*CRACK!*

Before Twilight could react, something crashed into the side of her head and sent her flying into a tree. Dazed, she looked up in time to see two Changelings in front of her. Both were wearing armor that looked harder than normal to penetrate. They also wielded spears that looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. One of them stepped towards her.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," he said, laughing. "After all this time, our queen will finally have her prize."

"Indeed. We will surely be rewarded handsomely for this, Elytra." the second Changeling said, smiling wickedly.

"Trust me, we will."

Staggering, Twilight tried to get back up but was knocked down again by Elytra's spear. Her head was throbbing, and although she couldn't see it, she could feel blood slowly running down her face.

Before she could say anything, Elytra yanked her mouth open, putting a gag on her along with a magic suppressing ring on her horn.

"Tarsus!" he motioned to the other Changeling. "Give me the rope. We can't have Her Majesty's prize trying to escape, now can we?"

"Here," Tarsus said, handing Elytra a large rope. "We should contact Her Majesty and tell her we have her prize secured."

"No," Elytra replied, tying down Twilight's wings. "Not yet. When we reunite with the General and the rest of the group, we'll let her know."

Unable to magically free herself from her restraints, Twilight jerked her wings as hard as she could, trying to sever the rope around her torso, but to no avail.

"HEY!!!" Elytra hissed, smacking Twilight's front leg with the back of his spear. "Stop struggling, Princess!!! You're not getting away from us!"

"What's the matter?" Tarsus mocked, laughing. "Can't stand being tied up? Well, just wait until the queen gets her hooves on you. I can't wait until I see the look on your face as you're forced to watch as she kills your friends, one by one!"

No! She can't! was all Twilight could think about after hearing the terrifying statement. She wanted to scream as loud as she could, but due to the rag tied around her face, she couldn't. She felt herself being lifted up onto her hooves. Still a bit dizzy, she struggled to properly maintain her balance. She felt a mighty tug at her wings.

"Alright, let's go! We've got a long journey ahead of us, Princess!" Elytra shouted, hissing in Twilight's face afterward. The two Changelings started walking, dragging Twilight behind them. She could still feel blood from the wound on her head slowly dripping down her face. After about 10 minutes of walking, they came to a clearing in the trees.

"Hey Elytra," Tarsus said, slowing his pace. "It's getting late. Maybe we should rest here for the night and regroup with the General tomorrow."

Elytra looked around. From where he was standing, the trees around the clearing were about 20 feet apart in all directions. He shook his head.

"No. We need to keep moving."

"Are you sure?" Tarsus asked. "I'm getting a bit tired."

"We'll set up camp further into the forest," Elytra replied. "It's too dangerous to stay in the open. Especially with all this rain. Come on. Let's-"

*THUD!*

Twilight jumped. Out of nowhere, a large rock sailed out of the bushes and landed four feet away from the trio. The two Changelings instantly drew their spears.

"Where did that come from?" Elytra growled, examining the area where the rock had been thrown.

"I don't know. Might've been an animal or something," replied Tarsus.

Elytra walked over towards the bushes. He poked his spear into them, but it came out clean each time. He reached up and began moving the branches of the thick brush out of his way.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find anything in there," he said. "You stay here and keep watch until I return."

"Understood," Tarsus answered.

"And DO NOT let the princess out of your sight! If she escapes, the queen will have our heads!"

Elytra disappeared into the bushes. Twilight glanced at the rock, then Tarsus, then to where the rock had been thrown and then back at the rock. It could've been thrown by an animal. Or perhaps, was it somepony from the camp who had come looking for her? Favoring the latter, she backed up slightly to reach the tree behind her. She raised her hoof and loudly knocked an SOS signal twice.

"Hey! Enough of that noise!" Tarsus hissed, slapping Twilight's hoof away from the tree. "You want that animal or whatever it is to hear us? It might be dangerous! Plus, this rain is not helping me hear anything better. Keep quiet or I'm gonna knock you out!"

Yeah, right. Because you're not dangerous at all, Twilight thought, rolling her eyes. A few moments later, Elytra emerged from the bushes, completely covered in little leaves and twigs.

"Well, that was a bust. I can't find anything or anyone in there," he grumbled, shaking the debris off himself. "It would help considerably if it wasn't raining and I could actually see through those ridiculous plants. By the way, I heard you yelling. Why?"

"She was knocking on this tree. I was trying to listen for whatever threw the rock in case it was moving again and then she decided to mess me up," Tarsus said, glaring at Twilight. She rolled her eyes again.

"Well," Elytra said. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Come on, let's go. We don't have all night."

Tarsus nodded. Picking the end of the rope up off the ground, he pulled hard on it, causing Twilight to fall flat on her face. He quickly yanked her upright with his magic.

"Come on! Start walk-!"

*CRACK!*

Before Tarsus could finish, another rock slightly bigger than the last flew out of the bushes. It slammed into the side of his head, catapulting him backward, and sending him headfirst into the ground. Twilight jumped. Elytra swiftly drew his spear again.

"Who's there?!" he demanded, scanning the area rapidly. "By the authority of Queen Chrysalis, I order you to show yourself! NOW!!!"

No answer. Twilight slowly tried to sneak away but was stopped by Elytra's magic.

"Oh no! You're not getting away from me that easily!" Yanking Twilight over to him, he began to walk back towards the brush. But he was stopped dead.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Suddenly, a figure wearing a black mask and hooded cloak, and carrying two saddlebags jumped out of the bushes. Twilight dodged out of the way as the figure tackled Elytra to the ground. Elytra hissed, throwing the figure off him. Picking up his spear, he charged at his attacker, only to fail as the spear was knocked out of his grip. The stranger, promptly throwing off their saddlebags, jumped forward and delivered a kick to the side of his head, knocking his helmet off in the process. Tackling him again, the stranger went for the throat in an attempt to choke him. However, the attempt was unsuccessful as Elytra delivered four punches to the stranger's face, not a single one missed and managed to pin them to the ground. He smiled wickedly, revealing his razor-sharp fangs.

"This will be a meal to remember," he said, inching closer to the stranger's face.

He didn't even notice his own spear levitating behind him. He reared his head up and was about to dive in for the kill. The spear swung around and connected with the side of his head, knocking him down. The stranger looked up. The spear was being held by Twilight, who had finally managed to remove the mouth gag and the ring on her horn. Elytra recovered and after regaining his composure, turned toward Twilight, staring her dead in the eyes.

"Most impressive," he growled. "But not good enough!"

Elytra lunged at Twilight. Jumping to the side again, she thrust the spear forward with as much force as she could. Her aim was perfect. The spear plunged deep into Elytra's chest, coming out the other side. He landed face first in front of her, never to move again. She walked forward and rolled him onto his side. The spear had gone straight through his heart, soaking the already moist ground with blood. Twilight then looked over at Tarsus who still lay on the ground motionless after being struck by the stranger's rock. Walking over to him, she rolled him over and removed his chestplate. She placed her ear against his chest to listen for a heartbeat. Nothing. But to ensure he was indeed dead, she withdrew the bloodstained spear from Elytra's body and plunged it into Tarsus's chest.

Twilight then turned her attention to the stranger, who was struggling to regain their balance.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, moving closer to the stranger.

"Yeah. I'm alright," the stranger said, the voice being that of a mare. "I never expected Changelings to be that strong."

"Here. Let me help you up," Twilight said, holding out her hoof. Accepting it, the stranger slowly managed to get back on her hooves.

"Oh. Here," Twilight said, levitating the saddlebags in front of the stranger.

"Thank you so much," she said, putting them on. "I'll owe you one for this."

Twilight chuckled. "It's alright."

"Ooh. Your head is bleeding. You should probably get it checked pretty soon," the stranger said, motioning to the injury on Twilight's head.

Twilight's eyes widened slightly. She had almost forgotten about it.

"Oh, my goodness! Thanks for reminding me!" she exclaimed. "I don't know how bad it is. I can't see it."

"It looks pretty bad," the stranger answered. "How did that even happen?"

"I got smacked with their spears a few times. Twice on the head and once on the leg," Twilight answered, glancing down at the bruise on her front right leg.

"Well, you really need to have that looked at. By any chance, do you have a camp nearby?" the stranger asked.

"Yes, I do," Twilight answered.

"Then we should get moving. We might not be safe here."

"You're right," Twilight said, looking around. "We need to get out of here."

"Lead the way, Twilight," the stranger replied.

Twilight nodded. She started walking but promptly stopped. She looked quizzically at the stranger.

"Hold on a second. How do you know my name?"

"Because, Twilight Sparkle," the stranger said, removing her mask and hood. "You told me."

Twilight's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. The stranger revealed herself to be a pinkish-purple unicorn with moderate Persian blue eyes. There were two bruises on her face, one of which was bleeding slightly. Her mane was dark purple with a pale aquamarine streak running down the middle. She had one large bang curled behind her horn and above one of her eyes. She lifted up the back end of her cloak so Twilight could see her flank. Her cutie mark was two teal and blueish green magical wisps above a purple four-pointed star with four other white points protruding out from behind it.

"St- Starlight?"

Author's Note

With the crisis averted and the two Changelings dead, Twilight has found herself face to face w/her student, Starlight Glimmer. But is it actually her, or is it another Changeling in disguise? Find out in Chapter 3!