//------------------------------// // The Aftermath and Learning // Story: The Kaiju Heir // by Princess OtakuGeek //------------------------------// Shortly after the red light switched on, the doors to the infirmary burst open to admit a pink alicorn supporting her husband to be, despite his protests. Once the remaining medical staff saw the state of the Captain, particularly his head wound, they immediately stole him away from his fiancée and got to work cleaning and patching up his wounds. Following close behind the two were the rest of the Element Bearers. While they were no longer unsteady on their hooves, aside from the odd stumble, their expressions were ones of concern and Celestia could safely guess why. "Princess, is everything alright?" Applejack was the one who voiced what was on everypony's mind. "Y'all ran out like a bat out of Tartarus. Is...is Twilight okay?" "She is alive and well." Celestia informed them and the expressions on everyone's face were of pure relief. Then Applejack gave her an odd look. "Ah'm sensing a rather important 'but' in there." Applejack started. "Where is she anyways and is she really okay?" Celestia stole a momentary glance of the operation room doors before turning back to the assembled ponies to answer. "I'm not completely sure." The Solar Diarch confessed and the looks of concern returned to their faces full force. "Physically she's fine. Not one scratch on her as far as I can tell. But that pulse and the energy she's been radiating since share strong similarities with dark magic. Specifically, Sombra's brand of dark magic." The assembled ponies were shocked to say the least. If there was one thing they never thought they would hear in the same sentence, it was Twilight and dark magic. Even pegasi and earthponies understood what dark magic meant. Rarity was the one with the most extreme reaction, the unicorn swooning and being caught by Applejack. The others had their own reactions to this but the more notable reaction was Shining Armor's. The stallion said nothing and instead turned his gaze to the floor and grasped the bed as tightly as he could. The only one to notice this was Cadence and in response, she laid a wing across his back in a comforting gesture. "O-oh dear." Fluttershy whispered worriedly as she stroked her mane. "Is there anything that can be done?" "I've already instructed the medical staff to give her a full magic infusion." Celestia answered, shocking the three unicorns and one alicorn. "She is currently in their capable hooves. Hopefully they'll be able to counter this before it's too late." As she continued, she nodded at the OR door. It didn't take a genius to figure out where their friend was. As the rest of the Element Bearers turned towards the door in question, Celestia began towards the exit as she spoke. "I wish I could be here by her side, but in the wake of this invasion, there is much to do." This drew their attention back to the Princess. "There are ponies who need reassurance and aid at this time and there's only so much that my sister alone can do." The five mares shared a glance before Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared in front of Celestia, halting her in her tracks. "Mind if I join you?" She asked. "I may have been a little wobbly earlier, but I'm whole and healthy so it's the least that I can do." "Your offer is very much appreciated, but you do not need to do this." Celestia answered. "Don't you want to wait here for Twilight?" "While the city is in such a wreak and there are ponies injured?" Rainbow asked in response. "I can't just stay inside and sit on my flank while there were folks out there that need help. Besides, this whole mess is partially my fault. Remember, Twilight kept telling us that there was something wrong and we just brushed her off? If I'd have been a more loyal friend and stuck by her even of I didn't believe her, then we'd have found her out and stopped the invasion before it started. Some Element of Loyalty I am." Almost everyone's eyes widened as they remembered what she was talking about. The only one who didn't have this reaction was Cadence, who looked around the remorseful looks on her aunt, fiancée and Twilight's friends. She could tell that there was a story behind those looks, but this wasn't the time or place to inquire as to what so she held her tongue. "You are not the only one to blame for what happened then." Celestia said. Internally, she swore that when she got the chance, she'd properly apologize to her student. "Do not feel the need to shoulder that burden. Remember, you had just met 'Cadence' so none of you could've known that she wasn't acting like herself. I on the other hoof knew her long enough that I should've harboured suspicions on Cadence's drastic change in personality. Instead I brushed it off as stress." "But we still shouda had faith in our friend when she said somethin' was up." Applejack asserted. "Dash is right, this is as much our responsibility as it is yours. We'd like ta come help too." "Indeed." Rarity concurred as she strolled past towards the door. "This our mess and we will help clean it up." The rest nodded agreement as they followed. As far as they were concerned, there was nothing more to say. They'd made their point clear and there was nothing short of a broken leg that could deter them and even then they'd still hobble out there. And so Celestia conceded defeat at the hooves of five determined mares. As they filed out of the room however, a seventh joined. With his head wound cleaned and wrapped in bandages, Shining Armor jumped off of the cot that he'd been ushered onto while he'd been given treatment. "Well since their going, I'm coming too." He declared. Instantly, Cadence reacted. "Shiny! You've just taken a major blow to your head and you want to go out there already!?" She cried out with concern. "Have your brains already been scrambled!?! You should be lying down not running around like this!!" Shining's ears pressed to his skull at his fiancée's tirade, but he didn't back down. "Cady, I'm fine. Really, see? I'm good." Shining answered as he trotted around to demonstrate he was okay. "Besides, even if I wasn't, this is my responsibility too. As Captain of the Royal Guard my duty is to protect and serve. Today I failed in my duty as a Royal Guard and as an older brother. I have to do what I can to help clean up my mess." For a moment the two ponies stared at each other, communicating with their eyes. Cadence's eyes were filled with concern as she silently pleaded with her husband to lie down. Shining's eyes were filled with firm determination with regret mixed in. They stared at each other a moment more before Cadence finally relented with a sigh. "Fine. If you're so determined to do this, I may as well come make sure you don't do any permanent damage to yourself." She sighed then pressed herself into Shining's side, laying a wing across his back to help support him. "But the second you start getting faint or anything, I'm teleporting us back here and you will rest." Her firm look then melted into a teasing smile. "I can't have my husband getting too brain damaged to say his vows now can I?" Shining smirked as well. "We aren't technically husband and wife yet." He pointed out as they started for the door. "With how close we were to the alter, I'd say we are." Cadence replied. As the couple walked out chuckling, Celestia couldn't help but crack a smile. When they disappeared down the hall, the Solar Diarch turned back to the medical staff still in the infirmary. "When the procedure is complete, you will send a messenger?" She asked. "Of course your highness." Came the reply. Celestia only nodded and left. Almost an hour later, the infirmary shook, knocking everyone off their hooves. Half a minute later, there was a sound almost like an explosion that came from the operation room Twilight had been taken into. Now came the hard part. Deciding who would go in to see what had happened. ✴✴✴✴✴✴ The palace grounds and gardens had been transformed into a sort of refugee camp. Tents dotted the area, some were makeshift infirmaries, some were set up by restaurants, diners, cafes and various other eateries through out Canterlot and were serving food for the ones that needed it. And the rest were for those who lost their homes in the attack. Upon seeing what was going on, the group instantly set about doing various tasks. Rainbow Dash joined the ponies that were looking for missing ponies while Applejack returned to the castle to set up her own food tent. Soon she and the rest of the Apple clan that were in the city at the time were handing out Apple family food stuffs, most of which had been meant for the wedding. After all, there's no sense in wasting good food while there were folks in need. Rarity decided to lend what help she could at the medical tents and while she did cring and sometimes whimper at the wounds and injuries she saw, she soldiered on and continued to help. Of course since she didn't have any medical training, she could only do mostly first aid and help wrap bandages. But that didn't mean she couldn't make the bandages look fabulous. Fluttershy of course started out tending to any wounded animal she could, but when she caught the attention of a curious filly who asked to help, more children joined in. Soon she had a small army of fillies and colts that were bringing her injured critters and helping her patch them up. By the end of the experience, there were several children that decided that they wanted to keep doing this with many of them (including the first filly) earning their cutiemarks. Pinkie of course did what she does best. Make ponies laugh. And with the invasion that'd been dropped on their heads, ponies definitely needed a smile. And Pinkie Pie definitely delivered. Within ten minutes of entering the camp, everyone was noticeably cheerful. Shining Armor, and by extension Cadence, instantly made a beeline for the one tent that had Luna's cutiemark on it. And following close behind them was Princess Celestia. Upon entering, Shining stood as straight as he could and saluted. "Captain Shining Armor reporting for duty Your Highness." He said, drawing Luna's attention from a dark figure between two of her thestral Guards. The first thing to draw her attention was the bandage wrapped around his head and she frowned. "Captain Armor, while I am glad to see you, are you certain that you should even be here when thou hast such an injury?" She asked and Shining Armor almost sighed. "With all due respect your Highness, I feel perfectly fine and I am ready to assume my duties." He replied. A smile spread across the Lunar Diarch's muzzle. "There is no need to speak so formally with me." She said in a gentle teasing tone. "Thou art married to my niece so it is more appropriate for you to refer to me by name. I'm sorry I was unable to attend the ceremony for obvious reasons so how was it? Didst thou make your vows to each other whilst embroiled in battle?" The pair had been about to explain their current status when she asked that last question with no small amount of excitement and they faltered. "Wait what?" They asked simultaneously. "Ah well, while I do enjoy a regular wedding just as much as the next pony, I find there's a certain romantic charm to making your vows spur of the moment during a life or death situation." Luna explained. "It just feels a little more exciting than when the characters would have a traditional wedding. So didst thou?" Cadence and Shining Armor had no words at that moment and before they could come up with something to say, almost musical laughter interrupted them. "Oh Luna, you've probably watched too much TV." Celestia said as she opened the tent flap and walked in. "And no, that's not what happened. If you'll come here, I'll explain." As the princesses moved to the other side of the tent to talk in private, Shining turned to the two thestrals and the darker figure beween them. And now that Shining was looking, he saw that it was a changeling. Scowling, Shining Armor approached to get a better look at the prisoner. It was clear that the thing had taken a beating from something as it's shell on the back was cracked, one of its wings was missing and judging by the way it was sitting, it's right hindleg had been injured somehow. While these injuries were interesting, what really caught Shining Armor's eye was the complete lack of restraints. Aside from the two guards on either side, there was nothing restraining the prisoner. No horn ring, no shackles, not even any rope. And even more surprising was that the changeling wasn't making any move to escape. At current, there were sixty ways that the changeling could use to incapacitate them all and escape even with the princesses inside the tent, yet it just sat there and met Shining's glare head on without wavering. This rankled the Captain of the Gaurd. "Soldiers, good work bringing back a prisoner." Shining Armor said to the two thestrals. "But I hope you have a very good reason for why it isn't properly restrained." The changeling bristled slightly at being addressed as an 'it', but didn't say anything. One thestral stepped forward, partially in front of the changeling, cutting Shining Armor off from the prisoner. The unicorn narrowed his eyes at the thestral as she saluted briefly. "Sir, there was no need to restrain him because he came with us willingly." She explained, adding emphasis on the pronouns she was using for the changeling. Shining's scowl deepened and his eyes narrowed a little more at the changeling. "Explain." He said shortly. "During the battle, we were in a far flung almost abandoned area of Canterlot." The male thestral started. "At some point, we ended up near a condemned building and when that pulse suddenly came, it destabilized the building. We would've been crushed to death if Freowine here hadn't shielded us with his body." "His kind are subterranean in nature, so he had a higher chance of surviving a massive pile of bricks being dropped on him." The female thestral picked it up from there. "Unfortunately that doesn't mean he's invincible. His shell was cracked, a wing was torn off, his hindleg was dislocated plus he got knocked out. So it was up to the two of us to dig all three of us out. When we got out and tended to his leg, we decided that we needed to take him to Princess Luna to decide what to do. And here we are." Shining Armor took a deep breath and released it out his nose as a snort. "While I am glad that you two are alive, the prisoner is still not restrained. Have you already forgotten who you were fighting? Have you forgotten that they attacked us?!" The male thestral edged a little closer to the now tensed changeling at Shining Armor's shout and his partner leveled a cool even stare at the unicorn. "We are aware of that sir." The female thestral answered. "However, this changeling saved our lives and it makes little sense to punish a soldier for a choice his Queen made." "But it still participated in the invasion." Shining countered. "And it's a changeling, a natural born liar and infiltrator. How do you know it didn't save your lives just to garner favor so it can spy on us?" The changeling snorted. "Oh yeah, because it totally makes sense to risk my own life and end up losing my wing and in pain when ever I take a step all for a cover." He snarled. "That's my oh so brilliant plan. And by the way, the 'it' has a name and proper pronoun." Shining Armor immediately rounded on the changeling and shoved his face into Freo's so he was glaring directly into his face. "Doesn't matter to me if you're a he or a she." He snarled lowly. "You're still a bug that took my fiancee and invaded my home. So I'll call you whatever I feel fits." "So you're going to condemn a species based on your personal feelings?" Freo countered with his own snarl. "If that's what it takes to keep the ones I love safe, than yes I will." Shining answered coldly. "Do you know how much of an ass you sound?" Freo retorted angrily. Before that could go anywhere or Shining could have the chance to respond, they were both pulled away. Shining by his wife to be and Freo by the two thestrals. As she pulled him back, Cadence shot a withering glare at Shining Armor that shocked him. "Cady-" he started only to be cut off but her cold admonishing tone. "We shall discuss this later." Was all she said to him before turning to changeling who, oddly enough, was going through breathing exercises. She looked at him with a mix of questioning and concern then spoke. "Um, is everything okay?" She asked. "Are you alright?" Freo took in a deep breath then released it. "Sorry, just an allergic reaction." He explained. "I'm fine now." Now everypony looked at him in confusion and they all spoke simultaneously. "Allergic reaction???" "Yeah, pretty much." Freo said with a shrug. "It's a little bit of an explanation but first, what do you know about changelings?" Shining snorted scornfully. "I know that they kidnap and replace ponies so that they can suck your love for that pony." Freo took a deep breath before continuing. "There are so many things wrong with that, I almost don't know where to begin." He sighed. "For the sake of answering your question, I will ignore that but know that I intend to correct this misconceptions later." "And I would be happy to hear them." Cadence said, further shocking Shining Armor. "Thank you, your Highness." Freowine said. "Please, don't call me that." Cadence said kindly. "Just Cadence is fine." "Very well miss Cadence." Freo answered and Shining Armor stared at how casually his fiancé was acting around the thing that invaded their home. His look however was ignored as the changeling continued. "Anyways, there is some truth to that, we do feed on love and other positive emotions. They are a very important part of our diet." He explained. "We do not however 'suck' it from anypony. We simply absorb it naturally and subconsciously the same way any species brings in air. Anyways, when we bring in emotions our bodies automatically separate them. Positive emotions are processed into a substance for us to eat and negative emotions are ejected. However, if a changeling receives a certain dosage of negative emotions, our bodies don't process it properly resulting in an allergic reaction." "Hmm, fascinating." Cadence murmured in interest and wishing Twilight was here. "And I'm assuming that dosage and reaction differs from changeling to changeling." "It does indeed Cadence." Freo confirmed and Shining bristled at the changeling's address towards her. But one look from his fiancee silenced him, and he sat back reluctantly as the changeling continued. "Mild reactions manifest as mood swings depending on the emotion or emotions present. For example, Captain Shining Armor here feels aggressive and since it was intense enough, I reacted in kind." "I see. And what about more extreme reactions?" Cadence asked. "Changelings that are more sensitive and have more severe reactions experience a complete 180 in personality depending on the emotion they have been exposed to." Freo answered. "It is temporary thankfully, but it goes without saying that collectors such as myself can't have this sort of reaction. That is why Equestria is such a wonderful place for us. Because you ponies are so happy and positive in general, that there's less of a risk of us having constant allergic reactions than in say the minotaur lands or amongst the griffins." Freo then paused for a minute, the continued to speak. "It's also the reason for the invasion." He said and Shining perked up and glared at him through narrowed eyes. Freo could already feel the beginnings of another allergic reaction and squirmed in his seat as he fought it down. Noticing this and suspecting the cause, Cadence turned to the love of her life. "Shining honey, I think you need to step out now." She said in a firm but gentle voice. Shining Armor reeled in shock. "What!?" He shouted. "But Cady, I can't just leave you alone with a prisoner!" The words 'especially that prisoner' hung in the air. "I'll be fine. Trust me, I can take good care of myself." She said kindly before her voice took on a firm edge. "You on the other hoof aren't helping here. I get that you want to protect me, but here your just making it hard for us to come to a peaceful resolve." "Peaceful?! They attacked us!" Shining protested. "Worse, they took you from me and brainwashed me! How can you think of coming to any sort of peaceful resolve?!" "Because nothing can be gained from holding grudges." A new voice answered and Shining swiveled around to face Luna and Celestia who had spoken. "Indeed." Luna agreed. "And if it is in our power to extend the hoof of peace, than that is what we shall endeavour to do." "Shiny, why don't you go take a walk to clear your head." Cadence suggested gently. "Maybe even go get some rest. We'll be just fine. Freo won't try to attack us and even if he did, I doubt that he would stand a chance against three alicorn princesses." "She is correct, do not presume that we are weak. I myself can and have held my own against entire armies. A single changeling with little combat training wouldn't stand a chance." Luna reasoned. Shining was torn. On one hoof, he could see his ruler's reasoning, but on the other hoof he was loathe to leave his fiancée alone with the enemy. In the end however, he sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll go." He said reluctantly. "But on one condition." ✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴ Half an hour later, everypony was now settled. Shining had left as requested and in his place were Twilight's friends. Initially, Shining had wanted some guards to be with there in his place, but the princesses had rejected it. Instead of guards, the Element Bearers would be present and a rope had been secured around Freo's neck. This was acceptable for all parties including the changeling. The five mares were brought up to speed on the situation and now here they were. While each mare had some negative emotions of their own, Pinkie Pie was more than enough to counter the feelings of anger, distrust, fear and disgust. And with everyone settled, Freowine could now begin. "It all started with a cave in." Freo began. "We make our hives underground and while rare, cave ins can happen. Usually in really old caverns or caverns that weren't constructed properly. Other times they can occur as a result of disasters such as earthquakes and what not. Anyways, there was a cave in, but what made this cave in stand out was where it occurred. Within the rooms where we store our processed love effectively destroying much of our supply. "Changelings can eat anything you see, from fruits and vegetables to meats like fish and pork but the most important food staple is processed love. We could survive famine and drought so long as we have a steady supply of love. Not indefinitely, but long enough. And unfortunately with our supply destroyed, chances were that some were going to skip meals or even starve until we rebuilt our supply. Things were looking pretty bleak for us until the wedding announcement. "You see for changelings, there are three occasions when there's a bump in positive emotions, specifically love. Two of these are holidays, Hearthswarming and Hearts and Hooves. The third is during weddings. In addition, this is a Royal Wedding which is much bigger than a standard wedding. Yes there will be nobles there, but considering our situation it was worth the risk. We had planned on just sending a few extra collectors than usual, but Chrysalis had other plans. "We have no idea what was going through her head when she decided to replace the bride and I'm no psychologist, but I think the stress of the situation got to her and she was desperate. I'm not saying you should excuse her actions, I just want you to understand the situation and hopefully find it in your heart to forgive her. We all admit she wasn't the perfect Cadence, but she was passable up until you girls, or more specifically Twilight, showed up." "What!? Your going to go and blame this on Twilight!?" Rainbow instantly reacted and might've charged the changeling if Celestia's wing hadn't cut her off. Dash turned to shoot the Solar alicorn a glare and faltered and the sharp look she shot back. Reluctantly, the pegasus settled down as Freo continued. "I'm not placing blame on anyone." He replied. "I'm simply giving you the facts as I know. You are all aware of changeling allergies, correct?" Everyone nodded. "Well Chrysalis happens to be one of the more severe cases. It doesn't take too much for her get an allergic reaction. At first Chrysalis resisted the negative emotions Twilight was directing to her which was relatively easy since the weren't very strong. But it still effected her behavior. It was Twilight's outburst at the rehearsal that pushed her over the edge. The original plan was to return Cadence that night with maybe a memory spell to prevent her from remembering the last few days. "All of a sudden, that plan went out the window and the next thing we knew, we were invading. Even in the throne room, Twilight's hatred and anger was just feeding the flames and making things worse to the point where she struck the way she did. Under normal circumstances, Chrysalis wouldn't hurt a fly which is why we were stunned by her actions in the throne room. And for not stopping her, we are truly sorry." As Freo apologized, he bowed his head low. The ponies weren't sure what to say or think. Ultimately, it was Applejack that spoke. "Listen Freo, it not that yer not sincere. Matter of fact, that has ta be one the most sincere apologies I've ever seen." Applejack began. "It's just....Ah suppose it jus a little too soon. Maybe sometime in the future we'll forgive you, but right now we're trying to pick up the pieces of this 'impromtu' invasion." "I understand and I won't expect you to forgive us so soon." Freo said understandingly as he raised his head up. A butter yellow hoof raised and everyone turned to the owner. Fluttershy touched at the sudden attention, but still stood her ground. She was no longer exuding fear, at least not in the quantities she had before. Now there was more curiosity and sympathy mixed in with fear. "Um...while I do understand why you invaded, I can't help but wonder why you invaded." She said, putting some emphasis on the last word. "I mean wouldn't it have been better if you asked for help instead of sneaking in and attacking? You could've avoided a lot of problems if you'd just asked for help." "You don't think we already tried. This was sort of a last resort." Freowine answered and everypony looked at him in confusion. "The first thing we did was go around to the different hives and request assistance. Unfortunately most of them didn't have much to spare and one out and out said no to our faces. Of course we weren't really expecting any help from her, she's a real 'strong survive and weak perish' sort of queen." "Wait wait wait, hives and queens?" Rainbow asked in confusion. "Isn't Queen Chrysalis like the queen of changelings?" Freo stared for a moment, then his cheeks began the bulge with a 'pffft' before he finally burst out in laughter so strong that he actually collapsed despite the pain he was in. It took a full five minutes for the changeling to collect himself and sit back up. "Heh, I'm sorry really I am." I snorted still holding in his chuckles. "It's just the idea of one Queen ruling over all changelings is the most ridiculous thing ever heard. There are other Queens that rule over their own hives. Chrysalis is just one of the youngest of them." The first to recover from their shock was Celestia. "Well then, all the more reason to try and establish peaceful relations." "That actually wasn't exactly what I meant when I asked why you didn't get help." Fluttershy piped up. "But if you couldn't get help from the other hives, why didn't you come to Celestia and Luna in the first place? They may be kinda intimidating, but they're kind and understanding. They would've helped you." While the two alicorns in question initially were surprised when they were described as intimidating, they rest made them smile kindly. Freo however didn't smile. Instead he looked over the ponies with a neutral expression on his face then sighed. "Honest truth, we didn't come to you because we were afraid." He answered and Fluttershy cocked her head. "Of the princesses?" She asked and Freo shook his head. "No, we are afraid of ponies." His answer had everypony reeling in shock. "W-why?" Luna stuttered her question even though she was the first to recover. "Lots of reasons, but the most prominent one is pretty simple." Freo said. "For a nation that is known to declare the joys of friendship and love, this concept isn't often expanded past your species. In other words, ponies are Xenophobic. I can think of more than two dozen events where different, known species was treated unkindly or unjustly by your ponies. And that's just off the top of my head. For example, in a village not too far from here there is a zebra that was at first shunned and feared as an 'evil enchantress'." The five Element Bearers winced as they recalled the event but Freo continued. "And for what reason did they have to fear her? What horrible crime did she commit that earned the fear of an entire town? Nothing. She had done nothing to nopony. The only thing that they ever saw her do was come into town and paw at the ground. Nothing unusual, frightening or even threatening. Yet whenever they saw her coming, they'd run to their homes and board up the doors. The only thing that set her apart from any other pony was the fact that she was different. "Now granted, zebras aren't exactly common here in Equestria, but even still if the locals had bothered to do their homework or even talk to her instead of relying on rumors and hysterical hearsay, they would've known that she wasn't a threat." The five Ponyville residents hung their heads in shame and Freo's eyes softened. "The matter was resolved a long time ago and the zebra has since been welcomed as a friend and member of the community, but that doesn't change the fact that your ponies first reaction to a zebra was fear and I'm willing to bet that if things continued to devolve, she might've been run out by a mob or worse. "Zebras are not only one of the known species of the world, but their also a species that closely resembles ponies the most. Now look at me, a changeling." At this point, Freo gestured to himself. "The only resemblance we share is an equine form. After that, there aren't any similarities. Can you imagine how your subjects would react to us even if we didn't invade? Heck, for all we know, you yourselves would sign the order for our extermination. Far better to live in the shadows of secrecy than be hunted into extinction in the light of truth." There was silence for a long while as the ponies digested the points that he had pointed out. Finally, Celestia spoke. "Your points are very valid." She said. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't familiar with what you are describing and I'm so sorry that your species feels this way. I should've been more proactive in stemming such attitudes and for that I am sorry." "There's nothing that you should apologize for." Freo answered. "No leader can control how their subjects think and behave." "Still, it is my responsibility and I should've made an effort to address this issue." Celestia insisted. "Now because of what you've seen, we couldn't have settled this peacefully before it came to this." "It isn't entirely your fault." Freo sighed. "Truth be told, Chrysalis fears ponies the most because of a personal experience she had when she was young. It's not my story to tell however, so I won't say more on the subject." Before they could wonder what sort of experience could traumatize a changeling however, the tent flap flew open and Shining Armor returned pantin like he'd just run all the way there. "Princess, come quick!" He huffed. "It's Twilight!" ✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴✴ Princess Celestia stood at the entrance to the operation room and just stared. When the word Twilight left Shining Armor’s mouth, no questions were asked. Celestia, Cadence and the rest of her friends immediately followed Shining back to the castle. As they ran, Shining gave his side of the story, telling them how he'd been on his way to the castle infirmary for some pain medication when the door was suddenly thrown open by a very harried doctor who'd been about to come get Celestia. Shining Armor had offered to take the message instead and now here they were. After hearing the doctors and nurses accounts of what happened, Celestia now stood in the doorway surveying the damage with a grim look. “We must find her.” She finally spoke with finality. “Captain Armor, round up any guards that are available and sweep the city. We must locate and purge her corruption before she's too far gone.” As Shining saluted and ran off to fulfill his instructions, Cadence turned to her aunt and gave her a look. “Aunty, surely you’re being a little extreme.” She said. “This is Twilight, remember. Surely she can be reasoned with.” Celestia shot her niece a look of her own. “There is no reasoning with dark magic.” She said coldly. Celestia then turned away to begin the search and from the looks of it, Twilight's friends would be joining in. Cadence huffed and began trotting away to conduct her own search when she was stopped by a voice. “Hey wait for me!” Cadence paused, turned around and waited for Spike to catch up with her. “I'm coming with you.” He announced. “You're going to find her and I want to come. Besides, I don't think Twilight's had either. And there's something I'd like to say to her.” Cadence smiled at the little dragon and levitated him onto her back. “Alright then, c’mon.” She said. “Let's go see Twilight.”