Chapter 17 - Among us
Among Us
The day had finally arrived. The most anticipated event of the century, perhaps of the last millennium, was about to occur. After all, it wasn't every day that an alicorn princess got married. In fact, it was something that had never happened in history. So the vast majority of the ponies from all over the kingdom were waiting to know what the great wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor, would be like. And among those ponies waiting for the big wedding were Dusk Shine and his friends.
First thing in the morning, Dusk, Spike and their five friends took the first train to Canterlot bringing suitcases with the dresses/suits they would be wearing for the ceramony. In addition, each of the girls carried the necessary implements for the preparations that Princess Cadance herself had requested of each one.
Fluttershy carried traveling cages with her best songbirds for the wedding choir. Rarity was carrying the wedding dress she had been working on for weeks, as well as several suitcases with different sewing elements to make sure that the bride's dress fit perfectly. Applejack brought boxes of apple desserts, as well as various ingredients to cook some other sweets in the same castle. Pinkie Pie had several suitcases filled with games, confetti, and balloons, as well as her signature party cannon. And finally there was Rainbow Dash, who didn't take anything extra with her, but took advantage of the trip to stretch her wings again and again to prepare herself before the great sonic rainboom she had to do at the end of the wedding. For their part, Dusk and Spike were in the front seats of the car, with the baby dragon reviewing the list that Dusk had given him the day before, while the unicorn yawned tiredly.
"Done!" Pinkie Pie said after poking her head out of her party cannon. She had been inspecting her special cannon to make sure it was clean and ready for the big party of the night. At that moment, Pinkie Pie suddenly trembled. "Brrr!"
"What's wrong, Pinkie Pie? Are you nervous?" Fluttershy asked when she looked to her trembling friend sitting next to her.
"It's not nerves. I think it's my 'Pinkie Sense'. But it’s been going on and off ever since we started traveling to Canterlot." Pinkie Pie said, scratching her head in confusion. "The only one who really seems to be nervous, is SOMEONE ELSE." Pinkie Pie added, glancing at the back seat.
On the seat behind Pinkie Pie was Applejack. For some reason, the country mare had been talking to her own reflection in the window.
"Applejack, are you okay?" Flutteshy asked.
"I'm Applejack… No! My name is Applejack. It's a pleasure... No! It’s a HUGE pleasure! Yeah! That's it…" Applejack mumbled to herself at the window reflection. Her eyes managed to focus on her friends, and she realized they were looking at her. “Uh? Sorry, did y’all ask me something?”
"Flutterhsy asked you if you were okay..." Pinkie Pie said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"S-Sure! Why should I be nervous!?" Applejack answered, looking away and putting on a bad poker face, which she always did when she tried to lie. "Just because I'm going to meet my coltfriend's parents? Because I’ll be in Canterlot as Dusk's marefriend? Because the most important wedding banquet of the century depends on me? Why would I be nervous!? Hahaha!" Applejack laughed out loud to try and hide her nerves.
On the other side of the train carriage, Rarity was able to hear how nervous Applejack was about meeting Dusk's parents. The day had finally come that she herself had warned Applejack would come. And now, once again, the white unicorn wasn't sure whether to be sorry for how nervous her friend was, or jealous for not having been the one to introduce herself to Dusk's parents as his marefriend.
"What do you think your family will think when they meet Applejack?" Rarity took advantage of asking Dusk, who was sitting in the seat in front of her.
"I... Yaawwn... I'm not sure." Dusk answered. The colt had fallen asleep for a while on the train after staying up all last night. “My parents are understanding, so I don’t think they’ll be any problems with them. But there will be several noble families from Canterlot at the wedding. They always tend to look down on those not of noble birth.”
"What about your brother? Do you think he’ll like us?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting next to Rarity, also interested in knowing more about Dusk's family.
Dusk looked away and put on an annoyed look at the mention of his brother.
“Maybe he’ll hate you as much as he hates me, who knows. You have to remember that Cadance invited us and not by my brother.” Dusk grunted. “Shining Armor always argued with me and was embarrassed to be seen on the street next to me. Also, we both had Cadance as a first love. Maybe that's why he didn't even want to name me his ‘best colt’, despite being his brother... I think the hatred we have for each other hasn't changed, despite time and distance..." Dusk added with a look full of bitterness.
Seeing how upset Dusk was when talking about his brother, the mares were all caught in the awkward silence when they understood how fractured the sibling relationship between the two of them really seemed to be.
"Yeah... Dusk was really hurt to find out that he was just one more guest, and not his ‘best colt’." Spike whispered to Rainbow Dash and Rarity, so that they would try to understand Dusk's attitude a little.
Seeing how tense the atmosphere was from the topic of Dusk’s older brother, Rarity quickly changed the subject and started to talk about the weather and other things. Something in which her other friends gladly engaged in to stop the uncomfortable silence. However, for some reason, Applejack kept staring at Dusk with a look of great concern for her coltfriend.
"Hey! Why so serious?" Pinkie Pie asked, seeing Applejack's look. "Remember that you still don't know how to present yourself in front of your in-laws."
As soon as Pinkie Pie reminded her of the great test that lay ahead of her, Applejack blushed and started feeling dizzy from her nerves.
Finally, the train arrived at the Canterlot train station. From there, it didn't take long until they arrived in front of the Royal Palace. Where everyone was surprised to see many guards patrolling the sector, even more than the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. There was also a much longer line to get into the castle.
“Wooow… So many weird guests.” Pinkie Pie said as she saw strange creatures formed in the row. Dusk and the mares rushed to shut Pinkie up before she unintentionally offended any of the new creatures in the line.
Lined up to the entrance were mainly ponies from noble, wealthy, or famous families from other big cities. But the guests that stood out the most were the foreign guests, creatures of other races very different from the ponies that lived there. Among them were three griffins wearing rusty old armor, four-legged creatures, similar in size to ponies, with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. Near the griffins were other creatures whose bodies were totally those of a bird, standing on their two legs, wearing elegant outfits. Standing next to them was another pair of bipeds, only these were canines, both female, wearing beautiful long dresses. Beside the two huge canines stood two huge cats, both dressed in extravagant tuxedos, eyeing the dog ladies suspiciously, who growled at them from time to time. And finally, the most peculiar guests were four huge and hairy buffaloes with gold decorations on their horns, creatures that Dusk and his friends would later learn were actually yaks.
“Oh sweet Celestia! The dresses of those cute dog ladies are divine! And those cat lords' outfits are so original!" Rarity said, marveling at the unique fashion show before her eyes.
“Where are all these creatures from? Are they from beyond Equestria?” Fluttershy asked Dusk curiously.
"I'm not sure, it's all new to me." Dusk responded with a confused look. Trying to remember if he had ever read or heard of those creatures.
"Indeed, they’re dignitaries from nations beyond Equestria." A female voice answered from behind Dusk and his friends.
Turning around, everyone saw that the pony who had spoken had been a unicorn mare with light brown fur, well-groomed black mane tied with a bow at the back. In addition, the mare wore glasses and a camera hung from her neck.
"Princess Celestia invited dignitaries from Ornithia, Caninia, Yakyakistan, Griffonstone, and Abyssinia." That mare continued speaking, smiling at Dusk and getting very close to him. "Rumors say that the Princess wants to take advantage of this great event to open the kingdom to the outside again."
"T-That's very interesting, Miss...?" Dusk responded, somewhat nervous at the excessive closeness of the unknown mare.
“Nosey News, from the 'The Canterlot Sun'. Nice to finally meet you, my elusive Dusk Shine.” The journalist said with a huge smile. While Dusk was surprised to see that the journalist knew his name. Then the journalist quickly took out a notebook and a quill and clung even closer to Dusk. “By the way, speaking of new alliances with the kingdom, tell me… did you and your friends have anything to do with the Deer Kingdom opening up to trade with ponies again?”
"Uh? W-Well, maybe me and my friends did have something to do with-" Dusk began to respond nervously, given the excessive closeness of the journalist.
"How does it feel to be Princess Celestia's private student, but still none of your accomplishments are valued in Canterlot?" The journalist quickly interrupted with another question, while she quickly wrote down in her notebook. She had to quickly take advantage of that small opportunity to finally be able to interview Dusk Shine.
"I... am I not recognized in Canterlot?" Dusk asked, somewhat stunned by the speed with which the journalist asked questions.
"Could you tell me more about how Princess Luna managed to return to the kingdom? And what about Twilight Sparkle? Could you tell me about her?" The journalist asked, continuing with her artillery of questions. While at the same time, she took several photos of Dusk and his friends.
Before Dusk could even try to answer, and before the journalist could ask any more questions, two guards appeared in front of Nosey News, preventing her from taking photos.
"We warned you, Miss, don't disturb the guests." One of the guards said. Both guards took the journalist between their hooves and started dragging her out.
“This is abuse of authority! Freedom of the press!" Nosey News yelled in frustration as she was led away.
Unbeknownst to Dusk and his friends, Nosy News had been obsessed with putting out a big story for her newspaper, and all her attempts had failed miserably. First it had been the attempt to publish how Dusk and his friends had saved Equestria; and then with the scoop on Princess Cadance's marriage. And it was precisely this last attempted scoop that had made the obtrusive Nosy News unwelcome in the castle. In fact, she was the only Canterlot journalist barred from the wedding. Something that of course didn’t please the obstinate journalist, who struggled all morning to try to get into the castle and interview the important guests of the wedding.
Still a little confused by what happened, Dusk and his friends decided to ignore the strange situation, and continued walking, approaching the entrance line to the castle. Once there, they saw that the line was moving very slowly, which worried them, since Dusk's friends had to start the preparations for the wedding as soon as possible. So finally, everyone decided to skip the line and go to the entrance to be able to enter the castle at once.
Once they arrived in front of the castle gate, Dusk was surprised to see the real reason why the entrance to the castle was so slow. There, the guards made an exhaustive examination of each guest, checking what they brought with them, in addition to applying a strange inspection spell to each one.
“Hey you! You gotta go through the inspection line like everyone else.” One of the guards in front of the door said after seeing that Dusk and his friends had skipped the line.
“I'm sorry, but we have to get in as soon as possible. My friends need to start with the preparations for the banquet, the reception and the wedding dress.” Dusk said, looking askance at the guards who applied the spell on the guests.
"Given name and family clan of each one." The guard said with an annoyed huff and raised a large list of names that he carried with him.
“Family clan?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Huff… It's a bad habit of the Canterlot nobles. At all their big events, they always want to show what a great family they represent and know who they are relating to.” Dusk said with an annoyed look.
At that moment, Dusk glanced fleetingly at his friends and put on an uncomfortable look.
"Don't worry, Dusk, you can trust me. Just like we practice.” Spike said suddenly, taking a proud step forward. The drake gave the guard a small bow and began to speak very formally. “Before you comes Miss Rarity, from the Belle family; Miss Applejack, from the Apple family; Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, from the Pie family; Miss Rainbow Dash, from the Windbow family; Miss Fluttershy, from the Breeze family; and the brothers Dusk Shine and Spike, from the Shine family.”
Before Spike's great presentation, Dusk applauded proudly, since the little dragon had indeed made everyone's names sound very elegant.
"Well done, looks like I was nervous for no reason." Dusk said, gently nudging the side of the dragon. While the guard seemed not to give it much importance and simply limited himself to reviewing his list.
"Ah yes, here are your names." The guard said after reviewing the list. "But you still have to queue for inspection."
"B-But my friends have to start preparations now!" Dusk said, beginning to get annoyed.
“EVERYPONY must be inspected in order.” The guard insisted.
“He’s Dusk Shine! The personal student of the Princess!” Spike said also annoyed. Pointing at Dusk, although he knew that his brother didn’t like to use his title to take advantage. “We lived here for years. It can't be that you don't recognize him."
At the dragon's words, the guard looked carefully at Dusk and simply raised an incredulous eyebrow. Showing that he didn't know who Dusk was at all.
At that moment, both Dusk and Spike remembered what the journalist had told them minutes before when she saw them arrive… 'How does it feel to be Princess Celestia's private student, but still none of your achievements are valued in Canterlot?'
"It can't be possible that you don't know that Dusk and his friends saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and Discord, right?" Spike reiterated.
At the dragon's insistence, the guard looked to his side to another of his fellow guards.
"Hey Bronze Shield, do you know a certain Dusk Shine?" The guard asked his partner.
"Not at all." The other guard answered, while still using a spell to inspect the guests.
"You see? All the guests think they’re important. So I repeat, EVERYONE get back in line for inspection.” The guard said, looking seriously at Dusk and his friends.
Given the guard's intransigence, Spike was speechless, as were Dusk and his friends. Everyone expected that perhaps there was a guard who didn’t know that Dusk was a student of Celestia, but that no one in Caterlot, not even the guards, knew of the great feats that they all had to face to save Equestria, it was something that took them to all by surprise. Were their exploits only known in Ponyville?
Still incredulous with what they had discovered, Dusk began to look to his side where the guards were still inspecting the guests. Looking closely, Dusk saw that what the guards applied was an unusual magical fading spell, which took a long time and ended with the guests quite stunned after the spell was applied.
"This is ridiculous! I’m the brother of the groom and student of the Princess!” Dusk proclaimed, looking sideways at his friends and then back at the guard. “I won't let my friends linger, let alone have to go through that pesky inspection! It can be clearly seen that it’s a very invasive spell!”
To Dusk's irritation, the guard stood even firmer in front of Dusk. While two other guards arrived to provide support and expel any uppity guests.
"It's an awkward spell indeed, but it's better than putting a shield over all of Canterlot." A voice suddenly said from behind the guards. One before which all the guards snapped to attention. "Easy sergeant, it's my brother and his friends."
From not far away a white stallion approached, with long blue mane and big blue eyes. He wore the typical golden armor of the palace guards, only with the difference that this one had the rank of captain. He was Shining Armor, Dusk Shine's older brother.
Seeing Shining Armor approaching, both Dusk and Spike tensed. None of them had seen Shining Armor since they had left Canterlot to live in Ponyville, even before that. Since even when they both lived in the palace, Shining did his best not to run into Dusk when he had to patrol the castle.
Finally, the moment of reunion had arrived, and Dusk and Spike were prepared for all the cold greetings that could exist, including ways to ignore them that Shining Armor would surely have with them.
“Dusk! What a joy to see you again! It's been so long!" Shining Armor said surprisingly with a huge smile, throwing himself to hug Dusk. "How have you been, little bro?"
Before Shining Armor's hug, Dusk simply froze. He hadn't expected at all that Shining would react like that when he saw him. In fact, had Shining Armor ever hugged him before? His brain couldn't remember such information, which made Dusk go into shock, not knowing how to react.
“How about you, Spike? How have you been?" Shining Armor then added, affectionately tussling Spike's head with his hoof. Who, for his part, was still open-mouthed when he saw Shining Armor receive them so friendly.
"I-I... I'm fine..." Spike answered slowly, coming out of his astonishment just like Dusk. The lavender colt stared nervously at Shining Armor, who kept looking at him with a radiant smile.
"That’s Dusk's brother?" Fluttershy whispered, who was behind Dusk along with the other mares.
"I know. He’s quite handsome.” Rarity whispered in response to her friend's comment.
At that moment, Dusk turned around and saw that the eyes of all his friends were fixed on the handsome stallion with shocked looks and blushed cheeks. Even Applejack, who was his marefriend, had been impressed with how attractive her brother-in-law was.
"Hnng..." Dusk growled annoyed remembering that Shining seemed to always have that effect on mares. Then Dusk decided to put aside Shining's strange behavior and started getting jealous.
"Sorry Dusk, but those are the rules. You and your friends have to line up and go through the inspection just like everyone else at the wedding.” Shining said with a good-natured smile.
“I've been to the castle hundreds of times, and I've never had to go through an inspection to get in. Do you not trust me that much!?” Dusk countered, remembering that their sibling relationship had always been rocky. “I won't let you distrust my friends either. I know them, and I’ll bet my life for them. None of them have anything dangerous to bring to the castle.”
At that moment, Pinkie Pie gave a nervous look and subtly hid the party cannon she was carrying behind her. While one of the guards looked at her menacingly.
“It’s not because we think you can bring something dangerous. It's because 'someone dangerous' can come in and sneak right in front of our eyes.” Shining Armor said with a much more serious look.
"What do you mean 'someone dangerous'?" Dusk asked.
Then Shining ordered the rest of the guards to continue with the other inspections, while he guided Dusk and his friends to one side of the line so they wouldn't be heard by the other guests.
"Yesterday we were attacked by a shapeshifter, a being capable of impersonating any pony." Shining said, looking carefully at Dusk and his friends. “The changeling, as the guards called it, knocked out one of our guards, took his form, infiltrated Princess Celestia's room, and attacked her maid, Sweet Creme. That's why we’re doing this inspection on every guest. The Princess thinks the changeling wants to infiltrate the wedding and attack us when we least expect it.”
“A changeling? Shape-shifting beings? I've never read anything like that!" Dusk said incredulously. "I've read every book in the library, and I've never read anything about a 'changeling'." Dusk added, looking suspiciously at his big brother.
“Uh… I do.” Spike said fearfully, making everyone look at him in surprise. “In chapter seventeen of the 'Power Ponies' comic! There appear some beings from space that change their shape and fool everyone! Making everyone believe that the Power Ponies were thieves!”
"That's just sci-fi!" Dusk said, annoyed that the little dragon distracted them with such nonsense. Then Dusk looked angrily at Shining Armor again. "This is nonsense! You made that changeling thing up because you don't want to let us into your wedding on time. Do you know how important girls are for the wedding preparation? Trust me! Not me, not Spike, not even any of my friends are changelings! If such a thing existed… Now, let us in or I'll tell Cadance that you didn't want to let us in and that's why her wedding was ruined!” Dusk added, looking very angry at his older brother.
Faced with Dusk's threat, Shining fell silent. He kept staring at Dusk for several seconds, until finally Shining sighed and resignedly lowered his head.
"I want to sort things out, Dusk. It's not that I don't trust you or your friends...” Shining whispered with a certain melancholy in his voice. Then he raised his head again and smiled. "You're right. Your friends have a lot to do for the wedding. And if you trust them, that's enough for me."
Shining Armor ordered the guards to let Dusk and his friends pass without inspecting them. Then Shining quickly said goodbye, saying that he also had many things to do before the wedding began, and quickly left, leaving Dusk and his friends alone again.
"Hmm... Don't you think Shining Armor changed his attitude too quickly?" Dusk asked Spike as everyone started their way to the main hall of the castle.
"I know. And not only that… It was weird since he actually greeted us!” Spike said with a small shiver. Since he had never seen Shining Armor so friendly with them before.
"Weird? I thought he was nice.” Pinkie Pie smiled. The other mares had to agree with their pink friend and even comment on how handsome Shining was.
Dusk felt his jealousy flare up again. He then glanced quickly at Applejack, to see if his marefriend would at least stop praising her brother in his presence. However, Applejack quickly looked away when Dusk looked at her, as if she wanted to hide what she was really thinking.
After arriving at the main hall, the wedding planner, who turned out to be Raven Inkwell, quickly indicated to each of Dusk's friends where they would have to make their preparations. Then each mare put on her most serious look and quickly went to their appointed places, knowing that they only had a couple of hours to put everything together and for everything to go perfectly.
While dozens of ponies ran from one side to the other, busy with the proximity of the wedding, Dusk and Spike stood motionless there, realizing that they were the only ones there without a task to do for the wedding.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, Dusk approached Raven and asked where the princesses were so that he could greet them. However, she informed him that Luna had left the castle, Celestia was unavailable until the time of the wedding, and that Cadance was without a fixed whereabouts, since she went from one place to another throughout the castle supervising each arrangement for the wedding.
Raven then ordered Dusk and Spike to leave, since they were in the way of the other ponies who were hurrying to their work by the corridor. Without giving them a chance to complain, the guards looked threateningly at Dusk and Spike and both brothers reluctantly left the main hall. Without having a place to be without getting in the way, the two went to the old tower that Dusk used as his room in the past. Once there, Dusk sat on the bed with a thoughtful look, while Spike ran to one of his old trunks to look for something.
"Here it is!" Spike said victoriously, lifting from the trunk an old Power Ponies comic that he had read years ago. "I knew it! Chapter seventeen, That's what changelings look like!" Spike added, showing Dusk the comic he was holding. Depicted was a strange creature similar to an octopus, which on the next page, was transformed into a pony with a superhero costume.
"Huff... Come on, Spike." Dusk sighed in annoyance. “Changelings don't exist, and if they did, they definitely wouldn't be an octopus from space. Surely it's something Shining Armor thought up to scare us."
“But… why would they be inspecting everyone if it wasn't real?” Spike asked with a thoughtful face. “Changelings can mimic anyone perfectly… Eep! What… What if I'm a changeling and I haven't realized it!?” Spike yelled in terror.
"Don't talk crazy... And how are you supposed to be a changeling without even realizing it!?" Dusk rolled his eyes, a little amused at how absurd the baby dragon could become when he let himself be carried away by his fears.
"I don't know... The traitor could be anyone..." Spike said nervously, starting to chew his claw nails. Then Spike looked at Dusk and grabbed one of his hooves. “Dusk! Cast the spell on me! I need to know if I'm the real Spike!"
"What!? That's ridiculous." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Besides, I don't even know what spell they used at the inspection."
"Please!!" Spike insisted, shaking Dusk's body to make him pay attention to him.
"Alright, Alright!" Dusk finally relented so he would stop shaking him. “Hmm… I think it was a magic vanishing spell or something, to remove illusion magic…”
Then Dusk concentrated his magic and used it on Spike. Instantly, Spike began to shake and tremble, then spun around a couple of times, becoming as dizzy and dazed as the guests in the inspection line.
"You see it? You’re still yourself.” Dusk said, shrugging his shoulders while Spike shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. “That's why I refused to let all of us go through. I didn't want to see my friends stunned by that spell."
“B-But… W-What if with that we made the changeling enter without being detected…? What if the changeling is among us!?” Spike yelled in terror.
"Enough of the paranoia, Spike!" Dusk insisted, although he then put on a thoughtful look. "I... I would have realized..." Dusk added, with a nervous tone of voice.
After that, Dusk and Spike stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a long time.
“No! I-It's ridiculous! Changelings don't exist. And… And there's no way I'm going to use that spell on my friends!” Dusk said, breaking the silence and shaking his head.
Then another long, awkward silence hung in the air.
"Hmm... I'll go see Applejack." Dusk finally said, pretending not to be nervous at Spike's crazy idea. “Not that I think she could be a changeling or anything like that. I just... I just want to go see her for a while..." Dusk added, opening the door and quickly leaving the room.
"Wait for me!" Spike quickly added, afraid of being alone.
Dusk and Spike quickly headed towards the castle kitchen, being careful that the guards didn't see them so they wouldn't send them back to their tower. Once there, they saw that everything in the kitchen was in well-ordered chaos. In a few minutes, Applejack, with the help of several cooks, had managed to order dozens of trays with snacks, most of them apple-related. At that moment the country mare was highly concentrated, putting the finishing touches on the wedding cake.
"Wow... You’re doing great, Applejack." Dusk said when he saw the great wedding cake.
“Oh, uh… thanks.” Applejack answered, who immediately averted her gaze. Then she jumped up to quickly go to the oven, just as the alarm sounded and took out several freshly baked apple muffins.
"I hope Cadance likes apple desserts." Dusk said, raising an eyebrow curiously, seeing that Applejack hadn't even looked him in the eye.
“She was already here. She said she liked them a lot.” Applejack answered. Without stopping running in the kitchen. She went from one oven to another, taking out the desserts she had prepared.
"Cadance was here?" Dusk asked in surprise. He knew Cadance must be busy, but it was weird that she hadn't even taken the time to go say hello.
“Hmm! They are as delicious as ever!” Spike said suddenly. The dragon had walked over to one of the trays and eaten an apple muffin.
"Of course! It's my marefriend's apple muffins, the best in Equestria!” Dusk said proudly, looking askance at Applejack, to see if she would react to his compliment.
Applejack finally stopped running and was silent for a few seconds, she turned to Dusk and put on a forced and nervous smile. Then she kept running towards the ovens.
That left Dusk a little disconcerted. He then hit Spike with his elbow and signaled for him to leave the kitchen.
"Applejack was a little weird, wasn't she?" Spike asked with his mouth full, as he ate another apple muffin.
"It seems so..." Dusk replied while lost in thought.
After leaving the kitchen, Dusk and Spike's next stop was the great ballroom, where Pinkie Pie was preparing for the wedding reception. There, everything was already decorated with streamers and balloons everywhere, just like Pinkie Pie always decorated her parties.
"Hi Dusk! You arrive just after Princess Cadance left.” Pinkie Pie said as she jumped up and hung balloons on the last pillars of the room. Then she froze for a moment, looked at Dusk and began to jump, moving away between jumps to the opposite wall.
“Cadance was here too!?” Dusk asked in surprise, approaching where Pinkie Pie was.
"Yeah. She was supervising the party games for the wedding.” Pinkie Pie answered, seeing that Dusk and Spike were approaching her. Then she again jumped up and ran away to paste on another wall a drawing of a pony, to play 'pin the tail on the pony'.
“Pinkie, you know about smiles. What do you think it means if your marefriend gives you a nervous smile after a compliment?” Dusk asked as kept approaching Pinkie Pie again. As soon as she saw that Dusk and Spike were approaching her, Pinkie ran to get away and put something on another wall.
"I-I don't know... Maybe she's just nervous about the wedding, hehe." Pinkie Pie said, always away from Dusk and Spike while laughing nervously.
Dusk and Spike tried one last time to approach Pinkie Pie, but she again jumped and ran to put more balloons on another wall. Seeing that Pinkie Pie's escapes weren't just his imagination, Dusk said goodbye to her and pushed Spike to get them out of there.
"Pinkie Pie was acting weird!" Spike whispered nervously as they started to leave the room.
“Yeah… B-But she always acts weird! It's not evidence that she's a changeling or anything!” Dusk responded with a nervous look. “Enough of giving me your paranoia! Changelings don't exist!"
After leaving the ballroom, Dusk and Spike went to a small room that had been set up especially for Fluttershy to practice with her bird choir. Once there, they opened the door to the room. As soon as they did, Fluttershy's birds, who were standing neatly on metal bars, flew wildly across the room.
"Oh no!" Fluttershy cried, running to calm her birds. "Easy, sit back down. Let's go back to choir practice."
Seeing how Fluttershy ran after the frightened birds, Dusk looked worriedly at Spike, who also froze and thought the same as his brother.
"If Fluttershy can control Angel, it shouldn't be difficult for her to control those birds…" Spike whispered in shock.
"P-Perhaps it's our fault... we-we came in making a lot of noise and scared the birds..." Dusk whispered in response, increasingly insecure as Spike's theory gained traction.
At that moment, Dusk and Spike felt watched. Then they both stopped looking at each other and looked towards the center of the room. Fluttershy had stopped trying to calm her birds down, and instead had stared at them both without even blinking.
"W-What are you talking about?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"Oh, uh... just... I was asking Spike if Cadance liked the bird choir you brought, hehe." Dusk lied with a nervous smile.
“She loved it. She was here just a few minutes ago.” Fluttershy said. Then a bird flew over her head, reminding her that she still had to calm the frightened birds.
With their suspicions increasing more and more, Dusk and Spike quickly opened the door of the room to leave and close it before any bird could flee from the room. Then both brothers looked at each other nervously, and without saying anything, they both started walking quickly to see if their other two friends were also acting weird.
Dusk and Spike quickly reached one of the castle's balconies where Rainbow Dash was. With no immediate task to perform, the multi-colored pegasus was simply stretching out her legs and wings. Stretching every muscle in her body for the great aerial trick that had been requested of her at the end of the great ceremony.
"Hey, Dusk and Spike! What’s up!?" Rainbow Dash smiled as she saw her friends approach. "What's with those faces? It’s like you've seen a ghost." The pegasus teased when she saw the nervous faces of both of them.
“Oh, thank Celestia! You’re normal!” Spike said in relief. To which Dusk reacted by hitting him with his elbow, so he wouldn't make weird comments.
"B-By the way, Rainbow Dash... Have you seen Cadance around here?" Dusk asked casually.
"The Princess? Yeah, she was here just before you arrived.” Rainbow Dash responded by shrugging her shoulders and bending down again to continue stretching.
"That’s strange... It seems like she's always in one place, and she leaves just before I arrive..." Dusk thought out loud.
"Did you show her your Sonic Rainboom?" Spike asked excitedly.
"Nah, she was only here to ask me if I was in good condition and not to overdo it since she knew how difficult it was." Rainbow Dash replied then gave a confident smirk. "But I told her not to worry and that I could do twenty sonic rainbooms in a row if I wanted to."
Dusk put on a thoughtful look and then looked seriously at his friend.
“Could you do a Sonic Rainboom here and now? For us." Dusk asked. The mare was immediately surprised by Dusk's request. "I-I mean, it's not that we want to see one to check something, it's just that you haven't made one for a long time, and maybe you should make sure that you can still make one perfectly." Dusk added with a nervous smile to hide his true intentions.
At Dusk's request, Rainbow Dash looked away and tried to hide her look of concern. Then she put on a nervous smile and stopped stretching her muscles.
"Uh…, I think I'd better save the surprise for tonight, hehe." Rainbow Dash said with a nervous smile. “I think in the meantime, I'll do a couple of pirouettes to stretch my wings. See ya!" After that, Rainbow Dash took off from the balcony and flew away from there. Leaving Dusk with an even more confused look.
After having visited four of their friends, Dusk and Spike hurried to see their last friend. Their friends were definitely acting weird, but why? None of them had acted strange before entering the castle. Furthermore, the fact that they hadn’t yet seen Cadance with their eyes was something that began to bother Dusk.
"Rarity is fine... She can't be a changeling... She can't be a changeling!" Spike said nervously, starting to run towards the room where Rarity should be.
Dusk and Spike finally reached the room where Rarity was finishing the last details of Cadance's wedding dress. Walking in, they both saw the beautiful dress that Rarity had made, one that seemed perfect, but for some reason Rarity kept inspecting it. She was so focused that she didn't pay any attention to Dusk and Spike when they entered the room.
"Rarty!" Spike said through tears and jumped onto her hoof to hug it.
"Uh? Not now, Spike. The Princess has just come to try on her dress and I have to make some adjustments to make it fit her figure perfectly.” Rarity said, putting some needles on the waist of the dress.
“Cadance was already here? And she left just before I got here again!?” Dusk asked, looking insecurely at Rarity.
"That's right. She said the dress was perfect, but I insisted she try it on and that it fit her perfectly.” Rarity said, still looking at the dress.
For several seconds, Dusk just stared at Rarity, who was still looking at the dress while holding several needles.
"What's wrong? It seems like you don't know what to fix." Dusk said, narrowing his eyes and looking suspiciously at Rarity. “I thought you already knew exactly how this dress would look.
In that instant, Rarity stopped looking at the dress and focused on Dusk. The unicorn stared at him without even blinking.
“Y-You're distracting me! I need to concentrate!" Rarity proclaimed and pushed Dusk and Spike out of the room and locked the door.
Dusk and Spike remained in the castle corridor with the same uncomfortable silence that had followed them ever since this morning.
"They're all acting weird…" Spike whispered nervously, taking his head in his claws. "What if they're all changelings!?"
"Shut up!" Dusk yelled at his little brother. “I-It's true that they're acting strange, but… maybe there's another explanation. Also, Shining said that there was only one changeling. It's not like this was an invasion."
"And what if it is!?" Spike said biting his nails. "We can't trust anyone!"
At that moment, Dusk gave a thoughtful look and then he looked seriously at Spike.
"No, we can trust someone." Dusk said, looking seriously at Spike. "Send a letter to Princess Celestia."
“B-But the guards said that no one could get close to her until the wedding.” Spike argued.
"It’s an emergency!" Dusk said, giving Spike a piece of parchment and a quill, both things that Dusk took from the room Rarity was in before she kicked them out.
Wasting no time, Spike quickly wrote the letter, blew on his green flame, and the scroll magically vanished. Then, in less than two seconds, Spike let out a small burp, releasing another green flame, out of which came a new scroll. The baby dragon quickly opened the scroll and read it.
“The Princess says she’ll meet us in her room and the guards will let us pass.” Spike said, relieved at the princess's prompt response.
Dusk and Spike immediately began to rush towards Princess Celestia's room to tell her all the fears and suspicions that had arisen in them.
"But... what do we tell the Princess?" Spike said suddenly, starting to slow down. "Tell her our friends were acting a little weird?" Spike added, slowly thinking that maybe they were exaggerating a bit. After all, they didn't really have concrete evidence that any of them were changelings.
“It's not just them. Shining Armor was also acting strange, and so was Cadance, because she didn't want to see me at all… Any one of them could be the impostor.” Dusk said without slowing his pace. “I know we have little evidence, but it must be up to the Princess to decide. I can only be sure of one thing…..The impostor is among us!”
Just as they turned a corner, Dusk and Spike stopped in their tracks as they came face to face with Shining Armor.
“Dusk! Spike! What a joy to see you! I just wanted to meet with you.” Shining Armor said with a huge smile. "I'm preparing a little surprise for Cadance, and I'd like you to join me."
Before Shining's sudden request, both Dusk and Spike froze, not knowing how to react. Furthermore, neither of them could feel comfortable seeing Shining Armor smile so kindly.
"I-I'm sorry, but... we have something else to-" Dusk said nervously.
"Don't worry, it’ll only be a few minutes." Shining interrupted Dusk. He started to drag him and Spike to follow him. "It's for the wedding, so there's nothing more important than that right now."
Seeing that Shining kept pushing them and that he was giving them no other option, Dusk and Spike had no choice but to follow Shining Armor. Thus, the white unicorn led them through the long corridors of the castle, away from the main halls, until finally leaving the main castle walls and towards the training grounds of the guards. They were still part of the castle grounds, but they were the furthest part of the castle.
Finally Shining Armor led them to a large stone building, whose door was made of thick wood and engraved with the symbols of the royal guard. This was the guard quarters, which was completely empty, since all the guards and reserves were patrolling the interior of the castle and the outer walls.
Once they entered, Dusk Shine lit up his horn slightly, since the huge room was very dark, only illuminated by a few torches. Also, he needed to have his horn lit up to be on guard, beacuse all his senses told him that all this was very suspicious.
"I-It's so dark in here..." Spike muttered nervously, turning to look at Shining. However, upon doing so, Spike was terrified to see that Shining Armor was blocking the door with a large wooden bar.
"Now you won't be able to escape." Shining Armor muttered, turning around and completely erasing the friendly smile he had been faking all morning
Dusk immediately pushed Spike and jumped to get away from Shining. The lavender colt got into an offensive stance and pointed his lit horn at the stallion.
"Spike! Get back! There must be a back door. Go call one of the Princesses!” Dusk shouted seriously, seeing that Shining Armor was also in an attack position.
“You’ll do no such thing! No more games” Shining Armor shouted, looking at Dusk with a murderous look and threw a powerful magical beam at him. One that Dusk barely managed to dodge by jumping.
"Spike! Go!" Dusk yelled desperately, making the little dragon finally react after seeing both brothers fighting. Then the dragon began to run towards the back of the dark barracks while Shining Armor continued to attack Dusk.
As Spike ran, he saw Shining Armor fiercely use his magic, unleashing bolt after bolt from his horn. Dusk ran and used his own magic to stop his brother's magical blows. But it seemed that Shining's magic was stronger than Dusk's.
At that moment, as Spike was running and looking back, the dragon collided with something, causing him to fall backwards. The little dragon opened his eyes quickly to get to his feet, however, he froze upon seeing 'who' he had bumped into.
"Finally, now you can show your real face." Dusk panted after dodging another of Shining's magical beams. “That fake smile in the morning… It was all a trick. You wanted to attack me from the moment you saw me..." Dusk said, glaring at Shining. For Shining’s part, he didn’t stop to respond or show any empathy. He simply charged another magical beam and continued attacking Dusk.
After dodging that last magical beam, Dusk was distracted when he saw that something was approaching there from the other side of the barracks. Then Dusk opened his eyes in surprise when he saw that his five friends appeared there. They all watched him carefully with strange looks.
"Girls! Did Spike call you?" Dusk yelled, running towards where his friends were. "That's not Shining Armor, he's-"
At that moment, Dusk was surprised when Applejack crouched down and hit him squarely with her hind hooves. The colt fell to the ground in pain.
“Stop him!” Shining Armor shouted.
Immediately, the five mares jumped to hold Dusk's hooves and make him remain motionless on the ground. That was all that Shining Armor needed to finally be able to use his magic on Dusk, and thus immobilize him.
"W-What are you doing!?" Dusk shouted terrified, unable to move, confused to see that none of the five mares was listening to him. At that moment, behind the mares, Spike also appeared and stared at Dusk with a fearful gaze. "Spike! Run away! Find the Princess and-!”
"Enough!" Shining Armor shouted. Then he stood in front of Dusk and looked at him with a furious look. "Enough deception... Where is the real Dusk?"
At that moment, a deathly silence hung in the air. Dusk was perplexed by that question and began to look at everyone present. There was no doubt on the faces of any of the mares, it would be useless to continue pretending. Then 'Dusk' finally dropped his facade and smiled a macabre smile, unbecoming of the kind lavender unicorn.
"What gave me away?" The false Dusk asked while keeping that awful grin.
Upon finally verifying their suspicions, and seeing that cruel smile on Dusk's face, the mares couldn't help but take a step back. Terrified to see that smile on the face of their beloved colt.
“When you arrived at the castle, you were too insistent on evading the control. You said it was because your friends were in a hurry, but the real Dusk always respects the rules." Shining Armor said, glaring at the impostor who had taken the form of his brother. "I knew you would try to disguise yourself as someone we trust, but I never thought you would dare to disguise yourself as my brother."
"If you suspected me since I arrived at the castle, why didn't you stop me immediately?" The false Dusk asked, looking contemptuously at the white unicorn.
"I wasn't sure... That's why I decided to act cheerful and close with you to see how you would react." Shining Armor said, narrowing his eyes. “When I approached you, you acted surprised, just like the real Dusk would have done. But my brother would have immediately asked why I was acting so strange… Also, when I said that the Princess's room had been attacked, at no time did you ask if Princess Celestia or Sweet Creme were alright. You simply focused on insisting that the magical inspection wasn’t necessary.”
"Stop lying! If you had known from the beginning that I wasn’t the real Dusk Shine, you would have immediately arrested me.” The false Dusk said, looking angrily at Shining. “No, my imitation was perfect. Even the hatred he feels towards you, I imitated perfectly.”
"That’s not true." Applejack said suddenly. Taking the courage to approach that being who was trying to imitate her coltfriend. "Dusk doesn't hate his brother. He has a lot of resentment and rancor, but he would never say that he just hates his brother.” Applejack said. She remembered how Dusk himself had helped her two days before to overcome the resentment she had felt for her grandfather, when Dusk himself told her that hatred couldn’t last forever.
"It was Applejack who told me that you were being suspicious, which finally confirmed my theory." Shining Armor said, always keeping his eyes fixed on the captured impostor.
"Ever since we left Ponyville... Every word you said seemed to be honest. But in my heart, I felt there was something off, as if every sentence was rehearsed... faked." Applejack continued speaking, looking at the fake Dusk with a mixture of pity and disgust. "It was difficult to know that you were lying, because everything you did and said, all your essence, everything in you is false... It was then that I spoke with the others and told them my suspicions."
"I didn't get close to you, because I realized that my Pinkie Sense only reacted when I was close to you." Pinkie Pie said with a sad look.
"Dusk trusts me. He wouldn't have sasked to practice my Sonic Rainboom because it might not go well." Rainbow Dash said with an annoyed huff.
"And when you entered my room, the birds fled because they felt something strange in you." Fluttershy said, plucking up the courage to speak to the impostor. "Besides, Dusk would have helped me calm them down."
“I was looking uncertainly at the dress, not because I didn't know what to do, but because I was focused on choosing the best idea. Dusk would have known that." Rarity said with a serious look. "They were very subtle things, but thanks to Applejack's warning, we were able to notice them."
Seeing how they had all suspected his perfect performance, the false Dusk stared at Applejack, with a cruel murderous gaze. While Applejack, seeing her coltfriend's eyes looking at her that way, made her temper waver for a second. But then she put on a determined look and glared at this impostor, determined not to be intimidated.
"When you entered the castle, it was obvious to see that you wanted to get close to one of the Princesses, after all, they are your target." Shining Armor said, getting closer to the impostor while keeping his magic on it so it wouldn't escape. "You pretended to go see Dusk's friends when what you really wanted was to meet Cadance. When you didn't achieve your goal, you tricked Spike into having Princess Celestia meet you. It was there that I decided to act and bring you here. I didn't know how dangerous you could be, so I brought you to a place where no one was around."
"And we came to unmask you." Applejack added. Since everything had been clarified, now there was only one thing left to know, the really important thing. "Now tell us, where is the real Dusk!?" Applejack yelled, glaring at the impostor menacingly.
At Applejack's cry, the false Dusk simply lowered his head. The impostor hated being exposed. Their life was deception and lies, and that they had been caught in what was their greatest talent infuriated them. However, hearing Applejack's desperate cry, the impostor smiled again, enjoying the feeling of doubt and fear that the ponies in front of him still had.
Then the false Dusk began to laugh out loud, a sinister laugh that made the blood of all those present run cold. While the impostor laughed and making fun of the fear felt by the ponies, Shining Armor was filled with rage and pushed the fake Dusk hard against a wall with his hoof. While the impostor didn’t flinch at all, the false Dusk simply continued to laugh sinisterly, enjoying the ponies' desperation.
"Take this." Shining Armor said, taking out of his armor a small emblem, symbol of the royal guard, passing it to Applejack. “Show it to the guards guarding Princess Celestia's room. Tell the Princess we caught the changeling.” Shining Armor added, still staring at the impostor with a furious look.
The mares and Spike looked at each other and understood that indeed the best option was for the princess to go there. The most certain thing was that the princess would manage to make the impostor speak in order to find out where the real Dusk was as soon as possible.
The mares turned to do as Shining Armor asked, except for one. Applejack passed the emblem to Spike and stared furiously at the fake Dusk.
“You girls go. I’m not going until I know where my coltfriend is.” Applejack said furiously, looking menacingly at the impostor. Who, for his part, simply laughed, making fun of the country mare.
Knowing that there would be no way to change Applejack's mind based on the determination in her eyes, the other four mares and Spike nodded and quickly left, to notify Princess Celestia as soon as possible.
Dusk's friends left through the back door of the barracks and began to run to quickly return to the main grounds of the castle. However, after a short walk, they all stopped when they saw that the baby dragon slowed down until finally stopping.
"Spike, what's up?" Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted back to the drake.
"I…I didn't realize… Sniff!" Spike said in a weak voice. The poor thing wiped away a tear as he began to cry. "D-Dusk is my brother, and I... I didn't realize that impostor wasn't my brother!" Spike yelled in anguish, full of frustration.
"Oh, my dear Spikey Wikey. No more tears, okay? That hooligan tricked us all. You are not to blame here." Rarity said, looking at Spike with a somber, understanding smile.
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity hugged the little dragon to comfort him. While Rainbow Dash looked away with annoyance. Not with Spike, but with herself, because she also felt horrible that she hadn't recognized the impostor since they'd gotten on the train that morning.
“The important thing now is to find the Princess. There is no time to lose." Pinkie Pie said, bending down to put Spike on her back, starting to run with her friends.
"Poor Dusk. Where could he be?" Fluttershy said worriedly as she ran. "If only he could give us a sign."
At that comment, Spike opened his eyes wide and put on a thoughtful look, as he settled on Pinkie Pie's back.
"Maybe... we can send a signal..." Spike whispered, as he began to think of a plan to try and find his brother.
While Dusk's friends ran into the castle, Shining Armor and Applejack remained attentive without taking their eyes off the false Dusk.
"If you're not going to tell us where Dusk is, tell us what are you? And where do you come from?" Shining Armor said, looking with disgust at the impostor. "Show us your true face." The white stallion was getting very irritated that the imposter had decided to impersonate his brother.
"Shining, I'm Dusk Shine, your brother! Don’t you recognize me!?” The impostor said, imitating a frightened Dusk to psychologically torment their captors. “Don't you remember when you walked me to school? The times Grandma baked us cookies… The time Mom and Dad traveled far away, and you took care of me… When-”
"Shut up!!" Shining yelled furiously. "How do you know such things!?"
"I already told you... I'm Dusk Shine." The false Dusk said on the verge of tears. While inside, they were smiling ominously as they felt a small shadow of doubt appear in Shining Armor's heart.
“I don't know how you know those things, but you’re definitely not Dusk Shine. I can guarantee that." Applejack interrupted, looking at the impostor without a shred of doubt.
Sensing that Applejack was firm in her heart and that he wouldn’t be able to deceive her, the false Dusk radically changed his false look of anguish and glared at the country mare with hatred.
"Do you want to know how I know these things?" The false Dusk asked, putting on a sadistic smile. “I needed to imitate him perfectly, so I tortured him to tell me everything about his family…There was a lot of screaming at first, but he eventually whimpered out the details. That’s how now I am the real Dusk Shine. After all, the Dusk Shine you seek so much is no longer in this world, hehe..." The impostor laughed cruelly, as they confessed to having murdered Dusk. Something that made Shining Armor's blood run cold. "I couldn't allow there to be two of us, so-"
"You’re lying." Applejack interrupted again, not scared by the lie the impostor had just told. "If you investigated Dusk's family and friends, you know that I represent the Element of Honesty. You’ll not deceive me; I can see through your lies. Dusk Shine is alive, and you know where he is."
The false Dusk stopped smiling and stared at Applejack. They both remained that way, staring at each other, determined not to be intimidated by the other. Until the false Dusk smiled when he saw that if the lies couldn't hurt that mare, maybe the truth would.
"Applejack, Applejack, Applejack... The most reliable mare in Ponyville... The always honest Applejack... It was precisely for that reason that I chose you to deceive Dusk." The false Dusk said with a cruel smile.
Then, taking advantage of the fact that Shining didn’t know changeling magic and that he could only block their magic so that they wouldn’t attack but not so that they wouldn’t transform himself, the impostor used their changeling magic to transform. Thus, with a fleeting green glow, the false Dusk disappeared and, in his place, a false Applejack appeared.
That transformation took both ponies by surprise. Shining Armor quickly used more containment magic on the impostor to confirm that they couldn't attack them with magic. While Applejack was a little stunned to see her exact double in front of her.
“Dusk Shine never saw it coming. He never imagined that his marefriend would betray him and stab him in the back." The fake Applejack said. “'I'm afraid, Dusk!' 'Help me, Dusk!'” The false Applejack added, imitating her as if she were in danger. “Dusk Shine got so scared when he saw you cry, Haha! It's so delicious the taste of a heart when it's betrayed by the pony it loves... HAHAHA!" The fake Applejack mocked cruelly, enjoying making the ponies suffer after tricking them.
"Enough!" Shining yelled furiously and ignited his horn menacingly so that the impostor would stop laughing. "Stop with the lies!”
"I-It's not a lie..." Applejack stammered, her face full of horror. The mare lowered her head with her lip trembling, almost on the verge of tears. "You used me to cheat on Dusk..." Applejack trembled, imagining what Dusk must have suffered when he saw the face of his own marefriend betray him.
At that moment, Shining Armor approached Applejack and gently touched her with his hoof. The strength of that mare seemingly disappeared. A soft and gloomy laugh was the only thing that was heard around.
"Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock... The era of the ponies is going to end..." The impostor laughed cruelly, transforming back into Dusk, passing their tongue sinisterly over his lips. “Say goodbye to your Princesses. You’ll bow down to your new queen soon, hahaha!”
"Who are you!?" Shining Armor yelled, furious and fearful at that cruel gaze.
Faced with that question, the impostor transformed their tongue, showing that it was now like that of a snake, his original tongue. And for an instant, the false Dusk's eyes glowed green, with his pupils becoming thin and dark.
"Who I am? Hehe..." The impostor laughed, finally stopping speaking with Dusk's voice, laughing darkly with a sharp, cold and chilling laugh. “Your queen's name… is Chrysalis!! The impostor laughed, revealing himself to be the changeling queen. She savored the feelings of betrayal, sorrow, anger and despair that emanated from the ponies present. Knowing that this was only an appetizer for the great banquet that was to come.
End of chapter 17
**ARTISTS 'CONTRIBUTIONS**
Dusk Shine II Chapt. 17 - DenDoctor
----------------------
New section at end of chapter: 'References'
Here I'll add some data about the references that are presented in each chapter 
Divided into official references of the show, and references to past chapters of the story 
>>Chapter 17 References<<
-Canon references:
'The Wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor' The episode is based on: 'Season 2 Chapter 25, A Wedding in Canterlot, Part 1'
'Foreign beings from other races of Ornithia, Caninia and Abyssinia' Appear in several official comics, such as 'MLP, Friendship is Magic #102'
'journalist Nosey News' Appears in the official comic 'MLP, Friends Forever #23'
-Story references:
'Dusk and Shining Armor's bad relationship' well, it's mentioned many times, but you can see it in chapters like 'Chapter 1, Season 2'
'journalist Nosey News' appears in 'Interlude Between Seasons' and also at the end of 'Chapter 12, Season 2'
----------------------
& as always, many thanks to 'Scribe of the Nightwings' for his great help 
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Did we miss something? If it was intentional, I can guess that there's a flashback episode in the next chapter.
Amongus, memes aside. I like how your doing everything in reverse. Instead of shining armor being replaced, its dusk. I have a feeling it'll be a much bigger conflict as now the changelings might go after the mane 5 with dusk being a prisoner. Keep up the great work, also that comic, that face is unsettling.
Hope dusk is safe and perhaps Luna could find him
First. This is a surprise.
Second. My assumption on Chrysalis is no longer valid.
The third. files.everypony.ru/smiles/77/d6/8069a3.png - I took advantage of his love for you to weaken and catch Dusk.
*Applejack's thoughts at this moment* files.everypony.ru/smiles/c7/5c/ffe92d.png - Ля ты крыса, а? (The translation sounds like: "You're a rat." Sometimes the word “rat” is used if it is necessary to designate a person who will do anything to achieve his goal [deception, betrayal, playing on other people's feelings, etc.])
Fourth. In fact, the behavior of the main five was strange in any case, even if in the end it was all explained by deduction.
Fifth. An old song about the main thing. I can't understand what kind of double standards? Like, if Dusk did something there with another mare, it's not okay, because "Dusk is only mine." But if a mare (who is in a relationship) begins to look with desire at a stallion who will become someone's husband at the end of the day - is this normal? I think it's not normal.
All the best and lots of inspiration, I'm waiting for the next chapter.
11267664
Most likely there will be a flashback when they find Dusk and ask him what happened. And yes, a piece of the narrative is skipped.
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files.everypony.ru/smiles/e4/54/1b3fd4.png - We must find our dear Dusk.
In fact, it will be a sharp turn if it turns out that Luna has made a deal with Chrysalis, according to which she does not prevent the invasion, and in return receives a Dusk (I hope no one has forgotten about mind control magic). And then, she will be tortured by conscience, because of which she will withdraw into herself and will never allow herself to even appear in the presence of her sister's student again. No, it's some kind of bullshit.
Well, this is an interesting take of events. I am eagerly looking forward to how it all plays out.
My thoughts on this chapter:
- Great! We get to see more different species!
- It’s too bad Dusk didn’t get much credit for saving Equestria more than once.
- I believe Spike was referring to the Skrulls from Marvel comics. Those green aliens who can change into anyone.
- Wow, I was not expecting Dusk to be the imposter this whole time!
- I hope the real Dusk will be alright.
Another great chapter!
This has been a pretty spectacular plot twist, I didn't see it coming at all! I love when you give us something so fresh and entertaining, you have what it takes my friend
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nothing has been missed, in the previous chapter it was hinted that this chapter would be about the wedding.
About what happened to our dear Dusk, well, it's something we'll find out later
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I'm glad you liked the chapter and the drawing 
thanks
There are still several surprises left in this wedding, so I hope you enjoy it
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I'm glad you like the chapter and the little surprise at the end 
thank you so much
there are still many surprises left in this wedding, so pay attention
thanks for comment
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I'm glad you liked this new plot twist I gave to the wedding
thanks for comment
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yes, soon we'll see more than just ponies in this world
About the ending, I'm glad you were surprised by the little surprise
And about Dusk, well, soon we'll see where he is and what happened to him
thanks for comment
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thank you so much
I'm glad you liked the chapter
soon more chapters
Well...wasn't expecting Dusk to be replaced! Way to flip the script!
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I'm glad you liked this little twist I gave to events
That was one fun reversal, and now Chrysalis has Dusk as a prisoner, who Applejack confirmed was tortured for information.
Please tell me there is an Amogus reference here.
I must say that some points in this version of the chapter have become more understandable. (What exactly I will not say because this is a spoiler.)
P.S. I don't seem to be able to display the image in the notes and show an "Upstream error"
I can get that Changeling to talk all's I need is a drill a baseball bat and the world's hottest hot sauce a battery and some jumper cables
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I'm glad you liked how I carried out this chapter
soon we'll see what happened to our dear Dusk
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haha maybe I should have added a drawing of 'sus' on a wall haha
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I'm glad you could understand it better. It's understandable, since online translators do not accurately translate everything
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hahaha if that interrogation happened we would have to see who is the real villain here haha
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The worst villain is the villain who thinks he is a hero. ;)
Holy shit I was not expecting chrysalis to show up right there in front of both of them and to be the one to kidnap dusk! How did she even do that?! Just what happened before this chapter started, Where she was able to trick him and kidnap him? I have sent this before and I’ll say it again, damn cliffhangers!
P.S. Forgot to say this in the last comment I posted, but it was really nice and shocking that you use the Pear story so early and made it More emotional than the actual episode. Phenomenal job on that
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I thought it was important to mention Grandpa Pear's chapter at that moment in the story 
so that AJ and Dusk's relationship would be even stronger 
I'm glad it turned out well and was the favorite of many 
Soon we'll find out where Dusk is and what happened to him
And about the last chapter, thank you very much
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You know I did
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Damn the suspense!
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If Celestia gets the chance is she going to ask dust shine when he's standing next to Applejack is she going to ask when do I expect to get some grandfoals
You know i think your Chrysalis has seen the way the show normally goes for even tho she was cut faster She played her part of dusk so damn well and i did not see this coming
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haha yes, here Chrysalis is smarter, and she did a lot of research before starting her invasion
but this is just one of the plot twists in this story