Crimson

Five looked around the Mess Hall, seeing all of the Queen's guards relax, a few sighing in relief. Queen Chrysalis herself got out of her seat and limped to the other side, where Five was. She looked to him and then to her guards before nodding once. They all got up and began to file out of the Mess Hall as Chrysalis spoke to Five.

"Not once, in almost seven hundred years, has a Changeling Queen ever thanked anything outside of the Hive. You've not only heard out our troubles, but want to help us resolve them. But I want to know something."

Five nodded.

"Shoot."

"What happens now?"

"Right now, I don't know. Sid, any ideas?"

"Considering the current state of affairs between the Changelings and this, "pony" civilization, I would say that our most logical decision would be to confront their leaders and attempt to resolve this issue diplomatically."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and scoffed at the notion.

"Please. We've tried that already, and look where we ended up. Almost extinct and lost. What good would trying to convince them we won't bite do for us?"

"Right now, that's your only option. I, however, am a member of the UNSC, an unofficially neutral party in this conflict. I'll see what I can do to set up some kind of hearing, alright? You clearly need to recover."

Chrysalis wanted to argue that she was fine, but knew better than to try and push herself beyond her current capabilities. If she were to try and overexert herself now, she'd likely die and wipe out any hope for the future of the Changelings. She kept her eyes shut as she nodded and limped away to the Med-Bay.

Five watched the injured Queen leave as her escort took positions around her once more. As they marched onwards, Five spoke to Sid.

"Where's the purple one?"

"She retreated into an adjacent hallway before the Queen's escort left the Mess Hall."

The Spartan walked out the door and saw the three Changelings from earlier. One of them pointed to the corner behind them while the larger one chuckled.

"Should've seen her face," the large one laughed.

"I'm sure Sid took pictures," Five commented.

"I have minimal functionality in the interior security cameras, sir. I'm afraid I was not able to record the event."

Five shook his head as he walked by the three Changelings and looked down the hallway. In the middle of the floor was Twilight. She was hunched over, her back on the floor, rocking back and forth while stroking her tail, which she held in one arm.

"It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be fine," she muttered to herself.

'This is my fucking life now,' Five groaned internally. 'Why did I wake up after that crash?'

Five walked up to Twilight's prone form before tapping her with his boot. She looked up and shook her head before smiling nervously and attempting to laugh off the situation.

"Uh, ha ha, hey, Five. What's um... w-what's up?"

"I need to arrange a meeting with your leaders. The Changelings are officially joining the UNSC, and are under my protection until further notice. And tell that Sun-bitch that I don't need that teleporter thing she mentioned earlier. I've got this ship now, and we'll be off ASAP."

Twilight stood up and ran her hoof along her hair, trying to keep it straight.

"Uh, sure! I'll let Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know when I get back to Ponyville. How's that?"

"The sooner the better. Go for it."

With that, Five began to walk away from the alicorn as Twilight charged up another teleportation spell. Her horn fizzled out, however, as she couldn't seem to breach the hull of the massive warship. Nervously she turned around and followed Five.

"Um, I can't teleport out of here," she stated while trying to keep up with Five.

"Then find your way out and fly," Five answered.

The three Changelings got up and began to walk behind Five, keen on observing the super soldier's actions.

"Where ya going?" the large one asked.

"Bridge. I want to see what this ship's packing. If you come along, don't touch anything."

They all nodded in confirmation before Five turned another corner, along with the three Changelings. Twilight stopped in the middle of the hall and watched as the four left her alone, and she weighed her thoughts. In a few seconds, she turned around and began to look for a way out of the alien vessel.

\\\//////

Luna trotted in to her sister's chambers cautiously, listening to the clattering sounds of metal on metal. She recognized the sound, but thought that her sister would have gotten rid of that long ago. The Lunar diarch reached the concealed entrance to an inner part of the Solar Chambers, and looked upon the stone walls that were lit by mere torches. Each wall adorned several hundred medals of different purposes. Some being from military campaigns, while others were trophies of wars long forgotten. There were dozens of weapons, ranging from small parrying daggers to swords that would flatten a normal pony with its sheer weight. At the end of the chamber stood Celestia, and a lit forge.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Celestia barely turned her head to acknowledge Luna's remark, but still answered.

"Preparing for the inevitable."

A hammer rose from the flames of the forge before striking a massive halberd. The golden weapon glowed with might when the tool struck it, heating up to temperatures that the forge fire never would.

"And what inevitability would that be?" Luna asked with a furrowed brow.

An enchanted shard of obsidian was brought to the blade before being ground against the halberd, sharpening it while magically enhancing the strength of the metal.

"The Changelings have captured Twilight, and are in the process of controlling an alien warrior. Clearly, they're going to try and strike us down by using our newest Princess as a means of psychological warfare. I, for one, will not let them have the chance. I'll find their hive, take care of the Queen, bring Twilight back, and ensure the alien doesn't try to rampage after loosing what little direction it has."

Luna stomped a hoof into the ground, cracking the stone and shaking the walls. The resulting force caused everything that was hung up to jingle and clatter while the floor received a new mark.

"Thou art truly considering this path!?" Luna shouted, bordering on the Royal Canterlot Voice. "This is not what we've built Equestria on!"

Celestia turned to face her sister, glaring down not with her once majestic purple eyes, but with the cold eyes of a tyrant.

"You think you know what's best for them!?" Celestia shouted back. "I've been running Equestria for the last thousand years! I've kept wars from ravaging this land through methods that most would consider insane, and haven't flinched once when I knew that they needed to be done! The Changelings are nothing but a parasite! I will ensure that for the safety of my ponies, I'll wipe out every insect that crawls for the veins of Equestria!"

"Sister, think of what you're doing! This is not the sister I know and love! This is not the way to solve any problem, and I will not stand aside while you plan to wipe out an entire species off the face of Equis!"

Celestia pulled the halberd out of the forge and spun it around, showing off the golden metal of the shaft and the red velvet of the handle. The pure white blade slashed into the ground before Celestia, hissing against the cold stone as steam rose from where the blade was buried.

"Luna, do not think I'll just stop because you said a few discouraging words. There will be conflict soon. And when those bugs attack, you'll wish we had stomped them out when we had the chance."

Celestia began to trot right past Luna, pushing her to the side as she passed by. What Luna noticed, however, was that Celestia's wing, which was splinted and bandaged mere hours ago, was now free of any concealment and fully healed. Luna felt a cold sensation running down her spine as she watched the halberd disappear as well, unable to notice the small flicker of purple mist from her sister's eyes as she spoke.

"But thankfully, you won't regret what you'll never see," Celestia whispered before igniting her horn.

A bolt of something purple struck the base of Luna's skull, a series of small tendrils wrapping around her head and horn. Luna stood there frozen in shock, staring into the fires of the forge as they flickered from orange and red to green, reflecting in her equally green eyes. Behind her, a shadow began to bleed from the walls, darkening and congealing into a blob of darkness. It snaked its way behind the Lunar Princess before sinking into her shadow. Luna yelped in pain and reached for her head as she collapsed to the ground. As she began to scream, the entrance to the chamber closed with a loud thud, ensuring that any interference from her was cut off permanently.