Twilight Sparkle sat in a first-class train car.

The rhythmic sound of the train rattling over the rails and the gentle shaking of the carriage was almost hypnotic. If she were to lean her head against the large window to her left, she would have probably fallen asleep at some point. The fact that she was also almost alone in the cart and that it was completly silent amplified the relaxing experience.

Only she and her dragon assistant and adopted brother Spike were enjoying the luxurious interior of the first-class. They had the entire wagon for themselves. But none of them paid the and masterfully crafted but vastly decadent wooden decorations on the walls and banks or the beautiful carpet with its golden ornamentation on the floor any mind. Luxury had become the norm for them ever since Celestia had taken Twilight under her wing.

Spike looked out one of the huge windows and Twilight read the newspaper.

"… which adds to the sum of incidents and makes a total of five ponies going missing without a trace in only the last three weeks. The regional population is deeply concerned. Who causes these mysterious disappearances? Why do they do it? Who will be next? Have the shapeshifting monsters beyond the western frontier anything to do with it? Can the army or guard protect us and when will the princesses intervene? We have spoken with..."

Twilight sighed and put the newspaper away. “All these years later, and the press is still trying to stir up fear about the changelings. The western frontier is a dangerous strip of land. Ponies going missing is tragic, but doesn’t immediately indicate an imminent invasion of Chrysalis. Maybe they have just gotten into trouble with one of the gangs.”

Spike nodded slightly. Twilight was right, the west was not known for its safety.

“Didn’t you girls and the guards defeat all of them back then in Canterlot?” asked Spike, without looking away from the window.

“This depends on how you define the word 'defeat'.” Twilight rubbed her chin, visibly in thought, the events of the battle replaying in her mind once again. “We forced them out of Canterlot and over the mountains, but then we lost track of them. I still wonder if the survivors made it back to wherever they came from. Their leader seemed determined enough to find a way back. Speaking of them, if they made it back, and what we defeated was indeed not all of changeling kind, we could have a serious problem.”

“Why is that? I thought changelings are just a bunch of mindless drones following Chrysalis’ orders,” said Spike, finally averting his eyes from the window and the passing landscape. "Yeah, they are many, but nothing the RTDH and your tactical genius couldn’t deal with."

“That’s the thing. I am not sure about that,” said Twilight, too deep in her own thoughts to react to Spikes compliment. “I doubt that those who persisted in Canterlot had a psychological connection to Chrysalis, like the hivemind of the others. Why would they change their behavior and tactics so suddenly?. Before that they fought in big swarms but after Shining and Cadence blasted a majority of them plus their queen away, they started to act as small units or even as lone fighters. They bunkered down in every building. Their fanatic endurance ruined almost all of Canterlot.”

Spike watched Twilight's monologue in silence. He was used to her talking about the thing she thought about, so he patiently waited for her to finish. By listening to her monologuing alone, Spike had learned a lot about how Twilight's mind worked.

“You know what?” Twilight asked, but before Spike could say anything she continued, “In the beginning i thought we were fighting a single entity in form of a hivemind, but the more I think about it. I think they heavily remind me of our own forces with their tactics, cohesion and spirit. They stole our guns and copied our tactics. Sadly, we couldn’t take a single prisoner. None of them ever gave up or surrendered. In retrospective, it is kind of inspiring to think about with how much devotion they fought a battle they knew they couldn’t win. They would make a great ally if we somehow got to negotiate with them.”

Spike rose an eyebrow. Maybe Twilight was getting a little to fascinated by the beings that literally seeked to destroy Equestria and harmony as a concept.

“But let me return to your question. I believe that they will rebuild their forces and use all the experience they earned while fighting us to adjust their tactics and strategies. Plus, all the guns they acquired. It wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to replicate them. The idea of a whole swarm armed with these weapons is actually terrifying," said Twilight, her voice cold, calculating and empty of emotion, not sounding terrified at all. "And what if they developed their tactics beyond swarms? In the last month of the battle, i recall that clearly, they had organized in way smaller groups, imitating our squads."

Twilight fell silent. She looked like she wanted to say so much more, but her lips stayed closed. The countless thoughts within her head staying hidden from the world. Spike looked her into the eyes, but her eyes were focused on something only she could see, somewhere far away.

"I still think we should have tried to track them and locate the place of their origin,” she concluded suddenly.

“Wait, you didn’t?”

Twilight shook her head.

“No, Celestia specifically instructed me not to. The few hundred survivors were not worth the effort. Aside from that, Canterlot was in ruins. We had other priorities,” Twilight explained. The princesses had tried their best to swipe the whole affair under the oversized, with gold decorated, carpet after the battle, and although Twilight was not as furious about it anymore, she still thought about what could all have happened if she had been allowed to track the bugs down.

“Why don’t you try now? Your alicorn magic would surely still be enough to find their trails, even after all the time that passed ” said Spike and grabbed the newspaper Twilight had put away.

“I could most definitely find them. The question is, do i really want to find them? I thought about this a lot. What if they have a remotely state like structure? They will undoubtedly see it as a declaration of war if we just walk in on what they see as their territory, uninvited. No no, it will be better if we just leave them alone. They should have learned their lesson not to mess with us. No need to provoke a war over mere curiosity.”

Spike raised an eyebrow again. Twilight, a pony that, if it was not already the element of magic, could easily be the element of curiosity, saying “no” to investigating something completly new. Well yes, she was more interested in magic than foreign cultures, but from what Spike knew about the changelings, they were masters of combat and disguise magic. "Your command over the Royal Taskforce for Defending Harmony has really changed you," said Spike, his voice sounding a little sad.

"Since Canterlot, everything just keeps changing, and not for the better," the young dragon muttered.

“Oh look, there is Canterlot. We should be arriving there soon,” Twilight said, ignoring Spike completely and pointed out the window at a mountain chain in the distance. The golden roofs of the majestic city reflected the sunlight and made the city visible from afar.

“You still haven’t told me why the princesses ordered you back so suddenly,” said Spike, changing topic.

“Because it wasn’t the princesses that called me back to Canterlot,” said Twilight casually.

Spike dropped the newspaper and stared at her with wide eyes and open mouth. “We left the post and mission given to us by princess Celestia herself, by the order of someone who is not Celestia?” he said loudly.

“I wouldn’t say order. It was rather a request.”

“A request?” The little dragon was completely confused. What kind of request, and from what pony, would cause Twilight of all ponies to disobey Celestia´s command?

Twilight nodded.

“From whom?” Spike continued to ask. He couldn’t wrap his head around why they were on their way to Canterlot.

“The army high command asked me to come.”

“But none of them stand over-” Spike was interrupted by Twilight raising a finger, ordering him to fall silent.

“They asked me to come because the relation between Celestia and Luna is deteriorating. Apparently, arguments and fights between them have grown in frequency without any apparent reasooooon.” Twilight stretched the last syllable out as her face froze for a moment.

“Twilight? Are you alright?” asked Spike concerned.

Twilight´s eyes darted from Canterlot castle in the distance and the newspaper on Spikes lap.

“Spike, I think we need to keep our eyes peeled. Something´s brewing.”

Author's Note

I finally decided to share my work of the last two years with the world. Constructive criticism and opinions are greatly appreciated. Because english is not my native tongue, grammatical errors could occur, so please tell me if you find any so i can fix them. More chapters are already written and will be published once i am happy with them.