Running.
Running as fast as my hooves can take me.
A scream sounds to my left. I roll, just in time for a Technicolor creature to slam into the space I had been occupying a moment ago. None of it matters. I must get to Luna. She might not be equipped to handle this either, but by the Stars, we had to try something!
My student and her friends have turned on me. They said something about the Elements altering their fates since the moment Rainbow Dash performed her first Sonic Rainboom. As a minor goddess – yes, I am a goddess! Nopony on their own power could possibly move the celestial bodies the way my sister and I do! – I did feel something change that day. None could have guessed the ramifications behind it.
As I run, avoiding the bearers as they try to outmaneuver me, I think back to what transpired those few minutes ago, when that –thing—that used to be my student bought out the Elements of Harmony.
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“We hunted down Chrysalis.”
I could only stare. I didn’t even feel her words, all I could see is those fangs. The truth was out. The bearers were no longer ponykin.
“…What? Do I have a smudge on my cheek, Princess?” I hated how she said it, like a forced formality by a sworn enemy.
“Um, Twilight, dear…” Rarity floated a mirror over to Twilight, revealing her more, sharp, features.
“Well, “she spoke after a moment of consideration, “I guess the changeling’s out of the bag. I’ll just skip ahead to the juicy bits then.” A flare of purplish-green fire appeared around her hooves.
“We found Chrysalis’ lair, and she welcomed us with open hooves.” The fire moved up her legs, revealing holes like cheese. “Actually, she trapped all of us in cocoons and tried to drain us of any emotion we had ever felt.” It moved further, showing a glistening purplish-black body, though more fur than carapace remained.
“We managed to convince her we were there to help her get her heart’s desire: Canterlot, and Cadence’s head on a platter. So, instead of trapping us in cocoons and draining our emotions, she trapped us in cocoons and turned us into changelings.” Her wings remained mostly unchanged, only becoming a little thinner, with, of course, more holes.
“At least, she tried. I still haven’t worked out how, but we never became full changelings. I believe the Elements had something to do with it.” The fire spread across her snout and mane, making the former longer to better house those fangs, and the latter a luxurious, hole-riddled flowing affair. Not much different than my own mane, but instead of my pastel colors, her mane retained the overall deep purple color, with several stripes of various pinks running through it. Twilight’s eyes remained completely unchanged.
“The Elements changed fate again that day. They knew we would be powerless if we subverted to Chrysalis’ mind control, so they formed us new bodies, ones that could withstand the brain changes and would end up more powerful than Chrysalis, or any changeling queen, would ever be.” Her horn became jagged, curving into a crescent, sharp enough to cut.
“The Elements changed too. We were wearing them as we went into the cocoons; maybe Chrysalis thought it would give us more power as changelings. If so, she was right.” The tail grew long to match the mane.
“We went in as ponies. We were supposed to come out as changelings. Instead, we came out as more of a hybrid, the best of both worlds. The moment we were released – although, I believe we broke out of our own accord—we set upon killing Chrysalis with our newfound might. She was caught off guard, but still gave a valiant effort. When she fell, I dealt the killing blow. According to changeling law, that made me the new Queen of the Hive. I was also told I had to absorb what remained of Chrysalis’ spirit, to ensure my rightful rule.
“When I did so, I changed fate. Instead of taking it all, I split it among all six of us, taking just a little more for myself. For the first time, one Hive had six Queens!” I glanced over at the other five. They too had transformed, each an abomination of nature. All six were a blend of pony and changeling parts, with pony being more dominant.
“After that, we had both the forces, and the power to do what we wanted. So we waited, and planned, right up until this–” she pointed at Discord “- showed his ugly face. We can thank Pinkie for revealing him. Her Pinkie Senses went off at the right moment for us to see and capture.”
I had had enough. Twilight had been doing nothing but stalling this entire time, and it was high time I found out why. “That still doesn’t explain how you stole his energy.”
“Yes, yes, I was getting to that! See, the Elements changed the rules again. Instead of just feeding off love, like changelings are wont to do, we each gained a full range of emotions we could drain, mostly attuned to our respective Element. Fluttershy could drain compassion and mercy, Rainbow Dash courage, Pinkie joy and general recklessness, and me… well, I can now drain magic itself away, just like I’ve been doing to you ever since this farce of a trial started.”
“What?!” I quickly cast a detection spell. Sure enough, there was a thin trail moving from my horn to hers. Not enough for me to notice right away, but enough that it had impaired my judgment. I cast a spell for removing spells, and it seems to have worked. I can no longer see the trail.
“Humph. Took you long enough. So, Pinkie and I were able to join our feeding efforts to siphon off his chaos energy. From the way he screamed, you would have thought we were tearing his very soul away from his body! Eventually, yes, we learned of his True Name, and with it, the final piece of our match. With the Chaos Lord now subdued, only the combined efforts of Nightmare Moon and Sombra could have stood a slight chance in defeating us. We moved our forces here, to Canterlot, and waited for the perfect moment to strike.”
“That’s impossible,” I stammer out. “There have been no changelings in Canterlot since the invasion.”
“Oh, really?” Twilight then raised her horn, and my blood ran cold. A wave washed out from her horn, bathing my subjects in a shimmering purple light. They were there one moment, and the next, half of them had become changelings. “By the way, how is our dear Luna?” Now, my hooves have turned to lead. “It’s not like it matters. In a few minutes, Pinkie shall have retrieved her, and my plan will be complete.”
Pinkie? But, she’s been over there the whole—wait. A light pink shimmer around her form. I hit it with a weak blast of magic, and it faded away. An illusion!
“Yeah, Pinkie’s gotten very good at illusory magic.” Twilight clopped her hooves together. “Alright, enough chitchat. Fluttershy, if you would be so sweet as to lower the shield around the door? I think our pets want to make some new friends. The rest of us have a Princess to take. Hey, where did Celestia go?”
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Which brings us to now. Me, running from these hybrid abominations, limping slightly from when Applejack shot across the room and bucked me through my throne to the wall beyond. I can hear the sounds of battle growing fainter the farther I go. Since the invasion, my guards have been trained in how to deal with a changeling threat. My only hope is that they are up to the task.
As I climb the Lunar Spire, everything falls deathly quiet. I can only hear my hooves on stone, and my labored breaths. A thought nudges at the back of my mind. Are they leading me here? Why have they stopped attacking me? However, those thoughts also came with the thought of by my plot, I need to lay off the royal cake, so it became kind of muddled. As I near the top, a faint whimpering reaches my ears. Luna!
I charge up the last spiral of stairs, and burst into my sister’s study. The room is dark, like a starless night, with Luna sitting in the center in the single pool of light, her back to me.
“L-Luna?” I say warily. “Sister? W-we must do something about the bearers… Sister?”
As I approach, I notice a few things. Her mane is disheveled, like she hadn’t slept in days. There are also several strands of what appears to be paper hanging off of her. I stop a hoofs-length away from her.
“L-Luna? Please, say something. I can’t handle this without you.”
“Do you wish to be happy, Celestia?”
“What?”
“I said, dear sister, do you wish to be HAPPY?” At the last word, Luna finally turns to me. Her snout is pulled into a ghastly smile, reaching ear to ear. Her eyes are wild and unfocused. It only takes a moment to notice these, because as she turns, she hits me with a blast of magic, throwing me against yet another wall, cackling the whole while.
As I pull myself up, I whimper at Luna. “Sister, what has happened to you? Please, you need to stop!” She continues to approach like a lioness stalks her prey.
Then, another voice from the shadows. “Aw, Princess. You didn’t say the magic words! Here, I’ll do it for you! Pinkie says, stop!” Luna immediately sits on her haunches. The mare in question steps from the shadows, as much an abomination as the rest of them. With her is a ghastly contraption, five feet of dull black metal, wagon wheels of iron with spikes around them, and a nasty, frayed fuse sticking out of the top.
“Pinkie, what did you do to Luna??”
“Isn’t it obvious, Princess? I made her happy!” She brandished her device. “With my new and improved Party Cannon, I can make ponies happy forever! It just took a little Twilight brains and Laughter energy, and I got this! Here, try it for yourself!” She fires.
I try to get out of the way, but am not fast enough. I am struck with another wave of energy, and my flank is hit with shrapnel. I expect pain, but only feel a warm, tingling sensation spreading along my leg. I glance down, and there are several strands of confetti on me from which this feeling is spreading. I force them off my flank, but it is too late. I already feel the faintest of smiles tugging at my lips.
“Aw, Princess! Don’t go spoiling the fun!” She bounces over, and drops her voice low, no emotion on her face. “You know, I really am sorry.”
“S-sorry about what?”
In an instant, her smile returns. “Sorry I didn’t see your face when Twilight gave her big reveal!” She falls back, laughing uncontrollably. Luna joins in the mirth, throwing her head back.
“By any means, I can now also control any pony I make happy. Watch: Woona, Pinkie says, stick your tongue out!” Luna sticks her tongue out as far as she could. “Pinkie says, do a backflip!” Luna does so. “Pinkie says-” she turns back to me, a malicious glint in her eye, “sic ‘em.”
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I am running through the palace again, now with the bearers, a changeling army, and my sister hot on my tail. I count myself lucky I was only struck a glancing blow by Pinkie’s Cannon; I was still in complete control. I had managed to drag myself behind her as she commanded Luna to get me. Luna had sprung across the room like an arrow from a bow, but instead of impacting with me, she collided with her new mistress. While they were tangled in a heap, I was able to fly out the balcony and come into the palace through an, unfortunately, closed window.
I can feel them breathing down my neck, but none are using magic to try and stop me. I have an inkling of a thought, that they are herding me somewhere, when suddenly, they all stop. I barrel around a corner and into a hallway the likes of which I have never seen. Everything is decked in opulence, with ribbons, gold and silver pillars, and gemstones everywhere… wait, gemstones?
“Ah, Princess, so lovely for you to join me! Why don’t you just sit down and relax?” The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere. I feel a compelling urge to comply with her request, but I remain standing.
“Come now, dearie! You’ve spent so long running away from your problems. Why not lay down and let someone else handle them?” It is more of a force now, pushing down on my shoulders and flank, wanting me to lay down and let all my troubles float away. My eyelids begin to droop.
“Yes, that’s it. Just lay down, let us take over, you never did much anyways.” With that, my mind clears.
“NO! You will not take my ponies from me!” I shout at the roof. With my resolve restored, I glance about the hall. I find Rarity near the door at the end of the hall, looking extremely miffed.
“Oh, poo! You weren’t supposed to break free! You were supposed to lay down and give up, then Twilight would come get you. Oh, well. I guess I get the privilege of taking out the Princess of Equestria!” She approaches me, her horn giving off sparks. I know I do not have the strength to fight her, but I ready myself nonetheless.
However, she stops short. “What? But, Twilight! She’s right here! I can make our problems go away! Yes, I know there’s a plan and everything, but buck that! I am dealing with this right—AAH!” With that, her horn fizzles out, and she falls to her side. I take advantage of her distraction and dash down a side hall.
Twilight. Twilight is the catalyst for this whole endeavor. If I can find her, I might be able to talk some sense into her. I find my way back towards the main hall, where all of this started; however, I am stopped at the final door by Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry, Princess, but Empress Twilight isn’t ready for you yet.”
“What? Empress Twilight?”
“What, did Pinkie knock some dumb into you? Yes, Empress Twilight. She leads us, as she has since the beginning, so she is granted the title of Empress. The rest of us are her Queens, and shall rule where she cannot.”
“Enough of this nonsense! Let me pass!”
“No!” With that, a wall of yellow light erupts between us. I looked back to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and a slew of changelings also waiting behind a yellow wall. I charged my dwindling reserves of magic, and teleport behind Fluttershy. If she was surprised by that, she didn’t show it. I open the door…
To absolute chaos. My guards are surrounded, fighting a losing battle against an overwhelming army of changelings. My servants and ponies are huddled against a wall, under the careful watch of even more changelings. Twilight stands upon my dais, focused on her magic. A pair of orange hooves, coming straight for my… wait, hooves?
For the umpteenth time that day, I crashed into a wall behind me. This time, I know Applejack has cracked at least one of my ribs. I struggle to stand, and make my way back into the room. I hit Applejack midbuck with a weak freezing spell. Not enough to stop her completely, but enough to slow her down so I could pass. My focus is only on Twilight.
“Ah, Princess! Just in time too! Your chamber is ready.” She moves to the side, and the wall behind the dais shimmers out of existence. Inside what used to be my sister’s and I’s waiting room, where we would greet guests of honor, are two giant glass bowls, each with a symbol inscribed into it. Within the one with a moon is Luna, her mirth faded as she lay there in a heap. The other bowl is inscribed with a sun, and I know that is where she wants to get me. I cannot let her have that chance.
“You come into my courtroom. You accuse me of being weak. You threaten my life. You are not ponies anymore. You try and wrest my throne away. However, if you think for one bucking second I would let you bring harm to any of my little ponies, you. Are. Sorely. MISTAKEN!” I lash out at her with all I have. She responds in kind.
As our magicks lance together, I am plunged into a void of darkness.
----------
Nothing exists except me and the abomination that used to be Twilight. Then, I hear a new voice from the shadows. One that has haunted me since that fateful day.
“Ah, Celestia. We meet again.” Out of the void steps none other than Queen Chrysalis.
What? How? Twilight said she killed you!
“Oh really now? She also said that to become queen, she needed to absorb my spirit, yes? Little did she know, when a new queen overthrows the old, and she takes the old’s spirit, she gains not only the power of the old queen, but also the memories of queens before.”
What? But that means—
“Yes, dear.” Another changeling appears, to stand next to Twilight. “It means that we remember. We remember what you did to Queen Gomorrah almost a millennia ago.”
“We remember how you forced her out of her hives, all so you could build a fancy castle in the mountainside.”
“Your publicized reason was to make a new palace, away from your old, because you couldn't bear the memories of banishing your sweet sister.”
“But we know the real reasons.”
“You let your emotions cloud your judgment. Gomorrah was one of your closest supporters. When Luna went crazy, you needed a scapegoat.”
No. Soon, Celestia was surrounded by the memories of fallen changeling queens. Then, one more appeared. She was old, wizened, frail, but the largest and strongest of the memories.
“I never blamed you for your actions, Celestia. We were as close as you and Luna were. When a changeling misbehaves, he is sent to the lowest levels of the hive, to fight off quarray eels for the rest of his days. When you came after me, because of what your sister did, my heart broke. In my weakness, I was struck down, and the next queen took my place. She swore vengeance on you for robbing us of our ancestral home. She tried to take Manehattan for her new feeding grounds. They proved more than a challenge for her, and she fled to nurse her wounds. Eventually, the next queen rose up, and tried somewhere else. Again and again and again, queens tried to strike back, but were never strong enough to do so.
“Then, this one came.” Gomorrah placed a hoof lovingly around Twilight. “Chrysalis had a want- no, a need- to make this one pay. We are more than just spirits. We are raw power in basest form. We knew that Twilight had the greatest chance of exacting our revenge, so we left Chrysalis, and added our power to Twilight and her friends.” I was at a loss. I couldn’t speak, only listen.
“We no longer had to wait for the right queen to come along. We now had six who could oppose you.” The other queens started charging their power. “We helped console Twilight through the change, kept her sanity intact. Helped her create the plan laid out before you. The time of princesses is over. The reign of the Empress is at hand!”
Gomorrah sauntered over to me. “Don’t worry, Cel. We will make sure she keeps peace with your little ponies.” With that, the queens added their power to Twilight, and I fell into the darkness.
----------
I remember being dragged. I tried to struggle, but it was as if my body had given up. I was set down somewhere, most likely in the bowl Twilight had wanted me in all along. I found myself able to raise my head as a pounding made itself present. It was Luna, a look of horror on her face. Her voice came out muted.
“Sister? What happened? I remember sitting in my study, then suddenly the pink one comes in, but she is not the same pink one as before. She hit me with something, and I—I—oh, Celestia, I tried to fight it, but it was as if she had complete control over my body!”
“Shh, Lulu, I understand. I almost came under her control too. I tried to fight her, but—” at that moment, a sharp pain lanced through my horn. I heard screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me and Luna both. I looked up, blinking away the tears, to behold Twilight, that smug grin on her face.
“Well, now that the family reunion is over, what say you to getting this show on the road? I have a kingdom to run!”
“Why—why won’t you just kill us?” Luna gasped.
“Are you mad? I still need you two to deal with the heavenly bodies! I can’t very well run a kingdom if I have to spend a lot of time every day making sure the sun and moon stay the course! So, let’s make a deal. You two stay in there, let’s say, forever, and keep the sun and moon rotating. You will be taken care of to ensure no harm comes to you. In response, I won’t march our ponies in here and execute them one by one. Imagine, you two will be the last thing they see, and it will be of their rulers, weak, defeated, defenseless. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
I hung my head. There was only one way out of this. “We accept.” Luna looked at me as if I had gone mad. Who knows? Maybe I have.
“What was that, Princess?”
“We accept the terms of our surrender. I only ask that you keep my little ponies from harm. If I find that you hurt even a single hair on my ponies’ heads, there will be nowhere in the cosmos you can run to that I will not find.”
“Yeah, yeah, imminent revenge and all that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a transition of power to oversee.”
Twilight stepped out of the room and replaced the wall she had come through, plunging the room into near darkness.