Three princesses sat around the large circular table, a few guards surrounding them. They were all donning protective armor.

Princess Celestia gazed at everyone in turn. "The Triple S Army grows stronger every single day because they have the ability break the minds of more captives and turn them into their loyal soldiers. We cannot let this continue. Ponies alone cannot fight this threat, so I have called upon almost all Equestrian inhabitants including dragons and griffons. Does anypony else here have any suggestions that will aid us in this battle?"

Twilight Sparkle timidly raised a hoof as if she was still a filly in a classroom. Celestia moved slightly to face her, then her gaze turned gentle, as if she was dealing with a young school pony. She felt that Twilight was still her pupil, even though she was now a princess, and had enjoyed tutoring such a bright filly.

Of course, those happy days were gone now, especially with Rainbow Dash, one of the army generals, becoming more aggressive towards almost everyone, including her friends. She was turned bitter with the loss of Scootaloo at the claws of an intruder who had managed to sneak in right under their thorough security measures.

"Yes, Twilight?" Celestia nodded to her.

Twilight put her hoof down. "Well, I think I should get Twilight and Sunset. From what I've heard, humans have many weapons for self-defense as a substitute for magic and if we get our hooves on some of them, we have an advantage, especially if we bring Twilight. She's bound to know more about human technology than anyone."

She was met with confused whispers and stares.

Twilight wanted to explain everything, but there wasn't much time. The meeting between the royals and the guards would be over in only half an hour and there was still much to discuss. "In the human world, there's a human counterpart for everyone, including me." She said quickly, then turned to Celestia. "What do you think?"

Celestia was about to reply when the balcony doors were opened by a pair of guards. A cloaked silhouette flew onto it. As they stepped into the light of the room, Twilight saw it was Princess Cadance, levitating a sleeping Flurry Heart.

Twilight gave a slight nod as Cadance sat herself down next to Luna. She would've given her a hug if it weren't such a formal gathering. Luna quietly explained to Cadance what they had been talking about as Celestia turned back to Twilight.

"I think it's a great suggestion, but the mirror is located in the Crystal Empire and it is under the Triple S Army's control. I am worried for your safety as we've received word that they're planning on capturing you and all of the other elements. It would not be safe for you to travel there," Celestia's voice remained even, but her eyes betrayed her immense worry and the stress of having to lead in such conditions.

"Maybe if I use a temporary transformation spell that turns me into a changeling? I can just take the train to the edge and-"

Celestia shook her head. "The Triple S Army has found out about the station so close to its base and destroyed it entirely, killing almost all of this week's invaders and spies. They've also begun to patrol the outside of their base more frequently and..."

"They wouldn't be able to see through my disguise, though. I could give Sunset and Twilight a specific time and get out of there in minutes. We'd have a huge advantage and they'd never know about any of it."

Celestia turned to everypony else. "Raise your hoof if you are on board with this suggestion."

All of the guards raised there hoofs, along with Luna. The only pony who seemed unhappy with the idea was Cadance. She gently rocked Flurry, which made Twilight think she wasn't paying much attention, but she could see the alicorn glaring at everypony else.

"Cadance, may you please explain why you are against Twilight's suggestion?" Celestia asked.

The princess' cold gaze turned to Twilight. She immediately stopped rocking Flurry. A chilling silence filled the room before Cadance spoke up. "Do you know how dangerous it is there? They're ruthless, not hesitating to kill anypony if they don't give the answers they're looking for. They go straight for the most important pony, who, in my case, was me. They had no problem murdering all of my guards..."

Nopony said anything as Cadance began to sob. Luna put a hoof on her shoulder, and looked to Celestia.

"We apologize for what you had to go through, Princess Cadance," Celestia began, a hoof on her heart.

Cadance met Celestia's unblinking gaze, her eyes blurred with tears. "And the ponies I've lost!" She seemed to have forgotten her manners. "Maybe if you just locked Chrysallis and Sombra up in Tartarus, none of this would've happened! I'd still have my empire and all of my citizens wouldn't be slaves!"

There was a long silence.

"My apologies, Cadance, but it isn't that simple..." Luna began.

"No! I want to hear none of it! You were born an alicorn and have years of experience leading Equestria, yet you still can't stop yourself from throwing petty little tantrums and getting yourself stuck on the stupid moon!" Cadance yelled. She was about to continue, but Flurry Heart began to wail. She directed her attention to the tiny foal as nopony dared to speak.

Luna looked taken aback, about to fling an insult at Cadance, but instead she cleared her throat. "Please, allow me to excuse myself...." She stood up, glared at Cadance, and trotted out calmly.

Twilight shifted in her armor uncomfortably. It restrained her wings and was much to tight, yet Celestia insisted she wear it. Of course, she didn't complain, even though she had had trouble walking all the way to the Meeting Hall.

Celestia was silent for a moment before speaking. "Twilight, you may travel to the Crystal Empire as long as you make sure to not draw attention to yourself and take the necessary supplies. I'll accompany you tomorrow night." Then she stood up. "Meeting over." She then hurried out of the room, remembering she'd need to lower the sun to make way for Luna's night.

The guards made a straight line walking out, then separated in different directions. Twilight, still sitting in the Meeting Room, stared at Cadance. She hadn't seen her since the wedding and hadn't communicated with her in any way since then. She was curious to know why Shining Armor wasn't there, him also being one of the leading guards.

"Um, Cadance?"

Cadance looked up, glaring at Twilight with dull, slightly darkened eyes. "What?" There was an edge to her voice.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask why Shining isn't here...."

Cadance was silent before she began to sob uncontrollably. She hugged Flurry tightly as she broke down.

Twilight's eyes widened. "N-No... Is he... Is he... Gone...?"

Looking up, Cadance wiped a few tears with her hoof. "Thankfully, no." Her voice was flat and monotonous. "But he was severely injured when he protected Flurry and I from the horde of changelings. I'm just glad he's alive."

"W-What type of injuries does he have?"

Cadance thought for a moment. "A broken leg and severe damage to his skull. Those are the worst of his injuries, at least."

Twilight froze up as she processed this information. If his skull injury was as bad as she thought it was, it meant he'd probably have memory loss or would be unable to use his magic. Maybe even both if he was unlucky. "Where is he?"

"The guest room right next to the staircase on the third floor," Cadance said. "But I don't think you should go there. He's with the doctors right now and they said they shouldn't be disturbed-"

Twilight shot up and flew out the doors. She glided down to the third floor and took an immediate left. She burst in, slamming the doors shut behind her.

"We asked for no disturbances!" A pegasus mare with a purple-blue coat and a short, turquoise mane hissed.

Beside her, there was an old stallion with graying hair and many wrinkles. He turned around slowly as Twilight entered.

The third doctor didn't seem to react. He took more rolls of bandages from his suitcase.

From what Twilight could tell, the pegasus was one of the doctor's assistants, as she looked only slightly younger than the alicorn princess herself. The old unicorn stallion must have been the professional while the Earth pony was probably the pegasus' trainer or something along those lines.

He turned around to see Princess Twilight hovering in front of them and glared at the pegasus. "What do you think you're doing? She's a princess, Violet Bouquet. She's actual royalty and is also Shining Armor's sister!" He whispered, obviously frustrated. He turned back to Twilight. "My apologies, Princess Twilight." He stepped to the side, allowing Twilight to walk up to the bed and see her brother.

Shining Armor was conscious, but slightly dazed. There was a bandage covering all of his head except for his face. He was probably completely wrapped in bandages underneath his blanket too, reminding Twilight of Applejack when she had visited the hospital a few days ago. "Why's everything so blurry...?" he murmured. "Where am I...? Why can't I move...?"

"Shining? Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

For a long minute, he didn't respond. His unfocused eyes stared at the ceiling.

"Shining?" Twilight clapped her hooves, which seemed to grab his attention.

"Who's 'Shining'?"

Twilight's blood ran cold. "You're Shining. Don't you remember?"

Shining slowly shook his head.

"Tell me, what do you remember?"

Shining paused for a moment to think. "Well, I saw tons of ponies running, and so I just... Did something and hit the ponies we were running from with something that came from my head... I think...."

"Go on," Twilight urged.

"And then something hit me. I don't remember what happened after...."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. She was slightly confused, but understood the main idea. But why would he describe him blasting the changelings with his magic the way he did? How did he not know what the changelings even were? "Do you remember anything from before that? Like any ponies you've met? Any place you've visited?"

"I remember this place called Canterlot... I think I was a guard or something there...."

Twilight stared into his eyes. "Do you remember me?"

Shining's mind drew a blank as he slowly shook his head, then winced and went back to staring at the ceiling.

"You don't remember me? Shining, I'm Twilight, your sister. You were one of my best friends when I was little. You do remember me, right?"

Shining glanced at her, then he completely ignored her.

Twilight remembered something random Rainbow Dash had said almost two months before. She had said it was nonsense and definitely wouldn't work, but seeing Shining there, not even knowing who he was, she decided it was worth a shot.

Twilight sat on the stool by Shining's bed, a three thick books on her lap. One was a family photo album while the other was a scrap book. Rainbow Dash had mentioned exposure to images could bring back memories, but Twilight wasn't sure it'd do the trick, so she also brought a spell book.

She levitated the family photo album in front of Shining and opened it to the first page. It was a photo taken in the hospital with Twilight Velvet holding onto a wailing foal, a young Shining Armor leaning over the bed next to Night Light. "Remember this?" She asked.

Shining simply stared at it, then yawned.

Sighing, Twilight flipped the page. Half an hour later, and she was barely a quarter through the photo album. Shining had grown bored and dozed off, snoring gently.

Twilight decided to read her spell book. There wasn't a way to fully restore all memory, but there was a way she could get into Shining's mind and project images of major events, much like how Luna controlled dreams. It may jog his memory, and bring back at least the main things he'd need to remember.

She knew there was a possibility to get it wrong, after all, getting into a pony's mind while they were sleeping and manipulating their thoughts and dreams was Luna's nightly task and required strong and trained magic. In the spell book, it also mentioned every attempt went horribly wrong. To get her brother back, Twilight was willing to take the risk.

"Alright..." She whispered to herself, standing at the foot of Shining's bed. Her horn ignited as she took a deep breath. She was an alicorn now. She could handle it. They'd both be fine.

A spark came off Twilight's horn. She furrowed her brows in deep concentration. What seemed to be a thin piece of glowing, white thread wrapped around her horn, then touched Shining's forehead. More of the threads wrapped around Twilight and connected her to Shining. After she was completely encased in pure white, there was a blinding light, and she disappeared.

Twilight glided through the darkness before seeing a small white dot not too far away. Upon coming closer, she saw it was Shining Armor, simply standing there. "Shining!" She yelled out to him. She was quite excited to see him. It meant she had officially gotten inside his dream and everything was fine for the time being, at least.

He didn't react.

Twilight sighed and flew down to him, landing at his side. She closed her eyes to remember exactly what she had to do when inside his mind. She had to do the same thing she had to get inside, then whatever she thought of would be put into Shining's mind, and there was a chance he'd store them as memories if she did it right. The process was straight forward enough.

Igniting her magic once more, the princess' forehead was connected to her brother's. She thought about the pictures in the scrap book and photo album and also the spell book to remind him how to use his magic. All seemed to be going well until a dark thought invaded Twilight's mind.

What if Shining had been captured by the Triple S Army? They'd teach him their twisted ways and he'd become loyal to them and only them. They'd use him as a spy, and nopony would suspect a thing. They'd use him to get close to Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Flurry, and even Twilight. They'd all be gone and Triple S Army would gain complete control over everything. Equestria would become a terrible place and nopony would be able to do anything. He'd be on the wrong side.

Without her realizing it, Twilight's thoughts overlapped the memories she was trying to give him. He did store those as his actual memories, thinking he was only sent there to do exactly what the Triple S Army wanted: Get rid of the alicorns.

Twilight disrupted her current train of thought and stared at Shining, concerned. She had broken her concentration as she was thinking about the terrible world they'd live in if Shining was a Triple S Army soldier, so she assumed it hadn't gone through.

Activating her magic, the princess was once again enveloped in white. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she was back in Shining's room. Yawning, she took her books, opened the door, and quietly trotted out into the hall, making sure to lock the door behind her. She was quite proud of herself, managing to pull something like that off. She flew up to the fourth floor and entered the room Celestia had prepared for her a few days ago. Her castle had been destroyed during the first attack and was beyond repair.

She put her books on the bookshelf, making sure they were in their proper place before going to shut the door. One of the safety precautions was to lock their doors. There was meant to only be one key for each room, and the owner had to carry it around with them at all times. Twilight opened the hidden compartment in her armor and levitated her key out. She locked her door, took off her bulky armor, and flopped onto her bed, exhausted.

Twilight jolted awake at a high-pitched scream. It was directly above her, where Cadance's room was. Instead of unlocking the door and going up the stairs, Twilight rushed onto the balcony and unlocked the latch. She flew up onto Cadance's balcony, finding the door unlocked and open.

Inside, she saw the most unimaginable thing. Cadance was passed out on her bed while Shining had just stabbed Flurry, her blood staining the floor. Twilight stared at her brother, seeing he had ripped off the majority of his bandages, some still hanging off of him. Not noticing her there, he continued to place Flurry beside Cadance and wrap them both in many blankets. With a cruel smile, he stabbed his wife through the blankets, her shriek of pain muffled by the many layers. Blood seeped through as he went on to give her many wounds, then left her to bleed out.

Twilight stood there in shock. She was too surprised and horrified to move. Guards had gathered at the front door, but couldn't get in the locked room. They had all went separate ways to find another way in, except for a single guard, who stayed. Shining unlocked the door and the young stallion stepped inside, probably fresh out of training.

"Wait, no!" Twilight yelled. The stallion stared at directly at her, which was a fatal mistake.

After locking the door, Shining barreled into him from the side, then pinned him down. He stabbed the guard in his neck, which was not covered by his armor, before stepping off him to stare up at Twilight.

Before he could do anything to her, the princess took off, flying up to the highest rooms in the palace, the ones belonging to the princesses. Luna was lowering the moon, having not been able to her the screams from that high up. She tilted her head to the side, seeing Twilight approaching.

"Princess Luna! Shining Armor, just... He just..." Twilight landed in a heap on the balcony, still exhausted. She had barely gotten two hours of sleep and now, this. She paused to catch her breath. "Shining Armor stabbed Princess Cadance, Flurry Heart, and one of the new guards."

Luna looked shocked, yet skeptical. "He can't. He's in bandages and his doors are locked."

"B-But I saw him! Look, I'll show you," Twilight struggled to lift herself off the ground, but managed to glide down to Cadance's balcony, Luna following close behind. The bodies were still there, cold and lifeless, where they had been earlier.

Luna's eyes widened. "W-What..?" Still in her protective armor, she trotted confidently into the dark room. She turned the lights on to see there was no trace of Shining Armor. "It couldn't have been him. He's not here. It must've been somepony else...."

"No... It was him. Wait, let's check if he's in his room," Twilight suggested. She shivered as a cold breeze ruffled her feathers. Celestia's sun was peeking over the horizon, finally managing to break through the clouds of smoke that had blocked it for many days.

Luna got to Shining's room first. The lock on his balcony door had been badly broken and couldn't even do its job anymore. She stepped inside and turned on the lamps. Sure enough, he wasn't there. Blood-stained bandages were everywhere and his blanket had a few red drops on it from his still-healing cuts and wounds.

The lunar princess gasped. "W-Where is he...?"

Twilight examined every inch of his room. Many guards came in to further investigate and Celestia herself was there. The doctors confirmed Cadance and Flurry Heart had bled to death and there was no way they could do anything about it.

Finally, after a few hours of searching the palace for any trace of Shining, Celestia insisted Twilight go to rest. "From what I've heard, you haven't gotten much sleep. Since you'll be sneaking into enemy base, you should go to your room too rest."

Twilight nodded, yawning. "Wait, but before I go sleep, I need to tell you something...."

"What is it, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Twilight stared down at her hooves, remembering what she had thought about when in Shining's dreams. How she had injected their terrible training methods into his mind. "I-I... I entered Shining Armor's dreams, then I accidentally changed his memory, so he thinks he's part of the Triple S Army now. I was thinking about how they train their soldiers, and I...." She trailed off. "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. I made a mistake and now three ponies are dead... Shining's officially gone and...." She began to sob. Her brother, sister-in-law, and her niece were gone because of her.

Celestia moved forward to give Twilight a comforting hug. "We all make mistakes, Twilight. We just have to learn from them. Go rest now, and don't worry. I'll handle everything."

As Celestia flew back to Cadance's room for further investigation, Twilight dragged herself back to her own, too tired to fly. She hadn't had time to go back and put on her armor earlier, as she was too busy following Celestia all around the palace. Without it, she felt vulnerable and afraid. She sped up and tried her door. It was locked. Of course it was, she had never gotten to unlocking it in her haste to find the source of the screams. Those were Flurry's screams. The screams of a young foal whose life had been taken by a monster Twilight herself had created.

Twilight cleared her mind of those thoughts and managed to hover a few inches off the ground, flying out through the large, opened window beside her room. She landed on her balcony and pushed the door open. Her eyes widened in shock. Her room had been turned upside-down, with all of her cabinets open as well as many of her books with pages torn out. She wondered who would have searched through her room like that, but she didn't have to guess. On one of her bedposts, there was a piece of a bloody bandage.

Too exhausted to clean up or even push a few books off her bed, Twilight flopped onto the sofa in the corner of her room. She used her magic to lock her balcony doors, and dozed off.

There was a knock on Twilight's door. She pulled herself off the sofa, looking out the window to see the moon rising. She looked through the peep-hole in her door and saw Celestia staring back at her. Celestia's eyes were a full magenta, not tinted a light green.

Twilight opened the door. "Hello, Princess Celestia,"

"Hello, Twilight. Are you ready?" Celestia asked, stepping inside and locking the door behind her.

Twilight's eyes widened. She hadn't even prepared! How could you forget something as important as preparation, Twilight?! She mentally chastised herself. "H-Hold on." She rushed around the room, putting her spell book and dagger in her saddlebag along with a few bottles of water and slices of bread.

Celestia levitated something out of her pocket. "Take this. It's a Communication Amulet, so you can contact me."

Twilight took it in her own magical aura and examined it. "How do I use it?"

"Just infuse it with your magic and you should be able to talk with me telepathically." Celestia explained.

Twilight took a deep breath and did so, then clasped it around her neck.

Can you hear me?

Twilight gasped. It was Celestia's voice inside her head.

Yes. Can you hear me?

Celestia nodded. "Good, it works."

Twilight put on her armor, but leaving the helmet.

"Did you contact Sunset Shimmer?" Celestia asked.

Twilight looked around and saw the journal at the foot of her bed. She picked it up and flipped through it, scribbling a quick note on a blank page. She put it and her quill in her saddlebag as well, which was getting quite crowded. "Y-Yes."

"Good. Now, let's go." Celestia unlocked the balcony door, the chilling night air filling the room. "We're behind schedule." She flew into the sky, not bothering to wait for Twilight.

Twilight hurriedly put her saddlebag on and followed Celestia. "Wait, Princess Celestia, how are we going to get there without being seen?"

Celestia didn't respond. She soared higher into the sky, up into the sky, before plummeting down, heading for the gates to the castle, where two guards were stationed. She landed behind the guards and opened a latch behind a building that was barely big enough for her to fit through. She motioned for Twilight to follow her inside.

"Where are we?" Twilight whispered.

"The Tunnels. They were constructed when we caught wind of the Triple S Army's impending attack, just in case. It's only to be used for emergencies, but I suppose this counts as one." Celestia explained.

Twilight looked around. The Tunnels were illuminated by flickering yellow-green lights and had signs almost everywhere, telling you the direction of each town. There were shelters down there, already stocked with food, water, and medical supplies. She stuck close to Celestia, listening for any sign of danger. All she could hear was her own heart beat and their hoof steps.

"It's alright, we're safe." Celestia said.

"B-But where are the guards? We're not safe." Twilight scanned the area, looking for any signs of danger.

"Wait." Celestia's ears twitched. "Stay here. I'll be back." She rushed off in the direction of Ponyville.

Twilight stood there and waited. She felt vulnerable without the princess protecting her. It wasn't like she didn't know anything about self-defense. If she was ambushed, she had nowhere to run. Even the signs wouldn't be much help, as most of them were smudged and barely legible. As she examined the sign closest to her, she heard signs of a struggle nearby. "Huh? C-Celestia...? Is that you?"

Silence.

"Celestia, is something wrong?" Twilight wanted to move toward the sound, but she was frozen in place, her limbs trembling in fear.

Suddenly, Celestia appeared again. "Oh, don't worry, my dear Twilight, everything's fine."

"What was that noise?" Twilight asked. She stared at Celestia, who looked refreshed, like there wasn't an army planning on invading soon.

"It was nothing. Now, it's getting late." Celestia faked a yawn. "Let's sleep in one of these little rooms here." She unlocked and opened the door to her right, stepping inside. She sat on one of the beds, motioning to the one beside it. "Come on, Twily. Don't be scared."

'Twily?' Had Princess Celestia called Twilight 'Twily?' Still, Twilight lay down on the bed, pretending not to be suspicious.

"Goodnight, my darling student." Celestia stared at Twilight, as though expecting her to fall asleep first.

Twilight glared back up at Celestia. There was a green glint in her mentor's eyes, barely noticeable, but it was there. Twilight scrambled to her hooves and ran as fast as she could.

Author's Note

Okay, so I've decided to split it up into two parts because it's getting way too long and you were probably on the verge of being bored to death. Part Two is on its way!