Shining Dash

Chapters

Injured
The Damage and the Mare
Whiskey in the Jar
Just After Sunset
Pain
Back in the Saddle
The Hive
Deception
Complications
Return to Canterlot
Broken Hearts
More Complications
Sunrise
Anxieties
Preparation
Preparation II
Dark Horse
The Truth
Breakfast
Reconciliation
Interrogation
Reunion
Advice
Venting
Assault
Planning
Evacuation
Consolation
Consideration
Resolve
Confession
War
Revenge
Armistice
Recovery

Injured

“Captain, the Changelings are advancing!” a black unicorn stallion shouted towards Shining Armor.

“Flash!”

An orange Pegasus stallion with a blue mane took his helmet off before offering a salute.

“Sir?”

“You’re the fastest we’ve got and I need you to help all of Canterlot’s residents to safety-if nothing else, we have to avoid any unnecessary collateral damage.”

“Got it.” He replied before spotting a Changeling, that was flying after a young colt, chucking his helmet at it and knocking it to the ground. He then began racing to the child’s side with speed that lived up to his name.

Despite being physically weak, the pony-shaped, winged parasites ability to fly made them extremely difficult to hit, let alone lock on to.

“Do whatever you can to hold them back!” he shouted. “I have to make sure Cadance is safe!”

“Yes, sir!” the soldiers all forming the defensive formation around the staircase replied dutifully in unison.

The unicorn then fired a magical blast from his horn, as the blast hit the creature began shrieking in agony before dropping out of the sky and crumpling to the ground where it landed on its back.

Its legs flailed in the air helplessly before being pulled towards its chest as the creature’s body went limp.

“Ha!” he exclaimed triumphantly before another one jumped on him and sunk its fangs into his neck.

“Gaaah!”

“Hold on!” shouted an Earth stallion as he slammed a spear through the creature’s eye, causing it to release its prey as it shrieked out in agony.

The second the Changeling had released his grip, the unicorn began casting a spell on himself to heal the broken skin and stop the bleeding, before a geyser of blood could explode from his severed jugular.

Shining Armor broke into a full gallop as sweat poured down his face, desperately trying to reach Cadance; praying and hoping against hope that he wasn't too late.

The further he climbed, the longer the staircase seemed to be, as if it were some sort of cruel optical illusion the palace itself was traitorously playing on him to prevent him from reaching her in a sadistic attempt to see him fail the only thing that truly mattered at that particular moment in time.

Even the sounds of the battle taking place below were drowned out by the heavy pounding of his heart, reverberating through his brain and into his ears, every muscle in his body screaming in agony as his lungs begged for air.

When he finally reached the top, he could see that Cadance was being held hostage by a Changeling with its foreleg morphed from a hoof to a curved, serrated blade with its tip lightly digging into the soft pink flesh of her throat.

At that point he only saw red and charge towards the creature, while keeping his head lowered in an attempt to impale it on his horn.

His charge was interrupted, however as something slammed into his side-knocking the wind out of him and forcing the two of them over the tower’s balcony.

In this moment of dark surprise, he recognized his attacker as another Changeling and mentally berated himself for making the amateur mistake of not checking for traps in his hastiness before charging in like a cocky, inexperienced rookie.

Cadance’s scream of horrified despair at seeing him take such a steep fall rang in his ears as he regretted his actions, not only was she going to die-or worse, become a prisoner of the Changelings-but, she had to see him die and she would undoubtedly feel that was all her fault.

Before he knew it there was a sickening crunch as he fell on his back, the sensation of it being covered in a warm, sticky liquid as a hurricane of agony wracked through his entire body before he fell into an ocean of darkness.

Shining Armor awoke with a pounding migraine and an agonizing pain his side, he grunted in pain as he looked down at his chest to see it wrapped in bandages.

He didn’t even have dreams anymore, just memories of that day with some details either obscured or distorted, but all of the major points had more or less stayed the same.

Painfully, he forced himself to sit up before getting out of bed.

The muscles in his chest as well as his broken and fractured ribs groaned in protest, but he ignored it.

Instead he looked around the Golden Oaks Library and marveled at the fact that not only had it been built inside a tree, but the tree itself was still alive and healthy, despite the fact.

Moving around to the end of Twilight’s bed he opened his footlocker and pulled out a black t-shirt to cover up the bandages-after everything Twiley had told him about this town in her letters-they would probably be killing him with kindness, insisting that he stay in bed and rest to get better.

The only problem with that was the fact that having the responsibility of being an older brother for the majority of his life plus the added pressure of becoming the youngest Captain of Celestia’s royal guard in the history of Equestria, he was neither used to nor content to just lay around all day.

“Shining Armor, what are you doing out of bed? I thought you were supposed to be resting?” Spike yawned, rubbing some morning grit out of his eyes with the back of a balled-up fist.

“Probably, yeah…” he admitted. “But, if I stay in bed all day, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“Okay…” Spike replied uncertainly. “I’m not trying to bug you…I just don’t want Twilight to get mad at me if she finds out when she gets back.”

“Don’t sweat it-I’ll cover for you…wait, ‘gets back’?”

“Oh, yeah…Twilight said something about you being awake between asleep while you were staying here and that you probably wouldn’t remember everything.”

‘You mean ‘drifting in and out of consciousness.’ He thought, but didn’t say.

“Princess Celestia thought it would be good for you to get out of Canterlot for a while and Twilight thought it would be perfect for you to stay here since you’re her brother and she’s going to be gone for a while to learn more spells and train to have better control over her magic-Celestia said that a lot of them were pretty dangerous-and that it would be best to practice them far away from other people so no one would get hurt if any of them backfired.” Spike explained.

He then stopped to catch his breath from the long-winded summary of the past twenty-four hours.

As he breathed in, he began to do what appeared to be some form of dry heaving as for a horrific moment he believed the baby dragon would end up vomiting over Twilight’s finally polished wooden library floor.

But what happened instead was almost worse as he let out a loud belch with the air from his lungs being expelled as bright green embers before what appeared to be a scroll fell to the ground.

The letter also had what appeared to be the royal seal which Shining Armor stared at for a moment before looking back at Spike quizzically.

“Uh, you’ve got mail?” Spike asked, shrugging sheepishly.

“Sorry, it’s just I’ve heard you could do that in Twilight’s letters-I’ve just never seen them delivered like that before.” He apologized before opening it up with his magic and reading it;

Hey, Cap!

Celestia says you’re supposed to be in bed at your sister’s resting, but knowing you I doubt that’ll stop you from going out and exploring around town.

Let me tell ya, I’ve got a newfound appreciation for the duties you perform as Captain-and I don’t really like being referred to as your ‘replacement’-it feels like I’m stealing your job from you.

And before you ask; yes, Cadance is still in critical condition-it looked like it broke the Princess’s heart to have to leave her like that-but, she says that what she needs to teach Twilight is important and can’t wait.

I’ll look after her for you and make sure none of the guys try to make a move on her.

Don’t worry, I’m a stallion of my word and like I said before; the bookish ones aren’t really my type (again, no offense.)

If the other guys didn’t me before because I was the ‘new guy’, the really hate my guts now that I’m sort of their boss.

I’m trying to follow your example of being tough, but fair-hopefully everything will eventually work out this way.

(I can’t way ‘til you get back-at this rate the stress of this job is going to kill me within a month.

How do you do it?)

Well, I probably rambled on long enough. Again, I hope you get better soon Captain. And try not to push yourself too hard (or do anything too stupid), okay?

-Flash

P.S. (What’s it like to see that little dragon guy spit out letters-I’ve only heard what you heard rumors-but, I bet it looks cool.)

He smirked before refolding the letter and putting it on the nightstand next to Twilight’s bed.

“So who’s it from?” Spike asked. “Is it from Twilight…or maybe the Princess?”

“Nah,” he shook his head. “Just a friend of mine back in the guard, he’s sort of taking my place until I’m healthy enough to get back to my duties, he’s a good kid-reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger-he’ll keep an eye on Twilight while she’s staying at the castle in case…”

When he saw Spike’s expression, he realized who and what he was talking to.

“In case of um…another Changeling attack.” He finished before walking out the door leaving the baby dragon behind, confused.

It was a bright summer day and the temperature was perfect, with a sky that was almost completely devoid of cloud cover.

If he was going to be stuck here for a while, then he figured that he might as well learn who the people in town were and get accustomed to his new surroundings.

The thought occurred to him that since he didn’t remember his trip to Ponyville that he must have been brought there by one of Princess Celestia’s personal escorts-these gaps in memory were really beginning to bug him.

His ribs still hurt, but as far as he could tell no one else in Ponyville knew who he was and as long as he paced himself and avoided wincing or showing any other signs of physical distress, no one would take notice his injuries or make a big deal about it.

This town was smaller than Canterlot, which was a refreshing change to all of the self-important, uptight, so-called ‘social elites’ that made living in the big city such a pain as it reflected poorly on not only the city’s residents, but Unicorns in general.

It would also be nice to walk around in public without having to worry about frequently being saluted while trying to perform simple mundane tasks, or being harassed by citizens about laws they believed to be unfair, which he had no jurisdiction over.

Slowly, he took a few steps forward to try getting into a decent walking pattern to avoid collapsing.

Finally, he found an almost comfortable pace where the pain in his chest and side merely felt like a minor nuisance as he turned around to get a good look at the library from the outside.

There was an image of a candle on the library door and he wondered who had been the librarian before Twilight and Spike had moved in and how the tree was able to avoid getting struck by lightning during storms, but then again; a Unicorn as magically gifted as his sister was probably smart enough to erect some form of lightning rod or magical force field to prevent such an event from occurring.

Still, this was pretty nice-his duties always head him jumping from one emergency into someone else’s personal crisis or keeping his men in line whenever they tried to use their positions to circumvent the rules of modern society-but now, he finally had some time to relax and be alone with his thoughts.

Before he honestly hadn't realized how completely stressed he had been, but now it seemed like he would actually enjoy his stay here.

The Damage and the Mare

While, Shining Armor’s memory of the past week may have been more or less a blur, one thing that he wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon was first waking up in the hospital and learning just how horribly things had turned out.

“CADANCE-Gahh!” Shining tried getting up, but an agonizing pain in his side forced him to lie back down on the bed.

“Easy there Cap,” A familiar voice spoke.

He titled his head to the side to see Flash Sentry standing beside him.

“Flash, what happened?” he asked, struggling to remember anything before taking the fall. “Where’s Cadance?”

Flash ran a hoof through his mane while nervously turning to avert Shining’s gaze and sighing before hanging his head.

“You took a really bad fall…I had just taken care of the evacuation, so I followed upstairs. I was too late to stop the one that tackled you, but your struggle distracted the other changeling long enough for me to kill it.”

“A-and Cadance?” Shining asked, sitting up despite the pain in his torso. “Is she okay?”

“I’m fast, but there are some speeds even I can’t reach…I was able to stop it from slicing her neck open…”

Shining felt his heart slow down as he knew that whatever Flash had to say next wouldn’t be good.

“But, that hook…thing the changeling had morphed its hoof into had dug into her lower back and I guess it was still organic even when it was in the form of a blade like that because…” he stopped.

“I’m sorry, Cap. I shouldn’t be telling you this now, the doctors say you need your rest and-”

“Tell me what happened.” The command wasn’t loud, but it was low and threatening enough for Flash to realize that his best option would be to comply, lest his Captain wind up injuring himself more by trying to force the information out of him.

“There was internal damage…bleeding…” he sighed. “Captain, I-”

“Is she still alive?”

“Yes, for now at least-she’s in critical condition, Celestia herself has the top medical experts in Equestria working on her with the best magic and equipment available.”

Shining sighed deeply as he dropped his head back onto the pillow.

“So the best thing we can do for now is hope for the best.” He glanced towards Flash again, before looking down at the blood soaked bandages around his ribs. “What about me-how bad of a shape am I in?”

“Well,” he replied facing him again. “You will be glad to know that the bastard that attacked you was crushed when you fell on top of him…but, even though we could tell you were still alive you weren’t doing too hot, either.”

“Meaning?”

“The doctors said it was nothing less than a miracle that you survived a fall like that…your armor was broken, pieces of your ribs were sticking out and you were losing a lot of blood…they also said it was amazing that all of your organs were still intact.” He explained, still hardly believing the story as he relayed it.

“That wasn’t luck…or a miracle.” Shining sighed. “As long as I remember I’ve always been protective of my sister, so I took my time to learn all I could about shield spells and being an older brother I guess it wasn’t much of surprise to anyone that turned out to be my special talent.”

“So, you cast a shield spell beneath you like a trampoline or something to cushion your fall?” Flash asked, looking at him curiously.

“No, I’ve had family members in the guard and I know that we get hurt in the line of duty all the time-something which Twiley, Cadance, and my mother constantly reminded me-they loved me and they were proud of my accomplishments, but they still worried about me.” He elaborated.

Flash nodded in understanding.

“So that’s when I realized that I could sort of…‘enchant’ my armor, I guess…using a combination of some of the most powerful Shield Spells I knew.”

“Yeah, but something that takes up so much magical energy must have worn you out…no matter how good you are-right?”

“It did. And to be honest I think I must have pushed myself too hard because the next morning I felt like crap, I was tired and every muscle in my body was aching…but, I pushed my self through doing my duty.”

“Couldn’t you have just let Celestia know you were sick?” Flash asked, cocking a skeptical eyebrow.

“Maybe.” Shining agreed. “But, I was the youngest Captain of her Guard in all of Equestrian history-and I wanted her to believe that she made the right choice-of course, I looked so terrible that day I don’t think I fooled her for a second.”

They shared a laugh before Shining Armor winced as another jolt of pain surged through his ribcage.

“Gah! Dammit!” he growled to himself. “Note to self; don’t laugh.”

He then turned his attention back to Flash.

“So if I was as bad as you say when you found me-then why aren’t I being scrapped off the concrete along with the Changeling?”

Flash moved over to the far wall to lean against it.

“Like I said before; Celestia brought in the top medical experts in Equestria as soon as she realized what was going on and they patched you up-more or less.”

“Then why does it still feel like they’re broken?” Shining shot back, half-jokingly as he tried to reposition himself into a more comfortable laying position.

“They might be good, but their not miracle workers.” He began to chuckle, but stopped when he saw his Captain’s melancholy expression, undoubtedly thinking about Cadance and her injuries.

“B-but, hey if push comes to shove I’m sure Celestia will use her own magic to heal Cadance, I mean she wouldn’t just let her own niece die-right?”

“Yeah, but how do we know she even has that kind of power” Shining asked cynically.

“What do you mean?”

“When Nightmare Moon first returned we literally had no idea who or what we were dealing with, we weren’t briefed on anything let alone the fact that she was a corrupted version of Princess Luna…the only one that did know anything was my sister based on a book she found based on legends and old mare’s tales.”

“So?” Flash pressed. “I’m still not sure where you’re going with this…”

“When Discord returned, she told Twilight that she and Luna had sealed him away before, but now that she was no longer connected to the Elements of Harmony-she couldn’t do it.”

“So what you’re saying is….” Flash began.

“How are we supposed to trust Celestia’s judgment when she can’t even trust us enough to let us know what we might be up against. Even when we’re the ones putting our lives on the line everyday to protect her and this country?”

“The reason I never told anyone about Luna was because I found no other option, but to imprison her, the decision broke my heart. An emotional wound so deep that I never wanted to return to it again if I could help it.”

They both looked towards the doorway to see Princess Celestia, standing there with an expression that wasn’t of anger, but of deep regret.

“Forgive me for my intrusion, but I was on my way to see how our Captain was faring, just before I felt my ears burning.”

The room seemed so much smaller now that the tall, white Alicorn had entered.

“Shining Armor, I pray this never happens, but if Twilight Sparkle was to become corrupted and dangerous to all life in Equestria, with no way to revert her back to her original self, what would you do?” she asked sadly.

At that moment he felt his throat lock up, as unlikely as the hypothetical scenario Celestia presented to him was, he had never even thought that was a possibility.

“Th-that won’t happen! It couldn’t! Not to Twilight…she’s special!” Shining insisted.

“So was Luna, but that didn’t prevent her emotions from getting the better or her. In fact, I believe that actually may have been what had drawn those nightmarish forces to her in the first place. All of her fears and insecurities made it easier for them to whisper in her ear and manipulate her actions.”

Celestia's voice lowered to the point where it was just above a whisper.

“If you were faced with a choice like that, to either imprison or kill your own sister to fulfill your duty, what would you do instead? No matter what decision you make, you would regret it for the rest of your life, justified or not. How would you deal with that guilt for century after century?”

At this point Shining Armor had averted his gaze, opting to look at the floor rather than experience the guilt and shame he felt looking into her face.

“It is true that my age, power and wisdom surpass many...but, I will be the first admit that I am not perfect. Contrary to what many of Equestria’s citizens may have led themselves to believe, I make mistakes and sometimes my emotions do get the best of me,” She continued, placing a hoof to her neck as she lowered her head and closed her eyes with a solemn expression.

“I-I’m sorry…” Shining stuttered as a new wave of guilt began to wash over him.

“No,” she replied, looking back at him. “It is I who should apologize, I realize that after your ordeal that you are understandably upset and were just venting. One of the points you’ve made with Luna is still a sensitive topic for me and I am truly sorry for my overreaction. Even after a thousand years I have not been able to condition myself to keep all of my emotions in check one hundred percent of the time.”

“So do you have any news on Cadence?” Flash asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Yes, thanks to you and Shining Armor, Cadence is still alive and undergoing one of her surgeries,” She replied.

“Wait, ‘one of’?” he repeated. “Just how much damage did that thing do?”

“I have the top medical professionals in Equestria operating on her and monitoring her between surgeries, however much like the procedures themselves the body is a complicated thing-even more so among Alicorns, and Cadence is barely twenty years of age, which means her body isn’t fully matured so the regeneration of damaged tissue is more unpredictable,” She explained.

“But, you can just use your magic to heal her, right?” Shining asked, hopefully.

“I could,” She conceded. “However, I am neither knowledgeable nor experienced enough in medicine to risk tampering in a field like this, especially given my niece’s delicate condition, a single slip-up may cost her life.”

“Yeah,” Shining sighed before turning to Flash. “I get it, magic takes a lot of concentration especially with the more advanced spells. Twiley always used to get mad when she was trying to practice and I’d hammer something together to help Dad for ruining her concentration.”

“I will learn as much as I can on the subject, in case things take a turn for the worse,” Celestia continued before turning to Flash again. “We still don’t know why the changelings have attacked Canterlot, if it was planned or just a group’s desperation for a quick meal, I need you to take a small group and discover anything you can about them.”

“Okay, but why are you telling me…I mean Shining Armor’s still Captain, isn’t he?”

“Yes, but in his current shape he is in no condition to carry out this task. We need to know why they attacked, what they are planning, and where they will strike next so we may be prepared. Shining Armor will be temporarily relieved from duty until he is well again.”

Shining Armor’s thoughts were cut off as soon as something collided with his head, knocking him out of his nostalgic reverie.

“Ha! Ha! Whoops, sorry about that!” A raspy female voice giggled as he looked down at the ball that had hit him.

The mare that had launched the projectile was unlike anything he had ever seen before, she was a cyan Pegasus with magenta eyes and a rainbow mane.

“Hey, you mind kickin’ it over?” she asked.

He did as instructed, only to have his ribs groan in protest at the strenuous activity.

The ball went sailing through the air before she bounced it off her head.

“So, you’re Twilight’s brother, huh?” she asked still bouncing the ball. “I could tell by your Cutie Mark…Twi has that star-thing, too.”

‘What is she, part seal?’ he thought to himself as he noticed the perfect balance she had kept while keeping the ball perfectly balanced of her nose when she got tired before returning to bouncing it off of her head.

“Uh, yeah…Shining Armor.” He replied. “You?”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed proudly, while keeping her focus on the ball. “Future Wonderbolt and Equestria ball-bouncing record holder!”

It was at this point that he could hear voices overhead, particularly another raspy one-only this sounded like it belonged to a male.

Two Pegasi dropped down before them the one ahead of the other appeared to be the leader.

He had a brown coat, a light grey mane, and a Cutie Mark in the shape of a dumbbell.

“What’s up…uh, Rainbow Crash!” another jeered.

This one had a light brown coat and a mane that obscured his eyes, he also had three basketballs for his Cutie Mark.

The first one hit him upside the head.

“Hoops you idiot!” he shouted. “You have to rotate your insults otherwise she’ll get use to them.”

He then turned back to Rainbow Dash, who had stopped bouncing her ball to glare at the newly arrived duo.

“What’s up, Rainbow Dyke?”

“I don’t know. How are things with you…Dumb-Bell?” she growled in response.

“Do you two know each other?” Shining asked, seeing the way that the two were glaring at each other.

“Oh, are you her new coltfriend?” Dumb-Bell cracked noticing Shining Armor. “It’s funny. You’re so butch you almost look like a stallion!”

“And where is the other one?” she asked.

“We kicked him out,” He replied coolly.

“Oh, so he finally realized how lame you guys are?” Dash shot back.

“No. Ever since you created that ‘Sonic Rainboom’ last year, Score got a crush on you. Sorry, we tried telling him that you’re a dyke that cheated with the help of that Unicorn friend that cast that cloud-walking spell, but he just won’t listen to reason.”

Shining Armor noted the fact that while speaking about having a crush on Rainbow Dash, Hoops’ face appeared to be turning slightly red.

“Well, it’s good to hear his taste in mares has improved. Here I thought he was only interested in you two.”

“Funny.” Dumb-Bell remarked dryly.

“What are you two losers doing here anyway?” she challenged.

“Boss says you’re fired.” Dumb-Bell replied, grinning sadistically.

“Yeah right,” Dash retorted. “Who could possibly replace someone as awesome as me? I’m the most efficient weather manager Cloudsdale has ever had!”

“Thunderlane.” Dumb-Bell replied, enjoying the mixed look of anger and dismay that contorted Rainbow Dash’s face.

“THUNDERLANE!?” she shouted in outrage. “That stupid, lazy…”

“Not as lazy as you Rainbow Trash!” Dumb-Bell laughed. “He wants to see you in his office tomorrow morning so he can make it official.”

He then gave a few experimental flaps of his wings before taking of into the air again.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash?” Hoops asked, scratching his foreleg nervously. “Sorry about your job…I mean we give you a hard time, but you know we don’t mean it…right?”

The death glare she shot him caused him to take off like a bat out of Tartarus.

Author's Note

The next chapter will focus on Flash Sentry and a few other character and will alternate every chapter until the two groups meet up as their stories intersect.

Whiskey in the Jar

Flash sat the counter of one of the bars members of the guard would frequent; ‘The Crescent Moon’.

It was actually pretty rundown, with filthy glasses, extremely anti-social customers that caused fights to break out three times a night on average when they weren’t drowning in their own vomit.

Despite its flaws, however it was preferable to Canterlot’s other ‘classy’ bars filled with uptight Unicorns who wholeheartedly believed that their race, wealth, and social status made them superior to everyone else.

When he was growing up in Cloudsdale when they had seemed to have no problems with other races visiting through the use of cloud-walking or wing-growth spells, even the extremely irritable Griffons were welcomed with open arms.

Even the predominantly Earth Pony towns of Apploosa and Dodge Junction were willing to accept other species (as long as visitors were willing to do thing their way, of course.)

Perhaps the old saying was true and power really does corrupt people?

Then again, Celestia seemed to be pretty open-minded, so perhaps it was just a rich person thing?

He had never met a rich pony he had liked. They were all just like the ones in this city, racist and self-centered. He mused to himself.

Despite the recent attack, the bar was just as full and lively as ever-perhaps just the citizens trying to regain a sense of normalcy he supposed.

The bartender, Clay-an old Earth Pony stallion with a dark brown coat, blue eyes, a grey mane and matching chinstrap moved toward him while wiping down the counter with a dirty rag.

Clay had a large, oddly shaped scar over his right eye which almost appeared to be a bizarre and crude six-point star with a black eye-patch he always wore over it, because he claimed that the hollow eye socket it was obscuring ‘freaked customers out too much’.

As usual he was wearing his blood and cider stained sleeveless denim vest and old dog tags.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Clay asked in his gravelly voice. “Those punks still givin’ ya crap fer bein’ the new guy?”

“Yeah…” Flash sighed. “And it’s about to get worse.”

Clay cocked a bushy white eyebrow over his remaining eye.

“Ya mean the rumors about what happened to Shinin’ are true?”

Flash nodded.

“Yeah, he was injured during the attack-he tried saving Cadance, but he didn’t check for traps first-one of those…things tackled him and pushed him off the highest part of the castle that’s being repaired…”

Clay stopped wiping down the counter.

“So, he is off-duty for now…and Celestia has you taking his place?”

“Yeah,” Flash replied, massaging his temple in exasperation. “His staying at his sister’s library in Ponyville while Celestia’s teaching her a new spell or something here in Canterlot…sort of a trade-off I guess. The other guys already hate me…how will they react when they find out I’m in charge of this mission?”

“Don’t let ‘em get to ya.” Clay grunted. “They might not seem like it now, but any good soldier worth his salt wouldn’t shirk their duty just ‘cause of some grudge.”

“I hope your right.” Flash muttered, taking another swig of his drink.

“It’s a damn shame…Shinin’s one of the few horn-heads in this city I actually like.” Clay sighed. “So this mission, it’s about gatherin’ intel on those freaks, right?”

“Yeah…” Flash replied, taken aback. “How did you know that?”

Clay held up his dog tags.

“I was a soldier too, once. Remember?”

“Oh, yeah…Right.” He replied, feeling stupid for forgetting such a crucial personal detail.

“Don’t worry about it too much kid; I know ya got a lot on yer mind right now.” He continued, upon seeing Flash’s expression. “I might be old, but I still know a thing or two about those freaks.”

“Really?” Flash asked, incredulously.

“Well, when you’ve been in the bartending game as long as I have. You hear a few rumors, myths, legends-that sort of thing…and I ran into one of ‘em before.” Clay elaborated.

Flash’s ears perked up at this.

“As their name suggests, they are able to shape-shift into anyone of any species or gender, even being able to mimic their voices.” He elaborated, as Flash leaned in close. “They also feed on love, though…I ain’t sure if it’s just actual love they consume or lust as well, since I’ve heard stories of mares just picking up and leaving a brothel in Manehatten…”

“Is there anything else you could tell me?” Flash pressed. “Anything at all? Even the smallest detail you can remember could help us greatly!”

“Well,” Clay scratched his chin thoughtfully. “They’re parasite in every sense of the word, the one I ran into jumped us one night during my second year in the guard, it landed on my partner that night and sunk its fangs into his neck…and I just snapped.”

“What do you mean?”

“I tackled it and started beating it bloody…when I came back to me senses I went back to check on him, but by then it was too late…had bled out.” Clay sighed. “I heard a noise, I turned back to see a large blade coming towards me before my vision exploded in blood and agony.”

“Wha…?” Flash began.

“That damn bug was able to change its foreleg into weapons, too.” Clay explained. “Fighting through the pain, I kicked it off me when I lost my temper again and jumped on it as it was clutched its gut in pain.”

“And then what happened?”

Clay narrowed his gaze.

“Whaddya think? I ripped the bastard’s legs off one by one…so it couldn’t pull the same crap on me again. Once it was lying there and screaming, helpless I went to look for the other and get medical attention.” He continued.

“By the time we got back to the scene, it was dead in a puddle of it’s own oozy green blood with chunks of its body ripped away…it wasn’t much for the eggheads to go on, but they did realize that the teeth marks covering its body were from other Changelings.”

“YOU MEAN THEY’RE CANNIBALS!?” Flash exclaimed, in a harsh whisper.

“I ain’t so sure about that…maybe they was just tryin’ to cover their tracks before we could learn enough ta fight ‘em, maybe not bein’ able to eat enough ‘love’ or whatever they do drove ‘em insane.” He grunted.

“But, one thing’s for damn sure.” He continued, eyeing Flash. “If you do end up goin’ toe ta toe with ‘em-you’d better watch your ass, boy.”

Flash glanced up at the clock, it was almost eight.

“Thanks for the info…and the drink, I’ve gotta go.” He replied.

“Good luck, kid.” Clay replied. “Yer gonna need it.”

Sighing, Flash got up leaving his glass with chunks of melting ice and traced amounts of soda that he had been drinking.

Given his temper, he had made it a personal rule to never touch alcohol after the trouble it had gotten him into in the past.

Still, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Shining had always been good to him, the only friend he really had in the guard since he’d joined up a few months ago…the day before the attack he had taken Flash aside and showed him the ring he was going to give to Cadance the next day to take their relationship to the next level.

Despite Celestia seeming to have approved of their dating, Shining had still been nervous about proposing to Cadance, worrying if it was too earlier to ask her after two years of dating…if Celestia would approve of their decision if she had accepted.

Flash had pointed out that he didn’t think it would matter too much if she didn’t mind them dating.

But, Shining believed it would make a huge difference as marriage was a pretty big step.

However, he assured his Captain the he was absolutely certain that everything would be just fine.

‘And now, Cadance is fighting for her life while suffering through operation after operation.’ Flash thought to himself, dismally.

Shining Armor was like the cool older brother he’d always wished for and after everything he’d done for him, Flash thought the least he could do to return the favor was offer his advice once Shining had confided in him.

But, he just had to tempt fate by saying that…

‘If I really lived up to my name, I would’ve been able to reach them before any of this happened and we’d just have the Changelings, and maybe some wedding planning to worry about.’ He sighed, inwardly. ‘Of course, Cap’s probably beating himself up over this too…thinking this is all his fault.’

“It’s all my fault.” He muttered.

“Well, that’s no surprise.” A feminine voice replied.

Flash hadn’t realized that he was already subconsciously walked outside the bar while lost in his thoughts.

He looked up from the ground to see a Unicorn mare with a light orange coat, aquamarine eyes, and a complex yellow and red mane that strongly resembled flames.

She was wearing a black leather jacket with a matching saddlebag and Cutie Mark of the Sun made from the same three warm colors.

“Then, again guards like you aren’t really paid to think.” She smirked.

The mare was leaning against a brick wall as she eyed him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Flash’s response was more out of genuine confusion that actual offense.

Who was this lady and how did she know him?

Just After Sunset

“It means that your incompetent, and completely inept-you couldn’t protect Celestia or the citizens of Equestria if your lives depended on it.” The mare continued.

“What makes you think that?” Flash asked uneasily, wondering why this Unicorn was so hostile towards him without any provocation.

“When Nightmare Moon returned on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, you could neither find nor protect Celestia-in fact; it took a group of teenage girls to do the job for you.” She replied with a smirk.

The look of mixed anger and confusion contorting on Flash’s face was something that she was enjoying immensely.

“Not to mention when Discord broke free from his stone prison and wreaked havoc across Ponyville, Celestia completely overlooked you guys in favor of the same mares who did your jobs for you the last time.” She added.

“I…we…just who are you?” Flash finally demanded, unable to find the words to defend himself from the verbal onslaught.

“Ah…I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Celestia hasn’t spoken of her original star pupil-no doubt she realizes that she’s just as much of a failure as mentor as she was a sister-my names is Sunset Shimmer.” She introduced herself.

That name had rung a bell for Flash, there were rumors in the guard that Celestia had a former pupil before taking on Twilight Sparkle, but he had just assumed that the name was an alias devised to protect herself from would-be kidnappers and assassins.

“Is that why I’ve never heard of you?” he asked, trying to keep his temper in check.

“Obviously, you’re new to the guard and with all of the recent events that have been occurring in Equestria your superiors will no doubt want to keep all previous muck-ups deeply buried…” Sunset replied.

“Celestia wished to keep certain knowledge from me claiming that I ‘wasn’t ready’ but, I knew the truth-she knew that I was special and feared that I would outshine her so she held me back.”

“So what happened, did you get caught?” Flash asked still on his guard, but genuinely curious nonetheless.

“…Yes” she hissed bitterly. “The nosy librarian alerted Celestia and the palace guards once she realized what I was up to, not too long after I escaped in the middle of the night with as many forbidden texts as my bags could carry.”

“So you’re a criminal.” Flash concluded.

“Anyone who disagrees with royalty is labeled a criminal.” Sunset replied with the same bitterness in her voice.

“Is that why you hate me and the guard so much?” Flash pressed.

“I hate the fact that you and so many others in this country are too blinded by loyalty to use your brain or look at the world around you; praising Celestia as some kind of goddess when she hasn’t even been the one protecting you from Discord or Nightmare Moon.” Sunset replied with mild agitation.

“Even if your accusation is true-which, I highly doubt-the Captain wouldn’t knowingly hide vital information from us unless it was under direct orders from Princess Celestia herself.” Flash countered.

Sunset Shimmer actually laughed at this-a cruel, mocking laugh.

“Faith is useless unless its invested in yourself-there was once a time where Celestia believed that Luna would never desire even the tiniest shred of respect their subjects so readily showered upon her and attempt to take what was rightfully hers.”

“I don’t think-” Flash began before being cut off.

“Of course not, you’re a guard-you’re only paid to stand around and look tough as a façade of protection for citizens which doesn’t even exist. If you had any intelligence you would have realized all of this a very long time ago.”

Flash could feel his anger beginning to get the best of him again before he steeled himself and took a deep breath.

“Sunset, why are you telling me all of this?” he asked. “Surely someone as intelligent as you realizes I could have you arrested on the spot for theft, right?”

Sunset slowly cantered towards him as her figure could be seen in finer detail under the moonlight.

“Oh, I have my reasons…” she replied cryptically.

“Such as?” he pressed.

“Perhaps if I assist you with your little Changeling problem, perhaps you could convince Celestia of my worth?”

Flash was about to deny her offer right there and then before remembering how dire their situation with the Changelings was and without Celestia, Cadence, The Captain, or the Elements of Harmony to aid them in the coming battles, they would need all the help they could get.

“So do we have a deal?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah…” Flash replied, “for now.”

“Great,” Sunset purred, brushing her tail under Flash’s chin.

And with that, there was a green flash as she seemed to disappear into thin air.

She may have had a serious attitude problem, but Flash had to admit to himself that she was quite beautiful under the moonlight.

Pain

Shining Armor’s eyes cracked open as pain surged through his ribs for the umpteenth time.

The bright rays of sunlight shining throughout the Golden Oaks Library (and in his face) indicated that it was early morning and that it couldn’t have been more than a half hour ago before Princess Celestia began to raise the sun.

He looked over to the nightstand to see if any letters came for him while he slipped in and out of consciousness during the night and was dismayed to see none before realizing that no news was probably a good thing-as even if Cadence wasn’t getting any better-at the very least she wasn’t getting any worse-and he could take solace in that fact.

Sitting up, he could see that Spike was still curled up in the basket at the food of the bed and snoozing peacefully.

Stretching, he winced as the action caused another surge of pain to course through his broken bones before lightly massaging it with a hoof in a futile attempt to ease the pain when he noticed that he was still wearing the same shirt from the day before.

Realizing this, he was about to get changed before there was a knock at the library door.

Opening it with his magic revealed the same Pegasus he had met the day before.

“Oh, hey Rainbow Dash-right?” he greeted.

She was standing at the doorway, rubbing her foreleg anxiously.

“Hey, Shining Armor.” Dash replied in a detached tone. “Do you think I could I come in?”

“Uh, yeah sure.” He replied, taken off-guard not only from her showing up at the library first thing in the morning, but the fact that she seemed to be the polar opposite of the mare he had met the day before.

“Everything alright, Dash?” he asked, his voice filled with concern.

Rainbow Dash slowly cantered past him before dropping down onto Twilight’s bed with her hind legs hanging over the edge and her forelegs hanging limply at her sides as she stared down at the ground.

“No…” she uttered, her voice raspier than he remembered.

“My boss did fire me.”

“I-I’m sorry to hear that.” Shining replied. “Did he say why?”

Dash’s head nodded slightly.

“He said that I was too lazy and that I don’t contribute.” She replied, despondently.

“I mean yeah, I take a lot of naps, but I’ve always filled my quota…I don’t get it.”

“He’s never had a problem with your napping before?” Shining asked, curiously.

Dash shook her head.

“No, he said he didn’t really care how I worked as long as I didn’t bother anyone else and got the job done.” She sighed.

“Do you think those guys from yesterday complained to him about you?” Shining pressed.

“No,” she replied almost instantly. “They work in the weather factory, they don’t have anything to do with actual controlling it-they’re two different departments under the management-there’s no why they could know what I do or have it affect them in any way.”

Shining Armor briefly wondered why Rainbow Dash came to him instead of one of her friends after they’d just met before a thought occurred to him.

He slowly sat next to her on the bed.

“Rainbow Dash, this is very important-aside from firing you, was your boss acting strange in any way?”

“Yeah…” she replied. “He’s normally pretty cool, but lately he’s been pretty angry and violent, why do ask?”

Shining was about to pull himself up from the bed before pain surged through his ribs once again.

“Gah!” he groaned as he fell back onto the bed, clutching his side.

“What’s wrong?” Dash asked, alarmed.

The commotion caused Spike to wake up and look over at the two ponies over the edge of his basket.

“My ribs are broken…” Shining growled through the pain.

“WHAT!?”

“Listen, Dash…what I’m about to tell you is something you can’t tell anyone because I’m under orders from Princess Celestia herself to keep this information top secret.” He continued, through a strained voice.

“Then why are you telling me this?” Dash asked.

“Because I think it’s very important for you to know, there was an attack on Canterlot recently by a race of shape-shifters known as ‘Changelings’ we know very little about them, but it seems like they work best through taking the place of friends and loved ones.” He explained.

“Is that how you got hurt?” Dash pressed.

“Yeah, I was Captain of the Royal Guard back in Canterlot before I was sent her to take a break until I recovered, but now I think one of them may be in Cloudsdale taking the place of your boss…there might even be some here in Ponyville.”

“And you’re going to what, somehow get up to Cloudsdale and kick my boss’s flank?” she challenged. “As much as I ‘d like to see that, how do you plan on getting all the way up there and do that with your ribs all busted up?”

Shining Armor punched the mattress in a mixture of physical pain and frustration.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I hate being like this, I feel so useless stuck lying around all day while my friends are all out there risking their lives.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Dash replied. “This one time I was doing this really cool stunt while I was flying, but something went wrong and I broke my wing before I found out I had to be stuck in the hospital for a week.”

“This wouldn’t be so frustrating if there was some way for my body to heal faster.” Shining growled in irritation.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at this before she turned to him.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea-I’ll be right back!” she exclaimed before she literally flew out the door in a surprising renewal of energy and speed.

“What was that about?” Shining Armor asked.

“With Rainbow Dash, who knows?” Spike replied, getting up from his basket.

“Rainbow Dash can never sit still for more than ten seconds.”

“Do you think she might know of some kind of medicine to help me with my ribs?” Shining pressed.

“I doubt it.” Spike replied, pushing a small wooden stool next to the counter so he could pull a bowl out from the cupboard.

“Well, what about other medical experts?” Shining insisted. “Like Doctors?”

“There’s Doctor Stable, Nurse Redheart, and The Vet.” Spike replied, pouring himself a bowl of cereal, which quickly began to overflow.

“Oh, and there’s Zecora.” He added as an afterthought, while struggling to lift a gallon of milk.

“Are you sure you don’t need help with that?” Shining asked, watching the baby dragon.

“Nah, I got it.”

Shining Armor laid back on the bed in an attempt to ease the pressure in his side.

“So, who is this Zecora?” he asked, curiously.

“She’s a Zebra.” Spike replied through a mouthful of cereal as milk dribbled from his chin.

“She lives in the middle of the Everfree Forest and makes all kinds of potions and stuff.”

At this point Spike began coughing as the price to pay for trying to talk and eat at the exact same time.

Shining Armor was about to get up to help him before Spike let out a colossal belch, resulting in a large emerald flame incinerating the upper half of his cereal box as a rolled up letter dropped onto the table.

“You alright?” Shining asked.

“Yeah…” Spike replied hoarsely, as he wiped the milk and bits of cereal from his chin with the back of his claw.

“That’s why you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.” Shining Armor chastised as he levitated the scroll over to himself.

“You sound just like Twilight.” Spike replied in an exasperated tone as he rolled his eyes.

Shining Armor ignored this statement as he unfurled the scroll and began reading its content;

My beloved Shining Armor,

I have awoken in the middle of the night when a guard outside of my room informed me of what happened while I slept and the dire situation that Equestria is currently in.

Before this letter goes any further I would like to apologize for the injuries you have sustained on my behalf.

As I understand it, Twilight is being taught new powerful, secret magic to help defend Ponyville if the current Changeling threat should target the small town to get to the Elements of Harmony or silence their bearers.

Flash Sentry has given orders to search for Changelings and any information related to them.

I’m afraid that this information is not the only purpose for this letter, however…

Ever since I awoke and heard of your injuries, guilt and doubt have plagued my mind, causing me to wonder if you had only taken up your position as a royal guard to protect me after we began dating.

Perhaps, if I never came into your life you would not be suffering as much as you are now.

It is with much regret that I write these words and it is not a decision that I have taken lightly, but I am afraid of what will happen if our relationship continues and while it breaks my heart to write these words, it would destroy me if you lost your life due to some foolish notion of gallantry on your part.

I am truly sorry, but know that I love you now and forever…

-Cadance

Shining Armor felt his eyes water as his chest began to ache, he read the letter several times over, but it still didn’t make any sense to him.

At first he thought this was some kind of sick joke, but this was far too mean-spirited for any kind of prank Cadance was capable of.

He also considered the possibility that it was written by a Changeling, who had somehow found a way to send letters to him…but, the penmanship and the dried teardrops on the letter seemed to point to the contrary.

It didn’t make any sense to him; she said that she was afraid of losing him, but he was the one who failed her, which is was the reason she was put into such a condition in the first place.

One of the things Shining had always admired most about her was Cadance’s seemingly endless supply or kindness and compassion for her subjects and now it seemed to be the cause for them to be no longer in a relationship together.

For the first time since he was injured, Shining Armor felt like crying.

Back in the Saddle

“Uh, Shining Armor…is everything okay?” Spike asked, alarmed at the stallion’s long silence.

At that point the door burst open with Rainbow Dash flying inside the library, holding a pinkish red potion above her head triumphantly.

“I got it!” she exclaimed before noticing the crestfallen Shining Armor, motionless on the bed with the letter lying beside him.

“Hey…what happened?” Dash asked, dropping to the ground before him.

“I got a letter from Cadance…she woke up in the hospital last night.” Shining replied slowly.

“So?” Dash pressed. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“She broke up with me because I got hurt when I tried saving her…” he continued, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait-time out!” Dash exclaimed. “Let me get this straight, you’re dating Cadance-as in Princess Cadance-the niece of Princess Celestia herself!?”

“I was.” Shining confirmed miserably.

“Oh…yeah, sorry…” Rainbow Dash apologized, remembering what was going on.

“Did…did she say why?”

“Yeah,” Shining Armor sighed deeply. “She said that she feels guilty about me getting hurt for protecting her.”

“That’s stupid.” Dash commented, cocking her head to the side.

“I mean, Twilight told me that you’re Captain of the Royal Guard-so isn’t protecting royalty like your entire job?” she asked.

“It’s more complicated that that…” he replied, shaking his head.

“Originally I had little interest in joining the guard, but when I realized that most stallions in my family had been a part of it, so I kind of felt obligated…but, I still wasn’t entirely sure it was what I wanted to do with my life.”

“So, what happened?” Dash asked, taking a seat on the part of the bed next to him.

“Cadance.” He said simply.

“I’d had a crush on her since high school and when I realized she felt the same way, I couldn’t have been happier, but there was one problem; she was a princess.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Spike asked, sitting on the floor across from them.

“Even though, Princess Celestia approved of our relationship-her royal duties would prevent us from being able to see each other very often.” Shining explained.

“And that’s what helped you make up your mind to enlist in the guard so you could see Cadance more often.” Rainbow Dash concluded.

“And protect people, but yeah…” he turned to Rainbow Dash, desperately wanting to change the subject.

“So what’s in the bottle?”

“Oh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, remembering the potion she’d brought in for Shining Armor.

“It’s a healing potion!” she replied, holding it out to him. “It’s supposed to heal broken bones super fast!”

“And you just happened to have it lying around?” Shining pressed, curiously.

“Nah, I got it from Zecora a while back…”

“I knew it.” Spike muttered, but Dash ignored him.

“Why did she give it you?” Shining wondered out loud.

“Because she crashes a lot doing her stunts,” Spike explained casually. “One time she even broke her wing and was stuck in the hospital for a week, but that hasn’t stopped her from being reckless.”

“You’re not really one to talk-remember when you’re greed leveled half of Ponyville?” Dash growled back.

“Oh, yeah?” he challenged. “I’m eight-what’s your excuse?”

“Are you sure this works?” Shining asked, eyeing the fluid carefully.

“Well, we’ve never really tried it.” Dash admitted. “But, Zecora hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”

“So if it really works, then why doesn’t everyone in town use it? Or the hospital?” Shining muttered.

“Zecora said it was for emergencies only, Twilight thinks that because it works so fast and unnaturally, that the healing is really painful...and something about it being too dangerous to be used on anyone more than once.” Spike replied helpfully.

“Good to know.”

Given everything that was going on, it definitely seemed like this qualified as an emergency-especially if there were Changelings as close as Cloudsdale.

Slowly levitating the bottle before him, Shining Armor pulled the cork out before looking down at its content.

Despite what he initially thought, pinkish red liquid didn’t seem to have any scent before he squeezed his eyes shut as he pulled his head back and poured it down his throat.

The taste actually wasn’t too bad-it was like slightly watered down red wine with a bit of something else…like mud.

Shining Armor opened his eyes as he levitated the bottle onto the nightstand.

So far all he felt was a slight tingling sensation in his chest, similar to when one of his legs would fall asleep.

“That wasn’t so ba-ahhhh!” he groaned.

All of a sudden the tingling turned into sharp pinpricks before those turned into a searing pain throughout his torso as if his insides were aflame.

Rainbow Dash and Spike both cringed as they could hear the bones in Shining Armor’s chest and ribs snapping and cracking back into place.

Shining Armor was now panting as he stumbled back onto the bed and collapsed onto his back, while clutching his chest and stomach with his hooves.

After a few moments of him lying there, trying to catch his breath he turned his head to look at Spike and Rainbow Dash.

“You guys wanna go get some ice cream?” he asked, surprisingly quick.

The two exchanged glances of confusion and concern.

The stallion, mare, and baby dragon were all sitting around a table outside of the Lucky Filly ice cream shop.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t decide between chocolate and vanilla, so she compromised with a swirl.

Spike had gotten a scoop of strawberry after becoming disappointed with the fact that gems didn’t come with the shop’s variety of sprinkles and toppings.

Shining Armor immediately grabbed a large banana split which he quickly began wolfing down in an attempt to soothe the dull burning he was still feeling in his chest after Zecora’s potion had done its work.

Once he had finished, his face became flushed once he realized that Spike and Dash had only just started on their desserts, but relaxed when he saw that they didn’t really seem to care.

“It just doesn’t make any sense…” he sighed. “I mean, why would she do this without at least talking with me first?”

“Well, it kind of does…” Spike replied, sticking the ice cream into his mouth before biting the top half of the cone off and swallowing it.

“In my ‘Power Ponies’ comic, all of the heroes had to break up with someone because they were afraid that any of their super villains would hurt their loved ones to get to them.”

“Spike has a point,” Rainbow Dash added, licking the edges of her ice cream cone as it began to drip.

“No matter how tough you are, there could always be jerks out there trying to get you so they could get ransom money or something from Cadance…how long do you think you’d be able to hold out-especially when you get older?”

Inwardly, Shining sighed.

He didn’t like what they were saying, but that didn’t change the fact that it made a lot of sense.

The letter hurt not just because of its content, but the from the fact that it just felt so impersonal…but, perhaps Cadance felt like talking to him face to face would be too difficult or painful for her to handle?

That definitely sounded a lot like Cadance…

He looked over at Rainbow Dash; it was surprising to him that she would go through so much trouble for someone she barely even knew.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a bulky grey stallion with what appeared to be a black mane that obscured his eyes behind a building, looking towards them-almost as if he were watching them.

Shining didn’t want to jump to any conclusions of course, it would be best to keep conversing with Spike and Dash for a while longer and see if he was still there.

“Hey, Dash?” he asked softly.

While she was licking it, the top part of her ice cream began sliding off the cone as she watched it fall and splatter onto the grass before returning her attention to him.

“’Sup?” she asked.

“I just wanted to thank you for bringing that potion to me…without your help I’d either still be lying around the library or struggling to get around town.”

“Don’t mention it.” She replied casually, “I know firsthand how much it suck to not be able to move around just because stupid doctors won’t let you get out of bed.”

“Actually, I don’t have any nurses or doctors here to monitor me…” Shining added thoughtfully.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah…I guess Princess Celestia trusts me enough that she doesn’t feel like I need it, now I’m starting to feel kind of bad for exploring town yesterday.” He sighed.

“Well, you shouldn’t be.” Dash chastised, chewing on the remnants of her ice cream cone.

“Why’s that?” Shining asked.

Rainbow Dash swallowed the chewed up pieces of cone before responding.

“First, you never would have met someone as awesome as me.” She explained, proudly. “And second, I probably wouldn’t have ran into someone as cool as you to hang out with.”

Shining Armor was more than a little flattered to hear this, since he hadn’t felt like he had done anything particularly impressive or noteworthy since coming to town.

“Oh, thanks…you’re pretty cool too, Dash.” He replied. “So, how did you meet Twily?”

Rainbow Dash gave him a strange look before snickering.

“’Twily’?” she repeated.

Mentally, Shining Armor facehoofed at what he had just said; the nickname their family had for Twilight was supposed to be kept as secret because of how embarrassing she found it-yet, somehow when he let down his guard he slipped up.

“Uh, yeah…that’s sort of a nickname I have for her because she’s my baby sister…y’know?” he added barely above a whisper.

“But, I promised her that I wouldn’t call her that in public because it really embarrasses her so could you maybe just keep that between us?” he asked desperately.

“Yeah…okay.” Dash agreed before leaning in close to him.

Shining Armor’s face flushed as his ears flattened, for one terrifying moment he thought that she was leaning in to kiss him, but she stopped halfway across the table and whispered to him.

“Do you that guy behind the building over there?” she asked.

He nodded, his heartbeat returning to its normal pace.

“I think that guy’s spying on us.”

“Yeah, so do I.” he agreed.

“Hey, what are you guys whispering about?” Spike asked, having finished his ice cream.

“Nothing,” Shining replied, “Just some grown-up stuff…we have to go take care of something real quick-I’ve still got a few Bits left in my saddlebag-you can stay here and get some more ice cream if you’re still hungry or take it with you back to the library and we’ll catch up with you.”

Spike put a claw to his chin as he thought about it before shrugging; “Okay, see you guys back at the library.”

He then threw one of the saddlebag’s straps over his shoulder and began walking back home.

As casual as they could manage, Dash and Shining slowly cantered towards the alley where the strange stallion was watching them from.

When he realized that they were walking towards him, the stallion tried to trot away from them in a futile attempt to make it seem as if he was just ordinary civilian that they mistook for someone important.

They weren’t buying it.

As soon as he realized this, the stallion broke into a gallop as he headed down the opposite end of the alleyway.

Thinking fast, Shining pointed his horn towards the end of the alleyway before a large magenta barrier appeared, tall enough that it matched the size of the buildings it was attached to.

At this point, the stallion turned around to face them as his wings began flapping to bring him up into the air.

Rainbow Dash, who had been taken off-guard from Shining’s barrier stunt, snapped out of it when she realized that the stallion they were chasing was a Pegasus and immediately put her own wings to use as she collided with him in mid-air.

All Shining say was a cyan blur before it collided with the stallion and sent him crashing into the barrier with surprising speed and force as the impact caused a spider’s web of cracks.

This was quite impressive as everyone who knew Shining Armor believed his shielding spells to be completely immune to harm, including Shining himself.

Dash flew back a bit as she released her grip on the stallion that fell to the ground, sending up a small cloud of dust as he hit it.

“Now that we’ve got your attention,” Shining began, magically pulling the stallion up. “Who are you and why were you spying on us?”

The stallion let out a few small coughs as Dash descended next to Shining Armor as her eyes widened in surprise.

“What? What’s wrong?” Shining asked, noticing this.

“I recognize this guy-his name his Score.” Dash explained. “He used to hang out with those other jerks all the time back in Cloudsdale.”

“Are you sure?” Shining asked.

“Check his Cutie Mark,” Dash replied, keeping her eyes trained on the stallion’s face, specifically the part where his eyes would have been if they weren’t obscured by his mane.

Shining did as instructed.

“There should be three hoofballs.” She added.

“Yeah, looks like it’s him.”

“So Score,” Dash challenged. “Why are down here in Ponyville spying on us instead of Cloudsdale hanging out with Hoops and Billy?”

“Dumb-Bell is no longer of any concern,” he growled, surprising Dash by using a word far beyond his own vocabulary.

“What about Hoops?” Shining pressed.

“He will be deal with soon enough, there’s not quite enough love to feast upon, yet.” Score replied, if it really was him-which Shining doubted more and more by the second.

Dash looked at ‘Score’ strangely as if she had just run into a particularly repulsive form of exotic insect.

“What do you mean by that?” she demanded.

‘Score’ just chuckled.

Shining didn’t like this one bit-he was divulging information to willingly-aside from the brief struggle they had catching him it seemed almost as if he wanted to get caught.

“Dash, let me handle this.” He cut in, before releasing ‘Score’ from his magical grip.

“This isn’t Score.” He explained, cantering towards him. “This is a Changeling, the fact that he’s telling us this much means that he’s trying to lead us into some kind of trap-but, he must an amateur-because he wasn’t too subtle about it.”

A look of shock appeared on the Changeling’s face as Shining Armor called him out before it turned into a frown.

“And that’s why we’re going to have him take us to wherever the real ponies they’ve been impersonating are being held captive and free them.”

The Hive

Now that he had been captured and his plan discovered, the Changeling reluctantly returned back to his original form under the glare of Shining Armor and the mixture of disgust and intrigue Rainbow Dash was regarding him with.

“Hold him still.” Shining Armor instructed Dash as he gestured to the Changeling.

Rainbow Dash grabbed one of the Changeling’s forelegs.

“Hey, what are you doing?” He demanded.

Ignoring him, Dash pulled the leg behind his back.

“Argghh!” he grunted in pain.

“Okay, got him.” She confirmed.

Shining closed his eyes and concentrated on the collaring spell every Unicorn within the guard was taught for taking in prisoners.

The tip of his horn began to glow an intense shade of violet before pointing it at the Changeling’s neck before a magical collar of the same shade materialized around his neck.

“What’s this?” The Changeling grumbled in annoyance.

“The spell I just cast,” Shining replied before turning to Dash. “You can let go, now.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, hesitantly.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Shining affirmed, confidently.

Dash did as she was instructed before the Changeling’s insect-like wings began buzzing as it took off into the air.

“It’s getting away!” Dash growled, but as she was about to take off after it, Shining Armor stopped her by placing a hoof in front of her.

Before she could ask him what he was doing, he just looked back up at the Changeling.

“Wait.” He instructed, calmly.

The Changeling was laughing victoriously as it nearly had enough altitude to clear Shining’s barrier, but was cut short as it felt a lurch in its throat, pulling it back down.

Rainbow Dash looked on as the Changeling came crashing down onto the ground before them as it released a small groan.

“How did you do that?” she asked Shining Armor.

“Collar Spell,” he replied. “It’s one of several we are taught to use in case we ever need to incapacitate hostile forces.”

“Like the Changelings.” Dash observed.

“Exactly, there is sort of like an invisible chain from the collar to my chest.” He continued.

“I can make it as long or as short as I want, this way we can have him walking in front while he leads us to the others and not have to worry about him running off.”

“Awesome!” Dash exclaimed as her wings fluttered excitedly, lifting her a few feet off the ground.

“We should get going, now-we’re losing daylight and we don’t know if these Changelings can see in the dark.”

“We can.” The Changeling hissed.

“Then we’d better get going, you lead the way.” Shining ordered.

The Changeling released a low growl before crawling towards where the shield Shining Armor had cast earlier had been before it faded.

While it crawled through the back alleys with the two ponies in tow, the thought occurred to the Changeling that it could take the shape of another resident of Ponyville and act like it was being wrongly imprisoned.

Of course, the flaw in that was the fact that the stallion holding him captive was the captain of Celestia’s royal guard and the mare was one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony; anyone who tried to intervene would almost certainly take their word over his.

Another option would be to attempt an escape by killing them, only it was weakened from the struggle earlier and even if it got lucky, there was no guarantee that the stallion’s spell would wear off once he no longer had a pulse and that would leave him struggling to drag a creature twice his size all of the way back to the hive.

Once one the outskirts of town, the Changeling lead the two ponies towards the Everfree Forest.

“Careful,” Dash muttered as they entered. “There’s a lot of weird and dangerous stuff in here…”

“Then it would make sense for the Changelings to make a home here.” Shining replied.

The Changeling released a hiss in annoyance at their talking as he continued to lead them back to his home.

“So, that spell you used…” Rainbow began.
“Yeah, what about it?” asked Shining Armor.

“It seemed like you were really struggling to cast it…if it’s so difficult, then why use it to take prisoners in combat?”

“It isn’t,” he explained. “Using magic is sort of like using muscles it takes effort and the more you practice, the stronger it gets…but, the longer you go without using it the less effective it is…sort of like when muscles begin to atrophy from inactivity, I attached the chain to my chest because if it was connected to the horn he could easily snap my neck by pulling sharply in one direction or another.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, appreciating the fact that Shining explained it in a metaphor that she could understand with the use of her own interests.

“So, how do you get be a royal guard?” Dash wondered aloud.

It was something she’d wanted to know ever since Princess Celestia arranged a royal visit to Sugarcube Corner to get to know her and the rest of Twilight’s new friends better, but the guard she tried asking refused to answer any of her questions and just stood in place like a statue.

“Well,” Shining began thoughtfully. “You can’t have a criminal record, obviously…and it’s very physically taxing, since you’re job is to protect the Princesses along with the entirety of Equestria-so you have to be in good shape.”

“How did you make Captain?” Dash pressed.

“That’s more personality based; you have to be a able to make difficult decisions under pressure, a good moral compass, plus with me there was the added bonus with my talent for shield spells-that makes you a pretty big asset when your job is protecting people.” He replied.

“So is the pay any good?” Dash asked humorously.

She was surprised to see that Shining Armor actually laughed at that.

“If I had a Bit for every time someone asked me that, I wouldn’t need a paycheck from Celestia.” He replied.

“But yeah, the pay is really good.”

‘Was she flirting with me?’ Shining wondered as he glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who had returned to watching the Changeling ahead of them.

He was terrible in the romance department; every attempt he made with Cadence caused him to fumble over his words as his thoughts would get mixed up as he over-thought his actions under her mesmerizing gaze.

Yet, she stayed with him despite this and whenever he would begin to beat himself up over this shortcoming she would tell him that she found his attempts to be ‘cute’.

These thoughts brought him back to the letter she had sent-if only he had been smarter, faster, stronger…maybe he could have prevented all of this and stopped the Changeling threat that day back in Canterlot.

Shining Armor took notice of a large grove filled with what looked like some form of blue flower before Rainbow Dash caught him eyeing them curiously.

“I’d stay away from them if I were you.” She advised. “That’s Poison Joke; it can do all kinds of weird stuff to your body if it touches you and the only cure is some kind of herbal bath that I don’t know the recipe for.”

“Like what?” he asked. “Have you ever been affected?”

“Yeah,” Dash replied, annoyed at the memory. “But, I didn’t notice anything was different until the next day after I get up, I usually try to get some flying practice in by going top speed and dodging clouds…but, my wings weren’t working right so I couldn’t fly straight and kept on crashing.”

The Changeling let out a hiss.

“Now, what’s his problem?” Dash asked, glaring at the creature.

“Ponies talk too much.” It spat before stopping before the entrance of a large cavern and lifted a foreleg riddled with holes to point towards it.

“This is our home.”

Shining Armor gestured for it to lead the way as Dash followed before he took up the rear, despite his confident demeanor he still felt uneasy about all of this.

What he originally believed to be a tunnel, actually turned out to be a slope as they travelled forward he noticed that they were also moving downward towards and eerie green glow where the dripping and squishing sounds became increasingly audible.

The source of both appeared to be some type of green slime on both the floor and the ceiling along with a series of large chrysalides, trapping ponies inside.

Within were Hoops, Score, Dumb-Bell, Mayor Mare, Holly Dash and Rainbow Dash’s boss; Cloudy Skies along with dozens of others.

Shining Armor then turned to the Changeling that lead them hear as his horn glowed, severing the magical link tethering them.

“Release them, now.” He demanded.

“Very well,” The Challenging conceded as it signaled the others to release the prisoners.

“Really!?” Dash asked incredulously.

“You are only delaying the inevitable.” It replied. “We aren’t the only hive of Changelings in Equestria and once Celestia is overthrown we can recapture them easily and harvest all of the love we could ever need.”

“What does that mean?” Shining’s violet magical aura surrounded the Changeling’s neck as he slammed it against the cave wall. “What are you planning?”

Rainbow Dash looked towards the others and was surprised to see that they were ignoring the scene unfolding before them.

“The downfall of Canterlot,” It choked. “Ponyville and Cloudsdale are just preparation.”

“I don’t get it.” Dash cut in. “Why aren’t you guys putting up a fight?”

“Because we’re too weak,” It growled back. “Without a steady supply of love to feed on, we’re starving and low on power…even all of the love from Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville combined won’t be able to satisfy our hunger.”

“And that’s why you want Equestria,” Shining growled before turning to Rainbow. “Everyone make your way outside, Dash you take up the rear to make sure no Changelings follow them and that there aren’t any other nasty surprises waiting.”

“Got it!” Dash replied, saluting.

“Spineless.” The Changeling spat. “Even when we are not hostile, you have neither the strength, nor courage to destroy us-it’s no wonder Cadance dumped you.”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened at this.

“That’s right,” The Changeling grinned. “We’ve been keeping tabs on you ever since you were brought into town-if the failure to protect your precious princess did this much psychological damage-I can only imagine what the sight of your beloved ‘Twily’ beaten and broken at the hooves of our Queen will do.”

Shining glared at the Changeling and raised his hoof in preparation to hit the creature, while it regarded him with a smug grin.

At this point, he tossed the Changeling aside, sending up a small cloud of dust as it hit the ground.

“Like I said-spineless.” It chuckled.

Shining Armor ignored it and the ever-strengthening urge to beat the creature into a bloody pulp and make it suffer as much as physically possible for mocking him as he headed back to the slope leading back up to the outside world.

Once he reached the surface, he was surprised to see that the sun was already beginning to set.

Rainbow Dash was the first to greet him.

“You made it!” she sighed in relief. “What happened down there?”

“Nothing,” he lied. “Did any of them follow me?”

Dash looked over his shoulder, but saw nothing save for the dark walls of the cavern.

“Doesn’t look like it.” She replied, “Did you kick there flanks?”

“No.” he sighed.

“WHAT!?” Everyone else shrieked in unison.

Despite her relief that everyone was unscathed, Rainbow Dash secretly wished that the Changelings had tried something and a fight would get started so she could vent all of the frustration for the emotional turmoil they had put her through from getting her fired to kidnapping and feeding off of her friends and coworkers.

“There’s no point-everyone is safe and accounted for, besides they didn’t attack us when they had every opportunity to after we broke into their home.” Shining replied, defensively.

“So you believe that we should leave them, without having to face the consequences for their actions with the ability to pull a stunt like this again?” Mayor Mare demanded.

“I didn’t say that,” Shining stressed. “I just don’t think killing them is going to solve anything…”

“I get what you’re saying,” Dash reasoned sympathetically. “But, the Mayor has a point-we can’t just overlook this.”

“We’re not.”

Shining Armor then turned around before pointing his horn at the ceiling of the cave before firing a blast of magical energy at it, damaging it before causing pieces of rock to break apart into large pieces and crumble before sliding down the slope.

He repeated this process multiple times before he was certain that the tunnel had been completely sealed off.

“What did you do?” asked Hoops.

“I didn’t kill them, but I made sure they won’t be going anywhere or hurting anyone for a while.” Shining explained.

“If they’ve survived underground all this time, then a little longer shouldn’t hurt-besides, sooner or later they’ll probably be able to dig their way out-so all I’ve really done is buy us some time.”

While he didn’t say anything more, Shining Armor had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach that once he returned to Canterlot and unveiled whatever the Changeling’s had planned there, bloodshed would be unavoidable.

He was surprised when no one protested further and wondered how many of them actually knew who he was-and even if they didn’t and insisted on arguing with him, he supposed that could have pulled rank on them.

“What about the Changeling’s that replaced us?” Mayor Mare pressed.

“You’re the mayor.” Dash cut in. “Can’t you just tell the cops what’s going on and keep them in cells until we deal with this.”

“That’s right,” Shining agreed, surprised that she had beat him to it.

‘Wait-what does she mean by ‘WE’?’ he thought to himself.

“I suppose that could work…” The Mayor replied, tapping a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

“I will also send a letter to the mayor of Cloudsdale, informing them of the situation.”

Rainbow Dash then cantered over towards Cloudy Skies, who was a Pegasus stallion with a light brown coat, blue eyes, and a grey mane with matching mustache wearing a bright orange vest with the Cutie Mark of a cloud.

“Hey,” she put a hoof behind her head nervously. “This is kind of awkward, but the Changeling that replaced you kind of fired me so….can I have my job back?”

Author's Note

This chapter spent about a week in development hell because of some issue I've been dealing with.

But, on the plus side the next two chapters I'm really looking forward to writing and for those of you disappointed with this chapter-I promise, there's going to be more action in both of them.

Deception

At sunset, Flash stopped by the bar to await nightfall and the possible reappearance of Sunset Shimmer.

Whenever he wasn’t delegating orders to the other members of the guard, he searched the entire royal archive for any mention of her existence.

The thought had occurred to Flash that he could just simply ask Celestia about the mare who claimed to be a former student of hers.

During lunch he almost acted upon these thoughts, it was the only time of day that Princess Celestia had the time to take a break from the nobles bickering over what they failed to see as relatively minor disputes in light of the recent Changeling attack and very real threat that they still posed.

However, when he opened his mouth to ask he found that he couldn’t do it; he saw the Princess sitting there sipping tea in the short half hour lull that gave her any peace of mind these days and couldn’t bring himself to potentially open up new wounds for her.

Of course, while he tried to deny it to himself; part of him knew that the real reason he didn’t ask was because he was afraid.

This was the fear that this news would put her on high alert and that she would make the other members of the guard work harder as a result and that they in turn would hate him more than they already did.

A loud cracking sound filled the night air once the stars began to shine shortly after the rise of Luna’s moon.

Flash galloped towards the alleyway the sound had originated.

There was a Changeling, lying limply on the ground with a puddle of light green liquid oozing from an ugly gash across its torso.

Standing above it was Sunset Shimmer, pulling her black leather jacket back over her body.

“Sunset, what’s going here?”

“What?” She glanced back down at the Changeling. “Yeah, that’s the bitch you were talking to yesterday-knocked me out a few days ago and I woke up in some kind of cocoon, I was watching both of you talk last night.”

“You killed her.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Slashed her torso open from stomach to chest.” Sunset replied nonchalantly. “I was pretty pissed though, so I wanted to rip all of her legs, bash in her ribcage with one of them and then slowly crush her windpipe-but, that would have taken too long.”

Flash stood there in stunned silence at her confession.

“I didn’t want to draw too much unwanted attention, since I’m not really welcome in this city and I’m trying to keep a low profile.” She continued.

“Why would you do that?” Flash asked hoarsely, feeling his heart begin to speed up in fear. “When we could have taken her as a prisoner and interrogate her if you kept her alive?”

Sunset smirked, taking note of his tone and relishing the fear he was feeling.

“As I’ve said; I’m keeping a low profile and bringing a live Changeling to Celestia’s doorstep is the exact opposite of that, as well as the fact that I don’t care about this city or its people.”

“So, how was this Changeling able to capture you and emulate your personality so well if you’ve been keeping such a low profile?” Flash challenged.

“She was a drone and an infiltrator.” Sunset replied. “I don’t like being made a fool and as if falling for her deception wasn’t bad enough, I was also imprisoned so they could ‘feed’ on me.”

“They were going to eat you?” Flash asked, in shock.

“No,” she replied. “As with any pathetic creature, they require love for sustenance.”

Sunset looked back down at the slain Changeling.

“Now, maybe we should begin to walk and talk; I’ve just killed this thing and it’s already starting to stink.”

“Even though I’ve been talking to an imposter, you seem to know about everything we talked about-how?” Flash demanded.

“Easily; you’re a terrible excuse for a guard and an even worse excuse for a Captain and for a Changeling infiltrator, she certainly didn’t know to check to see if she wasn’t being shadowed.” Sunset replied smugly.

“And why didn’t you reveal yourself then?” he pressed.

“Because an idiot guard was talking to her the whole time and I knew he’d get in the way.” She replied.

“You were worried about hurting me?”

“No, I was pissed and I wanted my revenge, but I couldn’t exact it without risking you interfering or calling the other members of your little guard.” She responded, curtly.

“So what’s your plan now that she’s been taken care of?”

“Since you guards are so horribly inept at your jobs, perhaps I will show you what a waste you are by accomplishing what you cannot by assisting with your little Changeling problem.”

“What makes you think that you can do this so easily?” Flash demanded.

“Because I’m intelligent, skilled with magic, and I didn’t get my position just by being some pretty boy.” She spat.

“You think I’m pretty?” Flash asked, cheekily.

“Not bad looking, but in all seriousness; why does it seem like Celestia always puts guy like you in charge of her guard?”

“Technically, I’m holding Captain Shining Armor’s position until he recovers.” He reminded her.

“Still, it seems like she’s trying to reinforce the dreams that most fillies I grew up around seemed to have about a handsome prince or knight sweeping them up their hooves when they became mares.” Sunset continued.

“I’ll be the first to admit that the guard probably isn’t the right place for me.” Flash replied. “But, Shining’s a good guy and I couldn’t ask for a better Captain.”

“What, you can’t seriously mean that I’m getting to you or the other members of your guard?” Sunset asked.

“No, words don’t hurt me anymore-it’s just the distrust and loathing of my peers and the fact that I never chose to become a guard.” He replied. “I had a pretty bad temper as a colt-I got it from my father and there were a few incidents where I hurt other colts; I broke one’s leg and when I was a teenager there was another Pegasus…” his voice trailed off at the memory.

“What happened?” Sunset pressed.

“Sorry,” he replied, shaking his head. “I remember taking his wing in my teeth and twisting it before I punched it-that was the last straw for my parents; when I came home, my father informed me that they had spoken to Celestia and enlisted me into the royal guard to straighten me out.”

“What was the fight about?”

“Back in Cloudsdale there was a Pegasus with a bad wing condition that meant he would never be able to fly, once the others found out they began bullying him-until I attacked the ringleader.”

“So it must have worked; I’ve been attacking you since we’ve met and you haven’t raised a hoof towards me.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah, I guess so…”

“There’s an inn I’m staying at,” Sunset continued. “The room has two beds, so you can stay there until morning; I doubt I’ll be accepted into the castle without someone of at least a shred of recognition there to vouch for me.”

“Alright,” Flash conceded. “But, where is this Changeling hive that you escaped from?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, turning to face him. “I burned it down along with all of the Changelings inside.”

Author's Note

This another chapter with Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry, but the next one will go back to Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor.

Complications

“So tell me again why we couldn’t have just sent Princess Celestia a letter?” Rainbow Dash asked after her and Shining Armor boarded the train.

“Because sending a letter would risk it getting intercepted by a Changeling who could have replaced one of the castle’s staff.” Shining explained.

Spike had to stay behind for his own safety in case of another Changeling ambush on the train or at Canterlot itself.

Fluttershy agreed to take care of Tank until they returned to Ponyville.

Cloudy Skies had also agreed to rehire Dash as he believed that she was the greatest weather manager the Ponyville ever had and pointed out the since it was a Changeling imposter that had cost her the job, she was never technically fired in the first place as far as he was concerned.

They walked a few cars back before settling in the fifth to last car on the train where Rainbow Dash took a seat next to a window where the sun could be seen setting over Ponyville.

Shining Armor sat next to her as they flung their saddlebags onto the seat facing them.

“Why are you sitting next to me?” Dash asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Because we’re travelling together.” Shining replied.

“But, you’re sitting right next to me.” She pointed out.

“Sorry, I’m just a little paranoid that there may be a few more Changelings on this train that we may have missed and I just wanted to take the necessary precautions...isn’t that why we’re sitting all the way back here?”

“Uh, no…I’m sitting back here because there are barely any other ponies or crying foals to wake me up so I can get in a decent nap before we get to Canterlot.” Dash replied.

Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t really gotten much rest since he got out of bed; the Changeling, the cave, and packing had taken all of the energy Zecora’s potion had given him and all of the walking they had done was causing all of his legs to ache.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “If you want I’ll move over so you can lie down.”

“Nah, it’s cool.” Dash declined, waving her hoof dismissively as she leaned against the window and shut her eyes.

“So what’s the deal with Cadance?” she asked. “I mean, we’ll probably run into her at the castle if she’s feeling well enough to write you a letter…are you gonna try to patch things up with her, try to find someone else, or just stay on your own?”

“Well, to be honest I’m not sure what I’m going to say when I see her again-especially after I drop by completely unannounced.” Shining admitted.

“Why? Is there something you think I should do?”

“I don’t know.” Dash sighed. “I don’t know anything about this mushy stuff…Rarity is the expert on that with all of those romance novels she reads…and I don’t really care about it, either.”

“Then why’d you ask?” Shining challenged.

“Look, I don’t care about ‘romance’ or ‘love’ or whatever because I see cool people like you get all messed up emotionally because of it and that’s why I stay away from it.” Dash elaborated.

“So, you’re afraid of getting hurt by someone if you get romantically attached to them?” Shining pressed.

“I’m not afraid of anything.” Dash grumbled. “What I meant to say is; no offense, but you’re a pretty cool guy and really fun to hang out with before you get all mopey whenever you think about Candace.”

“Cadance,” Shining corrected. “And the fact that I’m hurt by her breaking up with me annoys you?”

“No,” she protested, growing agitated as she opened her eyes. “I’m saying that I’ve hung out with others in the past-even with some guys like you-but, they were always hung up on some other girl to even notice me when I was right in front of them.”

Shining Armor just looked at her in shock before Dash realized what she had just said.

Her face flushed red as she turned around to face the back cushion of the seat and hide her embarrassment.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” He apologized. “If you want we could talk about something else.”

“No,” she sighed, still keeping her face hidden. “It’s just not something I’m used to thinking about; sometimes when the guys I liked did notice me, they would join in with those other jerks you met from Cloudsdale and call me ‘Rainbow Dyke’ or avoid me because they thought I was some kind of psycho when I stood up for my friends.”

“So they were intimidated by you.”

“I guess…”

“I think I might just talk to her.” Shining sighed before Rainbow Dash turned back over to face him.

“Just to you know, see where we stand.” He added.

“Well for what it’s worth…” Dash rolled onto her back. “I hope it works out better for you than it ever did for me.”

Part of Shining had believed that if Cadance saw that he was okay, she would reconsider breaking up with him but even if it did work out that way for some reason he couldn’t quite place he couldn’t help feeling guilty bout it.

Shining leaned back against the seat as Dash once again shifted in her seat so that she was leaning against the window again.

With Twilight still in Canterlot, he wondered if he would be able to see her if she wasn’t too busy with Celestia in whatever it was that they were doing.

He thought back to what Dash said earlier and wondered if she actually meant it in the way he thought-she couldn’t have meant that she had a crush on him-could she have?

Afraid of misinterpreting anything, he was hesitant to believe so not only out of fear of fear of ruining his friendship with Rainbow Dash, but of blowing any opportunity of fixing things with Cadance.

The feelings he was beginning to develop for Dash were definitely not something he had either anticipated or prepared for.

Ever since the Changelings first showed up, things seemed to be getting more and more complicated.

Shining Armor chuckled to himself at the irony; if it wasn’t the physical trials of dealing with Changelings, it was the emotional turmoil of dealing with these relationships plaguing his mind…no matter what he did, it seemed like he couldn’t rest.

Now he had a newfound appreciation for what the other guys in the guard had to deal in their everyday lives while they were both on and off duty.

That brought his mind back to Flash, he wondered if he was holding up all right or if it was wise to put him in charge or if he was strong enough to deal with the pressures of leadership of so many who so openly despised him.

He wanted to help the kid out, but maybe he had approached it the wrong way.

Rainbow Dash leaned against his shoulder, snapping him out of his train of thought when he noticed that she was already asleep.

Return to Canterlot

Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly opened as the rays of Celestia’s morning sun shone through the windows of the passenger seats.

Sitting up from leaning against Shining Armor last night, she rubbed the grit out of her eyes with her hooves before letting out a large yawn.

“No…it can’t be morning already…” he groaned to himself.

“I don’t know about you,” Dash began standing in the aisle as she stretched her wings and legs.

“But, I slept like a filly.” She continued, completely oblivious to his lack of sleep and grumpy disposition.

“Glad to see that you got a good night’s sleep.” He grumbled.

At most is seemed like he had only gotten an hour…maybe an hour and half’s worth of sleep.

Looking out the window, he recognized the area they were passing through-it wouldn’t be too much longer before they reached the station in Canterlot.

Reluctantly, he decided to slide over to the window and rest his eyes for a few moments….

“HEY, WAKE UP!” A raspy voice shouted urgently as he felt someone shaking him.

“Hunh…wha?” he muttered as he opened his eyes a crack to see Rainbow Dash standing over him.

“We’re in Canterlot, but we have to move before the train pulls out of the station!” she exclaimed.

He quickly jumped up and flung his saddlebag back on as he followed Rainbow Dash out onto the platform.

“Why did you let fall back asleep?” he asked as the train departed.

“You looked like you needed it.” Dash replied. “Besides, I woke you up-didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Thanks…here, I’ll show you the way to the castle.”

“Already know it.” Dash replied, confidently before pausing at Shining Armor’s incredulous look.

“We all went to the Gala a few months back.” She explained. “Didn’t you talk to Twilight while we were there?”

“I was busy detaining a group of…violently inebriated individuals…” he replied, shamefully.

“Wait, there was a bar fight at the Gala!?” Dash laughed. “I wish I could’ve seen that, instead of hanging out with the Wonderbolts!”

“I thought you liked the Wonderbolts?” Shining asked confused.

“I do, but at the Gala they were pretty lame…all they said was ‘oh hey, we know you saved our lives and created the first ever documented Sonic Rainboom, but we have much more important ponies to talk to’.” She elaborated.

“That was you?” Shining asked impressed. “I see…I wouldn't be too happy if I met my heroes and they blew me off all evening, either-especially after all that.”

“Do you have any heroes?” Dash asked curiously.

“Just one; my uncle on my Dad’s side-he actually inspired me to join the royal guard and without him inspiring me-I don’t think I ever would have made it to the rank of Captain.”

“So what did he do to inspire you?”

“Well, he was a member of the guard since before I was born and he retired when I was a colt…I think it was a month or two before Twily was born that he officially retired.” Shining continued.

“I remembered being really excited to be a big brother, but another part of me was afraid that I’d screw it up somehow, but he was there to tell me that he knew what I was going through because it was the exact same way he felt when my grandparents told him that my grandmother was pregnant with Dad-and we became pretty close after that…he always knew just what to say.”

“Do you still talk to him?” Dash pressed, noting the usage of past tense.

“Not too often anymore.” Shining admitted. “Being promoted to Captain comes with a lot more responsibility and the only authority higher than you is Celestia, so every minor issue you can think that people call the guards for is something I’ve had to deal with at least once…but, he understands-he actually warned me about all of that the day I was promoted.”

“So he was Captain, too?”

“Yeah, then after he retired there was another guy before me…I can’t remember his name, but he was a real hard-ass, constantly angry, and anytime anyone wanted to speak to him, he only seemed to get angrier…now that I’m Captain, I can’t really blame him after seeing all of the things he must have dealt with, not to mention the incredibly stupid things people will call emergencies.”

“Like what?” Dash pressed.

“I’ll have to tell you some other time.” Shining replied as they stood before the two large doors leading into the castle with two white stallion guards carrying spears.

He recognized them as the two he had delegated the task of flying Twilight to Ponyville in order to ensure her safe arrival.

“Captain!” the one of the right exclaimed in disbelief.

“It’s unwise to travel such a long way in your condition!” the one on the left added in an alarmed tone.

“Relax,” he replied, putting a hoof up. “It’s been taken care of, I’m fine now…there’s something urgent I need to speak with Princess Celestia about.”

The two guards exchanged glances.

“I’m afraid that will have to wait, sir.” One of them spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“A Unicorn mare going by the name Sunset Shimmer accompanied by Flash Sentry came earlier and were greeted by Princess Celestia in person.” The guard informed him.

“Sunset Shimmer…” Shining murmured.

“Is everything okay?” Dash asked, concerned.

“Why does that name sound so familiar?” he wondered aloud before returning his attention to the guards. “Let us through.” He ordered.

“Sir?”

“What I have to tell the princess can’t wait, and if this Sunset Shimmer is who I think she is-then we can’t afford to take any chances with her.”

The guards saluted before Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor made their way through the front doors.

Upon entering the castle, they were once again greeted with the chessboard-style flooring with a long, red carpet leading from the front entrance all of the way to Celesta’s throne room at the opposite end of the castle through a set of doors.

Seemingly every other window adorning the hall was stained glass portraying the caricatures of Luna and Celestia overthrowing one threat or another to Equestria.

The ones that filled Shining with the most pride however, were the newer additions, displaying Twilight and her friends exorcising the corruption from Nightmare Moon and returning Discord to his stone imprisonment.

On the far end of the room, the doors were shut with Flash Sentry standing next to them, visibly unnerved, but perked up when seeing Shining Armor enter the room.

“Captain!” he exclaimed as the two approached him. “What-how did you?”

“It’s a long story,” Shining Armor cut him off abruptly.

“Well, I’m glad you you’re hear…things haven’t been easy since you were dropped off at Ponyville.” Flash sighed. “And who is this?”

“This is-” Shining began before Rainbow Dash cut him off.

“I’m Rainbow Dash!” she announced proudly.

“Yeah…I ran into her back in Ponyville.” Shining continued. “She’s good friends with my sister-but, what’s the deal with this Sunset Shimmer?”

“I ran into her while dealing with a Changeling…she kind of saved me from it.” Flash replied. “She said that she used to be a student for Princess Celestia before your sister and that she escaped from a Changeling hive before coming back to Canterlot.”

“And they just let her walk right out?” Shining asked, skeptically.

“Actually, she said that she burned it down…along with them inside it.” Flash replied hesitantly.

“So your first thought was to bring her straight to the castle, to the Princess?” Shining pressed, exasperated. “Because…why?”

“She wanted to speak with Celestia.” Flash continued, defensively.

“Flash,” Shining sighed. “I know that you’re new to the position of command, but have you ever once sine I was away, thought about the consequences of your actions before acting on them?”

“But, they were Changelings!” Flash protested. “We’re fighting them and she’s actually managed to take down an entire group of them on her own! Besides, she’s a former student of Celestia!”

“Yes, ‘former’.” Shining agreed. “Have you ever though about why she might have used the past tense to describe that occupation?”

“And if she has even half as much power as Twilight, then she’s a danger to everyone in the city.” Dash cut in.

“She’s not!” Flash growled adamantly.

“Do you know that for a fact or is that just what you want to believe?” Shining pressed as they glared at each other before Flash averted his gaze.

“That’s what I thought, now where is Cadance?”

“Upstairs,” Flash grumbled in reply, staring down at the floor. “In her room, the doctors said that she would be fine as long as she stayed in her room and got plenty of rest.”

Shining Armor galloped up the stairs, leaving Rainbow Dash with Flash.

Broken Hearts

Shining Armor didn’t like leaving Rainbow Dash alone downstairs, since it felt like he was ditching her.

At the same time, he didn’t want to drag her or anyone else into the discussion or even possible argument that he was about to have with Cadance as it was supposed to be a private matter between just the two of them and he didn’t want anyone else sucked in or feel compelled to take sides.

Much to Shining’s surprise, Cadance’s room was exactly as he had remembered it-while he had only been gone a few weeks, it felt like years since he had been there.

It was stylized to match the color scheme of her mane; pink, cream, and violet.

Cadance was still lying there, tucked into her bed-it seemed as if she had been resting all day-just as Flash had said.

Surprisingly, despite her lengthy bed rest, her mane remained relatively pristine.

Her eyes slowly opened as she heard Shining Armor enter her room and slowly sat up.

“Shining Armor…what are you doing her?” she asked, concerned.

“Something came up; Changelings were also invading Ponyville, only they were doing it discretely by abducting members of the community and slowly replacing them-some of them even made it to Cloudsdale.” He replied, seriously.

“Are you alright?” Cadance pressed, worried.

“I’m fine.” He assured her. “While I was staying in Ponyville I met one of Twilight’s new friends and she brought me a remedy from another friend…so I had a pretty quick recovery.”

Shining thought it would be wiser to leave out the part about the price of excruciating pain being a requirement for said recovery, so as not to worry Cadance any further.

“How is Twily anyway?” he asked. “Have you seen or heard anything from her since you woke up?”

Cadance shook her head.

“No. I’m sorry…I probably know even less than you do, whenever I ask someone anything they usually just tell me to get some rest.”

“Hm,” he grunted in response.

It made sense, with everything that had been going on since she was injured, the more Cadance knew, the more she would worry and the less rest she would get.

“You want to talk about the letter…” Cadance spoke softly, averting her eyes.

It was a statement, not a question.

“Yeah…” Shining breathed. “I’m sorry that you got hurt.”

“This isn’t about me,” she replied. “It’s about you-protecting you.”

“Protecting me?” he repeated, confused.

“As you know, I’ve wanted you to step down as Captain of the Guard for a while now…” Cadance reminded him.

“This is because I’ve always known that a stallion in your position constantly has his life in danger and that as long as you remain a part of the guard you will never be safe and I will always have to worry about whether you’ll come home safe, after all of the times we talked about it you refused so I eventually just gave up, but when you got hurt...” her voice trailed off.

“I got hurt protecting you.” He countered. “Besides, you don’t think I feel the same way about you?”

She looked at him quizzically.

“You are a princess by birthright and that means your life will always be in danger because of your power and political influence, we will always have to be on guard for attempts on your life.”

“Because it’s my duty and what is expected of me by my aunts and subjects!” Cadance protested. “You have a choice!”

“It’s my destiny to protect others!” Shining countered. “And even if it wasn’t, I would always risk my life trying to defend you because I love you! Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”

“Yes…” she whispered.

“Look,” Shining sighed. “Even if I did resign my position and hand it off to someone like Flash and we got married, that would change my status to ‘Prince’ or ‘King’ Shining Armor, right?”

“That’s typically how it works…” Cadance replied slowly.

“Which means that I would have to constantly be alert for attacks on both of us and there would be even more reason for others to want me dead, even if it’s just to hurt or blackmail you and it wouldn’t change the fact that if an arrow or magic blast was direct at you-I would still take it for you.” Shining explained.

Cadance couldn’t bear to look at him and instead focused on her bed sheets as tears began welling up in her eyes.

“I…I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I know what I did was stupid and selfish, especially with everything else you were going through…I just love you so much and I always worry about you…when I saw you get hurt like that-I was terrified-I thought that we would never get another chance to speak to each other again…”

Shining Armor slowly walked around her bed before embracing her gently so as not to disturb any injuries she may have still had.

“Hey,” he whispered, rubbing her back with a hoof. “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’m not upset, but I understand that you only hurt me because you were trying to protect me.”

“I’m sorry…’ she repeated. “I’m so sorry…I-I’m a monster.”

“No…no…you are the kindest, most loving mare that I have ever met…the last thing you could be is a monster.” Shining replied softly, yet adamantly.

Slowly, shakily Cadance returned the embrace.

“You…don’t hate me?” she asked quietly.

“No, I could never hate you.” He then released her before looking into her eyes. “Get some rest for me, okay?”

She nodded weakly.

Shining then kissed her on the forehead before getting up off the bed and exiting the room as he closed the door behind him.

While he was up all night thinking on the train on the way to Canterlot, he came to the realization that things would never work out between him and Cadance after the way things had been going after the Changeling attack and even after making up, he didn’t think things could ever go back to the way they were between them.

Fearing that telling her this now would only upset her further and interfere with her bed rest, he chose to wait until later-since Shining really did want her to get better.

Part of him wondered if his blooming feelings for Rainbow Dash were contributing the doubtfulness he had for himself and Cadance to have a real, blissful future together even if they did find some way around their current issues of constantly wanting to protect each other.

Ironically being the ‘Princess of Love’ meant that Cadance’s kind, loving nature was both her greatest asset and her greatest flaw when dealing with others as it had both helped and hurt her various time in the past and when it had been the former, Shining Armor had been their to assure her that it was strength that he wished was more common in the world.

Now he only hoped that when they spoke again to officially break up, that cherished trait wouldn’t disappear from Cadance forever.

Author's Note

Sorry this one took so long, but I've also been working on a another ShiningDash one-shot called 'Date with a Daredevil' so I'm hoping that you guys who are interested in this ship will check it out when its done.

More Complications

“An opossum, seriously!?” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked as she fell onto her back, clutching her sides in a fit of hysterical laughter.

“It…startled me…” Flash muttered feebly, causing Dash to laugh even harder.

Shining smirked at the memory.

Around the time he was first recruited into the guard, Shining could tell that Flash was nervous and seemed completely out of place surrounded by stern and cool, collected stallions of the guard, so he invited him to lunch so they could get to know each other better and help him relax a little.

When they really got to talking, it turned out that Flash originally had a severe anger management issues before his father sent him off to straighten him out-which seemed to work a little too well as Shining’s first impression of Flash was that he was complete pushover-that was when he informed the recruit that it was okay to assert oneself as long as they didn’t go overboard.

That was they that they became friends and Flash told him about how his parents had taken him to the zoo when he was a colt of seven or eight and the first time he ever caught the sight of an opossum terrified at him-he said that he thought it hissed at him-or tried to bite him at apparently it had been a crippling fear for him ever since.

Shining was skeptical though, he believed that it was some kind of phobia that Flash may have already had before the incident, but Twilight could probably analyze explain it better to them later.

The fact that he was sharing the story with Rainbow Dash was comforting as it meant that they had gotten along well while Shining had left to speak with Cadance.

“Hey Flash,” he spoke, getting the other stallion’s attention as Dash stopped laughing.

“I think I might owe you an apology…”

“For what Captain?” Flash asked as Shining approached him.

“I cut you down earlier based upon the decisions you made.” Shining sighed. “It was hypocritical of me to do so since I was the one to put you in command during my leave of absence.”

“That’s okay, Cap-”

“No, it’s not.” Shining insisted. “A good leader knows when to admit their mistakes and learn from them in the future and for someone in your position, you did the best you could with what information you had-I can’t personally say whether you were right or wrong in your judgment, but the fact the we’ve yet to hear any sounds of a struggle and Canterlot hasn’t been reduced to a smoldering crater makes me think that you just might be on to something.”

“Well to be fair, some of the things she said to me on the way here were very alarming.” Flash replied. “She seem to greatly enjoy-or at the very least take pride in causing pain and fear in others with the nonchalant way she spoke about burning down the Changeling hive she claims to have escaped from as well as the in-depth description of how she wanted to torture and mutilate her Changeling doppelganger before finishing her off.”

“Yeah, but maybe we could use that?” Dash cut in, only to have the two guards give her a confused look.

“Look, don’t get me wrong-this chick sounds like a total psycho, but if the Changelings are anything like the ones around Ponyville and actually try to fight us-how much of a chance would we really stand? Especially with all of the love that one Changeling said they ate-wouldn’t that make them even tougher?”

“Rainbow Dash does have a point.” Shining conceded, massaging the back of his neck with a hoof. “I mean, that could be why Celestia hasn’t ordered her arrest on sight, despite being such a danger to everyone.”

“Or maybe it’s affection…” Flash countered, softly.

“WHAT!?” Shining and Dash asked in unison.

“Well think about it,” he reasoned. “How many of us actually knew that Nightmare Moon was actually Princess Luna-Celestia’s own sister-before your sister, Rainbow Dash and their friends used the Elements of Harmony to restore her sanity?”

“But, how does that tie into an old student?” Shining pressed.

“Princess Celestia is considered kind and loving by just about everyone and based on what I’ve seen and heard while serving under her majesty, I can safely say those feelings are genuine-she cares about everyone-a faithful student, perhaps even more so…kind of like a surrogate daughter.”

“So you’re saying that you think they could have had some sort of misunderstanding or falling out.” Shining finished.

“So, couldn’t the Princess have just used the Elements of Harmony on her like we did with Nightmare Moon and Discord?” Dash asked.

“I don’t think that was the problem.” Shining replied, shaking his head. “Besides, if she was a student before Twily-then the Elements were still lost-so maybe Celestia is trying to talk some reason into her before she gets completely corrupted like Luna did.”

The three ponies exchanged glances.

“Speaking of, why didn’t we bring the other girls so we could use the Elements of Harmony to blast these Changeling freaks back to wherever they came from or turn them to stone or something?” Dash asked.

“It’s not that simple” Shining explained. “That could be overkill, we don’t know what the Elements will actually do since they seem to have different effects on different people-this could also be why Princess Celestia doesn’t just let you girls hold onto them.”

“Besides,” Flash added. “Even if Princess Celestia authorized us to use them now, we’d still have to go to Ponyville to pick everyone up and bring them all of the way back here, which would take a great deal of time…time which the Changelings could use to their advantage by attacking Canterlot while we’re gone.”

“Where is Princess Luna, anyway?” Dash asked, thinking that she could help them with their conundrum.

“She has her own room in a tower.” Flash replied. “As the Princess of the Night, she sleeps during the day so she can watch over the dreams of others.”

“What about Cadance?” Dash pressed, before slapping a hoof over her mouth as she realized what she said.

Shining’s expression wavered a bit.

“She’s….fine.” he answered, quietly. “She just needs to get some bed rest-so the last thing she should be doing is even thinking about fighting-”

“I’m sorry…I wasn’t thinking.” Dash sighed.

“It’s okay.” Shining sighed. “Maybe we should all get some rest-we don’t know how long Sunset is going to be speaking with Celestia-when we get up tomorrow and have a better idea of what’s going on, we can make a game plan on how to deal with these Changelings.”

Author's Note

The next chapter will focus on Sunset Shimmer and what she is discussing with Princess Celestia behind closed doors...and where is Twilight!?

Sunrise

Fifteen minutes after the sun rose, Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer stopped before the two white Pegasi stallions guarding the entrance of the castle.

“Substitute Captain.” The one on the left greeted disdainfully.

“Who is this mare?” The other asked.

“Her name is Sunset Shimmer,” Flash replied, brushing off the cold greeting. “She was captured by the Changelings before making a daring escape and may have useful information on how to combat them, but for security reasons I think she should speak to Princess Celestia personally.”

This stallion then went inside, while the other glared at Sunset.

“What?” she demanded, glaring back.

“That’s quite an interesting jacket you’re wearing…” the guard commented. “In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it-what’s it made out of?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” She smirked.

The stallion’s expression turned to one of shock.

“So tell me, how does it feel to be a glorified lapdog?” Sunset asked.

“Excuse me?” The stallion demanded as his shock quickly dissipated into outrage. “I am a member of the royal guard-”

“Which means; that you get paid to stand around all day playing doorman, carry the Princess around in a chariot whenever she feels like travelling, or otherwise playing soldier, but when a real threat rears its head you all topple over like a stack of dominoes.” Sunset interrupted, apathetically.

Flash was internally debating whether he should step in or watch these two go at it until Celestia was ready for them.

“And just what do you do for a living that makes you so special?” The stallion snapped.

“I used to be Princess Celestia’s star student.” Sunset replied smugly.

“’Former Student’, huh?” he snorted. “Well, mustn’t have done a very good job then if she kicked you out of the castle.”

“For your information, I quit.” Sunset retorted.

Finally, thankfully, the doors to the castle opened as the stallion that had gone to deliver the message to Celestia returned to his post as the Princess herself came out to greet the ponies.

Princess Celestia didn’t seem to have changed at all since Sunset had studied under her-she still had the same regal, yet motherly presence, and the same flowing, ethereal mane.

Celestia’s eyes widened at the sight of Sunset Shimmer back at her doorstep, but it was soon replaced with a warm, welcoming smile.

Sunset felt her stomach lurch, it felt pitiful enough that her plans to eliminate those parasites had reduced her to returning the mare responsible for stabbing her in the back and hindering her at every turn, but now she had the horrific realization that Celestia would once again regale her with a sermon of ‘love and friendship’ triumphing over evil and self-doubt or something stupid like that.

Flash on the other hand, felt a lot of the stress and anxiety that had been building up on him in the past few weeks begin to melt away at Celestia’s reassuring smile and began to feel confident in his decisions for the first time since Shining Armor was injured.

“Well, this is certainly a pleasant surprise…” Celestia greeted. “Welcome back Flash, you were gone all night…you must be exhausted.”

“Yeah…I kinda am.” He chuckled nervously.

“Why don’t you come inside and get some well-deserved rest?”

“With all due respect, Princess-I feel like I would be shirking my duties as substitute Captain if I didn’t at least check in with all of the others first.” Flash replied, hesitantly.

“Of course, I understand.” Celestia then returned her attention to Sunset Shimmer. “Shall we continue this conversation indoors?”

Silently, Sunset followed Celestia into the castle where little seemed to have changed since the night she left, save for the stained-glass windows re-patterned to portray the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony defeating Nightmare Moon and another showing them returning Discord to stone (albeit in a pose of terror rather than mirth this time).

The one bearer that stood out the most to Sunset however was a violet unicorn wearing a tiara encrusted with the Element of Magic on her head, she grimaced at the memories the unicorn’s caricature brought back to the surface and all of the disgust that came with them.

Sunset didn’t care about some stupid crown, the tiara itself was meaningless-nothing more than a symbol of power and authority-the possession of the Element of Magic, the most powerful of the six elements, however was not and it was rightfully hers.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asked, concerned as she stopped walking to turn around and look at Sunset.

“I’m fine.” Sunset grumbled, feeling as if she were about to vomit from the sheer amount of rage and frustration boiling up inside her-what she despised more than anything was being pitied-especially from a traitor whom she loathed.

Princess Celestia’s horn began to glow with a golden aura as the doors to the hall from which they entered were magically locked.

“What are you doing?” Sunset asked as her heart rate slightly began to increase.

Perhaps Celestia wasn’t as foolish as she thought and figured out her plans-in retrospective she could have been more subtle about her disdain while still making it believable that she actually wanted to return-but now it seemed as if Celestia was going to take care of her now without any witnesses or possibility of escape.

‘Calm down,’ she instructed herself mentally. ‘She’s still old and no longer connected to the Elements for an extra reserve of power-besides, if things get really bad you could try long-range teleportation spell.’

Instead, Celestia just gave her a warm smile.

“There,” she spoke softly. “Now we can have all the time we need to talk without any interruptions.”

Sunset began to relax as her heart-rate slowly began to return to normal.

“What if a guard has some vital information regarding the Changelings?” Sunset pressed cautiously.

“Then I’m afraid they’ll just have to wait.” Celestia replied before smiling again.

‘Why does she keep doing that?” Sunset wondered, suspiciously.

“I’ve been waiting, hoping for your return since the night you left; Sunset Shimmer.” Celestia spoke.

“So? Here I am,” She replied, apathetically.

“And I am glad.” Celestia continued, nodding. “I tried to explain things to you back then and I saw how frustrated you were…as your mentor it hurt me to see you suffer so.”

“Then why didn’t you just teach me about the stupid mirror when I asked!?” Sunset snapped.

“Because I feared the few answers that I could provide would lead you down a dark and twisted path.” She replied calmly. “You were and continue to be one of the most intelligent and magically gifted students I have ever had-even rivaling my current pupil.”

“Twilight Sparkle.” Sunset snarled.

“Yes.” She conceded. “But, your pride and ambition have always made you reckless and I was hoping to teach you important lessons about patience and humility.”

“You’re a teacher-your job is to teach-and as a student mine was to learn, why the run around?” Sunset pressed, impatiently.

“That is true, but as a teacher it is also my duty to guide and protect my students-and it also makes me responsible for what they choose to do with my lessons-that mirror was a wild card, even to this day I have no idea who or what was on the other side if anything at all.” Celestia continued.

“Even the slightest bit of tampering could have had unforeseen consequences for Equestria and I feared your curiosity would get the better of you, so I must ask; why did you smash it?”

“Really?” Sunset smirked. “And here I thought you were supposed to be my all-knowing, all-powerful teacher, shouldn’t you know everything about everyone?”

“My power and intelligence are indeed vast,” Celestia replied. “But, I’m neither all-knowing nor omnipotent as many seem to believe and if I’ve learned anything from Luna it’s that even the thoughts and emotions of those we think we know and care for the most can hold their intentions secret from us.”

“And here I thought the message that was supposed to send would be obvious…” Sunset mused.

“What message would that be?”

“That if whatever power or knowledge that mirror held wouldn’t be given to me, then no one could have it.”

“Greed,” Celestia sighed. “The antithesis of Generosity, one of the six Elements of Harmony-which is one of the reasons I told you that you were unprepared for both the power and responsibility of ruling.”

“What do you know?” Sunset growled.

“I know that contrary to my admittedly foolish hope that you had realized the error of your ways and returned to seek my guidance once again-you have an ulterior motive which I am sorry to say that you have been quite dreadful at hiding.”

So she did know.

“I may be benevolent, but I am not incompetent-nor am I unwilling to protect myself, my subjects, or my loved ones if necessary.”

“Is that a threat?” Sunset asked, taken off-guard.

“Of course not, I believe threats are more your nature.” Celestia replied coolly. “This is merely a fair warning if you decide to continue down this foolish, self-destructive path.”

Sunset’s heart began pounding again as she felt a drop of sweat run down her forehead, as prepared as she thought she was for staring down Celestia, she was still intimidated by her.

Silently, Sunset cursed herself for not having more control over her body and her emotions-even after years of preparation-she realized that she would still be in for a struggle if she tried overthrowing Celestia anytime in the near future.

“Sunset, I realize that you’ve been manipulating and intimidating Flash Sentry because you’re still angry and hurt that I didn’t trust you-but, I’m willing to take you back as a student or even simply as a resident of the castle-nothing would make me happier.” Celestia continued softly.

“What about Twilight Sparkle?” Sunset asked, surprising herself at the fact that she was even considering the offer.

“Twilight is an excellent student and I believe the two of you can learn much from each other; Twilight could learn more about controlling her magic and you could learn valuable lessons about friendship and subsequently the qualities of being a good ruler.” Celestia replied.

“You….you mean you would actually let me…?”

“Of course,” Celestia replied warmly. “However, as I have told you before being a princess must be earned through hard work and dedication.”

“I…I have to think about this…” Sunset stammered.

How had this happened? Sunset came in with a set plan to eliminate the Changelings and overthrowing the Princess while she and the rest of the guard were weak. But now, Celestia was willing to give her a clean slate?

“I see that you are confused.” Celestia spoke, understandingly. “I will give you as much time as you need because I realize that everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance; a few months ago Twilight drove all of Ponyville into a frenzy due to her fear of having a late friendship report, Luna bottled up all of her emotions until they consumed her, and even I have had many moments that I am not proud of…”

“And you’re forgiving me just like that?” Sunset asked, suspiciously.

“Do not misunderstand; this is not a free pass to cause mayhem and it is an option that will expire the moment you should choose to do so.” Celestia elaborated.

“With no stings attached?” Sunset pressed.

“None whatsoever.” Celestia replied. “However, any information you can provide on what you’ve learned about these Changelings would be most useful and perhaps alleviate some the current guards’ disposition towards you.”

“Is that why my name was stricken from the records?” Sunset pressed, remembering that Flash had no idea who she was.

“That was not out of spite-you have to understand that you and Twilight Sparkle are the two students so close to my heart that I have considered you as daughters-in case you should return, I didn’t want our falling out make you a social outcast.”

Sunset’s increasingly dissolving rage was now replaced with flattery.

“You are capable of doing great things, Sunset Shimmer-you may sleep in your old room as long as you stay here-it has been untouched and off-limits ever since you left.”

“I…Thank you, Princess.” Sunset began to feel her eyes begin to water. Despite all of the hate she had for Celestia, she was treated with kindness and respect even when the Princess knew of her cruel and manipulative intentions.

While she was still suspicious that Celestia could be using her as a pawn, her thoughts were clouded by her emotions.

“I-I can tell a few things about the Changelings first, though…”

Author's Note

Next chapter we go back to Shining and Dash.

Anxieties

Rainbow Dash awoke in the guest room she had been for the duration of her stay in Canterlot.

Needless to say, she was quite impressed with the bedding she was provided, it was almost as soft and comfortable as sleeping on a cloud…almost.

Her sleep had been completely uneventful, yet when she awoke it was still night and Luna’s moon could be seen glowing high in the sky through her large bedroom window.

She was no longer tired, so going back to sleep seemed like a futile option.

Shining Armor awoke to light knocking on his bedroom door before he groggily noted to himself that it was still dark out.

“This better be an emergency…” he muttered before getting out of bed to answer the door.

Normally, getting up at odd hours was something he had been trained to handle in case of surprise attacks on Canterlot or the Princesses, but the last twenty-four hours hadn’t been to kind to him physically or emotionally.

To his surprise however, upon opening the door instead of Flash Sentry, one of the Princesses, or another member of the guard; there stood Rainbow Dash.

“Dash?” he asked, confused. “What are you doing up?”

“Uh…couldn’t sleep.” She replied. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, I was already up.” He lied, not wanting to make her feel bad in case something was bothering her.

“Can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah…sure.”

Once inside, Dash sat on the foot of the bed.

“I’ve been thinking about the Changelings….” She began. “I mean creatures that can change into anyone and feed of love-it’s like something out of a horror movie.”

“Yeah…” Shining agreed.

“What’s really bugging me is that if they can change form like that, then how can we know if we really got them all? How can we ever be sure if Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, or all of Equestria is really safe?”

“Well, based on what we know about the one that impersonated your boss; their not the best actors in the world, right?” Shining reasoned.

“Well yeah, but after a screw-up like that, won’t others try harder not to make the same mistake?” Dash pressed.

“Maybe…” Shining conceded. “But then again, maybe not.”

Dash gave him a skeptical look.

“Look, I’m sure Princess Celestia will have some kind of plan or at least an idea of how to deal with these things, I suggest we hear her out first before we start worrying too much…why don’t we talk about something else to get your mind off it?”

“Like what?” Dash asked, curiously.

“Well, even after all of this time I don’t feel like we know each other very well-so it would feel kind of weird telling others we’re friends when we don’t know all that much about each other…is there anything in particular you want to know about me?” Shining replied.

“Well, how are you holding up?” Dash asked delicately. “I mean if I cared for a stallion as much as you do for Cadance, this would be pretty brutal for me-and I’m pretty tough.”

“It hasn’t been easy…” Shining admitted. “But, I think I’m starting to come to terms with it-I’m actually pretty proud of myself for handling my conversation with Cadance as well as I did-especially with everything else going on.”

“Look, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best person to talk to about things like this…but, I just want you to know that if you ever just want to vent or get things off your chest-I’m willing to listen.”

“Thanks Dash, I appreciate that.” Shining smiled at her. “Would you mind if I asked you a few personal questions?”

“Sure.”

“Well back on the train you said that you hoped it would ‘work out better for me than it ever did for you’ I take it there’s a story behind that?” Shining asked.

“Oh yeah, that.” Dash sighed as plopped down onto the bed with her hooves behind her head as she blew a strand of yellow hair out of her eyese.

“You can pretty much tell by my mane why my parents decided to call me ‘Rainbow Dash’, but those, my raspy voice and my attitude didn’t always give me the best kind of attention-especially during flight school.” She replied.

“I’d also crash into things a lot, the flight instructor said that I could be ‘a little overenthusiastic’, but others like those jerk we ran into after we first me would make fun of me and call me stupid names like ‘Rainbow Crash’ and later ‘Rainbow Trash’.”

“Ouch.”

Dash merely shrugged.

“Maybe, but it made me tough-really it became more annoying than anything else-especially since that was all they had to work with when they weren’t picking on others like Fluttershy.”

“Did she feel the same way about the bullying?” Shining pressed.

She shook her head.

“No, Fluttershy’s not as tough as me-emotionally, I mean so as soon as I found out they were picking on her, I stepped in.”

“That’s good.” Shining replied with a sigh of relief. “But, what did you do-fight them?”

“Nah, that would get ALL of us kicked out of flight school and I wasn’t going to risk ruining my dream of being a Wonderbolt over those jerks, so I challenged them to a race.”

“Good thinking.” Shining commended. “I assume you won?”

Dash flashed him a cocky grin.

“Of course, that’s also when I did my first Sonic Rainboom!”

“And they still gave you problems?”

“Yeah,” Dash sighed. “Some of them didn’t believe it was a real Sonic Rainboom and others just thought I was making it up for attention or had a Unicorn friend to cast a mirage spell to make it look like I created one.”

“That’s terrible…”

“Well, it gets better; I stayed up for nights on end practicing so I can do the Sonic Rainboom again, but because of that I slept through classes and got into fights with those jerks whenever I ran into them because if it wasn’t me or Fluttershy, they’d be picking on some other kid-so eventually I got kicked out.” Dash continued.

“They labeled me as a ‘troublemaker’ and thought that I was too lazy or just didn’t care about flying-do you have any idea what that’s like?”

“I do actually…” Shining replied quietly. “I was what I guess you’d call a nerd…I was always playing RPGs with my friends.”

Rainbow Dash gave him a blank stare.

“Role-playing games like Oubliettes and Ogres.”

Still blank.

“Card games like; ‘Hocuspocus: The Get-Together’?”

“Oh, Geek stuff.”

“Yeah…‘Geek stuff’.” Shining sighed, exasperated. “Anyway, I know what it’s like to be treated like crap for being different-there was this one jerk-Buck Withers, he did everything in his power to make me and my friends’ lives a living hell.”

“Like what?”

“Trip us in the hall, steal the stuff we use for our games and throw them in the trash or destroy them, rip up our trading cards, and try to steal Cadance.”

“Couldn’t you do anything to him?” Dash asked.

“Not much you can do to the Captain of the Canterlot Dragons polo team-especially when he was their most valuable player-so everyone in authority pretty much just looked the other way.”

“But, you were able to win Cadance over-right?”

“What do you think?” Shining Armor replied flatly.

“Okay, but what’s the point in telling me this-aren’t you in the same boat as me because of her?”

“…Yes.” He reluctantly agreed. “But, that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up just because I’ve had a few bad experiences and you’ve never struck me as the kind of mare who would, either.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she challenged, her wings flaring aggressively.

“It means, don’t act like none of this has ever bothered you when I saw that you were clearly more than just a little agitated when we were talking that night on the train-this is something that’s been building up inside you for a while now, I swallowed my pride and put my faith in you as a friend all of the times of spoken to you about me and Cadance-all I’m asking is that you put the same trust in me without any pretense of trying to look cool, because you’re lying to both me and yourself when you do that.” He replied.

Rainbow Dash’s wing relaxed a little before folding again.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright,” Shining replied. “It’s just that you’re a good friend and I like you, but I can’t trust you if you can’t learn to do the same for me.”

“Yeah…” she replied, averting her gaze. “I think I’ll go back to bed, to see if I can get anymore sleep before sunrise.”

Preparation

Sunset emerged from her room to see Flash passing by in the hall.

“Have you been up since last night?” she asked.

“No, why?”

“Well, Celestia just raised the sun like, fifteen minutes ago and I didn’t think anyone else besides me and the Princesses would be up.” She replied.

“I’m a guard.” He reminded her. “I’ve been trained to keep a very strict sleep regimen-even if I’ve been awake longer than usual.”

“Wait, so you…were waiting for me last night?”

“Yeah, the Captain returned with a mare from Ponyville-Rainbow Dash.”

“Which one is she again?” Sunset asked, remembering that name as one of Twilight Sparkle’s closest friends.

“Uh, the Pegasus with the rainbow mane.” Flash replied.

“Yeah, I know that-I’m not an idiot. I mean, which Element of Harmony does she represent?”

“Oh, that-I think it was either Honesty or Loyalty…at least I’m pretty sure it was one of those two.” Flash continued, tapping a hoof to his chin thoughtfully.

“I’ve never had much use for either.” Sunset muttered before she began walking down the hall with Flash beside her.

“Sunset, if you don’t mind me asking-what were you and the Princess talking about last night?”

She was silent as they continued walking.

“Sunset?” Flash repeated, concerned.

They stopped.

“Celestia and I talked about the night that I ran away…she forgave me, said that she was willing to take me back under her wing as student.” Sunset replied, staring down at one of the tiles on the floor.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“You don’t understand…” She continued, barely above a whisper.

“What don’t I understand?” Flash pressed.

“For years I’ve believed that Celestia was withholding knowledge from me to torture me or exert her superiority over me somehow, but after our talk last night-it was the first time that it ever occurred to me that I might have been…wrong.”

“Okay, so you made a mistake.” Flash replied. “Everyone does-even Princess Celestia has admitted to make them every now and then.”

“Yeah, but that one assumption has shaped so much of who I am today-I’ve done many terrible things before you met me Flash Sentry.”

“Like what?”

Flash asked cautiously.

“I’ve stolen, sold drugs-even done a few, but I’ve also killed-it was always in self-defense, though!” she quickly added upon seeing the alarm in Flash’s expression.

“At least, until the Changelings abducted me in my sleep…after that something just snapped and I wanted nothing more than for them suffer-that’s when I burned down the hive they had me imprisoned in.” Sunset continued.

“But, you were still their prisoner and they were trying to kill you.” Flash reasoned.

“Yeah, but a big part of me enjoyed seeing them suffer, writhing in agony as my magical flames consumed them, hearing their screeches of agony as their last breaths.” She continued.

“That’s why I think there’s something wrong with me-at first, I blamed Celestia for twisting me into this sadistic monster, but now I’m worried that I was always like this-and that I’ll always be like this.”

“Sunset, why are you telling me this?” Flash asked softly.

“I don’t know…I guess I’m worried about what Celestia’s reaction will be if I tell her-especially now that we’re on good terms again, but also because even though when we first met, despite the way I treated you-you didn’t shun me, try to kill me, or lock me up.” She replied.

“I know how pathetic this sounds, but it’s easy to forget that there are good people when you’ve spent so long living on the streets and being a cold-hearted bitch had served me pretty well on that end, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

“Sunset…” he was about to put a hoof on her shoulder to reassure her before hesitating a moment, but ultimately decided to do it anyway.

“I don’t think of you as any of those things…when I first met you, you reminded me a lot of myself-someone who’s angry and hurt and has made a lot of mistakes in their life.” Flash confessed. “And I think the fact that you’re worried about this behavior makes you the opposite of a monster because you acknowledge these problems and you want to work to fix them.”

“Yeah…” Sunset agreed, softly.

“Why don’t we get some breakfast?” Flash suggested.

And with that, the two of them continued to the dining hall as Flash inwardly felt relieved that Sunset was beginning to open up to him more.

“Princess Luna, I appreciate the threat that the Changelings pose towards Equestria, but can we please stop or at least take a break?” Twilight pleaded. “We’ve been working practically nonstop for the past week! How can I help defend Canterlot if my magic is completely burnt out from all of this training?”

“You…make a fair point, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna conceded.

“My sister has great faith in you and my gratitude for helping me adapt to this modern age has not diminished-we are merely concerned for your well-being.”

“Is that the royal ‘we’ or are speaking for Princess Celestia as well?” Twilight asked, slyly.

Luna chuckled.

“I see that the intensity of your training and studies have not diminished your wit. And if I am not mistaken, there are a few visitors here to see you.”

Twilight turned around to see two ponies approach her.

“Shining Armor!” she exclaimed joyfully as she jumped onto the stallion, who tried catching her before their combined weight sent them both toppling to the floor.

“Twiley, you should know by now you’re too big to jumping on your big brother like that.” He playfully chastised.

“That reminds me,” she replied, getting up with a scowl. “Why didn’t you tell me you and Cadance were dating?”

“Well, it’s kind of complicated…” he replied, massaging the back of his neck with a hoof. “I mean, I’m already Captain of the Guard and you can imagine what others might think if our relationship became public knowledge.”

“Wait, how have you kept it a secret for this long?” Twilight asked, suspiciously. “I mean any real date in public would have been covered by a journalist or paparazzi.”

“Let’s just say, for being the Princess of Love-Cadance can be surprisingly mischievous.” Shining laughed.

“Yes, it would seem that our niece has learned quite a few of my sister’s personality traits.” Luna agreed.

“That reminds me; I haven’t seen Cadance since I’ve been back in Canterlot and every time I ask Luna or Celestia they just tell me not to worry and focus on my training and studies-but, how can I not be worried? She was my foalsitter for pony’s sake!”

“Hey, Twiley relax.” Shining reassured her calmly. “I spoke with her last night, there was an accident when the Changelings attacked, but she’s fine now-I promise, right now she just needs to rest.”

“I believe there is another here to see you as well.” Luna spoke, jerking her head in the direction of Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash!?” Twilight exclaimed in a mixture of joy and confusion. “What are you doing in Canterlot!? Where are Spike and the other girls? Did Princess Celestia summon you?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dash exclaimed putting up a hoof. “Slow down, the others are back in Ponyville because we thought we were under a time crunch, and we came here to tell Princess Celestia about the Changelings that were kidnapping and impersonating people in Cloudsdale and Ponyville.”

“WHAT!?” Twilight shrieked. “That’s terrible! What about our friends, do they know?”

“Yeah, we told the Mayor and she said that she’ll talk to the officials at Cloudsdale and warn everyone in Ponyville-the Changelings that we know about are locked up tight.”

“That is…troubling.” Luna frowned. “I shall personally bring word of this news to my sister, Captain.”

“Thanks,” Shining replied. “I didn’t want to be rude, but we rushed all the way here only to be stuck waiting all night.”

“Yes, the business with Sunset Shimmer.” Luna recalled.

“Who’s Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked, “I’ve never heard of her before.”

“Neither have I.” Shining added.

“I would not think so.” Luna continued. “My sister spoke of her to me the eve you freed my from my Nightmare form, Sunset Shimmer was her personal student before you, however, much like myself, her pride and ambition led her astray…undoubtedly her return would have been an opportunity my sister saw to rectify past mistakes.”

“Yeah, I keep hearing that name, but I’ve never been able to place it.” Shining replied.

“Sunset Shimmer was quite a prominent and gifted student, my sister cared for her very much and it is likely that the subject was too painful for her to speak about…she has an unfortunate tendency to keep things bottled up that would make her appear vulnerable to her subjects so as not to alarm them.” Luna explained.

“If I recall correctly, even the revelation that we were siblings came as quite a shock to a fair few once I reverted from Nightmare Moon.”

“Captain, would you mind accompanying me to the throne room so we may inform my sister of the situation spreading throughout Equestria regarding these Changelings?”

“Of course, Princess.” Shining replied before following her to the throne room, leaving Twilight and Rainbow Dash alone.

“So, I see you met my brother.” Twilight commented.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool.” Dash replied.

“I just don’t understand Princess Celestia’s though process….” Twilight sighed.

“Huh?”

“Well, in the past when she needed us to deal with threats like Nightmare Moon and Discord we used the Elements of Harmony, but now she and Luna are training me…to take on a whole army or magical shape-shifters!?” Twilight continued.

“Well, maybe she just has a lot of faith in you-I mean you’re better at magic than any Unicorn I’ve ever met…besides, maybe she thinks we’re using the Elements as some kind of crutch?”

“Yeah-wait, what?”

“I said; ‘Maybe Princess Celestia thinks that we’re using the Elements of Harmony as some kind of crutch?’ and she wants us to learn to solve problems without them?” Dash repeated.

“No, I mean how do you know that terminology?” Twilight clarified.

“Well, duh-I’m not an idiot, Twi-if you ever paid attention to sports, some teams that I’ve grown up watching over the years have one signature play and if that fails, then sometimes that means their out of options, I thought that was called a crutch?”

“I guess you have a point, I mean if they Elements ever become lost or stolen again, then we’d be out of options…” Twilight muttered to herself.

“So, what’s your take on this Sunset Shimmer?” Dash asked, casually.

“Well, I really can’t say anything for certain until I’ve actually met her…”

“But?” Dash prompted.

“But, it sounds like she has lot in common with Luna-I mean the Princess certainly sounded sympathetic when she was speaking with her, I just feel terrible knowing that Princess Celestia had to go through all of that a second time after Nightmare Moon.”

“Yeah, that really sucks.” Dash agreed. “But, are you sure we can trust her?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we don’t know very much about her, she could be working with the Changelings-or even one of them! And as powerful as Celestia is-she still has feelings, right?”

“Where are you going with this?” Twilight asked, suspiciously.

“Look, I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything-but, I just want to point out that it’s possible that she could be a Changeling, that’s trying to feed off of Celestia to weaken her and make itself stronger.”

“That’s pretty paranoid.”

“Maybe.” Dash agreed. “But, we already found out that these things feed on love for power and with someone as old and powerful as Celestia, that could be a problem-especially when we’re up against a race of shape-shifters and an old student of hers just happens to come back out of the blue while we’re at war with these thing? I’m not buyin’ it.”

“All right,” Twilight reluctantly sighed. “We’ll keep an eye on her just to see if she’s exhibiting any suspicious behavior, but until then we won’t say or do anything rash-that goes double for you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey! Why are you singling me out?” Dash demanded.

“Because I know how impulsive you are.”

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Celestia spoke. “I will send guards to both Ponyville and Cloudsdale to retrieve these Changelings.”

“And then what?” Shining pressed.

“I do not know.” She admitted. “So far the only thing I can do is contain them to prevent them from spreading any more chaos throughout Equestria-I do not believe in torture-even if I did, Sunset Shimmer has told me all I needed to know regarding their plans and while I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect my subjects, I am also sympathetic to the Changelings’ plight.”

“Wait,” Shining then had an idea. “Princess Luna, you watch over the dreams of ponies, right?”

“Shining Armor, I appreciate what you are inferring-but I believe that if these creatures knew of an alternative food supply, they would have sought it out by now.” Luna replied.

“Well after finding out about their dependence on live, it wouldn’t feel right to kill them just for doing what they need to do to survive-or order others to do the same.” Shining sighed.

“Watching an entire species starve into extinction is not something I’m too thrilled about, either.” Celestia agreed.

“Luna, I understand your reservation, but we would be eternally grateful if you would look for an alternative solution for these creatures to feed without harming our citizens-someone, somewhere must know of an alternative feeding method.”

“Very well, sister.” Luna replied. “I can only promise to do my best.”

“That is all we ask.”

Luna then took her leave as Shining Armor and Celestia looked at each other.

“Princess, I realize this might not be the best time, but have you spoken to Cadance at all today?”

“I have, and I believe you will be pleased to learn that she is doing quite well-in fact, the doctors are allowing her leave her room, now.”

“That’s good.” Shining sighed in relief.

“How is she feeling?”

“Quite well, it’s almost as if she were never injured in the first place except…something’s missing.”

“Missing?” Shining repeated.

“Her personality seems incomplete, she smiles and laughs as she always had but, I know my niece-she seems…sorrowful, as if she lost something important.”

Shining Armor felt his heart stop.

What would Celestia’s reaction be if she found out about their break up? Did she already know about it? Had Cadance said anything to her about it?

“Did…did she say anything about us?” Shining asked.

“No, she has not-whatever has been going on in your relationship is your own private business, I merely let Cadance know that I am always willing to listen if she needs to talk.”

Shining felt his heart-rate return to normal, but began having feelings of guilt creeping in.

Was she still feeling bad about the break up?

“Princess, I have…sort of a confession to make.” Shining sighed.

“Oh?”

“Yeah…you see, Cadance and I-we…sort of broke up.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, but it’s a bit more complicated than that-you see; after she found out that I got hurt she sent me a letter to break up with me because she’s worried about me staying alive as a guard, so when I came back to Canterlot last night we talked to each other about it because being a guard has always been my dream and it makes me happy, but now she feels guilty for it.” He explained.

“Well, that would certainly explain why Cadance is so hesitant to talk about it.” Celestia replied.

“Yeah, I could talk to her again and see if I could make her feel better…” Shining offered.

“I would be grateful for that, and even if you are unsuccessful I’m sure Cadance would appreciate the sentiment.”

“Princess Luna said that Twilight can take a break from her studies and magic, right?”

“That is correct, as she pointed out, without proper rest, her magic won’t be of much use when the Changelings invade.”

“I’m sorry, ‘when’?”

“That’s correct, Sunset Shimmer has informed me that the Changeling Queen herself plans a siege on Canterlot in an attempt to overpower and dethrone me-that is why there have been no other large scale Changeling attacks.” Celestia explained.

“And you want Twiley to fight with us?”

“I would rather settle matters through a peaceful debate however, what Sunset has told me does not inspire confidence for such a scenario and I am certain that both of us would like to have Twilight’s safety ensured if the worst case scenario were to occur.”

“If her safety were the main concern, then why have her here in Canterlot at all?” Shining frowned. “It’s not that I don’t trust you Princess it’s just-this is my baby sister we’re talking about here.”

“As an older sibling I understand your concerns, but the truth of the matter is there are important things Twilight needs to learn if the worst shall happen to befall us.”

“But, there’s still Luna and Cadance if you-” his sentence was cut short as the implications of ‘worst case scenario’ finally sunk in.

“How long do we have until the Changelings show up?” he asked, shakily.

“Three days, starting tomorrow.”

Shining Armor turned to leave before Celestia’s voice stopped him.

“And Shining Armor, I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell Twilight why Luna and I have been teaching and training her so aggressively-you know how she has a tendency to worry.”

Preparation II

Shining Armor exited the throne room to see Rainbow Dash waiting for him in the hall.

“Dash! What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Well, Twilight and I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on this Sunset Shimmer…”

“I’ll reserve judgment until we actually meet her-we can’t risk alienating a potential ally, but at the same time we can’t take too many chances with these Changelings.” Shining replied.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what Twilight said.”

“Dash,” Shining Armor leaned in close as his voice took a deathly serious tone. “I’m going to tell you something, but I need you to swear to me that you won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“No, I’m serious-you can’t talk about this to anyone-not even Twilight.”

“And I said okay-you can trust me!” Dash insisted. “What part of me being the Element of Loyalty makes you think I can’t be trusted?”

“Alright,” Shining sighed. “Sorry, it’s just that I found something out that’s pretty troubling about someone else and I just want to make sure it doesn’t get spread around.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up as she leaned towards him, eagerly awaiting the important news, fully aware of the fact that she was the one he was confiding in.

“I just found out why the Princesses have been working Twilight so hard over the past week with all of this training and studying.”

“And?”

“It turns out Princess Celestia is grooming Twiley to become a princess herself…” Shining sighed.

“REALLY!?” Dash shrieked in a mixture of shock and joy. “THAT’S AWESOME!”

“Shhh!” Shining harshly shushed her with a hoof to his lips. “Keep it down! This is supposed to be top secret, remember?”

Dash’s ears flattened like a puppy being scolded as she rubbed her foreleg nervously.

“Heh, sorry…but, why do seem so bummed out about it-aren’t you happy for her?”

“Well…” Shining frowned. “I’m happy that Celestia thinks that she’s qualified, but you know how neurotic Twiley can get over even the smallest things…can you imagine the pressure of her having to rule over all of Equestria?”

“Oh, yeah…I didn’t think of that.” Dash replied, losing a significant portion of her enthusiasm. “And she kind of freaked out a few months back over just ONE tardy friendship report…”

“Exactly, and while I know Celestia has good intentions, I think keeping all of this a secret from Twilight will only make things worse…” he then paused. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘freaked out’?”

“Well, she had some doll; Teacher’s Pet-”

“Smarty Pants” Shining corrected. “She’s had her since she was a filly-it was a gift from Cadance.”

“Right, well she decided that if she could find a friendship problem between me or any of the other girls, then she would just make one to write to the Princess about,” Dash continued. “And she kind of….used a love spell on it to make everyone in town fight over it.”

“The ‘Want It, Need It’ spell,” Shining groaned. “She must have picked it up from Cadence from watching her use it.”

“Why would Cadance even use a spell like that?” Dash pressed. “I mean isn’t that type of magic kind of, I dunno…evil?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it sort of messes with other’s minds to make them love someone else-couldn’t they use it to make that person love them?” Dash asked.

“In theory, I guess…” Shining admitted. “But, Cadance always used it to stop arguments between friends, family members, and couples…”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“Look, we’re getting off topic here-the point is Celestia asked me to keep this a secret from Twilight, but I think that’s a bad idea…what do you think I should do?”

“I don’t know.” Dash replied calmly.

“Oh, thanks for being such a great help.” Shining muttered, dryly.

“Well, you’re her big brother.” Dash pointed out. “You grew up with her, so you should know her better than any of us-even me and Celestia-maybe you should just do whatever you think is best for her…I mean isn’t that what older brothers and sisters are supposed to do?”

Despite wanting to hear her thoughts on the subject, Shining was surprised at Dash’s observation and how oblivious he had been to such a simple solution, the guilt he’d have to deal with for betraying Celestia’s trust however, was another matter.

“Hey, you know what? You’re right…I’m impressed, Rainbow Dash.”

She shrugged.

“Yeah, I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I’ve learned a lot from Thunderlane and Rumble and Cloudchaser and Flitter.”

“So…did Celestia tell you why she’s just making Twilight a princess-and not any of us?” Dash pressed with a hint of envy.

“Well, first of all it’s not set in stone.” Shining elaborated. “Second, it’s probably because she’s been the Princess’ personal student since she was a filly years old, not to mention her gifted magical abilities-but…”

His voice grew deathly silent.

“She told me that this was sort of a contingency plan for a ‘worst case scenario’ during the next Changeling attack.”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked, suspiciously.

“It means she’s afraid that when the Changeling-all of them, including their Queen-show up in three days, Celestia is worried that they will have consumed enough love from Equestria’s citizens to overpower her, Luna, and Cadance, if not through their numbers alone.”

Rainbow Dash stood there in frozen silence as her mind tried to process what she had just heard.

Princess Celestia had been around for at least a thousand years, sealing away Nightmare Moon and turning Discord to stone-she might have been imprisoned in the sun during Nightmare’s return-but, the concept of mortality seemed to be completely impossible when applied to the ancient sun goddess.

If that wasn’t bad enough, she was expecting Luna and Cadance to fall in the coming battle as well.

“H-how does she expect Twilight to survive and beat these freaks if the most powerful princesses in Equestria can’t?” She stammered.

“I don’t know,” Shining sighed. “Maybe she senses more far more magical potential than we’ve already seen…or maybe she’s just desperate for any kind of hope that Equestria will survive from these things if her fears come true…”

“Yeah, but just because she’s worried that it’ll happen doesn’t mean that it actually will-right?” Dash asked optimistically.

“That’s right.” Shining agreed. “Still, it never hurts to be prepared.”

“So are you going to tell Twilight?”

“I think I should, but first I need to speak with Cadance.”

“Ooh, trying to rekindle the old flame?” Dash asked, nudging him playfully.

“No, Celestia just told me that’s she’s been pretty depressed lately-so I want to talk to her again before speaking with Twiley.”

“Alright, well…good luck.” Dash replied. “I’m sooo bored, I wish I could do something useful…”

That’s when she got an idea.

“I know!” she exclaimed. “I’ll write a letter to Spike and the other girls, letting them know what’s going on and tell them to come to Canterlot ASAP!”

Shining gave her a concerned look.

“Don’t worry, I won’t mention anything about the ‘you-know-what’!” Dash assured him. “With everything else that’s going on we don’t need anyone freaking out, right?”

“Right.”

Outdoors, Cadance and Twilight were speaking before the entrance of the castle’s hedge maze as Shining Armor approached them.

Cadance noticed him before whispering to Twilight; “Well finish catching up later,” she then leaned forward and draped a wing around her as Twilight returned the embrace.

“Its good see you again, Cadance.” She replied.

“Its good to see you too, Twilight.”

Twilight then turned once they released each other from the embrace to see Shining Armor.

“I’ll just leave you two alone,” she commented slyly before trotting off back towards the castle.

Shining made sure she was inside before turning back to Cadance.

“What was that about-does she know about us?”

“She knows about our relationship, but nothing about the break up.” She replied.

“So you didn’t tell her anything?”

Cadance giggled at this, “Of course I told her things-after all we haven’t seen each other since she was a filly.”

“You know what I mean.” Shining sighed.

“Well, I shouldn’t have to tell you that she’s extremely intelligent, Shining Armor. Besides, around the castle our relationship was practically public knowledge so when she asked me if we had been seeing each other I told her the truth-honesty is the best policy, after all.” She replied.

“So…she knows about the break up…and she’s not upset?”

“No,” Cadance replied calmly.

“No? But, you just said…”

“Her exact question was ‘I’ve heard that you and my brother were in a romantic relationship-is that true?’ and I replied in yes, as in yes we WERE-past tense.” Cadance elaborated.

“So you lied to her.”

“Actually, I answered the question based upon the way the question was phrased.” She clarified.

“Oh, well…thanks.”

Cadance cocked her head in confusion.

“For what?”

“As a brother, Twilight loves me, but she completely adores you-so, if she ever found out things turned out this way between us-I’m pretty sure she’d hate me.” Shining replied.

“How can you say that? Yes, Twilight loves you-so how can you think that she would turn against you so easily?” Cadance asked, gently lifting his chin so they were looking directly into each others eyes. “I want you to look at me and tell me if you honestly believe Twilight could have such resentment for you.”

“I-I don’t know,” he admitted. “I mean I’ve always thought we got along great, I mean we’d fight sometimes like any other siblings, I guess that ever since she met you, part of me has been a little jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“Yeah…I mean, I’ve always cared about you-but, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two fight with each other and part of me wonders if she secretly wants a big sister like you instead or would even be better off without me…”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“I just told you-”

“Yes, I know that’s what you believe.” Cadance interjected. “But, I know that even couples, siblings, parents and their children will get into heated disagreements no matter how much they love each other and while their words may hurt, they almost never mean them and the longer those people are together, the higher the possibility becomes that it will happen.”

“So you don’t think I’m a terrible brother?” he asked.

“On the contrary, if I did-do you really think I’d be interested in you?” Cadance replied. “But, if you’re still feeling guilty, then perhaps you should tell the truth-about everything.”

“Wait, so you know about Celestia’s plan?”

“Not at first,” she admitted. “But, I suspected as much-especially with the impending threat of another Changeling incursion, I think it’s wise to keep Twilight in the loop. Besides, you know how she can get when she’s stressed.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, but what I don’t get is-why wouldn’t Celestia want Twilight to know about this?”

“Just like us, Twilight is precious to her, but sometimes I afraid that impairs her judgment-especially when it comes to delicate matters like this, but I don’t think it’s going to end up happening.” Cadance explained.

“That’s only if all THREE of us fall in battle.”

“Wait, you’re going to fight!?” Shining exclaimed.

“Yes, and I appreciate your concern, but my injuries have healed and I am both willing and able to help Canterlot.”

“But, they feed on love! You’ll be their prime target!” Shining protested.

“Even so, I would rather die protecting those I love than sit around, listening to them die and knowing that there was something, anything I could do to prevent those deaths-wouldn’t you feel the same?”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point-which reminds me; Celestia noticed you were a little down and asked me to come and talk to you, but you don’t seem like you were when we spoke last night…”

“Yes, even after what you’ve said…I still couldn’t help feeling terrible, but seeing Twilight again and talking to her…somehow it reminded of what the three of us used to be like a made me think that this may not necessarily be a bad thing.” Cadance explained.

“You know what; I think you might be right, so if you were just talking to Twilight, how did she know that we were going out when I spoke to her earlier?” Shining pressed.

“Remember, just because I was bedridden didn’t mean I was unable to write letters of correspondence and her training prevented me from speaking with her face to face.”

“Come on, we’ve been dating long enough for me to know something’s still bothering you too.” Shining pointed out.

“Sunset Shimmer…” Cadance replied hesitantly.

“What about her?”

“I remember her; she was Celestia’s student before Twilight with just as much intelligence and magical knowledge.”

“But?”

“As a student she was…difficult, ambitious and impatient-and just like Twilight she would always put her studies before socialization, but her desire for power made her grow distrustful of Celestia, believing that she was leading her on for her own amusement.”

“But, anyone who knows Celestia knows that’s insane!” Shining exclaimed.

“I know,” Cadance agreed. “But that is what she thought, one night she snuck into the forbidden Starswirl the Bearded section of the library and began looking through ancient tomes of forbidden dark magic before Celestia realized what was going on and confronted her.”

“So what happened?”

“Sunset was enraged that her teacher would keep such a large quantity of knowledge from her and demanded that she be made into an Alicorn-a princess. Celestia refused believing her sense of entitlement showed that she lacked the maturity required to wield such power wisely and benevolently. Sunset disappeared after that night leaving a mysterious mirror destroyed.” Cadance continued.

“Why isn’t there any mention of her existence in the archives and why doesn’t anyone in the guard know about her?”

“It’s very likely that despite her actions, Celestia still cares very deeply for Sunset Shimmer and wouldn’t want her former student to become disgraced if she ever chose to return and the guards that we around at the time don’t speak of it out of respect.”

“What about her parents?”

“They disowned her quickly afterward.”

Shining Armor let out an exasperated sigh.

“You don’t feel like we can trust her?” Cadance asked.

“I honestly don’t know.” Shining replied. “What makes this even more complicated is I think Flash is falling for her-what do you think we should do?”

“I firmly believe that everyone deserves a second chance, but I also think that we should be careful just in case she’s using these Changelings as a way to complete her own agenda if she hasn’t changed.”

The sun was setting; making way for Luna to raise the moon as Shining looked back towards the castle.

“I’m going to head back inside and see if I can’t catch Twilight before she heads off to bed and have that talk with her.”

“Good luck…”

“Thanks.”

Shining Armor gently knocked at the door of Twilight’s old room before she opened it.

“Did you have a nice talk with Cadance?” she asked.

“Yeah…” he replied, stepping inside.

It hadn’t appeared to have changed at all since Twilight had been sent to Ponyville; on the far wall was a poster of Starswirl the Bearded, outside of double door window was a balcony with a telescope, the shelves were all filled with books ranging on subjects from history, philosophy, astronomy, and advanced magical theory.

Twilight sat on her bed, which was covered in prints of various constellations.

“Actually, about that…” he awkwardly looked away at the vanity across from her bed.

“Cadance and I broke up.”

“WHAT!?” Twilight jumped up from the bed, alarmed. “How could this happen? What did you do!?”

“Calm down,” Shining replied calmly, but firmly. “I didn’t do anything, it just sort of happened after the Changeling attack last week she sent me a letter telling me she thought it would be best if we didn’t see each other anymore.”

“She sent you a Dear John letter!?” Twilight fumed, “How DARE she!?”

She flung the door open with her magic and began marching out before Shining shut it again with his.

“Listen, she wasn’t doing to hurt me-she was trying to protect me after she found out I got hurt protecting her.”

“And on top of that she breaks up with you?” Twilight countered. “I’m not going to let away with her treating you like that!”

“Twiley, relax-we’ve already had a few long talks about this and she’s been feeling guilty enough as it is.” He replied, exasperated.

“Well she should!”

“Think about this logically, would someone as loving and caring as Cadance ever do something to hurt ANYONE for selfish motives?” Shining reasoned.

“No…”

“Yes, she has admitted that her reasoning was selfish, but she had good intentions for what she did and I don’t want anyone to hate her for it-especially not you, because you’re important to me.”

Twilight stared at him before she replied.

“If I’m so important to you, then why didn’t you tell me about any of this?”

“Well, I was injured and Princess Celestia said that she had to train you for something-”

“No, you know what I’m talking about-you and Cadance were seeing each other long before the Changelings attacked the castle, couldn’t you at least have written me ONE letter mentioning it for Celestia’s sake?”

“Well, I’m sorry but, how many letters have you written to ME lately? Besides, it’s not like we were getting married!” Shining retorted.

“You probably wouldn’t tell me even if you were!”

“Yes, I would!” he insisted. “That’s why I came to talk to you-there’s something you really need to know about.”

“Like what?” she asked, skeptically.

Shining Armor took a deep breath.

“The real reason Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been training you so aggressively over the past week is so you can take over Canterlot if they fall against the Changelings.”

The room fell into a deafening silence soon after the words left Shining’s lips.

Twilight slowly sat back down onto her bed.

“How long have you known?” she asked, shakily.

“Just since earlier today when I was informing them of the growing Changeling threat throughout Equestria-Princess Celestia asked me not to tell you about this, but Rainbow Dash and Cadance all agree with me that you deserve to know.” He explained.

“Why wouldn’t Celestia tell me about this?”

“Maybe it’s because you have a tendency to overreact when you’re under a lot of pressure, like wreaking havoc throughout Ponyville over a tardy friendship report?”

“So you hear about that?”

“Twilight,” he sighed, sitting down next to her. “Everyone heard about it and I’m not going to lie to you by trying to convince you that this isn’t a big deal-because it is. But, just because it could happen doesn’t necessarily mean that it will. The princesses are just trying to be cautious.”

“By not telling me?” Twilight pressed.

“I think,” Shining replied slowly. “That Celestia’s feelings for you sometimes get in the way of her better judgment.”

“Well, thanks for telling me…” she sighed. “I know you have a lot to deal with and I guess having to tell me all this hasn’t made things any easier on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Shining replied, with a wave of his hoof before getting up to leave. “Rainbow Dash sent a letter to Spike for all of your friends back in Ponyville so they know what’s going on-hopefully they’ll be here sometime tomorrow.”

Dark Horse

Cadance strolled through the maze, admiring Luna's night before her ear twitched upon hearing the rustling of grass behind her causing her to freeze as her heart sped up.

"Who's there?" she asked, while preparing to defend herself from a possible attack.

"Feeling a little jumpy tonight, princess?" Sunset asked.

"Sunset?" Cadance turned around.

"Yeah," Sunset continued. "I can't really blame you for being on your guard, after all-as the Princess of Love you're probably the one the Changelings want the most, so I'm glad to see you've made a full recovery from their first attack."

"I'm glad to see that you're alright, we were really worried about you when you disappeared..."

"Really?" Sunset challenged. "I would have thought my evasion of the guards Celestia had escorting me out would have made it apparent that I was more than capable of taking care of myself."

"Of course." Cadance agreed. "I was only worried because I care about you...you're so much like Twilight."

"Yeah," Sunset scoffed. "Aside from the fact that she's the one Celestia chosen to replace me since she still actually likes her and the fact that her family loves her-we're exactly the same."

"You know that isn't what I meant." Cadance scolded. "Both of you may have different circumstances in your lives and personalities that make you individuals, I'm saying that I think both of you would benefit if you focused more on what the two of you have in common."

"You mean make friends with her?" Sunset scoffed.

"I would like to be your friend Sunset and I think Twilight, would too."

"We'll see..." Sunset replied skeptically. "So....you have a thing with Shining Armor, huh?"

"Had." Cadance corrected. "I made a very poor choice after the Changelings attacked..."

"I see...still I'm more than a bit jealous-as much crap as I give the guards for being glorified lapdogs, Shining Armor seems like one of the few good ones who can actually use his own judgment....so I take it that he's available, then?" Sunset asked, semi-playfully.

"I think you might have some pretty tough competition...I've know Shining Armor for a long time and I can read him like a book, he's already falling for someone-which I'm happy about-but, I'm also worried that she might end up breaking his heart, too..."

"Damn," Sunset sighed. "I guess that leaves me out...but, in all seriousness I really am sorry that things didn't work out between you guys-you're the only one from my childhood I've ever felt like I could actually trust."

"Do you have someone special in your life?" Cadance asked. "Or maybe a crush?"

"Well, there's this guard; Flash Sentry-he really seems to like me..."

"I know Flash, Shining introduced him to me once after he found out what a hard time he's been having...do you like him?"

"Well, at first I thought he was kind of an idiot since I made it pretty clear that I wasn't looking to make peace with Celestia, but now I'm beginning to think that maybe it was that he knew she would be prepared to kill me as soon I returned..."

"I seriously doubt that she would want to kill anyone, especially a student she still cares so much for-she would probably detain you and prevent you from using your magic in a worst case scenario." Cadance reasoned. "And are you sure that it was Celestia that Flash was counting on? Maybe he had faith in you and that when the time came you would make the right decision?"

"Why would he? From the moment we met I'd shown nothing but hostility-it doesn't make any sense."

"Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to get to know Flash better, but based on the few times I've spoken with him-he seems very sweet and he probably wanted to give you the benefit of a doubt-"

Her sentence was cut short as they could hear vigorous rustling through the hedges.

"I'll check it out." Sunset stated.

Cadance nodded.

Sunset navigated through the maze in a full gallop, silently cursing the fact that she couldn't just use her magic to blast her way through it.

She was already under suspicion by everyone in Canterlot and obliterating Celestia's hedgemaze would probably look, to an outside like nothing more than wanton destruction or a passive-aggressive attempt at petty revenge-especially if the rustling just turned out to be a squirrel or something.

When she caught a glimpse of something moving through the hedge she was running next to before teleporting.

There was a brilliant flash of light opal before colliding with her target, pinning him to the ground.

"Flash!?" she exclaimed.

As he looked up at her with a mixed expression of shock and helplesness, she became caught up in the vivid cornflower blue of his eyes before shaking it off.

"What are you doing out here? Were you stalking me?"

"WHAT!? N-no! I found some guards that I don't recognize...so I followed them out here." he explained.

"Then what are you still doing here at the castle?" Sunset challenged. "It's the Night Guard's shift."

"Well, I was about to go home before I spotted them-but, if I went for back up I was afraid that I'd lose them...which I kind of did in this crazy labryinth..." Flash admitted shamefully.

"Well we better find them fast...I left Cadance behind because I thought you were one of those freaks."

Cadance saw the silhuette of a figure approaching from around the corner of her section of the hedgemaze, her heart sped up as her horn began to glow with an aura of light blue magic in preparation to defend herself.

Before the figure revealed itself.

"Shining Armor?" she asked, letting her magic fade. "What are you still doing out here? I thought you had gone back inside to speak with Twilight...what did she have to say about it?"

"Yeah...I did, and she uh, she said that she was fine with it...no worries here." he replied before offering a nervous chuckle.

Something about him was making her uneasy, sure he had been nervous when they spoke earlier, but he had also seemed pretty tired having to deal with her, Twilight, and the Changelings-she would have thought he'd want to go to bed after speaking with her.

"What's that you have behind your back?" Cadance asked, suspiciously.

Shining's horn glowed a brilliant shade of green as he brought a boquet of flower out from behind his back and levitated them before her-Cadance however, was more focused on the color of the aura surrounding them.

"Flowers, for the most beautiful mare in Equestria." he replied, grinng broadly.

"Oh...why thank you." she stated distractedly. "While I am grateful for them, may I ask what the occasion is?"

That smile he was wearing...she didn't like it, something about it was definitely not Shining Armor-this was definitely a Changeling, but in the back of her mind she was trying to decide if it would be smarter to confront it now or wait for Sunset to come back. While she was quite confident in her ability to defend herself, there was no telling how powerful this imposter had become through the love it fed on-especially if it had been lurking around the castle for a while. And as the real Shining Armor had pointed out to her earlier, a mistake that lead to her being captured or the love being drained from her would likely doom Equestria.

"Does a guy really need a reason to do something nice for his girlfriend?" he asked rhetorically before frowning. "Why...is something wrong?"

"What? No!" she quickly replied, taking them with her magic. "I love, love, LOVE them!"

"Are you sure?" he asked, advancing towards her. "Because you're acting really weird-"

He was cut off as a blast of opal magic hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards.

"Eat that, bitch."

Cadance looked behind her to see Sunset with her horn lowered and Flash flying towards her.

"Are you okay, princess?" he asked, landing next to her.

"Yes...I'm sorry, I knew what he was- but I had a small moment of indecisiveness-it won't happen again." she apologized.

"It's fine." Sunset replied, walking towards the Changeling. "Things were started to get a bit boring around her, anyway-I'm gonna see if this guy is still breathing-Flash, keep an eye out for any of those phony guards you saw earlier, they'll probably be on us the second they realize what happened to their 'friend'."

As soon as she finished her sentence, five more Changelings seemed to materialize around them from out of thin air in a circle around the trio.

"Interesting," Sunset commented, amused. "It seems that they can also alter their bodies for natural camoflouge."

"Well, don't beat youreslf up about it too much, Cadance-it looks like these guys were lying in wait for us the whole time-so if you took 'Shiny' here on it looks like they would have overpowered you, anyway-still, think you can help us out this time?"

The Changelings all began to his as they dove towards them.

Flash bucked at one coming in from behind him and his hindlegs connected with its stomach, causing it to fall backwards, winded.

Cadance took a step back, as two Changelings rushing towards her from either side had there heads collide together, knocking them into a daze.

The remaining two flew towards Sunset.

She magically grabbed ahold of one of the Changeling's wings before ripping them from its back, causing it to shreik in agony before falling to the ground where it began to writhe in pain as sickly green fluids began to leak from its back.

The other stopped short of Sunset before realizing that it could not longer move as its body was surrounded by her magical aura when she began lifting it into the air as Flash and Cadance watched in stunned silence at what they were witnessing.

Flash was the first to snap out of it.

"Sunset, what are you doing?" he asked, shakily.

His question was answered as small cracking sounds could be heard emanating from the creature's body and he was horrified to see the pure hatred in Sunset's eyes as she was crushing the Changeling's body.

"Sunset, don't do this..." he pleaded.

The cracking sounds became even louder and more intense as the Changeling let out a long howl unmitigated pain as its bones cracked.

"SUNSET STOP!"

Much to his and Cadance's relief, this seemed to snap her out of whatever violent trance she was in as she reluctantly halted her administrations and slowly lowered it back onto the ground.

Cadance's ear twitched as she turned to see Rainbow Dash along with the Captain of the Night Guard and his subordinates.

"What's going on here?" The Bat Pony asked.

"These Changelings tried to ambush me." Cadance explained.

"What you going to do with them?" Dash asked.

"Finish them...or let them bleed." Sunset spat before walking off.

"We will keep them prisoner, so they can do no further harm until this whole conflict has been resolved." Cadance replied, returning her attention back to Rainbow Dash. "These two however," she gestured to the ones that Sunset had attacked "need medical attention."

"Very well." The Captain confirmed. "Flash, we'll take things from here."

He nodded before lifting off into the air again to find Sunset, just what was that all about?

Author's Note

Again, I sincerely apologize that it took so long...but, I'm probably going to take this chapter down in a week if there aren't any objections because I'm beginning to feel like this is both unnecessary and really derailing the story.

And then I'll replace it with a new chapter with little to no Flash or Sunset.

The Truth

"Sunset, wait!" Flash called out as he descended before her, blocking her path as he touched down.

"What do you want now?" she growled.

"Well, I would like to know what you think you were doing." He replied.

"I was protecting Cadance-in case you hadn't noticed, they were trying to kill her." she retorted, impatiently.

"Yes, I know." he sighed. "And I'm grateful that you helped protect her, but what you were doing to those Changelings back there was going way too far!"

"'Too far'!?" Sunset repeated incredulously. "Have you forgotten that we are at war with these parasites?"

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are looking for an alternative means to reason with them, so we can avoid any more unnecessary bloodshed!" Flash protested.

"Yes, because the sneak attack on Canterlot and subsequent massacre of your fellow guards has clearly shown that they are nothing, if not reasonable." she replied dryly.

"The point I'm trying to make is that we are trying to be civil and the reason war crimes are punishable in the first place is because we are supposed to be better than that!" Flash continued exasperated. "Cadance and I merely incapacitated them, but you were actually torturing them-I thought you wanted to change?"

"Look Flash, some of the things I've said weren't entirely true..." She began.

"Like what?" Flash pressed.

"I haven't always killed in self-defense, which was a lie I made up to keep you from hating me..."

"And you being abducted by the Changelings?"

"The circumstances were more…complicated than what I've already told you."

"How?"

Sunset let out a deep sigh.

"Okay, I’m going to warn you right now that even abridging it as much as I can, this is going to be a really long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Flash replied.

“After Celestia and I had our falling out, I was living on the streets-she said that if we couldn't get past our issues then in addition to no longer be her student, I would be banished from the castle-but, still welcome to stay in Canterlot...but, what she didn't realize was how petty my parents are...or maybe she just didn't care."

"I don't think that's true, Sunset." Flash commented softly.

"Whatever," she grunted dismissively. "The point is; my parents didn't like how their daughter failing as Celestia's star student would make them look and disowned me without a second thought-in fact, the only reason they even had me in the first place was to keep other snobs in the community from gossiping about them being infertile, one or both of them secretly being homosexual, or having an affair...whatever, the list goes on-so I didn't even bother checking in at home-waste of time and energy."

"So what did you do?" Flash asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Is that when you went into selling narcotics?"

"Wow, that's a big word for you..." She replied, snidely. "But yes, being gifted with my intelligence and a healthy thirst for more knowledge I already knew the basics of alchemy and chemistry simply by reading books on the sciences while I was still under Celestia's tutelage-it really wasn't that hard to master the art as soon as I applied myself-making any kind of drug or poison you could imagine and I made good money doing it, too."

"Why aren't there any records of your dealings, then?" Flash asked, suspiciously.

"I'm certain there are." Sunset replied. "But, I never stayed in one place for too long and I used multiple aliases and when it came to the formulas; I would occasionally switch up the recipes with decent substitutes, but I went to great lengths to ensure that the quality stayed the same."

"So what happened?"

"There were some rival dealers; in the past I was able to take them out easily utilizing poisons after offering them some kind of partnership and exchanging false pleasantries or stealthy assassinations on those who couldn't be bothered to play nice...but, after a while the others caught on to me." She continued.

"What happened after they figured it out?"

Sunset shot him a dirty look, annoyed that he couldn’t piece together the obvious outcome.

"What do you think happened? It was a bloodbath-not only were they after me, but the tensions between each group that they decided to take out their long-standing aggressions out on each other as well. Before that night, I had reasoned with myself that they were monsters that purposely destroyed the lives of others by getting them addicted, but I was merely doing it to survive-that was all the justification I needed to kill them and to be able to sleep at night..."

Flash remained silent as Sunset cast her gaze down at the ground.

"But that night, in the midst of the carnage and the bloodshed I had an epiphany-the truth was I enjoyed killing, there was some twisted, primal pleasure I took from it-a sense of superiority..."

Sunset then looked up at the stars, tears running down her cheeks.

"That night I learned I really was a monster....I realized that all of the deception and killing I had done up until then was because deep down I got a sick thrill from doing these horrible things."

"In the end, there were only myself and two others left alive when the Guard showed up...we all fled, the other two undoubtedly preparing to lick their wounds and prepare for round two, now that the rest of their competition had been so brutally cut down-complete dominance of Canterlot's underworld would have been two deaths away for them-at least, that's what would have been if they hadn't been caught." She paused briefly, contemplating the fate she would have endured had she insisted on standing her ground.

"They were both wounded pretty badly...neither could really manage much more than a limp, in addition to the fatigue from the brawl they went down pretty easily...I, myself had quite a few nasty cuts and scrapes, but nothing I couldn't manage-all I knew was that I had to get out of Canterlot, since I no longer had the element of surprise on my side and I had accumulated my fair share of Bits from my dealings-once I retrieved them, I immediately boarded the first train out of the city."

"Where did you go?"

"I wasn’t sure at first because the next few days had been a bit of a blur for me...but, I knew that it was an Earth Pony town and that is was hot...so incredibly hot...I stumbled into a saloon and order six glasses of ice water-I was already in pretty bad shape from the fight and the heat wasn't doing me any favors...I passed out halfway through my second glass."

"They rushed you to hospital after that, right?" Flash asked.

"Not exactly, I awoke in a cool, dark house beneath a ceiling fan, laying on a sofa with a wet dishcloth on my forehead...there was an Earth Pony, a mare with a lime coat and yellow-green hair sitting next to me-she wore a vest and one of those hats that seem to be so common among those in Appaloosa...she had orange freckles and the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen, like miniature bodies of pure water." Sunset continued almost as if she were in a trance.

"Did she have her own farm?"

"Yeah, on the outskirts of town and she only took care of cows to produce and sell dairy products-why?"

"You said she was an Earth Pony, was she one of the Apples? I heard they have family in those parts..."

"No, her name was Peach Gleam-she hated her full name, though-so everyone just called her by her first name. Her family ran a peach farm in Mustangia, she came to Appaloosa to try and make it on her own because she wasn't too happy with what her destiny chose for her."

"You speak of her with such fondness..." Flash noted.

"I should...she was my first and only friend." Sunset replied, solemnly.

“Was?”

“When we first met I wasn’t any more pleasant than when you and I bumped into each other and the fact that I was starving, with my body aching as well as still being dehydrated and…well, let’s just say that wasn’t one of my best moments. I demanded to know where I was and who she was and once she told me, I demanded to know why I wasn’t in a hospital or being taken care of by an actual physician.” Sunset replied shamefully.

“So?” Flash asked, confused. “I mean those seem like pretty reasonable questions-I’d want to know the same things if I were in your shoes.”

“It gets worse,” Sunset sighed. “After she told me that the clinic in town was filled with victims suffering from food poisoning after a recent pie eating contest, I snapped at her. I demanded to know what right a mudpony like her had dragging me off to her home. I saw a nearby glass bottle on the coffee table when I awoke and smashed it before holding the jagged remains up to her throat and told her to give my money back.”

“But she didn’t have it, did she?”

Sunset shook her head.

“No, she didn’t even know I had any money on me at the time and when I checked my pockets all of my Bits were still there. Peach then told me that she had gone through some basic medical training to take care of herself and the animals on the farms and she know that the local doctor probably wouldn’t have been able to fix me up in time-I went to look in mirror she had in her living room and I could see that she had patched up my cuts on my face-as well as the rest of my body, she told me that she had also disinfected them and that I was dehydrated.”

“Did you begin to trust her after that?”

“No, one thing I’ve learned from life is that trust is fatal-turn your back for a second and someone will put a knife in it.” Sunset replied bitterly.

“Well, what about me?” Flash pressed. “A lot of the things you’re telling me are pretty personal, not to mention illegal and I’m a member of the guard-you trust me, don’t you?”

Sunset didn’t respond.

“So…what happened, then?”

“More of the same pretty much, I kept yelling at her and insulting her as she continued to check up on me between her chores around the farm for a few days but, eventually I began to warm up to her a bit when I was confident that I’d regained enough strength to take her down if she tried anything-I didn’t want to take any chances. But, I couldn’t fathom someone being so selfless that they would take in and patch up a complete stranger and ask for nothing in return.”

“And you apologized?”

“Yes, the first and only sincere apology I’ve ever offered in my life; after that we started we started spending more time together and I began helping her out around the farm, I told her that I was from Canterlot and that I used to go to Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and that I got kicked out, but nothing after that…I tried to find out more about her because I actually enjoyed spending time with her and I knew that if she found out the truth about me, she would hate me.”

“But she did ask, right?” Flash pressed.

“Yes, but I lied to her and said that I didn’t remember what happened between here and there-for the first time in my life I actually felt bad about lying to someone who trusted me-and I think part of her knew that I wasn’t being completely honest, but she never called me out on it…” Sunset continued.

“Peach probably knew it made you uncomfortable and trusted you to open up to her and tell the truth when you were ready.”

Sunset seemed to consider this for a moment before sighing.

“That’s even worse…”

Flash gave her a questioning look.

“One day, I agreed to go into town and pick up a few supplies for her farm while she took care of the animals-who seemed to be spooked by something-and when I got back, the house was torn apart and there was green liquid splattered everywhere and there were bodies of these black insect-like equines…and in the middle of it all was Peach just lying there faced down.”

“Dead?” Flash asked.

“Not quite…but, maybe that would have been better-she wouldn’t have had to suffer as much; I slowly rolled her over to see a large gash in her torso, the entire front of her body a drenched in dark red blood and more of it was pumping out every second…I had taught myself a few spells for basic first aid, so I tried cauterizing the wound.”

“Did it work?”

“The spell did, but I underestimated the damage that the Changelings had caused-there was internal bleeding I hadn’t accounted for and by the time I realized my mistake it was too late, all I could do was watch as the life drained from my friend’s eyes…but, instead of anger all I could see in them was…it was like she felt sorry for me.”

Flash slowly, placed a sympathetic hoof on Sunset’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry…did she say anything before-?”

Sunset shook her head, trying to prevent the tears from spilling out.

“No, she wasn’t strong enough to speak when I got to her…but, I was able to piece together what happened after finding out more about the Changelings; they must have disguised themselves as me or some others from town to lower her into a false sense of security and then they tried to take before she realized something wasn’t right and tried fighting them off.”

“Sunset, I knew you that you didn’t like them but-I had no idea…”

“So do you understand now why they need to purged?” Sunset pressed. “If we don’t wipe them out completely they’ll just keep doing this again and again until they rule not only Equestria, but the world-even that may not pacify them-what if they want to convert all living creatures into Changelings?”

“I understand why you feel so strongly about this and the need to protect others, but genocide is never the answer.” Flash replied calmly.

“Alright, then barring a massive mind-control spell-how do we prevent them from doing what’s in their nature?” Sunset asked, annoyed.

“I don’t know.” Flash admitted. “But, it’s been a long night and I think we could both use some rest.”

“Whatever.”

There was an extremely loud, obnoxious pounding on the door of Rainbow Dash’s guest room.

She let out a groan of irritation at being so rudely awakened in the middle of the night and kneeled upon the bed that had been provided for her, which was so soft and fluffy that it almost rivaled the clouds she typically slept on.

Almost.

Grabbing the large pillow, she pulled it tightly over her head in an attempt to silence the relentless noise as she laid face down.

After growing impatient, Shining Armor flung the door open and rushed inside.

“Rainbow Dash! Wake up!”

She let out another irritated groan.

Shining used his magic to rip the pillow away from her before she pulled the blanket from her shoulders up over her head and rolled onto her side.

“Mom, just ten more hours….”

“DASH!”

He then ripped the sheets away from her.

“Nooo….I don’t wanna go to school today…” she protested, groggily.

“Dash! This is important!” he shouted.

“Fine,” she grunted, sitting up and rubbing the grit out of one eye. “What’s so important that you had to wake me up from my nap!?”

“A group of Changelings attacked Cadance in the garden a half hour ago.” He informed her, seriously.

“Is she alright?” Dash asked.

“Yeah, Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry were there to help protect her until Princess Luna’s Night Guard arrived to take them prisoner and interrogate them.”

“Then what’s the problem?” she pressed, annoyed.

“There could more of them around the castle…doesn’t that bother you?” he pressed.

“The only thing bothering me right now is a guard who apparently has nothing better to do with his time than worry about things that MIGHT happen and keep my from getting my shut-eye. Seriously, does Twilight’s OCD run in the family or something?”

“Forget it,” Shining sighed. “I guess you’re right…if there are others, we’ll probably be able to get it out of the ones we caught-hopefully.”

Breakfast

Rainbow Dash’s eyes cracked open before slowly sitting up and letting out a colossal yawn as she slowly got out of bed and stretched her legs before standing up straight and take another look around the guest room Celestia had so graciously allowed her to stay in. She would have been willing to bet it was better than hotel the Wonderbolts had ever stayed at while they were on tour.

The floor was covered in a chess-like tile pattern. The King sized bed was covered in a large pink canopy and the wooden foot had three pink hearts etched into it (probably to make the castle’s more important guests feel welcome) along with two large fluffy white pillows and a bed sheet with swirls of what were either meant to be clouds or wind-she couldn’t really tell-obviously they hadn’t spent too much time in weather management. There was a wall with eight large windows, two of which were double doors that lead onto a balcony which overlooked the garden.

Dash headed towards bathroom and as she entered, she caught herself in the mirror’s reflection, her mane was a mess and there were dark circles under her eyes-stupid Shining Armor, if he hadn’t burst in last night and started freaking out-that was when she froze. Shining Armor. She remembered he was babbling about something the night before and she said something to shut him up and leave her alone so she could go back to sleep…but, what did she say? For the life of her she couldn’t remember.

Stepping into the large porcelain shower, she turned the silver knob as hot water poured from the nozzle she thought back to him desperately trying to wake her. If the Captain of the Royal Guard wanted her for something it must have been pretty important. Despite the steaming water cascading over her body, she felt like cold ice water had filled her veins as her heart sped up. What if someone had been hurt? Or killed?

‘That’s right, Rainbow Dash…’ a voice whispered in the back of her head. She hated that voice-it was the one that always told her that she wasn’t good enough, that no matter what she did or how hard she tried, she would never be good enough to accomplish anything. ‘THIS is why you never would have made it to becoming a Wonderbolt, you NEVER even had a chance-you’re far too lazy and selfish.’

She wanted to tell the voice to shut up, that it was wrong-but; all she could do was lower her head in shame. For all she knew someone could have died because she refused to help. And what about Shining Armor? Did he hate her now?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy pounding coming from the door to her room.

Turning off the shower head, she stepped out and grabbed a towel before haphazardly trying to dry her mane as the pounding became louder and more frequent.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’!” she called out before wrapping the towel around herself and heading towards the door.

Shining Armor was waiting outside the door, despite knowing that Cadance, Flash, and Sunset Shimmer had survived the Changeling ambush relatively unscathed-the fact that he left Cadance unprotected, knowing that she was more than likely their prime target-only served to increase his guilt.

How could he have been so stupid and negligent of his duties?

The door swung open as Rainbow Dash appeared with a wet mane, wearing a towel.

Shining felt his face burn with embarrassment, at this moment if he was in front of a mirror he could just imagine seeing his face turn a deep crimson through his white fur, he also didn’t fail to notice that even having her mane wet and disheveled did nothing to diminish her beauty.

“’Sup?” Dash asked coolly upon seeing him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your…uh, private time.” The second the words left his mouth he mentally berated himself for his poor choice in vocabulary and the way in which his sentence could be misconstrued.

‘IDIOT!’ Now she’s probably going to think you’re some kind of pervert! Why didn’t you just say ‘shower’?’

“It’s cool.” Dash replied. “Actually, I was just thinking about you.”

His jaw dropped upon hearing this-did she really just say what he thought she did?

Then again, he probably misunderstood.

“R-really?”

“Yeah, I…well, I kind of screwed up last night-I shouldn’t have left you hanging like that, just because I wanted to go back to sleep-it was unquestionably, undeniably, uncool. And it won’t ever happen again.”

“Um, about that…” Shining let out a deep sigh. “I…kind of screwed up too, I should have been there for Cadance-but, instead I got caught up in my own issues.”

“But that wasn’t your fault!” Dash protested. “You had a lot of stuff going on; like talking to Celestia and Twilight-besides, even if you were there how do you know you wouldn’t have been too exhausted to help if you had stayed with Cadance instead of getting some rest?”

Before he could reply she added; “And I might not be an egghead like Twilight, but I am an athlete-so, I know a thing or two about what happens you try pushing yourself too hard-physically or emotionally and just by talking to you yesterday I could tell you were reaching your limit.”

She then took a step closer to examine him.

“Did you even get any sleep last night?”

“Not really…” he admitted.

“Yeah, I can tell; you look kinda tired…look, I’ll finish drying off and we can talk more at breakfast, sound good?”

“Okay, sounds good.” Shining agreed, before flashing he a smile that showed off his perfect teeth and began heading to the guest dining hall.

Rainbow Dash closed the door to her room once more as she returned to the bathroom before discarding the towel into a clothes hamper by the door. She then caught her reflection in the mirror, despite being mostly dried off there were still a few water droplets that stubbornly clung to her fur and her mane was still disheveled-and NOT in the way she liked it. She returned to the windows next to her bed and opened the double doors leading onto the balcony. A gentle breeze blew, which felt nice in her mane and fur-but, it would feel even nicer when she was up in the air.

Giving a few experimental flaps of her wings, she took off to begin her morning routine of giving a flyby through some clouds. It was a good workout exercise for any Pegasus and it always helped perfectly style her mane in just the way she preferred it. But as she flew, her mind kept returning to Shining Armor; his compassion, his loyalty, that perfect smile, those well-toned muscles, that perfect flank-

She shook her head-trying to will the thoughts away, she reminded herself that she couldn’t be thinking that way about him-he was just a friend and Twilight’s brother, even if she made a move on him or the other way around, wasn’t he still hurting from his break-up with Cadance? And what would that do to her friendship with Twilight? Not to mention she was pretty close to Celestia-if she got really mad, it wouldn’t be hard for them to make her life difficult…though, granted that probably wouldn’t happen-Twilight was pretty sensible, right?

Sighing, Dash continued her routine-wishing that she had just stayed in bed…how had things gotten so complicated?

Flash stood outside of Sunset’s room, after last night they needed to talk.

He gently began knocking on the door.

“Sunset?” he called out. “It’s Flash, we need to talk.”

No response.

“Sunset, are you in there?”

There was still no response.

Letting out a defeated sigh, he began heading towards the guest dining hall-maybe she was already up and went to get some breakfast…

Knowing what he did now, he couldn’t blame Sunset for being hostile whenever it came to the Changelings but, the intensity of her hatred still disturbed him. She didn’t just want to wipe their species out-she wanted to make them suffer. How could he convince her that this was wrong? Maybe if he pointed out-

His thoughts were cut off as something collided with his chest; he looked down to see Twilight on the floor with a book lying askew.

“Sorry!” she apologized.

“It’s okay,” he replied, offering a hoof to help her back up. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry…I was just double-checking something in my book and I guess I got a little…distracted.” She apologized again.

“Yeah, you weren’t the only one…so what are you reading?” he asked, picking up the book and giving it back to her.

A glimpse of the cover art revealed a grey and white Griffon with black battle armor in a victorious pose, raising a sword in one of her talons in the center of a chess board surrounded by shattered black and white chess pieces of the same scale.

“’The Legendary Tactics of Griffon Warfare’” she replied dutifully. “I’ve also been brushing up on my negotiating skills by reading various books on the subject-it’s good to be prepared for either scenario that may occur from the dealing with these Changelings-did you know there is a theory on alternate worlds that can branch off simply depending on one’s action or inaction in any given situation?”

“Um, not really-but, have you seen a unicorn mare-probably wearing a black jacket around, today?” he asked.

“No, but she might have gone to breakfast…”

“Sorry, I just realized I haven’t introduced myself.” Flash apologized. “Flash Sentry of the Canterlot Royal Guard.”

“I see.” Twilight replied, glancing at his armor. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yeah, you’re brother’s kinda my boss.”

“Don’t you mean ‘Commanding Officer’?” Twilight asked.

“I do, but most civilians I’ve talked to don’t really know what I’m talking about-so if I don’t simplify it for them, then the explanations can take hours.”

“I know what you mean.” She replied. “So, who is this mare you’re looking for?”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

“I don’t think I’ve actually met her, yet…” Twilight replied thoughtfully. “But, if she’s not in her room-then maybe she’s at the guest dining hall?”

As expected, the guest dining hall was filled with the clatter of golden plates and bowls presented by the castle staff. As the name implied, this dining area was specifically designated for personal guests of Princess Celestia. Unlike the twelve long tables in the guard’s dining hall, there was a single, round table proposed by Clover the Clever after conversation proved difficult for the princesses and their twelve Honored Royal Knights.

At the table, the princesses sat next to each other with Celestia opposite of the entrance, Luna on her right and Cadance on her left. Shining Armor was sitting next to Luna and would occasionally exchange awkward glances with Cadance. Sunset was sitting next directly across from Celestia, leaving a wide berth between herself and the others. While the two sisters’ expressions remained relatively neutral, Sunset appeared quite irritated.

“Is that her?” she whispered to Flash.

“Yeah,”

As they approached the table, a rainbow blur slid past them before skidding to a halt.

“Whew! Sorry, about that!” Dash exclaimed. “I’m not late, am I?”

“Quite the contrary-you’re right on time.” Celestia replied warmly.

“Ah, good!” she continued, cantering to the seat next to Shining Armor. “I was working on my morning exercises-and I guess I got a little carried away…”

“Is that why you didn’t fly in?” Twilight pressed; slightly miffed that Dash took the only remaining seat next to her brother-still, she supposed that she could use this opportunity to catch up with Cadance.

“Yeah, trust me; if you’re a Pegasus, you don’t wanna strain your wings.”

“Or an Alicorn for that matter.” Luna added.

After sitting next to Cadance, Twilight looked over to Sunset.

“So, Sunset Shimmer…I’ve been hearing a lot about you lately, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” She introduced herself. “I’m hoping that maybe someday we can become the best of friends.”

“Don’t hold your breath.” Sunset muttered.

“Um, I’m sorry?”

“I noticed your Cutie Mark, do you know it represents?” she continued, coldly.

“Yes, it represents my talent with magic.”

“Uh-huh…is that all?” she challenged. “Let me ask you this; do you really believe that it’s merely a coincidence that it’s the exact same shape as your Element of Harmony? Or that yours just happens to be shaped like a crown in its physical form?”

“Sunset…” Celestia began, uncertainly.

“Or that out of every Unicorn that has worked their ass off in Celestia’s gifted school that you and only you were chosen to be her protégé?” Sunset continued, ignoring her. “Do you really believe you've actually earned everything you’ve accomplished? Or did it just fall into your lap like the spoiled teacher’s pet you are?”

“Wait just a minute!” Twilight protested. “I did earn everything I’ve accomplished! My Cutie Mark-” she glanced awkwardly at Rainbow Dash before cutting herself off. “I studied tirelessly, night and day for years to reach where I am, but what really got me where I am today is from making the wonderful friends that I have today!”

“Really?” Sunset pressed, glancing at Celestia-who was now glaring daggers at her. “It’s that easy, huh? That’s funny, because I’ve seen others far older than you or I with dozens of friends and they have achieved a modicum of what you have in your short, pathetic lifespan.”

“What’s this really about?”

“Nothing much, just a thought that popped into my head and I thought that as another intellectual you might be interested in a philosophical discussion.” Sunset replied innocently. “The question I’m trying to ask is; do we equines truly have free will or are we slaves to what our destinies tell us?”

If Twilight was anywhere near as intelligent as she had been led to believe, then she would have no problem reading the subtext. Still, Sunset supposed she could have made her point less blatantly with Celestia sitting right across from them, but she wanted to make a point to her as well; she would not be her pawn again. As things stood, Twilight absolutely adored Celestia-which made her far more malleable to her suggestions and less likely to question her motives. And as much as she hated the precocious little bitch for doing nothing aside from literally being born into greatness, the temptation of getting revenge on Celestia for manipulating her emotions was too sweet to ignore.

Given Celestia’s miffed expression, she took that as a small, but sweet victory. Despite her contempt, part of her also felt pity for Twilight…she was falling into the same trap Sunset herself had. She probably still idolized Starswirl, innocently oblivious to the monster her truly became later on in his life and the unspeakable atrocities he committed as his mind went…what would she think of him, then? Of course, that was under the influence of a dark artifact, but still…someone should probably take care of that book.

The table was eerily quiet as the castle staff served breakfast. Too quiet. That’s when Dash decided to speak up.

“So, Cadance…Shining Armor tells me that you used to be a babysitter for Twilight, huh?”

“That’s right!” Cadance replied, relieved that the awkward tension had finally been removed. “Back when I was a teenager and her mother and father would go on dates and Shining Armor was busy training in the guard, I would take care of her.”

“So that’s where you went…” Sunset commented, remembering that there was a certain filly that Cadance just loved to sit for. Of course, half of that probably had to do with her raging teenage hormones and that particular little filly’s rather attractive older brother. She never really knew his name-she had more important studies to get to-but, she did develop somewhat of a crush on Shining Armor herself and would pretend to be reading as she secretly watched him whenever he walked by.

“So, do you have any fun stories about Twilight?” Dash pressed, trying-and failing to suppress a devilish grin forming at the corners of her mouth.

“Weeeellll…” Cadance began thoughtfully.

“Cadance, don’t!” Twilight pleaded.

“I’m just kidding, Twilight!” Cadance laughed. “But, I will say there was never a dull moment with her-do you still have that doll I gave you?”

“Smarty Pants? I well…uh, that’s kind of a long story…” Twilight replied, her ears lowering in embarrassment at the memory.

“Yeah…” Dash added, rubbing the back of her neck. “Nobody came out of that looking good.”

“Oh?”

“Go ahead and tell her, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia encouraged.

“Princess!” Twilight pleaded.

“I’m sorry Twilight,” Celestia replied with an impish grin. “But, consider this punishment for your irresponsible use of dangerous magic. You should enjoy this Cadance-it was one of your spells.”

Twilight buried her face in her hooves and Dash recounted the tale of a tardy Twilight Sparkle desperately enchanting a filly’s ragdoll with a spell to devolve three fillies and eventually the entire town into a knock-down, drag-out brawl in an attempt to create a friendship problem and a lesson to report to Princess Celestia on the importance of ‘sharing’.

“Really?” Sunset asked, once the story was finished. “And how intelligent are you supposed to be? I mean, I would have just made something up.”

“Or write a letter explaining the truth.” Luna added. “I still do not see why Equestria’s citizens cower in fear of disappointing my sister-it’s as if they believe she is some tyrant.”

“Well, Twiley has a long history of over exaggerating when it comes to her academic work.” Shining explained. “For everyone else, it’s just that Celestia does so much from us-we’re kind of worried about disappointing her.”

“I see.”

Luna’s gaze then drifted over to Flash.

“And who is this young stallion, I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced…”

“Flash Sentry, ma’am-I mean, your majesty.” He replied, nervously.

“He’s relatively new to the guard, but Shining Armor has had nothing but good things to say about him in his reports.” Celestia cut in.

“So you were the guard who helped defend Cadance last night…”

“Wait! What happened last night?” Twilight asked, alarmed.

“A group of Changelings attacked Cadance in the garden last night; while you slackers were sleeping-Flash and I took care of them.” Sunset replied.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”

“You were more than likely sleeping at that hour and I thought the whole reason we agreed to cut off your training early was so you and your magic could recover…alerting you would undoubtedly disrupt that process.” Luna explained.

“Besides, while they were a threat- they were not the threat-it's the Queen is who you should be worried about.” Sunset added.

“That’s right,” Celestia agreed. “While we could not find an alternative food source for the Changelings or even if they actually require feeding on love to survive, we have found some information that is quite…disturbing.”

“While traveling through dreams, I could not enter any the Changeling’s-it appears that there is something about their innate magic that prevents me from doing so-it would also explain why they have been able to remain hidden from us for so long.” Luna continued. “However, there were a few who I faintly hear-but, their voices and their magic all seemed to be fading until I could no longer reach them. It appears that once their victims have been drained of all the love that can be fed upon, they are converted into one of the fold.”

“Huh.”

Everyone looked at Sunset.

“When I confronted the Changelings at one of their hives, they ambushed me and I woke in a chrysalis filled with resin-at the time I assumed it was some kind of acid…but, what if something in that resin can alter an equine’s biological structure and brain chemistry?”

“So how did you escape, then?” Dash asked, suspiciously.

“Simple. I burned through it, injuring myself in the process-but, a small price to pay to wipe out the overgrown parasites. Unfortunately, I was too weak to finish the job-didn’t stop me from burning the entire hive to the ground.”

“The point we are trying to make, is that contrary to what we earlier believed; these Changelings may not have control of their actions or if they do-then they do not, or cannot remember who they truly are…” Celestia’s voice trailed off.

“Then the genocide you’ve been proposing would not only kill potentially innocent Changelings and wipe out an entire race-but, you’d be condemning innocent ponies to death, too Sunset.” Flash added.

“If they massacred any of your friends-you wouldn’t be so soft on them.” Sunset replied coldly.

“And what if your friend had survived?” Flash challenged, catching her off-guard.

“What?”

“What if your friend had survived, and instead of being mauled fighting to the death she was put into one of those things and woke up as a Changeling? Would you still want to kill all of them then?”

“I….”

“Sunset…” Cadance spoke softly. “We all understand that this issue is deeply personal for you, but this is something you have to look at for more than just yourself-we are trying to save lives on both sides-which is why we are pushing for diplomacy, instead of war.”

“And genocide is never a justifiable solution.” Celestia finished.

“Princess, Flash and I will be interrogating the Changelings we caught last night when we’re done here.” Shining informed her. “They might have some useful information for negotiating with the Queen…or maybe a way to change the ones that have been converted back.”

“Very well, intimidate them if you must-but, do not harm them.”

“Understood.”

“The final issue that must be discussed is evacuation.” Celestia continued. “If negotiating with the Queen does not work, then all of Canterlot will be under siege and there will surely be significant collateral damage. Property can be replaced-citizens cannot. Therefore, the guard will be dispatched to begin the evacuation at noon.”

“Spike and the girls should be here around then, too.” Twilight informed everyone. “That way can use the Elements of Harmony in case they’re needed.

“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.”

Rainbow Dash followed Shining Armor out of the dining hall.

“So, you’re going to go interrogate those things now, huh?”

“Yeah…it’s not gonna fun.”

“Can I come along?”

“No.”

“What!? Why not?” she demanded.

“Because you’re a civilian, Flash and I have been trained to handle hostile prisoners in case they escape…and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because I screwed again.”

“I handled Nightmare Moon and Discord just fine!” she protested.

“Yes, because you had the Elements of Harmony along with Twiley and your other friends-neither of which are going to be with us.”

“I also caught Rarity and three unconscious Wonderbolts-including Spitfire-and saved them from falling to their deaths while performing a Sonic Rainboom and winning Cloudsdale’s Best Young Flier’s competition.” She reminded him.

“I-well, you still can’t come because…” he then let out a defeated sigh.

“You’re really worried about me, aren’t you?”

The look that Shining Armor gave her was reminiscent of a kicked puppy.

“Alright, I guess I can find something else to do until my friends get here…” she sighed. “You just, try to be careful-okay?”

“Deal. And I promise I’ll make it up it you, Dash.”

Author's Note

Sorry, it took so much longer than I anticipated to update...but, hopefully this chapter isn't too short.

Reconciliation

The look Celestia had given Sunset during breakfast was one she had become all too familiar with during the time of her studies; it was the ‘see me after class’ look most teacher’s gave their students, but in Sunset’s case-she only got it from Celestia when she went over the line, which was far more common for her than any other student at the time.

Sunset and Celestia were the only two remaining seated at the table as members of the castle kitchen staff returned to clear it. The absence of dialogue in contrast to the chatty table earlier lead to an uncomfortable silence, only broken by the sound of hooves and the subsequent clattering from those cleaning. While Sunset’s gaze did not waver, Celestia looked towards a mare with a tan coat and a brown mane tied back in a bun wearing an apron with the Cutie Mark of a spatula as she began clearing her plate, glass, and silverware.

“Thank you, Copper.”

Instead of replying, Copper Spatula merely nodded. Out of everyone that worked in the castle, she was by far the most bashful and Celestia went out of her way to be extra kind to her in the hope that she might come out of her shell one of these days. This had been going for over two and a half years now, but she hadn’t given up yet. Her interaction with Copper this morning however, also served a dual purpose as she hoped to set an example for Sunset to follow when speaking with others as every conversation she had witnessed her participate in was full of hostility.

Once everyone else had exited the dining hall, Celestia stood up from the table as Sunset approached her. Instead of being furious or hurt as Sunset had hoped for, she appeared to be mildly irritated at the most. Still, she had to give the Princess credit for the level of restraint she was showing.

“Sunset…what has provoked you into such malicious behavior thing morning?”

“I saw Twilight’s Cutie Mark.” She replied simply.

“And? How does the design of one’s Cutie Mark provoke hostility?” Celestia pressed.

That always got on Sunset’s nerves-even when she did something Celestia perceived to be ‘wrong’, instead of yelling, she always asked what caused her behavior-but, she was always so calm about it.

“Before I left, I saw a sketch in a book-The Tree of Harmony-and before you try playing coy, I went on a little trip to the Everfree near your old castle and a saw the eyesore jutting out from the ground with the exact same indent as the Element of Magic; a six-point star.”

“I see.”

“Taking into account how quickly you went to work replacing me and the fact that sent this replacement to Ponyville to make friends little over a day before Nightmare Moon’s return leads me to believe that not only were you aware that she would escape from her imprisonment-but, you had planned for it and Twilight and I were nothing more than puppets for you to achieve the goal of stopping her and getting Luna back” Sunset elaborated.

“Twilight may be blinded by her adoration of you-but, I’ve been dealing with those who claimed to love me manipulate me since the day I was born. And unlike her, I’m not afraid to call you out on it. I left because I knew you were just jerking me around until I could be useful to you-the only problem was the fact that I wasn’t the pawn you needed to achieve your goal.”

“Yes…” Celestia admitted, shamefully. “I did use the two to get Luna back and I am not proud of what I’ve done-but, she is my sister.”

“You say that like it’s supposed to mean something to me.” Sunset scoffed. “My family threw me out like garbage when I was no longer useful to them, remember?”

“Yes, I do.” Celestia replied softly. “And perhaps if I kept that in mind while teaching you, perhaps I would have been more understanding…and I do regret deceiving you, but after one thousand years of waiting for a chance to see my sister again-to rectify a mistake I’ve made in the past-I was growing desperate.”

“You still didn’t need to go about it in such a roundabout way.” Sunset retorted before her expression softened. “If you were just honest with me and just asked me for my help, I would have given it to you.”

Celestia was taken aback by this, as a filly Sunset seemingly had no interest in anyone’s problems, but her own.

“When I was your student, you were always so unnecessarily cryptic-no matter how far I advanced in my studies-you never stopped treating me like a child. And if you keep manipulating others like this, then what are they supposed to think? Because here’s what I thought dealing with all this; ‘maybe this whole benevolent ruling thing is just a façade and Celestia’s really just a manipulative sociopath, like Discord?’”

Despite being floored by these accusations, Celestia still recognized that Sunset was making a few valid points.

“Very well,” Celestia agreed, regaining her composure. “Centuries of keeping forbidden knowledge from the public may have developed into some bad habits…even in Equestria’s more peaceful periods, but I’m afraid the only consolation I can offer is that I will try to be more honest with you from now on. Is there anything in particular you wish to know?”

“Yeah, it’s about Starswirl.”

“What do you wish to know about him?”

“Today, just about everyone who knows about him believes that he created over two hundred spells. But, after doing some extensive research while you were entertaining guests at the Gala-I realized he was a fraud. He developed fifty spells himself, at the most-but, his legends all seem to conveniently leave out the dark magic he used to create the rest.”

“…And you wish to know why I kept this detail from the public.” Celestia finished “There are a few reasons for this.”

“I’m listening.”

“At the time, the spell from the book he used inspired him-but, it also caused him to lose reason as he became more creative with his spells.” She explained. “It wasn’t until Luna and I confronted Starswirl and opened his eyes to the damage he was causing that the spell’s manifestation lost its hold over him. Guilt quickly overcame him and the knowledge that Equestria’s greatest wizard was not only using dark magic, but controlled by it would lead to others becoming distrustful of one who had merely made a mistake.”

“Mistake?” Sunset repeated.

“Yes,” Celestia continued. “He originally sought the book out in the hope of increasing our knowledge in the art of restorative magic-an end to disease, physical handicap, and mental illness. However, sensing his vast magical prowess; the book had taken control of him. This is the other reason I have kept this secret and hidden the book for the past few centuries, to avoid the potential for other Unicorn’s being tempted by the power it holds and trying to seek it out.”

“Do you have it now?” Sunset pressed, taking an anxious step forward.

“I know of its location, but I do not have it with me.” Celestia replied calmly, despite knowing fully well Sunset’s intention. “There is no doubt in my mind that you are planning will work, however that is only until you factor in the spell’s influence on its caster.”

“But, if we had the book then why could easily push back the Changelings when negotiations fall through-and they will fail.” Sunset retorted. “I’ve heard Shining Armor more than lives up to his name with shield spells that put even the highest level of Unicorns to shame, just imagine the power and versatility of his technique when aided with a little inspiration, evacuation may not even be necessary!”

Celestia sighed deeply, she knew that Sunset meant well and that she was probably well aware of the consequences. She wasn’t unintelligent, after all. But, in her mind the end justified the means.

“Starswirl was able to quadruple his magical potential after using it!”

“Yes,” Celestia agreed. “And he paid dearly for it-many did. It was something he regretted for the rest of his life and he made me promise to keep it safe so no one else would fall victim to its influence.”

She didn’t like saying this, but Sunset was just so stubborn. Celestia hoped that as someone who had also lost a dear friend-rather recently-that she would understand and respect her decision.

“Sunset,” she continued, her voice and expression softening as she stepped forward. “I know that your heart is in the right place this time, but no matter how powerful you are-you cannot prevent yourself from becoming a thrall once the spell has been cast-in manifests itself into the deepest crevices of your mind, controlling your every action whether you’re aware of it or not.”

‘Please, Sunset…I’ve already lost precious time with Starswirl and Luna due to dark influences-I can’t lose you again, too…’

Instead of trying to push her side of the disagreement any further, Sunset surprised Celestia by backing down.

“Alright,” she replied, defeated. “I don’t like it, but I can see where you’re coming from-but, there is one last thing I’d like to know; the book-is it safe?”

“Yes, it has remained in the same place it has always been for over a thousand years. Only Luna and I know of its location.”

“Well, as long as the Changelings don’t have it-I guess I’m satisfied.” Sunset then turned around and began to leave the kitchen.

“Sunset?” Celestia called out to her softly, causing her to stop. “You do know that I never meant to hurt you or Twilight, don’t you?”

The apologetic nature of her tone did seem sincere and it was still odd to Sunset being around Celestia in such a vulnerable emotional state.

“…Of course,” she replied after a moment of hesitation. “I understand you thought your actions were necessary and your reasons for believing such.”

Celestia actually felt a wave of relief wash over her, after this morning she wasn’t sure if Sunset’s anger would cause her to relapse back into the more extreme patterns of her anti-social behavior.

“With that being said,” Sunset continued, without turning around. “I would appreciate it, if in the future you treat Twilight and I with more respect-we are your students, not a couple of pawns in a convoluted chess game. We are supposed to be able to look to you for guidance, but we can’t do that if we are constantly guessing whether or not we can trust you. If in the future there is some threat to Equestria and you need our help, be honest with us and we will gladly help you. Otherwise…I’m not sure this relationship of ours can actually work.”

Despite herself, Celestia couldn’t help but smile a little. She had feared what Sunset would become when she failed to reach her-and while she was certainly right to after hearing about her various illegal activities, it was comforting to see that she wasn’t wrong about Sunset having the capacity to change. The interactions she had with Peachy Gleam and Flash Sentry seemed to have a much more positive influence on her behavior compared to the Sunset Shimmer of the past.

“Of course,” Celestia replied, humbly. “And…in a sense, we were both wrong when you left.”

This got Sunset to turn around.

“What did you say?”

“I said that we were both wrong…to an extent; you believed that you deserved power and leadership for you intelligence and magical prowess, while I believed you were simply being stubborn and impatient-I failed to take into account the effects your parents’ callous behavior could have on you and your world views.” Celestia admitted. “In that regard, I’ve failed you as a teacher and it was not until you left that I properly reflected on that mistake-”

She was cut off as Copper Spatula returned.

“Copper, I’m afraid that my student and I are in the middle of a private conversation right now...” She stopped. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to clear the table, you majesty.” She replied, cheerfully.

Sunset eyed her suspiciously.

“But, you’ve already helped clear the table-less than forty-five minutes ago…”

“Whoops!” she exclaimed, with the same level of cheer. “Guess it must’ve slipped my mind!”

Celestia shot a glance at Sunset, conveying she knew that was something was wrong.

Taking this as a cue to take action, Sunset slowly used her magic to close the doors leading to the dining hall behind her and used a spell to seal them shut.

Change in demeanor aside; in all of the years Celestia had known her, Copper almost never made a mistake when it came to her duties-despite, or possibly because of her intense anxiety-she was always a very conscientious worker. Copper took her job very seriously-to the point where she could give Twilight a run for her money. It was one of the reasons Celestia had decided to hire her in the first place.

“Is something wrong, princess?” Copper asked, innocently.

Her body was thinly outlined by Sunset’s magical aura before being lifted off the ground and slammed against the wall with just enough force to get her point across, but not enough to do any internal damage.

“Cut the crap.” Sunset replied, annoyed.

“What have you done with Copper?” Celestia demanded, glaring at the imposter.

“W-what are you talking about?” she stammered.

Sunset’s horn began to glow with more intensity as she exerted more pressure against her body.

“I may not be able to kill you, but I have enough magical knowledge and studied enough torture methods to make this a very unpleasant experience for you-insect.”

Copper’s icy blue eyes turned a deep emerald green as she hissed at Sunset, revealing her fangs.

“Oh, scary…” Sunset deadpanned. “Now, are you going to tell us where you’re keeping the nice lady or do I get to have some fun?”

“…Closet” she snarled, hatefully.

“Which closet?” Celestia pressed.

“Janitorial closet…”

“What?” Sunset laughed, “Seriously!?”

“I just got here this morning!” the Changeling protested. “It was my job to infiltrate the castle staff and get close to Celestia! It wouldn’t have been so difficult if security hadn’t been tightened after those idiots failed to abduct Cadenza! So, I was working under short notice!”

“Celestia, if you want-I’ll hold this clown here for now while you go check up on your friend.”

“Thank you, Sunset-I will also notify the guard and they can take over for you.”

The Changeling watched longingly Celestia left the dining hall, taking all of that love and compassion with her, leaving her alone with…this.

Sunset was regarding the Changeling with a large grin, being tortured was one thing, but being humiliated at the expense of the Princess of the Sun and the one who burned down their old hive was something else entirely.

A pair of guards entered the room followed by Celestia with her wing draped around Copper, who still had some green resin in her mane and coat.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

She nodded weakly.

Sunset released the Changeling, causing it to drop to the ground as the guards galloped towards it.

She then shook her head, chuckling.

“Janitor’s closet…”

Author's Note

Sunset and Celestia's after-breakfast experience.

Next up is Flash and Shining Armor with their Changeling interrogation.

Interrogation

Shining Armor waited for Flash to catch up with him before heading down to the holding cells.

“So, uh, how do you want to do this, Cap?”

While there had always been criminals and drunks that needed to be locked up, actual prisoners of war were a rarity thanks to Celestia’s skillful delegations in maintaining peace between Equestria and the lands beyond.

“The good cop, bad cop routine?” Flash suggested.

“That sounds like our best bet-but, I think I’ll handle the more aggressive line of questioning, I know in the past you’ve had some issues with your temper, no offense. And I have more experience dealing in utilizing restraint.”

“Such as?”

Shining shot him a look.

“You really don’t think I’ve heard what others say about me? About how wealthy my parents are? How I got to be Captain and my baby sister just happens to be Celestia’s protégé? Or the ‘subtle’ insinuations on what the circumstances were for my relationship with Cadance?”

Flash regarded him with unease.

“So yeah, I do have a lot of practice keeping my temper in check. Make no mistake, as many advantages as it may seem like I had on the outside-the truth is I worked my ass off to earn this position.”

“So, you’ve heard about all that stuff, huh?”

“I’d have to be pretty ignorant not to.”

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking….what were you and Rainbow Dash talking about in the hall?” Flash asked, deciding to change the subject.

“Dash wanted to come with us, but I told her that she wasn’t trained to deal with something like this.” Shining replied, nonchalantly.

“Wait, wait, wait…this girl helped your sister stop both Nightmare Moon and Discord, who were both practically gods with their powers, yet you won’t let her come with us in a controlled environment to interrogate some oversized bugs because she doesn’t have any training?” Flash asked incredulously.

“Well…yeah, but by that logic-”

“Look, I’m not trying to criticize you or anything, but I just don’t understand your reasoning here-are you afraid she’s going to show us up or something?”

“What!? No, I just-look, she’s one of Twilight’s best friends and she’s become a good friend of mine, too.”

“Uh-huh, just like how Cadance was a ‘good friend’?” Flash insinuated, slyly.

“What about you and this Sunset Shimmer?” Shining retorted. “Even after getting back to the castle, you seem to be spending an awful lot of time with her…”

“Even if what you’re suggesting is true, would that be a problem?”

“It might be. Whatever her intentions are at this point, there’s no denying that she’s dangerous and I think you should be on your guard around her-at least, until we get this who Changeling issue resolved.”

The holding cells weren’t too different than any typical dungeon; although, some of the cells had shackles as an extra precaution to restrain the more violent prisoners. Still being relatively early, most of the cells were empty, save for a tan stallion who was awaiting trial after attempting to murder his wife and daughter, who was still sleeping on his cot. Across from him was a cerulean mare with a red mane who was con artist, she was leaning up against the wall of her cell as she watched the guards walk by. At the very end of the hall was a another stallion, this one white (which appeared grey as it was covered in filth), who would rock back and forth in a fetal position while muttering nonsensical things to himself-he was being held until a psychiatric evaluation could be done on him.

In the middle cell, on the right were the Changelings, secluded from all of the other prisoners. Sitting on a stool in front of the cell was Stationary, a grey Unicorn guard who was reading a magazine. Stationary looked up as soon as he saw Flash and Shining Armor approach.

“Shining Armor! You have to help; there’s been a terrible mistake!” Twilight cried out from the cell.

“That guard is a Changeling!” Rainbow Dash added.

Flash’s jaw dropped open upon seeing Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Sunset locked in the cell. Shining Armor merely turned to Stationary. “How long have they been doing this?”

“All night,” he replied. “I get how they know about your sister and her friend, but how do they know that other girl?”

“It’s…a long story.” Flash replied.

“Isn’t it always?” he asked rhetorically. “So, how do you want to do this?”

Shining Armor glared at the Changeling impersonating Twilight.

“We’ll talk with that one first.”

Stationary pulled the key ring out from his armor with his teeth before unlocking the door to the cell.

“Alright, ‘Twilight’ your big brother wants to ask you a few questions in private.”

The false Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash glared as she was escorted out of the cell before Stationary slammed the door shut behind them and locked it.

“Don’t get too comfortable, I’m sure the Captain will be back to have a word with you next.”

Shining Armor lead ‘Twilight’ to the interrogation room at the end of the hall, stealthily casting the same chain spell that he had used on the Changeling he caught up to with Rainbow Dash, while Flash uneasily brought up the rear.

She must have sensed his uneasiness as she swished her tail side to side to accentuate her flank before looking back at him with a sultry grin.

Flash’s heart sped up as he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment at the thoughts popping into his head before he realized what the Changeling was trying to do.

‘Relax,’ he told himself. ‘You’re a guard, just stick to the plan and try to look as stoic as possible and if you’re lucky, maybe the Captain won’t notice anything…off-’

Flash’s thoughts were cut short when the group came to a halt as Shining Armor opened the door, which had a small square window near the top so conversations could be observed. The room it revealed was dimly lit with a rectangular wooden table resting horizontally in the middle of the room. Neither guard had ever been in the room for an extensive period of time, given how quickly most conflicts seemed to be resolved so far in their tenure.

‘Twilight’ regarded Shining Armor timidly with watery eyes, while he managed to retain his steely exterior despite this. He shot a look at Flash before following the Changeling inside. Slowly moving towards the small viewing window, Flash couldn’t help but feel both curious and terrified with how they were able know who were important to them before impersonating their looks and voices so effortlessly. It seemed like the only strategic flaw these Changelings had were their behavior-based on everything he seen and heard about Twilight Sparkle-even before he joined the guard contradicted this Changeling’s impersonation of her.

“I’m glad you came to get me.” She started, “Those guards can be so mean…”

“Stop that.” Shining ordered.

“Stop what?” she asked, feigning confusion.

“That, you’re not my sister-you might look like her, but you certainly don’t act like her.”

“Shining, you’re scaring me.”

‘Twilight’ now adopted a wavering voice and began to massage her left foreleg nervously.

“Look Changeling, I’ve had a rough week thanks to you and your friends-so I’d appreciate it if you cut the crap and have the decency to speak to me face to face.”

“But, Shining it’s me-Twilight! The Changelings that you caught earlier escaped and ambushed me before locking me in that cell!”

“Really?” Shining pressed skeptically. “You, the most talented Unicorn in Equestria and personal student of Princess Celestia, the Element of Magic-couldn’t handle a group of just three Changelings by herself?”

“They…took my by surprise.” She replied quietly. “Why are you interrogating me? I told you what happened! Don’t you trust me?”

She then lowered her head.

“You’re my big brother, you’re supposed to protect me…don’t you love me anymore? That’s why you never told me about you and Cadance, isn’t it? I’m just not that important to you anymore…maybe I never was to begin with…”

Shining glared at her for a full minute before responding.

“We’re done here.”

He then got up and motioned for Flash to open the door before stepping out.

“Harder than you thought, huh?” the words slipped before Flash’s mind could filter them, resulting in a death glare from Shining Armor.

“He, she-it is a terrible actor, but it knew what buttons to push-it took everything I had not to slam it against the wall and start tearing it apart.”

“Do you want me to have crack at it, sir?” Flash offered.

“Do you think you’re up for it?”

Flash looked back through the viewing window to see Twilight’s doppelganger looking back at him from the table with a devilish grin.

“Yeah, my relationship with Twilight isn’t really that personal-so I’ll probably have better luck, no offense.”

Shining gestured for him to go for it as Flash entered the room.

“Hey there handsome, what happened to the other one?” she greeted.

“Why don’t we talk about you, instead?” He suggested.

“Why bother talking?” she asked, rhetorically. “When we can get to know each other intimately, in more ‘fun’ ways?”

Shining felt the anger rise up again, the fact that this creature was impersonating his sister and using it in an attempt to seduce his subordinate disgusted him to no end.

“Heh,” Flash replied. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m more interested in talking.”

“You’re no fun.” The Changeling replied, pouting.

“You do realize that the real Twilight Sparkle would never act this way, right?” he asked. “Now, since you’re obviously not fooling anyone-would you mind answering a few questions?”

“Maybe, would you mind answering a few of mine?”

“Fair enough,” Flash conceded.

“Why are you allied with Sunset Shimmer? We thought she had been exiled by Celestia.”

“No,” he replied. “Her exile was self-imposed, she was frustrated with her lack of progress in Celestia’s studies and set out on her own, sometime after which I assume she ran into you guys. Originally she returned to…well, I’m not entirely sure, but she hates you.”

“All because we did what was necessary to survive in Appaloosa, under the Queen’s orders.” She mused.

“You murdered her best friend, what did you think her reaction would be?”

“It was never our intention to kill her, we were attempting to feed off her, take her back to the hive, and convert her-but, she fought back and we did what was necessary to survive.”

“What gender are you really?” Flash asked, taking the Changeling off-guard.

“What? Can’t you see? I’m obviously female.”

“No, what gender are you really?” Flash emphasized.

“….Male.” The Changeling replied, reverting back to its true form.

“Gender is of little consequence as long as there is another Changeling or Equine.” He replied.

“Do you have a name?”

“Unless you’re of royal lineage, names are of no consequence-we go by rank, which is delegated through pheromones and specific mindsets once we are hatched-it’s far too complex to explain to you in words, but in your terms I would be ranked as the one-hundred and nineteenth infiltrator of my brood.” The Changeling explained.

“Hmm, that’s kinda long…do you mind if I call you something shorter?”

“There’s really no point, as soon as the Queen arrives-you and your precious Princess will be wiped out-if not outright converted to our cause as soon as your love expires.”

Flash leaned forward.

“Are you telling me that your queen won’t be willing to negotiate?” he pressed.

“We don’t negotiate.” The Changeling scoffed. “Your princess and her idiotic ideals of pacifism are part of the reason we targeted your kind in the first place.”

“Okay, so why tell me this now? You weren’t very cooperative earlier and it didn’t take too much time or effort on my part before you began opening up.” Flash asked, trying to mask his genuine confusion with a more assertive tone.

“As you’ve said earlier, I wasn’t fooling anyone and any information I do give you ultimately doesn’t matter-this will all play out the same way, regardless-Equestria will fall and the Changelings will take over.” The Changeling replied. “Not to long after that, me and my fellow infiltrators will be executed for our failure to complete the task we were assigned.”

“If you really believe that, then why give me and the Captain such a hard time?”

The Changeling shrugged, “Might as well have some fun before I die.”

“Are there any more infiltrators in the castle or heading here?”

“Probably, we’ve been gone long enough for the Queen to get irritated and send someone else to complete the job and capture or kill us as punishment-they’d probably be a guard or someone in the castle staff-too risky to try changing into more prominent figures this late…”

“Like Celestia?”

The Changeling burst into fit of laughter which with his vocal arrangement, came out as quite unnerving.

Flash waited patiently for the laughter to subside before the Changeling calmed back down, wiping a tear from his insect-like eye.

“Only the Queen has the power and physiology to change into something like an Alicorn.” He explained. “What I also find hilarious is how you ponies like to play soldier when you honestly believe your biggest weakness is your biggest strength.”

“And what would that be?”

The Changeling turned his head, so he was looking directly at the viewing window.

“Your compassion.” He replied. “Kindness, mercy, your loyalty to your comrades will kill you when it comes down to a real conflict-one like ours, where your precious ruler is too weak-willed to use your Elements to stop us thanks to the mental illness you call a ‘conscience’. Instead she wishes to ‘help’ us and be our friend-when the best thing you could do is make it easier and us and yourselves by submitting.”

“What you’re thinking of isn’t a soldier-it’s a sociopath.” Flash replied. “I’m a Pegasus-I know that we’ve had a long and bloody history with brutal war tactics and punishments-even towards our own. And while that might have worked for a time, I don’t think we would have allied with Unicorns and Earth Ponies if we didn’t realize that method was fundamentally flawed. If Celestia murdered or exiled Luna after she was purified by the Elements of Harmony, we wouldn’t have her guarding the night today.”

“How noble,” The Changeling commented dryly. “Unfortunately, I think you’ll find that most species don’t play by the same rules.”

“I know, but doing the right thing isn’t always smart, easy, or even rewarding-but, some of us can’t live with ourselves if we don’t at least make an effort.”

Flash got up and exited the room to speak with Shining Armor.

“So how honest do you think he was, Cap?”

Shining exhaled deeply before replying, “I think everything he said was the truth if he’s dead anyway, and the Changelings have no sense of loyalty outside of fear-then there really wouldn’t be any reason for him to lie.”

“Unless he’s still screwing with us,” Flash suggested. “You still want to speak with the other two?”

“Of course, we have to see how much of this matches up to determine how truthful they’re being.”

“And they’ll probably be playing the same kind of games…” Flash sighed.

“If it was easy, anyone could do it.” Shining reminded him. “Besides, as guards it’s our job to make sure everyone is safe-no matter how hard or tedious it is.”

He then gestured for the Changeling to follow them back to the holding cell, mentally preparing himself for the next couple of interrogations.

Author's Note

I never want to write another interrogation scene again...sorry this took so long, I didn't realize how difficult this was going to be.

Next we get to see what Rainbow Dash is up to.

Reunion

As she watched Shining Armor leave, Rainbow Dash felt that strange feeling again-it was a lot like the mix of fear and exhilaration she felt between the time she would freefall from a cloud and spreading her wings before she could hit the ground.

Internally, she was terrified-whatever this feeling was, if she made it publicly known it could severely damage her daredevil reputation. That in turn could lead to everyone losing respect for her. And if that happened…she wasn’t sure what she would do.

‘He doesn’t want you to come along because he knows you’re a failure-a fake.’

That voice in her subconscious was just like those guys in Cloudsdale-only she could never get away from it-no matter how far she flew or how hard she tried to drown it out or ignore it never went away. It was a constant reminder of her failures and unfulfilled dreams, of how unless she was the best at something, she was nothing.

‘It was just a fluke that you ended up with the Element of Loyalty, probably because each bearer could only have one-Applejack is more loyal, honest, a better friend, and athlete than you could ever hope to be-and everyone knows it.’

Dash frequently wondered if normal ponies had this problem and had been tempted to ask Twilight at few times, but if it wasn’t and she really was crazy-then she could risk ending up like Screw Loose. Just the thought made her shudder, being kept in a straight jacket, literally barking mad. When she the Daring Do book back from the hospital, it was little more than an afterthought, but now it seemed like a terrifying possibility.

‘They only keep up the charade of being your friends because they pity you-what will happen when they get bored with you and your lame stunts?' the voice asked rhetorically. 'They’ll throw you out like yesterday’s trash-the only thing you’ve ever done that could be considered worthwhile is take care of Fluttershy, but now that she no longer lives in Cloudsdale and has new friends to stick up for her-she no longer has any use for you.'

“S-shut up….” She whispered. “Just go away…please…”

Most of these thoughts were pretty old, but they always found ways of coming back like one of Daring Do’s cursed artifacts.

A glance around the hall confirmed that she was alone. She hated being alone, these thoughts always came back darker and louder whenever she was alone. Even after helping Twilight stop Nightmare Moon, they told her that she didn’t really need her help-that anyone else with wings could have saved her-that, she was an idiot for even being tempted to join a group like the obviously evil Shadowbolts and all she did was slow everyone else down.

Dash desperately tried to remember where everyone else was and what they were doing; she had to find someone-anyone to talk to-just to get away from her thoughts.

She turned around to come face to face with Twilight.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” she gasped after nearly colliding with her. “Sorry about that, I was just heading back to pick up my book….is Celestia still speaking with Sunset Shimmer?”

“Yeah…” Dash breathed. “So, what’s with that Sunset chick and talking to you and the Princess like that, anway?”

“Well, she’s definitely rude.” Twilight agreed. “But, the more I listened to her; the more convinced I became that she has a lot of unresolved issues that need to be dealt with-I mean if I ever lost my brother, Spike or any of you girls-I’m not sure what I’d do.”

‘Really?’ Dash thought.

“I’m not saying that excuses her behavior.” she clarified. “But, I can sort of understand where she’s coming from emotionally, after having someone important to her taken away by these Changelings. And it sounds like it was pretty recent for her….”

“So, do you still want to go in and try getting it?” Dash asked.

“No,” Twilight sighed. “I’d rather not interrupt the Princess over something that may be trivial compared to whatever they’re talking about in there.”

“I could stealthily sneak in and get it back out before they even notice.” Dash suggested.

“Well, that book is pretty good, but I don’t think it’s worth driving you back to petty theft.” Twilight replied. “I appreciate the offer though.”

“So, what do you want to do then? I’m getting kinda bored.”

“We could go down to the station and meet up with Spike and the girls.”

“Sounds good.”

When they arrived at the station, Spike and the rest of the girls were already on the platform waiting for them.

“So, if these ‘Changelings’ can make themselves look like any of our friends or family members, how are we supposed to fight ‘em?” Applejack asked.

“Just because they look like someone, doesn’t necessarily mean that they know how to emulate their behavior.” Twilight explained. “We just have to keep an eye out for others acting strange.”

“Of course, it’s difficult for them to copy some us.” Rarity added. “I happen to be a fabulous actress and Pinkie Pie is…well, Pinkie Pie.”

“Ooh, ooh! And because we actually care about each other and have picnics! When Changelings are a bunch of love-vampires who probably can’t even eat real food!” Pinkie cut in, excitedly.

“Um, right…” Twilight replied. “But more importantly, we have Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance helping us along with my brother.”

“Why can’t we just use the Elements of Harmony to stop them?” Spike pressed impatiently, crossing his arms.

“Um, I would also not like to fight anyone…if that’s okay…” Fluttershy added timidly.

“Unfortunately, we’re not entirely certain how the Elements will react and Celestia believes that some of the Changelings may be innocent in all of this…especially since some of them used to be ponies.” Twilight replied.

“Come again?” Applejack asked, as the others stared blankly at Twilight in confusion.

As Twilight repeated Sunset Shimmer’s analysis of the Changeling’s anatomy, Rainbow Dash’s thoughts wandered back to Shining Armor.

There were only two of the girls she could ask advice from; Princess Cadance was supposed to be the Princess of Love, but things obviously hadn’t worked out between her and Shining Armor too well. That and there was the potential that telling her that she had a crush on her ex-boyfriend, would probably make her pretty jealous…especially if this was brought to her attention so soon after they had broken up.

Rarity had always been more into romance than anyone else she knew, always trying to find the perfect guy. Only, it never seemed to work out for her…and she was a huge gossip, which meant her reputation as a daredevil could be put on the line. But, then again…she seemed like the best option she had if she didn’t want to risk Cadance using her princess powers to legally have her wings removed in a jealous rage.

Well, that was probably pretty unlikely…but, still the wrath of a princess was not something she was very eager to face.

Author's Note

Spike and the girls meet up with Twilight and Dash again.

So next up we get to see how Dash's plan goes...

Advice

Upon returning to the castle, the group approached a light grey Unicorn mare wearing glasses along with a collar and red cravat, her dark brown mane was pulled back in a bun and her Cutie Mark was of a pen and inkwell.

“Is Princess Celestia finished speaking with Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked.

“She is,” Raven replied. “However, something else came up that required her attention-apparently, yet another Changeling had managed to infiltrate the castle and has attacked one of the kitchen staff.”

Everyone in the group exchanged nervous glances.

“But, everything’s fine now…right?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, Sunset Shimmer has managed to subdue the creature and Princess Celestia is currently taking care of the mare in question-the ordeal has her quite shaken, so her majesty has delegated to me the task of showing you all to your rooms.” Raven replied.

“Follow me, please.”

Raven turned around as she began leading them inside of the castle.

After leading each member of the group to their respective rooms and being thanking Raven left the girls to get settled in;only Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike remained.

In the castle hall, leading to each of the guest rooms there were several guards standing sentry, stoic as ever-but, watching the group in case one of them turned out to be another Changeling trying to infiltrate the castle.

Raven turned to address Spike.

“I’m afraid no rooms were prepared for you specifically, due to the fact that her majesty assumed you and Miss Sparkle would prefer to share the same room as you had before moving to Ponyville.” She informed him.

“However, I can take the liberty of preparing a room, just in case that assumption was incorrect and you would prefer your own room.”

“Uh, no thanks…” he replied. “I kind of want to stick with Twilight-especially if more of those Changeling things show up.”

“I understand…are there any more questions or concerns that you feel need to be addressed?” Raven asked, looking at the remaining trio.

“Yeah…” Dash replied. “So, are you like, the assistant for Celestia and Luna?”

“Regrettably, I cannot perform both duties as I do require sleep.” Raven replied. “However, I believe that there is a member of the Night Guard who assists Princess Luna-since Bat Ponies are nocturnal, they can perform their duties just as efficiently as myself.”

“Huh…”

“In any case, these gentlecolts will be standing guard outside of your friends’ rooms to ensure that no harm comes to them during their stay.” Raven continued, gesturing to the guards. “

“What about Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked. “What did she do after apprehending the Changeling?”

“I am unsure…I lost track of her after the guards took the Changeling to the dungeon.”

“Sounds kinda suspicious to me.” Dash commented.

“Sunset Shimmer has always been a very private student-at least, back when she was studying under the Princess.” Raven replied. “It was not unusual for her to take off on her own back then, sometimes she did this to be alone so she could think and other times she just found herself too annoyed with others to continue being around them for a prolonged period of time.”

“So you think she can be trusted?” Dash pressed.

“Princess Celestia seems willing to trust her….that is good enough for me.” Raven replied hesitantly. “If you wish, I can escort you back to your bedchambers…”

“Nah, I’m good.” Dash replied, waving a hoof casually. “I think I can take on anything some Changeling can throw at me-besides, there’s something I’ve gotta take care of.”

Twilight looked at her suspiciously-what exactly did she need to take care of? She couldn’t have hurt herself flying-she probably would have said something over breakfast…Actually, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Rainbow fly since breakfast, which was quite odd for her…

“What about you and Spike, Miss Sparkle?” Raven asked, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.

“Oh, um, we’re fine-thanks for the offer, though.” She replied.

“Very well, then if you’ll excuse me-there are still some royal duties that I must attend to while the princess is preoccupied.”

And with that, Raven cantered down the hall towards the throne room.

“Like I said, I have uh, a thing…” Dash said nervously, turning back to Twilight.

‘She’s acting strange, actually I haven’t seen her act like this since she broke her wing…which means she’s either trying to hide something-or she’s a Changeling.'

It was a scary thought, but given the increased security and recent events-it seemed horrifically plausible-one of them could have flanked Rainbow and knocked her unconscious…it could have happened before they met up again after breakfast.

‘Still, you might just be over-thinking things Twilight,’ she reminded herself. ‘After all, this evidence is circumstantial at best and would never hold up without any actual proof-it’s possible that all of this stress is getting to her and she’s just too proud to let anyone else know about it.’

While she was hoping to avoid another embarrassment like the infamous Smarty Pants incident, if anyone was hurting one of her friends-she was going to make them pay.

Silently, she watched as Rainbow Dash slowly loped towards Rarity’s room.

‘Why is she going in there?’

While it wasn’t unheard of for the two to occasionally spend time together, those moments were decidedly rare compared to the time she seemed to spend with Twilight and the rest of the girls.

“Spike?” Twilight addressed him, lowering her voice.

“Y-yeah?” he asked, wringing his claws while glancing around the hall, nervously.

“I’m just going to check on Rainbow Dash to make sure everything’s alright with her-she’s been acting a bit strange…will you be alright in our old by yourself for a while?”

“B-but, that’s all the way on the other side of the castle!” he exclaimed. “What if one of those things attacks me on the way there?”

Twilight looked around at the guards, there seemed to be one for each door-she wanted one of them to escort, but she couldn’t ask one of them to leave their post.

That was when she saw Flash enter the hall.

“Hey!” she called over, causing him to flinch slightly. “Are you busy?”

“Um, no…I just finished interrogating the new Changeling they brought in.” he replied, approaching her. “Why? Is there something you need?”

“Yes, I need someone to escort my friend here back to his room.” Twilight replied, gesturing to Spike.

“He’s a little jumpy right now and I have something I need to take care of, so I would appreciate it if you could look after him until I get back.”

“Sure,” he then turned to the young dragon. “So, you must be Spike, huh?”

He nodded weakly.

“Well, come on then.” Flash replied, gesturing for him to follow.

Rainbow Dash stood outside of Rarity’s room, rubbing her foreleg nervously, unsure of how she was going to do this. The stallion standing guard’s gaze shifted to her and even through his stoic exterior, she could tell he was growing suspicious of her. Slowly, she raised her hoof and began rapping on the door.

“Come in!” Rarity replied, brightly.

Slowly, Dash pushed the door open before entering-despite the short time she had been in staying in the castle, Rarity had already made quite a bit of progress making herself more at home. There was a desk with a semi-complete image of an outfit design. Rarity meanwhile, seemed to be laying out a few fabrics on her bed.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed, turning her head to see her through her red spectacles. “What an unexpected surprise…to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I, uh….”

Her mind blanked, actually talking about this was so much harder than she had imagined.

“I need to ask you something…” she began, slowly.

“Yes?” Rarity prompted.

“It’s….about-if I tell you this, you have to promise to keep it a secret-you can’t tell anyone.” Dash emphasized.

“I promise-”

“Because if you do, our friendship is officially over-I will never speak to you again.” Dash warned her, the tone of her voice was deathly serious.

“Alright….I promise, that I will not tell a soul.” Rarity breathed. By the way Rainbow Dash had made it sound, whatever she needed to ask her about sounded gravely important. If whatever Rainbow Dash was coming to her with was indeed so important, she had no idea what could be so important to get her this worked up.

“Okay,” Dash breathed, her heart was beginning to pound in her chest-she was taking a huge risk confiding in a gossip like Rarity, here was hoping it would pay off.

“I need your advice on…having a crush.” She stated in hushed voice, as if the walls were paper-thin and the entire castle could burst into the room at any moment and start mocking her.

Despite herself, Rarity couldn’t help but burst in hysterical laughter as Rainbow Dash’s cheeks began to turn a deep shade of crimson, visible through her fur.

“Is that really what this is all about?” Rarity breathed between bouts of laughter.

“FINE!” Dash shouted, her wings flaring in anger. “I didn’t want to come here for your stupid advice, anyway!”

She then turned to leave before Rarity stopped her.

“Rainbow, wait! I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have laughed…”

Dash stopped.

“You just caught me off-guard with that question-you made it sound like this was a matter of life or death, but then you tell me it’s about a crush.” Rarity continued. “I can certainly understand how delicate dealing with a crush can be, but you just oversold it so much-especially coming from well, you-no offense.”

“And that’s why I can’t tell anyone else…” Dash sighed, keeping herself turned away more out of shame, now. “It’s me. I’ve built my entire life around being tough and cool because that was what might have gotten me into the Wonderbolts, but now that I’m not doing that-it could hurt my reputation as a respectable athlete.”

Rarity took off her glasses, “I’m afraid, I don’t follow…”

“All of the athletes I’ve ever looked up to have been tough and cool as daredevils, if I like someone and I go out on dates with them or kiss them and…stuff and others find out about it-it could ruin my image-the one I worked so hard to keep since leaving Cloudsdale…I’m not sure if anyone else could understand that…”

Twilight put her ear up to the door as the guard standing next to it eyed her suspiciously.

“Just…making sure everything’s okay…” she whispered sheepishly.

Instead of replying, he merely continued to watch her as she returned to the door to hear her friends’ voices.

“Darling, I’m a fashionista-of course, I understand how important one’s image is.” Rarity replied softly. “Not just in fashion sense, but in being respected by your peers-you are telling me that you have a crush on someone, but you are worried that simply having a crush will cause others to lose respect for you, correct?”

“Um…yeah.”

“Would it be too much for me to ask you who the lucky stallion is?” Rarity asked delicately.

Rainbow Dash turned around to face her and gave her a skeptical look.

“Or mare?” she ventured. “Look, I’m not going to judge you but, even if you don’t want to tell me who they are specifically, having some idea may help me get a better understanding of how you should approach this.”

“No, it’s a guy…” Dash replied. “Actually, that’s another part of the reason I came here-he’s actually the older brother of one of our friend’s-one of our close friends.”

“I see,” Rarity replied, everything now clicked into place-Rainbow Dash not only had a crush, but had the misfortune of having her first crush being a relative of one of their closest friends.

“And I can certainly see how that would complicated matters-you want to share your affection with this stallion, but in doing so you run the risk of ruining a longtime friendship-certainly tricky, but I have heard of such relationships working before.” She mused.

This raised a red flag for Twilight, Rainbow Dash having a crush? Rainbow Dash!? It just seemed so un-Rainbow Dash-like, she had never shown any interest in romance before…

And what was she so worried about? She certainly wouldn’t judge her for it and she doubted Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie would either. Applejack maybe with family being so important to her…

“Well, I can’t say he’s the stallion I would have chosen-a little too muddy, if you ask me.” Rarity continued. “But, you and Applejack have a pretty strong friendship-in fact, sometimes you seem so alike, you’re practically like sisters already…”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Dash asked, cocking her head.

“Big Macintosh of course, don’t get me wrong, I can certainly see the appeal-”

“WHAT!? NO! SHINING ARMOR!” she exclaimed, before putting both hooves over her mouth.

“WHAT!?” Twilight exclaimed, causing the guard to jump before she remembered why she was her and cupped a hoof over her mouth.

Her brother!? Why was she so interested in Shining Armor? This had to be a Changeling…Rainbow Dash with a crush was surreal enough, but a crush on Shining Armor!?

‘Okay, I guess I can kind of see why…’ she thought to herself. ‘Shining certainly isn’t ugly, he’s a good brother, a pretty nice guy, and being in the guard, his muscles must be reasonably enough toned for other mares to find him physically attractive…’

But still, there hadn’t been sufficient enough evidence to convince her that this wasn’t just a Changeling impersonating Rainbow in some elaborate scheme to incapacitate Shining Armor and weaken the guard from the inside.

Despite fearing she would regret it; Twilight placed her ear against the wood of the door once again.

“Shining Armor…as in Twilight’s brother?” Rarity asked.

Dash nodded weakly.

“I’m afraid I don’t know as much about him as I would like…”

Rainbow Dash’s ears flattened, she had almost forgotten that Rarity had never interacted with him.

“Wait, why does it matter how much you know about him?” she asked, confused. “I thought there was just like, some super easy, secret way to do all this mushy stuff?”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you’re naiveté is adorable.” Rarity laughed. “Now while it is true that some girls resort to using less….subtle methods of catching the interests of stallions…”

As she spoke, her cheeks began to flush.

“I don’t think that’s really a good way to woo a stallion-not for more than a night, at least…” Rarity continued.

“Well, it’s not just trying to get him to notice me without turning myself into a laughingstock.” Dash sighed, taking a seat next to Rarity on the bed. “It’s also Cadance, she was dating him before the Changelings attacked…and I’m kind of worried about that-especially so soon after that they broke up.”

“I see…” Rarity replied. “Princess Cadance is supposed to be the Princess of Love, so I would imagine she would understand your feelings.”

“And what about Twilight?” Dash pressed. “I can’t really just go up to her and say ‘Hey, Twi-I like your brother, is it cool if we go out and stuff?’”

“Hmm…Twilight has certainly been shown quite unstable as of late…” Rarity noted, remembering the Smarty Pants incident and what she had heard from Spike about Twilight panicking about a message she had received from a future version of herself.

“Yeah, and I don’t want her to cast some kind of spell that makes me fall in love with a Timberwolf or something and get me shredded to pieces…” Dash added.

“Now, I doubt she would go that far.” Rarity chastised. “But, I do see why you’re worried about ruining your friendship with her over this…perhaps if you spoke to her in private and broke the news to her delicately?”

“I…guess that could work.” Dash replied, uncertainly. “But, what about Shining Armor? How do I tell him without looking like a loser? If I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same way-I might lose all the respect he might have for me.”

“Maybe you should just try being yourself?” Rarity suggested. “You are always going on about how you’re the best flyer in Equestria and you did manage to win the Best Young Flyer competition.”

“And get snubbed by the Wonderbolts at the Gala…” Dash added, contemptuously.

“Well, after you saved their lives-I would have to say that’s their loss and they don’t deserve a flyer of your ability-and if Shining Armor turns out to be like them and fails to be able to appreciate you for who you are; just know that we always will.”

“Thanks, Rarity…”

Twilight jumped back as the door opened to reveal Rainbow Dash exiting the room.

“Twilight? What are you doing out here?”

“Oh! Rainbow Dash! I was….I, uh…”

‘Come on Twilight, think! THINK!’

“I was reading a book and my legs fell asleep, so I uh…decided to take a stroll down the castle halls to try and wake them up!”

“Uh-huh,” Dash replied, not completely convinced. “So, do you think we could talk about something in private for a minute?”

“Oh, really?” Twilight asked. “Because I was just about to head back to my room…”

Desperately, she moved in an attempt to head back down the hall before Rainbow Dash jumped in front of her, blocking her path.

“Look, this is kinda important…and I really just want to get this over with…” she insisted.

Twilight already knew what she was going to say, but she hadn’t even had time to process her own feelings about this yet. How could she tell Rainbow how she felt, if she hadn’t had time to properly assess the situation? As desperate as she was to share this information with her, Twilight was just as desperate to avoid the issue for the time being.

The guard that had been watching her had his gaze shift to watch the spectacle unfolding before him with the same expression.

‘Will you stop looking at me like that!?’ she screamed internally as she began to sweat.

“Look, Rainbow I-uh, you see….there’s not really any need for you to tell me this.”

Dash cocked her head to the side.

“Huh?”

“I-I already know what you’re going to say because I…I sort of…already heard everything…” Twilight continued nervously.

“YOU WERE SPYING ON ME!?” Dash shouted in outrage, taking a step forward as her wings flared.

“I…” Twilight fell back a few paces, her ears lowering. “I didn’t mean to-I mean, technically I was eavesdropping because I couldn’t really see anything…” she rambled.

“The whole reason I kept this secret from you is because I respected you too much as a friend and I was afraid of losing your trust-but, you don’t even trust me enough not to spy on me?” Dash fumed.

“I didn’t mean to overhear that!” Twilight retorted. “The only reason I was spying on you was because you were acting strange and I was worried that you were replaced by a Changeling!”

Dash blinked, taken aback.

“Seriously?” she asked. “You thought some stupid bug could take me on?”

“I didn’t say it was singular, I was worried that a group of Changelings had abducted you or worse.” Twilight elaborated.

“So what do you think about….y’know?” Dash asked quietly.

“Honestly? I’m not sure…” she sighed. “This…it’s a lot to take in and I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. I mean, he’s my brother…and you’re one of my best friends, but…”

“But?” Dash prompted.

“I….just don’t know.” She answered honestly. “I need to think about this…”

This time, Rainbow Dash sighed. She wished she could have gotten a more straightforward answer, she hated waiting and it felt like she had done more than her fair share already. But then again, she knew how complicated this emotional stuff was…it seemed like nothing but a huge nightmare since she first started feeling this way.

“Okay, I get it.” Dash replied, “But, when you’re ready to let me know?”

“I will tell you in private.” Twilight agreed before making her way back to Spike.

Venting

“So you’re Spike…right?” Flash began as they walked down the hallway.

“Um, yeah…” Spike replied nervously. “H-how do you know who I am?”

“Well, there aren’t many other baby dragons around Canterlot…especially not ones with the student of Princess Celestia” Flash chuckled. “I’m Flash Sentry, by the way.”

Glancing back, he realized that Spike’s shorter legs kept him from keeping up with a more athletic, full-grown stallion and paused to give him time to catch up before adopting a slower pace.

“You know I’ve always been kinda interested in dragons and I have few questions I wanted to ask-if you don’t mind.” he added, looking over at Spike.

“Okay, I guess…what did you want to know?”

“How do you do that thing with the letters?” he asked. “I mean, I thought dragon fire was supposed to burn things…does yours work differently or…?”

“Nah, I can still use it to light fires for heat and cooking, but Princess Celestia taught me a special way to use it so Twilight and I could send letters to her whenever we were off running errands for her or if something came up when she wasn’t in Canterlot.” Spike replied.

As they left the guest room area, there were noticeably less guards which made him a little uncomfortable.

“So you’ve fought these Changelings…right?” Spike asked, anxiously wringing his claws as his eyes darted down the hall, as if he were worried one of them would pop out of nowhere and attack.

“Yeah…this past week has been pretty crazy.” Flash sighed before noticing Spike’s apprehension.

“Hey, don’t worry-I’m not about to let anything happen to you.” He reassured him.

“So, what’s your job in Ponyville?” Flash asked, noting that it didn’t work very well with Spike glancing over his shoulder.

At the question, Spike’s chest swelled with pride.

“I’m Twilight’s number one assistant, anything she needs help with-I’m her dragon; cooking, cleaning, writing lists for her, writing lists for those lists, helping her organize, running errands…”

“Wow, that’s quite an impressive résumé for such a little guy…” Flash commented as they approached Twilight’s room.

“Huh…”

“What is it?” Spike asked, nervously.

“Strange…I wonder why there isn’t any stationed here?” Flash commented before pushing the door open.

“I wonder why Twilight didn’t lock the door she left…” Spike murmured as he entered the bedroom, leaving Flash to stand awkwardly in the doorway before Spike turned back to face him.

“Um, Flash…can…can you stay here with me until Twilight gets back?” he asked, nearly whispering as his eyes darting around the room once more in case Changelings had hidden themselves under the bed or in one of the dresser drawers.

“Yeah,” Flash replied as he entered the room and shut the door behind him, he really wouldn’t have felt all that comfortable leaving the kid alone in a room that was completely unguarded with everything else that was going on.

Spike pulled up a wooden stool that he would use to perform some of his duties from back when he and Twilight still lived in Canterlot as sat in it as Flash sat on his haunches directly across from him.

“So is it hard?” Flash asked, “Doing all the things you do for Twilight?”

Spike shrugged.

“Sometimes…but, it’s not like she has me do everything-she can do a lot of things herself like research and note taking-a lot of it is advanced magical stuff, that I don’t really understand. Besides, she’s got Owlowicious to help her with a lot of the stuff she needs when she’s up working late at night.”

“Who?”

“Owlowiscious, he’s Twilight’s pet owl.” Spike replied. “Her night assistant.”

“Does he cook and clean, too?” Flash pressed, causing Spike to snicker.

“No, he mostly just gets books for her.”

At this point, Flash’s expression became serious as he leaned forward and lowered his voice.

“Why did Twilight leave you alone with me-what it she doing that’s so important?”

“W-what do you mean?” Spike stammered.

“Look, with all of these Changelings popping up recently we can’t really be taking any chances when someone display suspicious behavior.” He continued. “So, what is Twilight doing right now?”

“She said that our friend-Rainbow Dash-was acting weird and she wanted to check up on her.”

Flash cocked an eyebrow.

Maybe she suspected Rainbow Dash was a Changeling? But, if that were the case-why didn’t she speak to him or any of the other guards stationed around that area-there were more than a few of them, which than capable of handling a single Changeling. Then again, if she was close friends with Twilight, then she would probably know if anything was off better than any guard.

Flash’s ears perked up as he caught the sound of hooves approaching the bedroom and stood as he moved away from the door, which magically flung open as Twilight entered the room with her head hung.

Spike recognized this look, it wasn’t so much moping as much as it was Twilight contemplating something-though, she did seem a little disturbed.

“Hey, Twilight….is Rainbow Dash okay?” he asked softly.

“Huh?” her head lifted slightly as she turned to face him, as if she had been snapped out of a daydream.

“Oh, yeah….she’s fine…” Twilight replied, as her drifted down towards the floor.

Spike crawled towards the end of the bed and gripped the footboard with his tiny claws, an expression of concern on his face.

“Then why do you look so sad?” he pressed.

“It-it’s nothing…” she sighed.

“Even if that’s true, I still think we should know about it.” Flash commented, causing Twilight to jump.

When she entered the room she didn’t even notice him-in fact, with everything that had been revealed eavesdropping on Rarity and Rainbow Dash-she had completely forgotten that she had even left him with Spike.

“Well, it’s not really any of your business.” She replied, irritably. “I appreciate you looking after Spike, but what I’m dealing with isn’t really something I feel like talking about right now.”

“Look, I’m not trying to pry.” Flash insisted. “But, with all of the Changelings that might be running around I’m afraid that it is the Royal Guard’s business to know what’s going on in case of Changeling infiltration, so we can protect both the castle staff and the citizens of Canterlot.”

“It has nothing to do with Changelings!” Twilight growled.

“That may be,” Flash conceded, approaching her. “But, if there is even the smallest possibility-”

“What goes on in my family is nobody’s business, but our own!” she shouted. “If it’s that important to you-then yes, I will talk to my brother about it-but it’s not your or anyone else in the stupid Guard’s business!”

Flash glared at her before making his way out as Twilight slammed the door behind him.

Spike’s heart was racing, after that outburst he was even more worried about her than before.

Twilight just stood there for a few moments, staring at the door before quietly repeating herself.

“It’s nobody else’s business…”

“Well, you didn’t have to rip his head off…” Spike commented before he could catch himself, fearing a similar verbal backlash.

“I know.” She sighed, slowly making her way around to the other side of the bed before collapsing next to him, her horn only barely missing the footboard.

“It’s just that....this is kind of a private issue and I don’t really want anyone else outside our family knowing about it.” She looked up at him. “Do you remember when I let it slip that you had a crush on Rarity?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, after you guys left I went to listen in on Rainbow and Rarity as planned-and I heard something…something I wish I hadn’t because after I finished listening to their conversation, Rainbow caught me and got mad at me for spying.” Twilight continued.

“And? What happened?” Spike prompted.

“It turns out that she has a crush on Shining Armor and she went to Rarity looking for romantic advice because she’s worried about ruining her ‘tough girl’ image if she’s in a relationship.” She sighed.

“Wow…that’s…wow.”

“Oh, but wait! It gets better! She wants to know what I think about it before she does anything because she’s worried about ruining our friendship.”

“So…what do you think?” Spike asked, cautiously.

“That’s just it!” Twilight exclaimed, throwing her forelegs up, “I don’t know!”

“I mean she’s one of my best friends but, he’s…he’s my brother, it just feels so complicated…and I can’t tell anyone else about it because when they were talking Rainbow said that if Rarity told anyone what they were talking about that their friendship would be over and she would never speak to her again.”

“But, you told me…” Spike pointed out.

“Yes, because this is a family matter-Shining Armor is probably going to find out sooner or later-if he hasn’t picked up on her feelings already and if they do get together, Mom and Dad are probably going to meet her at some point once they’ve been dating for a while…”

“I still don’t get you’re so weirded out by this…I mean, you’ve known about my crush on Rarity almost as long as we’ve been in Ponyville and you didn’t really make a big deal out of that…what makes this any different?”

Twilight averted her gaze.

“Wait a minute!” she exclaimed, jumping up. “That’s it! Spike, you’re a genius! Rarity!”

“Uh, thanks?" he replied. "I’m all for anything to do with Rarity, but how is she going to be able to help?”

“Don’t you see?” Twilight asked, excitedly. “Rainbow had the right idea when she went to Rarity for help, with all of those romance novels she reads and the personal experience she’s had, she probably knows how to deal with these kinds of emotions better than any of us, besides Rainbow already talked to her about this, so I won’t be violating her trust if I get advice from Rarity!”

Twilight then got off the bed as Spike followed suit before turning back to face him.

“Which reminds me; please don’t tell anyone else about this-things are already complicated enough.”

“My lips are sealed-now can we go see Rarity?”

“Alright,” Twilight chuckled, “How about after dinner?”

Assault

As Flash walked back into the hall, the door slammed behind him, he realized that whatever Twilight wag going through was probably personal and if that were the case, it would make sense that she didn’t want to talk about it.

But, didn’t she realize that he was just trying to do his job? Whatever happened could have been influenced by Changeling infiltration. If he was right and someone got hurt because she wouldn’t tell him what was going, it would be on his conscience.

Twilight had said that she would talk to Shining Armor about whatever happened, but how long would that take? The absence of a guard outside of the room wasn’t helping his growing sense of paranoia, either. There was no telling how deep the infiltration went if they Changelings they interrogated were telling the truth and their own allies were locking them out of the loop.

“Hey!” a feminine voice called out, causing him to jump before Sunset Shimmer revealed herself from behind a corner.

‘She sure has a way of sneaking up on people…’

“Wow, you know I kind of expected someone as pampered as Cadance to be jumpy in the face in an actual crisis-but, you’re supposed to be a guard-I thought you guys were supposed to be trained to be ready for anything?” She teased, slowly approaching him.

“So, why were you standing around out here anyway?” she pressed.

“I was…thinking.” Flash replied, still waiting for his heart to stop palpitating. “I thought you were another Changeling…I heard there was another attack while the Captain and I were interrogating the ones from last night.”

“Yeah, well I took of it.” Sunset replied almost apathetically before looking him in the eyes with an icy gaze.

“So, how did it go?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified; I am not authorized to speak to anyone about it aside from the Captain and Celestia.” He replied hesitantly, half-expecting a violent response.

She kept that cold stare on him for a few moments longer as another thought crept into his head-what if this was a Changeling? Given how little he and some of the others knew about her, it didn’t seem that unlikely that another one could have snuck into the castle and disguised itself as her. Still, Sunset did seem more than capable of taking care of herself when they were dealing with multiple Changelings-then again, what if this one decided not to confront her and she wasn’t even aware of its existence, yet?

“Yeah, alright…” Sunset finally chuckled, returning to her casual demeanor. “So you still haven’t answered my question…you said you were thinking about something earlier, but you haven’t told me what…I hope you didn’t hurt yourself too hard?”

Flash sighed as he turned away from her.

“After I came back from interrogating the Changelings, I ran into Twilight Sparkle and her dragon friend; Spike-she said that there was something she needed to check out and ask me to take him back to her room because he was freaked out about all the Changeling attacks.” He replied, beginning to pace in a circle.

“I waited with him and we made small talk until she came back, when she returned Spike noticed that she seemed really stressed out, but she refused to tell me what it was and I was worried that it might be something Changeling related-whether she realizes it or not so I insisted that she tell me for the sake of protecting others, but she still refused and then she freaked out about it.” He continued.

“And on top of that, there are guard’s stationed at every guest room-except for this one.”

“That is strange,” Sunset conceded. “You’d think Celestia would take extra precaution to protect my replacement-being the teacher’s pet she is, she must be a valuable asset to her.”

Flash looked back at Twilight’s door uncertainly.

“Maybe she did…and that’s what I’m worried about.”

“Well, why don’t we ask her…or Shining Armor.” Sunset suggested. “I wouldn’t mind getting another look at him.”

“That would probably be a waste of time, I heard that you and Celestia discovered that Changeling while we were interrogating the ones we’ve already captured.”

“So, we should talk to Celestia then.” Sunset concluded as she began walking before him. “If we hurry, we can catch her in the throne room before lunch.”

“Wait a minute…” Flash frowned. “If you were with Celestia when this happened, didn’t you stay long enough to find out what action she planned to take?”

Sunset looked back at him and smirked.

“Maybe…”

“Then you have to tell me!” he shouted. “We can’t risk having another Changeling running loose in the castle-just look at all the damage the others have caused!”

“The damage they almost caused.” Sunset corrected. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“But, if just one of them can get through-what could happen to one of the princesses?” Flash pressed.

Sunset rolled her eyes.

“C’mon Flash, I thought you were smarter than this-the reason they’re so desperate to get through our defenses is because of how powerful the Princesses are. Think about it; they are a species that feed on love, Cadance is the Princess of Love, Celestia is the beloved by pretty much everybody in Equestria, and even Luna after her ‘eternal darkness’ temper tantrum have a few citizens warming up to her.”

“Yeah, and that’s why we need to stay vigilant-they’re the perfect targets.” Flash countered.

“No, Cadance is the perfect target because she’s physically the weakest of the three, but the greatest food source for them, given that little spell of hers-that’s why the best chance they had was when they attacked her in a group.”

“Which is why if there’s more than one, we could be in trouble.” He pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point there.” Sunset sighed. “This is so annoying-I wish the rest of them and their Queen would show up already, so we can kill her and be done with this whole mess.”

Flash looked at her uncertainly; despite everything she still seemed determined to wipe the Changelings out.

“You know, some of the Changeling don’t enjoy doing this-but, they are lead to believe that they have to in order to survive.” He replied, without thinking.

“Oh?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “And did you come across this information during one of your interrogations?”

Flash was about to respond before Sunset cut him off.

“Yes, once Celestia got Copper Spatula calmed down, she ordered guards to stand outside every room, but considering how inept you seem to be at even the simplest tasks, I’d imagine he got lost trying to find Twilight’s room.”

“You’ve known about this…and you didn’t think that he could have been attacked by a Changeling on his way here?” Flash shouted, breaking into a frantic gallop. “There’s no telling how much damage it could have done by now!”

“I think you’re overreacting…” Sunset replied apathetically as Flash crashed into another white Earth Pony guard casually loping towards them.

The collision sent the guard’s helmet skittering across the floor, as he was about to get up Flash jumped on him and pressed the upper part of his foreleg against the other stallion’s throat.

“Who are you?” Flash demanded. “And where have you been?”

“Sentry, have you gone nuts!?” The guard choked,

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

The guard looked up at Flash fearfully; the stallion glaring back at him had a snarl upon his lips with his wings flared aggressively. Right now, the pressure was merely keeping him pinned to the floor-albeit extremely uncomfortably, but if he gave the wrong answer Flash could easily do some serious damage. It was at this moment Steel Vanguard realized that Flash may have finally snapped in part, because of everything they had put him through.

“Flash…maybe you want to chill out?” Sunset suggested cautiously as she slowly approached them.

“Steel Vanguard…I…I just went for a drink…” Steel replied, shakily. “Flash, what is this about?”

“And where are you supposed to be stationed?” Flash pressed, ignoring Sunset.

Steel and quite a few of the other guards had made no secret of their contempt for Flash, yet he never resigned, ran or ran to Shining Armor. Some of them knew of the history he’d had with his temper and hoped that if they could get him to lose it in public he would be kicked out of the guard. Unfortunately, whatever anger management training Flash had gone through seemed to have been working, since no matter how hard they tried to get under his skin, he kept his cool and maintained a sense of professionalism about him. He wondered if perhaps all of that stress finally caught up to him with the Changeling situation at hand…

“Outside of Twilight Sparkle’s room…by order of Princess Celestia.” Steel choked.

As soon as he finished that sentence, his heart sped up as he saw the unbridled rage in Flash’s eyes as he pressed down harder on Steel’s throat.

“You left your post…and Princess Celestia’s star student all alone while we are dealing with threat of Changeling infiltration-creatures who feed on love and you thought it would be okay to slack off?” He seethed.

Steel Vanguard was terrified; it was actually looking like Flash might kill him. But what could he do? It wouldn’t take much more pressure for Flash to crush his windpipe and if any movement he made was too slow his life would almost certainly end.

A spark flew, stinging Flash’s foreleg and causing him jump back in a mix of pain and surprise, allowing Steel a breath of fresh air. Flash looked towards Sunset in time to see the magical aura to fade from her horn. She was regarding him with a scowl.

“Sunset!? What are you doing?”

“Stopping you from doing something stupid.”

The Flash’s expression of shock changed to one of anger.

“He abandoned his post! For all we know he’s a Changeling imposter!” Flash shouted, as his wings flared. “If he is and Twilight or anyone else gets hurt because of him-would you be willing to accept the guilt for protecting him?”

“I don’t think he is.” Sunset retorted. “Besides, what if he’s innocent and you end up killing him? How would you handle that?”

“’Innocent’?” Flash repeated incredulously. “Do you have any idea how much crap guys like him have put me through? Not just in the Guard, but my entire life?”

“So it’s personal, then?” Sunset challenged, eyeing the stallion on the floor, still massaging his throat. “Even so, do you really think that justifies murder? I get that you’re upset, but I think the chaos caused by you killing a fellow guard would probably benefit any plans the Changelings do have.”

“Sunset….he neglected his duty-we can’t just overlook that!”

“Then report him to Celestia or Shining Armor if you think it will continue to be a problem, but something tells me that will no longer be an issue.”

Flash looked past Sunset to see Steel slowly getting back onto his hooves as he turned to her with a weary expression.

“Thank you…” he uttered hoarsely.

“Shut up and get back to work to work.” Sunset replied curtly, never removing her gaze from Flash. As taken as he was by the response, Steel immediately turned around to return to his post-she had probably just saved his life after all.

As soon as she was certain Steel was out of earshot, Sunset slowly approached Flash. His anger didn’t seem to have receded much between her intervention and letting the guard return to his business. This Flash Sentry almost seemed like the antithesis of the Flash she had met the other night.

“Why do you even care?” Flash pressed. “You told me the only reason you were here is for revenge; against Celestia for some perceived slight and against the Changeling for killing your friend-if anything you should be on my side-you know how dangerous they are and how fatal underestimating them can be.”

“Yes, I do.” Sunset conceded. “But, I also know that killing aimlessly just because someone might be a Changeling isn’t helping our cause and will only alienate those who we are trying to protect. And my issues with Celestia are something that we are currently working on…besides, in the former case I’ve been seeking vengeance for the murder of an innocent something you would have been guilty of had I not intervened.”

“I wasn’t going to kill him.” Flash insisted. “I needed to make sure he was taking this seriously.”

“Really?” She challenged. “Do you know how hard you were pressing down on his throat? Even if you did, I think part of you enjoyed tormenting him like that.

Flash averted his gaze.

“Flash, don’t turn into me…that’s not a road you want to go down.” Sunset continued, her voice filled with concern.

“I haven’t lost my temper like that in a long time…” Flash sighed. “Something in me just…snapped. I mean, I could handle it back when he was just being a jerk to me, but to be slacking off now, when we should be more alert than ever…I don’t want to see another disaster like the last attack.”

“Believe me, I get that. But, I might not be around to hold you back the next time you lose control.”

“The same could be said for you.” Flash shot back.

“Yes…it could.” Sunset agreed. “But, when I lost control I knew who my enemies were and they were actively hostile-there was no assumption on my part. The only evidence you would have had to back up your claim was circumstantial at best and would not have held up in court were you put on trial for your actions.”

Flash’s ears flattened as the reality of the aftermath would have been much harsher than he had originally assumed.

“And given your history with this guy, the assumption could easily have been made that it was meditated murder on your part and the Changelings were merely an opportunity for you to look as if you had made an honest mistake to cover up the murder of a fellow guard.” She continued.

“But, I would never do that!” Flash protested. “No matter what I have always been loyal to the Guard-even if I didn’t particularly like some of them!”

“I know,” Sunset replied. “But, a look at your history, your temper, and the fact that the other members of the Guard probably know about the crap you’ve had to put up with, and then there is the fact that there at least two eyewitnesses who saw you leave Twilight’s room looking disgruntled-things wouldn’t be looking to well for you.”

“And what do you think I should do if I find someone who might be a Changeling in disguise?” Flash pressed.

“Question them, ask them things that only whoever they’re impersonating should know. Observe them to see if they are exhibiting an unusual behavior, see if you can find any physical evidence to prove that they are a Changeling.”

“And how would I do that?” Flash asked, in exasperation.

“I’ve been working on a spell to reveal them.”

Planning

Rainbow Dash felt like a filly again, waiting for the okay from Twilight on how she felt about the idea of her dating Shining Armor-it was like back when she would ask her father if she could hang out with one of her friends for a few hours and have to wait for him to mull it over.

Then there was Shining Armor himself, what would be the right way to act around him without ticking Twilight off? With everyone seemingly meeting at meals now, it would be nearly impossible to avoid contact with him entirely. Of course, even if she did get Twilight’s approval, that didn’t necessarily mean Shining would feel the same way-at least, if that happened, her friendship with Twilight could still be salvaged.

Dash stopped in the middle of the hall.

‘I hate all this waiting…’ she then looked back at her wings. ‘I need to clear my head…maybe I should go flying again?’

“Hey, Dash!” a familiar voice greeted, causing her to turn around to see Shining Armor from the end of the hall.

“Uh, h-hey!” she replied, trying to sound cool. “Where did you come from?”

“Ugh, just came back from interrogating the Changelings we captured in the dungeon.” He sighed, approaching her. “And then just when I thought we were done, they brought in another Changeling who was impersonating someone on the castle staff…the whole thing’s just been a huge headache.”

“Find anything out?”

“Not much, just that their Queen doesn’t sound like she has any intention of compromising, most of their military seems to be as sociopathic as she is, so it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to resolve this peacefully.”

“So, what’s going to happen if we have to fight them?”

“Well, the best course of action would be to evacuate Canterlot in order to avoid civilian casualties if the city is going to turn into a full-fledged war zone, which seems likely at this point.” Shining Armor sighed.

“Celestia will probably try to reason with the Queen, but if personal experience with some of the nobles in this city has taught me anything; pride usually takes precedence to reason with the kind of individual she sounds like, listening to the Changelings we’ve captured.”

“Do you think we can beat them? Without the Elements, I mean?” Dash asked.

When they fought Nightmare Moon and Discord, they only had to deal with a single individual and had the Elements of Harmony to compete with their vast magical prowess. These Changelings just seemed to keep crawling out of the woodwork and there would be no telling if anyone actually was who they appeared to be in the middle of combat. Their Queen must also have a considerable amount of power if she believed that she could take on Princess Celestia.

“Honestly?” Shining replied. “I think we can-but, it won’t be easy…from what I understand, the Elements of Harmony only work if you girls are all in agreement with whatever you’re using them for-which, was why Discord tried to break your friendships apart. I think we can win without them, but we will only be able to succeed if we trust each other.”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked, cocking her head to the side.

“I don’t think the Changelings were just after Cadance, I think they were also trying to get us to distrust each other in order to make it more difficult for us to effectively work together.” He elaborated. “Whether the infiltrators themselves realized or not, I think that is part of their Queen’s plan…so, I’m heading to the throne room to speak with Celestia about this-want to come with me?”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Dash asked. “I mean, for all you know I could be another Changeling in disguise.”

Shining Armor began leading the way down the hall as she slowly began to follow.

“If you are, then you’d better reveal yourself now.” He warned. “I’m normally a pretty patient guy, but I’m getting sick of all these mind games-and if you’re responsible for hurting one of my friends, I won’t be willing to stand up for you. Nor, will Celestia or Twilight and I’m pretty sure that Sunset would be more than happy to punish any imposters.”

“You still sound pretty sure that I’m me, though.” Dash noted, listening to the tone of his voice. “But, we don’t even know each other that well to begin with.”

“That’s right,” he agreed. “I could be a Changeling for all you know, but you didn’t seem very suspicious when I showed up…which, actually makes me feel all the more guilty…”

“’Guilty’?” Dash repeated, muscles tensing as she prepared herself for a fight.

Shining Armor slowed down to make sure was matching his lope, once she regained her composure before continuing.

“I’ve been lying to you.” He admitted.

“About what?” Dash pressed, suspiciously.

“Remember what I told you about how Cadance and I got together?” He asked.

“Yeah…”

“Well, I kind of…made it up.” He replied, averting his gaze.

“Okay, now I’m really confused…you mean you and Cadance were never actually together?”

“No, we were together-but, we didn’t get together the way I told you we did before-I was never actually a ‘geek’ and…Cadance and I knew each since she began sitting for Twilight and we did like each other back then but, it didn’t really get serious until after I joined the guard and worked my way up through the ranks.” He confessed. “Which really didn’t help with rumors that I only got my position through nepotism with Twilight being the top student studying under Celestia and the belief that I asked Cadance call in a favor for me to get where I am.”

“Um, okay…but, why would you lie about that?” Dash pressed. “I mean, the story you made up was…kind of pathetic, I mean it’s like one of those boring romance stories Rarity reads all the time-except, a lot of them are exactly the same. Some guy is kind of a loser, but a really good guy deep down, so the hot girl ends up liking him over the other jerk that was trying to get her attention. It’s the same kind of story I’ve heard her talk about, like a million times.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty stupid thing to do-especially with all of these other lies and Changelings around.” Shining admitted. “I really am sorry that I lied to you…I just thought that with those other guys who showed up in Ponyville and me being the Captain of the Guard…I guess I was worried that you’d think I was the same kind of jerk. Since, it already sounds like you’re familiar with the stereotypical jerk alpha male.”

“So, you made up some boring story that sounded like it was ripped-off from one of Rarity’s favorite novels?”

“You didn’t think it was so boring when you thought I was a ‘geek’.” He reminded her.

“Yeah, but that’s because of how ridiculous it sounded with you being one of those guys…I mean look at you!” she replied, gesturing to his chest and forelegs.

“You know, not all geeks fit into that stereotype.” He reminded her. “In fact, I think Flash is actually really into comic books and he managed give some of the other guys a run for the money in training.”

“Yeah, but that stuff you said sounded really convincing…how did you make up something that fast anyway?” Dash pressed. “I mean, it was still boring like the other stories that sound just like it, but in the future if you’re going to lie to me, could you at least make it more interesting?”

“I think what you’re trying to say is that the story sounded too cliché.” Shining corrected. “And as for how I was able to make up so much of the story on the spot; I had friends who were into a lot of that kind of stuff and I’m not sure if Twilight or I have mentioned this yet, but our mother is a writer. Even if that’s not my special talent, I guess I have a little bit of skill in storytelling-it helped me cover for some other recruits a while back. I knew them pretty well and I found out they were being framed for theft by another guard and we needed to buy time to find the evidence to prove it-which, we did. Anyway it won’t get any best-sellers published and it’s not something I enjoy doing and it’s something that I try not to make a habit of, but it has unfortunately become necessary from time to time.”

“Well, you’re pretty good at it.” Dash complimented.

“Not sure that’s something to be proud of, but thanks…it’s helped me make up bedtime stories for Twiley whenever mom was sick, too.” He then let out a sigh of relief. “Now that I’ve got that off my chest, it would be best to let Princess Celestia know what is going on with the Changelings.”

“I see.” Celestia replied, upon the conclusion of Shining Armor’s report.

Seeing her upon her throne, regarding him in such a calm, collected manner in spite of the urgency of the situation at hand was something Shining Armor had always admired about her as a leader. In fact, the only time he could think of her ever being shaken up in a crisis was when Discord had been released from his stone prison. While trying to retain a strong exterior for those under his command, he felt shaken to his very core at the prospect of dealing with a creature that even Celestia had been worried about. Her calm demeanor now filling him with confidence in this regard.

“I have a few ideas on how to deal with the situation, however I would appreciate your own input on the matter.” She continued.

“Well, I believe that evacuation should be our first priority, obviously.” Shining Armor replied. “With all due respect to your skill as a negotiator, there have been a few notable exceptions in the past that were well beyond the point of reason and any damage done to the city may be costly, but not irreparable-such as the loss of civilian life would be.”

“Of course, once our business is concluded here, you are authorized to take a portion of the guard to begin evacuating Canterlot’s citizens until this matter has been resolved.” Celestia confirmed. “The safety of Equestria’s citizens always comes first and foremost.”

“The other issue I wanted to bring up is the use of the Elements of Harmony,” Shining Armor continued. “While, I understand your hesitation to use them in light of what Sunset Shimmer has revealed in regards to their ability to assimilate ponies into their collective hive mind and alter their anatomy to reflect as such along with the unpredictability of the Elements themselves, I think you should reconsider…”

“Aside from the obvious, do you have reasons to support this action?” Luna spoke up from beside Celestia’s throne.

“I do.” He confirmed. “The Elements of Harmony are typically utilized to restore order and balance, when uh…” he glanced to aside awkwardly to avoid eye contact with Luna. “When Nightmare Moon returned, the Elements were able to purify her and restore Princess Luna to her old self…albeit, in a weakened state, not only did they return Discord to his stone prison, but they also reversed all of the damage his chaos had caused across Equestria.”

“When the Elements of Harmony were first utilized against Nightmare Moon, she was sealed with the moon for one-thousand years, instead of being purified by them-which only happened upon her return and once the Elements found new bearers entirely, this unpredictability is why we fear they may unintentionally cause a genocide.” Luna reminded him.

“But, there has never any record of the Elements actually ending anyone’s life.” Shining pointed out. “Besides, even if they can’t be reverted back to their original selves, wouldn’t it be preferable to keep them in an isolated state where they can’t harm anyone or have any inflicted on them by a society that may be wary of them and still consider them a threat if we can get them away from their Queen’s control?”

“Sister?” Luna prompted, turning to Celestia. “The young Captain is making quite a few valid points, perhaps it would be wise to use the Elements, which shouldn’t be much of a problem now that all of the bearers are here at the castle. These Changelings also feed on emotion for power-much like the Windigos of old, if they have found an abundance of love or have accumulated a vast amount, it would certainly explain their growing boldness.”

“Then, why have the ones who showed up so far been so easy to take down?” Dash cut in.

“Perhaps, they have reserved those energies for their Queen and he strongest warriors, while sending in her weaker drones to infiltrate, either to give us a sense of overconfidence or simply to make it easier to overpower us.” Luna replied.

“Very well.” Celestia conceded. “I will allow Twilight and her friends to use the Elements of Harmony, but only if and when negotiations with the Queen fall through. I do not want other countries believing that the Changelings who attacked Canterlot last week were merely a rogue faction and that we responded towards the entire species violently in response-that is not the kind of reputation I want Equestria to have.”

“With that said, the Elements will remain locked away until I am to speak with the Queen.” She the directed her gaze towards Rainbow Dash. “While I trust you and your friends, I don’t want to run the unnecessary risk of any of the Elements being stolen by another Changeling infiltrator when we need them, especially if the Queen turns out to be as powerful as we fear.”

“Got it.” Dash replied, “Should I tell them about this stuff or are you going to do it?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you inform them about what we’ve discussed?” Celestia asked. “I would do it myself, but given how stubborn this Queen sounds, I would like to focus on crafting a convincing argument on why it would be in her best interest to release her thralls and coexist with us peacefully.”

“’Do it, or we’ll blast ya’ might not work?” Dash asked earnestly.

“Sadly, it hasn’t in the past.” Celestia replied with a small chuckle. “Besides, I would prefer not to resort to threats or force unless absolutely necessary.”

Evacuation

“So, can I help you guys evacuate everyone?” Rainbow Dash asked, hopefully.

“Well, you’re not really in the guard, so I’m not sure they’d take you very seriously…” Shining Armor mulled. “I mean, on your own they’d probably think you’re just some punk kid trying to pull a prank.”

Dash frowned.

“I-I mean, you can still come with us, but they’ll be more inclined to listen to us, since we’re guards.” He quickly added.

They were approaching the first home. In order to ensure the city’s residents had ample time to evacuate, they were working through lunch. The other guards that Dash had seen went about their task with surprising speed and efficiency compared to the stationary guards she was used to seeing, all while maintaining their professionalism. Once again, she was brought back to her disillusionment with the Wonderbolts, recently there had been rumors surfacing of their lack of integrity and how quickly they dropped members when they became even the slightest bit inconvenient. As angry as she was with them, she hoped none of these accusations were true-it was saddening to think that her fillyhood heroes could be so callous.

“You okay, Dash?” Shining asked, noting the long silence she held with a perturbed look on her face.

“Yeah, just thinking…” she replied. “It’s not really important…so how does this work, anyway?”

“Watch and you’ll see.” Shining replied as they stopped before the door of the first home and he began to knock.

A pink Earth Pony mare appeared at the door with a curled blonde mane wearing a yellow dress and pearl necklace. Her golden eyes widened when she saw the Captain of the Royal Guard at her door with some strange mare. She raised a hoof to her chest as heart sped up, fearing this Pegasus might have some grievance with her.

“We’re sorry to bother you ma’am,” Shining began. “But, I’m afraid you and your family will need to pack up whatever essentials you own and evacuate the city.”

“I…’evacuate’?” The mare repeated, her heart began to pound harder. “Why? What’s wrong? Are we in danger?”

“We don’t have reason to believe so at this immediate moment, however that could very easily change in a few days and Princess Celestia wants to ensure the safety of Canterlot’s citizens.” Shining continued. “We will send word out when we are certain that it is safe to return.”

The mare swallowed weakly before slowly closing the door.

“Think she’ll be alright?” Dash asked nervously.

“Hard to say,” Shining replied, truthfully. “While dealing with emergencies, we try to prevent causing panic-people become unreasonable and erratic when they panic in times of crisis.”

“That’s why you guys are trained to act like statues?” Dash asked.

“Partly yeah, keeping us stoic like that to the public eye is essential to keeping citizens calm.” He continued as they headed to the next home. “I mean, if we lost our cool in the middle of some major catastrophe-it really wouldn’t inspire much confidence in those we were trying to protect, would it?”

“Good point,” Dash agreed. “Hey, do you think you could teach me to be like that?”

“Maybe…but, why would you want to learn that?” Shining asked. “I mean, you’re not a guard and it really stifles social interaction for us on duty-what would you need to use it for?”

Dash stopped as she let out a sigh.

“Guess, you’ll find out sooner or later…” she muttered, lowering her head. “I…have this thing-I’m always worried about what others think of me-if they don’t think I’m cool, then I feel like I’m nothing. If I can learn not to care about stuff like you guys, then maybe it’ll stop bothering me…”

“Dash…I don’t think you fully understand the concept.” Shining replied. “Just because we act like nothing bothers us on the outside doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking or feeling anything-we’re just trained to give off the impression that we can’t be rattled. I mean, we’re trained to handle more pressure for dealing with intense situations, but we’re still thinking and feeling things the whole time.”

“If it really bothers you that much, why don’t you talk to someone about it-like a therapist?” He pressed, noting her dismayed expression.

“Because I’m not crazy!” Dash growled defensively as her wings flared.

“I never said you were.” Shining continued, calmly. “I’ve had a few friends who went to therapy during difficult times in their lives-and they were all completely sane…are you afraid your friends will think less of you if you talk to someone?”

Dash averted her gaze.

“Look, I can’t speak for your other friends, but I’m pretty sure Twily wouldn’t judge you…and it wouldn’t make me think any less of you. But, ultimately it’s your choice-I’m just throwing it out there to try and help you out if others’ opinions bother you that much. I became a guard because that’s what I wanted to do, not because I felt like I was obligated to do it or because I wanted recognition for it-it was something I wanted to do since I was a kid and it’s something that I’m proud of.”

“Maybe…” Dash murmured. “I-I just need some time to think about it, we should probably get back to evacuating everyone.”

Shining nodded as they continued on their way.

“I’m actually a little surprised you wanted to come with me.” Flash admitted as Sunset walked alongside him.

“Staying in the castle would get pretty boring after a while, besides it’s nice to get some fresh air.” She replied nonchalantly. “…And if possible, it would be nice to help prevent the Changelings from killing anymore innocent civilians.”

Flash fell into an awkward silence, glancing around the street. While there were more shops in Canterlot than most towns in Equestria, that didn’t prevent a few street vendors from peddling their wares in an attempt to catch potential customers before they reached the bigger, fancier shops. After the first Changeling attack, however, there were significantly less vendors and citizens roaming the streets when they weren’t shopping for necessities or going to or from their workplaces after realizing they weren’t as safe as they’d originally thought.

“Well, whatever your reasons-I appreciate the company.” Flash replied, trying to get into a conversation again as the silence was starting to get to him. “It’s kind of depressing, being the one who has to pretty much kick people out of their homes-I mean, I know it’s for their own safety, but still…”

“We haven’t had any real problems so far.” Sunset pointed out. “Besides, given how empty Canterlot’s been lately, I doubt we’ll get much argument in the next stop, either. The only ones we might have a problem with are some of the elitist snobs my parents were always trying to impress-might be why I had such a crappy childhood, despite their wealth.”

Flash glanced at her awkwardly.

“Don’t get me wrong, I realize some of these families are decent enough, but when you only see the bad ones growing up, it kind of paints a certain picture in your mind and affects your opinion on them in general. That again, I guess I’m not really one to talk after building an empire on drugs and blood money, I still have more Bits than I’ll ever know what to do with.” She mused. “I know it sounds like I blame my parents for everything that’s gone wrong with my life, but I really do realize that I’m pretty screwed up myself-every decision I’ve made in my life up until now is a testament to that.”

“Well this next home should be our last stop.” Flash commented.

No longer distracted by her self-contemplation, Sunset returned to the present and cursed under her breath for not recognizing the route they had been taking.

The home itself appeared to be some sort of mansion, as it was quite large with a healthy lawn and a large fountain with an Alicorn statue in the center, standing on its hind legs with its wings outspread and head raised with water spouting from its horn before falling back down to pool into the fountain below. The home itself was white with a yellow-gold roof with a violet trim in an attempt to emulate the design of Canterlot Castle. It was sealed off by a golden gate with small spires. As a filly, before being accepted into Celestia’s school, Sunset always thought of them as prison bars, keeping her stuck with her neglectful and exploitative parents.

Flash had already ventured ahead and pushed the gate open before realizing that Sunset had fallen behind before looking back to her. She was standing in the same spot, staring at the mansion. Hadn’t she just said that she didn’t have a problem helping him evacuate everyone?

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice filled with concern as he slowly returned to her side.

“This is my parents’ place.” Sunset replied grimly.

“Oh.” Flash uttered, fearing that he made a major faux pas. “Sorry, you can wait out here if you want and I can talk to them myself…”

“No, I need to do this.” Sunset replied, determined as she made her way to the front door. “This has been a long time coming.”

She knocked the violet door until it slowly opened to reveal a Unicorn mare with a cream cot with a lighter shade of cream in her mane, which had been tied back into a bun. The mare was wearing a turquoise dress with diamond earrings. The features that helped Flash confirm that she was a relative were her tail, curled in the same manner as Sunset’s and her eyes, which were exactly the same as her daughter’s.

“Glint!” Eventide called out uncertainly, upon seeing her estranged and disowned daughter on her doorstep with a member of the Royal Guard.

A Unicorn stallion with a yellow-orange coat and a fiery red mane with a lock of hair dangling next to his horn came down the stairs wearing a beige tuxedo with a black bow tie and the chain of a pocket watch swaying as he moved towards the door. His body size was not quite lanky as some stallions of Flash had seen, but he wasn’t quite a bulked up powerhouse, either but still larger than Flash himself. Glint’s initial look of annoyance turned into one of disgust as his icy blue eyes glared at his daughter.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, coldly before seeing Flash standing next to her, wearing his armor.

“Oh,” Glint turned to Flash. “You must be the one who caught her-she’s no daughter of ours if you’re looking for compensation for whatever else she’s done.”

“Actually, sir-I’m here to instruct you and your wife to evacuate.” Flash informed him.

Glint narrowed his gaze back at Sunset.

“Then why is she here with you? Wait…she probably spun some kind of story to get you to kick us out, didn’t she?” He pressed, eyeing them both suspiciously.

“What!? No, trust me the Changeling threat is very real…don’t you remember the attack last week?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, or maybe she’s taking advantage of everyone’s fears to suit herself.” Glint replied, indignantly. “We wasted years of our lives raising her, giving every possible advantage in life, even got her into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But, when she got to study under Celestia herself, what did she do? She pissed it all away!”

“All the two of you ever did was exploit me to increase your own social standing!” Sunset retorted. “The only times you ever treated me like you cared about me was to keep up the façade of a loving family so you could reap the benefits. The only time I interacted with other kids was when you forced me to, so the social elites of this city might hit off with you and give you a few favors for entertaining their spoiled brats.”

“Even if that was true, it wouldn’t have mattered,” Glint growled. “All you did was fight with them and disgrace our family name-something you’ve become quite adept at.”

“Yeah, too bad I didn’t have any decent role models.” Sunset spat.

“It didn’t seem to stop you from spitting Celestia’s face, either.” Glint continued. “The fact that she’s willing to have a member of her guard associate himself with you is quite disappointing. Some of us have a sense of self-respect and realize that public perception is important-it’s a shame that even royalty can fail to understand that.”

“Perhaps, Celestia has no knowledge of this and the boy is just sweet on her?” Eventide chimed in, taking Flash completely off-guard.

“Shut up, Eve.” Sunset growled. “Even if we did have feelings for each other, it would be more substantial than what the two of you have.”

“Why, whatever do you mean?”

“Please, even someone as lacking in social skills as I, was able to tell that your marriage is sham-and I was five.”

“It would make sense.” Glint grumbled. “Of course, she’d do that to us.”

“What does that mean?” Flash pressed.

“Running off with some cloud jockey and potentially poisoning our family’s-never mind.” He growled. “It doesn’t matter, she’s no longer a part of this family, anyway.”

“Well, it’s my job to inform Canterlot’s citizens of the evacuation and answer any questions they might have-Sunset volunteered to help me out.” Flash informed him.

“We’re not going anywhere.” Eventide stated, adamantly.

“That’s right,” Glint agreed. “This is our home, which we have built with our own money-even if these…things attack the city again-we’re not going to abandon everything we’ve worked for out of fear for what might happen.”

“You mean the money and power you’ve gained through lies, manipulation, and theft.” Sunset growled.

Glint glared at her once more as Eventide seemed anxious about the guard standing before them, hearing these accusations and watching this family dispute.

“Well, I can’t force the two of you to leave, but I strongly recommend it-since, it’s starting to look like things will get ugly.” Flash sighed.

“Obviously, that’s a risk we’re willing to take.” Glint grunted. “Now, if we’re done here?”

“Get off our property,” Eventide finished, pointing a hoof at Sunset. “This one’s damaged our hard-earned, respectable reputation more than enough for one lifetime-all just to spite us, after all we’ve done for her-it would be best for the two of you to leave before she gets violent.”

“Fine, I knew this would be a waste of time, anyway.” Sunset spat before turning to leave.

Flash watched Sunset heading back towards the gate and waited until she was out of earshot before turning back to her parents.

“I know you guys aren’t on the best terms, but she’s still your daughter and despite everything, she still came with me to talk to you.”

They both looked at him disdainfully before shutting the door in his face.

Flash turned around to see Sunset nearly to the gate before he galloped to catch up with her. What surprised him, was seeing Sunset’s head hung, when she appeared to be looking forward from behind. Despite their rock relationship, he was surprised this visit was affecting her in such a manner.

“You worried about them?” He asked.

“When I was a kid, all I wanted was for them to love me, to spend time with me-but, that only happened whenever they got something out of it.” She sighed. “It didn’t take long for me to catch onto their manipulations and I began to hate them for it…but, part of me still wanted them to love me, really love me-as pathetic as that sounds.”

“How is wanting your parents’ affection pathetic?”

“Because it’s outside the realm of the possibility for them to care about anyone other than themselves. And only an idiot would expect otherwise.” Sunset replied. “And the saddest part, is that despite all my contempt for them and their actions-I still turned out exactly like them. I’ve lied, manipulated, stole, and even killed. What right do I have to expect anything from anyone after all that?”

“Well, I can’t deny that you have certain….issues.” Flash conceded before placing a hoof on her back to comfort her. “But, you’ve been trying to better yourself-earlier, you stopped me from doing something incredibly stupid and you’re helping us save lives-so you can’t be that selfish. And the last time I checked, it was considered completely normal to crave affection from your family. Even if they don’t care about you, I do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean even though things have been a little rocky since we’ve met, but you’re still a better friend than most of the other guys in the guard.”

“Wait, I thought we were done evacuating everyone?” Dash asked as Shining Armor led her to a large white home with a yellow-gold roof, with a matching shade for a spark-like crest above the door.

“Didn’t we pass this place, earlier?” she pressed.

“Yes, and yes.” Shining replied, “But, we’re not evacuating the residents here-we’re taking them back to the castle with us.”

“Really? Why?”

Shining Armor knocked on the door before it swung open to reveal a Unicorn stallion with a dark, azure coat and a dark blue mane with amber eyes with a Cutie Mark of a cream crescent moon, with a smaller, inverted, white crescent moon within its arch. He was had a large, brown duffel bag, which he levitated, covered in a pale, blue magical aura. Behind him was a Unicorn mare who looked very similar to Twilight, with a light gray coat and mane with light violet streaks the back of which was curled, her eyes were arctic blue and instead of sparks, her Cutie Mark was of three light violet stars. She was carrying a violet duffel bag, which she was levitating, covered in a magenta aura.

“Wow that was fast.” Shining commented.

“Well, we started packing as soon as we got your letter, son.” Night Light replied.

“Wait, ‘son’?” Dash repeated. “These guys are your parents?”

“You must be Rainbow Dash, I’m Night Light-Twilight and Shining Armor’s father.” He introduced himself.

“And I am Twilight Velvet,” The mare introduced herself.

“Wait, how do you know who I am?”

“Well, you and your friends are twice-over national heroes, Shining and Twilight have been sending us letters every month and your mane is kind of a dead giveaway.” He chuckled.

“Well, you guys look way too young to be parents.” Dash continued.

“That’s very flattering of you to say, but Shining and Twilight really are our children.” Twilight Velvet replied, blushing.

“No, I’m serious, I thought Twilight had some twin sister that you guys forgot to tell me about.” Dash insisted.

Twilight Velvet blushed harder as Shining examined their bags.

“Well, we should probably be heading back to the castle-do you guys need any help with your bags?”

“No, we’ll be fine.” Night Light replied, confidently as Twilight Velvet closed the door behind her.

“So, Twilight says that you have a taste for adventure novels?” Night Light asked, Dash as she began flying slightly above their heads as they began heading back down the road to the castle.

“Well, yeah I-wait, which Twilight?” Dash asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s your daughter, Twilight Sparkle and who I assume is your wife, Twilight Velvet-I mean, it’s kinda hard to know who you’re talking about unless you refer to them with their full names.” She pointed out.

“Twilight Sparkle, our daughter in Ponyville,” he clarified. “But, yeah it can get pretty confusing-so, I just got used to calling her Velvet around the time Twilight was born, so as not to confuse anyone-it’s just been a while since both she and Shining have moved out, so we’ve gotten used to treating each other the way we had back when we were dating.”

Shining Armor shuddered at the thought.

“He brought it up because I write adventure novels for a living.” Velvet continued. “You like the Daring Do books, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve read the whole series like eight times waiting for the next one because the idiot who’s supposed to be writing it is taking forever.” Dash growled, bitterly.

“You do realize that most authors actual have lives and families outside of their writing?” Velvet asked.

“Yeah, I guess…so why are you guys coming back to the castle with us, instead of evacuating with everyone else?”

“Because we’re not abandoning our children, while they stay behind and potentially risk their lives fighting off hordes of bloodthirsty shapeshifting monsters.”

Dash cast a side-glance at Shining Armor and murmured.

“Are they going to be fighting with us or…?”

“If it comes to that, they’ll be staying in the castle and out of harm’s way.” He replied, quietly.

Consolation

“Aw, look at the two of them…” Twilight Velvet cooed to her husband, watching her son speaking with Rainbow Dash in a hushed tone.

“It’s good to see that the break up hasn’t shaken him up too bad.” Night Light agreed. “Then again, he could just be hiding it to look strong for us and those under his command until this whole ordeal is over. Still, I understand why Cadance might have thought breaking up with him would absolve her of feeling guilty if he got hurt protecting her again, but if she was just trying to protect him-doesn’t she realize that won’t stop him performing his duties?”

“Well, they’re barely out of their teens, remember how crazy and chaotic our lives were at that time?” Velvet reminded him. “Of course, just because I enjoy a bit of romance, don’t necessarily mean I understand it to the point I could write about it competently.”

“I thought part of the reason was because if Daring ever settled down, the series would more or less be over because she would feel compelled to retire to protect her significant other from danger?” Night Light replied, cheekily.

“Shh!” She hushed him, gesturing to Rainbow Dash as a reminder of the ‘no discussing the series around fans’ rule. “I can’t believe you nearly told her…”

“I left the specific details of your genre intentionally vague.” He replied, defensively before lowering his voice. “Besides, if her relationship with Shining does become romantic, she’s going to find out eventually.”

Velvet merely sighed at the thought of the headaches she would have to deal with when that time came. Rainbow Dash had already proven herself to be one of those fans-the entitled readers, who believed that instead of taking break between every few novels to retain her sanity, she was obligated to spend her every waking moment writing Daring Do. Then again, Rainbow was already good friends with Twilight and Shining Armor-maybe they could teach her the virtue of patience-Twilight had already gotten her into reading, after all.

On the road up ahead of them were Sunset and Flash, appearing to also be returning to the castle.

“Did you get everyone evacuated?” Shining asked, as the group approached them.

“Uh, mostly…” Flash replied awkwardly, massaging the back of his neck.

“’Mostly?’” He repeated. “What was the problem?”

“My stupid parents.” Sunset growled. “They’re too stubborn to leave, due to their pride-apparently they aren’t worried about leaving behind a legacy of ‘those two idiots who got killed because they were too stupid to get out of a warzone’. But, really-that’s just poetic justice if you ask me. My issue is that Changelings can only feed on love and their love for themselves is a legendary form of narcissism.”

Shining Armor looked to Flash, quizzically.

“It’s…a long story.” He sighed.

“Well, we still aren’t one hundred percent sure that this will end in conflict, Celestia could still reason with the Queen.” Shining continued, trying to keep up morale.

“Don’t hold your breath.” Sunset replied, pessimistically.

“Well, she’s capable of some pretty incredible things and when I was just starting out in the guard, I saw how she was able to calm everyone down in some pretty heated arguments that had each party at the other’s throat.”

“Speaking of which, we were just on our way to report back-were you able to evacuate everyone on your end, sir?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, Dash helped me out with that.” He replied, causing her to grin slightly at the recognition. “Oh, and I forgot to mention-I went to pick up my parents once I informed the residents of the evacuation. These are my parents; Night Light and Twilight Velvet.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Flash greeted. “My name is Flash Sentry-you’re son appointed me to be in command of the guard after the initial Changeling attack-so I’d been trying to keep things together while he was in Ponyville recovering.”

“Trying being the operative word when it comes to dealing with a race of shapeshifting infiltrators.” Sunset added.

“This is Sunset Shimmer,” Flash introduced her. “She was Celestia’s pupil before your daughter-she returned to Canterlot to help fight against the Changelings-she also knows more about them than any of us.”

“Sounds like an invaluable asset in dealing with them then, if she’s also magically gifted.” Velvet commented.

“We should head back to the castle, others may get worried if we take too long.” Shining cut in. “They might think something’s up and assume one or more of us have been captured, killed, or replaced by Changelings.”

As they continued on the road back to the castle Sunset looked back at Velvet.

“So, when Twilight got accepted into Celestia’s school, did you ever wonder what happened to her last pupil?”

“Actually, we didn’t know she had any before Twilight…except maybe Starswirl? Or maybe he was Celestia’s teacher? I don’t know-I’d have to ask Twilight, she’d know-she’s a huge fanatic of his.” Velvet replied. “I know a lot of history, but the versions in the books I was are either slightly altered for the sake of the plot-and I never really knew enough Starswirl to touch on anything related to him.”

“What do you write about that requires historical knowledge? Period pieces?” Sunset prompted.

“Not exactly…they all take place in the present.”

“She writes adventure books,” Dash cut in. “I’ll have to check them out sometime…”

“You can read?” Sunset replied, feigning shock.

“Of course I can!” She snapped. “I’m not stupid!”

“But, I thought you were an athlete?” Sunset pressed, suppressing a grin. “I thought the mentality of your kind is that reading is only for losers and nerds?”

“Well, maybe I used to think that, but…I read something really cool and it kind of…changed my mind-I was wrong before.” Dash awkwardly admitted. “Besides, not all athletes are like that-Applejack was Ponyville’s undisputed best athlete until I moved to town and she was also trying to get me to read.”

“Oh yeah? What was it?” Sunset pressed. “I hope you didn’t strain yourself too hard trying to figure out what the words meant.”

The rest of the group looked between the two uneasily. Sunset was enjoying antagonizing Rainbow Dash, just as she had predicted, the jock had a hair-trigger temper and this verbal conflict was helping to kill her boredom until the Changeling Queen showed up. Sooner or later, the boredom from not being able to interact with anyone she actually liked would get to her. Celestia and Flash would be too busy with their duties preparing for the Changelings’ arrival to socialize and it wouldn’t be worth the time or energy to try getting invested with those who had greatness handed to them solely through their destinies.

“I was reading ‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire’s Stone’ and I happened to relate to her character because she’s an adventurous Pegasus and like me at the time, she also had a broken wing.” Dash informed her. “And I did understand everything that happened in the book.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised….” Sunset conceded. “That series is targeted towards children.”

Seeing how this was beginning to stress everyone out, Flash tried defusing the situation.

“Sunset maybe you shouldn’t antagonize-“

“Shut up, Sentry.” She snapped, irritably.

It was bad enough that all they could do was wait around until the Changelings revealed themselves, but at least Flash had his own mundane duties to occupy his time until then. Meanwhile, she’d be stuck alone with a bunch of idiots she couldn’t care less about who had achieved ten times what she had with none of the effort. And now he was trying to cut down the only bit of entertainment she did have for one of said idiots?

“Are you calling me a kid?” Dash challenged.

“No, I implied that you were an idiot-which you are.”

“Enough, you two.” Shining commanded. “We have enough problems to deal with without fighting amongst ourselves.”

“But, she-” Dash protested.

“I know and it doesn’t matter because I’m ending this.” He replied before turning to Sunset. “I don’t know what your deal is, but whatever issues you have can wait until the Changelings have been dealt with.”

Sunset merely glared at him as they reached the castle, above them the sun hanging low in the sky to coincide with the time. It appeared that all of this turmoil hadn’t interfered with Celestia’s schedule too much. Then again, if the sun stayed up longer than it was supposed to the citizens of Equestria would realize something was wrong and might start panicking.

The other guards assigned with the task of evacuating Canterlot’s citizens in other parts of the city appeared to be returning as well. Two of the guards that had remained at the castle, magically pulled the doors open for the group as Dash and Sunset shot each other dirty looks. Sunset didn’t care if her behavior was considered immature, even if she did have a prominent role in helping defeat the Changelings, it was unlikely that she would receive recognition for it and she would be damned if she was just going to lie down and take such a gross injustice.

Once back inside, Twilight and her friends appeared to be waiting to greet everyone else. There was a pink mare with an extremely curly mane bouncing around as if she had drank too much caffeine-Sunset already hated her. Someone like that was sure to be insufferably obnoxious. There was also a white mare with a very well groomed violet mane-she seemed like the same snobs Sunset’s parents were always dealing with. Hanging back in the shadows was a butterscotch mare with a long curtain of a bubblegum pink mane obscuring over half of her face, which Sunset found suspicious.

Finally, there was a mare with an orange coat and blonde mane tied back in what appeared to be a ponytail from what Sunset could tell along with a Stetson. Her Cutie Mark was that of three apples-probably a farmer of some kind. Perhaps it was because of the resemblance to Peachy, but this mare was the only one of Twilight’s present group that Sunset didn’t instantly find something to dislike about.

“Mom! Dad!” Twilight exclaimed happily as rushed over to embrace them. “I’m so glad you two are alright!”

Sunset’s stomach lurched in a mixture of disgust and envy at the family’s sentimentality.

“I’m glad that you were able to get the others out of the city safely.” The orange mare with the Stetson commented. “Changing forms to attack others from the inside? Of all the low-down, no good, dirty….sorry, I should probably introduce myself first for the rest of ya-I’m Applejack.”

‘She even has the same accent….’ Sunset mused.

Perhaps it was due to the similarities to her old friend, but Sunset was beginning to take a liking to this Applejack despite herself. Peachy also prided herself on honesty and integrity. Maybe being stuck around waiting for a while longer wouldn’t be too bad, after all.

“The only exception I’m aware of is my parents, but in my opinion-if you’re that stupid and stubborn-you deserve to die.” Sunset replied, causing Applejack to wince.

“Well, I’m not sure about that-they are your family after all, aren’t they?”

“Only by blood.” Sunset stated, coldly.

Applejack grimaced.

“I need to report our progress to Princess Celestia.” Shining announced. “Flash, you ready?”

“Yeah…”

“Don’t worry, if you told them that they needed to evacuate and they didn’t listen, there’s nothing you could do. Celestia will understand.”

As they left to speak with Celestia, Applejack approached the group with Pinkie Pie bouncing alongside her.

“I’m guessing after all that, y’all are probably getting pretty hungry-Pinkie and I’ve agreed to help some of the castle chefs out to prepare dinner.”

“And dessert!” Pinkie chirped in.

“Are you farmer?” Sunset asked.

“I help my brother and Granny run Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack replied, proudly.

“And I used to live on Rock Farm!” Pinkie cut in once again.

“I don’t care.”

“There’s no need to be so rude…” Rarity chastised.

They were already beginning to give her a headache.

“Whatever. I’m going to be in my room-let me know when dinner’s ready.”

Sunset left the others in awkward silence.

“Well, that was strange…” Applejack commented.

“Not really,” Dash replied. “She’s just a jerk-she was giving me problems on the way back, too.”

“What did she say?” Applejack pressed.

“She kept saying how lame Daring Do is and that I’m stupid or a kid for liking her books.”

“She WHAT!?” Twilight demanded, enraged that someone could such a heretical view of the series.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought-I was actually what we were arguing about on the way back.”

“So the two of you are getting all bent outta shape just because she doesn’t like something that the two of you do?” Applejack clarified.

“It’s not just that she doesn’t like the series-it’s that she insulted it and the Daring Do fans!” Twilight protested.

“So? Who cares? Just about everything I do Rarity calls uncouth.”

“And most of the things I’m passionate about Applejack sees as too ‘hoity-toity’ for her tastes, yet you don’t see us at each throats over such silly disagreements.” Rarity added, stepping forward.

“Yeah, right! You guys fight all the time!” Dash countered.

“Need I remind you girls of your infamous slumber party quarrel?” Twilight pressed.

“I…yeah, that wasn’t one of our proudest moments.” Applejack admitted.

“I’m inclined to agree-my behavior was quite…childish.” Rarity concurred.

“Maybe what we need is a party to turn her frown upside down?” Pinkie suggested, turning her head accordingly to help illustrate her point.

“That’s your solution for everything.” Applejack chastised. “Then again, it seems like she’s been having a hard day-maybe some good cooking will get her to lighten up?”

“Maybe,” Twilight agreed. “I know how frustrating it can be to deal with difficult situations on an empty stomach, what do you think Fluttershy?”

“Oh, I…I think if we’re really nice to her, she might not be so angry.”

“It sounds like they spent most of the day evacuating everyone.” Night Light reasoned. “It’s understandable that she’d be a little irritable.”

“It also doesn’t sound like she gets along with her parents very well, either.” Velvet agreed.

Dash however, looked skeptical.

“With that said, it’s very nice to finally meet all of you-Twilight told us about you in some of her letters-honey, where’s Spike?”

“Oh, he’s still in my room-probably taking a nap or reading one of his comic books-these Changelings have him jumping at shadows-I’m sure he’ll be willing to come out for dinner, though.”

Shining Armor was returning from his debriefing with Celestia when he saw Rainbow Dash down the same hall in mid-air, as her wings flapped steadily as she slowly moved towards him with a look of boredom on her face.

“Hey, Dash.” Shining greeted, drawing her attention to him as she glided towards his position and seeming to pass him before turning sharply at the last second to drop down next to him, facing the same direction.

“Pretty impressive.” He complimented.

“Not really,” She replied apathetically. “I’ve been able to do that one since I was a filly.”

“Still, I don’t think any of the Pegasi here can do a maneuver like that with such speed and accuracy.” Shining pressed. “And they’re all trained to be at the peak of physical fitness.”

“Thanks, but it didn’t impress the Wonderbolts…” Dash replied with a mixture of gloom and bitterness in her voice.

“Yeah, well I don’t really know too much on the specifics of most flying techniques-but, I do know that the Sonic Rainboom was thought to be only a legend and that Equestrian scientists believed it to be a physical impossibility that would tear the body apart of anyone who even attempted to do it, but you were able to twice-the first time completely by accident from what Twiley’s told me. If that hasn’t impressed them enough to even consider you being a candidate to qualify as a member-then they’re idiots. Sure, you might not be perfect, but you’ve got more credibility than some athletes I’ve had to deal with on my hoofball team in high school.” Shining replied.

“Yeah, but….there’s just this thing that keeps bugging me-like maybe they’re right about me not being good enough? What if I’ll never be good enough?”

Shining Armor could tell this had been bothering her for quite some time and wanted to give her a hug to comfort the vulnerable mare. But, he worried that would be overstepping his bounds, so he simply placed a hoof on her back sympathetically, instead.

“I know what you mean and I think it’s kind of normal get a little discouraged like that when you can’t reach your life’s goal-even when you know have what it takes and were able to show it to the right people. Did you know that despite my gift for casting protective spells and proving to the Captain of the Guard back when I was a colt-he still wasn’t convinced that I had what it took to be qualified as a candidate for the guard. I had to work constantly to make myself stronger and educate myself on Equestria’s laws before he was actually will to consider that I had what it took.”

“And you’re the Captain of the Guard, now…”

“That’s right. And I didn’t just have doubts about myself then, either. Even with all that I had accomplished and escorting everywhere from day to day-I was still terrified of telling Cadance how I felt about her. I was worried about what would happen if she didn’t feel the same way and what she or Celestia would do to me if they thought I was just being some creep. I mean-they easily could have had me demoted or completely stripped from any position within the guard.”

“And she agreed to go out with you, instead?”

“Yeah, while I was terrified up until that moment-when I realized that she returned my feelings and that I wasn’t dreaming-it was easily one of the happiest moments of my life. I’m not saying that it will always pay off, but if you don’t take risks like that-they will never pay off. And while things didn’t work exactly the way you might have hoped-you performed a Sonic Rainboom, won the Best Young Flyers competition, and saved the lives of your friend and three unconscious Wonderbolts.”

“Yeah…”

“Maybe you can start your own branch of professional flyers and daredevils? Sure, you might not have the same reputation just yet, but your résumé certainly speaks for itself-you can train and recruit members to your own standards. It’s not like they can really question your loyalty.”

Dash looked up at him hopefully.

“You…you really think I can do that? And that other would want to join?”

“Of course you can, you’re Rainbow Dash-aren’t you?” He pressed, smirking slightly.

“Yeah….I mean, yeah! I’m awesome!” She exclaimed cockily. “Who wouldn’t want to join my team?”

“That’s the spirit! Now, what are doing wandering these halls all by yourself?” Shining asked, narrowing his gaze. “You aren’t stalking me, are you?”

“W-what? No, I-I just….” She fell to her haunches as her face began to heat up and her ambition was quickly draining away and being replaced with embarrassment, which was increasing with how uncool she was appearing to be while she was being flustered by his comment. If Twilight saw them alone speaking like this, she might get the wrong idea and get defensive, deciding that she didn’t want her to date Shining, after all.

“Relax, I’m just kidding….I guess this tension’s getting to everyone, but seriously-did something happen with you and the others?”

“No, Twilight’s just introducing everyone to your parents-it was pretty boring, so I decided to stretch my wings for a bit.”

“Because you’ve already met them.” Shining finished, understandingly.

“I’m still kinda irritated with that Sunset chick, though. I mean why did she have to lash out at me and Daring Do like that?”

“Who knows? Her history with Celestia and their relationship also seems pretty complicated-and then there’s her parents, who she seems to despise. And then there was her lashing out at everyone at breakfast, too.”

“Think she’s a Changeling?”

Shining Armor shook his head, causing the locks of his mane to shake with it, catching Dash’s attention. Once again, his family resemblance to Twilight shone through as it struck Rainbow Dash that his mane was like a lighter, longer more masculine version of Twilight’s. And once more, she found herself wishing that Twilight would come out with a decision already on if it was cool to date her brother or not.

“No, and if she was-she’d be a very bad one-there’s not much subtlety to her performance. The way she interacts with Celestia kind of reminds me of back when I was a teenager and I’d always be getting into arguments with my parents over some of the stupidest things....”

“So, you think she’s doing this to get back at Celestia for….something?” Dash asked.

“Nah, if she wanted to annoy Celestia, she would start a scene where she knew the Princess would be present and try to upset her there. I think it might just be because she’s getting bored staying around here waiting for the Changelings to reveal themselves. Aside from Flash, I don’t think she really has any friends to speak of.”

“You think she just started a fight over me because she was bored?” Dash pressed. “That seems kind of dumb. I mean, that’s like what Discord did.”

“Well, Discord might have been weird, but he was able to outsmart you guys for a while-and I think getting revenge on Celestia and Luna might also have been a factor in the some of the stuff he was doing. Or maybe it could be an elaborate ruse to try and weed out any more Changelings. Of course, she could also just not like people-it’s not that hard for me to see if her parents are as terrible as she claims.”

“Shouldn’t we keep an eye on her, though?”

“I trust Flash’s judgment on that.” Shining reasoned. “I think he might be able to help get her to realize that other people really aren’t so bad.”

An hour later, everyone was once again seated around the table at the guest dining hall. Fortunately, the table was large enough to accommodate the extra guests. The table was set with various fruits, vegetables, and desserts-courtesy of Applejack and Pinkie Pie aiding the chefs.

“I can’t believe we spent all that time together waiting and never knew that about each other!” Spike exclaimed, conversing with Flash from across the table.

“Which one’s your favorite?”

“Arachni-Colt” Flash replied, grinning. “I’ve been collecting the comics since I was a kid…”

Twilight Velvet and Night Light were speaking with Princess Celestia about Twilight’s progress as her student and Shining Armor’s leadership abilities.

“So, what? You think I should just talk to her?” Rainbow Dash asked Shining Armor in a hushed voice. “What do I say?”

“Just tell her that you think everyone was under a lot of stress earlier, and that there’s no hard feelings over anything she said.”

“So, lie to her?” Dash pressed.

“I’m not saying you should try to be her best friend, but with all of the Changelings we might have to deal with-it would be in our best interest to make sure that she’s on our side and we can count on her if things go bad.”

“You think they will?”

“I think that its best that we try to be prepared for every possible contingency, so far these Changelings have proven to be quite unpredictable-and experience has taught me that’s the most dangerous kind of enemy you can face in battle.”

Dash wanted to ask him what kind experience he was talking about, but decided to drop it for the time being.

Sunset was watching Applejack with intrigue as the others participated in their discussions. Given her attitude and the fact that she was Celestia’s student first, it now made sense that she wanted Twilight to send her friendship reports-even after the defeat of Nightmare Moon. She was probably worried about creating another Sunset Shimmer.

“So, Twilight-why don’t you introduce some of your friends?” Cadance suggested.

“Oh, right!” Twilight slapped a hoof to her forehead. “I’ve known you all for so long, that I keep forgetting that none of you have met.”

“Well, we’re all her now-so it’s as good a time as any.” Applejack chimed in.

“This is Applejack-she helps run Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville with her family; the Apples-as the name implies, it’s an apple orchard-but, she also takes care of a few animals on the farm, too.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Princess.” Applejack greeted humbly.

“Fluttershy is Ponyville’s resident animal expert and caregiver, if you can’t find a vet-she’s the next best thing.”

“H-hello…” Fluttershy greeted, timidly.

“Pinkie Pie works at Sugarcube Corner-a bakery and is always throwing parties to cheer someone up when they’re feeling down.”

“Yep! I just love making others smile!” Pinkie giggled.

Sunset merely regarded her with disgust.

“And finally, there’s Rarity-the best fashion designer in town, she owns Carousel Boutique and has actually managed to impress some very important clients, like Hoity Toity and Fancy Pants-even pop stars like Sapphire Shores!”

“And the most beautiful pony in all of Equestria…” Spike added dreamily, but quietly enough that not many heard him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, princess.”

“Actually, it’s a pleasure to meet all of you-I actually used to be Twilight’s foalsitter, back when Shining and I were teenagers-it seems like only yesterday….”

“That’s actually where Smarty Pants came from.” Shining Armor added. “She was a gift from Cadance to Twilight.”

The other girls exchanged glances at the mention of the accursed doll that nearly flung Ponyville into chaos and ruin so quickly and easily, Discord would have been green with envy.

“It really is a shame that you’ve retired from sitting…” Velvet commented. “It’s hard to trust a lot of teenagers in this city to take care of children, but you were so kind, loving, and well-mannered.”

“Thank you…” Cadance replied, blushing slightly. “At first I started out to learn a bit more about responsibility as Princess Celestia suggested-and to earn a bit of money to become a little more self-dependent, but soon I realized that I really enjoyed working with kids.”

“That was also around the time I started out in the guard, so I couldn’t really take care of Twilight while Mom and Dad where away-so, I really appreciated that.” Shining added. “Actually, that’s part of what attracted me to her in the first place-growing up I was always told that as a big brother it was my responsibility to look after Twilight-so, I hated not being able to be there for her. I was worried that Mom and Dad would hire a sitter that seemed nice, but would be cruel to her behind everyone’s backs.”

“Everything seemed so much simpler back then…” Cadance sighed.

Even someone as inexperienced in romance as Rainbow Dash could tell that she wasn’t just talking about the Changelings, she seemed to regret how things ended between her and Shining Armor.

“So, Sunset….” Dash began awkwardly, massaging the back of her neck. “I feel kinda bad about our argument yesterday….it was kind of stupid to get so worked up about someone not liking a book series.”

Sunset was completely taken off guard by the apology and more than a little a confused by it.

“Well, that’s very big of you Dash-but, a little a unnecessary-to be honest, I only lashed out because I was tired and irritated-but, my behavior was childish and the insults were petty….so I’m sorry, too.”

Hopefully, that would put this matter to rest and end the awkwardness of this conversation. Rainbow Dash didn’t seem like the type to apologize without some kind of prompting, especially when it came to something that wasn’t necessarily her fault. Then again, her judgment as of late had been subpar at best, so who knew?

“I wasn’t even aware there had been an issue, but I am glad the two of you have been able to sort things out.” Celestia added, approvingly.

Somehow, this managed to lighten Sunset’s dark mood a bit. Perhaps, it was because it had been so long since her teacher had given her recognition for her efforts. Secretly, she had missed Celestia’s approval and was glad to have it for something-no matter how minor-once more, it almost made her feel happy again.

Author's Note

Sorry, this took so long....

Anyway, since this is an Alternate Universe-Twilight's Mom is Daring Do's author because I see nothing but a legal and PR nightmare whenever I think of Daring Do and Ahuizotl actually existing and not only is Equestria non the wiser, but have also flown under Celestia and Luna's radar leading the public to question their leadership and competence if they can'ts stop such a minor threat.

Maybe good for another story, but too complicated and not what I want to do with this one-besides, I kind of liked the fanon idea.

Next chapter should deal with Twilight grappling with her friendship and her possessiveness of her brother.

Consideration

Once again, Twilight found herself outside Rarity’s room, only Spike had accompanied her this time around as they agreed this matter involved him, as well.

“Ugh….I think I ate too much….” He groaned, clutching his stomach. It was quite rare for him to be allowed to eat so many gems at once. Fortunately, Celestia and Luna would often be gifted with valuable jewels from their wealthier subjects, which they didn’t have much use for given the healthy state of the royal treasury and the fact that some businesses would insist on giving Celestia items-much to her chagrin. Twilight speculated that perhaps Luna appreciated the attention after being ignored and then hated and feared by her subjects for so long.

Still, the five-star dining was something Twilight hadn’t realized she’d missed until she came back to Canterlot. After a while, she supposed she just took it for granted-when Celestia chose her as her pupil, her parents were no longer charged for room and board. The same thing must have happened when she got to Ponyville.

Twilight lightly knocked on the door and waited as the door opened to reveal Rarity in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head.

“Good evening, Twilight.” She looked past her. “Hello, Spike.”

“Hey, Rarity…” Spike groaned, still clutching his stomach.

“May I help you?”

“Maybe…” Twilight lowered her voice. “Is it alright if we come in? The issue we need to ask you about is kind of private.”

“Well, I just started a bath so….I wouldn’t mind if you came in, but Spike is a boy-it would be improper for him to see me naked in such an intimate setting.”

“So?” Twilight pressed. “It’s not like most of wear anything aside from special occasions anyway, and it doesn’t seem to faze him…besides, I’m never that self-conscious about it-and I live with him and back when we were kids our parents would bathe me with Shining Armor.”

“Yes, but you and they have a more familial relationship, to a lady like myself it feels more than a little….uncouth in such an intimate setting-especially when it comes .”

Twilight merely shot her a look that said; ‘I still think you’re being weird, but whatever….’ before turning to Spike.

“So, we can come in to talk with her, but you’ll have to wait in the bedroom while Rarity and I talk in the bathroom.”

“Okay…it would probably best if I lie down…” Spike groaned as his stomach gurgled a bit.

“Is he going to be alright?” Rarity asked anxiously. “Will he need a bucket? I may not be staying here permanently, but it would be a dreadful shame if the carpet was ruined because he became ill…”

“I don’t think so, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to be on the safe side.” Twilight agreed as Spike followed them into the room.

Twilight’s ear twitched at the sound of the faucet running-that was probably the water for Rarity’s bath. She felt a little guilty for taking so much time debating with her over whether or not it would be acceptable for Spike to be in the same room with them during their discussion. Fortunately, it didn’t sound like the tub was overflowing-the ones here in the castle were quite large, after all.

Rarity entered the bathroom before swiftly returning with a metal bucket magically levitating in front of her before placing in on the floor next to Spike, who had climbed up on top of the bed and was curled up into a ball.

“There we are-hopefully, you won’t need it, but if you do-one of the castle’s cleaning staff must have forgotten it. The bucket was actually lying on its side when I first entered the room along with a mop and filthy water spilled all over the floor, which I found odd and had to request someone to come and take care of it….so please, please, please make sure you don’t miss.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about that, I think he just has indigestion-we probably spoiled him a bit, I mean we are in Canterlot-gems are far more common here that in Ponyville after all and things have been tense for everyone latetly. So, I figured why not?” Twilight replied, following Rarity into the bathroom and shutting the door behind them.

“I assume that means you’ve learned your lesson then, I hope?” Rarity asked, removing her robe and sliding into the tub.

“So, what was it you wished to speak with me about?”

“I wanted to speak with you about Rainbow and Shining Armor.” Twilight replied, resting on her haunches.

Rarity froze as she felt her heart skip a beat.

“Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor, you say? What makes you think I know anything about them?” She pressed anxiously, the heat from the water and rising steam doing nothing to alleviate the increasing amount of sweat being produced by her body.

“Rarity, you can relax-I ran into Rainbow after she spoke with you earlier and she told me everything.”

“Say what now?”

“It’s kind of complicated, but the gist of it is that I made an assumption, overheard you two talking, and now I’m not sure how to deal with one of my best friends and by B.B.B.F.F. dating.”

“Come again?”

“’Big Brother Best Friend Forever.” Twilight explained.

“Oh, so you have more than one brother?” Rarity pressed.

“What? No, it’s a name I came up with for him as a filly because he was the only one I trusted enough to be my friend. Why would you think I would have more than one brother by that?”

“What made you feel the need to specify that it’s your big brother, who is your best friend forever?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Twilight growled irritably. “Can you help me out or not?”

“Well, I hope you are not mad at Rainbow-I’m not sure if you’ve realized this-but, your brother appears to have grown into quite a handsome stallion with a great personality to match-something I’d certainly desire in a potential suitor.”

“Yeah, I know Shining’s great….and I can’t really fault Rainbow Dash for liking him-but, it just feels kind of weird…”

“Well, what are you worried about, specifically?”

Twilight took a deep breath.

“I’m worried that if they begin dating and get serious, things might not go so well and the relationship could end badly-I’m worried about how that will affect my relationship with Shining Armor and my friendship with Rainbow Dash. I mean, I didn’t even know he was dating Cadance, never mind the fact that they broke up until long after the fact.”

“Cadance broke up with him and they both seem to be handling it quite maturely-they still seem friendly towards each other, based on what I’ve seen.” Rarity pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is Rainbow Dash we’re talking about.”

“Hmm, true….she does have a history of acting rashly….” Rarity conceded. “But, isn’t that even more reason to be there and support them? At the very least, I think you should speak with them in private and let them be aware of your fears.”

“Well, I don’t think they’ve even actually started flirting yet….” Twilight muttered.

“Just give them some time, I doubt Shining and Cadance’s relationship bloomed overnight, either.”

“Good point.” Twilight agreed. “But, what should I do in the meantime?”

“Well, I would start looking at the positives that could come out of their relationship. Of course, it probably wouldn’t hurt if you spoke to Shining Armor himself to see if he even feels the same way about Rainbow Dash before getting too worked up about this-that way you can either comfort her if it wasn’t meant to be or try to support them if it turns out the attraction is mutual.”

“I see, thank you Rarity.” Twilight stood up on all fours once more before Rarity stopped her. “Oh, and could you be a dear and bring my robe back-I hate it when I stay in the water too long and get all pruney.”

Twilight levitated it back towards her as she stepped out of the tub.

“Thank you.”

They returned to the bedroom to see Spike sitting up with only a single claw over his stomach.

“How are you feeling, Spike?” Rarity prompted.

“I think I’m mostly over it….” He replied before burping as an emerald green flame shot out of his mouth.

“Sorry,” he looked up at the mares apologetically with his fin-like ears drooping slightly.

“It’s alright, the sheets appear to be perfectly intact….they are quite expensive and I would be quite remiss to allow something happen to them during my stay.”

“I have no idea what you just said, but you don’t seem mad-so, I’m just going to assume that you’re cool with it.” Spike replied, staring at her blankly.

“Yes, Spike. I am ‘cool’ with it.” Rarity replied with an exasperated sigh.

“Thanks again for all of your help, Rarity…Spike and I will get going now-it’s getting pretty late and I still have a lot to think about.”

“Anytime, Twilight.”

Resolve

“So, Sunset what’re your thoughts on uh…..love?” Flash asked weakly as they walked the castle halls with the rays of the morning sun spilling through the windows and created golden rectangles of light across the tiled floor.

Sunset slowly turned to him with the same look of annoyance he’d been dreading whenever he would think about mustering up the courage to approach her with the subject.

“This is related to those parasites, right?”

“Yeah, well….no. I mean…kinda?” He replied, flustered. “I mean, what are your thoughts on y’know….romantic love?”

“From what I’ve seen, Changelings can feed on just about any kind of affection-even platonic ‘love’, it might even extend to lust as well, but I have neither experience or evidence to support such a hypothesis-they are able to take it to increase their own magical powers and of course, to use as sustenance.”

Sunset was silent for a few moments as if she were contemplating something before Flash opted to try again-he got this far after all and if he didn’t get an answer from her now, it would be unlikely that he would be able to summon the courage to ask her again.

“But, what do you think about love-forgetting the Changelings for a minute-what is your opinion on it? Do you….do you think that under certain circumstances two people can fall in love? Even if they are extremely tense and they might be almost complete opposites of each other?” He pressed.

Inwardly, Sunset sighed but, he was asking her honest opinion and a healthy dose of cynicism and reality would probably be good for him.

“Well, as for the love that attracts one person to another-there’s nothing romantic about it-that’s just worthless sentimentality used to sell greeting cards. The truth is, it’s , more like a mental illness-those feelings don’t come from the heart, but the brain like every other emotion. Love is like a disease that manifests and go through stages of infection through a chemical reaction created by sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen-both chemicals exist within each gender, just of different degrees based on what you were born with which begins the first stage-lust.”

She stopped to gauge Flash’s reaction, this obviously wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he did ask for her expertise of the subject.

“The second stage is the attraction that makes someone the focus of your attention-this is controlled by neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin which changes the way someone thinks and fuels their unhealthy obsession with another individual.”

Pausing once again, she got the impression that Flash wanted to say something in protest, but was waiting for her to finish.

“The third and final stage is attachment, which is helped fueled by oxytocin-a chemical that help strengthen emotional bonds like platonic love between a parent and their offspring and helps couples want to stay together. Vasopressin is a hormone that is released after mating and something that I believe is necessary for things like jealousy to exist.”

“Okay, so you have a pretty negative opinion of love-which, I can kind of see after the way your parents treated you.” Flash sighed.

“Realistic opinion, but when it comes to my mother and father I believe they either planned my birth to advance their social status or I was an accident and while viewing my as nothing, but genetic refuse they decided to use my childish affection for them to achieve their own ends until I was old enough to figure out what they were doing.” Sunset retorted.

“But, what about love potions? Or Princess Cadance?” Flash pressed. “They seem to be able to make others fall in love or at least become more affectionate towards each other…”

“You are aware that certain narcotics can be used to trick the brain and simulate certain emotions, right?” Sunset asked. “Besides, love potions are something only a sociopath would use to make someone fall in love with them, it’s really no different than slipping a pill into someone’s drink at a bar and committing some unspeakable act on them while their out. As for Cadance, from what I’ve seen, she could merely suppresses hostility rather than force people into feeling things for each other-at least, that’s what I hope since that power is open to all kinds of abuse.”

Flash shook his head.

“Come on, you should know Cadance better than that-she only uses her power responsibly and by that logic, Celestia and Luna can’t be trusted either since they control the sun and the moon respectively to aid the life cycle of not just Equestria, but the entire world and they’ve never abused their power.” He countered. “Though, I’ll admit you have a point about the love potions-wasn’t there some old legend about one destroying a kingdom? I think my Dad read it to me once when I was a kid….”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that love is nothing, but a buzzword one uses to manipulate those who have affection for them to their own ends.” Sunset growled. “I loved my parents when I was stupid kid-as much as it pains me to admit it-and look at how they treated me.”

“What about your friend?”

Sunset’s blood ran cold at the mention of Peachy.

“What about her?” She asked, trying her best to sound indignant.

“You told me she was your best friend-the first and only person you ever accepted as your friend before you met me-and you obviously cared enough about her to begin a genocidal rampage to get revenge in her name….are you going to tell me that you didn’t hold some amount of affection for her?” He challenged, taking a step closer and causing Sunset to take a step back.

“I….”

“You were willing to drive an entire species to extinction for her because of how painful it was to lose her, you don’t just want to kill the Changelings either-you want them to suffer. So, did you love her? Platonically, or otherwise? Because that’s what it looks like from where I’m standing-so, you’re either lying to me or you’re lying to yourself.”

“I….don’tknow.” Sunset admitted, hanging her head shamefully. “I did love her, but even I’m not sure in what way-after getting burned by my parents and my inability to trust Celestia….she was the first person I felt like I could really open up to and she wouldn’t stop caring about me or start manipulating me because of it.”

Flash immediately began to feel guilty, he was so determined to change Sunset’s mind that his words came off harsher than he had intended.

“Sunset, I’m sorry….I didn’t mean to-look, we can just drop it and forget this whole conversion ever happened. I’ll never bring up any of this again and we can go our separate ways.” He offered, it seemed like he could forget about a relationship-at this point he wasn’t even sure if his friendship with her was salvageable.

“No….it’s okay, I think part of me needed to hear it. I guess, maybe part of me was trying to protect myself-when I lost her I couldn’t fathom how Celestia could live for so long and stand to bear so much pain from losing those she cared about or what kind of masochist would seek out to make more of those kind of friendships, knowing that they’ll only lead to more heartache. Sometimes, we just need someone to hold a mirror up in front of us, huh?”

She raised her head and while there weren’t any tears streaming down her face, her eyes were still quite visibly watery.

“You know something else? I do like you Flash and as much as I still want to fight the Changelings, my only focus is the Queen now-she’s the one who ordered the attack and without her maybe we can change their views on some things…deep down, I’m just terrified of losing you like a did Peachy-I’m easily one of the most powerful Unicorns that Celestia has ever taught, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to go through that again.” Sunset continued, shakily.

“I guess it would be too much to ask for you to stay out of the fight? Because that’s what it’s going to come down to-another siege on Canterlot-I’ve met the Queen and fought against her-she’s not the type to compromise….she reminds me of myself in so many ways I’m no longer proud of.”

“I’m sorry Sunset, but even if it weren’t my duty-it’s not in my nature to stand by let others get hurt trying to fight on my behalf.”

“You know, I’m actually glad that you feel so strongly about this-it pretty much confirms what I’ve suspected about you for a while now and since I don’t intend to let this war with the Changeling Queen to end without one or both of us dying-I plan on fighting her to my last breath….and I’m glad I got to know beforehand.” Sunset replied, her voice wavering slightly.

Taking him completely by surprise, Sunset leaped forward and wrapped her forelegs around him.

“You know, I was think about the chemistry of love a lot lately because part of me was wondering if there was some way to inject it into the Changelings and just kill the Queen-but then, I realized how hypocritical that would be-and even if it weren’t, we probably don’t have the resources to mass produce something like that for all of the Changelings in Equestria. Even if we knew how many there were. And then I started thinking about you and began worrying about what it’s going to do to me if I can’t protect you from them.” She continued, holding him tighter. “You’ve seen the way I’ve acted after Peachy’s death and we both know she wouldn’t have approved my actions-what if I completely snap this time?”

Flash slowly returned the embrace by wrapping a foreleg around Sunset.

“I don’t think either of things are going to happen-I still have a lot to live for-and I have no intention of becoming a thrall for some crazed monarch….” He slowly moved his hoof to gently message her back in an effort to comfort her. “And you don’t need to babysit me-I can take care of myself if I have to. Last time they took us completely by surprised, but now we know what to expect and we’re ready for them. Besides, with you on our side I’m more confident than ever that we can beat them.”

“I hope you’re right.” Sunset replied glumly, pulling away from him. “It would just be so much easier if we could launch a pre-emptive assault on them, instead of sitting around, waiting for a futile attempt and diplomacy and only then get a real shot at them. If only we knew where they were hiding out…”

“Sunset….” Flash began warily.

“Our focus would still be the Queen, of course-but, if any Changelings tried to attack us on the way to her-we could hardly be blamed for defending ourselves. They also attacked us, so even if they do have a nation of their own-which, based upon what I’ve seen, I very much doubt-it doesn’t seem likely that other nations would view such an attack negatively. The point I’m trying to make is that if we figured out where they’re hiding and were able to pull something like that off, the element of surprise would likely end things quickly and likely prevent as many casualties.” She continued.

“Even if we did know where they were hiding-we should be helping them figure out a way to deal with their nature for peaceful co-existence, not slaughter them wholesale.”

“As I said, the Queen is the head of the Changeling body-we just need to cut that off and request an unconditional surrender-of course, Celestia would never justify wiping out an entire species-not matter how unsavory their actions may be. But, at least then we’ll have a chance at talking to them and reaching a peaceful resolution. They can’t be somewhere in the open-people are on the lookout for strange behavior after the Changelings Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor uncovered in Ponyville and Cloudsdale….and it can’t be too far from the city if they were able to send another infiltrator after the attempted kidnappers were captured.” Sunset continued as she began pacing. “They’ve got to be holed up someplace forgotten-or at least, uninhabited….”

“Well, why don’t we get some breakfast-it’ll probably be easier to think on a full stomach.” Flash suggested.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right….it could just come to me-still, it’s driving me crazy because I could swear I know of a place like that….”

Twilight’s eyes cracked open to see the sunlight spilling into her room before closing them for a few more moments. She really didn’t want to get up, yet-right now she didn’t have to follow any real type of schedule-and last night was the first full night of sleep she’d had since the initial Changeling attack. As much as she wanted to sleep in and savior the current peace, she knew that she had to speak with Rainbow Dash to let her know that she had decided it probably wouldn’t be so bad if she and her brother began dating.

Sitting up in bed, Twilight stretched her forelegs in the air as she let out a colossal yawn. It seemed as though a single good night’s sleep didn’t make up for a week’s deprivation. Pulling the covers aside, Twilight got out of bed and approached the dresser and mirror opposite as was her morning ritual before pulling out a brush to straighten her frazzled mane.

Even if Rainbow and Shining Armor had some sort of falling out, she could probably help resolve any issue. After all, damage control seemed to more or less be her entire role within Ponyville. Plus, unlike the break up with Cadance-this time she would have the advantage of actually knowing about this reltationship.

Spike exited the bathroom with a small towel wrapped around his waist-he must have just finished his morning bath.

“Twilight, you’re up!” He exclaimed upon seeing her. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do with the whole thing between Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor?”

“Yes, I have decided that it isn’t really my place to stand between them-especially when they-well, Dash seems to be pretty sincere and given her track record-it’s unlikely that she’ll end up betraying his trust in some way.”

“So, do you want me to go with you….or should I stay here?” Spike asked, twiddling his claws.

“Spike, I told you before; this concerns you just as much as it does us-you can stay here if you like, but I’m not going to cut you out for something so trivial as your lack of biological connection to us.”

Spike smiled at this. Despite not talking about it very much, Twilight knew that deep down he felt like an outcast-someone who wasn’t a pony, but knew little to nothing about other dragons. While this concerned her, she had always left it alone unless Spike brought it up-not wanting to pry. She made a mental note to ask Cadance for advice-Celestia may have raised Spike as a hatchling, but despite his growth, intelligence, and capabilities-he was still essentially a baby dragon. Nonetheless, she made a point to try to reinforce the fact that despite being the only dragon in Ponyville-he wasn’t alone and that he could count on her and their friends if he ever needed them.

Twilight placed the brush back on the dresser and examined her reflection in the mirror one last time before being satisfied that her appearance was now presentable to the public.

“Are you ready to go Spike?” she asked.

He nodded before she levitated him onto her back.

Twilight and Spike were in the castle courtyard. Since there had been no response when they knocked on the door of Rainbow Dash’s room, they figured that she may have already been up, flying around somewhere.

“Are you sure she’s out here?” Spike asked. “I mean, the castle’s pretty big-she could have decided to try flying around inside.”

“Knowing Rainbow Dash, I’d say that’s pretty unlikely-as an athlete she enjoys having as much open space as possible.” Twilight replied.

“Rainbow Dash!” She called out, catching a prismatic blur streaking through the sky.

The streak curved before heading down towards the duo, hitting the ground, Dash skidded to a halt with a trail of dirt dug up by her hooves behind her.

“What’s up!? Are the Changelings attacking!?” She asked alarmed, preparing to fight. “I didn’t see anything from the air…”

“No, everything is fine….actually, I came to talk to you about Shining Armor.”

Rainbow Dash felt her muscles stiffen as the overwhelming sensation of anxiety crept over her. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Despite everything they’d been through together it still seemed unlikely that Twilight would allow the two of them to date. Yet, part of her still held out hope. Wanting to maintain her cool demeanor, she willed her facial muscles to relax to help give the impression that she was calmer than she actually felt.

“Okay, so what have you decided?” She asked, impressing herself with the fact that her voice didn’t come out shaky.

“Well, after much deliberation and after seeking advice from Rarity, I was able to come to the conclusion that the two of you dating would most likely not impact Spike or myself in any negative manner-in respect to our relationships with you and Shining Armor.” Twilight began.

“The biggest concern I’ve had was how the dynamics of you relationship would affect our friendship and my bond with Shining Armor-especially, if things don’t work out between the two of you. As far as stability is concerned, now that I am aware of your intentions-neither of you should worry about speaking with me about any potential or ongoing relationship concerns. More than anything, I like the fact that right now we all get along and enjoy each others’ company-it’s something that I don’t want to lose. So, with that said-I would like to give you my blessing to begin dating my brother.”

“Well, thanks for thinking about it, Twi.” Dash sighed. “Don’t worry about me-it’s….disappointing, but at least now I know how you feel about it. Besides, I’m awesome enough to keep flying solo-who really needs anyone else, anyway? Dating would probably just slow me down-wait, what did you just say?”

“I said; I am at peace with the idea of you dating Shining Armor.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight skeptically, as if this were the set-up for some sort of prank and she was going to be the butt of the joke.

“You’re serious?” She asked, cautiously.

“Yes.”

Dash slowly approached Twilight, like a skittish animal trying to decide whether or not it would be safe to take food from a stranger offering it. Even if this wasn’t a prank, it could have been a weird test of some kind. She knew how much Twilight loved tests.

“Are you sure?”

“Rainbow, if the two of you truly care for each other and being together makes the two of you happy, then it wouldn’t be my place to stand in the way of that.” Twilight replied, honestly.

“Well, that’s a relief…I’d hate to screw up our friendship over this-especially, if he doesn’t feel the same way…”

“That’s good to hear.” Twilight grinned.

“You know, I’m surprised you got up this early-it’s not really your job to manage the weather here.” Spike commented.

“Yeah…well, I couldn’t really sleep last night-so, I came out here to fly and clear my head. But, now that I have nothing to worry about, I can finally relax….”

“There’s still the Changelings.” Twilight grimly reminded her.

“Pssh! So, far they’ve only attacked us when our guard was down like a bunch of cowards. If they were really tough, they would’ve fought us head-on from the beginning.” Dash retorted, confidently.

“Just because they’re pragmatic doesn’t necessarily make them cowardly.” Twilight chided. “They’ve exhibited many traits similar to bee and ant colonies, they may be fiercely loyal to their Queen and become extremely dangerous if they believe that she is being threatened.” Twilight countered.

“Well, we aren’t the ones who started this-besides, if they play nice, then they shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” Dash replied, coolly.

Twilight merely rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh as she turned around to head back into the castle.

“Well, Spike and I are going to get some breakfast-want to come with us?”

“Yeah,” Spike added. “I heard today, they’re going to be serving mountains of pancakes towering above your head-almost reaching the ceiling!”

“I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating.” Twilight commented.

“Uh….” Rainbow Dash was about to decline, before her stomach began rumbling. “Sure, I’ve been working out here for a while-it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to fuel up.”

Dash also realized that it would also probably help her figure out the best way to approach Shining Armor if she was thinking about it on a full stomach. They’d only known each other for less than a month-how could she show interest in him without coming off as desperate? Then again, now that she could ask Twilight-who arguably knew him better than anyone-maybe she really had a chance with him.

Confession

Once again, everyone was seated at the dining table when Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike entered the room.

“Hey, where have you guys been?” Shining Armor asked.

“Well, I was just getting some early morning flying in.” Dash replied, flexing one of her wings for emphasis.

“While Spike and I had something we needed to discuss with her in private.” Twilight added.

At this point, Spike hopped off from her back and ran towards the table, grabbing a claw full of pancakes at a time and slapping them onto his plate. Flash watched as he took the syrup bottle before flipping it upside down and drowned his pancakes in the in the sugary substance. As Spike began voraciously devouring his meal, Flash couldn’t help but stare in awe at just how much a baby dragon could consume.

Everyone else chuckled at this, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash made their way to their seats. This time, there were two seats open next to Spike. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to speak with Shining Armor to test just how open he might be to the idea of beginning another relationship. Dash was feeling more confident, now that she had Twilight to coach her through it.

“Hey Twi, I’m gonna try to talk to Shining Armor-any advice?” She asked, through the corner of her mouth.

“You’re going to ask him out here? Now!?” Twilight asked, in a harsh whisper.

“Relax, I’m not going to ask him our here in front of everyone-I’m not an idiot, Twilight-I just want to know where he’s at emotionally, y’know?”

“Try opening with something casual-like asking him how he’s feeling this morning.” Twilight replied, uncertainly after letting out an exasperated sigh.

It was quite an awkward position that Rainbow Dash had her in. Giving Rainbow advice on how to flirt with her own brother. How easily she seemed to forget their initial meeting in Ponyville and her own aversion to socialization and lack of skills in that regard. As if things weren’t awkward enough, she had to do this now? With her mentor, parents, old foalsitter and all of their friends present?

Twilight then decided that once this was all over, Rainbow Dash would owe her for putting her through all of this anxiety.

“So, how are you doing…this morning?” Dash asked, causing Shining Armor to stop short of taking another bite of his pancakes and lower the fork he had been levitating.

“I guess I can’t complain….now that things seemed to have a calmed down a bit, I was able to get a bit more sleep.”

“I would have to advise against becoming too complacent.” Luna commented. “The lack of Changeling activity recently is only the calm before the storm, their Queen will be coming and according to Sunset Shimmer-she and her subjects will be coming in full force.”

“Yeah, I know.” Shining replied. “I just meant that it’s nice to be able to relax a bit before they show up-if I spend the whole wait worrying about everything-I won’t be able to get any rest and if Sunset’s prediction comes true, I’d rather be at one-hundred percent to stop them and protect everyone.”

“I am still holding out hope that the Queen can be reasoned with.” Celestia added.

“No offense, Princess-but, what Sunset’s been telling us about her doesn’t necessarily fill us with the same confidence about her being the reasonable sort.” Applejack cut in.

“Perhaps not, but once again I feel it necessary to reiterate that my goal is to avoid unnecessary bloodshed if at all possible-I believe that we can live with the Changelings in harmony-I just need to open up the Queen’s eyes to the possibility.”

“As uncouth as their methods are, I must admit-I am slightly envious of the kind of innate magic that allows them to change any part of their body they want-it must save a fortune when it comes to mane styling.” Rarity added, trying to sound positive.

“Ooh! Ooh! And more Pinkie Pies to spread happiness to everyone throughout Equestria!” Pinkie exclaimed.

This caused Sunset to regard her with a look of contempt that seemed to indicate that she was resisting the urge to vomit into her own mouth.

“You people do remember that these things are killers?”

“She is correct.” Luna agreed. “Even if they seemingly agree to our terms and our offer of peace, subterfuge is in their very nature-we must make certain that they are sincere before risking allowing them to interact with the general populace.”

Rainbow Dash sighed at how quickly her attempt to socialize with Shining Armor backfired and devolved into this. Politics were so stupid and boring-they always seemed to ruin everything. That’s probably why Celestia just wanted to hang out with them on the night of the Gala, instead of having to talk to a bunch of stuck-up jerks about the economy or whatever all night. She knew that what they were discussing was important but, they’ve pretty much been having the same discussion since they got here-it wasn’t like any of the stuff they were saying was new.

Looking across the table, she could see Night Light and Twilight Velvet listening intently on the discussion along with Cadance. Fluttershy was just quietly focusing on her meal with her head down, which was weird because she was always first to come to the defense of other creatures-then again, Dash supposed this could have been like the issue she had with full grown dragons. Spike and Flash seemed to have taken to a little debate of their own, which sounded like which story arc or writer sucked more for Arachni-Colt from what she could gather.

Shining Armor got up from the table and left the dining room. Dash looked back to see Twilight still completely enthralled by the malformed discussion that had now turned into the best way to ethically deal with the Changelings once peace was a viable option for both parties. Sighing, she decided follow suit, this would probably be the best time to talk to Shining without the risk of getting cutting off again.

“Hey, Shining-wait up!” She called out, following him down the hall.

His ear swiveled towards the direction of her voice before he stopped to let her catch up.

“Hey, Dash-sorry about leaving early-it’s just that these conversations are going around in circles at this point.” Shining sighed. “I understand that these issues are important, but I feel like it’s more important right now to ensure that everyone’s prepared for the physical threats that the Changelings might pose when they show up, instead of getting to far ahead of ourselves-I just have this sinking feeling in my gut that things are going to go bad.”

“But, we already evacuated everyone…”

“That’s not what I mean, a lot of people in the guard I’ve known since the first day of training and more than a few I’ve become friends with since then-we’ve been up against Nightmare Moon and Discord, but couldn’t stop either of them. But, unlike those two-these Changelings have shown that they are more than willing to kill for their cause-and I don’t think I’ll be able to protect everyone. I know it’s unrealistic to think that I can, but after failing during the first attack-I’m not sure how many more of those failures on my conscience I can take…”

“You almost make it sound like you’re killing them yourself.” Dash noted. “But you’re not, and I think everyone else already know that you’re trying your best-it’s totally messed up what happened but, no one-not even Celestia expected something like that.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Shining smiled at her. “Hey Dash, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you and at first I thought about waiting until this whole thing was over with, but just in case things go bad….”

“What is it?”

He seemed strangely tense, even more so than he did before he went to speak with Cadance after reaching Canterlot.

“Sorry, I thought this would be easier after doing this Cadance, but…” Shining inhaled deeply. “Dash, I have a lot of faith in you and I’m going to do my best to get everyone through this thing with the Changelings. With that said, I just wanted you to know that if the worst case scenario comes to pass…I’ve come to develop some pretty strong feelings for you in the short time we’ve known each other.”

Dash felt her heart skip a beat, was he really saying what she thought he was saying?

“I-I think I love you…” He admitted. “I know it’s kind of weird given everything that’s been going on, but the only other time I felt this way about a girl was with Cadance.”

Shining watched her anxiously, trying to gauge her reaction-quietly anticipating outrage.

But, it never came.

Instead, Dash slowly looked up at him as if in a dream state before cocking her head slightly as if she were trying to ascertain whether or not he was being serious.

This caused Shining to feel even more anxious as he braced himself for the various possible negative responses; she could yell at him, hit him, or simply laugh at him. Laughing would probably be the worst case-that she could find the notion of them being together so utterly ridiculous and pathetic would hurt the most. Of course, then there would be the question of their friendship and how this revelation might damage it-hopefully, that at least would still be salvageable.

Rainbow Dash could only stare at him as she heard his words, but they were taking a while to register. Perhaps it was her current sleep-deprived state, or the nature of what he said, or a combination of the two. When her brain finally processed the words and she assured herself that despite the surreal nature of everything around her, she was not-in fact, dreaming. Finally, she let out a deep sigh as a wave of relief washed over her.

“Well, that’s a load off!” She replied, cheerfully.

This time, it was Shining’s turn to cock his head in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Yeah…funny story, I’ve actually been trying to talk to you so I could say the exact same thing.” She replied, sheepishly.

“Really?” Shining pressed, perking up.

“I mean, I’ve felt this way for a while, but I’ve never actually, y’know-liked a guy like this. So, I went to talk to Rarity for advice because she’s really into this kind of stuff and I really didn’t want to screw this up. And then Twilight found out and I…kind of felt like I had to ask her permission to date you because I didn’t want to mess up our friendship….but, she said that she’d have to think about it and get back to me-which she did like an hour ago.”

“So, back there you were…?”

“I was trying to figure out how to tell you without making you mad or scaring you off or…something. But, instead....”

“The conversation devolved into politics.” Shining finished, understandingly. “So, that’s why you followed me out here.”

“Yeah…”

Shining took a step towards Dash and took her off-guard by wrapping a foreleg around her, causing her to blush as she realized what was happening. Despite the slight discomfort of being pressed up against the breastplate of his armor, she was greatly enjoying the embrace. After all of that stress and uncertainty, all of the work and waiting was finally paying off. Shining felt like a kiss might have been too much, too soon and decided that a smaller method of sharing his affection would be a safer bet and it seemed he was correct in that assumption as Dash seemed content with it.

“Hey, how about after this whole thing’s over we go out and do something…you know to relax for a bit?” He whispered.

“Yeah, that sounds cool. She replied, weakly.

Shining slowly pulled away from her, while keeping his hoof rested on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

“Are you okay?” He asked, looking into her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m just tired…” She replied, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hoof. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Why’s that?”

“I was worried about what Twilight would decide, what I would say to you if she gave me the okay, and when I have to think about stuff like that, it usually helps clear my head when I go flying.”

“Yeah, Twiley can get a little…possessive when it comes to me-whenever Id hang out with one of my friends from school, if they were a girl she’d get really suspicious of them-the only exception was Cadance, I guess that’s because they already knew each other pretty well.” Shining replied, removing his hoof from her shoulder. “And I guess the possibility of us dating never really crossed her mind at the time.”

“That actually sounds…kinda creepy.”

“Nah, she’s just a little overprotective of me because I’m her big brother and we were pretty close at the time. Like I’ve said; I can be the same way with her. If she started dating some guy, I’d probably put him under the same level of scrutiny.” He explained. “Besides, I’m sure you’ve already realized that she also has kind of a habit of worrying about things.”

“Yeah…you can say that again.”

“So, you were really out flying all night?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep-and there wasn’t really much else to do-“

Dash was cut off as Steel Vanguard galloped towards them before skidding to a halt.

“Captain! A swarm of Changelings are approaching Canterlot!”

“Estimated time of arrival?”

“Half an hour at the most.”

“Alright, I’ll inform the Princesses-I want you to alert the other guards and rally them outside-we should be able to head them off at the center of Canterlot to keep the rest of the castle’s staff safe.”

“Understood.” Vanguard replied, giving a salute as Shining Armor returned to the dining hall.

“So, how many Changelings are we talking?” Dash pressed, curiously. “I mean it’s not like it matters-we can totally handle anything a bunch of bugs can dish out.”

“I don’t know…” Vanguard replied. “I know you girls have been able to deal with some pretty big threats, but those were just against a single enemy. Would the Elements of Harmony really work against an entire army? I mean, I just can’t believe how many of them there are-at first we thought there was some kind of oil spill-but, when we got a closer look with the telescope, it turned out they were all Changelings lead by the Queen, herself.”

“Yeah, but no matter how many of them there are, we’ll stop them-we always do.” Dash reassured him.

Steel Vanguard however, still looked unconvinced as he left to inform the other guards of the situation.

All of the conversations that were taking place slowly died out once everyone’s eyes caught Shining Armor’s grim expression.

“Princess Celestia, the Changelings are approaching Canterlot-I have instructed the other guards to meet us outside. The furthest we would be able to go to prevent them from gaining too much more ground in trying to reach the castle would be the center of Canterlot.” He looked at his parents. “Mom, Dad, it will be safer if you stay here-Cadance, do you think you could be able to cast a shield spell around the castle to protect everyone after we head out?”

“Yes, you’re right-it would be a good idea to prevent any Changelings from being able to abduct anyone from the castle and try to use them as hostages.” She agreed. “I will be joining you, but I’ll stay out of the fighting unless it’s absolutely necessary-I know that they’ll be targeting me, too.”

“That would probably be for the best.” Celestia agreed. “Hopefully, I will be able to speak with the Queen on reasonable terms without things escalating into another conflict. With that said, if diplomacy fails I do not want anyone to hesitate in defending themselves-your lives and safety are more important to me than anything else.”

Celestia then stood up from the table.

“I will retrieve the Elements of Harmony from the vault as a precautionary measure.”

Rainbow Dash re-entered the hall.

“I’m glad that you have returned, the Changelings-“

“Are invading Canterlot, I know-what’s the game plan?”

“I would like you, Twilight, and your friends to accompany me to the vault-if you ladies are wearing the Elements of Harmony, then we can hopefully stop the Changelings before they do too much damage if the Queen is unwilling to see reason.” Celestia repeated.

“Well, what are we waiting for then?”

Dash and the other girls followed Celestia out into the hall on their way to the vault while Twilight stayed behind, seeing the worried looks on her parents’ faces.

“It’ll be alright, Princess Celestia knows what she’s doing, besides Shining Armor’s the Captain of the Guard and we’ve already dealt with this kind of stuff twice in the past year alone and Cadance will put up a shield spell to keep the castle safe.”

“Honey, we know that you and your brother are talented it’s just….” Twilight Velvet’s voice trailed off, unsure of how to voice her and her husband’s concern.

“We feel a little….useless.” Night Light added. “We’re you’re parents-we should be the ones protecting you, not the other way around-we just sort of feel like burdens right now.”

“Well, Shining Armor kind of signed up for this when he joined the guard.” Twilight pointed out. “And it probably would bother me a lot more if it this was something that was just dropped on me and you two had any sort of control over it-but, you don’t-nobody does except for the Changelings. Besides, I’m actually starting to get used to the whole ‘go out and save Equestria’ thing at this point.”

The couple exchanged glances.

“We’re sorry,” Velvet replied. “Again, maybe it’s just part of being a parent-we just can’t get comfortable with the thought of you two potentially getting hurt, but it would feel even worse if it was on our behalf.”

“Well, we’ve dealt with some pretty big threats before and we always came out fine.” Shining Armor reminded them. “Besides, we’ll still be looking out for each other out there.”

Upon seeing that they were still concerned, he wrapped his forelegs around them and Twilight, bringing them all together in a family group hug.

Sunset glared at them from across the room, feeling a mixture of contempt and envy towards the family and their public display of affection towards each other.

“Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” Shining reassured them.

Watching this, Cadance felt another pang of guilt for breaking up with him-even though he had forgiven her, the guilt of her impulsive decision still weighed heavily upon her-hopefully, she would be able to make it up to him someday.

“We’re very proud of you.” Night Light replied.

“Both of you.” Velvet clarified, both parent were beaming with pride at both of their children and how much they had accomplished at such young ages.

Spike wrung his claws, he felt a little left out, but at the same time he was worried-their parents had come from outside the castle-what if they were actually Changelings in disguise? And they were feeding of Shining and Twilight’s love for them so they could attack everyone still inside the castle while everyone else was fighting outside?

After a few moments of sharing the embrace, knowing that in the back of their mind it could very well be the last time they were all together. If they failed, death wasn’t a complete certainty-however, it seemed like a preferable option when considering what the Changelings did to their prisoners. Shining also suspected that Sunset may have left out some of the more horrific aspects of being kept in Changeling captivity before he pulled away. In trying to comfort his family, he had completely forgotten that Spike, Flash, Luna, Sunset, and Cadance were still in the room. Still, his embarrassment faded when he realized that they probably understood how they felt.

“I’ve gotta head out, the other guards are waiting for me outside-we’ve got to hurry if we want to stop them from getting through the center of Canterlot.” He commented with finality before heading out. “Come on Flash.”

Flash looked back at Sunset reluctantly, undoubtedly concerned about what actions she might take when they finally came face to face with the Queen and her swarm.

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything stupid.” She growled.

“We’ll be right behind you.” Twilight called out to Shining and Flash.

“We love you, honey!” Velvet added, she wasn’t crying-but, Shining could still hear the worry in her voice.

They waited until the two guards were out of sight before Cadance approached Twilight.

“We should be heading out ourselves, Shining Armor is right-we don’t have much time and I’m sure Celestia and your friends are waiting for you.” She suggested, softly.

Twilight nodded before turning to Spike, immediately feeling bad for having forgotten him.

‘Why didn’t he join us? Is he still afraid that we don’t consider him a part of our family?’ She wondered.

“Spike, it will be a lot safer if you stay here with Mom and Dad.”

“But, what if something happens to you?” He pressed, anxiously. “What if something happens and no one see it and some Changeling takes your place? What if they’re Changelings?”

Night Light and Velvet exchanged glances once more as Twilight looked back at them skeptically.

“Come on Spike, you’re being silly-Mom and Dad aren’t Changelings!”

“What if you’re a Changeling in disguise too and you’re just trying to cover for them!?” Spike demanded, pointing at her with at accusatory claw.

“You’re paranoid…look, it’s understandable given everything that’s going on, but I promise you-I’m the same Twilight Sparkle you’ve known your whole life.”

“I want to believe that, but…” Spike replied, crossing his arms uncertainly.

“Is there perhaps some way she can prove to you she is who she claims to be?” Luna suggested.

“Maybe…but how?”

Sunset stood up with an exasperated sigh.

“Alright, clearly I’m the only one competent enough to have figured out a spell to identify Changelings-all three of you stay still.”

“But, how did you figure out how to-“

“Shut up.”

Sunset tapped her horn against Twilight’s forehead as a spark ignited at the tip and the glow radiated across her body along with the sensation of suffering a mild electric shock before slowly fading.

“You’re good, now go-you’ve wasted enough time.”

As Sunset approached her parents, Twilight galloped towards the vault-it, just like every other significant area within the castle had been etched into her memory when she had her first tour of the castle. That knowledge had only been solidified when she asked Celestia questions about areas that weren’t covered in the tour. She skidded to a halt when Rainbow Dash appeared flying slightly about the ground, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Rainbow! What are you doing here?”

“Uh, duh-looking for you.” She replied, holding up the tiara with the Element of Magic encrusted in the center. “You were taking too long, so Celestia asked me to come find you-it’s not like we have a lot of time left-everyone else is heading to the center of Canterlot, so we’re gonna have to catch up.”

“I know you’re fast, but I’m pretty confident it won’t be an issue for me.” Twilight replied, levitating the tiara onto her head.

Dash gave her a quizzical look as she smirked before disappearing in a flash of magical light.

“Hey, that’s cheating!”

War

It took some more time than she would have liked, but Rainbow Dash flew at a moderate speed to catch up with the others. If she flew at top speed, she knew that she could inadvertently cause a Sonic Rainboom. And while at any other time that might have been awesome, if the Changelings hear the boom-they might assume it was an explosion and pre-emptively attack them. She knew that some of the others in Cloudsdale and Ponyville thought she was stupid, just because she wasn’t book smart like Twilight, but would an idiot have realized that might have been an issue? Sometimes she wondered if her friends thought of her the same way as they came into view.

“Hey guys,” she greeted, landing beside Applejack. “Where’s Twilight?”

“We thought she was with you.” Applejack replied, irritably.

“Well, she was-but, then she did that teleporting thing, so I thought she was with you guys.”

“If she knows where we plan on going, then she’s probably waiting for us further ahead.” Shining Armor reasoned.

“I hope so, we can’t use the Elements of Harmony if we aren’t all together.” Applejack reminded him before looking back at Dash to make sure she was wearing hers.

“Did you get Twilight that crowny-thing?”

“Yes, and she put it on.” Dash replied exasperatedly in a manner reminiscent of a filly being nagged by her mother.

“Well, I for one am certainly glad to hear that.” Rarity chimed in. “It wouldd be a dreadful shame to have to stoop to such barbaric means of defending ourselves, especially with the risk of getting my coat and mane ruined.”

“But, that’s not really what’s important, right now.” Applejack replied, slightly irritated.

“Yes, I’m well aware of that, but wouldn’t you prefer things this way over a physical confrontation?”

“I dunno,” Dash admitted. “I know we’re supposed to be playing it safe, but part of me was kinda looking forward to a good fight.”

“Um, I’d rather not fight…if it can be helped…” Fluttershy added quietly.

“Why fight when you can make friends!?” Pinkie jumped in.

“Haven’t ya been listenin’? The Changeling’s Queen is probably the one pulling the strings and even without her they might not see reason and even if they do, there’s still all kinds of politics to figure out. Like where they’re gonna live and how they’ll be able to fit into society.” Applejack reminded her.

“Great, more politics…” Dash grumbled.

“What’re you complaining about? The Princesses are the ones who that’ll have to deal with the fallout from all this-not us.” Applejack pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess…”

Dash looked around the city, before it had been easy to push it into the back of her mind with everything else that had been going on, but now she couldn’t hide from it. After discovering that the Changelings had infiltrated Cloudsdale and had gotten to her boss and some of her co-workers, she was worried about her Dad. She knew that he was tough-he was able to raise her, after all-but, after hearing about trained guards and Sunset’s friend losing their lives to them, it was hard not to worry.

“Hey…you okay, Dash?” Shining asked softly.

“Uh, yeah…I was just wondering if you were jealous.”

“Yeah, because the Elements can pretty much take anyone down no problem, no matter how tough they are.”

“Kinda,” he admitted. “It would definitely make my job much easier.”

Part of her felt guilty for lying to him, but it probably wouldn’t help if things if he or others got hurt because he was wasting time worrying about her. Besides, if something had happened to her Dad-it wasn’t like there was anything that could be done about it now, anyway. Right now, what was important was preventing the Changelings from causing any more damage.

Twilight was standing in the middle of the street up ahead with the entire Changeling swarm approaching from the other end of the city. They appeared to be flying, now that they were closer as the swarm looked like an ominous, dark cloud ready to engulf anything in its path. Despite herself, Dash felt a sinking feeling in her gut-now she understood why that guard had been so shaken up. Still, part of her was curious to see what the Changeling Queen looked like…she imagined something like a giant fire-breathing ant with wings and a scorpion tail that could shoot magical laser beams from the stinger. Actually, that would probably be a pretty cool Daring Do book, A.K. Yearling should probably pay her for coming up with ideas.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing towards her. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to pass you! I just overshot my destination because I forgot to take your travel time into account!”

“That’s quite alright,” Celestia replied. “And I see you still have your Element of Harmony.”

“That’s right, and I got here as soon as possible!” She continued, seemingly fearful of accidentally provoking her mentor’s wrath.

“Without me.” Dash grumbled, bitterly.

“It’s fine-if anything, I worried that you may have been attacked by Changelings.” Celestia replied calmly. “So, I’m glad you waited for me instead of trying to confront them on your own.”

Everyone’s attention was redirected to the swarm descending not too far from where they were standing. The Changeling leading the way appeared to be the tallest, Dash assumed that she must have been the Queen. Like the others, she had holes in her legs, fangs, and insect-like wings. What stood out to her more however, were the differences in her physical appearance from the others that she actually found more disturbing as they were more Equine-like than she was expecting. The Queen’s eye were an emerald green with actual pupils and sclera with what appeared to be a mane that looked like it was made from gossamer.

“Hello, Princess.” She greeted.

Her voice was also more feminine than Dash had been expecting, but it also had an echo-like effect, as if there was another voice speaking with it, only slightly out of sync.

“I take it you are the Changeling’s Queen?” Celestia prompted.

“Indeed I am.” She replied, grinning. “My name is Chrysalis.”

“Why have you attacked my subjects?”

“Hm?” Chrysalis replied, as her eyes scanned the crowd.

“Forgive me, but I was under the impression that there were three Princesses in Equestria-of course, it’s understandable that your ‘niece’ couldn’t be bothered to show up. But, do you still respect your baby sister so little as to make her stay behind? Are you so insecure that everyone must know that you are really the one who is in charge?”

“Luna and Cadance will both be here, shortly.” Celestia replied, curtly. “Now, I would like an answer as to why my subjects have had to suffer at the hands of yours?”

“You should know by now that we Changelings feed on love-and Equestria has far more of it than any other place we’ve so far encountered.” Chrysalis replied, grinning once more. “If I refused what they’re hunger demanded…well, could you in good conscience deny one of your subjects a feast if you knew that they were starving?”

“And where does murder, abduction, and conversion fit into all of this?” Celestia demanded, despite trying to keep a relatively calm demeanor she allowed some of her anger to seep through to show Chrysalis that she would not take the abuse of her subjects lying down.

“We have to keep our numbers steady, survival of the fittest is our way of life-you Equines here are so sheltered, most of you have probably forgotten what it’s like to fight for survival-through any means necessary-those who have been killed or captured were far too feeble to survive.” She continued. “A side-effect of your rule; a princess with a head as soft as her heart, you probably didn’t even have the stomach to execute the Changelings you’ve captured? That’s you found out so much about us, right? They spilled their guts?”

“We are seeking to prevent any further bloodshed-especially, if it happens and later turns out to have been completely unnecessary-that includes prisoners, who we try to treat fairly.” Celestia replied. “That is why I am willing to negotiate, to seek some common ground that may be beneficial for both of us.”

Chrysalis let out a mocking laugh.

“Oh, that is rich…you either risk looking like a coward by surrendering or a genocidal monster by going to war and seeking to eradicate us like any competent leader, yet you seek a more neutral option…very well; surrender yourself, your nation, and all of your subjects to us and we shall spare your lives-it’s not so bad…you won’t even remember being such weak, pathetic beings.”

“You know I won’t allow that.” Celestia warned, lowering her horn threateningly as golden-yellow sparks emitted from the tip of her horn.

Chrysalis’ grin turned into a scowl, clearly she had been hoping for an easy conquest based on Equestria’s reputation for trying to remain peaceful and harmonious.

“What other choice do we have?” She growled. “If we don’t feed, we shall die…are you really willing to condemn us to extinction purely based on what we are?”

“No, of course not. I would never dream of doing such a thing-I merely disagree with your methods as you clearly care more for the well-being of your subjects than my own.” Celestia replied calmly. “I understand that you are in a difficult position, but disregarding the lives of my subjects will not help your case-especially when you are the one responsible for their destruction.”

“”And just what do you propose?” Chrysalis hissed.

“Perhaps, you feel as if we would decline aid to your species based upon your requirements for sustenance.” Celestia reasoned. “I propose that we may co-exist with an attempt at a symbiotic relationship, rather than a parasitic one-no attacking or converting my subjects into Changelings and you and your subjects would no longer have to rely on deception to survive.”

The Changelings behind Chrysalis appeared to have been exchanging glances-though, it was difficult to tell-and some of them almost sounded like they were having discussions on the merits of what Celestia proposed.

Chrysalis glared back at them, silencing all discussion before returning her attention to Celestia, her eyes now a little bloodshot as she bared her fangs.

“No! You’re lying! And even if you weren’t-Equestria would never accept us for who we are-especially after what we’ve done!”

“For the queen of a species whose specialty is espionage, you seem to have been paying very little attention-we can be very forgiving, but only towards those who are willing to change.”

Once more, discussion started up again among the Changelings only for Chrysalis to glare back at them once more.

“For someone who preaches about peace and harmony, you certainly seem to have gathered a large enough following for this conflict.” Chrysalis continued, nodding towards the crowd on Celestia’s side. “And I’ve been paying enough attention to know what you plan to do with those trinkets your pawns are wearing.”

“I would have been perfectly willing to speak with you on my own, had you not shown hostility towards both my subjects and myself.” Celestia retorted. “They are only here in case they are needed.”

This time she didn’t need to turn around, her fears had been confirmed-she was losing control of them, if she wanted to avoid the risk of having her thralls turn against her, she would have to act now in order to feed them and keep their complacency.

“ENOUGH!” Chrysalis shouted, stomping her hoof. “YOU WILL NOT TURN MY SUBJECTS AGAINST ME!””

Her jagged horn lit up with emerald green magic as Celestia took flight, Chrysalis kept a bead on her as she ascended, charging up the magical power she had gained from all the love she had absorbed before releasing it towards the Solar Princess.

Celestia fired a powerful, yellow-golden magical beam down at Chrysalis in retaliation-as regrettable as it was-she now had no other choice if she wanted to protect her subjects from the Queen’s wrath and she fully intended to use all of her power to do so.

As the blasts collided, there was a ball of mixed color in the center where both sides’ magical energies mixed in a struggle for dominance over the other, bathing the area in flashing gold and emerald light.

It had appeared that the result of Chrysalis’ boldness wasn’t simply just arrogance-the love she had absorbed really had put her on par with Celestia’s magical prowess-the princess clenched her teeth as she put more force behind her blast, causing a droplet of sweat to run down the side of her face as she reached into her magical reserves.

Even with the additional power added, it appeared that Celestia was gaining the upper hand with the ball of energy surging lower down towards Chrysalis, until she utilized the same tactic, giving her own magic an extra boost that seemed to be pushing it back up towards Celestia before steadily moving back and forth from an equal distance between them.

“Twilight!” Celestia called down. “You and the girls must use the Elements of Harmony-we have no choice now!”

Even if she did manage to defeat Chrysalis in this magic duel, she would be too drained to help fend off her Changeling army.

“GET THEIR JEWELRY, YOU IDIOTS!” Chrysalis shouted frantically to her subjects, immediately their wings began to buzz as they took off, charging towards Twilight and her friends.

A few guards up front tried to prevent them from reaching the girls, while other Changelings simply flew above them before launching their attacks.

“Hold on to your Elements, girls!” Twilight warned, hitting a Changeling diving towards her with a magical blast, knocking it out of the sky and causing it to crash onto the ground, rolling across the pavement.

“Protect the girls and their Elements!” Shining Armor ordered. “The Princess should be able to take on the Queen herself!”

Hopefully, they could hold them of until they got enough breathing room to use the Elements or Luna and Cadance showed up to provide reinforcements.

Rainbow Dash instinctively darted back towards Fluttershy, unlike the rest of them she wouldn’t be able to defend herself in a normal situation, let alone such a violent onslaught. She tackled her, pushing her out of the way of another dive-bombing Changeling.

“You alright?” she asked.

Fluttershy nodded.

Dash looked up to see Flash galloping towards them.

“Are you two okay?”

“Yeah,” Dash panted. “Listen, I need you to look after Fluttershy-she can’t take care of herself in situations like this-and I can’t focus on taking down these freaks if I keep having to babysit her.”

“Okay,” he replied, taken off-guard by Dash’s bluntness. He would have thought that she would protest to the assertion that she was so weak and helpless, but not only did she not protest-she did even seem to be in the slightest bit offended by the statement. Maybe she had more self-esteem issues that he thought?

“I will defend her with my life.” Flash pledged.

“You’d better.”

Applejack’s strong athletic legs allowed her to easily dodge the Changelings dropping from the sky in a serpentine pattern however, one of the Unicorn guards she passed wasn’t so lucky as one collided with his chest, causing his breastplate to crack as he was winded and thrown backwards. One of the Changelings she had narrowly avoided had crashed into the pavement behind her, creating a small crater. It hissed before lunging towards her, when she retaliated by bucking it in the face. Some of its teeth clattered to the ground as it was thrown backwards, landing with a lopsided jaw-it was motionless, save for a twitching foreleg.

Several guards around her looked on in bewilderment as Pinkie Pie pulled a cobalt cannon with wheels which had a flower painted on them seemingly from out of nowhere. However, instead of questioning it, they decided to be thankful for the extra firepower. The how and why of a non-military personal getting ahold of such artillery, much less move it around so stealthily could be sorted out later.

“Good thing I never go anywhere without my trusty Party Cannon!” She exclaimed gleefully before pulling the rope at the end of it and firing it at a group of airborne Changelings. A blast of confetti struck them, knocking them out of the sky. It was not with the lethality that the guards were hoping for, but at the very least it seemed to have dazed the Changelings enough to give them some breathing room.

Rarity found herself alone and surrounded by a group of Changelings. As they rushed towards her, she squeezed her eyes shut and focused gathering as much magic as she could into the tip of her horn. It lit up with a brilliant azure glow that steadily became brighter and brighter, blinding her attackers.

Twilight meanwhile, had actually impressed herself with how easily she was able to blast moving targets, much less alternate between those who were airborne and those on the ground. She was about to aim at another one in the sky before she was knocked off her aim as pain enveloped her side. The magical blast narrowly missed its target as she collapsed to the ground, sending her crown skittering across the pavement. Another Changeling descended to pick up the crown before its wings began buzzing in preparation to take off again. She futilely reached a hoof towards the crown before the Changeling took off with it.

The pain in her side grew with the additional pressure of the Changeling who must have tackled her, now standing on her side. As Twilight looked up at her assailant, it lowered its head and hissed at her, hitting her face with a blast of its hot breath and droplets of saliva. It then opened its jaw wider before lurching down towards her throat with its razor-sharp fangs.

Twilight was well-versed enough in anatomy to realize that she wouldn’t have much time left after those fangs pierced her jugular veins. Everything was happening so fast, she couldn’t believe it-everything seemed surreal. The only task Celestia had given her was to hold on to her Element, but she failed it. Now, there was nothing she could do, but hope that her friends, family, and the rest of Equestria wouldn’t have to pay for her mistake.

But, the killing blow never came. Instead, a rainbow blur flew across Twilight’s line of sight, knocking the Changeling off her. Still dazed, she sat to see a small violet, transparent dome appear around her, Rainbow Dash, and the Changeling. Sitting on top of Twilight’s attacker, Dash punched it in the face-the dazed Changeling barely had time to comprehend what was happening before it was struck again.

Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard someone galloping towards her.

“Twilight!” Shining Armor called out. “Are you okay?”

“I-I think so,” She stammered. “But, I lost my crown-one of the Changelings flew off with it! We can’t use the Elements of Harmony if all six of us don’t have them!”

“It’ll be okay, we can get it back.” Shining Armor reassured her, offering his hoof to help her up.

As she got back onto all four of her hooves, they looked towards Rainbow Dash, who really seemed to be going to town on that Changeling. Just from where they were standing they could see its face had been contorted in an unnatural manner as a result of the broken cartilage in its nose. As it drew its head back from the recoil of the previous blow, Dash struck it again-more of its greenish blood poured from its nostrils and splattered across the pavement. Rainbow Dash felt herself overcome with a seething rage-the likes of which she had never felt before- it filled her with hatred and the desire for revenge fueled by fear.

“R-Rainbow Dash?” Twilight called over to her, shakily. “It’s okay, I’m fine now-you can stop. I don’t think it’s going to be able to hurt anyone else, now.”

Hyperventilating, Twilight’s words barely registered for Dash as she stomped of the Changeling’s throat with both fore hooves.

This shocked both siblings as they exchanged uneasy glances before rushing over to her.

Dash put more pressure on the Changeling’s throat, as it was still alive. These things were much sturdier than she had originally thought. It didn’t matter though, she would squeeze the life out of it if she had to.

Sunset Shimmer had been right all along; these things were monsters that needed to be wiped out. If she didn’t attack when she did, Twilight would be dead right now. Their Queen had made it very clear that they had no problems with killing them all-what was she going to do if she lost any of her friends because of these freaks? Before she had no problem fighting, but killing seemed a little excessive if wasn’t necessary-but, now she understood. Dash understood how Sunset could hate them so much and want to wipe out their entire race-she had lost her only friend to them.

At this point, Dash felt her forelegs involuntarily remove themselves from the Changeling’s throat as they were spread apart and held at her sides. Upon inspecting them, she noticed the violet magical auras surrounding them. Looking back, she could see Twilight and Shining Armor approaching her, horns aglow.

“Rainbow Dash! What do you think you’re doing!?” Twilight asked in a tone that was meant to be angry and demanding, but instead came out as shaky-betraying her anxiety.

“What does it look like?” She snarled, her eyes bloodshot. “I’m trying to kill this thing!”

In all of the time they had known each other, Twilight learned early on in their friendship that Rainbow Dash could be impulsive and hotheaded, but she never saw her express such hatred until now.

“Well, you can stop.” Shining cut in, resuming his authoritative tone. “You already took it down and Twilight is safe now-there’s no reason for you to keep beating on it.”

“This thing tried to kill my friend! Your sister! And you want me to just let it go!?” Dash screamed in outrage. “Doesn’t that piss you off?”

“Of course it does, but it’s already down and doesn’t look like it’s going to be back up again for a while.” He replied. “We were lucky that you were able to save Twilight in time, but if you stay here just to keep beating on a Changeling that you’ve already taken down-how would you react if your other friends got seriously hurt or killed in the meantime?”

This seemed to have resonated with Dash as she looked down at the Changeling before taking a deep breath.

“You’re right,” She admitted. “You guys can let go of me now.”

Twilight looked towards Shining Armor uncertainly, until he nodded in confirmation. Reluctantly, she complied. Both magical auras faded as they released Dash’s forelegs.

“You really scared us-I’ve never seen you like that before…” Twilight spoke slowly, still cautious that Dash could be set off again.

“Sorry about that, guys.” She apologized, getting off the Changeling. “I guess I saw what was happening and I just…kinda freaked out.”

“Well, if you’re cooled off now-I can lower the shield and we can get back into the fray.” Shining replied. “Just as long as this doesn’t happen again-we can’t afford to reckless.”

As he was about to lower the shield, two magical beams rained down from the sky. One was a darker shade of blue and the other, a lighter, more recognizable one. The trio followed the beams with their eyes, watching as they carved through the Changelings in their path.

“Looks like Luna and Cadance finally made it.” Shining observed, growing more confident.

“About time they showed up.” Dash muttered.

As Chrysalis continued to her struggle with Celestia one of her ears flicked at the sound of the ponies cheering.

Glancing aside, she could see Cadenza and that would-be lunar tyrant decimating her Changeling forces quite easily.

Now that she was distracted, Celestia saw her chance and pushed back with her magic while Chrysalis was still open for an attack.

“No! No! NO!” Chrysalis screamed, struggling against the additional force of Celestia’s attack, while feeling the additional pressure of her reinforcements being inbound.

“I told you they would be here!” The vindicated Celestia stated, proudly.

This couldn’t be happening! She had come so far! She was so close to claiming Equestria! She couldn’t lose now!

She wouldn’t lose now.

“Take down the princesses!” She ordered. “Everything else is a second priority!”

Almost immediately, a wave of Changelings sprung up from the ground, latching onto the princesses’ wings and legs before sinking their fangs into their flesh.

Cadance screamed out in shock and pain as she began falling from the sky, trying in vain to stay aloft as Changeling hooves transformed into dragon-like claws, tearing at her wings. She soon began plummeting to the ground. Fortunately, everyone below had moved out of the way as she landed on her side, crushing her wing and the legs of the Changelings that were holding onto it as she could hear the sound of her ribs crack.

“CADANCE!” Shining shouted, lowering the shield and galloping towards her before he was stopped as he felt something pulling on his tail.

Looking back, he could see Rainbow Dash with his tail firmly clenched between her teeth.

“Let me go, Dash.” He commanded, his anger and anxiety overriding the pain in his tail.

“Nrroh, you shhhed we couldn’t get recklesh.”

“I can’t just leave her to get killed!” He shouted, stomping his hoof adamantly.

“Rainbow Dash has a point,” Twilight cut in. “You’re getting just as worked up as she was-I’m worried about Cadance too, but their Queen just ordered them to incapacitate her and Luna-not kill them-that wouldn’t serve their purposes.”

Shining Armor looked back at his sister with mixture of hope and skepticism.

“They’re in Equestria because they need to feed on our love-we’re resources to them, remember? That’s why they wanted to abduct Cadance. They only reason they tried to use lethal force was because Sunset and Flash were there to protect her.”

“I hope you’re right.” He sighed, watching Cadance until his line of site was completely obscured by the Changelings surrounding her. “So, what should we do, then?

Twilight returned her attention towards Celestia still struggling against the Changeling Queen.

“Princess Celestia is still having trouble-we may not have all of the Elements, but there’s got to be some way to help her while the rest of the Changelings are focused on Cadance and Luna-even if we can just distract her somehow, it just might be enough for Celestia to get the upperhand.”

Luna, being older and more seasoned in battle than Cadance didn’t panic as the Changelings bit and tore away at her. She knew from experience that as long as she kept the Changelings away from her wings, she could regain control. Instead, she thrashed her legs in an attempt to shake them off while turning her head and trying her horn at those clinging to her wings before firing a blast of magic at one of them. The blast knocked the Changelings off, Luna winced as the blast also singed the part of the wing it was hanging on to, causing a few feathers to fall after it. Through the searing pain, she realized that she was quickly losing altitude-the remaining Changelings released her after seeing the way their allies were injured after their assault on Cadance.

Seeing the ground coming closer at an alarming speed, Luna cast a cushioning spell. Managing to land on her hooves, her legs still bent with the shock and pain from being unable to cast the complete spell in time before falling onto her side as the Changelings who had already been waiting on the ground tackled her. They took advantage of her weakened state by pinning her down. Once again, she winced at the additional pressure on her wounded appendages. Looking over, she could just make out Cadance in a similar predicament before her line of site was blocked by the Changelings continuing to dogpile on her, keeping her down.

While she realized that they were fortunate to even still be alive thanks to their Alicorn fortitude, if the horror stories she had found in Sunset Shimmer’s subconscious were true-they would soon wish they weren’t-it was no surprise that she didn’t wish to share all of what she knew in detail. There wasn’t any way she could see them killing Cadance-given that spell of her that Twilight Sparkle had abused, they could easily use that to their advantage. Since Celestia was still struggling against the Queen-Twilight Sparkle and he friends must have lost one or more of the Elements if they hadn’t yet utilized them.

Cadance’s body was now wracked with pain and completely surrounded by Changelings, any attempt to heal herself could easily be mistaken for an attack spell. As unlikely as it was that they would kill her-she didn’t want to take any chances with all of the injuries she was trying to endure. If Celestia couldn’t handle the Queen on her own and they couldn’t use the Elements of Harmony-there was only one more source of magic she could think of. It was so strong, she could feel it when the returned-and as much as it would hurt her, they needed to do it if they wanted any hope of getting out of this alive.

Summoning what remaining strength she had left she shouted as loud as she could to be heard amongst the chaos.

“RAINBOW DASH! SHINING ARMOR! YOU HAVE TO USE THE POWER OF YOUR LOVE TO REPEL THE CHANGELINGS!”

Rainbow Dash released Shining Armor’s tail as they exchanged glances.

“What is she talking about? And how does she know about…?”

“Cadance is the Princess of Love, so she is slightly empathic where she can sense different levels of affection and they are easier for her to pick up on depending on their strength.” Twilight explained. “Just like hate-it can be used to fuel magical properties-she seems to believe that your feelings for each other may be strong enough to stop the Changelings.”

“Will that even work?” Dash pressed, skeptical of the idea that an emotion could overpower brute strength.

“It might,” Shining replied. “There’s no guarantee, I mean-we barely even really knew each other before a few days ago, but it’s not like we have anything more to lose if it doesn’t.”

“Okay, but how are we supposed to do this?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think I have a pretty good idea,” He replied, slowly closing the distance between them. “Just follow my lead.”

Closing his eyes, Shining Armor tilted his head as he lowered it to press his lips against Rainbow Dash’s, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widened before slowly closing as she melted into the kiss, the sounds of the chaos around them slowly faded into the background as she pulled herself closer to him, the only sound that she could hear was her own heartbeat as it rapidly increased with along with her breathing. All of it seemed so surreal, especially now that this was actually happening-it was almost as if it were only the two of them in the entire city and that time had slowed down before completely stopping. She also found Shining Armor’s lips to be surprisingly smoother than she expected.

Twilight watched the couple with a strange feeling she couldn’t quite place, seeing one of her best friends kissing her brother-it was definitely strange for her to see and would take some getting used to. Even stranger was Cadance’s request for this to happen, though as they realized earlier-it wasn’t like they had too much of a choice at this point. Hopefully, their mutual affection for each other was strong enough to repel the Changelings.

As the kiss continued, Rainbow Dash could feel a strong surge of energy and an increased sense of elation from her chest as Shining Armor began to feel the same sensation.

Lacking the same empathic ability as Cadance, Twilight was shocked when she realized that even she was able to sense the strong magical energy emanating from their love. The energy itself was a pinkish steam-like aura that became brighter as the energy grew more stable, she also soon realized that it wasn’t just her as guards and Changelings alike stopped what they were doing as they turned to so what was causing such a powerful surge of magical energy. It was actually surprisingly intense, it was the same kind of intensity Twilight had felt when they used the Elements of Harmony.

It was at this point that Twilight realized that everyone else could now actually see the magical energy as it bathed the area in a bright pink glow. Out of the corner of her eye, Princess Celestia could see the couple kissing and quickly grew confident that their victory was assured. This power was easily equal to that of the Elements of Harmony-perhaps even greater. Which was why she was confused to hear Chrysalis giggling to herself like a school filly.

Why? Why was she laughing? Even those who weren’t attuned to the nature of magic could surely tell that she and her forces would lose in mere moments due to the extraordinary power of Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor’s love. Had her sanity actually collapsed under the weight of all the pressure she was under?

“You fools!” She shouted, as an extra surge of magic coursed through her horn as a second ball of energy flowed through the emerald beam of magic as if it were a ball of liquid being sucked through a straw, until it collided and combined with the first blast before pushing back against Celestia’s in mere second before striking her horn.

Celestia fell from the sky as her subjects looked on with a mixed sense of confusion, disbelief, and horror before her body crashed onto the ground, creating a small crater beneath her and fracturing the remaining pavement around her as her crown clattered away from her with smoke still emitting from her singed horn.

The entire battlefield fell into a deafening silence.

Revenge

Sunset Shimmer had just teleported onto the battlefield moments before it happened.

The Queen’s familiar, mocking laughter filled her with disgust-she looked up just in time to see her former mentor fall towards the ground like a bird that had broken its wing.

It was strange to see the entire battlefield seemingly freeze as both sides witnessed Celestia’s fall in stunned silence and disbelief.

Even with all of the love they had stolen, it seemed that even the Changelings themselves were uncertain of their victory until now-not that they didn’t have good reasons to be concerned. Without princesses, Celestia had still managed to fight Chrysalis to a standstill and keep her occupied. If those idiots hadn’t given them exactly what they wanted, she probably would have won that struggle, eventually.

“You idiots!” Chrysalis laughed. “Did you really think love would be the answer?”

Sunset opted to push forward while the Queen was still gloating, while she didn’t like to admit it, part of her was worried about the severity of Celestia’s injuries.

“We feed on love, remember?”

Sunset also decided that she would only focus on taking the Queen down, unless anyone got in her way-that went for both sides. She had already waited for far too long, she refused to be denied her vengeance any longer. The hatred that burned in her soul only intensified after seeing Celestia being taken down.

“All you’ve done is provide us with a free meal and more power with which to subjugate you.” Chrysalis continued, triumphantly. “If you are willing to renounce your allegiance to Celestia and pledge your loyalty to me instead, I can arrange your tradition into becoming a member of the hive much…smoother with more perks and power than a common drone.”

Her eyes scanned the battlefield of guards, only to see the stallions glaring back at her defiantly along with those mares possessing the Elements of Harmony-who must have been Celestia’s other lapdogs. The only exception was the yellow one next to a Pegasus guard-who appeared to be more frightened than anything else. Breaking her will shouldn’t be too much of a challenge, she appeared to be naturally frail and timid.

“Any takers?” She prompted, her eyes sweeping over the battlefield once more.

The rage that should have filled Rainbow Dash was instead turned to guilt as she turned back to Shining Armor.

“D-did I do something wrong?” She asked, shakily. “I’m sorry-I’ve never done that before!”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong-you were great.” He reassured her before glaring back at Chrysalis once more. “We just should have that that through more.”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Twilight exclaimed, frantically galloping towards her before being stopped by her brother’s voice.

“Twilight!”

Instinctively, she stopped-being reminded once more of when they were younger and he would use that tone when his parents had him look after her and he would need to use that tone to assert his authority before scolding her for something.

“Is Celestia going to be alright?”

Despite his steely exterior he was putting up for the Changelings, she could tell that beneath it he was just as rattled as everyone else and partially blamed himself for this.

‘You’re asking ME!?’

“It’s just that…you’ve studied under her directly, so maybe you’d know if this is just some kind of fake out to get the Queen to lower her guard?” He pressed hopefully, seeing the strange look she was giving him.

“I…I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t know.” She replied. “But, it looked to me like she really did get hurt-shouldn’t we go try to help her?”

“No, she’ll be expecting that.” Shining Armor may not have had much combat experience in conflicts of this scale, but there was something in particular that he’d learned from veterans and some books Twilight lent him on warfare that stood out in his mind. “This could be a trap, and she’s just waiting for someone to get near Celestia with their guard down, so she can blast them.”

“Then what should we do?” Dash demanded, frustrated.

“I’m not sure yet, give me a second to think of something…”

Sunset concluded that if Luna and Cadance hadn’t yet intervened and tried to take on the Queen, at this point-then they must have already must have been incapacitated in some way.

As her eyes scanned the battlefield, she could see a Changeling about to pounce on a grey Unicorn guard, who saw it in time to immobilize it in as a periwinkle aura outline its body, the tip of his horn grew brighter as the Changeling’s neck made a cracking sound before it fell to the ground limp, appearing as if its head was on backwards.

Disinterested, Sunset turned her head to see the one guard she was looking for next to a large building, standing in front that quiet Pegasus, protecting her from an onslaught of Changelings.

Flash was panting with droplet of sweat running down his forehead and thin trickle of blood running down the side of his chin from a cut on his lower lip, his mane was slightly frazzled and his armor was cracked, it also looked like one of his wings had been clipped.

Above them a Changeling tackled a Pegasus guard, slamming him into one of the windows of an upper floor. Glass began to rain down upon Flash and Fluttershy, who ducked down with their forelegs covering their heads. Sunset stopped the shards mid-fall by catching them with her magic before throwing them at the Changelings that had been charging at the other two. Sunset teleported before the duo as the shards tore through the Changeling’s exposed eyes and chitinous exoskeletons, apathetic to the screams of agony behind her.

“Well, I have to admit-I’m surprised the two of you were able to last this long with Celestia down.”

Flash opened his eyes, once he realized his body wasn’t going to be shredded apart from the falling glass.

“Sunset! You’re here!” He exclaimed, relieved.

“Of course I am, the Changeling Queen is here-and I need to ensure that she dies.” Sunset replied. “And before you start-yes, I’ll only be taking out the Changelings that get in my way or are an immediate threat to you guys-“

She glared at Fluttershy, who leaned against the wall and lowered her head, so her face would be even more obscured by her mane-like a small animal trying to hide from a large predator.

“Why are you with her, anyway?”

“Because I promised Rainbow Dash that I’d protect her with my life-and I’m a stallion of my word.”

Sunset looked skeptically at the Element of Harmony around the mare’s neck, which appeared to be in the shape of a bright pink butterfly, causing her stomach to churn in disgust at the thought of Flash potentially throwing his life away to protect someone like her.

“I have some trouble believing that someone who can wield an Element of Harmony would need protection from some common guard.” She replied, haughtily.

“But, it’s true-I am weak and helpless.” Fluttershy spoke up. “I-I hate fighting and the only times I’ve ever done it were when my friends were in danger.”

“Well, everyone is in danger right now-and I don’t see you doing a damn thing to help.”

“And just what do you expect her to do-urgh!” Flash winced as the pain coursed through his injured wing as they began to flare up aggressively.

Both mares approached him in an attempt to examine his wound before Fluttershy caught Sunset shooting her a death glare and back off.

“You okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” He growled. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Listen,” Sunset lowered her voice. “I’ve seen my mother and other mares like her play games like this where they would find a strong, young, moderately attractive stallions and act weak and helpless just to lead them on and get things done for them, do you honestly believe someone so spineless could have an Element of Harmony?”

“Just because she’s timid, doesn’t necessarily mean she’s spineless.” Flash retorted.

“Yeah, I can act too Flash-just because she seems like a nice girl, scared girl doesn’t make it so-haven’t you wondered why she’s always so quiet? Or what kind of dark thoughts must be going through her mind?”

“No, because she really isn’t that self-reliant-why else would one of her friends ask me to look after her specifically?”

“Rainbow Dash is one of the idiots who screwed us by getting us into this current predicament, how do you know she wasn’t trying to set you two up as a back-up in case she and Shining Armor failed? Or what if she’s a double agent?”

“WHAT!?” Flash asked incredulously, “Do you have any idea how paranoid you sound?”

“We’re in the middle of a battle against shape-shifters, paranoia is a pretty reasonable response to that. Besides, look where all that touchy-feely crap has gotten us-their Queen is stronger than ever and all three princesses are out of commission. Without all six Elements, protecting her is pointless-as a soldier, I expected you to be more pragmatic than this.”

“If I was being pragmatic when we first met, I wouldn’t have given you a chance-instead I would have arrested you and went through with my consideration to have you institutionalized as you were potentially a danger to yourself, but certainly a danger to others considering the past few days and your colorful history of criminal activity.”

“I’m sorry…but, I really don’t think this is the best time…or the place to-“Fluttershy mumbled before being cut off by Sunset.

“You wouldn’t have been successful, even if you tried-I could have easily broken every bone in your body.”

“Which, would have proven my point-and if you’re here to stop the Queen like you’ve been claiming-then, why don’t you do that instead of pushing this so hard?”

“I want to know why you’re still protecting her, when we can no longer use the Elements of Harmony to defend ourselves-it’s a waste of time.”

“I won’t break a promise just because it’s no longer convenient to keep it, but I don’t think that’s what this is really about-I think you’re jealous because despite all of your intelligence, you can’t possibly conceive of a scenario where someone associated with you might interact with a third-party and not actually be conspiring against you in some way.” He took a step forward.

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

“How can you trust her? You barely even know her outside of what you’ve been told.”

“And I knew you even less and I gave you the benefit of a doubt and I’m pretty confident that Fluttershy is not putting on an act or trying to manipulate anyone, she has shown empathy towards others, and she doesn’t have a long history violent criminal activity-unlike you.”

Sunset stumbled back in shock, as if she had been slapped before glaring at the two of them, Flash had a similar look on his face, fully aware of what he said, but reconsidering whether or not he may have gone too far.

“Fine then, screw you both.”

“Sunset, wait-” Flash reached a hoof out in an attempt to stop her before she disappeared in flash of magical sparks before he sighed.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to cause any trouble…” Fluttershy spoke up, timidly.

“It’s not your fault.” He sighed again. “To be honest, if you weren’t here, it would probably have been something else-Sunset has a lot of….issues…and not all of them are unfounded.”

“Y-you don’t have to protect me anymore if you don’t want to…” Fluttershy spoke up again, hoping to set up some damage control-or at the very least, prevent the possibility of inadvertently making the situation worse.

“Like I told Sunset, I made a promise-and I fully intend to keep it-and no offense, but I doubt you’d make it out here very long on your own.”

“Do you think your friend will be okay?”

Flash looked out onto the abandoned city turned battlefield uncertainly, he really didn’t know if Sunset would be able to stand a chance against the Queen. He just hoped that in her current state of mind, she wouldn’t do anything stupid. And he certainly didn’t want those to be the last words he said to her.

“We’ll die before we betray the princess.” Steel Vanguard spoke up defiantly, approaching Chrysalis.

“While that could easily be arranged, it would be far more useful to keep you alive-swearing fealty to me would just make things easier for both of us. If you stubbornly refuse to join the hive of your own volition-we can simply break every bone in your bodies until this city has been sufficiently altered to suit our purposes.” She narrowed her gaze. “And then, physically unable to resist you will be placed into a cocoon and be forcibly altered-don’t worry though, you’ll have a brand new and improved body at the end.”

Steel Vanguard’s ears perked up at the sound of wings buzzing towards him before standing on his hind legs to get a better visual and saw a Changeling charging towards him too quickly to change its trajectory before he brought his powerful fore hooves down on its spine-cracking sounds were audible as its vertebrae shattered under the Earth Pony’s strength.

The Changeling screamed out in agony as if lie on the ground beneath Steel, who stomped his fore hoof on its back-causing it to wince as he returned his glare to Chrysalis.

“You’re gonna have to do better than tha-“

He looked up quick enough to see an emerald green blast of magic heading towards him before feeling a burning sensation across his cheek. The burning sensation also spread across his shoulder, knocking him onto his back and sending him skidding across the ground.

Chrysalis grinned maliciously with her fangs exposed, her slender neck making her reminiscent of a viper that was about to finish its prey by sinking its fang into it.

One group of Changelings that weren’t participating in the fighting were speaking amongst themselves, while she would normally be furious-she was far too euphoric over her victory against Celestia to concern herself with a few lazy subjects-especially now that their victory was assured.

“Are you insane!?” One asked in a harsh whisper. “I don’t like any of this either. And I’ll admit there might have been a chance of us overpowering her before, but if we rebel now-we’ll be obliterated.”

“So, you’d rather die as a coward-as a slave?” The ringleader countered. “You heard earlier, Celestia proposed a pretty fair compromise that could have benefitted all of us, but she refused. Chrysalis is obsessed with power-the more she has, the more she can reign over us.”

“Even if it’s as a coward-I’d still rather be alive.” The first Changeling retorted. “We might suffer, but we’d still get to exist.”

“Don’t be so sure about that-the more I’ve learned about her, the more I’ve come believe that she’s genuinely insane-and I don’t think having more power is going to help that any.” The ringleader shot his compatriot a meaningful look. “Even if she doesn’t kill you, you may very well wish that she had. She’s always told us that we were doing what we needed to survive by capturing, harvesting, and converting Equines to the hive-that they were unfortunate, but necessary evils.”

“I’ve asked her about the possibility of a symbiotic relationship with other species and she said that none would ever go for it because we are already perceived to be a threat-and for good reason I’d say-but, when Celestia made the offer-it seemed completely genuine.”

“The same mare who sealed her own sister into the moon for a thousand years?” Another Changeling cut in-she was one of the few females.

“Considering what she turned into, I doubt she had much of a choice at the time.” He countered. “Besides, I’m pretty sure she regrets having to make it.”

“Even if we do agree to help you out-what do you expect us to do-charge the Queen?” She pressed.

“If we have to-but, I think if we can get that crown that was taken from that Unicorn-she could help us.”

“Well, there’s a few issues with that; she’s behind a shield, we don’t even know who took the crown or what they did with it, since we’re Changelings she has no reason to trust us, and we have no idea what will happen if they do get to use their magical jewelry-will it affect ALL Changelings, the Queen, or just the ones that aren’t us?” The female retorted. “And whoever is affected-will they be killed? Turned to stone? Blasted into the sun? Sealed into the moon?”

“Either way, both options are looking pretty suicidal.” The first Changeling agreed. “I don’t even know how you got me roped into this in the first place-instead of asking questions, we should have just kept our heads down and kept on following orders-there’s no reason we can’t forget about all this and go back to doing just that.”

“Yes, there is-I can’t go back to that and live with myself after coming to understand the horrors of what we’ve done-what I’ve done.”

“You know we agree with you-we wouldn’t have come this far if we didn’t, be he has a point-we do have self-preservation to think about.” The female Changeling sighed. “Even if the Equines would have agreed to try and live peacefully with us, the chances of that happening went down with their Princess-even if she’s still alive-I’m pretty sure her offer has expired after that.”

“And how long do you think you’ll be able to last under Chrysalis’ new reign? Is that really how you want to live? With more guilt and terror piling onto your soul until the day you actually do die, filled with regret?” He challenged. “Or would you rather die knowing that even if you fail-you at least tried to do something right before the end?”

The other two exchanged glances before agreeing.

“Alright, we’re with you…but, you’ve gotta think carefully about how we’re going to do this-we only have until this battle is over before we lose our window of actually having a chance to take her out.”

Chrysalis hadn’t moved sense she had put that foolish stallion in his place for defying her-she had been soaking in the delightful carnage of the battlefield, amused by the Equines pitiful attempts to resist her will.

There was a low groan as her attention returned to the stallion she thought she had disposed of. He slowly lifted his head as his body shook, struggling to bring himself back up onto all four hooves. Steel Vanguard at her defiantly, blood running down the gash on his cheek.

“Well, well…you certainly are a stubborn one.” She chuckled.

“You…bitch….I’m not gonna lot you-“

“Let me what?” She continued with mocking laughter. “You can barely stand…but, what should I expect? You Earth Ponies are notoriously thick-skulled…of course the utter hopelessness of your situation would be lost on the likes of you…poor thing-you’re trying so hard, too.”

The tip of her horn began to glow, preparing for the killing blast. Even with this guard being assaulted with but a fraction of the power coursing through her body, he was still simply too stupid to realize that his side had already lost without their precious princesses to protect them.

“I suppose we can just chalk this one up as a mercy killing.” She grinned, sadistically before releasing the blast.

Both were taken off-guard as Sunset Shimmer appeared between them with a magical attack of her own, resisting the blast.

Unfortunately, all Sunset could do was slow it down-she could pour more magic in to fuel it-but, Chrysalis clearly had much more in reserve to overpower her eventually.

“What are you waiting for? Move you idiot!” She growled to Vanguard.

Snapping out of his confusion, Steel complied.

Sunset then redirected her magic to teleport once more, causing Chrysalis’ blast to power through hers, now that there was nothing impeding it.

Before Chrysalis could call her a coward, a hoof collided with the side of her jaw-destroying her concentration and disrupting her blast in the process.

Both sides observing this were able to avoid the path of the misdirected attack.

Sunset returned to her original spot before Chrysalis.

“How dare you…” she snarled before recognizing Sunset’s physical attributes. “Wait…I remember you-the miserable little wretch who burned down our last hive.”

“Sunset Shimmer.” She informed her, “But…that works, too.”

“And if memory serves, you continued to generate the flames, despite your likelihood of survival decreasing as they spread-do you plan on disregarding the live of your own allies, as well?”

“Only if they’re stupid enough to get in my way.” She growled, glaring back at Chrysalis.

Chrysalis was prepared to launch yet another blast at Sunset before she disappeared once again.

“Where did you run off to, coward!?”

Pain shot through her ribs as Sunset’s hoof collided with her side. Chrysalis turned her head back towards her before she disappeared again, this time reappearing on her other side. Sunset bucked against her hind leg before teleporting once more.

Chrysalis nearly lost her balance before catching herself, her horn lit up as a transparent green magical sphere was generated around her before exploding in a violent blast that would push back anyone near her.

Sunset, who had reappeared in the air slightly above the Queen in an attempt to crack her skull open was thrown back, crashing down on the pavement-she landed on her shoulder with a dull crunch.

The pain only served to fuel her rage as she forced her body to get back up on all four hooves. Magically grabbing a piece of debris from Chrysalis’ earlier blast, she altered the material to change the piece from the broken street into sharp, steel object before charging toward the Queen, ignoring the pain from her injury.

Chrysalis was prepared to assault Sunset with another blast as soon as she came close enough for it to do maximum damage to her body, but was caught off-guard when Sunset slid under her while stabbing the piece of metal into the chitinous armor of her under side, dragging it with her as she slid-cutting into the soft, flesh of her abdomen causing greenish fluid to seep out of the wound-which appeared to be Changeling blood.

Wincing from the burning sensation from the slash down her belly, the pain flared up even greater as she quickly turned around to prevent Sunset from striking at her again in a similar manner, she threw a magical blast at the metallic shard, causing it to explode-some of the shrapnel embedding itself in Sunset, taking this opportunity she fired another blast at her-striking her across the face with enough force to throw her backwards onto her side.

Chrysalis glanced at a group of Changelings, giving them a nonverbal signal to finish Sunset off. Obediently, they charged towards the fallen Unicorn before a transparent yellow-orange sphere surrounded her body. While surprised that she could still generate enough magic to put up a shield, they pushed forward regardless-at this point, it probably wouldn’t have taken much to break through it.

As the Changelings slammed their bodies into the shield, trying to fracture it-they screamed out in agony as physical contact with it caused it to burn through their chitinous armor and flesh.

Chrysalis’ eyes widened in shock and confusion at what she was witnessing.

Within the sphere, Sunset slowly got back up onto all four hooves once again before spitting out blood, glaring at Chrysalis defiantly.

“I didn’t get to study under Celestia directly due to pity-a lot of my education was through observation-shield spells like the ones Shining Armor and Cadance use are good for defense-but, they are more of a stalling method if you can’t come up with a good counterattack, which as you’ve realized can be broken through with enough force and persistence-and this was my solution to that dilemma.”

Thanks to the blast that struck her, it was difficult to speak with the pain coursing through her jaw-more blood was also beginning to seep out from the cuts on her lower lip, which curled into a scowl.

“I told you what would happen to anyone who got in the way.”

The sphere began to fracture, the Changelings around it who weren’t writhing in agony from contact with it looked on in confusion as the cracks began to spider web before shattering-the shards that formerly made up the shield turning to flying shrapnel-impaling those closest to it. The Changelings who had still been airborne around Sunset, were now dropping to the ground like flies, the magical shards piercing their bodies burning through their insides-the heat cauterizing the entry and exit wounds of their impalement. All they could do is thrash around and scream in agony until their inevitable deaths.

The other equines were horrified by what they are seeing, while this was a war for their survival now-the fact that Sunset had been developing techniques like this for a while now and could still execute them so easily without hesitation was disturbing. Despite her claims of no longer wishing to wipe out the Changelings, it made perfect sense how Celestia would be concerned about the personality of someone like her-especially given her magical prowess. At this point it really began to sink in for Flash that if they didn’t try to dissuade her-she probably could have exterminated the entire Changeling species if she wished, given the terrifying amount of power she wielded for a Unicorn and the resolve she had thus far shown.

Chrysalis bared her teeth and growled to herself, seeing the subjects she had commanded to execute the little upstart fail, yet again. Watching them writhe on the ground in agony only increased her disgust. It served them right for their failure.

Glaring back at Sunset, she could see that the girl had more resolve than ever-she was fueled with a burning hatred for her that may have even matched the intensity of the sun itself-despite herself, Chrysalis chuckled at this thought.

“Something funny?” Sunset asked, neither her tone nor demeanor changing.

“I just had an amusing thought…it’s a shame we couldn’t have rebuilt your body or your mind to our needs-you would have made an excellent Changeling-but, it seems you were smart enough even to find your way out of that cozy home we made for you until your transformation was complete.” She sighed.

“Even if you weren’t seeking retribution for the accidental death of your friend, are our ideals and principles really so fundamentally opposed that you would not even consider becoming an ally to our cause?”

Sunset merely scoffed.

‘What a coward-she was getting beat-bad. And when she finally got a good hit in on me she sent her subjects to do her dirty work and finish me off, rather than risk any harm to herself. Now that they’re at deaths door, even she knows the loyalty of her other subjects aren’t strong enough for them to launch a suicide attack on her orders-so, she’d trying to sway me to her side in a desperate bid to spare her own life.’

“As cliché as I know this will sound-we really aren’t all that different-look around you; you’re equine comrades are terrified of you. You are not like them-you enjoy killing and causing pain-it’s who you are. And like us, you have a talent for lies and manipulation-they will never accept you for that-even your own beloved teacher was afraid of you, remember?”

Sunset looked around at the guards and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony who were still visible between the Changelings-a majority of the fighting seemed to have stopped to see what was happening between them-not that she could blame them. A lot of them did appear to be horrified and as manipulative as she knew the Queen was being-she wasn’t wrong. Sunset looked at her injured shoulder, which was exposed through a hole in her jacked, which must have been torn open when she landed on it.

“What happened to your friend was a regrettable mistake…I realize that there is nothing that I can say or do to make up for that tragedy, but perhaps if you join us we can give you certain…concessions that may help encourage you to change your mind?”

“Concessions?”

‘Oh, this has to be good…’

“What if you join us…and you are allowed to stay exactly as you are-no alterations to your mind or body, you can also be my second in command, even have a few your loved ones given the same immunities-with a few exceptions of course.” She quickly added, glancing at the fallen Celestia.

“I must admit, the offer’s tempting-but, you’re a species of manipulative pathological liars-just like me. Besides, I don’t have any loved ones. And even genuine promises of things like immortality or the infinite knowledge of the universe won’t change my mind about what I’m going to do to you.”

“Ah, but that’s not entirely true...you do have affection for them…some of them, at least I sensed it. We Changelings are very keen at detecting affection-you were concerned about her survival when Celestia fell to my newfound power, you were also concerned about a certain member of the guard.” Chrysalis pointed out.

Despite the pain in her jaw, Sunset began to grit her teeth-keeping her emotions hidden had always been an advantage, now this insect was broadcasting her weaknesses to the entire battlefield.

“Now, for obvious reasons your mentor’s fate cannot be altered from our initial plan, but perhaps if we spared the other one?”

‘It doesn’t matter, even if I were seriously contemplating her offer, there is no way Flash would go along with it he’s too…noble, besides in all likelihood what she’s promising will only likely be temporary until she finds a way to exploit some kind of weakness or kill me in my sleep-the only reason she hasn’t threatened to harm Flash yet is because she must be wisely fearing whatever hostile action I’ll take as a response-fortunately, it doesn’t look like that will even be needed to end this.’

“No dice.”

“That is regrettable, but I suppose that despite your intellect, you simply revel in savagery too much consider the benefits of my offer.”

Sunset smirked.

“Coming from you-that’s rich.”

Chrysalis’ wings began buzzing as she ascended from off the ground in attempt to use the one remaining advantage over Sunset that she could still see.

Already prepared for this contingency her horn lit up as chains shot up from the ground, snaking towards Chrysalis with shackles at the ends before latching onto all four of her legs. The links of the magical chains began to heat up as they dragging pulling her back down the ground, her wings desperately in a futile attempt escape. The links and the shackles themselves were glowing a bright yellow-orange as the heat intensified and were slowly changing to an orange-red as her body slammed back into the ground.

Sunset cantered toward her as the chains kept all four of her legs spread out, now only her head, tail, and wings were free.

“I would have waited until you gained more altitude to do more internal damage, but I didn’t want to risk it-anyway, I felt that immobilizing you would be a nice form of karmic retribution, considering it’s the same kind of position you and your Changelings like to put your victims in while they are forcibly mutilated and mutated against their will.”

“You miserable little wretch!” Chrysalis snarled, glaring up at her captor.

“Not as much as you’re about to be.”

Before Chrysalis could make a response, the tip of Sunset’s horn lit up again as the Queen’s body burst into flames, causing her to scream in agony as Sunset stood before her stoically.

“SUNSET!” Flash exclaimed, about to fly towards her before he was stopped by someone pulling at one of his hind legs, looking back he saw it was Fluttershy.

“What are you doing? I have to stop her!”

“But, what about what she said earlier…what if she hurts you?”

As he looked back at the scene, the flames on Chrysalis’ body were extinguished as quickly as they had ignited.

“You think I want to kill you because of the innocent life you took? No…I want you to suffer-at first, I was going to wipe out all of you filthy parasites, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that you are the issue.”

The flames ignited once again, this time even bigger with more intensity.

“If your forces surrender, they will be given fair treatment-I know you’ve been screwing their heads…re-molding them to your twisted ideals and thought processes, coercing them through fear and desperation-you manipulative bitch.”

The flames died out once more.

“Your life is already forfeit, but if you care about any of your subjects in the slightest, then you should command them to surrender-you’ve seen what I can do-if you and your subjects refuse this offer and keep attack, then your species dies here-we will defend ourselves.”

“SUNSET!! STOP!” Flash shouted. “THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING! IS THIS ANY BETTER THAN THEM?”

Sunset looked over the Queen, her body was smoking from the flames and covered in burns-her mane and tail were singed and her wings had mostly been incinerated. The Queen was gasping for air. Despite her contempt for the creature, Sunset couldn’t help but admire her resilience-as cowardly as she thought she was earlier, she hadn’t begged for mercy under this torture.

“I KNOW YOU’RE ANGRY ABOUT YOUR FRIEND, BUT IF YOU WANT TO KILL THE QUEEN JUST DO IT-THIS TORTURE ISN’T GOING TO SOLVE ANYTHING OR CHANGE ANYTHING.” Flash continued.

There was no hiding it now-the darker side of Sunset Shimmer was not out in the open for everyone to see. As distressing as that was, Flash really did believe what he was saying, now that the Queen was subdued, there was no reason for the Changelings to fight anymore. She could either rot in the castle dungeon for the rest of her life or die here at Sunset’s hand-this torture was only dragging things out to satisfy her thirst for vengeance.

Sunset looked down at Chrysalis-who was glaring back up at her, panting-no doubt, anticipating her body begin burning up again at any moment. She considered Flash’s words, he did have a point-but, at the same time she didn’t deserve a quick painless death after everything she’d done. But, what would Celestia say? Or Peachy, if she were in her position? Of course, that would never happen-she was a good friend and wouldn’t have failed to save Sunset in time if their roles had been reversed, she chastised herself.

The point still remained that this vindictive behavior while it felt good-really good to get retribution-it was ultimately pointless in the practicality department, now that the Queen could be taken down the other Changelings would also probably back down or wouldn’t be too much of a threat now that they were all out in the open without the threat of civilian casualties.

‘So, that only leaves one last question-do I kill her or have the guards take her in and hold her captive for a trial until Celestia regains consciousness? Having her captive means we can interrogate her and see about restoring those forced to become Changelings back to their former selves-but, that also includes the possibility of her escaping and starting this all over again. Killing her would end her reign and probably convince the other Changelings that continuing this fight is futile-or it could just piss them off and encourage them to fight us until the last one has been wiped out. Either way, this will likely create a power vacuum in the Changelings’ ranks-but, that’s hardly our problem-they brought this on themselves, after all…’

“As much as I hate you-I can’t bring myself to let Flash or Celestia down again, so I’ve decided to-“

She was cut off as she was struck in the chest by a blast Chrysalis.

Armistice

“SUNSET!” Flash shouted, this time breaking free from Fluttershy’s grasp and flying towards her.

The chains that were keeping Chrysalis bound began to dissolve as Sunset fell into unconsciousness. Chrysalis struggled to stand back up as Flash rushed to Sunset’s side.

Flash slowly turned her over to reveal a large scorch mark on her chest, still smoking. Beginning to panic, he was about to put an ear to her chest to see if her heart was still beating before thinking better of it. As his head was lowered, he could hear something…breathing…it was shallow, but he gained a small amount of relief knowing that she was still alive. Flash was about to let a sigh of relief before remembering Chrysalis, who was now standing up straight, despite her injuries. The burns from Sunset’s assault left her mane and tail singed as well as her wings appearing to be significantly damaged as well.

“How pitiful…you knew the dangers of holding affection for others, yet you still allowed your emotions to control you.” She gloated, while the scorch marks were harder to make out on her chitinous body, the side of her mouth appeared to now be slightly deformed as a small section towards the end of her lips appeared to be cauterized together. “You let your personal feelings override your common sense and hesitated, even in my weakened state-that was all I needed to charge up a sufficient counterattack.”

Looking down at Flash huddling over Sunset, Chrysalis’ lips twisted into an ugly frown, wincing slightly at the pain from her injury.

“You would have made an excellent Changeling…it’s a shame that in the end you succumbed to the same mental illness that plagues the rest of your pitiful species-despite the bad blood between us, I almost feel regret for having to simply kill you. It feels like such a waste…but, you’ve proven in the past to be too much trouble for me to allow you a second chance at joining our hive…”

Once again, the tip of her horn sparked to life with an eerie emerald glow.

Flash could only sit there, glaring at her. If he tried to attack her and managed not to get hit by her before she could fire her blast, Sunset would be completely vulnerable for other Changeling to deal the killing blow. And with everyone watching them on both sides, any medic trying to assist her would also likely killed before she could be removed from the battlefield.

“I’m not going to make the same mistake as last time, I fully intend to finish you off myself.” Chrysalis announced, knowing full well that even if the stallion between them wasn’t as cowardly as she thought, he probably realized how futile protecting her at this point, yet his affection seemed be driven to some suicidal notion of protecting this Sunset Shimmer.

“At the very least you can take some solace with the knowledge that it required the Changeling Queen to end your life-not many have been worthy of that honor.”

All of the Equines were either watching the events unfold before them along with the Changelings or looking towards Shining Armor for instruction. He was still trying to figure out the best course of action, trying to limit their casualties while somehow ensuring their victory. Things were looking pretty bad-the princesses and Sunset were all down, they no longer had all of the Elements, nor was he going to allow Twilight to go toe-to-toe with the Queen-even if she was their next most magically powerful candidate. He wouldn’t be able to bear going back to Spike and their parents and look them in the eye and anything happened to her because he couldn’t protect her. On the other hand, the Queen was in pretty bad shape after fighting Celestia and Sunset-as she said herself; if Sunset hadn’t hesitated, she probably could have finished her easily.

Rainbow Dash glared at Shining Armor in annoyance.

“Fine, stay around twiddling your hooves if you want-but, I don’t care how dangerous this is-I am not going out without a fight.”

Twilight saw her wings move a split second before it happened and tried to get a magical grip on her. Before she or Shining Armor could stop her she took off, flying at top speed. Shining only saw a cyan blur followed by a long rainbow trail as a blast of cool air rushed past him.

Flash jumped between Chrysalis and Sunset, hoping that at the very least his body would be able to absorb most of the blast’s impact.

At that point, a rainbow streak darted across his line of sight.

Chrysalis felt herself being thrown backwards as the air was being pushed out of her lungs and pain exploded in her chest, accompanied by cracking sound beneath the chitinous plating.

Falling onto her back, she tried to get up once more while refocusing the magical energy back into the tip of her horn to retaliate against whoever it was that dared to assault her at such a crucial moment.

It couldn’t have the Pegasus-he would have stopped her earlier if he were capable of moving at such a high speed.

As she tried to stand she struggled to continue breathing with pain and pressure pushing down on her chest, she tried to command her subjects to kill whoever stood between their Queen and her prey-however, she could only cough and wheeze.

The only thing she could manage to do in her current position was struggle to raise her head to see over the rest of her body, much to her disbelief, it was the same idiot that granted her the power to defeat Celestia-that rainbow maned Pegasus.

It appeared as though she took quite a bit of damage from that impact as well-she had just managed to get back on her hooves and was staggering towards Chrysalis with a hateful glare and gritted teeth.

Realizing the severity of her situation, she looked helplessly towards her subjects-if they were watching-then surely they would fulfill their duty and defend their Queen?

Immediately upon seeing the Queen quietly appealing for the other Changelings for assistance, Shining Armor generated a shield around her, Dash, Flash, and Sunset to keep them from interfering-at this rate all she needed to do was kill the Queen it would be checkmate.

“Twilight! I’m going to need you and your friends to keep the Changelings off me-some of them will try breaking by shield down by force, but others will probably be smart enough to go after the source generating the power to sustain it.”

Twilight felt like she was stuck in a trance throughout this entire battle felt incredibly surreal and that feeling increased as the longer it dragged on, the more things seemed to escalate-at the beginning she had entirely expected things to be one-sided in their favor, but after she lost her crown and Celestia was knocked out of commission it seemed like all hope was lost. But then Sunset Shimmer showed up with the most brutal magical beat down she had ever witnessed, before she was taken out as well. And now Rainbow Dash’s brash, impulsive nature actually seemed to be helping them for a change-

“TWILIGHT!” Shining shouted, angrily. “I need some cover! The shield will be stronger if I can focus one-hundred percent of my magic on it!”

True to his prediction, Changelings swarmed the spherical barrier-obscuring what was going on within in their attempts to shatter it.

“Girls! Come over here!” she shouted.

As she awaited the other four to converge on her position she observed something strange-some of the Changelings appeared to be attacking each other.

“Shining Armor, look!”

Listening to his sister, he looked up to see the Changelings crawling along the sphere trying to crack it were being assaulted by other Changelings.

“What are they doing…have they gone insane?”

“I-I don’t know…”

It didn’t seem like they were holding back either, they were attacking each other with the same tenacity and brutality they had shown earlier.

With different parts of their bodies’ morphed, they clawed and bit each other-piercing through the chitinous armor of each other’s bodies.

As he watched their sickly green blood splash across the magical barrier he had created, Shining Armor remembered Twilight and the fact that this was the first full-fledged, bloody battle that she had ever witnessed, let alone participated in-and immediately felt guilty for having let her witness something so horrific firsthand.

But, when he turned to her-the rest of her friends had already arrived.

“What do you need us to do, sugar cube?” Applejack asked, leading them.

“I-I need you to protect my brother-he’s the only one that can keep that shield up-and that shield is the only thing standing between Rainbow Dash and all of the other Changelings out here.”

“Until what?”

“I’m going to go in there and try to save Rainbow Dash, that is if the Queen hasn’t already…no.”

Twilight shook her head.

“I always knew that girl’s impulsiveness would her killed…usually I’m close enough to stop her from doing something as stupid as this when these things happen…” Applejack sighed.

“We have to try and stay positive-if we start thinking like that…then we’ve already lost.” Twilight replied, trying not to sound as shaken up as she felt.

“Well, forgive me for being a ‘Negative Nancy’ but, how in the world do you plan on getting out of there if the Queen is still conscious?” Rarity cut in.

Twilight paused, trying to collect her bearings as Rarity pressed her.

“And not to undersell your own talent, but all three of the princesses and now that other girl-who has shown to have considerable magical herself-have all fallen to her.”

“Actually, Luna and Cadance were overwhelmed by Changelings.” Twilight reminded her. “And she only overpowered Celestia because Cadance’s plan backfired and Sunset Shimmer hesitated at a vital moment. But, if we plan this carefully-we might be able to pull this off, besides did you see what she looked like before Rainbow attacked her and the shield went up? Her body is in very poor shape-even with as durable as it seems to be, it has to have its limits-and I’d say it has just about reached them.”

“And that’s all well and good, but what about the Changelings out here?” She pressed.

“Up until recently, it seems like the Queen is the only one they seemed to listen to-if she’s beaten or captured, then that’s probably what will secure our victory-since it’s become clear she won’t surrender.”

Twilight looked around at the skeptical looks they were giving her.

“Come on, when I have I ever steered you wrong?”

“Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!” Pinkie exclaimed, standing on her hind legs, waving her hoof in the air frantically. “When you said that the fate of Equestria didn’t depend on you making friends when you first came to Ponyville! Then, there was that time you thought Discordd was hiding the Elements in Celestia’s hedge maze! There was also that time you had a mental breakdown and brainwashed the entire town for a friendship report! And then there was that other time you gave yourself a mental breakdown by accidentally creating a time paradox! And then-“

As Pinkie continued down the list, Fluttershy slowly approached Twilight.

“Um, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget about Flash Sentry…Rainbow Dash asked him to look after me when the fighting started and he fought really hard to protect me.”

Twilight blinked as it took a moment for her to remember that he dove in between Sunset and the Queen earlier.

“Yeah, I’ll do my best.” She promised before turning back to face Shining Armor, who surprised her by pulling her into an embrace.

“Come back safe.”

His voice was unusually shaky, to the extent that it scared her-he was all too aware of the very real possibility that she might actually die here.

“I will,” She promised. “And I’ll bring Rainbow Dash and Flash back with me, too.”

As her friends took positions around Shining Armor to protect him from possible Changeling attacks, Twilight took one last look at them before disappearing in a flash light.

Chrysalis was dismayed to see the shield go up. Briefly, she had regained hope upon seeing her loyal subjects on the other side desperately trying to break it down for her. The second she saw them beginning to fight amongst themselves, however, was the moment she knew that she had made a mistake allowing any of the other females to live. Undoubtedly, one of them were trying to usurp her-they should have been culled off with the rest-there was no other explanation for their betrayal.

The difficulty she had moving and the painful breathing she was enduring made her feel almost certain that the Pegasus’ impact had broken most of her ribs. It was frustrating, yet at the same time almost comical, to think of how far they had come in this battle, only to fall to Pegasus filth. Normally, these circumstances on their own wouldn’t be too much of an issue to rectify-if only her assailant weren’t so tenacious and she had more time…

Rainbow Dash advance towards the Queen, despite the pain coursing through her body from the collision. The Changeling only looked more terrifying than before with her disfigurement, but she was filled with far too much rage to be intimidated. Her friends, her Dad, Shining Armor, Cloudsdale, Ponyville, and Equestria as a whole would all be gone if these freaks got their way. And it was partially her fault…

As she reached the Queen, whose body no longer seemed to be in good enough shape to move on its own very well-she looked down at the vile creature. All she could think about was all that pain and destruction they had caused-and would continue to perpetuate if they weren’t stopped right here, right now. She didn’t know if they would be able to stop the rest of the Changelings, but she knew that their best chance for that would be to take out the Queen.

Losing her balance, Dash stumbled to the point where she nearly had to crawl over the Queen’s body to get close enough to her face.

Chrysalis got a good look at the Pegasus for the first time and was genuinely surprised at the mare’s vibrant appearance in stark contrast to her behavior as Dash struck her across the face, her hoof colliding with the tender flesh of her recent burns, causing spittle to fly out of the side of her mouth. It genuinely surprised her that someone weakened by love was able to-like her-draw such strength from pure hatred. As she struck again, Chrysalis couldn’t comprehend how beings lesser than Alicorns and Unicorns could manage such strength-she had always pegged Equestrians as weak and cowardly due to their peaceful nature-yet, if anything their beloved leaders falling only seemed to strengthen their resolve.

Flash watched in disbelief, as his first real battle this entire thing had felt so surreal, but every time he thought things couldn’t get any weirder, each new development provided him wrong-not that he was particularly complaining in this case.

There was a flash of light when Twilight Sparkle materialized between him and his line of sight to the Queen.

“Rainbow Dash!?” She called out.

“Over there!” He pointed behind her.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what happened, all of a sudden she had stopped pummeling the Queen and now had her hooves pressed down against her throat. As much hate as she had for Discord back when he was loose, she never actually believed that she was capable of hating someone to the point of actually wanting to kill them before this. Even now, a part of her felt a strong sense of guilt for doing this, but what other choice did she have? The Princesses and the Elements were gone-if she didn’t stop the Queen, then who else could?

“Rainbow Dash!” A familiar voice called out

“Twilight?”

‘How did she manage to get in here?' Dash thought to herself. 'Oh right, she can teleport-duh.’

The Queen’s gagging died down as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, causing Dash to remove her hooves immediately as he heart skipped a beat. Twilight, who had been galloping towards her, skidded to a halt. The sense of rage and hatred Dash had vanished, only to be replaced by an ocean of dread and guilt overcoming her.

Was she a murderer, now?

“Twilight, I…is she…?”

Twilight placed a hoof on the Queen’s long neck, feeling around-searching for a pulse.

“Dead? No. I’m not an expert on Changeling anatomy, but it looks like she just lost consciousness-you should probably get off of her, too if you want to avoid causing further damage to her body.”

Shining Armor was beginning to grow anxious.

Fortunately, the Changeling hadn’t thought to attack him yet, or if they had-the other Changelings and members of the guard had intercepted them.

Once again there was a flash of light as Twilight rematerialized along with Rainbow Dash, Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer and the Queen.

“Twilight!” The girls exclaimed in unison as they began to crowd around her.

Shining Armor dropped his shield, causing the Changelings on top of it to fall before catching themselves as their wings began to buzz.

“Attention Changeling invaders!” He announced. “Your Queen has been defeated and is in our custody-at this point, nothing will be achieved through further bloodshed-surrender now and your lives will be spared.”

The Changelings seemed to comply as all of the fighting ceased.

“We also need some medical attention, over here!” Steel Vanguard announced to the medics, seeing Rainbow Dash pass out, now that those injured could now be treated without risk.

“We also need to round up these Changelings, so we can figure what that infighting was about and get the princesses treated as well-they’ll know how to deal with the fallout from all of this and what to do with them.”

Recovery

“Any change?” Celestia asked as she entered Sunset’s room, her wounds from the battle had already healed and between dealing with the trials of the Changelings that were a part of the attack, those that defected to Equestria’s side, and Chrysalis-she was beginning to feel like her old self again.

Flash shook his head.

Her expression faltered, it seemed to him like whenever she had free time-she came in to check in on Sunset
“Princess…can I ask you a question?”

“Hm?”

“Well, it’s something I’ve been wondering for a while…” He looked across from himself, towards the IV drip and EKG meter hooked up next to Sunset’s bed.

“Why is she in here, instead of a hospital bed?”

“The doctors informed me that there isn’t very much they can do for her in her current condition-and that the best we can do for her is make her as comfortable as possible as we wait for her to awaken-and I thought she would be more comfortable in her old bed.” She replied. “If you’re worried about further complications-I’d like to remind you that here at the castle we have some of the most qualified medical staff in all of Equestria.”

“Do you really think she’ll wake up?” He asked shakily, lowering his voice.

“I think it’s still too early to be so pessimistic.”

‘But, part of you is worried.’ He thought. ‘That’s why you keep checking up on her…it sounds like your trying just as hard to reassure yourself as you are me.’

“What about the Changelings…how are thing going with them?”

Aside from the occasional bathroom break, he hadn’t left Sunset’s side since she brought back to her room and as a result, knew very little about what was going on outside the room.

“The majority of the Changelings seemed to have been influenced by fear and deception during Chrysalis’ reign-with the Changelings who defected, we have confirmed that is the Queen’s real name.” Celestia informed him. “The majority of them seem to wish to join Equestria…they seemed to like the offer I presented to Queen Chrysalis just before the battle.”

“I have mixed feelings about that…” He admitted. “I don’t think wiping them out was a good solution, but just accepting them wholesale after what they tried to pull…it doesn’t sit right with me-it feels like we’re going to the opposite extreme.”

“I understand your concerns-which is why each Changeling is having a trial-so we can determine the damage they’ve caused and assess how much of a threat they may still be. From what I understand however, the majority of them have come to resent Chrysalis for treating them as expendable assets rather than subjects-though, with the way they speak of her-it sounds as if she hasn’t always been like this. It seems like her sanity has decreased with the more power she gained-according to them, she also became increasingly paranoid, executing all but the most loyal, hardworking females out of fear that they would become powerful enough to be successful in an attempt to dethrone her.” She explained.

“Those that regained their lost memories or realized what was happening was wrong and decided to revolt were the leaders of the uprising-the ones who turned on their fellow Changelings to help buy us time from what I understand. These three were the ones who retrieved The Element of Magic that was stolen from Twilight during the battle.”

“How noble.” Flash commented, skeptically. “Are you sure it’s the real thing?”

“Yes, all six of the Elements of Harmony have unique magical signatures that react to unstable or dark magic-we have performed the necessary tests and have confirmed that it is the genuine artifact-it has been returned to the royal vault along with the others for safekeeping until another situation arises when they are needed again.”

“Fortunately, we didn’t need them this time-but, that was still way too close.” Flash sighed.

“Indeed, and far more casualties were had as a result of not being able to utilize them sooner-but, perhaps in the long run this will be more beneficial…” She commented hopefully.

“I hope so…” Flash agreed. “I didn’t know any of the guys that got killed very well and I can’t say I’ve had many pleasant memories dealing with them-but, I really do hope this was all worth it…so they didn’t die for nothing.”

“Unfortunately, public relations for their species in light of recent events may prove integration into Equestrian society difficult. We are also uncertain as to how to keep track of these Changelings when they can simply alter their appearance at will, making it more difficult to track criminal behavior-it will take some time to think of an appropriate solution.”

“Yeah, the honor system usually doesn’t work too well on criminals.” He commented, dryly.

“Indeed, as you’ve probably already seen towards the end of the battle-there is still a legion of Changelings who remain fanatically loyal to Chrysalis, despite her lies and abuse.”

“I wish I could say I was surprised…” He sighed.

“As do I, but they will most likely be the easiest to deal with-most of them have made little attempt to hide their contempt for Equestrians and have been extremely vocal with their displeasure of the current situation.”

“Sounds like all of that fighting was just the beginning of a bigger mess…”

“Not necessarily-let’s say just say ‘this isn’t my first rodeo’ as the saying goes-I’ve been dealing with politics for over a thousand years-that experience pays off. It may take some time, but I’m fairly confident that we can work out a fair, pragmatic solution. And unlike previous political disasters, I have Luna back to assist me once again and Cadance has offered her assistance as well-they are also sympathetic to the Changeling’s plight. It should also help convince others if we point out that a few of these Changelings have volunteered to help our scientific and medical communities analyze and attempt to reverse engineer the cocoons used to force transformation of Equines into Changelings and use the new process to revert those affected back to their former selves and return them to their families.”

Celestia leaned over the bed to push a stray lock of hair out of Sunset’s face.

“I’m sorry, it appears that once again my visit has taken too long-I don’t anticipate having too much free time to visit again in the near future.”

She continued, turning back to Flash.

“Flash, if Sunset regains consciousness in my absence-I would like her to know that I, despite everything, am proud of her-I really do believe that even with all of her cynicism, she has come to regret many of her past actions and may seek to atone for them-I believe this is partially why she hesitated when you called out to her during the battle.”

Flash felt another pang of guilt-the whole time she had been unconscious, he was painfully aware of the fact that she likely would not even be in her current condition had he not panicked and distracted her at such a crucial moment.

‘I hope your right, Princess.’ He thought to himself, it was true that she seemed pretty vulnerable when she opened up to him, and she did manage to talk him down when he lost his temper for the first time in years and attacked Steel Vanguard and changed her personal vendetta towards the Chrysalis specifically when it was pointed out that some Changelings may not have had a choice under her rule-but, she was still pretty unpredictable with how quickly she could swing back to the callous, cynical Sunset Shimmer he first met-then there was the level of brutality and sadism she was still capable of.

“I will tell her.” He promised.

Celestia gave him a warm smile before leaving.

“Thank you, Flash.”

Flash awoke hours later slumped against Sunset’s bedside as he had for the past week, only this time he had awakened to the feeling of something stroking his mane, startling him.

“Sunset? You’re awake!?”

“Actually, I’ve been awake-today is just the first day I’ve managed to maintain consciousness for longer than twenty minutes before passing out again.” She replied.

“So, were you awake earlier?” He asked, cautiously.

“Yeah, I waited for Celestia to leave though because I didn’t feel like playing twenty-questions at the time and I’ve been thinking about some stuff.”

“So, how are you feeling?” He pressed.

He remembered what Sunset told him about her old career selling narcotics and mentioning that she struggled with addiction herself, lacking medical knowledge himself and since it was an emergency he told the doctors, but they still gave her morphine and assured him that they would only give her a steady dose.

“Like someone shot a damn hole through my chest.” She growled. “But, believe it or not-I’ve been worse.”

Flash had seen the tubes the doctors and nurses had inserted into Sunset’s foreleg and was about to stop her as she was about to get up, only to see that they were gone.

“What?”

“I took out everything, but the EKG monitor the second or third time I woke up-I’ve already been addicted to morphine once and I made a promise to a friend that it would never happen again-besides, I’m used to most forms of physical pain.”

“But, why didn’t the machine flatline?”

“Because I turned it off-jacket.”

He gave her a puzzled look.

“My jacket-where is it?” Her heart skipped a beat and her blood ran cold when she remembered the tears from the battle.

“You didn’t let them throw it out, did you?” She asked, barely above a whisper.

“Uh, no-of course not-it’s right over there.” He pointed to a coat rack in the corner of the room.

Relieved, Sunset cantered over to it and pulled the jacket on.

“So, you heard the entire conversation I had with Celestia about you…and the Changelings?” He asked timidly.

“Yes, just because the majority opposition is vocal doesn’t mean that all of the Changelings still opposed to us aren’t-they could still have the foresight to set up sleeper agents, even now.” She replied stoically. “Regardless, I have little interest in what happens to them now one way or the other-Chrysalis no longer has any sway over the vast majority of them, so now it will be up to them how they live their lives and they will be judged by their deeds or misdeeds just like everybody else now that they can be held accountable for their own actions.”

“So, you wouldn’t have any problems with them integrating into Equestrian society?”

“The only concerns I have are whether or not they will continue the malicious actions that we know them for-deceiving people to kidnap them, drain them of their love, or forcefully change them and erase their minds to suit their own agenda-like the national conquest Chrysalis attempted.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong-I still don’t trust them and I’d be lying if I said I don’t still feel a lot of resentment towards them after the crimes they’ve committed and if I see one doing these actions I’ll kill them on the spot-but, I also recognize it would be hypocritical of me to deny them the opportunity to prove that they can change and play nice with others.”

Sunset paused.

“What’s wrong?”

The next thing he knew, Sunset slammed him against the wall with her foreleg pressed up against his throat.

“Don’t move.” She commanded as the tip of her horn lit up a deep blue, causing him to panic-his heart sped up and his eyes widened as he frantically tried to push her off of him.

Despite his thrashing, Sunset maintained her grip on him as the spell allowed her to see through his muscular and skeletal systems before releasing him, causing him to fall to the floor, gasping for air.

“You’re clean-sorry about that, I had to make sure you weren’t one of them-slipping in and out of consciousness it was a possibility that the Changeling had won while I was out and this was some kind of elaborate ruse by that sadistic lunatic.”

“So you nearly crushed my windpipe!?” Flash choked, massaging his throat.

“Again, sorry-but, if you were a Changeling impersonating Flash Sentry-it is unlikely you would be compliant if I were honest with you.”

“Couldn’t you have held me still with another spell, then?”

“I…didn’t really think of that, but although my initial paranoia overtook rational thought-may I remind you that you did the same thing a few…” She thought back to Flash’s assault on Steel Vanguard.

“How long was I out?”

“Not too bad, considering…” She muttered to herself before redirecting her attention back to him.

“I’m going to speak with someone-it won’t take long-I just need you to stay here and make sure nobody else comes in here or knows that I am gone in that timeframe.”

“Why?” Flash asked, suspiciously.

“I just need to speak with someone…in private.”

“If someone wants to come in, I can’t just keep them out without drawing suspicion.”

“Just keep the door locked and if they ask why, then tell them I went to the bathroom or something.”

“All right…” He relented. “But, I have some serious reservations about letting you do this-if anything happens to Chrysalis…”

“Relax, I have no intention of further complicating the already delicate political climate and even if I were so inclined-I’m well aware that I would be the prime suspect in her murder given our history.” She replied, waving a hoof dismissively before disappearing in a flash of magical light.

Rainbow Dash was lying in the bed of the guest room Celestia had provided for her-fortunately, they didn’t keep her in a hospital bed like the time she broke her wing-which was great-though, Twilight was somehow able to get her some Daring Do books to read, insisting that she didn’t strain herself. Secretly, she wondered how Twilight was able to get those books to her-they didn’t look new, unless she bought them used from a book store? Or maybe she did that teleporting thing back to the library in Ponyville? Maybe had some other copies at her parent’s house?

She was pulled away from these thoughts as there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” She called out.

The door swung open as Shining Armor entered the room.

“Hey Dash, sorry I didn’t visit sooner-there’ve been some things I’ve had to take care of.”

“Don’t worry about it,” She replied. “I get it, you still have a job to do.”

“Yeah,” he replied guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck. “But, I still feel bad-especially since you’re hurt and all.”

“Well, I kinda did it to myself.” Dash pointed out. “Besides, it was worth it since we saved everyone-and I’m a daredevil, so I’m used to broken bones from stunt flights-it’s just not being able to fly that bugs me about that…I’m actually bothered by something else…”

Shining Armor’s heart skipped a beat as he felt his blood run cold, this probably meant it had something to do with their relationship.

“What is it?” he asked softly.

“When we….kissed….in front of everyone-that was pretty humiliating, huh?”

Shining began to feel crestfallen as his fears were confirmed.

“I mean-it didn’t even work-all it did was make her stronger…I mean, I like you but, what if the reason it didn’t work it because we aren’t supposed to like each other?”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“No, I spoke to Cadance about that-she says that it probably would have happened no matter whose affection it was-she admitted that since it was such a desperate situation-she didn’t think that plan all the way through and to be honest I can’t really blame her, since I was pretty useless out there, too.”

Dash gave him a weird look, as if he said one of the stupidest things she’d ever heard.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you set up that shield, so the other Changelings wouldn’t swarm me? And even though it didn’t work and ruined my image as a cool daredevil-we at least tried to work together to stop them!”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that…”

“But, it’s not your fault-we were given bad information and we acted on it-maybe you could have done better, but for your first real battle like this you could have done a lot worse since you’ve never been in an actual war before this...”

He couldn’t help, but smile a bit at her reassurance.

“Thanks, Dash-you did pretty well out there, too.”

“I’m not too sure about that-now all everyone will see me as is a sappy idiot because of that kiss-instead of a cool, respectable daredevil-I mean, I think I could make psycho work after how I lost it-twice.”

“Well, you’re one of the last people I’d call a sap and even though you’re not as smart as Twilight or Sunset-it doesn’t make you an idiot, besides I still think you’re cool and the other guards I’ve heard talking sound like they have nothing, but respect for you.” He replied. “And as for the psycho thing-your friends were in danger and those Changeling were killing people-I think you were justified in getting angry.”

Dash smiled back at him.

“So, what about the other Changelings?” She asked. “The ones that aren’t trying to kill us?”

“Yeah, it’s…complicated-but, the Princesses are working on it, there’s a guy that apparently lead the rebellion-he says he doesn’t have a name-none of them aside from the Queen-Chrysalis do, but he’s usually around the dining hall when he’s not meeting with one of the Princesses.”

“That’s weird.” She frowned. “How do they know who’s who if they all look alike and don’t have names?”

“Pheromones, apparently-Twilight says that they are kind of like chemicals that come from their bodies that help them identify each other.”

“Like how Rarity always wears really strong perfume, so even if I don’t see or hear her-I know she’s around because of the smell.”

“That’s how these ones work, apparently-anyway, you’re probably pretty bored being stuck in here-why don’t we go back out to meet up with your friends-if you’re with me nobody is going to nag you about walking around with your injuries.”

“Sounds good-I like the Daring Do books-but, my eyes were getting sore from reading for the past few hours. By the way-have you seen a stallion around who looks kind of like me-except, with a darker coat and golden-yellow eyes?”

“I don’t think so…why? Is he a family member you’re expecting?” Shining asked, curiously. He was fairly certain that someone fitting that description would be pretty hard to miss.

“Yeah, that would be my Dad-Rainbow Blaze.” Dash lowered her voice as if she feared someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. “Secretly, I’ve actually kind of been worrying about him ever since I heard Cloudsdale had already been infiltrated by Changelings.”

“What!? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” He pressed, lowering his voice as well.

“Well, at the time I was more worried about getting to Canterlot because I figured we could stop them with the Elements of Harmony or Celestia would know of some other way to stop them-besides, they said they were taking care of things in Cloudsdale after we found out about the Changelings there, remember?” She replied. “Besides, I didn’t want to whine about something that could have been nothing.”

“Worrying about your family isn’t really something I’d consider whining.” Shining replied, exasperated.

“Well, what if we went to get him, but we got held up, so we wouldn’t be here when the attack happened? We wouldn’t have been able to help fight against Chrysalis and Equestria would have been taken over by her-all because I choose my loyalty to my family over my loyalty to Equestria?” She challenged.

Shining Armor was silent, seemingly devoid of a response.

“I’m just kind of worried about him right now because I haven’t gotten a letter for him or anything and everyone else has had some kind of contact with their families-I thought he’d at least send a letter after hearing about what’s been going on, so I…I’m just hoping he hasn’t gotten hurt.”

He lowered his gaze.

It was true that despite their victory, many-especially those within the guard-had lost their lives or with regular citizens had been forced to become Changelings themselves while neither were particularly appealing, he had heard that with those changed there was a possibility to reverse the transformation process, though that was largely a theory at this point-he wondered if he should bring it up to Dash.

“Well, if your Dad is anything like you, then I’m pretty sure he’s fine and he’s just being held up by something small and stupid.” He reassured her, while gently placing a hoof on her shoulder.

Looking up at him she made a movement towards him before stopped herself, when he pulled her close to himself and embraced her.

“It’s alright Dash, I understand-throughout most of the battle I couldn’t help, but worry about Twilight-what I would do if something happened and I couldn’t protect her-what I would have to say to our parents. So, I don’t think any less of you for worrying about father-I’d be more concerned if you were someone like Sunset Shimmer-who seems to be a complete psychopath, unable to care about anyone, but herself. And I still do like you-I just wish you liked yourself as much to have the kind of confidence you pretend to.”

“Yeah…” She replied softly, tearing up as she returned the embrace. “I like you too, but I just don’t know how to deal with this…or what I’m going to do if something happened to my Dad.”

“I know what you mean, but I’m pretty sure he’s okay-I can ask some of the guards to keep an eye out for him-have you tried writing him a letter?” He asked.

“Yeah,” She sighed. “But, there’s been a lot of mail with families worried about each other since the evacuation-I’m just hoping that’s the reason I haven’t heard back from him, yet.”

“Yeah, that would make sense.” Shining agreed. “And now that people are more aware of Changelings and their shapeshifting ability, they’re really paranoid about friends and families and whether they are actually who they claim to be-even with Celestia diplomacy-this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better-since that would have been enough reason for people to distrust them without Chrysalis’ actions.”

Shining felt a little better, seeing the cautiously optimistic smile on her face regarding her father.

“So, what about your mom-if you don’t mind me asking?” He quickly added.

“She died.” Dash replied, averting her gaze.

‘Way to go Shining-you idiot.’ He mentally berated himself. ‘Real smooth-just reassure her about her dad and then ask about her dead mom while you’re at it.’

“I-I’m sorry…” He replied, unsure of what else to say.

“Why? It’s not your fault.” Dash replied, glumly. “It just kind of…happened.”

“Did she get sick?” He pressed, despite himself.

“It’s…I’m sorry-I just really don’t want to talk about it right now-maybe some other time when I have less things to worry about and I know you a little better.” She replied remorsefully.

“No-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you-especially on something that must be a really painful subject for you-why don’t we go meet up with the others like we talked about-maybe someone will have heard something about your dad.”

Sunset rematerialized in the lowest level of the castle dungeons-and smirked seeing Chrysalis’ form in a large, isolated cell.

‘At least Celestia and her guards had the intelligence to keep her away from others she could manipulate or feed on.’

Killing Chrysalis had certainly crossed her mind, but she intended to keep her word to Flash-logically, satisfying her need for vengeance would do more harm than good in the grand scheme of things at this time and under these circumstances. Smashing that glorified birdbath in the castle gardens was also tempting, though-the unpredictable nature of chaos also lead her to believe that instead of permanently ridding Equestria of that sociopath-it might just free him again, instead. Unfortunately, now she merely had to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude-both would break free sooner-all of the more high profile psychopaths crawling from out of the woodwork lately showed how temporary and ineffective their prisons were.

As she approached the cell, her heart-rate accelerated, while Peachy wouldn’t be getting justice in the near future-it excited and filled her with glee to see Chrysalis caged like a rabid dog, waiting to get put down.

Though, as she drew closer-she was confused to find that Chrysalis no longer appeared to have any of the wounds she had inflicted.

“Hey, Crispy…what happened to your makeover?” Sunset asked in a sweet, condescending voice.

“I could ask a similar query-the magical bolt pierced your chest-your heart should have given out a long time ago, so how are you still alive?” Chrysalis retorted, revealing herself from a dark corner of the cell.

“I’m pretty stubborn-besides, I hear only the good die young-so, I’ve got at least half a century to go if that’s true.” Sunset cocked her head in an attempt to see what else was in the corner of the cell. “But, if it’s any consolation, my chest is pretty sore and stings from time to time-so maybe if you tried just a little harder.”

Her glance returned to Chrysalis’.

“Now your turn-what’s with the new look-I know Celestia likes to treat prisoners fairly, but I highly doubt she called in a team of plastic surgeons and beauticians to work on you-I mean otherwise you wouldn’t be looking like your old self. So what is it? More Changeling magic?”

“In a sense.” Chrysalis chuckled. “But, this is different from other the transformation magic that is native to our species-as the Queen, only my anatomy allows for me to shed my exoskeleton when my body is no longer suitable for my needs-it can take anywhere for hours, up to a few days for the process to be complete-I was fortunate that you Equestrians are so gullible and empathetic, this cell gave me the safety I needed to work on my recovery and the body is always quite tender a few hours afterwards.”

Despite her irritation, Sunset was also more than a little intrigued with this process that before she was aware of molting in other creatures and based on her observations, it seemed like Changelings carried both insect and Equine DNA-if this were true, then if the Changelings claiming to want to aid Equestria were sincere with sharing their knowledge-then this could be a potentially colossal medical breakthrough.

“I take it by your silence, that you are shocked that I possess this ability-although my recovery isn’t quite complete yet, I am glad you came down here to visit me-I did wonder what became of you when I awoke-it seems that Pegasus with the rainbow mane is the only other one among you who has the spine to do what is necessary-how does it feel to be upstaged not only by your replacement, but of a member of a race with even less magical aptitude than yours?” She smirked, showing off one of her fangs.

“I only lost to you on a technicality-if that idiot hadn’t distracted me-you’d be in the ground with the rest of the maggots.” Sunset shot back. “Besides, you are the one who nearly lost your life to her-despite all of that ‘love’ you absorbed, you still couldn’t beat her-even after you brought Celestia down and got a lucky shot in at me.”

“So you agree with me, then? That compassion is a weakness? If it weren’t for that guard’s concern for you or your fear of disappointing him-wouldn’t you have been able to finally kill me and avenge your friend?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, yes-that’s about the only thing I agree with you on, but I’ve learned that far before ever meeting you.”

“Yes, even now, I am able to feel the deep sadness, the loneliness, the intense paranoia, your resentment towards others, the anger and the hatred in your soul-these feelings are very strong-they must have been brought upon by people you deeply cared about to be so intense-I can tell there used to be love and admiration there and even now, there is anxiety and a sense of paranoia there.” Chrysalis continued.

“I would imagine that would be Celestia-you still don’t trust her, that was part of the reason you fled Canterlot after she dismissed you from her studies-it also feels like it was a sense of tension even when you were on better terms with her.”

“Changelings are partly empathic-it makes them more efficient predators-if you’re trying to intimidate me-then you should try another trick, I’ve heard this one before.” Sunset suggested, apathetically.

“What about that jacket of yours?” Chrysalis pressed. “You must be awfully fond of it-every time I’ve seen you-you’ve been wearing it-a gift from someone important to you, perhaps?”

Sunset felt her blood boil as her horn lit up, prepared to rip the door off the cell or simply incinerate Chrysalis’ newly formed body where she stood.

‘Wait, you idiot!’ she stopped herself. ‘She knows exactly what she’s doing you-she knows why you hate her so much-she’s trying to bait you into giving her some kind of pyrrhic victory. If you kill her here and now while she’s more or less defenseless, the Changelings may view her as a martyr.’

The glow from her horn faded as Sunset took a breath.

“Well, that was a nice try-you almost made me lose my temper, again.” She grinned. “But, I’m afraid I won’t fall for it.”

“I am also aware of your compassion-I know that it scares you more than anything. Do you fear it will lead to more manipulation and betrayal? Is it the possibility of more heartache, should tragedy strike your life once more?” Chrysalis narrowed her gaze. “Or is it all of the above?”

Sunset felt her blood run cold for a moment, while empathic ability wasn’t exactly the same as telepathy-Chrysalis was able to read and decipher her emotions far better than she had expected-enough so that she may have been able to fool her, had she not known about it beforehand. Despite this, she had opted not to let the fallen Queen know that she had gotten under her skin. She was the one in the cage, after all.

“So, is there a point to this? Or do you keep dragging this out because you want to keep playing your little mind games?”

“Well, it was you who visited me-was it not?” Chrysalis retorted. “Why was that? To gloat about my defeat and subsequent capture? The schism that now threatens to tear my species asunder?”

“Well, yes…” Sunset admitted, turning around to leave. “But, I also came down here out of a morbid curiosity to see what you looked like after your thrashing, only to disappoint me by making an almost complete recovery.”

Chrysalis chuckled to herself, causing Sunset to glance back at her.

“Hm?”

“Indeed, I thought as much…Celestia didn’t trust you because she knew of your anti-social nature and the power you wielded-your capacity for hatred and violence aligns with my suspicion that she held you back out of fear. Fear of what you might become-another loved one trying to usurp her in a mad quest for power, perhaps? Or maybe she feared you would tear the world down around you in a paranoid rage?”

Sunset looked at her quizzically for a moment as that toothy grin slowly re-emerged across Chrysalis’ face.

“Whatever her reasons were…they no longer matter.” She replied apathetically, returning her attention back towards the door, causing Chrysalis’ grin to fade. “That was in the past…what’s done is done.”

‘Of course I already knew that, you idiot.’ She thought to herself before warping out of the dungeon, still she maintained her resolve in not indulging the dethroned Queen with even the smallest of victories and kept silence with her face stoic, despite no longer facing her.

“Dad!” Dash cried out, flying towards the stallion the second she caught sight of him upon entering the castle’s front hall.

“Dashie!” Blaze reciprocated, pushing the guard he was speaking with aside as he caught his daughter in a warm embrace.

“I told you he’d be alright.” Shining Armor laughed.

Just as Rainbow Dash had described, Rainbow Blaze looked strikingly similar to his daughter, albeit slightly larger and bulkier than her due to his build as a stallion, however he had the same mane, a slightly darker coat, and golden-yellow eyes.

‘Wow, she really must have been worried about me…’ Rainbow Blaze thought to himself, looking down at Dash. ‘She didn’t even get mad at me for using that nickname…unless she got used to it…but, that couldn’t be my Dashie, could it?’

“Dad, what took you so long to get here?” Dash looked up at him trying come off as angry and intimidating, but only sounding worried with her shaky voice as she noticed the bandages around his torso. “Did you get hurt!? What happened?”

“Well, you see…when we found out Cloudsdale had already been infiltrated by Changelings-I guess when they realized they had been discovered, some of them panicked and attacked us in a last ditch effort to take control of the situation-or maybe they just wanted to go down fighting.” He replied, thoughtfully.

“You were…attacked?” Dash asked, trying to process what she was hearing as guilt and anger swelled in her chest.

“Well, yeah…I mean the one that I fought broke into my home-he was a real fighter, alright-managed to do a number on me before I took him down.”

Dash released him before slowly backing away from him.

“You…beat him?” She asked, slowly.

“That’s right-you and your mother aren’t the only athletics in our family, remember?” He asked, rhetorically. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Dash, are you alright?” Shining asked, concerned.

“Tell me something about me only my Dad would know.” She stated coldly and quietly as her breathing increased.

“Dash what are you-” Shining began.

“SHUT UP!” She shouted back to him, her gaze never leaving the stallion in front of her. “And you-answer the question!”

“Dash, what did I do wrong?” He asked, appearing confused.

“Say something, anything my Dad would know-my real Dad.” She added for emphasis, hoping that she was wrong-but, the story sounded too convenient.

“Alright, let’s see…” He put a hoof to his up to his chin, thoughtfully. “Up until recently, I knew you hated being called ‘Dashie’ in public because it embarrassed you, since the other kids would usually make fun of you for it…you hate it when others touch your hind hooves, you were kicked out of flight school for slacking off because you believed your little Sonic Rainboom meant that you didn’t need to learn anything else about flying…you and your friend Gilda would also constantly get in trouble for cutting class and playing pranks on teachers and other students…should I go on?”

While he expected indignation and another barrage of questions once he finished, when he looked back at his daughter-she seemed as if she were about to burst into tears, instead.

“I’m sorry, Dad…” She sniffed, shuddering. “I thought…I was afraid that…”

“Hey,” He replied softly, pulling her closer to him before wrapping a wing around her. “Are you sure you’re really my Dashie-because the last time I checked, my daughter didn’t get afraid.”

Dash wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Yeah, I guess that wasn’t very cool.” She smiled. “After all of the Changelings we’ve been dealing with I didn’t want to lose you to them when I heard about Cloudsdale-and I wasn’t sure if I should go home to help you guys or come here-and...”

“It’s alright.” He replied quietly. “I know it must have been hard for you, but I think you made the right choice.”

That was when they remembered Shining Armor observing them.

“Sorry to create such a scene, Captain.” Blaze apologized.

“Yeah, sorry about yelling at you earlier.” Dash added.

“Hey, I get it.” Shining replied. “After all of the casualties of the Changelings assaults and the families being informed, the moods been pretty grim, despite our victory along with the remaining tensions between us and the Changelings-which means diplomacy will probably take a few years at best to get much of anything resolved-so, it’s refreshing to see some good news for a change.”

“Dad, this is Shining Armor…he’s my friend Twilight’s older brother and Captain of the Royal Guard.” Dash introduced.

“Ah…is he your boyfriend?” Blaze asked, taking Shining off guard and causing Dash’s ear to blush with embarrassment as her ears flattened.

“What? You two kissed...didn’t you?” He asked, innocently as Dash contemplated hiding her face behind her wings.

“Yeah, I figured word must have spread about that by now-and I just wanted to say that we were in a dire situation and Cadance thought it would be a good idea, but then it backfired…” He replied, defensively. “In all honesty, we probably should have thought that one through a little more.”

“Are you suggesting that you find my daughter so physically unattractive, that the only way you would even consider kissing her is if the fate of Equestria were on the line?” Blaze growled as his demeanor changed drastically.

“What!? NO! I…” Shining stammered desperately under his glare. “That’s not I what I meant-I just…”

“I’m just messing with you, son.” Blaze laughed.

Confused, he looked over to Dash, seeing her with her hooves covering her mouth her trying to stifle her laughter.

“Sorry about that,” Blaze apologized. “It’s just that you guards always seem so stiff and serious all of the time-it’s refreshing to so one of you acting flustered and show emotion for once-so, I really couldn’t pass up such a golden opportunity.”

“Nice one, Dad.” Dash laughed.

Usually, Shining was more used to this sort of teasing however, as during his time dating Cadance, he became all too aware of how devilishly impish Celestia could be with her own brand when they were in private, which put even his own parents and the other guards to shame-all the years she had lived must have afforded her much practice to perfect her craft, but potentially dealing with a father’s rage was something else, entirely.

“Well, at least things worked out in the end.” Blaze continued, grinning proudly at his daughter. “I came as soon as I could, but that damn hospital was running at a snail’s pace with everyone else coming in-and I’m not really in any condition to fly very far with my ribs cracked-so, I had to rely on that train to get me here once I reached the ground.”

“Well, we’re just glad to see that you’re alright, Dash was getting pretty worried about you after not hearing anything for so long.” Shining replied. “If you traveled all of the way here from Cloudsdale, then you must be pretty tired.”

“More hungry, actually…the food at that hospital was terrible.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of food here-though, I do have to warn you that there are a few Changelings wandering around-these are the ones who defected during the battle, so they’re not hostile as far as we can tell.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Blaze replied. “Good thing you told me-if I didn’t know that Celestia has allowed it, then I probably wouldn’t restrain myself after seeing them.”

“Of course I kept my word-I know that tensions are high and like I said before I would obviously be the prime suspect in her assassination-besides, even if a truce is reached, public opinion is largely stacked against Changelings, that and there are still those fiercely loyal to Chrysalis and not all of them are stupid enough to admit it. Sooner or later, she will escape on her own or with their assistance-and then I will take my vengeance-I’ve waited for this long, after all.” Sunset replied, irritably as she and Flash walked towards the dining hall. “Now can I trust you not to get in the way and try to get me killed, again?”

“Well, by your own admission-you have a history of being a pathological liar, plus the bad blood between the two of you, and how much you’ve admitted to getting off on doing this like that-I might be naïve, but I’m not stupid.” Flash snapped back. “Look, I’m sorry-I was worried about you-and clearly that was a stupid move, but I shouldn’t have let you go off to see her on your own like that.”

“Well, it’s not like you could have stopped me if I changed my mind-besides, I hate to admit it, but that hag was really starting to get under my skin-which was part of the reason why I left when I did.” Sunset replied. “Still, it’s always refreshing to have a reminder that you’re not as spineless as I originally thought-I guess I also owe you an apology-I know you were just trying to help, but this pain is really aggravating and I finally had Chrysalis right where I wanted her-so right now my tolerance for crap far lower than usual.”

Flash’s expression softened.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“If I actually had a heart-I’d be dead, right now.” She continued, jokingly. “So, this Changeling-the one who’s the ambassador for the species is now in the dining hall?”

“I’ve heard that’s where he usually is when he isn’t taking court with the Princesses, he’s the ringleader of some underground resistance group that began to take issue with Chrysalis’ leadership, but I guess now he’s kind of an ambassador, though there is another Changeling that is still fanatically loyal to her and believes betraying her is the greatest crime a Changeling can commit.”

“I assume he represents that faction?”

“That’s what it sounds like.”

As they entered the hall, it appeared to be quite crowded with all of Twilight’s friends along with her parents as well as a stallion that Sunset assumed to be a relative of Rainbow Dash.

Sunset scoffed, irritated-wondering if her parents’ cowardice and stubbornness allowed them to survive or if they were discovered or killed as part of the battle’s collateral damage.

Just as flash said, the Changeling was standing there as well-isolated.

Passing him, Sunset made her way to Rarity-despite her contempt for the seemingly haughty Unicorn, her alleged skills as a fashionista meant that she may have been the only one competent enough for the task she had in mind.

Flash was still following her uneasily.

“I’ve heard you’re supposed to be pretty good at sewing and repairing clothing.”

“Hm? Yes…that is correct.” Rarity replied, uneasily.

“I need you to repair this jacket for me.” Sunset elaborated, removing it and levitating it to show her the rips and burns present.

“That ratty thing?” Rarity asked, scrunching up her face in a mixture of incredulousness and disgust. “I could make a better one for you from scratch-or sell you another one I’ve already made from my boutique-and in a less…depressing color.”

“Actually, this was a gift from a dearly departed friend of mine-but, thank you for spitting on her memory.” Sunset retorted irritably.

“I…” Rarity bean, stumbling back slightly in shock and feeling guilty. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t…”

“Just fix it.” Sunset finished curtly, turning her back to Rarity as she tossed the jacket behind herself for Rarity to rush forward to catch it before it could hit the floor.

“As for payment-money is no object-you will receive it when and only when the jacket is returned to me. I expect it back as good as new.”

Turning around, she approached the Changeling. As she got closer, she noticed that he was wearing a collar-but, it wasn’t just any collar-it appeared to be made out of some kind of stone. The kind of collar Sunset recognized.

“What is your name?” She asked.

“I…don’t have one.” He replied, uneasily.

“Were you one of the leaders of the rebellion against Chrysalis?”

“Y-yes.”

“And currently campaigning for Changelings to unite with Equestria?”

“Th-that’s right.”

“Then assuming that you are sincere in your claims-I have some advice for you.” She continued. “As you are probably aware-Equestrians don’t trust your species-and for good reason, considering your actions.”

“Y-yeah…” He sighed, averting his gaze in what Flash assumed was shame.

“I have some advice for how you can help prove your sincerity to the public.”

“Really? I-I mean, I’m grateful…but, why? I mean, no offense but, I thought you hated us?”

“Just shut up and listen.” Sunset growled, annoyed.

“First, you can make reparations for some of the damage you’ve caused by helping our doctors and scientists figure out how to reverse the process you Changelings use to mutate and brainwash other species in order to return your victims to normal.”

“That sounds fair.” He agreed, shakily.

“Second, your species has the most malleable genetic structure of any other we’ve encountered, this could be of great medical benefit to us. If we are allowed to experiment with your cells, we may be able to repair or even completely replace damaged or missing organs.”

She glanced over at Flash, who appeared to be shocked by this request.

“This would all be voluntary of course, for those of your species willing to participate would be compensate for this service, since they would be helping us save lives.”

“That’s an interesting proposal…I’m not sure how willing some of us would be to get experimented on, but I can’t deny the possible medical benefits for not just Equestria, but the rest of the world if we were successful and it very well may help redeem us in the eyes of the public…” The Changeling mused.

“I…thank you!” The Changeling exclaimed, gleefully. “But…I still don’t understand why you are helping us? I thought you hated us?”

“I’m willing to play nice for the time being-we’ll see if your species is willing to do the same.” She replied.

“So you really don’t have names?” Flash asked, curiously.

“No, only the Queen was allowed to have that honor-though, now we are no longer subjected to her tyranny, we may be able to finally choose our own identities-that’s why we have serial numbers until we can think of names for ourselves.” He replied, gesturing to the number etched into his color.

“I’ve been thinking of the name….Arturo-I kind of like it.”

“So, the collars are for identifying you until then?” Flash pressed.

“Partially,” Sunset cut in. “I recognize these collars-they are known as transfigurative bindings-historically, they were invented and used to contain Unicorn prisoners with the magical aptitude for transformation magic-those with the ability would be sentenced to wear them for life after abusing their power-they can’t be removed without a specific enchantment and it can’t be cast by the wearer.”

“Right now we’re wearing them to help keep peace of mind for Equestria, since I understand we’d be pretty hard to keep track of if we transformed into someone else-not all of us are happy about this, of course-but, for the time being I can see why it is necessary.”

“Well, it does seem kind of degrading…” Flash sighed. “But, right now I can’t think of any better solutions-especially since there are still those of you who are loyal to Chrysalis.”

“Yeah, Darius is the leader of the faction that still wishes to remain loyal to our former Queen, despite her blatant disregard for us she showed in the battle-some due to their principles, some are fanatics, and others are really scared and confused.”

“So, then Arturo-you have friends who are allied with you, as well?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, there are two other Changelings who agreed with me when I realized what we were doing was monstrous-especially when Chrysalis ordered us to convert children, the sick, and the elderly, despite the fact their bodies are usually too fragile to survive the chemical processes-even after numerous deaths, she insisted we continue-that’s when it became clear to me that she was beyond reason.” Arturo explained.

“There was Stieber-who has always been paranoid-he agreed what was going on was wrong, but was afraid to take action or speak out for fear of being executed-fortunately, whenever we met up, we could be certain that he wasn’t followed and he thoroughly questioned those who wished to join our cause and could point out inconsistencies in their responses.”

“Sometimes a bit of paranoia can be healthy-especially under the regime of a murderous lunatic.” Sunset commented.

“And then there’s Krynn, she was just as disgusted as I was when we realized what was really going on-I always told Steiber that she was under greater risk than either of us if she got caught-bees and ants, we Changelings have been living under a matriarchal society-Chrysalis would seemingly arbitrarily kill of females of our species out of fear of them trying to usurp her, since she always made a spectacle out of it as some kind of warning.”

“That’s partially why there is such a large disparity between the male to female ratio of Changelings.” Sunset realized.

“Yes, and recently the natural birthrates have decreased even further-which is unsurprising when you keep killing off half of your own species-of course, being as paranoid as she is-Chrysalis would take valid concerns or criticisms as military insurrection and usually execute the one offering critique.”

“And that leads to more mares being abducted and converted to balance out all of the executions-unless your anatomy is also malleable enough to form the organs required for asexual reproduction.” Sunset mused.

“Yes, but Chrysalis demanded both-she wanted an overwhelming army of Changelings to siege Canterlot, but at the same time she kept killing those of us she merely suspected of dissent.”

“So, you must have positioned yourselves in the mines beneath Canterlot in order to set up so many infiltrators in the castle so easily and to ensure that any eggs or offspring wouldn’t be unattended for too long if the attack was successful-then you could just bring them up for love to feed on from those who were trapped.”

“Y-yeah, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance both lost some sympathy for us after they realized the extent we had gone and were willing to continue to go in order to achieve Chrysalis’ ends.” Arturo admitted, shamefully.

“Unlike my own progenitors, most parents are usually extremely protective of their spawn-which is why they become hostile when their safety is threatened-don’t expect anyone with kids to be friendly or let them anywhere near you any time soon.” Sunset explained.

“Even if they don’t hate you or even if they believe you are sincere-they still won’t want to risk putting their offspring in harm’s way just to spare your feelings.”

“I wouldn’t expect them to.”

“Wait, wait-there are mines underneath the city?” Flash asked, incredulously.

“Of course,” Sunset replied, nonchalantly. “Both the mines and this city were founded and built by pathetic Unicorns and their insatiable greed-such was the extent of it, that could give most dragons a run for their money, so to speak-and it would often get them killed.”

Smirking, she glanced over across the room at a shocked Twilight, who had undoubtedly been eavesdropping on their conversation.

‘Despite being Celestia’s pet,Twilight is unaware of her home city’s basic history. That would be fine for any normal citizen-but, for one of the supposedly sophisticated upper class-let alone one who values knowledge to such an extent as well as being the personal student of Celestia herself-it’s shamefully embarrassing.’

Flash also seemed to be visibly taken aback, though Sunset knew that in addition to this revelation-he probably never would have thought she would speak so contemptuously of her own race-given her personality and history.

“They say Unicorns are greedy, vain, and power-hungry, but those stereotypes exist for a reason-one need only look at myself and my mother and father to see our race at its filthiest-not that that other two races are any better-for reasons I won’t bother listing at the moment to spare you a rant.” She added, contemptuously.

“Now, you can keep speaking to Flash if you want, Arturo-but, I’m afraid that I still have some work to do-so, I can’t chat any longer. I like the name you’ve picked out, by the way-it can’t be fun, not having your own identity.”

Once again, she turned around to approach Rainbow Dash, who was with Shining Armor and that relative, still.

“I’d better keep an eye on her.” Flash sighed, “She can be…unpredictable, but it was pretty cool meeting you and I think you’ve picked out a pretty good name for yourself, too.”

“Thanks, good luck to you, Flash.”

“You too.”

Once again, Flash found himself having to keep up with Sunset-it was weird-he could understand her being hostile to Rarity-even if he didn’t approve-due to her injuries and Rarity unintentionally striking a nerve, but with the Changeling-a species she’s hated with a passion-she seemed to be mostly civil and pragmatic, if a little rude at first.

“So, you’re the one who saved my life.” Sunset commented, breaking up the conversation between the trio of Equines.

“Yeah,” Dash replied, albeit a bit more bashfully than she had expected.

Flash had told her that she was more than a little ashamed and terrified after losing her temper, apparently she was worried about how close she actually came to killing Chrysalis once she was already down-despite probably killing numerous Changelings earlier in the battle-this one was probably different because she was no longer a threat when this had happened.

“I mean, Twilight was the one that got us all out of there-but, I was the one who tackled the Queen and sort of…lost it.” Dash continued, massaging the back of her neck, to Sunset this uncharacteristic bashfulness seemed to her like it was brought on like guilt-this must have rattled her pretty badly.

“Well, I just wanted to thank you-the last way I ever wanted to go out was by the hand of that filthy insect.”

“You’re welcome…I guess…”

“If you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask.” Sunset continued before leaning in close to Dash as she lowered her voice. “This isn’t common knowledge, but after leaving Canterlot some time ago, I’ve managed to accumulate a great deal of wealth on my own.”

“Thanks, but…I’m not sure what I’d need or could do-even with that kind of money.” She sighed. “Even before I realized that the Wonderbolts would never accept me, I would’ve wanted to earn my way into their ranks instead of buying my way in.”

“The Wonderbolts?” Sunset repeated. “You mean that group of selfish, attention-whoring, faux military hacks?”

“I take it you’re not a fan.” Shining Armor commented, dryly.

“I think you’re more than talented enough for that group of jackasses, you could probably even be a leader with enough humility and tempered judgment-why don’t you start your own flying group?” She suggested. “I have all the funds you’d need to get started-if you work together I’m sure you’ll be fine a leader-and you seem ethical enough to avoid the backstabbing and lawsuits that have been plaguing the group for years.”

‘Said the genocidal sociopath.’ Shining thought to himself, but didn’t say.

“Are you serious!?” Dash asked, incredulously. “I mean, I’m good-but, going up against the Wonderbolts?”

“It’s true that they have built up quite a reputation over the years, however, that has decayed as they have flown too close to the sun, feeling invincible-and now their dirty laundry has been coming out, which is losing them favor with the public-but, wouldn’t it be a shame if colts and fillies of Cloudsdale had to grow up with no heroes to look up too?” Sunset continued.

“You’ve already proven that you’re a good-if occasionally mischevious or misguided-person, along with bearing the Element of Loyalty and saving Equestria twice-now a third time, without it to show your persistence in the face of adversity, it’s pretty good bedrock to help build up a decent reputation, not to mention your actual flying skill far surpass anyone currently known living.”

“Hold on,” Rainbow Blaze stopped her. “This all sounds well and good, but are we seriously believe that even if you are telling the truth and do have those kinds of funds, how do we know this isn’t some kind of set up? What kind of contract is involved?”

“You know, Rainbow Dash-you really are lucky to have a father who is concerned for you-I truly wish mine were the same.” She replied before addressing him.

“It’s only natural for you to be suspicious of anyone who would come to her with such an offer-especially me, however-I am being sincere and there is no contract for her to sign-for the recruits, that will likely be a different story, but you and she can help dictate its contents if you like-this is for her, after all.”

Looking him in the eyes, her gaze seemed to be extremely icy and the intensity was something he was not expecting.

“Your daughter saved my life from Chrysalis, a complete monster in every sense of the word-she ordered the abduction of a dear personal friend of mine who was killed as a result-naturally, I wanted revenge. If she had killed me, not only would I have failed-but, I would die with a great amount of shame and regret for what I would be remembered for. I hate her more than my own mother and father and believe me-that is an extraordinary amount of hatred-had I died because of her, that hatred would also be for myself.”

“So, she saved your life and your pride.” Shining Armor concluded.

“That’s the long and short of it.” She confirmed before shifting her attention back to Rainbow Dash.

“I know that I’m not the friendliest or most sociable person, but I believe I can help you become a great leader-strategy, is something I’ve learned to become quite adept with and I can teach you how to survive in life or death situations as well as keeping others safe and in line under your wing.”

“I…yeah, why not?” Dash asked, rhetorically. “I guess I won’t need my day job back in Cloudsdale, after all.”

“Hey, Captain…” Flash spoke up, startling the group after forgetting he was standing there.

“What is it, Flash?” Shining asked, concerned that there might be another issue with the Changelings.

“Forgive me if this is private, but…are you and Rainbow Dash officially an item, now?”

Sunset found it difficult not chuckle as both of their cheeks turned rose red at the question.

“That’s…I, well…”

“Well, you two already made out on the battlefield, didn’t you?” Sunset teased, causing their cheeks to turn even redder.

“We-we didn’t ‘make out’…” Dash muttered, defensively. “It was…just a kiss-besides, Cadance told us to try it to save Equestria…”

“Hey, she’s just messing with you guys.” Flash added, softly. “For what it’s worth, I think you two would be great together-you’ve already shown you can work great together as a team-even if your first attempt backfired. And Captain-you do seem less stressed when you’re around her-especially after Cadance…you know.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have any objections to trying it out, but ultimately it’s up to Dash-I can’t make her do anything-nor, would I want to force her into something.” He replied, looking down at her.

“I guess we could try doing something like that…” Dash agreed, uncertainly. “Before I was worried about my reputation as a daredevil, but with the way gossip spreads-I guess they’ll either see me as soft or a complete psycho when word spreads further throughout Canterlot and Equestria with everything that happened during the battle-and it’s not like I haven’t thought about it.”

“Are you sure?” Shining prompted. “It’s okay if you don’t want try it and just stay friends because you’re uncomfortable-I’m pretty tough, I can take it.”

“No." She replied, confidently. I’m always going on about how tough and brave I am-so, I think it would be stupid if I didn’t give this a shot just because I’m afraid of screwing things up.”

Author's Note

Sorry, this one took so much longer than the others.