“Princess,” she said bowing, mostly as ceremony, but partially in shame. She still felt as if she was sneaking behind Celestia's back when she came here, and she was greatly relieved to hear no emphasis or sarcasm on the word 'faithful.'
“You need to arrive less noisily, you nearly made me drop the sun in surprise!” Celestia replied with a smile.
“I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!” Twilight recoiled slightly.
“Don't apologize, it was quite impressive!” Celestia added reassuringly. “Still, enough of the court hold doubts of my power since my defeat at the hands of Chrysalis. It would not do to give them more reasons to mistrust my abilities.” She looked over her shoulder pensively.
“What did you mean about her?” Twilight managed after a pause. “About Chrysalis? That she's not controlling all the changelings?” She never thought she'd be bringing up the changeling queen as a way of distracting her teacher from her worries.
“She was weakened by her loss here,” Celestia explained, “and it's possible some saw her as weak and broke away to seek their own fate. Or were able to do so without her will being strong enough to control them.” She shook her head. “We don't really have much information on how her control and their hive mind works. I don't even know if it could work that way, it just explains the facts.”
“Which would mean the attack wasn't meant for Dodge Junciton to begin with,” Twilight reasoned.
“Right,” Applejack chimed in, “she was aimin' for the ones leavin' her.”
“So... if we know one group or another is hiding in Appleoosa, all we have to do is go there and test everypony with the Changeling identification spell!” Twilight smiled excitedly, sure she had found the solution.
“And terrify the citizens there with the idea of Changelings among them?” Celestia countered. “Neighbor suspecting neighbor?”
“Oh,” Twilight said, silently cursing herself for missing that nuance.
“But in the end is not the safety of our citizens tantamount, sister?” Luna said, stepping towards Twilight in support. “Would it not be worth it ridding them of the danger in their midst?”
“At too high of a cost,” Celestia almost snapped. The others all stepped back a half step at this. She took a breath, then continued, “As you can see, we've already discussed this. But we were both right, in a way. I allowed Luna to go through with your suggestion, at night while everypony slept.”
“Then, didn't that take care of everything?” Rainbow Dash spoke up for the first time since they arrived. “I mean, that spell is foolproof, right?” Iris Dash looked sideways at her, and took a half step backwards.
“No,” Celestia said, looking straight at the pair firmly. “The spell is designed to strip away deception. Something about the way they were hiding, they no longer believed themselves to be deceiving.”
There was a an awkward pause while everypony tried desperately not to look at either Rainbow Dash or Iris Dash.
Finally, suddenly, Iris Dash leaped and glided onto the table.
“I... I never meant to,” she stammered.
“No,” Rainbow Dash almost whispered.
“How long have you known?” Celestia said.
Iris Dash reached up and touched the two wiry blue hairs amongst her mane. “I felt something when you did this to me,” she explained, looking at Twilight.
“Me too,” Twilight said. “I didn't think it felt right.”
“No.” Rainbow Dash was louder this time, but seemed to be at a loss to elaborate.
“I probably even knew then, deep down,” Iris admitted, nodding. “But even then, it would just be a brief flash when I'd slick the hairs back,” she emulated the unconscious tick that Twilight realized now she had seen frequently, “or when I'd see them in a mirror. But you were all my friends and Rainbow Dash and I had such an awesome routine.” Iris' voice grew thick, “and I just pushed the feeling down and hoped it would go away. Can you forgive me?”
“No!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Iris Dash recoiled, but it wasn't in response to her question. “You're me. I'm you! Right? We're in this together, right?” Iris Dash looked to the floor, her eyes tearing slightly. “You can't leave me hanging like this. What kind of Loyalty would that be?” Anger finally crept into Rainbow Dash's voice in that final statement.
“I'm sorry, all right!” Iris Dash yelled back. “I didn't ask for this! At least, what I can remember of me didn't! Aagh!” She pounded her hoof on the table in frustration. “Listen, I wish there were no changelings, that the Rainboom is what created me, and that we could go on living this lie! The lie is happier!”
She made to dart out of the small room, but she was intercepted by a another, inexplicably faster pony, who pounced her to the ground. The blur of yellow and pink was so sudden, they all froze in place.
“Let me go!” Iris Dash demanded, trying to shake Fluttershy loose. For her part, Fluttershy only grabbed tighter, here eyes squeezed shut in an expression of blind determination. “Let go. Let go!” Bucking wildly now, Iris seemed to lose her will quickly between the exertion and emotion, collapsing to the ground sobbing.
“There, there,” Fluttershy said softly, burying Iris' head in her mane . “We're all here. We're all here, and it will be okay.” She smiled, her kind eyes darting around the room for support.
“The lie never lasts, sugarcube,” Applejack said softly. “Best get it out now, and move on.”
“It's not like we're not your friends anymore, silly,” Pinkie Pie added. She tapped one hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “But we'll have to figure out your birthday so we can give you your birthday party on right day. Oh, I know, how about the day we all met you?”
“I've already made two dresses,” Rarity chimed in, “and I know Rainbow Dash certainly isn't going dress up often enough to need a spare.”
“We're your friends, Iris Dash, and what you are doesn't really change who you are, not if you don't want it to,” Twilight Sparkle sounded more reassuring than she felt, because while she spoke, her eyes were locked on the other rainbow-maned pegasus. For once, Rainbow Dash, who was normally an open book, was completely unreadable.
“D-do... do you really all mean it?” Iris Dash said, but as she emerged from Fluttershy's forced embrace, her eyes, too, were only looking to one of them.
“What kind of a question is that?” Rainbow Dash replied in monotone. She stepped forward until she stood over her double, her head down and her eyes hidden behind her mane. Nopony in the room seemed to breathe. “We're PFFs, right?” Rainbow Dash said, finally meeting Iris' gaze, smiling and extending a hoof towards Iris.
Iris beamed brightly as she bumped Rainbow's hoof. “T-thank you, everypony.” She wiped her eyes. “Now enough of this mushy stuff.”
“You all mean it, then?” Celestia moved forward a step. She had watched the exchange so quietly that Twilight Sparkle had almost forgotten she was there. Even now, her expression was unreadable. Everypony nodded confidently. Then, the princess turned to the changeling in their midst.. “Do you mean it?”
“What do you mean?” Iris responded, “I can't imagine anything more awesome than staying here with my friends.”
“The other part,” Celestia countered. “The part where you wished there were no changelings.”
“Princess, are you suggesting...” Twilight trailed off. She couldn't believe that she was suggesting outright war, but how else could she eliminate the changelings?
“Twilight Sparkle, did you read the book that I suggested for Hearts and Hooves Day?” Celestia asked.
“I... only skimmed it.” Twilight struggled with the shift in topic. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders borrowed it before I got a good look. Something about dragons and love potions-”
“Love poison,” Luna corrected. “Between a princess and her prince.”
“Specifically,” Celestia continued, “Princess Chrysalis and Prince Cocoon.”