//------------------------------// // Recoveries // Story: Changing Fates // by Ulthor //------------------------------// Chapter 09 *Ponyville hospital* Doctor Nebulizer in his current disguise had just finished his latest operation and looked around, when he didn't find what he was looking for, he walked up to some of the Changelings that had been aiding him while also being disguised. "Excuse me, has any of you seen nurse Cannula? I don't think I've seen her ever since we decided to take the pony patients to this hospital." For a moment the Changelings thought about it, when one of them remembered and spoke up. "I believe she was called by the queen to join her on a trip to get the princess, they also called for you doctor, but you were still working on Sergeant Cherrydrop at the time, and since the queen needed to go quickly, she just took nurse Cannula with her." "The princess!? Did something happen to her? Should I head out right away?" Doctor Nebulizer quickly asked as he suddenly became worried about what might have caused the queen to ask for them in the first place. The Changeling shook its head. "Don't worry doctor, it was just a precaution, and it seems the princess was fine physically, in fact the queen has already initiated the next phase for when the princess would be found, so their now back at the hive and the princess will be able to finally be with the hive, nurse Cannula decided to go with them to the hive for now in case something might happen, but that's just a precaution, so you can focus on those here." Another Changeling then spoke up. "Luckily sergeant Cherrydrop seems to be recovering nicely, even if she may never regain her full mobility again… How did the operation on that blue pegasus go doctor?" Doctor Nebulizer sighed. "It was hard to get her under control when we got her out of the chrysalis, but we managed to sedate her enough so I could work on her wings properly, and she should heal up properly now once more, though I do hope she'll calm down once she wakes up, or she may undo the work I did…" He then sighed once more. "Honestly, why did she suddenly start to thrash about in there so much in the first place? From what I heard she kept still for so long till then, had she remained as such the chrysalis would have healed her completely." The other Changelings looked at each other and one of them looked at the doctor. "Actually, from what I heard, she started to do so when the other pegasus was moved to where she was, it seems she had opened her eyes while in there before, but kept closing them shortly after till then, but when she saw that one in her own chrysalis, she suddenly started to resist it." The doctor thought for a moment. "Hmm, that's the one with the eye damage, yes?" He got his answer in the form of a nod and sighed again. "That one was on my list before sergeant Rock Crusher, since his injuries aren't that bad, but she had to be pushed back to after this one because of how she suddenly thrashed about… They just keep making more and more work for me it seems…" One of the Changelings raised a hoof to its head and scratched. "I still don't get why we're just going to release them so quickly though, what if they decide to let others know or attack us?" Another Changeling replied to it. "They won't, not now that we found the elements in that vault, it was stupid of them to hold the elements so far away from their wielders, plus a spell was used on them to make them think they all dreamed it up or something, since most of those farm ponies were taken out so quickly at night, they likely just think it was a dream even without the spell, the two pegasi couldn't get the spell put on them because they had to be rushed here, but the yellow one won't say a peep according to the captain… As for the blue one, if the others won't say it happened, then ponies will just think she dreamed it up or something, she might even think so herself… I heard the only one that will likely be a bit of trouble, is the white one, since she has been gone for allot longer and needs a whole different story for her absence." "I heard the pink one has a special guard on her that follows her around though, doesn't that mean she's expected to be an issue aswell?" One of them asked. The one from before then thinks for a moment. "Your talking about specialist Sour Shield, aren't you? From what I heard, he decided to do so on his own, I think he said something about having to nullify her randomness, said it might cause issues if he wouldn't do so, I'm not sure what they meant by that though." "I'm more worried about the regular ponies finding out something is wrong if they don't free Discord soon, without him messing with the sun and moon, ponies will find out something else happened soon." The first Changeling then replied, before he looked outside. "Actually, how come the sun is up now anyway?" Yet another Changeling cut in. "From what I heard, the professor actually found a way to control the magic of those in one of our pods using some of the chaos magic, as such they revised the plans to free Discord and are instead using his statue as some kind of battery in order to use Celestia's magic, their working on automating it so aswell." "Yes, yes, this is all very interesting and all, but I need to get started on my next patient, could you bring her into the operating room? Eye surgery is quite delicate work and I'd like to get started on it as quickly as I can, every minute that passes by will just make a full recovery that much harder." Doctor Nebulizer suddenly said in a tone that seemed to speak of it's urgency, making the Changelings instantly spring into action as he grabbed some clean tools and got back in aswell. =====+++===== Seven hours later, Rainbow Dash started to wake up, she was a bit groggy at first and looked around the room she found herself in before recognizing it as one of the hospital rooms of the hospital in Ponyville. "Huh? What am I… !" She snapped awake as she now was quickly looking around in earnest. "How did I get here!? Where's Fluttershy!?" She then tried to get up but a sharp pain in her back aswell as being tied to the bed made that quite difficult. Nurse Redheart then suddenly came in and tried to calm her down. "Calm down miss Rainbow Dash, your going to hurt your wings again." "N-nurse Redheart? What's going on here? Why am I tied down? And where's Fluttershy!?" Dash yelled in a panic, but stopped moving as rapidly when she recognized the nurse. Nurse Redheart kept trying to calm her down a bit. "When the doctor found you on the road, you were already pretty hurt, but when he tried to get you to the hospital, you kept thrashing about it seems, so they had to sedate you, the restraints are just to make sure you won't make things worse… If you promise to calm down, then I can take them down, and as for miss Fluttershy, she's recovering a few rooms further, we decided to keep her separated because of her current situation and her personality, if you behave yourself, then you may visit her once she wakes up herself." Dash swallowed nervously as she listened. "W-what's wrong with her? T-the last time I saw her she had these nasty gashes over her eyes." Nurse Redheart sighed. "We don't normally tell others about he condition of other patients, but since your so close a friend of hers, I'll make an exception… From what miss Luna told us when she brought miss Fluttershy here, a Manticore somehow left the forest and barged into the cottage, miss Fluttershy then tried to calm it down but the creature wouldn't listen and slashed at her… She's lucky to be alive, and she should have lost her eyesight completely from the wound that was inflicted onto her, but the new doctor that came in has done something that should have been impossible." Dash felt lighter instantly. "So she's going to be alright? Thank Celestia, I was so worried when I first saw her." Nurse Redheart smiled slightly, but there was a certain sorrow behind it. "Yes, we're not quite sure how or why she left the hospital when she did, but it was a good thing the both of you were together when the doctor found you, you were a bit delirious from the pain though… But you must know that while he did certainly save her eyes, we have yet to find out just how much he was truly able to do, we won't know till her bandages are removed, so she may not see as well as she used to… Still, she would have been completely blind for the rest of her life had he not came here when he did, the doctor said he might have been able to get better results if… Uhm, actually, I may have said too much there, let's just leave it at that, alright?" Dash narrowed her eyes as she stared at Redheart. "If he could have done better, then why didn't he!?" She yelled. At this point a doctor walked in, he was a simply brown unicorn with pink eyes, a red mane and tail, and a cutiemark of a nebulizer. "Because of you miss Dash, and I'd like it if you didn't yell inside the hospital, there are other patients that need their rest afterall." Dash was stunned by what she heard, before nurse Redheart spoke up. "Doctor Nebulizer, you shouldn't tell her that, what if…" Before she could finish, the doctor interrupted her. "Nurse Redheart, you shouldn't have told her about the condition of the other patient in the first place,… But I don't really care about that right now." He then looked at Dash. "If miss Dash here is going to act like this each time she suspects we did anything but our best, then she needs to hear the whole story, I know it's not the best thing to do, but right now she's disturbing other patients and is hurting her own treatment, perhaps it'll make her think twice before doing the same thing in the future if something similar ever happens again that is." "W-what did you mean?" Dash suddenly said as by now she found her voice once more and swallowed. "W-when you said it was because of me that is…" The doctor looked at Dash and sighed. "To be honest miss Dash, when I got to you, you had already been treated by somepony else, and would likely have fully recovered without the need for further treatment, as such I had planned to instantly work on miss Fluttershy's eyes when we got here, but your sudden thrashing around made your injury worse, in fact it became life threatening, as one of your wings snapped with a sharp edge, and that piece of the bone moved into your ribcage, it could have punctured a organ if left alone for too long, so I had to prioritize you over her." He then took a deep breath as he looked her in the eyes. "But when it comes to a full recovery with eyes, every minute counts, so I have no idea how much I was able to do, she may yet make a full recovery however, but it's more then likely that she will have some eyesight issues after this." Panic filled Dash's mind and it could clearly be seen in her eyes. "N-no, b-because of me Fluttershy might never see again?" She closed her eyes as tears started to flow. "Ah, I'm sorry miss Dash, it seems I went a bit too far there. You don't need to worry, I'm the best at what I do, I can guarantee with a 97% certainty that she'll be able to see once more, there's even a 78% chance that she'll regain her full sight… I only told you that so that if a similar thing ever happens, you'll think of the situation before you act… It's fine to be loyal to your friends and be there for them, but acting without thinking first can cause the situation to become worse before it becomes better, it might even make them lose a friend if you were to die because of your own actions." Doctor Nebulizer said as he realized he might have said a bit too much. It didn't do much for Dash, who just stared at the ceiling by now before letting out a sad 'yeah, sure.' That was almost too soft to hear. Nurse Redheart looked at the doctor as if asking if it was alright to release her, all he did was nod with a slight expression of sorrow, they then both started to undo the restraints, but Dash was still laying there just staring at the ceiling for a bit longer, before she brought her by now released hooves to her face and kept on crying. The doctor put a hoof on her back as if to comfort her. "Miss Dash, I'm sorry for telling you the truth that bluntly, but you shouldn't blame yourself too much either… It's not like she got hurt because of you in the first place, from what I've been told that just happened because of some wild monster that showed up at her cottage, so it's not like you failed to protect her, she will regain her sight… I promise you that at least, even if it might not be as good as it used to be… Please miss Dash, just believe in my abilities, she will get better." Dash then looked at him, feeling the need to grasp at any kind of hope at this point. "Y-you promise? She'll really be alright?" She then asked between sobs. The doctor nodded. "Yes, I promise… I did everything in my power to ensure she's going to be alright, so just go to sleep right now and we'll wake you when she's up, alright?" Still a bit in a haze, Dash just nodded as she then closed her eyes to get some rest, the doctor and Nurse Redheart then exchanged relieved glances with each other and headed out of the room, once outside Nurse Redheart asked the doctor if it was alright to promise something like that, since there was still a small percentage it could fail afterall, but the doctor seemed certain that things would turn out alright, saying that even if the unlikely thing would happen, he still had some options left and would stop at nothing to fulfill a promise he made. *A few days later, at the border of Ponyville* A disheveled and confused lavender unicorn mare stumbles slightly as she makes it past the trees and sees Ponyville, tears fall down her cheeks as she smiles. "I'm finally home…" Meanwhile, at the hospital, it was time to remove Fluttershy's bandages, and the doctor had arranged for Dash to be there while he removed them. Doctor Nebulizer stood next to Fluttershy's bed and smiled. "Well now miss Fluttershy, it's finally time to remove the bandages, are you exited?" "O-oh, yes, very." Fluttershy then replied with a soft voice. "Now remember, when I remove them, you may not see straight away, your vision will likely be a bit blurry at first, but that's just because you need to get used to seeing for a moment, especially since I basically had to remake them, so see it as a foal that's just been born and trying to see for the first time, there's no need to panic." Doctor Nebulizer said as he started to take off the bandages, though he said it more for Rainbow Dash then Fluttershy. "Also, I'm sorry, but I couldn't do much about the scarring on your face itself." Fluttershy gave a weak nod. "I understand doctor, I just hope my animal friends don't think I look too scary all of a sudden." "Doubtful" The doctor then replied before removing the last of the bandages, revealing a large horizontal scar across her face and eyelids. "Animals are more used to scars then then those living peacefully, they likely will just see it as proof of your strength… Now then, the bandages are off now miss Fluttershy, so go ahead and open your eyes when you want." "O-okay…" Fluttershy replied as she slowly tried to open her eyes, the light slightly burning her eyes from only having seen darkness for so long, making her close them once more, before she tried to open them once again, after getting used to the light she looked around a bit. At this point, Dash decided to speak up. "H-how is it Flutters? Can you see us?" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked in Dash's direction. "Is that you Rainbow Dash? It's blurry, but I think I can sorta make you out." "It'll likely be blurry for a bit longer, your mind has to get used to how your eyes work again, I had to reconnect allot of sinew afterall, but you should be fine in a day or so." Doctor Nebulizer said before Dash could worry. Dash swallowed as she looked at Fluttershy. "I-is that so… L-listen Fluttershy, I'm… I'm sorry… If I hadn't acted so rash, the doctor could have gotten to you sooner and do a better job of it all… You almost went completely blind because of me…" Fluttershy shook her head. "No, that's not right, I know you would never do anything to purposely put any of us in danger… And if I hadn't left the hospital when I did, then perhaps the doctor would have gotten to me even sooner… And you might not have gotten hurt even worse then you did before…" At this point the doctor intervened before they could keep on saying that they themselves were the reason. "I think there's something you both should know actually." He then looked towards Dash. "While what I told you a couple of days ago certainly was true miss Dash, I have to also admit that it also saved you both." He then looked at Fluttershy. "And if you hadn't sneaked out in the first place miss Fluttershy, which in turn made miss Dash find you and act as such, I would likely not have been able to save your eyes either, you see I came to Ponyville on vacation, and I certainly didn't plan to visit the hospital while doing so… So when I found you both and saw the severity of your injuries, the first thing I did after we got you to the hospital was to ask if they had any surgeons and specialists around, when I found out that nopony in this hospital was specialized with eyes and that they didn't expect a full recovery for miss Dash's wings, I instantly let them know that I was certified in both cases, in a way its what gave you both a fighting chance… That said, what you both did is still very foolish and you should never do it again, you may not be so lucky next time." Fluttershy gasped out of concern when she heard about Dash's wings. "Dash hurt her wings? Oh no, will you be alright?" Dash let out a weak laugh. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I'm more concerned about you then anything… It's a good thing doctor Nebulizer was there when he was though… It sounds like we really got lucky there…" She then looked at the doctor and let out her first real smile ever since she woke up in the hospital. "Thanks doc, for saving Flutter's eyes, and for saving me… I really owe you." "Nonsense, I only did what any good doctor would do, you can't expect me to just see someone injured and not do anything but call for help, when I'm the only one that's qualified for said help in the area, I made an oath to save lives, not to abandon them." Doctor Nebulizer replied. "We are grateful though doctor, I mean you even gave up on your precious vacation time, just to make sure I could see again and that Dash could fly again… You didn't need to do so in order to save our lives either." Fluttershy said as she tried to look at him, but rubbed her eyes because of the blurriness. Doctor Nebulizer stopped her before she could rub too hard. "Careful now miss Fluttershy, your eyes may work now, but they still need to heal a bit more, so try to avoid rubbing them. As for what you said, well, it just wouldn't sit well with me to not do anything when I'm the only one that can, sight and flight are both important afterall, to lose either is no good… As for my vacation, that's not that big of a deal, I run a private practice, so I make my own hours and decide when to take a vacation, I'll simply charge the hospital for my work, though I will give them a discount for not letting them know ahead of time I suppose." He then stroked his chin as he remembered something. "Oh, that's right, there might be a small chance that the blurriness will continue slightly, if it does you may need to see an optometrist miss Fluttershy, I doubt it'll come to that, but needing glasses should still be better then losing your sight completely… Oh, and don't do anything that requires you to strain your eyes for a while, no reading books or things like that for at least a few weeks, if you feel like your eyes hurt be sure to give them plenty of rest, not doing so might cause complications, do you understand?" Fluttershy nodded and wondered for a moment if she could still use her 'stare', but before she could ask, they heard a commotion from outside the room, the doctor was about to check it out when they heard somepony say the name Twilight Sparkle, which in turn made both Fluttershy and Dash look in the direction of the door. Dash blinked a few times. "Did they just say… Twilight's here?" The thoughts that had been haunting her ever since she woke up here, came back to her, as she had been wondering if what she remembered about being attacked by a Changeling all of a sudden at the gorge truly happened, or if her mind had just made it up after an actual accident, cause if it was true, then what about what the Changeling had said about Twilight being their lost princess? She suddenly felt ill as she didn't know what to do here, she wanted to resent the Changelings for what had happened to her, but if that had truly happened, then what about Twilight? She was her friend, wasn't she? And she didn't want to doubt her, or resent her, but what if it was true? Fluttershy also remembered how she had met with somepony that called itself a Changeling and had told her that they had come to get their princess back, who from what she remembered him saying had been a friend of theirs for years now, but unlike Dash, she didn't blame anypony for what had happened to her, even if she had wondered if it had been a Changeling that showed up and not an actual Manticore after that, but even then she didn't feel any malice towards them, she was a bit concerned about if she should even mention what had happened in case they'd hurt her friends though, seeing as Dash hadn't said anything so she likely didn't remember anything, and the others had yet to show up. The doctor snapped them out of their stupor as he spoke up. "Somepony you know? Stay here, I'll go see what's going on then, I'll let you know once I know, alright? Just stay here and calm down." They nodded before the doctor left the room, Dash calmed down slightly as she tried to make sense of it all some more, Fluttershy hadn't told anypony about anything, neither had Applejack when she had come to visit them, and from what she remembered being told, they would have been targeted aswell, so it must not have actually happened if they didn't, right? Even Pinkie didn't say anything, and if anypony would say anything about something like that, it would be her, Pinkie's randomness often made her blurt out something she shouldn't know in the first place. As Doctor Nebulizer got to the entrance where a crowd had started to gather, he could see a unicorn that looked just like Twilight did in the past, down to the cutiemark and everything, she was currently unconscious and being carried on a stretcher however, he then walked up to her. "Alright, what's going on here? Let me check and see what's wrong." He then did a quick scan to make sure if it wasn't their princess and what was wrong. "Hmm, that's odd, I can't tell if she's a Changeling or not… I've never felt such an odd sensation before, perhaps she just looks like her or something… I need to contact the hive about this one, but she does seem to have a lack of energy however." He then thought and looked at nurse Redheart. "It seems she's exhausted, it's like her energy has been completely depleted for days now, prepare a room for her and monitor her vitals just in case, I'll do a closer check on her shortly." Nurse Redheart nodded and looked at the ones carrying the stretcher. "Alright, follow me." She then looks at the other ponies. "As for the rest of you, please return to your stations, this is no place to clutter up like this." She then led the ones carrying Twilight to a room, where they put her down on a bed before the nurse hooked up some vital monitors. =====+++===== About half an hour later, Applejack and Pinkie ran into the hospital a red unicorn with a green mane and tail following close behind, after having been told that some ponies found Twilight and brought her to the hospital. Applejack instantly ran up to the desk. "Is it true!? Did ya'll really find Twi!? Is she alright?" She then shouted at the nurse behind the desk, who was a bit shocked from the sudden outburst from her. "Well!?" The male nurse swallowed and recollected himself before replying. "Uhm… Who are toy looking for exactly? I don't think we have anypony called Twi here right now." "Oh silly, she meant Twilight Sparkle of course, you know, the librarian of the town, student of Celestia, wielder of the element of magic and our best friend!" Pinkie then replied with a smile. The nurse nodded. "Yes, she is here right now, but visiting hours are over right now, and while she's in no immediate danger, she has yet to get a full inspection, so unless your family I can't take you to her room." "But we're the other element wielders, I'm Pinkie and that’s Applejack, we're like family." Pinkie replied in response as she put on her best puppy eyes. It seemed to work slightly, but the nurse then saw the red unicorn. "And who's that? I don't remember hearing of any male wielders." Pinkie's ears perked up as she looked at the one he was talking about. "Oh that? That's Realm Seeker, he's my coltfriend." She then replied with a wide smile. "We go everywhere together lately." Applejack was now looking at her confused. "Yer what now? Why didn't ya tell us?" "Oh well, we only just got together, there's actually quite the story connected to it all." Pinkie began but was stopped before she could go into the length of the story by the nurse. "Uhm, that's all nice and all, but I really can't let you go see her till the doctor has given the okay, only family members can see her before he does." The nurse then said. "Do I count?" A voice suddenly said that made the nurse look around in wonder as he saw nopony. "Down here." As the nurse looked down from the desk, he saw Spike stand there. "Hi, I'm Spike, Twilight pretty much hatched and raised me, so she's sorta like a mom to me in that regard right? Then could I go see her?" The nurse thought for a moment. "Hmm… Hang on, I'll call the head nurse, she'll know." And with that he took out a microphone and pressed a button on it, as his voice was then transferred through the hospital. "Nurse Redheart, please come to the front desk, I repeat, nurse Redheart, please come to the front desk." After that he let go of the button and looked at the young dragon. "She should be here shortly." Spike nodded and waited silently, Pinkie and Applejack figured that it was likely better to wait for nurse Redheart aswell, so Applejack decided to ask Pinkie a few things about Realm Seeker while they waited, Spike might have been interested to hear normally aswell, but right now he was too worried about Twilight to bother, not that it mattered much, since nurse Redheart almost instantly showed up and Applejack couldn't even ask the first question. Nurse Redheart looked at the nurse behind the desk and asked him why she was called here, the male nurse then pointed at Spike and the others, before explaining what had happened and that they wanted to see Twilight, after that she walked up to them. "I understand that your claiming to be related to miss Sparkle because she hatched you, correct?" She then asked, as Spike meekly nodded. "Well, there's certainly no precipice for such a case, as far as I know anyway, but I suppose it does count in a way, so very well, you can go see her." She then looked at Pinkie, Applejack and the red unicorn. "As for you three, you'll just have to wait till the doctor has seen her or come back tomorrow during visiting hours." She then smiled at Spike. "Now come along, I'll bring you to her room, she hasn't woken up yet though, so I'll have to ask you to be quiet and just be there for her." Spike nodded in understanding, he really just wanted to know if she was alright, and staying with Twilight's parents in their house had just kept reminding him of her while she was gone, making him worry even more, that's why he came back to Ponyville yesterday and had asked the Apple family if he could stay there for now, since the library still held too many memories at the time, so when Applejack told him they might have found Twilight, he ran here before they did, not that it had mattered since they were faster then him mind you, so when he was told to be quiet to let her rest. This however just meant that when they reached Twilight's room, he was unable to keep his promise of been quiet, if only slightly, as the moment he saw her, he shouted her name, ran up to her to hug her and cry softly, nurse Redheart instantly went after him in order to try and tell him to be quiet once more. Not that it mattered though, as Twilight's opened her eyes ever so slightly, her exhaustion could be seen on her face, but the moment she saw Spike, she smiled at him. "Hey Spike, I've missed you to these past few days." She then weakly hugged back. At first Spike didn't say anything and just kept hugging her, but once he felt a bit better, he looked up at her. "Only these past few days? Not the whole few weeks you've been gone? Cause I've been worried ever since the wedding." Twilight opened her eyes a bit more as she seemed confused. "Weeks? Wedding? What are you talking about Spike? Whose wedding? Haven't I only been gone for a few days? I mean that's how long it's taken me to get out of the forest that Discord must have sent me to at least… Speaking of, did the others beat him or something? I expected to come back to some kind of war zone, but everything seems fine right now." Spike looked at her with a shocked expression as he tried to make sense of it all. "Twilight… What are you talking about? You and the others beat him together, didn't you? You even became an alicorn after that." Twilight just looked at him with a incredulous expression. "An alicorn!? Spike, ponies don't just turn into alicorns, and even if it was possible, I hardly believe that something like defeating Discord would… Wait, we defeated him? But he teleported me into the forest, straight into some kind of goop and a odd place that was swarming with some kind of bug like ponies. I barely managed to escape without letting any of them realize I was gone." Spike scratched the back of his head. "Bug like ponies? … You mean Changelings? Like the ones that showed up at the wedding?" "… You met them before Spike? And you keep mentioning a wedding, what's all this about?" Twilight asked in turn, all the while the both of them didn't even notice nurse Redheart who didn't really know what to do next, who went to get the doctor a few minutes ago when they started. So before Spike could reply, doctor Nebulizer came in and spoke up. "That's quite enough for now, I need to do some tests on you miss Sparkle, from what I heard you might even have some kind of amnesia, seeing as you don't remember the past year if all you remember is seeing Discord." "The past year? W-what are you talking about doctor?" Twilight asked as she got nervous. Spike looked at her and then looked away to avoid her gaze. "Twilight… Discord was defeated over a year ago, and you didn't vanish, you spent that whole time with us." This was getting a bit too much for Twilight, she was certain she had only seen Discord a few days ago and got teleported into some kind of goo in the forest, but what if they were right and she was missing some memories? Or worse, what if there was something else going on aswell. "A-alright… I'll let you do your tests on my doctor, please find out what's going on with me." "But of course, I will get to the bottom of this miss Sparkle, you can be sure of that." The doctor then replied before looking at Spike. "I'm afraid I can allow you to come with us little dragon, but it should only take an hour at most to do all of the tests, but I heard you came with some friends, so you should join them, I already gave them permission to see their other friends that are in the hospital right now, so the nurse can take you to them if you want." Spike was a bit reluctant, but after Twilight told him it was alright, he followed nurse Redheart to their friends, who seemed to be questioning Pinkie about her new coltfriend. "You only met him a few days ago and your already dating him? Dahm Pinkie, I knew you were fast, but I didn't expect you to work this fast." Dash said before she noticed Spike coming in while nurse Redheart left. "Ah! Spike! How was it? Is Twi alright? Is she… Herself?" "Huh? I guess so." Spike replied as he scratched the back of his head. "She did say something odd though." The others looked at him and Applejack spoke up. "What do ya mean, odd? Did she git brain damage or somethin'?" Spike flailed his claws around as if to dissuade the idea. "Ah! No, no… At least I don't think she did, but perhaps she does have amnesia, the doctor is giving her some tests now that she's awake to find out… She… She doesn't seem to remember anything from after you all met Discord that first time, said something about having been teleported to the forest into some goop, she also mentioned there were those Changelings we saw at the wedding, but she didn't even know what they were it seems." Dash's ears perked up as she heard this. "Wait, so your telling me that Twilight doesn't remember anything from the past year or so? That she was likely teleported to the Changelings by Discord and kept prisoner there?" She then thought that that would make sense with what she was told, she was likely just switched with their actual princess who was only partly transformed by Discord at the time, this meant that Twilight hadn't been Twilight at all lately and that she could actually be angry at her… Though it also meant that it hadn't been their fault at all, but Discord's fault. "Uh… Wait, I did? But then, who was with us since then? Wasn't it Twilight that beat Discord along with the rest of you?" Spike asked in reply. Realizing what Dash had likely meant, Fluttershy let out a small gasp, but didn't say much more, Applejack thought for a moment before she looked at Dash. "Now wait just one goshdarn moment there, are ya sayin' what Ah think yer sayin'?" "I'm saying that perhaps the Twilight that's been with us since then was in fact a Changeling herself! That would explain why they gave up so quickly at the wedding, right? They didn't want her to get hurt." Dash replied as she then thought about those memories she almost believed to have been a dream, and a thought came to her. "Plus it would mean that that actually happened, right? I'm not crazy… But I still don' know why the others don't remember it, perhaps I should stay quiet about this for a bit longer." Sour Shield, who was with them in the disguise of Realm Seeker, also had a thought of his own. "Hmm, this may actually work for us, perhaps they'll give up on us if they think all we did was get our princess back and then left, perhaps I should push this idea a bit further." He then looked at Pinkie. "Uhm… What are they talking about? What are Changelings? And what does she mean by your friend wasn't your friend?" As Pinkie seemed a bit confused after he asked, Dash spoke up. "Oh right, you probably wouldn't know huh? Hmm, we're not supposed to tell anypony about them though." "Ah reckon that it's a midge too late for that now Dash, the princess did say we could tell our families and such, and since he's datin' Pinkie and all, let's just tell him if he promises not to tell anypony." Applejack then said as she looked to him. "Do ya promise?" "Oh uh, sure, if it's something so important that the princess made you promise that, then I promise not to tell anypony what you tell me." Realm Seeker replied, before he was told by them what had happened at the wedding aswell as what they were told afterwards. "I see… I'm amazed I never saw any of them while I was exploring all these years… But if what you told me about them is true, then from what I can tell of your previous conversation, it would mean a fake Twilight has been here for over a year now, and she probably went back when the real one was freed, right?" "That has to be it! There's no way the real Twilight would have just up and left us like that, right?" Dash then quickly added. At this point Fluttershy was feeling a bit worried that her friends might get hurt or captured again, if the conversation kept going this way. "U-uhm… Does it really matter? Ah! D-don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its fine that another took her place if that's what really happened… B-but it's not like they would have had much of a choice if that's the case, r-right? P-plus we have Twilight back now, don't we? C-can't we just forget about this whole thing and just be happy for that?" "Hmm, Ah suppose so, it's not like any o' us know where they may be hidin' at anyway." Applejack replied as she scratched her head underneath her hat. "Anyway, it don't matter none till yer both fully healed anyway, leave Twi to me and Pinkie till then." "What about me?" Spike suddenly asked. "I know her better then any of you, especially if that past year or so, it was somepony else then Twi." Applejack looked at the young dragon and rubbed his head. "Ah shucks Spike, I didn't mean none by that, Ah already thought ye'd keep a close eye on her without me even mentioning it." All of this made Sour Shield wonder about something though, perhaps they had been wrong about at least Twilight's 'friends', they honestly didn't seem to have known about her actual heritage, so perhaps Celestia kept it from them and made them Twilight's jailers without them even knowing, while in actuality they had become her real friends… But none of that mattered right now anyway, even if they were, at this point princess Twilight didn't remember them anymore, and they themselves had taken to this new option much too fast in his eyes, they weren't worthy of being her friends according to him, so he decided to keep it to himself, at least for now. =====+++===== About an hour later, a nurse came to them, who told them that the doctor had finished his tests, and telling them that Twilight was fine and just needed some rest and get some food, since her magical energy was depleted and she was slightly malnourished, she was even allowed to go back home already since it wasn't at a dangerous level, so they were allowed to see her and except for those that needed to stay in the hospital themselves, they were allowed to take her home. Applejack then looked at Spike with a smile. "Ain't that great? Ya get to go home together with Twi. Now ya can move out of the treehouse, Ah know it can be awfully chilly there at night, Ah'd have let ya use tha guest room, but Sweetie Bell has been usin' it ever since Rarity left… Ah hope we'll hear sumthin' from her soon." Her face showed some concern now, as did the faces of the others. Pinkie decided to cheer everypony up by offering a big smile to them. "Don't worry girls, Rarity will find her way back to us, remember that time when the Diamond dogs took her? Nopony can hold her against her will, and now that Twilight is back, she can just find her with one of her tracking spells and such, not even the caverns could stop her last time." "Tracking spells? That could be trouble… But this Diamond dog thing might be useful, we have been thinking of how to fix this afterall, perhaps we could use them… Or something similar." Realm Seeker thought to himself, as he remembered a report and connected to the hivemind to confirm something, making it seem like he was thinking, once he had what he needed, he decided to speak up. "Why would the Diamond dogs want her in the past? From what you told me, your friend is a fashion designer right? I only ever heard of them capturing ponies that are near gem quarries and such in order to have them work for them, so why would they want her?" Spike, in order to get his mind off of the issue, was the one to reply. "Rarity's got this special ability that allows her to sense gems, she used it to find to best ones when we were looking for them, the diamond dogs saw this and decided to use her to find more for them, before we came to get her back that is, they've left us alone ever since though, even when we often go back to get more gems." Realm seemed to think for a moment. "So then, other races that like gems and see her use the ability would think the same, right? Cause I know of a few caves near Canterlot that have some wild dragons living there, perhaps they took her, I mean they don't normally ponynap anypony, but if she really can find gems that easily, then who knows." Dash suddenly got up. "Well, what are we waiting for!? If they really have her then let's go right away!" Applejack stopped her from getting completely out of bed however, as she suddenly lassoed her down. "Now hold on there sugarcube, yer still hurt, and it's not like we know if it's true just yet either." She then looked at Realm. "No offence there." "Ah, none taken." Realm replied with a smile. "It's only a theory afterall, I'll ask somepony I know to look into it, he's in the royal guard, so he might be able to do something." After thanking him and making sure that Dash didn't get back up again and do something stupid, they said their goodbyes to Dash and Fluttershy and headed for the room Twilight was in, after a few hugs and simple questions, the doctor gave them some medicine to replenish her magical energy a bit faster aswell as getting some much needed vitamins, before letting them go. Once they got to the library, Spike opened the door and the girls led Twilight to her bed, while Realm helped Spike clean up the library a bit, as it seemed like somepony had made a slight mess of things, once they finished, Realm, Pinkie and Applejack headed back home, while Spike went up to see if Twilight wanted anything, but found her fast asleep already, so he decided to take a small snack before going to bed aswell, only to find that somepony stole all his gems, though judging from the gem crumbs, it seemed like they had in fact been eaten instead, but he shook off that idea, afterall, he was the only one around that ate gems, right? =====+++===== It had been a few days now and Pinkie and Applejack had visited Twilight a few times by now, she had also been introduced to Realm by Pinkie, seeing as he was with her every time, she had learned that they had met a few days before she had come back to Ponyville, and there was something about him that seemed to stop Pinkie's random powers, but that only served as the start, as she had followed him while he thought she was crazy, eventually managing to shake her off, but coming back to follow her soon after as he wondered why she had been after him, after being found out himself, they both explained why they followed each other and got interested in each other some more, which then made them decide to spend more time together, until Pinkie had called him her coltfriend at the hospital, after which they talked it over and decided to actually try dating, so far it had gone well. Twilight had told her friends everything she remembered aswell, but it wasn't much more then they had been told already, she did still have all her memories from before Discord however, which proved that she truly was the Twilight they all knew and loved, since she could remember even small things that normally don't matter aswell as secrets she'd never share with others even if they would force her to. There was however one thing they hadn't told Twilight ever since she had gotten home, and it had been bothering her at this point, so as they visited her today, she looked straight at Applejack with a concerned look. "Hey Applejack? Why haven't I seen Rarity or Luna around at all? I mean with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the hospital and me being missing for so long, I would think they would rush back here the moment they'd hear about it all, but it's been days now and neither one has yet to show up… What's going on here?" Applejack started to sweat a bit as she tried to think of something to say, as she was uncertain of if it was a good thing to do, since Twilight while allot better, was still recovering a bit aswell, but before she could decide, Spike was the one to speak up. "Rarity's… Missing." It hurt him to talk about it as he's always had a crush on her, but he knew this was likely for the best, he knew Twilight wouldn't stop till she knew, which is why she asked Applejack to start with, plus she might in fact be able to help. "She's been missing for a few weeks now, ever since she started to look for you." Twilight was worried, but more then that, she was stunned that they had kept this from her. "W-why didn't any of you tell me till now?" Applejack seemed apologetic, but also could bear to look Twilight in the eyes. "We were worried ya might do somethin' foolish like try to find her right away… Ya still haven't fully recovered, and we don't want to lose another friend after all that's happened… We almost lost Dash because of her brashness last time." Realm quickly spoke up at this point. "Actually, I was planning to say something a bit later, but a friend of mine in the guard has been investigating some locations I thought they might be able to find some clues about her, and I have some good news there, they didn't just find a clue,, they actually found her, it seemed that she managed to get away from whatever had captured her and she's currently recovering at the hospital in Canterlot." After having said it, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie looked relieved, Spike seemed to be the happiest among them however. Twilight still felt slightly angry though, since they never told her about this, and felt that she should have been looking for her before she had been found already, but as she thought of losing one of her friends because of a similar action, aswell as the fact that she had been saved already, she quickly regained herself before she could say anything bad, she then looked at them once more, as she was yet still worried for somepony else. "A-and what of Luna?" "We don't know…" Pinkie then said as she lowered her head. "We don't even know when she left or where she went… During all this time she kept telling us you were safe and that we shouldn't look for you… Perhaps… Perhaps she knew about what had happened to you, or perhaps she found out after the wedding and made a deal for them in order to release you." Twilight's eyes went wide. "Y-you mean that she may have sacrificed herself for m-me?" Tears started to form in Twilight's eyes. "N-no, that can't be! She has to be safe! P-perhaps the princess can help find her, o-or perhaps she knows something w-we don't." She then looked at Spike. "Spike! Send a letter to her for me, please!" Getting back onto his feet, Spike was about to agree and get something to write with, but before he could he got spooked by a sudden loud sound that was like a thunder strike right next to the door, as they went to see what had happened, they found that a large ice sculpture was suddenly standing there, Spike took a good look at it. "Is that…" As the others saw the ice sculpture, they were shocked aswell, this ice sculpture seemed really familiar to all of them but Realm, who even as Sour Shield had yet to see it, the ice sculpture seemed to be in a laughing pose as it was holding something out towards them, which they instantly recognized as Celestia's lost regalia. "T-that can't be, we got 'im last time, we turned 'im to stone, Ah know we did!" Applejack suddenly shouted. Spike took the regalia and looked at it. "But this is the real deal, and he was still wearing it at the time… So it has to be." Twilight looked at the ice sculpture a bit more and came to a realization. "Girls, what if the elements couldn't do it perfectly because it wasn't the real me that used the element of magic? Or what if this all had simply been just another one of his plans from the start!? We can't defeat him divided as we are right now, most of us are even injured." Pinkie gasped. "That big meany! If this is his idea of a game, then it's no fun!" As distraught as they were however, it was however nothing compared to how things were at Canterlot Castle right now, as a smoldering spot could be seen where the Changelings had been keeping the actual statue, and the chrysalis they had connected to it that had held Celestia was missing aswell, meaning they had no way to control the night or day anymore, as such, they quickly decided to initiate the original plans and escape back to the hive before it was too late, even those left in Ponyville decided to leave, all for two that is, since Sour Shield felt that the best bet for the hive, was if he stayed close to Pinkie, and doctor Nebulizer simply wouldn't leave while patients he was looking after still had yet to heal up. *The Badlands, underground, Chrysalis' hive, before the hospitalization of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, aswell as Twilight's sudden appearance in Ponyville* Twilight groaned as she woke up with a splitting headache, as she opened her eyes expecting to have to adjust them to some bright light, only to find that the room she was in was lit up with a gentle green light that were more soothing then painful to look at, confused she looked around the room a bit as she didn't recognize it, the walls were made of some kind of smooth black material that looked organic somehow, and the bed she was in was as soft as clouds and covered in a lavender colored sheets, and was like silk, she also noticed the two bookcases on the walls filled with books. She didn't recognize any of this, even if the books made her excited for a moment, but not enough to be worried about this situation. "W-where am I? How did I…" As she wondered, a memory came to her with a small painful jab. "Ugh… Oh right… Mother found me and offered me a place where I'd actually belong… This must be her hive then… But why can't I remember getting here? Did I pass out or something?" At this point she decided to get up, she was slightly woozy from the headache, but managed to shake it off before looking around the place a bit more, finding that there was a desk and a walk in wardrobe aswell as two doors on different walls. "Hmm… Am I supposed to wait here for mother? At least there's plenty I can do since I don't recognize these books at all." She then thought to herself before recalling one more thing and gasps. "Gilda, she was with me, and we both decided to go together… She has to be here somewhere, but should I go find her first or wait?" She thought as she looked at the doors. Deciding that she didn't want to leave her only friend alone in an unfamiliar place, Twilight opened one of the doors, finding it to open to a bathroom, it looked quite normal compared to pony bathrooms in fact, just made of more organic looking materials, though she did wonder why there was some kind of empty pod in the corner of the room, perhaps there was some kind of cleaning for Changelings that she never knew of before, and for a moment she wondered if perhaps to other Changelings she would smell or something like that, but it wasn't like she knew what this was for or how to use it, so she decided to leave it alone for now and focused on the other door instead. The moment Twilight opened the door, she was startled by a voice coming from the besides the door. "Your highness, your already awake? You really should rest a bit more." A Changeling in armor then popped its head inside from next to the door. "But if there's anything you need or want, we can get it for you, your highness, we'll also inform your mother that your now awake." "Oh… Uh, sure…" Twilight replied slightly shyly as she rubbed her hooves as such, in her mind her lack of friends over the years, aswell as never having a real family and instead being raised in a orphanage, made it hard for her to open up to others quickly afterall, at least that's what her mind made up in the absence of any real memories, as such she was slightly shy. "Say uhm… Was there another that came here along with me? A Gryphon perhaps?" The guard thought for a moment. "There is one that's the guest of the queen, I believe she's the one your talking about, should we inform her that you want to talk to her?" Twilight gulped. "I-if you wouldn't mind… Her name's Gilda." The guard bows before her. "We will let her know, but if you'd prefer, I could also take you to her or the queen myself, we can simply let the other know where to find you in that case." For a moment Twilight considered it and was about to agree with it, but her new shyness made her look away from him. "T-that's alright, I'll just wait here for them." "As you'd like, your highness." The guard bows once more as he closes the door. Twilight swallows and lets out a relieved sigh before starting to think. "I'm not used to this at all, I grew up in an orphanage without any friends or family for crying out loud, how does a princess even react? Am I supposed to act like I'm above them or something?" She then sighs and looks at the books. "At least I've got plenty to read while waiting, perhaps there's some books on proper etiquette here… Wait, why do I like books so much? … Did the orphanage have a library? I think that's right… It was the only place I ever felt at peace, right? Which is why I became a librarian in Ponyville eventually…" A whole new series of memories were made in her mind by her own imagination as she was trying to fill in any blanks she still has. =====+++===== A little later, while Twilight was still trying to figure out the blank spots in her memories and was making up a whole new life for herself, a knock was heard outside of her room, making her snap out of it and look towards the door. "W-who is it?" From outside the door a voice then replied. "It's me, Gilda, your mom's with me aswell, can we come in?" As she heard Gilda's voice, Twilight instantly felt more sure of herself and confident. "Ah, hang on a moment." She then replied before she shook her head and slapped her cheeks as if trying to wake up and thought to herself. "Come on Twilight, there's no reason to worry about the past now, the future is looking allot better now, now that we found my mother, Gilda even came with me for support." After she calmed down slightly, she took a deep breath and opened the door. "Come in." Gilda came in first with a smile on her face. "Yo egghead, how have you been holding up? Have they been treating you well?" She then asked before hugging Twilight, who just smiled and nodded as a response. Chrysalis came in shortly after that. "Of course she's treated well, she's my daughter and their princess, no Changeling here wouldn't even dream of doing anything to sadden her, they've been waiting for ages for their princess to return to them, they would rather die then upset her." Twilight flinched slightly at that. "Please don't let them, I don't want anyling to get hurt because of me, I'm not anyling important…" Chrysalis gasped. "My dear, of course your important, even if you wouldn't be a princess, you'd still be my daughter, we're all one big family here, so see them all as your big brothers and sisters, and it's not like I'm making them do so, they all decided on that themselves, I can hardly tell them to do otherwise… In fact." She then looks at the door where the guards are. "I didn't tell them to guard your room to start with, they just don't want you to get taken away by the ponies again… One of them even is part of my personal guard." As it was mentioned, one of the Changelings peaks inside. "Uhm… Sorry about that your highness… I've uh… Actually been meaning to ask but… Could I transfer to the princess' personal guard?" Chrysalis just stared back at him with a deadpan look as she closed the door. "See what I mean? Honestly, I think they love you more then me right now." A small smile appears on her face. "But who can blame them, it has been so very long, and you've grown into such a beautiful Changeling princess already, so I'll overlook it for now, I might even give him that transfer." Twilight blushed slightly, but more from not knowing how to act as she's not used to this kind of attention. "Uhm… O-okay… But I don't want to see them get hurt even more if their like family… I've never had family before, Gilda was the closest thing I ever got to a sister afterall." Gilda smiled as she put a claw around Twilight's shoulder. "Wow, thanks Twi, I think the same about you… Well, sorta, Gryphons don't really do the whole family thing well to start with, but I imagine this is what it would be like to have an actual sister that cares." Chrysalis wondered if somehow the whole ordeal had solidified their ties even more then before, and then briefly considered something. "You know… There is an old ancient Changeling ritual that would make it so that's true, at least to Changelings." "Uh… Your not talking about trying to turn me into a Changeling are you?" Gilda then asked. "No offence, but while I may not agree with my kind and I like Twilight, I don't really want to change what I am." Chrysalis smiled as she shook her head. "None taken, and no, we don't have such a thing… You'd need quite the amount of raw power for something like that, and I can only think of one in history that could do something like that… In any case, the ritual I'm talking about, it's more like making you blood sisters in a way, and it'll always make other Changelings realize what you are to one of their kind, plus it'll give you the ability to identify Changelings while disguised, even those from other hives will be effected, so they won't just attack you for no good reason, but in return you have to swear to never betray the one you became a blood sister to, if you don't… Well, let's just say that you'd be having a whole different effect on Changelings then, but since your so close, I doubt that would ever happen." As Gilda was considering it, Twilight suddenly protested. "Wait, you can't be thinking of actually doing that, what if it means for things like talking back to be seen as such aswell? Or what if hitting me on the shoulder counts? Or what if you mention a small secret I told you to another? Who knows when it could trigger… This is too dangerous, don't do it, I don't wan to see you get hurt because of something like this." Chrysalis chuckled slightly. "Oh sweetie, it won't activate from something like that, afterall, what siblings don't bicker with each other over little things? Or get into a fight at times? Not to mention that an opponent could use some kind of truth spell… No, the other effect would require a really dreadful act of treason, one which would make you think deeply of her as one, even thinking of her as a traitor for a small thing wouldn't activate it… Or it would require her to take your actual life, something I doubt would ever happen." "O-oh… But… I still don't like the risk regardless." Twilight then replied as she looked at Gilda. Gilda smiled and hugged her. "I appreciate what your saying Twi, but to actually become a sister to you, how could I resist an offer like that? So don't worry egghead, let's just do it." Twilight wasn't sure how to act, but the love she was feeling from Gilda made her calm down and realize just how much it would mean to her, to both of them, as such she hugged back. "Alright, if your sure of it, let's do it." Chrysalis could hardly contain her glee as she saw how happy it made her daughter, plus it would mean her daughter would never be betrayed by her friend like she herself had been. "Alright then, the preparations will take several days, I'll go and get started right away, and I'll have someling come over later to teach you a bit more about Changeling customs, our written words, magic and so forth, I'm sure you might have found out a few things already, but I want to make sure you both get as much of a future as I can offer." She then said as she almost hopped out of the room. Gilda grumbled after she left. "I've got to learn Changeling customs and writing? Why do I have to do all that aswell?" Twilight chuckled. "Well, who knows, perhaps some of these books are just the kind you'd like, plus we'll be learning it together 'sister'." She then smiled at Gilda who just smiled back. =====+++===== Several days later the ritual had been prepared as promised, and Twilight and Gilda had learned much, even if it had been hard for Gilda, Twilight on the other hoof had gotten more accustomed with the Changelings in the hive, and had gotten over her shyness with so many that supported and loved her, she truly had started to see them a bit more like a family, or what she thought a family would be like that is. As they entered the room they were told to go to, they found a large room that seemed to have been carved out of a single piece of rock, there were runes carved on the sides of the walls and a big round illuminated pool was in the middle of the room, at the far end was some kind of bowl still cut out of the same rock and behind it stood Chrysalis. Chrysalis smiled at them as they noticed her and waved for them to get closer, and as they came over she motioned for the other Changelings to leave the room, once the doors closed she looked at them and smiled. "Oh~ This is so exciting, I can hardly contain myself." She then coughed a bit as she got a serious. "Now then, it's quite a simply process here, first I'll fill a part of the bowl with my blood and cast a certain spell over it, this will act as a bonding reagent, after that you both add a little blood of your own, it doesn't have to be much mind you, then as I begin the next part, you will both get into the pool, the solution will then enter the pool and bond with the both of you, turning you into blood sisters." As she said so, Chrysalis made a cut in her hoof and let her blood flow into the bowl, Gilda and Twilight gulped slightly as she then began the spell, once done they did as she told them before, and after their blood was added and they entered the pool, the runes on the walls suddenly started to glow with Twilight's magical energy, surprising her slightly, but as Chrysalis chuckled she calmed down and watched the rest of the ritual, once Chrysalis was done with the next spell, the blood seemed to almost come to life, as it poured over the edge on it's own and without a magical aura around it, it soon entered the pool and the whole pool started to change color, but once again, it turned into Twilight's aura color, rather then the blood's mixed color, after that it seemed to evaporate as it entered their bodies, and once it was done, all the light in the room vanished. Till Chrysalis illuminated the room with her own magical aura that is, she also had a great fanged smile on her face as she looked at Gilda. "Welcome to our family!" Gilda looked herself over, expecting to see some kind of change, but was surprised that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Uh… Thanks? You sure this worked? I don't feel any different." Chrysalis chuckled. "Of course not, it made you blood sisters, not give you a whole new body, I told you before, remember? And besides now being recognized as family and having the ability to see us while disguised, it's not like you'd get any new powers." "Aww, I was hoping it at least turn some of my feathers into a new color, or give me the ability to talk with Twi through that hivemind of yours." Gilda then replied with a dejected tone. "Is that all?" Chrysalis asked and chuckled once more. "There's a few easy spells that can do something like change your colors if you really want, though I don't think you'd ever be able to speak through a hivemind, it requires a certain organ you don't posses, though if you could use magic you could certainly listen to the hivemind, but it would be in it's rawest form, so I doubt you'd be able to make much sense of it while in the hive itself." Gilda seemed a bit more dejected, but cheered up as Twilight hugged her, who then looked at her. "Come on now sis, aren't you happy to just be sisters with me now? I know I am." Twilight then gave her a big smile. Gilda smiled back. "I suppose so… Sis… You got used to saying it quite quickly huh?" She then hugged back as Twilight just enjoyed the hug and didn't bother to respond. After they left the room, several Changelings seemed to have been waiting and suddenly started to whisper between each other, but just before they could get uncomfortable, the Changelings suddenly swarmed around them and took them to the main dinning hall, where a large feast had been prepared for seemingly the entire hive, it seemed they weren't the only ones who had been exited about this. Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle, in the secret lab, a chuckle could be heard from a statue, before it seemingly exploded, causing those there to panic, but before they knew what had happened, a alarm from the other secret lab where Celestia was being kept in a chrysalis was heard, and as they got there, Celestia and her chrysalis were gone, not much later they would hear of the sudden appearance of a ice sculpture right in front of the Ponyville library and would start to retreat back to the hive.