Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.

Author's Note: This is a remake of my story, "Patriots of Equestria," which was mirrored after the Boston Marathon Bombings. After careful consideration, I have decided to remake the story minus the Boston Marathon Bombing mirroring. Special thanks to Kilreez for his input and inspiration.

"Not Everypony Deserves a Second Chance"

Starlight Glimmer stood in front of her new mirror that was given to her by Twilight Sparkle, admiring herself in the reflection. But, she wasn't happy, she wasn't smiling. Something was on her mind and it was not related to the thought of no longer being Twilight's student.

"There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Starlight Glimmer!"

The sounds of an angry voice continued to play repeatedly in Starlight's mind, causing the young unicorn to feel uneased and distressed.

"Starlight," called a purple alicorn causing Starlight to turn around and face her mentor. "Is everything all right? You've been awfully quiet since your ceremony today."

"Just a lot on my mind, that's all," sighed Starlight. "I don't know what is going on, but for some odd reason, Chrysalis' voice keeps playing in my head. I think she's going to come back stronger than ever."

"I don't think that's going to happen," reassured Twilight, trying to get her student to not worry about Chrysalis. "Chrysalis is weakened now and alone. Besides, myself and the other princesses have dispatched patrols to find any remaining followers of hers and neutralize any threat they might have."

However, Starlight was not changed by her mentor's reassurance.

"Twilight, you know how capable these creatures are," warned Starlight. "Besides, how else do you think that you and the others were captured so easily? I mean, weren't you all asleep in bed when you were captured?"

"Yes, we were," remarked Twilight, remembering how she and her friends were captured. "Not to mention that my brother still holds a grudge against Chrysalis for almost ruining the Royal Wedding a little while back. I can only imagine if he probably wants Chrysalis dead."

Starlight climbed over to her bed and got into it, sighing heavily. She was still wearing the medal that she had received at her ceremony that day, but this was just a medal and nothing more. In her mind, no award could replace the recent events with the Changelings. There was also something else on her mind that affected Starlight greatly.

"Before you go, Twilight," said Starlight. "There is something else I need to talk to you about concerning Chrysalis."

"What about?" asked Twilight. "You aren't still thinking about your failure to reform Chrysalis, aren't you?"

"Well, actually, yes," answered Starlight, having decided in taking off her medal from around her neck and placing it on the nightstand. "Part of me feels like Chrysalis can be redeemed, but I know for a fact that she won't listen."

Twilight sighed and sat down next to her student.

"She won't listen, Starlight," said Twilight, reluctantly. "I really don't like to say this, but not everypony in Equestria can be reformed, Starlight. Discord and Trixie were exceptions to the rule. They understood how important friendship is and look at them now."

"But maybe if I could just at least reason with her…" Starlight started to say, only to be interrupted by Twilight.

"Chrysalis cannot be reasoned with, no matter how hard you try," interrupted Twilight. "If she remains a threat, then I am afraid we must treat her like one."

Starlight couldn't bring herself to believe such a fact. Ever since Twilight had given her a second chance and had taken Starlight under her wing, the former leader of Our Town felt that everypony she encountered deserved a second chance.

"I hope you are mistaken, Twilight," Starlight replied as she fell asleep in her bed. "I can only hope you are mistaken."

…

Twilight sighed again and leaving her student to sleep, she returned to her library and was met by her dragon assistant, Spike, who was holding what appeared to be a scroll in his claws.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Twilight," he said. "But this came from Princess Celestia and I thought you should read it."

Taking the scroll in her aura, Twilight read what was on it and as she read it, her eyes crossed and she looked back at Spike with a stern glance.

"What did it say?" Spike wondered.

"It's an update about the hunt for some of Chrysalis' followers," answered Twilight. "Apparently, two of them, whom are believed to be the Changelings that replaced Celestia and Luna, have not yet been found. Celestia wants me to issue a warning to all of Ponyville about them since they appear to be very dangerous."

"Perhaps it's better to be safe than sorry," remarked Spike as Twilight trotted over to her desk. "I mean, I don't think the Changelings would even bother coming back, not after the fact that Thorax is now in charge."

"Just because Thorax is in charge, doesn't mean that the threat has gone away," said Twilight as she began writing down a warning to all of Ponyville. "It's like I said to Starlight, not everypony can be redeemed, Spike, no matter how hard we try."

"Can't we just have Discord go after the Changelings?" suggested Spike. "He's reformed and even though he is still a thorn in your side, technically, his Chaos magic can subdue any threat."

Twilight merely rolled her eyes in disgust at the thought of having Discord go after the Changelings. In her mind, Discord was still a liability for any major threat against Equestria.

"I think that is a 'no,'" guessed Spike. "But, you got to at least consider it, Twilight. I know that Discord betrayed us for Tirek, but that's in the past now. You got to move on and I mean, after all, he was one of our rescuers from Chrysalis."

"He was only in it for Fluttershy, Spike," said Twilight as she used a duplication spell to make copies of the warning to Ponyville's residents. "Now, get ready to post these all over Ponyville. The sooner they know about it, the sooner they can be prepared."

Heeding his friend's advice, Spike did as he was told. Soon, the messages were duplicated and dispatched throughout Ponyville.

…

Meanwhile, in the darkened confines of the Everfree Forest, a group of Royal Guardsponies were scouring the forest for any sign of Chrysalis' followers.

"Did you find any more?" one of them asked.

"Nothing, sergeant," replied one of the guards. "They couldn't have gone far. This forest is wide and open, so search every inch of it! And remember to use your unmasking spell on every creature that you encounter!"

Spreading out, the guards searched through every square inch of the forest. It didn't matter if the armor that they were wearing was slowing them down, they had a job to protect Equestria from harm. As one of the guards searched in the north end of the forest, he saw what appeared to be a pony hiding in the bushes.

"HALT!" he shouted, using his magic to detect the pony. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"

But, the pony didn't comply with the guard's order and remained in the bush, staying completely still.

"COME OUT AND GIVE YOURSELF UP!" shouted the guard again, his horn glowing with rage. His shouts caught the attention of the other guardsponies who came rushing to the scene, their horns also glowing with rage. "WE KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE, CHANGELING! THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE!"

The guards remained steadfast for any sign of movement that the pony in the bushes might make. Then, after a few seconds later, the guards saw a flash of light and they saw their target fly towards them.

"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, FOOLS!" cried the Changeling, laughing loudly as he flew as fast as his wings could carry them. "QUEEN CHRYSALIS SHALL RISE AGAIN!"

The guards tried to catch up, but it was no use. The Changeling was simply too fast for them.

"What do we do?" panted one of the guards. "Do we keep following them or do we retreat?"

"At this rate, we won't know where they are going," said a guard. "Perhaps we should return to Canterlot and report what we have seen to the Princesses."

"Perhaps that is a good idea," added another guard and soon, they all began to make their way out of the Forest.

…

Just as the guards were making their way out of the forest, the Changeling that they were trying to catch flew to a part of the forest where another Changeling was waiting for him.

"They won't catch us now," gasped the Changeling as he landed in front of his comrade. "I've already flown too fast for them to even attempt to try and stop us now. Which allows us to prepare for our ultimate plan of revenge. Do you have the materials we need, Thumper?"

"Right here, Hopper my brother," laughed Thumper, handing his brother a bag containing what appeared to be materials. "Managed to steal them just before the guards could spot me."

"Excellent," said Hopper, evilly as he picked at some of the bomb making materials. "Those pathetic guards are going to be short of a few bits of weapons used to scare us out of hiding. Well, they are going to learn the hard way of what happens when you overthrow our beloved Queen Chrysalis."

Just then, the two brothers heard more guardsponies walking around and they immediately headed for another secluded part of the forest. Once they were clear of the guards, they looked through their explosive goods again.

"We can't keep moving like this, brother," said Thumper. "If we are going to act, we need to act now."

"No, you idiot," hissed Hopper, giving his brother a glare. "We need time to scout a potential target to carry out our plans. Nothing would make our Queen's return to power more satisfying than to see Equestria's most beloved ponies dead. We must return to Canterlot and once we find out where all of our targets are going to be, then we make our move. Understand?"

"Yes, my brother," answered Thumper, using his abilities to change into a royal guardspony. "I understand."

Hopper soon joined his brother and the two brothers made their way back to Canterlot now disguised as Royal Guardsponies and soon, they would set in motion their plan to restore Queen Chrysalis to power in the worst way possible…