Cutie Mark Conquerors

by SaintThunder

A Queen

The Everfree: a dark, wild forest filled with darker, wilder things. It was once the great capital of Equestria, located at the country’s center, decimated by the claw of Discord, Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, during his reign over ponykind. The earth and sky within its boundaries followed no laws of magic, no sense of order; a lingering touch of the dark lord. Even so, in the deep wood where terrible monsters dwell, one filly travels alone.

With her cream yellow fur stark against the dreary browns and greys of the gnarly trees, Applebloom should have been fearing for her life. But the forest did not scare her, no; she had walked this path a hundred times. Right now, all she was scared of was running out of time.

“Darned rabbit stampede!” The filly galloped down the dirt road, hopping over roots and ducking under branches. “Zecora’ll tan mah hide for this!” She pressed onward, pushing her little legs to their limits.

Ducking, jumping, and weaving past branches and brambles, almost made her feel a little better. Maybe Applejack would let her participate in the rodeo this year.

Then a bright green flash, followed by a roaring explosion of sound, robbed Applebloom of her wits and senses. She screamed (at least, she felt herself screaming) as her hooves tangled up and pitched her body forward. The filly slid along the path, face first, and collided with what felt like a tall, skinny log. That is, until the supposed “log” picked her up by the end of her tail.

“Tch. Too small.”

Applebloom vision refocused; she wished it hadn’t. As her captor lifted her up, all she could see was the hole-marred black chitin that was so characteristic of the most feared species in Equestria.

“You’ll have to do, my little pony.” Her voice was regal, but raspy, as if she’d been dehydrated for years. “A queen does not wait. Revenge does not wait.”

“Y-you’re…” The filly strained to speak, her breaths coming in short bursts. “you’re—“

A green pasty liquid found itself covering her mouth. It quickly hardened, silencing her. Similar fluid tied her legs, and Applebloom was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. She watched as green flame engulfed the creature, morphing into something… somepony horrifyingly familiar.

Then the changeling laughed as she removed Applebloom’s ribbon from her mane and tied it into her own. “Foal. I am you.”