Blaze the Pony Tale

by Wolven5


228. The Loss of Faith - Part 11

Hours earlier…

It wasn’t very far into the depths of the energems mine that the expeditionary force found the clear evidence of the struggle that had occurred earlier. The mining tunnels were filled with artifacts of war, broken weapons, scratched walls, scattered mining tool crushed underhoof carelessly, and of course… the occasional splotch of dried blood. But the strangest sight left over from the short, gruesome skirmish was a set of tracks that indicated something had been forcibly dragged away.

And of course were the veins and rough cuts of energems, energems, energems galore! Everywhere they looked, they saw energems of all types and sizes. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, topazes, lapis lazulis, onyxes, agates, peridots, garnets, amethysts, quartzes, turquoises, like walking through a kaleidoscope! Some bigger than castle towers, some so large they made up whole walls of tunnels, other tiny yet numerous that they looked like stars on the dark ceilings of the tunnels. Each gem gave off varying amounts of mystical force, the physical manifestation of magical energy that emphasizes magical power.

Wherever there were less or smaller energems, the mystical force was soft but thick, like walking through heavy theater curtains. Wherever the energems were vast or many, it was hard to breathe and move, like getting caught in a sandstorm.

The team was glad to find a tunnel not so thick with energems, where they took a break.

“It’s… so… crazy in here!” one of the guards panted, another agreeing, “Yeah! I don’t know how these miners or the guards stationed here were able to handle this day after day!”

“Think of it like training,” Midnight spoke as he took a swig of water from a thermos he’d made appear from a bubble of mana.
“Like… carrying heavy loads for extended periods of time. You get used to the weight and it makes you stronger.”

He offered the thermos to anyone else who was thirsty and one of the guards accepted it gratefully when Shining Armor commented, “Still, I can see why this mine is so valuable. All these energems? It’s almost like the Crystal Empire crammed into a smaller space! So much power, and that can mean big things for Equestria’s resources.”

“Which is why it’s vital we insure that this mine is reclaimed,” Midnight made more bubbles of mana appear, willing them to float to the team members. With a thought he popped them, revealing ration bars, made of granola, oats, dried fruit, nuts, and vitamins.
“If the changelings are still here, we must ascertain how many so that we can return to Canterlot to put together a sufficient strike force to clear them out. Once we’ve finished our ration bars, we’ll carry on.”

It wasn’t long before the team proceeded inward, their break over. One of the two Hoods suddenly barred the group, whispering, “Something is ahead!”

The guards who wore Zapper-Saddles kept their eyes sharp and their aims ready as Midnight and Shining Armor both erected a ward for sneak-attacks, in case of an ambush. The Hood looked to Midnight, who nodded his permission, and the Hood carefully scouted ahead, almost vanishing in the darkness when…

“Your Majesties!”

“What is it?!” Shining Armor called, everypony on alert.

The Hood answered with a sad voice, “It’s the lieutenant…”

Shining Armor and Midnight shared a troubled look and both gestured the rest of them to follow as they hurried forward. They found the Hood, his head hung low while sitting by a corpse. Midnight lit up his horn and sighed sadly once he had a better look.
“Cheat Code…”

Lieutenant Cheat Code lay dead, the left side of the base of his neck torn, the gaping wound going right through the carotid artery. Entire plates of his armor were missing and a foul odor came from the still-bubbling gash in his neck.

A quick whiff of the compound corroding the vital artery tipped and Midnight off to the true cause of death, “Stay back! The wound oozes with some kind of venom…”

“Are changelings venomous?” a guard asked, sounding a little nervous.

“Makes sense,” Shining Armor cast a sterilization barrier over Cheat Code’s body to insure nopony would be contaminated.
“Changelings can’t always fool their prey so they must have some kind of venom to incapacitate them.”

“No, they don’t…” Midnight disagreed, all eyes looking to him. Once the sterilization barrier did its work, it dispelled, giving Midnight a clearer look of the wound on Cheat Code’s neck.
“I’ve studied changeling anatomy, and they don’t have venom. They can secrete a natural adhesive, which they use for their cocoons, they can charm or bewitch unwary minds, they can shapeshift, and they can feed off of love by sucking it right out of the air around their victims. Whatever killed Cheat Code… I wonder if it wasn’t a changeling at all!”

The guards all shared troubled looks by this hypothesis, that they might be dealing with more than just changelings, and it suddenly felt a lot colder in these mining tunnels. Sensing their anxiety, Midnight took a deep breath and addressed his agent, “You. I need you and another volunteer to take Lieutenant Cheat Code’s body to the outside so he can be taken home for proper burial.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the Hood bowed and looked to the rest of the guards. “Anyone interested in helping me take the lieutenant out of this place?”

“I will!” volunteered a unicorn guard named Heat Wave, with a flaming orange coat and sandy yellow mane with charcoal black highlights. “I’ll levitate him and you lead the way.”

“Here, take one of the Communechoes,” Midnight offered one of the devices to the Hood. “Keep it on at all times so we can stay in contact and hear you. Once you’re outside, join Spearhead and Red Hex and await the rest of us.”

The Hood and Heat Wave both saluted and Heat Wave gingerly levitated Cheat Code’s body in an aura of golden red. As they turned to head back to the outside, Heat Wave said, “Be careful, Your Majesties.”

“You too,” Shining Armor waved him off and the team watched them vanish down the path they came from.
“Alright, gentlecolts! We’re on enemy turf and possibly up against an unknown hostile. Keep your eyes peeled, your ears to the ground, and those Zappers ready!”

“Yessir!” the team stood steadfast and Shining Armor took the lead, Midnight beside him as they proceeded further in.

But as they advanced, Midnight was troubled, Something about that venom smelled familiar… But changelings aren’t venomous. So what exactly killed Cheat Code…?  

As Heat Wave and the Hood were making their way back outside, Cheat Code’s body levitating before them, Heat Wave couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around the Hood. On one hoof, he understood Prince Midnight’s agents worked under the radar, but it still bothered him to be working with somepony who wouldn’t even reveal his face.

“So, you… been working for Prince Midnight long?” Heat Wave instantly felt stupid by his attempt at small talk.

“His Majesty is an effective leader, decisive in his methods and adamant in will,” the Hood responded in a flat tone that implied he wouldn’t be much of a conversationalist.

“Oh! Well… he does give off that impression, that he’s a good leader, heh heh, eh…” Heat Wave felt so awkward. Here he was, miles from home in a creepy mine where ponies had died, one of them he was carrying in his telekinetic aura, and attempting conversation with an obvious stick in the mud.

As they came to a fork they’d passed previously earlier when they’d been with the team, the air began to smell fresher.

“We’re nearing the exit. Thank the Goddess…” the Hood muttered with a relieved sigh. “The energems in this mine are beautiful, but the impression is stained by what happened here.”

“Yeah, no kidding, poor guy,” Heat Wave looked at the lieutenant. “I wonder if-”

“Hey guys!”

Heat Wave and the Hood both flinched and turned around to see, coming from the other tunnel of the fork…
“Spearhead?! What th- What’re you- Aren’t you supposed to be waiting outside with Red Hex and gathering the corpses?!”

“Oh that, uh…” Spearhead rubbed the back of his head with his wing and smiled with a shrug, “I… got worried, is all! After a while, I decided to follow you guys in but I guess you took that other way.”

“You still disobeyed direct orders, Spearhead, and you know-” Heat Wave was talking when suddenly…!

The Hood lunged forward, a blade lashing out and came very close to stabbing Spearhead’s eye, the Pegasus yelping as he jumped back, and the Hood put himself between Spearhead and Heat Wave, the latter yelling, “Hey, wha- What’re you doing?!”

“Tell me, Spearhead,” the Hood spoke, “Why didn’t you let us know you were coming inside to meet us? What with the current situation, it would have been wiser to have us expecting you.”

“Well, I…” Spearhead stalled, his eyes getting shifty, “I… was disobeying orders to stay outside, after all! So…and how could I have let you know I was coming anyway?”

“Hey, buddy, I know things are tense right now, but-” Heat Wave tried to protest, but the Hood went on.

“Oh? So let me also ask you this… Where is your weapon? Prince Midnight gave one to you before the rest of us entered the mine.”

“I… left it outside, with… the other guard. Um…” Spearhead was getting more anxious and sounding less and less credible.

“Uh… Spearhead?” Heat Wave was starting to get the idea and prayed he was wrong. “What was it you got for your sister on her last birthday?”

"Oh c'mon, buddy!" Spearhead was deflecting, "Is this really the time for you to take an interest in my sis?"

"Answer the question!" the Hood demanded and then things grew even more tense when Spearhead fell silent.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh… I guess you ponies really are smarter than I thought,” mocked the creature wearing Spearhead’s appearance.
“Brothers and sisters! Attack!”

A loud and horrible buzzing echoed all around them and Heat Wave and the Hood froze in terror as they saw dozens of glowing greenish-blue eyes, narrowed and glaring right at them.

Already the team was hurrying back, having overheard the whole conversation on Midnight’s Communecho. But the screams told them it might be too late.

“Hold on, boys!” Midnight yelled into the device as they ran back down the tunnel. “We’re on our way, just-”

“SIRE! HELP US!!! THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM!!!!” screamed back Heat Wave through the device.

They could even hear the angry buzzings and the sounds of a struggle… and then the whistle of something like a blade cutting through the air, an awful choking gurgle, and Heat Wave screamed again.

“HE’S DEAD! NOOOO!!! GET AWAY!!! YOUR MAJESTIES, GET OUT! SAVE YOURSELLLLLLAAAAAUUGGHHHMMMPPPH! MMMMMMHHHMMHH….”

The team screeched to a halt as they heard through the device whatever was going on had more-or-less quieted down… and then unfamiliar voices. Buzzing, throaty, and unfriendly.

“Augh! This one’s dead.”
“No matter, we got at least one, and the rest of that team is still in here somewhere.”
“Lucky thing our spy in Canterlot sent the word that we’d have these guests coming.”
“Enough buzzing about! The rest of them likely heard the screams of this one echo down the tunnels. We don’t have the element of surprise anymore!”
“So what? We outnumber them fifty-to-one! All we gotta do is box `em in and they’ll be joining this guy soon enough.”
“Then let’s get ready to ambush them. One way or another, they’ll be joining the rest of the crop!”
“Hold on, what’s this thing?”
“The guard was holding onto it. Maybe it’s some kind of tool they use.”
“We don’t got time for this junk, give it!”

A loud crack and dying whistle sound told the team that the device had been destroyed and they all shared a look of apprehension.

“Whaddoo we do now…?!” asked a guard, suddenly not feeling so brave now.

“They said they were… put us with the rest of the crop,” the remaining Hood brought up. “Perhaps that means the enemy has prisoners!”

“I think you’re right,” Shining Armor agreed, “and it sounded like they killed one of them but captured the other. Odds are, they’re taking him to wherever they have this ‘crop’ of theirs, and I don’t like the sound of it.”

“And I’m pretty sure I heard them say they have a spy in Canterlot!” Midnight pointed out, “And they were expecting us! This whole thing was a trap!”

“Then I’ll ask again,” the guard spoke up before, “Whaddo we do now?!”

“…Shining,” Midnight finally spoke, and once all eyes were on him, he addressed his friend, “As much as I hate to say this, I believe the best course of action is to retreat and get back to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

“Midnight! You’re not saying we- We abandon the prisoners the enemy has captured?!” Shining Armor was aghast as he looked at his friend.

Growling, Midnight snapped, “You think I like it anymore than you do?! Consider the situation! We walked into a trap, they knew we were coming because apparently they have a spy in Canterlot!

“If we get caught too, we won’t be able to help anypony, and whoever their spy is, they’ll help the changelings infiltrate Canterlot just like before! As awful as it feels to do so, we must fall back and return to Canterlot to gather reinforcements. That way when we return we’ll stand a better chance of saving the prisoners and exterminating these bugs!”

The logic in Midnight’s words were grating and conflicted with Shining Armor’s protective nature, but deep down he knew Midnight was right! They weren’t prepared for this and to keep going was all but suicide. Not to mention, they alone knew the enemy had a spy in the midst of their home.

The Hood stepped forward, saying, “Your Majesty, I understand this is difficult, but His Highness Midnight is right. If there are ponies being held prisoner, they stand a better chance of being rescued if we leave and return with greater numbers. The changelings sounded like they’re confident they can capture us using the advantage of sheer numbers.”

Shining Armor looked at all members of the team and sighed woefully to see they all agreed. It went against his heart, but he knew they were right.
“Okay then, let’s get out of here. But like I said before, we are on full alert. For all we know, the enemy is lying wait for us to try and escape out the mine and we can only do that by going out the way we came in.”

They all saluted and continued on back the way they came at a brisk pace, each of them on high alert. It wasn’t long before they came upon the site where the struggle they’d overhead had happened. Cheat Code’s body had been dropped while the Hood lay dead, his hood and cloak torn, revealing him to be a pegasus with a soft indigo coat, dark yellow mane, and his cutie-mark was three throwing knives. His eyes were wide open, expressing terror, and his throat had been torn out, blood pooling around him.

Midnight stepped forward and sadly closed his agent’s eyes before he conjured a bubble of turquoise mana to carry them both.

“I’m sorry about your agent, Midnight,” Shining Armor placed a comforting hoof on his friend’s shoulder.

“…He wasn’t much of a talker but he was dedicated,” Midnight looked thankfully at Shining Armor before steeling his heart.
“C’mon! We gotta get out of here while we still can!”

The way back wasn’t as hard as it was the way in. The mystical force energies of the energems no longer taxed the intrepid explorers but rather it was the anxiety of knowing the enemy was here. The enemy was hiding and lying in wait, and ready to strike at any moment. It was the team’s drive to get out and make it back home to warn their allies and come back with reinforcements to save the prisoners the bugs had taken.

Whatever reasons the changelings had captured their prisoners it most certainly wasn’t good.

“I see daylight, we’re almost there!” cried one of the guards, and sure enough they could smell the air flowing in, feel the warmth of day seeping into the cold stony walls surrounding them. But as they came around the bend…!


*GASP*
 

The team skidded to a halt to find a horde of changelings standing between them and their way out! The insidious insects buzzed menacingly, most of them on the ground, facing them with fangs dripping, several hovering in the air to discourage any attempts to fly out.

The team readied themselves when they heard something, a deep, predatory growl… behind them!

They looked and gasped… to see a monstrous creature that looked similar to the changelings but it was much bigger! It had chitinous plates instead of skin, like the changelings, but growing from between those plates was dark tawny fur, instead of legs and hooves full of holes there were paws, a mane of red enwreathed its neck… and rising up behind it was a scorpion’s tail!

“Is- Is that… a manticore?!” Shining Armor gaped at this abominable surprise.

“…By the goddess!” Midnight gasped in horror, “That was why the venom on Cheat Code’s body smelled familiar! He must’ve been killed by this thing!”

“Impressed, your Highnesses?”

The team looked to the changelings barring the way out, one of them stepping forward clad in some azure armor with pincer-like extensions on his helmet, jutting forward from the sides of his mouth.
“It’s not often the Queen Mother births changelings like our brother over there, with the scorpion tail! I can’t tell you what a pain it was, getting the manticore DNA sample from his father! But he’s done his job well…”

“DNA sample?”
“Queen Mother?”

“Oh, where are my manners… I am Thorn, commanding officer of this unit and now the head honcho of this mine! It will make for a fine prize for the queen, she’ll have you inferior creatures begging us for these energems!”

“The queen?!” Shining Armor echoed and growled, “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but your queen is dead! The cowardly bitch took her own life rather than make amends for her misdeeds!”

“HA-HA-HA!” Thorn threw his head back in mocking laughter, some of the other changelings laughing as well.
“If you weren’t so sadly ignorant I’d take great offense to your disrespect towards our beloved mother-queen! But the time for talk is over… Surrender, ponies! It’s the only way you’re gonna survive!”

The team and their princely leaders growled in vexation, unsure of how they were gonna get out of this mess. But one thing was certain, however this turned out they wouldn’t make it easy for these parasites-

*WHOOSSZZHAPPP!!!!*

Several changelings near the exit screamed as they felt their bodies jolt and shake by the blasts of some kind of energy, and all eyes looked outside and to the distance they saw…

“Spearhead!”
“Red Hex!”

“Don’t worry, everypony! We got your backs!” Spearhead was aiming his Zapper-Saddle at the bugs standing just inside the entrance of the mine, and already the changelings were scattering back and forth for cover and bumping into each other in a confused chaotic mess.

“GO! GO! GO!” Shining Armor urged the rest of the team to run for the exit and take advantage of the chaos.

The team members armed with Zapper-Saddles made good use of the weapons, their energy pulses zapping the changelings unconscious and paving the way forward. Bright blue bolts of snaking electric energy shot out from the barrels of the weapons, stunning their victims with the sound of cracking thunder and hissing ions.

*BZZZZOOOOAAARRRR*

Midnight and Shining Armor looked back to see the manticore-changeling hybrid, its large wings buzzing louder than a buzz-saw, its deadly tail raised as it tore at them, slashing random changelings, not caring about its supposed brethren, only that it wanted to kill the ponies. 

All of a sudden, things seemed to slow down to Midnight. He was able to survey the chaos happening around him. The changelings were no longer scrambling about madly for cover.

They were attacking.

It was only the Zapper-Saddles holding most of them back but there was just too many. Already, Shining Armor, Midnight’s remaining Hood, and a few of the guards were directly fighting some changelings that broken through. Even worse was the monster behind them tearing its way at them, and Midnight realized something more.

Even if they got out, the hive would pursue them. They’d chase them into the sky, and there was very little chance they would outfly so many changelings at once, especially trying to bring back the deceased.


Growling, Midnight let out a battle-cry, willing the shadows under his wings to extend and sharpen into blades as he span about, a black and blue whirling dervish of sharpened deadliness, cutting down the changelings that had gotten too close. He extended a whip of shadowstuff from his leonine tail and lashed it out, its sharp sting forcing more changelings back. He concentrated his horn and unleashed a stream of white-blue electrical mana from his horn, frying more changelings, but they just kept coming!

With a beat of his wings, he jumped to Shining Armor’s side, his friend yelling, “Seems like we’re in quite the tangled web, my friend!”

“…Shining!” Midnight responded, casting a tethering line of energy from the mana bubble containing Cheat Code and the fallen Hood’s bodies to Shining Armor.
“There’s only one way out of this web!”

“I’m open to suggestions!” Shining Armor caught several changelings in a barrier and willed it to stick to a wall, keeping them trapped.

“Twilight and Twinken!”

“Huh?!” Shining Armor looked at Midnight and then noticed how Midnight was facing the changelings down the tunnel while Shining Armor and the rest of the team were behind Midnight… and not far from the way out.
“Midnight, wh- what’re you- !!”

Midnight peered over his shoulder to his best friend, somepony he had hoped to call brother one day. And smiled sadly as a tear went down his face.
“Tell them I’m sorry! Tell them I love them…”

“Wait, Midnight- NO!” Shining Armor tried to reach Midnight, only to feel his friend’s aura envelop him. He quickly noticed the rest of the team had also been safely enwrapped in Midnight’s turquoise aura, and they were being hurtled outside!
“MIDNIGHT! DON’T DO THIS!!!”


Shining Armor watched helplessly as Midnight smiled his farewell… before facing the hive as they bared down on him. He took the deepest breath he could, his barrel swelling with air… and SCREAMED!!!!!


His lunar pony power of Sonic-Screaming reverberated with such force and power, echoing back and forth along the mining tunnels, the magically amplified sound waves wreaking havoc on the energems inside… until the vibrations tore apart their structure at the molecular level, setting them off in a devastating chain of explosions!
 

The entrance to the mine was blown apart!
 

Shrapnel and debris flew out, it sounded like the earth shook as rocks rumbled. And when the dust finally cleared… the mining entrance was completely buried.

Shining Armor stood there in shock, his eyes on the collapsed mine, tears welling up in his eyes as he sank to his knees.
He- He can’t be! That… didn’t just… happen!

But no matter how hard he looked, how much he wish he hadn’t seen it, the horrible truth sank in… as Shining Armor threw back his head and screamed his anguish!!!

“…and that… was when I lost him,” sobbed Shining Armor as the doctors took care of him.

The medical staff and Sombra and Cadance had insisted all the injured be moved to the hospital wing of the castle so they could get their wounds treated and examined. Shining Armor was lying on a hospital bed, his injured wing extended as Steady Hoof and a nurse stitched up the wound where the shrapnel piece had embedded itself deep into his soft tissues.

“There, the procedure is finished,” said the doctor, “I had to cauterize the main artery there, but you behaved yourself. Don’t expect a lollipop, though.”

“Steady Hoof, please,” begged Cadance, “enough is enough.”

“Hmm, well, I suppose the wounds are all treated,” the surgeon huffed, looking over his side at a very upset group of individuals, “the physical ones, anyways…”

All the while he was take care of by Steady Hoof, Shining Armor recounted  to Midnight’s friends and loved ones the tragic disaster that had occurred at the mine. Everypony was there (much to the irritation of the seasoned yet jaded doctor), their faces crestfallen, Pinkie and Cheese’s manes had deflated and drooped, Fluttershy was sniffling as Big Mac held her close, struggling to hold it together himself. Rainbow Dash looked ready to explode, Soarin doing his best to keep her calm. Sombra hung his head, his mane obscuring his face.


But Twilight?
 

She took it the worst. She stood there as though in a daze, tears streaming from her eyes, her gaze drifting from her brother to looking randomly into nothing. The way her shoulders heaved as she seemed to be struggling to breathe, Cadance and Spike hurrying over as Cadance whispered, “Twilight! It- It’ll… I…”

“Twilight…?” Spike looked up with deepest concern at the pony who had raised him, been both mother and sister to him, he couldn’t imagine what she was feeling right now!

 

What had her brother told her? What had he said become of Midnight? They went on an expedition, right? They went to look for answers, right? They… they all came back! Right?!

 

The desperate thoughts echoed in her mind as she felt her heart pump and struggled to breathe, unsure why it felt so hard to inhale. Desperate wishing conflicted with the cold and horrible reality that had been laid bare before her in the form of her sorrowful brother. Her horn lit up in response to what some instinct inside found itself in conflict with, and everypony gasped!

The magenta light of Twilight’s horn lit up the room as everypony felt the air grow thick and as if some great weight bore down on their shoulders, power swirling, knocking medical books and equipment around the room about as though there were some indoor twister! But they felt it, Twilight’s despair, her utter refusal to believe what she’d just heard!

“This mystical force!” cried out Blueblood as he struggled to support Rarity as she whimpered in fright.
“It’s incredible!!”
 

“Enough!”
 

A dark gray hoof wearing a cobalt blue hoof boot covered Twilight’s eyes and she gasped before collapsing unconscious in Cadance and Spike’s embrace.
“Twilight!” Spike wrapped his arms around Twilight, looking on with worry.

“She’ll be alright, young dragon,” Sombra assured, looking despondent as well as he sighed. “It seems she was having… an episode, if you will, and it caused her mystical force to flare out. So I eased the stress on her heart and mind by putting her asleep.

“After a restful nap, she’ll wake up and be alright. Well… physically, at least.”

“C’mon, Spike,” Cadance carried her sister-in-law gingerly, “Let’s take Twilight somewhere she can sleep peacefully.”

Spike nodded and followed Cadance out as they held Twilight together. The others looked on sadly, nopony sure what to say or if they should even say anything. The medical staff muttered under their breaths about the mess but considering things…

“Um, anypony wanna tell me what the hay just happened?!” Cheese finally broke the ice. “What was that you said, Blue? Missy… force something?”

“Mystical force, Cheese Sandwich,” Blueblood confirmed before clearing his throat. “Everypony has varying amounts of magic, how much is classified by the five levels, Delta the lowest, and Omega the highest, which is actually exclusive to alicorns, so for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns Alpha is the limit of how much magic we can have.

“Big Macintosh is an Alpha-level Earth Pony, evident by his strength which is derived not merely from his body and how hard he works as a farmer but also his magic. Now consider what we just experienced during Twilight’s… moment. That is mystical force, a… physical application of one’s magic, which indicates their magical power.”

“Uh, ya kinda gotta dumb it down a little, Blueblood?” Rainbow responded while noticing the party ponies’ curly-maned heads short circuiting from systematic error in response to information that did not compute.

“Simply put, it’s a way of expressing your magic and how powerful you are,” Blueblood shrugged. “Old books my aunt made me read about it when I was younger said even earth ponies and pegasi can do it.”

“As fascinating as this magical education is,” Sombra cleared his throat, “we must focus on the information Shining Armor has shared with us. The changelings have fully taken over the mine and it is very possible they have prisoners. That gives hope!”

“H-Hope, Your Majesty?” Fluttershy asked meekly, all eyes looking to Sombra.

“Yes, little one. There is a chance that Midnight is not gone,” Sombra felt a fire burn with in, spurring him to take action. “But it’s the other info that concerns me. If the changelings were forewarned of the expedition, it means there is indeed a spy somewhere in Canterlot, someone close enough to have heard of the investigation and warn the changelings ahead of time. Which would mean…”

“The spy must be in the castle!” Thunderlane gasped, as did everypony else.

“This is troubling news,” Sombra nodded in consideration. “We need to identify this spy but we can’t let him or her know that we’re onto them, unless they are already aware that we are aware…”

Then Sombra muttered a spell, his eyes glowing red as he suddenly glared at everypony, giving each of them a hard look in turn. Everypony held still, a little intimidated, and taking a sigh of relief when Sombra’s green eyes came back.
“My apologies if I frightened you. I had to be certain that nopony in this room was here under a falsehood. I am happy to say each and every one here passed that little test.”

“Not sure I appreciate being tested like that…” Rainbow narrowed her eyes.
“C’mon, Dashie,” Soarin hugged her close with a goofy smirk, “Better safe than sorry, right?”

“So then, Yer Highness,” Applejack looked up at the dark gray alicorn, “Whaddoo we do now?”

“Hmm, I must council with my wife and Luna,” Sombra sighed, “The news is going to hit Celestia rather hard as well… In the meantime, I want all of you to stay in the castle, never go anywhere alone! Don’t repeat what was discussed in here with anypony else, even with each other! If there is a spy in this castle or this city, we are going to find him or her somehow and use them to pay the changelings back in kind for their crimes against our nation!”

Sombra then looked to Shining Armor, “As for you, Shining Armor, get some rest and focus on recovery. Let your wife take care of your sister, and don’t blame yourself for what happened. Regardless, you and the team did well.”

Shining Armor appreciated Sombra’s words but he didn’t so much as agree. Sombra had a quick word with Doctor Steady Hoof before leaving, and the doctor then said, “Alright, I think that’s more than enough visiting time! Out with you all, the prince needs to recover and that will go much quicker without the lot of you in the way. Out, scoot!”