Nexus had blown up one of Copper's generators and had created an army of followers to make them blinded to the truth, but Eclipse dealt with the nuisance Nexus presented. Then Nexus blew up his Hive, but he could deal with the stress of building a completely new one from scratch. Nexus had harassed his children and his workers, and he could deal with making sure he had done nothing to them all.
But Nexus had crossed the line when he had ponynapped his wife, snatching her from the middle of her elite guards well designed patterns and right in front of their daughters.
The Princesses and their quests had long since gone home, choosing to stay in their respective regions and make sure they were safe from Nexus before returning. They had no idea that Queen Viscarias had been taken, snatched away in broad daylight, by the newly declared 'Enemy of Equestria'. They were scouring their own cities, searching for remnants of Nexus' small army in the off chance they'll find somepony that's willing to talk instead of taking their own life. They knew that they needed to find Nexus before he destroyed another major city, but they had no leads on his whereabouts.
Eclipse was annoyed beyond reason, his anger building the more he thought about the stallion that was quickly ruining his life and the lives of his children. At the moment he sat in the center of the crater where his Hive used to reside, where if he felt the need to let off some of his anger he could direct it further into the Badlands. He could break some ground or tear gaping holes if he wanted, but he wouldn't let his anger blind him to the fact that his ponies needed a home. And, more importantly, they needed their Queen back.
There was a hoof that touched his left shoulder, but before he even let whoever it was speak he spun around, grabbed the hoof, and brought the pony right over his head and into the ground in front of where he had been sitting.
"What in the name of the Elders was that for?" the alicorn sized pony coughed, Eclipse realizing who it was and easing up on her, "Seriously though, I come here to talk and you pounce on me?"
"Look Chrysalis, do not even begin to lecture me right now," Eclipse growled, secretly pleased that he had hurt his stepmother somewhat, "I've been having a bad week and I do not need somepony bad mouthing me."
"Geez, what decided to bite you this morning?" Chrysalis asked, her eyes scanning the wreckage around them, "My husband had told me that my precious Hive had been blown to smithereens by a stallion named Nexus, but I can tell he didn't want me to freak out. This isn't to smithereens, this is to oblivion."
"Please get to the point so I don't blast you into next week," Eclipse moaned.
"Look Eclipse, I wanted to stay in Las Pegasus and have some fun with the locals for a few more weeks before I returned," Chrysalis said, making him turn to look at her, "Trust me, I truly wanted my daughter and her husband, despite the royal pain in the flank you've become, to rule the Changeling Hive in my stead. I wanted to stay as far away as I could possibly get, to ignore the years of warmongering that had been installed into me by my own mother. I wanted the two of you to get through this ordeal by yourselves, so much that I nearly told my husband to get over the Hive and quit being an Elder."
"What changed then?" Eclipse asked, wishing she had just forgotten about him and stayed in Las Pegasus, "What made you change your mind and return to the Hive?"
"Nexus took my daughter," Chrysalis nearly cried, actually showing emotion for the daughter she had once regretted having, "My time away from the Hive has allowed me to finally see that family is important and that its worth fighting for. You may not care for me after all the nasty things I did to get rid of you years ago, but my granddaughters need me and my husband now more than ever. You, on the other hoof, are going to be too busy with finding Nexus, kicking his blasted flank to the moon, and bringing my daughter back to the ponies that miss her.
Please Eclipse, let me help you for once. Let me help you, not as an old Queen that wants her power back, but as a concerned family member who wants the best for her grandchildren."
Eclipse stared at her, a thousand thoughts running through his head and a thousand possible responses to her proposal ready to be fired at her. He could lash out at her and chase her away, but what would that say to the other princesses and his ponies? They'd see him as a tyrant and likely try to put him down, but that wouldn't ease his daughter's anymore than make them ashamed of him. He sighed and, for possibly the first time in his life, he actually looked his stepmother in the eyes and embraced her, shocking the old Queen in the process.
"I guess I can take that as a yes then?" Chrysalis asked, wrapping her front legs around Eclipse in what she believed was called a hug by most ponies.
"Yes, its a yes," Eclipse answered, looking up at the sky, "Now come, we have one other pony to talk to while we search for Nexus."
~Copper's Tent~
"Come on Northern, control your emotions," Copper said, reading an emotional spike yet again, "If we want to find Nexus, and more importantly your mother, then I suggest you not think about him and concentrate solely on your connection to the Nether. I'm increasing the search field by another three miles and I'm moving it to the Crystal Empire, so stay focused."
Copper had been working nonstop after hearing that Nexus had taken Queen Viscarias from right under their very noses. She had tinkered with her various machines, summoning dozens of different instruments that were connected to a central machine and contained the unique magic Northern had. She was using all of her genius, creating a machine that would allow her to use the Nether to scan an area anywhere in Equestria and search for Nexus. With just one warpstone the machine wouldn't even start, so she had brought out her reserves and connect half a dozen into the machine before it started working.
Unfortunately they were finding nothing at the moment and it was slowly taxing Northern, seeing how it was her energy signature that allowed the machine to track their enemy.
"Any news Copper?" Eclipse asked, opening the tent to find the mare in front of a huge machine with Echo and Harvest watching everything happening while Northern was helping out with her magic.
"No good news I'm afraid," Copper replied, not taking her eyes off the screen, "I have scanned every area in the southern and western regions of Equestria, but there is no trace of Nexus in either areas. At the moment I'm starting in the Crystal Empire and the surrounding area, but if I can't find him or the Queen anywhere then I'll be all out of ideas."
"You try the Frigid North yet?" said a second voice, causing Copper to look around and find Chrysalis standing behind Eclipse, "Oh, um, I believe this is where most ponies would say 'hi'?"
"I'm surprised that you even want to talk to me after what happened so many years ago," Copper said, shaking her head as she turned back towards the screen as she considered what the old Queen had said, "Wait a second...why do you ask if I checked that area?"
"It was where we all fought him four years ago after all," Chrysalis replied, stepping between Eclipse and Copper, "I came back to the Hive because my granddaughters need me now that their mother has been taken from them. You and I both know that once you locate Nexus, and I know you'll find him eventually, Eclipse is going to go flying off so he can rescue my daughter. They need somepony other then my husband to watch over them and I just want to help them.
It may not mean anything so many years after it happened, but...but I'm sorry for how I acted that day when I threatened you and crushed your leg. I know there is likely no chance that you'll forgive me, but I figured that I might as well try while I was here and not just run off to forget about it."
Copper sighed, resting her metallic claws on the keys as she quickly input the coordinates that consisted of the area that was known as the Frigid North. It was where Eclipse had built a fortress that he and everypony else had fought at, tearing it and the surrounding area to pieces. Last she had heard the barrier that heated up part of the area, the fortress and the couple of miles around it, was still operational despite having no magic supplying it. The screen shimmered and focused in on where the barrier used to be, showing a bright red mass surrounded by a deep blue mass.
She zoomed in, piercing the bright red veil that was surrounding the ruined fortress and finding a couple of stone pillars sticking out of the ground. Six different colored pillars that formed a complete circle with an even larger stone pillar sticking out of the ground in the center of the circle. Strapped to the larger stone pillar was an alicorn sized pony, but when she got even closer she could feel the gears in her body stall for a second before moving again.
"I didn't think I'd find anything in the Frigid North," Copper said, seeing and not believing, "but Nexus is in the ruined fortress with Queen Viscarias strapped to some sort of huge stone pillar. What do you make of that Eclipse? Eclipse?"
Copper turned around, finding only Chrysalis behind her this time.
"I told you," the changeling innocently said, "You find Nexus and he'll be gone as soon as the location is known to him."
~The Frigid North~
Nexus smiled, knowing that Eclipse was on his way to save his beloved wife. Years of planning, of spying, of stealing notes and various tapes, and even building, were finally coming together so perfectly that he could taste his prize already. The Queen was out cold, put to sleep for the moment so she wouldn't annoy him to death before her husband even arrived. Soon he would have the power to destroy the old corrupt Equestria and in its place build a better, cleansed Equestria that everypony would grow to like. Soon there would be nopony that would be able to stand up against him and his iron rule.
And it all began with Eclipse.