Midnight Locus and her friends walked into the hospital quietly.
"How may I help you?" nurse Redheart asked as they approached the counter. Twilight Sparkle said nothing and only placed a piece of parchment on the table with 'to: The Five Bladed Bat' written on it. Nurse Redheart took one look at it and nodded. "I'll get your appointment set up, have a nice day." she said with a kind smile.
"Wow! How many contacts and secret allies does Spirit Fire have?" Rainbow Dash asked, through the Localized Hivemind, on their way to the castle.
"Yea, it makes me wonder what she's planning." Twilight said in a suspicious tone.
"Twilight... I know what you're thinking. Don't go and ruin this for us by telling Celestia." Midnight said in a calm tone.
"How else am I going to get the answers I'm looking for!!!" Twilight immediately regretted yelling through the Localized Hivemind as a splitting headache claimed the group. After a few minutes of rubbing their temples, the group was able to return to what they had been doing. "Sorry."
Twilight walked into the castle's throne room not long after that.
"Okay, I'm sure we've got a lot of ponies waiting for a turn to stand before us." Rainbow Dash said, her demeanor instantly shifting to a regal one, as she tapped her hoof several times on her throne.
"Then the court begins, Midnight, could you take the fillies somewhere else?" Twilight asked.
Midnight nodded and picked up Aurora and Scootaloo, flying silently to her room.
Midnight's room was all-ready decorated in the style Changelings liked. The walls were black and green with a sleeping cocoon hanging from the ceiling. The green was Changeling Gel and had its usual glow. there was a bookshelf on one wall with several books anyling would find in their Hive library. There were some tables; clothes; mane brushes; some Changeling medical supplies; and a set of armor in a corner with a pair of wing-blades, two swords, and a set of hoof-claws hanging on stands along the wall as well as a few more weapons. The armor was silver with panels that opened to allow her wings through, much like the Pegasus armor she had previously been wearing, which was actually on a stand in the opposite corner with the Pegasus variant of the weapons previously mentioned; her armor had the purple eight-pointed star that symbolized Twilight's kingdom; a large peace of the back was missing, she new that it was the part that her saddle carapace would make-up the lack of armor at; The helmet was designed with a hole at the top to allow her horn through, with a part where she'd put her mane through, and it had additional plates going down the neck where it would connect with the body armor; the hoof-shoes were designed to have attachment points to allow her to attach the hoof-claws, they also had a green crystal heart with holes in it embedded in them (this was the common symbol for changelings). Midnight remember that, while she hadn't noted it before, the Pegasus armor had had a grey crystal cloud (the common symbol for Pegasi) in the same place.
"Wow!" the sound of Aurora and Scootaloo brought Midnight out of her thoughts as she looked at them, they were both examining one of the two sets of armor in the room.
"I guess you've never seen Pegasus or custom armor without it being worn at the time, have you?" Midnight asked.
"I've never seen armor like this before." Aurora said, from her place next to Midnight's main armor, as she started flying in the kind of erratic pattern an excited hatch-ling would.
"Twilight had that armor made for me because there was no armor that would fit my true form. You know, you remind me a lot of a Hatch-ling on an excitement rush." Midnight said (excitement was a lot like sugar for hatch-lings).
"Mom, you, Fluttershy, Nightshy, and Spit Fire always said that."
Midnight was about to answer, when she spotted something on the table closes to the wall, a note. "Huh?" Midnight levitated the note over and opened it to a, now familiar, hoof-writing.
Hey again. Don't ask how I managed to get this in here when I'm, technically, no longer existing. I was just wanting to let you know some of my preferences. My preferred way of getting around, much like my cousin and sister, is flight; my favorite food, like Nightshy, is oranges; and my favorite weapon, and thus the one I'm best with, is Wing-blades.
There is a lot more, but you can find it out later. Anyway, some things about me. I often seem completely emotionless, but if you ask Aurora you'll find that I'm quite a kind pony. Another thing I'll admit is that, like Commander Hurricane, though that wouldn't have worked out, I'm a fillyfooler. I feel that our gender shouldn't stop us from loving who we want to love, nor should we be judged by really anypony for who we are. I got my cutie mark (a Yin-Yang symbol) after performing the Dark Light Twist, though it also represents my talent for getting mixed up in the dark secrets of ponies (I'm the light and the secrets are the dark). So you know, to perform the Dark Light Twist, you have to dive off a point of at least 100 feet straight down, then level out and glide 6 inches above the ground while spinning, curve and go straight up thirty feet from where you leveled out while spinning the opposite direction you had just been spinning, and finely dive down with your wings closed at 200 feet, you can pull up after performing it. The move will leave behind a swirling cloud of black and white. There's more about me, but you'll find those out from the different contacts you'll meet.
Also, I've been looking into it and it seems the Crimson Hive is planning an attack on the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom sometime within the next two years, be ready for when it occurs if it hasn't all-ready occurred.
signed
Spirit Vengeance
P.S. DO NOT SHOW THE SIGNATURE ON THIS LETTER TO ANYPONY
Midnight used her magic to hide the name and then set the note down on her table.
"What'd it say?" the fillies asked with curiosity as Aurora flew over and opened the letter, reading it.
"Oh." Aurora said.
The next hour was spent playing with the fillies.
"Girls, a note from 'The Five Bladed Bat' just arrived." Twilight said over the Localized Hivemind.
"Coming." Midnight, Aurora, and Scootaloo all said as they headed to the throne room.
When the group got to the throne room, they read the letter.
Hello Spirit, Princess Twilight, and allies. You all-ready know me, but that doesn't matter. Meet me at the lake a mile into the Everfree going from the back of Fluttershy's cottage. Don't expect me to reveal myself then though, I'll be cloaked and hidden in darkness. Bring nopony except you two and whoever has been with you throughout the entirety of your mission. I will be answering only certain questions and telling you what I've been told by Spirit.
signed
The Five Bladed Bat
The Everfree lake was small and looked a lot like it ran with red blood. Twilight and her friends were trying to recover from being pulled into the shadows as they had passed a bush.
"Welcome, now then... any questions?" a voice, that sounded slightly familiar, said from within the shadows.
"Why are you called 'The Five Bladed Bat'?" Twilight asked, she had recovered first and was positive that this was the pony they were looking for.
"I'm a master swordspony, even though I know longer willingly take up my blades unless my friends are in danger. I gained my original nickname, which was the one I go by now except with something else in place of Bat, from being able to wield a pair of wing-blades, two normal swords, and a sword in my mouth yet still fight without a problem. I changed the last word of my original nickname to 'Bat' after an event that occurred a while back."
"Okay, so if you have the answers... why did Celestia request a forbidden spell?"
"You speak of the True Metamorphosis Spell. Celestia requested that for two reasons, the first is more significant and will be understood over time. The second was as a punishment to those that stood in her way, all she had to do was cast the spell and then reveal the pony she had cast it on and she could get away with killing them. Some have escaped her and those include ponies like Vinyl Scratch, who attempted to get ponies to work together to overthrow Celestia, She did this because Celestia, unlike her sister, didn't try to help the ponies that didn't have a home or family. To put it simply, Vinyl is a Child of the Night and you know what that says about her life. Another is even closer than you think, Shadow Claw, your guard captain, tried to tell ponies of a secret he had learned about Celestia. There are several more within the kingdom, Manehattan, Clousdale, and Canterlot."
"Who was part of the first reason?"
"I was told to give you hints, but leave the answer to be revealed at a later date as to add to the suspense, shock, and anger that it will bring. The first reason is the one that she used the Advanced Disguise Spell in, it was used to help increase her public image in a sense. This one has only had two victims so far, one far closer to you than you'd like to think."
"Who are some of the victims of the other?" Twilight was desperate for answers, even if she wouldn't like them.
"One victim was Clover Leaf, AKA Clover the Clever, Celestia did this to ensure that her secrets would be safe, since Clover had found some of them out. She has also turned those that she found were loyal to Luna and not her as well as Luna's best friend, Crystal Bliss, now known as Chrysalis, that's why the invasion happened and why Luna didn't aid or even send guards to help. Celestia has also been known to hunt down and kill the four nocturne races, those being, of course, Bat-ponies, Dracorns, Nightmares, and Changelings. That's all I'm allowed to say, more secrets will be revealed by Night Wind. You will find her within the Everfree Storm." the cloaked pony left after that, but not before unintentionally revealing a bit of her pink mane and yellow coat. Twilight looked over to the large, black, storm that was a few miles south and being created by the Everfree, before shivering.
Twilight looked rather unsure about flying into a raging storm that no Pegasus could hope to control, but she did so anyway, simply because she was still desperate for answers.
The inside of the storm was shockingly calm, with a single Pegasus in a black cloak flying around. The Pegasus' wings were arctic blue.
"I take it that you're Night Wind." Rainbow said.
"Ah yes, it's nice to see that you made it, I wasn't sure taking up base within an Everfree Storm was a good idea, but since you all made it unharmed, then it was." the pony said.
"I think it was a bit much." Twilight said.
"Oh well. You came here for answers, some of which will shatter your view of the Sun Goddess, one such is that the statues in the garden are, in fact, real ponies that tried to defy her and that she wanted to suffer far worse than those she turned. There are also a number of ancient spell books that's she's hidden within the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, one such is Clover the Clever's personal diary. They're hidden within the Spiritual Plane. Got any other questions?"
"Who were the two ponies Celestia turned to increase her public image?" Rainbow asked.
"They aren't what they appear, and not even they know it. If the Crimson Hive knew of who they were, as well as all the secrets Celestia has kept, they would use them to take over Equestria, they'd say that it was them who found these secrets out."
"That didn't answer my question."
"Spirit, was clever and crafty, she wants to keep this secrets from being found out for a long time, so that your distrust and anger at Celestia can condense into enough hatred and anger to make you wish to dethrone Celestia. All these secrets are fact, but Spirit's full plan is to dethrone Celestia and get sompony better qualified to take her place, one that's not going to turn to evil or let their position corrupt their minds. She wants to do it fast though, for the Poison Hive is getting ready for a second invasion and she wants a pony that can lead without having any other interest except the survival of both races in mind to be the one commanding the Equestrian army." Night Wind flew up to Midnight then and held out a letter. "This'll explain further, but for now, don't open it."
"Okay." Midnight said.
"Hey?" Rainbow suddenly asked.
"Yes?" Night Wind asked.
"Who are you and The Five Bladed Bat, really?"
Night Wind chuckled as she placed her hoofs on the edges of her hood. "The Five Bladed Bat is your long time friend, the side of her never shown to be precise. She's Fluttershy."
"What!"
"You can tell her I told you, but don't treat her differently and don't pester her for answers, otherwise..." Night Wind threw back her hood, revealing herself to be Fleetfoot of the Wonderbolts. "Captain Spit Fire will never let you into the Wonderbolts, and you are quite close Rainbow Dash." with that, Fleetfoot closed her wings and dived down.
"Come on, we've gotta head home." Twilight said as she dived as well, followed by everypony.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Midnight, and Aurora were on their way back to the kingdom, specifically the castle.
"That was interesting. Hey Twi, you all-right." the answer to Rainbow Dash's question was obvious. Twilight's mane, tail, and wings had flames licking at them; her coat was a few shades closer to light-orange; the magic around her horn held an orange aura that mixed with her normal magenta aura; and her irises were blood-red. Twilight was extremely angry.
"You know the answer to that." Twilight said, her voice having a faint crackle to it that sounded like crackling fire. This served to complete the fact that she was half-way through her rare flame form which, Rainbow had learn, was the result of a failed spell that left her with a fiery (literally speaking) alternate personality that showed when she was experiencing 'extreme emotional stimuli' as she had put it.
"Does she do that a lot?" Midnight asked through the Localized Hivemind. Because she's kind of cute like that. Midnight blushed as the thought passed through her mind.
"Only when she is extremely emotional about something." Rainbow said.
Twilight suddenly stopped and growled angrily. "When I get my hoofs on the Crimson Hive Queen, I'll show her every torture known to pony." she hissed.
Everypony turned to see what Twilight was so mad about, and froze in horror. The Crimson Hive was attacking the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom.