Dark as Chitin

Segment Music

Luna awoke in a cold sweat, something was clearly wrong. Being connected to the stars and moon meant that Luna could feel each and every one of their presence. Although they tended to blend together, even still, Luna knew something was wrong. She could feel the presence of hundreds of thousands of stars vanishing, the surrounding stars bleeding out into infinite darkness.

"That cannot be... we must alert Tia," Luna said as she desperately threw herself out of bed, out the door, and straight toward her sister's room. The stars screamed and roared their final bellows as their flames were being snuffed out. Luna could not hear it in the traditional sense, yet she could feel it, and it was horrifying. More horrifying than being consumed by one's inner demons, and more horrifying than being banished to the moon for a millennium.

Luna stopped her galloping as she collided with the figure of her sister. Celestia had already been on her way to Luna's room.

"Tia, something is wrong with the stars!" Luna stammered out through panicked breath.

Celestia nodded knowingly. "I know, we need to go see Twilight immediately."

In unison, the two sisters stretched their wings out before taking off toward Canterlot together. Ruling over the heavens for one thousand years by herself gave Celestia just as much sense of the imminent danger as Luna had gotten. Something was very wrong.

"Tia, whatever could this be?"

"I don't know Lulu, but it doesn't feel natural. Whatever this is, it almost feels otherworldly," Celestia replied as they picked up speed.

Luster Dawn's room... (Segment Music)

"Dawn, I have something to tell you," I said, holding my hooves out in front of me.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I'm not who you think I am," I sighed, looking over my shoulder at her.

She cocked an eyebrow, looking confused, but scooting closer to me. "Don't tell me you're a criminal."

Even in a tense situation like this, this got a laugh out of me. "No, I'm not a criminal, you don't have to worry about something like that."

Dawn looked at me with that same confused expression. "Then what?"

Allowing myself to undergo a phase shift, I could see Luster Dawn's expression change from one of confusion to one of shock. I only smiled at her gently through the green smoke and flames. I kept the transformation simple, a mint green carapace with hints of gamboge in it. I made my eyes a candy apple shade of red, and the holes present in my true changeling form were gone.

Keeping track of all my forms might become a hassle later, so I'll name this one Changeling Beta, and the other, Changeling Alpha. "I'm actually a changeling."

A few minutes later...

"Wait, so how much of what you said was true?"

Placing a hoof to my chin, I mimed being deep in thought. "Most of it, actually."

"You really did live in the Everfree?

"Yup," I stated with a bit of pride.

"Then, what about your family? Why would changelings be living in the Everfree? Aren't there all sorts of predators that target them, like chimeras and manticores?"

I chuckled to myself at the irony. "Actually, I was taken in by a kind family of ponies shortly after my birth. They'll always have a special place in my heart."

"Is that why you were in the form of a pony for so long?" Dawn asked, her shock no longer visible.

"Kind of. My mother told me not to go around in my changeling form, it just wasn't safe. As a pony though, the danger wasn't really an issue, mostly. It's also easier to fit in," I said, recalling my experience in the Everfree Forest.

Dawn seemed to nod understandingly. "So, what's your real name, if it's not Anonymous?"

"Chimera, but not many call me that. Anon's my main title, but I have been called Little Bunny before. Sorry for not telling you about this sooner, I was just a bit cautious, but I know now that there was nothing to be afraid of."

"You're right, there's nothing to fear. I understand why you hid it and just so you know, this doesn't change anything between us, for the most part."

"For the most part?"

Dawn looked at me with suggestive eyes as she grabbed me in her magic.

"Wait, no. I'm still here. Chimera? Chimera?!" Chrysalis said, sounding fearful.

Canterlot, Twilight's Throne Room... (Segment Music)

Twilight sat on her throne, hanging by a thread of her sanity. Though she had been hiding it quite well, Spike knew that she was reaching her tipping point.

"Twilight, maybe you should get some rest, stimulant magic can only do so much."

Twilight shook her head. "I can't, Spike, I have to remain alert. Something might come up again, and when it does, I have to be ready."

Just as Twilight finished talking, the doors to her throne room were opened by a fleet of guards, the two former princesses stepping through.

Twilight immediately began descending her throne, making her way over to her predecessors, Spike following suit. They all gave courtesy bows to each other.

"Celestia, Luna? What brings you two here, is it girls' night out already?" Twilight said, smiling at the two.

The two sisters grimaced at each other, Celestia speaking up first.

"While I do wish we were here on a more positive note, Twilight, we are not. Tonight, we sensed a great disturbance in the heavens. We would like you to confirm this for us," Celestia said, wearing a worried expression.

"Disturbance in the heavens?" Twilight said, a bit confused at first before figuring out what it was that Celestia meant.

Closing her eyes, Twilight allowed her celestial magic to connect with nearby celestial bodies, upon feeling said disturbance, she broke the connection off instantly. "What in Equestria?"

Twilight rubbed her forehead with a hoof. "No, no, that can't be right. The constellations are all wrong. Why are there formations missing?"

Again, Twilight closed her eyes, focusing her celestial magic on nearby celestial bodies, only to find that even more had vanished. "What is going on?" Twilight whispered to herself.

Luna stepped up next. "That, we do not know, dearest niece, that is why we have come to you. The stars bleed and cry out, only to be silenced after mere moments of their pleading. We fear that this, very well, may signify the end of Equestria."

Spike who had been close by listening felt a wave of horror pass through his body. "What do you mean by the end of Equestria? We've been through things like this countless times, haven't we? We'll just go deal with the threat like we always have and everything will return to normal, right Twilight?"

Twilight remained silent, for the first time in a long time, she found herself at a loss for words. Twilight found herself looking down at the ground, searching for some sort of solution. There had to be something.

As if a lightbulb lit up above her head, Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "The map!"

"The map?" Spike, Celestia, and Luna all said in unison.

"Sorry, no time to explain, we gotta go!" Twilight said before performing a mass teleportation spell.

A few seconds later at Starlight's Castle...

Twilight, Spike, Celestia, and Luna arrived in the throne room of Twilight's former castle in a flash of light and magicules. Twilight could immediately tell that it had been a long time since anypony had used this room; it seemed to be repurposed as some sort of storage room. Luckily, the map was still there. Even after all these years, it didn't seem to have a spec of dust on it. Strangely enough, Discord was floating above the map in his pajamas, curled into himself, wearing a sleep mask, and holding a teddy bear.

"Discord?!" Twilight exclaimed.

Using a talon, Discord lifted his sleep mask above one eye before tossing everything he had on him into nothing.

"Oh good, you're finally here! I was starting to think you wouldn't show. How have you all been?" Discord asked charismatically.

Twilight looked at Discord suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

Discord inspected his talons absentmindedly. "Well, I was waiting on all of you actually. Fractions of the universe disappearing at a time don't exactly go unnoticed to a chaos lord. I'm brimming with so much energy, you see, and it's rather inconvenient actually. I fear all this chaos might be giving me a stomach ache. I was wondering if you could be a pal and help me out, Twilight."

Stepping towards the map, Celestia spoke up. "I fear this is far worse than we initially thought then."

The map had several firey orbs glowing on it as opposed to the traditional cutie mark indicators: a black orb in the Badlands, a green orb at Canterlot, and a faint white one that seemed to be in Starlight's castle itself.

Twilight leaned closer to the faint white one, noticing something off about it. At a glance, it looked like one orb, but upon further inspection, it was actually two closely conjoined orbs with a small hint of green in them.

"This one looks like it's in the royal garden," Spike pointed a digit at the green orb on the map.

"We believe you are correct," Luna revealed.

"Yes, but what do they mean? They're not even cutie marks," Twilight groaned.

Celestia looked at the map, deep in thought. "Why don't we investigate the locations first?"

"If I may interject, I could act as the navigator," Discord said, snapping his talons with a flash of light, and reappearing in a navigator's uniform. Everypony and dragon heard what Discord said resonate within their minds. Telepathy was a spell that each of the princesses could have easily blocked under normal circumstances, but Discord was currently being super-charged by a mysterious force right now.

Twilight looked at Discord for a good moment before sighing. "Alright, Discord, you can be the navigator, but the rest of us need to formulate a plan."

"I suggest requesting the aid of your friends as well, Twilight," Celestia chimed in.

"I will, but for now, we just need to assess the situation."

"Our ears are open," Luna vowed.

Twilight looked down at the map, thinking about the situation. "Okay, Spike, you stay here and search the castle. Luna, I need you at the royal gardens. Celestia and I will check out the Badlands. We need to act fast, there's no telling how much time we have left."

Everyone in the room nodded at each other. Spike was the first to run off. Luna was the second to leave, flying away through a window. Twilight and Celestia vanished in a flash of light as Twilight lit up her horn, leaving Discord alone to look at the map.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Faust," Discord muttered.

Luster Dawn's room... (Segment Music)

Luster Dawn abruptly stopped cuddling my tiny bunny body as she and I noticed an enormous magical presence just appear close by. By enormous, I mean astronomically higher than my own and Dawn's combined. Letting me go, Dawn sat up in her bed. "What is that?"

Shifting back into my Beta form, I sat on Dawn's bed feeling quite full and confused. The former being because of all the love I just received, and the latter is because of this enormous magical presence. "I'm not sure, but it's definitely huge."

Dawn smiled, looking over at me. "Wanna go check it out?"

I hummed to myself. "I don't think that's a very good idea, Dawn."

Dawn waved a hoof dismissively. "Come on, we're just going to look, that's all, I promise."

I had a feeling there was no talking her out of this. Was the necklace making her extraordinarily brave? No, she was like that before.

"Alright, fine, but just a peek," I said as I rolled off the bed and onto my hooves.

Dawn cheered as she flung the door open, ushering me outside. This magic signature didn't feel ominous, but I still wanted to be careful. Checking that Dawn still had her necklace on, I proceeded out of the room. Although I was now visibly a changeling, it didn't worry me in the slightest, since Dawn already knew and accepted it. Well, my beta form at least.