Power Shift
Canterlot
Princess Celestia woke with a start. She shot up out of her bed, panting and sweating, and slowly opened her eyes to allow them to adjust. The room began spinning around her as she became aware of a sharp pain in her horn. She unsteadily looked up and out the window, only to see Luna's moon in the night sky.
"What...?"
It hurt to even think. She could feel something... off. As if a massive reservoir of magical power just disappeared from existence, only to reappear in a new light.
Yet, the feeling could not be any more dark. It was the feeling of magic moving unwillingly. It was trying to escape, crying out as it was being drawn into a new master through unnatural means. It was a feeling that had Tirek written all over it.
She reached up and touched her horn, attempting to focus. She wrapped her head in a sheath of her own magical energy, clearing the drowsy fog from her mind.
The room finally stopped spinning around her, but the feeling did not pass. She dismissed the possibility of this feeling being from a nightmare or the like. If it were that bad, Luna would have felt it in her and intervened. Besides, it was all too real, and it was getting worse...
No, it was getting closer, and fast. She could feel what it was now; it was a magical death scream. Some extremely powerful creature had met its end, and the magic was ripped from its body before it could naturally move on.
"I need to get Luna and Twilight... Tirek could be returning. That shouldn't be possible already..."
The force arrived right there and then, before Celestia could even stand.
She felt it just before it reached Canterlot. It was like her own magic was attempting to flee. Every Unicorn in Canterlot felt it. None were quick enough to react, not that they would know how to. Nopony knew what exactly this was, never mind what it would do or how to stop it.
Every window in the palace shattered at once, as the green shockwave passed through it. The sound came three seconds later. All she could do was shield her face from the glass shards with her hooves and forelegs.
The Hive
The feeling... the power... it was beautiful. Twilight's hooves were not touching the ground. She was being suspended by the pure magic she was absorbing from the dead Queen. It wasn't the same sheer power of the three other princesses, but it was more... satisfying. Her eyes remained dull green and crimson.
The magic of Queen Chrysalis weaved through Twilight, entering through her mouth and building to a crescendo in her horn. At first, it simply built upon her own magic. Now, it was slightly pulling away from her.
She was expecting this, as magic never willingly goes unless the former user gave it freely. When it is forced, it tries to return to its old master. The powers Tirek absorbed were individually too weak to resist, but this was the power of a Changeling Queen, and within it, the power of the Hive.
And it was becoming too much. It was escaping, and the magic she was able to capture began to crawl into her mind. She found herself unable to focus on keeping the magic inward. It seemed like the more she struggled, the harder the magic fought back.
I control you now. Obey me! She was slowly rising upwards, further into the air. She redoubled her effort, adding more Dark magic into the spell. This only caused her more strain, as she tapped into the last of her magic reserves. The nature of the Dark magic forced her to call upon memories of sadness, evil, and strife.
She continued struggling against the magic pushing out. She felt like her head would burst open from the magical pressure expanding in every direction. She fought even harder to keep it in.
Considering the amount of magic moving in Twilight's head, she was lucky her horn didn't literally explode when it finally released. Her eyes rolled back into her head, turning back to their natural color in the process.
The green glow around her ceased, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. The remaining magic began building into a massive sphere, forming around Twilight and the body of Chrysalis.
The Changelings all immediately ducked for cover. The magic kept increasing in strength, until it could no longer hold itself together. A massive shockwave of green exploded from the epicenter, shattering stone and piercing the ground.
It was all darkness. Cold and empty, and strangely comforting.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, only to shut them at the light that blinded her.
"My... head... Goddess, what happened?"
She once again slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brilliant light. She expected to see the browns and greens of the ceiling of the Hive, but instead saw yellow sky. The ceiling was completely blown off of the Hive throne room. She noticed that the ground was now soft sand, instead of the hard stone it had been before. The entire room had been dark save the fiery braziers leading to the throne, which were now also completely gone. Now, the room was naturally lit with sunlight through and through.
She pushed herself off her back with her hooves, only to see countless Changelings surrounding her. Their stares were mixed, from content, to curious, to uncertain. But, no anger. Anger is all Twilight could have expected from them, but there was none of it. None of the abhorrent hate that was in their eyes during the siege of Canterlot, or the determined looks of anger as they helplessly watched their Queen die.
That's when Twilight finally acknowledged what she had done.
W...w... what have I done? How could I...I... I'm a murderer!
Her mind swirled. She wondered how she could have been so remorseful when killing the first drones, and then so hateful while in combat with the Queen. She wondered how she could bring herself to murder the leader with such impunity, with no second thought. Yes, Chrysalis was responsible for every action of the Hive, but to actually end her life... somehow, it was unthinkable now. That brought about her greatest worry...
How could I kill her with such hatred, but regret it now?! Am I totally losing it?!
She buried her face in her hooves, not caring about all the Changelings watching.
What will my friends think of me when they find out I'm a cold-blooded murderer? What will Celestia... Oh Goddess, I used Dark Magic! I drained the magic out of another living thing! I'm no better than... than Tirek... I don't know what came over me! How could I let this happen?!
Tears began flowing down Twilight's face, leaving streaks in the dusty dirt that was covering it.
I can already picture what they will all do... Applejack will be disappointed in me, I was dishonest... I swore I would never use Dark Magic again. Fluttershy and Pinkie... they won't say anything, and Pinkie's mane will go flat like it always does when she's upset. Rarity won't even look at me... and Rainbow...
Twilight felt a lump form at the back of her throat as she thought of what Rainbow Dash would say, or what she would do.
Celestia...
The lump got even more unbearable as she thought of her former teacher.
I won't be her student at all anymore... she'll take away my wings, and I won't be a Princess anymore, and... no, she'll do so much worse! I'm a murderer, I'll be exiled from Equestria... or... or executed! Everyone will remember me as a filthy criminal and excuse for a Princess of Friendship... I just did something that goes against my own Element! I've permanently tarnished Equestria and Celestia's name! Ponies will blame her for making me a Princess... and... my friends...
Her thoughts were finally cut short with the sound of chitins shifting and hoofsteps approaching. She opened her eyes and wiped away the tears so she could see again.
Aaaaaand I just embarrassed myself in front of an entire Changeling Hive... icing on the cake. I bet Celestia would enjoy that cake....... I am so losing my mind.
She felt a hoof touch her back. She swiftly turned to face the Changeling that touched her, and he pulled it away sharply, taking a step back.
Twilight could deal with the lack of anger, and even the overall look of acceptance from the Changelings, but what happened next was just too much.
The Changeling looked uncertainly at Twilight, before taking one more step back. He closed his eyes, tilted his head down, and bowed.
The other Changelings of the massive group began to look around at their brothers and sisters, until a few more began to follow suite. Then, a few more. Then, a dozen more, and then more, until all of the Changelings of Queen Chrysalis' former Hive were bowing to Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight didn't even know how to think or feel about this.
"My Queen."
Tartarus
Tirek smirked as he gazed through the looking glass portal, seeing the Changelings bow.
"So... she has not learned to use her power to it's full extent yet. That will come with time... but time is what I sorely lack. No matter, she will come for me eventually. All she needs is a little... persuasion."
He closed his hand into a fist and swiped it across the portal, causing it to fizzle out and vanish.
"I will have my pound of flesh yet, little pony Princess..."
Finally, I'm back into writing! I apologize for any... erm, dustiness. It's been months. 
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I would like to mention that absorbing Chrysalis's power really isn't a huge deal. Chrysalis was terrified of the idea of facing Celestia on even ground, even after draining power from Shining Armor for days on end. She only won by the barest of margins even then.
Ooo! It's (The story) not dead!
And Ava, you're seemingly doing good enough to write some! So, if I might be so bold, how are you? Things going good? 
Wait... this means I have to finish writing too, doesn't it?
5290765 Well, it's going. Not sure if 'good' fits the bill. But thanks anyway.
It's been quite a while. How are you?
5290776 Start writing!
Am I the only one who read weakened Tirek's lines with old Shang Tsung's voice from Mortal Kombat 9?
5290730 Gotta agree on this one.
It seems unlikely Chrysalis is actually on par with any of the Alicorns by default, Celestia being the biggest no-no.
As such, unless she still holds some of that magic/love from Shining Armor, she's not that big of a power source.
5291949 Another thing is that Changelings on their own seem to be weak as crap, relying on zerg rushing to do anything. One of them was koed by tripping on Fluttershy, for crying out loud.
5293289 That one was probably just done for comedy but I get your point. Though I do think a Changeling isn't weaker than a normal pony, having in fact access to both magic and flying (having wings and a horn) and being sturdy enough to divebomb using magic completely unhurt and break solid rock with it, the fact that they were defeated by 6 mares (among which 2 weaklings
, 2 athletes 
, 1 insane one 
and 1 genius magic user 
) while they were at least around 20-30 makes you wonder about their overall competence.
I know, it's a children's cartoon and logic says "go fuck yourself six ways from Sunday" as a result and thus we shouldn't dwell on it too much... but come on~
Still...
5290796 Pretty good, considering I just got finished catching up on schoolwork after missing 3 weeks.
5293763 5293289
*sigh*...
Can we keep it on-topic here? There is a reason she had that much power. If you would wait and see instead of jumping to conclusions, it would make much more sense.
5293763 The Changelings having both wings and magic mean very little when the only spell they can cast is a transformation...which is worthless since they have the brain capacity of a peanut and can't think to actually impersonate the pony they're imitating. I don't think they can even talk aside from mimickry. As for the divebombing into concrete thing, that is the only impressive thing they did...even so, it raises more questions. They're using a shield, but they don't use shields against the Mane 6?
Also, Rarity isn't a weakling, she's probably tougher than AJ, given AJ reeling back from Rarity in Return of Harmony. That being said, only Twilight is really a heavy hitter among them, and yet, tons of Changelings went down easily. It's not a stretch to say even more went down before they finally overpowered the Mane 6 at the Hall of the Elements
5294459
No need to get so snippy, it was just a comment on Chrysalis not being all that powerful on her own, given how she voided her bowels when she had to fight Celestia
5294694 I only meant that they have access to both magic and flight and thus are pretty versatile.
Actually, their impersonation was pretty good for a few moments.
When RD was checking out the Changeling that imitated her, she got distracted long enough to get a good shove.
The talking is indeed strange; why can't they talk normally? Must be because they didn't want to make the Changelings too sympathetic when they get beat up or something, I don't know.
Though at one point we did hear them laugh evil-y when breaking the barrier around Canterlot.
I meant by that that Rarity isn't a powerhouse and in a sense "the lady in distress that has a good slapping hoof".
She's not defenseless but she won't win a hoof wrestling contest with anyone of the Mane 6 beside Fluttershy.
Her roundhouse-kicking AJ was more or less comedy than actually a feat, don't take it so seriously.
AJ being the powerhouse, RD being the lesser powerhouse and Twilight being the magic powerhouse, the rest is more or less there to fill the gap of comedy (Rarity slapping, Pinkie using her cannon and Fluttershy tripping it.)
5295840 I assumed Rarity was skilled, but not particularily powerful. I always got that implication from her. She might win against AJ, it's brute force vs skill, but I lean towards AJ. That being said, RD can murk all of the Mane 6, barring an enraged Fluttershy or Twilight Sparkle. RD is comparable to AJ in most areas physically but is much faster and has the advantage of flight.
5297161 I think Rarity is skilled but not in any form of combat. She's the type of character they made that would always appear as a damsel in distress but, if comedy can be served, can come out of the corner as an aggressive little lady.
The idea is that when she's not her usual self, like most of the characters in this series, she's something completely different than what we know of her.
I wouldn't even put her in the same leagues as AJ tbh. AJ is a pony that has spend her entire life doing manual labor only her brother could best. In a way, she's the strongest female pony in the show (not counting Maud Pie) thanks to years of apple bucking. As for RD murking the entire Mane 6, I have to disagree. RD may be strong and fast, but she's not as strong as AJ for example and she lacks fighting skills.
She's too brash and headstrong, overestimates herself immensely and underestimates her opponents every single time.
AJ however is one that, while confident in her own strength, is far more down to earth (lol) than RD.
She's also smarter in a sense and calmer.
I always favor smarts and personality over strength if the difference is not too great.
Next is Twilight; even as a unicorn she could probably best RD. This is a genius-level unicorn with above average magical properties against an above average pegasus who's... well, you know from reading the above.
Telekinesis alone is a huge advantage, let alone the various spells that she can use to make RD completely sick to her stomach.
To be honest, while the power 3 (RD, AJ and TS) are above average of their own species, none of them could probably do a thing to Pinkie... I mean shit man, this little pony could almost be called Discord's bastard child if screwing with reality (a.k.a the 4th wall) was a graspable feat.
Oh, before I end my comment:
DRAGON THUNDER!!!!
5294459 Lemme guess:
- She's been feeding on her Changelings' magic/love/lifeforce to gain more power and start another coup
- She still has some residue love-magic inside her
- She's been feeding on the love of other creatures behind the scenes
5297649 RD is weaker than AJ, but not that much weaker. However, AJ can't say the same for the speed gap, which is simply massive. Not to mention weather control, RD can just dump lightning and rain to tire out and distract AJ before sonic rainbooming her. Speaking of which, do you know who AJ asked to demolish the farm? RD. Twilight does take down RD due to unicorn hax and Fluttershy, if enraged, is faster than RD and has the Stare to help her out.
As for Pinkie, if you count her toon force as actual stuff...she's still not all that tough. She can break the 4th wall...but what good is that if she can't edit the story like Bugs Bunny or erase people like Woody Woodpecker? She's fast(maybe teleporter), but it could be that she works similarly to the toons from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, in that their abilities only work if it's funny.
5297703 Still enough to lose in any contest of pure strength. While the speed factor lies indeed very far in for RD, the idea is that she's overconfident and cocky whereas AJ is calm and collected (also a bit cocky but a far cry from RD).
That alone can be a game changer. There's also the fact that for RD to use the weather, she needs to have a storm cloud.
Those aren't just flying around, she needs to get them from the weather factory (bring in the nightmares) and while she could do that, it would be a cowardly move to go find a cloud to win a fight.
AJ however always seems to have a rope on her for some reason (in her hat?) and we've seen how easily RD can be tricked into doing something. I'll say this goes on: RD gets tricked into flying into a tree or some other object of sturdy enough material by AJ (she's fast but she's still a crasher), gets tied up by AJ and game, set and match.
RD's Sonic Rainboom is a bit overrated tbh. It just the aftereffect of her going faster than the speed of sound after doing a dive. Her crash into the barn AJ needed to have demolished was a bit exaggerated by the animators, making it go boom with a mushroom cloud.
There's a goo difference between comedy and reality.
After all, didn't RD break her wing after crashing in "Read it and Weep"? I doubt she was going at SRB speed at that moment and certainly not while going straight down. If they kept it realistic like in that episode, RD would have smacked her face into the ground and broken her neck.
Pinkie's indeed not that tough, being the average earth pony.
But what makes her so dangerous is her stamina coupled with that 4th wall breaking.
RD keeps flying away from her to the point of exhaustion whereas Pinkie, perhaps due to her sugary diet, is barely ever tired (save for when she needs to sing 6 invitation songs for 6 ponies along with a silly dance).
Let's also not forget her Hammer Space trick (pulling shit out of nowhere) for her party cannon and heck, probably a bowling ball to smack someone with.
I think only Maud could really stop Pinkie, or by extend, Fluttershy as Pinkie makes it a rule to never go after her cause of her sensitive nature (even though she was extremely out of character insensitive to her in Filli Vanilli).
Btw you didn't react to my GT quote
What is the centaur playing at?
5297799 Pinkie can simply be tele-grabbed by Twilight and slammed until every bone in her body is paste. Alternatively, paralyze her and then come up with a way to kill her. All of them are within Twilight's range. As for RD vs AJ, RD is cocky, but she can be cocky and still win, her reaction time is stellar and well within the range for a speed blitz, the kind where she hits AJ three times instantly. RD is the type to be cocky via showing off her full might, so it's not like she'll hold back. As for the rope, that won't help, at all. In Return of Harmony, AJ was unable to hold down RD with her lasso without help. And RD breaking her wing is rather off, given how she slams into the ground whilst demolishing the farm and is fine(or she swerved, but that's insane reaction time and turning speed) and is able to consistently make turns at 90 degree angles
And I know the Dragon Thunder thing, yes, best villain quote from strongest villain
5298433 That is if she can even begin to grab her.
Pinkie has consistently shown to come out of places that makes you question what her body is made of to begin with.
For all we know, she's really made of some kind of candy XD
Btw, why kill her? Battles don't always have to be to the death
The rope did help a few times:
i.ytimg.com/vi/h7n7lIwLCRk/maxresdefault.jpg
and
i.imgur.com/EwX02Go.jpg
And those were an accident and some critters doing it.
AJ couldn't hold down Dash because she couldn't catch her with the intention of hurting her.
RD is also the type to get cocky by thinking she can beat everyone... everypony.
She may have good reaction time but not always.
I doubt she could react in time to dodge slamming into a tree if that was the intention AJ had for her.
I wouldn't underestimate AJ, she's used to herding up and tying up loose animals (aka rodeo style).
RD has the speed advantage but AJ has the strength advantage. If RD wants to go toe-to-toe, she'll have to get in close and that's where AJ can show off her superior strength.
She could speedblitz her but AJ isn't defenseless. Like I said, she's quite smart and inventive and she knows other ponies' habits quite well.
RD breaking her wing is a bit inconsistent but the fact remains she did do it in a way that's probably less likely to have it happen than slamming straight down into a barn. So yeah...
Oh goodie
5297659 Do you really think I'm that cliché? I'm almost insulted. Now please keep future comments relevant to the story.
5294694 That goes for you too.
5311403
Well, aren't we feeling all high and mighty
I find it hard to believe our comments make you that uncomfortable btw... but I guess to each his own
5311628 First of all, I am far from high and mighty. I'm willing to accept that my stories are garbage.
Second, Im not uncomfortable with your comments. They were just irrelevant.
Third, I am most certainly not a 'he'.
5311851
Yeah ok, let's move on instead... miss.
I had a feeling that she would become the changeling queen, usurping the throne unwillingly, but I had no idea Tirek was involved or that Celestia would feel that from so far away. I'm excited for this story, I really am. It's wonderful so far. I eagerly await the next chapter.
5290796 it seems I'm enjoying alot your fimfics . Pwease make moar. I'm going to read them all .
Keep up the great job
5866936 Thanks. I will
5868342 god if I had a mane, it will be surely a mess waiting for chapters
Ha! Words formed by practiced wit! Thy deliberate fight sequence, well orchestrated, and hast thou sharp-tongu'd dialogue. I prithee, continue at thy leisure.