Worlds Apart

by Elkia Deerling

Intermission: changequestria

Chrysalis didn’t sit still. Of course the war wasn’t over with the conquering of Canterlot alone. The queen of the changelings continued her campaign and shifted her attention to the stronghold of the other alicorn in Equestria. She headed towards the Crystal Empire. With Discord’s help, the changeling army came upon the Empire swiftly and mercilessly.

The ponies of the Crystal Empire did their best to defend their shining city and their princess, but it was in vain. Just as with the Canterlot guards, they were outnumbered, and spies plagued their ranks and infiltrated their operations. Although Princess Cadence and her husband, Shining Armor, fought hard, neither of them was able to penetrate the dense ranks of changelings and reach the queen, or Discord, for that matter. They were as smart as to hand Flurry Heart over to Sunburst, who took her and hid away somewhere even the prince and princess didn’t know.

What was next? Manehattan was. Thanks to the dense population, there was enough love to energize the whole changeling army for quite a while. They took over the most important targets; harbors, communications, power supplies, and, of course, the governmental buildings. With no alicorn to defend them, the city had been an easy target. There were only a handful of police officers who bode some kind of resistance, but compared to the changeling army, it was nothing. The city was theirs.

In turn, the army rampaged over the other major cities: Vanhoover, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus.

But of all the settlements in Equestria, little Ponyville became one of Chrysalis’s main targets. She knew that Twilight Sparkle and her friends lived there, and she was bound to find them. With all the alicorns gone, only they, as bearers of the elements of harmony, could pose a real threat to her and her family. She razed Ponyville. The changelings put it upside down. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith soon found out that the changelings were looking for them and their siblings. Concerned though as they were, they did their best to hide and lay low. The whole town of Ponyville helped them with that in a gesture of kindness that would have made Fluttershy proud.

But of course, the changelings didn’t find Twilight and her friends, because they were somewhere else entirely.

As soon as the battle of Canterlot was over, Twilight Sparkle retreated towards Cloudsdale. Chrysalis’s attention was drawn towards the Crystal Empire and the other major cities, and she didn’t yet know the location of the drifting city. As soon as the leaders of Cloudsdale heard of the attack on Canterlot and some of the other cities, an operation started. Under the command of Twilight Sparkle, Spitfire, and the Wonderbolts, and with the help of all the pegasi in the glorious pegasus capital of Equestria, they moved Cloudsdale from its position north of Ponyville—and dangerously close to Canterlot—to the vast tropical forests of the Mysterious South. The trees there were so high and wild, that they reached towards the clouds. The pegasi lowered Cloudsdale, until it hovered amongst the leaf crowns, hidden from view.

Twilight Sparkle was the last alicorn left, and even though she knew that she couldn’t possibly stand against Chrysalis and her changeling army, she was sure to help Equestria get rid of the cloud.

That horrible, flashing, supercharged cloud didn’t disappear after it drifted away from Canterlot. No, it hovered from one corner of Equestria to another, striking both lightning and fear at ponies who laid eyes upon the monster. It only seemed to grow in size as it traveled further, to the point where it looked almost unstoppable. If Twilight Sparkle did nothing, the entire world of Equestria would be terrorized by the glowing cloud, and all the weather would be nothing but a permanent thunderstorm.

But of course, Twilight Sparkle didn’t do nothing. Even though she was the last alicorn left in freedom, she was still determined to help Equestria wherever she could. Once again, with the help of the Wonderbolts and the best flyers in Cloudsdale, she combated the cloud. They followed the thing across half of Equestria, punching it, bucking it, blowing it away. After weeks of cloud busting, they finally managed to put an end to its reign of terror.

Applejack, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, and Pinkie Pie returned to Ponyville, to look after their family and friends. Applejack found Sweet Apple Acres still standing, and reunited with her family. With the changelings everywhere, they hid themselves as quickly as they could.

Starlight Glimmer immediately galloped towards the Castle of Friendship, destroyed the changelings defiling it, and managed to free Spike. Of course Spike was concerned about Twilight, but Starlight Glimmer talked him into hiding as well.

“Where’s Twilight? Is she okay?” Spike said.

Starlight slowly shook her head. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that we are no use to either her or Equestria if we are captured, or worse…”

Pinkie Pie hid with the Cakes, and Rarity with Sweetie Belle. Nopony came for Scootaloo, as Rainbow Dash was still missing in action. But luckily, she was found by Pinkie Pie, and was quickly brought to safety.

Everypony hid from the terrible changelings, as occasional search parties raced through town, thrashing houses and marketplaces. Village life had become hard—almost impossible. No, most of the village life wasn’t going on in Ponyville, but in the Everfree Forest.

The only place the changelings couldn’t spot them—thanks to the dense foliage—and the only place they didn’t dare to enter—thanks to the strange and often dangerous creatures that the forest housed—became a refuge for most Ponyville citizens. Thanks to the forest’s reputation, no search parties ventured into it, so the changelings had no idea that almost all of the Ponyville citizens retreated towards it. The refugees came, built huts, grew crops, and tried to live their lives as best as the forest allowed them. Although the situation was far from perfect, they were off the scope of the changeling army.

Two of Equestria’s settlements were hidden and cowering, and everypony still free from changeling oppression was hoping that somehow everything would get better. They hoped that ‘somehow’ would be Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The truth was that even the princess of friendship had no idea how to end this invasion, not until one faithful night.