Assaulted

Luna paced in the center of the throne room, glancing over her body ever so often. Taking precautions ahead of time, Luna had chosen to don some light armour. Her shoes were now knee high, and were made of reinforced metal, a dark purple vest adorned with her cutie mark engraved in it, rested over her shoulders, back, and torso. Lastly, her crown was the same black one as she had always worn, but with the addition of a guard, that covered the front of her horn.

        How could this have happened?  There must have been some sign that she had been planning to attack.  Also, what had Chrysalis given Twilight?  Was it a mind control spell?  No, it’s more like she added a second consciousness to her body.  Perhaps…

Luna was snapped out of her train of thought, as the door to the throne room swung open.  Stopping her pacing, Luna looked over and saw three stallions coming up to her.  The stallions all adorned unusual armour.  The guards had on black vests that were half cloth, half metal, full leg guards, and dark blue helmets with the Equestrian symbol edged into the side.

“You called for us, Princess?”

“Yes.  Thank you for coming so fast.  First things first, as always, Captain, you are in charge of your squad.  Lieutenant, General, I’m positive that the Captain will fill you in on more details, considering he has been taking care of young Twilight, so I will only read you in with a overview.”

Luna used her magic to levitate a folder to each of them, who took it in their magic and opened it.  As all three of you are aware, Twilight Sparkle had gone missing.  She had eventually been found in the dungeons, with one of Celestia’s former students; Sunset Shimmer.  Both had been severely injured.  Upon investigation, we discovered that Queen Chrysalis of the changeling hive had kidnapped her, and infused her with dark magic.  The magic had meant to take over Twilight’s body, and control it.  We believe it was in order to kill those in close relations to her.”

“Unfortunately,  by the time we had managed to discover the truth, the dark magic took over Twilight again, and kidnapped Celestia.  A small group of us, managed to rescue Celestia and purge Twilight of the dark magic.  Now, this is where you three come in.”  Luna explained, noticing the quizzical stares that the three stallions were giving her.

“I am afraid that Chrysalis will try something again. I am sending you on a reconnaissance mission.  I want you to find the changeling hive, and locate Chrysalis.  Once you have located her, send a letter to me, and we’ll make a plan to strike then.  Do not, I repeat do not approach her without me.  She is smart and dangerous. You will leave the morning after tomorrow.”

As soon as Luna finished her explanation, the three guards stood up straight and saluted.

“Yes ma’am!”

“Is there anything we should know about her, Princess?”  The Captain asked, taking a step forward, slightly surprising the other two guards.

“How much do you guys know about changelings?”  Luna tilted her head slightly, taking turns looking all three of them in the eye.

“Not much, ma’am.  Only the little information we had collected from Princess Cadence after the wedding.”

Luna nodded her head in understanding.  “In all honesty, that is about all we know.  Changelings are capable of turning into anypony, and possibly inanimate objects.  They feed off of love, and become very...hostile when they try and feed off anger. I know it’s hard, but try to avoid either emotion around them.  If you should need any help with anything, come to myself directly.  Celestia is to have no involvement in this.  Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Then go.”  At Luna’s command, all three ran out of the room.

The had made it a couple steps down the hall, when the Commander stopped them.  “We will meet up in our old conference room in one hour.  I am going to search the library for any information about changelings.  General, I want you to search for any presence of Chrysalis on Twilight and Celestia.  If we can get something off of them, or their belongings, then we can use a scrying spell to locate her.  Lieutenant,  you’re in charge of accumulating our supplies.  Figure enough for a week, although I doubt it will take that long.”

“Yes sir.  Do you also want me to find maps, or would you get them from the library?”  The Lieutenant asked, while starting to write down a list of what they were going to need.

“I’ll get the maps.  Now go do what you need to.”  The Commander watched as they both left in opposite directions.

“Commander!” The stallion in question turned around, only to find Luna walking up towards him.

“Princess…” he gave a small salute, witch Luna quickly waved off.

“I need to talk to you. Where are you heading?”

“Library ma’am.”

“Allow me to walk with you.”  Luna tilted her head, and started walking down the hallways, and towards the library.  “Tomorrow, Sunset Shimmer and Celestia will be going to Ponyville for the day.  They are well enough, and I believe it would be good for them to get into another environment.  However, Twilight is in no condition to go.  I would like you to stay with her tomorrow, in case something were to happen.”

“Of course.  I thought it was strange that you gave us an advanced notice.  Normally it’s only around twelve hours, not thirty-six.”

Luna closed her eye,  visualizing some of their previous missions, and then Celestia, Sunset, and Twilight all lying in hospital beds.  “I suppose you want to try and find something in the library on changelings, that will aid in your mission.  I am surprised that you didn’t assign research duty to the Lieutenant.  He, after all, is the librarian.”

“Exactly, he is the librarian.  He is amazing at organization, which is why he is in charge of supplies.  He will get everything we need, and think of things that we would easily forget.”   Upon reaching the library door, the Commander used his magic to hold it open for Luna.  Luna quickly thanked him before going inside, with the Commander quickly following.

“After all these years, I suppose you three are similar to brothers to each other.  I have matters to tend to, but I wish to further discuss what will be needed with you. Care to meet me during dinner time in my study?  I will have food brought up to us.”

“Of course, Princess.”

With one final nod, Luna opened the door and left the library, leaving the Commander alone again.

“Alright, if I were a book about changelings, where would I be?”