Life had been good for Twilight. Nothing too catastrophic had happened recently. Spike’s little growth problem had been sorted out fairly quickly, and Hearth’s Warming was fantastic this year. She was fairly certain Ardor had helped her with the heart spell, but nopony had commented on anything. Seeing herself from the future had been strange, and she had almost discounted it as a hallucination, but for the fact that Ardor had kept his promise and stayed pretty quiet. Even Cerberus had been an easy fix.
But now they were headed right into the belly of the beast; Canterlot. How would Celestia react to her in what would surely be prolonged exposure? She had seen Celestia briefly a few times, but never long enough to talk to her. What would her mentor do?
And then there was Shining. What would her brother say? Did he know about Ardor? Or would he be too distracted with the wedding to notice?
“Why the long face, Sugarcube?”
Twilight snapped out of her thoughts back into reality. She sighed. “I’m just thinking about Shining Armor. Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we’ve been seeing each other less and less, and now that he’s starting a new family with this… Princess Mi Amore Cal-what’s her name, we’ll probably never see each other!” She laid her head on the windowsill, downhearted. She would love to admit everything that was bothering her, but she couldn’t force that all on her friends. She couldn’t even risk her friends being part of this.
“Come on now, you’re his sister. He’ll always make time for you.”
“Couldn’t seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!”
She glanced at her friends, all of whom looked rather sad. She shook her head; she couldn’t explain this to them. Shining wasn’t her only problem; she was worried about too many things to count. She took a deep breath.
“We’re here, we’re here,” Pinkie shouted. Everypony gathered around, smiling. Twilight sighed; time to face the truth, she supposed.
Suddenly, something washed over her. A shiver ran through her body as she suddenly felt frozen inside. It was as though every part of her being had been turned to ice. She winced as it turned to pain. “G-gah!”
“Twilight?” Her friends ran up to her as she sat, hunched over in pain. “Are you alright, darling?”
Twilight shook her head, tears rising to her eyes. What was going on? It was like parts of her were trying to push themselves out, become an entirely separate entity. “I-It… hurts…”
Twilight opened her eyes, but her eyesight seemed to be fading. Whiteness was taking over. Her friends looked at each other, concerned. “Come on, guys,” Rainbow said. “We need to get her into Canterlot and fast!”
Twilight shut her eyes, feeling woozy. The pain was fading, but she felt ever so tired. Ardor, she called out. What’s happening to me?...
Sleep, Miss Sparkle. The voice wavered slightly, as though the pony speaking was wounded. Something strange interacted with our minds. Relax, and sleep. The pain will be gone soon.
Twilight shuddered softly. As Ardor whispered her wishes of comfort, the whiteness faded to black, and she lost consciousness.
*~*~*~
Twilight groaned, opening her eyes. Darkness surrounded her. She stood, her body aching. What had happened?
She focused and let her horn light. It did little to affect the blackness; she looked up at the aura. Was it darker than usual, or was it just the dimness of her surroundings? She pushed the question off for another time. More important things to focus on now.
She squinted. The area around her looked vaguely like her library. "Ardor? Are you here?"
"Go back to sleep." She froze, her heart pounding in her chest. That voice wasn't Ardor. "Settle your heart and drift to rest. Don't fret, Miss Sparkle."
She ran forward, feeling as though she were caught in molasses. That voice - who was it? It sounded familiar, yet she couldn't even tell if it was a male or female's. She stopped as she reached the wall. Something hang there Was it... a mirror?
She trotted closer. As did the figure in the reflection. She was panting from fright as she watched. That whispering, honeyed voice still spoke, as though it came from right next to her. Almost as though it was in her ear, lowly muttering sweet nothings that terrified her. Almost as though it was right where she was standing.
She drew closer still to the mirror. "Don't fret, precious." She gasped sharply, barely holding back a scream as she saw her reflection: a dark Alicorn, grinning with fanged teeth, her shredded insect like wings flared out behind her. The element of magic was in her armor; it had shattered.
"I'm here."
Go back to sleep.
Twilight screamed, sitting up in the hospital bed, her chest heaving. Light stung her eyes. It was far too bright here; far too many colors around her. It burned. Everything burned.
"Twilight!"
"Huh?" She turned before being tackled by her brother. She gasped and hugged him back softly, starting to get used to the light once again. All of her friends were standing outside the room, all of them worried. It was only now that she realized she was in a hospital bed. "What happened?"
Shining stood back up straight, smiling softly. "You fainted on the train. Your friends said you had started gasping in pain and then just collapsed! You had us all worried, Twily."
I fainted?... Ardor? No response came. She cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry to worry everypony... I've had an awful headache all day, and I... probably haven't drank enough water." She leaned back slowly, sighing; she felt much weaker than normal. Was it just from fainting?
Applejack nodded. "Y'did seem mighty agitated on the ride here."
"And I don't believe you've drank anything all day, darling," Rarity chimed in. "Perhaps a bit of tea, but that will hardly keep you hydrated."
Twilight smiled a bit sheepishly. "I guess I sorta... forgot."
Shining rolled his eyes, smiling softly. "You've gotta be more careful, Twily. You can't just go around fainting all the time!"
Twilight huffed. "Maybe I might need too. After all, it took me fainting just for you to talk to me!"
Everypony took a step back, grinning awkwardly. "Oh come on, Twi. It's not my fault! Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the tr-" He stopped. "...Oh. Never mind, you... actually wouldn't."
"Not like me seeing them would change anything - there's kinda a big wedding coming up. Maybe you've heard of it?"
Shining shook his head lightly. "This isn't about the wedding." She tilted her head, concerned; he seemed more serious now. "A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia asked that I help additional protection. Remember back when I got my cutie mark, Twilight?"
"Yeah. You accidently fell and performed this shield spell."
"I'm using that protection shield now, but on a much larger scale." He winced slightly as his horn sparked, the pink aura a bit frazzled. "The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hand has been my top priority."
Twilight sighed softly. "Okay, okay, I get it. You've got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field only you can conjure up. But still... How could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding?" She felt tears rise to her eyes. "Am I not that important to you any more?"
"Hey..." He leaned forward to hug her. "You're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But..." He smirked, nuzzling he lightly. "I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now..."
"You... want me to be your best mare?" Shining smiled and nodded. "I'd be honored!" She smiled as she hugged him tightly before looking into his eyes. "But I'm still pretty ticked you're marrying somepony I don't even know. When did you meet this 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'?"
A small little cough was heard. The conversation paused as everypony glanced toward the door. A smiling, golden furred unicorn stood there, wearing the standard nurses outfit. She trotted in, levitating over a clipboard. “Sorry to interrupt, but I should check up on the patient. If all looks clear, you’ll be free to go!”
“Er, thank you…” Twilight tilted her head sideways, glancing at the nurse’s nametag. “Starlight. Not a name you’d expect from a nurse.”
Starlight smiled. “You’re not what I’d expect for the Element of Magic. Guess we’re both seeing things we wouldn’t expect today.”
*~*~*~
“I am NOT being possessive,” Twilight said, “and I am not taking it out on Cadance. You’re all just too caught up in your wedding planning to realize that maybe there shouldn’t even BE A WEDDING!” She slammed her hoof down on the table, disregarding the drinks as they fell. They didn’t matter. Not now, after everything that had happened today. She huffed and walked away.
Something was very wrong with Cadance. She wasn't acting at all like she should be. Twilight could pass a little bit of that off as bride nerves... but tossing out Applejack's food? Blatantly being insulting to Pinkie? The Cadance she knew wouldn't have spoken that way - not a Princess of Love.
Twilight sighed as she walked. Today had been such a strange day. Cadance had been acting so strangely. Her friends had practically been ignoring her all day! Not to mention, fainting had left a ringing in her ears and a headache that simply wouldn't go away. She shook her head and started off in the direction of her brother's house. Perhaps she could talk to him? Ask him about everything? Maybe that would at least solve the problems with Cadance.
As she walked, her mind wandered back to the dream she had in the hospital. Was that reflection supposed to be her? Or darker, more sinister forces? The peace lately was making her paranoid, and this ‘threat to Canterlot’ sounded even more terrifying. Worse still, she had yet to hear a single word from -
TWILIGHT!
“Gah!” She jumped a good five feet in the air, startled. So much for ‘not a word’. Ardor?! I thought you were-
I’ve been trying to speak with you fo-- The voice in her head cut out peculiarly. She stood taller. What was going on? The shield is-- --utting into my speech. It’s a shei-- --lings.
Lings? Ardor, repeat what you just said. She ignored the slight embarrassment at ordering Ardor what to do. This was an important event, she knew, and she couldn’t waste time with misunderstandings.
Shinin-- --ield against Changelin-- --hy you fainted.
Twilight groaned as his voice cut out again. Concentrating, she cast a quick spell. Around her, a strange aura appeared, similar to the shield around Canterlot. Here, Ardor. Try one more time.
The shield your brother put up is disrupting our conversations, Twilight. It is a shield to stop Changelings - that is why you fainted on the train. I am, after all, partially a Changeling. There was a slight pause. How did you counteract the interference?
Twilight trotted over into the shadows. I cast a shield of my own around us. It’s a normal shield, but nullifies the effect of his. Thus, this is neutral ground.
Excellent work, Miss Sparkle. She shuddered at the name. What’s wrong? I sense discomfort.
A nightmare I had after I fainted. Do you know anything about that?
Sadly, yes. It was yet another hallucination. I did not cause it, however - at least, my magic alone did not.
Really? Twilight didn’t like the sounds of that; what if Celestia was trying to probe into her mind to remove Ardor? She shook her head. She hadn’t seen Celestia at all since she had come here. There was no way the Princess would be able to localize those dreams on her. Luna, on the other hoof… That doesn’t bode well for us. What - or who - do you think caused it?
Cadance. She isn’t who she says she is.
Huh? What do you mean?
I can’t say much more - this is more taxing on me than we previously thought. All I can say is that Shining’s shield did not stop me from entering Canterlot, when by all rights, I should have been torn away from your body. That means there could be changelings in Canterlot. Just think back. From your memories, what color was Cadance’s magic?
What color? No response came. Ardor had gone to rest again.
Twilight thought back. What color HAD her magic been? “Easy. It’s emerald green. I’ve seen it countless times since I got into Canter… Wait.” She dropped her shield, thinking. When she had watched Cadance stop that couple’s quarrel all those years ago, it hadn’t been green magic. It had been blue.
A unicorn’s magic didn’t change color unless they a.) were poisoned by other magic, b.) were combining their aura with another’s, or c.) were not the pony in question. Twilight’s eyes widened. “She’s a changeling…”
Twilight took off at a gallop. She needed to save her brother.
*~*~*~
Twilight sighed as she watched her friends chatting over their dresses. Not a single one looked over at her. They were dismissing her worrying as her simply worrying; not that there was something worse coming for them. They had stopped caring.
"Wait! You can't punish her!"
"It wasn't her fault!"
"Please, your highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset."
"I was so upset... I'm scared for my brother... Please listen to me..."
"But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about."
"Why don't any of you care about that?"
"So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her!"
"Why won't you listen to me? Why didn't you care about me? What about that lesson?..."
"As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!"
She hung her head, tears rising to her eyes. "Liars... You didn't learn anything..."
"Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her..."
"You're just like them. The originals. Filthy..."
"I have beaten down this veil of truth you deem ‘Friendship’! This fantasy you all call the saver of our world; it’s all a lie!"
"Friendship... It was never worth it." Twilight took a step back into the dark night.
"And who better to open thine eyes than I? I, God of Truth and all Honesty?! God of your True Blasphemy, yet the universal gospel of sweet perfection!"
"I am better than you," she whispered, her horn beginning to glow a sinister black. "I always have been, and always will be."
She retreated into the night, her horn glowing. She cast numerous spells on herself, anything she knew that related to the blocking of foreign magic. Twilight? What are you doing?
"I'm acting on what I know," she said, casting spells still. "She is a changeling, whether they stand with me or not. I plan to show them."
Why all the spells?
"Celestia will never approve of my actions. Now, she can't interfere with our mind."
There was a pause. You're talking directly to me.
"How observant."
Twilight. Take a deep breath. Twilight stopped what she was doing, freezing in place. Good. Just stop and take a deep breath. There is nothing that anger can do for you. Let go of rage and focus instead on the goal.
Twilight took a deep breath. Then she took another. Slowly, her body began to relax. She hung her head. Thank you, Ardor. It's just... I know how you feel now.
It hurts, doesn't it? But you mustn't let pain and anger control you. I know it is not easy, but you must suffer through it. I, of all ponies, should know. Twilight nodded, looking back up. She finished up the last of her spells and took a deep breath. She would remain calm.
"Tomorrow, it begins."