• Published 13th Oct 2016
  • 13,985 Views, 866 Comments

Saving Equestria - Damaged



A young changeling queen—keeping herself hidden while she studies in Canterlot—comes to a conclusion: Celestia is mishandling the defense of ponykind.

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Spreading Out - Part 1

"Are you sure they are going to hatch today?" Twilight's magic held a quill and paper, but as well as that she had Spike with his own supplies. "They don't look to be-" She cut off as the egg nearest her started to shake and move.

"They shouldn't be hatching this soon, but somepony fed them a strong mix of love." Chrysalis gestured to the nearby desk. "Now we will all get to see what my newest children look like." The movement had her excited too, she didn't lean forward like Twilight did, however. "You might want to lean back, if a dreamling is anything like their other envenomed siblings, they will probably be a little 'bitey' from the get-go."

Twilight started to pull back from the egg, but a tiny head poked out of the top of the suddenly shredded ovoid. She felt the tingle run down her spine, the newly hatched little drone feeding directly from her. "They are so adorable!" All warnings were forgotten as she reached out to the grub-like changeling, lifting them from their egg and bringing them in for a cuddle.

Chrysalis feared the newborn would bite Twilight, but was amazed when it just nuzzled in against the pony. A sharp bite on her own forehoof revealed that one of the brutelings had hatched. She marveled at it. The bruteling was nearly twice the size of a normal grub, and larger still than the tiny dreamling. "And what do I have here?" She picked up her newest "foal" in her magic and looked at them, seeing intelligence in their eyes.

Captivated by the little grub that she was holding, Twilight almost missed the telltale tingling grow in intensity. "Hey, are the others…" She saw five of the much bigger grubs nuzzling against her hooves. "When did they all hatch?"

"When their favorite food started leaking love all over them." Chrysalis' droll tone was more in jest than truly aimed to hurt. "Now you get to name them." She spread her grin wider, showing off her fangs. "And if you think coming up with names for eleven changelings is tough, try doing it for eleven-hundred."

"Twilight, lunch." Spike had put down his paper and quill to bring his friend something to eat. "And you know the rules, food first, then science." He liked this rule, it let him boss around a princess.

Settling the grub onto her back, Twilight tried to extract her forelegs from the brutelings without hurting them, with limited success. In the end, she teleported out of the pile trying to snuggle her to death. "Thanks Spike! Oh, you made my favorite again." She beamed and bit into the sweet sandwich.

"Sure did, you really love that honey, although we are almost out." Spike jumped up onto the seat of the nearby desk. "I guess I should ask Tender Glow for more."

Chrysalis' eyes went wide and terror filled her. She had a moment of real fear shoot through her when she saw a drip of the honey leak off the bottom of the sandwich—gold and green. "Twilight! SPITTHATOUT!"

Twilight's attempt to defend her sandwich was defeated, mainly because unlike her, Chrysalis seemed to be fighting for real. Gulping down her mouthful, she looked at the big queen, hurt feelings on her face. "What are you-"

"Stop eating that, you… this is bad!" Chrysalis used her magic to pick Twilight up and hold her upside down. "Cough it up now! It might not be too late!"

"What," Twilight couldn't help but cough, not with magic patting her on the back, "is going," she coughed more and gagged, "on-" finally she lost control, her body voiding.

Spike managed to grab the dreamling grub and got a bit away from the odd scene. His own honor warred with self-preservation, but he had somepony important to take care of. "Don't worry, little guy, I got you." He gave the grub a little squeeze.

"Twilight, where did you get this honey?" Chrysalis was in a blind panic, she put Twilight down and desperately tried to remove the mess. "Did you eat any before now?"

Still coughing and spluttering, Twilight was in no position to reply, but she did register a little fear that maybe something had gone wrong.

With things quieting down, Spike approached the two. "She has been eating it in everything for the last few days."

"Ugh… well…" Twilight looked at the passed-out changeling queen. "That was… Spike? What do we do?" She felt more than a little worried at the fact that their "Brave Queen" had passed out in a panic. "BRACED!"

Twilight's shout echoed through the hive, resounding off the walls in various caverns and echoing back at her. "Is she breathing? Is she okay? Oh… I have only ever seen Rarity do this before, and she always had her couch nearby."

"Princess?" Braced's wings were buzzing, pushing him as fast as they could. "What happened?" He looked for any danger and only saw a woozy unicorn, a baby dragon cuddling a small grub, and ten curiously large grubs swarming their mother to protect her.

"She freaked out over me eating a honey sandwich!" Twilight pointed at what remained of the sandwich. "I don't know what was wrong, why did she panic?"

Braced stared at Twilight a moment before blinking. "First thing first. Mom…" He leaned down and pressed his little horn to her huge one. A small jolt of magic was all it took for him to be almost thrown aside when Chrysalis jerked up.

"Twilight! Don't eat my honey!" Chrysalis blinked, then saw the results of the scene. "You ate it? How much? How long?" Her tone was growing frantic again.

"Stop!" Spike marched between Chrysalis and Twilight. "This is going too far. Queen Chrysalis, what is that honey-stuff?"

"Royal honey. I… I make it to feed my drones faster. But it shouldn't be eaten by ponies!" Chrysalis' tone evened out a little, then grew panicked again at the end. "How much-"

"Shhh!" Spike held up one claw to the Queen. "Twilight, where did you get that honey?"

Twilight blinked at her friend. "Tender Glow gave it to me, it was the honey she was feeding the eggs… with…" She stared at Chrysalis, her own panic starting to rise.

"Now, Queen Chrysalis, what does that honey do to ponies?" Spike held the finger up, trying to keep Twilight from talking now.

"It… it turns them into a changeling." Chrysalis' words caused everypony to freeze, herself included, but now she was explaining it she couldn't stop. "If you were a young filly, the change would be fast, rapid. Scootaloo changed in minutes."

"Scootaloo?!" Twilight was yanked from her stupor. "Wait, so she is a changeling? What is going to happen to me?"

"If you stop eating it…" Chrysalis looked to the side. "You shouldn't have had any, but if you stop now your body will still change, but… it will not be as perfect. You would burn up your own energy and love and wind up hollow. Y-You need to drink more, that is why you are craving it."

Parking her plot on the ground in shock, Twilight looked to Spike. "I am going to turn into a changeling?" She needed a hug more than anything, and Spike wasn't one to disappoint. She squeezed him tight and felt him hug back. A pair of tiny legs added to the hug and Twilight looked into the oddly cute little face of the dreamling. "At least I won't be alone."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

"Let me through!" Flash Sentry tried to push his way through the guards at the entrance to the throne room. "It's important, I need to see the Princess!" He froze when the two guards he was struggling against burned with green fire. "What…?"

"Hold up, don't hurt him." Shining Armor thanked his lucky stars that he was wandering past. "Flash, good to see you, I think. What do you have to report?"

The familiar voice made Flash spin around. "I have to see Princess Celestia! Quick, this is important!" He spun back to the two changelings that were blocking him off. "The fate of Equestria depends on it!"

"Guys, let him through." Shining walked up and looked each drone in the eyes. "Flash wasn't here when our Queen took over. He doesn't know, I'll sort it out." He reached a hoof up to rest on the pegasus' shoulder. "Flash, things have changed since your squad left, things got… okay, Princess Celestia is still running civil matters, but we have a queen, Queen Chrysalis, to handle security. I… work under her."

"So Princess Celestia appointed somepony new to handle the Guard? That's great. I… I didn't feel right how she was doing things, she-" Flash stopped at the odd look on Shining's face. "What?"

"Queen Chrysalis tried helping, it didn't work. She took control, bested Princess Celestia." Shining saw surprise, shock, fear, and incredulity race over the other stallion's face. "So our first report is to Princess Celestia, but only so that we can wait to tell the Queen."

"Sir!" Both changelings guarding the doors to the throne room saluted Shining as their horns lit, opening the doors. "Sorry about the hard time," one of the pair continued, "things got a little mixed up. We were commanded to keep the throne room safe."

Once both stallions were inside, the doors closed behind them. "What are those things?" Flash tried to keep his voice down, but it carried a little too well in the huge hall.

"Those, are changelings." Princess Celestia looked at the new arrivals. "Flash Sentry, you were stationed-" She froze. If Celestia was any color but white, she would have blanched. "The north…"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Flash Sentry stepped forward a few paces and took his helmet off. "Captain Shining Armor gave me a little of a rundown. If you need me to fight you free, just tell me." His chest puffed out, his eyes roaming all the ponies in the room, judging their skills as a fighter.

"That will not be required, but your support is well meant." Princess Celestia took a deep breath, it felt good to have ponies that believed in her so much that they would risk everything—good, and wrong. "Please, Queen Chrysalis has made it abundantly clear that my choices in defending Equestria are not good ones. The Crystal Empire has returned, then?"

Flash felt the ball of adrenaline that his body had been ready to unleash push back down. "Your Highness, it has." He bowed to her. "What are your or-"

"Hold that, Flash. Princess Celestia doesn't handle that anymore." Shining heard a familiar clopping of hooves, two sets that he recognized. "Our Queen comes. Don't fear her, she… oh! You remember Chryssi?"

"Chryssi? Nerdette extreme? Played that silly InvasionMallet with you? Yeah." Flash looked a little confused, which matched his thoughts to a T.

"Flash Sentry, I haven't seen you since you tried to help Shining Armor beat me in our little games." Chrysalis buzzed her wings a little, smiling. "I hope you have gotten as good as he is at it."

"Your Majesty." Shining dipped his head, Chrysalis might be his friend still, but in the throne room she was Queen. "Flash Sentry was reporting news from the north."

"Chryssi?" Flash looked up and up, eyes wide at the changeling queen's differences from the young mare he had met, who had shared a house with one of his friends. "Err, Your Majesty?"

"Report, Flash. Then we can catch up." Chrysalis looked to Shining, then to Celestia. She froze when she saw the Princess' features.

"The Crystal Empire has returned. My squad… it was a fighting withdrawal." He looked between Chrysalis and Celestia. "The King is back."

"This King… Princess Celestia, what do we know of him and his 'empire'?" Chrysalis looked at Celestia, this was the first real test of her rule.

"King Sombra was… is, apparently, a master of shadow magic, a tyrant, a subjugator of ponies." Celestia felt real terror. Looking to the side of the throne, the crystal was still there. She lifted the glass lid, floated it out.

"Ex-excuse me." Twilight stepped up from beside Chrysalis, looking between the changeling queen and her former mentor, Celestia. "If I can help with this, whatever is going on, I will." The issue with honey and changeling… changes, slipped from Twilight's mind. "But first I must see my friends, and begging Your Majesty's pardon, I don't care if they will try to mob me."

"You will need honey to take with you." Chrysalis gave Celestia a look that was a question about the newest princess. What she got back was a slight nod. "And I will send a legion of my-"

Twilight cut in. "No, if it is okay with you, I will take Sweet Dreams." The dreamling grub poked their head out from Twilight's mane. "Sorry, but this can't wait. I… I can feel it is my destiny to go there, and that means it is my friends' destiny too."

Twilight Sparkle didn't wait for her brother, her princess, or her queen to reply, she turned and left. I am the only pony who can fix this. They made me a princess, I intend to act it!

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

Twilight got off the train in Ponyville. The town seemed quiet, expectant. In her mane, Sweet Dreams seemed to have found a bit of mane and latched on, fast asleep. "Gentle, are you okay?" She reached out a hoof to the big drone at her side, the underling tilting their head up to snout the offered hoof.

"He really is a big softie." Spike, ever present in his place on Twilight's back, looked fondly at the big changeling.

"Oh, hi Twilight!" Derpy poked her head out of the mail-room of the station. "Welcome home-" She froze, staring at Twilight. "Um… Twilight?"

Walking closer to Derpy, Twilight indicated for Gentle Midnight to follow too. "What's the matter, Derpy?"

"You know they are hunting for changelings, and your… your friend there is…" Derpy shook all over, then took a deep breath. "Are you here to fix all this?" She looked at Twilight as if the unicorn was already an alicorn, and not just princess in name. "I really like Swift, I don't want him to get squished by Princess Luna…"

"I promise… Swift?" Twilight waited for a nod from Derpy, "Swift won't be squished. I should probably go, do you know where Princess Luna will be about now?"

"Oh yes. She is staying in your library." Derpy's face brightened. "Thank you Twilight, for coming back. I don't know what was going to happen if Scoo-" Freezing, Derpy looked scared and covered her snout with both forehooves. "I didn't say it!"

Author's Note:

To Luna: is everypony a changeling? Are you still dreaming?

"Of course they aren't, and I would know if I was dreaming." The first words Luna spoke were strong, sturdy, but the rest sounded like a filly trying to convince herself it was true. "Changelings are tricky enemies, there must be a few here, however. A single drone could not have orchestrated all this on their own."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I they will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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