//------------------------------// // To Where and Back Again PT1 // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S6 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Several weeks had passed since the attack of the mysterious cyborg Flash clone. In that time, the damage done to Ponyville had once again been repaired, everypony that had been injured now recovered and were back to full strength. And while the mystery of who created such a monstrosity was still fresh on everypony's mind, they refused to let that stop them from living their lives. Now at the castle of friendship within the throne room, Heart, Soul and the jakhowls were all sitting around. Heart and Soul were busy playing with a pack of cards while Springer, Ace and Mira were working on packing their backpacks. The older jakhowl had chosen to take the two on a camping trip, wishing to teach them some survival skills now that they had mastered the Aura Blast technique. "Alright," Springer closed up his bag, "How's everything looking?" He turned to see Mira place her folded sleeping bag into the backpack before closing the top like him. "Good." He then turned to Ace and raised an eyebrow when he saw him pushing a scrounged up sleeping bag into his backpack. Unlike Springer and Mira, he had just thrown everything in without thought for space, making Springer shake his head as Ace struggled to pull the flap down over the top. "Come on," he groaned as he tried to pull the clip toward the holder. "Come on!" Eventually, he managed to stretch the fabric enough to pull it close with a notable click. "Got it!" He turned to the others with a smile before throwing the backpack onto his back. But as soon as it was on his back, the top shot open, everything exploding out and scattering everywhere. Everypony had something land on them, causing the four to glare at Ace. The young jakhowl let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry." Everypony rolled their eyes before they started gathering the things up again, Soul using her magic to do most of it, with the twins focusing on what they were doing beforehoof. "Is this your card?" she asked while showing Heart a two of clubs. "No," Heart replied, making Soul go wide-eyed. "Are you sure?" She asked, getting a nod from her brother. "Dang it." "What are you two doing?" Springer asked, the twins turning to them. "Trying out a few magic tricks," Heart replied, "Trixie showed us some before she and the princesses left. We've been practicing, but so far we haven't been able to get any of them right." "Well, those kinds of tricks do take ages to learn," Springer responded, "You just gotta keep practicing." "We know that," Soul nodded. "But these card tricks are...tricky." "I'm so much better with the smoke bomb tricks," Heart chuckled. "Smoke bombs?" Springer asked, "What do you-" "Behold!" Heart took out a bomb and threw it down, suddenly filling the room with smoke, making everypony cough. And when it faded, Heart was nowhere in sight. "Nice try," Springer looked up at the chandelier, seeing Heart hanging from it. "But those tricks don't really work on creatures that can sense others." Heart grumbled as he flew back down, he and Soul heading out of the room to practice somewhere else. They flew through a hallway, only to find Twilight, Starlight and Spike walking down some steps while carrying boxes of books. Well, Spike was carrying them while Twilight and Starlight were simply using their magic. As this happened, Spike then tripped and sent the boxes flying. "WHOA!" He yelped before he was caught in Twilight's magic, Starlight catching the books in hers. She put Spike down and the dragon dusted himself off before turning to them. "Well, we don't all have magical horns." The mares giggled before Twilight spoke up, "I've been meaning to move these older books to my reference section for a while. Got to keep the new books front and center! Thank you both for your help." "Are you kidding?" Starlight asked with a smile, "After all you've done for me, this is the least I can do." "Oh please," Twilight blushed. "I haven't done that much." "Nah," Starlight joked. "You just taught me the value of friendship. Not much at all." Twilight nodded back, continuing to talk as Spike seemed to notice something at the window. He moved over to it, Heart and Soul watching him as they walked up to him. There they spotted a strange dot in the air that was moving oddly through the sky. "Spike, can you-" Twilight asked before noticing the three at the window, "Spike?" "What's that?" Spike asked, the older mares moving over to see the strange dot. "Is it a bird?" Twilight asked. "Is it a parasprite?" Starlight inquired. Spike gasped as it got closer, "It's...it's...INCOMING!" "Duck and cover!" Heart yelled before the five of them leapt away from the window, seconds before the mare known as Derpy Hooves shot through it and crashed into the boxes. The sound of falling books filled the room until everything was settled, Derpy quickly kicking a box off of her and shaking her head before smiling. She then grabbed a letter from out of her bag and held it up in her mouth. "Oh?" Twilight asked while walking up, "I usually get letters by dragon." "It is the fastest way to get mail!" "Even though you're the only dragon that can apparently do that," Soul reminded him. "We ever gonna get an answer for that?" Heart added as Twilight tried to take the letter in her magic, only for Derpy to keep her mouth clenched tightly around it. She pulled the letter from her magic and shook her head, then turned to Starlight. "For me?" She gasped as she took the letter, "Who would be sending me a letter?" She opened the envelope, pulling out and reading it over before a look of shock covered her face. "Its...its the ponies from my old village." "Are they in danger?" Twilight asked. "Are they upset with you?" Spike added. "Did you just get served?" Heart had no idea what that phrase meant, but had seen somepony else say it while handing Time Turner a letter. "No, it's worse! They've invited me to the annual Sunset Festival!" Starlight screamed as the four ponies and one dragon all raised an eyebrow at this while Derpy flew out of the window to complete her rounds, leaving the others to deal with Starlight. "Ooookay." Heart spoke up, "I'm clearly missing something here. What's so bad about a festival?" "It's..." Starlight opened her mouth to continue, only to look away with a sigh, "Nothing. I guess I just overreacted with the surprise of it all." She then looked back at the letter, doing a quick mental calculation to help her realize when she needed to leave to get there in time. "I'd...better go get packed." She started to trot off, leaving the others staring at her. "She's not fine, is she?" Soul asked while turning to Twilight. Twilight sighed and shook her head, "Probably not. But she'll just keep denying it if we badger her. I'm sure if she wants our help, she'll ask. And she will want our help...eventually." And as Starlight left, the rest now walking away to do what they wanted for the rest of the day while Starlight stayed mostly in her room, the sun soon setting as everypony went to bed. At Starlight's village, many ponies were working hard to get everything ready for the festival. Party Favor and Double Diamond were putting up a banner when they heard a voice they recognized as their previous oppressor. "Uh...hey there, everypony." They turned to see Starlight Glimmer walking up, shock on every face as she got closer. "Um..." was all Party Favor could say at first, "Hey...Starlight. What are you doing here?" "I-I-I..." Starlight stuttered out, only to see the ponies of the town begin to circle her, each with a look of either confusion or anger on their faces. "I was invited," she held up the invitation. "To the Sunset Festival?" "Uh, yeah," Double Diamond said as Party Favor took the letter. "But we didn't think you'd actually show up." Party Favor nodded at this, "You didn't think we really wanted you here, did you?" Double Diamond then tore the invitation to shreds, Starlight going wide-eyed as tears began to appear. "But...I...apologized," she muttered out, "I...I thought everything was fine." Party Favor and Double Diamond both began to laugh at this statement, Starlight moving back, only to run into Sugar Belle and Night Glider as they too began to laugh. More and more of her former zombies laughed while circling her more and more, causing Starlight to put her hooves over her head, "Please!" She begged, "Stop!" She shut her eyes, "STOP!" And then, the laughter vanished. Starlight opened her eyes, now seeing the village was now completely deserted, night time now over the town. "Huh? What happened?" She asked as a mist began to gather around her, "Is anypony there?" She then felt a shiver down her spine, now seeing a figure step out of the mist, revealing the alicorn of the night. "Princess Luna?! W-w-what are you doing here?!" Luna smiled back before pointing at her chest. "Dreams are my domain, Starlight Glimmer. I am here because you need me to be." "Oh." Starlight gasped, falling on her flank before sighing in relief, "Its...its only a dream." "It may only be a dream," Luna replied, "But the feelings in it are real." This caused Starlight to sigh. "Great. So I guess I'm more afraid of going back to the village than I thought. What do I do now?" Luna's reply was to simply smile and close her eyes, fond memories now flowing through the princess's head. "I have been helped time and time again by several very special ponies," she opened her eyes. "They helped me overcome my past. You're fortunate to have them as friends." She placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "I suggest you share your concerns with them." With that, the alicorn turned to walk away, floating through the air like she was walking up a flight of invisible stairs. Then, halfway up to the moon, she turned back to smile at the unicorn. "I see much of myself in you Starlight Glimmer, and I can tell you from personal experience that things do indeed get better." Starlight nodded back before Luna turned to walk into the moon, causing it to unleash a bright light that blinded the unicorn. And when Starlight recovered and opened her eyes, she found that she was back in her room. Starlight sat up, gasping as Luna's words rang out through her head. As soon as the sun was up, Starlight headed to Flash and Twilight's room. She asked them to send a message to all their friends, the friendship council, the defenders and Heart, Soul, Ace and Mira now finding themselves in the throne room as she recounted her dream. "And Princess Luna said I should tell you all how I was feeling," she finished while the others absorbed this information. "So...there it is. I'm afraid to go back to the village for the celebration." "But why, darling?" Rarity asked, "You went back to apologize and they accepted. Everypony has moved on." "But have they?" Starlight replied, "They don't really know how much I've changed. Or even worse, maybe I haven't changed as much as I think I have!" The group shared a glance, Flash speaking up next, "I think you're fine Starlight. I mean, I might have been skeptical of you at first, but I can safely say you're a completely different pony to the one you used to be." "Totally!" Rainbow added, "One hundred percent new Starlight Glimmer. I mean, it's not that hard to better than you used to be. You were pretty awful." "Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yelled as the others glared at her. "What?" Rainbow shrugged, "She was! It's a compliment!" "You and I have very different ideas about what qualifies as a compliment," Grand grumbled. Fluttershy then spoke up, turning to Starlight. "I don't think they would've sent the invitation if they didn't want you to come. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you." Starlight tried to smile at this, only to suddenly have Pinkie get right up into her face. "And getting an invitation to a party and not going?!" She pulled back and placed her head on the table, her hooves being placed on her head. "That's like...its like...!" She looked like she was about to scream, but then stopped and spoke in a calm manner. "Well, I don't know what it's like, but its definitely bad!" "Just be honest with them," Applejack added, "Ah'm sure they'll understand where you're comin' from." Iron nodded at this, "And if they don't, its their loss and not yours. If they can't see how much you've changed, then I say they don't deserve your friendship." Lightning nodded as well while Soul frowned as she and Heart walked up between Flash and Twilight's thrones. "That's a little harsh," she told the two. "It's not always easy to forgive somepony, especially if that pony did something that really hurt them. Remember what happened with Solid Script?" This made Lightning frown, Starlight doing the same as Twilight walked up and put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "I understand how hard this is for you. Maybe if you took a friend or two along, it might make things easier. Somepony you trust who would look out for you." She and Flash both smiled at Starlight, the unicorn staring at them before rubbing her chin, "Hmmm...you're right. I do need somepony there with me, and I know the perfect alicorn pegasus pair that are perfect for the job." Twilight and Flash shined big grins at this, only to be soon disappointed. "ROAD TRIP!" Heart exclaimed at the top of his lungs, leaping out of the castle with a packed saddlebag on his back. Soul walked out behind him with Starlight beside her, the two smiling at the colt's eagerness. Twilight, Spike and Flash were also there, Twilight showing a long frown on her face as Starlight spoke up, "Thanks for doing this. Twilight's right. I do need a friend or two to help me when I need it." "Glad to be of assistance," Twilight replied before leaning over to Flash and Spike. "I was talking about us." Flash just shrugged, Soul then turning to Starlight, "Why did you want us? Wouldn't Twilight or even Trixie be a better choice?" "I was thinking of asking Trixie at first..." Twilight's frown grew as she hear she wasn't even second choice. "But with how last minute this all this, it didn't feel right making her or anypony else drop whatever they might be doing just to help me out." Twilight began to smile at this, only for Springer, Ace and Mira to walk past her with their rucksacks on their backs. "Ready to get going?" He asked, the two groups planning to travel together for the first leg of their trip before splitting off. Starlight nodded before turning back to the group, the rest of their friends having just arrived. "The festival lasts a whole week, but I'm sure we won't stay that long." "You kidding?" Heart asked, "I wanna see everything this festival has to offer! It's gonna be awesome!" The others chuckled at his excitement, knowing he and Soul had very limited experience with these kinds of events. "Well, try and have as much fun as you can," Flash added, "When you get back, you're gonna be training from dawn till dusk to make up for the training you missed. And to work off all that party food you're obviously gonna scarf down." "I'm looking forward to it." Heart chuckled back. And so, the group of six walked off, their friends waving them off and wishing them luck with whatever they found themselves doing. The group kept travelling for about a day before splitting up, the jakhowls heading to a mountain range while the ponies travelled in the complete opposite direction. The terrain around them slowly shifted, from a flat grassland to a grass covered rocky area, to a greenless rocky area. And eventually, the three ponies arrived at their destination, the town coming to view as they walked onto the top of the path and looked down at the single street. "Is that it?" Heart asked, getting a nod from Starlight. "So that's the town where you-" "Magically stole everypony's cutie marks, replaced them with equal signs, and forced them all to hide their natural talents?" Starlight interrupted before letting out a sigh, "Yes." "Huh." Heart replied, "I was just gonna say where you came from." Starlight glared at him for this, Heart ignoring her, "So anyways, what are you planning on doing when you get there? Apple-bobbing? Scavenger hunt? Horseshoe toss?" Starlight sighed again. "I just want to...blend in. Be just another pony in the crowd enjoying the Sunset Festival with my friends." Soul patted her side, "Oh, don't worry about it. Like Fluttershy said, they wouldn't have invited you if they didn't want you there. Besides, this is the perfect chance to show them how much you've changed." Starlight turned to her, seeing a grin on the alicorn's face, "And if things get too much, Heart and I will be there to help in anyway we can. We've got your flank." Starlight showed a tiny smile, "Is that a promise?" "You know it," Heart chimed in, "And with the magic tricks Trixie showed us, we can easily draw their attention away from you." He showed them what he meant by throwing another smoke bomb onto the ground, unleashing a cloud of smoke that made Starlight and his sister cough. When it faded, he appeared to be gone...only for both to spot his flank and tail sticking out from behind a boulder. "Well, I couldn't ask for more than that." Starlight giggled before turning back to the village and taking a deep breath. "If we're gonna do this, let's do it." With that, she began to head down, Soul following close behind while Heart leapt out from behind the boulder. It was strange how much real life could be like one's dreams, for the place looked exactly as she had seen it while slumbering. Double Diamond and Party Favor were even putting up a banner, which they had just finished when they noticed the three walking up. "Oh!" Double Diamond gasped, "Starlight, you came!" Starlight let out a nervous giggle while waving at him, the two running up as other townsponies began to surround the three. "We were worried you wouldn't be able to make it!" Favor added, "Are you staying the whole week? We have different events planned each day!" "How is it living in a castle?" Sugar Belle asked. "It is so good to see you!" Double Diamond clapped his hooves before looking down at Heart and Soul. "Who are these two?" "I'm Heart," the colt replied. "Soul," the alicorn continued, "Starlight invited us along. I hope that's okay?" "Of course," Sugar Belle assured her, waving her hoof. "The more the merrier. Everypony's welcome to enjoy the Sunset Festival." The twins chuckled before Heart turned to Starlight and whispered, "I see what you mean. These ponies are terrifying." He and Soul laughed as Starlight let out a small groan, looking back at the large number of ponies behind her, "It's good to see all of you, too." "You got here just in time," Party Favor responded, "We were having some debate about these banners." He pointed behind him and Starlight looked up to see some pegasi holding them up. "Which do you think feels more sunsetty?" He shined a big smile that made Starlight backpedal, sweat appearing on her face as she saw them now staring at her for her answer. "O-o-oh..." she gulped as she continued to backpedal, "You don't need me to decide that. Heh...whatever you think is probably best." Double Diamond walked up next, "Well, how about helping us with the routes for the relay races tomorrow? Can you take a look?" "Oh, um..." Starlight started glancing around, "I-I shouldn't." Heart and Soul saw the panic on her face as she kept backpedaling, "You all go ahead. I-I-I just want to enjoy the festival." But then, Sugar Belle moved right up so their faces were almost touching, "But you will be a judge for the baking competition, right?" "We had a few questions about the order of the acts for the talent show," Double Diamond added as he also moved far too close for comfort. Then Night Glider did the same. "And the unicorns have a fireworks show planned! We could really use your help!" Starlight's entire body started shaking as more ponies got closer, all asking for her opinion on something. Heart and Soul tried to get up to her, but their voices were drowned out as the ponies kept asking questions. Starlight's eyes began to shrink as the questions continued, only for her horn to explode in light, "NOOOO!" She screamed as the magic pulsed out of her, knocking almost everypony away from while she began shivering in the fetal position. Heart and Soul had been spared from the blast, the twins now seeing the ponies around them moaning as they began to pick themselves up. Sharing a glance and nodding, Heart spoke up. "Well, would you look at the time. Great party, really captures the essence of sunset." "But we really need to get going," Soul continued, "Lots of squire and princess student things that need to be done." Heart took out a smoke bomb, "Let's do this again next year." With that, Heart threw the bomb, causing the three to be consumed by the smoke. And when it faded, they were gone, now having run about a good half-mile away from the place. "Ugh!" Starlight moaned once she had caught her breath. "I was horrible when I led that town!" She began to walk off, the twins following close behind her. "I was ready for them to not trust me, but...I wasn't ready for them to put me in charge again!" She looked down in shame. "With my past, I should never be in charge of anything!" "Says who?" Soul chimed in, "If Princess Luna is allowed to rule all of Equestria after what she did as Nightmare Moon, why shouldn't you be in charge of a small village festival?" "Luna is Luna," Starlight replied, "I'm just me." "You know Starlight, the self loathing thing's getting pretty old." Starlight turned to Heart, seeing a deadpan stare on his face, "So you messed up. Big whoop. But look at everything you've done since. If it wasn't for you, the Crystal Empire would have been buried under a mile of snow right now. Sure, Sunburst had the answer, but you were the one who helped him realize the answer and convinced everypony to use it." Soul nodded in agreement, "And you helped Trixie deal with her problems with her father. And that's only the start. There are so many things you've done to help everypony in Ponyville. More than enough to prove you're a different pony from who you used to be." Heart flew ahead of her at this, "And if Luna, Discord, Lightning and Sombra are allowed to be forgiven, then so are you. But nopony's gonna believe it if you don't start to believe it." Starlight let out a long sigh, "But...I don't know. Its hard to move on....especially after the mistakes I've made." "Grand once told me something about mistakes," Heart replied, "He said there are two things you can do with a mistake. Hide from it, or learn from it. Beating yourself up is the same as hiding from it, and if you just admit it and move on, you'll learn. You've admitted your mistake, but you haven't learned from it. And until then, you can't move on." Starlight stared at the colt, making her sigh, "I guess...you're right. I guess I have been hiding from my mistake, even if I didn't want to admit it. You kids are pretty wise, you know that?" The two chuckled at this, "Well...we are two thousand years old." The three laughed before continuing their trek back to Ponyville, Starlight eventually getting tired of walking and teleporting the three back to the town. They then arrived on the outskirts, heading for the castle while passing through the town square. It was here that they spotted a familiar pink pony bouncing through the street. "Hey Pinkie Pie!" The pony stopped bouncing and turned to them, Starlight walking up to her. "Hey..." Pinkie slowly said with a raised eyebrow, "You!" "So, uh..." Starlight scratched her leg as she replied, "You're probably wondering why I'm back so soon." "Where were you?" Pinkie asked, making Starlight now raise an eyebrow. "I...went to my old village? For the festival?" "Ooh," she went goofy eyed, "Sounds fun! How was it?" Heart and Soul exchanged glances at this, blinking as Starlight replied, "It was kind of a disaster. I came back early because I freaked out." "Ooh...sounds awful!" Pinkie then waved at her, "Bye!" She spun and bounced off again, leaving a blinking Starlight. "That was...strange." "Yeah," Heart added, "That's not like Pinkie Pie at all." Soul tilted her head at this, "I expected her to offer you something to cheer you up. Like a...cupcake or something." "Maybe she's got something on her mind," Heart continued. "I guess..." Starlight replied before seeing Rarity and Applejack walking down the street. "Hey!" she called out before trotting over, "I'm back early." "Ah," Rarity responded with a slight frown, "Welcome...back?" "Have you two noticed Pinkie acting a little strange?" "Pinkie Pie always acts strange," Applejack chimed in. "But not that kind of strange," Heart added. "Anyways," Starlight spoke up, "I wanted to talk to all of you. Things didn't go the way I thought they were going to go at the Sunset Festival." "What happened?" Starlight showed a small blush, doing a slight gulp despite knowing the two wouldn't make fun of her. "I kind of freaked out and ran out of the village." But as she said these words, her eyes went wide when Applejack and Rarity suddenly broke out into laughter, making her gasp. "You freaked out and ran away from a festival?" Applejack said before letting out another honk of laughter, "That's the funniest danged thing I've heard all day." Starlight backpedaled at this, Heart and Soul also going wide-eyed before glaring at Applejack before Rarity spoke up from her laughter, "Oh my. Let me guess, the decorations were terrifying?" "That's not very nice," Soul growled, "Starlight's feeling really bad about all of this!" "Oh, lighten up," Applejack replied before waving her hoof. And as she did this, Rainbow and Fluttershy flew down, Fluttershy whispering something into Rarity's ear while Rainbow pushed Applejack away. "Hello, ponies." Rainbow said in a low, almost bitter tone, "We need Rarity and Applejack. Very important friendship business." The other three walked off, with Rainbow being the last. She spun around and flicked her tail in a way that it made a whipping sound, shocking the three until they were gone. "What is with everypony?" Heart asked, "It's like they're mad at us or something." Soul turned to him, "You didn't leave any of your smoke bombs laying around, did you?" "No..." Heart replied before frowning, "Well...not that many." Soul let out a long sigh, shaking her head as Starlight grimaced at the sight of the fleeing ponies. "I don't like this. We need to talk to Twilight!" With that, Starlight ran for the castle, the twins following behind her. And as they did this, Heart looked up and saw Flash flying overhead. "HEY! FLASH!" The Knight of Friendship looked down before landing in front of him. The look on his face wasn't what Heart was expecting, being one of annoyance. "What do you do want kid?" "I...I'm back. You said we'd start training again." "Oh...I did?" Flash raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, err..." "Heart." "Cart. Right...." The colt blinked at this, only to gasp as Flash waved a hoof at him, "Listen kid, I don't have time to play foalsitter. I'm very busy, so go find somepony else to hang around." He turned away and flew off, Heart quickly taking to the air after him, only for Flash to glance back at him, "What did I just say?!" "But I'm your apprentice!" Heart yelled, "I'm supposed to be learning from you!" "I've got better things to do then try to teach you to blow your nose. Get lost and leave me alone." If anypony had X-ray goggles, they could have seen Heart's...heart, shatter into a million pieces. The colt started to drift down, watching the knight fly away as tears filled his eyes. And as he landed on his flank, Soul placed a hoof on his shoulder while Starlight turned to the two, "Something's definitely wrong here." She once again began to run for the castle, the twins trotting after her since Heart wasn't in the mood for running. And as they made it to the castle and tried to open the door, they found it to be locked, "What the-" She asked before knocking. "Twilight? Hello?" A few seconds passed before the door opened, revealing a very annoyed looking dragon. "What do you want?!" He asked with venom in his voice, "Twilight's very busy!" "Spike, I really need to speak with her." "Make an appointment!" He barked back, "She's a princess, after all!" With that, he slammed the door shut, making Starlight backpedal. "What is-what's wrong with you?!" She knocked again as Heart and Soul arrived, "Why are you being so-" "Rude?" A familiar voice finished as the doors swung open, revealing the Princess of Friendship. She shot Spike an icy glare, one nopony had ever seen her give him. "I think a certain dragon didn't get his nap today." Spike rolled his eyes and jumped down off the stool he was on, the dragon beginning to drag it away. "Yeah, right. Whatever." He disappeared down the hallway as a blinking Starlight walked into the castle and watched him vanish, the twins there besides her. "Sorry," Twilight replied, "He's been acting a little off all day. I think he missed a meal or something." "He's not the only one," Starlight replied before looking back at the town. "Everypony's acting a little strange today." "Flash totally froze me out," Heart added, "It's like...he doesn't want to me be his squire anymore." This made Twilight grimace, Soul noticing it as the princess said, "Yes...it's definitely been one of those days. So uh, how are you?" Starlight sighed at this, "Not great, actually." She looked up at the mare, moving up to her as Twilight began to backpedal with a look on her face that would make somepony think Starlight was on fire or something. "You're probably wondering why I'm back from the village so early." Twilight opened her mouth for a moment, pausing before she replied, "I didn't want to bring it up, but yeah, it did seem strange. Did it not go well?" Starlight shook her head, "The townsponies kept asking me things, like they expected me to be in charge again. But being a leader is the last thing I should ever be." She began to blush as she continued, "So we...left. Very suddenly. In a literal puff of smoke." "Wow. You should definitely never go back to that village." Twilight instantly responded, Starlight about to say she agreed, only to go wide-eyed as her brain caught up. "What?!" She yelped, Heart and Soul just as bewildered at the response. Now it was Twilight's turn to move up to Starlight, the unicorn now backpedaling as she said, "If you were worried about what they thought of you before, it's probably way worse now. I'd cut my losses." "That's..." Starlight fumbled on her words for a second before replying, "Surprising advice, coming from you." "Trust me," Twilight pointed to herself. "I'm the Princess of Friendship. You don't need those ponies. You can always make more friends." As she said this, a door behind her opened up, Rainbow's head poking out. Twilight looked back and saw the pegasus gesture her, "Ah! Speaking of friends, if you'll excuse me, important business to attend to!" She quickly ran into the room with Rainbow, Spike then suddenly appearing out of nowhere. He gave them the 'I'm watching you' gesture before running after Twilight, now slamming the door shut, leaving Starlight and the twins standing in the hallway, all completely perplexed by what had just happened. "Does anypony think something was up with her?" Heart asked. "Gee, what gave it away?" Soul deadpanned, "The way she was talking? How nervous she got when Starlight asked for advice? Or the absolutely horrible advice she gave?" She turned to Starlight, "Something's up with them." Starlight nodded in agreement, but wasn't exactly sure what the problem was. The rest of the day was just as unusual. Starlight discovered Flash and Rarity had sent Scootaloo and Sweetie to Sweet Apple Acres for an extended sleepover. Then Heart went out to try and find the other Defenders, and see what they had to say about Flash's earlier comment. But when he found them, two things were of note. The first was that like Flash, they kept telling him to get lost. The other was how they did their job. Grand completely ignored an elderly mare when she dropped her grocery bags, while usually he would help. Iron refused to help a mare who asked him to help her knock down a broken fence so she could put a new one up, even though it would only take him ten seconds the smash it. And Lightning was found napping on a park bench, not even trying to find something that might need his attention. Soul also found the castle was unusually fortified. Several rooms had been locked, and even the library was shut tight, confusing her since Twilight never locked that room in case somepony in town needed a book for whatever reason. And most unusual thing was how much their friends were avoiding them. Every time any of them tried to get their attention, they either ignored them or made up an excuse to go somewhere else. It was so bad that during dinner, Starlight, Heart and Soul were eating alone while the others disappeared. And as night came about, Starlight was in her room, one of the few rooms not locked up, preparing for bed. But no matter what, she couldn't help but think about what Twilight had told her earlier. "Cut my losses?" She got into bed, "That can't be right." She switched off the light and sat back, trying to get to sleep, but the words kept rolling around in her head. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift, Twilight's words slowly growing quieter. And when she opened them back up, she saw she was back in the village. It was night time again, and she was alone, the unicorn trotting up to the buildings. But as she entered the village, every house suddenly opened and the ponies of the town trotted out. "Hey," she called out when Double Diamond moved past her. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." But the white earth pony remained quiet as he trotted by, his face stoic. She raised an eyebrow and stopped, then spotted another of her former friends. "Party Favor," he trotted passed her, his face the same as Double's. "Can you hear me?" He also walked off without paying her any attention, and before Starlight could call out to somepony else- "I told you that you can never speak to them ever again!" She turned to the angry voice, now seeing Twilight as she appeared out of the mist, Flash, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity beside her. Starlight raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you all doing here?" "Making sure you do what I said!" Twilight replied, her voice filled with pure anger, one she hadn't heard since before she became Twilight's student. "I'm your teacher, aren't I? Didn't I say to never come back here?!" Starlight nodded back, "Yes, but that just doesn't seem right. You aren't acting like yourself." And as she said these words, her brain began to race through everything that had happened since she, Heart and Soul had gotten back to town. Then, she spoke up, and she wasn't alone when spoke. "Something is wrong/SOMETHING IS WRONG!" Her eyes went wide at the sound of that familiar voice, a gust of wind shooting past her and hitting the seven ponies in front of her. They vanished as Starlight realised where she was, "A dream? This is another dream!" "Starlight Glimmer," the mare looked up after hearing the whispering voice. "Princess Luna? Where are you?" "Starlight Glimmer!" The voice was louder, this one now filled with haste and fear. "Princess Luna, where are you?" Starlight got her answer when the moon glowed, the unicorn looking up to see Luna's head appear within it. She looked the same way her voice sounded, scared and in a hurry. "Starlight Glimmer, there is no time!" She poked her head out of the moon along with her front legs, looking like she was trying to pull herself out. "You must get help!" As she said this, she jerked back, as if something was trying to pull her back through the moon. "What?! What are you talking about?!" She gestured to everything around her, "This is just a dream!" "Not here!" Luna announced, "In the waking world! They've taken my sister and I, Trixie too!" She was once again pulled back, the alicorn barely able to hold onto the edge of the moon. "It's worse than the last time! Your dream called to me, and I was able to break through! You must find help!" "What are you saying?!" Starlight yelled, "Who's taken you?!" "Be careful who you trust!" Luna responded as her body jerked back and forth, "You need all the help you can find! The changelings have returned and-" Before she could say anything else, a dark shadow came up from behind her, pulling her back with a gasp. "PRINCESS LUNA!" Starlight screamed before feeling the world around her starting to fall apart, the image of her village melting like a wet painting. Starlight tried to run away as the darkness overtook her, but she couldn't escape, the place pulling her toward her to the moon. And as soon as she was pulled inside, there was a bright flash of light, and she felt her body suddenly jerk as her eyes shot open. She let out a cry of shock, gasping as she yelped, "They're back!" Her heart was beating a mile a minute, the unicorn getting out of bed before trotting around the room as terror gripped her very soul. 'It all makes sense know,' she thought to herself. 'Everypony being out of character. Why Twilight would give me such bad advice. Why they sent Scootaloo away and stopped doing their jobs properly.' "Everypony's a changeling." She gasped before running up to the nearest way out of the castle, which happened to be a balcony. She stopped and looked out at the town, her brain trying to process who to go to. If Celestia and Luna had been captured, that meant nopony was safe. The entire town could have been replaced. There was nopony she could go to for help. "Wait..." she walked back into the castle, gulping as she tiphoofed up to two rooms she knew contained ponies she could trust, and started tapping against them. "Heart," she whispered as she knocked before turning to the other door and doing the same, "Soul." She kept knocking for a minute until the two doors opened, revealing the twins. "What is it?" Heart asked, rubbing his eyes. "Why did you wake us up so early?" Soul yawned until she noticed Starlight's frantic expression. "What's wrong?" Starlight was about to explain, only to remember Luna's words. "Heart," she turned to him, "What did Grand tell you were your only options when you make a mistake?" "What?" Heart asked, still half asleep, only for Starlight to grab him and pull him close, the two locking eyes. "What did he tell you were your only options when you make a mistake?" "Hide from it, or learn from it!" Heart called back, his voice echoing throughout the hallway. Starlight placed a hoof over his mouth, glancing around before letting out a sigh of relief. "Can't breathe," Heart told her through her hoof. Starlight let him go and moved back. "Sorry. Had to make sure you weren't-" she took one final look around before whispering to them, "One of them." "One of who?" Heart asked while Soul frowned at these words. "A Changeling," Starlight replied, "I think they've taken princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Not to mention Trixie and probably anypony else they think might be able to stop them." "What?!" Heart yelped, his voice echoing again. Soul threw her hoof over his mouth to stop him from yelling more, the young alicorn turning to Starlight. "Does that include who I think it does?" Starlight nodded before gesturing for the two to follow, the three trotting through the castle until they reached the door to the throne room. And as they got closer, they heard voices coming out from the door, Starlight showing a shushing motion to the twins. They nodded and the trio looked into the room, the door having been left slightly open, allowing them to see the mane seven and defenders. Just by looking, they could tell these were not the ponies they knew and loved. Applejack was eating a pear, Fluttershy had her back legs up on the table, Pinkie was fast asleep, Lightning was picking his nose and Spike was drawing on one of the thrones with a crayon. Fluttershy turned to Spike as he drew a pony with several stink marks coming off of it, then shoved him away. He cried out as he fell back and slammed into Pinkie's throne, waking her up. She retaliated by shoving Spike into the table, the 'dragon' groaning on impact while Rarity let out a shrill cackle. Heart and Soul glanced at each other, now know for sure that these weren't their friends. But it was at this moment that the impostors placed three bug shaped disks on the table, Twilight walking up to it. "Is it ready?" She asked, Applejack holding up another disk. "Just one more." She placed it on the table, forming a perfect square. As soon as it was in place, it and the other three opened up and unleashed a green light that shot at each other and formed a green square. The disks then floated up and collided with one another, a black webbing keeping them connected to the table. When they touched, the energy engulfed them, forming a green and black sphere with a white center, and in that sphere, a familiar face appeared. Starlight's eyes went wide, seeing a green haired version of Hiveena, "Queen Chrysalis!" "She's ugly," Heart whispered before the three went quiet. The changeling queen stared at the group before rolling her eyes. "Ugh. I can't take any of you seriously when you look like that." "Oh. Right." Suddenly, the ponies and dragon in the room were engulfed in green fire. When the flames vanished, each of them had been replaced with a black insect pony hybrid. "Much better," Chrysalis chuckled, "Now report!" "Everything here is going according to plan!" The changeling that had been impersonating Twilight replied. "We've replaced the ten ponies and their dragon, and have taken control of the castle!" "Excellent," Chrysalis replied. "And I've just received word that the princesses from Canterlot have successfully been replaced as well, along with one of their students and several knights." The changelings laughed while the ponies outside shared looks of horror. "We thought too small last time. One pony-napped princess wasn't enough. With all the most beloved ponies of Equestria taken care of, nopony can stop us!" She laughed again, the changeling following suit as the sphere vanished and the disks returned to normal. As this happened, Starlight and the twins sharing terrified glances. But as they did this, Starlight accidently pushed the door, causing it to squeak. This caught the changeling's attention, making them turn and hiss, the group retaking their disguises before running up to the door. But when they threw it open, there was nothing there. The eleven began to spread out and search the castle, with only the Twilight changeling stopping to sniff the air. She turned back to the hallway leading to the throne, slowly walking around while sniffing the air. She came to a stop and stared at the blank air, giving one final sniff before turning to walk off again. As soon as she was gone, Starlight and the twins appeared. A camouflage spell Starlight had learned from Trixie had been their saving grace, Heart and Soul gasping as they hadn't dared to breathe while the Twilight changeling had been close. Now they were panting heavily, causing a lot of noise. Starlight grabbed the two and sparked her horn, teleporting the three outside. "That was close," Heart whispered. "This is why you shouldn't hold off on bathing," Soul added, "She was clearly smelling you." Heart was about to argue back, only for Starlight to put her hoof between them, "We don't have time for arguing!" They turned to her, "We have to find somepony that can help us." "But who?" Heart asked, "You heard Chrysalis. The defenders, princesses and the knights have all been captured. We're doomed!" He fell over, getting into the fetal position, clearing overwhelmed by the sudden hopelessness of the situation. "Maybe not," Starlight patted him on the side, "I mean, Queen Chrysalis only said they took Luna and Celestia and obviously Twilight and the others... but maybe Cadance is still safe. Our best bet is to get to the Crystal Empire before the changelings do. That way we can-" "There's no help coming from the Crystal Empire." The three froze at a new voice, turning to see its owner as it walked out of some nearby bushes. Thorax, their first changeling alley, stood before them with a big frown on his face. "Thorax?" He nodded back. "Yes. It's good to see you all again." Heart and Soul were about to run up to him, but Starlight put a barrier in front of the two, her horn glowing with offensive magic. "How do I know you aren't just some other changeling pretending to be Thorax?" The twins gasped at the suggestion, then taking an offensive stance. They watched as Thorax thought for a moment, then smiled. "When you went to go see Sunburst, the two of you were so awkward around one another that he accidently overfilled a cup of tea and it went all over the place." Starlight blinked at this, only to cut her magic. "Alright," she sighed, frowning as the twins walked over to him, "But what did you mean, there's no help? Did the changelings get Cadance too?" Thorax nodded back, "They took Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and Ruby! Hiveena sensed their presence, but by then, it was too late." "What happened to Hiveena?" Soul asked. "She tried to fight them off, thinking that if she captured them, she could turn them against Chrysalis. But there were too many. By the time Sunburst told me to come here, she was captured and about to be sent to the queen. Then they got Sunburst, who tried to hold them off while I came to get Princess Twilight's help....but it sounds like it's too late for that." "It is," Heart gulped, "I can't believe they got everyone. Flash...Twilight...Rainbow and Applejack-" "What's this about Applejack?" The four jumped at another voice, the group now seeing a dark figure appear from the darkness and flew down to them. "Rogue?" Starlight asked, the bat pony now landing. "What are you doing here?" "Granny Smith's been wondering why Applejack hasn't been home in the last few days. I waited to see if she was gonna return tonight, but when she didn't, I decided to come see what's going on. Now what is it you were saying about her and the others." Starlight let out a sigh before explaining the situation. "WHAT?" Rogue yelled, almost unleashing his sonic blast. "So these things have her and the others?!" He turned to the castle, "I'll show them!" He tried to fly straight up, only to be suddenly slammed into a magic wall. "We can't just attack them," Starlight countered, "We need...we need to find a way to find the others." "How?" Soul asked. "Of all the times for Springer to go on a camping trip," Heart groaned. "He and Flash are so close they could find each other anywhere." Starlight shook her head at this, "Well, we don't have time to wait for him to get back." "So what do we do?" Thorax asked next. Soul jumped up and placed her front hooves on the unicorn's side. "Yeah Starlight, what are we gonna do?" Starlight's eyes flicked between the lot of them, the mare panicking as she saw the many eyes staring at her, "I...I don't know!" She jumped away from the group, "There has to be somepony else who can handle this!" "There is nopony else!" Heart almost yelled. "Every single one of Equestria's greatest heroes has been captured. There isn't anypony else with enough magic power to take these things down!" "You know, whenever ponies talk about powerful magic, they always leave me out." The five of them jumped at this, only to look up and see the mystical conglomeration of beastie parts laying on a branch of a nearby tree. Discord was knitting what looked like a puppet version of Angel Bunny. "If I weren't so evolved, I might decide to take it personally." "Alright," Heart deadpanned, "Is there anypony else out here that we should know about? Speak up or forever hold your peace!" There was no response, Discord taking this moment to speak up again, "Well, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters?" He smirked, "Though the two younger ones kind of ruin the dynamic." Heart and Soul growled at him before Discord took his eyes out and made them look around, "Where are Twilight and the rest of her merry mares? The stallions too, I guess." "First, how do we know that you're really you?" Discord shot her a look that said 'seriously', then snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the nearby flowers pulled out themselves out of the ground and started dancing on their roots. The tree he was in morphed into a coocoo clock and ground suddenly transformed into soapy water covered surface that caused all but Thorax to fall over. "Shall I continue?" He added. "No. Chrysalis and the changelings are back," Starlight replied as she forced herself back to her feet. "They've pony-napped all of the most powerful ponies in Equestria! Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, the knights, Twilight and her friends. We need to-" Before she could say another word, Discord's eyes went wide as he snapped everything around him back to normal. He then extended his neck so he and Starlight were inches from one another. "They took Fluttershy?!" He asked in an angry, hushed voice. "Yes!" Starlight nodded. "Where?" Discord eyes literally burned with rage. "The Changeling Kingdom," Starlight replied, "And with you on our side, I can-" She didn't get to finish as Discord snapped his fingers. The next thing they knew, the six were transported someplace new. When the light faded, they saw they were in some kind of forest area which was still bright out. They were all equipped with bags and other explorer gear, Rogue even wearing his shades now. They were all blinking at the sight, Discord also doing the same. "Odd," he commented, "I was trying to take us right to Fluttershy," he lifted a rock and looked underneath it. "But...there is no Fluttershy." He dropped the rock and stroked his beard, the others looking around. "Um...everypony?" Soul spoke up, the group turning to her, "I think I might know where to start looking." They followed her hoof and now saw that they were on the edge of their current biome and right next to another. This one was covered in spiky cliffs and had very little plant life, and in the center of it was a structure that resembled a giant black termite mound covered in holes. "Chrysalis' castle," Heart whispered before turning to Thorax for confirmation. The changeling nodded and shook in fear, "I'd hoped to never see that place again." He turned to Starlight, "Now what?" The others turned to her as well, Starlight's eyes leaping from one to the other, unable to respond. All she knew was that somewhere in there, their friends were trapped, and in who knows what condition. Hiveena let out a long moan as she opened her eyes, everything around her a blur. She tried to move her body, only to feel herself unable to move an inch. And as her vision began to clear, she went wide-eyed at the sight, her heart stopping next, "Hello," she looked straight up and saw somepony she hadn't seen in years, "If it isn't my sweet little daughter." Hiveena was in the throne room of her former home, the changeling castle, with everything but her head trapped within a changeling cocoon. She was stuck to a wall, her horn now covered in the slime, preventing her from using magic. And hanging from the ceiling was her mother, surrounded by cocoons filled with every single hero of Equestria. The princesses, mane seven and the Royal Knights, all trapped within these slimy prisons. And Hiveena's mind told her she would be next. There was no doubt in her mind, Equestria was doomed.