Silence reigned between the two sisters. One too shocked to speak, the other showing nothing as she silently watched the emotions shoot through her sister’s face.

“Luna how-“before Celestia could finish her question, the formerly banished ruler interrupted with a question of her own.

“Tell me, dear sister” began the ruler of the night, and Celestia barely suppressed a shudder at the lack of any tone in her voice “do you remember Blazing Dawn?” The question brought the solar queen short. The mare frowned in confusion.

“w-what? What doe-”

“Answer. The question. Sister” this time, Celestia couldn’t suppress the flinch at the dark undertone in Luna’s flat voice. Concentrating, the alabaster alicorn shifted through her memories, at first struggling to give the name a face, but eventually managing to find the correct memories. She an orange earth pony, his mane red like rubies, his coat orange like the dawn, clad in ebony armor, marching at the front of a tide of black, right by her sister. Celestia looked at her sister, brow creased.

“He was the captain of the night guard at the time” she answered, receiving a nod from Luna.

“Indeed, but not only that, Blazing was my personal bodyguard, one of my most loyal friends” her cyan eyes briefly lighting up while she talked about him, before they dimmed again and she lowered minutely. “For a time, he was more than just a friend” she finished, earning yet another flinch. The solar alicorn felt her ears fold against her skull, and her eyes widened in horror and she felt her heart drop to her hooves.

“No…” whispered the sun goddess, faintly shaking her head in sheer horror.

Luna favored her with a slight upturn of her lips, there was no warmth or mirth. A lone tear slipped down her cheeks, freezing before it could hit the ground as the temperature in the room dropped sharply and frost creeped on the ruined throne room “Congratulations, sister” she said, rising from her seat for the first time since their reunion. Her coat darkening to a dreadful pitch black. Her eyes becoming cat-like slits, and her teeth sharpening and becoming fang-like “you’re a kinslayer”.

The castle was engulfed in ice and darkness.

(shortly after Spike’s meeting with the captain)

Spike felt restless, which was understandable; the captain had decided to call an emergency meeting in the town center to inform the civilians of the cancelation of the celebrations. Needless to say, the townsfolk weren’t taking it very well.

“You can’t do that!”

“this is an outrage!”

“we refuse!”

the protests went on and on, the captain stared at the crowd with an incredulous grimace, a vein beginning to throb in his neck. Spike could practically see his patience snapping as he finally got fed up with their collective stupidity.

“SHUT UP!” he roared. He was actually almost as loud as Celestia’s royal ‘I’m done putting up with your shit’ voice! Spike grunted, shaking his head to try and get rid of the ringing, like most of the ponies present in the town center. After the ponies managed to recover their bearings, they looked up at the Captain, and flinched upon seeing the fierce glare he was casting their way.

“There are lives on the line!” the stallion slammed a hoof against the ground, the loud impact producing another collective flinch “this is not up for discussion! The curfew will be enacted and enforced if necessary!” Silence reigned for a good while, no pony had the courage to try and question the captain. Snorting, the stallion addressed the crowd one final time “that is all, the guard will be making rounds to make sure everyone is in their homes, good day” and turned around, walking away from the podium and ignoring the indignant calls from the gathered citizens.

Grinning, Spike moved to follow the stallion “good to see there’s some steel in those old bones of yours” he taunted good naturedly, earning a dry look from the captain.

“I aint that old, ya brat” he grunted, marching along towards the train station “so, who did you call?” he asked, glancing curiously at the young dragon.

“A couple of shield squads, a team of war mages, a squad of rangers and a friend of mine, she’s a fellow berserker” thinking for bit, Spike made a mental count “all in all, twenty-five units”

Humming in thought, the older stallion nodded and frowned in thought “better than nothing. At least we’ll slow the Princess down for a couple seconds if the worst comes to pass” he grunted, looking grimly determined. A sentiment Spike shared as he looked up, watching the sun beginning to set.

(at the same as Spike and Twilight's arrival to poniville)

You were running out of space.

The expansions had taken more room than what you expected, with the addition of drones and structure, the resource processing system alone had taken up most of the chamber you had first claimed, which forced you to expand further along your side of the caverns, fortunately your drones were remarkably quick in carving out a second chamber to house a bastardized version of a spawning pool you managed to cobble together using a mixture of changeling and vegetal essence.

It was during this process that you stumbled into a nasty realization; while you had the knowledge of how to produce units and structures from the games, you didn’t have vespene gas, at all.

This, while not a complete calamity, was still quite a problem. Vespene was crucial in the creation and maintenance of many zerg organisms, be it as part of their nourishment, or because of the various reactions to different elements and minerals, which in turn meant not hydralisks, no mutalisks, weaker Ultralists, no swarm hosts, no nydus worms, more sluggish roaches, no scourges, no queens, no brood lords, weaker vipers, etc. The list went on and on, “troubling, swarm dependence on vespene gas, glaring weakness, must find solution, swarm will adapt”.

Luckily, there were a few possible avenues you could research, hopefully something would come from them.

Research options (choose two)

[] Changeling biology (will require volunteers, Chrysalis would be more than a bit reluctant without assurance that no harm will come to them)

[] Pony biology (will require test subjects, the changelings may have a few cocooned)

[] Magic (the stuff practically saturates the air, but it’s more than a bit tricky) h̷̨̛͚̪͉̩͒͋͒͆̀̀̐͊̀̐̊̾̄̅̽̊̂̆̔͋̄͝͠͠e̶̼̫̟̣̞̜̭̗̘͍̹͉̰̦̳͖̰̲͇͌͛̉͘ḩ̶̻̥̙̰̘̭̯̥̮͓͕̲̣̲͙͈̩̹̱̫̾͑̒̆̊͒̾̓̂̽̀̈́͑̄͘͠͝͠e̶̤͕͇̘̖͉̻̱̻͂̍͆̌͑̍̋̕ͅͅh̵̯̪̝͌ê̸̢̢͉͖͎͍͖̬̩̠̲͖͚̟̗̜̬̰͈͎̠̼̲̦̖̍̄̀̐̐̈͐͆̈́̍̕͝~̵̡̛̙̜̗̝̲͕̩͔̳̠̌͌̏̽̽́͑͗̑̂̽̀̊̆̈́̐͛͒͛̓̍͝ͅ ̶̨͉̫̘̩̼̹̼̏͛̋̈́͝o̸̡̨̡̺̩̩͓̜̼̠̭͂̈́̈́͛̌́͆̈́̀̈́͊̋͑͌̎̑͒̕͝͝͝h̶͈͉̰͓̪̲̩̿̉̈́̑͗̉̃̚͠ ̶̡̢̭͍̖̗̭̘̻̇͒̏̓͂̆͑͂̆͘̚͘t̷̗̟͖̭͈͉̝̤̪̜̹̩̞̳̣̗̜͍̟̎̀͑͝ͅh̷̘̠̘̠̔͂̆̔́͊̈̕͝͝͝ę̴̡̛̳͕̰̻͉̹̟̤̝̹̠̖̫̲̏͂̈́͑̿͐͂͌͊͛͛̓͛͒̀̑̎̇̾̋̕͜͠ ̶̧̠̳̳̣̣͔͉̲̪͕̳̤̑̊̐̀̿́̅́̊̈́̑̍̕͝͝f̶͔̙̮̟̮̮̙̮͆̓͐̆̇́̈́͑̇̃̋̕͝͝ȕ̷͎͚͕̏̊̌͌̏̂̃͜n̴̡̢̨̢̡͉̞͚̱̰̫͖̬̖̳͉̘̥̱̰̺̣̆̀̄͒͌̏̉̔̅̈́̔ ̵̢̩̖̤̦̳̠͉̳̦̫̤̩̥̟͉̼̹͚̬̞̪̗́̔͌̈́̓̈́̀̊́̏̆͌̋̇̚̕͠͝͝͝͝ẁ̸̡̳̺͍̫̹̥̖̠̤̥͓̥̍͜e̶̡̱͎̘͕̫̝̮̲͛̅̄͐́̐̌͊͆́̐̓̈͌̋̐̒̀̈́͠͝ ̸̡̢̪͈̮͓̼̯̲͇̻͉͎̗͕͓͚͍̟̥̤̩̅̓̈́͜͝ͅw̸̨̨̢̛̤͉͙̰̙̗̜̱̜̭̖̣̜͕̭̗̞̙͍͚͌̑̎̀͛͛̈́͛̂̆̆̒̀̇̈́͆̊͋́ͅi̶̧̢̩̬̝̮̰̺͙̹͈̲̠͙̿̉́͆̿͝l̴̺̫̝͒̒̈ļ̷̨̨̪̥͉̖̳͖͙̱͎̳͇̑̌̓̓̄̐̄̉͜ͅ ̷̨̌̂̇͒̑̎̏̀̓̄̌́̾̆́̈́̅͑͑̚̕͠ḩ̴̧̨̥̻̥̹̝̺͎̼͙̯̘̻̬̬̘̰̲̗͋̾͊̋̐̈́̄̈́͆͆̾͗͐̑̉̅́̀͛̈͐̿̂͝͝ͅą̶̢̨̘͖͔͙̱̪͎̗͚̻̞̤̝̣̟́̋̓̀̈̿̇̅̄̆̊̔͒͋͒͘̕͜͠͝͠ͅͅṿ̶̡̲̪̜̑̂̿̇̌̿̑̍̐̌̋͌̀̔́̄̇̉̅̍͠͠ę̵̙̤̼͔͙̗͎̲̖̫̝̖͇̱͔̰͙̬̻̦̹̠̆͑͑̌̏͜~̸̧̭̻̘̲͖͔̖̉̈́

[] The Everfree (there is… something… out there, you can feel it calling to you every time your zerglings went out to hunt)

However, before you could begin preparations, a couple of your zerglings saw a changeling skitter into your part of the tunnels, she seemed unused by the changes still, stumbling and tripping over the extra pair of limbs every now and then, but overall making good speed towards you. Deciding to see what was happening, you slithered out of the second chamber to wait for the changeling to arrive.

“Sir Abathur! Sir Abathur!” she called, rounding a corner and almost stumbling as she saw you already waiting “gah!” scratch that, she did stumble, yelping as she tripped and faceplanted into the thick blanket of creep covering the cavern’s ground “Hr Hmbhth! Puah!” recovering quickly, the little changeling hopped to her claws, swallowing the lump of creep in her maw before looking at you again “the Queen calls! Urgent news! Come! Come! Quick!” she yelped again, turning around and skittering away.

Seeing no other option, you moved to follow, slithering as quickly as your legless form allowed ‘note to self, grow some legs sometime soon’ you mentally grumbled.

It took you a good half an hour to reach the chamber Chrysalis was currently using as throne room, having had to use a zergling as a mount due to the lack of significant creep presence within the new changeling hive. It was interesting, they had built resin channels for the creep to extend through while they covered the tunnels with even more resin.

“Queen Chrysalis” you said in lieu of greeting, bowing slightly from your position on your improvised mount.

“Sir Abathur” the changeling Queen gave her own nod, smiling slightly for a second before schooling her features “tell me, do you know og the godly sisters of Equestria?” she asked.

“Know Celestia, sister unknown” was your answer.

Nodding, Chrysalis closed her eyes and adopted a lecturing pose, back straight and claw raised “long ago, two sisters ruled Equestria, Celestia, the Queen of the day, and her younger sister, Luna Queen of the night” getting up, Chrysalis ignited her horn, enveloping the chamber illusory shadow puppets.

“Celestia was loved, celebrated, worshiped even” The puppets shifted and twisted, showing an alicorn in a high throne, many ponies of the three tribes bowing to her, dancing and seemingly showering prize on the smiling ruler, while the throne’s shadow stretched over a second, dejected looking alicorn “while Luna was forgotten and ignored…” the scene changed, showing the younger alicorn trying to approach a group of ponies, only for them to lower their heads, ears pinned against their heads as they retreated “…and sometimes even feared”.

Silently, you noted a small tinge of sympathy in Chrysalis’ voice ‘makes sense, who better to understand an outcast than another?’

“so sad and so lonely was the queen of the night, that she came to a decision” the scene shifted again, showing the dejected puppet suddenly straightening, slamming a hoof on the ground and seeming to spite something something at a distant and ignorant Celestia and her adoring subjects, and Chrysalis’ adopted a grave tone “if the ponies she fought and bled to protect would so easily forsake her night, then her night would forsake them in kind”.

Once more, the scene shifted, showing ponies tossing and turning in their beds, their sleep haunted by endless nightmares. Others cowered, unable to sleep as unearthly beasts prowled just outside the safety of their homes under shroud of the night; above all this, one alicorn watched impassive, looking down on the suffering of the ones that turned their backs to her with indifference “with her magic and her divine domain, Luna weaved a thousand nightmares to prowl in the dream realms, and called to the beasts that hid in the dark corners of the world”.

The scene changed once more, showing the forsaken queen standing before an amorphous blob “among the creatures that heeded her call, there was one in particular that was far smarter” the blob took a vaguely pony-like shape, bowing to the night queen with a twisted smile “it sook the queen, bowing before her and swearing fealty and friendship undying” the puppet Luna hesitated visibly, but eventually she reached towards the creature with a hoof, which it gladly took, flowing into the alicorn.

“for all it’s disturbing mannerisms and appearance, the creature kept its word, becoming the queen’s friend and advisor” once more the shadows shifted, showing both the alicorn and the creature, alone in a room, with the creature gesticulating wildly at what appeared to be a blackboard, while the alicorn sat on her haunches, nodding every now and then. “it comforted her when she was sad” now the shadow Luna was shown crying on her bed, while the creature sat by her side, embracing her with a look of worry.

“through its advice, the night queen gathered friends, allies, loyal subjects and more” now the scene showed a few other ponies bowing to a happy looking Luna, while the creature peeked from the alicorn’s ‘shadow’ giving her a ‘hoof up’.

“but then, one day, Celestia finally paid enough attention to realize what was happening” the scene shifted again, now showing Luna being confronted by an angry looking Celestia, both were shouting at each other, with the bigger alicorn pointing at the cowering creature behind Luna “sadly, this only widened the gap between the two, and sparked what one day would become the flames of a long and bloody war”.

Sighing, Chrysalis shook her head, dispelling the illusions “the story goes further, but the important part is that on the final clash between the two sisters and their armies, Luna and her companion were struck down by Celestia, and banished to the moon” turning to face you once more, Chrysalis looked you in the eyes “today, I’ve received word from one of my infiltrators in Canterlot that she would be returning in three days” she began “this presents an unique opportunity for us, be it to come out of anonymity and offer help, or to sabotage whatever they try against the banished queen” she said, looking expectantly.

Then it dawned on you, Chrysalis wanted to hear your opinion on the matter ‘huh, didn’t know she held me in such high esteem’ it was honestly a bit scary, but you took a deep breath, steeling yourself.

Choose one

[] Help the Equestrians
-[]How?

[] Hinder them
-[] How?

[] Other
-[] Plan?

Resources that will be available the day of Luna’s return:

30 zerglings

40 changeling soldiers

Author's Note

well, here's next chapter, it took me a fair bit to get it done, and i'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but i was also getting restless, hope you like it.

votes that don't use the right format will not be counted from now on, the right format is as folows

[X] vote option

in csase of options like this:

[]Option
-[] what? how? why? etc.

the little sub-option signifies a write in section for people to develop a plan of action, given the particularly restrictive nature of the comments, i'm rulling that editing one's own plans to change them to the plan of others in case of changing your mind will be accepted before the voting period closes