Lost Family, Part 1

Chapters

A Strange Letter
The Meeting
Confrontation and Explinations
Life on the Outside and a Trip into Thoughts
Defenses Crumbling
Mission Revealed
Trapped

A Strange Letter

"It seems like a nice day. Not a cloud in the sky. Wait, looks like ther are a few. Where are all these clouds coming from? Where the hay is Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe she's just sleeping in like usual," Spike suggested. "She does that a lot and can still handle all of this you know."

"Spike, it's 1:30 in the afternoon," the lavender unicorn stated. "She never sleeps past 10:45 in the morning."

"Maybe shes just running late. Not everypony is as organized as you, you know."

"I know that. But this just doesn't seem right."

"Do you think maybe it was what happened yesterday?"

Twilight never got to answer that though. "What is going on?" asked a pampered voice. "There were no clouds in the weather schedule! I had an important meeting today but I can't possibly go out if the light doesnt shimmer off of my latest design!"

"Calm down, everypony," Spike said. "Rarity, you could go to that meeting. I'm sure Rainbow will take care of this cloud cover. And if not, then I will gladly provide lighting for your dress."

"Nopony is going to be going anywhere!" screamed a familiar voice. "You are all trapped by my clouds. If any of you decide to try to escape, you will be electrocuted."

"Rainbow Dash?!" they all said at once.

6 weeks earlier

"Well don't you know this pony? He's sent you things before," explained a small voice.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy had gotten some of her mail again and flew up to Rainbow's cloud home to return it. She had asked what this one letter was about and was met with a simple answer.

"It's just... I thought you would know who... I didn't mean to upset you," the timid pegasus tried to explain.

"Well I guess I can figure it out on my own. I didn't mean to scare you," Rainbow tried. "It's just been a busy day."

"I guess I'll leave you then. Unless you want me to stay. Are we done talking?"

"Yeah," replied Rainbow. She truly didn't mean to scare her friend. "You can go home. I have some work to do anyways."

After Fluttershy had left, Rainbow searched frantically for her letter opener. The letter was from the same pony who had sent her the letter opener. She had to get this thing open as fast as she could. There was no telling what was inside this envelope.

When she finally found it, she tore open the envelope to see what the letter inside said.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I have decided to stop with this secrecy. Within the month, I will be coming to visit you and your friends. More will be explained once I get there. You will find me at the train station at 4:45 pm. Don't be late. We have a lot of catching up to do.

-Nightwolf

After reading the letter over several times, she finally decided to give up trying to figure out who exactly this pony was. At least this one had a name though. That's more than she got before. Besides, she had to find out which day there was a 4:45 train arrival. There was only one pony that had that much information in one place though.

After getting to Twilight's house, Rainbow knocked on the door repeatedly until the tired-looking mare opened the door. "Rainbow? What are you doing here?"

"Where are the records for trains arriving this month?" Rainbow asked impatiently.

"In between the scedules for last month and next month."

"Where are the train schedules?!" Rainbow asked again, getting more agitated. That train could be today. If it was, she wasn't going to miss seeing this mysterious pony for the first time. Someting about him just seemed too familiar.

"Right here," Twilight said, "where I said they would be. Why are you looking for train records?"

"Something I got in the mail. Speaking of, looks like yours is here," Dash mentioned while nodding out the window. Then remembering why she came here, took the schedule and opened it for any train coming in at 4:45.

Twilight had just gotten back from her mailbox to see Dash standing overthe desk reading the file. Passing it off as one of her random bursts, Twilight started to sort her mail. When she came across an anonymous letter, she decided it best to start reading her mail with that one. But what she read didn't make any sense. "Rainbow?"

"Yeah?" she replied, half studying the schedule.

"I got this letter that doesnt make any sense. The pony who wrote it says to ask you for an explination."

"What?" Rainbow asked as she turned away from her studying. "Who signed it?"

"Somepony named Nightwolf. He says he's your brother."

The Meeting

"That's not possible!" Rainbow yelled. "I don't even have a brother!" Twilight began stepping back a little bit.

"Calm down Rainbow," she said "We don't want you to get all angry and wreck the library.

"How am I supposed to calm down? This pony thinks he can just go around saying he's my brother and not end up in the Everfree Forest?"

"Look, you said something about a 4:45 train, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. He said he'd be coming to visit. I guess that means he gave me a time and place for his beat down."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Dash. What if he's telling the truth?" Twilight tried to explain. "What if he really is your brother and you just didn't know about him? And what if he's coming to visit you so he can explain why you never knew about him."

That makes sense, Dash thought. But then why didn't he tell me in my letter? "I don't think that he would hide that from me," Dash commented. "If he really was my brother, he would have told me in his first letter."

"First letter?" asked Twilight. "Exactly how many letters has he sent you?"

"About two or three each year," Dash replied.

"And how long ago did this start?"

"I don't know. Maybe three years ago."

"Three years ago?" Twilight continued. "You started getting these letters before we ever met? Have you told anypony else about these?"

"Of course not!" Dash said. "I would lose my reputation if anypony found out I was letting a stranger mail me things. Especially if they knew about the packages. Come to think of it, the packages arrived on my birthday."

"And that has what to do with you not telling anypony?" Twilight said, reverting them to thier previous topic.

"Well he seemed so cool. But he's been posing as my brother? Now I really need to find out when that train is."

"What did he say, exactly?" Twilight asked. "His exact words could mean something if i can get the information to blend properly."

"Here's the letter," Rainbow said, handing over the letter. "Maybe you could figure out whatexactly it means."

"Alright, let's have a look.

'Dear Rainbow Dash,

-Nightwolf'

"Aha!"

"What? What did you figure out?"

"The reason he didn't tell you he was your brother is so he could use this double encryption technique!" Twilight explaned. "He used limited information in each letter to say exactly when and where he was going to be. It's an ingenious idea!"

"Um, Twilight," Rainbow started, "What exactly does that mean?"

"He sent more than just these two letters! We have to go find the others and tell them about this!"

"Hey, do you think I could take a look at your letter?"

"Sure," replied Twilight. "Here you go." Once Rainbow Dash had the letter, she looked back and forth between her own and Twilight's. They were almost identical, but something else was added to Twilight's.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

You probably don't know me, but that won't last very long. I'm coming into town on the 4:45 train within the month. if you need more information, ask Rainbow Dash. She migt be able to help.

By the way, I'm her brother.
-Nightwolf

Why did this pony tell Twilight but not his own sister!? That is if he even is my brother, Rainbow thought. If he really is my brother, then why didn't he tell me? Why did he tell my friend? Why hasn't he said anything about our past? "Rainbow?" came Twilight's voice, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?"

"You've been staring at those papers for five minutes. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about how this guy could tell such a strong lie. He really must think you wouldn't have asked me anything."

"Twi!" came the accented voice of their farmer friend. "Twi! Do ya happen to know where Rainbow Dash is? She has some explainin' to do."

"I'm up here, Applejack!" yelled down Rainbow. She didn't even remember going upstairs.

"Well what in tarnation is going on with ya? Why haven't ya told us that ya have a brother?" Apllejack started. "Were we not important enough to ya? Why don't we know about any of this?"

"Because I didn't know about it either! He's just a lying colt! That's why we need to find him. So I can buck his stupid face in!"

"Apllejack!" yelled down Twilight. "Would you happen to have a letter with you from somepony named Nightwolf?"

"That's actually why ahm here," the farmer said. "Ah was goin' ta get some answers from Rainbow here. But it looks like ahm just goin' to have ta wait."

"Let me take a look at your letter. You and Dash should go get the others. And tell them to bring those letters!" Twilight yelled after them. She had to find out what was going on. She had to figure out where exactly this Nightwolf colt was going to be.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were on thier way to Fluttershy's house. She must've gotten a letter. That's probably why she had asked Rainbow in the first place. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow screamed as she knocked on the door.

"Fluttershy! We need to talk!"

The door opened and thier timid friend appeared. "What do we need to talk about? I hope you're not still upset about earlier. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not about that, sugarcube," Applejack began, glancing at Rainbow Dash. "We need ya to come with us to Twilight's house. If ya have a letter from somepony named Nightwolf, bring it." It was almost identical for their other two friends. But once they got back to the library, they were almost surprised at what was going on in there. Almost.

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash started, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going over the three letters that are here. Now that the rest of you are here, I can figure out exactly where he is really going to be and when."

"So he could be anywhere at any time?" Rainbow asked.

"Not exactly. He used a specific double encryption to make it seem like that buthe really gives you different pieces to the location in each letter. The train station is a big part of it. He's going to be at a train station, we just don't know which one."

"What have you figured out other than that?" Pinkie Pie asked randomly. "I need to know!"

"Pinkie," Twilight said. "Why do you need to know?"

"He's going to be new so I'm going to have to throw him a party but I need to know when to throw it so he won't be confused and I think it should be a spy party because of how he coded the message-"

"Pinkie!" everypony said at once.

"What?"

"What else have you figured out Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"Well I need to see the other letters before I can be sure," she replied. Once she got the other three letters, she began studying them. After about 20 minutes of waiting, she jumped up and ran to her room. "We need to go now if we want to be there before him!"

"What? Where is he going to be?"

"Manehattan," came the strained reply. She came running down the stairs, throwing coats and scarves at them. "The 5:44 train to be exact. You might want to put these on. It gets really cold this time of year."

"See you guys when you get there!" Rainbow yelled as she threw on the coat and flew out the door so fast they barely heard her.

"What in Equestria is she in such a rush for?" Rarity asked as she slid into her coat and wrapped her scarf. "We have planty of time if we call a carrage."

At about 5:23, Rainbow Dash came to a stop in front of the Manehattan train station. Looking around frantically, she finally found the clock, and decided to wait. About 17 minutes later, her friends finally showed up. "It's about time you guys got here," Rainbow said. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it in time."

"What exactly would we be late for?" Rarity asked.

"Me showing this colt what happens when you go around lying about being my brother," Came Dash's quick reply.

"And what exactly did you have in mind for that?" Twilight contiued the questioning. "You can't just attack him for no good reason in front of all these witnesses." At that moment, a train pulled into the station.

There he is, Dash thought. She didn't know exactly how she knew, but it was him.

Nightwolf had a black mane styled very similar to that of Rainbow's. His coat was ash grey and he had some aura or something around him. Not visible, but everypony around him could feel it. His cutie mark was the yin-yang symbol. His wings were a little larger due to his own size. There was something about him that seemed comforting, though.

Without warning, Rainbow lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. "You have 10 seconds to tell me who you really are and why you're here before I buck your flank all the way back to where you came from!" She yelled at him. Everypony turned to see what was going on, making the loud environment almost silent.

"Hey, sis," Nightwolf replied calmly. "It's good to see you again."

Confrontation and Explinations

"What do you mean? Do you really think you can fool me?" Rainbow questioned, furious. "I don't have a brother! I never have had a brother!"

"Just as naive as before," Nightwolf commented. "Now if you would please let me up so I can finish explaining?"

"Explaining what?!" she screamed at him. "I don't have a brother! You could go ask my parents if you want! That is if you can find them."

"Parents?" Nightwolf asked. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" Rainbow said. Her anger had finally worn down enough for her to let him up.

"Three years ago, our parents died. I thought you knew. She told me you knew."

"What?" Rainbow asked. She turned away to hide her face. "How did it happen?" she asked, a bit of sadness creeping into her voice.

"Un-scheduled freak storm. They were flying and got hit by a stray lightning bolt. It forked and hit both of them, frying them on impact," he desribed. "I though you knew about all of this."

"Let's get out of here before everypony starts thinking things," Rainbow said, desperately trying to change the subject. It wouldn't be cool to break down crying in front of all these ponies. "You can talk more when we get to Ponyville."

About 25 minutes later, the seven arrived in Ponyville. "This is a nice little town," Nightwolf commented.

"What are you used to?" Twilight asked.

"Well most recently, towns that are at least 3x the size of this one. But it is nice to get into a smaller town, again. It is what I prefer."

"Let's get back to my original question," Rainbow Dash interjected. "Who are you really and what are you doing here?"

"You never could let a question get past you. I'm your brother, Rainbow. Nightwolf. I was there when you were born. I remember how even as a foal, thy were stubborn.

"As to what I'm doing here, well can't a brother come visit his sister?"

"Why don't I remember you? If you are really my brother, then why did my parents never mention you? Where have you been?"

"You don't remember me because you were too young to remember much of anything that was going on. I was only 7 myself when you were born," Nightwolf began. "When I was 11, I was foalnapped. Our parents never mentioned me probably because they didn't want you to know about you having a missing brother.

"The ponies that foalnapped me were planning on using me as a ransom tool. They knew how much they would get for a young foal. What they didn't know was how clever I am. I was able to make my escape and climb onto a train heading for Neighvada. They didn't even notice I was gone until the train was leaving.

"When I got to Las Pegasus, I noticed how alone I was. One night, I was wandering the streets looking for a good place to sleep for the night. I came across this young couple that was obviously trying to get to their home. When they saw me, they ran up to me and pulled me close. At first, I thought they were going to try to do the same thing the other ones did. But then they started talking tome calmly. They took me to their house that night and I acually had a real bed to sleep in that night. The next morning, however, I was in a strange place. An orphanage.

"Because I was still in that prime age, I was adopted fairly quickly. My adoptive parents moved from Neighvada though. And since I was their child according to law, they took me with them. They went to a new country. It was called South Equestria.

"This is where I learned my talent. We were in an area that had tons of conflict and hardly any defense against it. Once I saw this, I knew I could balance ths out. Bring order out of chaos, if ye will. There was a gang fight right outside our house and I went down to see what it was about. My appearance paused the fight. They must've been somewhat considerate ponies since they stopped to keep me from being hurt.

"I was able to talk to them and they worked it out, creating a balance. That's when this showed up," Nightwolf paused, pointing to the mark on his flank. "It represents balance and the peace that follows. I learned this by reading. I soon found great joy in these wonderful stories and tragic tales of love. But soon enough, my wings started to feel unused and twitched often. So we moved again, this time to Cloudsdale so I could learn to fly.

"It was a good two years there. I was starting to really enjoy flying. But then I heard a ruckus. There was a flight challenge. Of course, I couldn't miss out on the excitement, so I followed the crowd. By the time I got there, you were almost to the last checkpoint. Then it happened. You preformed the sonic rainboom. I was so proud of you. My baby sister just set a record. But before I could congradulate you, I was hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious.

"When I woke up, I was in a basement somewhere. It was musty and I could barely breathe. Then I heard loud noises and passed out cold.

"When I woke again, I was in the middle of a police station, months later. They were holding me for possible involvement in some sort of drug system. They found the drug in my system, but I was set free because it was forced injection. When I finally got back home, my parents became so worried, we were moving again.

"We got to some forested area and started living in a tribe. It seemed weird at first, but it was nice. No city lights, no loud noises. I started to get into some other activities, however, that weren't exactly normal for a pegasus. I was starting to practice basic magics."

"How? Magic is a unicorn thing," Twilight mentioned.

"There are some basic magics that other ponies can use. Anyways, I could make any potion known, find lost items and even track ponies, sometimes. But it took a lot of skill and attention.

"One day I was out gathering some herbs for some potions. Suddenly overhead, I see this storm. I hear the lightning discharge and the ponies scream. They were coming to see me, to protect me. And it got them killed. That's when I started becoming more and more antisocial. I didn't want to be anywhere near ponies. I spent more time in the forest and reading than spending time with others. One day, I was doing some simple magic practicing and heard screaming again.

"It was my tribe. I flew as fast as I possibly could, but I was too late. All of them were dead. Littering the ground and the trees. It had been a raid, and I hadn't been there to balance things out. That's when I wrote all of you a letter and decided to come visit. And then, of course, there's the events of today," Nightwolf concluded.

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Rainbow asked. "How could you prove that you're my brother?"

"How do you propose I prove my heritage?" Nightwolf asked back.

"Fight me," Rainbow said. "If you really are my brother and know all this abut me then you could last a full minute against me. Maybe even more if you're lucky."

"Fight you?" Nightwolf asked in surprise. "You're my little sister! I don't want to fight you!"

"Then I guess we never will know who you really are, will we?"

"Fine. Just remember, you wanted this," Nightwolf said.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

He barely got the words out before Rainbow Dash bucked at him. He just ducked and went for a hoof-sweep. She jumped over that and threw him against a tree. He recovered quickly and avoided the tree. She threw a rock at him, he caught it and proceded to throw itback in multiples. Rainbow dodged all of them and hit him in the gut doing a mid-air tackle. He used her momentum to throw her off of him. Then time seemed to slow down.

This must have to do with her loyalty to her friends, Nightwolf thought. She may be stronger physically, but she has a weakness that she doesn't even know about.

Nightwolf made the one move nopony expected. "Sgrabchvam!" he screamed. Pointing his hoof at Twilight, he pulled her in and backed away from his sister.

"AAAHHH!" Twilight screamed, magic pulling her in.

"Twilight!" the rest of them screamed at once.

"Just a heads-up, sis," Nightwolf said, "Never let anything surprise you. And never get your friends involved."

"Let. Her. Go," Rainbow dash said, putting emphasis on each word.

"Gladly," Nightwolf replied, setting Twilight on the ground. "I've lasted more than a minute."

Life on the Outside and a Trip into Thoughts

"I really think we should talk more," Nightwolf called after the others. None of them liked the way he used Twilight as a shield. He didn't have much choice, though. She wasn't going to give up. She never would have. "Come on. You can't stay angry at me forever!"

"We should after that dreadful thing you did!" Rarity retorted. He was a lot closer to the group than he thought. "When you learn some proper manners, I will think about socializing with you."

"That wasn't cool," his sister added. "Never hide behind an innocent. You may be my brother by blood, but you aren't my brother in my mind. You're just another fool."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie continued. "You're not going to get that spy party now. A fool party is what you get. Only fools can understand what a fool party is, and that's a party for a fool."

What? Nightwolf thought. That doesn't even make sense. "Look, I said I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix what you did," Fluttershy told him. "I thought you would be better than that, Mr. Nightwolf, but you are just another mean pony."

Everypony's mouth hung open after hearing that from Fluttershy. It must have been rare for her to speak up like that. "Fine," Nightwolf said. "If you need me, I'll be on the other end of town."

It was a quick flight there. He was one of the fastest next to his sister. No, he thought. I shouldn't think about her. Or any of this for that matter. I came here for a reason. As he made his way toward the far edge of town, he couldn't help remembering that Twilight hadn't said anything. But he didn't know any of them as well as he should. He had to make the link.

A mental link is a gateway into somepony's mind. It lets you see what they see and hear what they hear. It letsyou look into their past and see what they want for their future. And most importantly, it lets them do the same to you. The link would also allow for some simple communication. If Nightwolf did the ritual right, thenhe would finally get to talk to his sister without her being able to completely ignore him. However, this spell only lasts for 10 minutes. He would have plenty of time to do it again, but one should never go looking into another's thoughts too much.

As he neared his little hut that was given to him, he started to pull out a few things that he would need to preform the spell. Chalk, candles, matches, white robe and book of simple magic. Once he entered his little hut, he began the ritual.

After getting the circle and pentagram drawn, he placed each candle between the points of the star and lit them, he sat in the middle where he began reading from the book. "Yes steghtsel ays hghumy yen depi Rainbow gts’yel. YA svyazyvayu sebya s vami. YA svyazyvayu sebya s vami. YA svyazyvayu sebya s vami. Yes steghtsel ays hghumy yen depi Rainbow gts’yel. Chuĭ me , kakto az vi chu-"

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door, startling the pegasus. With his concentration lost, the power faded. He put out the candles and tossed his robe on top of the book and went to see who it was.

"Twilight?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you about earlier," the purple mare explained.

"Look, I'm sorry I used you as a shield."

"Not that. It's they way you pulled back at the same time. Why didn't you just hold me up as a shield like anypony else would have?"

"I don't know, actually," Nightwolf replied. He didn't even mean to pull back. "Must've been reflex."

"If you say so," Twilight said, not sounding convinced. "But there is one other thing that I came to talk to you about."

"And what would that be?" Nightwolf said, beginning to erase the chalk on the floor.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"The thing where you pulled me in. That didn't sound like any magic I had ever heard."

"That would be because of the type of magic. It is much weaker than any unicorn magic and is much more limited. It can only be wielded by pegasi and earth ponies. But it does take concentration and energy, just like with all magic."

"Would you mind showing an example that doesn't involve a fight?" Twilight asked, hope in her voice.

"fo̱s," Nightwolf said, pointing at one of the candles nearby. It lit within a second of him saying the word.

"Wow! Where did you learn all this? What's the most complex spell you know? What kind of potions can you make? How much can you do at once?-"Twilight started rambling off questions.

"Stop!" Nightwolf said, cutting off the mare. "Why don't you just come by tomorrow and I could explain a few things, OK?"

"Fine," Twilight said. "But you're lending me the book that taught you this. I never knew this was possible."

"I will," Nightwolf said as she got to the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," Twilight said as she left for the town.

Finally, Nightwolf thought. Maybe now I could make that link.

"Chuĭ me , kakto az vi chuvam." he finished. It took a while to set back up, but he was finally connected to his sister, however brief. "Hey, sis."

"AH!" Rainbow Dash screamed, not expecting to hear his voice in her head. "Where are you, coward?"

She was in the middle of her house, a perfect environment for this conversation. Nopony was around to start accusing insanity. "I'm in your head. Close your eyes. You'll be able to see me."

"I'm not talking to you!" shae said defiantly. "You used my friend as a tool!"

"You didn't give me much choice now did you?" he replied. If he could hold her off from finding out what he was doing, then he would be able to much more efficiently do his job.

"Choice? I gave you the choice toback down. You should have known what I could do."

"I thought I did. But you continue to surprise me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you're better at hiding things than I remember. You used to be so bland. Now look at you." Found it. Now it's time to talk. "Why don't you look at me? We can't do anything to eachother while in here."

"Why should I look at you?" Rainbow replied. "You're a disgrace. You don't deserve to see me. And I'm too awesome to see you."

"You should look at me because I'm your brother," Nightwolf tried to explain. "We need to talk about this and I don't have much more time in here."

"We can talk just as is."

"Alright," Nightwolf said. it was the best he was going to get right now. "You should know that I didn't just come here to see you and your friends."

"That was pretty obvious when you grabbed my friend for a shield," Rainbow retorted.

"I came here on a mission. Celestia sent me to look over you guys. She never said why, but I think something bad is about to happen. We need to be able to defend on a moments notice."

"What could possibly want to attack Ponyville?" Rainbow asked. "Or are you just making things up so you can talk to me?"

"I don't know what would want to attack this small town and I'm not making this up. I could explain more, but I'm running out of time. Be careful. Don't let anything unusual get past you."

"What do you mean? What are you up to? What are you planning-" Rainbow was cut off by the connection being severed.

"Well that was nice," Nightwolf said to himself. "Now you have to go to the forest on the other end of town. This should be quick."

Less than 5 minutes later Nightwolf arrived in the forest. The herbs he needed for his potion should be in there. He checked his saddlebags to make sure everything was still with him that he might need.

With everything checked off, he went into the forest in search of different ingredients that may not even be in there, prepared for everything.

Defenses Crumbling

The forest was darker than he thought it would be. There was a lot of dark energies. This forest was a dangerous place to be. But that didn't matter.

He had to find what he was looking for. If it wasn't here, he would have to go to some place on the other end of the country. It had to be here. And it is.

There it is, Nightwolf thought. The genezing. A powerful healing plant that could heal any injury, no matter how bad. "What is that?" a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Protegat!" Nightwolf yelled, jumping back and facing the pony behind him. A large, green shield had popped up in front of him, blocking any attacks thrown at him.

"Calm down," Twilight said. "I just went by your house, only to see you leaving."

"Yeah, well I was planning on collwcting a few herbs," Nightwolf mentioned. "And what were you doing by my house?"

"I was thinking about you and thought we should talk," she said. "Is it a crime to want to talk?"

"It's not a crime, but I thought we agreed to meet tomorrow to talk," Nightwolf mentioned their earlier agreement.

"I guess I forgot," she answered.

Strange, Nightwolf thought. She didn't seem like the kind of mare to forget something like that. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"That magic thing you did," the purple mare replied quickly. "I was thinking that maybe you could show me a little bit more"

"What?" Nightwolf asked, turning back to look at her. Something isn't right.

He was barely able to keep himself upright when he saw a slight flicker run across Twilight's body. That's not Twilight. "Who are you?" he said,bringing the shield back up. "And what have you done with my sister's friend?"

"What do you mean?" came a double-voice. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"What did you do with her?!" Nightwolf nearly screamed. Her eyes were no longer purple, but a reptilian green.

The creature stayed silent, grinning.

"Did you really thnk that disguise would work?" Nightwolf said, reaching for his knife. "It has to be someone I love, changeling."

"Nightwolf?" the thing said, mimicing Twilight's voice. It grinned madly and dived at him, discarding it's disguise. Nightwolf ducked and rolled out of the way, standing up with his armed hoofin front of him in one, fluid motion. But it was gone.

"Where are you?!" Nightwolf yelled into the forest. Then he realized what it was really doing. It had been a distraction.

Nightwolf took to the skies faster than ever, burning a hole in the trees above on impact. Speeding back to town, He could only think of one thing. His sister was in danger.
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Rainbow couldn't stop thinking that she caused her brother to act in such a way as to defend himself with her friend. Maybe she had gotten a little carried away.

But maybe Nightwolf was just that kind of pony that would try to do anything to win. Something was't right though. He was hiding something even bigger than why he used Twilight as a shield.
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The books were finally in order when Twilight heard a knock on her door. Strange, thought the unicorn. Not many ponies will interrupt me when I'm re-shelving.

When she opened the door, Rainbow dash was standing there. She was looking around and dashed inside the second the door opened. "Hey rainbow. I'm good. Sure you can come in," Twilight said, acting as if they had actually spoken. After closing the door, she noticed how worried the pegasus looked. "What's wrong, Rainbow?"

"Have you seen my brother lately?" Rainbow asked.

"Why do you ask? I thought you didn't want anything to do with him."

"I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right. Something's happened."

"What's happened?"

"I don't know," Dash said. "He told me to not let anything strange get past me, but I don't know what do do. He hasn't spoken to me since and I think he might be in trouble."

"He spoke to you?" Twilight started. "How in Equestria did he talk to you?"

"I don't know," Dash replied. "He spoke to me in my head."

"In your head," Twilight said. "You're sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Rainbow said. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"Well ponies can't just talk to other ponies through telepathy," Twilight stated.

"Pegasi also can't preform magic. But he did. Something happened, and I need to know what."
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"Rainbow!" Nightwolf screamed into the empty cloud home. "Where are you? I need to talk to you!" He was answered with more emptyness. "Come on! Answer me!"

"How did you know where my house is?" Rainbow Dash asked from behind him. Nightwolf turned around so quickly he created a draft.

"Thank Celestia you're all right," Nightwolf said, taking his sister in a tight embrace. "Wait."

"What?" Rainbow asked as Nightwolf backed up and looked his sister in the eye.

"What day of the week were you born on?"

"How the hay should I know that?" she answered.

"Just checking. I had to make sure it was the real you," he explained. "I know what we're up against. One tried to attack me earlier."

"What is it?" she asked.

"You should know. You're one of them," Nightwolf told her. He flung a potion at her. When it broke and splashed over her face, it revealed the changeling behind the disguise. "My sister knows wha day of the week se was born on! How many of you are there? What do you want with this town? Why are you here?"

He was barely able to get his words out before it hissed and charged him, throwing him off balance. Nightwolf rolled out of his fall and thrust his hoof forward. "Ligatis!" Nightwolf screamed at it. Vines made of clouds burst up and wrapped around the changeling before it could get out the window. "Answer me!"

"You cannot comprehend what we can do, Balancer!" it said, powering up it's horn and severing the bindings.

"Mil-eo!" The thing slammed against a wall, sending cloud puffs up around it. "Gabháil cruach!" Steel bars produced themselves from the clouds. "Ūrjā vicchēda karavō!" Nightwolf screamed, stopping the cutting spell it was about to preform. He was beginning to lose focus. Too much more magic use would throw him into unconsious. "Answer my question."

"You will never recieve answers from me," it hissed. "Your barriers will fall withn a matter of days. My sacrifice will only bring forth your faliure. Even now, you fail to see your crumbling defenses. You think you can stop us. You will perish with the rest that defy us!" it crunched a tooth and started shaking. soon it began to completely dissipate. "You will perish."

Mission Revealed

It took a matter of seconds after the creature said those words for it to completely dissolve. Nothing was left of it. ot even dust. "That's not the worst thing I've heard," Nightwolf commented.

First thing's first, he thought. I have to find my sister. I need to go back to the forest.
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"What the hay happened to my house!?" Rainbow Dash screamed upon entering her cloud home. The walls were dented, the floor had a hole in it and there were steel bars protruding from the clouds themselves. "It looks like there was a fight."

"There might have been," Twilight said. "He might have come here looking for you."

"Why would he come looking for me?"

"You're his sister. Why wouldn't he?" Twilight was examining the steel. "It looks like some kind of summoning. Very basic. Just like he said."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash said. "Did you talk to him? After he used you as a pony shield? You went to talk to him?"

"Just a little chat!" Twilight tried. "I wanted to know more about how he did that. It shouldn't be possible. But he did it!"

"You and your knowledge," Rainbow said.

But it was the last thing she said before being attacked by five adult changelings.
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"It should be here! This is the perfect climate for the root!" Nightwolf exclaimed as he went searching for the last herb that he needed for the tracking spell. "Where is it?!"

He turned around, only to find the herb a few steps in front of him. "What the hay? I guess I was just being blind," he said to himself. He took one step forward, but paused. He would have noticed something as prominent as that if it were there before.

Quickly, he took a step back, stumbling on a tree root. He took out his crushing bowl and crucher and began mixing herbs. After finishing the last of the set that he needed, he mixed some water in to make it a paste. Finally, he sprad te paste around his eyes. "Just as I thought."

The herb that was there was surrounded by dark webbing. a trap laid out by a creature so deadly, feweven knew of their existance. "Fool's Doom."

"And you are no fool," the crature spoke from behind Nightwolf. He spun around to face thisthing while keeping hisdistance from the booby-trapped herb. "So I give you my offer. Would you prefer a mental or physical challenge?"

Fool's Doom was a creature that only had one or two per forest. Ithas a snake-like neck and head with the body of a tiger. It's tail can spin you around so fast your kneck snapps. But its real weapon is to lure in it's prey with a simple physical desire that would trap them there so it could pull them off the ground and eat the pony's face. Literally. It eats faces for meals. If you don't fall for the trap, it will give you a choice between a mental or physical challenge. If you win, you neverhave to worry about that specific Fool's Doom again. But if you lose, you lose your face.

"Since I'm more limited in my physical strengths," Nightwolf said, "Test me mentally."

"As you wish," the thing said. It ten reached down and pulled out the now familiar purple mare from a nearby bush. "You should know that she was following you. So here is the challenge. You can walk away, with the herb, and save yourself, or you could save her, giving up your own life."

"Nightwolf!" screamed Twilight.
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"We have to get out of here!" Twilight screamed over the sound of magic discharging. The beams were flying everywhere. if one of them tried to escape, they'd become swiss cheese.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Rainbow retorted. they were both hiding behind a table, but they were two seperate tables. "If you can think of a way to get out of here without one of us getting blasted, let me know."
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Twilight knew that she had to find a way out. But how did these things even find them? How did the changelings know where they were going to be? Who was leaking this information?

"If you want to think a little faster, it would be appreciated," Rainbow said.

"Don't try to rush me! I've never been in this situation!" Twilight replied. Wait, Twilight thought. Does Rainbow Dash even know what 'appreciated' means?

"What would one of the characters in your books do?" Rainbow asked, disturbing her thoughts.

"I have an idea," Twilight said. "But you might want to brace yourself." She readied her magic and jumped up. the changelings jumped back in shock. There was a release in magic and Twilight passed out on the spot.
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There was a large sound of magic release and the blasting of magic suddenly stopped. "Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, hesitantly.

There she was. Laying on the floor, passed out, was Twilight. The magic use must have been a bit much. But Rainbow would have to worry about her friend later.

Rushing over to the nearest changeling, Rainbow took some rope that she had and tied up the thing so it wouldn't get away. After repeating the process with the rest, she tied the creatures to one of the steel bars.

Moving back over to Twilight, Rainbow crouched down and picked up her friend to take her to the hospital. But as Rainbow stood up to take off, one word escaped Twilight's mouth.

"Traitor."
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"Don't worry, Twilight," Nightwolf said. "I'll figure out a way to get us out of here."

"There are two options," the Fool's Doom said. "You could let her go and sacrifice yourself, or you could leave and let her die. I'll even let you take that herb you want so badly."

"There has to be a third option!" Nightwolf screamed. He could leave, but what kind of brother would let his sister's friend die? But if he stayed, he wouldnever get toexplain to his sister. "Twilight?"

"Yeah?" she replied hesitantly. Fear was obvious on her face.

"Why didn't you do anything when you saw the changeling attack me?"

"What?"

"When the changeling attacked me, you did nothing. Why?"

"I didn't want to attack it," she answered.

Illusion, Nightwolf thought. The entire thing has been an illusion. "I asked you fo a mental challenge," Nightwolf began. "And that's exactly what you gave me." he thrust his hoof toward Twilght and saidone word, "Fo̱s!"

Twilight burst into flame and for a second, Nightwolf thought he had been wrong. but that theory was disproved when she simply vanished without a flash of magic. "You're clever. I never expected you to figure it out. I will leave you in peace with a warning. Beware your feelings. Control them and you might survive the upcoming ordeal. Don't, and it will be your gravestone added to the rest who resist."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nightwolf said, turning to take the herb. He walked over to and pulled it out of the ground, turned around and walked away.
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Twilight awoke in a hospital bed surrounded by her friends. "What happened?"

"You blasted all those changelings with one shot!" Rainbow Dash answered. "That had to be the most awesome shot ever!"

"Rainbow here told us that ya shot some of those changelings and that you had passed out," Applejack said. "We all came here as fast as our legs could carry us."

"We were so worried about you," Fluttershy put in.

"Well I know what we have to do," Twilight said definitively. "I need to check out of this hospital first."

"What next?" Rainbow asked.

"Next, we need to go talk to your brother."
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"Mārī śakti vāparō rē'īnbō ḍĕśa śōdhō. Znajsci jaje. Tēnā ṭrĕka karō. Znajsci jaje." Nightwolf completed the tracking spell ritual but got nothing. "What? That shouldn't be possible. I've got to try again," he said to the walls. "Mārī śakti vāparō rē'īnbō ḍĕśa śōdhō. Znajsci jaje. Tēnā ṭrĕka karō. Znajsci jaje," Nightwolf repeated. Still nothing. "That can't be right."

He walked over to his desk and took a piece of parchment out and began to write. "Please let me be wrong."

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1 week later

Dear Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie pie and Rainbow Dash,

I have some explaining to do, I know. I know I haven't really been around to talk to, but I hope I finished the research by the time you read this. Meet me in the forest within 3 days of reading this so I can explain everything. I set up a sensor so I would know when you got to this. There is a clearing. Remember. 3 days.
-Nightwolf

"What kind of ponies does he think we are?" Rainbow said. "He ignores us for a week and then says that he needs to talk to us?"

"There has to be some sort of explination," Twilight tried to reason. "He is your brother."

"Only by blood," Rainbow said, annoyed. "He isn't my brother since he used you as a shield. What kind of pony does that?"

"One pushed to his limit," Came Nightwolf's voice from behind them. He was badly wounded, covered in cuts and bruises. One wing was clamped tightly against his back, the other limp on his side.

"What happened to you?"

"I was attacked," he said. "I need to tell you-" he was cut off when he passed out cold.
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Nightwolf woke up in the hospital. "What am I doing here?"

"You were hurt," Rainbow said. "You needed the help."

"Always loyal," Nightwolf commented. "That's what makes you a good sister."

"You said something in your note about how you would talk about what you were really doing here," Twilight reminded Nightwolf.

"Right. Look, I didn't come here to visit. I didn't come here to see how all of you were doing. Those were just added bonuses that came with this mission. Princess Celestia sent me here to protect the town and its ponies. I was specifically sent to investigate some strange occurances. I did some research and found out that there was a pattern. One that I had seen before. The Queen is here and she is going to take over Ponyville if I don't stop her."

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. "How do you know all this?"

"Because," Nightwolf said. "The Queen did the same thing to my tribe. And more importantly, she killed our parents."

Trapped

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. The Queen killed her parents? "You said it was a freak storm."

"It was," Nightwolf said, "guided by her. All storms have somepony directing it. When I found our parent's bodies, I went on a rampage. I destroyed everything within 10 yards of me. And I saw her face. She was leaving. It was designed to do that to me. They died because of me.

"They had heard of where I was after the event with the drug and came to see me. Chrysalis must havebeen waiting with that storm when they came by. She triggered it."

"How do you know she triggered it?" Rainbow asked.

"After calming down and almost passing out from over-use of magic, I went up to rest on a storm cloud. The storm cloud she used. I noticed prints that didn't belong to any pegasus. So I took a copy and left to go back to the village.

"All the ponies had begun to act odd. They were watching me. Following me. That day I heard the screams from the tribe, I hadn't gotten tback to a deserted area. The bodies littering the ground were fresh. I found a single dead changeling and matched the basic print. But the things hooves were too small. Then she came.

"She hovered over me for a short period of time and then moved away, turning to face me. No words were spoken. Changelings surrounded me, shifted into my parents and foster parents. They were feeding. I could feel my life force being drained, but she stopped them. After they left, i crawled over to where the Queen had been standing. The prints were a perfect match.

"Since then, I have been hunting any changelings that come across my path. I jumped on this job as soon as I heard what it was. And you six can fill in the rest," Nightwolf finished. They were all staring at him.

"Why didn't you tell us," Rainbow's voice was barely a whisper.

"Because I needed to know who the traitor was. And I might have figured it out."

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"The Queen disguised herself as-" Nightwolf was cut off by the nurse entering the room.

"It's time for Nightwolf here to get his rest," the nurse said kindly. "You can all come and visit tomorrow."

"It'll be too late!" Nightwolf screamed. "Let me out of here!" he struggled against restraints that he hadn't even noticed. "Get me out of here! She's here! She'll take Ponyville just like she took my tribe! Don't let her fool you!"
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"Maybe we shouldn't have asked," Fluttershy said. "He seemed pretty upset."

"He seemed crazy," Rainbow said. "What he said doesn't make any sense! And why would he wait until now to tell us this?"

"Maybe what he really needs is a mental hospital," Twilight put in. He really needs to get out of that hospital, she thought. What if he's right?
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I have to get out of here, Nightwolf thought. "Slā'isa," Nightwolf muttered. As the restraints were cut open by his magic, he started to move. But once her started moving, he felt a sharp pain travel up his wing. He repositioned himself so he could see the wing and realized it had been broken pretty badly.

He grabbed some bandages and began to wrap his wing, taking the pain. He heard some noise outside his door and quickly closed the cabinet and ran into his bed, moving his hooves so they were where the retraints are and acted asleep.

The door opened and hoofsteps were heard. "His restraints are cut," a deep voice mentioned. "Were you planning on having him escape?"

"No!" the nurse said. "I would never betray her!"

"Replace his restraints and keep him here until her work is done."

"Yes sir," the nurse replied.

"And use stronger ones this time. He might have split the restraints himself."

After the hoofseps of the colt vanished, Nightwolf sprang up, grabbed the nurse and covered her mouth before she could scream. "I'm going to move my hoof now. Don't scream." He backed up and faced the nurse. "Are you one of them?"

"No!" The nurse said. "You have to get back into the bed."

"I have to get out of here," Nightwolf corrected. "But you can't be seen until hours after my escape. I won't let her hurt anypony else. You have my word."

"You can't stop her," the nurse said. "She's too strong."

"I can and I will."

"You don't even know who she really is."

"Of course I do," Nightwolf said. In one motion he pulled her towards him, twisted around and chopped he neck. After checking her vital signs, he began to leave. "Only a changeling can avoid a tracking spell."
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"I just don't think it would be safe to see him," Rainbow explained. "He probably ended up in the mental hospital anyways because of that outburst."

"It's been 10 days, Rainbow," Twilight said. "If he's there, I'll know. I'm going to find hm and talk to him about this, okay?"

"I just don't think it's the best idea. He could have gone violent."

"I won't talk to him if he's that bad."

"Fine." Twilight left, heading in the direction of the mental hospital. It was the most likely place after that outburst.

When she got there, the place was a wreck. There were papers everywhere, bits of a wall on the ground and patients running about. Quickly, she vanished before being seen.
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Nightwolf was running throught the hallway when a doctor passed by, almost finding him. "Adraśya ḍagalō." Suddenly, it looked like he was under water from behind his cloak. He was shrouded from view of anypony that looked in his direction.

Making his way silently to the door, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He moved toward it to take a closer look. It was a letter. Written to him.

Dear Nightwolf,

I am truly sorry for what happened to your parents. They were an obstacle that needed to be taken care of. You should know that you have only a few weeks left to prove your point. After that, I will attack. You have until 2 weeks from now to solve this and try to stop me. good luck, Balancer.

She was taunting him! Afterall that he had been through she was taunting him! Now is not the time to be worrying about that. You have two weeks. Just enough time to prove who she really is.

1 1/2 weeks later

"You are all probably wondering why I wanted to meet you here," Nightwolf said. They had met in the forest as agreed.

"That would probably help," Twilight mentioned.

"I know who the Queen is and what her plan is. In 2 days she will attack."

"And how do you know this?" Rainbow Dash put in. "You did noting but almost get us killed since you got here! Are you a spy?"

"Don't be jumping to conclusions so quickly, sis," he said. "I would have expected you to react this way. That's why I called all of you here. My sister isn't that paranoid. She can't evade tracking spells. She would have beat me to a pulp when she first saw me. She would have had me thrown into a mental hospital themoment I got to town. You are not my sister. You are not Rainbow Dash! Give up the charade Chrysalis! Your secret's out!"
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"What are you talking about?"

"You killed my parents! You killed my tribe!" Nightwolf's voice grew louder with each word. "You disguised yourself as my sister! For all I know, you killed her, too!"

"Nightwolf!" Rainbow's voice almost dipped into panic. "Get a hold of yourself! I'm not the Queen! I'm not a changeling!"

"LIAR!" he screamed as he charged. Nightwolf slammed Rainbow into a nearby tree. Stunned, she didn't see his hoof coming up to hit her. But she didn't need to. She pushed off the tree slamming him back and took off. Nioghtwolf persued.

As he came up behind her, she bucked at him. He dodged and tried to tackle her to the ground. His flight was still too impared to be useful. Using her advantage, she rocketed up into the sky and vanished into her house.
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"We need to tell everypony what's going on," Nightwolf said. "I don't know how long she's going to stay up there. She might even beworking on trapping us right now."

"What are you doing?!" Twilight screamed.

"You bafoon!" Rarity yelled at him.

"You no-good lyin' colt!" Applejack called him.

"What are you guys talking about?" Nightwolf said. "Twilight, you have to know how convincing Chrysalis can be!"

"She wasn't trying to be too different from who she really was!" Twilight yelled at him. "That was my friend! There was absolutely no change in he character!"

"That wasn't Rainbow Dash," he said finally and took off into the forest.
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The day of the Capture of Ponyville

"Nopony is going to be going anywhere!" screamed a familiar voice. "You are all trapped by my clouds. If any of you decide to try to escape, you will be electrocuted."

"Rainbow Dash?!" they all said at once. All but one.

"Nightwolf was right," Twilight said, solemnly. "He tried to warn us."

"I did," Nightwolf said from behind them. "We have to confront her. It's our only choice."
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"Come here Chrysalis!" Nightwolf screamed when they had reached the forest. "Show yourself!"

"You don't have to scream," Chrysalis said from the shadows, disguised as Rainbow Dash. "But I wouldn't recommend what you're about to do."

"I'm going to beat your face in!" Nightwolf almost screamed as he took a step towards her. "You killed my family you-" He had moved forward too much and was slammed in the face with steel bars. As th cage closed around all of them, separating them in the process, Nightwolf began to see her real plan. "You tricked us. All of us. You needed the Elements seperate. And I just led them into your trap."

"Indeed," she said. "And now nothing can stand in my way."

"But why take the town?"

"For ransom. A trade. If I get ruling power over Equestria, I give back all the Elements, unharmed."

"Do you really think Celestia would do that?" Twilight asked from her cage.

"Of course," Chrysalis responded. "She wouldn't want anything to happen to the real Element of Loyalty, would she? Then there would be no hope for Equestria and I get to take over by force. And there is noting you can do to stop me."

Link to Part 2