Hope is Never Lost.

by Rezz

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Sad, Dark
Length: 6240

Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are the last hope to free the ponies of Equestria from the three powerfullest villains in all of Equestria.

The wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor was suppose to be perfect, however a certain changeling ruined it all. Upon defeating Celestia and enslaving four of the elements of harmony Queen Chrysalis quickly conquered all of Equestria. With no one to stop his return to the throne King Sombra easily reclaimed his position as King of the Crystal Empire and quickly established an alliance with the Queen of the Changelings. Due to the chaos and the lack of Celestia's magic on his imprisonment Discord was once again released from his stone prison and became an ally to Chrysalis, enabling her to change many things in Equestria to better suit her species.

The ponies of Equestria today suffer from the changelings feeding on them daily while their world is twisted in Chaos from Discord, their only hope being Princess Luna and the 2 elements of Harmony left. But first Princess Luna must find the 2 ponies and then find a way to save Equestria and defeat the 3 most powerful villains in its history.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-07 08:37:48 UTC

Prologue.

-Queen Chrysalis-

“Stop!” a voice echoed through the room, causing everyponies head to turn to the doors to see Twilight Sparkle standing there. Cadence sighed.

“Ugh!, why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?” growled Cadence with annoyance, causing Celestia to recoil at her statement. Realizing how negative that sounded she fakely weeped “Why does she have to ruin my special day?” and then cried to add effect.

“Because!, its not your special day!” a voice announced, a very familiar voice that caused Cadence’s jaw to fall slack. Oh...well that is not good she thought before looking over her hoof to see the real Princess Cadence enter the room. “Its mine!” declared Cadence, earning gasps from all the wedding guests.

“What? but how did you escape my bridesmaids?” the fake Cadence asked, gaining a grin and a self-satisfied look between Twilight Sparkle and Cadence before the two explained the simple plan.

The fake Cadence growled with annoyance, her entire plan now beginning to collapse. I should have known better than to assign ponies to those useless roles. “Hm clever, but you’re still too late” stated the fake Cadence.

“A-ah don’t understand how can thar be two of em?” Applejack wondered.

“She’s a Changeling, she takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off the love you feel for them” Cadence declared before the fake Cadence’s eyes glowed green. Green flames sprouted from the ground, encircling the fake Cadence before enveloping her. When the flames cleared what was left was not a copy of Cadence but the changeling Queen, Queen Chrysalis.

“Hahahaha, right you are princess, and as Queen of the changelings it is up to me to find food for my subjects” stated Chrysalis, proceeding down the stairs and across the red carpet towards Cadence. “Equestria has more love than any place I’ve ever encountered, my fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!” said Chrysalis enthusiastically.

“They’ll never get the chance!” began Cadence, leaning closer to the terrifying changeling Queen before her. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us!” Cadence replied, emphasizing her point by raising her hoof up to Chrysalis who leaned her head back. This brought a dark smile from the changeling queen before quickly being followed by a giggle.

Thats what you think Chrysalis thought.

“Oh I doubt that, isn’t that right ‘dear’?” Chrysalis wondered, turning her gaze back to shining armor with her horn illuminated and receiving a nod from her hypnotized slave. Cadence realizing this felt a stab of pain in her heart; this creature before her had been feeding on the most precious emotion to all species as if it were nothing but dirt and now she even had her fiance brainwashed. Cadence began to gallop towards her fiance but was stopped by Chrysalis slamming her hoof down in her way. “mmm mmm mmm!” Chrysalis spoke before proceeding once more towards Cadence who began backing away. “Don’t want to go back to the caves now do we?” Chrysalis questioned, her horn illuminated with a green aura, her reply kept Cadence back.

That's what I thought

“Ever since I took your place I’ve been feeding off Shining Armor’s love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell, even while we speak my minions are chipping away at it!” declared Chrysalis, looking up at her subjects now visibly smashing into the barrier. The sight caused a few ponies in the crowd to gasp silently while Chrysalis began to laugh once more. “He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now!” explained Chrysalis, gaining gasps from both Twilight Sparkle and Cadence. I thought they knew that already.

“...and I’m sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!” snarled Chrysalis.

“Not my Shining Armor!” Cadence pleaded to no one in particular, her plead falling on deaf ears and not heard by the Changeling Queen.

“Soon, my changeling army will break through, first we take Canterlot then, ALL OF EQUESTRIA!” announced Chrysalis, flying into the air with her hoof raised to the sky, a dark grin forming on her muzzle.

“No!” an authoritative voice spoke, causing Chrysalis to turn her head to see Celestia approaching. “You wont” Celestia declared, stopping halfway to Chrysalis before the changeling queen returned to the ground. I forgot about you for a moment.....

“You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self...” began Celestia before charging forward towards Chrysalis, causing the changeling Queen’s nature to kick in and she charged as well. The two clashed horns, both pushing with all their strength against the other. “...I can protect my subjects!... from you!” finished Celestia, jumping back and flying up into the air, a glowing ray of light forming on her horn before jetting down towards the changeling Queen. Chrysalis reacted just in time, sending a swirling laser of energy at Celestia. The rays collided, causing the two to begin channeling as much power as they could into their rays, seeing who could out power the other one.

Four years later.....

Chrysalis chuckled softly as she gazed out the window to the ruined streets of Canterlot below. “You know.... I remember when our civilization was starving, the stress I had when I took my rightful place as Queen of the changelings. I had insomnia, I thought I was failing my subjects.... I even thought I would be smitten by our god for my failure..... though I did it, many believed we could not, but we have” Chrysalis spoke, her voice calmed by the warmth from the fireplace in the room.

“Yes and a nice bit of chaos on the side” Discord pointed out, lounged on a couch floating in mid air. “The skies gloomy all the time, you’ve corrupted hundreds, you even have made it rain almost every day here drive your slaves moral down to the ground, its.... beautiful” Discord said, wiping a tear from his face while he gazed out the same window as his changeling friend. A flash of magic caught Chrysalis’ attention and upon turning her head she found the draconequus biting into a silver platter. “I never liked Celestia, but I do love her taste in silverware.... hehe, get it?” Discord asked, making a pun. Deciding to ignore it Chrysalis continued with their previous conversation.

“Yes, though I see it in a different aspect” Chrysalis responded, not caring to look at her friend. With the entire continent being thrown into a chaotic nature for a period of 2 years and with Celestia’s magical influence on his imprisonment nonexistent Discord had once again escaped from his stone imprisonment and had quickly become friends with Chrysalis.

“There is however one issue that remains” Discord reminded, bringing a small growl from the changeling queen but it didn’t last long due to her fatigue from a long day.

“I know....” Chrysalis responded, annoyance beginning to show in her tone. Princess Luna Chrysalis thought bitterly, the name bringing with it hate and stress. For the past four years Chrysalis had tried multiple times to catch the last Princess and the last two elements of harmony. After Celestia’s defeat the six ponies had attempted to escape with only 2 managing it; the suspicious one known as Twilight Sparkle and a rainbow maned one that Chrysalis had forgotten the name of over the years. The other four and the baby dragon serve a much better purpose at least. The thought made Chrysalis smile before her other thoughts returned. My original ‘search every cave and forest’ plan didn’t work so well, come to think of it 6 changelings were eaten by things in the everfree forest....the wanted posters for her haven’t shown any progress either.

“Out of curiosity, are the ponies citizens of your empire that are fed on or simply food?” Discord wondered, folding the silver platter in half and beginning to eat it like a sub-sandwich. Chrysalis chuckled at that question.

“Of course not!, they are our cattle, citizenship is only for changelings, though with those like you, I make an exception” Chrysalis responded, receiving a shrug from Discord.

“I’m flattered” Discord expressed, rolling his eyes to show his sarcasm.

“I’m glad” Chrysalis growled with annoyance before an idea came to mind.

-Ponies of Canterlot-

A noise similar to that of a beehive became clearly audible in the ruins of Canterlot, causing everypony that heard it too panic for it was the changelings. Whenever a swarm like this was heard the ponies knew it was feeding time. Some hid, some ran in the opposite direction while others just stood there, accepting the hell they all had come to know as daily life; however the changelings flew by with no hesitation, not paying any attention to the ponies they passed. Ponies stopped running and gazed curiously over to the changelings who were now dividing into multiple groups ranging from three to five changelings. The changelings then proceeded to apply a green gel like substance to the exterior of the buildings, then followed by pasting a poster.

The changelings turned and flew into the sky, back towards Canterlot castle where they had originated. When the ponies were comfortable and convinced they were safe they proceeded to the posters, curious what information or orders they had. “What do you think this is about?” a mare asked.

“Can never be sure with them” a stallion responded.

What the poster said had not been expected by anypony.

Note from the Queen

Any hints or information that lead to the arrest of Princess Luna will be rewarded. The ponies who provide this information will be given citizenship and a pardon in the Changeling Empire. By pardon this will place you one level above all other ponies in Equestria. You will be given food monthly and will not be fed upon by any changeling. This pardon is eternal and effects all of your family, therefore protecting those who share your blood from the required feedings forever. Along with this reward you will be promoted to a certain level of nobility normally unobtainable by other ponies; however it should be noted that you will not possess nearly as many rights as a changeling, you will simply be free from the daily feedings and allowed to move across Equestria. It is understandable that you will be hesitant to give up your previous monarch to me but where has your Princess been all these years? While you all have been suffering from our influence your protector has been hiding away like a coward. A true leader would not abandon their people so tell me, which is more important, your family or your loyalty?

-Queen Chrysalis

The ponies of Canterlot were shocked, some had to reread what it said while others simply pondered it. “Thats...” a stallion began, his mind racing with hundreds of possibilities.

“Preposterous is what it is!” stated another, adjusting a cracked monocle he still wore with his magic.

“W-well you have to admit.... its not like we can keep up with this....” spoke a mare.

“Are you saying we should simply betray Princess Luna? One of the two who freed our ancestors and have protected us for more than a millennium?! How can you even call yourself a pony?!” demanded the monocle wearing stallion, anger clear in his voice.

“She may have protected us in the past but what good is she to us when all she does is raise the moon and the sun these days?! When was the last time she was even seen? A year? Two years ago? We are running out of options!” shouted another stallion.

“There are always and will always be alternatives! We cannot give our only hope up to this menace of which controls us! We have lost one princess and we cannot lose the other!”

“I have a family to worry about!”

“What family is that? The one that has forsaken Equestria and has so pathetically surrendered to the changelings?”

“Why you pompous!...”

The fighting continued among the ponies, some viewing the situation one way while others viewed it the opposite. What was true however is that there was always hope and that there would always be hope. Luna had not forsaken her subjects, her sister nor the Elements of Harmony but nopony could know that.

-Princess Luna-

“Princess” General Lance a Pegasus General spoke, gaining the princess of the night’s attention. “We have not heard back from our scouts”

Luna sighed silently, turning her head away from her General so she gazed north, towards the crystal empire where the scouts had gone. “We must leave” Luna whispered, her general only hearing her due to the dead silence of the snow fall. If it was as it were four years ago it would be peaceful, she most likely would be with her sister and for a joke she would throw a snowball at her; sadly this was not four years ago, and this calm snowfall had nothing peaceful about it. Four miles north was the Crystal Empire, ruled by King Sombra and protected by his army of crystal soldiers.

“They might still....”

“They are dead” Luna said softly, interrupting his sentence. “I am sorry for bringing us here” Luna apologized sadly, her gaze fallen.

“Its not your fault Princess”

“I sometimes disagree...”

That statement caused General Lance to pause. “You are all we have left Princess, we need you to stay strong”

“I am not weakening, I am just..... depressed”

“.... what are our orders?”

“We need to go south, Sombra will be sending soldiers to look for us”

“Understood, when we return south what should we tell the scouts?”

“Look for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, the other four may be imprisoned or worse, but the remaining elements still can help” Luna explained before General Lance removed himself from her presence to tell the small amount of remaining troops to pack up.

Chapter 1

-Twilight Sparkle-

“Hey Twi, I’m back” Dash announced, flying closer so she was visible from inside the cave. Twilight’s horn illuminated, followed by the unicorn stepping into a defensive pose.

“Say the password!” Twilight demanded, her voice colder than ice. Dash sighed with annoyance.

“Harmonia” Rainbow spoke, followed by Twilight calming down and taking a seat. “Is that truly necessary Twi?” Rainbow wondered before moving her muzzle to her saddlebag and beginning to pull the contents out from the pockets.

It tells me you’re not a changeling.

As Rainbow emptied the saddlebag the contents which fell out mostly were the same as last time, food. However a few things caught Twilight’s attention: two books and a piece of paper crumpled up. “You got books?” Twilight asked the obvious, rushing forward and grabbing the two with her magic, quickly reading the titles and finding one to be about Daring Do and the other about Magical Theory. Twilight squealed like a little filly with joy at the second books title, tossing the first to the ground lightly; followed by her trotting to the entrance of the cave to read in the light of day.

“Yeah, but before you get your egg headed.... uh.... not sure where I was going with that, but you should look at this first” Rainbow pointed out, followed by kicking the crumpled up piece of paper to Twilight who uncrumpled it with her magic and saw in big black letters the title reading: Note From the Queen.

What is Chrysalis’ scheme this time? Twilight wondered before proceeding to read the poster.

“This is outrageous!” Twilight exclaimed, receiving a short chuckle from Dash who was in the process of removing her saddlebag.

“Not so much, a large chunk of the population is actually giving hints as to where Luna is” Rainbow explained, finally getting her saddlebag off her back.

“They what? Don’t they know that Chrysalis is lying to them and will simply kill them the second she has Luna!”

“Nope, many are placing full trust into the changelings” Rainbow explained before biting into an apple currently on the ground.

“Idiots” Twilight growled distastefully. How can the ponies of Equestria be so blind? “Any news of Luna?”

“No, since these posters everypony has locked up and won’t tell me anything” Rainbow responded, followed by another bite of the apple.

“How are the ponies doing?” Twilight wondered, this causing Rainbow to pause for a moment before continuing to chew.

“Not good, a family of ponies were mourning the loss of a foal in the town I went to; a changeling had wanted to feed on its emotions and when the mother fought against it...” Rainbow paused for a moment. “Well... it bit it, and injected its venom....”

Twilight sighed sadly and closed her eyes, followed by a small shake of her head, knowing a foal could not live from changeling venom.

“There was news however that Sombra found a few Lunar scouts who eventually told him that Luna was in the north” Rainbow said, this causing Twilight’s ears to perk up.

“Then we must head north!” declared Twilight, trotting back over and beginning to stuff their supplies back into the saddlebag. Rainbow sighed with annoyance.

“Twi, I just got back, can’t we go tomorrow?”

“No time to lose Rainbow, if Luna is in the north she won’t be there for long!”

“Damn, I should have waited eh?”

“If you were expecting some nappy time, yep” Twilight responded before lifting the saddlebag with her magic and beginning to put it on herself.

-King Sombra-

“Y-your t-tea my king” a crystal pony spoke, stuttering with fear while in the presence of the dark unicorn king. Sombra held his gaze on the crystal city before him and the chained crystal ponies currently hauling crystals out of the mines beneath his palace. I can sense her.

The crystal pony stood there, not sure of what to do. “I thought you said you had my tea” Sombra spoke, causing the crystal pony to realize her mistake. Quickly she used her magic to lift the cup to the dark king who took a drink. Her power is stronger than I remember, no matter however, she will serve as a perfect slave. Sombra finished the tea before his slave patted his muzzle with a napkin and then turned to leave. “Did I tell you to leave my presence?” Sombra questioned, turning his head slightly to look at the green crystal mare before him.

She froze like a block of ice, her next step not even reaching the black crystal floor. “N-no your majesty, I-I apologize!” the mare blurted out, her heart beating faster by the second.

“Apologize? you do not ‘apologize’ to your master, I do not want your pathetic apologies!” Sombra growled, rising to his hooves and turning around so he faced the crystal pony.

“I-I’m s-sorry my k-king!” cried the mare, tears visible on her features which brought a smile to the dark kings muzzle.

“Leave my presence” Sombra commanded simply, turning his attention back to his empire and seating himself down once more.

“Yes your majesty!” blurted the crystal slave, backing out of the room quickly before turning and galloping down the hall. Sombra smiled and chuckled lightly to himself. It was not that he was angry, he simply loved the fear his slaves felt. Some ponies loved wine, some collected wine; Sombra did as well, however his favorite hobby was causing fear. What Sombra wanted the most during his rule were two things. One: he wanted Princess Luna and two: he wanted to break her. Break her moral, break her mind, break her hopes and of course, enslave her. Chrysalis had agreed that once she was done with the night princess Sombra would be gifted with her and would be allowed to do as he wished and he had many plans, many many plans on what he would do to get his revenge for his banishment.

He rose to his hooves and trotted to a set of twin doors leading outside which he opened with his magic. Upon stepping outside he grinned at the hundreds of slaves working below him, his self-made soldiers whipping them when necessary. Sombra’s guards and soldiers were not ponies, they were what he liked to call golems. Golems were made out of dark crystals and stood on only two legs instead of four. They wielded swords and shields and were, much to his pleasure, very hard to destroy.

A few brave slaves cast their gazes up to their king, who immediately returned their gazes with a blood chilling one, causing them to revert their gaze back to the ground and continuing to do their job. Sombra chuckled once more. Weak, thats all they are and ever shall be.

-Princess Luna-

If I was her, I could stop this all so easily. Luna sighed sadly as she walked across the snowy plane of the icy north, away from her soldiers and her guards. Luna, since Canterlot’s fall had always needed time to herself during the night, this usually allowed her to clear her thoughts and keep her soldiers alive, tonight however it was not working. Eternal Night the thought was a common one. Ponies naturally could survive in the cold for a certain amount of time, changelings could as well however not very long. If she brought upon the night for an entire week in Equestria it would mean certain death for Chrysalis and her changelings if they did not leave Equestria; however in doing this it would also mean the deaths of many innocent ponies and she would never allow that. Chrysalis may have killed hundreds of ponies but Luna would never do so to the innocent. The four years the changelings had been in command may have taken her home, her belongings, her subjects, her life and even her sister but it would never take her will nor her beliefs.

Her hoof stepped on something hard, not soft. She paused for a moment and looked down to find a shape buried beneath the snow. A quick blast of magic sent the air down to the ground, blowing the snow away from the object and revealing the corpse of a griffin. Luna’s ears flattened onto her head and she sighed sadly. “Your a long way from home..... I’m sorry” She apologized to the dead griffin. She guessed it had been frozen when it died, leaving its body unaffected by decomposition.

By its build she could tell it was male and by the trauma to the head she guessed one of Sombra’s golems had killed it upon his return. “May your roar be mighty, your wings quick and your legs strong. May your ancestors honor you and your loved ones not forget you, rest in peace and watch over your loved ones” Luna said silently, her eyes closed before her horn illuminated and sent a ball of fire to the corpse, igniting it and quickly beginning to burn it to ash. It was believed that if a griffon's body was not burned the griffon’s soul would never go to the afterlife, causing it to be forever doomed to roam on the same plane of the living. Luna did not believe in that but that did not mean this griffon did not. Luna turned and started her return to where her soldiers were, leaving the griffon's body to burn in bright orange flames, its ashes floating into the sky above.

As Luna proceeded, she kept thinking. I don’t know what to do....everything I do ends with the deaths of my subjects.... if it was Tia.... I need to stop thinking ‘what if’, it is me, not Tia.... no matter how much I wish differently I am the one who needs to steer us to victory, for my sister and my subjects.....

If I could attack Canterlot and hit it hard enough.....

No no, that is a stupid thought, you’ve seen it yourself Luna, thousands and thousands of changelings will attack at once and then you will lose.... besides where am I going to get an army?

The smell of burning flesh hit Luna’s snout and she sighed. Darn, the griffons corpse smells awful.

That thought caused her to begin conjuring up an idea, a brilliant idea. She began to gallop before spreading her wings and beginning to fly through the air, intent on making it back to her followers as quickly as possible.

“General wake up!” Luna shouted with her Canterlot voice which caused General Lance to kick and scream in surprise before falling out of his bed. “We ha.... I have it! I know what we must do! But first we must find Twilight Sparkle!”

“Right your majesty, what are my orders?” wondered General Lance, crossing his hoof across his forehead.

“Send a spy south to find Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash ASAP, we don’t have a moment to lose!” Luna ordered happily, her attitude picking up to a point it had not been for four years. Thank Equestria I got it!.

A peaceful night.

-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.