Hope is Never Lost.

-Nex-

Your mission is of great importance. Sombra approaches from the north and the changelings are waiting for us in the south, our only hope is to travel east; however I cannot abandon the last two elements of harmony. You must find Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash within one week Nex or I will be forced to move on and you will be considered deceased. We have no idea where they are located nor have we heard any information of their current state. My gifts sadly will make your appearance and your allegiance clear to any changeling so it is fully advised that you stay off the roads and avoid contact with any changeling. If you are captured remember your oath and stay strong. I wish you luck and I hope to see your return.

-Princess Luna.

The note was swiftly tossed in the river by the bat winged pegasus, her yellow eyes following it as it floated down the river, being drowned under the surface by a current. “I promise my princess” Nex whispered silently before shivering lightly from the cool tundra breeze. In a blur of motion bats began to form around the pegasus, each one grabbing hold of another before magically they formed into a cloak, now concealing her identity. I am one hour from the nearest town, if I keep moving and only sleep a couple hours a day I should be near Ponyville within three days she predicted before looking up to the moon and the stars. If I travel through central Equestria during the night I will be able to slip through the checkpoints easier. As long as I don’t talk with anypony or show my face I will simply be another mare in the crowd. I cannot fail my princess, I cannot fail Equestria, I will find them.

-Queen Chrysalis-

“They cower at the very sight of you your majesty” Feskis, a changeling general pointed out while he walked beside his monarch. Chrysalis chuckled lightly at the sight of the cowering ponies who hesitantly watched the changeling queen approach the train.

“But of course Feskis, it is in their nature” Chrysalis responded before stepping up the small staircase and entering the train.

“Good afternoon your highness!” greeted the three usual changeling servants who accompanied the queen everywhere she went. “Are you wanting the usual your majesty?”

“That would be correct. General, please leave my presence” Chrysalis ordered, receiving a bow from Feskis who then turned and exited through the car door leading to one of the other train cars. Chrysalis approached the servants and sat down as the train began accelerating. A servant flew to all the windows and closed the blinds, the scenery hidden by a blanket of darkness from the night leaving the use of the windows obsolete. Chrysalis lifted her hoof before one of the servants immediately began to file and polish it.

“May I ask where your majesty is going?” the changeling filing her hoof wondered, her sapphire blue eyes looking up to meet her queens for a second before focusing back to her hoof.

“You may, and the answer is the Crystal Empire” Chrysalis responded before the servant tapped her hoof lightly with the file indicating its completion. Chrysalis then raised her other hoof and the servant proceeded.

“The Crystal Empire? but why your majesty, its so very cold” a servant said, focusing her magic on a large bucket of water to heat it up.

“I will be discussing our current conflicts and making him understand that I will not send my forces north in order to ‘trap’ princess Luna as he thinks” Chrysalis responded, a slight tone of annoyance clear in her voice. Idiot, must I constantly remind him of what my species can and cannot do? It seems that way or I wouldn’t be on this forsaken train.

“Are you concerned about the princess my queen?” the same changeling wondered as she lifted the now heated bucket and Chrysalis rose to her hooves. Chrysalis then proceeded a few steps till she reached a bathtub which she stepped into and sat down. A moment later a bucket of hot water poured across her chitin and soaked her mane, her wings becoming useless until dried in the process. She kept her eyes closed as a servant applied a shampoo to her mane and began to brush it through.

“If I said I was not I would be lying. Am I in fear of Luna? of course not, though do I see her as a threat? Only a fool would say no” was her reply. “Now I wish for conversation to cease, I wish to ponder our current situations” Chrysalis stated, receiving nods from the servants who proceeded to wash and clean their queen’s body.

I feel like I am missing something important, something that Luna has had under her wing the entire time.... Dammit I just remembered that Discord is still in Canterlot. Chrysalis sighed with annoyance at the thought of the spirit of chaos running freely around Canterlot, causing chaos wherever he wished. Another warm bucket of water was dumped on her head, washing away the soap and cleaners before Chrysalis stood and stepped out, the water sliding off of her chitin and dripping to the floor. A few seconds later towels began to wipe her dry, quickly followed by a robe being wrapped around her as she was seated on a pillow. “Would you like your supper now your majesty?” a servant wondered, receiving a nod from Chrysalis.

“Yes, then I believe I will take a nap” she said, receiving nods from all three servants who turned and exited the train car. Chrysalis was curious why some females wished to become servants, only those who excelled at their job ever got the privilege to work for officers, it was extremely rare she knew and only she picked servants who would work for her. All servants by tradition who came close to the queen were female, male servants tending to the queens needs usually was awkward, mainly due to the male gaining a level of arousal from the queen’s beauty. There had never been such a thing as a ugly queen, only a beautifully terrifying queen.

A loud bang outside the car caused Chrysalis to open her eyes to find two soldiers fighting against a currently bound pony, one of his hooves free and desperately trying to fight against the changelings, his attempts however being quickly useless as the drones grabbed him and forced him through the doorway. They threw him down on the ground before the queen and immediately his eyes met with hers. His coat was brown and his eyes green while his mane was a light blond.

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed and she smiled, baring her sharp teeth and then giggling lightly, her eyes the same as a predator’s eyeing its prey. “What a lovely little snack” she said, her eyes lightly illuminating as she exhaled, ready to devour the helpless ponies emotions. In a blink she leaned forward and inhaled, her horn and eyes glowing a blindingly bright green as a pink aura flooded off of the stallions form and into her body. His entire body stiffened before beginning to twitch lightly, all of his strength flooding out of him as the queen inhaled his very being. While the stallion suffered the queen felt as though she was in paradise. Energy surged into her body and her power grew by the second; but like every other feeding it was finished too quickly, the emotions abruptly stopped leaving the only thing she inhaled being air.

In front of her what once was a strong healthy stallion now was a weakened and brittle form, his color had dulled lightly and he looked to be much older than he was, his energy now gone and a lifeless look all that was left within his eyes. Chrysalis, deciding to end the forsaken ponies life immediately bit into its neck, burying her fangs into his veins and injecting her venom. Immediately the ponies veins slowly began to turn black as the venom spread through his body, the tissue around the venom becoming a dull grey while the fur of his coat began to fall out.

“Throw it off the train, I don’t want the corpse stinking any of the cars up” she ordered, waving her hoof to the drones to give them the hint to leave her presence. They gave a bow, followed by a nod before they began to drag the stallion away and out the door.

A servant entered and began blowing the candles out. “Is that all your majesty?”

“Yes, leave me be and awaken me when it is morning” She ordered, receiving a nod from the servant before she turned and exited the car. Chrysalis sighed softly, followed by resting her head on a pillow and closing her eyes.

-Twilight Sparkle-

“I can’t thank you enough” Twilight thanked while Dash picked up the bag with their belongings and lifted her cloaks hood over her head.

“Don’t worry about it, ah would do anything for friends of cousin Applejack” Braeburn said happily before removing his hat and putting it atop Twilight’s head to hide her horn. “Just keep your cutie marks hidden and y’all should be good to go” he stated before Twilight wrapped her front legs around him in a hug and he gave her one back. “Y’all stay safe now, stay in the wagon and keep quiet. Mah friends will give you two food three times a day and plenty of water, if the wagons are attacked run and don’t look back. Equestria may have turned its back on the elements, but Apple Loosa will not”

With that Twilight turned and galloped back to her friend who dropped to the ground and smiled. “How in Equestria did you know where we were? I thought we were more east” Dash wondered, receiving a smile from Twilight before a map floated out of the bag and Twilight opened it for her friend to see.

“When we started we started a little east of ponyville, we made our way south quickly and slowly went a little more east. Earlier today I figured out where we were and realized we were only three hours from Apple Loosa. While you took a nap on a cloud I spoke with Braeburn and he hooked us up with this wagon train delivering Apples to Canterlot, we will get off at ponyville and see who is still living there” Twilight said as she pointed from Apple Loosa to Ponyville with her hoof.

“What if.... you know.... no one is left?” Dash wondered, not receiving a answer from Twilight for a few moments as the two crawled into the back of the wagon behind all the crates of supplies and gear.

“Lets not think like that Dash” Twilight requested.

“Yeehaw!, lets go boys!” a mare announced before the wagons began moving. The two friends laid themselves down, covering themselves in the cloaks they were given to keep warm and using small piles of hay as pillows.

“Twi” Dash spoke after a few moments.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep when my heads being bashed into the wood floor every five seconds....”

The sentiment caused Twilight to giggle for the wagons were vibrating constantly and jerking up and down every few seconds due to the lack of a maintained road.

“Hey Twi” Dash spoke again, causing Twilight to raise her head and look at her friend. “You’re still an egghead”

Twilight sighed. Dash you’ve never made sense, nor will you ever make sense. Though I will admit that making jokes at this time has cheered me up a lot she thought.

“Dash?” Twilight wondered, looking to her friend once more and finding her completely asleep. “Well at least someone can sleep” she said before lifting the book Dash had found for her from the bag and set it down in front of her. She illuminated her horn and then began to read, her wishes for rest immediately disappearing as she became interested in the book and its contents and hidden knowledge.