Snapped trees and broken branches littered the path to the Castle of the Two Sisters for Brawny Hoof and his colts. He’d been chosen by the Captain of the Royal Guard to helm the search and rescue mission for Princess Twilight’s missing friend. It’d been an honor serving the captain for the past twelve years, and Brawny was the first to volunteer for this important mission. He had no intention of letting down the captain, or the princess. The amount of destruction, the loss of life, he couldn’t in good conscious fail Equestria. If this Moon Dancer was as important as Princess Twilight said she was, then he was going to find her.
“Any signs of the old castle?” came Rain Runner’s voice from behind. Rain Runner was an earth pony with dark blue fur, and a bit of fashion sense with the highlights in his already light purple mane and tail. Rain however, was a loyal friend whom Brawny had gone through training with. They’d survived this far together, and when Rain Runner heard Brawny was leading this little expedition, of course he volunteered to be on the unit as well.
“Should be straight ahead. Stay close.” Brawny said. He led a grand total of eight soldiers, all of them earth ponies. Brawny hadn’t been one of the soldiers to rescue Princess Twilight from Daybreaker and Chrysalis, so he wasn’t fully aware of the damage that had been done to the old castle. Him and the others had been back at Ponyville, helping the initial setup of the Royal Guard for their stay.
With every step closer, the lively sounds of the forested slowly quieted, as if it were dying all around them. Brawny glanced around, noticing the blackening of the leaves, the residue from ash brushing against his lime green coat of fur. Brawny shook his cobalt blue mane, watching the crumbled particles falling around him like snow. Embers could be seen on a couple of trees, sparking lifelessly away with nothing alive left to burn.
The soldiers started to mumble amongst themselves and before Brawny could hush them, they stepped out into a large clearing, where the Castle of the Two Sisters lay flattened before them. “Oh my Celestia . . . will you look at that” Rain Runner said from behind, as he stepped up beside his friend.
Not only did they find the collapsed ruins of the castle, but a large blackened crater that dug deep into the ground, still sizzling with magic. It sparked, causing loose chunks of dirt to roll down into its core. Trees and brush tossed back around its edges. It lay like a moat in front of the ruined castle. “What happened here?” Rain Runner asked, stepping around the crater.
“I don’t know.” Brawny answered, his mouth hanging agape with the others, “All Captain said was during their escape, there was a powerful blast of magic.”
“Do think she survived? Luna that is . . . she was here, wasn’t she?”
Brawny signaled to the others to fan out, and search for the missing pony. Joining his friend at the crater’s edge, he glanced down, awed by the power it must have taken to do all of this. “Who know? We can only pray that if she did, she’s not with the enemy.” Then directing his friend to follow, Brawny said, “Come on. We better keep searching. Captain only gave us three days to conduct this search. We can’t go back without Moon Dancer.”
Rain Dancer nodded as he followed his friend towards the castle, praying that she wasn’t buried under all that rubble. He caught up with his friend, following Brawny side-by-side. The colt had always looked out for him, was always there for him. He appreciated just being here with Brawny. He watched as his friend directed some of the soldiers to search through the rubble, just in case. “Brawny,” Rain called out, and when his friend turned to him, Rain asked, “didn’t the princess say something about her friend running off? We may have to expand our search back into the Everfree Forest.”
“Our limited time with this mission makes that difficult,” Brawny admitted, “Captain Shining Armor wants us back before any changeling activity hits Ponyville . . . but you’re right. We’ll grab a couple soldiers and start fanning out.”
Rain Runner just shook his head. “I’ll need more than a couple of drinks when this is all said and done.”
“Not without me you won’t,” Brawny said, smiling to his friend. Then turning to the others, Brawny picked out a couple soldiers to join him and Rain Runner on a deeper search into the forest. “We’ll head out and start with a two-mile sweep of the surrounding area. If nothing is found, we’ll widen our search radius and continue until we either find Moon Dancer . . . or we run out of time.” The soldiers joined Brawny and Rain Runner; together they began their sweep around the Castle of the Two Sisters.
One day passed without a sign of Moon Dancer, and the soldiers continued their search. The way they meticulously waded through the grass, fallen branches, and thickets of the Everfree Forest was a testament of their dedication to the both Captain Shining Armor and Princess Twilight. By mid-afternoon of their second day, they’d expanded their search out to an eight-mile radius around the castle, with every soldier now part of the radius search.
Of course, none of that mattered to the growing number of changelings that were observing them from the tree-tops. One in particular, who’d been assigned by the great Queen Chrysalis herself, had been watching these soldiers since they arrived. Tremor, one of the older changelings, who’d been with Chrysalis since before her attempt at sabotaging the captain’s wedding, sat patiently watching his prey.
He’d sent word to his queen the instant the soldiers had started poking around the old ruins. Just as my queen had said, they’re searching for Moon Dancer. He thought to himself. Glancing around the treetops, Tremor counted sixteen changelings. That meant at least one for each soldier, plus Queen Chrysalis. She had wanted to welcome the soldiers herself, and so had sent word not to engage them until she had arrived. With them fanning out like this, it’ll be easy enough to overpower them.
Tremor’s wait for Queen Chrysalis came to an end when he suddenly took notice of his majesty silently standing atop a branch, eagerly following every step of the soldiers. Not wanting to give away their position, Tremor waited until he had a clear flight to his Queen without risk of being heard or seen.
Chrysalis smiled as her loyal changeling landed in front of her. “What have our little friends been up to Tremor?” She asked, watching as the soldiers mumbled through the forest. Their disheartened little heads hanging lower to the ground with each step, Chrysalis almost couldn’t contain herself.
Tremor, quite pleased with his majesty’s pleasure, said, “They began their search at the castle. Of course, they didn’t find anything. After that, they started spreading out to find Moon Dancer.”
“Excellent.” Chrysalis said, considering her options. This was a chance she just couldn’t let go to waste. “We’ll use this to our advantage.” Scoping out the group, Chrysalis asked, “which one of those morsels is in charge?”
Pointing to the lime green pony with cobalt blue hair, Tremor explained, “Him. Brawny Hoof. Though it appears he has a close friend in the blue pony.”
This’ll be our ticket into Ponyville. Then, it’ll only be a matter of time before all of Equestria is ours. Chrysalis thought to herself. Ever since Moon Dancer’s capture, she’d been hoping Ponyville would send out a rescue party for its friends. Those little buffoons were so predictable, it was quite pathetic really. “Take the changelings you have here, and eliminate all of the soldiers, except Brawny.” Chrysalis said.
Tremor bowed obediently, “Yes my Queen.”
Brawny trotted at a steady pace with his other soldiers. They were so spread out, that he could hardly see them anymore. Every so often, he’d catch glimpse of his friend, Rain Runner, before the blue pony would disappear again behind clump of trees.
Maybe she really did get captured. Brawny thought to himself. He hated the thought of returning empty-handed, but if the pony wasn’t here, then she wasn’t here. Several hours back, they’d spotted hoof-prints leading away from the castle, and Brawny had gotten excited at the sign of a trail. But it had come to an abrupt stop. “Perhaps that’s where they flew off with her.” He said to himself, still processing through everything that was going on. He’d have to go back and check later, just to be sure. Still, their time was almost up. If they didn’t find Moon Dancer soon, then they’d have no choice but to retreat; captain’s orders.
As Brawny moved about his route, he suddenly heard noises far off in the distance. Almost like the sound of a screech, followed by a faint, whoosh. Stopping, the soldier listened for it again. This time, it came from the opposite direct. He listened for the noise again, and for a few moments, it was silent. Then suddenly, the sounds flared up from his right, this time a little closer than before. The screech was a bit more familiar. When the sound erupted on his left, Brawny heard the distinct sound of buzzing. “Changelings,” he whispered to himself. They’ve found us!
Quickly rushing through the brush, Brawny cried out, “Changelings! Regroup!” and pounded his hooves against the dirt, rushing towards their emergency check-point. He wasn’t sure if any-pony had heard him, wasn’t sure if any of them were left. Branches clawed at his side as he pushed his legs harder, galloping full speed to hopefully have some kind of advantage in numbers.
When Brawny arrived at the check-point near the castle ruins, he found Rain Runner already waiting there. “Rain Runner! What happened?” He asked quickly, as his friend came up to meet him.
“I don’t know!” Rain answered, almost out of breath, “one moment I glanced to my side and the others were there, the next, they were gone. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but . . .” Brawny stopped as he heard another soldier approaching. Brawny and Rain Runner watched as their fellow soldier rushed towards them, but out of the trees, two changelings suddenly swept in, and picking up the soldier, carried him off towards the treetops. Brawny could just make out the changelings sucking the love from the soldier.
“Follow me!” Brawny cried out, as he sprinted off back towards the ruins.
As Brawny and his friend approached the castle remains, they could feel the changelings hot on their tail. Three, maybe four of them right behind clawed at their tails, almost grabbing them from behind. “The ruins!” Rain Runner shouted at his friend, whom nodded in understanding. Rain Runner sped off ahead, rushing into the ruins as Brawny slowed down, and with a quick buck to the changelings behind him, managed to knock down two of the creatures with a hoof to the head. When he saw Rain Runner taking shelter under the rubble, Brawny dove in after his friend.
“Hurry, there’s a passage back here.” Rain said, ushering his friend deeper into the rubble.
Nodding, Brawny followed the pony into darkness. The fit became tight, as he muscled through some collapsed walls, the roof dropping chunks of debris into his mane. Of course, while it a was roof above them, Brawny wasn’t sure if it was an actual “roof” or just another floor. It hid them from view so he didn’t care.
“Where does this lead?” Brawny asked, as some rays of light speckled across the dirt floor that they now had to crawl through.
“Away from them . . .”
“We’ll have to come up with a plan for making it back to Ponyville.” Brawny said, his voice soft in the event that there were changelings nearby. “We’ll have to abandon our mission too.”
Rain Runner chuckled, “Well I suppose that was a given.”
The rubble finally opening up, Rain Runner helped Brawny out of the crawlspace of a castle. Staring ahead, Brawny dropped his mouth open in shock. Standing only ten or twelve feet away were three changelings, all holding Rain Runner down. The rest of his squad lay unconscious behind the changelings. Rain Runner shrieked his name, tears streaming down the pony’s face. Brawny blinked, and turned his eyes over to focus on the pony he’d been following all this time.
“Brawny! Get out of here! That changeling . . . it’s Chrysalis!” His friend screamed at him.
The Rain Runner he’d been following suddenly transformed, a black tornado of magic swirling around the creature. “No . . .” he whispered, taking a step back.
The magic quickly dissipated and before him stood Queen Chrysalis. She let out a cackle as she approached him. The changelings that had been chasing after him joined Chrysalis from above. She smiled down upon him and before he could do anything, three changelings tackled him to the ground. Brawny wriggled his body, and began to kick them off when Chrysalis stepped over him and placing a hoof on his neck, pinned the soldier against the ground.
“What do you want?” He asked, glaring at Chrysalis.
Barring her teeth, Chrysalis pressed her face close to Brawny. She smiled as she said, “I want in to Ponyville.”
A scream erupted from behind them, and when Brawny turned to look, he found the changelings taking turns, sucking the love out of Rain Runner. The pony’s body grew weak, his hooves dropping to his sides as his eyes began rolling back into his head. Rain’s scream melted into a gurgling utterance.
“Let him go!” Brawny shouted, tears running down his face, “you monsters! He doesn’t deserve this!”
“Doesn’t deserve this? Well don’t my subjects deserve to feed?” Chrysalis said. “Don’t they deserve food?” She barred her teeth at him, letting her tongue slide out around, licking her lips.
“You’ll never get into Ponyville,” Brawny Hoof spat. His eyes wide with anger, “Captain Shining Armor has his barrier around the town. Your changelings . . .”
Chrysalis leaned in and quickly sucked up some of Brawny’s love. The resulting impact left the earth pony out of breath, limbs shaking, trying to pull himself up. “My changelings will have no problem getting into Ponyville.” Chrysalis said, and using her magic, she pulled out two small necklaces, each with shards of a green stone dangling from the end.
Before Brawny could even ask, Chrysalis happily explained, “With the remains I’ve gathered from my throne, two of my changelings will be able to infiltrate Ponyville, and help bring down Princess Twilight’s rule. Then, all of my changelings shall feast on the love of Ponyville!” Chrysalis tilted her head back, and laughed at the brilliance of her plan. Once her changelings were in, it’d only be a matter of time before Ponyville fell to her army.
Brawny grit his teeth. He didn’t have the strength to stop her, didn’t have the strength to escape and warn the princess. He was useless. He felt so angry at what had happened. It had been his job to see this mission through, and he had failed. He stared over at Rain Runner, and his other colts. “What will you do with me?” He asked, eyeing them.
“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll be joining them soon enough.” Chrysalis said, “but first, you’re going to help me.”
“I’d rather die than help you.”
Letting out a soft chuckle, Chrysalis said, “You’re more than welcome to . . . after I’ve gotten what I want.” And leaning in, she began to suck more love out of Brawny Hoof. His body stuttered and shook, feeling as though his very life was exiting his mouth. He could feel his body grow weak, and then Chrysalis locked eye contact with him. He suddenly felt dizzy, and his vision lost focus.
“Now Brawny,” he heard a voice say. The soldier no longer knew who spoke, only that he must respond.
“Yes . . .”
“Tell me. How do you get back into Ponyville?”
The question was odd, because it was so obvious. Brawny had been briefed on re-entry along with all of his soldiers. Surely this pony knew the answer. With his mind clouded by Queen Chrysalis, he answered weakly, “After re-entry . . . the Captain requires a password to prove who is returning.”
“Very good. And what is your password Brawny?”
Brawny felt more love being sucked out of him. His body grew numb, and the voice grew stronger. His eyelids weighed down on his face. He could feel himself starting to pass out. “My password . . . is Star Swirl.” With more love extracted, Brawny’s eyes closed and then he was gone.
Shining Armor walked along the front lines near the edge of his barrier. As he passed by his soldiers, he couldn’t help but note the tense atmosphere that hung over them. It’d been almost a week since arriving in Ponyville, and not a single changeling had been spotted. Nothing had so much even attempted an attack on the town. Something’s not right here. Chrysalis should be all over this place by now. What’s she planning? Shining Armor thought to himself.
Behind him, the sun began to rise into the air, roughly shoving the moon from its place. Daybreaker. The captain thought to himself. She was their other problem. The fact that she now raised and lowered the sun bothered him. Every morning and every night started at a slightly different time. It was enough to be noticed, enough to agitate his soldiers. What-if one of these days Daybreaker just decided not to lower the sun, or the moon? The power she held in her hooves was terrifying.
Stepping up to one of his soldiers, Shining Armor said, “At ease soldier,” and looking over the colt’s face, he could see the uncertainty in the colt’s eyes. “Anything to report from the overnight?”
The soldier shook his head. Clinging to his spear tightly, he answered, “No sir. Unless you want to count the stray dog or two, we really haven’t seen anything.” Shining Armor merely nodded his head, having expected that answer. The soldier, a keen colt, then said, “You . . . think it’s too quiet?”
Shining Armor merely nodded his head. Staring out over the town, Shining Armor explained, “I would have expected a changeling army, or Daybreaker, to be breathing down our necks. But there is nothing. How are the other soldiers?” Shining Armor asked, turned concernedly to the private.
“They’re restless Captain. It’s hard to look out past the barrier and not see something move. Every noise will get at least one of us to flinch. Every-pony is expecting something.” Then glancing back out over outside the barrier, the soldier softened his voice. “Has there been any word from Brawny and his company?”
“I’m afraid not.” Shining Armor answered, “and they’re due back today. I hope to Celestia that they found Moon Dancer.”
“Yeah . . . me too.”
“As you were soldier,” Shining Armor finally said, letting his colts get back to their duties. He trotted away, hoping to check on a few more of his soldiers before updating Princess Twilight. He only wished he’d have some sort of news for her. Anything would be better than nothing. She was sitting in her castle, just as confused as the rest of them. The changelings had put up quite the offensive in Canterlot, and now it was almost as if they had vanished. But where? He thought to himself.
As the orange glow of the morning sun cast out the shadows of Ponyville, Shining Armor found himself inspecting the south-eastern corner of the barrier, the spot where Brawny and his squad had left to find Moon Dancer. At this point, the captain would’ve been happy just to see his colts return. He honestly wasn’t sure if Moon Dancer was even out there for them to find, but Princess Twilight had been so adamant. Hopefully this isn’t all for nothing.
As Shining Armor stared out over the path that led deep into the Everfree Forest, he could have sworn he saw something move. Squinting, Shining Armor watched as a spec crawled into view, just over the bend. It moved slowly, getting bigger and bigger as it became closer. It’s them! Shining Armor thought to himself. Rushing towards the nearest post, he shouted, “Soldiers! I need a set of binoculars, now!” Instantly, a pair was tossed at him and using his magic, Shining Armor lifted the binoculars to his eyes. Adjusting into focus, he could see Brawny Hoof limping towards the barrier.
“Soldiers, we’ve got two ponies at ten o’clock sharp!” Shining Armor commanded and instantly there were twelve or so sets of eyes on the approaching duo.
The soldiers took positions, ready to intercept the approaching ponies. They had to be ready. As of now, there was no guarantee that they weren’t changelings. On top of that, only one of the two ponies were recognizable. It was Brawny Hoof, in appearance anyway, but the unconscious Pegasus that he carried on his back was a mystery. She had an orange fur, a couple shades darker than the fruit of the same name. Her short mane and long tail were that of a soft, bright red. A couple of freckles speckled just under her eyes, and she appeared a few years younger than that of Brawny.
“Is that Moon Dancer?” One of the soldiers asked, excited that the mission could be completed.
“No. That’s not her.” Shining Armor said, no longer needing his binoculars as Brawny was close enough where the soldiers had drawn their spears and swords, ready to attack if the pony showed any signs of being a changeling.
Rushing to meet him, Shining Armor watched as the soldier stopped at the border of the barrier. He looked around it, and then stared inside at the soldiers. “State your name soldier.” Shining Armor said, stepping up behind the small squad of colts.
“Brawny Hoof sir.” He replied weakly.
“And your password?”
“Star Swirl.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Shining Armor nodded to his soldiers to let the two in. Brawny hesitated, but then walked through the barrier with a bit of crackling around him. Once he had entered, the soldiers made room as Shining Armor stepped up to him, gazing down at the soldier. Brawny had several bruises and cuts scattered across his body. His lip was bleeding and he had a black and blue eye. His usually clean coat of green fur had been dirtied with both mud and blood. Yet, the Pegasus that rested on his back had not a spot on her.
“What happened to you Brawny? Where are the others?”
The soldier looked as though he would tip over at any moment. He lowered his head and explained, “I’m sorry Captain. We were searching for Moon Dancer around the castle ruins, when . . . a group of changelings appeared. I don’t know if they’d been waiting for us, but, they took out half of the colts that were with me.”
“And the rest?”
Brawny shook his head. “We were forced to retreat. We were heading back to Ponyville . . . when we ran into her.” Brawny said, motioning to the Pegasus that slept on his back.
“Who is she?” Shining Armor said, inspecting the slumbering creature. “And how do you know she’s not a changeling?”
Brawny scratched at his leg for a moment. “I suppose if she was one, the changelings wouldn’t have been chasing her. It was rescuing her that lost me the rest of my squad.” Then bowing his head, Brawny again apologized, “I’m sorry Captain. You sent so many soldiers with me, and all I returned with was an orphan.”
Nodding to the other soldiers to return to their duties, Shining Armor moved to Brawny’s side and said, “It’s good to have you back. And I’m sorry about Rain Runner. I know he was a close friend of yours. And of the others, I’m sure they served you well.”
Brawny simply nodded. He must’ve still been upset from the attack. Shining Armor could’ve kicked himself for letting Princess Twilight talk him into this rescue mission. He’d lost so many soldiers, and they hadn’t even managed to locate Moon Dancer. Though to say the mission had been a complete failure was also a lie. Here Brawny was, with a Pegasus on his back. Perhaps, this mare could provide some insight as to what was going on with the changelings.
“You know anything about her?” Shining Armor asked.
Brawny shook his head. “No sir. Only thing I managed to learn before she lost consciousness was her name. It’s Sunset Star.”
“Get her to town hall. They should have some beds setup by now.” Shining Armor commanded. “And while you’re there, get yourself looked at. Once you’re ready, I’ll assign you a post in Ponyville.”
“Yes Captain.” Brawny said and turning away from Shining Armor he headed into town.
As the changeling disguised as Brawny trotted through Ponyville, the passenger on his back began to stir. “Think they bought it?” Came Razor’s voice.
Under a hushed voice, Tremor answered without looking back, “It seems so. I’m just glad Queen Chrysalis’ throne shards worked as well as they did.” Tremor honestly hadn’t been sure if him and Razor were going to make it through the barrier, especially with the necklaces hidden in their manes. If that didn’t work, they both would’ve had to hightail it back into the Everfree Forest; and then Ponyville would’ve been on high alert. Though from the looks of things, the town already was.
Razor stretched out over the other changeling’s back, clearly enjoying his ride. “You know . . . it was a lot of fun beating on you back there. Hehe almost thought you weren’t going to make it for a second.”
Tremor only chuckled. “I’ve been around far too long to be taken out that easily.” His injuries needed to look believable, so before leaving for Ponyville, Queen Chrysalis let the other changelings attack him. The bruises, blood, and black and blue eye weren’t fake. When Razor had hurled that rock, Tremor remembered black fuzziness covering his eye-sight. He wasn’t even sure where he’d been hit.
Razor patted him on the back of the head, where it was still sore. “That’s why I don’t go easy on you. Cause you can take it . . . and it’s fun.” He laughed.
“Alright alright. So you enjoyed it,” Tremor hissed, his body trembling a bit under Razor’s weight. “But you better shut yourself up. Other ponies are starting to come out. And you’re supposed to be unconscious.” His lips spreading into a half-ways grin, Tremor turned to Razor. “You’re the cute mare in distress after all.”
“Only cause the Queen ordered it.” Razor grumbled, and with that, he closed his eyes and went motionless, only letting his body bounce around as Tremor walked. To any other pony that now looked, Razor was just a sweet, injured little Pegasus, whose body was exhausted from her perilous trip.
One of the ponies saw Tremor and rushed up to him. “What’s happened to you two? Are you alright?” It was a unicorn; whose fur was white as the clouds. Her purplish mane and tail curled elegantly over her body, with jewels for a cutie mark.
Sticking to his story, Tremor explained, “I’m Brawny Hoof, just returning from the Everfree Forest. My fellow colts and I managed to rescue this here mare, and then I lost them all.” Quickly moving on, Tremor said, “Please, I need to get to Town Hall. Captain Shining Armor said there were beds there. Sunset Star . . . she needs help.”
“Oh right this way!” the unicorn called out, motioning for them to follow.
Tremor happily followed the unicorn, unable to help but notice the Element of Harmony that hung around her neck. This is one of them. He thought to himself. If only he could retrieve the item for his Queen, he’d happily do so. But, they were both under strict orders. “Do everything you can to infiltrate Ponyville, but under no circumstances are you to reveal yourselves or make a move on the Elements. That time will come soon enough.” Queen Chrysalis had said to them. And Tremor had every intention of following his Queen’s instructions to the letter.
Entering the Town Hall, the unicorn helped locate a bed for Razor, his body disguised in the Sunset Star skin brought a smile to Tremor’s face. The dumb changeling hated being seen as girly, and now, that was his mission.
“She must be very close to you.” The unicorn said. Tremor glanced over to her, a bit confused. “I saw you staring at her. I saw your smile. Why, even in these dreadful times, we simply must have some-pony to care about.”
Tremor nodded, “I only just rescued her. I just want to make sure she’s alright.”
The pony giggled. “Well then who better to take care of her. Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll get a nurse to bandage you up.”
Taking a seat next to the bed that they’d tossed Razor on, Tremor thanked the unicorn and watched her trot off deeper into the Town Hall. Being mistaken in this fashion wasn’t necessarily a bad thing when he thought about it. It’d give him an excuse to come and see Razor. Communication would be easier this way.
Unable to help himself, Tremor smiled again. He leaned up against Razor and whispered into his ear, “This is going to be fun.” He watched as his partner stifled a grin. Ponyville will be ours.