Royal Wedding: Poisoned by Hunger

"What?" Chrysalis dulled, her left eye twitching in contained fury. "Explain," She demanded through gritted teeth and tightened fists. Smiles spread about the loyalists at Luna's arrival. The Moon also rises!

"We were pushing through the scattered guard regiments with our airborne swarm. They came out of nowhere with Princess Luna leading the charge with organized reinforcements throughout the city," The soldier reported, doing their best to relay the information. They had the element of surprise, exploiting the confusion within the capital as citizens and the Royal Guard scrambled when the dome shattered. Disciplined ranks of nocturnal lavender broke through, fanning out their lines and rescuing any pockets of Celestia's guard and citizens. Long-range magical bombardments incinerated several colonies flooding through the gaps. They blunted their advance and lost steam.

Chrysalis exclaimed, caustic spittle jetted from her maw. "Luna?! She's supposed to be asleep!" The Changeling Queen didn't have time to deal with two Alicorns. She didn't plan for Luna's involvement as she hadn't been seen for the entire wedding preparation. Wasn't she honor-bound to the night as atonement?

"Do you honestly think my dear sister would be resting when our home is being invaded?" Celestia taunted wearing a joker's grin, enjoying Chrysalis' frustration. She was the diplomat as few dared to question her power and authority. Luna, swift with her blade but slow to anger. No one but the most daring fools would attempt to disrespect Celestia in her presence.

"Whatever we have our reserves," Chrysalis countered. It's a common thing to have extra in case of heavy resistance or exploit gaps in the enemy lines while striking from an unknown angle. They outnumber the defenders by a few dozen to one. She smiled. Her hive will feast once the reserves spring from the underground caverns.

"We . . . don't," The soldier corrected with a wince. They didn't want to tell her about the Sentinels, forming strongholds throughout the capital as the changeling forces gradually lost control. Numerous communications attempts failed with scouts and other drones vanishing to reestablish contact. None returned. All they from their underground reserves were horrified screams about flaming demons. Canterlot was taken by surprise but they were well-prepared.

Chrysalis turned slowly. A lethal warning to her soldier. "Excuse me? What do you mean we don't have our reserves?" She whispered, towering with malice and clenched fists.

"They're . . ." The soldier trailed off, averting their Queen's horrible gaze.

"Burnt to a crisp in the underground," Celestia interjected. Chrysalis twisted her neck at an impossible angle with bulging eyes and narrow pupils. How did she know?!

"There's another thing, my queen," The soldier added, unsure how to relay this information but having enough awareness of Chrysalis' foul tempers. "Some of our infiltrators have . . . defected to Celestia's banner," The soldier announced, shutting their eyes to the inevitable. Chrysalis froze. Her eyes grew at the news. What did they say? Some of her children betrayed her. Their mother?! Impossible. Chrysalis' horn pulsed, sending messages to all infiltrators. Some responded earnestly. Others replied with static or answered foul curses and called her a cheap whore. More refused vowing never to serve a selfish ruler like her.

Magma boiled her blood at this blasphemous insubordination with gritted snarling fangs and taut claws. She was their mother! Their queen! Their goddess! Who gave them the privilege to refuse her?! She might not give birth to all of them but she overthrew their queens and devoured them before their eyes, proving herself as their queen. Her word was law!. How can they betray her with complete lunacy?! She roared, bellowing out her frustration as the room quaked. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to absorb Shining Armor's love, shatter the barrier, defeat Celestia in front of everyone, inert the elements, and make Canterlot her new hive as they feast for generations. She only completed two. Shattering the barrier and rendering the elements useless. ALL OF HER ACHIEVEMENTS WERE MEANINGLESS NOW! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! HOW?! HOW?! HOW?! WHO?!

Her mind clawed, unraveling the distressing information presented. Luna and her Night Court were cleaving through Changelings, bolstering the morale of Celestia's Royal Guard and the population. She redeemed herself. The underground reserves amounted to nothing but ash and bone. Her children rebelled against her-it clicked. The pieces formed a clear picture of how Celestia repelled the worst of her plan. Someone fed Celestia information.

Chrysalis snapped in her soldier's direction with a heaving chest. Adrenaline tightens her jaw muscles to ground her teeth into a fine powder as caustic blood pinched and enlarged neck veins. The soldier remained silent. His queen deformed into a snarling predator, watching their coveted meal slip away on the horizon with a gnawing pang. Chysislis bellowed a nasty roar with bared teeth, swatting one of her children into a pillar. Their body slammed into it, crashing into a jade-stained crater leaving a mangled body with blood pooling beneath them. The non-royal watched in slacked-jaw horror. She killed one of her children like they were nothing to her. Despite the fact, that her children were something to Chrysalis. A tool. Tools are meant to be used especially if you have many.

Chrysalis snarled, twisting towards Celestia. "MY CHILDREN WILL DEVOUR YOUR CORPSE CELESTIA!" An outstanding victory was an impossibility now but she can still hurt and feed.

"Your children will starve," Celestia remarked, her golden radiance gleaming from her horn and palms.

Chrysalis lunged with feral rage, devouring her smug confidence at her plan crumbling before her eyes. Her face collided with a dauntless barrier, bouncing her to the ground. Chrysalis glared. Shining Armor and Cadence's interlocked fingers glowed with a defiant expression. Dusk Shine rushed. Chrysalis blasted with emerald ravenous hatred. His form blurred, evading them, leaving smoking holes in the ancient floor. The Changeling queen's eyes darted around while inhaling deeply to lock on his scent. Above! An emerald shot jetted skyward, sending stony debris. Chrysalis covered her eyes from the dust and tumbled away, rising to her feet. Nothing; a decoy?! Where is he?

Dusk Shine's foot buried itself deep into her midsection, launching her to the ceiling. Her eyes blunged at the monstrous impact. He teleported before she slammed above. Stone fused to his fists and forearms, clasping his hands together for a hammer blow. Chrysalis's head turned briefly. Her eyes widened at his cold fiery expression. Dusk Shine doesn't desire to merely defeat her and eject her and her followers from his nation's borders. No. He wanted to kill her for all the pain and suffering she inflicted on him and his family. Chrysalis recognized his horrifying look. Centuries ago.

After Celestia cast Luna and sealed her into the moon. Chrysalis attempted to exploit the Sun Sovereign's weakness but was swiftly and brutally wrong. Celestia bombarded her with glass-melting heat, defiling her then more exquisite form into a waxy-holed wretch. Not again! Chrysalis hissed a stream of acid. Dusk Shine dislodged the stones, forming a shield, and turned the still-solid rocks into an irritating powder. Chrysalis gagged at the bothersome annoyance. Gagging? She forgot about it after countless years of pleasuring males of all species and consuming them after. A scatter-shot blew into her spine, neck, and shoulder, bashing into the hard floor. Chrysalis ached. She wiped her refined face, discovering a streak of green blood on her backhand and a blood splatter on the stone. Her tongue probed loose teeth. She gazed blankly. Anger rushed through her mind in a blaze, consuming her belly. How dare he?!

A taut length secured around her leg. Dusk Shine yanked it. Chrysalis yelled from the sudden pull. He flicked his wrist, raising the Queen off the floor and into the air. Dusk Shine spun her around like a gymnast ribbon creating a green and black screaming tornado. Her eyes swam as the blood swirled in her brain. She envied her primitive subjects. Their brains weren't advanced enough to value equilibrium. Dusk Shine's nose twitched. The sharp sour aroma of acid filled the room. He stopped. With a calculated tug, Chrysalis crashed into the ground once before being slammed on her back. Again and again and again. Dusk Shine used her body as a pick-ax or hammer to crack the reinforced stone for its secrets. Chrysalis growled, charging at Dusk Shine with rage and famine in her throat and teeth. Dusk Shine extended his teether and evaded the predatory attack. She turned her head with bared teeth before a cerulean twinkle caught her eyes. Her skull crashed against Shining Armor's barricade, dislodging several teeth as her head chimed. Dusk Shine pulled again, delivering a meteoric punch into her stomach. She gagged at her cracked ribs, piercing her lungs and flushing blood out of her lips. Dusk Shine continued this fisherman's dance of pulling and relaxing his teether for Cadance, Celestia, Shining Armor, and himself to strike the insect queen. The Elements attempted to intervene, adding their force to assault. Spears, wings, and arms blocked them. The quartet blasted her with magic into the same wall where she killed one of her soldiers. Chrysalis bounced off and fell on her face. She protected the back of her head. Her physiology enabled to survive drastic injuries that'll kill other species but constant polymorphing and her status as queen installed various self-preservation tactics.

"No, not again," Chrysalis seethed, rocking her head and digging her talons into the stone floor with a snarling stomach. Victory slipped from her grasp, growing dim. This was a greater humiliation than her first invasion as she actually prepared for it. Chrysalis knew she couldn't defeat Celestia outright and chose a deceptive approach. Throughout the centuries she mustered a worthy force, infiltrated and sabotaged Canterlot's defense grid, turned a significant portion of Celestia's Royal Guard and other assets against her, and siphoned an ocean of love from Shining Armor to enhance her power to levels inconceivable. Yet it wasn't enough.

The defense grid held. Her lines crumbled before her eyes as she didn't bring all of her forces. Chrysalis mainly brought the basic drones and handfuls of soldiers and honor guards thinking it would be a waste. Dozens to hundreds of her children defied her. Celestia still overpowered her. Then finally, Celestia's monster of a student, Dusk Shine. He's barely in his twenties yet was fighting as if controlled by a skilled veteran. No book can teach him that.

Chrysalis glowered at the corpse with slitted eyes. Hunger knotted. Need food. Chrysalis forsake her regality scurrying across the floor like an insect. Her gnarled claws dug into the corpse, piercing torn flesh and shattered bone. Elongated fangs jetted from her gums, with a hyper-extended jaw worthy of a famished constrictor's envy; Chrysalis gorged. Each chomp removed mortal chunks from the lukewarm body. A deluge of green blood sullied the floor as the walls echoed with moist crunches of bones and chitin.

"She's eating for her children. Her fucking children," Pinkie Pie faltered, grabbing and shaking Rainbow Dash's shoulders. They grimace from the nauseating sight. Some retched. Rarity urgently tried to hold her bile and chose to gulp the rancid mixture.

Fluttershy was the only one out of the Elements who wasn't stomach-twistedly mortified by the grizzly sight. She knew certain animal species devoured their young in times of struggle or indifference. This was neither. Chrysalis didn't have the decency to chew; her throat bulged with each suffocating gulp. Acid softening bone, sinews, and toughened chitin. Was this Chrysalis' true nature? Her sultry pompous regality was a superficial facade only for a ravenous selfish beast to be her true self.

Dusk Shine observed in morbid curiosity. Changelings have a dual nourishment intake, requiring love and physical food to sustain themselves. Why love if they need physical food? Were their mouths, fangs, and corrosive spittle another form of defense? Probably. Is it like how carnivorous plants need both sunlight and to capture prey as the soil doesn't provide all their essential nutrients? Dusk Shine concluded this was the main hypothesis. Chrysalis shoved what appeared to be a femur into her maw. Her hand forced the limb into her gullet without a pause or a breath. She swallowed with a gulp, padding her ballooned stomach in satisfaction as her wounds healed. Muscles stitched together. Wounds closed as if they never existed. Several of her teeth regrow. A putrid bellicose belch thundered as she cleaned and licked her teeth for any residue.

"That's enough," Celestia fumed. Chrysalis' heart stopped and chilled as one of her eyes slid towards Celestia. Her pearl hand motioned in a radiant golden circle. She pushed, launching Chrysalis out and through the stone wall, creating a hole several meters wide and tall.

"Woah," They watched Chrysalis bounce across and through several buildings, jetting up wood dust, stone, and glass.

"Dusk Shine, Captain Shining Armor," Celestia announced, staring out at the battlefield. Canterlot hasn't been invaded since Nightmare Moon. Loyalties were split between the Sun and Moon causing tearful confusion among the populace. She frowned. Was her citizens such simplistic creatures that the allure of flesh was enough for them to abandon all the morals and principles of their nation and her rule? Not wealth, power, ego, or revenge? Momentary bliss. Brothels weren't illegal and could be easily found. Although that could be the reason. Brothels and similar establishments had rules, policies, and ethics. An individual changeling doesn't have rights. They don't have to treat them with respect as they can change into their daily desire.

"Yes, princess," The brothers knelt. They weren't the only ones. The Royal Guards and Elements fell to their knees under the supple authority.

"Even when we cast these changelings from our lands, this war won't be over," Celestia's voice carried a soft and dignified echo while using the royal 'We'. "Heed our words as you always did for millennia; Eliminate the traitors as well. They betrayed our nations, their friends, loved ones, and more to slate their meager indulgences of the flesh. Are you going to let them?" She asked, facing the brothers.

"No," The brothers vowed.

"Dusk Shine," Celestia called to her prized student. He raised his head. Her exquisite features are stricken with a typhoon of grief, shame, and remorse for what she'll ask of him. She pushed her forehead against his own. Their horns crossed. Hers glowed. A private command issued with a heavy heart. Celestia prayed she would never ask such a task for as long as he lived but this will be one of many regrets in her extended life. The anvil of war for someone so young. She had others to do such a monstrous task but those didn't sit well with her. The zealous patriotic soldier who'll burn entire cities if they believed it'll please her or use countless deaths of friend and foe as a way to elevate their status. Apathetic monsters locked beneath facilities away from society and her blessed light, who care for nothing except slaughter. She trusts Dusk Shine to be reserved in his rampage. However, one part of her mind, soul, or a lingering dream, fears she's releasing something worse.

"By your will, the power vested in me and your teachings. It'll be done," Dusk Shine avowed. Celestia nodded once, turning her head to Cadance with an outstretched hand. Their hands joined. Celestia viewed Dusk Shine and Shining Armor, offering her hand as well. The Shine brothers joined the circle. Their horns glowed with their titanic magical aura. The room shook as the four most powerful mages in Equestria conducted a ritual. Dust stormed as they levitated. Celestia's incantation was from a forgotten tongue, known by only the rulers for the most dire situations. Today was that day. A golden flame washed over the capital, forcing the battle to pause before resuming with fierce intensity. The sky blazed with an aurora of Gold, Green, and Black.

This was one of Equestria's ancient mystical edicts built by the greatest sorcerers and their students during the early days to protect their proud new nation against any who dared to shatter it. The spell wasn't of destruction to obliterate cities but of truth and illumination.

Several Royal Guards illuminated green & gold, their companions jetted their spears in their faces and boxed them in. Changeling imposters! Discipline masked the woeful betrayal in their eyes. The Changelings submitted, lowering their weapons. Hands raised and closed eyes accepting whatever fate awaited them. Their forms were exposed with an emerald flame cascading displaying an unexpected form. These were changelings. However, each was unique, keeping a feature from their pony form. Caparace color, hairstyle, physique, eye and color shape, and more. What didn't change surprised them. Their armor. These changelings wore the golden armor of the Royal Guard. Nothing suggested they were pillaged from the corpses of their original wearers. Another thing was their carapace. These Neo-Changelings were smooth, polished, and softer with brighter colors than their umbral, craggy, and gaunt cousins.

"At ease," Celestia ordered. The guards parted for their ruler, keeping their arms ready. "What is your birth name?" She asked the revealed Changelings.

"We . . . never had one, your highness. Our Queen didn't see us worthy of one yet" One of them answered, removing their helmet to meet Celestia's gaze. Their armor and reinforced carapace signify them as a higher rank among the horde. A sergeant or their equivalent of one. He had a pale blue-purple carapace."We all took a random alias to infiltrate your forces for the invasion. Some of us have been here for years," He confessed. His armor labeled him as Cerulean Strike. Others gave affirmative nods to the statement.

"Yet you're here, defying your queen, your own mother's orders," Celestia probed.

"She's not our mother," One of them snapped. She had red pupils with chopped yellow and orange hair. "Chrysalis gave birth to us but we never received a mother's love," Her name was Pepper Bite.

"What do you know about love," Rainbow Dash sneered, glowering at the exposed Changelings. They were parasites!

"Rainbow Dash, there's several different types of love," Cadance interjected. "Chrysalis heavily focused on Eros, the sexual love. It's widely available but provides minimal nutritional value from how the hive looked," She gestured to the dead changelings. Chrysalis remarked that Canterlot and Equestria's gigantic love can feed her children for eternity. The groups had striking differences regarding their body composition and health. Chrysalis'changelings were shadowy malnourished creatures with thin frames, stunted growth and swinish hunger as missing a single meal spells death. If what they saw with Chrysalis had any merit, cannibalism was common practice. Whereas these new changelings stood taller with a well-structured physique and brighter complexion. "She harnessed Shining Armor's genuine love for me. Storge, Philla and Pragma. Skyrocketing her power to unimaginable levels," Cadance nuzzled Shining Armor, grasping his head as he hung his head in shame for being so easily manipulated. "And for you . . ." Her gaze rested on the Neo-Changelings.

"We started to love ourselves and the people around us," Cerulean Strike answered. "Are we. . . ," His voice trailed off, staring at what remained of his unit. Some closed their eyes accepting their fate.

"Depends," Shining Armor marched forward straightening his back. "Are you with us?!" His voice thundered, shifting to his persona of Captain Shining Armor the Aegis of Canterlot.

"Yes, Captain," They replied. Shining Armor and Celestia nodded allowing the Neo-Changelings. No. The Royal Guard members were rearmed and ready for the fight of their lives.

"Shining Armor, Cadance, take your forces to the center around the villas and fortify the Sentinels and Blueblood," Celestia commanded. The couple and their regiment nodded.

"Blueblood?" Dusk Shine questioned. Was this a rescue mission to save his soggy backside?

"Yes. He's been training since the Gala," Shining Armor boasted. Dusk Shine's forehead creased in bewilderment at Blueblood's maturity. He believed Blueblood would be among the first to be bewitched by Chrysalis. She could've taken the form of a relatively attractive mare and proceeded with her plan. An improvement over this moronic one. Dusk Shine shrugged. Perhaps his words and Celestia's disappointment galvanized Blueblood to be something of worth.

"Dusk Shine, you support Luna, Fancy Pants, and Fleur De Lis," Celestia added. Dusk Shine nodded, Luna was likely in the castle holding against the ravenous tide. "I'll deal with Chrysalis," She narrowed her eyes, illuminating the room with a furious shine. A chest appeared hovering above. She waved her hand, unlocking complex security measures, and reached into it.

In her hands, one of the chief magical items in Canterlot's arsenal, only rivaled by the Elements. Helios Aurelian Rex. Celestia's personal weapon and symbol of her power. The mighty war mace was crafted eons ago in a bygone era filled with epic monsters and gods, conjuring unbelievable magical spells that in the modern area would be deemed impossible or works of fiction. Even powerful beings like Celestia shuddered, unable to fathom what destruction they'd caused. She knew they still existed somewhere. Deep in underwater trenches, slumbering for countless eons who's mere appearance breaks one's psyche. Sealed in forgotten mountains or foul temples, influencing citizens with seductively corruptive whispers on the powers and secrets they hold. For a price. Taxed with blood and death.

Legends stated the weapon was crafted in the core of a rejected sun with exotic ores, mysterious runes, and divine metals lost to time with scant records and whispered secrets. Few people held the relic, unable to withstand the immeasurable heat beyond quick moments. Celestia, blessed by the sun, her pearl skin was immune to the intensity. She seldom used physical weapons. Her magic abilities were more than sufficient making the notion of weapons redundant. The day will break if Celestia enables Chrysalis to defile her city for a moment longer.

Despite its fable history and worthy of worship, HAR was remarkably mundane. It followed a similar design philosophy to Holzfäller, a simplistic ornate weapon. The shaft reached Celestia's elbow allowing for one-handed usage. Two-handed for regular ponies. Elaborate lines and rings created intricate runes and shapes. The only extraordinary piece was its glowing heartbeat of a mace head as if fresh from the forge. Few winced stepping back and shielding their faces from the radiance.

"What about us?" One of the Elements asked. There has to be something they can do.

"What about you?" Dusk Shine questioned, his tone harsher and sharper than any knife in their heart. They flinched. "This is official royal business," He declared, gesturing between him, his brother, Cadance, Celestia, and the Royal Guard. They were civilians. None of them had the required skills to deal with a full-scale battle. If they die, who knows how long it'll take to find a replacement Bearer of their respective element? "If you want to help. You stay out of my way and get to safety," Dusk Shine ordered. A soldier, one of the Changelings knelt holding his crown, revolver, and sword. Dusk Shine returned the crown to his head, rested the blade on his shoulders, and secured the firearm on his hip. He inhaled sharply. His body shimmering with brilliant armament magic, materializing for the upcoming battle. Dusk Shine's armor was of illuminating amethyst and silver. Chestplate, gauntlets, vambraces, tasses, greaves, and a faceplate under his eyes and extended to his chin. It was lightweight. Expected for Unicorns to rely on their magic for war but not to the extent of Pegasus valuing their speed and mobility. Dusk Shine's armor whispers high-quality functionality. It's armor. He wasn't going to a convention or strut down a runway. Dusk Shine prepared for a battle. Across his chest and waist were straps & harnesses supplying him with supplementary weapons, potions, vials, and elixirs to support the war effort.

"Those are new," Celestia mentioned. Her eyes scanned the engravings and polished design.

"Runes. I had an artificer upgrade my gear after the incident with Discord," Dusk Shine answered. Runes were a simpler form of magic enabling them to be used by anyone if the rune permits. Often etched in stone or war gear for protection or a unique property. They can last indefinitely with proper maintenance.

"Never took you for a Rune guy, Shiny," Shining Armor teased.

"Oh ha-ha, I took some advice from Zecora," Dusk Shine rolled his eyes, handing his brother a short sword. He wasn't going to let him out unarmed. Shining Armor examined the blade. Runes were engraved into the steel. Sharpness, Focus & Endurance. A practical array for a side weapon. "She taught me many things," He continued, his eyes trailing on the potions on his belts.

"About. . . ?" Cadance teased, craning her neck with a tilted head and gleaming eyes as she styled her messy hair into a tight bun. Today's her special day. However, Cadance will take every chance to investigate Dusk Shine's love life. She approved of the other Bearers but after today. Not so much. It's uplifting to know he has options for a mare's companionship. Cadance heard of Zecora from Celestia in some of his earliest letters. She's a brew witch from Farasi, residing in the Everfree Forest. He spoke highly of her.

"Research. Anyway, let's get on with it so you both can finish this wedding," Dusk Shine redirected the topic. Cadance and Shining Armor rolled their eyes. More than half of the remaining platoon stood ready.

"Ready, Royal Guard?!" Shining Armor shouted, turning back to them. The Changelings keep their hybrid form, brandishing their loyalty to Equestria. They won't return to the hives.

"Aye, Captain!" The Royal guard obeyed. He materialized a pathway to the ground.

"For Equestria!" Shining Armor roared, raising his saber, and charged in.

"For Equestria!" The Royal Guard followed behind their captain. Cadance joined her husband. Celestia sprung into the sky with a single flap following the emerald fire trails. Dusk Shine didn't look back at his fellow Bearers, focusing on assisting Luna and his fellow Sentinels. They touched the ground. Shining Armor, Cadance, and their forces galloped on one of the side streets. Their presence boosted the morale of struggling soldiers and citizens attempting to hold the tide. Stranglers added their bulk to the charge. Wherever the Captain was headed, he needed them. Dusk Shine took the main road. A detachment of bat ponies awaited for Dusk Shine. He and the leader saluted and hurried to the castle where Luna awaited them. The fight will be thickest there.

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy watched as the figures of gold, lavender, and silver rushed to the most significant battle of their lives yet. What were they doing? Gawking while sitting on their hands like disobedient children in detention. They were instrumental in the defeat of Discord and Nightmare Moon. Their greatest weapons; the elements of harmony were dimly lit rocks, useless without their unity. Shame crushed them like a boulder on an egg for their failure. They swore that the elements berated them. What can they do? Dusk Shine was the only one in their group who had a grand destiny and would likely be doing the same thing without the Elements. They were pale phonies compared to the Pillars of Equestria. Rockhoof, Mage Meadowbrook, Somnambula, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, and Star Swirl the Bearded, each were legends in their own right before becoming Pillars. How could they compare? A farmhand, a fashion designer, a baker/party planner, a veterinarian, and a weatherpony. Their singular job was to be friends. And they failed.

"Come with us," A guardsman ordered, gesturing to the open pathway in the walls, directing them to the subterranean tunnels. Their escort entered, shields raised and spears ready for any threats. The Elements watched as Dusk Shine's figure shrunk in the distance."Now," More authority boomed in their voice.

Rainbow Dash pinched her lips as her muscles shook from being cast to the bench. Chrysalis's words plucked her feathers. She turned sharply. The guard stepped aside for her. Fluttershy followed with Rarity, wiping away smudged make-up between her sniffs. Rarity didn't reapply it. Pinkie Pie stayed at the window, staring at the battle with glossy baby-blue eyes. Applejack lay on hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. Pinkie's poofy hair deflated with quivering lips but could only yield to the situation. They shuffled to exit with hung heads and slumped shoulders. Applejack's lowered hat masked her guilt. Once the Elements were inside, a rearguard formed a shield wall. Their minds, bodies, and weapons were ready for any enemy changelings. They shuffled back in single file until all were inside. The wall was securely sealed behind them, leaving debris and corpses behind.

Dusk Shine and his group hustled towards the castle. Pandemonium claimed the streets as stampeding citizens yearned for safety. Both sides are dealing with traitors. Celestia's spell highlighted where one's loyalties lie, exposing where they directed their spears and defended with their shields. Cadance's magic quelled the whirling storm of emotions at the discovered traitors and unexpected newfound allies of Canterlot's forces. He and Shining Armor's magic was to shield their minds and increase the spell's potency. The Changeling defectors surrendered the disguises, opting for a hybrid appearance. Unit cohesion returned amidst the scattered battlelines and plugged holes in the city's defense.

Dusk Shine and his unit rescued ad-hoc squads, searching for established formations to add their force to the objective. Their tension eased at their appearance before squaring their shoulders once, following Dusk Shine and the Night Court. They didn't know what to do but if Dusk Shine was going somewhere then it must be important. Dusk Shine's blood boiled, gripping his sword hilt until it was white at the destroyed buildings, crushed bodies under rumble, or were unfortunate to be trampled by their fellow ponies in the mad dash. His mind recorded the death screams of citizens, drowned by the changelings buzzing as they were carried away in mucus cocoons for later storage in their hives. He wanted to save those being hauled away. But he can't. They were too far, requiring search & rescue missions after the siege. Bystanders had to drag others and strangers away, shuffling them to safety. Children were carried like sacks, wailing and reaching out for their parents, siblings, or vital figures carried away by the Changelings. They were fortunate. Others were pallid statues. Frozen by the image of mutilated lifeless bodies. Security personnel barked orders, pushing them into the fleeing crowd. His mind went to his friends, family, and other important people. Were they safe? Or were they changeling imposters who rejected Chrysalis' orders? Will reinforcements arrive in time? The question is who's reinforcements will arrive? Chrysalis planned this invasion for centuries! There's no telling how many allies or puppets she accumulated over the generations.

"Sir, are you alright," The bat pony unit leader asked, sensing Dusk Shine's rage. Silver and amber lunar markings symbolized their rank and seniority in this rescue force. She called him sir, respecting his role as a Sentinel. They all felt his wrath. How can't they? Their city was under siege, betrayed by their fellow ponies with the implied reward of pleasure. Civilians rushed, ignoring the liquified and half-eaten corpses as they were unable to focus on anything besides self-preservation.

"I'm fine," Dusk Shine answered curtly, reloading his revolver and focusing on the castle. "We need to hurry up and support Princess Luna and the others," His narrowed eyes focused on the droves of buzzing drones overhead. Swift dogfights littered the sky as figures fell. Changeling black snapping against the golden rainbow. The two monarchs resumed their battle. Explosives thundered. Decimating the Changeling hordes, but he didn't know whether it was magical or mechanical. It didn't matter. Dusk Shine had his orders from Celestia. What were his orders bestowed upon him by Princess Celestia? Rip & Tear. Slate the ground with traitorous crimson and tempered it with gluttonous jade. Until it was done and not before. Dusk Shine and his family never failed in their task of defending Equestria. He'll continue the legacy.

Tarturus be damned.