Alone

by Dafaddah

Rating: everyone
Tags: Changelings, Adventure, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Spike
Length: 12310

Twilight faces more than she bargained for when a resort island turns out very different from her expectations, and she must make a decision that will forever change how she sees herself.

"I stood before the doors to Princess Celestia’s private chambers, just as I had so many times before, and waited. I’ve always been a nervous mare before our meetings, wondering if what I had done measured up to her expectations. But I had never before entered those rooms with the blood of another being on my hooves. I swallowed, dreading what I would discover behind those doors."

Twilight faces more than she bargained for when a resort island turns out very different from her expectations, and she must make a decision that will forever change how she sees herself.

Published 2013-11-03 06:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-03 06:10:02 UTC

Twilight's last resort

Alone
by
Dafaddah
A story about Twilight Sparkle before she became a Princess
Globe spanning editorial team: Microshazm and SecondLaw
Special guest editors: Amacita, Spigo and TotallyNotaBrony

I stood before the doors to Princess Celestia’s private chambers, just as I had so many times before, and waited. I’ve always been a nervous mare before meeting my mentor, wondering if what I had done measured up to her expectations. But then, I had never before entered her rooms with the blood of another being on my hooves. I swallowed, dreading what I would discover behind those doors.

The Royal Pegasus Guards opened up as per protocol, and I saw her sitting behind her desk wearing pince-nez reading glasses on her muzzle. She stood.

“Please give us a moment,” she said to guards. The doors closed behind me. Princess Celestia usually greeted me with a smile, but not today. Today she removed her reading glasses and when she glanced at me I couldn’t read the expression on her face. As she paced regally around her desk I found I was staring down at my hooves. I just couldn’t face her after doing what I had done. I had failed the test: I hadn't been able to use the magic of friendship to resolve the situation on the island. I had betrayed my principles, and hers.

She stopped a half step in front of me and raised my chin with a hoof so she could look into my eyes. When our glances met, her eyes widened just a fraction. I wanted to say that I didn’t have a choice, that I had to do it, but I couldn’t, because it would not have been true. I did have a choice, and I took it.

“Oh, Twilight!” she said, and wrapped me in her wings. “I had hoped this moment would never come.”

I felt my tears start to fall. My voice cracked when I spoke. “I’m so sorry, Your Majesty, that I let you down. I never imagined I could fail you and Harmony so utterly.” I looked again at the carpet in front of my forehooves.

She released me and stepped back so she could look me in the face. Ashamed as I felt, I still noticed the tracks her own tears had left on her muzzle. Good going, Twilight, I thought to myself. You’ve made a princess cry. And it only took you less than a week!

The week had started out pretty well: leaving on a long-awaited vacation. And as with most of my vacations since Spike and I arrived in Ponyville, this meant waiting endlessly in line at the Ponyville train station. First to buy tickets, then to stow our luggage, and then to get onto the train with everypony hurrying to find a seat. Saturday mornings the trains are always packed, and this Saturday was no different. It took us a while, but finally Spike and I found a bench with enough space for us both. And then it was yackity-yack with the ponies sitting with us, for the entire trip to Canterlot! I was so envious of Spike when he curled up to sleep next to me.

"He's just a baby," I explained to my seat mates. There was a chorus of 'Dawww...'s and 'How cute!'s.

Spike snored adorably, and I had the pleasure of listening to every foal story of three different families. I was hardly able to read a single paragraph from 'Animative and Resuscitative Magic', the book I brought. Instead I ended up learning all about foal-sitting and diaper cleaning services in Baltimare, Albaneigh and Mountreal. Sigh.

In Canterlot I had one hour to change trains. I woke my number one assistant and placed the still-groggy dragonet on my back. We disembarked from the train.

It was a gorgeous day, and the noontime sun bathed everything in splashes of gold and spots of white so bright it hurt to look at them. I scanned the station’s main hall and caught sight of a purple and white striped mane.

"Twilight! Spike!" My mom was waiting for us near the station clock, waving a leg energetically. As soon as he heard her voice, the little guy jumped off my back and ran into her eager embrace.

"Mrs. Mom! I've missed you so much!" He basked in an avalanche of hugs and kisses.

"Mr. Dad and I have missed you too, Spike." She still had her grey forelegs around him as I approached. "And Twilight too!" she added with a wink in my direction. Spike jumped onto my mother's back, making room for me to get my own hug, which I have to admit I probably enjoyed as much as he did.

I looked into her face, drinking in every line, curve and tuft of fur. It seemed that the older I got the more I appreciated what truly wonderful parents she and my dad were. That included the way they went along with Spike’s 'Mr. Dad and Mrs. Mom' thing, which is part of how he dealt with being fostered to a family of ponies. It also explained why every once in a while, he asked to 'go back home for a visit'. I knew what it meant to the little fella, as well as to mom and dad. Being pampered by my parents for two weeks was Spike’s idea of a great vacation. Not to mention numerous trips to Pony Joe’s doughnut shop, the gem candy stores, his favourite ice-cream shop, etc, etc...

Mom smiled as if if she knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll take good care of him while you're on vacation." Chalk up another one for moms!

"I know." I raised an eyebrow. "And he'll be spoiled rotten, will have gained weight from all the sweets, and be lazy for weeks before I get him back into shape."

"And you'll have spent two weeks on the beach reading and hardly saying a word to anypony!" Spike winked conspiratorially.

I nodded emphatically. "Ya got that right, mister!" We laughed as mom sighed then joined in on the yuks. I looked up at the station's clock. "I have to go if I don't want to miss my train." I nuzzled Spike, which always embarrasses him in public. He’s so cute when he blushes!

He looked back up to me. "You be careful out there Twi. Mrs. Mom is going to teach me how to make winter melon soup, your favorite! We'll have some ready when you're back."

Mom nodded. "That's right, dear. Now you go and have a nice time at the beach.” She heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes theatrically. “Who knows, you might even meet a nice young stallion."

She had to say that out loud. I cringed and glanced around to see if anypony had noticed. Spike chuckled at my embarrassment. With a last group hug, I left them both behind and made my way back to the train. From the window at my seat I saw them wave as we pulled out of the station. I waved back, and then lost sight of the station as the train gathered speed for its trip to the coast.

Everypony in this car was part of the same tour group as I was. As we entered the car we had each gotten one of those 'Hello My Name is...' stickers. I hate those things. They always leave a sticky patch on my coat and then something embarrassing sticks to it, which I don't notice until somepony, usually Rarity, points it out to me. The mare passing them out gave me a funny look. “You’re not alone, are you?” she asked.

“Well, I joined this tour to get some time to myself,” I replied. “It was recommended by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, some friends of mine who have fond memories of the place.”

“Oh. Well then, I’m sure you’ll have a good time,” said the mare, looking dubious.

I know what you’re thinking. That should have been a hint about what was to come. But at the time I didn’t think anything of it. All I wanted to do was find a seat and crack open my book.

This time I got to read a whole page before a pair of unicorn mares, Glowball and Time Crescent, sat down next to me, smiling broadly.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Twilight."

"We know.” Glowball pointed a hoof at my chest and winked. “It's written on on your name tag.” I desperately tried not to facehoof.

"So Twilight, where are you from?" asked Time Crescent. Yes, I read it from her name tag! Sheesh!

"Er, I live in Ponyville, but I'm originally from Canterlot," I replied.

Glowball frowned in thought. "Twilight. From Ponyville, eh? Geeze, that does seem to ring a bell."

I felt my back tense up. I was hoping to keep my vacation low key, but after the failed Changeling invasion there were a lot of ponies who knew my name and my relationship to the crown. "No, no. I'm just the librarian there." I laughed.

Time Crescent nudged her in the barrel. "See! You keep thinking you've already met everypony in Equestria. I'm sure Twilight is just a new friend."

Hearing Time Crescent's words I was able to relax.

"So dear..." Time Crescent scanned the car. "Where's your somepony special?"

I felt my ears crash into the sides of my neck.

"Er, I decided to come on this tour alone," I said, trying to display a normal looking grin. From the expression on Glowball's face I doubt that I succeeded. The two mares looked at each other a moment, and immediately launched into an exhaustive roster of all their unattached male relatives. I tried to look interested, honestly I did!

It was just my luck that the moment the two mares left another couple on the tour replaced them. The three hour ride went by like an appointment at the dentist. Or, based on my average, make that four point five visits to the dentist.

When we arrived at Pollsmouth, we disembarked the train and lined up to get onto a ferry. It was a smallish rear-paddle steamboat named the Sea Princess, its single flat deck easily accommodating all the members of the tour and a large load of supplies in bales. Coming on board we were greeted by a tall cream-coated stallion working for the resort. Shortly after we were under way he rang a bell to get everypony’s attention.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” he began, “In just a short while we will arrive at the historic Bucktouche Island Resort and Spa. This resort has been in existence for almost two hundred years, and is known across Equestria for its beautiful gardens, secluded white sand beach, and of course our famous mud baths. Generations of couples have come here at the start of their relationships to forge bonds that will last a lifetime, or to renew the flames of passion in their later years. Our aim is to provide an optimal experience for all of our guests, so we have a few simple rules which we insist you follow in order to ensure everypony’s privacy and enjoyment of our island.

“First, for your safety, you must always stay inside the resort compound itself, which is pretty easy because there’s a stone wall enclosing it from beach to beach. The wall itself is also off-limits, so no climbing the wall, even for our more adventurous guests! Second, for the winged amongst you, there will be no flying above three ponylengths when over the island. You may fly as high as you like over the water, but we ask that you stay in the general area immediately in front of the resort’s beach. Third and last, we have plenty of social activities for larger groups, but Bucktouche’s claim to fame is providing an intimate setting for couples. Respect these rules and the other couples’ need for privacy when going about the resort grounds, after all there’s no shortage of wonderful places to share a moment together, I assure you! Nopony leaves Bucktouche Island unsatisfied! Are there any questions?”

There weren’t. By this time the implications of the stallion’s speech were starting to sink in. I looked around and noticed there were no foals at all in this crowd. It suddenly dawned on me that this was one of those ‘couple friendly’ destinations. I smiled because that meant everypony here was already part of a couple and I would probably not be pestered by unwanted suitors. Jackpot! And sorry, mom!

An hour later, just after sunset, we queued up to get off the ferry and finally set hoof on our destination: Bucktouche island. A short trot up the boardwalk brought us to the luxurious Bucktouche Resort and Spa, a low round building made of grey stone shaped like the hub and spokes of a wheel. Inside the hub, which was the main hall, we waited in single file – or rather in pairs, I noticed this time – to register and get our room keys. Our luggage had been neatly laid in three long and perfectly straight lines.

Because there was only one mare at the counter to handle a tour of some fifty ponies, it was a good hour before my turn came up. During the wait, often one member of each pair would move up and down the line, introducing themselves and their partners. By the time I was at the desk I had comprehensive profiles on thirty-two of my fellow resort-mates. I know this because I still have the index cards on which I wrote down each of their profiles.

Hmmm, maybe Spike has a point when he says I'm obsessive about taking notes. On the other hoof, I had no way of knowing if Princess Celestia might ask questions about my vacation, so I thought it best to be prepared, just in case.

The resort itself had a very unconventional interior, which I examined in detail while being told all about the mysterious knee condition suffered by the second cousin, (on her sire's side) of an earth pony mare named Cordite from Sydneigh (honestly, the names some ponies give their foals!).

Oh, yeah. I was going to describe the inside of the resort. There were very few right angles. Its main architectural theme seemed to be the hexagon. It did make for a very compact setup as six wings branched off from the main hall, with guest rooms in five of them and the sixth labeled ‘Staff Only’. The main hall held the reception, lounge and dining areas, overall a very efficient layout. Between each of the six wings were large glass double doors that let in a lot of sunlight and led out to one of the six themed gardens that were a big part of the resort’s appeal.

Finally it was my turn to register. Again I got a funny look from the mare at the front desk. “Where’s…” she squinted as she read from the reservation register, “your husband, Mr. Spike?”

I laughed nervously. To be truthful, when I had originally made the reservation I thought Spike would be coming with me. And I certainly never said he was my husband. It was only when talking with him afterwards – and showing him the resort’s brochure – that he asked me why we weren’t going to Canterlot instead. I got him to admit that he would rather spend the time there, and since it was on the way anyway, I thought why not. I guess I never bothered to change the reservation.

“Er, Mr. Spike wasn’t feeling well and decided to stay home.” I know. I lied! But then I didn’t feel like explaining for the umpteenth time that I was single and all that. That mare glared at me the whole time. I could still feel her eyes on my back as I levitated my luggage and trotted briskly out of the lobby.

When I got to my room, I felt relieved to finally be by myself. I didn’t even bother unpacking before jumping onto the bed and pulling out a stack of index cards and a quill. I spent the next hour happily documenting my tour-mates. Before I knew it, the dinner bell was ringing.

It was at dinner that I noticed the first anomaly.

It seemed to me that whenever TC (AKA Time Crescent) looked at me she seemed annoyed, except when Glowball was part of the conversation. “So you and Glowball have been living together since you graduated from Magic School five years ago?” I asked. I had intentionally said five instead of four, because from past experience some ponies seemed to get nervous if they suspected I had memorized everything they’d told me.

“Yeah, that’s right,” said TC. She wouldn’t look me in the eye, and just stared at Glowball. The mare in question turned her muzzle back in our direction, and TC immediately assumed a warm smile. Glowball’s was a bit craftier.

“So Twilight, you really didn’t know this was a couple’s resort?” she asked.

I laughed nervously. “Eh, I guess when I read the brochure it said this place was quiet and intimate, so I immediately thought it would be the perfect place to relax and catch up on my reading.”

Glowball found this hilarious for some reason, and TC laughed along with her. Putting a hoof on her friend’s withers, Glowball remarked, “I don’t think many of the other couples here will be doing much reading.” She laughed even louder when she saw how her comment made me blush. Glowball stood suddenly and winked at TC. “Now, don’t you start putting any moves on our little bookworm here while I go powder my nose!”

She was still chuckling as she left. I turned to TC. “Well, she already seems in a holiday mood,” I remarked and stopped as I saw the cold look on TC’s face.

“You should leave here. This is no place for a single mare,” said TC in a low voice.

This was so unlike the mare I had talked with on the train, and I was literally so shocked that I couldn’t think of anything to say. I stammered out an apology, got up and left. She was still glaring at me as I exited the main hall.

I went back to my room and looked up my notes on TC and Glowball from earlier. I noted TC’s odd behaviour on her card, and didn’t think any further of it until the day after.

At breakfast the next morning I sat with Cordite and her husband, an earth pony named Trundle.

He had a huge stack of pancakes on his plate and Cordite was looking annoyed. “What?” he asked as I sat down. “It’s a buffet – there’s no extra charge!”

Cordite rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and you’ll be so fat when we leave here they’ll have to roll you onboard the ferry!” I laughed and the coupled laughed along with me. Cordite grabbed a fork. “Well I'd better not let this go to waist." Without asking his permission she dragged the top third of the stack onto her own plate. Trundle sighed and then tucked into his remaining pancakes. I caught the pun, but I don’t think he did.

We chatted amiably until Trundle became involved in a conversation with a stallion at the next table. As soon as her hubby wasn’t looking, Cordite’s expression became distant. She leaned in and said in low voice. “This resort is for couples. You should leave.” She then proceeded to ignore me up until Trundle turned back to our table.

“So what were you fillies up to while we guys talked hoof-ball?” he asked.

Cordite smiled at me as if we were bosom buddies. “Oh nothing, just girl talk.”

Uncertain where to take this, I stood to leave. “Uh, I have to leave now, I guess. Um, excuse me.”

As I trotted off I hear Trundle exclaim. “She’s a weird one. Hey, you haven’t seen her husband yet, have...” The rest was lost in the noise of the breakfast crowd.

I spent the next day discretely ‘testing’ out the other couples. In all cases, it seemed like one and only one of each pair seemed off a bit. Whenever nopony else was around, a few solitary ponies even told me outright that I should leave. By supper time I was pretty convinced I knew why.

After a dinner full of alternating smiles and glares (often from the same ponies) I exited the central hall via the large double doors to the left of the ‘Staff Only’ wing, and found myself outside in one of the gardens. I took a walk along the length of the wing from the glass doors all the way to the stone wall enclosing the hotel compound. It was eighty and a half paces long approximately. It’s hard to be more precise with paces.

Then I did something that in hindsight was pretty dumb: I went walking, alone, around the grounds as the evening set. Glowball had suggested I go take in the sunset on the beach. On the way there I had to pass through a small hedge labyrinth. I had already memorized the pattern from the brochure and was going full speed, so I almost ran into the three ponies waiting inside. All three looked angry. My heart thumping, I backtrotted right into another two ponies who had moved in behind me. For a second there I almost panicked, but for some reason I held back and didn’t teleport out. While I stood there trembling, TC came forward.

“We’re doing our best to make this clear to you. There’s a ferry tomorrow morning at eight. Be on it. This is our last warning.” The five each took off into the maze, leaving me standing there with my heart in my throat and breathing like I’d just made a serious try for first place at the Running of the Leaves in Ponyville.

The incident scared the living daylights out of me, and pretty much had me convinced my suspicions were right. Still, something about all this was nagging at the back of my mind. That night I snuck out of my room, and found exactly what I had been expecting. The only problem was, I still had it all wrong, and what I did just made everything worse.

Did I forget to mention that I wore the black unitard? The one Spike calls my secret agent ninja uniform? The one that makes the stallions notice me?

I brought it with me on vacation to do yoga, with the other mares, not with stallions. Oh, and just in case I needed to do some night time manoeuvres, for the Princess of course!

I chuckled at how that sounded, even to me!

Needless to say, it was dark. Luckily I have a charm that adds night vision to binoculars, and a headband to which I can attach them. Thus equipped it was almost ridiculously easy to get into the ‘Staff Only’ wing. They hadn’t bothered to lock the door. Makes sense I guess: the resort still needed to run at night.

The first few rooms I peered into were your normal hotel back-office and maintenance facilities. The kitchens were spotless, and even the supply room was tidy and well organized. If nothing else, they knew how to run a business! They seemed to have thought of everything except for one teensly little thing: I ran out of corridor long before I should have, according to the wing’s external dimensions. I did a quick estimate of the linear distance from the entrance of the wing to the end of the corridor: fifty and a quarter paces. Aha! Numbers don't lie. Numbers are my friends.

Anyway, even though the corridor ended, I knew there had to be something beyond the wall at its end. I set my night vision glasses to infrared and scanned the floor nearby. I found an area on the floor that was warmer and ended abruptly at the bottom of a wall. Looking up I saw a glowbulb fixture on the wall and pulled on it. A section of the wall opened soundlessly on hinges. This was just too easy!

I entered, closed the wall section behind me, and stealthily crept onwards. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for. Just as I suspected, there they were, glued to the floor with really icky stuff, a whole bunch of cocoons. Each one likely contained one of the ponies from each couple on the tour. It was the work of changelings. I knew it!

At that moment, all I could think of was that this was a brilliant setup for a changeling hive. A continuous supply of fresh victims, all of them deeply attached and out of their normal environment. A day or two before they were supposed to leave, set the victim free to make a few memories and chalk up the remaining gaps to vacation excesses. They go home, tell their friends about their great vacation, and then a whole new batch of victims would be begging to stand in line to pay for the privilege!

Then I noticed that some of the cocoons seemed damaged. Moving closer, it became evident that most of them were empty! Some of them looked like they had been empty for years. That’s when I became really uneasy. Why did they take the replicated ponies out of their cocoons? If they didn’t keep them there then what did they do with them? I counted up the cocoons. Over fifty eight. And then it hit me, why fifty eight cocoons? That was more than the entire registered guestlist! If I understood the changeling life cycle properly, they live on the emotional energy produced by the remaining pony for the pony replaced by the changeling. If they replaced both ponies in the pair they get nothing. And if for some nefarious purpose they replaced everypony, then why hadn’t they replaced me? It just didn’t make sense.

I really, really dislike it when things don’t make sense.

I examined the few intact cocoons. Inside were ponies, their images bright blobs of heat in the night vision glasses. I bent closer to look at one, and nearly jumped out of my coat when it moved! It took me a moment to recover my wits. Looking nearby I found a set of large pruning shears and carefully used them to cut through the tough membrane. It took some work, but I finally had an opening big enough to reach in with my magic and I pulled a unicorn stallion out. Let me tell you, there’s even more icky stuff inside those things than outside. The pony coughed and wheezed as he spat gobs of it out of his lungs.

“Who are you and how did you get captured like this?” I asked.

Cough. Snort. Deep breath. “I’m... I’m Light Switch. I came here to fix the thaumic power matrix. I got off the ferry and went to the power shed and then everything went dark. Next thing I know I’m being pulled out of that... thing and coughing my lungs out.” He glanced up at me and his eyes grew wide as dinner plates. “And just what in Tartarus are you?”

I pulled the night vision glasses off of my head and Mr. Switch screamed like a little filly. I realized that he was now seeing a disembodied pony head floating in the dark. The black unitard has that that effect on ponies at night, something that I should have remembered.

There was a sound at one end of the room. I shoved a hoof in Mr. Switch’s mouth and whispered in his ear. “If you want us to get out of here alive you have to be absolutely quiet. Wiggle your left ear if you understand.”

He screamed again. Luckily it was mostly muffled by my hoof. I sighed, put the night vision glasses back on and looked for the wall where I had come in. Now, in my own defence let me say that all this work to hatch Mr. Switch from his cocoon had kind of gotten me turned around, and I wasn’t sure where I had come in. I looked at the nearest wall, and with a flood of relief recognized the mechanism to open and close the secret passage. I grabbed onto him and teleported.

We came out just on the other side near the glowbulb fixture. From here I did a quick calculation and knew exactly how far it was to my room, and teleported us again.

I had a brief moment of panic just after Mr. Switch and I materialized. When I turned on the lights I thought we had ended up in another room by mistake because all my things were gone. While Mr.Switch recovered from the teleport I opened the door a crack. Seeing nopony around, I checked the number on the door. It was my room. I looked around in confusion. While I was gone somepony had taken away all my things: my toiletries in the washroom, my party dress in the closet, even my special ink, paper and blank index cards from the writing desk! They had also tidied it up the room, adjusted the curtains, dusted, made the bed with crisp corners, and even put a mint on the pillow like the maid usually did in the mornings. All in just the ten minutes I was gone. Weird!

I turned to see Mr. Switch looking at me. Of course now he could see me. Including the part of me in my black unitard. He no longer seemed afraid. In fact he had on an odd little grin.

“You look very fetching in that, whatever it is, miss uh, what was your name?”

"Uh, Twilight Sparkle." He actually licked a fetlock and tried to put his mane in order. Stallions. Sigh.

"Mr. Switch, I'm afraid you might have to hide in my room for a while. Are you okay with that?"

His grin became a bit lopsided. "Sure. No problem... And you can call me Light." His voice actually cracked as he said his name.

I counted to ten in my head, and took a deep breath. "I’ll be back soon. Remember, not a sound Mr. Switch."

"That's Light," he insisted.

I made a 'shushing' motion with my hoof, opened the door, listened, peeked out, and finding the coast clear I exited. He was still grinning as I closed the door. I did another ten count, and was forced to admit to myself that I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of wearing the black unitard.

I was just about to sneak my way back to the main hall when the door to the guest room immediately opposite mine opened, revealing an irate-looking Time Crescent.

I was caught! I began to gather energy for another teleport, when instead of attacking me she did something utterly surprising. She smiled and said, “Hey, Twilight! I was wondering where you had gotten off to. We haven’t seen you all day.”

I hadn’t a clue what to say. Yes, she had seen me today, and yes this was another of those moments when things did not make sense. And then it got worse.

The door in back of me pulled open. Mr. Switch poked his head out and said, “Twilight. I thought I heard you speaking to somepony.” He smiled and offered a hoof. “Hi, I’m Light, a friend of Twilight’s”.

TC raised one infuriating eyebrow and smirked. “Well, single indeed! I guess we know where you’ve been all day.” She looked me up and down. “Ooh. I’m gonna have to get me one of those. Hey Glowball, come and see what Twilight’s wearing, and come meet her coltfriend,” she called over her shoulder.

I thought I would die. And then I thought I did.

Glowball shot out of her room like a cannonball and rammed right into me, bowling me over. I felt a sting on my neck. As I hit the floor I saw that TC and Light were both lying down on the floor as well. How stran...

Everything went dark.

Wake up, Twilight, you'll be late! I fought for consciousness. For the longest time, all I could do was breathe. I struggled to open my eyes. An infinity later, I got one eye open and blinked in the sudden brightness. The pale green rim of a semi-circle came into focus. I rotated my eye. There was a circular opening in front of my face, around me a pale green wall. Beyond it was an indistinct blur. I tried moving my limbs and felt nothing. A feeling of dread spread slowly through me and my breath grew ragged. The image beyond the circle slowly came into focus. A room. Some machinery. And pale green changelings cocoons. Memory returned and my pulse raced. Alone. Caught. I screamed until I fainted, I think.

A few hours later I returned to my senses. Have you quite finished with this shameful display, Twilight? my logical self berated my physical self in the cocoon. Apparently not, logical me noted. I was still sniffling. Stop it! What would Spike think? What would Princess Celestia think?! Dry your tears, girl.

I felt ashamed. Here I was, the bearer of the Element of Magic and Princess Celestia's personal student, crying like a foal.

You can do better than that, Twilight! Face this like the logical mare you know you are. First, ascertain your situation.

That was a good suggestion. “Okay.” I took a slow breath. “I'm stuck in a changeling cocoon. On an island. In a room that all the other ponies that might possibly help me don't even know exists.”

Ooookay... So what resources do you have at hoof?

“I have the unfettered use of one eye. And I can see some machines and some cocoons.”

That’s it?

“Un hunh. That's it.”

Gulp... Oh! I know! Let’s review how we got here: it might give us a clue on how to get out.

Well, I realized, it wasn’t like I had an extensive list of more attractive options on how to spend the next few hours. "Note to self: avoid situations where you can't take notes."

Very funny, cocoon me! Let's get on with it shall we?

It took about an hour or so for me to review everything in my head. Thank goodness I had made those index cards. I remembered in more detail the stuff I had written down. I hoped my logical self would be satisfied.

“So, any ideas on how to get me out of this cocoon?”

Nope!

“So what else can we do now?“

Observe the situation further, then reconvene.

“Oh, so we're a committee now?”

Be quiet and pay attention, cocoon me.

“Logical me, I'm starting to get mad at you! Since when is doing nothing doing something? Of all the lame-brain ideas...”

Of course that's when something did happen. I heard a noise and stopped mumbling to my logical self.

Glowball entered my field of view with a sleeping pony draped over her back. She placed the pony inside one of the fresher-looking empty cocoons. With a disgusting retching sound she hacked up some phlegm, which she used to close the gap at the top of the cocoon. Note to self: I can now confirm having visual evidence that changelings regurgitate that stuff. Yuck! And I had it all over me. Double yuck!

Soon the pony was entirely enclosed. At that point she looked in my direction and walked leisurely over.

'Glowball' stood in front of me. On her face was the same nasty look I had come to expect from TC before my little foray into the ‘Staff Only’ wing.

Then with a bang like Celestia’s sunrise it dawned on me. The couples only resort, the disappearing luggage, the tidied-up room, the mint on the pillow, and especially TC being nice while Glowball wasn’t, instead of it being the other way round just like it was before I went on my exploratory mission. Two identical rooms. Two identical resorts separated by a wall. Two sets of ponies from which to harvest love. It was brilliant!

“You’re the changeling,” I said, “on this side of the wall.”

She clopped hooves. “My, you are the clever one, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Clever ponies are dangerous.”

Now I’ve been called names more than once in my life, but I don’t recall being called dangerous. Glowball glared angrily and came closer, with a flash dropping her disguise. Standing in front of me was this hive’s changeling Queen. I got confused again, not because I hadn’t seen a changeling Queen before, because I had. Rather I was confused because there were twin tracks of tears on her muzzle.

“You sadden me, Twilight Sparkle. What you’ve done tonight will likely hasten the end of this hive, a hive that has existed on this island for over two hundred years.” She drew back, looking wistful. “I don’t know how it will react, but each year it has culled my swarm. And now there are so few left. It will decide to end the harvest, and we will die.”

I struggle against the cocoon to no avail. “What are you talking about? What is it?”

The queen took a deep breath. “The less you know the safer you’ll be.” Then she coughed up a hoof-full of cocoon material and closed it over my face. I screamed in vain.

The next few minutes were lost to me. I was sobbing, and afraid, and angry. I was so miserable and so... angry. How could the changelings do this? It was just like my brother’s wedding in Canterlot. I was angry and alone, and I hated them! Alone, with no herd and no friends. How could the Magic of Friendship possibly help me now? Even my number one assistant wasn’t there to help. Oh! the thought struck me. Thank Celestia he stayed with my parents in Canterlot! Oh, mom, dad! I wept for myself and for the ponies and dragon who loved me.

Again, it was logical me that put my hooves back onto solid ground.

Twillight! Twilight! Snap out of it. Didn't you notice?

I stopped wailing. “Notice what?” I slowly got my breathing back under control.

For some reason the queen didn’t render you unconscious like she did the other ponies. I pictured logical me smirking. Furthermore, she never fully closed up your cocoon.

Now I know I was confused. “Why would she do that?”

I don't know. We have to think about it. But just in case it was a mistake let's keep quiet until we figure it out.

Over the next few hours keeping quiet proved to be pretty easy, if not particularly exciting. At some point I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew I was waking up. I knew that some considerable time must have passed because there were many more cocoons in the room. I noticed that somehow I was now able to move my head very slowly, so I was able to make an accurate count. The more I moved my head the less constrained it felt. I could actually feel an air current in my ears, and it suddenly came to me that if my horn wasn’t covered in changeling slime then maybe I could try to use my magic. I did, and to my surprise it worked. It took me about a half hour to locate the shears and cut myself out of the cocoon.

I hid under a table while I got the strength back into my legs. Since I was still wearing the black unitard I was nearly invisible in the dark space. Several changelings came and went without ever noticing me. I revised my valuation of the black unitard and declared it the very best garment, ever!

Finally, I screwed up my courage and decided to make a run for it. My plan was to get to the dock under cover of darkness, wait for the daily morning ferry to show up, and sneak aboard. Another of the changelings came into the room, a pony sleeping on her back. In short order there was another cocoon in place. While constructing it she kept looking over her shoulder, obviously worried about something.

She had just finished enclosing the pony completely when there was a sound in the dark. From under the table I couldn’t really see much of the room, but I did see the changeling turn around abruptly. She made a sound like a hiss and a scream at the same time, and then there was a crunching sound. She fell to the floor in a tangle of insectile limbs just less than two pony lengths in front of my hiding place. A loud buzzing sound started abruptly causing me to start and my pulse to go ballistic. I froze, but the sound didn’t approach, rather I heard it drop off as whatever made it went away.

The changeling on the floor in front of me jerked spasmodically in obvious pain. I swallowed and stuck an ear above the surface of the table. When after a minute I didn’t hear anything more, I shuffled on my knees until I was close to the downed changeling. Her breathing was shallow and fast.

I know, I had said I hated them. But at that moment all I could think of was that she was injured, and how I would feel if I were in her place.

“Do you need help?” I whispered. Her mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear the words. I crept closer and put my ear to her mouth.

“Ruh...” she breathed.

“What?” I asked.

She raised a twisted foreleg and pushed me backwards feebly. “Twilight... run!”

I noticed the buzzing sound coming back and in a panic scuttled back under the table. Not five seconds later a long limb crashed down on top of the injured changeling. Her body was jerked out of sight like a rag doll.

I have to admit that at that point that I was frozen in terror, and couldn’t have moved even if I wanted to. I hardly even breathed. I couldn’t say how many hours it was, but that was the longest night of my life. When I wasn’t too scared to think, the same two facts kept running through my thoughts. She knew my name. And she probably saved my life. Was this changeling somehow... a friend? I wondered about who she was, and wept for her in the dark.

When the sun came up, the place was deathly quiet. I counted sixty-three full cocoons in the room. That should have been pretty much all the ponies on the island, except for me.

Around noon my tummy started getting loud enough that I was afraid of it betraying my presence. Since the kitchens were just on the other side of the secret doorway, I decided to take a quick hop over. Besides, I needed to pass by it in order to get out to the docks anyway.

When I got to the wall, I found the passage open, as if some changeling had forgotten to close it. I thought of how uncharacteristic this was for the meticulously tidy resort the changelings had been running for at least two centuries. I crept carefully around the corner that lead into kitchen proper. The place was still ordered and spotless, except for an empty bowl and apples scattered on the floor. I picked them up and placed the full bowl precisely in the center of the food preparation island in the middle of the kitchen. I know, that was probably foalish of me, but it made me feel better. I ate an apple and put a few others into a dark brown saddlebag somepony had left on the counter, which I decided to take with me.

I cautiously snuck from cover to cover all the way to the dining area. I had almost decided that the resort had been abandoned when I heard another changeling scream. I quickly hid under a table. Again. Convenient hiding places, tables, especially if you’re wearing a tear-stained black unitard.

I heard a buzzing sound and then saw the changeling Queen being dragged along the floor by something too high to be in my limited field of vision. Her limp form was pulled outside into one of the gardens.

To this day I don’t know what compelled me to follow. But I did. I followed at a distance, and more by sound than by sight. Occasionally there was a flash in the distance as they passed through a beam of sunlight. I got an impression of insectile wings, but nothing more. The sounds led me to a large storage shed at the far end of the garden, with one side abutting the wall. I hid under a bush and decided to wait.

About half an hour later I heard a door bang open, accompanied by that same loud buzzing sound. It was coming closer!

I scrunched down and froze, not daring to so much as twitch a hair. The buzzing approached and then became constant. The creature that caused it was likely hovering almost directly over me! I almost panicked then, because I hadn’t checked to see if the bush provided cover from anypony or anything overhead. My heart was thumping in my chest so loud I almost could not believe it couldn’t be heard all the way to the mainland!

There was a noise to my right. I had no idea what it was. But it drew the attention of whatever was hovering above me, and it moved off, the buzzing of its wings slowly decreasing in volume. Finally it disappeared altogether.

I breathed a sigh of relief and found myself hyperventilating. I shoved my muzzle into the empty half of the saddlebag until my breathing calmed down. I scanned the area with eyes and ears. Nothing.

I cautiously made my way to the shed and slowly pushed the door open a crack with my magic, putting an eye to the opening to see what was inside.

Amongst racks of tools and rusted machines, there were cocoons. Hundreds of them. They were similar in general to those the changelings made, but taller, narrower, and darker. One was glistening wet and translucent. I saw movement from inside. There were a lot of gardening implements with blades about. I picked up a scythe, but when I tried to pierce the cocoon, the blade just bounced off as if it were made of stone.

I found a chisel and struck the cocoon, but the sound it made was so loud that I nearly jumped out of my own skin! I was also afraid I would hurt the cocoon’s resident if I struck too hard, so I decided to change tactic and try an old unicorn trick: I caused the chisel to spin as quickly as I could with my magic. Using this method was a lot less noisy, and the material of the cocoon scored as soon as the spinning blade touched its surface. With a bit of concentration I was able to drill a small hole at the top of the cocoon. A bit of prodding with the chisel enlarged the hole. I stopped when I heard a voice. Her voice. The changeling Queen.

“Who is it?” Her voice sounded faint and very sad.

“It’s Twilight Sparkle. We met in the corridor, in the resort on the other side of the wall. And then you put me into a cocoon!”

I heard a chuckling sound come from the cocoon.

“Of course it’s you! The one even Queen Chrysalis couldn’t fool. Bearer of Equestria’s Element of Magic, and my only hope in all this sadness.” There was the sound of a soft sigh. “I’m honoured to meet you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“The honour’s mine... Your Majesty,” I replied, mindful of Princess Celestia’s training in polite discourse.

There was a moment’s silence, then from the cocoon. “You know, you were the first to figure it out in over two hundred years. Bravo, young mare, bravo.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “It was utterly brilliant, Your Majesty, from beginning to end. The idea of two resorts, each a perfect replica of the other, and two teams of changelings. Arrival at night, and then the long queue for registration. I’m sure you have the abduction process timed down to the second. A couple arrives in their room with two changelings waiting. They put both ponies to sleep, the first changeling takes one pony to the mirror resort, the second takes that pony’s place. The next morning, two happy couples wake up. Twice the love energy for you, no storage required, and at the end of two weeks the switch is reversed and everypony goes home happy.”

“You aren’t angry at us for fooling these poor ponies? You don’t hate us for taking their places, even if only briefly?” asked the voice from the cocoon.

I had to think about that a moment.

“No, I don’t hate you. It’ll probably take me quite a while to figure out all the moral implications of this setup, but I’ve seen what you’ve built here, and I know ponies who have come here before. They left with happy memories. You did take something from them without asking, but then you gave as much back. I revise my earlier statement. It’s going to take a really long time for me to figure out the moral implications of this place.” I laughed and heard the Queen’s soft laughter in response.

There was a question I had to ask. “There was changeling caught last night by that buzzing creature. She... Why did she save my life?”

I waited and thought heard some sniffling noises. “That was Chrrttrt,” said the voice finally. “She took Time Crescent’s place on the side of the resort where you arrived. She had access to that mare’s memories of you and seemed to like you. You two are... were... similar in many respects.” There was a pause. “She’s the one who came up with the idea to scare you off the island. She didn’t want to see you get hurt, because she knew what was coming.”

“Was Chrrr... uh, Chrrtt... I mean Chrrttrt a friend of yours?” I really tried hard to get her name right. After all, she saved my life!

There was a moment of silence. “She wasn’t my friend, Twilight. She was my daughter. They are all my children.”

I was mortified. I hadn’t thought before speaking, and of course, I should have known.

“Your Majesty. I’m just... so, so sorry. Was I the cause of her...” I just couldn’t say the words.

“Don’t take the blame for this on your withers, child. She just happened to die first because it doesn’t need to keep us alive anymore. You see, it has been collecting us for the last five years. Now, finally there are enough of us in this room to meet its purpose. Now it will reproduce.”

“What is it, Your Majesty? What is it going to do with you? And why didn’t you just leave this place?” I waited in dread that I might already have figured out the answer. Then she confirmed it.

“It is a Dire-wasp, Twilight. A Dire-wasp takes over control of a changeling hive by a combination of pheromones and mental magic. And it does it so subtly that not even the hive’s queen can perceive what is happening. Isolated as we are on this island, there were no other changelings not under the Dire-wasp's influence to notice and come to our aid. It was only a week ago when my children started disappearing in large numbers that the wasp could not hide the fact from my perception, and finally I understood what was happening. By then it was too late. Only myself, Chrrttrt and a few others could resist the mind control of the Dire-wasp, and then only for short periods of time. Every once in long while I or one of my children slipped from the wasp’s control. As long as we did nothing against its will we retained some control of our bodies. But most of the time, it was in sole control. I was aware of it all... and yet I could do nothing.” There was the sound of a sniff from inside the cocoon.

The queen wasn’t finished. “As to what is it doing with us? In each one of us changelings it planted an egg which has already hatched. Over the next few weeks those larvae will eat us alive in our cocoons. In twenty days or so, hundreds of Dire-wasps will emerge and go forth to repeat the cycle.”

This was all so horrifying, and so unfair! I knew I had to do something.

“But I can break open the cocoons and let you out! I can remove the eggs from inside your bodies. You don’t have to die, please trust me... I’ve done a lot of things nopony could ever have imagined me doing these last few years, I swear.” Despite what I told her, I didn’t have a clue whether I could do any of those things.

I heard the gentle laughter again. “It is too late, gentle Twilight. When the wasp lays her eggs she also injects a toxin that destroys the neural system. In a few more hours, even I will be nothing more than a living larder for the wasp growing within me.”

This was all so horrible, and final. I was stunned, and angry, and scared, and soon I would be alone with a monster.

“Are those tears I hear falling on my cocoon, gentle child?” asked the queen.

Looking down, I saw the stains on the cocoon’s surface the drops had made as they fell from my muzzle. “Yes, Your Majesty. I cannot help my... my friends, and that makes me so... so sad.” Wiping my eyes just made it worse.

“Then, friend Twilight, this is my last gift, and I give it to you. When the wasps hatch, they will eat anything they can find. This island will be ravaged, and all those upon it, including our pony guests and you, Twilight. You can stop this by burning this building down to its very foundations.”

I was aghast. “But Your Majesty. That will kill you all! I... I just can’t!”

“You must, Twilight Sparkle. And you will. We in these cocoons are already dead. I have an unbreakable bond with each and every one of my children, Twilight. I can feel them, and I know that inside those cocoons they are... gone. I am the last that remains, and soon I will be gone too.” There was a rasping cough. “My breathing grows weaker by the minute. You will save our pony guests, Twilight Sparkle. Nopony leaves Bucktouche Island unsatisfied.” She coughed again.

They were already dead inside these cocoons. All the queen's remaining children had been taken while I, Princess Celestia's special student and the Element of Magic, hid under a table. I was glad the queen couldn't see me. I would have died of shame.

“Listen carefully. A Dire-wasp’s mental capacity is dependent on the minds it controls. After it lays its eggs, its mental faculties degrade with each changeling implanted. When I pass, the Dire-wasp will be hardly more intelligent than any other large insect, acting mostly on instinct. So after you torch this place, the Dire-wasp will very likely try to plant eggs in your pony friends. Most of the eggs will not hatch, as they require changeling flesh to grow properly. Still, she will kill our guests in the process... unless you kill her first.”

“Kill that monster? How? All I know about Dire-wasps is that they lay their eggs in changelings. And that a Dire-wasp laying eggs will kill everything that moves in their sight.”

“That is the key, Twilight. You must not move in its sight. And you must strike it hard in the gold circle that lies directly between its antennae.”

She was asking me to kill. I began to tremble like a leaf in a strong wind. “If it’s that easy, why didn’t you kill it?”

“Because it manipulates changeling minds, and the closer to it we get the more helpless we become.”

“But!” I grabbed my sides to keep from shaking. “But I could have helped before it was too late! Anypony could have.”

There was a long trembling sigh. “Perhaps you could have. But Twilight, would you? Especially after what changelings have done to Equestria?”

I knew the answer to her question. But I just couldn’t say it. Somehow, in her cocoon, she knew.

“How long?” I asked.

“You have eighteen, perhaps nineteen days before the wasplings hatch. You must kill their parent first, or it will ravage our pony guests.”

My knees felt week and I wanted to gallop out of that horrible place. But I saw no way out of it. I nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will do as you ask.” I had no words left in me then. I sat next to the cocoon and listened as the queen’s breathing grew more shallow and ragged.

“Twilight!” Her voice was very weak.

I put my ear to the hole. “Yes, Your Majesty, what is it?”

“Remember her name, Chrrttrt. Remember one of my children. Please...”

“I will remember Chrrttrt, and everything I’ve learned about her. About this place, this hive, and about you.”

“Thank you, child,” was the whispered response.

“What about you?” I asked in a panic. “What’s your name?”

There was no answer.

“Your Majesty?”

Silence. I put my ear to the hole again and heard absolutely nothing. She was gone. I was alone.

“YOUR MAJESTY!” I shouted and banged on the cocoon with the chisel, still in my hoof after all this time.

The answer that came wasn’t the one I expected. I heard the sound of the door clanging shut. And then I hear the low buzzing of insectile wings.

I turned around, and there it was. It only vaguely looked like a wasp. If someone had decided to cross a wasp with a giant land crab, this might be the resulting offspring. It had only the tiniest hint of a wasp-waist, and its thorax and abdomen were more squarish than rounded. It also had what looked like hooks at the end of its upper pair of legs, and a nasty looking barbed tail curling up between its lower four legs. It also had a large pair of translucent wings, which were the source of the buzzing.

I wasted no time and began to levitate objects into its path. Every single time there was a flash and the missiles bounced off the Dire-wasp’s own force field. Throwing stuff at it was useless. It began to advance on me. I galloped in the opposite direction deeper into the shed. The wasp pursued me calmly.

It was only when I got to the other side that I noticed there was no exit. Not even a window. The wall in front of me was the resort-spanning stone wall.

I turned around and tried every spell I could think of. Everything just bounced right off of the Dire-wasp’s shield. It moved in even closer. I was in a corner, with no escape. So finally, with no alternative I teleported to the other end of the room. And waited, breathing hard.

The wasp turned around and scanned the room. Even though I was in plain sight, it didn’t locate me. It started searching in a widening spiral from where it last caught sight of me. That was when I knew what I had to do. But I needed the right moment. I needed it to stand still, looking in the right direction, if only for a moment.

Frustratingly, it didn’t. It buzzed around the room, searching high and low without stop. Twice it passed by to me so close I could have touched it with a hoof. Once, while it was looking the other way, I levitated the chisel into my right forehoof.

By the way, do you know how hard it is not to move a muscle for over an hour? Lemme tell you, it’s not easy!

Finally, the wasp stopped next to the queen’s cocoon. Something there caught its attention. The hole I had drilled in order to speak with the queen!

While it looked down I raised my forehoof high. It must have caught a hint of movement because it looked my way for a moment. When I didn’t move it looked back down and regurgitated some paste, slathering it over the area of the cocoon I had drilled.

This was the moment. I took a deep breath and teleported. I was right on the other side of the cocoon from the wasp, and standing absolutely still. After a moment of staring at the cocoon it raised its head and scanned left and right, still paying me no heed. It looked down again and resumed its repair work.

I faced one of the hardest decisions in my life. Could I do this? Could I... end... another being, no matter how awful its life cycle? After all, it wasn’t to blame for its nature, was it? It took everything I had in me not to tremble or shake.

And then I remembered the contents of the cocoon in front of me. I remembered Chrrttrt and her siblings, and an island of changelings whose only evil was to give ponies a pleasant vacation, ponies whose lives were now in my hooves. I didn’t hate this creature in front of me, but I had ponies to protect, friends to save. I thought of Princess Celestia, and my duty to her as her student. And... I had a promise to keep.

I screwed up my courage, all my pain and all my anger and with all of my might I plunged that chisel straight into the spot between the Dire-wasp’s antennae.

When I next came back to myself, I was on the floor, leaning against the queen’s cocoon. And crying. I looked down at my right forehoof and saw it still held the chisel, which was covered in ichor from inside the Dire-wasp’s head. I dropped it in disgust.

On the other side of the cocoon lay the body of the Dire-wasp, looking asleep. A being that I had killed. What would Princess Celestia think of me now? This time, I had taken a path other than the path of friendship. Could she ever bear to look on me again? I felt even more alone than when I was stuck in the changeling cocoon.

“So what do I do now?” I asked, but for some reason logical me didn’t answer. Maybe I had scared her away. I was so tired, but something was preventing me from resting. Oh. Yeah.

It was so hard to gather the energy to get up, but then I still had a few more promises to keep.

I found some wood corded against the shed’s outside wall, and stacked it around the Dire-wasp cocoons in the shed. Finally, I set it on fire, just like the queen had asked, and watched and wept as it burned.

After the flames had died down, I went back to the 'Staff Only' wing of the main building and started liberating the other ponies who had been put into cocoons. Soon, several of them were helping me extract the others. At some point, I became more of an observer than a participant. I guess I wasn’t doing too good a job of hiding my feelings. The other ponies saw my expression, and I suppose they thought it best to leave me some time to sort out my thoughts.

It was during that process that I figured out why the changelings had put everypony into cocoons. They saw the ponies as their responsibility on the island. If the changelings had left them walking around, many of them would have been killed by the Dire-wasp after it laid its eggs. The queen and a few changelings could resist the mental control of the Dire-wasp only to a very limited extent. Cocooning their guests might have been most they could do, and maybe they hoped the authorities would visit the island and rescue the ponies before the wasplings hatched.

Or at least that’s what I’d like to believe.

After all the other ponies were freed from their cocoons, we cleaned up as much of the damage as we could. We took turns in the kitchens and worked hard to keep everypony fed and generally keep the hotel functioning. A pair of pegasi volunteered to fly to the mainland to inform the authorities. They left early in the morning.

I spent the rest of that morning exploring. In one room in the secret part of the ‘Staff Only’ wing I found some scrapbooks. In them were photos of changelings, some with captions. One showed a tiny changeling sitting in the sand while reading from a book almost as big as she was. The caption below it read ‘Chrrttrt on the beach’. I flipped a few more pages and found a group picture of a large number of changelings sitting in ordered ranks around their queen. I quickly estimated there were about two hundred or so. They were happy and smiling. The caption at the bottom of this one read ‘Queen Theda and Hive on her anniversary’.

They were just like ponies. They were a family.

I kept the scrapbooks and decided to bring them back to Ponyville with me. I planned to display them in the library so I could keep my promise. Chrrttrt wouldn’t be forgotten, and neither would her mother, Queen Theda. I’m going to make sure of that, because the most important thing you can do for a friend who is gone, is to remember.

Royal Pegasus Guards arrived at the island before noon, and the ferry arrived two hours later. Everypony eagerly clambered aboard for the trip back. The last I saw of the island was a wisp of smoke still rising from the burned-out shed. I left a bouquet of flowers on its smoldering embers before boarding the ferry.

So here I was back in Princess Celestia’s quarters, watching as she wept because of what I had done.

“I’m so sorry,Your Majesty, that I let you down. I never imagined I could fail you and Harmony so utterly.” In my mind, I prepared myself for what was to come next. The criticism and the severing of ties. The shame of having disappointed my sovereign, my teacher, and my friend.

Celestia’s eyes grew wider. “My dear Twilight,” she began, “If anypony has been let down here, it was you. And the fault was mine.”

What? I seriously thought I misheard that.

“I had not thought it necessary to prepare you for this so soon. You’re hardly out of your fillyhood, too young to have to bear such a burden.” She chewed her lip for a moment, then seemed to come to some internal decision.

“Come with me, Twilight.” Celestia led us to her parlour, a large sunny room with a low table surrounded by very comfortable cushions. I should know. I had spent countless hours here, learning from the princess. She gestured with a hoof for me to sit at my usual place, then turned around and went back to her office. There was a flash of light, a few seconds of silence, and then another flash even brighter.

Princess Celestia returned with her sister Luna and a surprise: my big brother, in full Crystal Pony Empire Royal Guard regalia. Of all the ponies she had to bring me, it was him, my brother the hero. I felt so ashamed I couldn’t even look at him, let alone say hello.

Without a word, he removed his helmet and set it on the table. He glanced at Princess Celestia, who with a hoof invited him to sit down. Only after he and Luna did so did she take her own usual place. “Tell me about... it, sis,” invited Shiny.

For a moment I was confused. Then I guessed what he was asking for, and I felt my ears hit the back of my head. I started to cry again. “B-b-but,” I blubbered, “you’re not supposed to b-b-be in Canterlot!” I sniffled. “I didn’t want you, or mom or dad, or Spike... especially Sp-Sp-Spike, to know about this.” I glanced at Celestia. “Why did you b-b-bring him? My family will think I’m a m-m-monster!”

“Sis, you are not a monster!" I felt a hoof on my withers. It was Shiny. "You’re my little sister, and you’ll always be, you know that!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Princess Celestia. Her a voice held something I had never heard within it before. “You are not the first to have done... what you have done. Not even... of the ponies around this table.”

I looked up at Shiny. “You?” He nodded.

“As Captain of the Guard, your brother has been in harm’s way many times, Twilight. On more than one occasion, the fulfilment of his duty has meant the death of one of Equestria’s enemies by his own action. He has not shied from this duty, and is strong enough to bear that burden, which is why he is now Captain of the Guard in the Crystal Empire.”

I stared at Shiny. I guess intellectually I had known about the possibility, but I had never really given it much thought. “Big bro, I—”

He raised a hoof to his lips, then glanced at the princess.

“Twilight,” she said her voice barely above a whisper, “you must not think ill of your brother or yourself that this choice was forced upon you. And I of all ponies would be a hypocrite should I try to you hold you to a standard higher than that to which I—” she glanced at her sister “—and Princess Luna could aspire.”

I couldn’t believe my ears! Was the princess admitting to...? No! She wouldn't. She couldn't! Princess Celestia was looking very intently at the tabletop. Luna snuggled in closer to her. “We have lived a long time, Twilight. And on many occasions, too many to count, we have led ponies to war against other beings, against other ponies, and even once, against each other. On more than one occasion we have ended lives, Twilight. It is not something of which we are proud.”

Celestia looked up, and I saw grim resolve in the eyes of the rulers of Equestria. “In all such cases, we did only that which was necessary, and nothing more. Still, every night before I sleep, I see each and every face and mourn their passing, as does my sister.”

Luna spoke up. “Twilight Sparkle, I have read the reports of the Guards who investigated the site. There is only one possible end to a changeling hive being taken over by a Dire-wasp: the death of the changeling hive. Unless of course, somepony intervenes, and kills the Dire-wasp. The evidence suggests that this is what you did, is it not?”

I looked upon the limb that had ended a life. My own hoof. I shook my head. “But I acted too late to save the changelings! And they’re the ones who did everything they could to save the ponies on the island. All I did was keep a promise, made to a being whose dying thought was to protect ponies who didn’t even know she existed.” I couldn’t look away from my hoof. “But I made the promise willingly. And then I killed.”

Tears fell on table between my trembling forelimbs. White and gold eclipsed the lavender of my hooves, bathing them in gentle warmth.

“I would expect no less of my most faithful student,” said Princess Celestia. “I am so proud of you!”

For a moment, I had no room in my being for anything other than those words. Then relief washed over me like a tidal wave, and it was a while before I could think again.

The Princesses and Shiny waited in silence as I worked through my emotions. Princess Celestia extended a long forelimb over the table to rest on her sister’s. “We here bear a load so that other ponies might never have to feel its weight upon them.” Finally, she smiled, and fittingly enough, it was like the sun peeking through the clouds. “But a burden shared is lighter for the sharing, and I could not aspire to better company in doing so.”

Princess Luna’s expression had also brightened. “Twilight,” she asked, “we are intrigued and we must know – what happened on that island?”

I gathered my thoughts for a moment and began to speak. “The island was the home of a changeling hive. Its queen was named Theda, and she had many happy children, one of which was named Chrrttrt.”

I told them of everything that had happened on the island and felt so much better for it. Although to be honest, I won’t be able to really rest until I write it all down in my notebook, finish making index cards for all the guest ponies and changelings I met, and plot the social graph of all the interpony relationships on the island. After all, Spike would expect it of me!