Nothing but desolate waste spanned the horizon in front of former Lieutenant Captain Aten's eyes - he had only ever seen this desolate and decrepit condition once, a place in Equestria deliberately drained of its magic many years ago as punishment for rebelling against the crown of Princess Celestia. Even standing at the edge of this waste, he could feel the magic leaching out through his hooves - it certainly seemed that nothing could survive here.
And yet this was where he was told the Changeling kingdom was, the only indication of that statement even being close to truth was the grotesque shaping of dark rock in the far distance. It was there, the drone that had long cooperated with him previously explained, Queen Chrysalis sat upon her throne, a vicious ruler of a desperately hungry race that would doubtless feast upon conquered Equestria. A thirst for revenge and hatred that even the magic of friendship was not able to counter was the only thing Aten had keeping him going, but keep him going it did.
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Little black specks appeared in Aten's field of vision almost as soon as he stepped hoof onto the desiccated soil of the Changeling's kingdom. At first he tried to shoo them away with a wave of a hoof, thinking them to be the flies that normally congregated around the dead, but they seemed to rapidly grow in size instead. Belatedly realizing that he was about to be ambushed, he tried taking off galloping, but instead was hit by a Changeling drone ramming him from the side he wasn't looking. The wind was temporarily knocked out of Aten as he tumbled sideways in the dirt and dust, the dull landscape repeatedly inverting itself in his line of sight.
Finally Aten stops, laying on his back with the nubs of where his wings had been painfully digging into his back. He winces as he tries to get back up, but is pushed back down onto his side as a black shape, fanged and hissing loudly, fills his field of view. Two different Changeling drones stand on top of him, pinning down the stallion and making the sensation of the magic draining out of him seem more intense.
"Stop, I come... to open the way to Canterlot..." Aten dryly tries to explain, hoping that the words would mean something to the Changeling scouts restraining him.
In the corner of Aten's vision, he can see the drones briefly conversing between themselves. Finally one of them starts speaking in the typical hissing tone of the Changeling drones at the time: "You are an Equesssstrian?"
"Yes, by birth. But my loyalty is no longer with the alicorns." Aten answers. "They have taken everything from me, including the wings of my birthright! One of your kind was working with me for a long time - they told me I could refuge, and revenge, from Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis."
"There have been sssseveral who have gone into that land, but not all of them have been accounted for." the scout explains. "Can you give sssstatussss for the onesss you do know about?"
"Yes, one of them was part of a pair that went in together, and they knew of other ones. He explained what he knew to me about them."
"Then we will need to bring you back to Commander Pharynx. If you information isssss indeed ussseful, Her Majesssssty may be willing to lissssten to your plea. Do not sssstruggle or resssissst the transssportation effortssss."
"Yes, alright, I'll do what you want. If it means I won't get ripped to pieces or sucked dry, whatever you normally do to get at the love you feed on..."
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The drones step off the stallion, instead working together to hoist Aten onto their backs, sharing the load of his weight between them. Despite their grumbling, they both take off in the direction of the Changeling's castle. The flight ends up being quite a bizarre experience for Aten, not just because it reminded him of what had been stripped of him by Princess Celestia but because the full view of the waste the Changelings controlled became clear to him. The occasional speck of black in the distance of the murky sky made it painfully clear that the Changelings were more numerous than Aten thought would be possible.
At some point during the flight, the stallion dozed off - he wasn't sure if it was the result of the magic being slowly sapped out of his body or something the Changeling patrollers did - and when he started to come to again, he found himself laying on his side on some kind of stone, hearing two different voices echoing in chilly air:
"An Equessstrian? An actual real Equessssstrian came here? Why can't I sssee him?"
"Don't bother me about that right now, Thorax. Jussssst make ssssure Her Majessssty isss informed promptly of thesssse eventsss, and don't dawdle on the way coming back like you did lasssst time I sssent you on an errand!"
"Yes, Commander B.B.B.F..."
"Would you stop it with the acronym? We're on duty!"
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Aten moaned, trying to will himself to wake up. He did manage to get his eyes open, but all around him was chilling darkness - he quickly realized he had been dropped off in a cave of some kind. A pair of eyes glowing purple in the distance immediately draw the stallion's attention, along with the hissing and fizzing sounds coming from the same direction.
A large shape - Aten can't quite tell what it is in the cave's darkness - rears over the rock Aten is on, the purple eyes glowing straight down over the Equestrian traitor. The booming voice that subsequently fills the cave has a very hissy undertone: "I am Commander Pharynx, the head of all patrolsssss of Changeling landssss. I have been told you have valuable information about the kingdom of the Equessstrianssss..."
"Yes, I have information that will allow Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis and the armies she commands a way in to feast upon the love of the Equestrian population. But the best way I can explain it is to talk with Her Majesty directly..." Aten answers, hoping that at least pretending loyalty to the Changeling queen will keep him alive in the short term.
Pharynx pauses for a moment, letting a dread fill the expression of the Equestrian, much to the Changeling commander's pleasure. Finally, the answer comes in the same loud hissing voice: "You will provide ussss with whatever knowledge of all dronesss you have encountered back in Equessstria before we will even consssider letting you ssssee the Queen..."