//------------------------------// // Enemies of My Enemies // Story: What Didn't Happen // by Zeg //------------------------------// What Didn't Happen by Zeg Chapter IV – Enemies of My Enemies Queen Nightmare Moon gazed harshly at the group of mares gathered before her. She arched an eyebrow when an answer to her question did not immediately come forth. “Well?” Twilight did the only thing she could possibly think of to protect her friends at that moment. Bringing her muzzle low to the ground, she bowed before Equestria’s Queen and answered her question. “I am, your Majesty.” The rest of her friends looked somewhat shocked, but all reluctantly followed her motion shortly after, bending their knees to the monarch. The Queen's cat-like eyes locked on to the 'unicorn' mare in front of her, studying her closely. “You may rise,” she commanded calmly. “Tell us your name.” Twilight raised herself from the ground, looking up to meet the Queen's eyes. “Twilight Sparkle.” “Twilight... Sparkle.” The Queen's eyes slowly traced over the mare standing before her as she spoke the name, as if she were studying every facet of her being. “We have been told that you are leading an expedition to the ruins of the ancient castle.” “Yes, your Majesty.” “Suspicious,” the Queen said as her eyes narrowed. “Our guards come across a group of mares not but a stone's throw away from the Everfree Hive. And we are to believe that you are all merely explorers? At best, this group appears like a foalish bunch of mares that bumbled their way into the forest by accident.” Twilight thought over her options quickly, and decided to try a gamble. She almost considered it to be too crazy, but if she played this situation correctly there was a chance that she could turn two insurmountable problems into a single solution. “Actually, my friends and I did come prepared, your Majesty.” The Queen stared back silently for a moment. “Oh?” Twilight had hooked Nightmare Moon's interest as she had hoped, and was now ready to make her play. “Yes. I have studied changelings for a time, and have devised spells that can successfully counter them.” “Have you....” The Queen suddenly seemed genuinely interested in what Twilight had to say. “Yes, and in my studies, I found that they can be extremely dangerous. Enough so that they shouldn't have ever been allowed into Equestria.” “On that point, we can both agree,” The Queen said as she thought on Twilight's claim. She then looked to her side at the Nightguard that had been silently waiting there. “Sergeant, send her inside.” The Nightguard bowed her head as the Queen returned to her tent. Rainbow stepped up next to Twilight, leaning toward her ear. Through clenched teeth she asked, “Twilight, what are you doing?” “Fixing this,” Twilight quietly said back. She then turned to face her friends and clearly spoke, “Just wait here, I'll be back soon.” She could tell that her friends were not comfortable with this situation, but hoped they would continue to quietly trust her until a time when she could explain her plan to them. Turning toward the command tent, Twilight approached the Sergeant Nightguard, who swept the tent flap open with her wing. She allowed Twilight to enter and then let the flap fall close. The inside of the tent was lit with lanterns that hung from the two rows of support beams that held up the tarp, each one containing a small blue flame that seemed to hover inside. Just to the right inside the tent, a unicorn mare dressed in armor very similar to the rest of the guards met Twilight with a silent stare at the entry way. Her armor did appear to have some unique differences that set it apart from the others. Straight across from the tent's entrance was a low wooden table that appeared to have a map laid out on it, and also had many small colored markers laid out across the map. Just on the opposite side of the table, the Queen took a seat on a large velvet pillow, glancing down at the map shortly before looking up to her guest. Just as Twilight began to take a step further inside, the tent flap abruptly flew open again behind her. All attention turned back to see a pegasus stallion clad in guard armor there. The unicorn guard turned her full attention to the stallion, stepping to the entrance of the tent and lending her ear to hear what he had to say. After the report had been given, the stallion was given a simple 'carry on' command to send him on his way. “What is it, Moondancer?” the Queen asked from her seat across the room as she casually studied the map before her. Twilight blinked at the name, her eyes wandering over to the guard as 'Moondancer' stepped back to her post inside the tent. She wondered if this Moondancer was the same one she remembered from her younger life in Canterlot. The armor would make it nearly impossible to tell for certain, since it covered her cutie-mark and changed her outward appearance to conform to the standard grays of the Nightguard. Twilight had never heard of the Moondancer she remembered joining the Equestrian Royal Guard, but given what she had seen in this past so far, anything seemed possible now. Moondancer glanced at Twilight briefly before turning her full attention to the Queen and giving the report. “Another three scouts are overdue. No sign of them has been seen.” Nightmare Moon let go an exasperated sigh as one of her heavy armored hooves clunked onto the table in front of her. “Why does this not surprise us?” Hardening her gaze on Moondancer, she continued. “We are starting to lose faith in your scouts, Captain. It seems that for the last few days they have only been adept at having the most horrible luck known to ponydom.” Captain Moondancer didn't respond directly to this, likely not wanting to chance angering the Queen any further. Nightmare Moon turned her attention toward Twilight. “As you can see, we have been experiencing issues. These changelings are obviously proving to be more than these guards can handle so shortly after their inclusion into our Nightguard. A countermeasure would be welcome, if you do indeed have one.” Twilight had to fight down the urge to smile at the request. This was exactly the chance that she had hoped for. She called on her many years of experience in political bargaining, making her face the very image of practiced professionalism as she prepared to present the aid that she could offer to the Queen. “Yes, well, one of the spells I know is a modified shielding spell that can be used to send out a pulse to detect a changeling's presence. If enough power is applied to it, it can even be used to stun them, force them back, or create a protective dome over an area that can keep them in or out, and it has no effect on any other living beings or creatures that touch it. Everything but changelings can safely pass through.” The Queen made a face that seemed to indicate that she was mildly impressed, with a slight nod and her brows raising a bit, but Twilight knew that wasn't going to be good enough. She had to make Nightmare Moon desperately want her help, and so she offered up another one of her abilities. “I have also devised a spell that can reveal a changeling's true form.” “Your Majesty,” Moondancer spoke up suddenly. “Can we really trust these wild claims? These explorers may very well may be changelings themselves.” “I assure you, we are not changelings,” Twilight said as she tried to maintain the foothold she had gained. She wasn't about to let this guard derail her. However, Captain Moondancer pressed the issue, stepping up and nearly pressing her chest against Twilight's as she glared back. “That is exactly what a changeling would say.” “SILENCE! Both of you.” The Queen's voice caused an echo through the nearby woods as she stared down at both of them from across the table. Turning her attention to the Captain, she asked, “Do you consider us to be an idiot?” Moondancer shrunk away a step from the Queen's icy cold stare, but Nightmare Moon refused to relent. “Of course they could be changelings, we suspected as much the very moment they were made known to us. However, if this unicorn's claims are indeed true, we may very well gain the upper hoof that we have been needing. That is not a possibility that should be carelessly tossed aside!” She punctuated the last word by slamming her hoof against the wooden table, causing the Captain to flinch at the sudden cracking sound of the wood. Nightmare Moon stared hard at her guard captain for a moment longer until she was satisfied that her glare had stared Moondancer into silence. Turning her attention back to her guest, she continued her conversation with Twilight. “Now, about this ability of yours to reveal changelings....” Twilight nodded and began to pick up where she had left off. “It's actually quite simple. Changelings don't actually make use of illusion magic, it's more of a physical transformation, a type of metamorphic magic. Once that is understood—” “We know how changelings shape shift, Miss Sparkle,” the Queen interrupted. “This isn't our first dealing with the creatures. They are a very old enemy, old enough that most ponies have forgotten over the ages that they even exist, or what they are capable of... including Celestia, obviously.” The way she had grit her teeth as she said the previous monarch's name appeared as if saying it left her with an awful taste in her mouth. Twilight's thought process hit a hitch as she realized she had just learned something she didn't already know. She never remembered changelings as being an 'old enemy'. She had always thought that Equestria's first dealings with the creatures was when they had attempted to invade Canterlot, an event that in this time period hadn't even happened yet. No knowledge about the changelings existing before the invasion had ever been mentioned to her by Celestia or Luna. Twilight mentally tucked that confusing puzzle piece aside for now so she could continue to focus on her bargaining. Moondancer dared to speak up once again, although somewhat more timidly than before. “If I may, your Majesty. If what this unicorn claims is actually true, she should be able to reveal the prisoner that we have. If not, then obviously she has been lying to cover up her true intentions here.” Nightmare Moon silently regarded the two unicorns before her, glancing back and forth between them. She hummed a sigh in thought, standing from her position behind the table and began to walk to the center of the tent. She stopped just in front of Twilight, towering over the shorter mare. “A test then. We would like to see a demonstration of this ability you claim to have. We do indeed have a captive who has been very uncooperative and insists on keeping the face of one of our Nightguard to hide itself behind. Captain Moondancer dragged the foul thing out of the woods herself days ago.” Twilight glanced at the Captain shortly before turning her gaze back to the Queen. “I would be happy to demonstrate for you, your Majesty.” “Good. Doing so will not only prove useful in the interrogation, but would be satisfactory in proving that you are not one of these things yourself, would it not?” The Queen looked to Moondancer, who nodded in response. “Very well then. Captain, escort us to the prisoner.” Twilight followed the Queen and her guard captain out of the tent. Just outside, she found her friends there waiting. They all seemed to look somewhat hopeful, if not surprised when Twilight had safely returned from inside. “Your Majesty?” Twilight quickly called to the Queen, causing her to pause. “What is it?” “I would like my companions to see this.” The Queen seemed to hesitate at this request at first, glancing to the rest of the mares. Turning to continue on her way to the prison, she simply said, “Very well, we see no reason not to allow this.” Moondancer made a quick motion with one hoof, silently commanding a few of the guards that had been watching over the mares to follow them as well. The group made their way through the camp with the escort of Nightguard, eventually coming to a makeshift prison. This prison was actually no more than just two wooden posts driven into the ground, serving to support chains that were cuffed to the forelegs of a light blue earth pony stallion. The chains kept his forehooves lifted off the ground nearly to shoulder height. The fur around where the cuffs shackled near his fetlocks was darkened with dried blood where they had chafed. His head hung limply toward the ground and one of his back legs rested rather uncomfortably looking on one knee as he dangled there between the posts. The Queen approached the prisoner, and he visibly shook when he noticed the dark mare's hooves stopping just in front of his field of view. Her ethereal mane wrapped around and grasped his muzzle, pulling his gaze up to meet hers, causing him to let go a groan before she tightened her grip around his muzzle to silence him. “No. You were given your chance to speak, and now you will remain silent as we strip away your mask.” The Queen harshly tossed his muzzle back down, causing the stallion's back legs to scramble about as he struggled to remain upright. Turning toward Twilight, the Queen gave her command. “Reveal the changeling.” Twilight faced the captive as he weakly pulled his head up barely high enough to side glance at her with one eye. She could see confusion mostly, a little fear, and exhaustion from his glance, however something else seemed very off about this prisoner. If this changeling had actually intended to copy the looks of a Nightguard in an attempt to infiltrate, then he wouldn't look like a regular pony, he would look like a guard. She knew well how the enchantment on the Equestrian guard armor worked, by casting an illusion that gave any pony wearing it the same appearance as other guards issued the same uniform. She also knew changelings could only change their looks to mimic what they could see, and that the armor enchantment didn't work for them. This meant that either this changeling caught a guard out of uniform out in the middle of the woods and mimicked him, or had chosen to strip a guard of his uniform before mimicking him, either of which would make it a dead giveaway when it would try to return to the camp. Neither of those scenarios made any sense, which meant the only remaining possibility that did make sense was.... Twilight snapped her gaze to Captain Moondancer, who returned the glance with a look that told Twilight everything she needed to know. It was a fleeting look that the Captain had quickly tried to hide, but it was there. Twilight acted swiftly, using her telekinetic magic to grasp the Captain and force her to the ground on her back. Before anypony in the camp could react, Twilight charged a spell from her horn that projected a wide beam of light across Moondancer's body. As the beam traced down her body, it stripped away the 'pony' and revealed a changeling in its place. The changeling screamed and thrashed in the telekinetic grip as its disguise was stripped away. Twilight narrowed her eyes at the creature she had revealed. “There's your changeling.” Nightmare Moon seemed unable to find her voice for a moment as she stared in wide-eyed disbelief at what she had thought only moments ago was her Captain of the Guard. She finally gathered her wits as she bellowed out a command. “GUARDS! Chain that thing!” The nearby Nightguard quickly descended on the creature, allowing Twilight to release her hold and step away. The Queen silently stared at the scene before her, a range of emotions from betrayal to anger playing on her face. Glancing to the side, she took notice of the chained stallion still hanging there helplessly. “And what of this one?” she asked. Twilight took a moment to concentrate as she charged another spell. It began as a single pinprick of light at the tip of her horn, glowing bright white. She put a measured amount of power behind it, and then let it go, causing a sphere of white light to expand from the point around herself and through everything in the camp. As the sphere of light expanded and passed over the changeling, it screamed as small trails of electricity skittered across its body and then seemed to fall limp, its chest heaving as it gasped for breath. The spell had no effect on anything else. “That is the only one,” Twilight said as she nodded to the changeling that the guards were now attaching shackles too. Nightmare Moon turned her attention to the chained stallion and furrowed her brow as she closed her eyes. “Somepony get him out of these chains, and see to his wounds,” she solemnly commanded, and then turned to begin swiftly walking away. She stopped only momentarily to look over her shoulder. “Twilight Sparkle, we would have a word with you. See us in our command tent.” The Queen continued on her way through the camp, leaving her guards to attend to the situation. Twilight noticed her friends huddled closely to each other nearby, still watching the scene unfold before them. She approached them, deciding that she could safely speak to them for a quick moment while the guards were preoccupied. “Are you all alright?” “What just happened?” Pinkie asked, her usual smile and cheerful nature no where to be found. Twilight glanced to the creature that the Nightguard were shackling to the posts nearby. “I know you guys probably don't like what you just saw, but you needed to know what we're up against here.” “What exactly are we doing here?” Rainbow asked. “I'll explain it all when I can, but right now I have to go speak with Nightmare Moon again.” Twilight could see that Rainbow wanted to protest, but quickly silenced her before she could say anything further. “Later, Rainbow, please.” “Whatever,” Rainbow huffed, sitting back on her haunches as she crossed her forelegs. Twilight's voice took on an apologetic tone. “I know you guys are scared, but just stick together and stay calm, okay? I'm going to make this work somehow.” Applejack nodded back. “You go do whatcha need to, Twi.” Twilight was reluctant to leave her friends alone at that moment, and lingered there silently nearby for a short while longer before she finally decided to go seek out the Queen. Once Twilight had made her way back to the command tent, she was met there by the Sergeant, who nodded and held the tent flap open with her wing to allow Twilight to pass. Just inside the tent, Twilight found Nightmare Moon sitting at the other side of the table, her jaw firmly set with a frown as she stared at the map laying open before her. Twilight silently waited for some sort of acknowledgment of her presence. “For days now...,” Nightmare Moon quietly started as she glowered at the map laid out before her. “For days I have been feeding the enemy information.” Suddenly, she slammed her foreleg against the table, raking it across the map and sending the small colored markings scattering about the tent. An uneasy silence hung in the tent for a moment before Nightmare Moon spoke again. “It's no wonder my scouts have been falling into their traps left and right. And we still know next to nothing about what we face.” Twilight noticed how the Queen had dropped her use of the royal plural, and was now just venting her frustration. She had not only been fooled by a changeling infiltrator, but had been fooled into harming one of her own. Twilight saw this as an opportunity to use herself to fill the gap in the Queen's broken circle of trust, and so she made her next play. “Changelings are known for trying to imitate those we trust the most. I'm sorry that this was revealed the way it was, but I felt something had to be done.” Nightmare Moon glanced up, her fuming seeming to bleed off as she did so. Setting herself back upon her velvet seat, she shook her head. “No... you should not apologize, for you did the right thing, though this does mean I am now out one Captain of the Guard. Just my luck. I have to wonder if this entire mess is some sort of sick gift that Celestia left behind to entertain me with.” Twilight felt the need to protest well up inside her, but knew better and chained her personal feelings on the matter. Instead, she continued to make what she hoped was the final move in her gambit. “I don't want to be too presumptuous, your Majesty, but if you could use my aid, I am willing to lend it to you.” The Queen regarded the unicorn before her. “How is it...,” she began, stopping to think for a moment before she continued. “How is it that you were able to so easily discern that my guard captain was a changeling?” “It was in her eyes,” Twilight said simply. “I had a suspicion that the prisoner wasn't actually a changeling. The only other likely scenario would have been if the Captain was the actual changeling, since you did say she had been the one that brought the prisoner back. It would make sense then why she allowed me to try my spell, because if I had tried it on the prisoner, it would have failed and would have proven her claim right, allowing her to keep her hidden identity and making me appear like I was one of them. “But, when you look into somepony's eyes, you can see things that they don't want you to see. When I looked at hers, I saw that she was afraid. Why would she be afraid unless she had a reason to be? She knew that I had figured her out, and her eyes told me everything.” Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrows as she listened to Twilight's explanation. “You are much more than you appear to be, Twilight Sparkle. We would dare say that our meeting is no accident.” She rose from her seat behind the table to her full royal stature to make her request. “Would you be capable of teaching these spells that you know to the spell casters among our Nightguard?” “Teaching them the basics should be simple enough. Also, I may have some thoughts on how we could proceed with the hive.” The Queen nodded. “We will consider your offer of council. For now, we will make arrangements for you and your companions to remain here so you may begin the training. Sergeant!” The Sergeant entered the tent as she was called, quickly bending her knee to the Queen. “Miss Sparkle and her companions will be staying with us. See to it that they receive a tent and proper provisions.” “By your will,” the Sergeant said before she quickly left. The Queen stepped out from behind the table, moving herself to stand just before Twilight. “We look forward to hearing some good news in the near future. Succeed, and you will be rewarded.” --- Hours had passed since Twilight's friends found themselves ushered to a tent by one of the guards, being told that they were staying at the camp for the foreseeable future. They had been provided with a single tent large enough for their entire group, the ground having half a dozen bed rolls laid out in two equal rows of three on either side of the center. At the center of the tent, Rainbow was roaming back and forth, her gaze glancing to the tent's entrance each time she passed by it. Applejack laid on one of the bedrolls near the entrance, and was following Rainbow Dash with her eyes as she traced her back and forth path. “Sugarcube, I think yer about to wear out the ground.” “I can't help it!” Rainbow only paused for a short second before she continued to pace. Rarity tried to offer some calming words of her own from the other side of the tent. “I'm sure Twilight was just held up, she seemed to have things well in hoof.” Rainbow spun around to glare back at Rarity. “Well in hoof!? You call what we saw well in hoof?” Just then, the tent flap flipped open, and Twilight peered in. A relieved smile seemed to cross her muzzle at the sight of her friends as she stepped into the tent. However, she jerked her neck back when a rainbow blur nearly ran face first into her. Staring back hard at her, Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to let Twilight know exactly what she thought about this situation, but was silenced when Twilight quickly pushed her hoof against Rainbow's muzzle. “Wait, they'll hear you,” Twilight said quietly, fearful that her friend was about to let go a major frustration venting. Rainbow glared back over the hoof, but remained silent. Twilight lit her horn, casting a spell that seemed to cause the outline of the tent to shimmer, and then a light snapping sound was heard. Lowering her hoof, she nodded as the magical aura on her horn died out. “Okay, we can talk now. Nopony outside can hear a word we say in here.” “So we don't have to whisper or anything?” Rainbow asked. “Right, we can talk openly about this.” “Alright,” Rainbow said, and then took a deep calming breath in through her nostrils as she closed her eyes. However, instead of calming her nerves, her eyes shot back open and glared back at Twilight angrily. “Just what the hay do you think you're doing!?” “Dash,” Twilight said with a cautioned tone. “You said they can't hear us!” “Well they can't! But there's no reason to yell in my face. I'm standing right here.” Applejack stood from her spot nearby, walking toward the two arguing ponies and putting herself somewhat between them. “Ah think what Dash is tryin’ to say, Twi, is that we're all kinda wonderin’ why we're just hangin’ out here with the Queen and the Nightguard. Seems kinda backwards from what we were plannin’ earlier today.” Twilight let go an exhausted sigh as she walked over to one of the vacant bed rolls in the back corner of the tent, taking a moment to lay herself down to rest her tired legs. All of her friend's eyes were on her, waiting for some sort of answer. “I know, I really haven't been keeping you guys in the loop. I wasn't trying to leave you guys out in the cold on this, but I couldn't really stop in the middle of it all and explain what I was planning with guards staring at us. I mean, just this morning, I figured that we could just start retracing the same hoofsteps that I remembered us going through before, and that somehow all of this would start to make some sense. There was only supposed to be an empty castle out here and maybe an Everfree Forest monster or two. To be honest, I would have welcomed having to deal with a hydra instead of this mess. “But things have changed....” Twilight lingered on that thought for a moment, seeming to gaze off at nothing ahead of herself. She then focused back on her friends. “I'm trying to do the best I can here, but I don't want to drag any of you into this mess with me, so maybe I can talk with Nightmare Moon again. I could see if she could get you guys safe passage back to Ponyville.” Rainbow's wings flared open as she stomped at the ground. “What are you talking about!? So now because things aren't going the way you like you're just going to shoo us off?” Twilight raised her forehooves slightly in front of herself, waving them defensively. “No, I-I just don't want to put any of you in danger.” “But what about you, darling?” Rarity asked. “If you were left all to yourself here, how would that make anything less dangerous for you? Wouldn't that just be more dangerous?” “Yeah!” Pinkie spoke up as she sat up quickly. “We can't just let you do this all alone! That would be boring, and scary, and sad. And besides, even a princess needs somepony to watch her back, right?” “I don't really like it out here,” Fluttershy began, quietly speaking from where she was laying at the opposite back corner of the tent. “But, I don't think I could live with myself if we just left you out here by yourself.” “You got that right,” Applejack said with a nod to Fluttershy. “I recon none of us would feel right about just leavin’ Twi here to take care of this all by her lonesome.” Rainbow Dash sat back and stared at Twilight, her forelegs crossed across her chest. “You dragged us out here. You ain't getting rid of us that easy.” She maintained her frowning stare at Twilight for a moment longer, until Twilight finally cracked a smile with a small laugh. At the same time, Rainbow grinned back. “Thanks, I needed that,” Twilight said as she pushed herself to sit up. “I don't know what I was thinking. Of course I really don't want to do this alone. I guess I just got so use to taking care of problems on my own over the years, I forgot what it was like to rely on somepony.” Applejack nodded. “Well, so long as yer here, you should rely on us a bit more.” “Yeah, so what's the big plan then?” Rainbow said as she approached and sat down right in front of Twilight. “I mean, you do have a plan, right?” The rest of the mares huddled in a bit closer to hear about this big master plan. “To be honest, I'm kind of making this up as I go along.” Twilight saw the expressions on her friend's faces fall a bit. Not wanting to disappoint them, she tried to give them something reassuring. “I'm sure I can think of something to get us into the hive safely, I just haven't thought of it yet.” Rarity batted her eyelashes and tilted her head in thought. “Didn't you say earlier that a pony would have to be crazy to want to go in one of those things?” “I... did say that didn't I?” Twilight admitted. “Well, alright,” Applejack said as she shrugged her shoulders. “Why are we thinkin about doin something crazy then?” “Because, that's where the Elements should be,” Twilight said, matter-of-fact like. “And we need those so we can take on Queen Meany!” Pinkie said in a cheer. “Well, yes that's one possibility. I mean, we definitely don't want Nightmare Moon to have the Elements, since they are the one thing that could help us free Princess Celestia. You see, Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements one thousand years ago, when Celestia chose to wield them all at once against her. She used the power of the Elements to construct a prison spell that could hold a very powerful alicorn. Unfortunately, Nightmare Moon found a way to escape from it, and reverse it so it would trap Celestia within the sun instead.” Pinkie's eyes went wide as she tried to comprehend what being trapped in the sun would be like. “She's trapped in the sun? That must be really warm.” Twilight gave a light laugh before she continued to explain. “Yes, well, that's how I remember it happening. Just as Nightmare Moon was trapped within the moon all this time, Celestia would be trapped within the sun now. The only thing that we had that was powerful enough to actually break the prison was the magic that created the prison in the first place.” Applejack hummed to herself in thought. “So what yer sayin’, is we might be able to just break out Princess Celestia, if we can get our hooves on the Elements?” “That's really been the ultimate goal all along. I could really use her help right now,” Twilight said simply. Rainbow cocked one eyebrow as she gave Twilight a questioning glance. “What do you mean? I thought we were going after 'Queen Meany'.” “Well, Celestia might know something about the changes that are happening or at least be able to help me search for answers, but I won't know for sure until I can talk to her. At the very least, it would make it a lot easier to search for possible answers if I could make use of the history books in the Canterlot Archives, but as long as Nightmare Moon is in control I doubt that is going to be an option. I don't think she would let a stranger just walk into the palace and start going through books to find a glitch in history.” Rainbow nodded. “Alright, I gotcha. Nightmare Moon is just kinda in the way. Okay, so... lets say we get Princess Celestia back somehow and you princesses put your royal heads together and figure out what's different. Can you fix it?” There was a long pause as Twilight stared back at the group of mares. “I don't know,” Twilight said as she cast her glance down at the ground. “This is the first time anything like this has ever happened, as far as I know. I'm not sure if there is a way to fix this.” She remained silent for a moment longer, considering the possibility that what she was attempting to do might be completely futile. “I just know I can't leave things as they are. Even if it turns out to be impossible to put things back the way they were, I want to protect Equestria somehow.” “So no matter what, looks like we're goin in that hive,” Applejack said as she looked around to the other mares. Twilight nodded once. “That's why I'm teaching my spells to the Nightguard.” “Ooooh, so we're going to team up with Team Meany?” Pinkie asked. “Yes, we are. I know it probably doesn't sound like the greatest idea, but the Royal Guard are probably the best group of ponies we could have helping us.” Rainbow scoffed at that statement. “Sure, except for the fact that they work for Nightmare Moon now.” “I'm sure you have something in mind that will get us to the Elements first,” Rarity said, raising another point about the plan. “Actually, I do,” Twilight said with a smile. “You.” Rarity tilted her head a bit. “Me?” “Can you use your gem finding spell really quick?” Rarity blink-blinked at the sudden request. “Oh. Well, of course, but I doubt I'll find anything here.” She took a few seconds to concentrate, and her horn began to glow with a light blue aura. “Wait, there is something here! It's,” Rarity stood, walking toward where she sensed the pull coming from. She walked right up to Twilight, looking right into her eyes, seeming a bit confused at what she was sensing. “It's you! But how can that be?” Twilight grinned as she pointed a hoof up to the top of her head where she kept the Element of Magic magically hidden from view. Rarity's muzzle formed into an 'Oh' as she understood. “So Rares can find the Elements with her magic,” Applejack said. “That's nifty.” “I have a question,” Fluttershy spoke up softly. “If we do go inside, and we find changelings while we are in there... or they find us... what will happen to them?” Leave it to Fluttershy to ask the hard question. Twilight thought for a moment as she tried to think of the best way she could put this, knowing full well that there really wasn't a good way. “I'm not going to ask anypony to do something that she isn't comfortable with. We're not here to fight changelings, we're here for the Elements. However, I won't hesitate to use my magic to stop the changelings from hurting us. It won't kill them, it will just stun them and leave them vulnerable. But, I can't say for sure what the Nightguard will do with my magic once I teach it to them.” Fluttershy fidgeted with the corner of her bedroll as she stared down at it. “I don't think I like that.” “I know, but I really don't have a choice. The hive could have thousands of drones in it. My spell alone wouldn't be enough to protect us against that, so we need as many casters as we can get that know the protection spell. I wish the six of us could just walk up and ask them for the Elements, but I already heard of guards getting ambushed and disappearing in the woods so I doubt we can reason with them, and I don't want to chance it. I think it would be safer to go with as many Nightguard as possible. Once the Nightguard get us inside, we'll just need to try to get to the Elements first, and then get out.” “Get out? Why not blast the Queen right then?” Rainbow asked as she shrugged her shoulders. “Because, she'll probably be surrounded by her guards, and we can't very well just blast them too. We might also have changelings all over us if things get hectic. I think our best bet will be to get the Elements and escape as fast as possible, hopefully before anypony realizes what we're up too.” “I'd say that sound like a plan then,” Applejack said with a confident nod. “We could be here awhile,” Twilight said as she thought about the setup that this plan would entail. “It will probably be at least a few days before we can do much of anything. I still have to train the guards, and I need to think of something to tell Nightmare Moon. I told her earlier that I would help her figure out a plan to deal with the hive. And we need a way to learn as much as we can about what is inside before we go inside ourselves.” “Well all of this planning has made me come up with a plan,” Pinkie said as she hopped to her hooves and started walking toward the tent entrance. “I plan to find something to eat. I'm starving!” Twilight smiled as she too stood and began walking toward the entrance. “Now that is a good plan.” “What do you think Team Meany has for dinner?” Pinkie asked as she stopped just inside the tent entrance, glancing back at the rest of the group. Applejack worked her jaw back and forth as she thought about the question. “Probably guard rations of some sort,” she said with a nod. “Oh! Is that anything like the radishes that you grow on your farm?” Pinkie seemed a bit excited at the possibility. The farm mare shook her head. “Eh, no. I said rations, not radishes.” Pinkie seemed a bit disappointed at the answer. “Darn, I like radishes.”