//------------------------------// // Lonely Times // Story: Fire and Reign // by Shakespearicles //------------------------------// Celestia read the note left by the changeling queen. She read it again. As she read it, she felt many things. This could not be happening. She could not believe this was happening. Her shock gave way to rage. Pure. Unadulterated. Fury. She was going to find the ones responsible for this. And she was going to kick their ass! She wanted Twilight back. She would give anything to get her back. She didn't know where she was, save for a vague note, and she was afraid. She was so scared that those changeling fiends had her Twilight and she didn't know what they were going to do to her. She collapsed on the ground. She was overwhelmed by it all. She had never felt so helpless before, to have lost her love literally right out from under her nose. She cried out across the hills, screaming to the heavens or whoever would listen, that the sky was falling for her and when it hits it was going to be the hell storm of all time. The changelings were truly cunning warriors attacking neither her body or mind. Her heart. They attacked her heart. From out of the sky Luna swooped in fast, answering she sisters call, arriving beside her sobbing form. Celestia showed her the note. Luna felt her sister's pain, and shared her anger, "We will enlist all the royal militia for this mission! The Wonderbolts! The other elements! We will-" Celestia cut off her sister. "We will do no such thing." Celestia said with an eerie calm, "I must do this. Alone. Chrysalis has made this is personal." "But sister! It is likely a trap!" Luna pleaded. "Of course it's a trap. But bringing down the blue fury of the Equestrian Army will make them kill her in a panic. I will not risk it. You must stay and tend to the kingdom in my absence." "What will you do?" Luna asked. "Spring the trap." Celestia said with flash of her grit teeth. "But if they take you... if they overpower you... what if-" Luna begged. "Ah, but you see, sister, they have made a critical error in their strategy." Celestia said, turning in the direction of the hive, "They have taken my Twilight from me. And as a result that makes things simple. Very very simple. Do you know why?" Her eyes became ablaze with the fury of a thousand suns. "Because now there is no power in this world that can stop me!" Celestia took the the air, making for the Changeling Hive. ___________________________________________________________________________ In the dark caverns of the hive, Chrysalis looked into Twilight's dull, green eyes. The Queen pulled Twilight's half-limp form into her new, white fur. "Ah, Twilight. You love your princess don't you?" "Yes Princess." Twilight said in her hypnotized daze. "How much do you love your princess, Twilight?" Chrysalis asked. "More than anything." Twilight murmured. "Yesss," the queen hissed, "Yes, let me feel your love! Think about how much you love... ME." she said in a triumphant tone, adjusting her golden tiara. She was pleased that she had even gotten the ethereal mane right. She was a spitting image of the sun princess now. The crown, she felt, suited her. For by this time tomorrow, she would rule all of Equestria. "I love you Princess Celestia." Twilight cooed, leaning in and nuzzling against Chrysalis's stolen form. The queen drank deeply of the powerful pony's love, filling her with strength. Strength enough to crush the arrogant princess once and for all. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Celestia scanned the ground as she flew. There was nopony in sight. No changeling kidnappers, no Chrysalis, and no Twilight. From one horizon to the other, the Princess was utterly alone. Her once powerful rage had since given way to despair. She pondered how the kingdom would fair under Luna's rule. She pondered the long term of it, should she fail to rescue Twilight, should she fall, should she never return to the ivory city of Canterlot. NO. She mustn't entertain such thoughts. She mustn't fear. For fear is the mind killer. The dealer of a thousand deaths for the coward. But she could not stay the thoughts from her mind for long. She passed beyond the final borders of her kingdom, beyond the furthest reaches of the Equestrian Weather Patrol. Into the wilds of the beyond. These were unfriendly skies. Luna's night was occluded by a grey blanket of overcast. The air became filled with a light mist, dampening her majestic mane into a dull pink that fell plastered to her neck, devoid of its magical luster. She felt lonely. It was a hard loneliness. Complete loneliness. In all the years that she missed her sister in her banishment, she could always look to the moon and feel her presence. Even sequestered in her personal chambers, her personal guards were always but a door away. For centuries, somepony, anypony was nearby. As much as the thought she had longed for time away, she had never really ever been alone. so alone She could not see any sign of civilization. Not a speck of light from a home on the ground. Not even a single star in the blotted sky to call a friend. But she pressed on, true to her heading. Following the signal that she knew would lead her to her love. It was but a whisper of a feeling, at the edge of her senses. But she could feel it, and she held on to it with every last scrap of hope she could muster. Her flight was swift. She did not expend excess energy in a dead sprint. She needed to save it for the battle to come. But still, her cruising speed was impressive. A simple question repeated in her mind. "How could they have covered all this ground so quickly? And without my notice? And for Luna to have seen nothing as well?" It vexed her terribly. But one thing was clear... she would get her revenge, and her answers. ______________________________________________________________________________ Luna, if I do not return in a days time, it falls to you to Shepard the Sun along with the Moon. She didn't say the words at her departure. But each of the sisters understood what needed to be done. The ponies needed the sun to live their lives. Harmony needed to be maintained. Celestia pressed on as the glow on the east horizon wavered dimly. She could not help her with her magic here. "You can so it, dear sister. Please believe that you can!" Celestia whispered to herself. A sliver of white peeked above the horizon. Dawn. The light ushered forth, revealing the jagged skyline of the Changeling Hive. Great spires of black, porous resin pointing skywards. Celestia swooped in low. _____ Inside her massive chambers, Queen Chrysalis held Twilight close. She continued whispering in her ear, feeding off the love Twilight exuded in return. After days of feasting, the Queen was positively brimming with power. The anticipation of destroying the pony princess was delicious. She savored every moment. She beamed with pride in herself. She had always been such a lateral thinker. Plans within plans. As assured as she was, she did not place all her confidence in the fate of Equestria is hijacking one simple wedding. No. Nor would this be a simple foalnapping either. She went over the plans in her mind again and again. When the Princess sends the entire Equestrian army, she would be ready. Her own forces outnumbered the paltry ponies five to one. And she had the means to readily make more in the hives warrens. An entire legion of eggs at the ready. Her scouts scanned the horizons at all times for the approaching enemy troops. Her ransom letter demanded the Princess come alone. But surely the winsome ruler would see the obvious trap for what it was. There was simply no way she would be foolish enough to- CHRYSALIS!!! YOU AND I HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS!!! The Royal Canterlot Voice boomed from outside shaking the very ground! Brilliant white magic glowed, permeating her vaulted chamber walls, shattering them into a thousand pieces, sending them flying outwards. _____ The royal Sun Princess, ruler of Equestria, burst into the great hall through the gaping hole. Bits of structure continued to fall around her. The solid floor had been constructed so long ago that the hive had no name for the generation. Great deep cracks spidered out from under where her hooves impacted with terrible force. It would have shattered an ordinary pony's legs. But this was no ordinary pony. Chrysalis hesitated a moment, expecting the onslaught of foot soldiers to come storming in behind her, a flood of Pegasi guards. Nothing. She couldn't have... she DID! The Princess actually came alone! Celestia stared at her, sitting there with her Twilight in her hooves. It sickened Celestia to see the vile queen disguised as her. The princess took a step forward, the another. Her senses were on full alert, her magic charged and ready. With each calculated step she closed the distance to her target. A low hum emanated from numerous holes in the walls, slowly growing louder, closer. Celestia realized at once what it was, and it showed on her face. Chrysalis peeled back her disguise, revealing her true form, poor Twilight was too far gone to even notice. Her fangs gleamed in a wicked grin, "Foalish pony, did you really think it would be that easy?" A hurricane of changelings began to pour into the room. "You know, for a minute there? Yeah, I kinda did."