Equestrian Subversion

Equestrian Subversion

Go into battle hoping to die, and you shall survive; go into battle hoping to live, and surely you shall not.

–Bushido Saying

Chapter Two: The Changeling Wildfire and The Tapestry of Equestria

At the gates of Canterlot, five ponies, three alicorns, and a handful of royal guards were all that stood in the way of the rapidly advancing Changeling army. They were only a distant shadow at this point, but if the wall of noise emanating from it was any indication, their numbers were great.

But of all the ponies present, none were more tense or excited than Rainbow Dash. Her mind was clouded by her arrogance, and only focused on victory and the thrill of battle; her skin and fur were a parched wasteland, and the life-giving rain that could grow a forest in that desert was Changeling blood.

Ever since arriving in Canterlot, there had been a mutual nervousness amongst the six friends, but none tenser than with Rainbow and Applejack. They held each other dear over everything else; Applejack loved Rainbow more than all the trees in her orchard, and Rainbow would gladly stay planted on the ground to be with her beloved. They were both possessed by fear: fear that the other would perish in the battle.

Rainbow lay a comforting on the shoulder of the farm pony. “You’re not scared of those bugs, are you?”

“Ah ain’t exactly shakin’ like a leaf, but I’d be lyin’ if ah said ah wasn’t nervous.” With Rainbow holding her close, she seemed to already be getting less tense. “Promise me one thing, Dash.”

“Anything.”

Applejack nuzzled her marefriend’s neck. “Watch my back.” Rainbow looked down at her, falling into the emerald mines on her face.

Rainbow whispered, “Pinkie Promise.”

The buzzing grew noticeably louder, and the two lovers had to interrupt their moment to prepare for battle. Rainbow disengaged Applejack and stretched her wings and forelegs, ready to slaughter them like the bugs they were; Applejack put on a brave face and prayed for the safety of Rainbow and her family.

The swarm was only a few miles from Equestria’s capital, with Chrysalis and Bane Tooth at its helm.

“Bane Tooth!” Chrysalis shouted at the general. “Take your squadron to the south side of the city and overrun the castle. Take no prisoners except for the royal family, including Prince Shining Armor.” The Changeling general nodded curtly and veered left, his soldiers following suit.

Chrysalis licked her lips against the biting wind. Now the ponies would know her shame and swallow the vile taste of defeat. No amount of love or tolerance could stop her now. Even the Elements themselves would be useless when she was done with them.

The city finally came into full view, as well as the ponies guarding it. The Changeling queen would have attacked Celestia herself, but somepony else caught her eye: Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty.

Magical powers were greatly affected by the strength of one’s spirit, and the Elements were no exception. Rainbow obviously had the strongest fighting spirit of the six, which made her element the most powerful of the group. If Chrysalis could rob Rainbow of her element, then who knows what it would do for her magic?

A shot was fired. A blast of confetti, balloons, and a pre-set table took out several Changelings. The pink one was on the ground with a mobile cannon firing party supplies at her army with devastating results. Luckily, she had set up her charge to create the illusion that her army was smaller than it really was; for every soldier taken out, two more took its place. Rainbow Dash was out of sight, so Chrysalis charged for the princess of the sun.

At least until a blast of midnight blue blast shot her from the sky.

The perpetrator matched the magical blast in color and fiery intensity. “You will not harm our sister!” Protective instinct had chiseled her face into a vengeful glare, and her horn was ready to fire another blast at her sister’s assailant.

Both shot at the same time, cancelling out the attacks and creating a smokescreen. While Luna took a moment to compose herself, Chrysalis charged at her and tackled her to the ground. Her aim was to impale the princess’ throat, but she ended up flailing randomly when Luna bucked her in the gut. Both got back on their hooves, but Chrysalis struck first with a headbutt, stunning Luna and throwing her to the pavement again.

Just as Chrysalis was about to sneer at Luna about how weak and pathetic she truly was, she heard screaming: the gravelly, hate-filled cry of Rainbow Dash ready to beat the Changeling Queen over the head like a giant piñata. She smoothly ducked under her prismatic assailant, causing her to crash head-first into Luna.

Chrysalis laughed loud and strong, purposefully making Rainbow angrier. Her anger and thirst for blood was clouding her judgment and making her sloppy. Before the two could even stand up, Chrysalis wrapped them in her magic grip and slammed them to a nearby wall. The queen continued to laugh as Rainbow looked to her left to see Changelings devour her closest friends.

Starving Changelings weren’t picky about what they ate on their victims; by the time her soldiers had finished, there wouldn’t be so much as bone dust to sweep up.

As she leaned down to finish the job, Rainbow slugged her in the face. “Take that, you monster!” she spat.

The queen merely shook her head to regain feeling in her cheek. “You’ll regret doing that.” Chrysalis had been planning to do this to Celestia, but she was enjoying torturing her prismatic prisoner.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Rainbow’s cry fell flat as Chrysalis touched her horn to Luna’s chest and turned the lunar princess into a statue. She released her magic grip on Luna and returned her attention to Rainbow.

“I have use for your element,” she said icily to Rainbow.

“Just wait until Princess Celestia and Twilight find you!”

“Oh,” she chuckled, “I look forward to it, but by then it will be too late, you rainbow-maned buffoon.” Chrysalis then surrounded the Pegasus in a crushing magic aura, intent on removing her very essence.

After the screaming was over, Chrysalis had before her the Essence of Loyalty and a Rainbow Dash with nothing left to fight for. Her soldiers gathered around her, ready to do her in if the queen demanded it. Instead, she sent the Pegasus rolling down the nearest hillside. She had no Element, her friends would soon be dead, she was not a threat.

“Your highness!” Bane Tooth suddenly appeared behind his queen. “They’ve captured Celestia and her student.”

The Canterlot Royal Court was a grand room with beautiful stain glass depicting Equestria’s greatest victories: Nightmare Moon, both defeats of Discord, Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding day, even the defeat of King Sombra.

Twenty minutes ago, it was the final hiding place of Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.

When Chrysalis entered the room, it was not the same court she saw during the first invasion. Her soldiers had shattered the stain glass and toppled several pillars, one of which narrowly missed the throne. Celestia sat on her haunches, her muzzle cast down with defeat and shame scrawled across it. One wing hung limply at her side; the other was covered in bite marks and bruises. A magic cap lay snugly on her horn. Even her mane, which flowed supernaturally, seemed to stop moving altogether.

Without breaking away from Celestia, Chrysalis asked Bane, “Where is Twilight Sparkle?”

“She was captured elsewhere in the castle and is on her way here.”

“And what of the orange Earth Pony?”

“Unaccounted for.”

She sighed. “Well, we have doomed the princesses and killed three Elements. That is satisfactory. I wish to be alone with Celestia. Stay outside and wait for my commands.” Bane bowed as he left and hurried his underlings out as well.

Celestia didn’t look up as Chrysalis approached. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

“I’ve made it a habit to salute those who have bested me. I hate to break tradition, but you are not worthy of my respect.”

She scoffed, “You still feel superior to me?”

“No, I can concede defeat. But I know you cannot win.”

“Your capital is in my grasp, your soldiers have fallen, you yourself cannot even fly. Where is my disadvantage?”

Celestia finally opened her eyes. “A fire can only burn for as long as there is fuel. By waging war, you’re destroying your subject’s food source like a farmer who burns his field. Once they’re starving, do you truly believe they’ll stay content?”

“Bane!” she screamed. “Take her to the dungeon!”

Before Celestia was ushered from the room, she turned back to Chrysalis. “Evil may win many battles, but it cannot win a war.”

As she left, another soldier ran in panting like it had just run a marathon.

“Your highness! Twilight has escaped!”

The Changeling queen lost her temper then and fired a powerful energy blast at the ceiling, leaving a massive hole. “What buffoon was guarding her?!” The soldier reluctantly raised his leg. Chrysalis grabbed Bane’s sword in her magic and swiftly decapitated him.

She attempted to calm herself and moved to a different question. “What of Twilight’s brother and his wife?” The remaining soldiers looked around nervously. One dared to answer.

“We couldn’t find them. They’re not in the castle.”

Chrysalis’ face was contorted by rage. “I asked my top general for the capture of all the royals, and he brings me a princess, leaving two others alive and roaming Equestria freely?!” Chrysalis’ rage had been thrown out the window now. “Find them! I don’t care if you have to turn Equestria upside-down and inside-out, I want them brought here alive and executed at my hooves!”

The queen blew several more holes in the walls before calming down enough to listen to Bane. He had received word that Ponyville had been overrun and was burning to the ground as they spoke. The two Changeling leaders went to investigate.

The rabid howls of Diamond Dogs and the pained cries of ponies shook the trees on Ponyville’s edge. Smoke filled the sky and most of the buildings were indeed burning down.

“Where’s Discord?” asked the queen. Her question was quickly answered when she noticed a lake. Well, not exactly a typical lake. While most lakes are full of water, this one was full of a yellow fluid with lemon wedges and ice cubes. “Is this…lemonade?”

Discord appeared from under the lake wearing a snorkel and a mask. “It certainly is. I must also applaud the Diamond Dogs for causing such beautiful chaos. A bit violent for my tastes, but I suppose chaos is chaos.”

Chrysalis was somewhere between being shocked and impressed. “I…didn’t know they were capable of such destruction.”

“All I had to do was tell them about the treasure trove of jewels in Ponyville and they barreled in head-first.” Discord produced a straw from under the surface and proceeded to drink from his lake. “I do hope to do this again. As violent as it was, it was quite fun. And let’s face it, that’s why I do what I do.”

Chrysalis looked at her new general. “You know, I think I can arrange that.”

Somewhere at the base of the mountain Canterlot was built on, a figure lay still in the creeping crepuscular light. Any passing creature would have recognized it as a Pegasus pony, but all the nearby creatures had been scared into hiding by the Changeling Invasion.

The figure didn’t so much as twitch; it had no energy left. Its very life essence had been forcibly removed, and all its friends were dead or missing. Its old way of life was gone, and it seemed to have nothing to live for.

Hours passed, then days, until the lump gathered the will to stand up. Battered, bruised, spiritually broken, dirty, but somehow alive. With nothing else to do, she ventured into the forest, hoping that it would lead her to her death or wake her up from this nightmare.

Vivat nox.

-ClarinetOverlord