//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: A Horrifying Discover // Story: Guilt After the Apologies // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// Spike slept soundly as a baby dragon, which he of course was. He enjoyed his naps and always hated when Twilight got him up early which he was sure was going to be the case when he woke up the next morning. But strangely, she did not. He heard her get out of bed and opened his eyes as he was already stirring, but strangely, she didn't say 'Spike time to get out of bed' and merely walked down to the library's main area downstairs. He lay there peacefully for a while, glad for the extra sleep. Down in the library below, 'Twilight' used her green magic to levitate a book to read. "Okay, just lay low and read since this is a library. Nothing suspicious about that. Unless this Twilight has some sort of engagement coming up today?" she said. She then recalled the many decorations that they’d seen last night around the town. There must have been something going on, either last night and the decorations weren’t taken down yet or it was something going on today. "Hmm, I only need to pull this off for one day really. By then Twilight Sparkle will be in the clutches of our queen," the changeling said. ... Finally, Spike woke up and looked at the clock. "Wow, Twilight's never let me sleep in this much! I like it!" he said. "But I think I've probably stayed in bed long enough. I'm getting hungry!" He got out of bed and trotted downstairs. There was only half an hour left till Shining Armor and Cadance arrived at the train station and the girls had all made plans to be there to welcome them. He soon came into the kitchen and found Twilight down there. "Morning Twilight!" he greeted happily. "I sure slept in nice!" "Oh, morning," she said looking at him. He noticed she didn't call him by his name, Spike felt that was a bit unusual but didn't think on it too much. "I think I just need a quick breakfast and then we should go and see the others to get ready for Cadance and Shining Armor's visit!" Spike said. "Visit?" Twilight questioned. Spike looked at her in surprise. "Oh, I just got so involved in reading this book that I completely forgot!" Twilight said in a dramatic voice that reminded Spike a bit of Rarity. "Well, no need to worry. Sometimes it’s nice to just forget things!" Spike said cheerfully. "No pony is perfect Twilight! Besides we already took care of the preparations so we just got to meet them!" "Great," Twilight smiled. Spike smiled. He made himself some eggs in the kitchen of the library and then cleaned up the dishes. "Alright, lets head out, shall we?" Spike said. "Let's!" Twilight agreed. They headed out the door and Twilight went in one direction but Spike stopped at the sight and called out, "Uh Twilight, the train station is that way!" Twilight giggled. "Oh, how silly of me!" Spike frowned. Something seemed off with her. Maybe she was just stressed from all the things that had happened. She had admitted she felt a bit of resentment toward everyone on the train ride home. Spike knew everyone had their reasons for doing things, but that didn't excuse them dismissing and abandoning Twilight without any sort of comfort. He just hoped she wouldn't get all worked up like she did in the smarty pants incident. … At the train station, the Mane 5 had only ten minutes till Shining Armor and Cadance were supposed to arrive and one of them was not present. "Where is Twilight?" Applejack asked. "She should be here when her brother and sister-in-law arrive!" "It’s not like her to be late," Rarity noted. "I was expecting her to check in on the town!" She didn't come to check on everything in the morning one last time either. “Maybe she’s trying to loosen up a bit,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “I mean, not that we were blameless… at all. But if she’d thought a bit clearer and not gotten worked maybe things could have been different. Maybe she decided she needs to just stay calm and cool. She already checked off all those things yesterday! Doing it again is just overkill!” “Maybe, but that’s how she works,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe we should go and check on her to make sure she’s coming?” “We better hurry if that’s the case,” Rarity said. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure she’s on her way now!” Pinkie Pie said happily. At that moment, Twilight appeared with Spike at her side. “See? Told you!” Pinkie exclaimed before greeting their friend. “Morning Twilight!” “Uh, morning,” Twilight replied. “We were just talking about coming to get you,” Rainbow Dash told her. “Didn’t see you run a final check in the morning.” “Oh uh, I just felt everything looked good and I got wrapped up in reading,” Twilight said. That made sense. Twilight did love reading after all. “We’ll have lots of fun at the siblinghooves social soon!” Applejack said. “I had an idea for a little competition between Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. A brother sister ponyback carrying race! Each brother has to race while carrying his little sister on his back!” “Seems rather undignifying,” Rarity muttered. “If I had a brother I doubt he would agree.” “You sure Shining Armor will be able to even stand a chance against Big Mac?” Spike asked. “I mean, Shining’s pretty strong for a unicorn being captain of the guard, but Big Mac is one of the biggest Earth Ponies I know!” “I figured it would make things fairer if he has both me and Apple Bloom on his back,” Applejack said. “It… uh… sounds fun,” Twilight said with a bit of a blush. “Meanwhile, I’m sure I can entertain Princess Cadance with some fashion,” Rarity said. “We need her to appreciate the beauty of Ponyville and not just the ruffian parts.” “Ah come on Rarity, there ain’t nothing ruff about a race or having fun with your little sibling. Sweetie Belle rides on your back every once and a while,” Applejack reminded her. “I only have her do that when necessary,” Rarity said. “Yeah, it's always fun holding the foals!” Pinkie said. They waited for a few minutes and soon the train appeared. The doors opened and the first ponies off the train were… “Twilight!” Shining Armor happily waved as he got off and saw her and her friends. “Hey Shining Armor!” Twilight waved back sheepishly. Her friends all looked at her. She seemed a bit bashful in their eyes. They knew the most recent events hadn’t been the best sibling time for either of them. But she should still be happy and not nervous. Cadance then approached her new sister-in-law with a smile and began the chant and dance. “Sunshine, sunshine! Lady bugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight didn’t respond, her eyes only widening. “Uh, what are you doing?” Twilight asked. Cadance’s eyes widened. “Twilight, that’s the chant we did for so long! You remembered it in the caverns and knew it was me when I showed it to you!” Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the reverse had happened when Twilight first saw the fake Cadance. A terrible feeling crept over him, but he had to make sure. “Has Twily been acting weird at all today?” he asked her friends, hoping they would be more alert than they had been at the wedding. They gazed at him and had a sinking feeling at what he might be implying. “She didn’t wake me up for a long time,” Spike said. “She didn’t run a final check on the decorations,” Rarity added. “She didn’t seem too happy to see you when you got off,” Rainbow said. “And she didn’t know about the rhyme despite the fact I saw her perform it with the fake Cadance,” Shining finished, his feeling confirmed. They all glared at ‘Twilight’ who cringed fearfully. "You're not my sister!" Shining Armor roared. He lit up his horn and shot a beam of lavender magic that matched his real sisters magic. The beam hit its target and knocked ‘Twilight’ down. She quickly turned into her real form. A black changeling that looked indistinguishable from the others that attacked Canterlot just over a week ago. "A changeling!" Applejack exclaimed. "Aah!" Pinkie screamed. "Oh no!" Rarity exclaimed. Fluttershy and Spike’s mouths hung open in shock. The changeling, realizing the jig was up, made to run. But Shining Armor was quick to take action and caught him in his magic. "Oh no, you're not getting away!" Shining growled as he brought the changeling inches from his face before saying in a dangerous tone. "Now, where's my sister?" Under the death glare that was even worse than the one Shining gave the queen before he and Cadance banished her and the hive, the drone cracked. "She's on her way to Queen Chrysalis right now! Our queen intends to make her pay for ruining the invasion and use her in a new plan." Shining Armor's glare turned to a look of concern. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both grabbed the creature and restrained him. "Chrysalis huh? Well, now we know the name of the changeling queen that tricked us into turning our backs on Twilight!" Rainbow Dash growled. "That's not really important, Dash," Applejack said. "Twilight's been taken!" "Oh, she must be so scared!" Rarity exclaimed. "And she might not even think we'll be coming for her!" Fluttershy said sadly. "We let her down once and now she's been taken again!" "You didn't know last time!" Cadance reminded them. "You're right Princess! But we know she's been ponynapped this time!" Rainbow Dash said. "We aren't gonna leave her! Come on, let’s go and save her!" She then glared at the changeling as she kept hold of him. "Where is your Queen Chrysalis now?" “On the border of Equestria on the route leading to the Undiscovered West!” he answered. Rainbow Dash grinned and spread her wings. “Then that’s where we’re going! As soon as we get you locked up somewhere!” "We need to tell Princess Celestia about this!" Shining Armor said. "He's right!" Cadance agreed. Shining then turned to Spike. "Spike, send a letter quickly!" Spike pulled out a scroll and began writing as Shining spoke. "Dear Princess Celestia, its Shining Armor. Cadance and I are in Ponyville but we discovered a disaster. My sister Twilight has been abducted by the changelings and one was here in Ponyville posing as her! We are with Twilight's friends and plan to go to save her but need a squad of guards here to take the prisoner to Canterlot!" Shining said, making it clear and quick. Spike wrote and then sent the letter. They only had to wait for a minute before a quickly reply came bearing only three words. "I'm coming now," Spike read. They all looked up at the sky. Even from Canterlot they were able to make out the princess’s chariot a few minutes later as it was pulled by a squad of Pegasus guards. She was coming herself to save her student. "Hang on Twily," Shining Armor spoke into the wind as he turned west. "We're coming for you. We won't let you down this time."