As Everchange saw the two vile individuals leave the room, Everchange immediately gritted his teeth, seeing a couple saddle bags that were empty. He strapped them on and started to fill them to the brim with a couple books and tomes at a time, trying to grab as much as he can carry, and decided to try and brave the trip back through those crazed creatures.
"Ok, Everchange... You're on your own right now, but that's okay. You've toughed it out on your own for several long and treacherous years... but you did it nonetheless, you can beat this. You can win against this... But what to do after all of this? That's something to think about after I get out of here." Everchange muttered to himself. The stallion braced himself and ran back towards the corridor he came from, leaping over the strange creatures as he quickly sprinted down the freezing cold metal halls as the creatures chased right after him.
As Celestia followed above in the air, the ponies, and spike, were riding back to the Council's sanctum on the Timberwolf, yet again. Celestia looks down at her student and her friends, still wondering if they'll be able to face this threat and come out on top. Soon enough, it was very clear that there was something cold in the air. The timberwolf came to a halt, sniffing the air as it started to whine, lowering its head as something came towards it. The ponies scrambled to jump off of the Timberwolf, and out of the way, but that something never came. The thing heading towards the Timberwolf, could not be seen. Celestia stepped forward, as she started to disappear into something as the area looked unchanged. Celestia stuck a hoof out and motioned for the ponies to follow suite, and so they did, trotting forward to see the rest of the tracks, covered in ice and snow, as storm clouds rage above them, as it begins to snow heavily.
"W-Why is it so f-fr-fr-freezing cold out here?! It wasn't like this when we c-c-came through!" Rainbow Dash asked, just as confused as her friends as she shivered in the cold wind. Celestia was unaffected, and trotted forward, using her magic to pull a retractable spear, crackling with a form of electrical energy. Twilight, who was really second guessing most of everything that had occurred, saw Celestia looking ahead, steady and cautious of whatever or whoever could be around.
Almost as if the freezing cold had faded away for a moment, the gurgling and screeching sounds of something was coming forward. There were several shapes of ponies, but by Celestia's will, they looked like monsters. Several of these ponies ranged from several types of ponies, some of them had a jutting black horn, symbolizing them as what were Unicorns. Freaky moth-like wings, symbolizing that they were Pegasi, and the lack of a horn or wings, and a tougher set of back legs were to symbolize Earth Ponies. The creatures themselves all had one thing in common. That strange crazy parasite that almost overwhelmed Twilight, it made them like this. They glared and stared at the ponies, hissing and gurgling as they trotted closer. Soon enough, they screeched as they started to run forward.
Celestia ran forward, her crackling and sparking spear generating energy as she yelled angrily towards these creatures. The ponies looked at each other, and knew they had to help. "For Equestria!!" Twilight exclaimed. Her friends trotted by her side, even Trixie had joined the fray, as they joined Celestia in the fight against these creatures.
Twilight used her magic to blast several of them away, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took the fight to physical levels, bucking and headbutting the creatures as he squelched in pain. Rarity and Trixie helped Twilight by providing more magical firepower as they pushed some of these creatures back. Pinkie has been utilizing her Party Cannon to blast several of these creatures back, incapacitating them as they laid down in the thick blanket of snow. Spike was doing perfectly fine, actually posing a type of threat to the monsters as his fire caused them to back away, causing a rare few to retreat. Fluttershy, who was able to talk to some of the local animals nearby, was able to kindly convince several of the animals to fight the monstrous ponies for her while she hid behind her friends. Celestia was making incredibly quick work of the creatures, kicking them, shocking them, knocking them away, and blasting at them with her magic.
"Princess Celestia, what are these things?! What did they do these poor ponies?" Twilight asked, managing to push them back.
"DNAliens! That thing which tried to overwhelm you, was a Xenocyte. Artificial creatures, made to find hosts and turn them into monstrous drones for the Highbreed. Whatever you do, do not let them overpower you!!" Celestia explained, furiously swatting several DNAlien drones away from her. These creatures kept on coming, but that was the least of their problems.
Everchange ducked and dodged the Xenocytes trying to latch onto him, making sure to buck away any DNAliens coming his way as he escaped the hidden sanctums. Now back into the main part of the sanctum, it was chaos beyond chaos. Several of the Unicorns were struggling to pull Xenocytes off of either themselves or their fellow members, some of them had become DNAliens, and Everchange found himself with a choice. Save as many as he can, or save himself, and let them become drones.
Everchange knew which choice to make, and knew it might be costly, but he went through with it. He saw a Unicorn barely holding on as the Xenocyte latched onto their face, but it was short lived when Everchange grabbed the Xenocyte and chucked it a Unicorn, who had just been converted, knocking it to the ground as the unicorn looked at Everchange. "You... you saved me? Why? We had you and one of the princesses in a cell for weeks." the Unicorn asked. Everchange looked back, obviously not thrilled about that fact, but knew that these creatures were a bigger threat.
"You. Me. Save as many as we can. We leave. Now. Your prince demands it, unless you wish to be marked as a traitor to Equestria." Everchange stated, holding his saddle bags up as he trotted to another Unicorn, pulling the Xenocyte from their face before it began conversion. The unicorn, a pale bright gray unicorn stallion with a short red mane and a bushy black tail trotted forward to help, pulling a Xenocyte off of another Unicorn, growing the numbers of normal ponies more and more as they try to undo the chaos, one pony at a time as they fought off the DNAliens.
Back in PonyVille, the Highbreed known as Seedellum, and the Unicorn, Chancellor Neighsay, have already released several canisters with Xenocytes all over the town, waiting for a town's worth of drones to be at their beckon call. But after around a couple hours, everypony was present, but they weren't drones, the Xenocytes were just swarmed and overpowered by the tenacity of those with magical powers, or were just too used to the physical labor and the occasional magical attack, that the Xenocytes had a real struggle with converting any of the ponies into DNAliens, including the children. Soon enough, DNAlien drones were sent in to find out what had disrupted their plans, but soon, the DNAliens were sent running by a several armed guards, wielding strange ranged weapons as they fired upon the monstrous invaders, sending them back as the citizens of Ponyville cheered, knowing that they were safe... At least, for the moment.
On Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Applebloom are swatting and bucking Xenocytes and DNAliens away, keeping them away from the farm as much as they can as Granny Smith just sleeps peacefully in her rocking chair, unaware of the chaos going on. Big Mac quickly slammed his hind legs into one of those Xenocytes, sending it flying through the air, skidding and rolling over into the ground as Big Mac grabbed Applebloom and Granny Smith, tossing them into a wagon as he quickly hauled them away from the farm, their dog, Winona, followed close behind.
Back to the Council's sanctum, several unicorns were trotting fast behind Everchange, as several DNAliens fired blasts of magic in their direction. The unicorns fired back at the drones, who constantly dodged their efforts. The few drones who were apparently earth ponies, spat huge disgusting globs of goo at the escaping ponies. Some of the unicorns got stuck on the way, but a couple unicorns were able to free them before getting Xenocytes to the face. Everchange and the remaining unicorns managed to get out, but they had to barricade the sanctum, to keep the drones and xenocytes from escaping to the rest of Equestria.
"Quickly, my brethren! Scatter!" One Unicorn stated as he ran. Almost immediately, a xenocyte had managed to latch onto them, incapacitating them as it slowly took over the equestrian. "Pitiful equestrian creatures... No tact, no shame, no purpose." A voice rang out. The unicorns and Everchange turned to the voice, and saw Seedellum, along with Neighsay, standing tall above the ponies. Seedellum beheld the sight of Everchange, recognizing the stallion from somewhere, but the black mass of the stallion's cutie mark spoke a volume to the alien, as he turned towards Neighsay.
"Equestrian, is this supposed to be humorous?!" Seedellum hissed, startling the Unicorn stallion. "Humorous? No, we're on the cusp of victory, you extraterrestrial! That's Everchange, the false prince of Canterlot. He's in league with the putrid monsters of the world, claiming you have problems due to your genes." Neighsay spat through this teeth.
"HEY! I don't even know what's going on, okay?! But I recognize you, ya old horned smartflank!" Everchange stated, irritated that they had finally escaped, but only to be cornered again.
"Who are you, equestrian vermin?" Seedellum growled, shifting his multi-eyed gaze to the pale yellow stallion. Everchange stepped forward, glaring at the Highbreed before looking towards Neighsay. "You're Mr. Neighsay, my last tutor before I was educated at home." Everchange stated. Neighsay growled as he looked at the stallion in the eyes, remembering something.
FLASHBACK...
The Castle in Canterlot
A Teen Everchange snuck into a room, and grabbed a couple small machines for potion brewing. Beside him was a younger Neighsay, who was much younger, but still old enough to teach about complex potion recipes. "Alright, your highness, if you want to brew potions, show me a recipe you've concocted before." the Unicorn stated. Everchange remembered that day, and how close it was to a dream he had. Scale of Changeling, Feather of Griffon, Embers from Tartarus, and a strand of hair from an Alicorn. Just like the dream, things went awry... and the last thing he saw before blacking out, was Celestia, and his only mother, trotting towards him.
[End of Flashback...]
Everchange closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek as he groaned and glared at Neighsay. "That could've killed me, you know. Besides, not like that matters now, you are a threat to our plans, and you are to not be around... when we enact our vengea-" Neighsay was interrupted by a powerful buck to the face, sending him back a good distance. Everchange had slammed his hind hooves into his former tutor, and glared up at the highbreed that stood before him.
"I don't know what in Tartarus's depths you are, but I plan to stomp you out, and I'm gonna make it hurt. COME ON!!" Everchange exclaimed, charging towards the Highbreed. The towering entity hissed and ran towards the stallion, fixating its red eyes on the equestrian as it jumped into the air, preparing to connect its front hooves to the entity's face. Everchange was swatted away as he skidded across the ground, but was still resilient against the beast, charging towards it as he quickly spun himself around, and quickly slammed his hindlegs into Seedellum's right leg, a noticeable and audible, sickening snap echoed as the Highbreed bellowed in pain, grunting as it held out its three fingers, and began to rapid fire some kind of finger quills towards the pony.
Everchange was quick to act, running in a zigzag formation, trying to dodge the quills as much as he could as he slammed his head against Seedellum's, knocking the Highbreed off balance, forcing it to stand on its crippled leg, and then soon, fall to its side. The Highbreed roared out in a rage, trying to stand as Everchange slammed his hooves into the Highbreed's side, obviously bruising the alien well as parts of the Highbreed start to swell and darken in hue. It seemed like the highbreed could not fight anymore. "Give up, monster... I can at least guarantee you won't be killed. Your wounds, they'll be tended to, but you are not to step foot or hoof in Equestria after this is settled." Everchange stated. The highbreed, Seedellum, albeit not willing to surrender, was confused as to why this foolish creature would want to spare him.
"Why... why spare me? I have made most of your kind and some sort of fire breathing reptilian species into mindless drones... I had planned to take over your pitiful kingdom, and then branch out to the rest of your backwater world... why in the name of the stars... are you sparing me?" Seedellum asked, obviously not getting what was happening. A lower lifeform had somehow bested him in combat, and he was for some reason, being spared. He did not know how to properly react to this...
At least, not until a certain unicorn had managed to shove Everchange back, sending the stallion tumbling as he tried to move, only to sprain his front left leg and his back right leg. The unicorn, using his magic to bring Seedellum to his footing, his other leg and foot being lifeless, and very unsalvageable... let alone healable, faced the towering extraterrestrial, who was contemplating a subtle change in plans.
"Honestly, if you had just stopped meddling with our plans, then there wouldn't be much of an issue. Now we have to do this the hard way... Seedellum, don't give in to his pitiful last words, he's a lower lifeform, and we unicorns are the superior race. If you can still move, even if it's just a shake of your torso, we can still be at the cusp of victory. If we can make him a drone, we can send him after the princesses, and watch this chaotic little world fall before our mi-" Neighsay was interrupted by a firm slam to his right side, sending him flying into one of the steep earthy hills, knocking the unicorn unconscious as several xenocytes began to surround the unconscious equestrian. Seedellum, had used full force on the unicorn when he slapped him, and sent him flying into one of the hills, and slowly limped away towards the sanctum of Artemis. The several drones that were trying to bust through, stopped and kneeled before the wounded highbreed.
The highbreed turned his glance towards the unconscious earth stallion, and eyed the gem on his wrist for but a moment, before he raised his black claws to the sky. The several remaining uninfected unicorns noticed a stampede of those drones heading their way from almost nowhere, trotting and flying past the unaffected ponies, as several Xenocytes dragged the slowly waking unicorn stallion back inside the sanctum. Everchange was slowly coming to consciousness, and could barely look at the highbreed as it gazed back.
"Know this, equestrian vermi-... *ahem* Everchange... We are not friends or allies, the highbreed do not need your pity, or your friendship... but I do see potential in you... potential that would be wasted as a mindless drone. Know that we have no qualms with you equestrians, but this Chancellor you're aware of... has a lot to answer for when he comes to. And know this as well... We are not the end of the threats you'll face beyond your backwater planet... we won't fight with you, nor against... Come back when you are competent, and you may serve your world well." Seedellum stated. Chancellor was struggling to get up as several of the drones and xenocytes pulled at the unicorn, who was screaming for help. The unicorns who weren't affected, backed away, and Everchange, had no strength, nor the will to find a way to move, after getting a painful supreme beating. As Neighsay called out one last time, one of the Xenocytes had latched onto his face as he screamed out, and the doors were shut.
The unicorns were arguably glad to not be one of those monsters, but it made little sense to them due to the fact that they went against pony kind, and nearly put several other species in danger because of their dutifulness, and almost becoming drones themselves. They looked back towards Everchange, the stallion who spared them of such a fate, unconscious and unmoving. A couple of them were about to move toward him, and help him up, until a powerful bolt of magic struck the earth in front of them, causing them to back away.
Up in the air, was Twilight and Celestia, and on the ground, were Spike, Rarity, Trixie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, a couple royal guards who joined in to help fight the good fight, and Pinkie Pie, who now had a scar on her face, but doesn't seem to mind it as she still acts like her usual self. "Touch a hair on my nephew's mane. I Dare You." Celestia stated, the glass helmet on her suit was cracked and shattered, but she didn't seem to mind that, only wanting to see Everchange again, only to slightly grimace as his body lay there next to the tracks, beaten, battered, but still breathing and unturned.
The ponies trotted over towards him, and looked down at him. "He's injured, really bad. We need to get him to a hospital... there's one in Ponyville, is there not?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded as Applejack quickly got Everchange on her back, his unconscious garbled nonsense as his body shook was strange, but a bit funny to the orange farm pony as she quickly trotted off towards Ponyville in a quick strafe. The other ponies followed along, though Celestia lagged a bit behind due to her second guessing how things went down back a few weeks ago.
At the Ponyville Hospital...
Everchange was resting in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of meticulous and special medical equipment as he slowly but surely came to. He had to adjust to the sudden shine of hospital lights as he saw Celestia looking over him, giving a warm, and slightly worried smile, as if she actually cared, but was a bit worried it'd come off as condescending. Everchange assumed it was the former, and slightly scoffed, obviously still hurting from the thousand years he spent hating and despising her.
"Princess Celestia." Everchange said sourly, not even looking at her in the face.
Celestia sighed and and took in a quick breath. "I can accept that, all in good time... *sigh* I wish this didn't have to be this way... you being in a hospital bed, physically aching from the mess I made, and me, having to wear an old uniform I haven't worn since the pony tribes were first brought together... strange how things play out, no?" Celestia stated somberly, letting a slight smile creep up around her face, albeit a sad one. Everchange again scoffed, which just made Celestia feel like she wasn't trying enough.
"If you came here to lecture me about how I ran head first into trouble, then so help me, just banish me to one of the stars already... with how much of a stubborn and asinine fool I've been these past thousand years... I more than deserve it." Everchange stated. Looking to the other side of his bed, away from Celestia.
"No, not at all... you don't deserve to be banished. You freed my student from the clutches of a cult, and you fought against one of those things... the highbreed. How you could stand your ground is beyond me, but maybe you do have a few trust issues to work on, albeit that may be my fault... The doctors informed me that you'll be out of here by tomorrow morning, so you'll be able to celebrate the festivities with me, like we used to..." Celestia stated, wiping her eyes for a moment.
"With you?! Ha! Like I'd ever willingly go back, I spend every Nightmare Night honing my skills, mastering my powers, and I'm lucky that my forms can be seen as costumes, for once a year. Why would I spend Nightmare Night with you, when you said I'd never be anything worthwhile!" Everchange gritted, obviously angry as he winced, trying to stay still as the beeping on the machines got a bit faster. Celestia, walked back over to the bedside, and sat down, and looked at the stallion. she was not angry, not happy, not upset... but she did shed a few tears as she looked down at Everchange.
"Those were the poorest choices of words I ever spoke... I just wish you'd let me in, hear me out and not think of me as the mare who... who had to make the worst decision she's ever made." Celestia said quietly, almost like a hush tone or a whisper. Celestia looked at Everchange, and saw his sour expression change to that of resentment.
"Everchange?" Celestia asked, a bit more vocal. The Stallion silently shifted his gaze to the princess of the sun, and waited for a response. "Promise me that you'll at least write to me about your progress... with the gem, I mean... and I hope you'll reconsider joining me for the festivities, since it does concern your mother... sweet dreams, my dearest nephew..." Celestia stated, walking out of the room as a couple more ponies trotted in. Each one being a friend of Twilight, before Twilight herself stepped in, closing the door behind her, in which Everchange closed his eyes in response.
"Come on, you sleepy head! It may be late, but you can always talk to us! We're your fri-" Pinkie was about to say something, until Everchange cut her off and sat up, obviously feeling a few emotions come to the surface.
"You all came together nearly a month ago to rally against me, I've had my spat with your alicorn friend when we tried to escape a cult of some sort, and I think I'm hemorrhaging in my hind legs... is there a point to this, Pinkie?" Everchange stated, wincing more as he held his left leg. The pink pony backed away, and started to slowly deflate, before reflating to show some concern.
"Easy dahling! You might pull something out of place! We just wanted to tell you that we got some information out of Celestia... and my my, you have a rich history!~" Rarity said, perking up as she smiled. Everchange's eye twitched as he pulled the blanket on his bed over his head.
"Look, pal. We're sorry for-" Rainbow was cut off by Everchange, again.
"For chasing me down, hunting me, then chasing me into the Everfree Forest, sorry for assuming I sent a huge malformed and transmutated Timberwolf on the town, or assuming I had probably done something to your magic friend. Go on ahead, you have options." Everchange stated, the irritation in his face slowly coming out, masking his resentment. Rainbow landed and put her face in her hoof as she thought about how to reword that.
"W-Well... w-we at least thank you for all the good you've done, at least." Fluttershy stated, smiling a bit. Everchange's irriation soon faded as he felt the resentment wash over him again.
"Pardner, you saved Applebloom and her friends lives that night. You saved Snips and Snails' lives from that huge plant monster under the Everfree, and by technicality, you also saved all of Equestria from that monster. You stopped the timberwolf problem, and tamed one of those feisty critters, and it helped us find you. I'd say you did a heck of a lotta good right 'ere." Applejack stated, smiling as he took off her hat. Everchange let a slight smile creep over his face before he shook it off.
"If it weren't for you, The Great and Powerful Trixie would've lost her assistants, and you were willing to try and help me get out of the way of the Ursa Minor's feral attack. You actually inspired Trixie a bit to do some good, because it's the right thing to do... you stood up for me, and defended me when no one else would. Thank you." Trixie stated.
Twilight stepped forward, having let her friends, and Trixie, say their kind words. The alicorn was very conflicted. She just tried to hunt down Celestia's Nephew like a monster. Spike crawled onto the bed and looked Everchange in the eye.
"I don't know a lot about you. When Twilight first bumped into you, I was a bit hesitant, but she was adamant on wanting answers. She can just be a bit forward at times. Is there any chance you'd be willing to start over, maybe as friends?" Spike said, smiling as he held out a hand. Everchange raised his good leg up and shook Spike's hand, another smile forming on his face for a little longer.
Twilight cleared her throat as she looked at the stallion in the bed. She looked uncertain of herself, but so did Everchange. "What is it you wanna ask me... I'll give you one answer to a question you want answered, but after that, I just want a calm and rational conversation... none of this talk about what it is we'll have to do tomorrow night. So go on, ask me anything." Everchange stated. The alicorn was surprised by how forward and accepting the stallion was being, but it gave her a moment to think of one question.
"Is it true? Celestia has said many things about your origins, but is it true?" Twilight asked, a look of concern, contemptment, curiosity and a hint of guilt plastered over her face. Everchange took a deep breath, everypony and Spike looked towards the stallion as it exhaled.
"Yes. It's true... I'm no Canterlot native, but I've lived there for as long as I can remember... and during my thousand years of hiding and forsaking everything I was supposed to be, I don't want to be royalty... I just want my family back... old or the one that got banished." Everchange solemnly confirmed, a stern expression on his face as a tear was shed from one of his eyes. He immediately felt a massive amount of pain in his arm as the ponies came in to embrace him, including Spike too, but instead of fighting it, he sighed and accepted it, letting the warm embrace just be enough for him to get a bit more exhausted.
Back at the Council of Artemis, Chancellor Neighsay has been half-converted into a DNAlien drone, but he's a bit more aggral than before. The DNAlien drones guarding his quarters stand guard as Seedellum, who has made a very advanced technological replacement leg for his broken and severed one, is now sitting on a small throne as a few drones attempted to get something working again.
"One of these days, you equestrian filth... You are going to get everything... that is coming to you... Everchange." Seedellum spoke, silently, but aggressively.