The Threat of Change

The land was barren and dark, like a fire had burned the walls of the gorge and left them blackened. Everything was still; everything silent except the quiet buzzing of wings coming from deeper within the gorge. There, atop a jagged rock lay the black form of a pony, yet not a pony. It’s height and build resembled an alicorn, yet the creature’s insect-like wings and hardened back plate proved otherwise. Her twisted horn and the small fangs that slid down the side of her lower jaw gave her a threatening appearance. Her gaze swept over the scene before her, black forms dotted the clearing, her minions, asleep.

Chrysalis turned away, directing her gaze towards the sky and the moon that moved into view. She frowned and looked back towards her army. It had been three monthes since she led the invasion on Canterlot, disguising herself as the bride in order to infiltrate and corrupt the source of the barrier spell keeping her army at bay.

We would have succeeded too! Canterlot was ours for the taking… If only that… that… If only she hadn’t suspected something was up… I had defeated Celestia! I had Canterlot within my grasp! And those two… I will have my revenge. One way or another… I will make them pay- dearly!

Ever since their banishment the swarm was forced to retreat to their old eating habit. Their numbers had severely dropped, many not surviving the fall or dying soon after from fall-related injuries. Chrysalis herself had several injuries but with the last ounce of magic she had acquired from Shining Armour’s love for Cadance, she had been able to heal herself- if only to spend any energy she had left for days to follow. Occasionally a changeling would appear by her side, carrying an animal of some kind and insisting his queen eat. Even though now she was fully capable of hunting for herself, having minions willing to bide by your every will had its advantages. While feeding off the love of ponies was their greatest source of nutrition and granted them great powers, feeding of the aura and magical essence off ponies and other creatures within the land at least allowed the Changelings to survive. This act, however, brought a swift but painful death to their prey. As their fangs sunk into a delicate area of flesh, usually around the neck, they drew the energy, the creature’s natural power and consumed it before discarding the limp and soulless body away. On rare occasions they would eat meat, but it did little to power their magic as the essence of creatures did, or the power that love radiated.

My revenge… it will start with her. Then the dreaded two who stopped my force! And finally, upon Celestia herself… I will make them suffer… I will make her worst nightmares, reality! And then, when she finally falls apart and wishes for nothing but a swift death… I will-

Her revenge planning was cut short when a sudden realisation dawned on her.

Celestia… There may yet be another opportunity… Yes. Yes! Canterlot may still be ours!

As if by some unspoken signal, the changelings stirred, the sound of insect-like chirps and buzz of a hundred wings echoed in the gorge as black shapes took to the sky. Their hive mind allowed Chrysalis to send messages to those connected to her and they had heard her calling.

“Gather our forces! Prepare yourselves my children, Canterlot will be ours! We will train, we will plan and when the time comes we will take back what’s ours!”

Chrysalis’s voice rung throughout the gorge, loud enough to not be drowned out by the beating of wings and a grin swept across her face as the gorge erupted in a chorus of shouted triumph, as if they could see their plan working already.

The time nears for my chance of revenge and all in Canterlot will know the full wrath of the Changelings.

It's only a matter of time...

~~~~~

If the library wasn't a mess before, it certainly was now.

“Twilight, what are-“ Spike was cut short as a book came flying his direction. With barely enough time to move aside the projectile sailed through the air and came to rest on the far side of the room. The small dragon turned to face the one responsible for the mess (and thrown book), frowning.

“Spike, I already told you what I’m looking for… it’s… it’s important,” she said, sighing with the last few words and peeking over her shoulder to see her assistant – still frowning. Indeed Twilight had informed Spike what she was looking for –numerous times- but making sense of why she needed to know this was beyond his comprehension. Yes, the Princess had asked her, but that was nearly a week ago and Twilight had barely gotten any sleep.

“You’re looking for a certain book that will apparently reverse the effects of a Changeling’s curse on a pony… don’t get me wrong, I would hope if there ever was an incident when a pony was turned into a changeling I would certainly hope it could be reversed, but what makes you so certain that the changelings will return? We haven’t seen anything in over three months! No doubt none of them even survived the fall, let alone managed to re-group and plan a new attack!

Twilight, you need to take this seriously, nothing will hap- Oh! Here it is!” holding his arm up high, the book in his grasp was encased in lavender magic and quickly hauled towards the purple unicorn, dragging the poor dragon with it. Twilight paid no heed to the thud the dragon created as he finally released his grip on the book and slammed into the ground and merely regarded his words with a faint nod. She knew he was right – even if he did have a knack for voicing her fears, which made them sound all the more likely – but he was right. She was getting too worked up in her study, researching the history of Changelings, how they feed, how they shape-shift, how they were created.

The book levitated before her, pages magically flipping as she scanned through the words, the illustrations, looking for something about these creatures that she wasn’t already aware of. Again, there was nothing new in this book and she thoughtlessly tossed it aside.

“I know everything about them from that book already! I knew it from the last forty two books I’ve read!”

Most of those books actually didn’t have anything to do with Changelings in them, referring to other supernatural monsters like zombies and ghosts. Unfortunately, like the story of Nightmare Moon, many accounts of the Changelings and their queen were told from story books and fairy tales. Until the wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor, the last recorded sighting of Changelings were a good thousand years ago.

“Twilight, maybe we should just give it a rest, I mean look around – everyone’s happy, the changelings are not going to come back – and even if they did, Cadance and your brother can stop them again, right?”

“That’s not the point Spike…”

“But they can. Can’t they?”

“Yes but-“

“Then stop worrying about it, the Princess likely has other unicorns working on this subject as well,” the dragon pleaded, climbing over books and notes to reach Twilight’s side. He laid his claw on her shoulder hoping to calm her, but as soon as his claws touched her skin, the purple unicorn’s muscle tensed and he retracted his hand as she turned to him sharply. She caught a glimpse of fear in his eyes that was soon replaced with worry and she allowed her body to relax, lowering her neck and ears ever so slightly. Her eyes softened when she caught Spike’s gaze again, before closing them and shaking her head slowly.

“I have to worry about it.”

Spike brought his claw to his forehead and sighed. Upon seeing this, Twilight smiled and turned towards her writing desk. The desk had notes about the Changelings scattered across its surface, some having fallen on the ground but the most notable piece of parchment was left at the top right of the table, bearing the royal seal.

“Princess Celestia has asked me to find any information about the Changelings… along with ways to identify them, block their magic and among other… more… horrid things, a way to reverse the effects of a Changeling curse on another pony,” she explained as she lifted several notes into the air, covered in purple magic. She scanned them before laying them down once more and turning to her assistant, “and so far the only thing I have managed to learn is a very unreliable spell to identify and undo a Changeling’s magical disguise which I had made up on the spot back during the invasion anyway! These books don’t tell me anything other than fairy tales! Oh Spike, what will I-“

She was cut off as the small dragon let out a belch and along with it the fiery magic of a letter spawning. He reached for it but it was snatched away from his grasp with purple magic.

“It’s a letter from... Princess Luna!”

“What does it say?”

"'Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Your presence is requested in Canterlot immediately, concerning a matter of great importance.

A chariot will arrive in Ponyville shortly, make haste – time is short.

Tell no one.

Princess Luna'

’Time is short’, ‘Tell no one’, what is this about?”

“It seems important… maybe they can’t tell you through letter?”

Twilight re-read the letter, making perfectly sure she hadn't missed anything in the process. Spike sat atop a stack of books, lost in thought about what the moon Princess could possibly require Twilight’s attendance at this time of night. Both the dragon and unicorn snapped back to reality as Spike’s temporary ‘book-chair’ fell apart and he hit the floor with a thud.

“Well… I guess I’m going to find out.”

~~~~~

When the carriage arrived, it was not what she had expected. Instead of the royal carriages that usually were sent when Celestia required her presence, this one was made of a much darker wood and rimmed with blue and silver metal work. The most notable feature were the guards that hauled it; Night Guards. When Twilight has asked about it, one of the guards merely responded saying it was by request of Princess Luna personally and left it at that, ushering her to quickly enter the carriage so they could leave as soon as possible.

As soon as possible being after Twilight hauled half the library with her. While preparing she thought over the letter and assumed Luna had called upon her to tell of Twilight’s findings concerning the Changelings and so, the purple unicorn packed as many Changeling-related books and notes to take with her.

However, when the carriage landed swiftly and silently in a more isolated region of the castle, around midnight, and she was greeted by Princess Luna herself, the unicorn grew worried about this trip’s real purpose.

“Princess Luna! It’s an honour to be here again”

“Greetings Twilight Sparkle, unfortunately you must forgive the short greeting and come with me at once”

Before Twilight could even make an expression of confusion, Luna had already turned and was heading towards an entrance to the castle. She quickly caught up and only after they had entered the castle and the doors close behind them, did Twilight dare speak.

“Princess… forgive me if I am wrong for asking but-“

“We had to send the night guard in place of Celestia’s guard for stealth purposes. We wish not to cause a panic and the fewer ponies who know, the better,” Luna said, interrupting Twilight’s question but answering it all the same.

“What do you mean? Has something happened?”

“Did you research about the Changelings? Mine sister speaks highly of your researching skills…”

“Y-yes! Of course, I did… However it was far more difficult separating fact from fairy tales than I had first thought… I’m sorry… I might have read every book in my library, but I found out very little that I  didn’t already know about them”

Twilight’s ears dropped and her head sunk ever so slightly when she saw a hint of frustration cross Luna’s gaze, although it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

They continued walking in complete silence, the only sound coming from their hooves against stone floors and echoing off the walls. It was a good fifteen minutes before Luna held out a hoof to stop Twilight and broke the silence.

“Unfortunately our own researchers fair no better,” she said, her voice unusually quiet. She turned around completely to face Twilight and said with a sigh, “please, be quiet and stay here until We call.”

Twilight nodded her head and watched Luna open a door to their left and go in. She didn’t close it however, and Twilight could easily hear their conversation.

“Sister, are you awake?”

“Luna… please, leave me be.”

“Your student is here.”

“What!? Luna! How could you?”

The voice was easily recognizable, Celestia’s, but the words sounded panicked, as if she was in distress. But what stopped Twilight was how Celestia had dejected the thought of her being here. Had Luna requested Twilight to come without Celestia knowing?

“Tia please, she may be able to help.”

“N-No, she cannot see me… not like this… ”

“We will not send her away. She is here to help you, sister.”

“Do-does she know? She can't find out like this! This is wrong!”

Know? Know what?

“Cast the spell, you've waited too long to tell her. Twilight, you may enter.”

There was a brief cry of panicked 'wait!' as Luna called for Twilight to enter. Opening the door fully, the unicorn entered the scene, finding Luna standing at the foot of a large bed and the white figure of her sister standing next to her, worry stricken across her face. Upon seeing Twilight she swallowed the worry and found her composure again to stand before her student.

“Twilight?”

“Princess Celestia!”

Twilight’s smile at seeing her mentor always brightened the sun princess’s day, but it wasn’t day, and the full extent of her pupil’s smile was lacking. Twilight knew something was wrong.

“Princess Luna asked me to come… is- is everything okay?”

“Y-Yes everyt-“

“No,” Luna said, glaring sideways at her older sister, interrupting her excuse. Celestia sighed and lowered her head slightly. It concerned Twilight to see Celestia like this, always standing proud, always a shining hope, but right now none of that was there. When she raised her head again, her ears slightly dropped and the slightest hint of worry had returned to her eyes. Her mane reflected this, the colour dulled and its usual graceful flow seemed slowed and less lively.

“Twilight, did you receive my letter about the Changelings?”

“Yes… I looked into the subject as much as I could… but I am sorry to say finding actual facts was difficult and I know little more than I learned on the day of the invasion…”

Twilight normally would have shrunk away or felt ashamed for failing the Princess, as she did in the hallway with Luna, but she was more focused on what had upset Celestia so much.

“I was told that at one stage you were capable of breaking a Changeling’s disguise spell”

“It was something I learned on the day… a in-the-moment kind of spell, if you will. But yes, I could still perform it.

…Why?” Twilight watched the two Princesses’ exchange worried looks until Luna’s reset into a more focused scowl and she stood, walking carefully over to the door and closing it. Twilight thought she saw a glimmer of dark blue magic spread across the door and into the walls but she couldn't be sure if it had been real or imagined.

Did Luna just lock us in here?.

Her attention was drawn back to Celestia when Luna lifted a hoof her direction.

“We wask that you to cast the spell. On her.”

“Eh-what?”

“Twilight, before you do it’s important to make you aware that no matter what happens, it’s still me. It hasn’t finished its process… I still have control…”

Celestia’s voice trailed off, fading until she was silent, but her gaze seemed detached. Twilight lowered herself and switched glances between Luna, Celestia and the door Luna was barring. Something was very wrong. She looked back up to the sun princess, “Wha-what’s going on? Princess, you’re scaring me, please- tell me what’s going on!”

“It’s better if you see for yourself, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her voice was firm but not unkind, “perform the spell… you will see.”

Fearing disrespecting the Princess’s wishes, while also fearing what they were talking about she hesitated but before long a purple haze consumed her horn and shot out towards Celestia, the bright light wrapping the Princess and running down from the tip of her horn, all the way to her hooves before the spell’s magic vanished and Twilight opened her eyes.

What she saw she never would have expected. She would have screamed had she not been so shocked. She was glued to the spot, eyes wide and jaw hanging so low it could have been thought dislocated.

Where Celestia, ruler of Equestria with her beautiful white coat and multi-coloured mane had previously stood, now held the figure of something twisted. It took several seconds for Twilight to register the pony before her still slightly resembled Celestia, but horrifically different.

Her mane had dulled to take on a sickly blue hue, her fur matted and shedding at places around her fore legs, neck and hind legs. Where the fur had completely come off, a hardened black skin replaced it, criss-crossing through her fur like the roots of a tree through the dirt. Her wings were tattered, missing feathers, and her hooves held cracks and slight indents where the blackened skin had found surface. Most notably however were her facial features. Her ears took on a more unnatural curve, held sideways, her horn twisted slightly and cracked, showing more of the black, and easily seen protruding from her upper jaw were two fairly long fangs. One thing stood out among the rest though, her eyes – they took on a green colour, completely replacing the normal warm pink, the circular pupils replaced with rounded slits, eyes none too familiar to Twilight – the eyes of the Changeling Queen.