"There is a war coming, and you better pick your side. There is no reasoning with the beasts, we can only fight for what's ours in hopes that we will one day win."
What if things hadn't turned out the way they did? What if the Young Six were never found? With six kingdoms at unease, it would only be too easy to paint each other in a bad light. Accusations flew and with the distrustful spark, things soon escalated. Realizing their mistake, the Young Six returned to their own kind, resigned to never see each other again. However, this was not enough to stop the war. Something saw this chaos that had overcome all of the lands and was pleased. It has been long forgotten why the war started but it continues to rage, built on all the lies mistrust that has been spread.
"Queen Skystar," A seapony said, swimming up to the queen apprehensively. The chamber was dimly lit and unkept as nobody had had the time to care about aesthetics since It had begun.
"Not now, Stratus," The queen replied, shooing him off with a hoof. "I'm busy with my cousin." She didn't even turn to look at him, preoccupied with the light pink seapony that sat next to her, barely holding herself together. She opened her mouth to formally dismiss him when she was cut off.
"But, your majesty!" Stratus exclaimed, unable to hold himself back. The queen turned to him, giving a warning glare that plainly read 'now is not the time'. "I have been tasked to inform you that it is now too dangerous for you to venture to the surface, you must stay underwater until further notice." Stratus found it rather strange that the queen was so many years her junior but since her birth, she had been the heir to the throne and it was not her fault that she had to step up prematurely. She was like a child playing dress-up, too small to fill up the seat of her mother and too young to fill in her mother's place. She should be out playing with her friends, not making political decisions.
Skystar frowned. "Don't I already know that? Why do you think I'm stuck here. Now, leave. My cousin and I need some time alone." Her eyes were sad and dull, like they had already seen the cruelty of the world.
Stratus nodded before hurriedly leaving the room. The doors shut with a stream of bubbles.
"Skystar, why can't this stop? I came back!" Silverstream wailed, her usually positive attitude gone. "I came back, just stop the troops! I'm sorry!" Her salty tears were lost to the ocean that hid them from the outside world. Her colors were fading, no longer bright and cheerful.
Skystar stroked her cousin's mane thoughtfully, trying her best to comfort the other. "I can't stop them, Silver, I really can't. If we withdraw, the others will take it as a sign of weakness and conquer us. I'm the queen now, I need to do what's best for my people." Her voice was quiet and resigned, she didn't want to fight either. Skystar didn't want to be queen, she didn't want to have the lives of a whole kingdom resting solely on her shoulders. Her cousins had been there to help her once but one was now dead and the other one grieving.
"But we're dying! We're running low on soldiers and Terramar went out and now he's dead. It's all my fault and I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The rest of Silverstream's words were lost to her sobs as she buried her face into her cousin who was barely older than her. The two sat together on the throne, clinging to each other like small children did when thunder shook the sky.
"Oh, Silver..." Skystar murmured, a tear rolling down her cheek that was soon lost to the vast sea. "More people will die if we withdraw, this is the best thing I can do. Nothing can bring back your brother, nor any of our parents but we can't show the weakness, they won't show us any kindness." Her gaze stared past her cousin and into the distant, empty reef.
"Can't we just hide here? Like we did from the Storm King," Silverstream asked, her voice barely above a mere whisper. so quiet that it almost couldn't be heard. Her reasoning was childish, for even she knew why that wouldn't work.
"I wish we could, Silver. I wish we could. At least, I have you."
Outside, Stratus couldn't help but found that his heart ached for the two, who were still children.
Two small shapes crouched by the shore, one mostly in the water and the other above. "Don't cry, Silver, don't," Terramar whispered, cupping his older sister's cheek with a claw. "I've made my choice, I need to serve my people. This was our parents' war and now it's ours. We need to put a stop to this so that the foals can have a childhood." His eyes no longer lit up with the hope of childhood, now wise and tired.
"Don't go! Stay with me and we can make peace with the others!" Silverstream pleaded, trembling. "I can't lose you too."
"You know that there is no peace, they will only keep fighting. Our numbers are small and we are weakened from the Storm King's attack, we cannot afford to lose." Terramar sighed, sitting down on the rough sand. There would be no reasoning with his distraught sister.
"Then let me go with you! I can fight, I can be tough. Let me go."
"One of us must stay to watch over Skystar. She alone cannot rule a kingdom," He reasoned, his voice low and wistful. The sun was beginning to rise and he had to go soon.
Silverstream set her jaw, tearfully staring her brother in the eye. "Then let me go instead of you. I'm the older sister and you're always more levelheaded. Skystar would benefit from having you around. Let me take your place so that maybe you could live through this ordeal. Once you leave the water, it's more or less a guaranteed death. Please, Terra, let me do this for you. Mom and Dad would have wanted me to protect you."
"No, Silver. I have already enlisted myself and it's time for me to go, you can't change that. Take care of yourself, take care of Sky. Maybe I'll see you soon, maybe I won't but I will always, always love you. I'm the one who's doing this for you. Goodbye, sis." A silent promise hung in Terramar's words as he paused, before getting up.
"I love you too. Promise me you'll take care of yourself, promise me you'll see me soon." Silverstream stared at her brother, powerless to change his mind. It was too late to do that, all she could to do was love him as much as she could and pray that it was enough. Wasn't this the world where love and friendship held power? Whoever's out there, Silverstream thought to herself, take care of him.
"I can't."
And so the sun rose, bloody and red, as Terramar became no more than a dark speck against the horizon. He was another speck among the millions. Red the sky stayed, as if ashamed of itself. There would never be a pink and purple sunrise again, too much innocent blood spilled for a forgotten cause, creatures all fighting for a reason they could no longer recall.
Against the dawning sky, the air hummed, thick with beating insect wings. The thing about the changelings was that their sheer numbers and ability to reproduce quickly kept them going. They were used to the cruelty of Chrysalis and knew how to fight from young, sending drones that had only just mastered their shapeshifting abilities out. It was just like the old times again, where everyone had numbers instead of names.
At the hive, some complained about how it would be better if they had not betrayed Chrysalis. They would be in a better state, they wouldn't be part of this war. There was so little food now, since war thrived on bitterness and mistrust. They were constantly hungry, feeding on what little love their enemies had to offer before leaving them for the dead. It was a small consolation that most of the other kingdoms were not fairing much better, the ponies crops ruined by the flames the dragons had incinerated their lands with and everything else to damaged to sustain life. Dragons had the jewels of course but more than that was needed to sustain them.
A changeling surveyed the battlefield, barely recognizing Sweet Apple Acres. The changelings had been trying to advance for weeks now, defending the Everfree Forest from the lovey-dovey ponies. For a moment, they felt a pang in their heart. It was hard to have an individual thought now, the commands too loud to disobey. Had..? Had they once been here, back before the war? They couldn't remember why. It might have just been a dream. Had this place ever been anything other than trees burnt crisp and stained red?
They landed at an empty patch, holding back from the rest of the forces. It felt strange to have holes in their legs again, a sense of emptiness that sent shivers down their spine. Before they could dwell on the thought any longer, they charged ahead, fangs bared for all the world to see. They... They didn't want to be running right now, they wanted to be safe in the hive. Yet, they had no say in it, charging at the nearest non-changeling they saw.
Just before they sank their jaw into the pastel-colored pony, the pony's eyes flashed blue-green and they turned into a changeling. "Don't do that again," The first changeling said, shoving them roughly.
"I'm a scout, newbie." The second changeling pulled themself up quickly and kicking the first while they did. "Didn't anyone tell you to look at the cutie mark?" They growled, glaring.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally going to look at some pony's gross flank before I rip their throat out," The first changeling replied coldly before flying away, trying not to be horrified by the words that had left their mouth. They hadn't been trained, they had been stuck in a forgotten corner in the damp hive before a guard came over and told them that they were needed outside. They had been told that they would already know what to do, the hive would tell them. If they tried and focused really hard, they could almost remember why they were in that corner. Although, there was never time to dwell on the reason, with the hive guiding their every step.
It wasn't long before the changeling found themself battling a young foal with light green-blue and pink mane, ribs poking through. She looked at school-age, a blank flank. No matter how much they tried, the changeling still charged forward at the child. A yellowish-green blur knocked the filly out of the way, taking her place. The clear love for the younger one made the changeling's mouth water and just as they were about to feed, their vision snapped back into place.
They resisted the hive, attempting to hide their fangs. Their vision blurred in and out as they tried to focus on the familiar looking pony in front of them, the three turtles that marked his flank.
"Sandbar?"
Sandbar scooted away in fear, hiding the filly behind him. His eyes were wide with fear and he kept edging away,
The changeling pushed the love they had stolen from the filly back into her, filling her with fresh energy. It was the least they could do before they succumbed to the hive again. They didn't know why they knew the pony's name, nor why they were doing this but it just felt right.
A sharp white glow cut into the changeling's vision and they shut their eyes, trying to block out the pain. This is it, they thought to themself.
The voice came, a bare, frightened whisper.
"Ocellus?"
Sandbar's thoughts were racing. The changeling probably recognized him and was taking on the face of his old friend to destroy his mind. He pushed his sister back a little more, hissing to her, "Go hide. You shouldn't be here."
"I was looking for you!" The foal protested, clinging to Sandbar's leg.
Ocellus crouched down, studying her forelegs. They were whole again and it felt good, they were solid enough to carry things. Like books. The hive was in a far corner of her mind and she was getting accustomed to this again. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like this, so complete.
"How I wish I could have met your sister in more favorable conditions," Ocellus whispered, trying to remember who she was, or who she had been before the war.
"Are you-?" Sandbar must be dead, no way this was really happening.
"Is there any way for me to prove it to you?" Ocellus wracked her brain, trying to think of something that would prove it. "We were at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Silver had just discovered stairs, I was happy because there were pillows and all those books-"
"Ocellus." Sandbar smiled at her, something sad and warning. "We will meet again soon, but I hope not as soon as I think." He held out his foreleg, which was bandaged and probably infected. His eyes were bright with fever, yet glazed dull. His cheeks were hollowed out and Ocellus couldn't tell if he was already dead.
"Sandbar! I can..." Even without Sandbar saying anything, she knew that there was nothing she could do. She was weakened by hunger, the other changelings all turning to her to feed when they went hungry because she had done something she shouldn't have. In her metamorphized form, she still trembled as she stood, dizzy with fatigue.
There were no more words, just the two that lay on the battlefield as time slowed around them.
Ocellus was still the meek changeling Sandbar remembered, always ready to be kind to others even when she should not be. His vision was already clouding when a black figure dealt a blow to Ocellus's head, making the traitors end faster than it would have been. The changeling turned away from Sandbar in disgust and he crawled to her, taking her into his forelegs as the world faded, the final curtain call.