"Where is Sunny?" Moon asked aggressively without turning to face the crowd.
"The unicorn with the strange mane and tail?" one of the police asked. Moon grunted in response. "He should still be in the university dorms. They're the huge, whiteish buildings surrounded by greenery to the east of here. They're hard to miss."
The alicorn teleported outside of the building and took to the sky. The city was bigger than she remembered, and her newfound rage was starting to pump the blood through her weakened muscles and tired brain. Everything she needed to do was starting to come to her in waves. First, however, was Sunny. It took around two minutes of flying to finally spot the greenery the police pony had mentioned.
Nightmare Moon tsk'd. "That's their greenery? There's hardly a sidewalk's worth surrounding the buildings. Pathetic."
She took to the location and landed with a heavy thud on the ground, cracking the pavement. Focusing, the mare's horn hummed softly as it cast a spell. Creatures were starting to gather around Moon, surprised to see her. Most of these were ponies from all over Equestria, including the new species of pony Moon had never seen before. Among the growing crowd were, strangely, griffons. One would expect enemies to remain such, especially with the loss of territory.
As Moon continued to search for Sunny with her magic, she became aware of the gathering of creatures around her and a lone figure carrying weaponry on one of the floors. It was slowly inching itself to one of the rooms, but Moon wasn't sure which one. There was also something else in the area, amongst the crowd.
Within the dorm building itself, the staff were watching at the door. Moon had landed some ways away from where they were, but it was still a breathtaking sight. Nightmare Moon kept her eyes closed and an immeasurable amount of magic congealed around her horn: Dancing and singing in their fluttering jitteriness. They didn't pay attention to the figure that had crept into the building during the initial moments when everyone noticed the alicorn landing. It had the perfect opportunity to reach its target's place of residence and didn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation. Sunny Dimples hadn't paid much heed to the brouhaha happening outside and was busy reorganizing his room as he mulled over the mayor's words.
The young stallion had started getting out of the dorms more often since then, and the mayor seemed to watch him obsessively and approached Sunny every time he went for a walk. That old stallion was really, really bored. The unicorn thought of visiting him properly one day, but it was too early for that.
He was completely unaware that someone had reached his door. Sunny was only vaguely aware of some chill in his back that made his fur stand on end. It was dismissed as just the chill of the mountains. The entity reached out towards the door, ever slowly and calculating in its movements.
Sunny jumped when he heard knocking on his door and set his notes down on the table. "Coming!" he announced.
He grabbed the angled handle for hooves with his magic and opened the door then paled. It was Nightmare Moon.
"Hello, Sunny," she greeted him. The stallion started shaking and his fur paled. The chill in his back worsened when a smile slowly crept on the alicorn's face, revealing her fangs. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well," she said slowly.
Whether she was being sincere or not, the malicious tone of voice she naturally carried made her calmer speech pattern seem all the more threatening. Questions kept racing through the stallion's head. Was she angry that he didn't appear? What was she doing all that time? Did she really need him for something and was going to k-
"Stop panicking. I'm not here to hurt you, colt," she snapped. The unicorn nodded quickly. "I want you to come back with me to the castle."
Sunny blinked nervously. "But, all my notes and--"
"They'll still be here." She lowered herself to his face, letting him feel the dark breath from her nostrils. Every wind made the stallion feel like his fur and flesh were going to melt off. He didn't miss this at all. "It is very important."
"O-okay..." he agreed reluctantly.
Moon gave him a warm smile and moved to the door, inviting him to leave. the white unicorn looked back at his belongings several times before finally going. He hated leaving things unfinished and still had the nagging feeling that he wouldn't be able to recover his items. Sunny had tests in a few weeks and needed to study!
The unicorn noticed a crumpled ball to the side of the path connected to all the rooms when he left his. Surrounding it was a puddle of red that was seeping into the carpet, staining it.
"What is that?" he asked Moon.
She looked at the ball dismissively then looked away. "Never you mind."
"But it's...it's leaking red..."
"Let's go!" Moon ordered with a booming voice.
Sunny couldn't help but cast a worried glance back to the crumpled ball. It looked like it had been wrapped in thin sheets of metal. Whatever was inside was oozing a red liquid. A metallic stench stung the stallion's nostrils, queuing him to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Finally outside, Moon grabbed Sunny and brought him to the keep and to her area of residence high above the ground. The young pony wasn't quite sure what to make of the place.
"It's really empty here. You never had anything built?" he asked.
"For later," Moon replied. "I should also think of having small windows installed," she muttered to herself. "Furnishings aren't why I brought you here, however." She turned and sat in front of the young pony. Even sitting she still towered over him. "It's about your position in life from here on out."
"Wh-what?"
"Since you are a descendant of Celestia; my sister, that would make you directly related to me," Moon explained. Sunrise nodded slowly. "Which means, whether you want it or not, you are my nephew." She raised a hoof and placed it on his shoulder. "You are therefore, you and your family: Royalty, and you will be the first to become it once more. Sunny Dimples: Equestrian Prince."
"What?!" Sunny shouted in disbelief. "B-but I can't be royalty! I didn't even think this would happen after the reveal that I'm directly related to the solar tyrant!"
"You are not related to her," Moon reassured. "You are related to my sister. What she became is a weakling who glutted on magic and revenge for greed." She scoffed. "I supped from the chalice of vengeance from her rejecting me and others looking down on me and my works. We are not the same."
"S-so what happens now? Now that I'm...a prince?"
The alicorn thought for a moment then nodded to herself. "First we need to get the infiltrator within my castle."
Sunny blinked. "The what?"
"And then I will meet with your family." Moon's eyes glowed as she looked directly into the unicorn's. "There is no argument against this, my little nephew." Her toothy smile sent chills down Sunny's back.
The guards were still hanging around the grounds of the would-be castle, mostly to make the local 'lord' happy, and it wasn't stressful after she locked herself in the keep. However, what were once lazy days gawking at the sky and looking at the fauna crawling in the grass became stressful days once again. A group of guards were gathered in front of the gates, having discussions when Moon landed with a loud 'slam' in front of everyone, causing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.
There was a silent standoff with Moon slowly setting her eyes on each of the nineteen guards present before she finally locked eyes with one of them.
"There you are," she said.
Her magic engulfed one of the guards and slowly raised her in the air. She was being twisted and bent, screaming in pain as the guards watched in horror. When the metal of her armor was ripped off and dropped onto the ground, it finally clicked in his head at what the ball in the hallway was.
The screams of pain became too much for the other guards to bear, so they stood up, fighting against their instincts, and brandished their weaponry at the alicorn who paid them no heed.
"Let go of her!" one of them ordered angrily.
"Just because you're a goddess doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with us!"
Moon smiling and locked the guards in place with her magic. Their anti-magic weaponry only had a minor effect on the spell, allowing the ponies to have just a semblance of movement.
"I am glad that my soon-to-be guards will not back down when one of their own is threatened." Her smile turned into a frown. "But they can't even distinguish an infiltrator from a regular pony. Steps will have to be taken to amend such a problem."
Her horn pulsed with more magic, and the twisted, boiled remnants of the guard's armor flew off of her against the walls to land -sizzling- upon the ground. Much to the shock and horror of the guards and Sunny, the guard's form started shifting and changing. Her green-tinted fur started darkening and vanishing in the skin. Her wings slowly became trasparent and her horn lost its ridges. Her body thinned and her limbs started popping as holes expanded within them. When the transformation was complete, the creature was dropped to the ground, disoriented.
The guards brandished their weapons and pointed them at the changeling. However, she noticed the weapons were trembling slightly. Was it because of her or the insect? Were these guards afraid of everything?
"A-a-a ch-changeliiiing?" one of them stammered.
"But that's impossible! They went extinct over seven hundred years ago!" another added.
"What do we do with it?" a third asked Moon.
"I will interrogate it," the alicorn answered.
The guards were still slightly taken aback by the alicorn's ability to speak their language so well after such a short amount of time. They relented and backed away as the little changeling hissed and spat at the giant pony, fully expecting one of its sounds was going to stun her long enough for it to escape.
Nightmare Moon closed the doors behind her and dropped the bug to the ground while keeping its hooves chained to the ground.
"I wouldn't try to escape, bug," Moon warned. "You won't have far to go."
The changeling frowned at the sounds coming from the alicorn's mouth. Said pony hadn't realized she was speaking old ponish again, prompting Sunny to translate.
"What are changelings?" Sunny asked. "I only know of the vague texts mentioning them in my books, but they were never really focused on." He rubbed the back of his head. "I only study languages, after all." He chuckled nervously.
Moon gave the stallion a stern frown, making his laughing peter quietly away.
"What do you want with me and how did you even know I was disguised?" the changeling asked.
"This, Sunny, is a changeling. They can transform into any form they wish and are expert infiltrators. Most just integrate a grouping of creatures and siphon the love from the community to feed themselves and bring back to their hive in 'Larval Chains'," she explained. She glared at the bug who shrunk down but didn't lose its hateful stare. "I revealed you to the guards, so now you won't be able to hide here anymore."
The changeling blinked several times. "I can always disguise myself later!"
Moon snorted. "And then I will find you again. then what? I expose you to a small group of ponies? A family that will spread the gossip? What about the whole city?" The bug swallowed nervously. "I don't know how long you have been hiding here, but I know I sensed some off-feeling magic about a month or two ago." She leaned in, her eyes starting to glow and a thin smile of white light spreading across her face, creating an unnerving, featureless 'smile'. "And if I know changelings well enough, then I know that there are more of you hiding around here." She raised the changeling up on her hooves. "After hearing that you were nearly rendered extinct, I have a proposition that you may find valuable. One that may...aid both of us in our endeavors. Mine to restore Equestra and you to survive and thrive."
The bug eyed Moon suspiciously and bared its fangs. "And why should I believe you: A pony?"
Nightmare Moon frowned and her temperament seeped through, becoming far more aggressive in her approach. She pushed the changeling further away with each step she made, pressuring it with her mere presence and towering physique. "Because I can just as well dispose of you and move on to the next changeling I discover and repeat the process until one of you agrees or your species is wiped out."
The changeling glared at Moon. "Ponies don't do such things, at least not the sane ones." When the changeling realized the giant pony before her wasn't flinching, her proud and tough facade started to fade. In its place came fear, slowly welling up inside her like a swelling buboe. "I need to speak with my queen about this. She makes all the decisions," the bug said frantically.
Nightmare Moon was pleasantly surprised. "I didn't realize you still had queens." Her horn shot out a light at the changeling, marking her chest with the shape of a crescent moon. "If you don't return within six months, whether the response is positive or not, then I will activate that, and it will be fun for me and not for you."
The changeling gulped and hurried away after Moon opened the door. The alicorn started to laugh heartily, her Royal Canterlot Voice causing bones to rattle and hearts to tremble.
"Perfect. I wasn't expecting them here in this era." She looked at Sunny from the corner of her eyes. "And now for you. We meet your family."
"We what?!"