‘Well then, I’m pretty much fucked,’ a trembling drone thought to himself as a mana explosion sent dust and debris flying over his head. The drone hid behind a small jagged piece of rubble jutting out of the ground, right next to the battered town hall. EUP helicopters flew overhead, their door mounted heavy repeater crossbow turrets firing into a crowd of hostile changelings, the velocity of the arrows tearing many drones into bloody ribbons. One of the pony princesses also dove down from above and unleashed a devastating beam of scorching sun into the group, killing even more. And yet as each one fell it was as if two more took their place.

‘This town has experienced many events, both odd and dangerous over the years, but I bet it’s never seen anything like this.’

The clang of steel and the whoosh of arrows filled the air as an alliance of changelings and Equestrians fought against other, much more hostile changelings. Looking over the rubble, the drone fired a few crossbow bolts of his own at a few nearby hostiles, hitting a few; although before he confirmed those kills some spell fire forced him to once again duck for cover. A large explosion rocked the devastated town as Queen Crudelis was thrown violently through what was once somepony’s home, though aside from a few scratches her shield protected her from the majority of the impact and flying debris. Crudelis was shortly thereafter pursued by her opponent, Queen Twilight Sparkle, who fired a few lavender coloured fireballs at the other queen. Crudelis promptly dodged the fireballs before violently snatching Twilight in her red aura, holding her in place.

The drone loaded up his crossbow and took aim at Crudelis, wanting to help his struggling queen. However, before he could act Crudelis chucked Twilight away straight into the still firing EUP helicopter, Twilight brought a shield up to protect herself, unfortunately that protection didn’t extend to the helicopter itself. Twilight’s momentum crashed her straight into and through the helicopters tail, sheering it off. The machine began to spin wildly as the pilots tried to wrestle for control, ultimately to no avail as both the blades and the levitation spells within failed to keep the damaged vehicle aloft. The drone locked in place in sheer terror as the out-of-control helicopter veered directly towards him, a scream could barely leave his lips as the doomed vehicle slammed down right on top of him, going up in a fiery explosion that cast a shade of orange and red across the battlefield, killing both the drone and all those on board the helicopter itself.

And yet the battle continued, for they were hardly be the first to die in this conflict, nor would they be the last.

Three days earlier

"While we mourn the passing of Queen Chrysalis, today a new era begins. All hail Twilight Sparkle, Queen of the Changelings."

Silence is what followed the unexpected declaration from Captain Carduus, and Princess Celestia couldn’t tear her eyes away from her former student, who was sitting ramrod straight in her throne.

Queen Twilight’s eyes were narrowed dangerously, her steely expression sending shivers down Celestia’s spine. Eventually however, Celestia forced her composure back and was able to ask the single most prominent question on her mind at that moment.

“What happened?”

“Isn’t it clear to you?” Twilight asked in a monotone. “My mother… is dead.”

“How?” Luna asked in shock. “I thought she was recovering.”

“The doctors did their best,” Twilight responded. “But their best wasn’t good enough. She died in her sleep, in my company.”

Luna slowly nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry. But at least you were there to-“

Twilight suddenly held up a hoof to stop that line of conversation right there. “Don’t… just don’t. Besides, we have business to discuss.”

“Twilight…” Celestia called out gently.

Twilight seemingly ignored her. “Right now I must think of my subjects. Before any plans are made of how to deal with Queen Crudelis we will need a home. Somewhere to rebuild our lives.”

“What do you mean by ‘deal’ with Crudelis?” Luna asked. “Do you intend to hunt her?”

“When we are able,” Twilight stated as if a simple fact. “She didn’t stop at my grandmother, and neither will she stop now that my mother is dead. I will kill her before she kills any others I care for, or even myself.”

Celestia and Luna shared a worried glance, only just catching Twilight when she spoke again.

“So, if you have any suggestions now would be the time.”

“We… were discussing a potential location for a home with Queen Draco,” Celestia said. “We were going to run it by Chrysalis first… but that job now falls to you, Twilight.”

“Where is this location?”

“A system of caves; about halfway between here and Fort Hurricane there is a system of caves. It has room to grow, underground rivers that are safe to drink, you name it.”

Twilight hummed to herself in thought. “Sounds promising. When things calm down around the camp we will have to discuss it more in depth, Draco being with us when we do. Until then, perhaps you could find some maps, geological surveys and anything else about the area. I want to know everything there is to know about that cave system.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Celestia said. “Is that all?”

Twilight turned towards Carduus, who was standing idly in the corner.

“Well Captain, anything I need to know?”

Carduus shook his head. “Nothing major. We’ve got the majority of the accommodations set up and the defensive perimeter is stable, the scouts Crudelis sent are dead and we getting some more supplies delivered by the EUP soon. Everything you already knew.”

“Thank you Captain,” Twilight nodded. “Then, Celestia, that is all for now.”

Twilight arose from her throne, and made to leave the tent. However, as she passed by Princess Celestia a white hoof pressed firmly onto her shoulder, stopping Queen Twilight in her tracks.

“Twilight…” Celestia said softly. “I know you’re hurting, and angry. But please don’t let that drive your actions from here on.”

“I know what I’m doing, Celestia,” Twilight growled. “Now if you would please let me leave, I should be the one to tell Draco about the death of her best friend.”

Celestia sighed. “You know I’m always available if you need to talk, right?”

Twilight looked away, unable to meet the Sun Princess’ lavender eyes.

“I know,” she said quietly, shaking off Celestia’s hoof and proceeding out the door.

Celestia stared at where Twilight had just exited, a slightly numb sensation overcoming her.

“With our current situation, now it is more dangerous than ever for Twilight Sparkle to have such dark emotions,” Luna reminded Celestia. “Believe me.”

“Luna, Chrysalis is dead,” Celestia stated. “She needs some time.”

“I know,” Luna sighed. “But if wounds aren’t treated properly, they can become infected.”

Celestia flinched, but nodded to acknowledge Luna’s point. She closed her eyes as she entered deep thought, many of which were troubling.

“I’ll leave you to your musings,” Luna said gently, moving past her sister and exiting the large tent.

Author's Notes:

And so we enter the final leg of the story...