Twilight Sparkle glanced out the window, reassuring herself that the spell was still in place. There was no way the changelings could find this place. But she had to be sure. She couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. Not after Applejack.
She thought Applejack understood! She thought she could trust her. She should’ve known better. You couldn’t trust anypony anymore. Not even your friends.
Twilight snorted. Friends. Yeah, right. None of them got it. After everything they’d been through, everything they’d seen, they’d all turned against her. Bunch of traitors, all of them. Happy to forget Celestia even existed and bow to the whims of the changeling king. Did he convert them all, not just Pinkie?
The changeling king. It was all his fault! He got Celestia and Cadence killed, and then he left and came back as ruler of the changelings. It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be. He was trying to take over Equestria. And he had everypony fooled! Everypony except her.
It had all started at the wedding, the one he couldn’t be bothered to tell her about. He got it into his head that he should be the one to confront his bride ‘Cadence’ about her behavior. When he realized she was a fake, he acted like a moron and attacked her. Celestia had gotten involved, and then…
“Ha ha ha ha…Shining Armor’s love is even stronger than I thought! Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!”
And then, somehow, it got even worse. Luna came along way too late, and the two of them turned Queen Whatshername into a smoking crater. Good riddance, but it didn’t change anything. Celestia, her beloved teacher, was dead. And the fight had caused the caves under Canterlot to collapse, smothering the real Cadence under tons of rubble.
It was all his fault! Her idiotic, self-righteous, simpering buffoon of a brother! If it wasn’t for him, Celestia and Cadence would still be alive, and none of this would’ve happened! He should’ve let ME handle that imposter!
Twilight rechecked the shield. Yep, still there. She promptly returned to her pacing.
If it had ended at that, maybe she would’ve forgiven him. After he’d spent years groveling at her feet and begging like a dog. But no. It wasn’t over.
Those black bugs started showing up around Equestria. Changelings. Eventually, they figured out that these were the threat against Canterlot, but with their leader dead, they were hopelessly disorganized. The guards captured one of the more competent insects, and they learned where the changeling territory was.
Twilight should’ve gone with them. She would’ve turned it into a burning wasteland. That would’ve been the end of it. But, of course, he volunteered. He led the expedition, while she had to stay behind and help Luna get the hang of raising the sun.
And then he came back, leading those insects! She couldn’t believe it! After a changeling had killed her mentor and his fiancée, he decided that he should be in charge of them! He came back, attempting to integrate those damned creatures into Equestrian society! He was either a sentimental moron or a heartless schemer and tyrant.
After some time, Twilight decided that he had to be an evil schemer, because he certainly wasn’t a moron. Her attempts to expose his plans kept falling flat because he always knew exactly what to say, what to do. Were there spies? There had to be. She once had a following strong enough to wipe out those bugs, but as time went on, her followers lost faith, and left to join the pro-changeling parade.
And her friends! Fluttershy was blinded by those oh-so-bucking-adorable hatchlings. Rarity didn’t care and just wanted to go back to her dresses. And Pinkie was insane. They’d all abandoned her in the end.
She’d thought Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been behind her, especially after they got to Apple Bloom. But then Rainbow attacked the king like a twit and got herself jailed. Applejack occasionally brought up the idea of busting Dash out of prison, but it wasn’t worth it. There were too many real criminals in that nest, and it was too heavily guarded. Rainbow just had to wait.
Still, Rainbow was a big loss. Her followers were already dwindling, her resources strained. Meanwhile, the changelings were thriving. Twilight imagined all of them, laughing at her. She imagined him, looking down on her and smirking, finally above his sister again. They were watching her, waiting to crush her once and for all.
Well, she would crush them first.
The nursery was the best target. It wasn’t particularly well-guarded, and it was isolated enough that any support from the hive would take too long to arrive. It would deal a crippling blow to those smug insects. She knew how the hivemind worked…she could hurt all of them with one spell. Cripple their lives by wiping out their brood.
And she could hurt one of those traitors back.
It had all gone wrong. Fluttershy wasn’t supposed to fight! Not like that, anyway. They should’ve been alright as long as they didn’t look her in the eyes. But no. She broke their ranks before they could do any real damage, and Twilight had to retreat with only a parting shot. It was a complete failure.
And Applejack…was it even Applejack? She had the gall to call her a terrorist and a coward! Kept raving about how she was going to ruin everything they’d worked for, everything they’d already done! Why didn’t she get it? They hadn’t done anything! They were supposed to drive those damn insects away, but they’d failed, so they had to use more aggressive measures. But what did that hick understand? She’d tried to make Applejack see, but it was clear that her last friend was just another traitor with cold feet.
A thought occurred to Twilight. There was something wrong with the shield spell, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. The last time she looked, something was off. She decided to check again.
Peering out the blinds, she looked at the shield carefully. It was there, but…
Her eyes widened. That wasn’t her spell!
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” A huge voice bellowed, shaking the room she was in. Twilight whirled around in panic. How?! How did they find her?! She immediately tried to teleport away, but when she cast the spell, she simply appeared in the same place.
Well then, she’d just have to fight her way out.
A unicorn stallion wearing black armor burst through the door into her room. Twilight spun around to face him. “Nice try,” she mused before blasting him with an anti-changeling spell. The stallion just blinked. Apparently he wasn’t a changeling, oh well. A quick fireball took care of him. Twilight braced herself to rush out the door…
Then something came through the window. This was most certainly a changeling, a huge specimen with thicker armor than normal. He grabbed her with his twisted hooves and let out a loud cry.
“No!” Twilight bucked him with a strong kick, causing him to loosen his grip. Twilight squirmed out and blasted the insect with the blades spell she’d invented for the nest. The monster toppled out the window in several pieces.
Twilight didn’t have time to celebrate as dark energy swirled in through the open window and ensnared her. She tried to blast out of it, but the inky blackness absorbed everything she threw at it like it was nothing. Twilight struggled futilely as she was pulled outside.
An entire contingent of the Royal Guard was waiting outside, spears and horns at the ready. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and changelings, all looking ready to kill her if she so much as thought about moving. At the center of the contingent was the Changeling King, and beside him the new Queen of Equestria. The white changeling looked at her severely.
“Twily.”
“Don’t you dare call me that.” Twilight spat before turning to the dark alicorn. “Luna. You’re siding with him?! He killed your sister!”
The former princess shook her head. “What happened to Celestia was not the fault of Shining Armor. Your grief has warped what happened that day.”
“Liar,” Twilight muttered before turning towards Shining. “You think this is over?! You think you can stop this by capturing me? I’ve got chapters all over Equestria, and once they’ve found out…”
He didn’t so much as blink. “Ah yes. Applejack told us about those. We’ve already sent troops to each of the locations. You could make things much easier for your followers if you tell us who was directly involved in the attack.”
Twilight’s jaw went slack. “Wh-what? Applejack?! I knew she was a spy! I hope she suffered when she…”
Shining Armor shook his head. “No. She told us everything when she woke up in the hospital. It’s over, Twilight.”
Twilight’s eyes started twitching. Applejack had survived? No…no, she couldn’t have…she wasn’t breathing when I left her…did she fake that? But…my bases…Twilight looked up to see a changeling come towards her with an iron ring. An inhibitor ring. She was going to rot in prison…
“No…” the purple unicorn snarled. Her eyes glowed a furious white, and her body began twitching uncontrollably.
“What is she doing?”
“I’ve never seen that spell before…”
“Get that collar on her now!”
The changeling with the collar tried to reach her, but a maelstrom of energy knocked him off his feet. Everything began spinning, and even the highly-trained guards lost their footing. Luna’s energy was doing nothing…it could absorb offensive magic, but Twilight was drawing something into herself…
“YOU. WILL. NOT. BEAT. ME!!!” She roared before a deafening purple explosion forced the contingent back. Shining Armor and Luna had to avert their eyes from the brightness that rivaled the sun. A scream of painful defiance, and then silence.
When they opened their eyes, there was nothing but a smoking burn on the ground where Twilight had once been.