The Reign of a Queen

It had been a long day for Rainbow Dash. Her flank was hurting more than ever, no thanks to the rogue changling that atacked her. She landed near the edge of Canterlot, and listened out for the cheers from many changlings, letting her know that Luna was now dead.

A group of fillies, mainly Earth ponies, were cowering in the corner near where Rainbow Dash had landed. After considering leaving them in case of an ambush while she slept, she trotted over to them, and applied some cream to show them she was really who she was. Some cream from her last bottle. She then proceded to apply the same cream onto the fillies, comferming that they were actually ponies. The fillies were no longer shaking, as they knew Rainbow Dash from the many tales, explaining her deeds. In light of all the events in place, the cyan pegasus was like a beacon of hope for all Equestria.

Yet Rainbow Dash felt glum in all of this. Being this far away from Ponyville meant being this far away from Fluttershy. Before the attacks, they were living quite happily in the cottage near the Everfree forest. Their time in flight camp made them great friends, and eventualy found they liked each other. Rainbow Dash missed waking up to the smell of the allotment Fluttershy kept, and the lovely muffins that she baked. Becides Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy's muffins were generally the best.

While it was hard, Rainbow Dash finally found sleep.

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A dim light luminated in the room. Stenches of blood and decay could be smelt from the moment anypony entered the room. And at the back, tied up to the wall, was Rainbow Dash. Weak from constant torture, as changling after changling tried to get information out of her. Many cuts and gashes covered the one cyan pegasus, now a red-blue mix. Her mane remained as messy as ever, but instead of being rainbow-coloured, it was purely red from blood.

Thoughts were in the pegasus' mind. Thoughts of escape. But then what? Her right wing was broken, although it had been healing by itself quite fine. If, by some miracle, Rainbow Dash did escape, there was the task of getting help. Help that didn't exist anymore. Not to her, at least.

Then, a hooded figure came into the room. Rainbow Dash was used to this: many changlings would be cloaked to try to confuse the pegasus, but this one was diferent. A green glow came from where the horn would be, a sign for Rainbow Dash to get ready for whatever this changling had in store. However, no pain came. Instead, the magic was used to remove the bounds that kept the pegasus to the wall. Then, the magic changed. Rainbow Dash felt her wings heal to full strength, something that felt unusual given the past state of them.

"You better leave, before Chrysalis comes!" The voice was low, quite hoarse, but sounded nothing like anypony Rainbow Dash knew. As the pegasus went to leave, she felt a sharp pain where her cutie mark was. Chrysalis had just appeared in the doorway, and attemped to take Rainbow Dash out. She was met by a blast of green light from the hooded figure. A blast that uncovered the hood. A changling was under the hood, which wasn't what Rainbow Dash was expecting. Grounded by the magic Queen Chrysalis posessed, Rainbow Dash was unable to move. At least two of her legs had broken from the impact, and there nothing she could do...

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"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Rainbow Dash woke with a start. It had been a while since she had that nightmare. Looking around, the pegasus saw she was still where she was before her slumber, which worried her a bit. What worried her more was the nightmare.

The nightmare was a constant reminder of when she, Rainbow Dash, was captured. it was drove her to help everypony, not just the ones in Ponyville. It allowed her to become the beacon of hope she had now become. If it wasn't for that changling, if it was a changling. The thought of a pony disguised as a changling made a cold feeling rush around her, making her wonder how many ponies she had killed that was disguised as a changling.

"A...are you alright?" One of the fillies Rainbow Dash had met hours ago had come up next to her. Rainbow Dash could tell that the filly meant well.

"Yeah. Just a nightmare. That's all," Rainbow Dash told the filly. While she told her companion about the nightmare, it only frightened the filly more. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash quickly changed the subject, and began to comfort the filly. One thing was wrong: the cream was no longer on the filly's face. Rainbow Dash knew this could've been a changling, so reached for the cream. One touch of the cream transformed the filly into the one thing Rainbow Dash feared. A changling. Rainbow Dash reacted by kicking the changling, eventually breaking its skull. The pegasus, breathing heavily from the fight, took off. The changling left as a warning for anypony or changling not to mess with her.