Chapter Six
Peppermint Heart sat the two foals down in the crib. Nightshade and Buster curled up in a multicolored mass of fur and fluff. Sighing he heads to the kitchen seeing the sun has already set. “How am I going to tell Lady Twilight Sparkle about this?”
That was when a knock came to the door. He headed overseeing Buttercream holding a crying Cream Puff. “Oh, um. Peppermint Heart can Cream Puff spend the night? She has been fussy ever since she came back from the Daycare. She mentioned Nightshade a few times so... I guess she wants her friend.”
“Sure Buster here as well. It can be a sleepover.” He took the whimpering filly from the mare. “Oh, do you have Mr. Flops?”
“Mr. Flops?” Buttercream blinks.
“You know Cream Puffs stuffed bunny.”
“Oh yeah, the bunny.” Reaching into her saddlebag she brought out Mr. Hops. “Here you go Mr. Flops for my baby girl.”
Got you as well miss changeling. “You must be tired from preparing for the wedding. A whole night without worrying about a foal will be a good time to catch up on sleep.”
“Thanks, Peppermint, indeed it going to be a wedding few would ever forget.” Buttercream kisses Cream Puff on the forehead before walking away.
Closing the door he looks down at Cream Puff. “So they got your mother as well.” A stern look came to the nanny’s face as he settled Cream Puff among the other foals. All three bunch up together as herd instincts kick in. With the mix-matching colors, it was hard to identify one foal from the next, an evolutionary eyesore of rainbow hues. Much like looking at an Optical illusion.
In the kitchen, he starts brewing. “Spirits of my ancestors, please aid me in making this brew. A potion to show what is true.” The pot he was brewing the concoction in was nothing like a traditional shaman would use. But the gas burner provided the heat and the simmering brew glowed a shade of green. In another universe where the changelings' invasion won Zecora used this same brew on the ponies hiding in the Everfree. In this universe, Peppermint Heart hopes he has it right.
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Traveling by day was not normal for Princess Luna. It was wearing her out so as the night moved on she settled down in her tent to let her mind connect to the dream realm as her body tries to recover.
Outside the tent, Nodes looked on acting the part of a guard until he heard the princess breathing slowly. Turning his head he looks at the tent. How many nights did Luna visit the club, and socialize with the common ponies? It was true she had to be brought there with Cadence, but she interacted with the common citizens. Something his Queen didn’t do. A snort Queen Chrysalis doesn’t even bother remembering names just assigns numbers. Tick and Mandrake have even been called the wrong numbers a few times. Why couldn’t he have been born a pony? It would be so much easier never being hungry, having friends. These doubts ran across his mind as the other changelings came. Soon the tent was surrounded by the troops sent to investigate the assault. Tonight a Princess was going to die. It was for the good of the Hive, good for all changelings, why did he have doubts?
49 smiles and shifts her form to an Ursa Minor. “Let's get this over with."
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The fire was raging all around her. Ponies screamed in terror as the sky filled with smoke and black chitin-covered forms buzzed around. The Changeling swarm was attacking ponies getting snatched off the ground all around her as she ran.
“MOMMY!”
Nightshade was running in fear, her the terror of the night, mistress of nightmares was afraid. She wasn’t fully grown but not a foal anymore, her body looked more like a preteen or tween as some would call it. Out of an alley came a voice “SUCH FEAR...” Nightshade skids to a stop, that voice she knew that voice. It was her own or more to the point it was...the form of Nightmare Moon walking out of the shadow.
“Your mother doesn’t care little one.” The sadistic predatory smile of Nightmare moon caught Nightshade’s eyes. Did she look like that? No wonder the ponies of Ponyville were scared of her.
“She left, like the coward she is. She left you, she left Canterlot. She always runs. Like she did a thousand years ago she ran from her troubles. We are the result of my other-self. Luna won’t help us, no one ever helped us.”
“No. I won’t listen you are nothing but echos of my doubts.” Nightshade stood tall her form shifting to the more mature adult form as she got hold of her fears. “this is just a nightmare, just like you nothing but a bad dream.”
Laughter from a thousand changelings and Nightmare Moon’s laughter was heard all around her. “There a reason for bad dreams as you know very well. The changelings are already here.” The castle shales and Nightshade watch as it falls to the ground fall below.
“It going to happen and you can’t do anything about it.”
“ENOUGH!” A flash of blue and Princess Luna appears beside Nightshade. Everything else stops. Changelings in mid-flight, fires stop burning, it was if the world was put on pause.
“Nightshade? I... I heard you call out to me and I find this. Nightmare happening, what’s going on?”
“Mom... The threat you went to investigate is a distraction. Changelings are already in the castle, they replaced the guards. Buster's father is one of them. It was his instincts that clued me in. You are in danger the guards that went with you.”
“Could be changelings... Have you told Celestia?”
“How? my physical body doesn’t have the physical nerves and muscle control for much talk those are still developing. Even if a could talk properly in that foal body of mine their no way I could get to Celestia without alerting the Changelings. I alerted Peppermint Heart by using my toy blocks he has me and my friends for the night.”
“Alright, I head back righ...” The form of Luna vanished into smoke.
“MOM! MOMMY!”
In the real world, Nightshade wakes up “MOMMY!”
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Pain... pain in her horn brought her to the waking world. The tent was blasted away as the large Ursa/changeling smashes it’s massive paw onto her horn once again this time a loud crack was heard as the horn broke. “Aww, I broke your little horn. No magic spell casting for you princess.” The Ursa Minor disguised Changeling smiled with a psychotic grin.
Other changelings thew ropes across Luna, as she squirms trying to rise as the mass of changelings, continue their assault. Another stabbing of pain as one of the changelings used his sword to hack at her wing joint severing tendons.
All but one changeling was in the mob attack. His eyes widen as he watched the swarm brutalize the princess.
“NO!” Nodes' body bursts into flame as he takes up the shape of an Ursa Minor and swats five changelings away. “THIS IS WRONG!”
“TRAITOR!” 49 hissed and turns to tackle the traitorous 42.
That small moment was all Luna needed to get to her feet. Even if her wing was now hanging crippled and her horn broken she was not going to allow that to stop her. “A whole regiment just to take me down. I should be flattered.” With a battle cry, she charges the group of Changelings. “HUZZAH!”
Changelings aren’t normal fighters they are infiltrators and manipulators. Very view bothers learning how to properly fight. Luna was a skilled fighter with combat training that was needed just to survive a thousand years ago when Equestria was unruly after Discord. Even before that she fought against Tirek and his brother. It might have been helpful that the majority of changelings that went on this mission weren’t very bright.
Like many dim-witted minions, they bunched up not wanting to be the first to fight the angered, wounded, but still aggressive Princess.
Not to mention there was a fight between two Ursa disguised Changelings going on behind Luna.
“I’m Going to enjoy this, Nodes. You were always pathetic!” 49 charged tackling Nodes in a very Sumo Wrestling style tackle.
“If I’m so weak, how come you haven’t won yet. You know this isn’t right. It isn’t our way!”
“What the Queen Wants is our way! FOR the Hive.” 49 lifts Nodes Ursa form and moves to slam it. At that moment the watching changeling scream as it dawns on them where Nodes was going to land.
The bunch of Changelings scatters as both Ursa’s go tumbling to the ground. Just missing Luna in the process.
Nodes change his form yet again to a bugbear and pose his stinger up just as the momentum of the toss causes him to hit the ground. 49 eyes widen as she realizes she couldn’t stop.
Blood splattered Nodes face as 49 looks down at the stinger driven into her body. “Seems you... win.” 49‘s body then changes back to a changeling hanging off the tip of the bugbear stinger dead and lifeless.
Nodes shoved off the body and rose to look to the gathered changelings. “Who’s next?”
The other changelings look at each other then took off flying, scattering to the wind in a blind panic to flee.
“Coward every one of you!” Luna called out then turns to look at the bugbear changeling. “Well except for you. Why did you save me?”
Nodes turned back to his normal form and look to luna. “Please forgive me...” He then took up the form of Mixer “I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore after this..”
“MIx... Mixer? How long?”
“You never did tell me how you liked that Blue Dimond I made.”
“That long ago? Its been over a year.”
“That long. A club a perfect place to gather what we need to survive.”
“Why? Why attack now if you been in Canterlot for so long.”
Sighing “We are dying. Our whole race is on the verge of extinction. All because of Discord. There used to be many hives, many different kinds of changelings. Some fed on the pride of the Yaks, arrogance of the Gryphons, the greed of the dragons. Then Discord happened, every other hive starved to death. Our hive almost did as well, but survived. We did it by figuring out a way to cocoon Ponies in a magical jell. In the cocoons, they experience a happy and joyful life. The love they feel as they dream we fed on. This is what happened to the real Mixer and other ponies we replaced.”
Mixer/Nodes looked up. “Then Discord got free again. The fear he caused during that brief escape was enough that our Queen came up with another plan. Instead of hiding in the shadows getting a little love at a time. We going to capture all of Canterlot in one go, turn it into a new Hive nest and use all the captured ponies as our food. Then spread out, that way we will never risk starving to death again.”
He lowers his head “But... it’s wrong. My instincts telling me to mimic and infiltrate. What the Queen wants now is... worst then Discord. It goes against everything we are. Even using the cocoons in such away is against our instincts. We are not normally aggressive Princess Luna. We only fight when we have to.”
Luna looked in the direction of Canterlot and starts walking shifting her damaged wing as she goes.
“Princess where are you going?”
“To Canterlot, my daughter, my family are in danger. There nothing that going to stop me.”
Nodes look down then to the Princess. “First let get that wing bandaged up. It is faster if you don’t have to drag it.”
Luna stopped and look at Mixer/Nodes. “I know what it's like to be judged for being different, I know what it like knowing you done wrong. Mixer I won’t condemn you for what you have done like you said it was for your survival. You also fought to protect me, because of that I still consider you my friend. Help me. Help me save my family, save my home.”
“My real name is Nodes, and... it means I have to fight my own family.” He gets the first aid kit and starts treating the wounded wing and try to ignore the broken horn on her head. “I’m sorry about the horn.”
Luna sighs and looks to the broken tip of her horn. “If the core was damaged, that would be a crippling injury. Luckily it is not that bad just the tip was snapped off. I can’t focus my magic through it like this, but the core of the horn wasn’t damaged it will mend the damage in time.
Luna nods and lowers her head “I understand. I will have to do this on my own then.”
“No Princess, I... I made my choice.” He looks to the body of 49 “I already have the blood of my sister on my hooves. You won’t be returning to Canterlot alone.”
“Could you become something large enough to fly us back to Canterlot?” Luna asks looking at him.
“I’m sorry Princess, but I used up most of my magic fighting her. Unlike you ponies we don’t recover lost magic, we need to feed off the love of others, which becomes the magic we use in our bodies. After not one but two large shapeshifting I’m spent. I have only enough magic left to become a pony again without feeding.”
Luna looked at the body and with her good wing hugs Nodes. “Thank you, my friend. Now let get her a proper grave.”
“But the attack on Canterlot?”
“Your Family can wait. This is something I can see you need to do first. Besides, there is something you all forgot.”
“What did we forget.”
A sad smile comes to her face “My daughter, she more powerful then you realize and she knows the Changelings are there.”
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I would question the permanence of the injury. For a regular unicorn maybe, but immortal usually means wounds are transient at best.
10007828
Her wing healing will happen. I'm still thinking if I should have her broken horn be a permanent thing in my stories. It is an interesting idea, even if it regrows it would be a lot smaller then before.
10007835
Don't have it be permanent as then it would be near impossible for Luna to do her royal duties.
10007972
That is a good point. I would say Celestia been raising the moon the last thousand years. She could start raising the moon again. As for the Dreams she could still do that only time we seen her use the horn in dream magic was during “do princesses dream of magic sheep” when she linked all the ponies dreams together.
If her horn stays broken it would affect future stories, not so much this one.
In this story it was needed in order to prevent Luna from teleporting back, same with her damaged wing.
10008001
Oh okay.
Well defecting sure will be easier for Thorax now if he's not the only one.
10007835
I’d be against it as I feel there should be a good through line for a situation. In an alt universe there is obviously something introduced (in this case Nightshade) that alters the plot from that point forward. Alterations need to make sense in context though. For instance if her horn was damaged as a result of Nightshade existing, such as in defense of her, or because plans change due to her existence, it would be fine. As stands it doesn’t seem to have any difference in regards to what Chrysalis would do to Luna in the actual show, which while we never see what keeps Luna from participating in the Changeling invasion nothing about your current AU seems to have any reason to lead to her being permanently crippled here.
10009058
Well, the difference is Luna, not a shut-in. Because Luna met Cadence at the start Cadence didn't leave to go to the yaks (the reason I made up for why she wasn't in the show till the Canterlot Wedding). So this Luna didn't stay in her soundproof room and was more active. In the show we don't see Princess Luna interacting with others often she was more isolated.
This Luna became friends with Cadence and was going to be a part of the wedding party. So she was more social and didn't hide. If the scouting operation did happen in Prime Cannon it could be that Luna went to investigate on her own being more of a loner. Instead of having a regiment of troops with her. Some say that Luna has a very soundproof room and was sleeping during the invasion.
Another cannon possibility is Luna was asleep when the alert came. She wasn't there so she didn't offer to go and investigate herself. Where in the Mother Moon, Daughter Nightmare timeline she was there and her desire to be recognized as useful spired her on to volunteer. Where Cannon Luna could have simply been put under a strong sleep spell to keep her away.
It also possible that because Luna is seen sparing with Cadence often in this timeline the Changelings saw her more of a threat then Cannon Luna.
That two different ways the timeline could have happened that explains why Luna wasn't at the Wedding but didn't get wounded.
Remember this timeline has a whole year by now to cause changes. How Luna is seen by the public is already drastically changed by the Cannon Luna. This Luna often goes to clubs and concerts taking an active part in the "Night Life". By now it would be hard to even plot out how all the changes have happened over a year. There is also the fact that Luna was being more social going to the clubs and all that the Changelings at the club were able to assess her better than the Cannon Luna. They had more to go by after a year of studying her. So they had more understanding on how to trick her.
10009058
I will try to think of a better way to explain why this happened and not in the cannon timeline.
10009079
Fair but it doesn’t feel as satisfying from a narrative perspective in my opinion. If nothing else the fact that it takes place after Nightmare Night means that Luna is already starting to become more active and I could imagine that even if she was asleep when the initial problem came to light it’s likely that Luna might be dispatched to investigate in a similar manner given the amount of time between the threat and the event. While her and Cadence having a larger relationship than in canon might have Chrysalis take note it still seems like she would already have reasons to try to distance Luna from Canterlot in general. Also just from a logic perspective it seems like any permanent injury would be staggeringly difficult to manage against a being that has as much power as Luna or Celestia posses. It took two blows from an individual of average strength to manage it here, and the diararchs have fought all manner of greater threats that now languish in Tartarus. As well Celestia takes a blast from Chrysalis straight to the horn and it only dazes/knocks her out. I can understand needing a reason to prevent Luna access to immediate teleportation but it just seems like it would take a lot more to permanently damage a being that has lived through as much as either of the sisters.
10009168
That a very good point. Perhaps I can rewrite it so 49 was an Ursa when she broke the horn? Maybe with a few lines to Nodes about how they need maximum force.
I did forget that Celestia got blasted right in the horn.
I can say it just the tip broke off limiting her focus but will recover.
Thanks this type of brain storming what I needed.
10009178
You’re welcome. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
10009184
I love reading people's comments and I do like getting creative criticism. It lets me know I'm improving as a writer and spurs me on to continue.
I made the changes to the chapter. 49 now starts the attack as an Ursa this is how she was able to break the horn. I also made it clear her horn broke at the tip so it will recover. Just not in time for her to get to Canterlot before the wedding.
I also thought of why Nodes just doesn't fly her back. He's almost out of magic himself after changing to an Ursa then a Bugbear, his reserves are spent.
my typo trap is working, it caught this one.
an evolutionary eyesore of rainbow hews. [ hues ]