The Wrong Hoof

by ChainGunDragon

Catching up

Days later, a meeting was finally arranged. Being a princess, Celestia is always busy doing one thing or another. But sometimes being a princess yourself has its perks. As Twilight Sparkle approached the doors to Celestia’s private chambers, she noticed a familiar face standing at their side.

“Flash Sentry?” The blue-maned stallion bowed before her.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He raised himself from the ground and smiled at her. “If you’ll pardon the informality, it’s good to see you again.” As much as she tried to focus, the purple mare felt herself blush a little.

“I thought you were stationed in the crystal empire. What are you doing in Canterlot?”

“Several guards reported sick. They had to transfer a few guards over from Canterlot, given the importance of the event. I regularly serve under your brother, Captain Shining Armor.”

“How many guards were sick?”

“I wasn’t given an exact number. I’d say at least ten.”

“Nothing too serious, I hope”

“They have all since recovered.”

“That’s good to hear.” Twilight smiled as she used her magic to open the chamber doors. “And it was good seeing you again, too.” The orange guard bowed again as Celestia rose from her seat to greet Twilight at the door.

“Can I get you a drink or anything?” Princess Celestia asked, to which Twilight simply shook her head.

“You’re sure I’m not taking you away from anything?” the purple mare asked, not wanting to be a bother.

“I did have a meeting with your brother scheduled to discuss the placements of royal guards but I pushed it back a little because I've been getting some letters from your friends. They seem quite worried about you. I’m sure your brother would understand.” Celestia nodded her head toward a couch, motioning for her student to take a seat.

“I told them I was fine, it was just a dream,” Twilight said as she walked over to the couch, moving a cushion out of the way so she could sit.

“It’s not just that. Rarity said she hasn't seen you since the picnic. Applejack said you've been holed up in your library. Whatever you dreamed about is clearly still on your mind,” said Celestia as she went to the kettle to pour herself a cup of tea. “I asked my sister, Luna, but she said she couldn't find your dream, it was as if you never slept.”

“Well, I was having trouble sleeping, so I induced sleep with my magic.”

“They did say you slept in.” Celestia took a moment to sip her tea as she walked over to sit on the couch opposite to Twilight. “I hope you’re not using your magic to induce these sleeps often. It can’t be good for you.”

“I’m not, I was just getting frustrated with getting the age spell to work. It was hard to sleep with that on my mind.”

“Have you made any progress?”

“Very little.”

“Any is still impressive. You may now be a princess, but you’re still fairly young to handle a spell of that level.” Celestia paused for a moment, using her magic to add some sugar to her tea before stirring it. “So what happened in this dream exactly? Nopony knows what happened. All they know is that it must have involved the changelings. If you told me, I might be able to help you figure it out.”

“I was with Chrysalis,” Twilight lied, not wanting to mention the new changeling leader. “She was gathering her people. Thousands, if not millions of changelings, were all waiting for her order. She looked right at me, but couldn't see me. I could see the pain in her eyes as she said she said one word, one word to be heard by all of her subjects, One word to be understood without question. Retreat.” The purple mare looked up at Celestia and she could see that her teacher was buying the story.

“She ordered a retreat? From what?”

“Karkinos. I looked off into the distance and I could see it destroying buildings and rampaging through what looked like it was once home to the changelings.” Twilight saw Celestia try to hide a shocked expression, she knew something that she wasn't saying.

“Karkinos? I’m afraid I don’t read as many books as you Twilight, you’ll have to remind me.”

“It’s a giant crab. I was reading up on old mythology a few days earlier, that’s probably why I dreamt about it.”

“I see. So what happened next?”

“I woke up. That was it.” Celestia sipped some more of her tea, thinking about the story for a moment.

“The attack on Canterlot may be in the past,” she said, setting her tea down. “But it still weighs heavily on all of our minds, and I can only imagine yours especially. What happened that day caused you a lot of grief.”

“And you were right there with them.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for how I acted at the time. But to me it sounds like in your dream, you were seeing your own pain reflected in Chrysalis’ eyes. That is not uncommon, especially for one with a kind heart such as yourself.” Twilight sighed, not believing Celestia for a second.

“I guess you’re right. It was a pretty crazy dream after all,” she said, lying through her teeth. Her teacher was hiding something, she didn't know what exactly, but it had something to do with Karkinos. The changeling prince said he never told Celestia or Luna about the creature so how could she know? There was still a lot that Twilight had to piece together but it seemed pretty clear that her teacher couldn't be trusted.

“Was there anything else you needed to see me about?”

“No, that was pretty much all. Thank you.” The purple mare rose from her seat, making her way toward the door.

“Twilight?” Said Celestia as Twilight turned back to face her. “Could you please send in Shining armor on your way out?” She nodded and opened the doors to be greeted by her big brother on the other side.

“Twily!” He said, wrapping his hooves around Twilight. “How’s my little sis holding up?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She paused for a moment, looking behind her to make sure her teacher couldn't hear them. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“Then can I ask you for a favor?”

“Anything.” Her big brother said, smiling. He had a near perfect poker face. If she hadn't grown up with him for her whole life, Twilight never would've been able to tell that he was actually quite worried about whatever was going on. He wasn't an idiot, he knew something was wrong.

“I need you to spy on Luna.”

Comments

[Dark_Night]

Hmm... this story has a lot of potential

Though I don't understand why twilight lied to celestia about the "dream"

Keep writing. You've done a great job of catching and keeping my interest In the story.

[Recteik Shade]

Must have more!

[Glitter101]

Great chapter!!!!

[Rathalos122]

You know what would be funny? If Celestia now thinks Twilight has prophetic dreams^^

[Gyro Pony]

Huzzah!! The espionage has been doubled!!!!!!

[ChainGunDragon]

4037026
*Spoilers*
Perhaps I didn't communicate that properly, but the reason she lied is because
she didn't want to draw any attention to the changelings in case they were telling the truth.

She was starting to believe them by this point already and she feared that if she told princess Celestia that there were changelings hiding near Ponyville, she might take drastic action which would only make problems worse.

The whole story about the dream was made up to explain why she had been asking these questions without attracting unwanted attention.

I hope that makes more sense, thank you for your input.

[ChainGunDragon]

4038676

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