Flurry Heart curled into a ball, shivering and whimpering in her cage. She could hear the distant buzzing of the hive outside of the dungeon's doors and the whimpers of the other captive ponies. The image of Diamond Crystal becoming one of the hybrids lined the backs of her eyelids, forcing her to see it every time she blinked, her friend’s screams echoing in her ears. Suddenly, Flurry heard the murmur of distant voices. Her ears perked up as she opened her eyes to look around.
She found herself in the middle of a battlefield, standing alone unarmed. She looked around confused, unable to find anypony she recognized. She turned around, seeing an old crumbling castle, and she began walking toward it. As she grew closer, she began recognizing little details, a spire here, the color there. Suddenly the pieces fell into place and she began running. This is Twilight’s castle! The door was already crumbling and falling off its hinges but the gilded frame stood tall, like a doorway into her memories.
“Auntie? Hello, I’m back!” she called.
A voice seemed to answer her, and she began to explore, looking for the origin of it, but the deeper into the castle ruins, the creepier the voice became. False warmth grew cold, pretended cheer faded, a menacing chuckle taking its place.
“H-hello…?” she stammered. “Is anypony there…? Auntie?” She trembled as the chuckle built into a laugh. She covered her ears, trying to block it out, but it only grew louder in response. “Queen Chrysalis…” She whimpered. “No, not here.”
She spun and began running, but no matter where she went the voice followed. The grand assembly hall, Twilight’s room, even her old room when she used to stay over. She stumbled and blinked tears from her eyes as she dashed into the map room. The voice, Chrysalis's voice, only came closer. Flurry spun around, searching, but only managed to trip over her own hooves. She scrambled to keep her footing.
The laughter grew causing Flurry to panic, driving her onward. She prayed, pleaded, that it was only a dream, little more than a nightmare.
Suddenly a changeling jumped out in front of her, blocking her exit. She let out a frightened scream and ignited her horn. She spun around, only to find another changeling once again blocking her escape. She turned, finding more and more changelings surrounding her, blocking her, pinning her, halting her escape. Almost forgotten memories resurfaced, screams, a white body pinned under too many black bodies, trust shattered, red, so much red.
She frantically looked around for an opening, any opening as her magic fizzled. She spread her wings but before she could take off a changeling pinned her down, black spots began to fill her vision as she panicked more.
“Somepony, help me!” She cried, desperate.
As the changelings closed ranks, smiling and grinning at each other, an explosion sounded in the distance, a war cry going up. She watched as a pony coalesced in the smoke and began flying toward her. “Aunt Twilight, help me!” She called.
Flurry watched as Twilight came closer, details becoming apparent. No, she refused to believe what she was seeing. Twilight, her Twilight had become one of the hybrids, a monster created by the one standing at her side, still laughing, her body was covered in lifeless chitin, her mane lost its personality, her eyes emotionless as she stared at Flurry. Queen Chrysalis, it’s all her fault, her Auntie is gone, replaced by a monster! She whimpered in fear as the two creatures walked toward her, horns glowing.
“Auntie…?” She wept.
Twilight coldly glared at her, making eye contact as she ignited her horn, shooting a blast of twisted magic at the young alicorn.
---
Flurry woke up in fright at the sound of her cell door opening. She looked over to find Shining Chitin throwing in a new pony and slamming the door behind him. He looked like he was only a year or two younger than her. He had a silver-colored coat and a white crystalline mane.
The pony jumped at the sound of the door slamming as he looked at his new surroundings. Flurry stood and walked over to him. He tensed up at the sound of her hoofsteps, but relaxed when he saw her.
“Don’t worry, it’s alright,” She said. “What’s your name?”
The younger pony stared at her for a moment. “S-Silver Hoof.” He stuttered.
“I’m Princess Flurry Heart, but you probably already know that.”
Silver nodded his head. “So… What’s going to happen to us…?” He asked nervously.
Flurry looked down at her hooves. “I… I don’t know…” She muttered. “My friend was turned into a hybrid by Chrysalis…”
Silver’s eyes grew wide with fear. “D-does that mean, that I’m going to become one too…?”
Flurry just turned her head away and shrugged. Silver rushed over to her side and clung to her, refusing to let her go.
“I’m scared…”
“Me too,” She said. “But, I promise to protect you. It’s my duty.”
---
Twilight walked around the battlefield. She looked around, confused by the sudden change in her surroundings. She saw no ponies on the battlefield, no changelings, no bodies either, just an empty, barren, field. Something was off, it hadn’t been this quiet since before the war started.
She heard hoofsteps behind her, finding Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She turned around to face them. “Princesses, what’s going on?” she asked. “Where is everypony?”
The two sisters stared at her blankly not acknowledging her. Suddenly, their forms changed. Their hooves now had holes and their manes were messy. Horror filled her mind as she turned around, finding Diamond Crystal changed as well, along with her friends, new and old alike.
“No…” Twilight murmured. “This can’t be true… I refuse to believe this!” She looked over to Flash Sentry as tears streamed down her face. She rushed up to him, putting her hooves on his face, and stared into his eyes. “I know you’re still in there, you’re stronger than Chrysalis’ magic! Fight back!” she said as her tears fell from her eyes. “I know you’re still in there!” Flash just stared blankly into the distance, unaffected by her plea.
“Oh, Twilight. You still try, but face it. They’re gone, and are mine now…” Chrysalis chuckled as her voice filled her ears. “A deceased mind is oh so easy to manipulate after all..”
Twilight stared into the air, glaring and letting out a scream as tears flowed down her cheeks. “Show yourself, monster!” She roared.
“Face it, Princess, you already lost. After all...”
Twilight found herself surrounded by a group of changelings as she felt something inside of her growing. That something grew painful as Twilight fell to her knees. A green aura surrounded her, slowly crawling up her hooves as holes began to form and grow, chitin replacing fur.
“You’re one of them as well.”
---
Twilight woke up in a panic, falling out of her bed. She landed on her side, her missing wing flaring up and causing her to cry out in pain. The fear she had felt in the dream, slowly washed away from her mind as she came to her senses. She gently massaged her wing sump, taking a deep breath.
Crystal Mane rushed in with a look of panic on his face. "Princess, are you alright?" he said as he rushed over.
"I'm alright, just another nightmare," she muttered as she winced, supporting her weight on her bed as she stood off the floor. Crystal hurried to help her up.
“Princess, I think you should do something about these nightmares,” he sighed. “I don’t want you getting any more hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, Crystal,” Twilight replied. “I’m going to go check on Cadence.”
“Would you like me to escort Your Highness?”
“Yes, just remain outside the infirmary.”
Crystal nodded as Twilight leaned against him for support and walked into the hallway.
---
Twilight walked into the infirmary room where her sister-in-law was. She walked over to her side, holding onto her hoof.
"I had another nightmare, they seem to just get worse and worse…" Twilight croaked tears streaming down her face. "I just wish there was some way we could end this war…" Twilight then broke down sobbing as she cried into her sister-in-law’s side.
A beetle shape object flew in through an open window. Twilight paid no attention to the floating object due to her sobs. It fluttered above Cadence landing on the ceiling and shrinking down to a speck of dust. It glowed bright green as an aura floated from Cadence’s body.
Suddenly, her heart monitor let out a long beep, causing Twilight to panic.
“CELESTIA, LUNA! ANYPONY GET IN HERE!” She yelled.
Crystal Mane and a nurse rushed into the room. “What’s going on?” asked Crystal.
Meanwhile, the nurse rushes to Cadence’s bedside but stopped once she got there.
“Just save her! Please!” Twilight cried.
“There’s nothing I can do… she’s gone.”
“No, no! There must be something!” Twilight yelled “Celestia, Luna!”
“Twilight stop!” Crystal mane nearly shouted, “Even the princesses cant bring ponies back from the dead!”
Twilight collapsed into his arms, wailing.