//------------------------------// // The beginning of the end. // Story: Secret Invasion // by Pinkie Pool //------------------------------// Secret Invasion Chapter 1: The Beginning of The End Location: Canterlot Castle. "How... did this happen?" Said one Twilight Sparkle, alicorn princess of Equestria. She was lying on the ground in the throne room, every guard unconscious along with princess Celestia. Her own magic had been rendered useless by her opponent... "How, you ask? Very simple, actually..." Her enemy said as she walked out of the shadows, revealing none other than the Changeling Queen. "Fate wanted this to happen. We were destined to rule, as it was predicted in the ancient texts. Don't believe me? Look at the images your princess so kindly left for us." Twilight raised her head to look at the images of Equestria, all five of them generated by Celestia's magic and kept in place by the residual power... It was chaos. All over Equestria, Changelings were destroying everything on their path and trapping all living creatures. Twilight knew they were planning to drain every prisoner from their love, and when a living creature is completely drained... "You can't... I won't let you do this. You're not gonna win." Twilight barely managed to say. "Oh, my little pony. There's a flaw in your plans..." Chrysalis said while moving closer to Twilight. She lifted the downed alicorn's head and looked deep into her eyes, all to convey her final message. "I've already won. Hahahahaha." And with that final, soft and terrifying laugh, Chrysalis lowered Twilight's head and made her way out of the throne room. She stopped at the door to give an additional message, all just to put another nail in the coffin of her hopes. "And don't worry. You won't be alone for long. My subjects will come to take you and everypony else to a more 'comfortable' location. Tata, Twilight Sparkle." And with that final sentence, the queen left the room and Twilight was left alone. Powerless to do anything and seemingly defeated. *I can't believe it. Have we really lost?* She thought to herself. *I should have seen this coming, The signs were there, but... No matter how much I think about this, it's obvious why I didn't notice anything before...* The reason was one that pained her to acknowledge, but every train of thought led her to the same sentence... *Friendship blinded me from the truth.* Location: Cantelot Royal Library. 6 months ago. A lonely guard was standing in the abandoned library. Nearly all facilities were unoccupied due to the special event that was being celebrated that day, but this one pony had one last business before moving on to his next location. "Come on. Where is it?" He was going through one document after another, back and forth, reading them more than once in case he missed anything. At first it seemed like a lost cause, but then he saw an abandoned book in a shelf, deep within the darkest corner of the room. "Could it be..." The Earth Pony pulled a ladder and reached out for the book. He carefully went through its content... "Found it! This is it. The spell we've been looking for... Our majesty will be pleased." Suddenly, bells were heard all across Canterlot... Wedding bells. "It's time." The Royal Guard made his way out of the library and to the castle. "The future will be glorious. I know it." Location: Royal Castle's Garden. Many hours later. The Changeling attack on Canterlot had been stopped, and now the wedding was going smoothly. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were now a happily married couple and everypony was celebrating... Well. Everypony except a troubled Twiligt Sparkle. *It's finally over, but I still feel like we missed something. The Queen didn't even consider their love a threat, even thought her power was coming from that same love. Could it be that she simply got overconfident?* Twilight thought. "We sense that something is troubling you, child." Twilight turned to look at the one talking... "Princess Luna!" She said surprised and bowed before the Princess of the Night. "Rise, Twilight Sparkle. Such formalities are not necessary." Luna said. Twilight returned to her usual standing position. "Now, Twilight... Why don't you tell me about what keeps your mind tense?" Luna continued. "Well... I can't shake off this feeling that it was all too easy." Luna merely raised an eyebrow and had a "Seriously?" face on her features. "Ok. Maybe not THAT easy, but what I mean is that the queen..." "Chrysalis." Luna interrupted. "Excuse me?" Twilight asked confused. "The Changeling Queen is known as Chrysalis. Her subjects were heard by many referring to her by that name." Luna elaborated. "Good to know. Anyway... What I mean is that Chrysalis didn't fight back at the end. She even disregarded Cadance's attempts to snap Shining Armor out of that spell and the use of their love as futile, even though she was being powered by that same love. It doesn't make any sense!" Twilight explained. "I understand your concerns, Twilight. But I believe this is what they call 'overthinking things' these days." Luna said. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Much like others before her, her arrogance was her undoing..." Luna said and looked at the ground with sadness in her eyes. "Even I underestimated you and your friends during my dark days, despite of knowing the power of the Elements of Harmony in person. Alas, it allowed you to free me from the darkness." Sad memories aside, Twilight knew what the princess was talking about. Trixie, Discord, Nightmare Moon and now Chrysalis. All previous opponents had let their arrogance get the best of them. "I guess you're right. I'm probably just being paranoid." Twilight finally caved. "Excellent. Now, why don't you join your friends in the dance floor?" Luna suggested. Twilight seemed pretty uncomfortable about the offer. "Er... I'd rather not. Pinkie showed me a few pictures from the last time I danced. It wasn't pretty." Luna giggled at the mental image she was getting of Celestia's student being a bad dancer. "Very well, but do not stress yourself more than necessary. It IS a party, after all." Luna said and left to do whatever she pleased. Twilight was left with her own thoughts. *Maybe she's right. If something happens, I'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, the battle is over.* "TWILIGHT!" "GYAH!" Twilight shouted and went high into the air from the scare. She landed in front of the one who scared her... "Pinkie Pie! You scared me!" "Oh! Whoopsies! I just wanted you to come and try the cake. It's awesomelicious! That's a new thing I made. It means something is awesome AND delicious at the same time. Are you coming? Pretty please!?" Pinkie said without even pausing to take a breath. Twilight's head was now spinning, but she got most of the message. "Alright, Pinkie. Let's go." Twilight said and followed Pinkie to the cake table... A few hours later. Canterlot-to-Ponyville train. The party was over, and the Elements of Harmony were now on their way back home. "Weehoo! Now that's what ah call a wedding!" Applejack said. "You got that right! Sure, I could have gone through it without the invasion, but it was AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash said. "Speak for yourself. Those mosters ruined one of my best dresses!" Rarity said while mourning the lost. "All that matters is that my brother and Cadance are back together, happily married and the Changelings are gone for now." Twilight added. "Um... Twilight. What do you mean by 'for now'?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "Probably that there will be a new invasion where Changelings will slowly replace anypony until their numbers are greater than ours and then they will take over all of Equestria when we least expect it!" Pinkie Pie shouted. All of her friends just stared at Pinkie like she was crazy (more so than usual). "That... sounds like the plot of a cheesy comic book." Rainbow Dash broke the silence, "Meh. It could happen." Pinkie said and shrugged off the comment. "Anyway... What I mean is that the Changelings are still out there, and we don't know when they will attack again. What I do know is that we will be ready for anything if we have each other." Twilight said. They were all touched by her comment and a group hug happend immediately afterwards. "Next stop: Ponyville. Please, remain in your seats until the train has fully stopped." One of the train crew members said. Rainbow Dash stretched out and yawned. "Finally! I could use some rest after what happened today." "And I need my beauty sleep as soon as possible." Rarity said. They were all exhausted, but at least they were back safe and could enjoy some much-needed sleep. The train stopped and they all picked up their stuff. They parted ways in front of Twilight's library, each of them going to their own homes. Pinkie and Rarity lived fairly close, but Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy still had a long way to go. Location: Sweet Apple Acres. *Whew! Ah sure am busted. All ah need is a full night of sleep... Maybe ah should ask Big Mac to take care of the farm tomorrow.* Applejack thought. "Welcome home, Applejack." Location: Rainbow Dash's home. *You know what? I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I doubt Ponyville will fall apart with one less member of the weather team.* Rainbow thought. "Greetings, Rainbow Dash." Location: Fluttershy's cottage. *Oh, dear. I want to sleep until late so much, but I have to feed the chickens tomorrow.* Fluttershy thought. "Hello, Fluttershy." "Who said that?" The three mares whispered at the same time at their own locations. Fluttershy was the first to identify the voice of her intruder... "Oh... I didn't know you were here, Polly." A parrot on a perch was the one who greeted Fluttershy. "Hello, Fluttershy... *SQUAWK* Don't forget D... *SQUAWK*" "Yes. I know, Polly. I still remember I have Angel on a Diet." Fluttershy told the parrot. Meanwhile, with Applejack... "No... No! This can't be!" Her intruder... was herself. As was Rainbow's... "Wh-What is this trick? Why do you look like me?" Rainbow demanded to know. Neither of their duplicates answered, as the two shocked ponies were simply blasted by green energy coming from behind them. In a second, everything became darkness for them. The responsibles for the attack were hidden in the shadows, but the duplicates were completely visible under the moonlight from a window. "The infiltration..." Both impostors said at the same time before turning to their real forms: Changelings. "Has begun." "Perfect. Use the spell now." The voice of Chrysalis echoed in their heads. The unconscious body of Rainbow Dash was moved to solid ground for the spell. In the meantime, the Changeling that blasted Applejack was now drawing a symbol around Applejack. A circle decorated with many runes and charms now surrounded the Element of Honesty. The same happened to the Element of Loyalty once her captors were done. "You might have been a genius in magic, Starswirl. But you were a fool when it came to thinking about the future..." Chrysalis' voice was heard again. The Changelings specialized in magic from both groups charged up, and then they casted a spell on the circles surrounding the ponies. A dome of green magic covered them for a few seconds before concentrating on the top and firing a harmless blast on the ones that were previously replacing Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They turned into flawless duplicates of the ponies once the light dissipated. "Who would have thought one of your spell you so innocently created could benefit the Changeling race so much? A spell to identify and duplicate anypony's memories..." Chrysalis telepathically mocked. "Ah can't wait for the next Apple Family Reunion, y'all. Ah'm dying to see little Babs Seed." The impostor Applejack said. "And abilities." The Queen concluded. The fake Rainbow Dash flew high into the air with uncanny speed, avoiding clouds in a tenth of a second before the impact and performing many maneuvers that were known to be only possible for the real Rainbow. The duplicate flew into the mountains at full speed before doing the impossible: a Sonic Rainboom. The multi-colored blast exploded on a mountain's peak and spread across the forest, eventually fading before anyone woken up by the explosion could see it. "Rainbow Dash" landed back under her cloud home. "Now, my subjects... Take those ponies back to our homeland. We don't want them to interfere with out plans." After receiving the telephatic orders from their Queen, the magic Changelings pulled out a rock (each) previously charged up with a teleportation spell. All they had to do was carry the unconscious ponies on their back and trigger it with a minor bolt of magic. In a green flash of light, they were gone along with their prisoners. "Perfect. Proceed with the plans, 'Rainbow Dash' and 'Applejack' and await future orders. Soon, your hunger and that of all of my subjects will be satisfied. But for now, blend in with those ignorant ponies." Chrysalis ordered her subjects before cutting off communications. *For the empire!* Both duplicates mentally shouted before retreating to their beds, knowing that Equestria was about to face its greatest challenge yet... A challenge they were not willing to lose.