Return
It was supposed to be a routine patrol. Four of Queen Lepidoptera's drones had been sent to check around her territory for any unwanted guests. They had been warned about the wild magic outbursts, but this one was far stronger and more widespread than any previously reported.
The four of them ran for their lives as bolts of magic slammed into everything around them. Diving into a nearby cave, they hid behind rocks and peeked over the tops.
The affected area slowly shrank, but the magic only gained in strength. A critical point seemed to be reached, and the area collapsed rapidly in some areas, leaving jagged spikes of wild magic reaching into the sky.
As the shapes became more intricate and detailed, it became clear that they were actually angular spires, tall and thin.
Suddenly, a wave of white light spread from the centre. As it passed, the magical outlines solidified, becoming structures hewn out of many-coloured crystal.
As the light faded, four white-backed changelings with abnormally large wings stared in shock. All of them recognised what they had just seen.
The ancient empire of legend had returned.
Two hours later, Queen Imago received a message from Queen Lepidoptera.
I accept.
There was no love coming from the city. It was clear that despite its return, something was still missing. Lepidoptera didn't know what it was, but the city felt hollow, as though a vital part of itself had been long since lost.
The problem was that she had no idea what to do about it. The ponies of Equestria didn't like changelings, so even trying to help could be misinterpreted as an act of war.
Stranger than the broken city was the emotional aura which was building up in the mountains above the city. She had encountered it personally, and it was filled with hatred and malice.
Worse, it seemed to be sapient, if not particularly intelligent. If she had to guess, this was what was left of the ancient tyrant. A cloud of negative emotions and dark magic, driven only by its desire to relive past glories and retake the Crystal Empire.
Attempting to fight it was useless. Spells formed from love would be annihilated by the loathing in the cloud, or simply avoided, and physical attacks passed straight through his insubstantial form.
Not to mention that staying too close to that many violently negative emotions would be toxic for a changeling. If he gained too much power, he would start poisoning the area itself.
Lepidoptera wasn't sure how she would prevent that, but it had to be done.
Two days later
Lyra had intended to confront Bon Bon today, but was starting to think twice about her decision.
For one thing, the Elements had been called out of town by Princess Celestia for an unknown period of time. For another, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the truth. She really didn't want to damage her relationship with Bon Bon. They had been through a lot together, enough that it would hurt if the possible illusion was to shatter.
On the other hand, wasn't it already shattered? Her suspicions weren't without evidence, and while she wasn't thrilled by the idea that Bon Bon had been lying to her, she had been able to be around her without any major problems.
Nopony had noticed any changes in Lyra's own behaviour, and Twilight Sparkle herself had checked her personally when she spoke to the princess about Mirage, so it was safe to assume that Bon Bon wasn't using magic to control her, but that didn't change the fact that she had possibly, or maybe even probably, lied.
A week ago, she would never have believed it. The idea that all of the lunches they’d shared, the long and insightful conversations they’d had, and the evenings spent sitting on benches while watching the sun go down could all be based on a lie about who Bon Bon was would have been inconceivable.
Now, though, her suspicions grew every time they spoke. She would get suspicious, Bon Bon would get nervous, and the two states of mind seemed to feed off each other.
Even through all of that, she knew that she still loved Bon Bon. She simply couldn't believe it was possible to fake everything. She had seen it between Scootaloo and Mirage, certain similarities which, once attention was drawn to them, were impossible to miss. In fact, it was the similar rage between Trance and Bon Bon which had alerted her to the possibility, and if that was real, maybe most of Bon Bon's personality was. A simple lie only about her name and her species wouldn't be so bad.
Still, if this went wrong, she wanted the Elements nearby. She would confront Bon Bon the day they returned.
Queen Lepidoptera looked down at the city, as well as the huge black shadow, radiating dark magic in enormous quantities, which was putting it under siege. The ponies had been quick to respond to the threat, going as far as to send one of their three alicorns to defend the city, but it wouldn't be enough.
The dark king hadn't rested once since he appeared, four days ago now. An alicorn, while resilient, still needed to sleep. The shield was already flickering occasionally. It was simple logic that if this went on too long, the empire would fall.
If that happened, she would step in somehow. Her kind may have been feared by ponies, but letting that abomination poison her territory was not something she was willing to accept. If Sombra took the empire, she would lead her hive to war, dragging Imago with her.
Still, yesterday's appearance of the Elements had certainly made something happen. It appeared that there was some sort of festival going on today.
Unfortunately, it was clear that some of the dark magic had gained a foothold in the outskirts, and was spreading quickly.
The magic seemed to be starting to take a more solid form when something fell from the highest tower of the palace. Even from the distance she was at, she could see a pink blur that had to be the princess flying to intercept whatever it was.
Seconds later, the streets of the city lit up. In the visual spectrum, it was a sight which had to be seen to be believed, and Lepidoptera certainly acknowledged the beauty which it held. In her emotional sense however, it was something else. The crystal city blazed with love of all kinds, transforming it (in a changeling's eyes, at least) from a city into an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Absorbing even a small amount did nothing to dent the huge supply, which was rapidly spreading across the entire mountain range, if not as strongly as in the city.
Lepidoptera smiled. She always knew the legends were true.
Imago let out a sigh of relief as she heard that Twilight and her friends had been successful. The way Lepidoptera was talking, it had looked for a while as though she would drag her into a war against an extremely powerful warlord in an area which would literally be poison to changelings.
It made sense. Her territory would have included the poisoned area, so it could be argued that Sombra would have inadvertently attacked her, but that didn't mean Imago would have liked it.
The agreement to the one sided alliance still worked well for Lepidoptera, even after Sombra's defeat. Her land was now highly prized by all of the hives. It was entirely possible that someling could try to make a power play to seize it for herself.
She half expected to receive a message saying that it had happened at any moment.
She had no idea how soon she would be proven correct.
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Hey, don't beat yourself up about it! I thought it was great, and honestly, I've seen a lot worse. Yours is one of the better stories, I wouldn't have tracked this story otherwise.
6541868 Thanks. I felt a lot better about it after I had posted it, but when I read it on Google Docs (I'm currently writing this story on my phone), it just didn't seem to flow smoothly.
It seemed to work better in the font this site uses for some reason.
6555569 I read seven chapters before I gave it up. You've got an interesting story but the characterization just isn't there. Everypony comes off bland and same-y. What really killed it for me, though, was how quickly Mirage was taken at her word by everyone that was exposed to the idea that a changeling existed which wasn't malicious, or at least amoral. People don't trust like that, especially when the individual asking for trust is a habitual liar. My suspension of disbelief fell apart the moment Celestia referred to changelings as "innocents."
Wait... Is this a Scootaling fic? How did this slip under my radar?!?
I hope to see a new chapter soon
6785737 I'm trying. At the moment I have about a third of the next chapter written. I have a few plot points I want to reach in the next few chapters, but transitioning between them is proving to be really quite awkward, especially working out how to fit them into a coherent timeline. I'm already having to start the next chapter at a time consistent with about halfway through this one, but then that leaves the problem that the Lyra/Bon Bon/Trance stuff I had planned for the next chapter can't take place for another couple of days.
In other words, the next chapter will be out as soon as I find a way to write myself out of the corner I've put myself in. Hopefully it shouldn't take too much longer.
T12
6786600
Do what you have to do for the good of the story. If that means that the Lyra/Bon Bon confrontation has to be put back a few chapters, so be it.
Lepidoptera really shouldn't have worried too much about interfering in the Crystal Empire, it's not like it was automatically a part of Equestria.
It is rather fishy and unexplained just what sovereign claims Equestria has over the Empire anyways.
6966095 For being called an empire, it is actually a city-state. From being under the hoof of Sombra, the city would be in shambles. They would not be able to be self sufficient. By accepting their savior as their Princess, the Crystal Empire could easily get themselves to be a protectorate of Equestria and get all the help they need.
Reading this gave me a particularly painful shot of nostalgia, from when we still had banners on this site. Oh, how I miss them.
To anyone who doesn't know, the banner it seems he was referencing was this:img14.deviantart.net/b610/i/2013/145/c/e/story_of_the_bench_by_devinian-d66is3r.jpg
Well buck
7673518
It's a reference to Slice of Life (ep 100) where Lyra says almost there same thing but shorter. (But the lunches, the long talks, the benches we sat on!)