Celestia continued her journey, deeper inside the jungle. After she was far enough from the clearing where those unlucky changelings met her, she stopped, and looked at her wings. The right one didn't really hurt, but her primary feathers were burned pretty badly. But she started to feel her left wing again, as the anesthetic spell was wearing off. She decided to give herself ten minutes to heal her wing at least to a condition where it wouldn't cause her any pain.
After almost fifteen minutes, Celestia opened her eyes, and stopped casting the self-healing spell that enveloped her wing in a golden hue. She tried out the appendage, and to her satisfaction, it barely caused her any discomfort. Of course, she couldn't use it yet to fly, but she could glide using them. And that could still prove to be advantageous, she thought.
Celestia straightened up from her meditative stance, and walked on. As she treaded the ground, she could feel the life force of the jungle being... corrupted. A different kind of magic besides that inherent to every living being was mixed among it. Celestia knew at that point that corrupting force was the changelings. She only didn't yet know what could they want there. Although if her understanding was right previously, then Queen Chrysalis was present too. And if she was present, her previous encounter wasn't just a lost changeling patrol. Their plans must have been grand.
The princess soon found a tiny body on the ground. It was a squirrel. She gently lifted it up, and realized it wasn't dead. It was just... sucked dry of emotions. Its eyes were glassy, and its breathing slow. It mustn't have been a treat for the changelings, as wild animals didn't contain the same amount or kind of love sapient beings did. But they probably couldn't be choosers in their situation. The jungle didn't have any ponies. So far...
Celestia put down the little critter with the same care she lifted it, and activated her horn. She tried to channel her own love into the being, just as Cadence showed her once. Of course, this spell didn't line up with her special talent, but nonetheless, the squirrel got up. It looked up at Celestia, then skittered away. Celestia tracked the critter with her eyes, and smiled.
"Hurry, little one. Go and find your own!"
The squirrel soon disappeared among the bushes. Then Celestia realized its kin might have just met the same fate. And she couldn't find and heal every single creature in the forest. Not until the changelings' corrupting presence was removed. But she also realized she COULD do something about that...
"So be it, you emotion-eating monster. Time for a rematch..."
Celestia hurried her steps. She wanted to find her group of guards fast, but also wanted to find Chrysalis. And she knew if one was found, the other would be nearby, too.
She also knew that during her trek, she would find several more changeling patrols. She wasn't sure if they were aware of her presence, or they only knew about her guards. But she would find that out pretty soon.
And that indeed happened soon, as she caught up to another patrol. There were four of them, including one officer, wearing the distinctive blue armor.
Celestia approached quietly. The ground was harder here than at the crash site, so she also lost track of the kidnapped guards. But her delicate steps didn't propel her fast enough. Of course, she could have just gone loud, and mow down the patrol, but that also carried the risk of alerting a much bigger group of the shapeshifting monsters. And not even Celestia wanted to fight an army of them.
"As the Magikhan would say: Weak Celestia, weak."
Celestia sighed. Remembering her own tribe, from her childhood, wasn't something she needed right then. Yet reminding herself what an alicorn was potentially capable of was something she actually needed. She had to rescue her subjects. And not from mere drones, but from Chrysalis...
Every fight should be YOUR fight. Remember that. Because if you're not in control, you have already lost.
Celestia suddenly thought of something. Wrapping herself in her own magic, she levitated up to the tallest branch of a very tall tree. The circumference of the trunk was a testament to the primeval nature of the forest, and to the fact its branches could hold a heavy pony like Celestia.
She walked along the branch with lithe steps, with her wings extended for balance. Now she was right above the changelings. They were moving away from her, towards the middle of the forest. She noticed one guard was well behind the others, and was very slow in general. He clearly wasn't aware of his surroundings. Celestia knew it was the perfect moment to strike, and leapt off from the tree branch, with her wings slightly open.
The alicorn has fallen at least thirty meters, right on top of the changeling trooper. The force of the landing immediately killed him, but Celestia was unharmed. Her hooves shattered his chitin carapace in multiple places, and his eyes were left open. The princess stepped off from her unlucky adversary, and hurried after the rest.
The three remaining guards weren't aware what just happened, they didn't hear it, and didn't check their rear either. And that was just perfect for Celestia, but she knew it would only be seconds to be noticed. The 'ling in the back was her next target. Using a silent teleportation spell, lacking the distinctive "POP" sound, Celestia ended up right behind him, then grabbed the guard's head within her magic. Then twisted it, and now it faced her. The princess then let the corpse fall to the ground.
The last two guards were somewhat close to each other, and pretty close to Celestia. It was surprising to her they didn't notice the loud snap, but it suited her needs. She noticed they were walking just under a thick tree branch. Celestia cast some extreme telekinesis to quickly tear off the branch from its place, and it fell on the remaining two. They were flattened with a somewhat loud "splort".
With all of her adversaries taken out, Celestia looked around. That was good for a warmup, but she would only meet more, and bigger patrols. she thought. So she continued her trek deeper inside the jungle.
Celestia was right about the size of the patrols. The next one she spotted had eight drones. Taking these out one-by-one without alerting the rest wouldn't be easy. But maybe that wouldn't be necessary either...
An old spell came to Celestia's mind, the seeker bolt. That would follow and strike every living target in range, bouncing from one to another. That would be fast enough to kill all of them at once. Now she only needed to remember how to cast the spell exactly.
Hiding behind a tree, Celestia gave herself half a minute, and she had the arcane pattern down to a T. Ready to cast, she leaned out from cover, and released the spell. The golden bolt found its first mark in a split-second, then just as fast penetrated the craniums of all the other members of the patrol, zigzagging between them. The changelings couldn't react, they couldn't even scream. But after the spell downed the last one, it turned around and flew towards its caster. Celestia didn't expect that, and her reflexes weren't godly enough to dodge it. The high-powered magic bolt exploded in her face, and the alicorn flinched. She felt that, but the damage it caused was only superficial. Celestia rolled her eyes. That shouldn't have happened...
"It seems I forgot the last part of the spell."
After seeing the next group of hostiles, she must have been nearing the Queen herself, the Princess thought. As it was no mere patrol, but more like a strike team. It numbered at least twenty drones, including two officers, and four heavies. Celestia read the after-action reports in the wake of the Battle of Canterlot, and knew these kinds of changelings decimated her royal guard units wherever they fought in the city. Now she had the chance to return the favor in kind.
Celestia choose the safety of the tree canopy once again. Looking down at the group indicated they had a briefing going on. The officers were explaining something to the rank-and-file.
Celestia was thinking about the correct approach. Although she had the advantage of raw skill and power, the changelings were much more numerous. In a tactical sense, she was outmatched. She would have to tip the scales, somehow. If those heavies weren't present, for example, that would already be a large boon for her.
And actually... what if they weren't just "not present", but actually fought for her? Or at least one.
Celestia knew individual minds could be controlled with powerful enough magic. And it was clear ever since the great battle that changelings weren't a hive mind, but actual individuals. So mind-control spells should have worked on them as well. The princess tried to remember the correct kind of magic. Although Luna was the actual master of these, Celestia also had a good piece of knowledge about them.
Celestia didn't have to dilly-dally a lot, and cast. The iris-less blue eyes of one heavy lit up with a golden hue, and he let out a mighty roar. Then it began shooting deadly bolts of magic at his former hive-kin.
The drones got knocked out fast, but the other three heavies could take the punishment, and took out the assailant. One of the officers have survived, too. He walked up to the dead heavy to check it out.
Celestia smiled. She cast another little spell, and another heavy have gone wild, and killed the other two. Now only him and the officer remained, and they battled it out. The officer managed to take out the killer, although his armor was badly damaged. He limped around some before, somehow, got the idea to look up at the tree where Celestia was roosting.
As if he was frozen in place. The alicorn took the leap, and glided down to the shocked changeling. The changeling backed away, but Celestia followed. Then he hit a tree with his rump, and looked back in panic. He was cornered. Celestia stopped right before her. Her face was stone.
The changeling wailed two words...
"Men'yee sor'neteg! Men'yee sor'neteg!"
Celestia began smiling. She didn't know their language, but that phrase... It sounded like something from an old codex of the alicorns.
Men'yee sor'neteg... Heavenly Daemon.
The alicorns of ancient times once were forced to almost exterminate the changelings. They glassed their first mega-hive from the sky, when they were preparing to attack ponykind. And it seemed, their legend was still living on.
Celestia bent down to the horrified creature:
"And be glad I could never be as cruel as my ancestors were."
With that, the Princess moved on without fear of getting struck down from behind. She knew the changeling was more paralyzed by fear than any stun spell could manage.
As Celestia moved on, the forest was thinning out somewhat. More sunlight reached the ground, and the otherwise damp and dark forest became less creepy. More of the presence of what Celestia loved so much reinvigorated her, and she trotted even faster. But stopped as she reached even more changelings.
In a thinly grown-in area, about fifty of the monsters were grouped up. Some of them were patrolling, but most of them were assembled around... some strange pile. Celestia looked closer, and it dawned on her: that "pile" was made up of forest critters. The changelings were having a feast, and threw the bodies already sucked clean of love on top. The princess crunched up her nose in disgust. She engaged her cloaking spell...
The alicorn sneaked around the perimeter, unbeknownst to the guards she passed pretty close on occasion. Only a slightly shimmering outline of her was visible, although her visage also warped the air somewhat as she moved. But to one not expecting an invisible foe, she didn't exist.
Perhaps an invisible enemy wasn't expected, but the guards were on the nose nonetheless. They probably heard the infighting previously. All it was needed a little mistake to tip them off...
And that inevitably happened as Celestia stepped on a dry twig. A guard heard the distinctive snap, and turned his head towards the trees Celestia was hiding amongst. He moved in, while the princess stayed still.
"Ik'alav ma'vit?" the drone asked.
He walked further among the trees. When he was facing away from the princess, she leapt right behind him assisted by her wings. She grabbed the drone's head in her forelegs, and turned it.
The head stopped at an unnatural angle.
Celestia gently put the corpse on the ground. She looked at the others. They didn't notice. So she once again levitated herself up to a tree, and looked down at the commotion. At her victims. The cloaked alicorn squinted her eyes, and they lit up with magic for a moment.
The hunt would end soon.
Celestia was looking for minutes at the company-sized changeling unit, having a good time feasting upon the forest's creatures. Yet, she didn't see a good solution how she could solve the situation in an... elegant way. Sure, she could sneak past them, but she didn't want to. This forest had to be cleared of these interlopers.
So she devised a simple plan. At first she would thin them out as much as she could from up top. Then, she would let loose. It wouldn't be an elegant way, but it would be effective.
The critters of the forest were tethered to the ground by green tendrils of magic. The love-eaters were gathered around them, and choose like a pony would choose from a box of bon-bons. And after the changeling grabbed his prize, he activated his horn, and the small amount of love energy flowed into him.
Celestia saw just enough. Actually, it was more than enough to rouse her. She bent down her head, and took aim. She used an instant-charge spell, so her bright golden aura wouldn't be visible. The magic bolt struck one of the feeding changelings in the side of his head. His lifeless body skidded to a halt on the ground.
The loud combat spell grabbed the attention of every 'ling in the area. Some of them assembled around their lost hive-mate, the rest were trying to figure out the origin of the spell. A few were looking at Celestia directly, but they couldn't distinguish her from her surroundings.
The big group took flight, and tried to look among the trees. The buzzing was so loud, that the princess let go of another spell. Sure enough, it struck true, and the buzzing masked the sound just enough that the monsters just got confused again.
After the next death occurred, the flight became a panicked rout. And after that one, the changelings finally nailed down her location, but her cloaking spell still on, not many of them hit her.
Those who did got killed first in return.
Then Celestia cast another seeker bolt. A proper one, this time. Optimized for ten hostiles, the deadly spell sent another ten changelings to the ground, permanently.
Celestia finally decloaked. She flared her wings, and her eyes glowed with power. She boomed, in the Royal Canterlot Voice:
"DESPAIR!"
No more was needed for the already demoralized company of drones. They turned tail, and flied away from the alicorn, towards the north, probably seeking the aid of their Queen.
"Not so fast!"
Celestia pushed herself away from the branch, and glided down to ground level. The changelings got away fast, but the lanky princess' long legs propelled her fast enough to catch up. The jungle was clearing up, the ground was becoming harder. The chase finally concluded at a small rocky hill, which seemed to also indicate the end of that part of the forest.
The buzzers disappeared in crevices, and most of them in a large opening at the bottom of the hill. Celestia entered after them, and she found herself in a cave. She lit up her horn, and the darkness was replaced with a warm yellow light. The changelings were nowhere to be seen.
The princess walked deeper inside the cave. After an invisible threshold, the looks changed around her. The cave didn't appear to be a natural formation anymore. As if it was expanded by the changelings. And she couldn't have made it farther than a hundred meters when she was met by a massive door.
The circular slab of stone was adorned by runic carvings, which Celestia was sure served as a locking method. But she first tapped the door with a hoof. The appearance didn't belie the thickness, it didn't ring hollow from the other side, which indicated at least a foot of stone.
"I won't kick in this one..."
The princess then tried the common bypassing spells on the runes. The golden energy cursed through the carvings, but it eventually returned unto itself, and was smothered.
"Figuring out the correct arcane patterns could take hours. Wish Luna was here..." Celestia thought, and slightly shook her head.
She stepped back, and looked at the door. Now she was sure she found the hideout where her guards were taken. She was sure she found the hideout of Chrysalis.
Celestia walked outside. She remembered the crevices among the rocks of this hill. If the changelings could enter that way, perhaps she could too. She jumped up on the rocks until she reached one of them. Then it dawned on her: she was far too big to use it to get inside. And anyway, the crevice didn't seem to lead anywhere. The changelings must have blocked it somehow from the inside.
Celestia hopped from rock to rock until she tried every opening, but they all had the issues the first one had. The royal ears drooped in disappointment:
"Main entrance it is then..."
So the alicorn walked back to the stone door inside the cave. She stopped a good ten meters before it, and began charging up her horn.
The magic she accumulated was so bright as if she brought down the Sun itself to the damp place. Then she let go of the gigantic bolt of magic, and it exploded the stone door into smithereens. Good thing she cast a basic barrier in front of herself, so the chunks flying didn't hurt her.
When the dust settled a bit, Celestia entered the hideout. Beyond the gate lied the pieces of both door and changelings. The princess gently tiptoed around them, and thought how she probably just evaded an ambush by choosing the inelegant method of entry.
"That was quite the welcome party."