Cold, dark and damp. That was what this place was. A tunnel of hard stone, without light or warmth, going on and on for what seemed like forever. It was in this place that a Changeling soon turned a corner, narrowing his eyes as he gestured to those behind him. Shortly afterwards, another followed, and another, then another, until finally, there were about a dozen of those creatures travelling together, heading through this cavernous place with a sense of purpose. At the rear, however, looking over his shoulder rather frequently, was a drone that seemed somewhat worried, as though somebody would come up behind them without warning. His nerves were as clear as day, even though day itself was a fairly foreign concept down here, and as such it wasn't long before he looked forward, to the head of the group, and broke the silence that had been hanging over them this whole time.
"Um...are we sure this is a good idea?"
The leader, who didn't even bother looking back, nodded grimly.
"It's our only choice. We're all that's left, so we either continue the plan, or we give up."
The smaller Changeling nodded.
"Yeah, but...if we couldn't succeed before, what makes you think..."
Here, the leader stopped, prompting the rest of the group to follow suit, and at long last, he turned to face the straggler, much to the latter's concern, before speaking.
"Our plan to capture that Twilight pony might have failed, but this time, we're all going in. The Lunar Kingdom is powerful. If we watch ourselves and infiltrate them well...we may just turn the tide against the Usurper, Thorax."
The mention of the new Changeling king caused disgusted hisses amongst many of the other drones, but the smaller one continued to look fearful and uncertain, much to his leader's irritation.
"It matters little whether you agree with this, because the fact is..."
He may well have continued to chastise his underling, if it wasn't for the fact that, to the surprise of all of them, the tunnel began to shake. Everyone there looked around, and found, to their shock, that some of the stones in the ceiling were coming loose, with their Commander's eyes widening as a result.
"CAVE IN!!! RUN!!!"
And run they did, charging forward as best they could to avoid the sudden fall of tonnes of rocks above them. Leaping forward, the Changelings to the rear-end of the group managed to avoid being crushed, and as the dust settled, the shaking too began to stop. Whatever had happened, the danger had passed, leading to the group looking behind them to see the effects of the devastation with open eyes. The way they'd just come had been sealed off, with no gaps in it whatsoever, creating an utterly impassable dead-end. Some in the group were worried, but their leader stepped towards the thing, placing a single limb upon it, and tried to push, to no avail.
"Ugh! Nope. We're not getting out that way."
He turned to the smaller Changeling who'd spoken earlier.
"Well...that settles it. We go ahead with the plan."
Though clearly unhappy, the smaller Changeling nodded in acknowledgement of that statement, leading to the Commander sighing and turning back towards the others.
"Alright, Changelings! Now we just need to..."
But he stopped, and his expression turned to confusion, then, slowly, to realisation. He looked ahead, in the direction they'd all been going, deeper into the tunnel, and before long, all the others did, even the smallest. At first, it just sounded as though there was the faintest bit of wind coming from that direction. But, over time, a new sound began to be mixed in with it. A sound familiar to all of them. Hooves. Pony hooves. The sound of somepony slowly walking towards them, their hooves echoing with every step they took on the stone ground beneath them. Realising this, the Commander narrowed his eyes, stepping forward, as did many of the others, all taking their positions and standing in silence, waiting for what was coming. As for the smaller, he remained where he was, beside the fallen rocks, but even he continued to watch and see just who, or what was drawing nearer. The steps continued, one after the other, until, for a time, there was nothing but silence.
And then they saw her.
A horn, out there in the darkness, began to ignite with bright blue magic, illuminating that part of the tunnel, and when it did, all Changelings saw who it was that had been approaching them. An alicorn mare, black of fur, clad in azure armour, with an ethereal blue mane flowing gracefully behind her. Her wings outstretched in a display of intimidation, Queen Moon said not a word as her dragon-like eyes narrowed at the sight of her foes beside the cave-in. Shock and fear gripped the Changelings, but the Commander, though filled with uncertainty, nevertheless gave the only command he could.
"KILL HER!!!"
And fire they did, as all of the Changelings, save for the smallest, ignited their own horns and began to rapidly fire bolts of green-coloured magic towards the Queen of the Lunars. But such a display soon proved pointless, as Moon herself appeared to be clad from head to hoof in some form of magic unknown to them, like an unholy combination of smoke and shadow. Whenever a blast hit her, it either dissipated or bounced off, hitting the nearby cave wall instead, sending sparks out as it collided with the stone. And it was in this moment that the alicorn began to continue her march forward, albeit slowly, as though she had no reason whatsoever to rush this. Bolt after bolt went for her, but nothing could penetrate her defence. Some blasts even bounced off her so much that they went all the way back to the very Changelings who'd fired them, with deadly results. Two had already fallen, and the sight of this prompted the smallest to start clawing at the cave-in in a display of fear and panic.
"SOMEBODY HELP US!!!"
But in his heart, he knew that no help was coming for him. Instead, all he could do was continue to claw at the stones before him as his comrades continued their fruitless attempts at attack. As for Queen Moon, her gaze would often drift from one Changeling to another, always without any concern over the barrage of magical blasts they were sending her way. Eventually, after getting close enough, she narrowed her gaze on the closest attacker who had not yet fallen, and her horn began to glow anew. Instantly, the Changeling in question was similarly engulfed in the blue hue of her spell, and before he knew it, he was sent flying, yanked from where he stood and colliding head-first with the hard stone of the cave wall, the sound of bone snapping echoing around them as a result. His body fell limp and, quite clearly, lifeless to the floor, his neck twisted in an unnatural manner, and the others, still watching, huddled together as they continued their attacked.
"KEEP FIRING!!!" the Commander bellowed.
But they all knew now that they were doomed, as the imposing alicorn continued to approach them. Moon herself, growing irritated with this display, apparently decided to be a bit more direct now, aiming her horn at another nearby Changeling and firing a single bolt of her own. The moment her attack hit, the Changeling let out a scream, but one he wasn't even able to finish, for after a brief flash of light, there was nothing left of him but a pile of ash upon the floor. Terror gripped them all now, and they continued to fall back further and further. But Moon had tolerated them enough now, and upped her own attack, shooting spell after spell, thinning their ranks faster than they could react. Eventually, there came a time when the Commander saw the last of his fellow attackers fall, and in this, he seethed, practically foaming at the mouth, and, in his most unwise move yet, charged her.
"DAMN YOOOOOUUUUU!!!"
But his bravado was pointless, as Moon, in a move similar to before, lifted him with her magic and, much like his earlier subordinate, sent him straight into the wall, smashing his head against it. He fell to the floor, limp and unmoving, and Moon knew from looking that his time was done. Now, all that was left was that smaller Changeling, still clawing away at the rocks in vain. He was panting now, and perhaps unaware that he was the last one left. But this ignorance did not last long, for as Moon approached him from behind, he stopped, slowly turning around, then looked up to see her staring down at him. The Changeling, to his horror, saw her horn begin to glow again, and his eyes widened, followed shortly by him cowering beside the rocks.
"No! Please!"
He heard the sound, the shot being fired, but, to his confusion, there was no pain. No searing, no sign of damage whatsoever. He patted his chest, expecting some gaping hole there where the Queen's magic had struck him. Instead, he found himself intact and unharmed. Slowly, his eyes drifted upwards, to the piercing eyes of the Queen once more, and saw that her horn had stopped slowing. He didn't know what had happened, but, realisation soon came to him. He turned, and saw, right there in the middle of the cave-in, a massive hole, still smoking from where it had been struck with her magic. It was just large enough for a Changeling to squeeze through, and when he saw this, he looked back to her, just in time to hear her speak in her commanding tone.
"Flee to King Thorax...surrender to him...follow his new ways..."
Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned closer, bringing her face barely an inch away from the lone Changeling's.
"...and never return to my kingdom."
The Changeling, though filled with disbelief, realised that this was his chance, his only chance. He nodded frantically, his speech replaced by panicked panting, and he soon spun around, scurrying towards the hole and, after some straining, managed to force his way through. Once on the other side, he changed a glance behind him, seeing Queen Moon continue to stare intently at him, sending a shiver down his spine. He wasn't going to risk lingering here any further, and so began to run as fast as his legs could carry him. Moon, for her part, watched him go until, finally, he was too far gone to be seen. Now alone in this dark place, a smirk crept onto her lips, and she let out a dry chuckle.
"Hmph...so ends the rebellion."
