A Star's Journey.

by Naren

A Unicorn, and A Queen.

Twilight Sparkle groaned, suddenly aware of the ache that pervaded her entire body. Every part of her, from her hoof to her horn, was in pain. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking to adjust to the sudden light. She was in a bed, one reminiscent of a hospital bed. The entire room had a hospital aesthetic. Where was she?

She tried to sit up and found herself regretting that action immediately. She let out a gasp of pain, but after a couple of seconds she was able to control her breathing and body. Once she was upright, she looked around the room.

She was now able to see the room in detail, not that there was that much of that. The walls were a light blue, with a couple of pictures hanging on them. There was a picture of Cloudsdale, Ponyville, and one of Canterlot. The fur on the back of her neck seemed to stand up when she gazed at that painting. She looked away and saw a sink and toilet in the corner of the room. There was a curtain to create some level of privacy, which was nice. When she looked at the bedside table, she saw the last item she expected to be there.

On top of the table was the Element of Magic. The crown was just resting there, completely out in the open. Then she noticed the neatly folded piece of paper sitting next to the crown. With a grunt of effort, Twilight picked up the note and opened it. In it were the signatures of her friends, and even her brother- and Princess Celestia? They all said something similar, an apology. What would they need to apologize for?

Images flashed across her mind. A dark, damp, stone cave. A monster in the likeness of a pony. Cadence, transformed into an abomination. That Bug, moving to get behind her. Her fur falling off, being replaced by cold chitin. Her horn twisting and sharpening. Insect wings bursting out her back. Her Queen giving Twilight her first command. A feeling of growing pleasure and servitude, drowning out the part of her that was screaming.

Twilight screamed.

---

The door to her room slammed open, but Twilight was much too hysterical to care. What that bug had done to her, what her queen had done to her-every part of her was warring with the other. Tears streamed down her face, and with the amount of noise she was making, she couldn’t hear the other pony in the room yell something.

“TWILIGHT!” Princess Luna roared, her Royal Canterlot voice shaking the building itself. Twilight gasped, momentarily gaining control and looking at the Princess of the Night with wide eyes. “Twilight! Thou art safe here!” Luna spoke quickly, closing the distance between them.

“P-p-princess Luna? Wha-what are y-you doing?” Twilight stammered, barely able to speak.

“Twilight. Thou-you are going to be okay. There is nothing that will hurt you here.” The Princess said, doing her best to comfort the distraught unicorn. Twilight didn’t say anything, using the comforting presence of Luna to calm herself. After a couple of minutes, she finally spoke.

“Princess Luna? What…What happened?”

Princess Luna took a deep breath in and spoke. “You were kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis, the former ruler of the Changeling Hive.” She said bluntly and honestly. “She transformed you into a changeling, along with Cadance. We found you in the caves below the city, unconscious.”

“How did you find me? And former Queen? What did you do to my que-” Twilight shook her head, interrupting her sentence. Princess Luna leaned in to inspect her but seemed to find nothing wrong-beyond her fragile mental state.

“It was your assistant, Spike, that first noticed your disappearance. He said that he tried to speak with the other Elements of Harmony, but they simply dismissed his concerns as an overreaction to your quarrel with your brother.” Twilight scowled. So much for being her friends. “When Spike came to me and pleaded for assistance, he was accompanied by somepony, someone else. He introduced himself as The Knight-Regent.”

“Someone?” Twilight asked, curiosity momentarily overcoming the horror at what had been done to her.

“He wasn’t a pony. He looked to be closer to an ape.” Luna explained. “Spike told me that you were missing, and the Knight-Regent confirmed this. We-I was suspicious of him at first, but he had an artifact that radiated pure harmony magic. He called himself the Alicorn of Mercy, and weapon seemed to support that.” Twilight blinked. Another alicorn, and one that wasn’t even a pony.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Twilight exclaimed, and Luna simply nodded her head in agreement.

“None of this made any sense. Regardless, when Spike came to me, I chose to act. I gathered the Lunar Guard, and we headed into the caves. The Regent told me that was the most likely place that you could have gone, and with no better leads, I followed him.” Twilight almost felt like she could smile. Spike had noticed. Then another thought hit her.

“You took Spike down there?” Twilight asked frantically, worried for her little assistant.

“No.” Princess Luna said quickly. “Even with his protests, we did not take him into the caverns.” Luna paused for a second as she heard Twilight’s sigh of relief. “I had the Lunar Guard split into squads and began the search to find you.” The princess hesitated for a second, and Twilight saw something flash across her eyes. Disgust…and anger? “What we found was…abominable. Both you and Cadance had been turned into Changelings, and you…” Luna trailed off, seemingly unable to speak.

Memories and images began to flash across her mind, but Luna noticed. She spoke quickly, drawing Twilight’s attention away from her cursed memories. “We were enraged. With the proof that both you and Cadance were down here, your claims that Cadance was fraud were validated. Together, we confronted the Imposter just as the vows were about to be said.” Luna breathed out. “I fought my sister to keep her from intervening, while the Regent engaged Chrysalis herself. While the entire hall was destroyed in a magic blast, he managed to overcome and slay the Changeling Queen.”

A chill shot through Twilight. Her queen had been-NO. She is not my queen. She is NOT MY QUEEN. SHE IS NOT MY- Twilight’s mental war caused a massive headache to form, and for a second, she blacked out.

When she opened her eyes, she found Princess Luna looking at her with concern. “Please,” Twilight croaked, “continue.”

Luna nodded slowly and spoke. “With Chrysalis dead, the rest of the changeling’s in Equestria fled. We do not know where they have gone, but they no longer threaten us. The Knight-Regent left shortly after, stating that we were not the only ones that needed help.” Twilight mulled the information over. There was still one question that was plaguing her thoughts.

“How did you turn us back?” Twilight asked.

Luna looked at her bedside table. “Once order had been restored, Tia dived into the library. She searched for something, anything, that might be able to turn you back. She stumbled onto a book co-authored by Mage Meadowbrook and Starswirl the Bearded. While the condition in the book was different than the one you and Cadance faced, Celestia was sure that the cure would work anyway.”

“Starswirl the Bearded…What was it? What was the cure?”

“With Chrysalis dead, your connection to the hive was severed. All that had to be done was to reintroduce you to your natural elements, and you would be restored.” Luna said. “You were far easier to turn back, as the Element of Magic was the embodiment of your natural element. Cadence, on the other hand…” Luna trailed off. Twilight gave her a questioning look, urging her to continue.

“It was harder to find Cadance’s natural element. It was easy enough to identify it-Love- but finding a way to transfer that was much harder. We found the cure with her would-be groom, Shining Armor. Even after her transformation, he still loved her. With that love, we managed to turn her back.” A warm feeling ran through Twilight. Even after all that happened, her brother still loved Cadance.
When Luna spoke again, there was something in her voice-regret? “Twilight, the process wasn’t perfect.” Twilight froze. With Luna's assistance, Twilight managed to get out of bed and hobble over to the mirror. Upon looking at the mirror, Twilight’s horror began anew.

Most of her body was the way it should be, and her cutie mark was still there. That was when the horror began. Her horn was the color it should have been, but it was twisted now, sharp and filled with holes. Her teeth were now pointed, shaped like a predator’s. The worst part was her eyes. They were violet once more, but her pupils had become slits. She was still a monster.

Instead of screaming or panicking, Twilight Sparkle promptly passed out.

Author's Note:

So, I originally thought that I wasn't going to create a sequel. But the ideas that came about by just thinking about the possibilities were too appealing to ignore. So here we are. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for a read, and May Harmony Prevail.

Comments

[Mystic Sunrise]

Most of her body was the way it should be, and her cutie mark was still there. That was when the horror began. Her horn was the color it should have been, but it was twisted now, sharp and filled with holes. Her teeth were now pointed, shaped like a predator’s. The worst part was her eyes. They were violet once more, but her pupils had become slits. She was still a monster.

It was at that moment that murdering her former friends and mentor was the right thing to do. Damn the consequences .

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

11685072

If not. She clearly's now despised them, and not forgive them for a long ass time, and for good reason too.