Changing The Lunar Guard

Everything hurt. I opened my eyes expecting to see the bright sunlit stones that make up Canterlot but instead got the darker ones that make up one of the cities back alleys. I made a sigh of relief. If I had landed in the middle of a street than I probably would have been beaten to death by the ponies that lived there. Or, at very least, deprived of a few minutes of silence.

"We could do it Nightfall." I remembered her voice.

"Maybe you could, but not me."

“No changeling would ever find us." Such a beautiful voice.

“I've never even left the hive.”

"You're my best friend Night. I can't imagine what the queen would do if she found out." The voice of a goddess.

“She won't find out.”

I tried to get up but immediately regretted my decision. When I moved my hind leg, I heard an audible crack and I knew I had broken it. I tried to see how bad my injury was but my neck violently protested to movement. My wings literally throbbed in pain but that didn’t surprise me, I already knew they were broken. They didn’t break from the fall but having a hoof slam down on them can have disastrous consequences. With a deep breath, I accepted my fate and realized that all I could do was stay still and hope nopony found me.

“HOW DARE YOU NOT REPORT THIS TO ME!” Commander Hellraiser yelled. A punch to the face had knocked me down. “YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN’T FIND OUT!?” I felt a searing pain come from my wing. “YOU SWORE TO PROTECT THE QUEEN AND THEN YOU PULL THIS?!” Another shot of pain. I only looked long enough to see two hoof-sized holes in my wings. "Consider yourself lucky. I need you alive." He gave out a small chuckle. "For now." I passed out.

I opened my eyes but I still couldn't move. A low moan started to emanate from beneath me.  I must have landed on the changeling sent with me: Crystal. I was too weak to help her. We were friends since we hatched and to me it seemed ironic that we would die together too.

After I heard a few more grunts from her, I figured she was trying to talk to me. I was  confused by this as changelings prefered to communicate through close range telepathy. Except for the queen of course. She always said that she hated telepathy.

"And now I stand here today, announcing this traitor to the hive. And to your majesty." I heard Hellraiser say. I could only open my eyes a little but I knew I was trapped and, based on what hellraiser was saying, being presented as a traitor. Thinking about it, that wasn't far from the truth.

"Well done Commander. If I had a higher rank for you, the title would be yours. You have certainly served me well over the years." The queen's voice slipped into my ears. "You however," Her voice was alarmingly close "disappoint me." I heard some hoofsteps leading away from me. "Now commander, would you read the charges."

"The charges are as follows: Conspiracy to depart the hive. Conspiracy to help another changeling to depart the hive, failure to report crucial information, failure to perform guardian duties, and failure to respond to questioning."

"The changeling: Nightfall, is found guilty on all charges and” The queen’s voice suddenly seemed very grim “is sentenced to death.”

“I’m sorry I couldn't save you Nightfall.” Crystal finally managed to cough out. For a moment I felt rage towards her but my anger towards her faded quickly. It wasn’t her fault that I was caught. Nor was it her fault that she felt guilty.

When I tried to to respond, I realized why Crystal had chosen to speak. My horn had been severely damaged and a bolt of excruciating pain tore through my entire body. “It’s not your fault.” I wanted to continue the sentence but it started to hurt to breath. With a slow breath I realised how cruel the last day had been. I had woken up with nothing to worry about but now I was dying in the heart of Equestria.

"NIGHTFALL NO!"  I could recognize that amazing voice anywhere. I was finally able to open my eyes. Unfortunately for me, the second my eyes focused, I got a great view of Crystal being kicked in the face by both of Commander Hellraiser’s back legs. Her body flew across the room and and landed unconscious near the wall.

"HOW DARE YOU APPROACH THE QUEEN!"

I saw queen Chrysalis clapping her hooves. "Well done commander. I think I'll have to invent a new title for you." The queen walked over to Crystal's unconscious body. "As for these traitors, I think I will test out a new punishment." I saw the queen's horn light green for a moment and then I blacked out.

I was amazed that nopony had found us yet. Surely somepony had saw us, surely the crash alone should have alerted the local ponies to our position. Maybe they had heard and the guards were on there way. The thought made me cringe, something black and green with fangs had just dropped from the sky. I don’t think they would be too eager to help us.

As the minutes rolled by and my guard theory seemed less likely. If the ponies in the equestrian guard were half as good as the ones from the hive than we should have been found by now. For me, it seemed like a waiting game. I didn’t know whether I would bleed out or be found first. Neither was a pleasant option.

"Here we are traitors. High above Equestria's Capitol. I can't wait to see what the ponies of Canterlot will do to you."

With that he dropped us. I tried to flap my wings but they were still in searing pain from having holes in them. Suddenly I could feel something pulling at my ankle. I looked up to see Crystal desperately trying to slow our descent but to no use. Even if we both had full wing power, there was no way we could have pulled up in time. So I just stayed there, hoping the ground was less painful than it looked.

The area around me seemed to get darker and I couldn’t feel the equestrian sun anymore. Actually I would swear I could see the night stars. A strange voice filled the air and chilled me to the bone.

“What hath we found here?”