Chapter 16: Starlight Glimmer's atonement, part 1
I couldn’t believe I forgot about the others.
An hour after I tracked down and made up with Starlight over a...mistake, I forgot that our friends were searching for her, and they were probably still trying to find her. She still owed them an apology too.
After we left the fields, Starlight and I were walking through the streets in Ponyville heading to my, no, our house, hoping at least one of our friends were nearby, or better yet, run into them on the way. Starlight knew she had to make up with them, so she wasn’t smiling as we walked along; she wore a determined frown.
It doesn’t feel like that not long ago, ponies gave me dirty looks, so the sight of them not doing it, like the ponies walking or standing by the houses around us weren’t, felt really good. Though, something about them did feel...different.
However, I didn’t have much time to wonder about whatever difference I was sensing. Near one of the houses around us, a white one, Rarity and Rainbow stood beside each other, but faced the other way.
I called out, “Hey, Rarity--”
Rarity and Rainbow jumped in the air, then spun around to us. They never did that before. Odd.
“W-Who are yo--” Rainbow started in a hyped-up voice, but Rarity leaned her head toward her, whispering something in her ear. Afterward, Rainbow calmly said, “Oh, uh, hey.”
“What are you up to?” Rarity asked.
“Uh...making up?” I answered. “You look like you forgot that we were looking for Starlight.”
Rainbow tapped herself on the head a couple of times and said, “Oh, of course, we didn’t forget dar, uh, guys. I just thought that...everything was okay since you two didn't look like you were fighting.”
Starlight and I looked at each other. What Rainbow said made sense, I guess. We turned back toward Rarity and Rainbow as Starlight said, “Okaaaaay. Well, I wanted to say--”
Rainbow gasped and interrupted, “Uh, sorry, but Rarity and I need to do something!”
“Y-Yeah, so we’ll see you two later!” Rarity let out a giggle and darted off. Rainbow followed her.
Again, odd.
I shook my head at the fleeing pair. “That was weird.”
“Do you think they’re mad at me?”
I looked down at Starlight, who had a hoof on her cheek, still staring toward Rainbow and Rarity who were now barely visible. “I don’t think so. You’ve seen them mad, but that was something else. In fact...I don’t remember Rarity ever saying ‘yeah’. She’s not the type to use that kind of slang.”
We again shook our heads at what just happened, almost in sync with each other. Maybe Rarity and Rainbow just had something on their minds that Starlight and I didn't know about. Whatever their deal was, we got back to heading down Ponyville’s streets and toward our house.
After about a minute, we spotted three unicorns in front of the open windows of a brown house, all with green magic surrounding their horns. Starlight gasped and pulled me with her magic to a tree near us, positioning us to be out of the ponies’ sights. Now Starlight’s acting odd!
“Starlight? What are you doing?”
In a hushed voice, Starlight asked, “You saw those unicorns, right? Was their magic always green?”
“Green?” I laid a finger on my chin, trying to think if those unicorns’ magic was always green. It wasn’t like I saw them a lot, but I didn’t remember their magic being green. “Now that you mention it, I thought those unicorns’ magic was a different color. Why?”
“The color of a unicorn’s magic usually stays the same through life and will normally only change if we are affected by spells.”
I thought Starlight’s spell only did something for our friends. Maybe the others didn’t know either and Starlight was too upset to tell me that herself? “Hmm. I think I get it. Is it because of the spell you cast earlier?”
Starlight sighed. Looks like I was right. “I wish, but I don’t think so. If this means what I think it means...I know why Rainbow and Rarity acted so odd, and if I’m right, we’re in trouble.”
Or maybe I wasn’t right.
“I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
Starlight took a deep breath, then stared at me with a serious frown. It alone told me things might be worse than I could imagine, so I had a bad feeling about what she was about to say. “First, do you know anything about the changelings?”
I thought about it. The word "changelings" rang no bells at first. After a moment, a story Twilight told me about came to mind. There was an invasion in Canterlot from a swarm of what I think was called changelings. I didn’t ask too much about it, but I remember she said there were a lot of them and their queen even pretended to be Twilight's sister-in-law, Princess...Cadance I think her name is. I answered, “Twilight mentioned something about them once, but I don’t know too much of the details. Now is as good a time as any to tell me more about them.”
Starlight went on to explain more about these changelings. How they eat the love of ponies as a food source and are enemies with them as a result. How they can shapeshift into copies of others and have green magic.
After her story, a chill went down my spine. These changelings were bad news! Were the real Rarity and Rainbow hurt somewhere? It was tempting, but panicking wouldn’t have helped; we needed to stay calm. It was a little hard to believe that they might have been in danger, especially with Equestria being more peaceful than my human world. Even so, Starlight knows a lot more about Equestria than I do -- obviously -- so if she really thought these changelings kidnapped our friends, I had to take her word for it. At least, until we talked to Twilight about it and heard what she thought about this.
“Okay. So from what you said and what I remember Twilight said, I’m guessing they must be keeping the real Rarity and Rainbow somewhere. We need to find help, fast!”
“I know, but who can we go to?” Starlight asked. “The rest of our ‘friends’ might be changelings! We can’t ask a pony if they’re a changeling because...you know.”
I took a quick look from the side of the tree Starlight and I still stood to those “unicorns.“ They were still there by the building with their horns glowing. I swung my head around to see if anybody was close, which there wasn’t. Not that it would have mattered at this point, because if there were someone nearby, and they were changelings, they would have heard what Starlight and I were talking about and possibly tried to take us! I looked down at Starlight again and said, “Okay. Well, Rainbow and Rarity might be out, but maybe our other friends haven’t been targeted yet. We need to come up with a way to tell if they are them or not.”
Starlight rolled her pupils up. “Uh...maybe we could ask them something that only they would know? In Twilight's case, we can also check if her magic's green.”
Surprised that I didn’t think about that already. Reckon I was more rattled about this bit of news than I thought. “That would work. Since our best bet for help would probably be Twilight anyhow, let’s check her castle first and hope the real Twilight is there.”
Starlight and I made a bee line to Twilight’s castle. I didn’t think much about if she was taken too. Maybe I felt too worried about Rainbow and Rarity to even let myself think that Twilight was gone too. I didn't even wonder about if she was away from the castle either.
Once at Twilight’s castle, I knocked on the door as hard as I could, calling out her name. When the door swung open in magenta magic, it revealed Twilight, who smiled the moment she saw us. Unlike with Rainbow and Rarity, nothing about Twilight seemed “off." Her magic's color not being different was an even better sign. Still, I needed to test her with questions, just in case changelings can also copy the magic color of ponies they're in the form of, but was something Starlight didn't know about.
“Oh, good, Sam, you found Starlight! I’m so glad you did and I was about to--”
“Uh, this may sound like an odd question, but how many checklists did you and Spike write yesterday?” I asked.
That smile Twilight had flipped into a puzzled one. “Yesterday? Four, but you saw them.”
“What did you do when I let Starlight win in Dragon Pit yesterday?”
Twilight cocked her head. “Huh? You let me win our first game of Dragon Pit. Uh, not that I mind answering any questions you have for me, but what’s wrong?”
I heard enough to know that she was the real Twilight. We lucked out that she chose to return to her castle at some point while searching for Starlight, which might have saved her from being captured. This was for sure a big relief! I let out a big sigh filled with that relief and said, “Sorry about the weird questions, Twilight, but we needed to make sure you are you.”
“Huh?” Twilight rubbed her head. Can’t blame her for being confused. I would be too if she came to my house and asked me random questions like this.
Starlight beat me to the punch and said, “Twilight, I hate to say it, but I think changelings have taken Rarity and Rainbow!”
Twilight’s pupils shrank and she shouted, “WHAT?! Changel--” she stopped herself mid-shout, pulled us in the castle with her magic, closed the door and continued, “Changelings?! Where did you see them?!”
Starlight told Twilight about those unicorns and their green magic. Turns out, Starlight also knew about the changeling attack that Twilight told me about, which ended up being huge. If she didn’t, Starlight probably would have overlooked those unicorns’ magic not being the right color. I sure had no reason to suspect anything.
But while it was great Starlight picked up the signs of these changelings, Twilight’s widened eyes, big frown, and how she paced back and forth wasn’t good. I thought she would have done a better job hiding her panic, being a princess and all. Then again, it’s hard to explain, but for a princess, Twilight always felt...normal, and the others have said she can panic surprisingly easily. This is something that even someone that doesn't panic easily might freak-out about!
“Now it makes sense! When Pinkie said she saw some ponies with ‘weird magic’ earlier, that magic must have been changeling magic but she didn’t say the magic’s color was green! Okay, this is bad! Really, really bad! Spike’s not here, so I can’t contact Princess Celestia without going to Canterlot, but I can’t just leave Ponyville with changelings on the loose here!”
“What do we do now?” Starlight asked. “There’s got to be something you can do!”
Twilight stopped pacing, turned to us, and took a deep breath, after which she seemed to be calm again. Or at least had a grip on herself now. “Okay, maybe Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie haven’t been taken, so let’s search for them. Let's first try Sugarcube Corner.”
I asked, “But what if they are taken?”
Twilight paused, frowned more worriedly, and sighed. Maybe I couldn’t have asked that question. She shook her head hard and answered, “I really hope they’re not, but if they are, our next move would be to find out where they are.”
“Okay, but what would be the way to find them if they are all captured?” Starlight asked.
“Uh...I’ll tell you when I think of it.”
Starlight, Twilight, and I left Twilight’s castle, heading for Sugarcube Corner. As we went through Ponyville, we all paid close attention to the trees, houses, and bushes we went by. Not just because we were looking for any signs of our friends, but for changelings. There could be some on the way to capture Twilight or even Starlight. As much as part of me liked the “excitement”, I’ve rarely felt so tense. It was kinda like how it was when I first found myself in Equestria, with no idea where I was, how I got here, and if I could really trust these talking magical ponies.
What we were doing was also showing one of the ways Equestria is different from my world. If something like this happened in my human world, we would be running to the police, not having a princess go out to look for clues. Admittedly, my world had no alicorn princesses with crazy magical powers, but still. Or alicorns period for that matter.
Once near Sugarcube Corner, beside a building to our right that we were walking by, a sound came from a bush. It sounded like whistling and it made us stop walking.
I whispered, “Hey, did you guys hear that?”
Twilight pointed toward the bush. “I did, from that bush.”
“Could it be a changeling?” Starlight whispered.
Twilight stared at the bush. After a couple of seconds, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. Changelings attack in groups, so it doesn’t make sense for one to be alone. Even so, you two stay here, and I’ll check it out.”
We all turned to the bush and Twilight crept toward it. I didn’t like the feel of letting her go closer to it by herself. Whether she's a princess or not, Twilight's the type that you’d want to just protect and keep safe.
But, if it was a trap, with her magic and from what she said she’s been through, Twilight would be more capable of fighting these things than me, though I hate to admit it.
When Twilight was close, she said, “If anypony is in this bush, please come out.”
Slowly, two beings came out. Both were surprises.
The first was an aquamarine unicorn, who I haven’t seen in a few days. Lyra Heartstrings. At least, she looked like Lyra.
The other...being that came out sent a chill down my spine. It was black. It had thin blue wings as well as a horn, similar to a unicorn’s horn, but was even more pointed. He had big light-blue eyes that didn’t have pupils. His legs had holes in them, but not due to injury: it was like his legs are naturally like that. He overall looked like some kind of a huge insect that was about the size of a pony.
From how Starlight gritted her teeth and how both she and Twilight lit their horns, this “insect” was a changeling!
“Get away from Lyra, NOW!” Twilight yelled.
“Wait, wait, hold on! I’m not here to fight! I’m here to warn you about what’s going on!” the changeling protested in a male voice. Didn’t see that coming, but I’m not complaining!
“Wait, really?” I asked.
Lyra answered, “Yes, he’s right! He even saved me!”
Twilight’s horn continued to glow. “How do we know if we can really trust you? For that matter, Lyra, how do we know you’re really you?”
Starlight’s horn kept glowing too, though she stayed quiet.
“Uh...I know! Sam, you remember how I used to...follow you around when we first met, and that my filly nickname is ‘Lyra the Loon’?”
Just hearing that nickname made me a little mad at how she was bullied. Still, it at least proved she really was Lyra.
I said, “Unless that's common knowledge now, I think this is the real Lyra, and I don’t know much about these changelings, but this one doesn’t seem bad. Lyra said he’s good.”
Starlight’s and Twilight’s horns kept glowing, and I was really surprised here. Not just by this changeling claiming to be on our side, or even by Lyra being with him -- though it was really surprising -- but by how both Starlight and Twilight didn’t seem to want to buy this story. Even when I first met Starlight, while she didn’t exactly trust me right away, it wasn’t like she didn’t want to: she was just mad at her situation and wasn’t yet remorseful about her Cutie Mark-stealing “phase.” As for Twilight, I thought she would be talking about how it’s good this changeling “learned the value of friendship” or otherwise laying on the corn, not doubting he was serious.
Maybe it’s a sign of how bad ponies and changelings got along? Or maybe it meant that I still have more to learn about Starlight and Twilight?
But, after about five seconds, Lyra’s proof that she’s her worked, seeing both Starlight’s and Twilight’s horns stopped glowing and Starlight relaxed her teeth. I’m guessing Twilight stopped gritting her teeth too, but she was still in front of me and facing away, so I couldn’t see her face to tell for sure.
Twilight said, “Well, fillyhood nicknames aren’t something I think changelings would know about.” Twilight took more steps toward the changeling, laying a hoof on her cheek as she leaned her head toward him. Not knowing what she was about to do made me feel a kind of tension I’ve only experienced when around her once: the first time we met. Not that Twilight was at all aggressive, but just from the “talking pony” standpoint. “And something about you do seem different from the changelings my friends and I fought in Canterlot. Do you have a name?”
With that, the tension all but left. I even breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, Princess Twilight. I’m Thorax.”
“I’m Sam,” I said. Figured it was safe to introduce myself.
“I-I’m Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.”
“So, you said you’re here to warn us?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. Queen Chrysalis--”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “Before we get any further, shouldn’t we hide somewhere safer first?”
“Good idea, Sam. I’ll teleport us to my castle.” Twilight’s horn glowed. We went from being outside to the inside of the lobby in Twilight’s castle, but we were near its front door. This wasn't the first time I've been teleported, but it did feel weird to go from being in one place to suddenly being in another.
Safe for now, Thorax said, “Okay. As I was about to say, Queen Chrysalis wants to invade Equestria, one town at a time, while taking anypony that's either a threat or saw too much and replacing them with a changeling while the invasion is happening.”
That bit of news gave me a chill. Rarity and Rainbow don’t seem to be unusually strong ponies, but if they were part of the “Elements of Harmony” I was told about, I guess that's why they were captured. I already knew this was a serious situation, but now it was even more obvious. I was feeling this might be out of my league, but I didn’t like the feeling to not try to do anything. Even if I was the closest to Starlight, Spike, and Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity have been good friends to me too, so I wanted to try to help save them if I could. I never was one to be scared of taking risks anyway. At least, not too scared.
Twilight asked, “Thorax, do you know if four of my other friends, a baby dragon named Spike and three ponies named Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy, are taken too?”
Thorax raised his head in thought. Looks like this movement isn't something just ponies or Spike does when they think hard about something. “If they are who Lyra said they are, yes. They were ambushed one by one and had their love taken so they couldn’t fight back and passed out. When Lyra saw Applejack being caught, my fellow changelings tried to take her too, but when she hid in a bush, I saw an opportunity and lied and told them she was somewhere else. Since then, we've been together and have been looking for you. We hoped that we could find you before they tried to capture you too.”
Despite knowing all our friends were caught, I still felt that our odds had improved. As long as Thorax stays on our side, we will have inside info on the changelings. Though, I did feel a little bad for him. He didn’t say it, but something must have happened for him to help ponies, an enemy of the changelings. Or, he just doesn't like hurting others like the other changelings don't appear to mind doing.
“So they are captured! How could I have let this happen aga--” Twilight shouted, then leaned her head down and mumbled something, but I couldn't tell what she said. Guess she didn’t feel the relief I did. She kept her head down for a few seconds before sighing and lifting it, bearing a serious frown. “Thorax, do you know where they are?”
“Yes. The captured ponies are being held in a cave while trapped in cocoons. If we don’t get to them before my fellow changelings take them to our hive, we might never be able to free them. Only changeling magic works in and near it, so you would be powerless there.”
Twilight gulped and said, “I see. In that case, we need to find and save them before it’s too late.”
“Twilight, with your magic, you could take these changelings, right?” I asked. Twilight had said that she’s far from omnipotent and can’t do just anything with her magic. Still, she hasn’t shown me her full potential and what she has shown is no joke. Surely, she could cast a spell capable of taking out even a huge group of changelings if that would be what’s needed.
Or maybe not, going by how Twilight frowned and rubbed the floor with a hoof. “I'm sorry, but even though I'm an alicorn, I don't think I can. I can hold my own against a small group of changelings, but I never trained myself to be adept enough in the type of spells that would let me fight a whole swarm of them alone.”
So much for that. However, there was something else that I overlooked: Starlight’s magic. She had wanted to use it to make up for what she had done in her old village and to our friends. This wasn’t quite an ideal situation, but this could be just what Starlight needed to feel like she’s atoned! I pointed at Starlight and asked, “Well, what about if Starlight helps too? Isn't she almost as strong as you?”
Twilight smiled. “Oh, of course! Good thinking, Sam!” Twilight’s smile waned as she walked closer to Starlight. “I normally wouldn’t ask you for something like this, but I can’t do this alone and your magic would be a great help. Can you help me?”
Starlight didn’t give a nervous frown. She gave a frightened one. “No, no, I shouldn’t.”
That’s the second time I misjudged something and this error was even worse. I literally saw Starlight afraid when she thought changelings were behind Rarity and Rainbow acting odd, but I thought that Twilight being here would help.
“Why? Your friends are in danger!” Thorax pointed out.
Starlight sighed and her ears flopped. “I want to help, but every time I use my magic to try to help others, I mess up. What if I screw up and have us all get caught?”
I was torn on what to do. Part of me wanted to encourage Starlight to trust herself. At this point, we needed her magical prowess. Yet, no matter how strong her magic is, Starlight Glimmer is also my best friend and was scared, so I also wanted to just hug her and try to make her feel safe. A compromise came to mind, so I got on one knee and pulled Starlight into a hug, but I also said, “Starlight, I understand, but our friends need help bad. Besides, look at it this way: this is your chance to do something for them and with your magic! You might never get a better chance than this!”
“I know, but...what if I mess up again?”
I broke our hug to look at Starlight in the eyes. “We won’t let that happen. You forgot that you’d have us with you?”
"That's right. I wouldn't ask you for someting for this if I didn't think you could do it," Twilight assured. "I would let myself be captured before doing that."
“But, I...well...okay.” Starlight forced a more determined frown. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good,” I said, giving her a *boop* on the muzzle. She giggled, her ears straightened, and she might have never needed a boop more than at this moment. After that, I stood up.
Twilight gave a comforting smile as she said, “Great. Thank you so much, Starlight and I’m so sorry to ask for this.”
So far, we had Twilight, Starlight, Thorax, Lyra, and me. An unexpected team to say the least. That aside, we could use even more help, so I asked, “Wait, Twilight, you said that you can’t leave Ponyville to get more help, so how about we get some help from Ponyville itself? Aren’t there any ponies to help deal with crises like this?”
“Usually, for situations like this, that job belongs to my friends and me, so I’m all that’s left. But not only that, from what Thorax said, any pony here could be a changeling. Trying to test too many ponies to see if they are them could make the changelings suspect that we're onto them." Twilight looked down, making circles on the floor with a hoof as she added, "Besides, I don't feel comfortable asking Ponyville's citizens to help fight anyway. I only asked Starlight to help because she has such a rare level of magical ability.”
“Great. It sounds like we’re on our own,” I said.
Twilight lifted her head to look directly at me. “Well, ‘we’, but not you, Sam. You and Lyra should stay here in my castle while the rest of us deal with this.”
“Huh? Why?” I asked. In truth, I already knew why, but was surprised just the same.
“It’s nothing personal, but changelings are dangerous and you've never faced them before. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt. If Starlight’s magical skills weren’t so great, I wouldn’t have asked her to help.”
“Well, maybe I don’t have magic like you or Starlight, but I’m not powerless. If I can find some kind of weapon, I could help out and besides, your friends are my friends too and I can’t--”
“Sam!” Twilight shouted with a scowl. This is the first time she ever shut me up like that, so I just stayed still, not even sure how to respond. After a moment, she eased her scowl, her ears drooped, and in a calmer voice, said, “Look, I know you want to help and I’m thankful for it, but I really need to put my hoof down here.” She walked closer to me and reached out her foreleg to softly place her hoof against my hand. She looked up at me with big, pleading eyes. “Sam, please don’t make me have to order you to stay. You know I hate having to pull rank to my friends and I don't want to be that kind of princess. Can you just do it as a request from a friend? Please? For me?”
It’s so hard to say no when Twilight looks at me like that. She looked so sad, and as she said, she hates having to make orders like this. She’d even said not to think of her as my “princess” but my friend, so I bet that made it even harder to bring herself to potentially have to force me to stay behind. “Well...I--”
“Wait,” Thorax interrupted, “at this point, Lyra and Sam being by themselves might not be a good idea.”
“Why?” Twilight asked. She saved me the trouble of asking that myself.
“Think about it: my fellow changelings are everywhere. They’re already looking for Lyra and sooner or later, they will come here looking for you. Lyra and Sam might actually be safer with us, especially if we can come up with a good plan and act fast.”
“Really?” Twilight let out a deep sigh. “Okay, in that case, you can stay with us, Sam. Just try not to do anything reckless?" She took her hoof off my hand and faced Lyra. "Can you promise me to be careful too, Lyra?”
“I will,” I answered. I had mixed feelings about knowing that I might be on the changelings’ radar. But, it also meant that Twilight wouldn’t order me to stay behind if I made her have to do it.
"And I promise to not do anything dumb either, and I know I'm not much, but I may know a thing or two that can help us out." Lyra put on a serious frown. The fear that was in them plummeted. "Besides, one of the ponies the changelings took is Bon Bon, my best friend. I want to do what I can to help save her...that's not too foolish."
"Thanks." Twilight smiled and her ears raised to how they normally are, so at least our answers made her feel more at ease. She turned to Thorax and asked, "Thorax, where are the caves holding my friends? Is it the gem cave nearby?”
Thorax answered, “Yeah, in the deepest part of it.”
Twilight said, “Then let’s go, before they find out what we’re up to.”
“Wait. Even if we do save them, what do we do then?” Starlight asked.
Twilight set a hoof on her cheek and rolled down her eyes. I sure had no ideas, so I didn’t have much of a choice but to hope Twilight could think of something. Although if anypony could, it would be Twilight Sparkle: she loves planning for stuff, and I already had the feeling that she’s a natural leader. “If we can free our friends and escape, I could have Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia and she could send more help and even come herself.”
Lyra said, “In that case, let’s go to the gem caves while we still have time.”
Starlight, Twilight, Lyra, and I left Twilight’s castle, made our way to the gem caves and soon entered it. Starlight and Twilight led the way, lighting up the immediate area with their magic. My heart was pumping and I was shaking on the inside, even had to force my hands not to shake -- the colder air inside the cave didn’t help. However, if my father were here, he would have told me to try to be brave and face my fears like a man. Lyra grimaced right before we went in, showing she was trying to look past whatever fears she had, so surely I could too. Plus, with the magic Starlight and Twilight have, plus the “inside info” from Thorax, this could have been a far worse situation.
Even so, there was something else I was still worried about, but it wasn’t about these changelings.
It was about Starlight’s frame of mind. Even if she could handle this physically, or magically in her case, could this kind of crisis overwhelm her mentally?
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There's only one practical solution: DDT.
Or an aerosol can of Deep Woods OFF!
*spritz*
"What was that for?"
"She's clean."
*spritz*
"AAAAAUUUGGH! MY FACE! MY FAAAAAACE!"
"It's a bug! Zap 'em!"
10235430
10235441
Wait, doesn’t Sam have a gun? Or is that too violent for this story?
10236288
He don't have a gun. But even if he did, he would only have so many bullets, so it still wouldn't be enough to take out the whole group of changelings. At best, it would let him take out some, giving Twilight and Starlight a better chance to fight the rest.
10236555
True. Plus Sam doesn't strike me as the killer type. Add in the fact that this is in Equestria, it is probably good that he doesn't have a gun. Or a sharp stick.
10236754 Oh yeah... any blades weapons he has on him like a knife would most likely be taken out with magic. Assuming Sam has a knife set.
CHANGELINGS!
Yes, I do, thank you for noticing.
Sam, just wait 'til you see their awesome rainbow lasers that turn bad guys into statues with the power of...
friendship.
Why does it have to be so corny?
10241542
Friendship: it's both magic and sometimes corny.
10242251
Yup. Am I the only one who doesn't like saying Friendship is Magic other than Sam? Or was it Eric? Maybe Jake?
10242525
I know Eric doesn't think it's too corny, but that's partly because Twilight's rubbed off on him. I don't think Jake does, but Donnnn could answer that question.
10243983
Donnnn, over here! *waves frantically*
“It’s nothing personal, but changelings are dangerous and you've never faced them before. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt. If Starlight’s magical skills weren’t so great, I wouldn’t have asked her to help.”
Wasn't that the case for her and her friends too? The only reason they are the "militia" is because they have experience.......
10390131
It is, but there are a few different reasons to why Twilight said what she did below, some aren't obvious in this chapter.
1: Twilight doesn't have the same level of trust in Sam as she did in the rest of the mane 6, and she also doesn't know what he's capable of in a fight against a swarm of changelings. If Sam was an Element of Harmony and they still had them, she would want him to come since she'd need him there. With some good weapons, Sam could do something even against a changeling swarm, but Twilight didn't want to risk it if she didn't have to.
2: Despite being "The militia", the rest of the mane 6 were still captured. Add to the above and it makes even more sense for (In Twilight's eyes) why she would be against Sam coming along.
3: Twilight is already feeling bad about "not being there" for the rest of the mane 6 and Spike (again) so she's extra-motivated to not let the same happen to another friend. This alone is making Twilight a little more protective then she might normally be. As she herself said, she only asked Starlight for help because Twi can't do it on her own and because Starlight's magic is so powerful.
10390243
A few things that Twilight and the other creatures of Equestria might not know about humans: 1)We're very resourceful, 2)We're highly adaptable, 3)We're very proficient tool users, 4)We're highly adaptable, 5)Our penchant for violence. Add them all together and you have a recipe for why humans are such a successful species.