In the dark before the dawn
Princess Luna stood unmoving in the half-formed dream.
'No, a memory, revisited during sleep.'
There was only one defined shape, under a harsh white light, in the whole place.
A blue unicorn mare on what could be an operation table. Thin, too thin, with her eyes and cheeks sunken in, her mane and tail a mess of gossamer strands, her breath raspy and labored.
An appendage shaped like a hoof placed a mask over her muzzle. The hoof was more like a collection of strings, surrounded by a haze, within the space a hoof would occupy.
Sensitivity to magic is high, the patient is reacting to the slightest of signals. Administering anesthetic. Everything is ready. It was less a voice and more simply knowing the words, so it was impossible to know who... or what the speaker was.
There were more of those strings becoming defined in the black void. The colors were abundant, even within a single being, making it really hard to identify them as anything other than pony-shaped.
Is there no other way? A shape, one larger than the mare, reached with a hoof. It was composed mostly of purple, and the nervousness apparent in the words was followed by a blur of shapes from the back. Can't she be healed without doing this?
Paying closer attention revealed the shapes, primarily sky blue in color, to be dragonfly wings. This figure also had a long haze on its forehead.
A changeling. And there were strings flowing from the mare and back.
Another of the shapes (red, white and green with a few splashes of yellow) became brighter, with a veritable blue-and-green torch as a horn. The light of the horn reached like a vine and coiled around the mare on the table.
No. I am at my limit. A second vine reached out, this coming from a possible changeling (or scarf-wearer) made of mostly blue, black, and white; this pony(?) trotted over almost to the point (he? She?) touched the mare. I can still keep her health from deteriorating further indefinitely, but if, and only if, we do not do anything more strenuous than a calm gait. She deserves better, and the chance to become more active in our endeavors; I cannot stay by her side forever, either. The particles she inhaled aren't enough; she needs the whole thing.
Vitals are as stable as they are going to get. Beginning the operation. A third and a fourth figure lit up, one of the figures having bat-like wings and the light coming from (its?) hooves. Vague shadows of surgical tools appeared as yet another pair handled them - one evidently a pegasus.
The purple changeling gently caressed the mare, the hoof becoming more solid where it made contact. The connection between mare and changeling glowed almost as much as whatever spells were being cast.
Please be alright. Not just because we need you. I love you. Even if she could not tell the actual speaker, Luna found it obvious that it was the changeling who had spoken. After a nuzzling and a kiss to the forehead, enough details of the head were revealed for the princess to identify the changeling as a male with purple hair and eyes.
Good, good. Keep telling her; the changeling magic... and the magic in general is responding to you. This blend of healing spells, artifact-crafting, and golem-making is... most definitely going to be delicate. Keep at it, you are anchoring her. Now, flip! The mare was set on her belly, and one of the surgeons went straight for the base of the tail.
Can't keep her like this for long. Need to get the pressure off her chest, stat. Luna had to crane her neck, but she saw the incision nonetheless; they shaved a portion of her coat with a spell, then made the cut.
First location, base of the tail, one of the points of balance for the energies. Will lessen strain on subject unicorn from use of magical abilities in general. Shard. Luna was momentarily blinded as was could pass for the morning sun shone through the place, being inserted into the mare through the cut. Luna could not tell what else had been done, however - it was too bright.
Uniting the pathways with the shard... goodness, that was fast. Shard is accepting and aiding the procedure by itself. Healing the cut- shard is amplifying the healing magic and enhancing harmonization rate; risk of Arcane Biological Degradation is zero despite patient and healer being on their previously-known limits; Arcane Biological Harmonization increased and likely to restore patient's health and enhance it given prolonged exposure, even with only one shard - estimates to be theorized after procedure is complete.
Second location, the back, center of pegasus magic. Even if subject unicorn does not receive enhanced abilities from heightened flow, subject will find pegasus magic easier to achieve - examples: Flight spells and weather manipulating spells. Shard.
Luna did not bother to fight it and simply covered her eyes with a wing. The light was... warm, comfortable.
Uniting pathways. First shard is aiding second shard. Healing... complete; there is no trace of the operation, coat restored to previous state, and is safe for the patient to be placed on her back. Flip!
The mare grunted and huffed, her breathing becoming slightly erratic. The changeling shushed and cooed even as he started to cry. His tears shone like stars, and those than fell on the mare dimmed. Luna saw how one of the vines entered through her nose, then the patient calmed down.
Please, Lula, you are more than strong enough to get this over with.
Patient has recovered stable breathing rhythm, positive emotions and the bonds of her relationships are stabilizing the healing spells with aid of the shards, as expected. Recent injuries are healing at astounding rate; older conditions seem to take longer depending on their age. Continuing with the operation. Third location, the heart, another center of balance. Increased compatibility with changeling-style magic, increased instinctual magical response in the face of danger, increased pools, increased synchronization and stability with cutie mark-related talents, increased synchronization with magic used by those with close personal relationships, possibility of recharging merely through expressed empathic links.
That procedure... that one, Luna found gruesome. The mare was opened with an enormous Y-shaped cut and her ribcage exposed. An instrument that she would rather not think about was used to cut her ribs to expose her heart, though it appeared that the shard was attached to the inside of the sternum.
Princess Luna was up-to-date with medical procedure; she knew that the heart could be successfully operated on, even transplanted to another pony, but it was one thing to see pictures, and a very different thing to see an ill mare hanging on to life by a thread laid open in a table in front of her.
She chanced disrupting the dream, and got closer to place a hoof on the mare's shoulder as her ribs were carefully placed back. Just what had happened to her that she had to undergo such an operation? What was it supposed to accomplish?!
Well, she had a strong suspicion about the answer to the last one. Convince the heart, the one she had seen with her own two eyes, to keep beating for longer.
The next part was harder still, as, apparently, the hooves had to be done symmetrically, so both hind legs at once, then both front legs. For increased strength - possibly - or at the least greater compatibility with earth pony magic, like in a growth spell. It seemed that the need to do all four hooves forced them to split two shards in half, although what relevance it had was lost on the princess due to the lack of information - she just filed it away for later.
The 'sixth' and final shard would be simply held to her forehead below the horn with a bandage while a proper fixture was crafted, since the patient was a unicorn. Luna was grateful that it ended...
In a few years, the estimate said, the mare could be given a clean bill of health, and even her mane would recover.
I love you, Lula. You are more important to me than anything else. Not just because I know you can get us out of this mess. I'm doing this for all of us, for you, because I know that if I can make you smile, then everything is going to be right in the world.
The dream shifted abruptly, leaving Luna inside a dark room while the mare, or so she assumed given the dull coloration and scraggy mane, sobbed and coughed with her face to a pillow.
On the floor, there laid a sharp, crooked black horn, with one end coated in a purple substance.
The mare was covered in purple.
*****
"Lula." Something prodding her.
"Lulaaaah." A small whine.
"Wake up, Lula! Don't cry..." This she recognized as a foal's voice.
A pair of tiny hooves were at her back, trying to shake her awake, while she could hear sniffling around her.
"Muuh, 'ake." The Erudite and Articulate Trixie enunciated her return to the land of the living with her usual grace and panache.
"Are you hurt?" A filly somewhere in front of her asked.
"Noo..." She groaned.
"You had a bad dream?" A colt sniffled; her little trip down memory lane had hit them pretty hard, it seemed.
"T- I was remembering a... friend I lost." She sighed as she opened her eyes.
She was surrounded by colts and fillies, on what used to be Sombra's bed. The decor was mostly an uniform shade of red; red bed, red pillows, red drapes, red carpet, red, red, red. She had decided to put the bed to good use and let the foals without homes sleep in the palace - originally she intended to take a smaller room for herself (past-Trixie would have a fit) but the smaller of the group of foals didn't want to be alone at night without an adult.
It still felt a little odd how the Crystal ponies were so willing to follow her suggestions like they were orders, but she had been too tired to care.
The filly right besides her hugged her neck and nuzzled her, making all of the others follow in her steps. She had yet to get up, so the foals essentially dogpiled her.
"Don't be sad, Lulah." They said, squeezing her all over.
It was more comfortable than she would have guessed, probably because she half-expected her body to protest, so she would give them a few more minutes before calling them for breakfast. Wait... it was still dark out? Sheesh, she must have woken them with her... alright, she would admit it - with her crying.
She was feeling rested, however.
The previous day had been tiring, what with ensuring that all traces of Sombra's magic were gone from the ponies, but it was satisfying. Sombra's... body, it could be said, turned to ash; being asleep when it happened, he looked oddly at peace, right before he crumbled, leaving behind his crown and armor.
The magic from the Heart was quite powerful, and invigorating, despite being in regular old Trixie's body (did she just think of herself as old? Goodness, the magic was making her feel too contented).
That her 'crystal pony form' was so nice was an added bonus. She felt the connection with the Heart, one which was interesting enough to study in more detail some time later when she wasn't being slowly crushed by children. They were a little heavy after all.
"Alright, the Responsible and Concerned Trixie says it is time for us to go get ready. Be good, and Trixie shall make pancakes for all of you!"
They didn't know what a pancake was, but, oh... would she educate them!
*****
Princess Cadence woke up well before the dawn, too nervous to sleep properly.
The blizzard was still going strong outside of their cave.
It had been the night after returning to port from their honeymoon when the message had arrived; had the Crystal Empire gotten back a couple of days later, they would have been in Canterlot, and wouldn't have needed to waste so much time traveling.
The weather was awful, at least, from their side. Their chariot was broken, and she was not about to leave everypony behind, either. The way the wind was blowing meant that traveling from Canterlot would have made the storm miss them completely, if it did not dissipate with the two-day reprieve.
All she could do was try to rest and trust Shining and the few guards they had.
*****
Princess Luna trotted dazedly through the hallway.
Changelings and ponies working together, desperate, banking their hopes on a single, sickly mare.
Heck, if she was willing to abandon her usual skepticism, that one with the glowing hooves might have been... a lilin. Which gender, or even species, she did not know (there were many with that general shape), but possibly a cubi - the children of Lilith were overall better with empathic magic than others.
Her own pooka guards were ponies of night magics, but lilins... the magic that flowed through them was very different in nature - almost like the Nightmares. Celestia was jumpy whenever they were involved - not that her stoic and freakishly-calm sister would show - and she had a good reason for it.
She couldn't just go to Celestia, not without something solid. Not for fear of being... how did the captain word it? 'Being blown off', but rather, for fear of being believed and getting her worked up.
She needed to find this 'Lula'.
*****
He, along with others around him, had kept their promises, upheld their oaths, or fulfilled their contracts.
Now, they were traveling the cold wasteland in hopes that the message was correct and they would find somewhere to live in peace. He had faith - he did not know why, but he felt like he could trust the message.
And so, he had joined the others on their journey. Right now, it was his turn to be on the lookout.
Chrysalis mucked everything up, for everyone, not just her hive.
He still had a little trouble understanding the part about 'meeting somepony special for the first time again', though.
*****
Princess Celestia's eyes opened with a start and a sharp intake of breath. She did not wake, for that would imply she was asleep. She turned to the side; only six minutes since she last checked.
No, the reason being that, once again, she spent yet another sleepless night feeling the slime of a cocoon whenever she closed her eyes in the dark.
As soon as she closed them, she began to feel the cold, viscous liquid around her. She knew it was all in her head. She knew, from the way the feeling only ever crept from the areas sensitive to temperature, that it was merely psychological.
It was all the same to her.
She could still see the changeling Queen, whose name she never even got, standing above her, chuckling, gloating. A lance of red-hot iron digging into her skull from her forehead - metaphorically, of course, though the pain was very real. Shining Armor, a mere zombie, totally unaware of his surroundings. Her niece, captured, half-starved. Twilight Sparkle, a hostage, taken to the Queen...
"You will not get in my way ever again."
The blur of a black hoof. The sickening cracking of bone-
Princess Celestia's eyes opened with a start and a sharp intake of breath. She did not wake, for that would imply she was asleep. She turned to the side; only five minutes since she last checked.
She gulped. She should have been more attentive. There were dozens of races capable of shapeshifting into a pony and fake their abilities, even an alicorn's, and she had just let one get close enough to put a spell on her. And then, she lost. The first offensive spell she had cast in anger - for she would not delude herself nor deny that anger does have a part, time, and place in the life of a pony - in centuries and she still lost.
She had sent Twilight because she knew Sombra would underestimate her, and he would keep doing it until it was too late for him. She could not go - not even get close - he would know, and he would do something that... that she knew it would be bad. He was hard to predict; paranoid enough to trap everything, arrogant enough to classify anything not immediately impressive as a 'non-threat', cruel enough to attack them anyways... it was madness.
She knew she would not send her friends away - that last bit about doing it alone was merely a little test of character. Heck, Celestia herself knew what the outcome of the test would be, Twilight merely had to be made aware of it.
If she was alone... and a quick check assured her she was - if she was alone, she would admit that she was a little scared of herself, not just the changelings.
Yes, her beam was still surpassed, but it had been enough to kill a guard and melt his or her armor - not the nearly-entirely ceremonial one almost everypony was familiar with, but the real, combat-ready one. She knew that a well-fed changeling queen was powerful, after all.
It had been so easy. She asked that little bit of magic within herself that was just like sunshine to turn... harsher to protect her ponies. The magic jumped at her request. She poured more magic into it, and reached her intended goal much too quickly to feel real.
What would she do, should she see Sombra again?
Would she be angry enough to cast a spell like that? Goodness gracious, that time with the changelings, it was a minor miracle that she had not hurt one of the ponies still in the room!
Well... she would admit that she was still very controlled. Sombra would have to do something really bad to get her to lose it...
And she had just sent Twilight to him! No- no, it was alright, she was alright. She could do it. Twilight would succeed.
Twilight was strong and smart. She could see it, Twilight lying on the floor as one of her forelegs was separated from her by a jagged black crystal, turning her watering eyes to her as Sombra lifted a hoof covered in more crystals.
'Princess, run!'
The hoof came down.
Princess Celestia's eyes opened with a start and a sharp intake of breath. She did not wake, for that would imply she was asleep. She turned to the side...
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"We have the magic. We can make her stronger, faster, more powerful. Trixie Lulamoon: The Six-magical-element mare!" *hums theme*
Interesting. So it seems Trixie wasn't the only one to remember the lost timeline?
Also, Trixie in a pile of little colts and fillies. Where's my insulin?
Care to name some?
4545562 Where can I read Thunderstruck?
4547612
He isn't remembering it per se, being dead by the time the time-travelling happened, think more along the lines of the 'gift' mentioned on the last line.
As for Celestia, it's dramatic irony.
4547615
Nigel M. Chandlers, Emperor. HiE, dark humor and violence.
The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor! Changeling thrown back in time. The other stories by the same author have more on changelings and their abilities as per his 'verse, though it's not exactly a part of it.
4547617
This is the very start. Have fun!
I am a pretty smart guy but what am I reading i don't understand any of this it just seems like a bunch of random events stapled together. I feel like you ripped pages out of a book and just put them back in any order. Please help me understand. My problems are I have no idea when any of these scenes are taking place or if there even real, your plot is overly complicated and your story telling leave me completely in the dark.
What is everyone doing so far?
celestia is afraid and sent twilight t the empire
Twilight maybe dead
trixie was in an operation
trixie is living with the crystal pony foals
luna wants to find lula
lula is trixie
cadence says crystal empire came back during her honey moon
Question: has this all happened in two weeks?
I was wondering in the early part of the chapter if the Changelings had invaded in this revised timeline or not, but that gets answered later in the chapter as the Empire only having returned a few days earlier. As a result, it must be befuddling for Luna to see Changelings and ponies working together on a surgical operation, especially since she doesn't know this is a future operation. No doubt the one Changeling that caresses Trixie there is also the one mentioned later as trekking towards the Crystal Empire in the present timeline.
Something that isn't given enough information and I don't know whether it was deliberate or not is the mention of the six shards. It definitely sounds like it could be either the Element of Magic, broken up into six pieces, or a remaining fragment from each of the Elements. Since you clarify it as just being the Element of Magic, maybe add something in about each of the shards being purple? Trixie later mentions being in her 'regular old Trixie body' so I imagine she no longer has whatever benefits the Element of Magic conferred upon her. That said, I would love to see a drawbrony do a picture up of Crystal Ponyfied Trixie buried under a pile of foals!
Hopefully Trixie never decides to tell Celestia what her decision to rely on Twilight would have wrought in the unaltered timeline. Celly might not be able to deal with the depression from that.
6435680
Luna wasn't seeing a dream, but a memory; Trixie wasn't seeing with her eyes, and the pieces were ungodly "bright".
As for relying on Twilight, it actually worked out pretty well at first; Ponyville held out quite well until Twilight died.
Not a fan of everyone else being connected to the other timeline. Makes it all needlessly complicated. A jumbled mess to read.