The unicorn had been travelling for some time. She wasn't sure for how long exactly, but by the time she had stopped at the tiny cottage in the middle of the Everfree forest it was already morning. The winter snow fell quietly, blanketing the surrounding area in soft white snow.
Using her magic, the door swung open and quickly entered it. She knew that the ponies from the nearby village were looking for her and there was no telling whether or not she was safe. However, she had an important task to accomplish and she wouldn't let anypony get in her way.
Outside, the soft morning light flooded through the windows. The weather was almost too pleasant in spite of the dark history of these woods.
The unicorn opened her saddlebag and produced a quill, scroll and a small inkwell and set them down onto the nearby table. She wouldn't have long to write her letter, but it was necessary. She didn't want anypony to wonder what happened to her, should she suddenly go missing without a trace. There was no telling what performing the ritual would do, and even if she'd live to tell the story.
"Dear friends, if you find this and I haven't returned in 7 days then I'm either dead or something happened to me. I don't know what will happen to me, and quite frankly, I don't know if I'll even make it back to see all of you again. As you know, I'm being tracked by the authorities for possessing books on forbidden dark magic. I've gone to the Everfree forest to try and get help from the Forgotten One spoken of in the ancient texts. I don't have anything to lose, for sure if I'm caught they'll hang me! Goodbye friends, and farewell. " The slate blue unicorn looked down at the words on paper. This would certainly be the last Equestria would ever see of her. Not like anyone cared beside a select few. Picking up the scroll, she opened a nearby chest and stashed it inside, content she had done all she could.
Outside, a terrible sound could be heard. One the unicorn had heard before. It was the barking of dogs, the shout of voices. She never expected them to come this quickly but the ponies who had been chasing her had finally caught up. There were several loud knocks on the door as the unicorn scrambled to collect her things. The knocks grew louder and more intense as she released the latch on the window by the back of the cottage and slowly crept out, tumbling onto the soft snow.
"We know you're here, come out!" cried the voice from inside. The unicorn fled as fast as she could, running to a full gallop through the forest. The branches whipped at her face, drawing blood, but such little things would not stop her from accomplishing the ritual. Ahead, she could already see a small clearing with three tall stones. Behind her, she could sense the presence of the ponies who were chasing after her. Them and their pack of ravenous dogs who craved for her flesh.
With a renewed vigor, she went full speed, tripping on a rogue branch before sliding face first in front of the stone structure. In it's center was a rectangular stone slab with a small statue of a vaguely pony like figure with insect-like wings spread. On it's surface was an etching written in the ancient language used in Equestria by the Kingdom of Unicornia and to some extent, the Pegassi Dominion in the far North. It was well worn with age but the unicorn had no trouble deciphering what words were still visible: "I TAKETH AWAY."
"There she is!" a voice from behind her broke the unicorn from her thoughts. She span around to see at least 12 ponies armed with spears and torches. "You won't get away this time!"
The unicorn backed up as the ponies converged on her. Soon, she was up against the stone tomb with nowhere else to turn. Desperately, she used her magic to rummage through the saddlebag on her back, producing a small vial of green liquid.
"Look, she's holding something!" one of them cried. "Drop it!" Instead of complying, the unicorn dropped the vial, breaking it and allowing the green fluids to seep into the snow. One of the ponies quickly cast an anti-magic net over her, with another quickly seizing her by the legs.
"We got her now. Are we going to bring her back to Canterlot?" asked one of the many ponies gathered around the site.
"She's clearly up to no good! All of Equestria is endangered by her knowledge and possession of banned dark magic scrolls. No, must dispose of her!" cried a pony in a dark brown robe, who seemed to be the leader of the rest of the ponies. He had a worn look with a scruffy grey mane and off-white coat. "Before she causes any harm, we must act now. She must hang!" the pony raised his hoof in the air as the rest of the ponies around him nodded in agreement.
"Help me..." The unicorn whimpered as one of the ponies looped a rope around her neck, meaning to hang her from the branch of a nearby tree. She struggled under his weight but it was to as no avail as she was dragged very roughly along the snow, it's coldness biting into her sides.
"We must destroy her before she can..." there was a pause. The unicorn still had her face half immersed in snow and legs tangled in the anti-magic net. Around her, a frigid wind was blowing, causing her to shiver. Through her position, she could see the ponies around her had their attention toward something unseen behind her. She watched as their legs trembled and they started to move back. In the blink of an eye, all of the ponies had suddenly disappeared, leaving only their weapons behind.
The unicorn struggled to move, her facing beginning to grow numb in the snow. Just ahead of her, a tall shadow came into view, the likeness of it being akin to that of a tall and slender pony.
"W-who are you?" the unicorn tried to roll onto her back but to no avail. She struggled with the ropes, however, only pushing her face deeper into the snow.
"It was you who woke me, was it not?" the tall figure moved closer so that her hooves became visible. But they weren't ordinary hooves... they were charcoal black and perforated, akin to burnt wood.
"Y-you're the Forgotten One!"
"Forgotten once, yes, but not anymore. I am from the beginning. I was there when Celestia and Luna first drove back the hordes of wild beasts into the Everfree Forest. When she and the colt in the magic box turned the one called Discord into stone... I am as old as this land itself." The voice of the creature echoed through the quiet forest, sending birds flying off into many directions.
"And now you're here again... I... um, my name is Trixie. I woke you up with the Dark Elixir!" the blue unicorn said.
"Yes, most impressive..." the rope and net around Trixie erupted into a green flame, disintegrating them and finally freeing the unicorn. "What did you hope to accomplish by this feat?"
"I..." Trixie looked up to see the full form of the figure in front of her. The creature very much looked like one of the Princesses. She was tall, slender yet... she was different. She was black with a flowing dirty-blue mane which seemingly had the texture of swamp weed. Her piercing green eyes looked down at Trixie; a look of bemusement and fascination in her eyes. "Well you see... in November I lost my family and..."
"What makes you think I, Queen Chrysalis, would be concerned with your affairs! Why shouldn't I suck your precious force right now and make you my slave?" Chrysalis laughed as the pony below her squirmed.
"Well... I've been reading about you..."
"What does that matter? You know nothing of how I feel! I was a creation of the last of the Dark Wizards. They should have just killed me right there when they found me all those hundreds of years ago but no, apparently Celestia and her cronies wanted to use me as a sick experiment! They locked me up, treated me like an animal... and after all I had done to help them they repay me by putting me into the ground."
"Yes and... my family got killed for a crime they never committed... it's complicated this world but..."
"What and you think I'd care?"
"Because you're not the only one angry at Celestia and her... cronies. Just some raggedy ponies from a tiny little town near Canterlot... but I feel your pain." Trixie sighed, a tear falling from her eye as she remembered her family... remembered her humiliation at the hands of the Ponyville residents... "I can help you."
"Help me how?"
"You can get your revenge on Celestia and I can get mine on those who humiliated me! You see, over in Canterlot there will be a royal wedding in two days time. There will be so much more emotional energy there than anywhere else!"
"How could there, the ponies of Equestria are nothing but a bunch of self-loving, ignorant and cruel rats huddled together!"
"Things have changed in the last few thousand years... Celestia has done what she could to make sure the whole country doesn't go into turmoil... doesn't change the fact she still had my family killed... but you will help me, won't you?" Chrysalis thought about it for a moment. The thought of being able to get revenge was the sweetest one of all.
"Yes, I suppose I could help you then..."
"You will?" Trixie said, her eyes widening in excitement.
"Yes... it's quite commendable that you went as far as to recreate the Dark Elixir... I can't image what you did to make that..."
"Oh you have no idea... let's just say a considerable amount of ponies died but that's beside the point...here you are now! In front of me! Let me be your servant Queen Chrysalis. I-I'll do whatever you want..." The unicorn dropped to her knees before Chrysalis.
"Your deed will spawn a fate beyond your making."
"I don't know what that means for me and I don't really care. I don't have anything to live for anymore. My family gone and career as a travelling magician ruined by those pathetic ponies... what have I got to lose?"
"I see." Chrysalis smirked. Her long disfigured horn glowed bright green. Around her, hooves began clawing their way up from under the ground, revealing pony-like figures, similar to Chrysalis herself. They were also charcoal black, with the perforated hooves and insect like wings and horn. Their arctic blue eyes glowed as they began hover over their former burial ground. "These are the Changelings. Poor creatures... they used to ponies too you know... experiments just like me... the horrid doctors in the deepest parts of the Canterlot dungeon made them... injecting them with my magical blood just to see what would happen."
"That's... terrible!"
"It is, isn't it? And these aren't the only ones... there are thousands and thousands more underground. There are enough of these failed experiments under this burial mound to raise an army... hundreds of thousands..." Trixie began to weep. Weep for the poor souls and weep for the injustice that befell them. She wept because she was in want... in want of justice for herself, her family... the countless lost souls buried under the permanent blanket of snow in the Norhtern most part of the Everfree forest.
"Tell me Queen, what shall I do?"
"You will be my apprentice." Chrysalis said, placing a hoof on her forehead. "And you will lead them, and they will be your people, just as you will be my servant."
"R-really?" Trixied said.
"I've come to realize, little unicorn, you and I are very much alike. You, me, these creatures... we are lost, forgotten, abandoned. And by whom? The very pony who said she cares for her people and yet look at this! Look at what Celestia has allowed." Trixie gazed at the Changelings around her. Hovering like bees with their insect-like wings and body... and behind those unblinking blue eyes, Trixie could sense a sadness to them. Anger... hatred... a desire, a longing... They didn't deserve this.
"What will we do once we reach Canterlot?"
"Take by force what we've been denied... love! Love should be something anything creature great and small deserves... we look different and in their eyes we don't deserve love. But we will show them, oh yes, we will! We'll suck them dry off their love... the strongest emotion any living thing can."
"But how will I..."
"Yes, I know you've been wondering how you will be of use to us..." from behind her, a Changeling had jumped onto Trixie's back, pinning her down with it's weight. Before she could protest, the Changeling had began to regurgitate a neon green slime onto her. Within seconds, more Changelings had jumped onto her until the unicorn disappeared under a mound of writhing black bodies.
It had been that way for over 24 hours. The mound of Changelings had been unmovable from their position. Chrysalis meanwhile had been clearing parts of the forest into a flat area to organize the massive army of Changelings she was about to summon.
At about noon, when the sun was overhead at it's highest point, the Changeling horde has dispersed from atop Trixie, leaving only a cylindrical green cocoon made of what looked like opaque, green glass.
"Is she ready?" Chrysalis asked her underlings. The Changelings simply hissed and gestured toward the cocoon which Trixie had been sealed in. "Excellent."
In the background, more Changelings were emerging from the hallowed grounds of the burial mound. Hundreds upon hundreds began swarming out like ravenous ants.
"It's time to come out now." Chrysalis put a hoof through the cocoon, breaking the fragile layer of Changeling saliva and pulling out Trixie... or what used to be Trixie. "Now, you're properly suited for the task at hand."
The Trixie had turned from being a unicorn, into a Changeling herself. Everything about her that used to be a pony was gone, replaced with black flesh and glowing blue eyes.
"Trixie?" the former unicorn only replied with a snarling noise, and the gnashing of it's teeth. "You are their leader now. They will follow you." Chrysalis levitated a dark plated helmet from beneath the ground and placed it on Trixie's head. "This belonged to the old Captain of the Royal Guard. Unfortunate really... he had so many aspirations but he was framed for treason and used a a guinea pig for Celestia's twisted experiments." Trixie looked let out a low growl, signalling her approval.
Thousands of Changelings were now gathered onto the large flat area Chrysalis had created to accommodate all of them. The sound of their beating wings would have been unbearably loud for any normal creature to bear. Chrysalis took flight and rose above the masses, with her new apprentice with her.
"Today, we will ride South into Canterlot... we will take by force what we were entitled to, to begin with. We were all left to die... mere playthings in the eyes of the nobles of Canterlot and they think they can get away with their crimes? They've been living with blood on their hooves for hundreds of years until now. Today, we will get revenge on them!" Chrysalis shouted, the thousands of Changelings joined their Queen and new leader high above the Everfree forest. "Those who brought us to ruin will see our faces at last!"
"I don't know Princess, this is all we found at the cottage. Sir Colton and his team never came back, and we still don't know where Trixie is. She could still be out there for all we know."
"This isn't good... send a letter to Shining Armor immediately. He must be informed to get back here as quickly as possible. I know it's his wedding tomorrow and we wouldn't want anything bad to happen at such a fine ocassion."
"Yes your highness." the brown unicorn bowed before leaving the throne room. Celestia however, had other things in mind. The disappearance of Trixie with dark magic scrolls couldn't be good... a storm was brewing, she was sure of it.... she had a very bad feeling about the next day's wedding. She wasn't one to harbor such thought but she just couldn't shake the bad feelings.
"Your highness, we've sent the letter out already." Celestia sighed with relief when she heard those words. The least she could do was make sure the whole of Canterlot was secure from any form of threat.
"And what Cadance? Has she arrived yet?"
"Not yet. There was some trouble with a broken bridge so her carriage took a short cut through South Everfree and then through Whitetail Woods, through Ponyville and then here at Canterlot. If all goes according to plan, she should still make it in time for the wedding rehearsals early tomorrow morning.
"That's good." Celestia said, though still a bit tense. "I just hope she makes it here safely."
"And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight looked up from the note she was reading, wondering in why she had been sent such a sudden invitation to the wedding of somepony she didn't even know. "But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?"
"Oh, wait! Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first." Spike said, producing another letter.
"Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and.." Twilight gasped as she saw who it was that was getting married. "My brother?!"
"Let go of me!" Cadance struggled as she was forcibly dragged out from the carriage. "What is the meaning of this?
"Shhh..." the pink alicorn struggled against Chrysalis' magic as she was stuffed into the luggage compartment of the carriage. Already planning ahead, a few of the Changelings had made themselves into stallions to pull the carriage the rest of the way to Canterlot. "Well, that sure was easier than I thought." Chrysalis said, her figure transforming to match that of Cadance.
THIS DAY WILL BE PERFECT,
THE KIND OF DAY OF WHICH I'VE DREAMED SINCE I WAS SMALL.
WHEN I GET REVENGE ON CELESTIA, THE WORLD WILL SEE HER FALL.
EVERY STALLION, MARE AND FOAL,
FROM THEM I'LL TAKE BACK WHAT IS MINE!
THE END...
