The Changeling Wars

by Alkonium

Showdown

Ponyville, Outskirts

All was quiet over what was once Ponyville.  The Changeling patrols around the ruined town had died down, concentrating instead on fortifying the Hive, aware that ponies had breached the barrier, and were preparing to attack.  In a secluded spot outside of Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and Applejack waited for their plan to commence, keeping a close eye on the shield over the farm.

"Sweet Apple Acres is cleared out, and the demolition teams are in position, Twilight." Rainbow Dash sent out over the radio.

"Good.  Don't fire until you get the signal." Twilight sent back.

"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" Applejack asked, lowering her binoculars for a moment.

"Without Lt. Heartstrings powering the shield generator, it'll drop in a matter of moments.  Thinking they've won, the Changelings will flock to it like moths to a flame, only to be hit with the biggest bug zapper in Equestrian history." Twilight explained.

"That's what ah'm afraid of." Applejack remarked.

As if on cue, the shield surrounding Sweet Apple Acres vanished, leaving the farm defenceless.  As Twilight predicted, swarms of Changelings flew out from the Hive to secure the farm.

The Hive, Feeding Chamber

"My Queen, we have Sweet Apple Acres surrounded." One of the Changelings sent out through the hive mind.

"Excellent.  Do a thorough search, and bring every last pony here." Chrysalis instructed.  Turning to a restrained Rarity, she asked "What do your friends think they're doing? What do they hope to accomplish? No matter.  Their struggle for freedom is over.  You're all mine now."

Rarity tried to protest, but anything she tried to say was muffled by a gag.

"Struggle to your heart's content.  You've already lost." Chrysalis said to her.  Then, her minions reached out to her again through the hive mind.

"The farm is now secure!" They explained.

"Good work.  And the ponies? Have they been rounded up?" Chrysalis asked.

"We haven't seen a single pony here.  It's nothing but explosives and timers." The changeling explained.

Suddenly Chrysalis realized what they were up to. "What? Get out! Get out of there!" She screamed, both vocally and in the hive mind.

Ponyville, Outskirts

It was too late.  Within seconds, the first set of charges had gone off, lighting the walls of the barn on fire.  Soon after, the second set went off, completely ripping the barn apart, and incinerating any changelings inside.  Next came a set strewn across the farm, clearing out any that might have been outside.  In just over a minute, Sweet Apple Acres had become nothing more than a burning crater, taking a good chunk of the Changelings' forces with it..

Shocked and horrified by her own actions, Applejack asked, "By Celestia, Twilight.  What have ah done?"

"What you've always done.  You saw the ugly truth, and you faced it head on.  I know how hard it must have been to wilfully destroy your own home, but you knew the chance it gave us." Twilight said, trying to reassure her. "We need to rejoin the others."

Outside The Hive

Rainbow Dash examined the destruction of Sweet Apple Acres through her binoculars, commenting, "That's the signal."   Putting down the binoculars, she called out, "Fire!" and a volley of missiles slammed into the Hive's outer wall.  While they hadn't initially built much in the way of hoof-held weapons, they had managed to cobble together several rocket launchers using parts salvaged from the downed gunships.  Stability aside, the makeshift bazookas proved powerful enough to blow a sizable hole in the Hive's wall.

The Hive, Feeding Chamber

Seething in anger at the massacre brought forth by Applejack and Twilight, Chrysalis tore out Rarity's gag and said, "Evidently, your friends are more resourceful than I anticipated.  You have insisted on taking the place of our other feeding victims for months now, so believe me when I say, I'm going to enjoy this."

With the slightest hint of desperation and weariness in her tone, Rarity responded with, "Feed on me all you want, you monster! They're coming for you!"

With a smug grin, Chrysalis said, "Oh, my little pony, you misunderstand me.  I'm not going to feed on you.  I'm going to make you watch."

The door to the chamber opened, and two Changeling guards pushed Spike in.  In response, Chrysalis took Rarity's form, and said to her, "As I feed on him."

Outside the Hive

Twilight and Applejack arrived at the scene to find Changelings spilling out of the hole created by the demolition teams, and ponies engaging them by any means available.  Along with ponies fighting the Changelings hoof to hoof and via magic missiles, Twilight could also see ponies from the demolition teams firing their unused rockets into the fray, and she could swear she saw Pinkie Pie swinging a cleaver around.

"Pinkie!" Twilight called out. "Forget them! We have to get inside."  She then charged into the fight, firing a few shots at the nearby Changelings.  Just as she made it, a stray rocket impacted nearby, knocking her to the ground.  A changeling who survived the blast attempted to pounce her, only to be hit by an uppercut from what looked like a toaster attached to a pony's foreleg.  Twilight got back on her hooves, and turned to face the orange mare who had saved her.

"Thanks, Applejack." Twilight said to her.  Until now, she hadn't realized how useful Applejack's artificial hoof could be in a fight.

"Don't mention it, Twilight.  Come on.  Fluttershy and the Flim Flam brothers are already inside the Hive.  Ah'm sure Derpy can handle things out here." Applejack instructed.

The Hive, Entrance

Just as Twilight and Applejack made it inside, Twilight asked Flim, "Remind me again what sort of resistance we can expect now that we're inside."

"Minimal, Commander.  The majority of their forces were either take out in your little trap, or they're engaged outside." Flim explained.

"This place gives me the creeps." Rainbow Dash commented, and while she could speak for herself, Twilight suspected everypony in the group shared that sentiment.  The walls and ceiling were all black, with just the slightest hint of green to make them unnerving, and they were twisted, yet rigid, cold, yet organic.  She didn't want to spend any more time in here than she had to.

"Lead the way to the detention block." Twilight then instructed the brothers.

"Right away, Commander.  There's just one thing, though.  The Changelings don't call it a prison.  They call it storage." Flam pointed out.

The Hive, Storage

'Prison' was certainly not the right way to describe this chamber, but Twilight had nothing she could truly compare it to.  The room spanned the entirety of the level, and across it, ponies hung from the ceiling in individual pods.  Like the rest of the Changelings' designs, the pods appeared to have been grown organically.  Before she could say anything, Fluttershy took a look at the closest pod, and said, "It's Vinyl Scratch.  But how?  She's dead.  We saw her body and everything."

"No, we didn't, Fluttershy.  We saw her glasses next to a pile of rubble, and we assumed her body was under it." Twilight corrected her.  Then, she said to the group, "Alright, everypony.  Let's fan out, and start freeing these prisoners.  The sooner they're freed, the sooner we can take out the barrier."

Even with their combined efforts, it still took a considerable about of time to free all of the prisoners.  Once they were done, Twilight gathered her friends back at the entrance to the room, and asked, "Well, any sign of Rarity or Spike in there?"

While they all answered with some form of "No.", Rainbow Dash added, "I did see a couple of empty pods, though."

"The pods are grown as needed, and destroyed once they're no longer needed." Flim explained. "There's only one reason for them to be empty: feeding."

Suddenly, Twilight realized the consequences of taking the time to free all the prisoners.  Both Rarity and Spike could have died from overfeeding by now.

"Then where would they be?" Fluttershy asked.

"The feeding chamber.  This way." Flam said, taking the lead again.

The Hive, Feeding Chamber

What the group saw as they arrived in the feeding chamber was horrific in its own right: Rarity was tied to a post in the middle of the room, and Spike was crumpled on the floor, barely conscious.

"No." Twilight said and tears started to flow from her eye as she ran to Spike.

"Twilight...I knew you'd come back for me." Spike tried to say, but Twilight could tell he was very weak, most likely from being fed upon.

"Rarity, what happened?" Twilight asked.

"Chrysalis brought me in, as if she was preparing to feed on me, but then she made me watch her feed on Spike instead." Rarity explained.  In contrast to Spike, she appeared to be unharmed, at least physically. "She knew feeding on him would hurt both of us more."

Twilight cradled Spike in her forelegs, as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy broke Rarity free of her restraints.

"Just hang on, son.  We'll get you help." Twilight said to him, but all signs told her he wouldn't make it.

"Too late, mom.  I'm just happy I could see you, one last time." Spike said to her with a smile on his face.  Unfortunately, it was the last thing he ever said.

"Me too.  Goodbye." Twilight said back to him.  Is how my parents felt, when they thought I had died? She thought to herself, giving Spike's body a kiss on the forehead, and then closing his eyes out of respect.  Spike was the closest thing she had to a son, and now he was gone.

After a moment's pause, Applejack said, "It's time.", and passed Rarity's Element to her.

"For Spike." Twilight said as her Element started to glow, and the others repeated it after her.  The Elements of Harmony sent a flare out, though the walls of the feeding chamber, and out to the top of the Barrier.

Outside the Barrier

Shining Armour watched intently as the Barrier surrounding Ponyville shattered.  For a moment, he was taken aback by the state of the town, but he called out, "Attack!" and the gunships flew forth, with hoof soldiers following right behind them.

The Hive, Feeding Chamber

With the barrier down, the group could hear the sound of heavy rain from outside.

"We should get out of here.  My brother's forces will be here in moments." Twilight instructed. "I'm surprised we didn't run into Chrysalis at all.  Rarity, where did she go after she fed on Spike?"

"She went upstairs to an observation level.  It would be easier for her to coordinate the Changelings below from up there.  Now that the barrier's down..." Rarity answered, but she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the Changeling Queen.

"Is it? It is.  Commander Twilight Sparkle, returned to reap what she's sown.  Gaze upon the fruits of your failure!" Chrysalis said as she eyed up Twilight.

"Chrysalis.  It ends now." Twilight responded, her tone suggesting she was holding back intense anger and rage.

"Of that, I have no doubt." Chrysalis released a massive beam of energy from her horn, and while they were all able to dodge it, Twilight was certain it would have killed her.  As Chrysalis charged her horn for second blast, Twilight took the opportunity to leap out of the way and tackle her, the resulting force pushing both of them through the doorway behind Chrysalis.

The TARDIS

Having correctly guessed at its use as a makeshift command centre, Shining Armour stepped into the TARDIS to find the Doctor, Derpy, and several other ponies overseeing the battle outside.

"Captain, I'm glad you're here." Derpy called out from the console.

"Where's Twilight? We've got gunships position, ready to open fire on that Changeling structure." Shining Armour asked.

"Tell them to hold their fire; your sister and her team are inside!" The Doctor shouted back at him. "One of the Element Bearers was being held prisoner, so they had to break her out before they could take out the barrier.  In addition, there appear to be several prisoners still inside.  Our side of the entrance Twilight's team used is still too hot to use, and none of our radio transmissions seem to get through."

"What about the damage to Sweet Apple Acres? That looks fresh." Shining pointed out.  The pattern by which the farm was destroyed didn't match up with how the Changelings fought.

"Wilfully destroyed, in order to thin the Changeling numbers." Derpy explained.

"Let's hope it was worth it." Shining Armour commented.

The Hive, Stairwell

Twilight had no delusions about her abilities.  No matter how she looked at it, Chrysalis outmatched her in terms of magical ability.  The only way to hold her own in this fight was to keep her wits about her, and hold off on resorting to brute force.  So far, it seemed to be working, although one of them seemed to always be pushing the other further and further up the stairs.

"That little trap at Sweet Apple Acres had you written all over it." Chrysalis said to her, taking swing at her with a forehoof.

"I may laid the same trap twice, but you fell for it both times." Twilight retorted dodging it yet again.

"Do you think that justifies the blood on your hooves?" Chrysalis asked.

"Don't play innocent.  Where killers are concerned, I'm nothing compared to you." Twilight responded, taking the opportunity to charge, and drive her horn into Chrysalis's gut.  Chrysalis reeled back from the pain, and then kicked Twilight the rest of the way up the stairs.

The Hive, Top Level

Twilight looked around for a moment, getting back on her hooves.  Apart the roof supports, this level appeared to be completely open to the outside, and it was a long way down.  She got herself away from the stairs, and opened fire at the first sign of Chrysalis.  The shot missed, and Chrysalis fired an explosive blast at Twilight.  Twilight was able to avoid the shot, but the force of the explosion propelled her to the edge of the platform.  Before she could get up, Chrysalis landed on top of her, and charged up her horn to fire again.

"I should have killed you at the first chance I had.  Time to correct that mistake." Chrysalis said, but before she could fire, Twilight slipped out of the way, punched her in the horn wound she had created earlier, and then slammed her hoof into the back of Chrysalis's neck, bringing the Changeling Queen to the floor.  Twilight then pressed her hoof down on Chrysalis's neck, effectively strangling her.

"You took away my life, destroyed my home, caused nothing but pain and suffering to everypony I held dear." Twilight said, pushing down harder.

"You ... wouldn't." Chrysalis said, struggling to breathe.  Twilight raised her hoof from Chrysalis's neck, and then brought it down on the Changeling Queen's horn, shattering it.  She heard hoofsteps coming from the stairs, and turned to see her friends looking back at her. I'm better than this. She thought.

Twilight turned back to Chrysalis and said, "You'll live.  Surprised? Don't be.  You're not worth killing.  Equestria will always endure.  Remember this defeat, this humiliation.  Remember you can never win."

Chrysalis replied with a simple, "You should have killed me when you had the chance." And she slipped off the edge of the balcony, but when Twilight peered down after her, she was nowhere to be seen.  Twilight also noticed that the fighting had mostly subsided.  She turned back to her her friends, and called out, "Let's go.  I've had enough of this place."

Outside the Hive

Leaving the Hive, Twilight saw her brother supervising the cleanup, and embraced him in a big hug.

"Twily! You made it out alive!" Shining Armour exclaimed at his sister's embrace, before taking a closer look at her. "Is that Changeling blood on your horn?" He asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it.  What happened down here?" Twilight asked, breaking away from the hug at the mention of the blood on her horn.

"Just before Chrysalis fell, most of the Changelings surrendered, and the rest flew off." Shining Armour explained.

"And Chrysalis? Did you find her body?" Twilight inquired, though she didn't expect much of an answer.

"Twily, we didn't even hear her land." Shining Armour answered. "She must have teleported in mid-fall.  Look at the bright side, Ponyville is back in our hooves!"

Twilight smiled at that, but then she took a deep breath, and said, "Shiny, Spike..."  It was all she could bring herself to say, and it was all her brother needed to hear.  Shining hugged Twilight again, and both started to cry.  He knew Twilight had considered Spike her son, and that basically made Spike his nephew.

"I'm so sorry, Twily.  I know how much he meant to you." Shining said, trying to comfort his sister.  Even if Ponyville could be rebuilt, it would never be the same as it was.</b></u></i>