//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 - Bugs 
// Story: Kingdom of Friendship Part 2 
// by SkyFlare 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight woke up to find herself in a dark room, resting on a bed.  She thought back to the last thing that she could remember.  Teleporting to Canterlot, seeing the princess and telling her something.  What did she tell her?
“Oh, you’re awake.” Princess Celestia stated as she saw the pony sit up.  “You said that we needed to talk.”
“Oh yeah…” Twilight turned to face the princess and tried to line up her thoughts into a somewhat orderly shape.  “A bat pony named Grey Cloud came to me last night.  She told me that she knew about Mist Valley’s real family.  I had to tell her a little about those few weeks.  After you wiped everypony’s memory, most were content, but she knew that something big had happened.”
“I trust your judgment in this matter.” Celestia stated plainly, allowing for Twilight to continue her story.
“She told me about where she and Mist Valley had come from.  That you and Luna were gone there and that a pony named the Overlord had taken over.  She told me that he was Sombra’s master, and that he took some of the Heartless under his control and made them into mindless killing machines called Fissure.” Twilight climbed out of her bed.  “I left her behind…”
“Her sacrifice was not in vain.  Her goal was to get you out of there from what I heard from Raid, who has taken charge of that squad of guards.” Celestia stated.  “I’ll let you rest for a while longer.”
“I don’t want to rest.” Twilight stated.  “I want to find a way to fight the Fissure.  Grey told me that they can’t be killed, but I’ve got to find a way to at least stop them.”
“Perhaps returning them to the other Equestria would work.” Celestia suggested.
“And if anypony there is still alive?  What then, just sacrifice them?” Twilight asked.
“When Mist Valley first started to speak after arriving in our world, he told me that he didn’t think that anything was left alive in that world.” Celestia’s words lined up with what Grey had said the night before.
“But what if they were wrong.  They couldn’t be sure that nopony was left alive; after all they were there at the end.  The likelihood that there would only be four ponies left is miniscule at best.” Twilight argued.
“What other choice do we have?  With the Elements of Harmony gone we don’t have a way to fight them.” Celestia glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes as cold as Sombra’s had been.
Twilight couldn’t respond to that, she just stood there, staring at the white alicorn as she walked away.  There seemed to be something that was being kept secret from her and she wanted to know what it was.  Even though she was a princess now, she still couldn’t be trusted with something that had a lot to do with her.  The Overlord said himself that he was coming for her, and if Celestia knew anything about it, then she’d have to come forward sometime.

“Where are we going?” Twister asked quietly, following her newly appointed leader, Raid.
“We’re going to bring that new princess’s friends to the castle; you heard what that thing said.  It will kill them.  It is our duty as guards to protect life and maintain order.” Raid stated, before stopping.  “Where is Rogue?” 
“He said something about the Badlands and he flew off.” Twister stated quietly.
“That darn foal.  He’s screwing us over with every move he makes.” Raid snipped.  
“I’m sure that he’s trying to help in his own way.  No matter how he acted, he respected your brother and he took his death pretty ha-” Twister stopped speaking when Raid’s hoof stomped the dirt.
“I don’t want to talk about him.  He’s dead and nothing will change that.  Can’t you just drop it?” Raid shouted grief fueling her anger.
“I’ll just go and find Princess Twilight’s friends…” Twister flew off, wanting to avoid Raid before she did something that would really set the unicorn off.  “Good luck Rogue, I’ll try and keep her away, but I don’t know how much time I can buy you.” she whispered, wishing that there was a way that the bat pony could hear her, but he was probably well into the Badlands by that time.

“Celestia… Dang it… Why the buck is there so much wind?” the bat pony shouted angrily as he fought a strong wind current that was carrying dust into his eyes.  “I’m not even close to the Badlands yet, how can there be so much of the bucking dust?”
The pony stopped flying and dropped to the ground as he noticed a pair of glowing blue orbs through the flying sand.  They were focused on him, never blinking and never breaking contact.  Above them was a dim green light of a unicorn horn.  As he drew nearer, the blue orbs vanished.  When he was finally close enough to make out the pony who was casting the wind spell, the wind stopped.
“You aren’t supposed to enter the Badlands without express permission.” the pony stated.
“Cut the crap.” Rogue grumbled.  “Take me to your leader.” He smirked every time that he was given the opportunity to say those words.  Every time that he had to meet with a business to discuss illegitimate activities, he would always approach the secretary and say those words.  From his experience, they worked like magic.
“It’s been a while, come with me.” the pony stated.
It had been a while, just like the pony had said, but in Rogue’s mind, it hadn’t been long enough.  He’d left that place four years ago and he’d been living happily in Equestria ever since.  Now he was back and he was going to be doing some wheeling and dealing to get some help.
The pony led him to a mountain that looked like it had been carved out.  It resembled a bee hive like structure.  He followed the pony inside and kept his eyes down, looking only at the hooves of his escort.  The last thing that he wanted to do was draw attention to himself, especially there.
“Wait here until you are addressed.  Maybe He’ll find you and save me the trouble of ripping you apart myself.” the pony stated before walking behind a curtain.
Rogue wanted to look up, to look and see if he was being watched, but he knew what the result of that action would be.  He was better off avoiding any eye contact until She came out to see him.  Avoiding eye contact with her was as dangerous as making eye contact with the other residents of the rat hole.
“Ash?” the voice of a mare asked.  The voice however sounded like it was layered, having multiple voices in one.  “Have you returned to us?”
“My name is Rogue now.” Rogue stated, looking up at a cloaked pony.  Her height was one to rival Princess Celestia.
“Why did you leave us?  After everything that we did for you?” she asked.
“My kind eats bugs, remember that.” he tried to stay calm, but one wrong move and he was dead.  “It was the best choice for everyone involved.”
“That sounded remotely like a threat at first.” the pony said back coldly.  “What reason have you for returning?”
“We need help.  Celestia won’t tell anypony the full story, but I know that somepony called the Overlord is coming.” Rogue explained as the cloaked figure loomed over him.
“No.  I will not lend my aid.  She is on her own, and so is Equestria.” the pony stated, showing no emotion.
“You won’t be safe.  If we fail, he’ll come for you next, whoever he is.” Rogue turned around and started to walk away.
“Wait!” she shouted and Rogue stopped.  “I’ll help, but only because I am protecting my hive.”
“Thanks.” Rogue nodded before turning back to face the figure.  “How many will you lend us?”
“As many as I can spare.  Celestia approved of you coming to us for help?” she asked.
“No.  She would never permit for me to even speak to you.  At this point though, I don’t think that it really matters.”
“How do I know that she won’t just have her guard kill them then?”
“I won’t let her.  If this is as bad as it seems to be, then we’re screwed without all of the help that we can get.  I’ll be stopping by the griffons as soon as I can and while on the way there, I’ll pick up some of the bat ponies that stay inside the villages.” Rogue told her his plan.
“My queen, do you wish for me to accompany him?” another voice spoke.
Rogue turned to have his eyes met with solid blue orbs.  They were in the head of a pony-like creature.  The body however, seemed almost like it had rotted away.  It was a changeling.
“Yes.  Take the form of a pegasus so that you will not attract any suspicion.  Just make one up, anything will due.” the cloaked pony answered.
“Thank you, Queen Chrysalis.” Rogue said before turning away from the cloaked pony and leaving with his new changeling escort.
The pony and the changeling slowly made their way out of the hive and spread their wings under the cover of night.  They didn’t speak until they passed Dodge Junction.  The town was qui with not but a couple of youthful ponies strolling the moonlit streets.  As they passed over a cherry orchard, Rogue took the first step toward breaking the silence.
“So, mind telling me your name?” he asked.
“Yes, I mind.” the changeling said plainly.
“I’m just trying to be polite, least you can do is give me the same respect.” Rogue spoke in his joking tone, he always did.  He had long since decided that being serious made him grumpy, but being like this made life a little more fun.
“Let’s get one thing straight, pony.  I don’t respect you.  I’m only doing this because my queen requested me to.” There was a slight bit of emphasis added to each letter “s” that he spoke.
“Fine.” Rogue made a face and spoke in a slightly higher pitched tone, trying to make a joke of the conversation.  “I find it kinda sad though, you don’t even feel secure enough to tell me your name.”
“Screw you.” the changeling growled.
“Nah, I’m good.” Rogue laughed.
“You are precisely the reason that I hate ponies.” the changeling said, loud enough to make sure that the bat pony would hear.
“Why, ‘cause I’m funnier than you?” Rogue knew that eventually the changeling would reveal his name, if for no other reason than to make him shut his mouth.
“No. Because you are all arrogant!” he raised his voice for the first time.

Twilight walked through the Canterlot Gardens, looking up into the night sky.  She thought about everything at once, unable to maintain a single clear thought.  There was just so much happening, all of it after she thought she was done with that kind of thing.  Right when she felt like the world could be safe for a few weeks, this kind of thing happened.
She had just given up the Elements of Harmony a few days before hoof.  She hadn’t even had time to figure out anything about the six keys for the box that was by the Harmony Tree.  There was so much to stress over, but she didn’t even have time to stress.  The only upside to any of it was that she didn’t have any Princess Duties yet, nothing that she had to do to keep Equestria in order, or at least nothing official.
Something moved behind the alicorn and she turned around, fearing the worst.  Those fears however, were quickly put to rest when her eyes met another pony’s.
“How are you feeling?” Luna asked.
“Not well.  I don’t know any way that we can fight these things.” Twilight shook her head.
“I understand.  They are a strong adversary, but everything has its weakness.” Luna smiled at Twilight.  “How well can you fly?”
“Not very.  I just can’t get my wings to do anything that I want them to.” Twilight complained.
“Don’t think of them as new.  Think of them as magic, something that you are very familiar with and have a great deal of control over.” Luna lectured.  “If it helps, you might even want to use your magic to move them at first.”  
“All right, I’ll try it.” Twilight’s horn lit up as she used levitation magic on her own wings.  She’d read a library’s worth of books on the mechanics of flight, but she’d never been able to master it using muscles that felt so foreign to her.  However, her magic came as naturally to her as breathing.  Back when she was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she would stay up for days at a time.  Sometimes, she would forget how her own legs worked from exhaustion, but she was always able to use her magic.
She felt her hooves slowly slip away from the ground and she smiled.  It was working, she felt like she had more control over her flight than she did when she was carrying Spike back from Canterlot while the Everfree Forest was overgrown.
“Is it helping?” Luna asked as she flew upward.
“A lot actually.  Thanks Princess.” Twilight smiled over at the dark blue alicorn.
“Come with me.” Luna flew higher into the sky, up to a cloud.
Twilight nodded and flew closely behind Luna, landing by her side on the cloud.  She’d walked on clouds before, but both times she was using a spell that made it to where she didn’t really touch it. The cloud was softer than she’d imagined, especially considering it was only water vapor that had condensed.
The mare’s eyes slowly drifted upward as she made herself comfortable on the cloud.  The sky was closer than usual and there was no interference from light or clouds up there.  So many more stars were visible, brightening the night sky in an unmatched beauty.
“When you look at the night sky, what do you see?” Luna asked.
“Are you speaking metaphysically?” Twilight asked.
Luna sighed with a small smile before nodding.
“I see a dark sheet that’s been permeated by thousands of lights.  I see that even though something can be kind of scary, it can be even more beautiful.” Twilight answered.
“So you think that the night can be scary?” Luna inquired.
“Only because of what happened with Sombra.  For the first little bit, I couldn’t even bring myself to go outside at night.  I got over it though as you can tell.” Twilight explained.
“Before I became Nightmare Moon, I was angry that the ponies would sleep through my nights that I worked so hard to make.  During my banishment, even though it was through the eyes of Nightmare Moon, I was able to understand them.” Luna told the young pony.
“I kind of get it.  You were alone for so long that you were able to see the night that you were forced to live in for a thousand years as the ponies on the ground saw their nights.” Twilight replied.
“Precisely Twilight Sparkle.  Does this help you at all with your problem?”
Twilight thought for a moment, trying to draw the connections.  “I think so.  I need to see things as they are seen by others, right?”
“Yes.  You must understand where my sister is coming from before you pass judgment on her decision.” Luna smiled.
“Thank you…” Twilight said as she spread her wings and lifted herself from the cloud.
“One more thing though.  Congratulations on flying half of the way up here without your magic.”
Twilight craned her neck around and saw that her wings weren’t lit up in the aura of her magic.  In that moment, she stopped flapping her wings and fell just a bit before catching herself.  She was flying without the help of her magic.  All that she needed was for her wings to feel flight for her to truly begin to understand it.  Races with Rainbow Dash were out of the question still, but then again, if she ever got that good than she could become a Wonderbolt herself.
The pony lowered herself to the ground.  She watched as Luna glided off into the distance, off to do something important no doubt.  But Twilight was stuck there, not allowed to leave the castle grounds under the orders of Celestia.  The castle grounds had a library though, and there was a section that had previously been off limits to her but she was now allowed into.  Something there might help her learn about Celestia’s secret.  Luna’s advice was great, but to understand Celestia, Twilight would need to find out what the princess knew.
Twilight teleported to the gated entrance to the library, catching the guard on duty by surprise.  It was the same guard as it had always been since Twilight went to school in Canterlot.  He just smiled and opened the gate, letting her inside.  She rushed around the library, looking for anything that mentioned an Overlord or dimensional travel.

“It’s Cocoon!” the changeling shouted as the pair flew over Rambling Rock Ridge.
“Cocoon?  Like a chrysalis?” Rogue’s expression curved into a mischievous smile.
The changeling grunted in reply.
“Huh?  Couldn’t quite catch that, do you mind answering again?” the smile grew as he spoke.
“Yes!” Cocoon panted angrily as he shouted his reply.
“You’ve gotta admit, that’s pretty funny, right?” Rogue nudged Cocoon.
“I hate you.” Cocoon said quickly.
“I’d hate me too if I were you.  Ya know, ‘cause I’d be you, and me being you wouldn’t change how you felt about me.  Heh?” Rogue held back uncontrollable laughter.
Cocoon refused to even respond that time, hoping that he could avoid any further interaction that could be avoided.  Rogue backed off, giving the changeling some space, both physically and mentally.
Ponyville was nearby and the pair could make out the skyline in the early morning light.  In only a matter of minutes, Rogue would require shaded flight goggles to protect his sensitive eyes.  He could faintly make out a blur heading toward them fast.
“Rogue!” a mare’s voice shouted.  “Raid’s in Ponyville and she’s getting mad.  You might want to… to…” Twister paused.  “Who’s that?”
“This,” Rogue held a hoof up to the disguised changeling.  His current form was of an orange pegasus with a bright silver mane and tail, both of which were finely combed.  The cutie mark was of a lightning bolt.  “This is Cocoon.  He’s a stick in the mud.”
“You were gone all night to get a single pegasus?” Twister gasped.
“Actually, I have an army, but I need to take Mr. Stick in the Mud to meet with Princess Celestia to discuss a course of action.” Rogue explained.  “By the way, any sign of Grey, you know, the bat pony from last night?”
Twister shook her head as she flew with the bat pony and disguised changeling back to Ponyville.  “You are aware that you will only get to Canterlot if Raid lets you live, which there is only a slim chance of.”
“Darn.  About Grey that is.  Couldn’t care less what Raid does to me.” This was the most serious voice Rogue had used in years.
As they flew back, Twister informed Rogue that all of Twilight’s friends had been found without a single problem and that things seemed to be going smoothly.  Raid was going to be waiting at the train station with the five ponies and one dragon.  The Overlord supposedly didn’t know about their identities, but Celestia wanted them in Canterlot just to be safe.
The train station was just in front of the three ponies as they made their descent.  The ponies that they were protecting were already on board the train, but Raid was not.  She stood in wait, watching as they approached.
“If you don’t get your tail in line…” Raid took a deep breath, letting Rogue’s imagination take the rest.
“You’ll take me to dinner?” he laughed.  “I don’t like those fancy places; just some fast food place would be good for me.  It doesn’t even have to meet the standards for sanitation.”
“You’re his boss right?” Cocoon asked.  “Can you make him shut up?”
“Train.  Now.” Raid pointed to the farthest back car.
Rogue did as he was told, taking the car to himself.  The others went to the car in front of where the group that they were escorting was.  Cocoon explained to Raid his part, carefully avoiding any possible clue that he was a changeling.

Haze stood alone in his office, which is where he spent the vast majority of his time.  Even in the privacy of his own office, he never relaxed.  The cloak that he wore draped over his back was never removed.  His goggles never left his face.  He had so much to hide.
Haze walked behind his desk where he took a seat and he lifted a book with his yellow unicorn magic.  It was his private journal, dating back ten years.  His old one, he’d left behind.  There was no point to carry around incriminating evidence.
“All of the pieces are falling into place, one by one.  Grey, you may have averted me this time, but soon you’ll be joining the rest of your world.” he muttered to himself as he wrote.
“Spoke to Princess Celestia.  Sent four guards to kill Grey, but failed.  Bat pony is still on the loose and capable of ruining plans.  She must be exterminated at any cost.” he scribbled into the journal.

A dark shadow stumbled through the Everfree Forest dizzily.  Her strength was drained and she would be found soon.  She needed a way to hide her presence, but hiding from him was basically impossible.
“Darn it…” she whimpered weakly.  “Why can’t I just fly?”
Something shifted behind Grey and she flung her head around.  This caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
“Come with me to my hut.  Let me tend to that cut.” rhymed a zebra who stood over Grey.  She pointed to a large gash in the bat pony’s wing.