Princess Celestia's sky chariot soared through the sky as she was hurrying towards her destination, the Donkey Republic. The president of the small equine nation invited Celestia for an urgent meeting, and the Princess wasn't one to take such requests lightly. After all, Equestria didn't have many allies, and she was adamant about keeping the ones it had as such.
As Celestia was in a hurry, she opted to fly over the Southern Jungles, a mostly uncharted part of southern Equestria. Although her Palace Guard tried to make her take a full retinue along, she insisted that putting together the unit would take time, and anyway, there were no risks to be afraid of. The princess had a point surely, as that jungle was still sovereign Equestrian territory. It was just a matter of fact that nopony lived there.
Her chariot was pulled by her best pegasus guards. The four of them were great fliers, and brave soldiers, and Celestia was sure that flying over the vast San Palomino desert, then the Southern Jungles too, without rest, wouldn't pose a challenge for them.
The skies were clear, and the weather warm, but not hot. So just great for traveling. Celestia almost took a nap during the gentle flight, as her guards made an effort to steer clear of any turbulence. But suddenly, one of them spoke up:
"Hey Lieutenant. Check that out. Down there, among the trees. What could be flashing green like that?"
"Why care?" the Lieutenant dismissed him "Keep those wings flapping, and your eyes forward."
Celestia opened her eyes. She casually looked at her guards, then down into the jungle. She didn't see any flashes whatsoever. Whatever it was, probably didn't concern them anyway.
A few seconds later though, they all heard an elongated, high-pitched sound. The previous guard looked around, then called out in a panic:
"Bloody heck, magic missile! Evade!"
The guards violently jerked the chariot to the left. Celestia wasn't expecting the maneuver, and hit the side of the chariot. Before she could re-balance herself though, the giant ball of magic exploded just to their right, and Celestia got the brunt of it. She was launched from her vehicle, and began plummeting towards the tree canopy. Her right wing was scorched badly, and she was dazed, so she crashed through the branches, and struck the ground hard.
She immediately lost consciousness.
Celestia slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was dense bushes, they were rather blurry though. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Now her vision cleared up a bit, and recollected the events of the immediate past. The magic ball exploding, then her fall... She also remembered her guards going down along with her chariot, although unlike her, they were still in control the last moment she remembered seeing them. They must have made a controlled crash landing.
Celestia moved her limbs. She felt a sharp pain in her left wing. Of course, as she has fallen on that one with all her weight. It must have been broken... Then slowly, carefully, with the very considerate movements of an injured pony, she got up.
The world was still spinning with her a bit, but by then she could think clearly. They got shut down, that's for sure. By what or whom, and for what purpose, she didn't know, although she wanted to find her guards first. Celestia only hoped they would be okay, and no more injured than herself.
Celestia made a few steps forward, and tried to decide which direction she should go. The forest around her was very thick, obviously not cared for by earth ponies. And the tree canopy could be barely penetrated by the Sun, although it wasn't hard for Celestia to determine from which direction it was shining. Her instinct told her that right away. And after that, she also put together in her head where the chariot could have crashed.
"South. We were flying south. So that way."
Celestia began moving, although her left wing still hurt a lot. But figuring her guards would need assistance, and as soon as possible, she thought she wouldn't have time for a proper healing spell. So she just cast an anesthetic spell quickly, and began walking.
Celestia walked at least a kilometer when she started to see tree branches on the ground. At first only smaller ones, but as she followed them, they became thicker and thicker. After several minutes, she found the crash site. Her gilded chariot was a mess, and in its state no one would have told it belonged to royalty. But there were no Royal Guards around whatsoever.
Celestia approached her chariot, and took a good look around. She feared her guards got stuck under the wreckage, but that didn't seem to be the case. Then suddenly, she heard a strange noise.
The Princess snapped to attention, her gaze following the direction her ears swiveled towards. But there was nothing there, only the thick jungle.
"Wildlife." Celestia thought. Although that thought was more like an excuse. The jungle was silent otherwise. Suspiciously silent.
She turned back to the wreckage, and took another look around. Then she also lifted up the whole thing, just in case. No living pony or dead was found.
Celestia dropped the chariot with some frustration. Where her guards could have gone? Sure, they could have set off to find her, but then she should have seen some hoofprints. The ground was soft enough all around that they would be visible. Then she saw something. Something else.
It was a barely visible trail, starting a bit further away from the wreckage, and running towards the northwest. It looked like as if someone was dragged away... Celestia didn't want to think about the worst, but nonetheless, she started to become concerned. But as she had finally found a clue, she began to follow it.
Celestia has been barely following the marks for a minute when she heard that strange sound again. Only this time, it was clearer. She perked her ears, then looked in the direction of the sound. As if it was... talking? Maybe it was, but she couldn't take out any words. But then...
"AHHH NO!!! Heeeeeeeelp!!!"
Celestia heard the screaming. And that was definitely the voice of one of her guards. She started to gallop towards the source of the sound. Now she was sure her guards were dragged away, and she also had an idea by whom. The green flashes, the magic ball, the no visible hoof marks... She started to put together a theory, but she needed visual evidence.
And she didn't need to wait much for it. As the Princess reached a small clearing, she found herself face to face with five changelings. By the looks of it, they were very surprised, more so than Celestia. They even stepped back a little.
At first, they just stared down each other. Then, Celestia talked, not in her diplomatic voice.
"It's you again! What did you do to my guards?!"
The changelings didn't answer. Maybe they didn't even understand, although they should have understood the context clues. Like why an alicorn in front of them was so angry.
"Answer me!!!" Celestia demanded, tapping a hoof on the ground violently.
Maybe she shouldn't have done that. The changeling in the forefront, wearing armor, screeched something, and his squad spread out, and began casting at Celestia.
Celestia got caught a bit off-guard, and the first few bolts of magic actually hit her, before she leapt to the cover of a tree. But she shrugged that off, as per her massive magical resistance.
The Princess now knew she wouldn't solve this situation with diplomacy, and lit up her horn. A member of the changeling unit was out in the open. Celestia charged up one of her more powerful combat spells, and released it. The changeling got evaporated into arcane dust.
"Right. Maybe I'm overdoing it."
For her next target, Celestia opted for a much weaker spell, to conserve her magicka. The changeling was flying right at her, but she picked him off mid-flight. He has fallen to the ground, with the chitin burnt on his chest.
The next two were harder targets, but the Princess' delayed-burst magical sphere dealt with them while still in their cover, causing the last changeling, the one wearing armor, to leave for another tree.
Celestia didn't stall, and began firing at him, but he ran so fast that her spells only hit the trees behind him. They spitted out big chunks of wood where they were hit, while the thinner ones outright exploded. But the changeling reached his intended destination, a large boulder.
At first they only took potshots at each other. But seeing this didn't lead anywhere, Celestia took the initiative. She also feared that her adversary -who was probably an officer based on the armor and skill- only stalled for time, so some reinforcements could catch up to him.
The alicorn cast a full-body magical shield upon herself, just in case, then left her cover. The 'ling madly fired at her, being an easy target, but his spells ricocheted off of Celestia's shield. She tried to snipe him out of his cover, but after two attempts, she just rushed up to the boulder. But by that time, the changeling was away.
Celestia angrily groaned. She walked around the boulder, then saw the changeling on the other side of the clearing. Getting impatient, she reared up, and struck the ground. Her earth pony magic, backed by her inherent magical power, sent a shockwave through the earth, but the changeling officer avoided it by flying up and staying there for a moment...
...But that was all Celestia needed to cast a beam spell, and catch the changeling in the air. The instantaneous hit couldn't be dodged, and the warrior dropped to the ground, with his armor melted. Celestia galloped up to him. He was still alive. She lifted him up using telekinesis, and talked:
"I ask again: Where are my ponies?!"
The changeling wailed something, but Celestia couldn't understand. Probably the defeated warrior didn't understand her either. So she dropped him, and cast a hologram of two pegasus guards. Celestia pointed at the shimmering depictions of the lost ponies.
"Guards. Where?"
The changeling blinked at the not-so-real ponies, and let out what could only be described as a pitiful laughter. Celestia scrunched up her nose, and squinted her eyes. She lifted up the changeling again, right up to her face.
"Where. They. ARE?!"
"Chr'asl'eesht, ah-ah-ah-a!"
Celestia could only guess what the changeling just said, but at the same time, she was almost sure what it was. She whacked the changeling to the ground violently.
"Fine. I'll find them on my own. But an alicorn's wrath be upon you if they are hurt..."