Love Hungry

by helmet of salvation

1. A Visit from Royalty

Like an apparition, the pale figure wafted soundlessly through the darkened hallway of the castle, her glistening tail billowing behind her. The only source of light was the dim, ambient reflection of the moon, and there were many rooms in which her target might be. Yet the intruder had little need of light. She followed her quarry's pheromonal vapour trail as a bloodhound follows a scent, honing in as the sensation grew stronger.

Within minutes she had located the bedroom of her prey. Before approaching, she listened through the open door. The pony within was sleeping fitfully, writhing under her covers and murmuring incoherently. The intruder knew she had made the correct decision in adopting a disguise; her target might awaken any second. She had also prepared a short speech to allay any anxiety her sudden appearance might cause her prey: Do not be alarmed. I am here on a matter of the utmost importance. I need you to listen carefully.

The ruler flew slowly into the bed chamber. Even though this mode of flight was quieter than when undisguised, her presence soon stirred Princess Twilight Sparkle from her slumber. With a tired groan, the young purple pony turned towards the intruder. Her squinting eyes quickly widened into saucers. An unannounced visit from the ruler of Equestria in the middle of the night—in her bedroom, no less—was not what she expected at all.

"Princess Celestiaaaaah-oomph!"

In her haste to wake up and come to attention, Twilight Sparkle rolled gracelessly off her bed, taking her covers with her. The more she struggled to free herself, the more entangled she became, all the while blurting out a string of sentence fragments punctuated by grunts of frustration and embarrassment at her ignominious position.

"Just a ... nng ... I'll be ... oof ... sorry about ... unh ... please forgive ..."

The ruler smiled. Apparently, this would be easier than she thought. She vaulted to the other side of the bed, angled her head to the squirming Twilight and fired a noisy beam of green, luminescent energy from her spiral horn. The white figure prodded her hoof around the charred, tattered remains of the bedclothes.

There was no trace of Twilight Sparkle.

* * *

The white alicorn whirled around until she caught sight of movement. She prepared to take aim at the horned figure, only to realise that she was looking at her own head. Not the stately, snow-white, flowing-maned head of Princess Celestia, but her real head. Pitch-black, green-eyed, with tattered strands of hair dangling limply from her crest and a hideous, sharp horn, perforated with large holes, jutting from her forelock.

The changeling queen's eyes narrowed as she turned from the mirror just in time to see an enraged Twilight directing her own spiral horn towards her. The queen launched herself with blinding speed through the bedroom door, narrowly avoiding the alicorn's magical energy beam.

"You!" Twilight galloped after the changeling and fired off a quick spell to ignite the torches lining the hallway. She could see that the intruder had completely reverted to her natural form: a horrific, black-coated, translucent-winged, pony-insect amalgam with nightmarish, gaping holes dotting her limbs. "Trying to steal Equestria's love again, huh? Well you're not going to get away with AAAAH!" The alicorn hastily dematerialised to avoid another bolt of energy from the changeling.

"I see my reputation precedes me," the queen purred to the reappearing Twilight while firing off more bolts.

"Don't you remember me? Maybe you don't recognise me with these babies." Twilight flared her wings and took to the air, unleashing a barrage of energy beams at her adversary. "It's Twilight. Twilight Sparkle? Now Princess Twilight Sparkle to you."

"Charmed." Despite her great size, comparable to the biggest of ponies, the changeling flitted through the air with the speed and precision of a dragonfly, and dodged Twilight's bolts with little difficulty.

"Canterlot? Royal wedding? Attempted invasion ending in you and your swarm's total defeat and forcible ejection from Equestria? Ring any bells?"

"Must have been another, less effectual swarm leader. I have my own subjects. Wait, are you saying that all we changeling queens look the same to you?" Spinnerette, the changeling queen, clicked her tongue in mock reproof as she continued to trade fire with Twilight. "Such bigotry."

"What? Oh, no no no no no, that's not what I think at all, I just ..." Twilight's hurried, placatory tone instantly evaporated as she came to her senses. "Hey!"

A comparative novice flier, the princess quickly realised she was no match for Spinnerette's aerobatic skill, and resorted to her magic teleportation spell, disappearing to evade the queen's blasts and re-appearing in a different part of the hallway to return fire. For her part, Spinnerette's lightning-fast reaction time and keen instincts enabled her to keep out of harm's way. As the duel raged on, Twilight's thoughts turned to her five faithful pony friends. Together, there was no threat they could not overcome. Yet they were asleep in their respective homes, dotted throughout Ponyville. How could she get word to them without luring the changeling queen out into the open and thereby endangering the rest of the town's populace?

A forcefield? Creating a magical barrier from without was trickier than from within but if she teleported herself outside the castle, it would most likely take the queen a good few seconds to realise what had happened. That would give Twilight the time to execute the spell and raise the alarm. Trapped inside, the changeling could not harm any of Ponyville's citizens.

Except for Spike.

Spike! Twilight's faithful assistant was tougher than he looked but he was still only a baby dragon. She could hardly seal him up alone with that rampaging monster. She had to get to his bedroom and zap him outside before the invader found him ...

Twilight's mounting anxiety created only a brief, momentary distraction, but it was all Spinnerette needed. A blast from her dire horn caught the princess squarely in her flank. An explosion of light filled Twilight's mind as her legs gave way beneath her.

Her blurred eyes could just make out the changeling queen, wings abuzz, swooping towards her. Too dazed to conjure any spell, the alicorn tried to flee but her strength was sapped. Before she could even cry out, Spinnerette was upon her, grinning in malevolent triumph. Twilight could do nothing but moan feebly for help as she struggled in vain against both her attacker and her own creeping unconsciousness.

Comments

[Twilight Shine]

Uugghhh that cliff hanger!!!!! WHY?!

Well any ways hope to see more

[helmet of salvation]

>>Twilight Shine

You're not mad at me are you? Please don't be mad at me.

Thanks for the encouragement. Hope to have more up soon.