Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

Starlight Glimmer could not sleep. For the past few days, all she could do was think about what could have been had Queen Chrysalis had accepted her offer of friendship. Now, the young pink unicorn couldn't think of what kind of revenge Queen Chrysalis was planning against her. All she could do was think of how to make Queen Chrysalis abandon her evil ways, much to the confusion of her teacher and former enemy, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.

"Starlight, you've been up all night," advised Twilight as she walked onto the balcony of her castle and approached her student. "Come and have something to eat."

"I can't," sighed Starlight. "I can't eat or sleep until I find out a way to make Chrysalis accept friendship for what it is. She needs to understand that its better to share love than to take it for herself. Why can't she see that?"

Twilight sighed as she contemplated and absorbed what Starlight had said. Yes, Twilight was her teacher, but she was also Starlight's equal. They both wanted to make Equestria a better place, but Twilight understood that not everypony could be reformed.

"You can't right all the wrongs in Equestria by yourself," remarked Twilight. "Chrysalis is a creature that cannot be reformed, Starlight. What's more is that you can't force everypony to be a creature who accepts friendship, no matter how hard you try."

Starlight still couldn't accept what Twilight was trying to tell her. Yes, she had spent a good part of her life trying to make everypony equal, but learned over time that there were other ways to convince others to accept friendship.

"Besides, now that Chrysalis is no longer Queen of the Changelings," added Twilight. "She is no longer a threat to Equestria."

"That's what you think, Twilight," countered Starlight, walking back into the castle. "Didn't you hear what she said about coming back to get me? I don't know when she will come back, but I can assure you that when she does come back is when I will try again to make her see the light and accept friendship for what it is."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in suspicion over this as she followed Starlight back into the castle of friendship. Even though after all they had been through, Twilight was convinced that Starlight was still in denial over Chrysalis not going to accept friendship anytime soon. What was more was that Starlight needed a reality check, but Twilight was not sure of how to move forward with such a reality check.

"Listen Starlight," advised Twilight as they sat in the dining room a little later having breakfast consisting of pancakes. "I know that you want to make Chrysalis have a second chance, but it just won't be possible. But, thanks to your methods, Thorax is leading the Changelings and he will be teaching the Changelings how to share love instead of taking it."

"Exactly," replied Starlight, still trying to get her point across. "That's what I want Chrysalis and whatever Changelings that are fiercely loyal to her to understand! If there is one thing that you taught me well, Twilight, is that it is better to give than to receive. I offered my hoof in friendship to Trixie and look what happened as a result."

"But Chrysalis is not Trixie," said Twilight. "Why can't you see that? Not everypony is like Trixie or even Discord for that matter."

Twilight stopped for a moment to correct herself on her own answer. Discord wasn't exactly a creature that was going to accept friendship easily, but over time, he learned to embrace it.

"Well okay, not like even Discord," Twilight corrected, eating a pancake. "But still, you know what I am talking about, Starlight, creatures of pure evil can never be reformed. Thorax is an exception to the rule, Starlight. He regretted his actions while serving under Chrysalis and well, look what happened to him now. Thorax is now leading the Changelings to embrace a new way of life and Princess Celestia wants to improve relations with the Changelings because of it. So, you kind of have to look at it that way."

Starlight still had her opinions on the matter, but she didn't want to waste all her energy on talking back to her teacher and former enemy.

"Besides," suggested Twilight. "You know that we have the Equestrian marathon in Manehattan to look forward to, you know. I, for one, am enjoying seeing ponies from all over Equestria competing in a most sacred tradition. We'll be sitting at the finish line and if you like, you can even invite a few friends as well. I'm going to see if Moon Dancer and my friends from Canterlot would be willing to attend."

Heeding these words from Twilight, Starlight went back to finishing her breakfast before another day of learning all about the magic of friendship from the princess of friendship herself along with thinking of whom to invite along for the marathon. There were quite a few ponies, particularly from her former village that would love to see the marathon. However, there was only one pony other than Sun Burst or Trixie that Starlight had a strong relationship with and she lived in another world far different from Equestria. As she finished her breakfast, however, Starlight was beginning to feel a little tired from being up all night.

"But, I think maybe you need to get a little more sleep first," advised Twilight.

"If you say so," chuckled Starlight and the protégé of the Princess of Friendship returned to her quarters for an extra hour of sleep.

…

Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest, two pairs of eyes were seen from inside a cave with one of them revealing a Changeling that had not been reformed. The Changeling look around to see if the coast was clear, then he retreated back into the cave, flying towards another Changeling disguised as a rock.

"Okay, Thumper," said the Changeling to his comrade, who ended up dropping his disguise. "They are gone now."

"That's a relief, Hopper," sighed Thumper. "We can't seem to catch a break with those ponies. But, we should continue to be careful. We cannot go back to the Changeling kingdom, not after our beloved queen was thrown from power by that traitor, Thorax. I wish we could say the same for our beloved comrades."

"Exactly, my brother," replied Hopper. "As we speak, they are being sent back to our kingdom and will be forced to share all the love that we had spent years trying to survive on for ourselves!"

Hopper let out a disgusted groan and kicked away a random rock which let out a loud clatter, much to the chagrin of Thumper, who winced for a brief moment.

"What we need to do, my brother," suggested Hopper, suddenly getting a really good idea. "Is to finish what our Queen started. She wanted to have the most important ponies in Equestria replaced with drones, but what if they are replaced…permanently?"

Thumper was starting to get a really good feeling of what his brother was thinking. What Chrysalis was planning to do once the love of Equestria's royal families and Element bearers, at least in their minds, wasn't good enough. Before long, the two changeling brothers were starting to get themselves a really good idea on how to carry out such a plan.

"We need to do what our former commander, General Kuwaga, always told us to do," conceived Hopper, looking down at the stone he had kicked out of frustration. "Is to always carry out our plan with a big bang, even if it would be at the cost of our own lives if necessary."

"But, where will get the materials needed to create a bomb?" wondered Thumper. "And besides, we will need the perfect disguises if we are to put together such a device."

"Just leave everything to me, little brother," reassured Hopper as he flew out towards the opening of the cave. "When we are finished, we will construct the perfect plan to rid Equestria of its leaders and then, only then, will we succeed in finishing what our beloved Queen had started and maybe, just maybe, give her the confidence and determination to regain the throne from that traitorous Thorax!"

Thumper watched with delight as his brother grinned with excitement over this diabolical plan of theirs. However, little did they know that it was a plan that would have major flaws and would soon result in death, injury and one of the biggest criminal hunts in the history of Equestria…