//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Left Behind 
// by origami 
//------------------------------//

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were preparing for the wedding in a shared chamber.  Princess Luna was wearing the dress she'd had when speaking with Fluttershy earlier.  Celestia was now wearing a white dress that vaguely resembled a toga, with gold trim accenting various parts of it.  Hoofmaidens were preparing their manes, ensuring that they were as smooth and flowing as could be.

Luna gave her sister a look out of the corner of her eye, a guilty expression crossing her face.  A bit earlier, she had confessed to granting the yellow pegasus clearance to interview the changeling in their custody.  "Sister, I do hope you'll forgive me for permitting Miss Fluttershy to visit with our prisoner?"

Celestia sighed.  "While I would have preferred to have decided on that matter together, I was planning on granting all of them that privilege.  With any luck, Fluttershy will get our prisoner to open up and give us the information that we need to plan a campaign to capture the queen and bring her to justice for her crimes."

Luna frowned a bit.  "I am grateful to hear your agreement, but I fear what Miss Fluttershy may do in regards to the changeling and his, shall we say, special dietary needs?  She may do something rash and put herself in danger."

"I fear that as well.  Being the element of kindness, she simply cannot stand by and allow any creature to suffer, and most certainly not if she can do something to help end that suffering."

"I understand her desire to assist and aid in the elimination of suffering, but there are times when one goes too far with it.  The changelings feed on our emotions, and one of the strongest emotions a pony can feel, and they have lived their lives resorting to deceit and trickery in an effort to satisfy their insatiable appetite.  You should know this better than anyone, Tia."

Celestia let out a sigh.  "I do, sister.  In the time after your banishment, I have dealt with them on different occasions.  The attack on Timbucktu and the siege at the city of Trot stand out as two significant examples.  They are a resourceful lot, and have no qualms whatsoever about resorting to lies and deception as tactics."

"Still, I am of the opinion that their problems are a result of their leadership."

"You mean the tyrant that has control over them?" Luna inquired.

Celestia gave her sister a look of annoyance, but again sighed.  "Yes, I suppose that is the word which I should refer to her by."

Before anything else was said, the doors to the room opened and in galloped Twilight, a pair of guards following close behind her.

"Stop there!" one called out.  "You have not been permitted entry!"

Upon seeing her pupil, Celestia raised her hoof to stop her guards.  "Return to your post.  I grant my student permission to enter."

"But, your highness?" the guard protested.  "We haven't-"

"I said, return to your post," the princess repeated more sternly.

The guard, not wanting to upset the princess more than he had, bowed and left, his counterpart doing the same.

"Twilight," Celestia addressed the unicorn, "I understand that you may be excited to tell me something, but please let the guards do their jobs instead of rushing in here without permission.  Your brother instituted the measures he did for a reason, and I happen to agree with him on that matter."

Twilight bowed to Celestia.  "My apologies for that, but I think I may have figured out how the changeling managed to survive the shield."

"You have?" Celestia asked, intrigue clear in her voice.  "Please, elaborate for us."

"Well," Twilight began nervously, "I can't say with one hundred percent certainty that this is how he did it, but a simple test could prove my theory.  All I need is for you to move the changeling from the anti-magic dungeon and back to the interview room."

Luna looked at Twilight with concern.  "You want us to... take him out of the special dungeon?"

"Yes," Twilight confirmed.  "My theory involves magic and the emotions behind it, and I need to have him out of the anti-magic dungeon in order to test it."

Celestia and Luna both looked at Twilight, and then each other, then Celestia back to Twilight.

"What is this test that you have in mind?"





Shining Armor had returned to his sister's room, but was redirected by the two guards to head to the observation room in the dungeon.  He reached the door to the observation room and went to open the door but paused.  He looked at the door to the actual interview room he would be watching, and decided to take a look inside.

Upon opening the door, the captain saw a series of large metal boxes with flashing lights, switches and gauges, as well as special antennas with crystals inserted into their bases.

"In here with us, Shining," came the voice of his sister, who the stallion turned to see poking her head out of the observation room, a hoof beckoning him in.  "The changeling is still in the anti-magic dungeon and you're not allowed to interview him without the princesses."

Shining closed the interview room door and walked over to his sister.  "What's going on, Twilight?" he asked her as he stepped inside the observation room, then stopped as he saw Cadance in the room, her wedding gown on and fitting snug to her form.

"Twilight," he scolded, "you know I can't see Cadance before we get to the altar!  It goes against tradition!" he admonished his sister.

"I think it's a bit late for that now, Shining," Twilight answered as she fiddled with some equipment she'd set up on a table in front of the one-way glass.

Shining shook his head.  "Please tell me what's going on."

Twilight finished her tinkering and faced him.  "I had an idea as to how that changeling got through the shield you and Cadance set up, but I need to measure some things to see if I'm right, or at least heading in the right direction if I'm not.  I have some equipment set up in the next room for measuring different aspects of spells, and all I need you to do is to repeat the shield spell you and Cadance cast yesterday.  It doesn't need to be as big as that one, but it does need to be the same spell and have the same emotions and intent behind it."

"You want me and Cadance to recast the shield spell?"

Twilight nodded.  "Like I said, I set up equipment designed to measure different aspects of spells, and to prove my idea about what happened yesterday, I need to examine the spell and the different aspects of it."

Shining looked to Cadance.  "Is that what she told you?"

"More or less," Cadance confirmed.  "She said we just have to cast the same spell, with the same emotions and intent, that we used yesterday, and she's going to take some measurements."

"But Twilight said she wanted us to have the same intent with our spell," Shining pointed out.  "I mean, wasn't our intention to drive them out of Canterlot altogether?  That intent is what determines the size of the shield, besides the raw magic poured into it."

"I only need to measure the spell for a few moments," Twilight clarified.  "The machines I'm using can print read-outs with all the necessary information.  You only need to cast the spell for a few seconds or so.  After that, you can dispel it and head to the wedding chapel.  Princess Celestia and I can review the data while you two head off to the reception."

Shining and Cadance looked at each other for a moment before they shrugged.  "Okay, Twily," Shining agreed.  "If you think this will help find the answer."

"Great!" Twilight exclaimed with her forehooves clopping together.  "Now, just wait here until I give you the signal, then you can get started with the spell.  I need to go and fine-tune the equipment and make sure everything is set up how it needs to be."

With that, Twilight stepped outside and waited by the interview room door.  As she waited, she thought about the implications of what her theory being correct would mean.

Before she could get too invested in the idea, a group of guards approached.  In the center of the group was the changeling prisoner.  He had been fitted with bindings and a ring placed on his horn to inhibit his magic.

"Here is the prisoner, as was requested," a guard at the front said to Twilight.

"Very good.  Please take him into the interrogation chamber and have him sit down."

The guard led Thorax into the room and chained his hooves to the table.  The changeling complied, not entirely sure what was going on, but also not wanting to give anypony a reason to start treating him more roughly.

"You may be dismissed for now," Twilight told the guard.  "With his inhibitors in place, I will be safe from any magical attacks he may attempt.  I will not need a pony escort into that room, so you may stand guard outside while I conduct the questioning."

The guard was about to protest, but held his tongue.  His instructions had come directly from both princesses, and they'd told him to bring the prisoner to this unicorn and obey whatever instructions she gave him after that until she returned the prisoner to their custody.  "Yes, ma'am."

Twilight gave him a nod.  "Give those instructions to the other guards as well, and inform them that I am not to be disturbed until I have completed my task here."

The guard gave a nod and a salute, then left to rejoin the others.  The door shut behind him, leaving Twilight and Thorax relatively alone in the room.

"I'm going to be conducting an experiment now in hopes to figure out what happened yesterday," Twilight explained to Thorax.  "I will be monitoring you during the experiment using these machines.  All I need you to do is sit there in that chair and try not to move a whole lot."

"Umm, okay?" Thorax replied, feeling a bit uneasy at the moment.

The purple unicorn said nothing further to Thorax.  She turned and pressed a button attached to a microphone.

"I'm all set in here," she spoke into the device.  "You can begin whenever you're ready."

Twilight let off of the microphone and went over to a machine and began fiddling with some knobs.

"I thought you said you were ready?" Thorax said, sounding a bit confused.

"Just a last-second adjustment," she told him.  "Please remain still while I perform the experiment."

Thorax didn't say anything in response.  He tried to sit still, but was finding it a bit difficult.  He had no idea what this experiment was, but it gave him a bad feeling deep down inside.

Meanwhile in the observation room, Shining and Cadance both faced each other.

"Are you ready?" Shining asked Cadance.

Cadance nodded in response.  "Are you?"

Shining nodded in return.

"Just remember what Twilight said," Cadance added.  "The same spell, with the same emotion and intent."

"Right," Shining agreed, then closed his eyes as his horn lit up in magic.

Cadance closed her own eyes and lit her own horn.  The two then joined their horn tips together, the magic energy pooling on the tip.  Both ponies thought back to what they were feeling and what they wanted to accomplish with their spell, forming the beginnings of what would be a shield spell meant to be used as a weapon against a parasitic opponent.

Back in the interrogation room, Twilight's equipment began collecting information about the shield spell the unicorn and alicorn were casting.  Twilight looked over the information being printed out onto parchment, but she really wasn't that interested in the data.  Her interest was in what would happen when that shield came into contact with the prisoner sitting in the chair of the interrogation chamber.

Thorax, however, was becoming more nervous.  Even with his magic cut off, his other senses still worked fine, and he could hear a humming sound that ponies, and changelings, for that matter, associated with magic being used.

"Um, what are they doing over there?" he asked Twilight, worry clear in his voice.

"Please avoid speaking," Twilight shot back.  "This equipment is delicate and I need to make sure everything is recorded accurately."

Thorax said nothing further, but was much more nervous than before. He could hear that very distinct hum from the other room get progressively louder, and he realized he wouldn't be able to escape it if it ended up being cast into this room and at him.

Shining and Cadance, having built up the appropriate level of energy, opened their eyes and looked at each other.  The blue-maned stallion smiled widely, enamored by the beauty of his soon-to-be wife.  The pink alicorn returned the smile, finding her stallion very attractive in his red uniform jacket.

With no words between them, they leaned in closer and kissed, releasing the shield spell in the process.

Thorax felt the sudden rush of energy coming towards him, and just as he did before, tucked his legs in to protect himself.  Twilight watched with bated breath as the pink wall approached the changeling in a mere second.

The moment the energy touched the changeling, her theory had been proven correct.

Instead of pushing back against Thorax and forcing him against the wall, it phased through him, like a sort of osmosis.  In but one second of time, the changeling went from being outside the shield to inside it. She did a quick check of her measurements, and just as she had asked, the spell was identical to the one her brother and Cadance had cast yesterday.

Twilight walked over to the microphone and pushed the button.  "I have what I need.  You can dispel the shield now."

There was no auditory response.  Instead, the pink shield flashed out of existence, and the machines that had been measuring the shield went back to their baselines.

Twilight turned to Thorax.  "I want you to stay here for the time being," she told him.  "I'm going to go inform the princesses about my findings.  I'm sure they'll want to talk to you after I tell them about everything I have."

Thorax didn't respond.  He sat with all of his legs tucked up against himself, whimpering in fear.  It made Twilight feel guilty about what she had done, but if the princesses and everypony else believed all that she had to tell them, it would more than make up for all the trouble this changeling had been put through so far.