"Sheesh. Okay. You act like somepony just died."
Luna's hackles bristled, but she said nothing. A moment later, she stood up straight. "My subjects! Please, follow me. I know that this is not your home, but I fear we must make the most of it in the meanwhile. I do not know how long we will remain here, but I will require all of your help in order to help Equestria return from this dreadful night. First and foremost, we must create a shelter for the wounded."
"Ricochet... you were in the Structural corps, weren't you?" Chrysalis looked down at him.
"Uh..." he shook his head, coming out of his haze, "yes, Chrysalis."
"Do you think you could lend some assistance to the ponies in erecting shelter for Echo and the other wounded?"
Ricochet hesitated for just a moment. He looked behind him and spied Echo on her hospital bed. His lips curled a little as he fought back the anger he felt seeing her in that condition. His chest puffed out and he nodded. "Yes. Yes I can."