The air was still inside the brightly lit room. A lone figure stood in the center, her black scales shining brightly in the light, levitating her blades before her as she took deep controlled breaths. Focusing on her targets, she moved quickly, slashing through each one in turn and counting them she went.
“One, two… three and four.” she pivoted and ran in the other direction “Five, six, seven… eight, nine.” she cut through the rest.
Her pulse elevating, she spied the last one. Leaping towards it, she plunged her blades deep into it and cleaved it into pieces as she landed. Breathing hard she sheathed her weapons and looked over her work.
“These won’t be hurting anyone anymore.” the changeling said to herself “And slain in record time no less.”
The sound of somepony clapping distracted her. Turning to her right, she found the source; another changeling that had been her close friend for as long as she could remember.
“Impressive as always, Galendra.” the other changeling said with a smile as she walked over “You’re mannequin killing skills are remarkable.”
Galendra chuckled at her friend’s joke. “Well until I can get past these walls and out into the field, this is all I have to prepare myself.”
“I still can’t believe you signed up to scout the outer wastes, you know how dangerous it is out there. I don’t want you to get hurt.” the other changeling put a hoof over her friend, pulling her into a hug.
“I know, but I’ve got to go out there, to make Drakmord safe for the rest of us. Anything is better than sitting around doing nothing like the council wants us to do.” Galendra sneered as she mentioned the council; a bunch of stuck up elders stuck in their ancient ways. “I’m just glad they’re on good terms with the Silver Light again.”
“You and me both. So you ready to get some food?”
Galendra had spent the last few hours training, and had lost track of how hungry she was, until now. Noticing the empty feeling in her gut, she happily accepted.
“Sure thing, lead the way Cadenza.”
The two sat together in the crowded common area. Other changelings had gathered there as well and were chatting or swapping information as they ate.
The food in question was a type of glowing fruit that they cultivated near the sulfuric vents below the surface. It could sate their hunger, but was dull and quite tasteless. However, with the lack of ponies, griffons, or any other sentient life on Drakmord to feed off of, it was one of the few things they could eat to survive. This was how it had been ever since the Sundering; the event which split their world away from Equus.
“So how have you been?” Galendra asked as she bit into the fruit, its fluorescent contents flowing into her mouth.
“I’ve been really great.” Cadenza answered happily “I’ve finally been allowed to look into that other world, to study it. Galendra, it’s amazing!”
“Really, what’s it like?” Galendra asked as she licked her fangs clean.
“Oh I don’t even know where to begin.” Cadenza got that look in her eyes she got when she was excited “There’s so much color, there’s mountains and trees and oceans. And the sky Galendra, it’s not empty like ours, it’s full of little lights and then it gets all bright and blue!”
“Wow, that really does sound amazing.” Galendra said as she tried her best to imagine the world her friend had seen.
“But that’s not even the best part. You know the old stories they told us about the races that live on that world?” Cadenza asked, barely containing herself.
Galendra frowned. “Yeah, the ones that wouldn’t help us when we were turned into monsters, and split their world in two just trying to destroy us and-
“No no no no, forget all of that! These ponies are so different from the stories; they’re not evil at all.” Galendra raised her brow as her friend continued “They’re so full of love and happiness, I just want to go talk to them and give them hugs and-”
Cadenza stopped when she noticed the look Galendra was giving her.
“Oh, just come with me the next time I look through the shards. You’ll believe me when you see for yourself.” she said, slightly irritated by her Galendra’s skepticism.
Galendra stood back as Cadenza aligned the crystal shards of the large metal device. Ever since Drakmord and Equus were turned into separate worlds, these massive arrays were originally constructed in order to be portals between the two. But so far, anything sent through had been vaporized as it made the trip. And so, the arrays were used for viewing Equus as if through a lens until their mages could figure out how to get it functioning properly.
Normally, this sort of dangerous equipment would be off limits to anyone but officers, mages, researchers and the such. But with Cadenza being an initiate into the Order of the Silver Light, and Galendra a squad leader in the Crimson Alliance sentinels, they managed to talk their way in without too much difficulty.
The device hummed to life as the crystals lit up, filling the room with a soft blue light. Soon the energy followed the conductors and manifested in the center of the room, spreading out into a water-like texture that shimmered as the image of Equestria appeared.
“Do you see it?” Cadenza asked as she stepped next to Galendra to view the world with her.
Galendra gazed with wonder at the lands that flickered before her. The hills painted purple in the dark, while small fires glowed in the center of the towns that dotted the surface of the plains. But the night sky was what amazed her the most. Instead of an endless black void obscured by dense clouds like theirs, it was a wondrous festival of lights, like pinpricks of white paint on a dark blue tapestry. The centerpiece, a great white orb that hung high in the sky, casting its cool aura over all it looked over.
“It’s beautiful.” Galendra whispered as she took in the sights.
“Just wait, this is the best part.” Cadenza told her, absolutely giddy with anticipation and excitement.
As the two continued to watch, the moon slowly sunk down below the horizon. In its place rose another sphere, this one much brighter, the light it gave off much more intense. Galendra shielded her eyes for a moment before they had time to adjust. The scene that greeted her was more amazing than the last.
Suddenly she could see all the little details of the world that had previously been hidden under the cover of night. The forests of trees swayed in the early morning breeze, the mountains revealed their snow-covered peaks, and the wide open fields shone green and gold and brown as the sun’s rays hit them.
But what intrigued them the most were the towns that had previously been silent. The ponies were now awake, beginning their daily routine, and within minutes the villages were alive with movement and sound. Galendra stared in awe at all the little ponies moving around, the things they did seemed so similar, yet familiar somehow.
Cadenza stifled a laugh beside her. “See, what did I tell you; it’s amazing isn’t it? I’ve been studying them for the last few weeks. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve learned about them.”
And so for the rest of the day, they sat there together. Cadenza would explain everything they looked at, adjusting the dials on the array to view different parts of the world. Even after being shown all the amazing things like how they used magic, how they controlled the weather, how they considered pies to be lethal weapons, Galendra still had one thing that boggled her mind the most; how these ponies were ever the heartless monsters that hunted them down so many centuries ago. It didn’t seem possible, yet everyone allied under Crimson knew it to be true. So much had changed.
“Cadenza, I have to thank you for showing me this.” she said as they closed down the array “I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself; there’s so much to take in.”
“Of course, I knew you’d like it.”
“It’s certainly given me a lot to think about.”
“You’re telling me, I need to take notes on it all the time.” Cadenza said with a smile.
The two of them shared a laugh as they made to exit the room.
“Hey Galendra,” Cadenza stopped as they reached the door “do you ever think we’ll be able to go there?
“I don’t know.” Galendra told her “But if we do, I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Galendra pulled her into a hug as they walked out together.
Several decades later, Galendra frantically readied her gear as she stood before the array, now a full functioning portal. Currently it was focused on Canterlot as a swarm of changelings from the Dominion of Shadow’s grasp shattered the barrier protecting it.
Tears of frustration ran down her face as she watched the city get overrun, her dearest friend and her husband-to-be in the center of it all. Right now Galendra wished that she had kept her promise to go to Equesria with her, to be there now to help. But all she could do was watch the city get overrun as the teleportation matrix powered up.
She had already sent for the Crimson Spec-ops, her elite soldiers, to prepare for battle and meet her here. They were going to break about five dozen regulations about inter-world travel and proper conduct for contact situations, and blah blah blah. But Galendra didn’t care and neither did they, she had hoof picked them and trained them all herself; they were loyal to her above all others, they wanted what she wanted. And right now, all Galenra wanted was to get there as soon as possible, so that they could repel the invasion, or liberate the city, or make a dent in the Dominion forces at the very least.
She watched as a group of ponies plowed their way through the changelings, desperately trying to reach a building on the far side of the city. She recognized them as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony; the closest thing those ponies had to a super weapon. But the while the Dominion forces crumbled before them, there were still far too many to defeat alone. Soon they were too exhausted to fight any longer, and captured like the rest.
Gelendra held her swords tighter in her telekinetic grasp, her muscles repeatedly tensing as the minutes passed. She silently condemned the blasted array to the Void for taking so long to charge. She cursed at the Dominion for attacking her friend. She threw mental profanities at the council for all of their stupid rules. But most of all, she hated herself for not following through on her promise, and for not being there when she was needed most, for not being there so many times in the past.
But then something extraordinary happened. Seemingly out of nowhere, a new shield radiated from the palace, sweeping through the streets of the city and scattering the Dominion forces to the winds.
Galendra sent the message to her Spec-ops that the invasion had been repelled, and down below, several dozen changelings groaned in annoyance as they put their equipment away again.
The city was saved, the threat had been defeated without so much as a single casualty, and most importantly to her, Cadenza, her husband Shining Armor, and everyone else was safe. But while this should have been a moment of triumph and relief, it was instead a moment of guilt for Galendra. She hadn’t been there, she hadn’t even known about the invasion until it began, and because of that, things could have ended so much worse.
“Next time.” Galendra said as she shut down the portal “Next time I’ll be there. I’ll be there for you like I always should have.
“I promise… and this time I’ll keep it.”
Author's Note
Oh yeah... Cadance is a changeling in my head-canon. Go figure.
