The sky was set in an everlasting twilight as the sun and moon sat on opposite sides of the horizon. Neither ever set, and neither ever rose fully. they just sat at the two ends of the sky, waiting to move again.
Equestria was one of the worst places to live for the changelings since it had been taken over by the pony empress soon after the fall of the alicorn sisters. The previous ruler had barely been the leader when she was battled for the throne and lost to the magic of Empress Twilight.
To make sure the changeling citizens would not fight back against her rule, the empress divided the country of Equestria into six sections, letting five of them be overseen by her chosen ambassadors.
The first sector was ruled solely by the empress, and was almost devoid of any changeling inhabitants. The few that did live there were in the positions of slaves, or kept in the dungeons in the castle.
The second sector was watched over by Ambassador Pinkamena. The changelings who still lived there were terrified and even the pony inhabitants were nervous living there. Each day mainly consisted of changelings trying to guys who would make it through the day.
The third sector was mainly watched by Ambassador Applejack. Here, all ponies and changeling were told they would be treated equally, but this was a lie. Everypony was given an equal amount of work and was told they would be punished if it was not done, but if a pony were to not do their share of work, it was a changeling punished for their actions. The only compensation was that this was the farming sector, and the changelings here were better fed than others.
The fourth sector was watched by the ambassador Rarity. It was most likely the best sector to be in and had the most changelingings living there. It was also the smallest sector for the changelings since half of it was given only to ponies. The worst part was that there were more than twice the number of changelings as there were ponies in that sector.
The fifth sector was overseen by ambassador Fluttershy. Most changelings had to be cautious from all the monsters that were kept in this sector. In the center of the entire area was an area, and weekly a group of changelings were told to go against a group of ponies. The changeling were always weak, and it didn’t help that the ponies chosen were always stronger than an average pony.
The sixth sector was governed by Ambassador Rainbow Dash. This sector was the main producer of weather, but only changeling ran those jobs. It was more dangerous for them compared to their pegasus counterparts seeing as the magic that allowed them to do the same feats as pegasi was weaker. Any lightningbolt that would only stun a pegasus would damage a changeling.
Then there was the unofficial seventh sector. It was ruled by the previous ruler of Equestria, who had been the owner of the throne for not even a year before it was taken from her. This sector was the only one where changelings were treated as they should be. They were stronger than most changelings nowadays and had even been able to capture a few ponies to get the extra emotions to consume.
It had been almost seven years since the fall of the changeling rule, but the changelings felt it was finally time to take back their empire. They made their way through tunnels that only changelings could fit through due to them being able to shapeshift at least their size. After a few hours or so, they found themselves inside the castle, ready to take on the empress. Or so they thought.
“Nymph, Grub, Morpho. You three take that end of the hall. Thrip, Aphid, Midge. You take the other end. Pupa, you and Milkweed check this room and clear it of any ponies. Nymph, are you sure you want to help?”
“Yes! I told you I wouldn’t leave your side no matter what.”
“Alright, but remember, the second I tell you to go home. You. Go. Home. Got that?”
“Yes Cicada, I got it.”
The changelings Cicada had sent into the room came back out with four ponies, all of them knocked out. “Where should we put them?”
“Here, give me a few seconds and I’ll open a portal to where we’ll keep them.”
In about a minute, the changeling opened a lavender portal on the ground. The ponies were placed right above the portal, and a lavender shield bubble lowered them into it.
“Nymph! Is your side secure.”
“Yes. We have the shields up so only changelings will be able to get in and out. We also didn’t see any ponies in the halls.”
“Hmm… Thrip, what about your side.”
“Same deal over here. The halls are empty of any ponies.”
“Anyling else think it’s a little too quiet here?” Aphid asked around.
“We’re probably just in a quiet area of the castle, right ‘Cades?” Grub said.
“No, Aphid’s right. This isn’t right. I made sure the tunnel would connect to the one that leads to an area of the castle near the middle, but not too close. There should be more ponies around.”
“Uh guys,” Morpho spoke up. “I think I know where they all went.”
Morpho picked up a card one of the ponies they had just captured had had with them. It gave a notice that on this date, there was going to be a large gathering in the main hall.
“Do you think the empress was going to try and do the same thing we’re doing?” Nymph asked her sister.
“I hope not. The worst case scenario is that she knows we’ve been planning to try and reconquer the capital.”
“Heads up! A few ponies are starting to come this way.” Midge called.
At first, the changelings were able to pick off each pony as they came down the halls, but slowly, the number of ponies started to increase making it tough. Eventually, one pony called back to warn a few other ponies who were about to reach the hall, letting them run back to warn others.
“Thrip, you’re fastest. Go back in the tunnel and tell Metalmark, Gypsy, and their teams to come up.” Cicada ordered. “After that, I want you to take a peak using the tunnel leading toward the main hall and tell me what you see.”
Before long, seven new changelings were above ground to help take down ponies. Cicada herself was concentrating on keeping a portal open at each end of the hall for ponies to be placed in, but the longer she kept them open, the more exhausted she felt.
After a while of keeping the ponies at bay, they finally seemed to stop coming. Cicada closer the portals before giving orders to expand their territory in the castle.
“Where’s Thrip?” Nymph asked. “He still hasn’t come back.”
“You’re right.” Cicada said surprised, looking around. “He should have been back by now. Maybe we should-”
Cicada was cut off by a loud shattering noise. “Dragonfly’s shield is down, and he and Mantis are unconscious.”
A second and third shatter could be heard. “Both Morpho and Spittle lost theirs now, and I’m not sure how long I can keep mi- Ah!”
All of the shields were down and more than half the changelings were unconscious.
“Nymph! Go back home, now!”
“But Cicada, what about you?”
“I said go back. You promised you would when I told you to.”
Nymph looked at her sister. “How will you get out?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve still got one trick in my bag that hasn’t been used yet. Just go home. If I don’t come back…”
“Don’t say that! You’re going to come home!”
“I hope so. Now leave!”
A few seconds after Nymph was out of view. Cicada could hear someone coming down the hall behind her. She quickly turned to see…
“Thrip! You made it back! what took you so long?!”
“He had a run in with me.” A sickly sweet voice spoke. Thrip’s body fell slumped to the floor when the voice’s owner released it from her magic.
“Empress Sparkle!” Cicada almost growled at the armored alicorn.
“Oh you should know by now that I prefer to be called Empress Twilight. Really thoughtless of you to try and attack the capital. You know I’m stronger than you.”
“Only because you took Celestia’s magic after she battled Selena.”
“And only because you refused to take the magic of that traitorous pony you call a friend.”
“Not anymore. You and I are equals once more Twilight!” Cicada told the empress, firing a powerful spell at her, which his the alicorn.
“Ugh! So you finally took up Luna’s magic, did you?”
“That’s not her name anymore!” Cicada yelled, firing two more large bolts of magic.
The changelings that had still been in the room and conscious had dragged their friends into the empty room they had taken over. The only ones left in the hall were three dead changelings, and the two battling rulers.
“Give up! You and I both know that Celestia’s magic was stronger than her sister’s.” Twilight fired a large beam at Cicada.
“That was only because she was older. And while you may have forgotten, I still remember that I… am older… than you!” Cicada’s own horn fired a beam, and the two collided in the middle, leaving both of the battlers to try and power it as much as they could.
“AAHHH!” Cicada cried, as Twilight won the battle, Cicada’s magic still depleted from having her portals open earlier.
“Looks like it’s over for you now.” Twilight said to the collapsed queen.
“Not… if she has… anything to say about it.” Cicada pointed behind Twilight.
“Wha-” The Alicorn started before a blue blur collided with her face.
She fell to the ground as Cicada got up and opened a portal. The changelings from the room raced out and through the portal which led back to their base in the tunnels underground.
“Lila! Come!” Cicada called to the nightshade phoenix. “This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me Sparkle!”
“NO!” Twilight yelled as she fired two dark magic spells from her horn. The first hit the lavender portal, making it turn a slightly darker shade of purple. The second hit Cicada, and pushed both her and Lila into the portal before it closed behind them.
“NNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Twilight screamed as she stamped her hoof down on the ground, where it broke the skull of the changeling corpse that lay there.
The six ponies and dragon looked at the changeling, none wanting to be the first to speak what they were thinking. They just looked between themselves, not sure exactly what they were supposed to think. Finally, one of them broke the silence.
“Wow Twilight.” Pinkie said. “Who knew you could be so bad?”