Chosen

A bright light was shining painfully on Duskrider's eyes. He slowly opened his left eye. The light dimmed, but it was still too bright for him to make out any details. He sensed motion beside him, and the light vanished entirely, leaving only a spot on his vision. Weakly, Dusk rolled his head and opened his other eye.

He was in a grey room. Covered lights cast a very weak glow to everything. Motion caught his eye again, and he looked at a unicorn who was busying herself with various medical instruments on a table.

"Unng." Dusk grunted. She straightened, then went to the bedside.

"Hello, Mr. Duskrider. How you are feeling?" She asked cheerfully. Dusk noticed that a cup of water floated beside her, suspended by her magical aura. He motioned with his head. She nodded, and made Dusk's bed sit him up before putting the cup to his lips. He drank greedily, the water soaking into his dry tongue and dripping out the sides of his mouth. When he'd finished, the unicorn sat on a stool beside the bed.

"Now, Mr. Duskrider, I'm going to ask you a couple questions. I'm sure you have some of your own, and I'll answer any the best I can, so please. Ask away."

"Are you an angel?" Dusk rasped. A smile brightened her face, and she giggled.

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm Nurse Redheart."

"Where am I?"

"You are currently near Canterlot. We found you dangerously close to the Crystal Empire's territory." Her brow furrowed slightly. "That's what I wanted to ask you about. What happened to the two Resistance members that were sent to get you out?"

An image flashed in front of Duskrider's eyes. Two unicorns, arrows protruding at every angle, bathed in the eerie, unnatural light, and his parents standing on the wall, crossbows at the ready to shoot at him.

"They... they were shot. Both. Riddled with arrows, not moving." Dusk's head bowed.

What was left of Redheart's brittle smile shattered. A tear rolled down her face.

"Are... are you sure? Are you sure that they were... gone?"

"I couldn't check on them, I... I had to run. They were looking for me. But... there was no way." Dusk looked at the nurse. "I'm sorry." Movement caught his eye by the doorway, and Dusk saw an armoured soldier standing in the doorway. A spear was held aloft by his aura. The soldier cleared his throat.

"Nurse? A word?"
Nurse Redheart wiped at her eyes and stood. She flashed a small, sad smile at Dusk as she left the room. Dusk sat on the bed. His wings felt cramped, and he slowly stretched them out until they made light cracking sounds. He looked back at the door. The soldier was still there, a suspicious look in his eyes. Dusk gave a small smile, and leaned back. He didn't know how long he'd been laying there when a second soldier appeared.

"You. Get up." He grunted. Duskrider complied. "Follow me."
Dusk stayed behind the first soldier, while the second stayed behind him. After a few minutes of walking in the very dark facility, lit only by the auras of the soldiers, Dusk's eye adjusted and he realized that they were inside a cave. Stalactites hung from the gigantic ceiling, but the cave didn't seem like the caves Dusk had explored back in Harmony. Those had been very wet, the air at points heavy with humidity. This cave had none of that. As Duskrider pondered this, he nearly slammed into the soldier in front of him.

They'd stopped before a pair of heavy doors. A peephole slid open, and somepony looked looked out, framed by an extremely bright light. The soldier nodded, and the peephole slammed shut. A second later, the massive doors swung open. Dusk shielded his eyes against the glare, and was shoved forwards.
As his eyes adjusted, Dusk saw that the room was gigantic, and laid out like his room had been. A large bed sat on the far wall, surrounded by nurses and, Dusk noticed with a start, Changelings. They were swarming around the bed, offering food and drink to the individual in the bed, and generally helping out the nurses and doctors monitoring the equipment around the pony in the bed. Dusk noticed who it was with a start. Her mane wasn't flowing like it normally did, but there was no mistaking Princess Celestia. Dusk knelt as fast as possible, and he winced at the pain as his knee cracked against the floor. The soldiers followed suit, and they stayed down until Celestia cleared her throat.

"You may rise." Dusk stood painfully. "Mr. Duskrider? Please come closer." Dusk walked through the large room, feeling self-conscious as everypony in the room stared at him. He stopped next to the bed and stifled a gasp.

Princess Celestia, who'd always looked so confident and powerful, now looked fragile, as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

"Come now. I'm not going to bite." Her smile was thin. "Although she might." Dusk turned around. Behind him stood Queen Chrysalis. Startled, Dusk dropped to his knee again, wincing once more. Chrysalis laughed.

"My dear boy, there's no need! I'm not your queen after all." Dusk rose again, mentally kicking himself.

"Now, Mr. Duskrider, you must be wondering why you were... rescued from your town, and why two unicorns had to lose their lives." Celestia looked at Chrysalis. "Maybe you should explain, Chrys." Chrysalis nodded.

"As you know, Equestria is divided into three sections, our section being the smallest. We are constantly under threat of invasion by either Nightmare Moon or King Sombra... or both, Celestia forbid." Chrys smiled at the bedridden ruler. "Our force has slowly dwindled from what it once was. Not counting my Changelings, we had approximately three thousand effectives, ponies who were ready to fight on a moment's notice. Now, we're down to less than 900. In order for us to win, to SURVIVE, this fight, we need everypony we can get."

"But... why me? There are dozens of more capable ponies in Harmony. Why take me?" Dusk was confused.

"Because of your connection with Princess Luna." Celestia said. "We've tried everything we could think of to get her back, to get rid of Nightmare Moon. I attempted to command the Elements of Harmony, but I could not. After the Princess of Friendship vanished, the other Element bearers fled. Then we tried a takeover, but we were repelled. We're grasping at hay right now." Celestia's voice trailed off. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm just... tired all the time, it seems." Chrysalis looked at her worriedly.

"Rest. I'll explain what he needs to do." She placed her hoof gently on Celestia's shoulder before leading Dusk into another room. The new room was dark, but by the way Dusk's hoovefalls echoed, it was gigantic. He also heard strange clicking and fluttering noises.

"Okay." Chrysalis stopped walking. "We want you to bring Princess Luna back. Celestia mentioned the connection between the two of you, and your parents."

"That didn't stop her from taking them." Dusk said bitterly.

"That, or she took them because of it. Nightmare Moon isn't stupid, you know. She might know that you're a threat to her."

"But... how would I be a threat?"
Chrysalis sighed.

"The last time Luna saw you, you were a mere colt. If you could do something to remind of that time, where she was happy, that might just be enough for her to snap out of it."

"So... you want me to sneak into Nightmare Moon's territory alone, get close to her, and act like a baby again?" Chrysalis shook her head.

"You're not going alone."
Lights flashed on inside the room, and Duskrider found himself face to face with a hundred Changelings.

"These are my loyal subjects. They've been gifted with supreme intelligence, and will follow every order you give them. For this task, you will need two."
Dusk looked down the line and noticed one Changeling nudging the one next to him. The other turned and shoved back.

"What about those two?" He asked, his words echoing in the vast room. The pair looked guiltily at Chrysalis. She shook her head and sighed again.

"Those two are... special. They aren't disobedient, but they can be... rambunctious. Reckless. Perhaps another pair will suffice?"

"If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need somepony who can go off book and be able to do their own thing." Dusk's voice was filled with confidence he didn't really feel. Being selected by Princess Celestia gave him a head-rush, but he was still very confused and there was a nagging feeling of self-doubt. Things were moving far too quickly for his liking.
The two Changelings stepped forwards.

"What are their names?" Dusk asked Chrysalis. To his surprise, one of the Changelings answered him in a perfect imitation of his voice.

"Our names are of no importance. Equestrians cannot hope to copy our speech patterns." Dave shrugged.

"I might be able to." The Changeling hung it's head.

"Alright. I am-" His mimic was replaced by a series of hisses and clicks, within which Dusk immediately got lost. "And my companion's name is-"

"Okay, okay. I still have no idea what to call you. Uh..." Dusk pointed at the Changeling that spoke. "How about you be 'Dave'." The Changeling nodded, apparently pleased with the name. Duskrider turned his attention to the other. "And you be 'Tom'." The second Changeling nodded vigorously, then they both transformed into Duskrider. He was taken aback.

"You three are all set, then." Chrysalis said.

"Not just yet." Dusk looked at the two closely. "I can't tell who's who."
Chrysalis clicked and hissed at the pair. One turned into an almost negative image of Dusk, his mane and coat colours swapped. The other merely changed his coat.

"I'm Dave." The now blue Changeling said.

"And I'm Tom." The other said, for some reason adopting an English accent.

"Okay. There's a difference now." Dusk looked at Chrysalis. "I'll need some other supplies."

"Whatever you need will be gathered." Chrysalis said. "What is it you require?"

"Well... three sets of armour, two swords, as long as my sword hasn't been lost." Chrys shook her head no. "Good, and... food and water, uh..."

"Books? Comics?" Chrysalis asked. Dusk saw Tom nod vigorously.

"Sure." He closed his eyes for a second. "I think that's it."

"It will take a day to gather the supplies. You can stay in the hotel we have here." Chrysalis said, then turned to the two Changelings. "I want you two to stay with him. Get to know him. He'll be relying on you, and you'll be relying on him. Understand?" Both Dave and Tom nodded.

"Okay." Dusk grinned. "Less than a week from now, we get Princess Luna back!"

Author's Note

Holy crap this was overdue! Sorry about the huge gap in chapters, everyone. I posted the first chapter just as I came up to exams in school.

Hopefully the next chapter is coming soon.