Starlight Glimmer's life could hardly have been considered normal by any stretch of the imagination. What began as a childhood friend moving away and forgetting to write spiraled into a lifelong hatred of Cutie Marks, leading her to start a cult dedicated to equality in the middle of nowhere. Things only got weirder when Twilight Sparkle and her friends showed up; angry that her entire life's work had been dismantled before her eyes, Starlight went on a rampage through time, attempting to prevent Rainbow Dash from getting her Cutie Mark multiple times, only for the consequences to be worse each time.
So becoming Twilight's student after all of that (granted, she did apologize) was still something she was getting used to, even after ousting Chrysalis from her throne.
Then again, nopony expected the Changelings to turn a new leaf en masse, either.
As it was, Starlight was busy at the moment handling diplomatic relations with the Changelings; particularly their current leader, King Thorax.
"I have to admit, Starlight, I'm still not being used to being in charge of my entire species," said Thorax worriedly. "I've never been more worried in my life."
"Stress and leadership go hoof-in-hoof, Thorax," replied Starlight reassuringly. "Besides, you can't be worse than I was at leading an entire town!"
Thorax tilted his head in confusion, to which Starlight replied awkwardly, "It's a long story."
"Unfortunately, your story is about to be cut short... Starlight Glimmer!"
Thorax and Starlight turned towards the source of the voice to find Chrysalis, now seemingly made entirely out of metal, standing before them with a gaping hole in the hive walls.
"Chrysalis... is that you?" said Thorax, his voice trembling.
Chrysalis sneered slightly. "Yes, Thorax, it's me... and I've come to reclaim my rightful throne!"
Thorax put on a brave face as he said, "You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hooves!"
"Your hooves, Thorax?"
Chrysalis cackled at this notion for almost half a minute, before her expression suddenly turned to a cold grimace. "This is bad comedy."
A horde of purple-and-yellow insectoid machines flew into the hive at that moment. Chrysalis then turned to address the other Changelings.
"And now, my Changelings... you must learn the price of your disloyalty!"
She pointed her foreleg in Thorax's direction, and as she did so, her hoof retracted, and was replaced by a gunbarrel. It glowed brightly before firing a burst of light at the Changeling king.
"NO!" shouted Starlight, attempting to take the beam for Thorax, but it was too late. The blast struck Thorax squarely in the chest, puncturing the chitin covering his now-charred heart and lungs. Thorax collapsed to the ground, like a marionette with its strings cut.
"Hehe... I never wanted to live forever anyway," he said with a slight smile, as he drew his final breath.
Starlight began to weep, cradling the fallen Changeling in her hooves. Chrysalis looked on smugly as her hoof returned to normal.
"Will anypony else attempt to fill his horseshoes?" she said, almost daring a Changeling to take her up on this.
The Changelings shook their heads, almost in unison.
"You'll never get away with this, Chrysalis!" declared Starlight, tears still flowing from her angered face.
Chrysalis laughed. "Such heroic nonsense! You know as well as I do that your words mean nothing at this point!" The robotic Changeling slowly approached Starlight as the terrified unicorn looked on helplessly. "Do you remember what I said when we last met, Starlight? That I would exact vengeance upon you the likes of which you couldn't even conceive of?"
Starlight stood up, attempting to act defiant, but she could not hide her fear, despite her efforts.
"W... when my friends get here... they'll--"
"They'll what, Starlight?" Chrysalis replied condescendingly. "They won't even recognize your carcass! Nopony is going to save your flank this time; not the Princesses, not Twilight's friends, not her brother and his wife, not even the draconequus or that mediocre stage magician! It's just you and me, Starlight Glimmer... and you won't believe the things I can do to you now!"
Chrysalis grabbed Starlight by the horn, as her hoof transformed into something resembling a suction cup, which latched on to the helpless unicorn's skull.
Starlight found that she could no longer move, only gasp in vain as her very life force was drained from her body. Her mane grew thinner, her skin tightened around her bones, her eyes began to melt, and her internal organs began to rot from the inside out. Chrysalis smirked sadistically as Starlight feebly coughed up drops of blood, while her flesh, innards and eyes continued to decay until only her skeleton remained.
The Changelings gazed in horror as Chrysalis tossed the skeleton aside, as casually as one would toss a horseshoe.
"Let her and the traitor serve as an example to those who would question my authority!" she declared loudly. "Changelings, who do you serve?!"
Not wanting to meet the same fate as Starlight and Thorax, the Changelings stood at attention, timidly shouting "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
"Excellent!" said Chrysalis proudly, "You have learned your place. But I do believe a renovation is in order! Insecticons... commence Cyberforming of the hive!"
The Insecticons flew throughout the hive, slowly changing the landscape to metal. The Changelings, meanwhile, were reformatted into more Insecticons.
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" declared the Insecticons in unison.
A brown freight train pulled into the Ponyville train station, dropping off its cargo before taking off again. However, just before the train pulled out, there was a flash of light.
"Sheesh! Where'd that come from?" asked Applejack, looking around curiously. "That there was brighter than a lightnin' bug in a pitch-black cave!"
"Somepony probably wanted to take a picture, darling," suggested Rarity. "A tourist, perhaps?"
"No way, that was too bright to be a camera flash," said Rainbow Dash dismissively.
"Guys, the train's coming!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly.
Sure enough, the Friendship Express pulled into the station. There was something off about it, however.
"Um... is it just me, or is the Friendship Express supposed to be red and blue?" asked Fluttershy curiously.
"Relax, Fluttershy," said Twilight reassuringly as they boarded the passenger compartments, "maybe it just got a new coat of paint."
As the door closed behind them, a stylized image of a face, outlined in white to separate its red color from the rest of the paint, appeared on the side of the lead car. The train slowly built up speed before taking off...