Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

While her student returned to her bedroom to catch up on some sleep, Twilight Sparkle went to her throne room and could only question what she had told Starlight about not everypony could truly be reformed. Unlike Starlight, Twilight didn't have to be in the position that she was in. Yes, she and her friends did free Princess Luna from her Nightmare Moon persona, but that was different. All Twilight could do at that moment was think about what she had said and her faithful assistant, Spike the purple and green dragon, was the only one for company.

"You did what you had to do, Twilight," he said as he tried to clean the bad drawing of one of the ponies that the Changelings had made while having the Friendship Castle under their control. "I mean, didn't Celestia teach you that not everypony could be reformed?"

"That was something I had to teach myself, Spike," sighed Twilight. "Not everypony can be reformed and you know that. I sometimes question of whether or not I say the right thing and well, but in the end, it is what it is."

Spike was not totally convinced by Twilight's words and it wasn't because he was her number one assistant. In fact, he could tell that there was something greatly bothering Twilight, almost as if that she was reliving a very troubled experience.

"When did you teach yourself that, Twilight?" The baby dragon wondered as he finally managed to gain the advantage of cleaning off the bad drawing. "Was it when Discord was turned back to stone? When King Sombra was torn to pieces by the Crystal Heart? Tell me."

Twilight sighed as she looked down at the map and gandered at all the lands that made up Equestria.

"Spike, do you remember when me and the other princesses went to Tartarus to offer Tirek a chance to accept friendship?"

"How could I forget?" he remarked.

"I could still remember the rage that Celestia and Cadence showed when Tirek was mocking their words," Twilight sighed, her eyes still locked on the Cutie Map. "How I stood up for myself when I admonished Tirek for destroying the library, but it was when he tore the parchment containing the chance to come out of that cage and be like Scorpan, that I learned where not everypony could be offered a chance at friendship."

At that moment, a bright flash appeared and a creature made up of different creatures came into the throne and sat down next to Twilight, crocheting a sweater of himself and Fluttershy, one of Twilight's friends.

"But, you did offer me a chance at friendship," said the creature. "And it was all for the best, wouldn't you say? I mean, I gave you the last key that got you this castle."

"That's true, Discord," replied Twilight as he snapped his fingers and turned into a toilet brush to try and help Spike get rid of the bad drawing completely from one of the thrones. "You were simply requested by Celestia to learn the magic of friendship. Not everypony gets that chance and I had to take time to accept that. It's just that Chrysalis…"

"…Will never be offered a chance?" interrupted Discord, turning back into his normal self with a snap of his eagle claw, his face completely stoned in disappointment. "I highly doubt that. She kidnapped Fluttershy and that is something that I will never forgive her for. All that matters is she has gone far, far away."

To demonstrate his point, Discord shrunk himself down and transformed into a miniature version of Chrysalis flying across Equestria in a manner similar to when she swore revenge on Starlight Glimmer.

"But, there is going to be some kind of retribution," advised Twilight as Discord once returned to his normal self. "I don't know how nor I don't know when, but we still need to be careful."

"How could we still be careful, Twilight?" remarked Spike, taking a break from cleaning the bad drawing. "I mean, didn't many of the Changelings who captured us return to the Changeling Kingdom for Thorax to deal with?"

"No, Spike," answered Twilight. "I learned that the two Changelings who had replaced Celestia and Luna had evaded captured and are still out there. In fact, some of Celestia and Luna's best guards have been out day and night trying to find them, questioning anypony who might have seen them."

"Then, we must make haste," said Discord, donning a detective's disguise and holding a magnifying glass in his lion paw. "Those two Changelings must be captured for Fluttershy's sake!"

Twilight then looked back at Discord crossly and seeing that she wasn't going to be completely convinced of his suggestion, decided to quickly drop the detective's disguise with the snap of his eagle claw.

"All that matters is that the situation is over, Twilight," remarked Spike. "Wherever those two wanted Changelings are, they are probably not going to last much longer with them not being able to find any love and all. I mean, who will want to be near any changelings still loyal to Chrysalis?"

"Your little dragon friend has a point," interjected Discord, showing off a sign with a pointed finger in Spike's direction. "I certainly wouldn't want to be near a Changeling that still needs to learn that it's better to share and not take."

"Well, we still need to be careful," advised Twilight. "In fact, I and the other princesses are considering additional security measures at the Manehattan Marathon. Remember, the Changelings could be anywhere disguised as any random pony out there, so we are not taking any chances at all."

…

While Twilight considered the severity of a possible retribution, Starlight awoke from her short nap and looked out her bedroom window to see Trixie making her way towards the castle. Rising out of her bed, the refreshed Starlight raced out of her bedroom and darted for the front door of the castle to meet her best friend.

"Hey Starlight," said the magician as the two unicorns hugged each other in a brief embrace before breaking apart. "I was wondering if Princess Twilight would be willing to see me about performing some entertainment at the Manehattan Marathon."

"She probably is preoccupied with the hunt for the remaining Changelings," advised Starlight. "I mean, Twilight thinks that not everypony in Equestria can be reformed."

"But, didn't the great and apologetic Trixie change her mind?" asked Trixie, showboating for a minute before coming back down to normal. "I mean, what else do I need to do to be reformed in her eyes?"

"I'm sure she trusts you fully," reassured Starlight, placing a hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "But, I overheard Twilight saying that there are two Changelings that are still out there and they are fiercely loyal to Chrysalis. And as long as they are out there, well, Twilight and the other princesses aren't taking any chances in approaching the situation at hand."

Trixie took in what Starlight had said and decided to wait until Twilight was given a chance for visitors. Being a princess, Trixie knew that Twilight was probably going to be preoccupied with this time in trying to come up with strategies to find the wanted Changelings.

"Then, could I maybe help?" suggested Trixie. "I mean, I do have some spells that might draw the Changelings out if only for a moment."

"Magic won't work on them, Trixie," replied Starlight, politely turning down her friend's offer to help. "If we did use magic, then we might be mistaken for hurting or even worse, killing an innocent pony that might just end up being the real one. No, we need to leave it to Twilight and the Princesses to come up with a strategy. I just hope that they know what they are doing."

But, Starlight couldn't stay focused on what Twilight was doing for very long as at that very moment, a yellow reddish pony with a flaming mane and tail came through the portal in Twilight's library that led to the human world…