Author's Note

The following is the opening chapter of a shared world collaboration by several authors. All stories in the series after this should be considered as being told in the classic bardic tradition of retelling stories.

As in, "This is the story of how it was in the beginning. As it was told to me by my Grandfather, who was there." We've decided to go this route because that allows us to tell stories in the same setting that differ by own personal views of how we think things should go. So, in one story, Rarity might die heroically saving Sweetie Belle. But in another, Rarity could survive, only terribly changed by her survival.

Discussion, ideas and concepts will be at a dedicated Equestria, Destroyed group here on FimFiction.

Other stories in this world:

Black Flash by Damaged

Shockwaves

Underneath Canterlot there is a vast labyrinth of caverns. Originally excavated by mining, the Crystal Caverns were huge. A vast shining expanse of caves, tunnels and ancient rail lines heading off in all directions. One of these caves, however, was no longer tenanted by the dust of millennia, spiders and long forgotten equipment. They held a small hive of changelings. Who, on this particular day, were playing host to their Queen. Chrysalis.

“How goes the hive so far, Rogue?” the changeling queen asked her guide.

“Well, my Queen. We have about 300 drones here so far and pods for 3 times that many,” proudly reported the drone.

“Excellent. I want that capacity doubled within a month.”

“Yes, your Majesty. That shouldn’t be a problem. Might I say that your idea to create an infiltration hive directly under Canterlot was nothing short of brilliant?” said Rogue, sucking up to his queen just a bit.

“Yes, I know it is. Plus, it only made sense to use these caverns again and being nearly a mile down means that somepony would have to be intentionally scrying for us in order to find this hive,” Chrysalis preened a bit at her own cleverness.

“Ahem, yes your Majesty. We currently have ten ponies in…” Rogue’s voice was cut off as a sudden rumbling filled the cavern. Bits of stone and debris fell from the roof of the cavern. Chrysalis and all the changelings were shaken about as the ground shook beneath and around them. What came a split second later however, was far, far worse.

A horrible crushing pain flowed over every changeling in the cavern. It drove them all from their hooves. Even Chrysalis herself was driven to her knees by the agony. A moment later she realized what it was. Something was happening up above. Something horrible. Ponies were being struck down in a vast wave. Dying in fear, terror and despair. For beings who lived on love there could scarce be a greater pain than to feel the death agonies of another. Particularly that of a species they were so linked to.

If what Chrysalis sensed was right, she was feeling the deaths of thousands and tens of thousands of ponies. She put up a shield, even as the rumbling died away. The emotional maelstrom cut off by the shield, her ‘lings began to recover.

“What...what was that, your Majesty?” Rogue asked. Several other changelings began to get to their hooves and cluster around their queen in shock and confusion.

“I’m not sure, but we are going to find out,” said Chrysalis, who raised her voice. “Any of you not completely busy with something come with me. And for the Egg’s sake close down your emotion sensing abilities.” Chrysalis turned and began to head for the surface with a little over two hundred of her children behind her. They have gone about three quarters of the way to the surface when another rumble began to shake the caverns.

“Everyling, hold on!” shouted Chrysalis, raising a shield about herself and her children as she did so. The ground shook again, but even harder than before. As the changelings cowered beneath their queen’s shield the ground beneath them seemed to leap upward. Once, twice and a third time. As if an angry titan was smiting the ground with an enormous hammer. All of them were thrown to the floor of the cavern and large chunks of the ceiling crashed down upon Chrysalis’ shield. The entire passageway around them began to give way. Only the shield kept the changelings alive and Chrysalis strained with every fiber of her being to hold it against the weight of tons of rock.

Then, suddenly the weight eased as rubble began to slide off the shield and light began to pour through the gaps.

“Light? But that’s impossible,” Chrysalis thought to herself. “We are still two or three hundred yards underground.” But there was indeed light and the changelings moved through the openings into the light. A light cast by a scene of utter devastation. Chrysalis and her children had emerged into a quiet Canterlot suburb. Or, what had been a quiet Canterlot suburb. Now, there was simply a large crater with remains of buildings scattered around.

Chrysalis flew up into the crisp autumn air. Some sense warned her that teleporting would be a bad idea. Besides, until she got a look around, where would she teleport to? As she and her followers rose from the crater she could see nothing but death and destruction all around. Not a single tree still stood, maybe one structure in twenty survived and everywhere, the bodies of ponies. Some burned, some broken, some horribly twisted by...suddenly she could taste it.

“No one use pony magic! No one! Use only your changeling powers, don’t shift into pony form FOR ANY REASON,” Chrysalis practically screamed at her children. Magic. It was tainted, twisted, poisoned. To even sense it, was like driving one's muzzle into raw sewage. Changeling magic seemed to be untouched thankfully. Whatever had been unleashed though had been magical in nature and it had tainted the natural flows of magic in the area. With that thought Chrysalis shot a glance to where Canterlot Castle still partially stood.

“All of you, fan out. Find any survivors you can and get them to the hive. Wait, you ten, come with me,” she ordered and her swarm moved to obey. Celestia was going to owe her for this.

As Chrysalis and her ten flew on toward the castle they could see several fires taking hold. There was no time to try to put them out. Once, they saw a small group of unicorns emerge from a cellar they had taken shelter in and start trying to channel water onto a fire. Within seconds all three were writhing on the ground, as whatever was in the ambient magic corrupted and poisoned the unicorns. Their bodies became horrifically twisted travesties of the equine form and all three died within a bare minute. One of her children actually became physically ill in mid-air. Retching even as it flew onwards.

Finally, the changelings landed in what had been the Royal Throne room. All four walls and the ceiling had been blown out. Bodies were stacked like firewood against the stubs of the walls and to Chrysalis’ horror the bodies of both Celestia and Luna lay at the foot of the thrones. Half of Luna’s body had been consumed by whatever power had wrought the havoc of this day. Celestia’s body was riddled by bits of debris that had been driven into her body like spears and a great gouge had been torn from one flank.

“Oh Celestia,” sighed Chrysalis, “what have you done? I always wanted you at my hooves, but not like this, my old foe. Not like this.” Suddenly, incredibly, Celestia coughed and opened a single eye.

“Chrysalis,” the broken alicorn whispered, “please...save my ponies. If you ever respected me, even once, please, save them. Save...her.” With that Celestia, Sol Invictus, Princess of the Sun, sighed and went limp. An immortal finally folded into death’s embrace.

Chrysalis just stared. No more Celestia, it was a dream. She looked around. It was a nightmare. She looked back down at the fallen monarchs and saw blood beginning to trickle out from beneath the alabaster alicorn.

“Wait,” Chrysalis thought, “dead ponies don’t bleed like that.” She lifted Celestia’s body and saw the body of Twilight Sparkle underneath.

“Save her,” Celestia had said. It was clear from the position of the bodies that Celestia and maybe Luna as well, had thrown themselves in front of Twilight in an attempt to save her from the explosion that had rocked the capital. She bent down to examine Twilight. Both wings were broken, as were both front legs. The compound fractures being the source of the blood. The alicorn’s face was also bruised and puffy, showing head trauma. It was clear that without intervention Twilight Sparkle would soon join the other Equestrian princesses in death.

“Right, you four,” she indicated the four changelings closest to her. “Get Sparkle here, down to the hive and into a pod as quickly as you can.” The pod would sustain Twilight’s life while she healed.

“Your Majesty,’ objected one of her children, “she is fading too quickly. She will never live to make it into a pod.”

“Damn,” muttered Chrysalis, “damn, damn, DAMN. All right, I didn’t want to do this but...” And with that, Chrysalis ignited her horn in green fire and poured the power of a Queen Changeling into Twilight Sparkle. “There,” she said when it was done, “That should sustain her life force until you can get her into a pod. Now go. Swiftly now!”

The four lifted Twilight in a litter made of their magic and flew as swiftly as they could for an entrance to their hive.

Chrysalis paused for a moment and looked around trying to put together the pieces. Luna, dead. Celestia, dead. The Royal Court, dead. Twilight, near death, Canterlot itself, almost completely wiped out. Equestrian magic twisted and tainted to the point it's use twisted and killed those who summoned it. What could have done this? Why had there been two blasts? More importantly, what was happening to the rest of Equestria and her other children.

"One thing at a time," Chrysalis thought as she took to the air. "First step is to secure Twilight and as many ponies as I can. Second, find out what in Tartarus happened and how far this destruction goes. The whole world has changed. It's a good thing we are Change-lings."