> Changing Fates
>  by Ulthor
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> Prologue (Spoilers in case you'd rather want to find out during the story.)
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{Prologue}


*974 HA (Harmonia Annis)Twenty five years before the Nightmare Moon incident*


There used to be a time where Chrysalis was caring and forgiving, a time where she and her hive went to other races to carefully and gently drain them of there love without taking it all, they didn't want to harm those peace loving creatures, even if the were their only real source of a necessary energy that they themselves needed to survive.

You see Chrysalis loved other races a lot, especially those called ponies, and one day she was walking amidst them in her disguise, having a black coat, a green mane and tail aswell as green eyes, she decided to use a rune as a cutiemark however, mostly because she liked the type of magic that came with it, better then her own kind's magic at least.

She noticed that a certain pony suddenly started to follow her after some time though and tried to shake him off, which should have been easy since the pony chasing her had been easy to detect with all those bells on his ridiculous attire, but eventually she found herself trapped in an alleyway, as she than turned around and asked him what he wanted, he said he wouldn't allow some shapeshifting demon drain his kind from whatever it was she was taking.

Apparently he had somehow seen her drain some love from another and didn't know what it was or how much she truly took, though it was odd that he knew about her being able to change in the first place, as she made sure to never change in town, she thought that none of these ponies even dared to enter the everfree forest that had such violent creatures in it.

Chrysalis then found herself looking at the other end of a magical blade, as he ordered her to lift her disguise so he could slay her as a demon, likely out of some odd feeling of honor, Chrysalis at the time didn't want strife to happen between their races and decided it was best for her kind if only she were to die and she wouldn't fight back, so she did what he asked and lifted her disguise.

What he then said however, was unexpected. "Your... Your beautiful." This started a rather awkward moment, where neither side knew how to continue this, as she herself was still looking at the magical blade that was being pointed at her by the very one that just called her beautiful, and then there was the one doing the pointing, who wasn't sure if he should even strike down such a lovely creature.

Several minutes passed and Chrysalis decided to be the first one to say something in this awkward situation. "So... Uhm... A-are you going to strike me down already?" She said in an obviously scared way, but at the same time courageous act for her kind, somehow not realizing that she could have just aswell have escaped this place by now, if she just took advantage of the situation.

The male pony then looked at her with a slight bit of shock in his eyes, before remembering what exactly he was doing here, but rather then just go for the blow, instead he asked her a question. "What did you take from them? What harm did you do to them?

Chrysalis could only blink for a few moments, as she wondered what he might mean, then she realized. "A-are you talking about the love energy I took? I didn't harm them at all, I swear, I only took a little to survive."

A few more awkward minutes of silence passed, this time it was the male pony to act first and break it, as he ceased his spell and the magical sword vanished. "O-oh, I see, sorry for just assuming you were doing them harm..."

Chrysalis blinked a few more times, not really getting what had just happened, or why he lowered his weapon as easily as that. "You... Believe me?"

The pony looked into her eyes. "I doubt a beautiful being such as yourself would lie."

Chrysalis instantly blushed a dark green blush as she looked back into his eyes while he said this, this was also the first time another race called a changeling beautiful, especially her. "I... You... You really think I'm beautiful?" He then nodded gently. "I-I see... Uhm... W-would you like to get a drink or something?"

And that was the start of a somewhat clumsy relationship between herself and this pony that was called Starswirl the bearded, which was an odd name his parents gave him, seeing as he never sported a beard at all, of course she kept up her disguise most of the time, only dropping it when they were alone together or when she was back at her hive.

He did visited the hive a few times aswell, the first time was a bit eventful though, as he had found her hive on his own while Chrysalis was elsewhere at the time, luckily all her changelings were peaceful at the time aswell and simply restricted him till she came back, it did help that her hive as also open to the idea of interspecies relationships when she came back, not that they would have gone against her wishes mind you.

But that was about six years ago now, and right now she was wondering how to bring the news to her by now husband about her current state, they had gotten married not too long ago in a pony fashion just a few months ago, as she now held her hoof up to her stomach. "I hope your father will be as eager to see you as I am little one."







*980 HA, a few months after Chrysalis had found out she was pregnant*


The news had hit Starswirl like a moving chariot the first time he heard about it, mostly because of the time Chrysalis for some reason decided to tell him, she had tried to tell him many times before now, but each time she tried, something had prevented her from doing so, sometimes it was one of Starswirl's students that made a mistake with their spells or potions and caused some kind of mayhem.

At other times he was suddenly summoned by one of the princesses, and then there was that time he accidentally managed to travel 980 years back in time where a certain Draconiquus caused chaos to the lands, after helping a much younger Luna and Celestia defeat him, he was brought back to his current time, but it seemed that the same amount of time had passed as he had spend in the past, finally though she could no longer hold it in, and just barged into the room he was in and shouted it for all there to hear, the thing is, this room he was in was in the equestrian castle, in fact it was the throne room, and before him sat princess Luna, who was sporting a similar stunned look as Starswirl had.

"What wonderful news this is! Though we wonder if thou could have waited till after we were done Celtic." Princess Luna said as she gave a playful grin.

Chrysalis who was going by the name Celtic Rune in her current disguise, suddenly blushed so much that her black coat nearly turned red as she realized just where she had barged in and shouted that she was pregnant of his child. "I-I-I-I'm sorry your highness!"

She then quickly bowed her head to the lunar princess, as at this time she was pretending to just be a normal magic researcher, specializing in runes and didn't see herself as above the princesses of this country. "I-it's just that I've been trying to tell him for months by now and..."

"Oh come now, we told thee before, thou need not be so formal with us, we are friends afterall... But months? Oh my, tis a wonder it has not shown on thou yet then" Luna checked her out a bit as she said so.

Chrysalis held her stomach a bit as she looked at the princess "I've been keeping a perception rune over it till I would be able to tell him." She then made it seem as if she undid some kind of rune on her body, as a small bump started to appear, of course in reality this was just the changeling queen undoing a bit of her natural disguise, but only the size there, not her actual disguise, though this gesture was more for the guards in the room then anypony else.

Starswirl was still as stunned as he was before, that is until the lunar princess gave him a nudge in the back. "Thou should likely say something now."

He looked at the lunar princess and then back at Celtic. "I-it's really mine?"

Chrysalis gave him a playful look. "Well, it's not like I've done it with anypony else, so I sure hope so." She and Luna both let out a little chuckle from that.

Starswirl was still sporting a slight stunned look, before his face suddenly lit up completely. "I'm going to be a father?"

"That's usually what it means when your wife is pregnant dear." Chrysalis said with the same playful look as before.

"I'm going to be a father... I'm going to be a father! I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" He started shouting as he jumped into the air as if he were a certain exited pink pony from the future, before realizing where he was himself and quickly turning to Luna and bowing. "I-I'm sorry your highness, I got a bit carried away there.

Luna let out a little chuckle. "Tis fine my friend, tis a grand time and worthy of thine happiness, we can finish up what we were discussing at a later date. Go, spend time with thine wife and celebrate." She said with a genuine smile.

Afterall, even though these last few years ponies had started to spend less time in her glorious night, Starswirl and Celtic were among the few that genuinely loved her night, and she had grown close to them aswell, to the point she would call them close friends.

In fact, they were so close that Chrysalis had revealed her secret to Luna one night, she was a bit shocked at first, but with Starswirl's help, everything was smoothed out relatively quick, and she had accepted Chrysalis for what she was and helped them to prevent detection whenever she was in the castle, afterall, Celestia was a bit old fashioned and there was no telling what she'd do if she found out.

Chrysalis smiled at Luna and asked her if she wanted to join them, at first the lunar princess had refused, but when Starswirl started asking aswell, they managed to convince her to join them eventually, and the three of them spend the night away celebrating, much to Celestia's dismay when she woke in the morning and found out Luna had left all her royal duties to Celestia that day.







*981 HA, eighteen years before the Nightmare Moon incident*


Starswirl who by now was sporting a goatee, which his wife thought looked ridiculous on him but never told him as he seemed to like it, had been working on a new magic he was trying to create, as all of a sudden a pony he hadn't seen before came barging into his laboratory and started shouting. "Sir! Come quickly! It's time!"

Starswirl just looked oddly and a bit confused at the pony, but he maintained a dignified stance before he asked. "Who are you? What are you talking about? I'm doing important work here, if you need me for something come back at a later date."

The pony seemed to be a bit in a rush and panic as he looked around him to see if no one else was there, once he made sure of it green flames went past his body as his disguise faded and a changeling now stood before him. "It's time!"

At this point Starswirl realized what he had been telling him and instantly dropped his quill and paper with the unfinished spell on it and ran outside, the changeling quickly put his disguise back on and followed him as they ran to a room with some special changeling runes in it that acted as a teleportation spell to the protected hive, it was the only way to quickly go that long a distance into a area that was protected from all but changeling magic.

Once there he was quickly brought to the delivery room, in front of the doors leading to said room, Luna was waiting on him. "What took thou so long!? She hath been in labor for the past half an hour now!" She shouted at him, she almost seemed as nervous about the whole ordeal as he was, likely because they had asked her to be the godmother of their child a few months ago and she had accepted, they then both went inside to be there for Chrysalis.

Some time passed before she finally birthed a girl, the little nymph seemed to have parts of both races, her left front hoof was that of a pony with a lavender coat, her mane was dark indigo and like that of a pony with the addition of two streaks in it of pink and purple, her tail was the same tail, her eyes were like a deep purple with draconic slits though they were still closed at this point and she had two pegasus like wings, but the rest was just like the body of a changeling, though the hue of her carapace seemed more lavender at some points then black.

But there were some complications, and the child was stillborn, it seems that pony and changeling physiology while similar, was still to far away genetically, the doctor also informed them that this would likely never be solved and they shouldn't try again or Chrysalis' body might not last as this kind of childbirth is not normal for changelings.

Luna spend most of the night trying to console Chrysalis, who was heartbroken over the loss of her child and the knowledge that she and the pony she loved would never have a child of their own.

As for Starswirl, he had fallen to his knees with the news at first and then just up and left, saying he needed some time to think, much to Luna's dismay who said now was the time to stay with them, but he refused to listen and instead went back to his lab.

Once there, he tried to look around and find some kind of solution, when he couldn't do that he let out all of his frustration as he destroyed his equipment and several of the books he had written, shouting in pain, not physically but mentally, it was somehow even louder then the royal voice the princesses used for large crowds, it was at this time that a dusty and ancient book fell from the top of his shelves.

He would have likely have missed it, had it not been for it landing right on top of him, he looked at it furiously as it dared to hit him while he was grieving and was about ready to burn the book and everything in here to the ground...

But then he saw it, the book had fallen open to an ancient and forbidden ritual, but it had been just what he wanted, this spell, this ritual, it gave his desperate mind the hope he had wanted, and even though it warned the user of the sacrifice it entailed, he would not let that stop him from using it.

About an hour later, Luna suddenly heard some ruckus outside of the room she had been holding her dear friend close to her to comfort her, the same one that had fallen asleep while crying, she decided to go check out what it was before Chrysalis would wake up from it, as she exited the room she could see several changelings knocked out on the floors. "What happened here? Is somepony trying to use this time to take over!? We have to stop them!"

She then ran around checking the rooms to find out what happened, before she got to the room where they had put the dead little nymph, only to find it had now been torn apart, ancient runes drawn all over the room and in the middle of it in a big magic circle lied the dead body of the little Nymph, but more surprisingly, across from her on the other side of the room stood a slightly battered Starswirl.

Luna didn't understand what was going on just yet. "Starswirl? W-what's going on? Did the intruder do this to thee? What were they trying to do?"

Starswirl just looked at her with a bit of a dead look in his eyes. "They didn't want me to see my dead child when I told them what I wanted to do, they wanted to prevent me from saving her, so I simply took them out."

Luna looked at him in a puzzled way. "Save her? Starswirl, she's dead, you can't sa..." It was then that she realized what some of the runes meant and what he was trying to do. "! NO! Don't do this! This is a forbidden magic! It takes thine own life and the life of others nearby! Dost though intend to kill thyself and all of us for this? What of thine wife!?"

Starswirl looked at her with an almost crazed puzzled look. "Why would I take the life of my wife? I altered the spell to only take my life and a few drones as it's initial cost, it'll then simply preserve her with a little flame of life as the next step initiates and those whose life are nearly over, over the next thousand years or so will simply die a month earlier and add to her life force, it'll take a bit longer this way, but our little star will live, I won't be able to witness her grow up… But she'll live and I'll always be with her." After he said this he looks at Luna. "Keep our little Twilight Starshine safe for us."

And then the spell initiated, draining the life of himself and those he had secretly placed a rune on including those he knocked out to form a sort of chrysalis around the little nymph, before he then dropped to the ground, his life completely gone as he traded his life and that of a few changelings in the hive for that of his daughter, Luna cried out as one of her beloved friends had now died...

This was heard by other changelings however as they ran towards her and saw a dead Starswirl and Luna holding the chrysalis in which they could see the nymph of their queen, who by some kind of magic seemed to now move around inside of it, however, this was taken out of context by most of them, especially since there were dead changelings laying outside.

They just assumed that the princess had simply put some kind of perception spell on the nymph to make it appear as dead and when Starswirl had found out as they thought, she had simply killed him along with some changelings that likely came to his aid, she of course tried to explain, but it fell onto deaf ears, and she knew she had to escape, she also knew that if they would try to open the chrysalis to 'save' the little nymph, they would just kill her again and undo all what Starswirl had done, so she took the chrysalis along with her.

Once Chrysalis awoke the next day and her changelings told her what they though had happened, her heart grew cold as she thought that her best friend had just played her all along to get her hooves on her child and killed her husband in cold blood, it was then that she decided that such wretched creatures didn't deserve to be treated nicely at all, and once she had gotten back a bit of her energy and could walk again, she decided to go get her child back, no matter how much her changelings tried to tell her to at least rest up till she had her full strength again.

As they kept trying to tell her to at least get some rest she just met them with a sneer and soon her army was assembled as they marched over to the castle of the two sisters in order to get her daughter back, this was to be known as the last major war before the Nightmare Moon incident.

This war could have likely been prevented, but Celestia didn't even try to listen to the queen of the marching army of 'evil monsters' as she had called them, had she done so she might have found out that they weren't evil at all and this was simply caused by a simple mistake, it might have been avoided completely, or it might not have, it's impossible to tell as in this case she had taken the first move and attacked with her own army.

Many lives were lost in this war, worse of them being Starswirl the bearded and Celtic Rune as they had both vanished, they had been expected to have been killed in secrecy before the war, at least that's what Celestia thought.

In the end the ponies had won and the changelings were forced to retreat, mostly because Celestia was at full power and Chrysalis was not, meaning she had been able to just blast giant spells at the changelings and Chrysalis didn't even have the power to put up a decent defensive shield, Celestia was furious at her sister once the war had ended though as she had opted to not participate at all.







*999 AH, the fated day of the Nightmare Moon incident*


Ever since the last major war, Luna had been acting oddly, and whenever she was asked what was wrong she simply said it was because the ponies liked Celestia's daytime more then her night, but Celestia had a feeling it was more then that, she just couldn't place what it was or why it would make her act as she did, so Celestia decided to find out with all her might, as she ordered some of her most trusted to spy on Luna and figure out what made her act as such.

Today Celestia had decided she would find out what that was, especially as one of her spies started to walkup to her with the information she had desired.

A pastel colored unicorn with a red mane stood before Celestia before bowing. "Your highness, we found out that princess Luna has a hidden room in the nearby cave system, but we haven't been able to get inside of it, the spells she put on it would instantly let her know somepony would try to enter it."

Celestia looked at her and seemed to be a bit conflicted at first, before she made up her mind. "Thank you Lifeline, I will continue this investigation myself, tell me where it is and then go back to the barracks for now, I will let you know if I have need of you again."

The pastel pony complied and told her what Celestia wanted to know, after which Celestia headed off for the cave and soon found the hidden room. "Why is it that you felt the need to hide this from me to this amount Lulu?" She thought as she forced her way inside and found something that made her gasp.

A moment later Luna teleported in with a certain despairity in her eyes as they darted around the room to find what she had left here. "W-where is it!?"

She then heard a familiar voice behind her. "Looking for something sister?" With a slight tone of distain in her voice, Celestia was standing there.

Luna looked at her with a certain fear in her eyes. "W-what did you do with it? Where is it?" She asked as her voice trembled.

Celestia could hardly believe her ears, it was as if she cared for that thing, as if it wasn't some kind of trophy egg but had some actual meaning, she then got a bit of a cold look in her eyes as she then calmly replied. "I took care of it."

At that point something suddenly snapped in Luna's mind, pure energy and a rage like none other she had ever felt started to overwhelm her, as it started to darken her coat. "You... You... YOU!" She suddenly shouted as her rage was clearly seen in her eyes, making Celestia flinch an back off a few steps.

Celestia quickly tried to calm her down, but her choice of words were quite poorly chosen. "N-now now Lulu, calm down, it was just a egg of one of those monsters, w-we can get another one if you want one so badly."

This was the final drop, Luna snapped completely as her main and tail burst out with an enormous power, turning ethereal, armor started to appear made of pure magical energy and solidifying, she grew to the same size of Celestia, or perhaps it was more accurate to say to Chrysalis' size as she then also grew the same fangs as the changeling queen and her eyes turned into the same kind of slit like eyes.

Luna who by now had grown to a formidable size and held a fearfully powerful magical aura around her then started to use her royal voice and shouted. "Don't you dare talk about my friends that way! You took away my last chance of penance with them! You took the last thing I cared for! You killed Twilight! My goddaughter! You are not my sister anymore! I reject thee! I will take thine dreams and turn them into nightmares! Call me Nightmare Moon from now on! I will take everything you love including your precious daytime from you, you monster!"

Celestia was stunned for a moment and was unable to realize what was happening before she was blasted through the wall of the cave, fear took her over as rather then try to say anything, try to stop her with words, she decided to teleport away, leaving Nightmare Moon to become even more enraged and start their own personal war that lasted several months.

After Celestia had been unable to calm Nightmare Moon and had been forced to imprison her into the moon by using a combination of all her own power and the power she drew from the elements of harmony then fell to the ground, she sobbed as she realized just what she had done and that she could have easily have stopped her, had she just told her that she simply took the egg and placed it in a hidden room of her own, rather then pretend to have destroyed it.

Meanwhile, in Chrysalis' hive, she was told about the whole Nightmare Moon incident and one final time she would feel sorrow, as with this, any chance of getting her child back and perhaps a slight hope of it all having been a mistake and Luna not being some evil being to take her child was shattered, as she now knew for certain that these ponies were wretched beings, with the only exception being her now deceased husband, and her heart grew colder still.







*1983 AH, sixteen years before Nightmare Moon breaks free, A.K.A. a thousand years after Starswirl did his final spell*


Celestia suddenly woke up to a magical alarm she had made ages ago, it took her a moment to remember what it was for, as she then instantly teleported into the sun filled room which just so happened to also have been a hidden room, as she looked around the room with a certain desperate look her sister had had all those ages ago as she looked for a certain 'egg'.

However, unlike her sister who had simply not found it at all and assumed the worse, Celestia found the shattered remains of said 'egg' and goop all over the pedestal it had rested on. "N-no... Now I really can't make up with her anymore..."

She was about to fall into despair herself and possibly create some kind of calamity, if a certain goo sound above her didn't suddenly make her look up, as she was then greeted by a wad of goop right onto her face, she spurted and rubbed the goop out of her eyes as she tried to look once more, she then found a tiny little nymph using her tiny wings and magic to fly and play with the goop she had been inside all this time…

And for the first time in a long, long time, Celestia felt a spark of hope inside herself.

Over the next few weeks, her chancellors had started to worry about her, she hardly ever held an actual court anymore and suddenly just up and left at odd times, even during important meetings, she also seemed to stay up later then she used to and was often too tired to do anything but sleep or eat, at least she hadn't neglected her solar and lunar duties, but it still worried them.

What was she doing all this time that took so much energy out of her, several rumors started to spread, how she was meeting some gentlecolt that somehow seduced her where other had failed, or that she was slowly losing her mind and went to some distant land to let loose and perhaps a war would start soon, or how she had secretly been plotting to get rid of those that opposed her...

That last one feeling more like a stretch then the others, as there were hardly any that would go against her, seeing as she tried to please them all, there were of course some other rumors, but none of those sounded like they might be true to any of them, as if she could have hidden a child of her own in the first place, that would have caused all the media to go after the story, no, they were sure it was something else.

These rumors however had also reached the ears of Celestia, who at this point in time had started to worry, since if ponies would keep on being worried about her, they may try to figure out what's going on, just as she had done all those ages ago, she knew she had to keep this under control, but how?

"Perhaps if I would show up for court more often and not seem as tired anymore… But how? I can't just leave Twilight alone, she's just a baby at this time, she needs somepony to look after her constantly, not to mention that she's a changeling with a faulty transformation and will need a constant supply of love" Celestia thought to herself, her newfound knowledge of changelings being there because of her newfound need to protect the little nymph in front of her, the name she had never forgotten since the moment Luna had shouted it at her so long ago.

She had raided all the ancient books on the subject from some of the forbidden libraries hidden deep below Canterlot, which she herself had put in the plans for the construction when it was first made in order to store whatever ancient books she managed to save from the old castle, most of which she never read herself, perhaps however she felt the need to keep them as her sister always loved these books.

Twilight at this point thought it would be fun to apparently drool all over one of the books that had by now been stored in the same room she was hidden away at.

"Ah! No, no, no little one, books are for reading, not to use as a napkin." Celestia said as she gently took the book and Twilight in her magical aura and separated them, before cleaning the book, Twilight just looked at her with big bug like eyes and let out a simple goo in a questionable way. "Hmm? What's that? Are you interested in what reading is little one?" Twilight let out a little laughter as if to say yes.

Celestia let out a gentle smile in response. "Hmm, well, your still a bit too young to read yourself, so how about I read you a story instead then?" Twilight seemed to be happy, and Celestia smiled a bit more.

While it was hard to take care of a child that to be honest had about as much power as a fully grown alicorn, the solar princess did like taking care of her for some reason, so she took a book that looked to be a bit more suitable for a child and started to read it to little Twilight.

A few days had passed, and Celestia started to realize more and more that she would be unable to keep her hidden for much longer, but she feared how her subjects would react if they were to find out about the little nymph, she had spent the last few days to find a solution to the problem, and she had finally found something.

Somehow one of the books in there seemed to have more changeling knowledge then any other, it was written in a familiar hoofwriting, namely that of her sister's, likely to ensure she would have been able to take care of little Twilight when the time came, not knowing what would occur before then.

The thought of this made Celestia sigh with a bit of sadness as she recalled her own foolishness at the time, but she had managed to read it to the end, and it seemed that a changelings natural camouflage could be triggered through outside means, and if they were kept well fed the disguise might not ever vanish if the changeling itself didn't even know about it in the first place, this could surely be better then have the little changeling be in a partial transformation as she had told herself.

This however caused a second problem to arise in Celestia's mind, what if ponies started to ask her where she came from? If she would make the little nymph appear as an alicorn and say she's her own, then they would surely keep asking who the father is and why she didn't tell anypony and so forth, the flood of reporters trying to get a scoop on this might just make things more troublesome, not to mention that there could always be the chance that somepony would try to foalnap her or harm her in some way because of Celestia herself, who knows if the disguise would still work in those cases.

It pained her, but she saw only one real way to do this, she would have to seal away the nymph's powers and disguise her as an ordinary unicorn, mostly because she felt that an alicorn showing up would cause issues on it's own and who knew if the little nymph needed to use her magic at some point, which would be hard to explain as a pegasus, it was easy to pick the color of the coat though as the little nymph had done so herself with her front left leg it seemed.

She would then have to make sure a loving family would take her in as their own, likely without ever knowing what she really was, but she also couldn't just go to them herself and tell them to take care of the little one, as they might not truly love her but do it just for the solar princess herself and that would likely starve the little nymph.

No, she needed to make sure the love she would get would be true and after some thinking, she knew just what to do, she first went through the family ledgers and checked out which families truly loved their children, she also wanted to make sure she would never want for anything, so perhaps a wealthy family would do, or perhaps some nobility.

In the end she went with minor nobility that wasn't extremely rich, but still rich enough to be able to give her whatever she wanted and after quite some research over the next few days, she had finally found three families that were good options, in truth all this research had made her even more tired and caused even more rumors to appear, but that didn't matter now, she would finally be able to get her into a decent family.

She went to the house of the first family, a family of magicians, Celestia was sure that this would be a great house for her to grow up in, seeing as she still seemed to have so much magic power even after having so much of it sealed away, however, as she approached the house in her cloak under the dead of night, she saw some beggars in front of the house, asking but a few scraps of food so they could survive the night.

Only for the door to be slammed closed in front of their faces after they were told to scram, at this point Celestia was certain that she almost made a terrible mistake, while it was true that this family took care of their own and produced great magicians, they didn't seem to care much for those below their status.

If they were to take in little Twilight, she would surely grow up to be like them, and that was a big if, since this seemed like they wouldn't even take care of a child that wasn't of their blood, Celestia sighed and was about to leave, but stopped for a moment and walked up to the beggars who were now huddle together on the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry for the actions of these ponies." Is all she said before dropping a little pouch in front of them before heading for the next family, the pouch having been filled with a few gold bits, likely more then they'd ever need if they would spend it wisely.

A while later, they reached the next house. "Hmm, this should be it, those that live here are called…"

She looked at a list. "Oh, would you look at that, the mother has the same name as you little one, one Twilight Velvet… Oh, but it seems she and her husband Night Light already have a child of their own already, a colt named Shining Armor, I must have missed that… Perhaps we should try the last family instead then."

But as she was about to leave, she could hear the little colt whine to his parents quite loudly, perhaps because the window to their bedroom was open.

"But mo~m, I want a little sister! Why can't I have one?" The little colt whined, something foals often did if they wanted siblings, it made Celestia chuckle slightly, but this didn't exactly sway her, that is, until she heard his mother, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well we can't very well get one if you keep disturbing your father and me each and every night we try to make one." At which the colt gasped and started to ask them some questions, likely making the mother kick herself in the flank for having said so.

Celestia however thought to herself that if they had really been trying to do so, yet been unable to do so thanks to a certain colt that kept interrupting them, then perhaps, just perhaps, this could be the chance she was looking for. "How would you like to have a big brother little one?" She asked at the little nymph now disguised as a little foal with a lavender coat, who simply cooed at the hooded princess.

"I think so too, a big brother to protect you as a loving family takes care of you is just what you deserve." Celestia smiled and walked up to the door, she then placed Twilight in a little crib she magically conjured up. "If only I could take of you myself little one, but you'll be much, much safer here."

She then gave a slight nuzzle to little Twilight and started to write a small note. "Please take good care of this foal, for I am unable to do so, please give her all the love you can spare and keep her safe, her name is Twilight" Celestia stopped there for a moment.

"Hmm, ponies generally have two names, I suppose it's different for changelings as you only have one huh little one? …At least I think so, Luna never said more then a single name… Hmm, should I perhaps make up a second name?" Celestia said as she looked at little Twilight, who then opened her eyes for a moment with the moon reflected in her eyes, almost sparkling.

This made Celestia remember that tiny spark of hope she had felt when she first saw little Twilight, and a smile appeared on her face. "I suppose you already picked a second name for yourself… Twilight Sparkle."

And with that the name on the note was finished, after that she then rang the bell and teleported to a place too far to notice her, but not far enough for her to not see what happened next, as the door opened and little Twilight was found, it was the mother that found her and looked around to see who left her, before she took her inside.

Celestia left with a smile on her face, and at the same time a slight feeling of regret in her heart, the next few days she made sure to keep a close eye on what happened in that family, but unlike when she was actually taking care of the little nymph, she was able to hold a court and do all her usual business again without seeming so tired.

Which made the rumors slowly start going away, though some who thought it was the mystery suitor simply thought they broke up or something, but none of that really mattered, as she only cared for what happened to little Twilight right then and there, and she had seen them sign the adoption papers and love her as if she was their own.

Finally she knew that little Twilight Sparkle was safe, and once her sister would come back, she would reconcile with her and let her know, then all would be right in the world once more.





> Hidden Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 01







*1998 AH, about a year before Nightmare Moon would break free*


Celestia was standing in a room she hadn't been in for years now, yet there wasn't a speck of dirt anywhere and it looked just as she had last seen it.

It was an room with eight walls in an octagon shape, with a rounded ceiling that had a gem in the middle of it which produced a constant warm solar light, the floor was just a simple straight floor, but it was enchanted to look like the night sky and had a flat gem in the middle which produced a gentle glow, almost motherly in fact.

Right in between the two gems was a floating crystal pedestal, on which some remains of what had once been a 'egg' laid, at least that's what Celestia believed, the ooze that had once been inside of it and splattered to the sides of the pedestal had by now long since dried up, but could still be seen slightly as the color was still lightly visible on the crystal pedestal itself.

Books were littered around some of the walls, most of them were books on the type of beings that was in this 'egg' once, there were also some other books in the mix, but most of them were just placed here by her by mistake, or had been some books about geometry from beyond their old borders, none of it was very detailed mind you, as they were ancient books and were just made by random beings she had met, sometimes they didn't even match up with one another.

She sighed gently as she touched one of the pieces of the 'egg' left behind, picking it up as she started to talk to nopony in particular, besides herself that is. "Who would have thought that I could have been so wrong back then, or that you'd grow up to be such a special little one, to the point that you'd break a part of the seal I myself had placed on you, and at such a young age too."

She put the 'shell' back onto it's pedestal looking slightly sad as she continued talking to herself. "I had hoped to spare you of all if this once, I found you a loving family since it would likely have been dangerous to stay with me, my only regret is that the few friends you had seemed to have decreased since I took you back in… And now it seems like you might be my only hope left for redemption."

The solar princess seemed to think for a moment as a small smile appeared on her face. "Perhaps it's not too late to make amends to you aswell, one of the villages near the old castle might have some ponies that could become friends with you." She then made a mental note to check out all the villages for certain individuals that could become friends with her.

She would have to look for ponies that could act just like the elements of harmony she her sister and Starswirl had once been able to use in order to stop the lord of chaos in the past, perhaps they would even work for them and she'd have a contingency plan in case Twilight wouldn't be able to stop her sister on her own.

Perhaps… Perhaps she wouldn't have to tell her that she's not an actual pony then either, Celestia grew a little nervous about her original plan where she would tell her what she really was and what she meant to her sister, Celestia had hoped she would understand and would forgive her for what she had done in the past, but now… A certain worry started to grow in her mind and soon she would decide that her so called contingency plan would be far better off as being the actual plan.

And with that she left the room, putting her plans in motion as she hoped it would actually work out in the end.







*1999 AH, Canterlot, two days before the return of Nightmare Moon*


Twilight was reading a book in the shade of a tree as she often did. "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who~" It was a story in a book she had read often already, yet at the same time it felt different this time, somehow more important, perhaps because the princess had given her this very same book about a week ago and had told her to study it.

She continue reading, already a good way in. "Thus the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies, but as time went on, the younger sister became resentful, the ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night~" She didn't know why, but this had always felt a bit odd, where there really no ponies at the time that enjoyed the night as she herself often did?

She was slowly reaching the end as she read about the transformation to Nightmare Moon who had vowed to shroud the land in eternal night, and how the eldest had reluctantly harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom. "The elements of harmony." She mused to herself before reading how the lunar princess had then used them to defeat and banish her sister to the moon.

"Hmm, elements of harmony, I know I've heard of those before… But where?" She mused to herself, before heading off to find a book in her personal library at the castle that might contain more on the subject, a book called 'Predictions and Prophecies', once she found it though it referenced her to an old fairytale called 'Mare in the Moon'

"Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal" She let out a gasp and asked her trusty assistant Spike, a baby dragon if he knew what it meant, likely not really expecting him to know, which he didn't, but she then told him to take a note to send to princess Celestia once it was done.

Celestia, who was at the time in the same hidden room she had been in a year ago to reminisce and think of an alternative and 'better' way to return her sister to her, soon found a letter in front of her that appeared as if magic, the only one that she had granted such a power to being a single baby dragon that was always with her faithful student. "Ah, this must be what I've been waiting for."

She then opened the letter and read it, it was indeed the one she had been expecting, Twilight had found the prophesies that Nightmare Moon would soon escape from her prison and plunge the world in an eternal nighttime, now Celestia had made sure to change a few of the lines over the years, making it seem like eternal nighttime was her plan from the start and not just something that was a side note to what she actually wanted, she had hoped ponies would accept Luna more this way once she calmed down and took her rightful seat next to Celestia once more.

"Now then, let's see, where did I leave that reply I prepared?" Celestia asked herself as she looked around the hidden room. "Ah, there it is." She then quickly sent it back to her, wondering if she should have taken a little bit longer to prevent Twilight from finding out she had prepared the note months ago, but she trusted that her faithful student wouldn't think that.

She knew that once Twilight would make some friends, especially in the village she had found that just so happened had been several ponies that represented the elements so perfectly, that her sister would soon come to see the light, of course she hadn't left it all up to chance, she had mentioned to the mayor pony there that she liked the singing of birds in the morning, and would want the sky to be cleared as fast as possible when the time came, not to mention that the décor in other cities prior to this had been a bit lacking and no one ever seemed to have any good apple based treats.

She had also thought of mentioning something about a possible after party, but felt that might not bring the results she had hoped for, luckily this was the one thing she could leave up to chance as she had heard from one of her spies that a certain pink pony always held a party for a new pony in town the moment she had met them, the spy had also blushed at this as they said they were sorry for not being very good spies as she got dragged into a party almost instantly herself.

But none of that had mattered, she knew things would go in the direction she had planned now, it's why she changed the original plans for it being held in Manehattan to Ponyville, that and at least that was close to the everfree forest where the original elements resided at.







*Ponyville, the night of the return of Nightmare Moon*


Ponies were standing in the large decorated town hall as they looked at the inner balcony, expecting to see their solar princess Celestia as the curtains opened, only to be met with an empty space, but Twilight was looking at the moon, which was now void of the mare like shadow it had had all these years. "This, can't be good."

But just as they started to worry about what was going on, a night sky like mist started to float to the spot and then with a flap of her wings there she was, Nightmare Moon! "Oh, my beloved subjects, it's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun loving faces."

Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. "What did you do with our princess?" As she then tried to fly towards Nightmare Moon, likely to grapple her, but Applejack stopped her by grabbing her tail as she told her to slow down with her teeth tight on the tail*

Nightmare Moon chuckled. "Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" She then asked, a disapproving look in her face, afterall, how could they not know of her? She was the one that brought them the night sky in the first place, she was the mare that used to safeguard their dreams.

Pinkie Pie replied by listing up several names as if it were a mere game, something Nightmare Moon didn't exactly like, that is till AJ who was standing next to the pink mare still with Dash's tail in her teeth, quickly pushed a cupcake into the pink mare's mouth to shut her up.

"Does my crown no longer count, now that I've been imprisoned for a thousand years?" Nightmare Moon then asked as she menacingly looked towards Fluttershy who just shied away a little, not daring to look her in the eyes. "Did you not recall the legend, did you not see the signs?" She asked with a slightly menacing smile as she looked at Rarity.

"I did!" Twilight then boldly remarked as she boldly stared towards her. "And I know who you are, you’re the mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon!" She stated, making all the ponies gasp.

"Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed, expecting her to know the truth, since it would be cruel to change history just because her sister had 'won', though it had seemed it was long forgotten by other ponies and likely only seen as some kind of legend, seeing how this one was the only one to realize, but she was sure she would know the truth, afterall, the name Nightmare Moon was only known to those who knew of her sister's deeds.

This made her look at Twilight a bit more intensely, who was trying to tell them her plans but seemed a bit too afraid to say it in the end and rightfully so, the things she would do to Celestia when she would find her sister were likely be too much to say in public Nightmare Moon thought to herself, then she noticed a certain familiarity in Twilight's eyes. "Hmm? Have we met before by any chance? … No, that can't be true, mortal ponies don't live that long." She then laughed a bit. "Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last, from this moment forth, the night, will last, forever!" And she started to cackle.

Several guard ponies had tried to tackle her on the command of the mayor mare, Nightmare Moon simply thought these fools weren't worth the effort and turned to mist, heading for where she knew the elements were resting, as she knew for certain that Celestia would come for them in a desperate attempt to overpower her once more, Dash had tried to catch her, but was only able to see the direction the mist went at as she realized she wouldn't be able to grab it.

She also saw Twilight quickly exit the town hall as if she knew something, and from how she acted before, she in all likelihood did know more about this and Dash decided to follow her along with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, once there they would be sure to find out more about this.

Meanwhile however, Nightmare Moon had found the elements and was looking around for her sister. "Oh come now, aren't we a bit too old to play hide and seek?" She looked around with her mist but found nothing.

"Hmm, perhaps she's still on her way, it's not like she can turn into mist like I can anyway and perhaps she simply hasn't heard yet, she wasn't at that village either, so it could also be that she's simply running late… Should I go after her instead? No, it could just be a trap to allow her to get the elements while I'm of guard." She thought to herself as she waited.

It wasn't soon that she remembered Twilight's eyes though. "I'm certain I've seen those eyes before, but where?" She asked out loud as she started to focus on them, and quickly realized. "Ah! Their the same as my old friend Starswirl's eyes… Could he have had a distant relative who passed on those genes? Or is it just a coincidence?"

"… Perhaps I should test and see just how much she's like him, she did seem to be a lot smarter then those fools anyway." She then said as she took a bit of her mist. "Go and see what she's up to." She said as the mist headed for the village and quickly found her in the library, while Nightmare Moon was looking through some more of her mist back at the castle, as a form of viewing portal.

"My, oh my, she is a clever one, she even knows of the elements of harmony and is planning to come here for them, that's quite the brave little mare." She mused to herself as she saw Twilight and the others leave. "Very well then, let's see how she'll act when she's faced with certain situations." She laughed as she then had the mist handle the dirty work.

She didn't expect her to do so well on those tests, though it had hardly been fair, the tests were meant to only be for her, not for her and five other mares who all tackled one of the tests, she also hadn't planned for the rockslide to end in that way, it wasn't a test afterall, just a means to get down to where the manticorn was at, originally she was about to grow some trees that would break their fall once they fell down… She also hadn't expected them to solve the tests in the way they had done them in either.

They were now in front of the castle on the other side of the bridge, which infuriated Nightmare Moon, since Celestia hadn't even shown a sign of showing up yet. "No! I can't allow her to come here while Celestia hasn't even showed up yet… I know, I'll just send some images of the ancient Shadowbolts, every pegasus wanted to be in their team in the past, that'll slow them down a bit." She then sent more of her mist to do just that.

The ruler of the night was however surprised when Dash had rejected the offer. "Does she not know just how special that offer was? And what are these Wonderbolts? Did Celestia taint their legacy aswell? I will add that to the list of her sins." She said to herself as she prepared for a showdown with the lavender unicorn and her friends, something she didn't really feel like doing, but it couldn't be helped.

Nightmare Moon had laughed when Twilight had tried to use the elements on her own and failed, but was surprised when her friends had shown up and they started to react to them, not that it mattered to her though, it had taken the combined might of the elements aswell as her sister's full power to even do anything to her, she had planned to laugh as this attack would soon fail and they would despair once they saw she was unharmed.

But then she felt it, in the midst of this magic, there was something familiar, something ancient, something… Not pony, she recognized this power, no… That could be, this was… Changeling energy, o be more precise it was just like the energy that Chrysalis had! She then remembered those eyes once more that the lavender pony had and remembered both of her old friends before she realized and whispered to herself. "Twilight?"

Twilight and her friends were surprised when the magic stopped, as for a mere moment they could see that Nightmare Moon was unharmed, before they could see tears forming in her eyes and she started to revert to her old self, still nearly as tall as Celestia and having a wavy mane and tail, but not completely black anymore, nor did she sport the fangs, armor or eyes she did before.

Luna took a step forwards, tears still coming down her cheeks. "I-is it really thou?" Twilight and the others looked a bit puzzled as she fixed her eyes towards Twilight, they soon thought she meant Celestia though as she had appeared in front of her and started a speech about how they should reconcile and stop this foolishness, but Luna didn't even notice it as she kept looking at Twilight.

Twilight and her friends along with Celestia had all been surprised when Celestia had offered her sister a hug to make up and Luna looked to run towards her, only to run past her and head straight for Twilight, before she then suddenly caught her into a tight hug with wings and all. "It's truly thou! Isn't it Twilight?" Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks as if someone left the tab open.

Twilight however could only blink for a few moments, before asking. "D-do you know of me?" This had elicited a gasp from Luna, before she suddenly looked at Celestia with a stare that looked like it could kill and Celestia moved back a bit, for a moment they had thought the elements hadn't worked afterall and would need to fight once more, but then all of a sudden.

Luna started shouting. "How daresth thou not tell mine goddaughter about me sister!"

This alone would have been enough to elicit a big 'what?' of Twilight and her friends, if it hadn't been for Celestia then instantly groveling before her and replying. "I'm sorry Luna! I didn't know how to tell her!"

This had just stunned the whole party in it's place, unable to even process the fact that Celestia acknowledged it as true.

During the trip back to Ponyville, there had been an awkward silence since neither Twilight, nor her friends or even Celestia knew what to say to one another.

They had expected the two sisters to have headed off to the castle first and perhaps meeting them up later in Ponyville, but Luna had insisted that she walk with Twilight and her friends, Celestia somehow decided to come along aswell, likely in an attempt to be with her sister after having been reunited.

Twilight and her friends didn't even know where to start to break this silence either, whether it was the question of how that would even be possible, or what exactly had just happened, Celestia however simply didn't know how to salvage the situation, seeing as it played out a lot differently then she had planned.

Luna however, was simply humming while she had opted to walk next to Twilight rather then her sister, who whenever she tried to get near them got the stink eye from Luna and backed off, Twilight and her friends simply didn't understand how the situation could even be as it currently was, weren't they supposed to have beaten Nightmare Moon and returned Celestia into her rightful place?

Even if she got her sister back, wouldn't it normally be that Luna would want to be next to her sister and she would have been forgiven? Why did this situation feel more like Celestia was trying to be forgiven and Luna not forgiving her just yet, it felt more like the roles of the big and little sister were turned around here.

Things didn't get that much better when they got back to Ponyville either, not because of the reactions of the ponies there towards Luna, or that the two princesses came with them out of the forest, no, it was when the time had come where Celestia had summoned her chariot to head back and got an earful in the middle of the village from Luna.

"What? Thou would ask her to leave her friends she has just made to come with thee for a report!? Are thou insane Celestia!? She will do no such thing! She will be allowed to stay here in this village so she can be near her friends!" The lunar princess was quite adamant about making sure Twilight would be allowed to stay with her friends straight away.

Celestia however had meant to send her straight back after a simple report, but here she was feeling pressured while ponies looked at her. "I-I didn't mean to say she couldn't stay here dearest sister of mine, I had planned to send her straight back, I just thought she would want to get her stuff from her room in the castle is all."

Luna huffed and walked next to Twilight. "Thou can just send whatever she want over here by carriage, this ist no time to be separated from thine friends Twilight, go and spend time with them." She then turned to look at Celestia. "And whilst we are on the subject, we will be moving here ourselves."

This had caused Celestia to show a momentary face of shock, as did several other ponies, while Twilight and her friends at this point didn't know how to react anymore, so they just let it happen. "W-what do you mean Luna? Aren't you coming back to the castle with me?" Was all Celestia was able to say before backing away a little from Luna's steely gaze.

"Why would we want to go there? Thou can handle the ponies that cometh to the castle, thou hast done so for all those years already, and we can move the night from anywhere, we will not shirk our duties to the night." Luna said as she headed towards Celestia. "But we have no reason to act like a ornament at thine side whilst thou rule the land, nor do we feel the need to take thine rule away after thou hast kept the kingdom afloat for this long, we wouldn't even know how to rule in this time right now, and it would likely take years before we are fully adapted."

Luna then started walking over to the mayor pony. "Plus we can learn all this better whilst in the midst of our subjects, so it would make more sense to move in here." As she gets to the mayor pony, she looks her straight in the eyes. "Excuse us, but does thou have a free house or some free ground where we could have one constructed? The price isn't an issue, thou can just send the bill to the castle."

It had taken Celestia some bargaining, but she managed to convince Luna to at least come back with her for a little bit, if only to explain some things she would likely want to know and to make sure there weren't any laws that would cause any issues with this decision, she nearly kicked herself in the head when there were no issues and she realized she could have passed a law to prevent this all those years ago.

Luna also hadn't taken the news very well when she heard that Celestia had kept Twilight's secret a secret even to Twilight herself, lecturing her on all sorts of things that could have gone wrong, Celestia eventually managed to convince her that at this point it would do more harm then good for her to know and Luna begrudgingly agreed in the end, but insisted that she would tell her everything she would want to know about the subject if she was to ever find out, which Celestia agreed to.

Then came the time when Luna went back to Ponyville and Celestia had to negotiate with the mayor mare for a empty house in the village, she was surprised to find the mayor was so open about the whole idea, and just how tough of a businessmare she was when it came to her village, it's like it didn't even phase her that she was a princess when it came to that, even if she was be courteous most of the time and full of respect if it didn't involve the village directly.







*Several weeks after princess Luna returned*


Twilight was eating some breakfast when she heard some knocking on the door. "Who could that be at this time of the day? I don't have anything planned for at least several hours. Spike, could you go and see who it is?"

Spike simply sighed as he got up. "You already know who it's going to be, there's only one pony that shows up whenever she wants." He then went to open the doors as a pink blur passed him and went into the kitchen. "I knew it, Pinkie always shows up at odd ti… Oh, hi princess, would you like to come in aswell?" He had almost closed the door after Pinkie burst in before he saw that Luna had been standing there aswell.

"We.." Luna coughs for a second as if to rectify a small mistake with her words. "I'm not disturbing you, am I? I was just making a stroll around town when w.. I saw Pinkie heading this way, we got to talk a bit and before I realized it we were already here… Also, I told you before, just call me Luna, I'm only royalty by a tittle that I myself don't even use anymore." She had been brushing up on her modern speak quite a bit after she realized it was the norm now.

When she had first moved in there was quite the commotion amongst ponies at first, it also didn't really help that she didn't know how to act properly in this time at first, but one of Pinkie's trademarked parties had quickly undone all that stress and had shown those in town she was just like them, just bigger and sporting all the best traits of the different kinds of ponies in one body, even those that were weary at first because of the whole Nightmare Moon thing soon learned that she was nothing like that normally.

Twilight and her friends had not yet questioned the whole godmother thing yet though, though most of them had either just forgotten about it by now or figured it was best not to press it, Twilight however simply was a bit too nervous to ask whenever she got the chance.

"Sure thing pr.. Oops, I mean Luna, come right in, we were in the middle of breakfast, I can make you some pancakes if you want, I think we still have some batter left… If Pinkie hasn't started using it yet that is." Spike made sure to move to the side so Luna could come inside a bit easier.

As she got in she sniffed the air. "It would seem she has decided to do just that from the smell of it, but I don't want to impose too much anyway, I had planned to visit that small restaurant down the street for some breakfast anyway." Her stomach then rumbles without her permission, making her slightly blush out of embarrassment for letting him hear.

"You mean Daisy's diner? She closed today and the rest of the week in fact, she had to go to her family in Cloudsdale, something about a family emergency. But no worries, I can whip up a new batch of pancakes if Pinkie's already taken the current batch." The little dragon said while closing the door.

"Oh that's not necessary, I'm fine with just a sandwich, you don't need to worry about me… Hmm, I do hope Daisy's family is alright though, I didn't hear anything about her having to leave when I went there yesterday." Luna said as Spike was walking towards the kitchen and she followed him.

"Nah, it's no trouble at all, I still have all the items required for them on the counter, it'll be easy to make a new batch. As for Daisy, she only got the message herself later that day and left nearly immediately, I only know of it because I saw her just before she left, she even gave me the keys and asked if I could put up a note and take care of the place till she returned, she must have really have been in a rush to ask me though, she likely didn't have the time to ask one of her friends." Spike said now entering the kitchen.

The kitchen in which Twilight was sitting at the dinning table there, slightly annoyed by Pinkie who had decided to make all those pancakes and eat them as she was talking about her day so far, which was impossible to understand with all those pancakes in her mouth, Twilight noticed Spike was talking to somepony as he got in though. "Hmm? Do we have another guest Spike?"

"Well duh!" Pinkie said with a pancake still in her mouth, which made some bits and pieces fly towards Twilight's face who quickly put up a small magic shield, having gotten used to it by now, Pinkie then quickly swallowed the rest of the pancake. "I just told you all about my super duper morning where I let Luna know all about my super duper day yesterday and how we ended up here while talking, of course she was invited inside, who wouldn't invite such a super duper fun pony inside?"

"Huh? Do you mean princess Luna is here?" Twilight asked only to then see her enter the room who then turned to her let out a small smile.

"I hope you don't mind me intruding, Spike said it was alright, but I understand if it's too early for visitors." Luna said as she feels a bit uncertain.

Twilight bows her head a bit. "Oh no, it's fine princess, Pinkie comes by nearly daily anyway, it's why Spike tends to make too much batter lately, but are you really fine with just something we can make?"

Luna sighed. "You know, I really hope you'll just call me Luna someday, everypony else got used to it by now.

"Hey! I'll have you know my pancakes are to die for." Spike retorted as he started to make some new batter.

"I'll say! These are the bestestest pancakes I've ever had, and I've had a lot of pancakes!" Pinkie said as she stuffed another pancake into her mouth, finishing the plate. "You have to give me the recipe some day Spike."

"Sorry, no can do Pinkie, it's an old family recipe, Twilight's mom would never forgive me if I told you… Well, perhaps not, but I still can't betray her trust." The little dragon said as he started to look at the fruit options. "Hmm… Do you like a specific kind of fruit by any chance Luna?"

"A specific kind of fruit? Well, I am quite partial for blueberries myself." She replied as a thought sprung to mind. "Now that I think about it, Celestia only told me that she kept Twilight's heritage a secret to her and kept a disguise spell over her all these years, she never did tell me what she did with Twilight after that, I had assumed she raised her herself, but from what I just heard and how they call her princess and not her mother normally, I'm guessing she found a family for her instead… I wonder if she knows their not her real family… Should I tell her?" She seemed to be a bit deep in her thoughts, that is till she heard Twilight.

"You like blueberries in your pancakes aswell? Their my favorite too, they taste the best in these pancakes if you ask me, your in for a treat." Twilight smiled as she looks at Luna and then looks back at Spike. "You know what, I think I'll have a few more myself, could you make some more Spike?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Me too! Me too!" Pinkie quickly added.

"Already on it." He replied. "But you really shouldn't eat too much Twi, you hardly go out in the first place and if you don't at least get some exercise later on, it'll go straight to your flanks, even if you have a fast metabolism." Twilight seemed to get a sudden blush and hide her face behind the checklist she was making, mumbling something along the lines of her getting plenty of exercise lately.

"Heh, your mother always ate a lot aswell, seems you got that fast metabolism from her." Luna said out loud while she had meant to just think it, which made both Twilight and Spike look at her in question.

Spike then suddenly asked a question he likely wouldn't have had he not made friends with Luna by now. "Excuse me for asking, but how do you even know Twilight's mom anyway? Weren't you locked away on the moon? It's not like she's over a thousand years old or something." This made Luna freeze for a moment as some sweat drops started to appear.

"Yeah, and what do you mean I got it from my mother? She can hardly eat more then one plate and often watches her weight." Twilight then added, making Luna sweat some more. "And while we're on the topic anyway, why did you call me your goddaughter before? And why do you keep trying to do stuff for me?" Twilight kept bombarding her with questions, unable to stop once she started.

Luna however was starting to sweat more and more as her head started to spin. "Oh great, now you've done it Luna, how will I explain to her she's not of this time or that the family she likely has, isn't her actual family without revealing too much?" Was the last thing she thought before passing out from her head spinning to much.

Much later that day, Luna wakes up inside a small bed. "Ugh, where am I? What happened?" She looked around a bit more, before realizing she was in Twilight's bed at the library and remembered what had happened during breakfast. "Oh… Right." She then let out a sigh as she decided to think of a good way to tell her without hurting her feelings or revealing too much.

Only to blush a moment later when her stomach rumbled. "Oh… Right, never did get that breakfast… Perhaps I'll see about making a sandwich while thinking about this some more, I'm sure they won't mind me making one." She thought to herself while getting up.

Luna went downstairs and was about to enter the kitchen, before suddenly hearing a voice behind her. "Princess Luna? Oh good, your awake." As Luna turned around, there was Twilight, looking a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to overwhelm you like that, I shouldn't have asked all that right away, you can just tell me when your ready."

Luna looked at her a bit and sighed. "No, I want to tell you, but there are some parts I'm not allowed to tell just yet… And I'm not completely sure you want to hear all of it either… I'm not fully certain how much you know and I don't want to ruin anything for you."

"Ruin anything? … Is this because of you mentioning my mother?" Twilight asked, without Luna having to say anything however, she could read it on her face. "If it's about me being adopted, then I already know, my parents told me a few years ago when they thought I was ready for the truth, they said they never found out who left me at their porch though, but they gave me a note that had been left with me in my crib."

Luna was a bit relieved, at least she wouldn't shatter Twilight's image of her current family, still though, it would still be hard to explain the full truth, just as she was about to say anything however a large rumbling could be heard from her stomach, freezing both of them in place from shock, mostly because they were both in a bit of a stressed mental state till it happened.

But then Twilight suddenly started to laugh, once done she wiped away a tear. "How about those pancakes while we talk?" She then said as she passed Luna who let out an embarrassed smile before following her inside.

"Yes, that's likely for the best." Luna replied as she then sat down at the table.

Luckily Twilight didn't have to make the batter as Spike had already made some earlier that day and put it in the fridge once Luna passed out, which meant that all she had to do was bake them… Which didn't exactly go as planned either, she had managed to set one of the pans on fire before even putting any batter in it and melted the bottom of it. The next time she forgot to put butter in the pan which made the batter stick to the pan as if it's life depended on it, Luna had offered to help, but Twilight insisted on doing it herself and after that several more incidents happened, but finally she managed to make a few pancakes to fill a plate, only a few of them were on it however, and they all looked slightly burned, but they were on the plate.

"Sorry, I really should learn how to cook." Twilight said as she looked at the measly plate with burned pancakes. "I-I'll make you a sandwich instead." She quickly said as she went to grab the plate in order to throw it away, only for Luna to take it before she could and eating a bit she cut off. "P-princess? You don't have to eat that."

"I keep telling you Twilight, please, call me Luna, none of this princess stuff." She brought another bite to her mouth. "I must say though, while your cooking could do with some help, this is quite the tasty pancake if you eat around the burned parts."

"Really?" Twilight let out a relieved sigh. "Thank the stars, I was worried you wouldn't like my mother's pancakes just because I'm a terrible cook."

"With how good these taste, I wouldn't be surprised if the ones you made earlier would still taste good." Luna took another bite, biting into a blueberry. "And these blueberries taste delicious in it."

"I know right? Mom always said that the secret ingredient is lots and lots of love, she said to go to stores that treat their produce with lots off love aswell." Twilight let out a little giggle. "I know it sounds sappy, but I could always tell when the ingredients were taken care of with lots of love and it always tasted so much better when we used those ingredients, my brother said he didn't taste much difference between when mom got the ingredients or when I did, but mom always said they tasted better aswell."

Twilight suddenly put her hoof to her mouth. "Ah! I'm sorry, here I am rambling about this while you were about to tell me about what you meant earlier."

Luna smiled. "I don't mind, I was trying to think of how to put it anyway." She put her hoof to her chin. "Hmm, now let's see… Well, what do you want to know first?"

"Well… You mentioned my mother before, and being my godmother, so I take it you knew her personally at least and I'd want to know more… But first, I think I'd like to know how it's possible, I mean you were imprisoned on the moon afterall, did you have some kind of communication device or something?" Twilight then asked.

Luna's smile faded a bit, as she recalled what had happened in her mind. "It's… A bit complicated… And I hope I'll be able to tell you the whole story at some point, but all I can tell right now is that you weren't born in this age, but before I was imprisoned."

Twilight's face was a bit of a mix of shock, curiosity and a slight hint of fear. "W… What do you mean? I was born over a thousand years ago? But how is that possible? I grew up as a little foal, I'm only sixteen right now."

Luna sighed as her face darkened a little bit. "You were… Stillborn." Twilight seemed both surprised and afraid before Luna continued. "Your mother was filled with grief, your father however refused to just let it go, so he went to his lab and looked through all thee books he had, all the studies he did, until finally he found a spell, a very ancient and forbidden spell that used magic nopony should use."

Twilight swallowed from what she had guessed that her real father had likely done, while Luna continued the story. "He changed it a bit to prevent the worse from happening, but even he couldn't remove all of the side effects of the spell, as he returned to you and started to add the runes." Luna took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself a bit. "I found him just as he was about to initiate the spell, he explained what he did briefly and then asked me to always keep you safe, before he then gave up his own life to save yours."

Twilight had tears in her eyes, she didn't expect to be able to ever see her real father even before Luna told her about it being so long ago and didn't expect it after hearing that, but this just made reality hit her even more, there really wasn't any way he'd still be alive now, she started to cry and Luna wrapped her wings around her in order to comfort Twilight.

After a bit of comforting and calming down, Twilight looked back at Luna. "So… What happened next? Why didn't my mother take care of me? And how come I didn't grow up in that age?"

Luna sighed and looked outside the window, at the day time. "She would have likely wanted to, but the… Staff thought I had killed him and tried to conceal that you were alive from the moment you were born, so I had to escape with you in my hooves… You see, the alterations he made to the spell prevented too many lives from being taken, normally a whole town at least would be needed to fuel the spell, but instead he had opted to encase you in a sort of chrysalis and keep you in that state for a thousand years as you gained the life you needed…"

Luna hadn't lied, that was how it went, she just left out the part where the spell had taken at least a few more lives at first and taken life energy from those about to die over the years, she figured it would be better for Twilight not to know just yet, lest she were to think badly of her father who only did all he could to save his only daughter.

"My sister however found out I was keeping you safe, as she found the hidden room I was keeping you at and misunderstood, she thought I had taken the egg of… Some 'dangerous' being, she then decided to hide you and act like she destroyed it, I'm still not sure why, but that pretty much made me go over the edge and I turned into Nightmare Moon." Luna explained.

"Huh, wait, wait, wait just a moment there." Twilight then suddenly said. "You mean to tell me that the whole night eternal thing isn't what made you do it in the first place? It wasn't because you were jealous of her day as ponies shunned the night as it's written?"

"Is that how history remembered me? No wonder ponies back at Canterlot all looked at me so fearful, I'm surprised there are so many ponies here to just accept me then." Luna mused. "I'll have to have a talk with Celestia next time I see her again about this." She then sighed once more, calming herself a bit. "No, while it is true that I wanted to bring night eternal, it was more of a revenge thing then my actual goal, at this point I felt that Celestia had taken everything from me that I loved, so I decided to take everything she ever loved, in a way I wanted to turn her dreams into nightmares as payback… Which is kinda what made me pick the name Nightmare Moon."

"So much of what I thought to be true is wrong… I wonder why she never told me?" Twilight asked herself out loud.

"Likely because the story was already so well known, had she simply said so, you would have known something was off, and likely just went straight for the castle rather then make friends first." Luna replied, knowing Twilight didn't ask her and also not really feeling like she wanted to help Celestia with this, but she had taken care of Twilight for all this time afterall.

She then continued. "When I was defeated my sister also likely realized her mistake and decided to take care of you in my stead, she's also likely the one to have brought you to your current family once you got out of the chrysalis, which brings us to this age… Though I am surprised she at least remembered the name I had told her before I turned into Nightmare Moon, if only I had said your full name however."

"I can't believe I'm from a different time period completely, I can't believe I even considered that other possibility, I feel so silly now." Twilight looked down, slightly disappointed with herself, before raising an eyebrow. "Wait, full name?"

"I only mentioned the name Twilight at he time, the Sparkle part is something my sister added, your actual last name… Actually, perhaps it's best I keep that for another day, I do not intend to take away a name you loved for this long." Luna said before she raised an eyebrow out of curiosity for the rest of her sentence. "So another possibility huh? Does this mean you already made a reason for this in your mind?"

"Ah… Yeah… But it's a silly one." Twilight said slightly blushing.

"Well, let's hear it, it must be quite something if your reacting like that." Luna said as she smiled warmly.

"Oh, it's really nothing grand." Twilight responded. "It's just that with the familiar hoofwriting, after you said the whole godmother thing and me thinking that if anypony would have a way to communicate with you while imprisoned on the moon… I thought that perhaps…"

Luna blinked a few times, before bursting into laughter. "You actually thought that my sister could be your mother?" She kept laughing as Twilight puffed her face. "Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not laughing at you, it's just that… My sister? Getting together with somepony and having a child? Oh wow, now that's rich, she would never even consider having children of her own, she'd be too afraid it would interfere with her 'royal duties'."

It was getting late after Luna had told Twilight some of the stories she had with her sister in the past as examples for this, aswell as some other stories mostly where Celestia had messed up and Luna had to clean up after her, with Twilight then telling one or two stories herself, though she admitted that she had thought them to be assignments Celestia had made on purpose, and not actual incidents till just now.

Luna raised the moon as the time came, still talking with Twilight about some of her old adventures, but when Twilight asked about her real mother and father Luna had simply said that she would like to tell her, but that it was likely best to keep it for another time as she needed to think about how to tell her about them without telling her things she should find out on her own.

Twilight didn't fully understand why she had to find out some parts on her own first, but she did understand that Luna had her reasons for saying so at least, so she decided to just leave it for another time.

Spike came back a bit late, who apparently had spend the day with Pinkie and had only just escaped, as she had asked him to sample pancakes for her as she tried to replicate the recipe without him telling her, Spike had simply thought of the free pancakes he would be getting, not the amount he would actually have to eat however and was a bit sick from it all.

Which means it really wasn't that unexpected for him to run of for the bathroom when Twilight had mentioned she made some pancakes for Luna earlier on, Twilight just grimaced a bit as she asked herself if she was really that bad at it, before later on realizing the truth when Pinkie had burst into the room asking where Spike was since he never gave her an answer on if those last ones tasted any good.

It was however late and Twilight noted that besides breakfast, she herself had not yet eaten and Pinkie had already left, she also realized that there's no way she could ask Spike to prepare anything right now and she herself… Might not be the best choice, she briefly considered eating out.

It was then that Luna had offered to make her something if she was that hungry, she would just need to get some ingredients from her place is all and left before Twilight could say anything, in her mind she wondered if Luna could cook, seeing as she herself couldn't and royalty normally don't make their own meals.

She was pleasantly surprised when Luna had returned with a few ingredients she hadn't seen before and started to prepare the meal, they looked a bit like pink hayburgers she noted to herself before Luna started to bake them, she couldn't help but think the smell that came from them was amazing though.

Once finished, Luna put down two plates with two of these burgers on them, as they ate Twilight said that they taste amazing and asked what their called, Luna told her these were called cheeseburgers, as Twilight then finished the first one she said 'so their made of cheese? I didn't know cheese could taste so good.' To which Luna looked at her and said that that was just the name, they were actually made of montre, Twilight wondered what montre was, but was sure she'd find out eventually, and she would be sure to eat with Luna more often now.

A few weeks later a griffin by the name of Gilda visited Ponyville, Pinkie had seemed upset for a while but had in the end organized a party to make up, certain pranks were made during the party however and since Pinkie had been guiding Gilda all the while it had looked like she was doing it on purpose, at least to Twilight it seemed that way, so when Gilda blew up at Pinkie, Twilight didn't find it so odd, but when Dash said she had been the one that made the pranks and they weren't all meant for her, Twilight thought that it was still quite odd that Pinkie kept making Gilda do all the ones that had pranks, like she had known in advance, which was surely possible with her Pinkie sense.

Gilda had just left the village after that and had seemed mentally hurt by all this, though everypony but Twilight had seemingly failed to notice this, Twilight also didn't want to bring this up right now, so she left and headed for Luna's place, since she was invited for dinner anyway and felt like she wanted to talk to somepony she could trust about this.

Imagine her surprise when Gilda suddenly showed up as they were eating some burgers, she had decided to get some payback before actually leaving, when she smelled a certain smell and decided to follow it, only to find Twilight eating at Luna's place and couldn't help but ask if she could have a bite with them, Twilight had thought Gilda didn't really like ponies besides Rainbow Dash at this point and she might not even do that after today's events, but she decided to give her a chance since it was awfully unfair to her how things ended and wanted to make her feel better at least, Twilight even told her how unfair she had thought her friends actions were during the meal.

As Gilda was about to leave though, Twilight asked what had made her come back, to which Gilda had simply replied. "Well, I originally wanted to play a giant prank on you all as payback… But after I smelled that delicious smell I got hungry… And hey, any pony that eats meat, is alright in my book." And then took off, for real this time, though she did wonder if she had actually overreacted a bit after having spend some time with Twilight.

Twilight however had frozen in place, Gilda just told her she just ate meat? Did that mean that burgers were made of meat which Twilight had been eating for a while now? And she'd been liking it all this time?





> [Interlude] A special nightmare night.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






*Four months after Luna returned, Nightmare Night*


Twilight was getting ready, as she had promised Luna to show her what this day was about when the lunar mare had heard of it and had asked if it was some kind of day meant to honor her since ancient days, perhaps to keep her appeased while on the moon, Twilight had then told her it was something like that originally, though more to ward her off and not honor her, she also said that it became a bit different over time and would show her on this day.

Spike had decided to go as a mummy, mostly because he had bought too much bandages a few days ago and his original costume got stuck between a door, which ripped it up. "Come on Twilight, we're going to miss the whole night if you take much longer." The little dragon quipped as he paced around downstairs.

"Just one more second Spike, I'm putting the finishing touches on my costume, just one more and… Done!" Twilight then came down the stairs wearing a wizard robe and hat with bells and a fake beard. "Well? What do you think?"

Spike just looked at her funny for a moment. "Are you that one kooky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?" He then asked.

Twilight gasps "I'm Star Swirl the Bearded! Father of the amniomorphic spell? Did you even read that book I gave you about obscure unicorn history?" She asks as she seems slightly shocked he could even say so.

Before he could react though, a knock is heard and he seems relieved. "That must be Luna, I'll go get it." He then quickly proceeded to open the door and sure enough Luna was standing there.

Luna was dressed up as a samurai, with swords and all, the only thing missing would be a traditional demon like mask that was often used with such helmets. "Hello Spike, I was told to wear some kind of outfit, do you suppose this will do?" She asked him as she got inside.

"A samurai huh? It looks great, almost real." He replied.

"I thought of wearing the mask but wondered if it would be wise to completely be hidden underneath the armor, and I thought it was supposed to be real, was it not supposed to?" Luna responded as Spike was looking at one of her swords.

He instantly dropped the katana he had pulled out of it's sheath, luckily it just fell to the ground flatly and didn't harm anypony. "You mean you brought real swords!?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

Twilight now walked up to them as she levitated the katana towards her. "Oh don't be silly Spike, she wouldn't bring a real sw… This is a real sword, it's even an actual katana in fact, I didn't know there were any ponies left that still knew how to make one of this quality, the only place you normally see one of these, is in a museum these days… Oh, but we can't walk around with something that's too dangerous for fillies and colts, no matter how special it is." She would have likely said more, but the fillies and colts at the door had brought her back to reality as she then distributed some candy between them.

Once the door closed Luna took off the other blades she wore. "Sorry about that, I had one of my old armors brought over when you mentioned some of the more traditional costumes for this night, I hadn't realized that it was supposed to be a fake outfit." She then looked at Twilight. "You look just like your fa… My old friend Starswirl in that outfit… What's with the beard though?"

Twilight put her hoof up to the beard and looked at it. "You’re the first one to notice who I'm supposed to be, but what do you mean what's with the beard? He's always depicted with a beard in the books I read, he's even called the bearded." She replied as she took of the beard.

Luna looked at her and chuckled. "That's because it was his actual name, he couldn't grow a beard if he wanted to, he even tried to magic one up on several occasions, but they all resulted in mustaches at the most." The lunar mare let out a small laugh as she recalled those moments. "Why do you think there are several spells for that in his books rather then just the one?"

"I always did wonder about that actually… Huh, so even he wasn't able to do everything with magic then." Twilight sighed as if her image of him had completely been altered.

Luna realized what she had done. "Oh no, it's not like that, nopony is almighty, just look at my sister and I, we may have the power to move the heavens, but we still have our limits, we're mostly limited to alicorn magic which is similar yet more powerful then pony magic, but chaos magic for one is not something we would be able to use, and without the elements we can't use harmonious magic either, there's plenty of other magics aswell in fact."

Twilight seemed slightly confused at first, before her face lit up. "You mean there are more then one kind of magic? I always wondered why you and Celestia could change the day to night and vica versa, I had just thought it was a matter of raw magical power, but this changes everything!" She thought to herself for a moment. "But wait, doesn't that mean that there's no way for those of certain races to stand up to stronger ones? If that's the case then how come we're not all ruled by one absurdly strong being already?"

For a moment Luna was a bit taken back by her deductive reasoning and her questioning nature, she was so much like her father. "It's not like it's fully set in stone that the strong can't be beaten by the weak, Alicorns might be stronger then any one normal pony, but a whole horde could easily overtake us, plus there are some more talented then the ones that are supposed to be stronger by nature."

Luna seemed to lament on the past for a moment. "Starswirl for instance was far more gifted then my sister and I, he had actually learned far more spells then either one of us and made twice as many on his own, his magical potential was also far greater in terms of raw power and he had learned to use some other magics aswell, showing us that those barriers could be broken if one was just that talented and willing to learn, even if he was only able to use a small fraction of them… He may have been able to use it more if he had the chance aswell…" A deep sigh could be heard from Luna as she remembered his last moments. "But I suppose that is for another day, I believe we had plans already."

Twilight who had been scribbling down every bit of the renewed history on a piece of parchment she had gotten seemingly out of nowhere aswell as the quill she was writing with, suddenly jerked up her head and looked at Luna with almost puppy dog like eyes as if to ask for more, before shaking her head and realizing that now was not the time and Luna was right. "I suppose so, we can correct history some other time, let's go out and have some fun."

As they perused the stands and games set up by the locals, Luna had tried many of the games and treats while listening to Twilight about how the celebration was mostly just meant for fun these days, but that back in the day it was thought to appease 'Nightmare Moon', to make sure she wouldn't come to enact vengeance on those left behind, though she had to admit that with the recent knowledge of it all having even started the way it did, that perhaps it had a different meaning even further back and that this history might have been altered slightly aswell, she didn't like to think that books could contain wrong information however.

At more then one occasion Pinkie had shown up to scream and run away whenever she saw Luna, Luna had guessed it had something to do with her other self and the holiday itself, so she didn't mind, though she did think that perhaps her being dressed as a samurai should have at least have prevented at least one or two moments so they could talk a little.

Mostly everypony else seemed to have warmed up to her enough to not act as such, but some decided to do so, though Luna could see it was mostly just an act for the little foals they were trick or treating with, she even found herself wondering if perhaps she should act as so next year, perhaps organize some kind of event based around it even, it would be nice to have some kind of storyteller to rile them up before it aswell, but those were thoughts for another time, right now she just wanted to spend some quality time with her goddaughter.

All in all it was a fun day for all when it was time to head home, though Fluttershy hadn't shown up at all and from what Luna had seen over the time she spend here, she could understand why, she just hoped that Fluttershy at least had some fun at her own cottage with her animal friends, Twilight and Luna spend some more time talking about trivial things as they had walked back to the library to gather up the swords she had left behind and had by now returned to her own home as she recounted everything that had happened and smiled.

"I quite enjoy this holiday, even if the origin of it is questionable at best." Luna though to herself before she looked at the clock. "Hmm, still quite some time before I have to lower the moon, perhaps I'll see if I can still walk through the dreamscape, there might be a certain pink pony that could do with a fun scare~" She said out loud as she removed her 'costume'.





> A joke gone wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2






*2000 AH, nine months after Nightmare Night, the day that Discord returns*


It was supposed to be a simple school excursion for a group of fillies and colts, when the teacher looked at the cutiemark crusaders and they were asked what they noticed about the statue they had just gotten to, they then started to say it had different parts like an evil claw, a lion paw and a snake tail.

"This creature is called a Draconiquus, he has the head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things." The teacher noted, before asking. "What do you suppose that represents?"

"Confusion." Apple Bloom said before being shoved aside by Sweetie Bell.

"Evil." The white filly then interjected before she was shoved aside by Scootaloo.

"Chaos." The little pegasus quickly added, she had actually been more correct then the other two, but wouldn't know it right away.

They then started to fight among each other and their teacher then told them that in a way they were all right, not noticing the little black pulsing spot on the chest of the statue, nor did anypony else.

"This statue represents Discord, which means 'A lack of harmony between ponies.' In fact, you three have demonstrated Discord so well, that your each going to write me an essay explaining it." The teacher said as the CMC looked a bit deflated by that last part. "Now let's go and I don't want anymore fighting." She added before heading off with her class, the three fillies continued to argue in hushed tones at the back while following her, as nopony noticed the large cracks that started to appear on the statue outside of their view, nor the sinister laugh as it reached the glowing spot.

Not that much later, back in Ponyville, Dash was doing some aerial tricks as a sudden pink cloud zoomed passed her, making her spin in place. "Come back here you!" She exclaimed and chased after the odd cloud, catching up nearly instantly and collided with it, to her surprise however it didn't poof like a normal cloud would, but rather she got stuck into it as if it were some sticky substance, as her curiosity got the better of her she tasted some of it and realized it was cotton candy.

Several more pink clouds appeared all around her zooming all over the place, one however stopped right above her head, before a single drop of a brown substance fell onto her head, Dash mentioned that it wasn't supposed to rain before tomorrow before it suddenly started to pour down on her.

Meanwhile Applejack was harvesting corn in the cornfields, until she heard the cracking of a storm, she looked to where the sound came from and saw Dash chasing a pink cloud raining chocolate milk with a horde of similar clouds also chocolate milk tailing her.

"Rainbow Dash, what's goin' on with this rain? I mean chocolate milk? I mean chocolate milk rain?!" Applejack asked as Dash flew towards her.

"Turns out there's crazy weather all over Equestria! Cloudsdale is getting soaked by a major cola storm right now! But don't worry. I'm not leaving you until I get control of Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash answered as the cornfield started to turn into popcorn.

Dash flew off, attempting to stop the storm while leaving Applejack surrounded by mountains of popcorn, who was suddenly assaulted in the face by popcorn coming from the corn plant in front of her, it then knocked her back into a pile of popcorn that had formed behind her.

"Why would you wanna stop this?" Pinkie said to herself after hearing Dash say so, as she then swam through the popcorn, only to stop to open her mouth to the sky in order to drink some chocolate milk rain.

Rarity who was wearing a fashionable and functional outfit to keep out the chocolatey goodness falling from the sky, walked up to Applejack before clearing her throat and saying. "I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there's anything I can do without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella."

All of a sudden, the apples in Sweet Apple Acres trees enlarged several times their size, causing the tree trunks to somehow bend over from the weight of the apples, causing all kinds of critters to show up and start eating them.

Applejack quickly called upon Fluttershy for help, who was already there for some reason aswell. "Fluttershy! Do somethin'!"

Fluttershy looked at the nearest one that just happened to be her own pet bunny. "Now, Angel, you really shouldn't–" In a flash, Angel's legs transformed into extremely long skinny horse like legs. "No! It's not possible! I must be seeing things!" She said wait a gasp as a small horde of bunnies with the same condition ran past.

Just then Twilight came by. "Don't worry everypony, I've learned a new spell that will fix everything!" She exclaimed as she started the spell, it looked quite powerful and colorful, but after it was done, only half of the clouds had vanished and even less of the animals had turned back to normal.

Twilight was shocked as she mentioned her fail safe spell failing and asking what they should do, likely not expecting a real answer from the little drake who then said give up as a reply, Twilight wasn't about to however as she quickly came up with a new idea and relayed to her friends what they had to do.

After it was done and over twilight started to talk about this as if learning a lesson in not giving up, before Spike belched and a letter from Celestia appeared, after reading it she gasped and told her friends that Celestia had asked them all to quickly come to the Canterlot castle.

Once they got to the castle Celestia was pacing back and forth till they came in, she told them thanks for coming before Twilight started to ask if it was about the weather and the animals changing.

"What's going on? Why is my magic only working partly?" Twilight added as Celestia raised a eyebrow for a moment wondering how it was even working at all, but decided to ignore it for now and told them to follow her.

As they walked through a hallway with glass pains depicting certain moments in history, Celestia explained to them that an ancient foe that she and Luna had once beaten using the elements of harmony named Discord, had once more returned and to make things worse, they couldn't stop him a second time as the elements no longer responded to them, they did however respond to Twilight and her friends, so Celestia asked them to beat this foe for all of Equestria.

Twilight thought for a few seconds but didn't need long before resolving her mind and say yes, the others also agreed except for Pinkie for a moment as she mentioned chocolate rain, Twilight reassured Celestia by telling her to pay Pinkie no mind as she didn't really mean it, as such Celestia took out the box that held the elements and opened it in order to present the elements, only to be shocked to find it empty, as was everypony else.

As they were wondering what had happened, a laughter was heard and Celestia recognized the voice, she called out to Discord and demanded to know where the elements were, he just quipped that she was no fun, before showing himself in the pained windows.

Dash quickly tried to hit him, only to miss and hit the window itself which was somehow as solid as a wall, either by Discord's power or by a magical enchantment meant to prevent any damage to them, Discord retorted as he mentioned she must be the element of loyalty, clearly already knowing it to be so though, he also showed off by letting them all know he knew who they were and what they represented.

Celestia once more demanded for him to tell them what he had done with the elements, Discord didn't really feel like telling them but he was never one to pass up on having some fun, so he told them he would tell them, but only in his own way as he then told them a riddle. "To retrieve your missing elements just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the elements back where you began."

After that he vanished while laughing, leaving Twilight and her friends to contemplate what he meant, Twilight looked out of one of the normal panels of glass and saw the royal maze and figured that must be it, after Celestia wished them luck they quickly headed there.

Once there Fluttershy wondered how they would ever be able to find the elements in there, Dash let out a laugh as she mentioned he had forgotten she could fly and would be back in a jiffy. As she took off however, her wings suddenly vanished and she fell to the ground, before Fluttershy's wings finished and she gasped, next up was Rarity's horn as Twilight gasped and told her, at the same time a sound that sounded a bit like a spell fizzing out was also heard.

Rarity gasped as she realized her horn was missing, before Discord appeared and laughed, only to stop laughing once he realized something was amiss here. "Hold on, I was sure I took your horn aswell, I must be getting a bit rusty." He then said as he snapped his fingers, only to hear another fizzing sound, for a moment he contemplated if he should just keep trying out of some odd feeling of pride to not let anything stop his powers, but not before he thought about what it might be that's stopping him.

"Sorry about that, I must be losing my touch after being trapped in stone for so long." Discord knew he wasn't rusty or anything like that, but it was odd as there shouldn't be anything that could disrupt his powers like that, well, except if another would have chaos powers, but that was just ridiculous even to him, he did recall that a long time ago he had similar issues with a certain race but dismissed that aswell as they wouldn't be able to wield the elements at all, not after having seen that war while he was encased in stone that is… However, this might be the perfect time for a prank that could also ruin their bonds even quicker.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I believe there was this one species that could resist me turning them into something else, mostly because they could alter their own appearances to look like anything they wanted." Discord had a sly grin as he used honeyed words. "Oh what were they called again? It's on the tip of my tongue… Ah, now I remember, they were called Changelings and they take the place of family members and friends to feed off of them." Discord snapped his fingers, making sure to force enough power into it to go around whatever was blocking his power, as a green flame went over her to turn her into a regular changeling form, but to his surprise it was followed instantly by a lavender flame, it still turned her into a changeling form, but not the generic one… Or a completed one for that manner.

Twilight and her friends gasped in shock as Twilight had turned into what Discord recognized as a young Changeling queen or perhaps a princess, however she seemed to have parts of both races, her left front hoof, her mane and her tail were still the same, her eyes were mostly the same with the only change of them having a draconic slit in them, she now had two pegasus like wings, the rest was just like the body of a changeling though, but the hue of some of her carapace seemed slightly like lavender rather then black, even if it was more on the black side, her horn was also long, jagged and completely black.

For a moment Discord had considered if perhaps he had accidentally had the picture of a changeling queen in mind rather then just another generic one and if the disturbance of his powers was greater then he thought which would have led to parts of her remaining pony like, but then he realized that if that was the case, but then why did she have pony wings? And then it hit him, he realized what likely was going on… Well, that and the still lavender hoof that suddenly sucker punched him.

"I don't know what you did, but turn me back!" Twilight exclaimed as Discord's head seemed to spin round and round while his body did not, before it stopped upside down.

Discord seemed slightly confused, but then smiled "You know, that's hardly the appropriate thing to do to those similar to yourself." He took his own head off and put it back on in the proper way. "Also, if you want to turn back then why don't you just do it yourse… Hmm, that's odd, if I didn't know any better I'd say you seem truly confused and angry… You do realize what you are, don't you?"

Applejack was the first to break the silence. "Twi, what in tarnation is goin' on ere? What's he talkin' about?"

"Don't listen to him girls, this must be some kind of plot of his! I'm not whatever this is." Twilight answered, the others nodded as to agree.

"Really? Your serious here?" Discord stroked his goatee for a moment as to think. "You know what? Fine, if that's how you want to play it, then who am I to stop your fun." He grinned. "And speaking of fun, I set up a little game for you all, the prize is that which is yours if you find it, I've hidden them in this maze, but be warned, there are three rules. First is no flying and no magic." He looked at Twilight. "That goes doubly for you, if you use any then it's game over and I win. The second one is Everypony has to play or the game is over and I win again."

They waited for him to say the third rule, but after a few seconds of saying nothing, Pinkie spoke up. "So what's the third rule of this fun game?"

"Oh that's a simple one that only counts for little miss Twilight Sparkle here, but I'll only tell her once the game has started and she can't tell any of you or the game is over once more, your getting where I'm going with this, right?" Discord laughed as he simply vanished before their eyes, leaving behind his laughing mouth before it turned into a large smile and vanished aswell.

Twilight glared at where Discord had been for a moment before asking the others if their ready, all of them were eager to beat his silly game and save Equestria once more, they quickly all headed into the maze with a synchronized step going inside, as hedges suddenly appeared in between and behind them, preventing them from staying together, after some quickly shouted inspirational words, they all quickly try and head for the center of the maze to find each other once more, all but Fluttershy why was so scared she hardly heard them in the first place, but eventually she would do the same.

As Twilight headed her own direction though, Discord showed up in front of her, making her gasp. "Discord! What do you want!?" She shouted at him, Discord however seemed to rub his goatee and stare intently at her, as he realized she really didn't know.

"I really should tell her, but this is too much fun as is… Still, for a hybrid of two races that reject each other to exist… It should only be possible through chaos magic, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity… But who am I to spoil the fun? Plus it's not like I don't have a way to counter changeling magic, I just didn't expect it before." Discord thought to himself. "Oh it's nothing much my dear Twilight Sparklebug, I just thought you'd like to know the third rule by now, it's quite simple really, all you have to do is find all your friends, before you or your friends reach the center or before the game ends." He smirks. "Oh, but don't worry, not being able to do so doesn't result in a game over, only telling them about what I tell you will do so."

"Then what's the point of this rule?" Twilight snapped at him.

He chuckles. "I will give back their wings and horns… Well, one horn at least, as I'll tell them I'll turn them all back to normal regardless of whether they win or lose, however, if you fail to do this, you will remain as you are now"

Twilight was about to shout 'What!?' and demand a reason, but he vanished before she could do so, confetti falling where he had been as laughter was all around her, all she could do at this point is shout out his name as loud as she could in frustration and anger.

Things had not gone as Twilight had hoped, after they were separated and Discord had told her that last rule, all of her friends were acting odd whenever she found them again, it was almost like they were acting the complete opposite of their normal selves, they even seemed to actually believe she was an actual monster at this point. That said she only had Dash left to find, so things would likely soon be alright again, however, the worse part was just about to happen as Applejack had mentioned Dash leaving and they looked up to see her fly off with her regained wings.

Discord then showed up as he laughed and said they had lost the game, Dash had broken one of his rules that said they all had to do it together and that no flying or magic was allowed, the maze vanished and he then said he would return them back to their true selves and snapped as Fluttershy's wings and Rarity's horn reappeared, Twilight however remained the same as she was, which after what Discord had just said made them look at her with an even worse look in their eyes, as if any remaining doubt they may or may not have had left about her being this being had just vanished.

"I always knew you couldn't be trusted." Fluttershy said as she intended to hurt her with said words… And they did, they hurt a lot, it didn't help that most of the others responded in similar ways, though also different, rarity had simply growled at her while 'protecting' the 'diamond' behind her, Pinkie didn't even seem to acknowledge her and Applejack had told her that it had to be true if Discord said it.

If it hadn't been for their current actions and words, she may have just been annoyed and angry at Discord, but right now she was just hurt and disappointed at her so called friends, she then looked at him. "Why would you do this? How is turning me into this.. This… Thing! Going to aid your plans Discord!?"

Discord blinked a few times before bursting in laughter. "Oh.. Oh my." Gasping for breaths between laughter he started to slowly recompose himself. "That's hilarious! You really don't know, now I'm really interested in what happened to you in the past." A book appeared in front of Twilight as he snapped titled 'Unique and impossible beings of the unknown, by Dar Wing', Twilight gasped for a moment as she had only heard of this book from Celestia long ago when she had told her about long lost books, Discord then smiled. "How about you check out the chapter starting at page 513? I ensure you you'll be quite surprised." He then grinned. "Though you may also be interested in page 565." He quickly added.

For a moment Twilight considered doing just so, but instantly shook her head and looked at him defiantly. "Like I'll ever trust anything you say or do! And what more do you want from us anyway? You already took away the maze, so we can't even get the elements anymore!" She was practically shouting at this point as her anger and frustration was crawling back into her mind.

Discord had once again started to laugh. "How funny, you actually thought they were in the labyrinth?" He snaps and their both suddenly back where he had told them all his riddle the first time with them all still standing there as they listened, likely an illusion of some sort to show the past and the words once more were said. "To retrieve your missing elements just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the elements back where you began." Once the past Discord had said it, the illusion vanished and they were back where they were before. "I never said they were in the maze." Discord then said as he laughed and vanished.

"So they were never here? Then why did we just..? Argh!" Twilight sighed in frustration. "I just want to go home and have this all be over with… Go home… Back where you began… Of course! How could I have been so blind? Girls! I know where the elements are!" She turned to her friends who were acting as oddly as before with each other, as she then grumbled. "This is going to be an issue…"



=====+++=====



*A few miles from Ponyville*


The trip back to Ponyville had been… Eventful, in a way, though not in the good way as Rarity accused anyone who got near the rock or tried to touch it that it was her 'diamond' and nopony else's, Applejack kept telling lies to all of them about a whole variety of things, including the train schedule, which made them actually miss the first one before Twilight decided to take matters into her own hoof and check out the schedule herself, Fluttershy took every opportunity she had to be mean to just about everyone in the group and outside the group, even any animals that came near weren't spared from her And Pinkie… Well, Twilight didn't even know she could be such a grump even if she were to actively try, or be influenced for that manner.

Twilight herself didn't have it much better though, anypony they came across thought she was some kind of monster that would eat them whole, some even took it to themselves to throw old vegetables towards her and a single frightened mare had thrown a whole bench at her when she tried to explain who she was, I was a wonder she was even allowed on the train in the first place, though perhaps her being absolutely furious at that time had something to do with it as the conductor didn't even try to get their tickets and stayed as far away as possible.

It wasn't long before the train had stopped, but it was still a way away from Ponyville, Twilight wondered for a moment if they had stopped because of her and had somehow build up enough courage to try to kick her out, she was starting to slightly hyperventilate and opened a window to get some fresh air, when she saw the real reason that had stopped, apparently the tracks a bit further from the train had turned into living gummy worms and had started to eat the rest of the track, the machinist would likely soon start to go backwards, so she decided to take her friends and walk the rest of the way, regardless of how much they might refuse, even if she had to put 'Tom' on her own back all the way, 'Tom' being the rock Rarity had taken with them and decided to name during the ride.

A bit later as Ponyville came into view, they could see the ground in different colors, buildings floating and upside down, the sun and moon going up and down quickly after each other and more, Twilight suddenly instinctively dodged some long legged bunnies that would have likely trampled her otherwise, then she felt an odd feeling inside herself and sat down. "Why do I suddenly feel so… Soapy?" Before she could really wonder how she even knew how that would feel like from the inside out, the dirt road changed into a soapy road, making Applejack slip and fall down.

Discord then showed up as he skated down the road. "Beautiful isn't it? This is the new and improved Ponyville, and these are only my first changes."

Pinkie skated by in a stylish manner. "This may look like it's fun, but it's not." She then stated.

Twilight grumbled before looking to her left as Discord then placed a paw on her back and his head popped out from her left side and took her up while he grew behind her. "Picture it, the chaos capitol of the world." As he then held her out the sun turned into the moon.

Normally this would make it too dark to see, but Twilight's new eyes somehow made everything easy to see, almost like wearing some special goggles, or having draconic eyes. "You mean this mess?"

Discord then dropped Twilight. "Oh just wait a few minutes and see it in the light, you'll see it much better then, or not."

The sun came back out and Twilight looked again. "Nope, still a mess."

"Well excuse me little miss critic, I don't see you create any better chaos." Discord replied as he skated off over the soapy road.

Twilight had a deadpan look in her eyes as she looked at him skate away. "It's not like I can use chaos magic in the first place."

A chuckle could be heard from Discord as he was about to say something, but before he could they could hear a loud shout coming from the village. "DISCORD!" As they looked they then saw a dark blue alicorn fly towards them at a speed that Dash would envy. "How dare you change this place that is the home of me and my goddaughter into this!?" Luna then landed in front of him with a loud bang, making a small crater where she landed, which then shot her back up into the sky as it had turned into a trampoline, before she found herself suspended in the air by Twilight's magic in order to gently put her onto solid ground, though Luna seemed to be to enraged at the time to notice it was Twilight who did so.

"Oh Lulu, how I missed you, you always was more fun then that stick in the sun Celestia, how have you been?" Discord replied to her happily, either missing her outburst or simply ignoring it.

Luna looked at him with a furious look "How have I been? HOW HAVE I BEEN!? You turned my home into a cardboard cutout! Just the fact that you’re here endangers my goddaughter and her friends! I hope your prepared to be a lawn ornament when I'm done with you! Now what have you done to her and her friends!?"

"Done? I haven't done anything to your goddaughter, I didn't even know you had one, in fact didn't you only come back a year ago? You move fast to already have one Lulu." Discord quipped back.

"Don't give me that, and my name isn't Lulu! Now tell me where she is! Tell me where Twilight Sparkle is!" Luna yelled at him as if she was about to blast his head off, and likely would aswell with how her horn was charging.

Discord however, looked surprised by what she had said, twice in one day? Why if this would keep up then this time period promised to be absolutely delightful to Discord, who then grinned and moved out of the way, showing Luna that Twilight and friends were right there, holding their ears from the use of her Canterlot voice. "Twilight Sparkle is your goddaughter? Well, why didn't you tell me straight away? She's right there." He pointed at Twilight expecting Luna to be surprised by her new appearance. "Though I suppose you likely won't recognize her without her disguise~"

Once again he found himself surprised however when instead of being shocked or ask him what he did to her, Luna just simply jumped at Twilight and hugged her. "Thank goodness your alright Twilight!" She exclaimed, still in her Canterlot voice, before seeing them all grasp for their ears once more. "Ah! … Sorry, I was kind of… Heated there."

"Ouch." Twilight rubbed her ears. "That's alright Luna, I can imagine why with him around." She pointed at Discord, at least she thought she did but he was floating above them on a pink cloud.

"Color me surprised Lulu." Discord said as he looked void of color and completely white with black lines as some pencils appeared. "I was sure you of all ponies would be shocked to hear that, from what I heard while I was a statue, you and your sister had fought those changeling 'monsters' to the brink of genocide once, yet here you are hugging it like it's no big deal, why one would almost believe you knew of this already." He then grinned.

Luna looked at him in anger while Twilight looked at Luna with a bit of doubt. "W-what does he mean Luna? Did these Changelings actually exist? B-but I'm not one of them as he claims… Right?" Twilight then asked, her voice quivering in fear of if she might actually be some kind of monster.

Luna noticed her quivering voice and rapid breathing and decided to just calm her down rather then tell the truth at this point, but she also didn't want to lie to her, so instead she opted for a third option. "You are who you have always been Twilight, yourself, no matter what he may say or claim, you have to at least have faith in yourself, I know I do." She then nuzzled Twilight gently before looking back at Discord. "As for why I wasn't shocked or anything like that, I never joined that battle, that was all Celestia." She looked back at Twilight. "And yes, before you ask again, they did indeed exist, though they weren't some kind of monsters as he makes them sound, just… Misunderstood."

"Oh? I guess you can't believe anything you eat anymore these days." Discord put his claw into his mouth and down his throat as if he was looking for something, before he took out a book, completely horrifying Twilight as this meant he had eaten a book before now. "Hmm, hold on a second, this isn't even mentioned in this book at all anyway, I suppose the winner writes history as they please huh? But you likely know all about that, 'Nightmare Loon'." He chuckled.

"Enough!" Luna slammed her hooves down onto the ground. "Return everything the way it was Discord!"

"Or what? You'll use those elements of yours to turn me back to stone? Oh wait, you can't!" Discord shouted gleefully as he started to laugh. "You and your sister can no longer use the elements and even if you could, you don't even have them anymore."

"What are you…" Luna started as she was interrupted by Twilight.

"Laugh while you can Discord, but I have an idea of where they might be, and when I find them, me and my friends will stop you!" Courage now renewed with Luna now here, Twilight knew she could do this.

Discord blinked. "Oh this I got to see, you'll find me at the center of town when you do, feel free to visit me at anytime." And with that, he vanished with a loud poof as his laughter echoes around them.

"Well, now that that's taken care off, let's go gi…" Twilight started but didn't finish her sentence as she turned around to find all but Rarity and Luna missing, Rarity only still being here as she was unable to move very fast with 'Tom' on her back, she then look at Rarity with a deadpan look. "Where are the others?"

"I wouldn't know, nor do I care, as long as Tom and I are together.' Rarity replied as she kept trying to walk past Twilight.

"Oh great, now I have to find both the elements and their bearers, could it get any harder!?" Twilight facehoofed as she said this, only for Luna to put a hoof on her back in comfort.

Luna then smiled as Twilight looked at her. "Don't worry, I'll find them, you just focus on the elements for now, I'll take them to the library when I do."

"How will you get them to comply?" Twilight asked her. "I mean if they just up and left right now, then it's likely they won't want to come willingly either and I'd rather not have them hurt."

Luna put her hoof to her chin as she looked up and closed her eyes, clearly in thought, before she put her hoof back down and looked at Rarity. "I suppose I'll do this then." She hit Rarity with a sleep spell, who then started to wobble before falling face first into the soapy road, 'Tom' however fell down with the intend to likely kill her, had Luna not quickly reacted by a levitation spell to put the rock down on the side of the road. "I'll uh… Be more careful with the others."

Twilight who had a look of terror on her as she almost saw her friend get squashed, then looked at Luna before recollecting herself. "Please do, their not as sturdy as you or Celestia."

"… I'll keep that in mind… I suppose I'll go look for them at their own addresses first then, do you want me to take her with me or do you want to take her to the library herself? The spell should keep her out for several hours or till I wake her up again, so there's no risk of waking up either way." Luna said as she stretched her wings.

"No, that's alright, I may just aswell take her with me myself, at least she won't have me lug 'Tom' along if she's asleep." Twilight responded.

"Tom?" Luna shook her head after Twilight pointed at the rock. "You know what? Forget I asked, I'll see you when I've found the others." And with that, Luna took to the skies.

Twilight gave one more look at 'Tom' and then at Rarity before sighing in relief, at least carrying a single mare would be a lot easier then a huge piece of rock.

Not much later Twilight finally got to the library and opened the door, calling for Spike, who then walked out of the kitchen while looking back at it, likely because he was cooking something. "Oh hey Twi, what's uEEP!" The little dragon had just turned his head and saw Twilight, he instantly ducked behind a flowerpot and threw some books at her. "What are you and what do you want of me?" He paused for a moment and stopped throwing. "Please don't say you want to eat me…" Then he noticed Rarity on her back. "Rarity! Let her go you ugly monster!" He was about to throw another book when it was taken out of his claw by a familiar purple magic.

"Spike, it's me, Twilight… Don't throw my books!" Twilight seemed a bit more angry because of the books then the monster part, but then Twilight's face seemed a bit sad. "You really think I'm ugly now?"

"Twi? … How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?" The little dragon asked.

Twilight deadpanned, something she had done a lot of today. "You once spend a whole month guarding a large chocolate egg as you thought it was another dragon egg just because it was about the same size, you cried when it then molt in the sun one day and I had to spend all day explaining to you that it had been made of chocolate all along."

"It is you! … Hey! You promised you'd never tell anypony!" Spike crossed his arms in frustration.

"Rarity's asleep, I haven't betrayed your promise, yet." Twilight replied as she floated Rarity off her back and some pillows from her room to put her on, before she looked back at him once more. "… Do I really look that ugly now?"

"Huh? Oh… Nah, not really, I mean it's just something you shout in the heat of things you know?" He walked up to her. "You look mostly the same now that I take a better look at you anyway, though the odd horn and those wings are new, not to mention the holes in… Three of your hooves? Why only three? Also, why is your body mostly blackish now? And smooth… Is this some kind of scale?" He asked as he touched her side. "It feels nice."

"I think it's Chitin actually." Twilight replied before Spike had in turn replied back with Chwhatnow? "Chitin, it's the primary component of cell walls in fungi and the exoskeletons of arthropods such as crustaceans and insects, aswell as several other things for other creatures, though the hard layer is more commonly known as carapace and is an exoskeleton." She said as Spike was already lost once more.

"So… Your saying your some kind of sea creature or bug now? Though looking at the wings I'm guessing it's more like a bug… I suppose pegasus wings aren't normally found on bugs though." The little dragon pointed out.

"No I'm…" Twilight stopped to think for a moment. "I'm… I'm not sure, Discord turned me into this telling me it was something called a Changeling, but I don't know if they aren't some kind of bug like creature now that I think of it…" Sighing Twilight shakes her head. "No, that's not important right now, Spike, I need to find reference guide to 'The elements of harmony' to fix all this."

"The elements of harmony? Oh! I know exactly where that book is." Spike dashes for one of the stairs to the many bookshelves and climbs it, soon after he pulled out a book. "Found it!"

"Thanks Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you." Twilight levitated the book towards her before she opened it and found it mostly hollow with the new addition of the actual elements inside, making her gasp. "The elements! They were here all along… In my book… Which has been ruined! When I get my hooves on Discord I'm gonna…"

Spike interjected there. "Hey Twi? Who's this Discord you keep mentioning?" Not having been there when they went to Canterlot but rather staying behind, Spike had no idea who he was.

"Oh nopony special, just the one who's making a royal mess out of everything outside." She grumbles before taking out the elements.

Before Spike could say anything else though, Dash suddenly crashed though the door, fully asleep and clutching a small cloud in her hooves, before Luna came in slightly worried. "Is she alright? I didn't think she'd keep on flying after I put a sleep spell on her, I'm amazed she landed here though." The lunar mare said.

Spike checked Dash to check for any physical damage aswell as a pulse. "I'm sure she'll be fine, she's done larger crashes before, plus her pulse is steady and there are no obvious injuries besides a few cuts and bruises."

Twilight just sighs as she looks at her broken door. "I suppose I'll put it to the list of things she owes me, she crashes in here more often then it rains and that's without her being all cuckoo."

"I didn't realize she did it that often." Luna said while floating in Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy.

"We keep a list of the times she's done so and what she broke, I think it might one day become a best seller titled 'Rainbow Dash's crashes and debts'." Spike jokingly said. "So anypony want to fill me in on why our friends are apparently under some sleep spell? … Or looking gray?"

"I'm not completely sure, Discord did something to them, their acting like complete and utter jerks now." The annoyance could almost be felt as Twilight said that.

Luna thought for a moment. "I had noticed that they were all acting nothing like themselves when I found them, almost like they were…" She then gasps. "Like their the opposite of their elements, Twilight, you can't face Discord with them like this, the elements won't react properly if the bearers aren't acting like their old selves."

"But, what are we supposed to do then? It's not like I can just zap their heads with some kind of memory spell… Well, perhaps I could, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it, if it goes badly then bad things can happen including memory loss and a loss of basic skills, sometimes even the short term memory could be affected…" Twilight sighs. "Though I suppose this is quite a desperate situation…"

As Twilight was contemplating on using said spell, Luna decided to chime in. "Actually, I may have a different option, though I'm not sure if your able to do it and as long as I'm keeping them asleep by force, I can't do it myself." Luna then looks at the sleeping mares. "Not many could do this type of magic even in my time, and it would seem that over the years all practitioners but me have vanished, though I suppose that was likely more because of a lack of teachers then anything else."

"What is it? I'll do anything as long as it can save my friends!" Twilight was quick to respond.

Luna looked a bit apologetic. "You have to understand though, this type of spell requires one to have a special attunement to the night and to protect others, it's not just a simple spell or something, it's a whole different state of being, even during my time there were but a dozen of them including me, so the chances are high that you won't be able to do it."

Twilight didn't seem troubled though as her face was nearly stoic at this point. "I've always loved the night, Celestia may have been my teacher, but most of the time I was studying while it was daytime and while I was studying a lot of the time at night aswell, I did take the time to at least gaze at the stars, there's always been something that was soothing about it all, plus there's so much more going on in the night sky, I especially love it when there are meteor showers."

Spike grumbled. "I can vouch for that, most of the daytime Twi had me grab book after book, while at nights at least I could rest while she looked through those telescopes."

"I see." Luna let out a small chuckle. "Perhaps I should offer you my mentorship instead of my sister then, though as I'm your godmother, you but need to ask for guidance and I'll give it to you, so there's no real reason for that I suppose."

Twilight's eyes sparkled for a moment as she considered having both Celestia and Luna as mentors, before she heard that last part. "Then please, guide me with this, I want to help my friends as best I can!"

A small content sigh came from Luna. "Very well, I'll try and teach you the way of the dream walker, but remember, this is not something that works for everypony, no matter how powerful they are, my sister could never do it because of her alignment to daytime… And even if it doesn't work, I will think no less of you Twilight."

"Dream walker… You mean go into the dreams of others?" Twilight asked.

"It's a bit more complicated then that, we dream walkers protect those that dream from dangers far beyond the realm of imagination, there are ancient dangers lurking in dark corners of the mind that ponies have long since forgotten about that only we could fight…" Luna sighs again, this time it sounded more like a sad sigh. "I've been so busy lately trying to fight them all off, had I came back any later some may even have escaped the dream realm, or worse." She then looks at Twilight. "Promise me though that if you manage to do this and see one of these ancient dangers that you will not get their attention and if you do you have to escape instantly, cause I will only be able to teach you how to enter the dreams of others and to make simple changes or jog their memories."

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Twilight makes the motions that come with the Pinkie promise but manages to not prick her eye for a change. "Huh, I actually stopped in time this time." She then looks back at Luna. "I can understand the need to jog memories, but what do you mean with simple changes? And why would I need that?"

"To hide from plain sight, a dream walker doesn't often interact directly with the dreamer, and in the few cases they need to do so, they need to sooth the dreamer by having a form they think they can trust, as not to scare them awake, it's quite dangerous to be in a dream when somepony wakes up and while I will keep them under a sleep spell while your in their dreams, it is best you show them they can trust you, so they'll accept the memory jog quicker." Luna calmly explained.

"I see." Twilight's curiosity sated for now… Well, slightly, she really had a hundred or more questions about this whole thing, but right now those weren't important, she made a mental note to ask her after this was done, regardless of whether or not she could do it, there was however one more question she had to ask. "So how do we get started?"

Luna explained to Twilight the basics of it all and that unless she was more experienced, the easiest way to get into the dream realms of others would be through her own dream and that it's often hardest to realize you are asleep in the first place, only to be told by Twilight that she's always realized when she was in a dream already, which was surprising to say the least for Luna, before once more warning her of the dangers of those ancient evils that lurked the dream realm, though they didn't have much time left, she also felt the need to tell her how to recognize them just in case.

"And that's all you need to know for now, I won't be able to help you once your asleep, but I can offer to at least pull you out in case something goes completely wrong, you just need to think of something strongly enough, in my experiences it's often best to pick something you absolutely hate or something you love." Luna said and prepared her sleep spell.

"Something I hate or love… So either coconuts or chocolate then… There's a large chance chocolate is in some of Pinkie's memories at least so it's probably best I don't pick that, so let's go with coconuts, since I hate them." Twilight answered before she looked at Luna with determination. "I'm ready now."

"Good luck Twilight." Luna then put Twilight to sleep. "… Coconuts huh? She never liked them either… And neither do I."

"You don't? I absolutely love them!" Spike said as he came down the stairs carrying some blankets and pillows. "Guess that means more for me if we ever have them."



=====+++=====



*Inside the dream of a certain mare*


The room was bright with the sun shining through the window as a little lavender filly reading a book like she always does sits on her bed, she then closes it however with a annoying grunt followed by a sigh. "Same as always huh? What do dreams have against reading?" She got off of bed, turning back into her current form while she does so, the letters on the book's tittle all jumbled up or turned into odd squiggles.

After getting up and seeing she turned into her changeling hybrid form, Twilight grumbled once more. "I know she told me I had to change into my current bodily form before I can change myself so my friends won't be surprised, but I don't see why I couldn't just do it right away…" She closed her eyes and tried to recall what Luna had told her.

Twilight then recited the words out loud. "In order to enter the dream of others, you need to peer through the veil of your own dream first, see the dreams of others beyond your own, the void between them is both big and small, your own imagination will be the guide to how quickly you can get to them."

She then opened her eyes to look around, but didn't see anything just yet. "Focus Twilight, focus, you can do this, your friends need you, Luna believes in you… I can do this." And with that she closes her eyes once more, focusing. "What was it she said again? I need to have a special attunement to the night for this to work… Why would you need that? Is there perhaps a reason for it?"

Without realizing it, she had started to move her head backwards to point up at the sky, as the building around her crumbled and the day turned to night, before she opened her eyes and saw she was now looking at the night sky, an odd shimmer seemed to move over it though.

"The night… All those stars, should I see the distance of dreams to be the same? But then how do I get to them?" Twilight looked at the stars as she wondered, the odd shimmer almost making them seem right next to her, as she slowly started to reach out with one of her hooves. "It almost looks like I can touch them." She was squinting at the scene as she reached out a bit more, only to open her eyes completely in shock when she actually touched a star and suddenly found herself somewhere else complete.

Looking around she saw she was in some kind of big city. "What the? Where am I? I've never been here before." Looking around a bit more she saw that all the ponies were faceless, but in the way you'd think of some kind of horror show, but more in the way of them not being seen as important enough to have them, all but a single newsstand pony who looked bored on the corner of the street.

Blinking a few more times Twilight suddenly realized. "I'm in somepony else's dream, he must have fallen asleep on the job or something, he looks almost bored enough to do it again." She then looked at the sky and turned it into night once more. "Hmm, but how do I know which dream is who's?... Also, I should change my appearance before I do so." She looked at herself after realizing the newsstand pony had seen her and suddenly all the faceless ponies looked in her direction.

Before that though the newsstand pony started to panic and Twilight realized he might wake up from fright. "Oh, that's not good… COCONUTS!" She felt sick as everything started to swirl and turn.

And then she woke up in shock. "Are you alright Twilight?" Luna asked her.

"Y-yeah, I was in the dream of some pony I didn't know, in a city I haven't been to and forgot to turn myself into a normal form, the pony there seemed to panic so I realized he might wake up soon… Thanks for getting me out." Twilight said as she slowly calmed down and caught her breath.

"You… You went that far? Normally dream walkers are only able to see the dreams in their own town or village at most first, they need to learn how to properly see more places then that… What were you picturing to traverse the dream realm?" Luna asked, clearly amazed that Twilight went that far, even she didn't remember going that far the first time she got into the dream realm.

"Huh? I needed to picture something specific? I just thought about what you said before it all about how we needed to be attuned to the night, so when I looked up at the night and touched a star I…" Twilight was interrupted by Luna who seemed even more surprised now.

"You pictured the stars as dreams!? And you were even able to touch them to traverse the dream realm?" Luna had to quickly reapply the sleep spell on some as she lost her focus for a moment. "That's incredible, no other dream walker besides me has ever even been able to imagine that on their own, let alone use it, you may just be more suited to this then I am once your properly trained."

"… But it won't help my friends right now, how am I supposed to know which star to choose? There's too many of them, I can't just skip around randomly, what if I forget which ones I already went to?" Twilight seemed a bit defeated by this, she was eager to do this again, but not right now, not if she couldn't save her friends.

"Hmm, I think I can help you with that, normally it's easy as the dreams are close enough for dream walkers to recognize other dreams, but I traverse the sky for them aswell, so I had to use a different method." Taking a small breath and checking if their all still asleep, Luna continues. "All dream walkers instinctively feel certain things, though not many notice without training, when I realized this I divided the feelings into certain different reactions and based them on some of my stars, as such when something like a nightmare happens they flicker for me, when an ancient danger is getting too powerful the star turns blue and so forth, I think you can do the same for friends and family, you have a deep bond with them afterall Twilight, use that bond to find them."

Twilight considered Luna's advice for a moment. "Alright, I will, send me back Luna, I think I'm ready now."

"Good, and perhaps put on your disguise before you go into their dreams next time." Luna chuckled as she put Twilight back to sleep.

This time Twilight felt determined to do it right, after donning her basic form once more she checked herself over. "Alright, first thing's first, I'll turn back into my normal self again and then I'll connect my friends through my bonds somehow…" She sighed, suddenly feeling a little bit less optimistic as she didn't know how she would do so, but she steeled her resolve once more as she knew she had to and could do it.

As Twilight changed her appearance in the dream, Luna smiled as a lavender fire surrounded Twilight outside of the dream aswell, as if working in tandem, once done Twilight looked the same as ever… With the exception of the two wings she forgot to remove.

Inside the dream Twilight checked herself out. "Hmm, seems I'm fully normal again, horn? Check. Hooves? Check. Coat? Check. Wings? Check… Wait, wings?" She looked back at her back and facehooved. "I forgot to remove the wings… Well, I suppose they can stay for now, I mean this is only a dream, so there's no harm in keeping them for now, right?" She asked herself, but since nopony responded, she took it as a mental yes.

She then looked at the night sky once more. "Connect the bonds with my friends to the stars… How exactly? Do I just think of them strongly? Or recall all those memories we made? And how will I recognize them? It's not like their names or cutiemarks are there, and doing it like Luna does would mean altering the stars themselves… If only there was some kind of magic screen that would appear in front of me as I moved my hoof across the sky that could tell me." She half jokingly moved her hoof across the sky, slightly shocked when it actually did appear… Well now, this would make things a lot easier.

After looking around for a few minutes, she finally found a few of her friends. "Fluttershy and Applejack huh? I suppose I'll try them first then." Twilight went into Applejack's dream first, but what she found was not at all what she had expected, it looked chaotic and messy, Discord obviously did this to her, no way Applejack would dream of this even if she was the complete opposite of herself.

It wasn't easy to find Applejack and then turn the odd dream into a bunch of memories, especially since Applejack made some remarks on her never being a princess in her eyes as she would only ever see her as some kind of bug monster now, Twilight hadn't really cared about the princess part, that had only been a mistake in the first place, but the monster part still stung.

But it had eventually worked, and Twilight was off to the dreams of one of her other friends, their dream was similar aswell and she just knew for certain now that this was because of Discord, after that she just kept repeating it, find her friend, listen to their hurtful remarks but not believe them, then show them their memories and search for her next friend among the stars to repeat it, Dash had been the hardest to show the memories however, Twilight actually had to chase her down, if not for those new wings she had now aswell as this being a dream, she felt like she likely would never have managed to do it, but eventually she did.

Twilight now sighed in relief. "Good, now to get out of here… Perhaps I should go to my own dream first to be safe." She looked for her own star but was unable to find it at first, then a new star appeared in the sky next to the moon and as she put the screen over it she saw her cutiemark over it. "Well… That's convenient." She muttered before touching it and finding herself in her usual dream, she then smiled. "Coconuts." This time the feeling wasn't disorientating or everything around her appearing to swirl around her, she just closed her eyes and then opened them again, as she woke in the normal world.

"From your normal reaction, I take it things went well this time around?" Luna asked.

"It did, you can wake them now, they should be back to normal… I hope." Twilight replied hopefully yet with a slight hint of doubt as she's never done this before, even Luna wasn't fully sure it would have worked.

It had been a success however, as her friends all woke up wondering why they were in the library and what had happened… Before asking Twilight why she was now suddenly an Alicorn, Twilight who had till then been mostly preoccupied with helping her friends, hadn't even realized she had turned back to normal yet still had the wings for some reason, for a moment she panicked and asked what had happened, Luna told her to calm down and focus on Discord for now, this could wait till later on.

Taking a few deep breaths, Twilight decided that she was right, it was likely some kind of effect from what Discord had done anyway she figured and after telling her friends about everything that Discord had done, they decided to don their elements and find him, luckily he had told her just where to find him when they came back to town.

"Discord!" Twilight shouted as she and her friends found him sitting on a floating throne, Luna had opted to stay behind for a bit longer to quickly send a message to her sister through Spike.

"Hmm?" Discord lowered his sunglasses as he saw them approach, deciding to drink a glass of chocolate milk before they were fully there, though he literally drank the glass and not the chocolate milk which he then threw behind his back into the distance before it exploded once it reached the ground, as he checked them out. "Well, well, well, I see you've found the Elements of Harmony. How terrifying! And it seems you've decided to don the disguise of a pony once more." He looks a bit closer at her. "Oh excuse me, you went with the whole alicorn bit instead of a normal pony huh? Well, who would blame you, being a princess is much more fun, isn't it?" As if on cue Discord suddenly has Celestia's regalia on and Twilight finds herself wearing Luna's regalia, shrunk to their respective sizes and shapes to accommodate them better.

Twilight is a bit taken back by this but quickly ignores it and looks straight into his eyes with the same defiance as before. "Discord! I figured out your lame riddle. And with my friends at my side, we'll defeat you!"

Discord just seems overly confidant. "I certainly am. You've 'clearly' out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate." He get's up and makes a target appear on his body. "I'm prepared to be defeated now, ladies. Fire when ready."

Normally he would have been a bit taken back by the sudden light that came from them all, but right now he was certain they would soon fail since clearly a changeling or a hybrid that realizes it's roots would be as disharmonious as he was and therefore would be unable to control it, a smug smile appears on his face as he doesn't even realizes he's hit by a rainbow beam and once more slowly turning to stone, that is till he realizes he can't move his body or mouth anymore and quickly opens his eyes in shock as he soon finds them to turn into stone aswell, just a second later a full statue is standing there with a smug look on his face, shock in his eyes and wearing both a target on his chest aswell as Celestia's regalia refitted to match him.

Not a moment later the rainbow magic bursts out and forms a full rainbow before turning into a dome and turning everything back to normal, once it is the girls open their eyes and look around before they hug each other in glee, before Twilight winces a bit in pain as one of them hugged a bit too hard and hurt her wings.

"Ow, watch it, your hurting my wi…" Twilight's eyes went wide as she quickly looked back at her still there wings. "W-what the!? I still have wings!? But why? Didn't everything go back to before Discord messed with everything!?"

Her friends looked at each other as they too wondered what was going on, before Luna now showed up. "Sorry it took so long, Spike had trouble sending it with all that chaos magic, he managed to send it once everything turned back to n…" Luna then noticed her regalia on Twilight. "Is that… It looks good on you Twilight."

"It does? … Wait, no, that's unimportant, why do I still look like this? Do you know?" Twilight quickly asked and for a moment Luna considered if now would be a good time to tell her about her true self.

That is up until a brightly shining orb started to decent before them with the intensity of actual sunlight, making everypony look away from it.

"Agh! Sister! Lower thine intensity! Thou art blinding us all!" Luna shouted in her own dialect from the sudden appearance.

The intense solar light dimmed down and the orb appears to not be an orb at all but instead Celestia herself as soon as she's back to her normal self. "Ah, excuse me, when I read the letter I came here as quickly as possible, I had hoped to join you all to fight Discord if he proved too much." She looks at the statue. "But I see that I wasn't nee… Is that my regalia? I had wondered where it went." She pouts slightly but not enough to be noticed by the others, knowing she wouldn't be able to get it back for quite some time at this point.

"Princess, Discord did something to me and it didn't go away once we beat him." Twilight suddenly said, still a bit unnerved about the whole thing.

Celestia quickly looked at her with shock, only to be surprised rather then shocked from her current appearance. "This is…" Celestia thought hard for a second, as a idea came to her mind. "Congratulations Twilight, it seems you've ascended through this hard and arduous trial, you must have done quite the feet for this to happen."

Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing here, Celestia was using the trial of ascendancy to fuel a new lie, to once more not have to tell the truth.

"A-ascend? Me? But I didn't stop him by myself, and I looked like this before we even got to him, why would I suddenly become a alicorn like yourself?" Questions flooded Twilight's mind as she asked this, questions like how, when and why, more and more appeared.

Celestia winced for a moment as she now realized she may have said it a bit too quickly as she had thought that it had happened after they defeated Discord. "W-well, think deeply, when did this happen? Did you do anything special at the time?"

Twilight thought as her friends looked at each other, before Applejack decided to speak. "What about that whole dream thingy Twi? Ya did manage to enter our dreams and do that whole mind thing."

Celestia was a bit surprised by this herself. "You managed to enter the dream realm and actually trigger their memories?"

Luna felt a bit proud of her goddaughter at this point. "That she did dear sister, she has a great future ahead of herself as a dream walker, she's even more powerful then I was at her age, she managed to instantly connect it to the night sky in her mind and can already go as far as I can now, perhaps even further! Her connection to the night is greater then that of the day by a long shot"

Celestia blinked a few more times, not really used to Luna acting this proud of anyone's accomplishments but her own, at least from before she came back. "My, it seems you've had quite the eventful day my faithful student… Or perhaps I should call you my fellow ruler, I could use somepony to handle the night affaires." Celestia had noticed that Twilight was now wearing Luna's regalia and decided to make fun of it, just a small joke.

"Twilight's now the princess of the night? That's so awesome!" Dash quickly shouted.

"Ah always knew ya were destined for greatness Twi." Applejack followed up.

Celestia was starting to sweat slightly as it almost seemed like they had taken her seriously.

"Neigh, she is not ready sister!" Luna objected.

"Think of all the night time parties we could have! Oh! I'll finally be able to use all those glow in the dark decorations!" Pinkie bounced around almost twice as hyper as normally.

"I'll have to make an ensemble of dresses for all the different occasions, it's no good for royalty to just have a single plain dress dear." Rarity motioned as she already started to measure Twilight for a new dress that would take her wings in account. "Hmm, perhaps I could work that regalia into the design, it would be a waste not to use them."

Celestia meanwhile started to feel slightly lightheaded, were they messing with her or did they actually take her seriously.

"Will you have to go back to Canterlot Twilight? Can we visit you? I-if that's alright I mean…" Fluttershy said as her voice got a bit softer.

Twilight had almost asked if she got a say into all this, but as she looked at Celestia who was now looking tensed up as if she wouldn't take no for an answer, she decided to swallow her objection, at least it looked like that to her, Celestia was in fact sweating bullets while trying to look like nothing was wrong here, not wanting to admit that it had all been a joke after all this, Twilight did however decide to answer her friends. "Thanks everypony, I'll do my best to make you proud princess Celestia, and I'm sure you can all come whenever you want as long as your not disturbing any business… As for if I'll go to Canterlot, if possible I'd like to stay here in Ponyville, but I don't know if that'll be alright."

"T-that would be fine." Celestia replied, a small crack in her voice before she made herself look and sound calm once more, even if internally she was not. "We can just make a building for night court here in Ponyville, and Luna could train you for the more finer details of the job while you’re here." She would be damned if she would be found out by now, so she went with it all.

"Hmm, I suppose I can agree to that, but she won't have to rule the night till before I teach her completely and the building is done, understood sister?" Luna replied.

"That… That's fine." A small relieved sigh came from Celestia, as it would seem that at least things weren't a complete flop here.

"That's a load of my heart, to be honest I was a bit afraid that I wasn't ready myself." Twilight put her hoof up to her by now quickly beating heart, in fact it was beating so hard it was like there were two of them.







*Later that night*


Pinkie's victory party that seemed oddly specifically themed to have defeated Discord, had scoped most of the town, everypony had by now started to head to their respective homes while Pinkie cleaned up the streets, which seemed to be done nearly as quickly as it had been set up, something Pinkie was quite proud of it seems.

Luna had invited Twilight for a bite to eat at her place as she often did and on Twilight's request she also invited her sister who was more then happy to join them, hoping to fix their still fragile bond, or at least strengthen it slightly.

Celestia was a bit surprised when the dishes put on the table hadn't been the special kind of foods one would suspect royalty to eat, even royalty that decided to live among normal ponies, though she had to admit, those curly fries and those hayburgers looked delicious, Twilight had told them to go ahead while she freshened up a bit.

"So… How has the life of a regular pony been treating you?" Celestia asked, uncertain of how to start, but determined to make amends.

"I quite like it, I should have done so ages ago, perhaps if I had done so you wouldn't have found it so odd and poked around where you shouldn't have." Luna adamantly replied, the look in her eyes still seemed like she blame her sister.

Celestia sighed. "I've changed over the years Luna, I know I wronged you back then by lying, but at the time I held so much anger for them, and I felt so much fear of losing you…"

"So instead of talking to me calmly you decided to just banish me instead, losing me by your own hoof." Luna jabbed back.

A slight cringe could be seen by Celestia. "It's not like you really wanted to listen after that either… I wanted to tell you at times during the fight… But I doubted you would have believed me or listened to me, so I decided to see it through till the end."

"I… I may have been a bit too enraged to listen." Luna admitted. "But that is no excuse for never even trying."

"I know." Celestia sighed. "And I'm truly sorry for that, can you ever forgive me?"

Luna looked at her sister as she prostrated herself in front of her, before she let out a sigh. "You did keep my goddaughter safe for all those years… I suppose… I could forgive you for your foolish lie."

Celestia's eye's seemed to practically sparkle with happiness. "Thank you, thank you so much." She began to cry slightly, though these were tears of happiness rather then those from loneliness or sadness as she had often during all those years while looking back.

Luna felt slightly uncomfortable seeing her sister like this. "Yes, yes. But don't think I'll forget sister, if you ever make a similar decision, I will hold it against you."

"I understand, thanks you." Celestia was still crying her eyes out, somehow it actually felt like all the weight she had put onto her shoulders, all the guilt and all the sorrow had decided to melt away through her tears, before she heard a sigh and then suddenly felt a slight hug through the means of one of Luna's wings as she had decided to sit next to her.

"It's alright… Tia, let it all out, perhaps I have been a bit too harsh this past year." Luna said as she hugged her sister slightly, the latter now fully letting it all go as she cried.

Twilight however, had no idea what she had just walked in on when she came into the room and saw Luna with one of her wings around Celestia as a gentle hug and Celestia crying a river, it almost looked like a big sister soothing the little sister and once again she wondered why it was the other way around.

A bit later, after some awkward explanations by Celestia, Twilight had learned that even immortal alicorns had emotions just like any other pony and that Celestia had kept hers in for way too long, it had been odd seeing her former teacher like that, as she always thought of her as some kind of perfect pony who knew only love for her subjects, but clearly this hadn't been the case, it made her feel a lot more down to earth in a sense, and it made Twilight feel glad, as it would mean she wouldn't some day disconnect herself from her emotions.

By now the food had gotten cold however and Luna had decided to make some more, she said she could reheat it all but it would taste better fresh, especially since this was a family dinner now, so she put these aside for another day as she started to make a new batch.

Twilight and Celestia were now the ones sitting across from one another in an awkward silence and once again Celestia had opted for saying something first. "So… A dream walker huh? How does that feel?"

"Huh? Oh, uhm… It felt… Like it was meant to be? It's kind of hard to explain, don't you know already princess?" Twilight asked a bit uncertain about how it had felt.

"No, unfortunately I was never able to do it myself, you need a special connection to the night for that." Celestia replied.

"Oh, right, Luna told me that before, but I meant more like hasn't Luna told you how it felt princess? Or any of the other dream walkers of the past?" Twilight wondered why Luna had never told Celestia if that had been the case, though she herself was struggling for words on how to explain the sensation of moving from dream to dream.

"Other dream walkers?" Celestia seemed truly surprised by this. "Luna never told me there had been more then her, she said it was too difficult to explain to somepony who couldn't do it and that she could only do it thanks to her connection to the night, I had always assumed that meant it was simply her talent and other ponies couldn't do it."

"You thought wrong sister!" Luna shouted from the kitchen, obviously having heard.

"It's not polite to listen in on the conversations of others Luna!" Celestia shouted back.

"What?" Luna shouted back.

"I said it's not polite to listen to other ponies speak!" Celestia once more shouted.

Luna now opened the door and looked at them. "Sorry, what was that? It's hard to hear from the kitchen."

Celestia sighed. "I said it's not polite to listen in."

"Oh, I wasn't sister, I just passed the door as I was taking some cheese from the refrigerator, wonderful device by the way… Also, would either of you like some cheese on your burgers?" Luna answered and asked as she walked back into the kitchen.

"I do!" Twilight shouted and looked at Celestia. "You simply have to try them with cheese, Luna is like a magician with them, it was a bit strange to eat her burgers at first, but their delicious."

Celestia chuckled. "I suppose I'll have them with cheese aswell then."

"Coming right up." Luna happily said as she went back into the kitchen with a spring in her step.

Once Luna closed the door, Celestia turned to Twilight once more. "I have to say though, I didn't think Luna was that good at cooking, or liked it that much."

Twilight smiled. "Well, she's not great with every kind of dish, just those with a certain food in it, and she seems to like to cook when family is involved as she says… It still feel weird, you know? Knowing that I was born so long ago and that Luna is my godmother… I should tell my family about this at some point now that I think about it."

"Yes, that would likely be a good idea." Celestia then said with a gentle feel to her eyes. "Would you like me to tell them?"

"You princess? Why?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I was the one to place you in front of their house without an explanation, I figured it would be best I would also be the one to tell them about how you were actually born a millennia ago and Luna is your godmother, I figured it would come across better if I told them about the whole… Situation." Celestia said slightly awkward.

"Well… Sure, if that's what you want princess, then I know it's for the best." Twilight knew Celestia wouldn't lie to her about this and it did make sense, hearing it from the princess would validate it as she wouldn't joke about something like this, not to mention that it would make it easier to introduce them to Luna later on rather then while explaining it, since Luna would likely want to go with her for moral support.

"Also, you can stop calling me princess now, once everything is settled you'll hold the same tittle afterall, and you already call my sister by her name." Celestia replied.

Before anything else was said, the door to the kitchen opens up with Luna floating a new batch of curly fries and burgers onto the table. "That's because she likes me better Tia, no need to be jealous."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she loves you Lulu." Celestia teased as she took hold of one of the burgers at the same time as Twilight and took a bite out of it after Twilight had already taken a large bite herself. "Hmm, these hayburgers taste peculiar."

"Their not hayburgers, their cheeseburgers." Luna replied, slightly annoyed her sister called her Lulu.

"These are made out of cheese?" Celestia asked as she lifted the bun to look a bit closer.

"What? No, why does everypony ask that? Their just regular montre patties with cheese and vegetables over them" Luna replied as she took a bite out of her own.

"… Doesn't montre mean monster in ancient Equestrian? Are… Are these made of meat?" Celestia asked, before she looked at the patty in the bun once more and then at both Luna and Twilight who were eating theirs happily, at which point she quickly ran for the bathroom.

"Huh, I didn't take Tia for a strict vegetarian." Luna said as her sister ran for the bathroom with a sick look on her face.

Twilight looked at the cheeseburger that Celestia had taken a small bit out of. "I didn't know what to think the first time I realized it myself… But I'm glad I decided to come back and ask you more about it, when you told me the meat wasn't from any sapient beings I felt relieved, and I'm kind of glad I didn't just give up on it completely either." Her eyes were now fixed on the cheeseburger on Celestia's place at she finished her own. "It would also be a waste to just throw that away, so… Dibs!" She then quickly grabbed the other burger.





> The lost princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3







*Some time after Discord was turned back to stone*


Twilight was looking at herself in the mirror, as she had often done since things turned back to normal… Well, as normal as could be with a pony named Pinkie living in town.

Twilight had been just silently staring at herself, not really doing anything, she didn't brush her teeth or wash her face during this time of the day lately, at least not for some time before she gathered up some courage like she had been doing each day, as she then checked her teeth to see they were normal and let out a relieving sigh, before checking everything else aswell, her mane and tail were normal, her eyes looked like they always looked, no odd materials on her body or discolorations and… Her new wings looked fine…

"Ugh, why can't I just get over this already? Is it because of the wings? Is that why I keep thinking something is wrong?" The new alicorn sighed once more before she started the rest of her daily ritual as she now actually took her toothbrush into her magic and started to brush, only to check her teeth once more while she was doing so, but since her teeth were the same as ever she kept brushing till she was done, after rinsing she washed her face and went down for a nice breakfast.

Today there was going to be something called the sisterhooves social and Twilight had decided to take the day of to watch it, she was actually looking forward to a simple day for once with everything that seemed to happen lately, not to mention that till she would be officially crowned a princess after she would have learned enough, they had decided for her to hide her wings, which made things a bit harder at times as wearing something over them to hide them was a lot easier, but it had also meant she had to be careful not to accidentally move them as she almost had done once or twice.

She told herself that it would be fine now though, since she was just going to relax a little while watching this event, normally she would have read a book or two to do so, but ever since she realized the book that Discord had given her didn't vanish at all, she had been feeling a bit reluctant to read something, what if he had done something else and she would find herself unable to relax while reading anything else? She knew it was a silly fear and would get over it soon enough, especially since a new Daring Do book was coming out next week and she would be damned if she were to miss that.

But today she would enjoy something else, so she went to the sisterhooves event, it was surprising to see Sweetie Bell participate in the event with Applejack rather then either of them doing so with their sisters, but Twilight decided not to make too much of it and just watch the event.

It had been fun watching them all compete and at the end she was surprised to see that Rarity had switched places with Applejack, Twilight wondered if this was even allowed so she when to ask why they did so and if it was allowed, as it turned out Rarity and Sweetie had had a slight fight before the event and this was meant to make things right again, Twilight also noticed that none of them said if it had been legal or not, but because of the lesson learned and not wanting to cause some new friction, she decided to leave it at that.

The rest of the day went by normal and at one point Twilight had even opted to try and read again, letting out a big sigh of relief as she realized everything was fine, before she was slightly annoyed with herself for even thinking she could ever lose her love for reading, no matter what anypony else did to her.

Later that night she looked at herself in the mirror once more, this time however, she felt foolish for ever doubting herself. "I can't believe I was worried over nothing, it was obviously all some kind of trick." Twilight said to herself as she started to turn around and head for the door. "It's not like my eyes would just suddenly change just because I wanted to see how they had looked like." She closed her eyes as she chuckled to herself and opened the door, not noticing the small flicker of a lavender flame that had just passed her eyelids as she headed into her bedroom, before she wondered why everything had suddenly seemed a lot brighter even if it was supposed to be dark here, before she closed her eyes once more, yet again not noticing the small flame and when she opened them this time, everything looked as she had expected.







*Seven months after Discord was resealed, Hearts and Hooves day*


Twilight was humming to herself that morning as she had a certain spring to her step while walking with Pinkie and Dash to get some breakfast.

"Wow, I've never seen you so chipper in the morning Twi." Dash said. "Normally at this time of day you'd be grumbling about it being too early and not wanting to leave your bed for several more hours, and that's when we actually have something planned! What made you get up so early?"

"I don't really know to be honest, I've always felt more energized on this day." Twilight replied, a smile on her face that could match Pinkie's, which it did.

"Oh! Perhaps it's because of all the sweet smells that come from all the pieces of candy and beverages made on this day! I always wake up early to make some for all my super duper friends on this day." Pinkie said with a chipper sound as she took out two small bags. "Speaking off, these are for you two."

Dash looked inside the one given to her and took out a small heart shaped piece of candy, before reading what it said. "To my bestest fastest superist flying friend in the whole wide world… How did you manage to put all this on such a small piece Pinkie?" Dash asked before looking at Twilight. "What's on yours Tw… Did you already eat them?"

Twilight who had taken one look inside the bag she was given, only to then instantly put her whole head into the bag and scarf down the pieces of chocolate candy as quickly as it would take to blink, and by now had her muzzle covered in chocolate, looked over at Dash sheepishly. "Urm… Maybe?"

Dash looked a bit perplexed. "What the? Since when were you such candy lover?"

"Oh, is it because I made yours from chocolate? I ran out of regular sugar for personal usage, all the rest was meant for the bakery, so I made yours out of chocolate, I didn't know you loved it so much." Pinkie seemed obviously pleased that her friend had loved them so much.

"Hehe, yeah, I do love chocolate, it's my one weakness you could say… Though normally I can at least hold back a little, there's something about this day that just makes me unable to hold back." Twilight thought back to the first time she had chocolate on Hearts and Hooves day. "I think it all started when I was still a little filly and some classmate gave me a box of fancy chocolates, I never understood why he gave me that, I never even saw him that often, just during classes, so it's not like we were friends."

"… Seriously Twi? You should be glad that Rarity isn't here." Dash had a deadpan look in her eyes as she looked at Twilight.

"Why? What did I say?" Twilight asked, seemingly completely oblivious.

"Isn't it obvious? That kid likely liked you Twi, I mean sure friends give other friends stuff like candy and chocolate at times on this day, but it's mostly just obligatory candy, the only other time chocolates are given, especially fancy ones, is when they like you!" Dash nearly shouted that last part but had managed to not shout it too loudly so everypony could hear, as she then crossed her front hooves while flying. "Hmph! I can't believe the egghead even got some candy or chocolates from somepony other then a friend before." Dash then grumbled to herself.

This led to Twilight blushing furiously while trying to convince Dash that it wasn't like that, as Dash tried to tell her that she was just oblivious to the whole thing and that Twilight didn't even seemed to notice that both stallions and mares often stared at her, which made Twilight slowly turn more and more red as she told Dash that it was just because she was Celestia's student.







*Roughly around the same time, far away in the badlands*


A changeling queen named Chrysalis wakes, the love that reached the hive from a nearby village was felt quite strongly, normally such an amount of love would be enough to feed the hive for several weeks, but since it came from that far away it had little nourishment and tasted sour, not to mention that while it may be plentiful, it was spread through the air too much to actually be stored, so they would only eat it if they were starving, but then again, Chrysalis' hive was never starving, she made sure to have harvesters all over Equestria, and after a day like today they would certainly bring back a ton of it.

That still didn't take away the sour taste in the air though, and sour love unlike sour candy tasted vile, so she couldn't sleep in on days like these, much to her displeasure.

So the queen decided to take another look at some of the old reports she had, especially the one mentioning the return of Nightmare Moon and how she was beaten by a unicorn and her friends who used the elements of harmony, the report had plenty of conjunctures rather then actual facts, but that was to be expected when nopony gave a formal statement as to what had happened, likely to protect Celestia's sister Luna, but the changeling could make a better guess as to what had happened then a pony would, since they knew the truth from so long ago.

Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon afterall, the elements had likely been used to destroy the power she had wielded as Nightmare Moon, and Celestia being the optimist she had become over the years would likely had hoped that would make her sister remorseful for what had happened.

"Hmph, still the same fool she has always been, if anything Luna would just act like that and then turn on you the moment she would regain her former might, like she did to me so long ago…" Chrysalis said before she sighed, having just remembered an old wound in her heart. "They both deserve to be punished for what they did to us, but with that foolish sun princess still at full power and those element wielders at their beck and call, we can't even get near them, let alone that created alicorn that Celestia sees as a niece now and Luna recovering, there's nothing we can do… If only there was some way to get them all together and let down their guard, then we could just take them all out in one fell swoop!" She slammed her holed hoof down onto her throne.

A changeling came running into the throne room looking out of breath, as if having run all the way here from Canterlot in one go, it would certainly explain why there had been no warning through the hivemind. "Fastfoot? Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to spy on that mare Celestia calls a niece?" Chrysalis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You did… I found… Something… You'll find… Interesting…" Fastfoot said out of breath, before holding up a piece of paper and falling to the floor as he tried to get his breath back.

The queen used her magic to float the piece of paper towards her as she let him rest while reading it, as she did though, a grin started to appear on her face. "This is… Quite interesting indeed, and your sure this information is correct Fastfoot?"

The changeling on the ground was still too much out of breath to respond properly, but he did manage to nod and produce another piece of paper. "This… Is from Nightwatch…"

"Nightwatch? Hmm, isn't he the one I had check out the family of that unicorn that holds the elements of magic?" Chrysalis thought to herself as she floated to other piece of paper towards herself and read this one aswell, before a large fanged smile appeared on her face and she connected to the hivemind. "It's time! Prepare yourselves, we've found the perfect time for our revenge! And with the perfect pawns aswell! We have a wedding to attend to! And we only got about half a year to prepare."







*About half a year later, give or take a few days, 2001 AH, Ponyville*


Twilight and her friends are having a nice picnic on a beautiful day as Spike comes running along, he then stops in front of her as he tries to catch his breath and starts to speak. "Twi... light! ...I... have... Lemme just…" He then belches up a letter and falls to the ground.

Twilight decides to let him rest as she picks up the letter and begins to read. "Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot." She stops and looks at the others in confusion. "Wedding?" As she then focuses on the letter once more. "I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music."

"Oh my goodness, what an honor." Fluttershy replied as she smiled.

Twilight continues the letter. "Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception."

Pinkie does some flips over their picnic, even going over the cake they brought with them in the process. "Hip, hip, hooray!"

While fixing the damage Pinkie did to the picnic, Twilight continues. "Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception."

"Well, color me pleased as punch!" Applejack replied.

"Rainbow Dash–" As Twilight continues Dash let's out a yawn, expecting it to be boring. "...I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their "I do's."

Dash suddenly seems really exited as she flies a few feet into the air and yells. "Yes!"

"Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids." Twilight then continues and looks towards Rarity.

Rarity seems flabbergasted for a moment. "Princess Celestia wants me to–" She seems to spasm slightly while trying to say something that comes out as unintelligible. "...Wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding... I, ah, ooh, oooh!" She then proceeds to faint with a big smile on her face.

Twilight decides to read the last part of the letter however. "And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight seems a bit confused as she checks the letter once more aswell as the backside. "But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?"

"Oh, wait! Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first." Spike then says as he pulls out another letter.

Twilight then reads the new letter to her friends. "Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and…" She then gasps as her eyes go wide. "My brother?!"

Everypony there gathers around Twilight as Applejack is the first to speak as she shakes her hoof, genuinely happy for her. "Yer brother's getting' married? Congratulations Twilight!"

Twilight however seems displeased as she rolls her eyes. "Yeah, great news. That I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot, Shining Armor. I mean, really, he couldn't tell me personally?" Twilight picks up a sandwich and makes it act as if it was her brother and flaps the pieces of bread up and down as if talking. "Hey, Twilight, just thought you should know I'm making a really big decision that changes everything. Oh, never mind, you'll hear about it when you get the invitation." She then drops the fake voice. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Who in the hoof is that?!" She then snorts some hot air out of her nostrils.

Fluttershy flies up to her. "Um, Twilight? Are you okay?"

Twilight looks slightly sad. "Sorry, it's just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He's my B.B.B.F.F!" After a small silence as the others seem confused. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever?" At this point the rest let out a big 'oh'.

Pinkie decided to speak up. "It is a bit odd that he wouldn't have mentioned it to you when you told your family about becoming an alicorn, and soon a princess of your own, I doubt anypony would get engaged and married in about a year, so it's not like he didn't have any opportunity there either."

Twilight froze up slightly from this.

". . . You did tell them, right?" Applejack asked as she noticed Twilight's odd reaction.

"I couldn't! I'm still being trained by Luna to act appropriately and we promised to keep it a secret from anypony else!" Twilight replied in panic, undoing the illusion on her wings. "I even have to keep up this illusion for anypony else to prevent them from finding out to quickly!"

"Ah'm fairly certain that don't include family, Twilight." Applejack then said as she put a hoof around Twilight. "And you can't expect them to tell ya if your keepin' your distance and not tellin' them stuff like this yourself."

Twilight sighs a little bit in defeat. "I know, but I still hoped he would at least try and let me know he was even seeing somepony in the first place, I don't even know who this princess is." She sighs again. "Before I came to Ponyville and learned how important friendship was, he was the only pony I ever really accepted as my friend." She then went into a little song about her brother.

And once the song was over, Applejack mentioned he sounded like a really good guy, which Twilight agreed with as they don't let just anypony become the captain of the royal guard, that in turn made Rarity even more exited and faint once more as the rest besides Twilight herself seemed really exited aswell.



=====+++=====



On the train to Canterlot, Applejack noticed that Twilight is still looking a bit down as the others are having fun and decides to talk to her. "Why the long face, sugarcube?"

Twilight stares out of the window as she replies. "I'm just thinking about Shining Armor. Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this "Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername", we'll probably never see each other."

"Come on, now. You're his sister. He'll always make time for you." Applejack replies supportively.

Twilight seems slightly angry as she replies. "Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!"

"Now that ain't fair, sugarcube, you didn't even tell him about your whole becomin' a princess thing." Applejack bounced back, and stopped Twilight from replying instantly. "And no, the whole we promised not to tell anypony thing ain't gonna cut it, as Ah'm sure family doesn't count, especially if your brother is the captain of the royal guard."

Twilight was about to retort with something else, but couldn't really find anything and just sighed. "I know… But it just feels like I'm losing him and I didn't even get to prepare for it, at least with my transformation my life won't change that much, if nothing else it would likely require me to be in Canterlot more often, which would let us see each other more."

"Don't worry, Ah'm sure it'll all work out in the end, you'll see." Applejack comfortingly replied.

A bit later they arrived at the outer edge of some kind of magical bubble shield that covers the whole of Canterlot and the two guards standing outside of it next to the track make it passable just around where the train goes through, as they pass through it Twilight suddenly gets an odd feeling in her head, and hears some kind of faint whisper.

"Ugh, who's whispering at me?" Twilight said to herself as she looks around to find nopony close near her. "What's going on here?"

As they stop at the station they notice it's completely filled with guards and Dash mentions it, to which Rarity mentions it's likely because of the wedding and that they should get started on their work.

Applejack looks at Twilight. "And you've got a brother to congratulate."

"Yeah, congratulate, and then give him a piece of my mind." Twilight retorted.

"Now, now, keep in mind your keepin' secrets from him too, ya should let him know aswell by the way, before your mind starts playing tricks on you out of guilt." Applejack said as she turned around to head for the kitchens.

Twilight grumbled a bit, but heads for the barracks, knowing her brother will likely be there.



=====+++=====



Once there Shining Armor, Twilight's brother is busy giving commands, as Twilight then starts talking. "I've got something to say to you mister!"

Shining looks over the balustrade and sees her. "Twily!" He then heads down the stairs on the side. "Ah, I've missed you kid, how was the train ride? Did you get bigger? I-"

Twilight interrupts him before he can finish as she pulls away from him. "How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I'm your sister, for pony's sake!"

"It's not my fault! Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?" Shining asked in response.

Twilight walks off slightly while angry. "Yeah, there's a big wedding coming up. Maybe you heard about it?"

Shining walks up to her. "It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia asked that I help provide additional protection. This, you need to see." He then proceeds to gather magical energy and feeds it to the giant shield, leaving him slightly dazed for a second before regaining himself. "The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hand has been my top priority."

Twilight sighs as she understands it slightly. "Okay, okay, I get it. You've got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field only you can conjure up. But still... how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? Am I not that important to you any more?"

Reassuringly Shining stands next to her. "Hey. You're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now."

"You want me to be your best mare?" Twilight then asked slightly more exited, to which Shining just reacted with a yeah as if it was the most normal thing to expect. "I'd be honored! But I'm still pretty ticked you're marrying somepony I don't even know! When did you even meet this 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'?" Twilight asked in return.

"Twily, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadance, your old foalsitter." Shining replied in turn.

Twilight was about to say something about that when she suddenly hears the whispers again, louder this time and almost as if some kind of order was being given, it made her head hurt slightly just trying to ignore it.

Shining picked up on that her head suddenly hurt because she moved her hoof towards it. "Are you alright Twily?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I've just been hearing some kind of whispers and it's hurting my head a little, perhaps I just got too much on my mind right now." Twilight replied while still rubbing the side of her head.

"Whispers? Like what? Should we scry for hidden messages?" Shining asked in concern.

Twilight sighs as she remembers her conversation with Applejack before. "I doubt it, I haven't been using a spell to detect anything myself in the first place, it's likely more because I've been meaning to tell you something and it's my mind trying to tell me not to blame you for not telling me when I haven't told you either, like my friend was trying to tell me."

Shining raises an eyebrow at this. "Tell me something? Your not going to tell me your getting married aswell are you?" He then asks jokingly, before doing a fake gasp. "Or have you already been married!?"

Twilight rolls her eyes in response before replying sarcastically. "Sure, that's what I was trying to tell you."

"So who's the lucky guy?" Shining asked, continuing the joke.

Twilight chuckled for a moment. "Like I'd ever tell you now if there even was some somepony I liked, and who's to say it would be a guy?"

"… Alright, now I'm actually interested, do you actually have somepony you like?" Shining then asked.

"Nah, don't worry BBBFF, your not getting rid of me that easily." Twilight said as she heard a slight whisper once more.

It didn't hurt this time though, but before Twilight could react to it, a pink alicorn walked in on them. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." The pink alicorn asked, who was then taken back slightly when Twilight looked straight into her eyes. "Those eyes, their almost just like… No, that can't be." The alicorn thought to herself.

"Cadance? Oh my gosh! Cadance! That's right, he did say you were Mi amo-" Twilight suddenly grasped her head as another loud whisper she couldn't make out went through her head once more, this one felt like an order aswell. "Ugh…"

Cadance raised an eyebrow at this and looked at Shining. "What's wrong with her?"

"Twily said she's been hearing some kind of voices and getting a headache." Shining replied.

"I'm fine, I think it's just my mind telling me to tell Shining something, don't worry about it Cadance, but why are you here anyway?" Twilight asked while rubbing her head.

"Is she another changeling from another hive? A sleeper agent perhaps? Then is the elements of magic already taken care of? And why does she look so familiar to me?" Cadance who is in fact Chrysalis in disguise thought to herself, before deciding to not use the hivemind for a while and told her changelings to cease hive communications for a while, causing another reaction from Twilight and proving it likely to be true.

Cadance now walks up to Twilight. "Do you want to rest a bit? We can always pick this up later." Chrysalis was actually a bit concerned at this point, mostly because this could ruin some of the plans, but also because while certain hives didn't always get along as well as others, she always cared for any innocent changelings.

Twilight picked up on Cadance's concern for her and shook her head. "No, I'll be fine, I just think I really should tell him by now… Ah! But you likely already know huh Cadance? The princess would have told you already, so I guess I could show him while you’re here… Speaking of, your marrying my brother!" A small sound of glee came from Twilight. "This is so exiting!"

This made Shining chuckle for a bit. "So then, what was this important thing that you kept hidden from me Twilight?"

"Ah well, I wanted to tell you and mom and dad, but I thought that princess Celestia and Luna had meant for me to hide it from everypony, looking back it seems rather silly that they would have wanted to keep it hidden from my family so…" Twilight was interrupted by Shining.

"Twily, your babbling right now, and what's so important that the princesses wanted to keep hidden? If it's some kind of state secret then I'm not sure I'm allowed to know of it." Shining said, slightly concerned. "Also, if this is about the whole apparently your from another time period thing, princess Celestia has already told our parents and me." He then added.

"Different time period?" Cadance asked, slightly wondering what this meant.

"I'll tell you later, my love." Shining replied, before quickly adding. "Unless that's what this is actually about."

"Ah, no, it's not about that, though it is good to know she already told you like she promised to… But no, this is about something else." Twilight said. "Right, so… To tell this I should start at the start, you both know how my friends and I beat Discord a while back, right?" She then asked, making both Shining and Cadance nod, Chrysalis had read about it briefly in one of her reports and assumed Cadance would know aswell. "Good, that will make this a bit easier, Discord did something to all of us at first and I helped overcome what he did to my friends, then once we beat him we turned everything back to normal… Well, besides one thing he did to me, which is why I'm now using an illusion spell on myself that Luna taught me."

Shining instantly became worried. "Are you alright? What did he do to you!? Are you in pain!?"

Twilight waved her hooves in the air. "No, no, he didn't do anything that hurt me or anything, and we actually reversed what he did, it's more like because we overcame it a part of it turned real for me, but it's not anything bad!" As she tried to calm down her brother, she started by putting up a small illusion barrier around them. "The thing that happened is… Well, this." Twilight then undid the illusion magic on her wings, showing them both she's now an alicorn, causing both to look at her with a baffled look. "Uhm… Surprise?"

Shining slowly regains his senses. "Your… A princess now? When were you planning to tell me?"

"I'm not a princess yet! I'm just… An alicorn now, Luna is still teaching me to be a princess…" Twilight said meekly at this point, coming close to a good Fluttershy impression.

"She became one after they defeated Discord? Then it must have been before she was replaced… Unless the element wielder has been a changeling all along, that could complicate things on it's own… And those wings and eyes, it's almost like… No, keep it together Chrysalis, this is all just a coincidence, she's gone… And why wasn't this in any reports? My changelings followed Cadance around everywhere to know all she knew… Did she not know either? Celestia must not have trusted her enough." Chrysalis thought to herself.

Shining looks at Cadance who still has the same baffled look as she was too deep in thought to change it. "You didn't know either my love?"

Cadance then snaps out of it. "Oh! Uh… No, perhaps it was something that was being kept from us afterall, it would seem like Celestia would tell you, her captain of the guard afterall, especially since she's your sister."

Twilight then started to slightly panic. "Oh no! So I was right afterall?! I wasn't supposed to tell anypony, not even my family, what am I going to do!?"

Cadance and Shining both blinked for a moment, as 'Cadance' got a small moment of weakness and felt the need to console her, though that was likely more because she now knew this Twilight was a changeling herself. "Calm down Twilight, deep breaths, I didn't mean it like that, she likely just didn't want to worry us, she won't be angry at you, and we can keep it a secret for now if you really want, right Shining?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, don't worry Twily, I won't let anything happen to you, and I'll take this secret to the grave if need be." Shining put a hoof to his chest to appear as knightly as can be.

As Twilight takes a few deep breaths as told, she slowly calms down. "Thanks, but let's not go quite that far BBBFF, I wouldn't want to lose you over keeping a secret."

A smile appeared on Shining's face as he headed over to Cadance and put a hoof around her. "Right, well I've gotta get back to my station now, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?"

"Hmm? Oh! Right, I nearly forgot about that with all this." Cadance then smiled gently at Twilight. "I couldn't be happier to have you here." She then said as she was glad that this Twilight was at least another changeling like her, though it would mean she would have to work out how to get the hivemind to work without this one noticing at least.

Seeing Cadance's genuine smile, Twilight couldn't help but smile back herself as she headed out to do her job aswell, after reapplying her personal illusion on the wings of course.



=====+++=====



A bit later Twilight was in the kitchens with her notepad that had the checklist on it, as she watched Applejack go over everything she was doing.

The first thing Applejack was working on was a giant wedding cake… Okay, perhaps not as big as Pinkie would likely make if she was given the chance, but it was still a giant cake for regular ponies. "Cake, check." She then said before heading to the ice sculpture as Twilight checked it off in her list. "Ice sculpture, check." Applejack said while putting the finishing touches to it and Twilight checked it off with a smile, before Applejack ran towards the oven. "Best darn bite-size apple fritter you ever tasted…" She then said as she took out a tray of them, before shoving one of the earlier ones she had made that had the chance to cool already into Twilight's mouth.

"Hmm~ Check~" Twilight said as she swallowed the delicious goodness that was forced in her mouth, before she heard Spike playing with the bride and groom figures for on top the cake and chuckles before she took them from him and placed them on the table. "I didn't know you liked playing with dolls." She then said as she made a little fun of him.

"Hey, their not dolls! Their act… Normal figures, I was just playing out how the wedding would go in my head." Spike replied as he crossed his arms and looked away from her, before he heard Twilight chuckle and looked at her once more. "Your awfully chipper all of a sudden, after what happened this morning and all, what happened?"

"I found out who the bride is, it's Cadance." Twilight said practically beaming.

"Your old foal sitter? That Cadance?" Spike asked as Twilight nodded. "I thought the name sounded familiar, that's great! You've always liked her like a sister in the first place, now you'll actually be sisters."

"I know, isn't it great?" Twilight replied as the doors to the kitchen opened and Cadance came walking in.

"Hiya princess." Applejack quickly replied before doing a slight bow with her head.

Cadance now being in a slightly good mood because of earlier, smiled at Applejack as she recalled what Twilight had called her. "Please, any friend of Twilight can just call me Cadance."

"Hiya, Cadance. You come to check out what's on the menu for your big day?" Applejack then quickly asked in reply.

"I have." Cadance replied and followed Applejack who then showed her a platter of her special apple fritters, Cadance looked at them as she remembered the nostalgic feeling she had had earlier on and remembered a memory from the past. "Starswirl always loved apple fritters." A small genuine smile appearing on her face as she had that thought, she then levitated one to her mouth and took a bite out of it, remembering even more times from her past and smiling even more. "Their delicious." She then said genuinely meaning it, and nearly letting her voice quiver a bit from the memory, but luckily she had managed to prevent that.

"Aw, shucks. Why don't you take a few to go?" Applejack presented a bag filled with them to Cadance, who took them with her magic. "I know how you brides can be. So busy, you forget to get a little somethin' in your belly." She said as she continued with her cooking.

Cadance smiled a bit as she walked outside, sneaking one of them out of the bag and biting into it, remembering the past once more. "Perhaps… Perhaps I'll have her make me some more in the future once I take over." Were her thoughts as she headed for the next thing she had to do.


=====+++=====


Chrysalis had head to a part of the castle where not many ponies came, for a small meeting with one of her changelings in disguise, the changeling in question being one of the castle guards right now, as they closed the doors and checked for any magical spells that could be used to listen in on them, after making sure it was safe the changeling started. "My queen." He then bowed to her. "Why did you tell us to cease hive communications?" He asked, still slightly puzzled from before, as many of their comrades were right now.

"I found a sleeper agent and didn't want to cause any internal issues with another hive, as I never gave the order for this position." Chrysalis said as she reverted back to her royal form.

The changeling, now feeling comfortable enough to revert to his own form aswell, did so. "But your highness, surely they would understand, and once you've taken control here, you could simply send plenty of love as payment for such a thing, or offer them something else."

"The position this one has taken is Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student, sister to the groom and apparently the one Princess Mi Amore Cadenza used to foalsit, if she were to suddenly make sense of the hivemind and mention what she heard, it could make things quite difficult, Nightwatch." Chrysalis replied.

"I see, that would make things a bit difficult indeed, but how will we relay orders then your highness?" Nightwatch asked. "There are quite a few changelings getting anxious right now." He quickly added.

Chrysalis seemed to think for a moment. "Let some of them know everything is fine, and that it is merely a precaution measure to prevent detection till it's too late. Also tell them that I trust them to act naturally and that they should pass this on to any other changelings they can, but not go for too many or make it seem obvious, I trust them to not let these ponies notice anything off."

"As you say, your highness… Your highness? If you don't mind me asking, but why did you promote me to a commanding rank? I hardly did anything." Nightwatch asked, feeling like he didn't deserve such a spot.

"You provided me with some important information Nightwatch, as did Fastfoot, he would have been granted the same position as you, but he said he was better of as a runner because of his speed, so I give him a similar rank as I gave you but for the runners, you've always been a great spy however and I felt like this rank would allow for your expertise to rub off on those under your command." Chrysalis replied with a regal posture.

Nightwatch bowed before her. "You honor me, your highness, I will do all I can to make sure not to betray your expectations."

"I trust that you won't Nightwatch." Chrysalis said before turning back into Cadance. "Now let us return, before anypony get's suspicious."

Nightwatch turned back into his royal guard disguise. "As you say, your highness." He did one last bow before the both of them headed out, Nightwatch heading for the nearest changeling to relay Chrysalis' message to them, while Cadance continued her own duties.



=====+++=====



"It's been ages since I last seen her, but I'm glad she's still the same caring pony I've known since my foalhood, I'm just so happy it's Cadance that my brother is marrying." Twilight gleefully said as she walked around with a spring in her step while talking to Rarity.

"Did I hear somepony say my name?" Cadance said as she walked into the room.

Rarity instantly headed for the princess and slid into place before her. "Your highness! Let me just start by saying what an honor it is to play a role in such a momentous occasion." Rarity said as she then laughed slightly nervously.

With a small smile, Cadance looked at Rarity. "No need to be so formal, how is my dress? Is it ready yet?"

"Yes, of course." Rarity said as she led Cadance to the dress "I've been working on it ever since I was given the assignment, and I think you'll be pleased with the results!" She then smiled wide with her pearly white teeth.

Cadance inspected the dress. "Hmm, I was hoping for something with more beading and a longer train…" She said as she looked around the room to look for Twilight. "What do you think Twilight?" She then asked.

"Huh? Me? Well, I think Rarity's designs are always really great, though I do suppose a longer train is more traditional for wedding dresses." Twilight replied.

Cadance nodded. "Alright, I'll trust your judgement then." She looked back at Rarity. "Could you make it so the train is a bit longer then?"

"Why yes, of course, just making it longer should be no problem at all, but if you really want more beading, then I could certainly do so." Rarity replied.

"No need, I trust Twilight, and she trusts you, so that's enough for me." Cadance replied, before she wondered to herself just why she trusted Twilight so much, it certainly wasn't just because she was another changeling, right? But she quickly pushed away said thoughts as it didn't matter now that she had already said it, so instead she looked at the bridesmaids dresses. "Hmm, I wonder if these colors would match my bridesmaids, is there any chance we can alter them?"

The bridesmaids there all said they liked them, before Rarity looked at them. "Hmm, I suppose there are some colors that suit them better, but that could have them shine more then you, your highness, and we all know that the bride should shine the most." Rarity replied.

Cadance was about to say something about it being true and perhaps it should remain as is then, but for some reason she felt generous and happy today and decided against it. "That's alright, I want them to look as best as they can, it's a special occasion for them aswell.

"Why yes, of course, your quite right there, princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Rarity said with a newfound appreciation for the princess.

Cadance held a hoof to Rarity's mouth. "Please, like I said to Twilight's other friend, any friend of Twilight can just call me Cadance." She then removed the hoof.

"Why, if that is your wish, very well then Princess Cadance." Rarity replied, which was greeted in turn by another small chuckle from Cadance, before she and Twilight left.



=====+++=====



A bit later in the area that is planned to be used for the reception.

Pinkie appears behind Cadance. "Okay, let me see. We've been over the games…" Pinkie says as she then heads over to one side of the room and rattles some dice onto a board game before running back to Cadance. "...the dances…" Pinkie activates a record player and polka from Swarm of the Century plays and stops as she does a small dance, before running back once more. "I think this reception is gonna be perfect! Don't you?" She then asks.

"Uhm… I don't know, isn't some of this a bit too… Foalish?" Cadance asks, not wanting to hurt the Pink pony's feelings, before also wondering why she doesn't want to, before this day she had planned to not care and just do what she had wanted to. "I mean, it would be perfect for any foals at the party."

Pinkie then gasps and says thank you in an exited way, before Cadance continues. "But shouldn't we also have some more mature stuff for everypony else?"

Twilight who was looking around the room walks up to them. "Hmm, she may have a point Pinkie, it's not like this is a birthday or anything, perhaps some quiet songs like a slow shuffle could be added into the mix for a more romantic feeling."

"Hmm, I'll have to see if I have any in stock." Pinkie said as she pulled out a box filled with records from seemingly nowhere and started to rummage through it. "I'm sorry for not taking into consideration the romantic aspect Cadance."

"That's quite alright Pinkie, I suppose you haven't done many wedding parties before now… Oh, you’re the first one of Twilight's friends to call me Cadance from the start." Cadance said.

Pinkie bounced around with a smile on her face. "Well of course, you've been going around telling all of us to do so in the chapter so far."

"Uh… Chapter? What is she…?" Cadance asked looking at Twilight who just shakes her head and motioned for her to not question it. "Right… Well, I really should be off now, I'll see you at the wedding." Cadance said before heading out, but not before taking out a familiar brown bag and eating something from it.



=====+++=====



Later that day as night has recently hit, a small hole appears in the force shield that protects Canterlot, before Luna flies through it and closes behind her, she then lands next to Celestia who was keeping watch from the highest tower of the castle.

Luna walked up to Celestia. "I will take over the protection for the night while Twilight is here, so you should get some rest while you can sister." Luna told her sister.

"Thank you sister, though it would be nice if you could take over a bit more often if possible." Celestia replied.

"There are plenty of guards for other nights, I'm only doing this for Twilight, and I can safeguard the night itself while protecting the dreams of ponies without actually being here all the time. Plus I have no intention of being an actual princess anymore sister, so stop trying to get me to come back" Luna coldly replied with a determined look in her eyes.

Celestia cringes slightly before sighing. "Very well, but at least come visit me every so often… I really did miss you sister."

"Hmm, I will consider it… But go now, you'll need your rest for the morning." Luna said as she took her place to watch over the peace of the night.

Celestia then took of with a small smile, as she had gotten at least some hope today.

Meanwhile, at a café not too far away from the castle, Twilight walked over to her friends at a table outside with her drink. "Bet I can guess what you're all thinking. Cadance is the greatest bride-to-be ever." She said as she placed her drink down, getting approved looks from all of them.

Spike took out the bridal figurine and put on a higher pitch voice, as he tried to make it sound like the figure was talking. "Who me?"

Applejack looked disapprovingly at Spike. "Spike! That goes on the cake." She then said, making the little dragon put the figure on the table and chuckling nervously.

"She was an absolute doll, not many brides care to have their bridesmaids look as good as possible, to the point that it might in fact make them look less on their own wedding, though I do hope to improve her dress to make sure that doesn't happen." Rarity said with a determined look.

"She absolutely loved your apple fritters by the way Applejack, I saw her eat some of them after we were done with Pinkie." Twilight added, which elicited a happy 'aw shucks' from Applejack.

"She was really nice to one of my birds when he sang off-key, and he was really off-key." Fluttershy said as she took out a bird who then proceeded to make a sound that a bad horn would make, making the closest nearby act slightly in surprise.

"Well I wouldn't know." Dash suddenly said. "I was too busy practicing my sonic rainboom to notice her."

"This is going to be the best wedding ever!" Twilight exclaimed.



=====+++=====



The wedding rehearsal the next day had gone off without any problems, well, almost none, it seemed like Cadance's bridesmaids had apparently only been there because they wanted to meet Canterlot royalty and not for her, so Twilight's friends were asked to be the bridesmaids instead, which they happily accepted.

The day after that was the actual wedding, and everything was proceeding smoothly, but in Chrysalis' mind she was starting to wonder if she should go through with it, seeing as the changeling pretending to be Twilight was truly happy for her brother, which made Chrysalis think that if that sleeper agent was to remain as such it could potentially hurt her, plus she didn't really need to marry Shining Armor for her plan to work, she just needed to have all the important pieces together so she could take care of them.

Unfortunately it seemed that Luna wasn't there, but seeing as she had kept watch these past few nights she was likely too tired to stay awake, or it might be that she's taking care of keeping watch during the wedding as Celestia couldn't, regardless though, Chrysalis knew that Luna would still be weakened even if she had had this much time to heal up, afterall the elements were powerful enough to completely imprison Discord in stone twice.

Then there was the element wielder of magic herself who was now replaced by some sleeper agent, so she wasn't an issue, or she had been long ago and in that case it was a simple case of having her remember her actual roots, so that took care of that problem.

Chrysalis had originally wondered if Cadance would pose any issue, but she was taken down the easiest, the young alicorn had no experience with magic it seemed and it had been easy to defeat her, after which a simple anti-magic ring on her horn and tying her up had been enough to keep her quiet, of course the crystal cavern below the castle proved to be a good place to keep her, she had made certain some changelings take care of Cadance while there, it was originally planned just as a backup plan to have a hostage if things went badly, but now she was considering to just release her afterwards, the young alicorn proved to be no issue and Chrysalis had no problem with her personally afterall.

So now all that was left was Celestia herself, as long as she took care of her quickly, then Chrysalis knew Luna would be next and her revenge would be soon achieved, the plans to keep Equestria stable by taking control after that were of no consequence either if Cadance would be released afterwards, not to mention that if this Twilight took control after it, then perhaps this other hive would want to become allies for their help, yes, this was a much better plan and all it would take was for her to not actually marry Shining and instead just get her well earned revenge on Celestia and Luna.

Cadance then heard Celestia say the magic words. "Do you, princess Mi Amore Cadenza, take this colt, Shining Armor, as your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish…"

Celestia was interrupted by Cadance. "I can't continue this farce." Was all Cadance said, as all there gasped, but before any could ask what she meant or respond in any other way then a gasp or a face that wondered what was going on, a green fire came trickling down Cadance as she turned into her royal changeling appearance of the queen she was.

Chrysalis grinned as she stood before Celestia, as she started to focus her magic while Celestia was still in her surprised shock, Chrysalis quickly looked to the side behind Shining for Twilight, a slight wonder if the little changeling would suddenly wake up from her sleeper status, but when she found her, she didn't expect to see what she did though.

Everypony was focused on the event happening before them, as all eyes were locked at Chrysalis, including Twilight's eyes, a feint fear suddenly bursting forth from what had happened with Discord, his words having stung so much and her denial of it all now suddenly shattering as in front of her stood something she had thought made up, this meant there had been a truth to his words.

So then, had Discord been telling Twilight the truth about herself? And as she doubted herself for a moment, a purple flame crawled over her body, though it was quickly followed by another purple flame, making her appearance change only for a second in a rolling way as her normal pony form quickly followed it, undoing the illusion on her wings.

Chrysalis looked shocked and stopped charging her magic however, as what she had seen should not be possible, Twilight's appearances as a changeling couldn't be true, those wings remained as actual pegasus wings, her left hoof had remained the same, the slight discoloration of her carapace, her eyes being like her own yet the color being remaining to be a deep purple and that horn, it looked almost like a smaller version of her own, something that can only be true if they had the same genetics, and then there had been that conversation a few days prior where Twilight had revealed herself as an alicorn and it was mentioned she was from a different time period, she had forgotten to ask Shining later on because of everything else that had happened that day, but it was slowly starting to fall into place.

A second passed for her as things clicked in her head, but before she could react, Celestia suddenly blasted her away from the altar, apparently she too had seen Twilight change for a second and had snapped out of her own daze and as Twilight was now sporting the appearance of an alicorn, Celestia hoped that any that saw the change only saw the wings appearing, not wanting to cause a big commotion however, aswell as not wanting this changeling queen to snap out of it and hit her, she had quickly opted to simply take action before Chrysalis and quickly charged a small spell to fire.

As Chrysalis slid to a halt on the ground, Celestia's guard quickly saw that moment as a opening and grabbed their weapons as they jumped at Chrysalis, only for changelings in the audience to jump before them in order to protect their queen, they would have likely have been pierced as they protected her had it not been for Nightwatch, who was currently in the guard himself and used his weapon to deflect the weapons of the other guards, who looked confused as they were pushed back by him, before the changeling revealed himself.

At this point Chrysalis was standing back on her hooves though and looked at Celestia with a snarl and hatred in her eyes, before she remembered what she had seen and it clicked in her mind once more, this made her heart jump with jo for a second as the hope she had lost so long ago came back, she quickly looked at Twilight, her expression changing almost to one of happiness, until she saw the look of fear in Twilight's eyes as she stared back at Chrysalis, turning her own expression to a more pained expression.

At this point Celestia placed one of her wings over Twilight in a protective way, which made a sudden hatred boil inside Chrysalis as she looked and sneered at Celestia with all the hatred she could muster, making her open the hivemind communications once more. "My daughter is still alive!" Nearly it was filled with a feeling of joy, before she continued. "And Celestia has poisoned her mind! She turned my Twilight into one of her ponies, turned her against us!" The hivemind was now filled with a cesspool of feelings and thoughts, ranging from confusion to hatred of Celestia and compassion for their lost princess, this all happened in an instant and was unheard by anypony not connected to the hivemind.

Then Chrysalis too one step forward and yelled both in the hivemind aswell as out loud. "I will get you for this Celestia! You may have won for now! But I will have her back and you will pay for everything you did to us! You and your sister!" After that statement she spoke quickly and only over the hivemind. "Retreat for now my changelings! We will have our vengeance soon enough!" Before running though Chrysalis took one more look at Twilight, who had cringed slightly each time Chrysalis had spoken over the hivemind as her head hurt, only having understood the words when Chrysalis had spoke at the same speed as she said the same words out loud.

For a moment Chrysalis spoke from the heart through the hivemind at Twilight, nearly in a pleading, gentle and motherly voice. "Please… Please don't be afraid of me, my little Starshine…" And then she looked away and ran towards the window with her changelings who started to jump through it, Chrysalis looked at Shining. "Lower the shield." She said as Shining let it down and Canterlot lost it's protective bubble, allowing the fleeing changelings to escape while taking flight and as Chrysalis took flight herself, she quickly shouted that they'd find a present she left behind in the crystal caverns.

Later on after the shock had vanished and they had checked the caverns to find the actual Cadance, who was just glad to be with her loved ones again, things slowly came to a close for that day, Twilight and her friends didn't know what to think of things as they had all seen what Twilight had looked like during Discord's return, but eventually her friends figured it was still just something Discord had originally done to mess with them, Twilight didn't think so however, especially after having heard Chrysalis talk to her in her mind and sounding how she did, but she kept that to herself for now, Celestia however was slightly panicking, but didn't show it in public, as she kept up a stoic face while others were in the room, she knew she would meet with Luna later that day.



=====+++=====



Luna stared in disbelieve as Celestia had just told her what had happened earlier that day. "You did what!? You mean to tell me that Chrysalis, who you recognized from your fight with her ages ago, was here, then saw Twilight change for a moment and was likely regaining her motherly feelings for her at the time, and you decided to shoot her!?" Luna yelled at Celestia with her royal voice.

Celestia flinched slightly from the volume. "Ow, you don't need to shout Lulu, and it's n…"

Luna interrupted her. "Do not call me that! Do not pretend to be on friendly terms with me! This was the perfect chance to let her know the truth, to undo all those mistakes and to try to forge some trust once more at least, and you ruined it all by acting before thinking. Again! I was a fool to think you learned anything over the past millennium, you could have tried talking to her first after she lowered her guard, or if you felt like you had to, you could have cast a protective spell rather then attack her straight away! Your as bad now as you were ages ago."

"No, please, listen to me sister, I didn't mean to harm her, I-" Celestia tried her best to have Luna listen to her, begging her with her eyes to not judge her.

Luna however, interrupted Celestia once more with a cold look in her eyes. "I have no sister, not anymore, your but a stranger to me now." Luna got up and started to walk towards the door as Celestia was starting to cry, the words hurting more then any wound she ever had, Luna then stopped before she left the room and gave her one last look. "And stay away from Twilight while we're at it, you have done her a great injustice, I see that now, I will do what I can to fix the damage you have caused and you will no longer be her teacher, understood?" Luna stated with as little emotion in her voice as she could, not recognizing Celestia as anypony even worthy of her anger any longer.

Celestia wanted to reply, wanted to make things right with Luna and go back to how things should have been, but she could do nothing, knowing it would change nothing at all, she knew she had no right to continue teaching Twilight either, as she had used her as a tool to get her sister back to normal, which had been pointless as Luna never truly changed in the first place, and while she had had some good times with Twilight, she never truly saw her for the mare she was till it was too late, so all she could do is just sob in silence as Luna left the room, having taken her sobbing as confirmation.





> The past revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 04







*After the failed wedding, Canterlot, at the house Twilight used to live with her parents and brother*


Twilight was passing back and forth in her room, as the events of the last few days played back in her mind over and over. "It doesn't make any sense, I should have seen signs that it wasn't Cadance, why did I feel so comfortable around her? And what's up with that form, she looked so… So... So much like me when Discord changed me…" Twilight thought to herself. "Argh! What's going on here!?" She shouted out to nopony but herself.

She then looked at her own hooves. "It can't be real, can it? Am I really… Like her? But then why don't I remember being like her? I've always been a regular unicorn from birth… Right?" She asked, knowing full well that nopony would respond right now. "Right?" She asked once more as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.

"No, you can't fall apart Twilight, pick yourself up, we need more information, your not even sure if it actually is real." Twilight told herself, as she wiped the corners of her eyes for any tears that were about to form. "What was it that Discord called them again?" She said as she started to recall past events. "Change… Lings? Changelings, yeah, that’s it… Why does it feel like I heard that recently aswell?" She asked herself before shaking her head. "No, that's not as important right now, information Twilight, infor…!"

Suddenly Twilight remembered that Discord had given her a book, a book she hadn't dared to look at in case it had been some kind of last trick of Discord, one that might even take away her love for books, but now, it seemed like it may just be the only real lead she had. "I need to get back to Ponyville and get that book." She said out loud.

As she was about to leave though, she suddenly heard the front door open and a few familiar voices, she then opened the door to her room as she listened in on them.

Twilight Velvet, Night Light and Spike had just entered the house. "She wasn't at her favorite donut shop, the library or any of the other spots she goes to when she's worried about something, where could she have gone?" Night said as they came in.

"Oh I do hope she's alright, perhaps she came back home and is in her room right now." Velvet said in response.

"I'll go check." Spike quickly said as he started to head up the stairs.

Twilight quickly closed her door, she didn't want to talk to nor see anypony right now, especially not her family, at least till she figured this out. "I'm sorry." She mumbled softly and teleported away just as her door was being opened.

"Twi?" Was all Spike could say as he opened the door, having just seen a flash from the cracks and heard the familiar sound of her teleporting.

Twilight found herself having teleported straight to the station, after looking around and making sure nopony either saw her or had found it odd, luckily she had remembered to put up the illusion over her wings before teleporting, that would have just caused unnecessary attention, she sat down as she had already decided to wait for the next train back to Ponyville, she did find herself wondering if she was really doing the right thing here, but quickly shook her head to clear her mind, she didn't need more stray thoughts right now.

First she needed to know just exactly what was going on, that book might just be the only thing to give her at least some answers, she could always talk to her family once she had enough information, it might even make it easier to talk to them in fact, if she really was some kind of monster, then she would be sure to know just in what kind of way she was one and if it would be dangerous for them to be in the same room in case one of them panicked, only to find some kind of hidden away instinct for preservation to suddenly rise up and lash out at them, no matter how they would react, she did not want to risk them getting hurt by something of herself she didn't know about.

"Right, time to get my book." Twilight said to herself as she entered the train that just stopped at the station, but as it pulled away from the station, she suddenly realize something and her pupils constricted. "Oh no, I forgot to buy a ticket!" She quickly thought, as she wondered what to do when the conductor would show up and ask for tickets.



=====+++=====



The train was nearing the stop in Ponyville, Twilight had sat in her chair nervously all the while she had rode it from Canterlot, amazingly enough the conductor had not yet gotten the chance to get to her cart, she imagined he had likely started collecting tickets one cart over and moved to the other side of the train before going back towards this cart, she quickly thought that she had gotten lucky by going into the first cart, but right now, she suddenly didn't feel so lucky anymore, as the door leading to the other cart opened and a conductor appeared, asking for tickets as he walked towards her.

Twilight looked out the window as Ponyville was in view. "Oh no, we're not there just yet… But I might be able to make it if I teleport… No, I can't do that, that's something bad ponies do, plus they'd likely tell the guards about me then, I'll go to prison and they'll find out I'm something else then them, what if Celestia turns me to stone like Discord? What if…" She was lost in her thoughts, thinking of all sorts of possible bad endings, not noticing the conductor was just a few seats away at this point.

That is, until she heard a certain buzzing in her head for a moment, it reminded her of what had happened before, during the wedding, but at the same time it was different, more… Primal, in a way. She then heard some commotion behind her and watched as a pony suddenly got up, threw something at her and dashed for the door, passing the conductor who yelled for somepony to stop him, but was unable to catch the pony as he opened the door leading outside and jump off the train, Twilight was shocked that somepony would do so, but then realized the conductor was walking her way again as he mumbled 'Crazy bastard.' and then looked at her as he asked for her ticket.

"I… That…" Twilight wasn't sure what to say or do at this point, should she risk it like that other pony just did and dash for the exit? Or the more safe option of teleporting that she thought of before, or perhaps she should make up a lie about having lost her ticket…. No, she would likely just tell the truth and hoped he would understand, but what if he didn't?

The conductor however noticed her worried status, however he took it as her simply being worried about what had just happened and sighed. "Don't worry ma'am, we get passengers like that from time to time, ponies that think they can get lucky and get a free ride, a day in the cell and a large fine usually puts them back in their place… But we do have the occasional runner at times aswell, he should be fine though, we slowed down enough as is for there to not be any real injuries, so I'll just inform the guards when we reach the station." He said as he noticed something on the ground and picked it up. "Ah, you should be more careful with your ticket though, wouldn't want to end up in a cell for no reason, now would you?" He then gave the ticket to her and continued asking others for theirs.

Twilight looked at the ticked with a certain disbelief, where had this come from? She didn't see this on the floor at all during the whole ride, she then looked out of the window and towards the distance where the pony likely had gotten off. "Did he do this for me? But why?" She thought to herself, before remembering that buzzing sound and feel even more conflicted about it all. "Was… Was he one of those changelings? Why did he help me?" She thought as the train entered Ponyville.

Many thoughts went through her mind as she walked towards the library, almost making her head buzz from the amount of them… No, there was in fact an actual buzzing in her mind now, though she was unable to hear anything in it like she had at the wedding, she also wasn't sure it was coming from her own mind or if she was picking it up from another, it was starting to worry her even more the longer it lasted.

When she finally got to the library and went in, the buzzing was starting to die down, before it completely stopped. "Ugh, finally, now I can think again… Just what's going on anyway? I've never heard any in Ponyville before." Twilight asked herself, before shaking her head. "No matter, I'll get to the bottom of this soon enough… Now where did I put that book?" She asked herself once more as she started to look for it.

It had taken about half an hour of going through the whole library and making a mess out of it, before she remembered that the book in question wasn't on any of the shelves, of course it wasn't, she hadn't trusted that book ever since Discord had given it to her, it was stored away in a metal box in her lab downstairs, in particular behind a fake wall that she had reinforced with magic just in case it would gain sentience somehow and start to cause chaos or something like that.

As Twilight opened the wall she saw the box was still sealed and everything, it made her sigh a bit from relief that it seemed to be fine. "Well… I suppose it's time to find out if it really was all just a prank or not…" She then said as she levitated the box upstairs.

Once opened, the book with the tittle 'Unique and impossible beings of the unknown, by Dar Wing' was laying perfectly still inside of it, it hadn't grown sapient at least, Twilight took a deep breath and opened it to a random page, as she then gasped in horror.

"How dare he!? Who would do such a thing!?" Twilight shouted to nopony in particular, as she looked at the horrified sight of a page covered in doodles and personal notes! "Is nothing holy to him?" She asked and looked it over. "I'll need to restore this book once I'm done… Hmm?" She took a closer look at some of the notes as she noticed something about them, she then read the tittle of the chapter before reading the notes. "Chapter 5, the Crystal Basilisk… Not worth using, not enough chaos potential, too fragile…" This made her think for a moment. "Was Discord planning on using them at some point?" She asked herself.

Twilight checked out another random chapter that was about some kind of snake creature called a Naga, the note said they had potential, but were terribly stuck up when it came to their deserts, something about them not wanting the deserts being turned into desserts. Another chapter was about a creature called a Chupacabra and had a doodle over the face of the creature to give it a pair of googly eyes and a text bubble that said 'I'm a big mean dumbypants', the note next to it said something about it trying to eat him at one point and proved highly treacherous and had to be wiped out completely.

"Huh… I wonder if Discord had planned on letting me know all this." Twilight asked herself as she mused with the idea that perhaps if he hadn't been imprisoned, these notes and such might not have shown up, but since there was no way of knowing, she simply thought he hadn't really cared about that, perhaps it had been just another plan to instill chaos or something, who was to know what he actually thought?

She then wanted to open up another random chapter, this time far into the book, as she did she was horrified once more. "Molten cheese!? Really!? … How is this even still molted anyway?" She asked as she tried to remove some of it, but it seemed dead set on sticking to the page, earning a defeated grumble from her, she did see a tittle though. "Draconiquus… Why does that sound so familiar… ! Wait, isn't that what the statue of Discord was called when it was still at display? Does this mean it's about Discord?" She tried to remove the sticky cheese once more, but it still refused to budge. "Gah! Fine, I'll get to this at a later date then." She said as she looked a the page number that said 565… Didn't Discord tell her she would be interested in this? Why was it like this then?

Shaking her head, Twilight figured it was finally time to check out page 513 and see if it had anything useful, she turned to the page with a heavy heart and looked at the new chapter, slightly shocked and relieved at the same time, as the chapter was indeed about Changelings, she was even more shocked however when she read the note and saw that Discord had thought they offered great potential and could be a very likely ally since their shapeshifting and need to feed could work really well to keep others in line if he took over.

Her heart fell a bit as she read that, not because of Discord thinking they could be allies, but because he mentioned their need to feed, it made her remember those times when she ate meat together with Luna and liked it, what if Changelings ate ponies? What if it was some kind of addictive flavor that once you'd taste you'd do anything for and if that was what Discord had meant? What would she do for it if she ever accidentally tasted it? She already loved the taste of meat as is, would she turn on her friends if this was true?

Twilight felt sick as those thoughts came to her mind, so sick in fact that she ran upstairs to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach, for a single moment after she did so she wondered when was the last time she ate carrots? Before she went back downstairs and looked at the book from a distance. "Come on Twilight, you can do this, there's no proof that that's what it was… You need to learn as much as you can." She said to herself before swallowing and heading back over to the book, this time to actually read the book and not Discord's notes.



Chapter 396, Changelings.





Changelings are a peculiar race, their a insect like race that looks just like ponies if not for their carapaces, a sharp horn, some gossamer wings and the holes riddling their legs, they also seem to have a hivemind, they hide in secrecy in a hive like structure that almost feels alive on it's own, but they are everywhere amongst us aswell.

So why are they among the most unknown races you ask? Why don't we see them wherever we go if their amongst us?

Well, Changelings evolved to not be noticed, their very being makes it so they can hide from any potential threat through their unique magic as they can turn into other shapes. But don't be mistaken, though other sources of information state that it's because of some sort of advanced illusion spell, this is in fact not the case, I found out by intense studying, that a Changeling does in fact alter it's own body!

They seem to be able to grow fur and feathers on will, and even are able to make their hard carapaces even harder to be able to resemble rock like surfaces, though doing so seems to use a enormous amount of their personal magic, which I will talk about at a later point, I imagine however that it is technically possible for them to imitate even stronger materials like metals or perhaps even some other unknown substances, though the harder it gets, the more magic it will take and a normal drone is lucky if their able to go as far as to imitate a rock of some sort, those that are able to seem to be ranked higher then a normal drone.

Which takes me to their ranking, I have not found out all of them at this point, so if this book is published at this point, then know that a lot of this race still eludes us, but here are the ones I have so far found out about ;


Drone : The lowest rank of the Changelings, they do all sorts of menial tasks and a lot of them never even leave the hive, the ones that do seem to only go out to forage for food and herbs, some of which poisonous to ponies, but it seems they use them to heal, as I once saw them apply some to the wound of a soldier, who was up and about not much later.

Soldiers : These can be categorized into two sub sections of guards and offensive forces, they seem to specialize at fighting types of magic and often don't seem capable of altering their appearances, I imagine this is because instead they use this power to turn parts of their bodies into sharp objects or large protective surfaces, like swords and shields for instance. As you can imagine the offensive forces specialize in sharp objects as the guards specialize in protective surfaces, the guards are also the only ones allowed to wear regular weaponry, or rather, their the only ones that need to, afterall, a guard that can protect is fine and all, but without a way to fight off an enemy once it gets close, it would quickly become a dead guard. The guards are also the only ones that can be seen near their ruler mostly all the time, one can recognize them from their slightly bulky carapaces that resemble armor and the weapon they have wit them, the offensive forces however are nearly indistinctive from a normal drone, their faces are slightly sharper, but not much else can be seen at this point, though some seem to wear armor, once in combat however their carapaces seem to grow thicker, yet it doesn't impede their movements either, I suspect this is because of a hidden set of additional muscles underneath, they also grow spikes at the back of their heads that go down their spines and also some that come from their shoulders and legs, likely to prevent any enemy from getting too close without a way to fight back.

Infiltrators : This specific rank is for those that seem to be highly skilled at changing their appearances, to the point that they can even alter their organs, yet still remain functional, and seem to be able to somehow read parts of the memories of others, they are also slightly empathic, they often go to another race to then capture or take out one of said race and replace them, the memories they are able to read seems to be slightly random however, and it's not often that useful, as such they often gain intelligence through some other means, if other infiltrators are close to their target, it seems to work the best, as not only can they get the information of what both of gain through reading their memories, but also because they will have gotten acquainted with their target through the other one, knowing their daily patterns and such can usually throw of most around oneself afterall. Once infiltrated, they gain more intel for the hive, it seems that the hive I have managed to find was especially interested in their architectural knowledge, though I imagine it might be different for other hives depending on their personal ruler. The infiltrators don't stop there however, they look for the perfect targets for their collectors to feed off of, more on those a bit later however, if their prey is hard to reach however, a infiltrator will at times resort to kidnapping the prey so the collectors can collect their food in a safe environment, at extreme cases this means taking them back to their hive, though doing it this way seems to result in less substance. As for their appearances, I have noted that they seem to be slightly taller and sleeker in their natural form, but not much else as of right now. I must say though, I wonder how young they start doing this, or if perhaps a drone can become one over time.

Collectors : These are adapt at changing their appearances, but not as much as the Infiltrators, as they can only change their outer appearances and not their inner organs, much like the drones in fact, this means that if they get too small, their organs are squished together and makes it hard for them to move without damaging anything, they also seem to have a organ that mostly no other Changeling has, with the exception of a mutation or two every so often, and perhaps their ruler, but I have been unable to get close enough to find that out. This extra organ however is crucial as they store the substance that is their prime source of food in there, which they take back to the hive once a prey has been found. They wait near settlements that have infiltrators in them and once they are contacted by them and given all the important information, they instantly head for the target and change into the one their prey loves the most, or in case their prey has been captured, they instead act like they were captured aswell as they still take on the form of their loved one. Why do they change into the one they love the most you ask? It's because of the Changeling peculiar diet, or rather, their main source of food, for you see while a Changeling is an omnivore and can eat nearly anything, this includes things like meats and in some cases inorganic materials like gems, much like a dragon, I presume this is because they have to be able to if they change into them, the one thing they need in their diet that they cannot get through any other means however is, as odd as it sounds, love. It seems they use love as a source of both nourishment and magic, while they also seem to have a natural magic source, love can be burned in their body somehow to increase their magic immensely, but this comes with a risk aswell, as they need said love to stay alive, basically they are burning their life away by doing so, but unlike other races, as long as they hold even just a smidge of it, they can simply restock their reserves, now this may sound like their immortals, but it seems they are unable to keep doing this as they still die of old age, all besides their ruler that is. But this all isn't important to this part, as it's about the Collectors, I had hoped to put this in a different part, but I suppose I'll simply wait till I can revise this, if I get the chance that is. The Collectors seem slightly bloated in their natural form because of this unusual organ they have that stores more love then any other of their kind, they don't seem to be able to use it while its inside there however as its only a storage container it seems, upon death others will either bring the collector back home or if the situation is too dire, collect only the organ and bring it back to the hive, this likely means that their death does not make the love dissipate or render it unusable, it makes me wonder if they turn the love into some other kind of substance or if their organ somehow is magically protected to contain it even on death, it also makes me wonder a few things about love itself, but that's not up to me to speculate.

Magi : To be perfectly fair, I'm not fully sure if this name suits them well or not, I have seen but a few of them in this hive and can only speculate about them, since I was unable to procure any of them, they always seem to have their own personal guard and seem more able with using magic then others, as such I figured their likely some kind of strong mages or hold some kind of other important role in the hive, but they also seem to be suspicious of everything around them, making it hard to get near them to find out more, oddly enough they and their personal guard also seem to deviate from the hive's generic colors with the top part of their mesothorax and in some cases the eyes, I have noticed five other colors so far, it makes me speculate that perhaps they come from another hive, but for what cause I cannot tell. Besides their color change, their horns are a bit crooked, not as much so as their ruler, but notably so, some of them seem to have a different wing type aswell, though they appear to still be gossamer wings and not all of them have a different wing type, so far there's the dragonfly like wings this hive seems to have, some butterfly like wings and one of these Magi seemed to have a single type wing, this makes me wonder if their from another hive even more, as the ruler of this hive has the same dragonfly like wings as the rest of the hive, though bigger.

Princess /prince : A speculation at this time sadly, I have not seen one during my time, but I imagine that if this one exists, it'll likely look like a smaller version of the ruler, though it is also possible that some changes could be found here, perhaps color changes or wing changes, I imagine they would have a similar horn as the ruler, but that may also be different.

Queen : This is the last one at this time that I've actually been able to notice, though I imagine plenty other exist, I have seen shadows in some corners at times that made me wonder, like a giant shadow that I wanted to call a behemoth, but I was unable to find it afterwards, and such a large being could not possible be unnoticed, so I imagine that it may have just been that the shadow only looked that big, but what a discovery that would be. In any case, back to the Queen, this is the ruler of the entire hive and I have yet to see her without an escort of at least six guards, though lately the number has climbed to nine, making me wonder if they noticed something I did, which made me abandon this hive in the hopes that I'll find another elsewhere to gather more information, or perhaps I'll go back to this one eventually, I have yet to decide. In any case, all the Changelings in the hive seem to obey and protect her, like that one time a Manticore had 'somehow' managed to get into the hive undetected and managed to get to her, even the drones that were unable to do much else but menial tasks swarmed to protect her, but my biggest surprise came from the fact that the Queen isn't just a ruler that orders them around, she's also their kind's most fierce warrior it seems, adapt at both magic and unarmed combat, when the Manticore had killed one of the drones she went into some kind of rage, ordering all of them to stand back as she then grabbed the beast by the neck and threw it through the doors, my hiding spot was almost destroyed in the process, after that she send a beam of magic after it so strong that the hairs on my neck stood up, and I'm a magically inept pegasus, such raw magical power reminded me of the time I saw an Alicorn fight for the first time. Unfortunately I can't say much else, as I was never able to get closer then that to their Queen, nor did I want to risk the entire hive swarm me, I can however say she is able to give orders in a split second through their hivemind, as at times I saw her simply look at something and instantly a Changeling started to do something there with utmost precision, as if having given detailed orders, it makes me wonder how fast this hivemind is and just how their able to process it so quickly. The last thing I can say here is about her appearances, she is by far the biggest member of their kind that I have seen, if the Behemoth exists it's likely the only one that's bigger, she also seems regal like and slim like you'd expect from royalty, her wings are the same as any other member of the hive except for the Magi, though she certainly has the biggest ones, her horn is also long like that of an Alicorn, but it's jagged and sharp, I can only imagine that it might be used in combat aswell if she was serious, the queen also seems to be the only one with different eyes, the color is the same as far as I have seen, though that may not be true for every hive, but the most noticeable is the fact that it looks just like the eye of a normal pony, with the exception of the draconic slit inside of it that is, she's also the only one of their kind so far that seems to have an actual mane and tail that resembles that of a pony, the others all seem to have some kind leathery ridge where their manes should be and their tails are similar to that, a closer inspection has proven that its more like the tail of a fish however, but the materials are definitely insect like. Lastly the Queen seems to always wear a crown, but I have reasons to believe that their in fact some kind of antenna, perhaps this is what allows the hivemind to work at such a speed.

Hive : This isn't an actual Changeling as far as I can tell, since it’s the hive itself, but the moving walls sometimes makes it feel like it is, and perhaps it truly is, though I don't know how such a thing could be possible if that’s the case, it certainly is maintained as if it's alive though, I've seen them put some kind of organic pastes on spots that were damaged, or appeared to be anyway, and it quickly went back to normal, it seems to be some kind of fusion between organic and inorganic material aswell, I wonder how it manages to balance the two. Also, this is but speculation, but the Queen might be able to control it to some extend, whenever they got some new architectural information, the hive always seemed to change into a new kind of shape, I'm pretty sure those pillars and arches weren't there when I first got here afterall. Also, it seems to notice where I am and block off my path when I try to go certain places, this makes me wonder what might be in those areas, but I'm glad it seems like it's not sending this information through the hivemind itself, at least I hope that's the case, otherwise either they already know I'm here, or it seems to not know the difference between a pony and a Changeling and I'm simply not allowed access into those parts, I wonder if there's a way to gain access without any of them knowing if the later is the case.

Twilight blinked a few times, as she looked at the other pages in this chapter, but all those had, were illustrations of the Changelings that were mentioned, aswell as some illustrations of their insides and some simple explanations of which part was which and what they either did or what they likely did, Twilight for a moment wondered how he might have gotten this information before realizing what he had likely done to get them and felt sick once more, this time not of what she had though a Changeling could do to a pony, but of what a pony actually had done to several Changelings.

One short trip to the bathroom later, Twilight started to think about the information she had just learned. "Alright, so… First thing's first, while Changelings are omnivores, at least they don't need to eat meat, especially not pony meat and have no odd addiction to it… I hope… Secondly, their main food requirement is… Love? I wonder how that works and how you gather it." She wondered about this and then another thought came to her. "If… If I'm one of them, then have I… Always been collecting love without realizing it? Is that why my magic is so powerful? … No, that can't be, while I don't know if I've been collecting any love, it seems like they need to actively 'burn' it for their power to grow… Perhaps it would explain when I flare up though…" She mused over this for a few minutes.

Twilight then sighed. "I wonder why I don't looked like any of these illustrations during that time though… Well, the Queen one looks similar, but even she has no actual pony parts… Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here, I still don't even know for certain if I'm one of them… And this doesn't tell me much about their behaviors either, besides their feeding habits… And I'm sure there's more to it then just that, he didn't even say how they transferred the love to any of the other Changelings, or how they drain their pre.. Target of love in the first place." She said as she looked it all over again.

"And where's the part of how their born? Do they come out of eggs or are they born normally? Does the queen do all the birthing? Can they store love in other ways then those collectors? And how do the Changelings themselves live? Surely they can't just keep going day and night, they must sleep at least, right?" Twilight asked out loud, as more and more questions presented them to her.

Twilight then took another look at the book and flipped through some other chapters. "Hmm, some are incredibly detailed… So I guess he never found a new hive or got back to the one he did find." She said and sighed. "If only this had some information about how they transform, then perhaps I could test it out myself and see if it's true." She looks a her hooves once she said that. "But after Discord had done that I tried to transform to make sure if I was one, and nothing happened… So either I'm not one, or there's some other trick to it…"

As her new questions had no current answers and as her stomach began to growl, Twilight decided to go and make some food while letting the information she did get sink in. "I wonder just how complex these hives really are, it sounds like those that he was able to spot were only the tip of the iceberg, if only there was some way to know even more." She said to herself as she took out the ingredients from her refrigerator, including some montre patties she had gotten from Luna

As Twilight placed them down however, she stopped and looked at them, and a thought came to her. "I really am different from normal ponies, aren't I? … Normal ponies don't eat meat, but I love it… I'm an omnivore like this book said Changelings are, perhaps… Perhaps I am one afterall…" She said as another thought came to her "Luna… She knows of my real parents, she said she would tell me when she would be allowed to… I didn't think of it till now but… Does this mean she would know? And how much does princess Celestia know? She's the one who put me in front of my parents doorstep afterall… Why hasn't she ever told me though? Is she the reason why Luna isn't allowed to?" Twilight asked as once more questions started to swirl around in her mind. "Agh! I need to know!" She suddenly shout out loud.

After several minutes passed and Twilight calmed down a little and had the time to think, she realized that she had no real way of contacting either one of them without going back at the time. "Urgh, why didn't I take Spike with me? I suppose I could contact Luna though, but that's likely only during the night through dream walking… I hope I can do it, I haven't mastered it just yet, she usually helps me… And to find another dream walker is likely different then finding a specific dream." She wondered if there was another way to figure out more before then, when a certain line from the book came to mind. "A Changeling is an omnivore and can eat nearly anything, this includes things like meats and in some cases inorganic materials like gems, much like a dragon… Would that mean..?" She said before heading for Spike's hidden cache of gems.

As Twilight looked at the gems, she swallowed, what if she couldn't eat any and chipped a tooth? She wasn't really looking forwards to have to explain this to the local dentist… Then again, what if it actually did work? That would prove without a doubt that she wasn't a normal pony anymore. "Well… Here goes." She said as she lifted the smallest gem she could find, a ruby fragment not much bigger then a piece of gum up to her lips and slowly bit down on it, she was surprised when she actually bit through it, rather then be unable to, but what surprised her more was the flavor she suddenly tasted, she had expected some kind of glass like flavor, but instead it was something completely else, it was delicious and reminded her slightly of cherries, but at the same time completely different, she wondered if this was why Spike loved gems so much.

After a few more tries with different gems, she was certain that she wasn't a normal pony anymore, but then another thought came to her. "Wait, Luna eats meat aswell, what if Alicorns simply are omnivores aswell? And what if they can eat gems? … Arg! I still don't know now!" She said as she ate more gems out of frustration without realizing it, till she reached into the cache and found nothing anymore. "! Oops… I'll have to apologize to Spike when I get the chance, I didn't realize I was so famished… Or that they were so delicious." She said as she put the empty basket back where she had found it.

Twilight then remembered she had put out those patties and some vegetables, so she decided that she should put them back into the refrigerator, she already ate more then enough now anyway, plus it was getting late by now, so perhaps she could go to sleep soon and try to find Luna that way.



=====+++=====



As the moon rose, Twilight went to sleep and found herself in her personal dream palace, Luna had told her that all dream walkers needed a place to focus, a place that would serve as protection from their own nightmares and the monsters that lived in the realm between dreams and nightmares, it should be personal and special to every dream walker, Twilight had made her palace look like a gigantic library without a roof, as the stars were permanently above it with the sky as clear as could be, a large crystal forest surrounded this library and on the sides of the large doors that led inside stood two large statues, one of Luna and one of Celestia.

Luna had also told Twilight that she should only show her own dream palace to those she trusts completely, and that no other could come in without their permission, but Luna had invited Twilight to her own dream palace and shown it, it was a palace much like the palace in the everfree forest, but completely fine and made of crystal, it was also located on the moon, at least judging the surroundings, the stars could be seen through the clear crystal walls aswell, something that slightly had inspired Twilight when she made her own palace, she also noted at the time that there was a broken statue in the middle of the palace, it had been broken so much that she couldn't make out much about it other then it having been of a pony, she also saw a cloth over another statue, the pedestal that stuck out underneath it looked brand new however, but she hadn't removed the cloth as it felt too private.

Twilight now stood in her own dream palace however and looked up at the few stars that she could see at the time, more coming as ponies fell asleep, she however was searching for the moon, a place directly connected to Luna's dream palace when she was given permanent access, even if she wasn't able to travel to it without Luna's help just yet. "Come on Luna, why aren't you there yet?" She said while looking and sighed. "Perhaps she doesn't trust me anymore after today… What if she was fooled all that time ago aswell? What if…" Twilight was about to start listing off more doubts, but then a bright full moon appear in the sky and her eyes almost seemed to grow. "Luna… Please… Please find me, I give you access to my palace."

No sooner as she had said it, did the moon glow slightly and a familiar appearance appeared on it, the mare in the moon, but rather then be still, it seemed to move and look around, before it looked towards Twilight, it then turned into a mist like form and moved towards the front door of her library, and once there the mist turned into Luna, who the proceeded to walk up the steps, open the door and run straight towards Twilight, before pulling her into a big hug.

"I was so worried about you, where did you go?" Luna asked as she kept hugging Twilight. "None of your friends or family know where you went, why did you just leave like that?" She then continued.

Twilight's mind for a moment didn't know how to respond, but eventually she settled for hugging back as tears flowed softly from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do, I… I don't know what I am anymore, I didn't want to put anypony I care about at risk if I really am some kind of monster." She answered as more tears feel from her cheeks and onto Luna's chest.

Luna replied by first hugging her a bit tighter, before she replied. "Your no monster Twilight… But yes, your also not fully a pony, I think… I think it's time I tell you everything about your parents and your personal history, even if Celestia didn't want me to."

"T-the princess didn't want me to know? Why? Am I dangerous afterall?" Twilight asked in response.

"No, your not dangerous Twilight, at least not inherently, though I suppose you could be if you wanted to, but that would be the same no matter what you are, your just you Twilight, don't ever believe otherwise." Luna replied gently as she put her hoof through Twilight's mane as a way to calm her down.

"Then why? What am I? I'm not an actual Alicorn like you or the princess, am I? Am I a Changeling? And if so, then why was my appearance different from theirs? And why am I unable to transform like they do then? Is there something wrong with me? Is this the reason why I like meat so much? Do Alicorns eat gems? Just what is going on Luna?" Twilight could only keep asking questions, not sure what she found more important or why, as the questions just kept coming to her.

Luna placed a hood gently on Twilight's muzzle to stop her from continuing, as she then looked at her gently but also slightly pained, mostly because she had wanted to tell her so long ago already. "I will answer all your questions as well as I can Twilight, but I think it will be a lot clearer if I first tell you the story of your birth and your parents first." Luna then said, before she thought to one of Twilight's more odd questions. "Why did you ask if Alicorns eat gems anyway? And I don't really know if we can, I never tried it to be honest." She then said.

Twilight looked down with a slight blush. "I uh… I read something about Changelings in the book Discord had given me and tried it out… But after I did it dawned on me that if I really am an Alicorn and not a Changeling, then perhaps Alicorns can do it too…" She then said.

Luna blinked a few times. "You mean, you ate a gem? Did… Did you just swallow it whole?" She asked as she rubbed the back of her head. "I can at least tell you that your not a real Alicorn though… Well, no actually, to be honest I can't fully say you don't have any Alicorn powers, but you didn't become one because of Discord, and neither of your parents was one, even if your father was able to use some Alicorn magic."

"I'm fine, I actually bit through it like it was just some candy and… Wait, did you just say my father could use Alicorn magic?" Twilight asked, suddenly more interested in that then herself.

"Some of it, yes, but he was able to use many kinds of magic, he was the only one besides Discord that's ever been able to use chaos magic aswell, though not as much, but without him we would have had a much harder fight on our hooves when Discord showed up." Luna said as she smiled gently.

Twilight pondered on this for a moment. "My father could use other kinds of magic… It almost sounds like he could do what you told me Starswirl could do, that's amazing." She then said.

"It's not almost like that, it is just that… Twilight, your father was Starswirl, you’re his daughter." Luna then stated.

Twilight's pupils became as large as they could, while a twinkle could be seen in them. "My father… Is Starswirl the Bearded? This is… This is amazing! My father was the most powerful unicorn that ever existed!" She practically yelled the last part as she felt giddy from this knowledge, before suddenly stopping and looking at her hooves. "But wait, I thought you said I wasn't a pony, then how come Starswirl is my biological father? Was he something else aswell then?" She suddenly asked.

"No, he was a regular unicorn, even if he was unusually powerful, what you are is more connected to who your real mother is and him at the same time." Luna explained.

Twilight looked at Luna with a worried look. "Why? Was she a Changeling?" She then asked.

"Oh, she's more then that, she's a Changeling Queen, she and your father fell in love in the most unusual of ways in fact, she was but a young queen believing that ponies and Changelings could work together at some point, and he had detected her shape shifting magic, he had mistaken her for an enemy at the time and cornered her. From what I've been told she had been afraid and let her disguise go the moment he asked, and he had fallen for her the moment she did." Luna said and let out a small chuckle.

"So… My mother really was a Changeling then, a queen even… I suppose that means I'm a Changeling aswell then." Twilight seemed both crestfallen and relieved at finally knowing the truth.

Luna frowned. "Yes and no, your part Changeling, but I'll get to that, for now I'll continue the story." She then said as she continued. "I'll spare you the boring details, but since Starswirl was such a good friend of mine, and your mother had become one while in her disguise under the name Celtic Rune, they decided to confide in me about what she truly was. I was quite shocked at first, but that was just because they had kept it hidden for me for so long, I had no qualms with other races just because they looked different, especially since she had actually made an effort to become friends with others, something I can personally vouch for, she also told me her true name at the time, I suspect it's because she wanted to be married to him using her real name, though I also married them with her created form and name, normal ponies at the time were not as peace loving as they are now, and Celestia really didn't like other races at all back then."

Twilight felt a sudden heavy feeling in her heart, as Luna said that, as she realized that besides what happened in the past, Luna had not spoken about her mother in the past sense. "W-what was… Is, her name?" She then asked with a sense of dread.

Luna saw how this pained Twilight. "Before that, do you recall what I told you not long after I started living in Ponyville? About you being stillborn and what your father had done to save you?" She asked gently, not wanting to make things worse.

"I do, he used some kind of ancient and dangerous spell that consumed his own life force… He… He sacrificed himself so I could live…" Twilight replied, as she looked downwards with a sad look.

"There's more to that story actually." Luna said as she raised Twilight's head gently with her hoof. "As I said before, when the staff as I said back then, which I'm sure you realized by now was just another word for her Changelings, had found me holding you in your new chrysalis pod and with your father dead on the ground, they thought I had done it all as some kind of ploy and attempted to take you from me, afraid that they wouldn't listen to me and rip open the pod, which would have undone your father's hard work and likely kill you, I fled with you in my hooves and retreated to the castle, in order to make sure Celestia wouldn't do anything foolish I placed you in a secret location while I would prepare on what to say to your mother…" Luna said before sighing deeply.

Luna then looked away from Twilight and up to the stars. "Unfortunately, fate had something else in mind." She then said and continued once more. "Your mother had gathered her entire hive and barged into our lands, I was about to go talk to her when Celestia decided that it was best to attack them straight away, not even bothering to hear them ask for you back, and I was unable to do anything as a full blown war happened, I couldn't fight on either side either, while the Changelings had been my friends, they would no longer see me as such, but I still couldn't fight them, and while our subjects shunned my night for favor of Celestia's day, they were still our subjects, and Celestia my sister…" She slightly scoffed at that last part when she said it.

Luna took a deep breath and recollected herself, before continuing. "I decided it was best for me to not participate at all and keep you safe while hoping for a chance, no matter how small to be able to talk to any of the Changelings, in the hopes that they would listen… But alas, the only times I managed to get close to one, they tried to swarm me and I had to flee once more, not being able to say anything, eventually Celestia won the war and what little Changelings were left fled away, along with your mother… After that I tried to find some other way to contact them without them attacking me on the spot, I even made preparations to take care of you in case it would fail, but before I could do anything… Celestia had found where I had hidden you…" She sighed deeply after explaining this much. "For whatever reason, Celestia had thought I had taken a egg of the Changelings and kept it as some kind of trophy, perhaps she was spiteful that I had done so without participating in the war, or perhaps she simply wanted a trophy of her own, when I got there after my alarms had gone off, I found her standing in front of the pedestal I had magically placed you on, but you were missing, I demanded what had happened to you, but she decided to say she had destroyed you, an obvious lie seeing you now, but at the time my anger and pend up frustrations boiled over, in my fury I told her that you were my god daughter and that she had made her final mistake, before I turned into Nightmare Moon… I imagine that even though your mother didn't know about this, she likely still thought that you had perished once I got sealed away… So her anger is in the end justified, please don't judge her for what happened after that." Luna asked after she was done explaining.

Twilight had pieced together who her mother likely was by now, and even if it was hard to accept, she couldn't help but ask it. "So.. My mother… Is… Is it Chrysalis? The one that pretended to be Cadance?" Once she asked, Luna nodded solemnly and Twilight tried to remember all the moments she had seen Chrysalis act as Cadance, she had treated everypony with respect and even asked her for her opinion on things, and once she dropped her disguise it was before the wedding could be finalized, she could have continued and gotten a much better revenge if she had waited a bit longer, but instead she had acted with respect to everypony, as such Twilight couldn't see Chrysalis as a bad po.. Changeling, sure she had locked up Cadance somewhere and enslaved her stepbrother, but it wasn't like she actually hurt them physically, right? And it made that pained expression Twilight had seen on Chrysalis before she escaped, seem so much more understandable.

"Twilight? Are you alright?" Luna asked after several minutes of silence. "You've been sitting with that same expression for a while now, I know it was much to take in all at once, but you deserved to know the truth, regardless of what Celestia thought." She then said.

"Celestia…" Twilight looked back at Luna at this point. "You said that before, that she didn't want me to know, why? … Didn't she know aswell? Why did she keep me if she was so afraid of Changelings? Was I some kind of experiment to her? Just some kind of tool? Did she ever truly see me as her student!?" She pretty much almost demanded the information by now.

Luna looked sorrowful and couldn't manage to look her in the eyes. "I… I truly don't know, she may have truly cared for you, or she may have kept you as some bargaining chip, she may even have just kept you around to appeal to me, but whatever her reason, she isn't worth the effort anymore, after her not even trying to talk to your mother, and worse, even attacking her once more, I can no longer think of her as my sister, and I asked her to not bother you anymore… Of course, I spoke out of line there and if you really want her to…" As she said this, Twilight interrupted her.

"No… I loved her, I loved her almost like a second mother, but it's clear she never saw me as anything but a tool to get what she wanted now… Perhaps some day, but, not now… You did the right thing Luna, thank you for being there for me." Twilight said.

Luna smiled gently at this. "Anything for my favorite God daughter" She replied.

"Could you tell me more about what I am and Changelings in general? In person I mean, I don't really feel like doing this in the dream realm." Twilight then asked.

"Of course, just tell me where you are and I will come find you." Luna replied in turn.

Twilight thought for a moment. "You can't tell anypony else yet, I mean it's fine to tell them I'm alright, but you can't tell them where I am, I want to know as much about this as possible before I decide if I should tell them or not and how, you have to promise me Luna." She said with pleading eyes.

"If that is what you want, then very well, I will let them know your fine and need some time alone, before I teleport away so they can't follow me" Luna replied with a soft smile on her face. "I'm sure they will already be happy with just knowing your fine."

"Well, alright then, I'm… I'm back at my library in Ponyville, but I think I'll head over to your house, so meet me there." Twilight replied and got a understanding nod from Luna.

"Of course, I'll be there as quickly as I can… But before that, I've wanted to tell you one more thing, but I wasn't certain you would want to hear it before now… Would you like to know your true name Twilight? The one your parents gave you I mean." Luna asked.

Twilight looked slightly confused. "My real name? You mean I'm not called Twilight?"

Luna shook her head slightly, but not in a disproving kind of way. "No, your definitely called Twilight, but I don't think Celestia ever knew your real second name, so she gave you the name Sparkle."

"Celestia named me Sparkle?" Twilight asked, as thoughts of her adoptive family came to her. "So my adoptive parents didn't name me then… What's my real name? I want to know for when I see them again, I want to let them know my true name… And I want to know for myself aswell."

Luna smiled. "It's Starshine, your true name is Twilight Starshine, your father told me so himself before I had to take you with me."

"Starshine." Twilight repeated, a small smile on her face, before it turned into a sad expression. "I'm guessing he told you that before he gave his life for me then huh?" A somber nod from Luna told Twilight all she needed to hear. "I'll take it, my father gave his life to protect me, the least I could do is to keep the name he gave me." Twilight then said and smiled once more. "I'll be fine now, I'll see you at your place."

Luna nodded and left to wake up, Twilight then did the same and headed for Luna's mansion.



=====+++=====



Several hours later, Luna managed to get to her house, seemingly exhausted.

Twilight noticed her and cocked her head from this spectacle. "Luna? What's wrong? You look like you ran a marathon, and I expected you here at least an hour ago already." She then said.

"One does not simply teleport away from Pinkie it seems, it took me thirty separate teleports and flying at high speed in random directions before I was finally able to shake her off!" Luna quickly replied as they went inside, she seemed to look over her shoulder every so often and even close the curtains. "At least I hope I shook her off…"

Twilight grumbled slightly. "That's Pinkie for you…" She then said before sighing. "I suppose if she finds us, I'll just have to ask her not to let anypony know through a Pinkie promise."

"Quite so… Hmm, so what did you want to know first?" Luna asked as she calmed down a little.

Twilight fidgeted a little before she looked at Luna. "Well… I would like to know as much as possible about Changelings, but I think I'd like to know about myself more right now, what can you tell me?" Twilight asked with hopeful eyes.

Luna grimaced slightly, before replying. "Not all that much I'm afraid, all I can say for certain is that you’re a hybrid Twilight, one that shouldn't be possible in fact, we didn't know at the time but pony and Changelings while they look similar have a completely different genetic structure, the two simply weren't compatible I'm afraid, if it hadn't been for your father and his ability to use chaos magic, then likely it would have never worked."

"Chaos magic!? What has that got to do with it? You never mentioned that the spell required chaos magic, am… Am I going to be alright?" Twilight asked slightly worried.

"If it would have had any negative effects, then I'm sure you would have felt it already, it's more likely that if anything, the magic fused itself to your very essence as it was active on you for over a thousand years, you may very well be able to use chaos magic as easily as normal magic because of this, or have natural defenses against it, and it likely also helps that your father was able to use it so well, magic is quite odd that way, it seems to be easier to use further along the family tree, as long as it keeps being practiced, it's likely why you can access Alicorn magic aswell… Or perhaps you really are part Alicorn thanks to that, it's hard to say because your actual horn is a Changeling horn." Luna explained as best she could, while also slightly wondering herself what was the true reason at this point.

"W-what does that make me then? Am I like Discord?" Twilight asked, afraid that the answer would be yes.

Luna however shook her head. "No Twilight, every being has one thing over the other, but that doesn't determine who they are, Changelings in particular have a rather large affinity for just about everything to start with, but they rarely spread out that far as there's no need to do so, or at least, they don't feel like there is." She then said as she places a wing around Twilight. "If their target would be someone like a Draconiquus then they'd likely learn some chaos magic themselves, but for say a normal pony it would be a useless skill to get close to them, in fact it might even scare them off, that does not however mean that it's a bad kind of magic, chaos is more like… A neutral force, it's not inherently evil or good, it's what you yourself do with it that counts, you may for instance learn a way to protect others from it's effect for instance."

Twilight looked down as she thought about it. "I suppose that makes sense, knowing how it works would mean I'd know it's weaknesses aswell, it could be a good protection for ponies in the future if Discord ever escaped again." She then replied as she thought about the possibilities. "Hmm… Perhaps I could even find some way for Discord to cause chaos without causing any problems for anypony."

Luna raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would you want to do that?" She then asked.

Twilight looked down with a slightly understanding and sad face as she replied. "Well, I may not know how it feels to be sealed, but I doubt it was any fun for you, and if he's sentient during all that it can't be fun for him either… I think knowing I was basically sealed for that long without any knowledge and being something that… Ponies might see as a monster or some dangerous being, made me a bit more understanding of the whole situation to be honest…"

"Your not a monster!" Luna blurted out.

Twilight smiled slightly. "I know, but will other ponies think the same? I mean I might actually be dangerous with all these abilities, it's not like I couldn't be dangerous as a unicorn but… I still don't fully know what exactly I am, besides some kind of hybrid that seems to have a connection to chaos magic, which is also the problem, who knows what kind of things I could do that nopony else can, it would frighten ponies if they found out, or if something unexpected happened." She sighed and paused for a moment. "Which is exactly why I want to know as much as possible before I let anypony know, even my parents… I'm not even sure how to spring this on them actually, it might have been easier if I had been just normal Changeling, but being something in between that also apparently has chaos magic at its core, how do I explain that to them? What if ponies start to think I'm the second coming of Discord or something?"

Luna stood up and flared her wings in a regal way. "Then I will stand besides you and make sure they realize the truth! That you are a lovely mare and kind to all, what your potential is does not define you Twilight, nor does where you came from, not that that would matter, your parents were wonderful, and I am sure your birth mother can still be saved from her current mindset once she realizes the truth."

"Even if she can, it won't stop how ponies look at her after the wedding, or Changelings in general for that matter…" Twilight looked slightly crestfallen.

Luna got a small smile as she placed one of her wings around Twilight to hold her. "Do not be so sure about that, it seems that the only Changeling activity was at the wedding itself, I have no doubt she had placed more in the city itself, but it seems seeing you made her rethink her plans and have them retreat, rather then attack, she likely didn't want to risk hurting you in the fight, but as a result only those at the wedding itself even know about them, and they have been sworn to secrecy till a full investigation has been made… I also don't think they think that badly about them seeing as nopony was hurt, even Cadance when she was found seemed fine, if slightly concerned about Shining Armor and you."

Twilight blinked as questions started to form in her head, but one question came to mind the most. "D-do you think Cadance and my brother will accept me for what I am after all this?"

"Hmm, I cannot say for certain to be honest, but I have little doubt that they will accept you in the end, your brother seems to love you through and through, and Cadance from what I heard loves you almost just as much, not to mention that love is literally at her core, once they hear the full story, I am sure they will accept you… Though there is the slight chance that it might be a bit hard at first." Luna replied as she hugged Twilight some more with her wing.

Twilight leaned back into Luna and hugged her tightly as she buried her head into Luna's chest and started to cry softly. "I'm just afraid of that one in a million chance that things don't go like that is all, I know your right and I'm worried over nothing, but what if they actually do reject me? I don't want to lose my family and friends just because I'm not what everypony thinks I am."

Luna gently patted Twilight's back as she cried. "It won't happen, and in the off chance it does, I will still stand with you, even if the whole world were to go against us, I would remain by your side, I promise you that much Twilight."

It made Twilight feel better to know at least one pony would stand by her no matter what, but she still couldn't help but cry from the thought that the family she had known so long and her friends might abandon her, even if she knew they wouldn't, she cried long and hard while being held in a loving embrace by her godmother till she fell asleep, exhausted from her constant worrying.




> Dreams of doubts and conviction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 05







*The night right after the Canterlot wedding, after Twilight fell asleep while crying, in her dream palace*


Twilight was looking at the stars from her open library, wondering why it seemed like there were more stars all of a sudden, aswell as wondering how ponies would react if she were to enter their dreams in her real form, would she be able to protect them and give them nice dreams as she's been training to do, or would she instead turn their dreams and nightmares into something worse just by being there? Feeling slightly defeated at the thought, she then sighs and lays down on the floor of her dream palace.

"Why do I have a power like this if I can't even use it to help others without taking on a false appearance?" She said to herself and looked at her hooves, one filled with holes and covered in a slightly darkish lavender carapace, and the other a normal hoof covered with lavender fur. "If only I'd just be one over the other, or perhaps even something more fused together rather then parts of me being from both sides…" She then looked at her wings. "And why do I have actual pegasus wings anyway? I mean sure, there's the whole recessive gene that can stay in a family regardless of what somepony themselves is, so it's possible that my father could have had a family member that was a pegasus, but I thought that back then unicorns still tried to keep their blood 'pure' as they called it, even if it was a stupid thing to do… I wonder if perhaps it's more thanks to my Changeling side then my pony side."

Twilight kept asking herself questions out loud, as if somehow she would answer them back aswell, but she didn't get any answers, just more questions.

Finally done feeling sorry for herself, she looked up at the stars once more, 'I need to get my mind off of this, it's bad enough that I think of this when I'm awake, I don't need this while asleep aswell… Perhaps it'll be better if I try to help somepony instead.' Twilight thought as she altered her appearances into her alicorn form, at first she wanted to go into her unicorn form because they had kept her sudden ascension hidden till she would be ready, even if it turned out to be something else in the end, but she didn't really care much at the time, it felt more natural to her now to have both her wings and horn out anyway and it wasn't like ponies would think of her form as the real form if they ever saw her in real life anyway, they'd likely just think it was part of the dream.

She stretched her wings some more and thought about the lessons she had received from Dash while in the dream realm, she then took off and tried to balance herself, before she flew up to the highest book case of her palace, even in the dream realm she had been having some trouble getting used to them, but that might be because she wanted it to be as real as possible herself, and Luna had told her that anything she would perceive as real here would feel as real as possible, which made training how to fly here a good idea in the first place, since she could take this experience back to the real world without any consequences.

As she stared at the stars a thought came to her though, one that was triggered by recalling her training lessons, what if she were to find her friends and find out what they thought as they slept? You don't hide your true feelings while you sleep afterall, sure you may do things you normally don't while asleep since that's the only time you could, but in general ponies just acted like their true selves, and anything else would only happen if they had focused too much on it before going to sleep, besides nightmares that is, those could be caused by several things.

A plan started to form in her mind and she started to look for her friends, thanks to her own special power she found the right stars easily, and flew into the closest one to find out what they would truly think about her if they would find out, they likely wouldn't remember it in the end, but it would give her some peace of mind.



=====+++=====



Rainbow Dash's dream.


The first thing Twilight realized as she got into Dash's dream, was that everything seemed white and fluffy, as her brain was trying to make sense of it all she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

"So, are you going to come out of that cloud or what egghead? Or are you trying to hide from me? If that's the case though, you really shouldn't let your flank stick out like that." Dash said as she was smirking at what she thought was a foolish attempt at hiding.

Twilight groaned slightly, this was not how she had wanted to start this at all, she then got out of the cloud and looked at Dash. "Sorry Dash, it wasn't my intention to make it look like that, I seemed to have appeared in the cloud itself."

"Appeared in it?" Dash brought a hoof to her chin as she considered what Twilight meant. "Were you teleporting into the sky again? You really have to stop doing that Twilight, now come on, let's fly."

Twilight looked away from Dash's gaze for a little bit. "Actually Dash, I kind of have a different reason to be here today."

Dash cocked her head slightly in wonder. "What is it Twilight?" She then asked.

"Well I… I suppose it's easier to just show you instead." Twilight began and calmed her nerves slightly, before she started to undo her disguise.

As the lavender flames covered Twilight's body and revealed her true form, Dash looked shocked at first, but she then saw Twilight's jagged horn and quickly sharpened her eyes before tackled Twilight hard. "What did you do with Twilight!?"

Twilight had the wind knocked out of her lungs for a moment, but as they were falling towards the ground, she managed to regain herself enough to at least speak after a gasp. "D-Dash! It's me!"

"Liar! Twilight's not some treacherous monster! I recognize that horn, you’re the one from the wedding, aren't you!?" Dash shouted as the ground came closer and closer while she was pushing Twilight towards it.

All Twilight could do right then and there was panic and feel heartbroken, as she started to flail around while tears came from her eyes. "Let go of me!" She shouted while flailing about, when one of her hooves connected with Dash and she was knocked away from her, Twilight saw that the ground was coming towards her quickly and spread out her wings to do an airbrake, as she had learned from Dash a while ago, she then looked straight at Dash. "Why? Why won't you believe me?" Tears were flowing from her eyes, before she looked away when Dash had looked back at her with a angry gaze. "T-this was a mistake, I should never have gone here." She then said as she flew into the sky towards the stars.

Dash tried to catch up, but was unable to as Twilight altered the gravity for Dash, making it hard for her to gain any real speed, soon Twilight vanished as she touched one of the stars, in her haste however, she had simply gone into the dream of one of her other friends first, rather then go for her own dream palace.



=====+++=====



Rarity's dream.


The first thing Twilight noticed as she appeared, was that she seemed to be in hot water, literally, she looked around quickly as she panicked once more, before she saw the surface and quickly went up to gasp for air, as it turns out however, she was in the tub of the local spa.

She then heard a gasp behind her and looked what was going on, she found Rarity looking at her in shock, before she passed out. "Oh no, Rarity!" Twilight quickly stopped her from going under, before she looked at herself and sighed. "I suppose she wouldn't know it's me either way… I just hope this will go better then with Rainbow Dash." She then said to herself as she put on the disguise once more.

Twilight had considered getting out of the tub, but to be honest found the warmth comforting right now and she could use it after what had happened, so instead she opted for staying in it, but she did put Rarity on one of the massage tables nearby and magicked her dry, she also wondered for a moment how it was possible for Rarity to even feint, could one fall asleep in a dream in the first place?

As Twilight was contemplating how it was possible and what would happen if you did so, Rarity started to stir and wake up, who then looked around as she found herself on the massage table. "Oh good heavens, did I fall asleep while I was being massaged again? I really need to ask Aloe to tone it down a little with those relaxing scents." Rarity then said.

Twilight heard her and peered over the edge of the large hot tub. "Ah, your up, you had me worried there Rarity."

"Twilight? What are you doing here darling? I hadn't realized that we both had an appointment at the spa, you should have told me, we could have gone together." Rarity replied, as she then noticed her wings and looked around, once she made sure nopony else was there, she continued. "Darling, I hate to say it, but I think your illusion spell is having some issues, your wings are showing."

Twilight looked at her wings and then back at Rarity with a small smile, before replying. "That's alright, I'm not afraid of ponies finding out I have wings anymore."

"Oh really? Does that mean your done with your princess training now and Celestia will announce your ascension?" Rarity asked in response.

"Not… Exactly." Twilight replied with a slightly troubled look as she pulls her head back slightly.

Rarity was a bit puzzled by this and walked up the stairs of the hot tub. "Why, whatever do you mean darling?"

"I can't let her know it's because this is a dream, it could change how she truly feels about it, and she may even remember it once she wakes if I do, I suppose I could explain what happened if things go alright and I ask her the same thing in the real world… Now that I think about it, this may be a bit too complicated, but I need to know for certain… Dash will likely react differently if she's sure it's me, that was just because the others weren't there to prove otherwise." Twilight thought to herself, as she then looked at Rarity with a apologetic look. "Sorry Rarity, it'll become obvious in due time, I promise."

"Hmm, well, if your certain darling, now scoot over, I've been dying for a hot soak." Rarity said before she got into the tub aswell.

Several minutes passed as they talked about some frivolous things, Rarity doing so simply because she enjoyed it, but Twilight was still a bit afraid of what had happened before and didn't want to repeat the same mistake, so she instead opted for making Rarity feel more comfortable and let her know she really was herself before she would spring it on her.

Before Twilight felt comfortable doing so however, Rarity said something that made her reconsider. "That reminds me darling, how have you been since the wedding? You must feel terrible about the whole thing."

Twilight swallowed a chunk that she suddenly felt in her throat. "W-why would you think that?"

"Well, I mean, your brother nearly married that ghastly creature, who pretended to be your old foalsitter who you loved. I for one would feel terrible about it, just imagining a vile monster like that getting so close to me and pretending to be somepony I care deeply for is enough to almost make me faint! So it must be a lot harder on you who actually experienced it." Rarity stated.

Twilight looked away from Rarity, she didn't want her friend to see the look of despair and pain, she knew Rarity only meant it in the best of ways, that she wouldn't mean it if she knew the truth, but after all this, could she still just say it straight to her face? "Y-yeah… I-I suppose so." Twilight then replied with a quiver in her voice.

Rarity may not be able to see Twilight's face, but she did hear how forced and painful her words sounded. "Twilight, darling, are you alright?" She then asked.

"I-I'm fine…" Twilight replied, before swallowing once more and holding back the tears. "I… I need to go now."

"Go? Go where? Are you certain your alright? Do you want me to come along with you?" Rarity asked out of concern.

"No!" Twilight suddenly shouted without looking at Rarity, before she brought a hoof up to her muzzle, she was shocked of her own outburst there for a moment, but quickly regained herself. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She still couldn't manage to look back at her friend, even as she tried to apologize, and something inside her wondered why she should, she was justified with her outburst, wasn't she? She expected more from her friend to start with, yes Changelings didn't look like regular ponies, and yes Chrysalis had imprisoned Cadance while deceiving everypony… But she hadn't hurt anypony, she had even acted friendly towards them all, even if she didn't have to, so why did Rarity see Changelings as monsters? Was it just because of their looks? Twilight looked at her disguised hoof for a moment.

Rarity by now however, was really worried for her friend, as Twilight had started to apologize, then suddenly stopped and went into some deep thought it seemed. "T-Twilight? What's wrong darling? What's going on with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Twilight asked as she was brought back from her thoughts. "I'll tell you what's wrong with me… Or no, rather, I think I'll show you."

Before Rarity could ask what she meant, Twilight turned around and turned into her true form, making Rarity look even whiter then she normally did. "Y-your…"

Twilight looked at Rarity with an accusing look, even as some tears trickled down. "A ghastly creature? A monster? A freak of nature?" As Twilight said this, another thought came to her out of the blue. "Or does it only matter if it's somepony you don't know? Like my real mother?"

"M-mother!?" Rarity nearly shrieked, not knowing what exactly was going on here, or if this creature was even the real Twilight, though if she wasn't, then how had she known all they talked about?

For a moment Twilight was about to continue her rant, before she realized what she had just said and her eyes went wide, sure Luna had told her that Chrysalis had once been good and could still be now, just misguided, but her friends didn't know about any of this, not to mention that she had a mom all this time who she knew and loved dearly, should she really say so quickly that Chrysalis was her real mother without first getting to know her? She looked once more at Rarity who by now was cowering as far back in the hot tub as she could from Twilight's outburst, as she then thought to herself if she was any better then Chrysalis at this point, and what Rarity would think of her from now on.

Twilight's expression turned back into a pained one as she charged her magic. "I'm sorry… It'll be alright, you won't remember any of this…" Was all she said before she teleported away from the spa and into the air, instantly spreading her wings as the sky turned to night and she reached out to the next star. "P-perhaps I should have started with Applejack, she'll know I'm telling the truth from the start…" She then put on her disguise once more before she touched the right star.



=====+++=====



Applejack's dream.


This time Twilight didn't appear in some cloud or a hot tub or anything like that, Luna had warned her that a mind in distress could lead to random appearances, but now she was on the path towards Sweet Apple Acres without appearing in any odd situation, Twilight wondered if it was just a coincidence, perhaps she was even starting to slowly calm down, or perhaps it was even something she didn't want to think of just yet, that she was starting to simply not care anymore, as soon as that last thought came however, she shook her head in defiance, surely it couldn't be that, she cared greatly for her friends, it's why she decided to do this in the first place.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at the farm again, her eyes showing her determination as she then started to walk towards it, each step was feeling heavier then the last for some reason, she knew that it was likely her own mind trying to stop her, stop her before another one of her friends would have a bad reaction towards her, stop her before she might start to think badly about them, stop her from making another mistake.

But still she kept going, even as her mind started to impact the dream itself slightly, as the gravity around her started to increase and make her steps as heavy as she was imagining them, by the time she got to the farm, she was making slight craters, but she had countered that by altering herself slightly, increasing what her muscles could handle, but not their size, going to the point that only an actual Alicorn should be able to handle it all, but she didn't realize as she was doing it subconsciously.

Once she passed the gate to the farm, she somehow felt light again, as if the hardest part was over, as she saw Applejack haul some apples into the barn, this made the dream release her from the increased gravity aswell, but her muscles were still the same, something she quickly realized as she ran over to the barn. "Applejack! I have something I nee…" She started as she pulled the barn door to the side, and off it's hinges, flinging it behind her, which I turn caused her to look at it in shock and lose all the determination she had build up till this point.

She also wasn't the only one, as Applejack was standing in the barn with Big Mac who's mouth nearly fell to the ground, Applejack quickly regained herself however. "What in tarnation!? What are ya doin' to mah barn!?"

Twilight looked back at Applejack, her own shock still on her face. "I… I…" She looked back at the wreckage of the door. "I don't know…" She then looked at her hoof, the same one she had just used, as she wondered what she had done exactly, Luna never said she could enhance herself in a dream, was it just a lesson she had yet to receive, or was this something else?

Twilight's reaction threw Applejack off though, as the farm mare was now worried for her friend. "What do yah mean, yah don't know?" Applejack then asked. "Are you feeling alright sugarcube?"

"I… I think so…" Twilight answered as she looked back at Applejack. "I'm sorry Applejack, I didn't mean to do that, I didn't even know I could do that till now."

Applejack sighed and looked at Twilight with a smile. "That's alright Twi, Ah reckon it's likely one of yer new princessy powers yah haven't discovered then." She then looked to Big Mac. "Big Mac, could yah take care of tha door? Ah reckon that Twi want's to talk after all this." Big Mac just sighed, as he then went to where the door had landed.

"I really am sorry about all this Applejack, this was not how I wanted things to go when I came here to talk." Twilight explained.

"It's alright sugarcube, we've been meanin' to replace that door for a while now… Though not really in such a forceful way." Applejack responded, before raising an eyebrow in wonder. "But what's this about comin' here to talk to me already? Ah thought you might wanna talk to me about this, but it sounds like ya had somethin' else ya wanted to talk to me about already.

"Y-yeah… I do actually." Twilight said as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "You can somehow feel whenever somepony isn't being truthful, right? So you know when I'm telling the truth, right?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she wondered where this was going. "Ah guess, Ah sorta feel when somepony ain't honest, but it's not like Ah can tell all tha time, there are times when it's hard, and some ponies are able to lie to me, so it's not an exact science or nothin'." She saw that Twilight was getting a bit uncomfortable at this however. "But at tha least Ah can always tell when yer telling tha truth sugarcube."

This calmed Twilight a little bit at least. "R-right, then let's start with something simple, just so you know it's me." She then said, making Applejack raise her eyebrow once more as she wondered why that was necessary. "My name is Twilight, and we've been friends since the Nightmare Moon incident." She said as she looked at Applejack as if to confirm she was telling the truth, and after a few seconds Applejack realized what Twilight wanted and shook her head as if to say correct, once she did Twilight continued. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Applejack cocked her head sideways, first because she didn't understand why Twilight had just repeated the same thing, but then something dawned on her as she felt something was off. "Huh, that's odd, Ah could have sworn that you just lied Twi, but you just repeated the same thing, how's that possible?" Applejack asked with sincere curiosity, thinking this was likely some kind of experiment to get around those that could tell the truth.

"That's because the first time was true and the second time wasn't… Though I only recently found out myself." Twilight explained.

"Huh? What in tarnation are ya talking about? Ya said the same thing twice, how can one be true and the other be false?" Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed. "It's how I said it, my name is Twilight, but it's not Twilight Sparkle, it seems I was given the name Sparkle by the pony that put me in front of my parents house, but Luna told me my real name."

"Ah shucks sugarcube, Ah didn't knew ya was adopted, are ya alright?" Applejack asked with a hint of concern, mostly because she thought Twilight had just found out she was adopted herself.

Twilight realized why Applejack was so concerned right now though. "Oh, I've known I was adopted for ages, my parents were always up front about that, but I never knew my real name it seems, the note that was in my basket had a name on it, but it seems that the one who put me in front of their door never knew my full name and just made up what she didn't know."

"So that's what ya meant… Wait, what do ya mean the pony who put ya in front of yer parents house never knew yer full name? Wasn't it yer real mother? And how do ya know it was a mare anyway?" Applejack asked as she realized the importance of those parts.

"Well… I found out who put me there, but it seems she wasn't my mother, and from what I've found out… She likely just didn't want to give me back to my mother and instead use me for her own design…" Twilight looked a bit sad as she admitted her recent fears.

"Sugarcube… Ah'm so sorry for ya, are ya gonna be alright? Do ya want me to buck this pony for ya? I'll gladly do it." Applejack said with a certain edge to her voice, as she was angry at whoever it was that did this to her friend.

"No… That's alright, I've cut ties with her for now… But as she gave me the name Sparkle, I don't think I can ever see myself using that name again, I hope you understand." Twilight said, hoping her friend would understand her reasoning.

"But of course Ah understand Twi, Ah hope yer letting all yer family and friends know aswell… Uhm… So, what do we call ya now though?" Applejack asked.

Twilight smiled slightly as she looked at Applejack and repeated what she did before. "My name is Twilight Starshine, and I think of you as my friend."

This in turn caused Applejack to smile and nod. "Ah can tell that's the truth… But why do all this just to tell me? Ya do realize Ah would have believed ya if ya had just said so, right? There was no need for all this telling tha truth stuff."

"Well… It wasn't actually for that, I actually used that to make sure if you knew I was telling the truth." Twilight explained.

Applejack sighed. "Well then? Git on with it Twi, this is startin' to drag out too long by now, Ah still have plenty of work to do afterall."

Twilight took a deep breath in preparation, as she once more went with the same sentence, and once more slightly altered. "My name is Twilight, a pony that is your friend."

"Darnit Twi! This is getting' on mah nerves, what part of that is wrong this time? Ah already know yer name is Twilight and that we're friends, so what's wrong now?" Applejack asked, slightly ticked off by the constant repentance that keeps on making her feel something is a lie.

Twilight paused for a moment. "T-the pony part…" She then said with a quivering voice.

"… Scuse me? How can that be wrong?… Wait, is this one of them Alicorn things? Do ya not count as a normal pony or somethin' anymore? Is that what yer tellin' me?" Applejack asked slightly confused.

Twilight swallowed as she said the next part, still with a quivering voice. "I-I'm an Alicorn…"

Applejack just stood there, looking bewildered at Twilight as she recognized the lie. "Twi… What's goin' on here? How is that a lie?"

"B-because I'm not a pony or an Alicorn… I found out that I'm a hybrid between a pony and a… a… A Changeling." Twilight said as she turned her head away from Applejack, fearing how she would react.

Surprisingly enough though, what Applejack said next, was something Twilight didn't expect. "… Uh… Twi? What the hay is a Changeling? And why does this matter? Ya look just like a pony and ya act like one, so it can't all be bad, right? Wait, is that why yer suddenly so strong? Is that why yer worried?"

Twilight looked at Applejack in confusion, what did she mean by that? How could she not know what Changelings were after the wedding? Thoughts went through Twilight's head as she tried to make sense of it, and then it hit her, of course Applejack didn't know what Changeling were, it was never said during the wedding, to anypony but herself and Celestia, they had just been some nameless creatures or monsters that showed up, this caused Twilight to groan as she raised a hoof to her forehead as she facehooved.

Twilight then looked at her friend. "I didn't really want to do this again, not after the last two times, at least till you understood, but I suppose it is quicker to just show you aswell."

"Huh? Show me what Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Just… Please don't freak out or attack me… Alright?" Twilight asked as she started her transformation back into her real form.

Applejack stood there in slight shock for a moment. "Yer… Yer one of them? One of the ones that ruined yer brother's wedding?... Did ya know?"

Twilight looked back at Applejack nervously, she had yet to react as badly as the others had, perhaps there was still a chance for this to go well. "N-no, I only just found out about what I am."

Applejack looked at Twilight with a piercing stare. "Yer lying Twi, how long have ya known?"

"I… I'm lying? But…" Twilight thought hard about it, before sighing. "I suppose, I have considered it ever since Discord, but I didn't even know what a Changeling was at the time, and I just thought it had all been one of his tricks."

Applejack thought for a moment. "Since Discord?… Now that ya mention it, ya did look just like that at tha time, gosh darnit Twi, why didn't ya ever tell us!? And what about the weddin'? Did ya know what was going tah happen there?"

"I was certain he had made it all up, and of course I didn't know about the wedding!" Twilight quickly responded, but seeing Applejack expression at that made her take a step backwards.

Applejack looked shocked, before she glared at Twilight. "Yer lying, on both accounts! How could ya Twi?" She then asked accusingly.

Twilight took another step backwards. "N-no, I'm not lying… Perhaps some doubt was in my mind from Discord, but I'm certain I didn't know about the wedding! I would have put a stop to it otherwise, mother would have listened to me had I known, she would have freed Cadance instead of act like her, I'm sure of it!"

Applejack now had a really shocked look on her face. "Did… Did ya just say yer mother? Ya mean to tell me that tha one that did all that to yer old foalsitter and almost married yer brother was yer mother!?" She got her accusing look back, as she wasn't thinking clearly anymore at the time. "Does tha family that raised ya mean nothing to ya in the end Twi? Or had ya planned this for ages already?"

"I.. I.." Twilight stammered, not sure on what to say anymore, she hadn't known about the whole plan for the wedding, right? She hadn't gone along with the whole thing just because of some kind of knowledge she didn't remember at the time, right? Confused and feeling a bit betrayed once more, she did the first thing that came to mind, she decided to run away, or more accurately, fly away, this time opting to head back to her dream palace rather to anymore dreams, she didn't even look back as Applejack kept shouting for her to come back.



=====+++=====


Twilight's dream palace.


Twilight wiped away a tear as she looked at the stars from the top of one of her bookcases. "This was a mistake… I know they express themselves freely in their dreams, but it's their restraint that lets them think twice about what they do and say… But does it really matter? What if they always think like that in their hearts? What if they'll never truly accept me?... Why did I even do this in the first place?"

Twilight sighed as she looked at two familiar looking stars belonging to her brother and foalsitter. "I wonder how they would think about all of this?... No, I'm not going to mess with this again, I'll let them know normally, like I should have done from the start."

Twilight then looked at the new stars that had appeared earlier this night, why were there so many new ones all of a sudden anyway? And what was this odd feeling she had as she watched them, it was like they were connected to each other somehow, but that shouldn't be possible, sure Luna had told her that sometimes two ponies that were in sync enough would at times have a mixed dream, but that was hardly ever bigger then two or three ponies, but this, this seemed like dozens of them connecting together, perhaps even more.

For a moment Twilight considered touching one of them to find out, but before she could, her brother's star suddenly got a interface screen in front of it with a small alarm, something she had added after thinking about how Luna searched for nightmares and ancient dangers, she didn't want to alter the stars in the same way afterall, but since this screen made it easy to search for specific ponies, she figured it could also work to alert her if something was wrong, she had no idea if it would work on ancient dangers just yet though, as Luna was still blocking her from dreams that held them till she felt Twilight was ready.

So this was the alert for nightmares then, Twilight wanted to jump into her brother's dream straight away, but decided against it, if she would lose focus and turn into her real form now that she saw it as her real form anyway, it would likely make things worse, plus jumping into a nightmare without knowing what it was about would do no good either, you can't help if you don't know what the problem is afterall.

Luckily Twilight had thought about this after talking it over with Luna, as she added one more feature to the screen over the star, and as she pressed a part of the screen, it turned into a viewing portal of the dream itself, the sight made her gasp.

Shining Armor seemed to be dreaming about Changelings, more specifically it was a doomed scenario, Changelings had taken over all of Equestria, ponies were being made to wear large chains as they were being drained of all their love as if they were livestock, a large war against the Gryphons and the Dragons had erupted and the Changelings seemed to be winning as they used ponies as portable energy sources, and Shining was in a cage right next to Queen Chrysalis who was using Cadance as her own personal energy source.

Twilight quickly cut off the feed, before she threw up. "Ugh… Do you really think that's what would have happened BBBF?" She said to herself as she wanted to cry, but kept it in. "I… I really can't tell him till he gets over this…"

Feeling slightly defeated about this whole ordeal, Twilight was about to just let herself fall into a dream state, hoping that tomorrow things would be better or that she would have a better idea at least, but another alarm kept her from doing so, as it went away as quickly as it came, but then she heard it again, but from a different location, and it vanished soon after again, before yet another star got it. "Huh, that's odd, why is the alarm going on and off? Not even Luna can fix it that quickly… Wait, that's not the nightmare alarm, that's the…" She quickly looked at the stars as the placement of the alarm switched once more.

As Twilight traced the alarm, there were two things she noted the most besides it going from star to star, the first thing was that Luna seemed to not shield this ancient danger from her as she had the others, and the second thing she noticed was that the stars that kept going on and off with the alarm were the new stars that felt connected. "Is… Is it the reason their connected? But why isn't Luna taking care of it? Does she not know of it?" As she considered this, she also felt like this might just be the thing to vent on.

Twilight had planned to check out what was happening in the dreams it went to, but found that something was preventing her from seeing them, she wondered if the ancient danger could be the cause, and if she should really do it or not, till she suddenly heard somepony cry for help through one of the feeds and realized it was where the ancient danger currently was in, she then quickly steeled her resolves and jumped at the star.



=====+++=====



???????'s Dream


Twilight appeared in the sky above the everfree forest, quickly spreading her wings as she looked around in hopes of finding the ancient danger, what she saw through the trees however was unexpected. "W-what are Changelings doing here?" Her curiosity made her fly a bit lower in hopes of finding out, she quickly realized they were chasing something, but before she could see it properly, she heard the same buzzing noise in her head as she had at the wedding and in Ponyville shortly after, she didn't know why that kept happening, but it did make her stop right now, and it was a good thing too, as in front of her a large black and red shape suddenly rose from the trees.

It seemed shapeless at first, but it quickly took the shape of the most twisted version of a hydra she had ever seen, some of it's necks seemed to go through each other in a morbid fashion, as if they ate through each other in order to do so, one of the necks was twisted as if it had been in a twister and another seemed as if it was rotting away slightly, the one looking straight at her however seemed almost normal for a moment, before it's eyes lit up with an almost sickly color, Twilight tried to escape, but for some reason found herself unable to do anything but look straight at it.

She heard the buzzing sound once more and got the urge to fly away even more, but still found herself unable to do so, as some of the other heads started to make their way towards her, for a moment she feared for her life, but suddenly the buzzing sound was accompanied by a collective shout of a dozen different voices, but all shouting the same thing. "Your highness! Escape!" This managed to snap her out of the trance and she barely managed to dodge the other heads, before she flew away from the creature, but one of the heads looked at her and shot a gust of wind from its mouth at her, making her fall to the ground.

Before she hit the ground, Twilight managed to imagine the ground she was heading for was as soft as clouds, which made her crash not as severe as it likely would have been otherwise, but even that didn't stop it from hurting, as her mind still saw it as ground, rather then actual clouds.

Twilight laid there in a slight daze for a few seconds, before she shook her head and tried to stand back up, before she realized she was surrounded by Changelings, who were looking at her as if concerned, it made her freeze up for a second, as she then belittled herself for acting slightly similar to how her friends had reacted to her, but her thought process was quickly ground to a halt, as she saw the creature getting closer to them.

Twilight wasn't the only one to realize it seemed, as most of the Changelings turned towards it with a furious look on their faces, a quick buzzing sound was heard in Twilight's head once more as the Changelings charged at the creature, those that didn't go with them however tried to help Twilight get up properly, before they started to try to escort her away from this area, one of them then said something. "This way your highness, you mustn't get hurt, we'll take care of it."

Twilight craned her head sideways at the changeling that had spoken. "Why are you calling me that?"

The Changeling looked back at her with a hint of fear. "I-I'm sorry, I know we're not part of your hive, o-or that we're just lowly exiles that aren't worth your time, b-but we still respect you queens even like this… W-were we out of line?"

Twilight blinked a few times, lost as to what had just been said, she then quickly glanced over herself, she still seemed to be in her disguised form though. "You… Know I'm not a pony?... No, wait, what's this about being a queen? I'm no queen, and what's this about being exiles?"

The Changeling gasped in realization, regardless of whether it's correct. "A-ah, I'm sorry princess, has your mother not told you about exiles yet? I'll gladly tell you about us once we get you to safety… B-but if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean with how do we know your not a pony? Did you not connect to our hivemind a moment ago and made it clearer for us? How could we mistake you for anything but a Changeling royalty when you did that?"

"A hivemind?… Wait, do you mean that buzzing sound I keep hearing?" Twilight asked as she rubbed the side of her head. "How can you hear anything clearly through that?"

The Changeling looked at her with a slightly shocked expression. "Your highness… Is this… Is this the first time you ever connected to a hivemind? But you made it so clear now, we haven't been able to transmit orders to one another this well ever since we got cut off from our own hives, we actually stand a chance against the creature now."

"I did what now?" Twilight then asked, but before she got an answer, her mind clicked as she remembered why she was here in the first place and quickly looked at the creature. "I have to stop it!" She then tried to turn around and take off, but the Changeling stopped her.

"You mustn't! We're but disposable drones your highness, but your irreplaceable, you can't go out there!" The Changeling shouted as it blocked Twilight's path.

Twilight was a bit surprised from this, not just because of what was going on, but because she also felt touched by how much this Changeling she never even met before cared for her, she then took a small breath and looked straight at the Changeling. "You don't even know me, yet you care for me this much, how could I repay you in any other way then to protect you and your friends in kind?" Twilight looked at the creature that was fighting the Changelings and managed to swat a few of them out of the way, as her expression turned to one of anger. "Plus I just remembered that this, this is my domain, and I will protect all that need my help."

An odd feeling suddenly hung in the air, as suddenly the forest itself seemed to move, trees moved out of the way, the sky turned to a state of twilight, the ground started to turn to stone, and Twilight spoke with a commanding voice to the Changeling in front of her who was bewildered by the sudden changes. "Have all of them move to safety, I can't control this well enough yet, they will likely get hurt if they get close, and I don't know if I can shield them."

The Changeling looked at Twilight with a new found awe, as she realized that Twilight was the one doing all the changes to the area, making her bow in front of her with the utmost respect. "As you command, your highness." The Changeling looked at the other Changelings as a buzzing sound was heard by Twilight once more, but she could swear that she almost heard something this time, or perhaps she did hear something, but she didn't understand it just yet, the Changelings that had been fighting however quickly looked back over to them in confusion, but as they saw Twilight standing there with her determined and almost commanding expression, they quickly scattered.

Twilight couldn't help but smile slightly as they did, before she focused her sight on the creature once more, who in turn looked at her with a slight realization that she wasn't like the others. "You will not harm those under my protection once more!" Twilight then shouted as she took off faster then she had before.

Twilight had strengthened her leg muscles and wing muscles, but this time she had done so on purpose, the increase from the jump into a full on flight was enough to speed her up into a sonic boom within a second, making her hit one of the heads instantly and with enough force to shatter it's jaw and knock it out, she hen quickly used her newly strengthened wings to stop herself in mid air, utilizing an increase of gravity into the opposite direction at the same time, as she then flew towards it once more, now hitting it in the back of one of the other heads, it still connected, but it seemed like the creature wasn't as dazed this time.

The next hit had missed, the creature was learning at an incredible rate it seemed, but Twilight wasn't about to give up just because of that, as the ground started to warp slightly and open up, making the creature lose balance and fall down, Twilight quickly sent a blast of magic it's way before it could react, hitting it full on and seemingly knocking it out completely.

Twilight was breathing heavily, as the amount of concentration she had used to change the surroundings was more then she was used to, perhaps she could minimize it in due time, but she was still learning at the moment, she then sighed as she felt relieved, she had managed to defeat it and protect these po… These Changelings from the ancient danger.

She decided to land next to the creature and check it out, it seemed like it would be down for quite some time, she thought to herself that she should ask Luna what she needed to do with them after beating them, but for now she wanted to check up on the Changelings and see how they were doing, so she turned around and started to walk in the direction of the Changeling that had spoken to her.

It wasn't long till Twilight realized her mistake however, as she suddenly heard a rumbling sound behind her and before she could react, was slammed to the side, she quickly shook it off and looked at what had hit her, only to be shocked as she saw a Changeling standing where she had stood just a moment ago, but that's not what shocked her the most, what shocked her was that this Changeling was lying on the ground, seemingly dead and burning, as one of the heads of the creature was over it and now looking at her, as it opened it's mouth to blast her.

Something then snapped inside of Twilight, as she dropped her disguise and charged her horn with every bit of power she could muster, she compressed it all into a single point at the tip of her horn, the intense raw power radiating from it shone so brightly that it looked like a purple star for a moment, making the creature suddenly back off as it felt danger like nothing else, but Twilight didn't care right now, as she let out the sheer force in a single beam towards the creature, it was so powerful that it cut a trench through the ground and went off into space, evaporating the creature completely, and once she stopped, she passed out while standing.



=====+++=====



A bit later Twilight woke up, finding herself on a large and round bed, the side of it seemed to be made of some kind of black marble, the linen felt soft as silk and were purple, the bed itself felt as soft as a cloud and the room she was in looked as if it was carved out of some black rock with scones that had some kind of magic fire in them. "Where… Am I?"

As if on cue, the black doors she had mistaken as just part of the wall opened up, as several Changelings stood there, looking at her with mixed looks, respect, awe, a hint of fear and happiness were among the most of them, perhaps the fear was from how she looked or from the power she displayed, but Twilight didn't realize either option right now, one of them then stepped forwards, Twilight recognized her as the Changeling she had talked to before. "Your highness! Your up! I-I'm so glad your up, I was afraid you wouldn't after what you did." The Changeling then said while wiping away some tears, Twilight then noticed that a lot of them had tears in their eyes.

"I… What happened? I remember beating that creature and going to check up on all of you when…" Twilight's face suddenly darkened a little as she remembered being saved by that Changeling and the rage she had felt afterwards. "One of you saved me, is.. Is…"

One of the other Changelings noticed her feelings and quickly intervened. "He's fine your highness! A bit burned, but nothing that won't heal over time, he'll just need a few weeks to heal is all."

Twilight teared up slightly as she felt relieved. "So he didn't die, I'm… I'm so glad he's alright."

The Changelings in front of her now all looked at her with a look of confusion and a sense of happiness, they were exiles from their own hives and never to be expected to have a queen of their own again, yet here there was a queen or princess that was more powerful then any they had ever seen before, and she was caring for them as if they were not just her own, but her most trusted Changelings, they didn't know how to feel about any of this, but they wanted to instinctively do anything for her, and make her feel better, as such they suddenly swarmed her with an embrace.

Twilight was surprised as they did, but the warmth from the group hug and the feelings she could feel coming from them, made her smile and hug back, she needed this after tonight, the dreams of her friends had made her feel… Hold on a moment, that's right, this was a dream, but she hadn't met the pony that this dream belonged to, she thought for a moment before coming to a realization, what if this wasn't a dream of a pony? What if it was the dream of a Changeling? Or better yet, what if this was the dream of a lot of them in one go? That would explain why so many of them had been linked together, this also came with another realization which made Twilight sigh in relief.

She then looked at the Changelings in front of them with a smile, they cared so much for her even after only just having met her, and she in turn felt like she should protect them, as she knew now that she cared for them as much as she cared for anypony, perhaps even more so. "He'll be fine by the next time you all go to sleep." Twilight then said, making some of them look at her in confusion, before they could ask though, she continued. "Your currently all asleep, this is the dream realm, I had forgotten it for a moment myself, and what we fought is known as an ancient danger, as long as you don't die from it, you'll be fine by the next time you go to sleep, so he'll be fine soon enough, he might be a bit drained once you all wake up however."

The Changelings looked at each other and seemed to fear the question that started to spread through their minds, they didn't want to ask it, but the one Twilight had talked to in the forest managed to talk. "D-does that mean your not really real? A-are you just a figment of our imagination? I-Is that why you look like your partially a pony?" The fear and pain in her words were obvious.

"What? No! I'm not a figment of imagination at all!" Twilight quickly replied, as to try to calm them down. "I'm… I'm a hybrid, I have both Changeling and Pony DNA inside me, and I'm also something that's called a dream walker, it's how I found you all, but I was used to only finding the dreams of ponies, that's why I had my disguise on before…" She then looked a little sad. "Nopony seems to accept me for who I am…" For a moment Twilight thought that they might shun her just as she thought her friends had done in their dreams.

But instead she found herself in an even tighter group hug. "We would never abandon you for something like that, your highness, you saved us and cared for us even if we didn't deserve it, if those ponies don't accept you it's their loss, but we will always be there for you if you need us!" The Changeling suddenly said, before gasping and putting a hoof to her mouth. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that you needed us or anything, I'm sure you can handle everything on your own, we just…" Another Changeling then started to talk. "We care for you, we know we're just exiles, but if your ever in need, then please use us in any way, we'll gladly give our lives for you even if we're not worthy."

Twilight felt happy that they felt that way, but she also felt uncomfortable that they valued their own lives so little. "Please don't give up your lives so easily, I don't want to see any of you get hurt because of me, I don't get why you'd want to  do so in the first place."

"That's why, no queen has ever cared for us as you have, and we're not even part of your hive, we're exiles, for a queen or princess to care so much for us even in that case, we want to keep you safe no matter what, please allow us to at least keep you safe, your highness." One of the Changelings said.

Twilight sighed as she realized they wouldn't budge on this. "Fine… But under one condition, none of you will do so by giving up your own life, I will only permit it if you find some way for yourselves to survive aswell, understood?"

The Changelings looked at each other, before they looked at her and in a collective voice, those that were there responded all together. "Understood your highness."

All of them talking at once as a single voice somehow disturbed Twilight slightly, but not as much as it would have before all this. "By the way, you said that no Queen has ever cared for any of you, does that mean that queen Chrysalis didn't care for any of you at all?" She then asked as a feeling of sadness came over her.

"Queen… Chrysalis?" One of the Changelings asked and they looked at each other as if questioning each other as that buzzing sound was heard once more. "Excuse us your highness, but what do you mean? The last queen Chrysalis in recording dates back a thousand years ago, the records state that she was a weak queen that tried to trick the ponies into trusting her and fail the war that came shortly after, there's been no sight of her or her hive after that, it's assumed that they all perished."

Twilight blinked for a moment, did they not know of the attack during the wedding? Sure it had only been a day or so and it had been covered up, but you'd think other Changelings would have at least have some way of finding out quickly… But then, it sounded like Chrysalis had kept her hive hidden for a whole millennium, even from her own kind… But that raised another question. "Wait, does that mean there are more queens then her?"

"But of course your highness." One of them said. "Currently we know of twelve queens out there, but there may be more then that, we're not exactly well informed you see."

Twilight frowned slightly, that meant that there could be plenty more attacks in the future, and if they had seen Chrysalis as weak back then, then who knew how strong an attack the others could create, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself, perhaps she was overthinking this, they hadn't attacked during all that time afterall, so perhaps they hadn't really thought of her as weak, but made her seem as such simply because she lost in their eyes.

"Your highness?" One of the Changelings said out of concern as Twilight seemed lost in thought.

Twilight looked at them with a small smile, as she remembered how Chrysalis had acted during the wedding and remembered the honest feelings she had shown, Twilight knew that Chrysalis at least cared deeply for her fellow Changelings because of that, why else would she have acted as such before she figured out who Twilight really was. "I see… So that means none of you are from Chrysalis' hive, so that means mother is kind afterall."

Some of the Changelings looked confused as others realized. "Your mother? Your highness, are you saying that queen Chrysalis is your mother? But how can that be? She vanished so long ago and she was seen as weak, yet your so powerful, no queen has ever bore a princess that was at most twice as strong, and those had been exceptions, so how can that be?"

"Well… It might have something to do with how I grew up, or perhaps because of my father." Twilight answered, not fully sure herself. "Also, I must admit that I don't actually know much about our own race… Or well, the Changelings side of myself I suppose." She admitted as she saw a few confused looks. "I was sorta… Taken, from my mother when I was born." She saw the anger in some of their eyes as they imagined who would have done so. "Ah! But not in spite or anything! I was taken in order to be protected, you see I was stillborn…" Twilight then told them about her past, but didn't mention any names or specifics.

"Wait, but wasn't the war against the ponies?" One of the Changelings suddenly asked.

"Well… Yeah, my godmother is actually… Luna." Twilight replied. "She was a close friend to my parents."

The Changelings conversed through the hivemind, before one of them looked at Twilight. "Excuse us your highness, but do you mean princess Luna? As in the Alicorn that became Nightmare Moon?"

Twilight was a bit nervous as she replied. "Well, yeah, but she only became as such because of a mistake Celestia made, she's back to normal now."

"What kind of mistake could cause that?" Once of them then asked, making Twilight sigh as she continued the story, deciding it was likely best to just tell them everything up to when she and her friends became the elements of friendship.

A hatred could be seen in the eyes of some of them once more. "How dare Celestia try to use you as some pawn! At least princess Luna wanted to protect you."

"Please don't do anything rash, I cut my connections with her by now… At least till I know if I can trust her or not in the future, but while she was misguided, I don't think she meant any harm with it, so please just… Don't do anything rash, alright?"

"… If that is what you want, your highness, but we won't forget, she did an injustice to you and your family, even her own sister, it is not something to easily forgive." One of the Changelings said, as the others nodded in agreement.

A small smile came back to Twilight. "That's fine, as long as none of you will do anything that will get you hurt, your free to think what you want afterall." Her smile faded a bit as she realized how late it was. "I suppose the night will be over soon, which means we should all wake up in a bit."

An awkward shuffle could be seen between the Changelings, as they didn't seem to want that. "W-will we see you again your highness?" One of them then asked.

Twilight paused for a moment, thinking about if she really should or not, but as she looked at their faces, she knew there was really just one choice here. "I'd like that, if I can find your dreams again, I'll be sure to visit them, but… I think I'd like to meet you all in real life aswell, but I don't know how to find you, so if your ever near a village called Ponyville, please come and visit me, I live at the library there, it's a big tree in the middle of the village, you can't miss it… Oh, and if  I'm not around, just ask somepony if they know where I am, the ponies there are really nice… Though you should have a disguise up of course, I don't know how they would react just yet."

The Changelings looked at each other and smiled. "We'll do just that your highness, we'll remember, we promise."

"I hope you do, it's hard to remember what happened during a dream, but knowing it's a dream seems to help… Ah! I just realized, I never gave you my name, I'm Twilight Starshine, though the ponies currently still only know me as Twilight Sparkle, but I don't want to use the Sparkle part anymore, since Celestia gave that name to me… Just call me Twilight though." Twilight then said as she got up.

"We will force our entire will into the hivemind to remember your highness, we will find you, you'll see." The Changeling she had talked to in the forest said.

It made Twilight chuckle slightly that they would use something like that just for her and wondered if it would work, if it did, then it was likely cheating slightly, but she didn't really care. "Now then, I should go to my dream palace before I wake up, I don't know yet if there's some kind of danger for me to wake up in somep… The dream of another without guidance." She then said as she made her way outside, she was a bit surprised at how short the distance out of this supposed hive with black walls once magically lit scones seemed to be, but more so by the normal looking village in the forest not much further from where she exited, but she decided to leave that for next time, for now she simply took to the sky in order to go back.



=====+++=====



Soon after, Twilight woke up in a bed not her own, for a moment she wondered where she was, but then she recalled she had fallen asleep at Luna's place, and now she started to recognize this room and bed, it was the room Luna had prepared for her if she ever decided to stay over or if they had made it a bit too late and it would have been simpler to just sleep there for the night, something that had happened once or twice when Twilight had gotten too absorbed into her reading while there.

Twilight looked out the window as night was starting to make way for day, she wondered for a moment if she should head back to her library straight away, just in case the Changelings actually did remember and would go there straight away, but she shook her head as surely they wouldn't come that quickly, plus there was a delicious smell in the air right now, Luna was making breakfast it seemed.

Once Twilight got down and went into the kitchen, she was greeted by Luna. "You kept yourself busy at night it seems, I could feel you go from dream to dream, though it stopped at one point, are you feeling better now?" Luna asked as she finished breakfast for them both, it was simple, just some eggs, some toast, a glass of freshly made orange juice and some deliciously looking montre bacon, just what Twilight enjoyed the most whenever she stayed over.

"Much better, though at first it was a bit… Tough, but the last dream made all the difference." Twilight replied as she then took a bite of one of the strips of bacon and let out an audible 'Hmm~'.

"Oh? Do tell." Luna said in reply before taking a sip from her juice.

Twilight swallowed her bite. "I found a dream of a Changeling, it was amazing Luna, even as they dream all them are connected together into one dream, and they accepted me right away, they didn't even care that I was a hybrid." She decided to not tell Luna about the ancient danger she had faced however, that would likely just cause her to worry for her, and right now she didn't need any other issues.

Luna just stared at her blankly for a moment however. "Did… Did you just say you went into the dream of a Changeling?"

Twilight felt slightly uncomfortable about how that was said. "Y-yeah, why? You don't think that was a bad thing to do… Do you?" She was slightly afraid of how Luna might answer, even if she knew that Luna didn't have any bad feelings about Changelings.

Luna was surprised at how Twilight reacted. "Bad? Twilight, why would I ever think that? That's not it at all, in fact it's amazing! I've never been able to visit the dreams of anything but ponies, you’re the first dream walker to ever go into the dreams of other races! … Well, that we know of anyway, I'm not even sure if they might have had dream walkers of their own or not."

Twilight sighed out of relief and internally berated herself for thinking even for a moment that Luna would have a issue with this. "I really need to stop thinking this way."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Luna asked in response.

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud…" Twilight let out another sigh. "I just, seem to always expect the worst to happen when something happens that I can't control, or if something goes badly…"

"I see, in other words you've got a pessimistic view of life." Luna replied as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps something an old friend of mine had once said could be of use to you then, he too expected the worst to happen, in fact he expected it to happen even if things went right, yet he never seemed to fear it happening, when I asked him about it, he simply told me that he always expected the worst, but hoped for the best, this way he was never unprepared, but he was also able to enjoy it when things went right." She then recalled something and chuckled. "In fact, it almost seemed like he enjoyed it the most if something did happen, since then he could solve it and guide it to the best possible outcome he could manage, he once told me it's like solving a really hard puzzle sometimes."

Twilight pondered this for a moment. "I suppose it does feel good to solve a hard puzzle… But I don't know if I could think of my own issues as such…"

Luna smiled. "I doubt many could think of it in the same way he could, but still, what he said could still be of use to you, since you may never get rid of expecting the worst, but perhaps you could add to it instead and hope for the best aswell, if nothing else, it may just take away some of your fears for when something goes wrong."

"I… I'll think about it." Twilight replied before she ate the last of her meal. "Thanks for breakfast, as always, but I should head back to the library now."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "So soon? Normally you'd want to spend some more time before heading back, is something the matter?"

Twilight started to clean up her plate and glass as she replied. "Not really, it's just that I told those Changelings that they could come to the library if they remembered once they wake up, I doubt they'll actually show up, but I'd like to be there just in case."

Luna thought for a moment. "You asked them to come here? Hmm, I hope they know to disguise themselves, I doubt anypony here would really do anything bad to them, but ponies can be quite… Reserved, about what they don't know, though they also seem to adapt quite quickly these days, perhaps that's because of Zecora, once they knew she just looked a little different but wasn't really, they seemed to understand slightly that you shouldn't judge another for their appearances… If only other villages and towns thought the same."

"Oh, I made sure they knew just in case, though I doubt they wouldn't have anyway." Twilight answered. "And I think you living here has been part of that change aswell, it's not everyday a pony gets to see that an Alicorn is the same as them, yet here it's normal at this point."

Luna chuckled slightly. "Fair enough, well then, I suppose I should go back to Canterlot for a bit, your friends and family will likely want to hear your feeling better after I left them." She missed Twilight flinch when she mentioned them however, as Luna was cleaning up her plate and glass by now aswell.

They then said their goodbyes to each other as they head off to their own destinations, and as she walked to the library, Twilight started to notice a buzzing sound in her head.





> An opportunity of a lifetime
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 06







*In front of the Ponyville Library, slightly after Twilights left Luna's mansion*


Twilight was surprised when she got to her library, only to find she was unable to actually get to it because of a commotion in front of it, caused by about twenty ponies.

She quickly looked over them as she then saw the mayor with them, as she then headed over to the mare. "Mayor, what's going on here?"

The mayor looked at Twilight and let out a relieved sigh. "Twilight Sparkle, I was hoping you could tell me, these ponies just showed up out of nowhere all around the town, asking where the library was, several townsponies said they acted oddly, and when I got here they refused to answer any of my questions, all they did was ask when you would be here in fact, you don't think their dangerous or anything, do you?"

"They just showed up out of nowhere and asked for me?" Twilight asked as she looked at them and noticed they were now all staring at her with mixed expressions, but it seemed all of them had a slight look of respect on them, and as she noticed that the buzzing sound in her head had only gotten louder as she came closer to the library, it suddenly clicked. "Ah! I uh… I think I know why their here, no worries mayor, their not dangerous at all, and I promise they won't cause any problems."

"Well… If you say so." The mayor said and sighed. "Honestly though, if it were anypony else, I would have questioned it some more, but you saved us plenty of times already, so I'll just leave it be. Now if you'll excuse me, I still have some important documents to look over, so I'll leave you to it." The mayor then left for the town hall.

Twilight made sure the mayor was gone before she looked at the ponies there and sighed. "Let me guess, you all remembered the dream and decided to come here straight after you woke up."

A collective nod was seen, before a red mare with a blue mane spoke up. "We didn't all remember straight away, but those that did jolted the memories of the others thanks to the hivemind you enhanced your highness."

Twilight's ears jolted up as she quickly looked around to see if anypony else heard, before she put a hoof to her muzzle in a hushing way. "Shhh! Do you want the whole town to find out? Let's talk inside." She then headed up to her door and unlocked it, after she opened it she stopped for a moment before looking back at them however. "Uhm… I'm not sure your all going to fit inside actually."

The ponies looked at each other as if in conversation, but didn't say anything, then the red mare spoke up once more. "That won't be an issue your highness."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked as she was answered with a nod, she then stepped aside to let them inside and to her surprise, they just kept going in as if there was plenty of room, once they were all inside she followed them in and closed the door behind her, locking it just to be safe, when she turned around however she was surprised to see foals rather then adult ponies. "What the? Why did you all turn into foals?"

A red filly with a blue mane stepped up, likely being the same mare as before Twilight thought to herself, the filly then spoke. "We figured this was the best option, as we can all fit this way without obscuring you, your highness."

"Hmm, I suppose that's true… Also, could you stop with the your highness part? I'm fine with just being called Twilight, in fact I'd prefer it." Twilight then responded, she did find it a little odd to suddenly have a whole library full of foals though, and hoped nopony would think oddly about it if they looked in the windows… In fact, just to be on the safe side, she closed the curtains.

The red filly gasped. "That won't do at all your highness! We're but lowly drones, exiles at that! For us to call you by your name without a tittle would be blasphemy, especially after we swore to serve you for the rest of our lives."

Had Twilight had some kind of beverage, she would have likely had spit out whatever she had in her mouth, but as she didn't have any, she instead just looked at them with a look of shock. "Excuse me? I mean I know you promised to keep me safe and all, but where did this serve part come from?"

The foals looked slightly nervous as the red filly spoke again. "W-we didn't mean that we'd become your hive or anything, we know we're not worthy of that, we're still just lowly exiles, b-but we want to serve you the best we can after what you've done for us, you protected us and even avenged one of our own that you thought had died, plus you gave us a stable and clear hivemind once more, saving even more of us when we woke and were able to connect them to it, so we wanted to do anything we could for you, even if we'd never get out of a exile status… Though we hope to at least be granted a slave status by you when you do create a hive of your own if possible…"

Twilight blinked as she tried to absorb the new information, before she then placed one hoof between her eyes in a thinking way and the other in front of her. "Now hold on there for a moment, what do you mean I saved more of you by doing that to your hivemind? I'm still not even sure what I did in the first place… And what's this about wanting to be slaves? Why would anypony even want that?"

The red filly blinked for a few moments before realizing. "Oh, right, I forgot you told us that you don't know anything of Changeling culture your highness, and it sounds like you don't know much of the hivemind either, if you'll allow us your highness, we would gladly tell you everything we know."

Twilight contemplated the possibilities here, she could gain so much knowledge that not even that book she had gotten from Discord had been able to give her, and it would likely be a good idea to know more about her real body aswell, because what if she ever got some kind of Changeling disease without knowing what it was? Or if she got hurt? "Please do, I really want to know more about what I am, I'm especially interested in what you meant when you said the hivemind saved them, how does that work?"

"The details are a bit hard to say since none of us are scholars, but what we do know is that the hivemind is like an important organ to us, being cut off from it cuts our lifespans to about a fourth of the lifespan a pony has, but it also affects our mental states, seeing as we get connected to our queen the moment we're hatched, though at that point we're not yet fully integrated and can't get any real orders, but it's what keeps our thoughts clear and focused." The red filly said before she then thought for a moment.

The red filly continued soon after. "I suppose losing the connection could be seen as slowly losing your mind, and when your exiled you get disconnected from the hivemind you were part of, so us exiles try to create a rough version between each other when we find others like us… But it's but a weak imitation, as only a queen or princess can make a real hivemind, so our minds still slowly slip away, just a lot slower then it would otherwise, and it can't replace the really important part either, so our lives are still shortened… But when you tried to connect to us your highness, you cleared it up a lot, it's still an imitation of course, but at least you halted our minds from slipping, which made it possible to save some who were on the brink of losing their minds."

Twilight was writing it all down on a piece of parchment she had gotten while it was being explained, but she stopped writing it down and looked at the fill with a worried look. "Wait, if what you told me is true, then while I may have saved their minds, your lives are still in danger, is there anyway to prevent that from happening?"

The filly shook her head. "Not that we know of at least, though we have heard of one that redeem themselves and were allowed back into a hivemind get half of their lifespan back."

"Is that much?" Twilight asked in a concerned response.

The filly thought for a moment. "It depends on what you call much, I suppose it would be for a normal pony, it's about five times their full lifespan."

"Five… You mean to say Changelings can get up to five to six hundred years old if their lifespans is halved?" Twilight was baffled as she asked this, she never even considered having such a long lifespan before she was told she was a princess, and even then she hadn't really considered it, though that was likely because she didn't want to think of living longer then her friends, so she had simply not thought of it before now.

"If their lucky, it's not often a Changeling gets to live out their full lifespan, or even a half one for that matter, since we require more love as we grow older, so most Changelings decide against living that long as it would likely starve the rest of the hive quickly without a large supply, at one point they just stop taking more so the rest of the hive can survive." The filly said, she then saw how Twilight seemed to look sad at this, so before Twilight could say anything, she continued. "Don't feel sad your highness, it's often seen as something to be celebrated, as they teach the new generation everything they learned themselves, and it's to keep the hive safe, it's the most honorable thing we can do, and it's not like any of us wants to live by taking the lives of others, especially our families… Plus once they do, they know the exact amount of time they have left, so they can spend it happily with their loved ones, something you'd normally never be able to do when you don't know it."

Twilight still looked slightly sad. "I… I suppose so, but is there really no way for them all to survive?"

The filly placed a hoof on Twilight's hoof as she replied. "Not without draining other beings completely for generations on end, the hives we came from knew that this was not a good thing, and we all accept that, just because we can live for longer then other races, doesn't mean we should either… There can be… Complications for those that live too long, mutations that can certainly help the hive in the long run, but there can also be those that endanger both the hive and other races, and we know we would be hunted down if we were to actually show hostility to them."

Twilight wasn't sure how to react to that, but she swallowed the chunk in her throat in order to ask another question. "S-so… You said something about families… What did you mean by that? I don't know how it works for Changelings to be honest, but from the fact that you live in hives and are bug like, I had considered if it was like ants where the queen births you all… I… I must admit this isn't something I'm looking forward to."

The filly blinked for a few moments before she put her hooves to her mouth, as did most others, after a few awkward moments more, it was clear that they were doing all they could to prevent laughing, perhaps because she really didn't know much, but likely more because it would be rude and perhaps even sacrilege in their eyes to laugh at royalty, once they regained themselves, the filly spoke. "S-sorry your highness… We couldn't help it, but to answer your question, it's not unlike how ponies have families, we chose our own loved ones and can decide to have offspring with them if the queen allows it, since having more offspring would mean more mouths to feed afterall, so the queen decides which families are allowed to have a nymph if they want to reproduce, and how many of them they would be allowed to have."

Twilight seemed to have picked up her quill and parchment during the explanation, since she was noting it down again, while also mentally noting down that the offspring of Changelings were called nymphs rather then foals it seemed. "Interesting, so how does that work? How do they decide who's allowed and how do they enforce the amount of offspring they can have?"

"Well, it really depends on the type of queen, most tend to look at the parents and what kind of offspring they would likely produce, since those of the warrior classes tend to have offspring that will likely want to be a warrior class themselves, same with those of intelligence classes, builder classes and so forth, but that's not always the case either." The filly took a small breath before continuing. "Drones however have less chance of producing offspring that will be anything but a drone, but at times it does happen, and it's not like drones get less chances because of this either, if anything they get more chances, since they can do a bit of everything, their just not as specialized as others, but this does mean that when there are times when one job is less required, drones can easily switch what they do, while a warrior class wouldn't be able to do something a intelligence class would be able to do for instance."

The filly then thought for a moment before answering the other side of the question. "As for how they enforce the amount, that really depends on the queen, for some they alter the amount others can have by the amount it goes over or under the previously stated amount, while other queens could take the amount that's too much and trade them off with other families or even hives if it comes to that… It's not an easy decision for any of them in that case, but it is done… And there are some queens that take more… Drastic measures for this issue…"

Twilight winced slightly at this, she felt like she shouldn't have asked for a moment, and thought at how cruel this sounded… But then she surprised herself as she realized she also was thinking about how necessary it might be for the benefit of the whole hive and she cursed herself for even thinking that, surely there could be other options, perhaps a stasis spell to do… What was pretty much done to her… No, that would likely just cause other new issues, perhaps even similar ones as what she had gone through.

Feeling that Twilight was slightly pained about this and seeing that she was trying to think deeply in order to find other options, the filly decided to say something. "Your highness, you don't need to think about a solution to this right now, it's likely best to wait till you have a hive of your own before deciding on this, since it would take quite a while before a hive becomes big enough for this to matter, if doing it in a normal way that is."

Twilight's ear flicked at this. "The normal way? You mean there are other ways?"

The filly seemed unsure if she should say it, but as Twilight had asked for it, she answered. "I'm not fully sure, but a few of us have heard some scholars speak when we were still part of our hives, they mentioned some kind of ritual that could be performed by a queen if there would ever be a need for a large amount of Changelings, it sounded like this was meant more for emergencies when a hive would be almost completely wiped out, one even said a queen would give up their own natural way of reproduction to do so, and what would happen would be that the queen would indeed do what you thought a queen did, your highness."

"You mean they would then birth all Changelings for their hive?" Twilight asked slightly surprised that they could switch so easily.

The filly nodded. "Yes, but I don't know if they could switch back, and it sounded like it was just a one time thing aswell, not to mention that it sounded like those Changelings would grow up at a rapid pace, plus since they'd give up their normal reproductive way, they wouldn't be able to produce an heir at that point either."

Twilight was slightly troubled by how this was worded. "What do you mean? Wouldn't the ones they birth at that point all be their offspring?"

This time the filly shook her head. "Not in the same way your highness, you see only queens can birth other queens, and they do so in order to have an heir if something were to ever happen to them, they often decide against having more then one till one leaves a hive to make a hive of their own, this way a hive is always able to continue, but a queen and a normal Changeling are born in completely different ways."

"Different ways? What do you mean?" Twilight quickly asked as she was noting it all down, not even looking up as she asked.

"Well, a Changeling normally lays eggs, out of which a larvae then emerges that later on makes a chrysalis around them before becoming a normal nymph, something I'm quite happy for since a Changeling nymph already has a sharp horn when they emerge, but a queen births a nymph straight away, much like how ponies birth foals… It can be quite painful I've heard, but it seems like it causes no permanent damage for a queen, and if done correctly it causes no real damage to start with." The filly answered.

"I see, I see… I suppose that means my birth likely went like it would have normally have happened anyway then." Twilight said more to herself then to them, as she considered what might have happened to her mother if it had been different then what it should have been.

Twilight thought as she considered what she should ask next, when she remembered something else they said earlier. "Earlier on, you said you would like to become slaves to me if I were to ever make a hive of my own, why would you want that? Why not just stay as servants or something?"

There was a short buzz as the Changelings talked to each other through the hivemind, before the filly spoke up. "Your highness, we may serve you and do anything you'd like for you, but you should know that our status has not changed, we are still exiles and not servants, we serve you by force in a way, we may have asked for your permission, but other queens would never accept it in that way when you have your own hive, they will only see it as ourselves forcing our services on you, while actual servants need to be part of the hive, they allow such selfishness when a queen has yet to form a hive in order for them to quickly get a working hive, but they will hunt us if we continue to do so once you have one… But a slave status will mean we are in their eyes forced to serve you, regardless of whether we became as such willingly, we also won't be allowed to get linked up to the actual hivemind, and they will allow at least that much, but we at least will also be allowed to retain this clear false hivemind you have provided us, they would likely take it away from us forcefully otherwise."

"What!? But I'm the one that gave it to you… Granted I didn't realize I did, but you did nothing wrong, why would they take it from you just because your exiled?" Twilight asked in a worried rush.

"It's exactly because we are exiles, your highness." The filly answered. "They can't risk us getting our thoughts together in an orderly manner and possibly try to form some kind of rebellion, and becoming exiles wouldn't be much of a deterrent to others if all that happens is we lose our life force, seeing as we tend to already give it up normally to protect the hive, even if it is allot more this way."

"I-I see… I suppose it makes sense in a way." Twilight replied, when another thought came to her. "Hmm, I really don't like the idea of slaves though, so since you want to be that close to me and I don't want slaves, how about instead I take you as my own hi…"

"NO!" All the foals in the room suddenly shouted at the same time, startling Twilight who backed away while also feeling a bit hurt from the sudden rejection, the red filly quickly spoke before the feelings could fully manifest themselves though. "We're sorry your highness, but you mustn't! It's not safe for you, there's already a great risk taking one exile into your own hive, but to take a whole hive worth of exiles as your own would… Well, I'm not really sure what it would do, but it can't be good, that's for sure… So we won't let you do that, we won't let you risk yourself, even if you order us to."

The reason for their outburst made Twilight feel slightly better, but a questioned started to nag at the back of her head after that. "But didn't you tell me earlier about an exiled that returned to a hive? What could be so dangerous that you'd refuse? They even got to live to about half the normal age for a Changeling, didn't they?"

"Yes, and that's also exactly why it's dangerous your highness, and why you mustn't do it." The filly replied, making Twilight only more confused, so the filly continued explaining. "I also told you that when Changelings grow older they require more love, right?" As Twilight nodded, the filly continued. "Well even if they were accepted back into the hive, a previous exile should still be seen as less then other Changelings, and it's already hard for Changelings to grow that old normally, yet that one was given all the love they needed to grow that old, it likely starved the rest of the hive, so something must happen to the thought process of the other Changelings and perhaps even the Queen's thoughts when a exile is brought back into a normal hivemind, so you mustn't ever do so your highness, not even with a single exile, let alone a whole hive worth of exiles."

Twilight wanted to say she would be able to find a solution to this, but she also knew that at the time, she knew too little of this to even start thinking of other options, what if there really wasn't a solution? Or what if she only made things worse? Perhaps some day she would find a way, but for now she knew it was best to just leave it at that. "I see…" She then sighed, before she looked back at the filly before her. "If I ever do find a way to solve that issue though, will you at least consider joining a hive again?"

The filly looked to be in thought as the buzzing sound filled Twilight's mind again, and once it stopped the filly answered. "Normally we'd say no, but after what you did for us and what we saw you were capable of, we'll consider it… But we won't join yours till it's proven to work at least! So you'll have to find another queen that's willing to let you try on her hive, we don't want you to risk your own mind your highness, we owe you too much for that, and your likely meant for great things in the future."

She wanted to say that she wouldn't risk others for it, but Twilight knew that they wouldn't accept no for an answer, perhaps she could convince them over time however, or find other exiles to try it with, so for now she agreed to their terms. "Alright, and I have to ask, but I keep hearing a buzzing sound every so often in my head, I'm guessing that's the hivemind, or the false hivemind you have, will this be a problem?"

"As far as we know it shouldn't." The filly replied as she thought for a moment. "Queens and princesses have at times spoken to exiles through false hiveminds, in fact their the ones that originally made it and gave us the knowledge for it, they did so in order to know when we're around and want to tell us something, usually it's used to simply let us know of certain expansions of their territories and that we're too close to them, but at times it's also used for small orders when a princess wants to start a hive of her own and has too few drones at the time, after that we would still have to leave their territory unless we're enslaved however… But as far as we know, you’re the first one to clear up the hivemind as you did…" The filly thought again and Twilight heard the buzzing sound again soon after, but this time it almost seemed to suddenly cut off partly through, the filly still seemed to think for a few moments more before she looked at Twilight again. "Sorry your highness, but because we don't fully know what you did, we felt it best to cut you off from it for now, we'll see if perhaps we can make a second false hivemind over this one just to be able to communicate with you, and perhaps not use the one you gave us for when another queen would try to talk to us aswell."

"So that's why it felt like it suddenly cut off… I'm sorry, I suppose I made things more difficult for you in the long run huh?" Twilight replied as she felt a bit responsible for any future issues they might get with some hives.

The filly shook her head. "Not at all your highness, it may cause a few issues if a hive tries to contact us before we figure it out, but you saved the minds of many of us already, and there aren't many of us to start with."

Twilight looked slightly confused. "What do you mean? I mean there's about twenty of you here right now, surely if so many of you are able to come here freely, then even more of you must wait back where you came from."

The filly however looked to the side with a sad expression. "Most of us don't survive for very long on our own, many of us go insane before we even find other exiles to form a false hivemind with, and at that point there's no saving them… We have about a dozen others adult Changelings back home, and most of those are the ones that are recovering from almost going insane, but a few others were left to take care of them and some of our nymphs. The rest of us wanted to come and thank you for what you did for us in fact, and to see you in person, we wanted to make sure you were really real…"

Twilight looked down a bit as she regretted saying that. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize there were so few of you left, I didn't mean to… Wait, did you just say nymphs? There are nymphs that were exiled!?" She was shocked by hearing that.

The filly quickly spoke up before Twilight could say or do anything else. "Ah! Of course not your highness! No queen would condemn a nymph for something… Well, as far as we know of at least, the nymphs in question are our own, most of us know not to get them since we'd only condemn them, but some of us just want to have families… Even if we regret it shortly after we do so, since we know what's in store for them in the future… We can't even connect them into our false hivemind either, since the first connection with a nymph can only be made by a queen." Tears were forming on the filly's face before her disguise suddenly fell and a female adult Changeling stood there, who suddenly busted into tears. "I'm sorry little one, I was too selfish and yearned for something of my own, I didn't know!" She then suddenly yelled at nopony in particular.

Twilight was stunned, shocked and felt sorry for her all at once, she then hugged the Changeling before her once she got over being stunned. "I shouldn't have said anything there, I'm sorry."

The Changeling didn't know what to do, no queen would show such weakness in public, sure they knew the queens cared for those in their hives, and Twilight showed the same care for them as a queen does to their own hives, but even then they would only do such things in private, yet here Twilight was, doing just that, for a moment she wanted to push her away as it felt disrespectful, but the gentle care and love she felt in the hug made her tear up even more and she fell into the hug as she hugged back, her tears fully flowing out now as she cried till she couldn't cry no more, and the other Changelings there let her, some even joining in the hug as they cried and dropped their disguises aswell, likely for their own nymphs or for hers.

After everyling was done crying and regained themselves, they thanked Twilight and apologized for doing so. "Please, there's no need to apologize, I just did what I felt was right, and I'm sorry for asking in the first place." Twilight told them as she thought to herself, wondering if there was a way to save the nymphs, when all of a sudden a idea came to mind. "Wait, if a nymph can only make their first connection to a hivemind with a queen, then that means they don't have whatever a exile has that causes the issues, right"

"It could be inherited from us perhaps." One of the still disguised Changelings said in reply.

Twilight shook her head however. "No, if it effects the mind directly, then it wouldn't be inherited just one generation over, perhaps if dozens of generations all had the same thing it could become intertwined with their DNA, but before that it would likely just be some kind of mental issue caused by something going wrong with the mind of the individual, even beings that have genetic memory aren't influenced that quickly, so their shouldn't be effected."

"If what your saying is true your highness… Then our nymphs have a chance to live if a queen would allow them to connect with them." The Changeling that ha been talking to her all this time said, but quickly looked defeated with her thoughts. "But where would we even find a queen willing to do so? They likely would just think we'd be lying…"

Twilight puffed her chest. "What do you mean where would you find one?" Magenta fire flashed over Twilight as she turned into her true form. "There's one standing right here, isn't there?… Though I have to admit that I don't exactly know how to create a whole hivemind from scratch, but I'm willing to try at least."

The Changelings were torn between what to do, before the one that had done most of the talking spoke. "We can't ask that of you… We'd love to save our nymphs, but you should think of your own hive first, other hives would only think yours is infected if we did so, they wouldn't lend you any aid, perhaps even attack you to root out any problems they'd think you'd cause for them, you won't be granted any aid from any of them… Plus our nymphs are likely only ever going to be simple drones who would be unable to aid you as much as a special type would, we'd only drag you down more."

Twilight looked at her with the same commanding look she had when she had commanded them in the dream scape. "I won't condemn a child for the actions of their parents, plus they don't need to know, I could just tell them that the hive I was originally from was destroyed or something and I managed to escape with those nymphs only, which would also explain why I'd sought out you exiles in order to build us a new hive, and if any of them knew any of you had nymphs, then you could simply tell them they died shortly before I showed up, perhaps a beast came along and stole them, the everfree forest is awfully dangerous afterall, now isn't it?"

The Changeling before Twilight was a bit overwhelmed by this, as she then considered it. "I… I suppose so, but we couldn't just go and lie to a queen while we're exiles, that would be disre.."

Twilight was the one interrupting her this time round. "Disrespectful? That's only if you don't belong to another hive, now isn't it? And while a slave isn't connected to the hivemind, from what you told me, they do still belong to that hive, right? Then there really shouldn't be an issue there, right?"

The Changelings all blinked for a moment before what she told them sunk in, and the one before her stared to talk. "Are… Are you saying you'll accept us as a slave class your highness?"

A slightly sour expression appeared on Twilight's face for a second before she recomposed herself and took on a serious expression once more. "If that's what it'll take to save those nymphs, then yes, but I'd like it if you didn't think of yourselves as such, besides being unable to connect to the real hivemind and being called as such, I won't see you as slaves, and neither should any of you, or any that will be in this hive for that matter, though I suppose we would have to pretend if other hives visit." She wondered if there was some way around it if others were to visit though, especially if that book had been right about ambassadors being a thing between hives.

Twilight suddenly felt several emotions that felt like hope, happiness and a few others she couldn't quite place, perhaps a happy kind of sadness or something was there aswell, but regardless of what they were, they seemed to come from the Changelings themselves, as happy tears seemed to flow from some of their faces, including the one that had talked to her so often now.

Twilight couldn't help but let out a small smile as she realized just how much this meant to them, but it turned to a slight frown soon after. "I don't want to create another problem here, but I still need to learn how to make a hivemind from scratch though, I don't even know how to use it yet either, I mean I never even needed it or connected to one before, perhaps I didn't need it because I'm a hybrid or perhaps because of the spell that kept me in stasis, so could any of you perhaps teach me how to do it?"

The Changeling in front of her thought for a moment. "We don't know how one is created to be honest, but we do know that a queen decides to integrate their daughter in a hivemind when they notice them making a small hivemind of their own with another nymph, which creates a special bond between the princess and the nymph it happened with, that nymph then usually becomes something like their personal maid or advisor or something depending on their class, it tells the queen that the princess is ready to be connected into the hivemind while they slowly learn how to deal with it, together with the other nymph… We don't know how it happens, but I think it means it's inherent, that the first connection just happens… I don't know if it would teach you how to do it, but perhaps it would give you a hint to simply try."

"Hmm, it's our best bet… Alright, let's try it, take me to them." Twilight said as she reapplied her disguise.

The Changelings bowed in respect as if just given an order and one by one headed for the door, quickly turning back into their adult pony disguises before going outside, once the last one went through the door Twilight followed them as they headed for the forest.


=====+++=====


As they went through the forest and dropped their disguises, Twilight noticed they didn't seem to come across any dangerous creatures, sure they came across some woodland critters like a bear or some squirrels and such, but no timberwolves and what not, even though this part of the forest tended to be known to have plenty of them, she wondered for a moment if these Changelings simply knew how to evade them, or if the creatures were afraid of them, perhaps the Changelings were the dangerous creatures of these parts themselves and acted like them just to keep ponies out of these reaches, she quickly made a mental note to ask them at a later date though, since she could see some buildings through the trees in the distance.

Once they got closer it reminded her of the one she had seen in the collective dream, though it had seemed allot nicer in the dream itself, these houses looked like they were just barely standing, they even resembled sheds more then actual houses, there were also allot less of them, there couldn't be more then three or four of them, and in the distance she could see the mountain that in the dream had held the entrance to that cave.

As the mountain got closer into view however, it seemed like they had attempted to carve a cave into it, but unlike in the dream, this one only went several feet in, as it looked like amateurs had done it with crude tools rather then have that professional look from the dream, clearly they needed more then just a clear hivemind, they needed a leader, someling that didn't just tell them what to do, but also how to do it, and it dawned on Twilight that she had volunteered for this position, this realization made her swallow as she wondered if she was up to the task, but she also didn't plan to back down now that it had come to this.

When they got to the buildings, some of the Changelings that had stayed there to recover or take care of them got outside to bow before Twilight, she wanted to tell them they didn't need to, but from what she had been told, she doubted that they would listen, so she just let them before looking around a bit more. "Where are the nymphs? I don't see them anywhere." She then asked.

One of the Changelings that was bowing raised his head and pointed at one of the buildings. "Their in there your highness, we thought it was safer for them to stay in the same building till the others would return."

"Thank you… Hmm…" Twilight thought for a moment as she realized that she never asked the names of any of them… Did they even have names of their own? She certainly hoped so, it would be troubling to have to call to them with a 'hey you' kind of way, she also wondered if perhaps Changelings had some other way to call for each other or perhaps the hivemind had some way of making it easier, she then realized that the Changelings were staring at her as if wondering what they should do, and then she realized why. "Ah! Sorry… I tend to get lost in my thoughts sometimes…" She then looked at the one who had just answered her, before she looked at the one who had answered her questions while still at the library. "It also dawned on me that I don't know your names, do Changelings have names?"

The Changeling from the library made apologetic bow. "I'm sorry for not telling you straight away your highness, I'm N194TD454, and the one you just talked to is called 74CK544D3."

Twilight blinked for a few moments, they called those names? They were designations or classifications at best, this just wouldn't do. "Right, first thing first then, I'm not going to call any of you like that, those aren't names, and while I definitely could remember all of them, I need something I can say quickly in case of an emergency, plus it would make talking to any of you troubling if I had to keep saying that."

The Changelings looked at each other confused, since this was what they had always thought as normal and didn't see anything wrong with it, plus a queen never really 'talked' to lowly drones, let alone exiles unless they needed something specific, normally a single command was given either to all of them at the same time, or other Changelings would relay said orders, it was already odd for them to answer questions, but to have conversations with a queen? That concept didn't ever even come to their minds, 74CK544D3 then decided to speak up. "Well… I don't know why you'd bother your highness, but the nymphs have lately been playing some game that might help slightly, though I don't know if it'll really work."

"Hmm? A game? What kind of game would grant you names?" Twilight asked a bit confused about this.

"It wouldn't really grant us names as much as change what we already got, since they may not be names to you your highness, but we have used them all our lives and for us they are names, so perhaps we could use their game to make it so we keep our names but their different for you… At least I hope it'll work." He then replied.

Twilight contemplated this for a moment before she spoke again. "Alright, so how does it work?"

"Uhm… I think they do something to numbers and letters, I don't truly understand how it works to be honest, I only heard them mention it a few days ago to be honest, but I'm sure they could tell you your highness." 74CK544D3 then told her.

"Hmm, very well, I suppose I have even more of a reason to go visit them now then I originally had." Twilight then said as she headed for the building the nymphs were at, but not before thanking him for his help.

Once she stood in front of the door however, some slight doubt crept in the back of Twilight's mind, something N194TD454 quickly noticed. "Is something wrong your highness?" She then asked out of concern.

Twilight looked at the Changeling and then at herself. "It's just that… I don't want to scare them, I'm not sure how they would react to me being like this…"

N194TD454 slightly cocked her head and raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Like what your highness?"

Twilight let out a deep sigh and motioned for her pony parts before motioning to her Changeling parts. "I'm a hybrid, and not even a fully fused one at that, I actually look more like I was assembled with parts from both races, I know you and the others accept me as I am, but I'm imagining a nymph isn't much different from a foal mentally, so they might get frightened if they see me like this… And I doubt they'd trust me if I turn into my pony form…"

"Ah, I see what you mean…" N194TD454 said as she thought for a moment. "Well, if that's the case, then why not turn into a full Changeling form your highness?"

"You can turn into other Changelings?" Twilight then asked, wondering if that was ever used to infiltrate other hives.

"Well, sure, we can turn into pretty much anything or anyling with enough skill, magical energy and training, it doesn't really do much good to turn into another Changeling normally though, as we can instinctively notice when someling isn't who they appear, it's even easier if their from another hive since their not connected to the hivemind of that hive, it's usually just used for party tricks or… 'Nightly events'…" N194TD454 then paused as she blushed slightly, clearly there was a story there, but Twilight wasn't sure she'd want to know, she's never been one for romance or… This anyway. "But I've heard that if you put a disguise of yourself over yourself it won't be noticed, I'm not sure how they found that out though… But perhaps it means that if you imagine your full Changeling form and turn into it, it'll work in the same way."

"I see…" Twilight replied and wondered for a moment if it would be as easy to her as putting on her pony disguise had become, she also wondered for a moment just how exactly she would look like as a full Changeling, though since only her left hoof and wings looked truly like that of a pony, it wasn't that hard to imagine, but then she remembered how Chrysalis had looked when she first showed up and realized something, Chrysalis had some kind of band around her mid section, her hair also looked tattered and filled with holes, and all the Changelings also had some kind of shell that was oddly enough under their wings, this just made it harder for her to decide.

N194TD454 got a bit concerned that it took so long for her to decide since it seemed simple enough to just alter the few obvious pony parts she had. "Are you alright your highness?"

Twilight snapped out of I and looked at her. "Oh! Heh, sorry, I was just thinking…"

"About what your highness?" N194TD454 Asked in return.

"Well… Do queens and princesses look different from regular Changelings by any chance?" Twilight then asked.

N194TD454 Was shocked that she had forgotten to mention it. "Forgive me your highness, I forgot to mention it, but that's correct, their eyes are just like yours while ours are mostly one color, they also tend to have different color schemes from each other, though it's not uncommon for a princess to have the same color scheme or something similar as her mother." She had planned to just keep it to the royalty side, but remembered that Twilight liked to know as much as possible, so she added to that "Us normal Changelings tend to inherit one of the colors in the color scheme from the queen we're linked to, though that can take a few generations to fully kick in if it's really different from our original one"

"I see, anything else?" Twilight asked as she wanted to know just how generic some things could be for Changelings.

"Well, a queen also has antennae on her head in the shape of a crown, though a princess doesn't have those, she usually gets the first one when she makes her first connection, and as she grows used to it, more keep coming and fusing together till the form the crown like shape, so you shouldn't have to worry about that at least, and queens and princesses have manes and tails much like ponies do, though not as intact as them… Let's see, what else…" N194TD454 said as she thought for a moment. "Oh! That's right, you may have noticed, but some of us have slightly different wings from each other, that's got to do with the queen aswell, our wings resemble the wings of our queens slightly, though not by much, but their always membrane type wings… Also, we all have a shell on our backs and queens and princesses usually have a discoloration around their mid section as if some kind of band is around it, the colors for those tend to vary aswell though."

"Hmm, so I was right about that at least." Twilight thought to herself. "Thanks, that really helps, I think I can form a complete picture now."

"It's my honor to be able to help you, your highness." N194TD454 replied.

Twilight now focused on what her full Changeling form would look like, she imagined holes and a slightly tattered look for her mane and tail, yet otherwise it would look the same, imagining how her hoof would look like was easy, and the band around her mid section would have the colors of her mane, while the shell on her back would be a full lavender color instead of a blackened version like her carapace was, as for her wings, she decided to have them look as much like her normal wings as possible, yet turned into bug like membrane wings filled with holes, the crown she left away as it seemed like that might come on it's own, lastly she figured she might just aswell add a little height to herself, since it seemed like Chrysalis was allot bigger and so were Celestia and Luna, she wondered if she simply had yet to grow to her actual size or if this had a different reason, but she would leave that for another time, once she imagined her new form completely, she then let her purple flame roll over herself.

N194TD454 looked as Twilight started to change, she hadn't expected her to make several of the changes like the wings looking as they did or the sudden increase in height, but she couldn't help but think she looked so much more regal now and couldn't help but bow down before her.

Twilight then opened her eyes and felt like everything looked a bit smaller now, checking herself over she saw that it had all been a success and realized she was about the size of Luna now. "Hmm, perhaps I overdid it a little bit with the hei…" She suddenly noticed that N194TD454 was bowing before her. "Uhm… What are you doing?"

"Excuse me your highness, but I can't help but bow before your radiance, you truly are worthy of being a queen in my humble opinion." N194TD454 replied.

It was making Twilight a bit uncomfortable however. "Please rise, I didn't mean for you to suddenly bow like that… Perhaps I should tone it down a bit afterall."

N194TD454 looked at her a bit shocked. "But your highness, this is surely what you would look like if you weren't a hybrid, any changes to this would likely all just feel false, and the nymphs might not accept it unless it feels as natural as this."

Twilight sighed. "Fine, I'll keep it, but just for them, and please don't bow like that again, for a moment there I thought you were actually trying to stick your head through the ground." She said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Alright your highness, I will keep any bows from this moment onwards to a honorable degree." N194TD454 as the joke went over her head as if it was Pinkie Pie seeing a cotton candy cloud.

Twilight grumbled inwardly before she looked at the door. "Alright then, how about you do the honors? I'm sure they'll react better if they see a familiar face first."

"It would be my pleasure your highness." N194TD454 said and she opened the door, a small chirping sound could be heard at first and Twilight realized it wasn't inside her head.

Then all of a sudden a small Nymph looking like a small and cuter version of N194TD454 suddenly came running and jumped towards N194TD454. "Momma!"

N194TD454 caught the little nymph with her hooves and a smile on her face. "Hello there my precious little one, have you been good?

The little nymph nodded furiously. "I have momma, I did just as I was told, we all did, we didn't let out a single peep till you would all return and…" She then noticed Twilight. "W-who is that momma?"

Twilight walked up to them with an as gentle smile as she could manage, which was a bit hard as she wasn't used to her sharp teeth just yet. "Why hello there little one, my name is Twilight Starshine, what's your name?"

The little nymph tried to hide a bit in her mother's hooves, as the toothy smile looked more scary then soothing, even to a Changeling, but N194TD454 gently shook her head. "Don't be rude to the queen little one, you don't need to be scared, she's going to help you and the other nymphs survive." Some of the other nymphs came out of the darkness and into the light when they heard N194TD454 mention a queen, as she then looked at Twilight apologetically. "I'm sorry your highness, she's never seen royalty before… And she doesn't have a name yet, the queen is usually the one to name our nymphs when their integrated into the hivemind, plus we couldn't bear to name them if we were going to lose them at some point."

Twilight looked a bit sad at that, anyling deserved a name, no matter how silly of a name it seemed to her, and she also noticed that she was talking about their immanent demise with them just standing there. "Is it really alright to say that with them right here? What if I can't do it in the end?"

N194TD454 shook her head slightly. "We don't keep anything from our kin and we don't lie to them, to Changelings death is a time of celebration aswell as sorrow, though I must admit it's more of the latter when their younger, but we won't let that stop us from spending as much time with them as possible and let them have as many good memories as we can give them, for that we let them know so they know they don't need to hold back and can ask us for anything, and if we can do it without putting anyling in danger, then we will."

Twilight was about to respond to that, but N194TD454's daughter suddenly looked at Twilight with hopeful eyes larger then should be possible and asked. "Queen Twilight? Are you… Are you going to save us? Does that mean I can spend more time with momma?"

It almost didn't seem fair, the look almost melted Twilight's heart right on the spot and made her yell out that she would for the whole world to hear, she managed to compose herself before she did however and instead looked at the nymph with a gentle smile, this time it actually resembles a gentle smile aswell, the words of N194TD454 about how they respect death and don't lie about it still ringing in her ears. "I will try little one, I will do all I can and I won't give up till either I succeed, or the time comes."

The little nymph smiled and looked at the others. "Did you hear that everyling? Queen Twilight is going to do all she can to save us, we might be able to live with our families!"

Some small happy chittering could be heard, as they seemed hopeful and happy, at this point Twilight knew that she wouldn't allow herself to fail, she would save them, even if it was the last thing she would ever do.


=====+++=====


It turned out to be allot harder then Twilight had hoped it would have be, now it's not like she had expected it would be easy or anything, but she had hoped that it would turn out allot easier then she thought it would be, just so she could save them quickly, unfortunately it was likely going to be just as hard as she had though it would be, seeing as it had already taken a few weeks and she had yet to make any progress whatsoever.

A few days after she had started this project, she had let Luna know what she was doing in the dream realm, Luna had been surprisingly supportive of this, it once again reminded Twilight that she truly excepted her for what she truly was and she couldn't help but feel happy as her sense of duty to her Changelings was slowly being reinforced, Luna had also told her she would tell her friends she was save and sound.

Twilight then sighed for a moment as she realized she hadn't really thought about anypony during the time she had spent here, perhaps after she was done after this all, she would go and visit them to see how they'd react to her real self, if she wouldn't go straight for their raw thoughts in their dreams like last time that is, she really cursed herself for even thinking it was a good idea at the time.

During her time here Twilight also had them construct a actual decent house for her, she had given the Changelings some pointers on how to make some structurally sound buildings, and they had taken to the instructions extremely well, doing it all till the smallest detail, which was a good thing as she really didn't feel safe sleeping inside or outside of the buildings that were there originally, she also didn't want them getting hurt in those buildings, so she ordered them to make several of those buildings for themselves and then take down the old ones.

In fact they had taken to it so well that rather then just four buildings that could fall apart at any time, they now each had their own small house that would pass any safety instruction, actually turning this place into a small village, they had even started to try to improve the buildings on their own by making them blend in a bit with their environment without skipping any safety issues, it almost seemed like they were starting to thrive more then they had been while they had been alone, and with each new house they seemed to be able to do it quicker and quicker all the while never skipping on any part, Twilight wondered if it was because of the clearer false hivemind, or if it was more because they now had a queen once more, perhaps it was even just because they felt hopeful for the future once more.

"… Huh, I wonder when I started to actually consider myself as a queen." Twilight suddenly asked herself out loud, she hadn't realized how quickly or easily the thought had come to her, but before she could further this thought, she heard a knock on her door and broke out of her thoughts. "Ah! I didn't realize it was this time already." She then got up to open the door to see a familiar Changeling and her daughter standing in front of it and she smiled gently at the little nymph. "Hello there little one, are you ready to give it another go today?"

The nymph nodded and looked at her sympathetically. "But only if you promise not to go overboard again your highness…"

Twilight was a bit surprised by this as N194TD454 then spoke up. "I got to agree with her, last time you were so out of it at the end that you had to rest up for the rest of the day, it's no good for you to overexert yourself your highness, you haven't even gone to get some love energy ever since you came here, you may not need as much as anyling else because of your true self, but that's no reason to starve yourself of it completely."

Twilight had a slightly sheepish look on her face, in the time she had been here the Changelings certainly had opened up to her way of thinking slightly, but only with moments like these, she was touched by how much they cared for her though. "I'm sorry Nightdash, it's not like I don't want to, but I don't want to risk having to deal with anypony that might recognize me till I get this solved at least."

Nightdash who had been known as N194TD454 before the nymphs had explained to Twilight how their little numbers game had worked then sighed. "I understand your reluctance your highness, but you could just turn into some other pony form in order to harvest some love for yourself at least."

This time it was Twilight's time to sigh as she looked apologetic. "I know… But I don't feel comfortable taking on the forms of other ponies just yet."

Nightdash shook her head slightly. "I know, I know… But we worry for you your highness… Tell you what your highness, you focus on doing what you need to do for today, and I'll go to Ponyville to harvest a bit more then I normally do, but you have to accept it this time, no backing out like last time, you hear me?"

Twilight winced slightly before she let down her head in a slightly defeated way. "Alright… I promise."

It's not like Twilight was against taking the love they would offer her at times, but when she had first asked how they transferred the love energy from one to another, she was shocked to find out the actual way, while they had told her that large hives had actual storages for doing so, the knowledge to do so was not something that any of them had here, so instead they used a much easier and older way by holding it inside themselves, and if they hah to feed another they would transfer it directly by opening their mouths and putting them together, it looked to Twilight like they were kissing passionately, but for them there were no actual romantic feelings involved, this didn't stop Twilight from thinking of it as such however.

The nymph smiled as she looked up to Twilight. "I hope to one day become a collector and get the best of love for you your highness."

Twilight was a bit touched, but couldn't help have a shiver go up her spine as she didn't even want to think of that. "Perhaps one day, but I'd like to find out how to store the energy before that day if possible… Now then, let's get started, shall we? I'm sure your mother has to go now if she's to make it back by nightfall" She then quickly added as she tried to steer the conversation away from this topic.

Nightdash bowed slightly. "I suppose I should." She then looked at her daughter. "You be good now, you hear?"

The little nymph had a happy expression on her face as she nodded. "I will momma, happy hunting's."

Nightdash then left with a smile on her face as the nymph went inside, ready to once more try to form a hivemind with Twilight.


=====+++=====


It had taken a little longer then Nightdash had wanted to get to Ponyville, mostly because the Timberwolves in this side of the forest had gotten a bit more active in the last week, but it was nothing for a Changeling to worry about, they knew these woods better then anyling and could easily disguise themselves as a part of it if they needed to.

She had of course put on her disguise before she got out of the forest itself, so she walked into the village with confidence as she looked around. "Hmm, now lets see, which of these ponies are emitting plenty of love energy?" She then thought to herself, before a certain pink mare suddenly made her jump as she just seemed to appear behind her out of nowhere.

"Hi!" Pinkie exclaimed as the new mare jumped from her appearing as she did. "I haven't seen you around here before, you must be new in town!" Her mane then deflated slightly as she looked sorry. "Normally I'd throw you a party, but I'm currently looking for a friend of mine, perhaps you've seen her, she's a purple unicorn with a dark indigo mane and tail that have a pink and purple streak through them, she goes by the name Twilight and has a star like cutiemark."

Nightdash blinked a few times. "N-no, I can't say I have… I-I got to go now, bye!" She then quickly ran off, this had to be one of those 'friends' queen Twilight had told her about, one of those that in Nightdash's eyes had betrayed the queen.

After running for a while, she ducked into one of the alleyways and looked back. "Good, she's not following me."

"Who's not following you?" A voice behind her then asked.

"Some odd pink pony that…" Nightdash suddenly realized somepony was behind her so she turned her head, only to find a gryphon look at her, startling her and making her fall backwards towards some rocks.

The gryphon quickly caught her before she fell though. "Whoa! Careful there, those rocks could leave a nasty gash if you fell onto them." She then put her back down. "But your running from a pink mare huh? Must be Pinkie Pie I suppose, she's the only one of these ponies that's crazy enough to cause such a reaction on their first meeting." She said before she put out her claw as if wanting to shake her hoof. "The name's Gilda."

Nightdash was a bit careful, but she had just saved her, so she decided to return the gesture. "I'm Nightdash."

"Nightdash? Really?" Gilda replied as they shook. "You’re the second Dash I've gotten to meet then I suppose."

"Uh… Say, excuse me for asking, but what are you doing here? And how come your so.." Nightdash began.

Gilda smirked a bit at that. "Friendly? Heh, you should have seen me when I first came here, I didn't think much of any of the ponies but my friend Dash and couldn't care less, heck I didn't even think much of any other gryphon, but after what happened here, I was in a really bad place and had planned a bit of revenge… Then I had a really fateful meeting with a unicorn called Twilight, she invited me over for dinner as I was starving and we talked, I never thought I'd ever think an egghead like her would be so cool, it really changed my perspective a bit, so I'm more… Open these days."

"O-oh, I see…" Nightdash said as she then thought to herself. "That's odd, the queen didn't tell us she had a gryphon friend living here, I didn't even know gryphons were allowed to take residence in Equestria."

"In any case, I'm actually visiting today, I was hoping to see Twilight today, but everypony here seems to not have seen her for weeks now, could you tell me where she is?" Gilda then asked.

Nightdash suddenly stared at her with wide eyes and slightly shocked. "M-me? W-why would I know where she is if any of the ponies actually living here don't even know? I-I’m just visiting you know."

Gilda raised an eyebrow, before she leveled her head towards Nightdash and glared into her eyes. "I'm a gryphon, I can smell her scent on you, and it's fresh, so I know you met her recently, now tell me where she is, or I tell the ponies here that they have a Changeling amongst themselves, and don't try to deny it either, I saw you long before you came out of the forest, so I saw you disguise yourself."

That quickly made Nightdash back away slightly as fear ran through her, but she quickly glared back with determination. "Go ahead! Tell them! I won't betray her, no matter what any of you do to me!"

This made Gilda look at her with confusion. "Betray her? What are you talking about?… Wait, what's going on here, are you trying to say she's hiding from the villagers here? What about her friends?" She saw that Nighdash didn't plan on talking however. "I'm not going to betray her either you know, she's the first real friend besides Dash that accepted me completely even though we're not even from the same race, plus she makes a mean burger, no way in Tartarus am I gonna betray her, so just cough it up already."

Nightdash was adamant about not telling her though. "No! I promised not to tell anypony.. Or anyone really."

Gilda just put her claw up to her own face and grumbled behind it. "Forget it, could you at least let her know I'm here?... No, tell her I'm at those ruins she told me about in the forest, I'll wait there for a day or so, if she really doesn't want to see anyone right now and doesn't show up, then I'll simply come back another time, but I want to return the favor and be there for her like she had been for me at least, so please tell her, alright?"

Nightdash was still a bit wary, but if it was just a message, she could perhaps do it, she was sure that even if Gilda tried to follow her, she could lose her by going to long way and through all the hidden caves and such, especially if she would turn into several woodland creatures whenever she would be hidden from sight. "Alright… But if I see you or anypony try to follow me, then the deal is off, understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Gilda then sighed. "To be fair though, if you really met Pinkie already, then there's a chance one of them will try to follow you already, seeing as you get flustered easily when Twilight is mentioned."

"What? N-no I don't…" Nightdash said before she sighed. "Oh great, I should never have come here in the first place…" One pursuer she could easily shake off, but several? Especially without any specific numbers? That was going to be tough.

Gilda noticed her troubled look and sighed. "Listen, I could drop you off in the forest if you want, you can even pick where you want me to put you down, just turn into something they wouldn't find odd if they saw me hold it, this way even if they follow me, they would ignore you."

Nightdash didn't really want to rely on her, but it did seem like the best option right now, plus it would allow her to keep an eye on the environment a bit more then if she had to walk or fly back on her own. "I suppose so… Alright then, I'll trust you for now…" After she said that, she turned into what appeared to be a small wooden box.

"Yeah, that should work, they'll likely just think I came to pick something up or drop something off or something." Gilda said as she picked up Nightdash and took to the sky, before she headed for the forest.

Once in the forest and back down on the ground, Nightdash thanked Gilda for her help, and promised she'd let Twilight know as long as she would keep her promise to not follow her, after that they both headed in different directions, Gilda heading for the ruins while Nightdash went back to the village, but she still took the long way and used many hiding spots to often change into different woodland critters and such to prevent detection, eventually she made it back to the village though.

And once she did she instantly headed for Twilight's house and knocked on the door, as Twilight saw her she looked a bit confused and looked at the sky. "Nightdash? What are you doing back here already? I wasn't expecting you back till before sundown, it's just a bit past midday." Twilight then asked.

"Excuse me your highness, I had to cut my gathering short." Nightdash said, but before Twilight could ask what it was, she continued. "Pardon me for asking, but do you by any chance know a gryphon called Gilda?"

Twilight blinked a few times. "Gilda? Yeah, I do, she's one of my friends, why do you ask?"

Nightdash looked away slightly ashamed. "She smelled you on me and asked me to deliver a message to you, I'm sorry, I didn't expect a gryphon at all, so I didn't take any precautions for it."

"That's alright Nightdash, it's not like you could have known, I hardly ever know when she decided to just show up myself… So what's the message?" Twilight asked.

"She wanted to speak to you, she said she's in the ruins you had mentioned to her once before… Also, she saw me transform before I came out of the forest, so she knew I was a Changeling… I'm sorry." Nightdash said as she still looked ashamed for her mistakes.

Twilight sighed. "Well, that could have gone better then… But it seems like your fine though, so it's not all bad…" She then thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose I should go and see what she has to say then, it's not everyday she comes to these parts, and I suppose I should at least let her know I'm fine, it's not like Luna is in touch with her afterall." She then looked back inside. "Your mother is here for you little one, we'll have to postpone our session for today, it seems I have something to do right now."

After saying goodbye to the nymph and Nightdash, Twilight headed into the forest with the male Changeling named 74CK544D3, the one that had helped when she first got there, though by now his name had changed to Jackshade thanks to the numbers and letters game the nymphs had made up, traversing the forest was allot easier with one of them around, so they made quick progress, and they had taken on a pony form soon after leaving just to be on the safe side.


=====+++=====


Once they got to the ruins, Twilight had said she'd go in on her own, Jackshade didn't really like that though. "Your highness, are you certain that's wise? What if there are enemies around?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Jackshade, I'm just meeting up with a friend of mine, one who doesn't even know if I'll show up in fact, if anything I'd say that I'd have the drop on her if something were to happen, seeing as I'm likely here faster then she'd even expect." She could see he was still uncomfortable though. "If it makes you feel any better, then stand guard here for me, if you see anything worth noting, come tell me immediately, will that do?"

Jackshade thought for a moment and then nodded. "Very well your highness, I will let you know the moment something happens."

"Good, now then, I'll be back soon enough." Twilight replied before she went into the ruins and looked for Gilda, she didn't have to look for very long though, as she found her at the library. "Now here's a surprise, I didn't take you for the studious type." She then jokingly said as she walked up to the gryphon.

Gilda looked back at her and gave a small grin. "Yeah, well, you know how it is, you always seemed to like these things so much, I figured I may aswell give them a try for once." She jested back as she took a random book and opened it while pretending to read it, before she realized she really couldn't. "What the? What is all this gibberish?"

Twilight took one look at it and snickered. "That's in ancient ponish, I doubt most would be able to read it, so don't feel bad about that."

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Judging from your reaction, you can though huh?"

"I won't deny it." Twilight said with a bit of a sing song voice.

Gilda let out a small laugh, before she looked at Twilight a bit seriously. "So then, all jokes aside, how are you doing? Are you in some kind of trouble or something?"

Twilight stammered at the sudden change. "I-I don't know what your talking about, I'm fine."

Gilda looked at Twilight with a deadpan expression. "Twilight… You can't fool me, there's something going on here, your hiding from your friends, or perhaps your hiding from the village itself, but your friends there are definitely included, and your even hiding where Changelings are, something is going on here, and I want to be there for you, like you were there for me when I almost did something I would have surely regretted." She then smiled as gentle as she could. "Now come on, tell me, you can trust me, I promise."

"I… I…I…" Twilight didn't know if she should really tell anyone, but she wanted to confide in someone, at the very least she wanted to let one of her friends know, and at first she had thought of doing so with one of the other elements, but Gilda was her friend aswell, and she had actually managed to find her, plus there was the fact that she would likely not tell anyone even if she wouldn't like her afterwards anymore, as such Twilight gave in to her desires to tell someone and sighed. "I… Found something out about myself… Something I never even knew and I'm… Afraid of what the others might think if they found out…"

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That so, something you never knew about yourself huh?" She thought or a moment. "That wouldn't happen to be something along the lines of finding out you’re a Changeling yourself, now would it?"

Twilight sputtered. "You… How? How did you find out?"

" I did some thinking while I was waiting, with you eating meat as much as you did, even though I found out that ponies can't really process meat as well as carnivores or omnivores, aswell as you hiding with Changelings, and you telling me you were adopted a while ago, it all seemed to point to you finding out you were a Changeling and didn't know how to handle it… Also, Changelings don't really tend to be as protective towards others unless their Changelings themselves." Gilda said with a big knowing smile. "What? Did you think I was just some muscle brain that likes pranks?"

Twilight blinked a few more times as her mouth made a few motions while Gilda talked, as if she was trying to say something but didn't know where to start with, but that last part snapped her out of it. "What? No! Of course not, our conversations were getting more and more intellectual as time passed… But… You really don't care I'm a Changeling then?"

Gilda looked at her with a deadpan expression. "Twilight, you and Dash were the only two to ever look passed the racial barrier and made friends with me, plus you even saw who I could be and not just who I was at the time, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't return the gesture to you? Plus us gryphons never really had any issues with Changelings to start with, they let us be if we let them be, it's been that way for ages."

"I… Really? Gryphons really never had any issues with Changelings?" Twilight asked as she felt a bit more comfortable with her secret out and Gilda not really seeming to care.

"Yeah well, I suppose that's only logical though, gryphons aren't exactly know for their love and compassion, in fact most of us tend to be the complete opposite… I was even like that before I met you and Dash." Gilda admitted.

Twilight let out a small chuckle. "I'll say."

"Hey!" Gilda pretended to be hurt by that, but her smile gave it away and soon the both of them laughed at it, she then hit Twilight slightly on the shoulder. "So? How are you feeling now?"

Twilight let out a small relieved sigh. "A bit better, thanks… But to be honest, there's more to the story then me just being a Changeling."

"Oh? Now this I got to hear, what else is there?" Gilda asked as she was interested in hearing more.

"Well…" Twilight started and thought for a moment how to explain it properly, but instead opted with just saying it straight away. "I'm actually a Changeling, pony hybrid."

"A what now?" Gilda asked confused.

"A hybrid, it's when two races are combined int…" Twilight started, but was interrupted as Gilda placed one of her talons on Twilight's muzzle in a hushing motion.

"I know what a hybrid is Twilight." Gilda started. "I'm just a bit confused there, from what I know Changelings are closer to bugs then mammals, from what I know that should be impossible."

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, I think I should probably tell the whole story as it was explained to me, it might make more sense that way."

One explanation later, Gilda was looking at her with a expression that showed she was impressed. "I can't believe your father was that impressive, though seeing as he's also seen as the greatest unicorn amongst ponies till this day, I can certainly believe it… So you’re a thousand years older then you originally thought huh? And your not just any old Changeling but a princess or queen or whatnot, I have to say Twilight, it's never dull with you around."

This made Twilight giggle. "I'm glad your taking it so well, I certainly didn't."

"Yeah, well, I think it's easier to accept it if it's not happening to yourself I think, I likely would freak out if I ever found out something like that about myself." Gilda said as she seemed to think once more. "Alright then, show me."

"Huh? Show you what?" Twilight asked confused as to what Gilda might mean.

Gilda rolled her eyes. "Your true self egghead, I want to at least know what you really look like."

Twilight went slightly wide eyed. "Oh… Uhm… You won't freak out or anything, right?"

Gilda let out a frustrated sigh. "Twilight, we've already established that I do in fact not care what you really are, why would that change just by showing it to me? Plus I know what normal Changelings look like already, I can sorta imagine it already, even if it's different from their normal shape it's not that different, right?"

"Well… I suppose so." Twilight replied, before she sighed and focused, soon her purple flame went over her body and changed her back into her real form. "So… What do you think?"

Gilda looked her over a bit. "Not bad Twi, but how come it looks more like your parts were just thrown together rather then transition into one another?"

Twilight scratched her head as she thought about it. "I'm not sure, I think it has to do with both sides originally rejecting each other, I doubt anything other then chaos magic could have let parts that conflict with one another work as one in fact."

"Hmm? Why do you say that? Wouldn't something like those elements of harmony have helped aswell?" Gilda asked as she thought back on all those stories Twilight had told her.

Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think so actually, while they do seem to balance things out, it seems like something that's completely the opposite of harmony has a too powerful a reaction rather then a solution to the problem, and the state of your own mind and heart also seem to influence them… When Celestia had used them on Luna she banished her to the moon, but when we used it, nothing happened at first and she released her Nightmare form herself." Twilight rubbed her chin. "I think that's because the elements didn't really see anything wrong with her other then a terrible rage, but Celestia did, so they opted for banishment till she would calm down or another solution was possible, and we just happened to be that solution, which is why with us it just did a lightshow basically."

"So where's this too powerful a reaction come into play?" Gilda asked.

"Well, you remember when I told you about Discord right?" Twilight started and continued after Gilda replied with an acknowledgement. "Well, when Luna and Celestia had wielded them, they turned Discord to stone, and the same happened when we used them on him, I think that's because of what he said about being the embodiment of chaos and 'disharmony', the two powers don't react well together and turning to stone might just be the least that could happen in my opinion… I've been doing some thinking as to why he would be as such though, seeing as it's not like he tried to cause disharmony on purpose, the chaos he caused was troubling yes, but it didn't feel truly evil or meant to cause any real issues other then annoyances, as extreme as some of them might have been that is… So I thought about what about him might be disharmonious then and came up with the thought that it could be his body itself." She then looked at her hooves. "So it likely would have had a bad reaction to me if it had been used on me."

Gilda thought for a moment. "But don't you use this harmony magic yourself now?"

"Well yeah, but that's different, my father learned it and because of that it was dormant inside of me, it might even be another reason why I was stillborn as it may have reacted badly to my body, but the chaos magic likely found a way to solve the conflict while it was finding ways to save me over those thousand years in stasis, so now it won't cause any issues with me, but had it been used on me before then, something bad would have likely have happened." Twilight told her the explanation just as she had formed it herself these past few weeks, she did have allot of time to come to terms afterall.

"Huh, I suppose so… This magic stuff goes over my head anyway, but I'm glad it worked at least, I wouldn't have had you as a friend if it hadn't, and I would have likely have done something bad." Gilda replied with a grin.

Twilight rolled her eyes." Oh please, you may have been a pain in the flank back then, but you weren't a bad gryphon at all."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm the most badass gryphon out there." Gilda stated and took a pose she thought would look badass, but after a few seconds she could hear Twilight snicker, at first she then looked at her with a expression of false shock, before they both started laughing once more.

After their laughing fit ended, Twilight rubbed away a tear of joy. "Oh wow, I needed that, thanks Gilda."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Gilda then replied with a grin. "I'm here for you if you ever need a friend to talk to, remember that."

Twilight smiled gently. "I will, thanks again, though I highly doubt you'll be here precisely."

Gilda tapped her beak as she thought. "You never know, I may just decide to move to this place, I don't really feel at home back at gryphon rock anymore, but it's not like I could just move to a place where lots of ponies live just yet, not all of them are as friendly to other races as you or Dash afterall, but this place is far enough from Ponyville to not matter and it seems to be near where your staying right now aswell, so it only makes sense to stay here."

"Really? But these are just the ruins of the old castle, it's not like these are really livable, plus there's monsters out there." Twilight said out of concern.

Gilda just let out a phsth sound as if it was no big deal. "You should see the stuff we call houses back at gryphon rock, this place is a huge upgrade to that, this place at least has actual walls that seem to be able to hold their own weight, and those monsters out there are no big deal, that whole ravine that surrounds the place holds back most of them, and anything that could pass it likely isn't a big deal or if it is anything dangerous, I can just run away." She then looked at Twilight with a comforting look. "I can handle myself Twilight, you don't have to worry about me, us gryphons are plenty tough to start with… Unless you don't want me here that is."

"What!? No! That's not what I mean at all, I would love to have you nearby, it's just th…" Twilight was interrupted once more.

"Good, I'm glad you agree, I'll take this place as my new home, be sure to visit every so often now, you hear?" Gilda said with a victorious look.

"You…" Twilight let out a sigh and then chuckled. "Alright, you win, stay here if you want the forest is outside of Equestrian authority anyway, so it's not like anypony could stop you from claiming it… And I could use a friend nearby I guess."

Gilda nodded. "Perhaps when your comfortable and such, you could tell me where your staying so I could visit you aswell, but this will do for now, I wouldn't want to cause any unnecessary issues with the other Changelings there afterall."

"Yeah… Well, I should probably get going then, it's getting late and their probably getting restless with me gone for this long." Twilight then said as she saw the sun was starting to set.

"Alright, I should go back to gryphon rock myself, to get my stuff I mean, I should be back in a few days though, it's not like I have a whole lot there anyway, but there are one or two things I don't want to just leave behind at least." Gilda replied as they both headed for the exit.

After they both left the ruins, Twilight turned back into her full Changeling form and smiled, Jackshade who was with her while they walked back noticed this, aswell as something else and decided to speak up. "That must have been one good friend your highness."

Twilight looked at him slightly confused. "Huh? What makes you say that? Were you listening in or something?"

"Of course not, you told me to stand guard your highness, I wouldn't abandon my post just because I don't trust it, I was sure you would have a way of letting me know if something went wrong." Jackshade replied.

"Then what makes you say that?" Twilight asked even more confused now.

Jackshade smiled. "That's easy your highness, your smile is genuine and your completely full with passive love energy once more, and seeing that you both came out at the same time while you weren't wearing your disguise anymore, I can only imagine that she must truly care for you as a friend."

"I… Huh?" Twilight hadn't noticed it till now, but she really did feel allot more energetic and didn't feel hungry at all anymore, she realized that Jackshade was right about Gilda truly being a great friend then aswell, it's not like she didn't think it already mind you, but this just cemented it in place, and once more she smiled with a genuine smile. "She really is, huh? Let's go home Jackshade, I feel like perhaps I might be able to do this now."

That night, after they had gone back, Twilight asked Nightdash if she could get her daughter because she wanted to try it again, this time Twilight was allot more comfortable about the whole thing and she realized that she had subconsciously been holding herself back, she likely was afraid of what her friends would say if they found out that she wasn't just a Changeling hybrid, but that she decided to accept them as her own aswell, and it likely prevented her from forming a hivemind of her own, but now she knew that at the very least, she would always have one friend that supported her no matter what, so she tried once more.

And it had come allot easier to Twilight then she expected, the connection was almost instantaneous in fact, and it was so clear aswell, it was as if she couldn't just hear the nymph talk to her through her mind, but it was like her mind was connected in more ways then one, she felt as if she could use the nymphs mind as her own, as if her own mind was expanding in this way, and she could also notice that this was in fact not the case for the nymph herself, while she could definitely hear Twilight talk to her through the hivemind, she couldn't use it in the same way to expand her mind, Twilight wondered for a moment just how much potential this had, but she was brought back to reality when she realized that the Changelings around her had started to bow once more, when she asked why they were suddenly bowing, one of them pointed out that she had gotten her first antennae, which for some reason suddenly made her feel as giddy as she had been when she had first gotten her cutiemark, she almost would have jumped around in glee while shouting yes once more, but she managed to keep it to a single gleeful 'Yes!'

This day marked the first day of her own hive, and her ascension from a princess, to a queen, and Twilight couldn't be happier.

In the Badlands however, another Queen was plotting against Equestria, she would likely have decided against it if she had known of this new hive, but it's not like it was common knowledge afterall.





> The love and wrath of a mother
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 07







*At the Badlands, in a hive hidden away from all to see*


Chrysalis' Changelings were preparing for something major, something they had been planning ever since the previous invasion had ended as it did, she would have kept her vengeance to just Celestia and Luna if it had worked, but they had done something unforgivable in Chrysalis' eyes, they had fooled both her and her daughter, herself into thinking that her daughter was dead, and her daughter that she was on their side and had turned her against the Changelings, but all that would soon end, cause this time, she would bring her entire army.

Chrysalis walked into the main cavern where her army had started to gather and felt the need to start singing a song, and so did her hive, since the time had come for their plans to unfurl.

Verse 1
My darling dears your mother's here
My love protect you there's no need to fear
I'm so sorry it all went wrong
Let me sing you a little song
We took the bride I took her form
And all of you prepared a mighty swarm
But our efforts were brought down low.
Tears of joy turned to tears of woe.

Chorus 1
But worry not your mother has a plan
We will return and will take back the land
Strength in numbers we have on staff
So we will have the final laugh.
Now listen close to what I have to say
Prepare to fly and we will win the day
If your patient we'll carry on
And our foes will all soon be gone.

Verse 2
We must be smart we must be wise
We must be quick if we're to claim the prize
Their dear princess controls the sun
And she's worshipped by ev'ryone
Her protégé's so called friends
Must be dealt with before the story ends
Careful planning is what we need
This is what mother has decreed.

Bridge
We the hivemind we the swarm have faith in our mother
She inspires us and teaches us and calms us during storms
If only others knew her love they wouldn't see a bad girl
For it's her love that keeps us safe out there in a cruel world

Verse 3
I can hear your song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We can hear your song
It makes me proud to know you all are strong ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ It makes us proud to make you strong
Stretch your wings and prepare for flight ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Stretch our wings and prepare for flight
Bare your teeth and prepare to bite ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ Bare our teeth and prepare to bite
Now rise and sing and call my name ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Now rise and sing and call your name
Equestria will never be the same ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ Equestria will never be the same
We must act now the time is soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ We must act now the time is soon
To take down both the sun and moon ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ To take down both the sun and moon

Chorus 2
And then we'll feast at any time of day
And we will rule in ev'ry single way
No more hiding we will be free
When the ponies look up to see
A might swarm consuming the whole world
A Changeling army with it's fangs unfurled
Food aplenty for all our kin
Over others we all shall win.

Aria 1
We the swarm will take whatever lands upon our plates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sing my darlings, sing! 
We don't care what price we must pay!
And in any kind of weather we all have to stick together,
And we don't want it any other way!
Let's FEED!

Aria 2
Yes I do so love my brood
It's me heart that feeds them food.
I won't let harm come to what is mine!

Verse 4
Hurry now we must take care
We must be ready and we can't fight fair
With the buzzing of countless wings
Gather all your most precious things
And follow me as we take flight
We can't stop now because the time is right
Raise your voices and fill the air
Hidden monsters; we're ev'rywhere.

Chorus 3
The ponies' time is coming to an end
An age of Changelings will begin again
We will conquer and we will rule
And the ponies will be our fools.
They all will fall for our grand masquerade
And they won't doubt the faces on parade
Let's make haste so we can proceed
This is what mother has decreed!

As the song slowly ends Chrysalis looks over her army once more. "Yes my darlings, we shall prevail! The time for Changelings is nigh, go my precious things, go forth and conquer everyone!" She then laughs "Ah, it's so good to be queen."

Morale soared as the song resonated inside the minds of all the Changelings in the hive, over the last millennium they had prepared for vengeance and all of them were ready for war even then, but now they were even more motivated, for this time they wouldn't just fight in order to teach them how it felt to lose all hope like they had once felt, no, this time they would fight to take back what they had lost, they would get their princess back and show them just how fearsome Changelings could be if they had hope once more, they didn't care if they would have lost their lives before and that's already a dangerous thing, but now they would surely keep getting back up even if they were dying, they would fight beyond the point of death in order to get the princess back.

Chrysalis knew they all felt like this, but she couldn't help but feel saddened slightly at this aswell, cause even if she agreed with them and would do the same for her daughter as the rest of the hive would, she also couldn't help but think of all of them as her own, and what mother would want to lose their children for any reason? However, she also knew that if she were to tell them, there would be doubt through the hivemind, and that could cause more casualties then not saying anything in the end, but that didn't mean she couldn't say anything.

Chrysalis looked over her Changelings once more as she talked through the hivemind. "My children, today we will invade Canterlot once more, but this time there won't be any nasty surprises like last time, our kin that stayed behind have already infiltrated their ranks and have taken care of most of their army, they haven't even realized that all but a few dozen have been replaced, and this time we won't be giving them any warning either… This does not mean however that you should just throw your own lives away, yes we will do everything we must to get my daughter back from them, but it will truly be our victory if we have no casualties at all, so even though there are so few of them left, fight smart and group up to take them down, use anything we have available to us… If possible take them all alive, but if it's impossible without losses on our own side, don't hesitate and just take them down instead."

Chrysalis checked the hivemind for any unrest but felt none, and continued. "Our spies have told us that princess Luna has abandoned her post for some time now, and my daughter has not been seen during that time either, so I assume she is holding her captive somewhere, this will be their downfall however, as we will take their capital before they even know what happened, and we will find out where she is being held soon after, I am certain that princess Celestia will try to send word to her sister the moment we invade afterall, but she doesn't realize that all of her close guard has already been replaced by our own, once she does we will capture her with the magic repressors that she so gracefully has provided for them herself, she will tell us all we need to know and be captured before she even realizes the full extend of our plans, soon after we will do the same for princess Luna and save my daughter, no Changeling blood will have to be spilled on my watch, so stay wary till the very end."

The Changelings were touched by her words and the morale raised even higher, they knew that they had all the right cards in hoof to make this happen, there were no holes in their plans, they knew that the elements of harmony couldn't be used without all the wielders either, and they had already replaced one that had come back to Canterlot just a few days ago, it was the white one that was called Rarity.

And they also wouldn't have to deal with the pesky shield for two reasons, one this was going to be a surprise attack without any warning, and two Shining Armor, the one that had put up the shield in the first place, still had a control spell casted over him, but in order to make sure it wouldn't be detected and removed, it was a single command that would only activate if he heard a single word, it would cause him to fell into a deep sleep for a full day, and they had made sure one of their infiltrators would always be near him, they would say the word the moment the attack would start and prevent him from being able to do anything.

With all this planned out, there were no holes in their plans that could make this invasion fail, so they took to the skies and headed for Canterlot, their vast amount blackening the very sky itself, and Chrysalis herself led them from the front, this was going to be a glorious day, the day they would take over Equestria and get their princess back.



=====+++=====



The invasion had gone as easily as they had expected, the few guards and soldiers left were almost instantly taken care of by those they thought had been their allies but had in fact been Changelings themselves, Shining Armor had fallen into a deep sleep the moment they started, princess Cadance was quickly taken care of with some magic repressors and some chains, she didn't even have the chance to react to what was happening, and Celestia, she had tried to send a guard to Ponyville in order to warn her sister before she was taken care of by the Changelings that she though had been her own personal guard, everything had gone as planned and there wasn't even the slightest hitch, they remained weary however and placed the whole town under lockdown, till they would have their princess back, they wouldn't let down their guard in the slightest.

Queen Chrysalis was now standing in front of the cell they had put Celestia in after reinforcing it, there was no reason they couldn't use these cells afterall, they just had to make certain it was foolproof. "Well, well, well, how the tables have turned, the first time you beat me I was but a mother in distress with a army made of Changelings without any experience in combat, and the second time you used a trick to prevent me from doing what I had to, but now, now your out of tricks and my army has long since defeated yours without you even realizing it."

Celestia glared at Chrysalis, she would have walked closer or stood up in order to look her in the eyes from the same point of view, but her chains made her unable to move anything other then her head, and even that was slightly restricted. "Chrysalis, what are you planning this time? Why did you keep me alive? You already took the capital and it's clear that nopony will even realize it happened for quite some time."

Chrysalis laughed. "What am I planning? Isn't it obvious? I'm planning to capture both you and Luna, so I can save my daughter and undo what you have done to her mind! And once I have done so, only then will I take care of both you and your sister!"

Celestia gasped. "Y-you can't! What about the sun and moon? Without us they won't move and the lands will be ruined!"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you really think I haven't thought of that already? Your not the only ones that can move heavenly bodies you know, we've already found the statue of one that can do the same."

Celestia blinked for a moment. "A statue? …! You mustn't! If you release Discord, he'll cause chaos all over the land!"

"Better to live in a land filled with chaos, then one ruled by your kind that take away all that we love! And it matters little to us Changelings in the first place, his magic has little control over us, our hivemind prevents his mental tricks and our bodies can simply change back from whatever he might try to do with them, if anything it would likely aid us in the long run, as ponies will come to us on their own for protection, not that we'll really need their love to survive now that we also have a constant supply in the form of a princess of love that is, but it will be a nice addition." Chrysalis said with a smile.

"You… You…" Celestia knew she would be unable to change Chrysalis' mind, what she told her certainly sounded like it might work, and once more she knew that none of this would have happened had she just listen to Luna in the first place, or perhaps it could have been solved millennia ago if she hadn't reacted as violently the moment Chrysalis had showed up, this was all her fault and she knew it. "… Please, at least… At least spare Luna, she never meant any harm to start with, she tried to save Twilight in fact, it was me that caused all this, I'm the only one that's at fault here!" She then pleaded, she knew she messed up big time, but perhaps she could make up for it with her own life in the end.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Begging me to save your sister? My, you have changed, haven't you? Or perhaps this is all just another ruse to have me let down my guard once more! I won't listen to your lies anymore Celestia, you have lost and we have won, just accept it already!" She then turned around and walked away as she took up the guise of Celestia so they could act like nothing had happened in the capital, Celestia shouted after her as she left, begging her to listen and not harm her sister, but she would have none of it.

After getting to the throne room and sitting down on the throne of Celestia as she was disguised like her, Celestia's words rung through her head once more, before she shook her head and thought to herself. "No, it's just another one of her lies, it's all she knows how to do, I can't have it poison my thoughts, I must ensure a swift and complete victory, and I can't have any interfere with our plans, not even my own mind."

One of her guards then entered the room. "Your highness." He said as he bowed before her.

"Ah, Nightwatch, how goes it?" Chrysalis asked him.

Nightwatch got up and looked her in the eyes. "I've been told that it's slowly progressing your highness, the amount of chaos energy he must have absorbed over the ages the first time, in order to escape seems to be more then we had expected, but our scientists are certain it won't take that much longer then we had originally planned for."

Chrysalis nodded. "Good, it's a shame we can go to the next stage right away, but this is no time to get unrestful and rush things, we can wait a bit longer if it ensures the safety of everyling… And what about the other thing?"

"Fastfoot and his squad should be arriving in Ponyville at any moment now, they will take care of the other element wielders before we head out in order to rescue the princess, he'll also try to gather as much information about Luna's current location and where she might be keeping the princess locked away, if they find a chance they'll attempt to rescue her, but if it seems to be impossible right away, they'll simply wait for the rest of us as ordered." Nightwatch stated.

Chrysalis nodded again and looked to one of the stained windows that held the image of her daughter in pony form. "Don't worry Twilight, mommy's coming."







*Ponyville*

Fastfoot and his squad had only just arrived at the edge of the village and kept themselves hidden, he then looked at one of his men. "Right, Rock Crusher, your target is the one called Applejack, I heard she has quite a large family, so take plenty of men with you, their also supposed to be really strong so be sure to move in fast and hard, don't give them the time to react and be vigilant in case you missed one."

Rock Crusher saluted. "Yes sir!" He then said and picked a few tough looking Changelings before heading for the farm.

Fastfoot then looked at another one. "Cherrydrop, your on the one living closer to the forest called Fluttershy, intel says she isn't dangerous on her own and will likely submit quickly so your on your own, but she seems to have a few tricks up her sleeve and the animals seem to protect her with their lives, she also seems capable of some kind of paralyzing stare, so it's best to stick to the shadows and wait till she's alone, that way you can take her out before she can employ her stare or call for her animals."

Cherrydrop saluted aswell. "I will be swift and silent sir!" As she said so she then quickly headed out.

Fastfoot then talked to himself. "Hmm, that only leaves the one called Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, I'm likely the only one here that can keep up with the speedster, but I heard the pink one can be quite a hoofful… She seems capable of defying reason, all the reports just said she was 'random' and has some kind of odd sense to notice all sorts of things, we can't be certain she doesn't have a way to notice us or that she's being stalked… How to take care of her?"

One of his men then spoke up. "Sir, can I give it a crack?"

Fastfoot looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You Sour Shield? That's surprising, you never ask for a specific job."

Sour Shield saluted. "It's because till this time I never felt like my special innate skill would be of much use, but this mare might just be the right one to use it on."

"Ah! Right, I forgot that you can turn random events into normal ones, but how will you get around the odd sense she has about things?" Fastfoot asked.

"To be honest sir, I don't think I'll have to, she would have likely have told Celestia last time during the wedding if she could really sense us, I think that as long as I don't do anything special like stalk her or try to harm her till she can't escape normally, it'll all turn out alright." Sour Shield replied.

Fastfoot thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, I'll leave this to you Sour Shield, be careful though, we can't risk any of them notifying any of these ponies and especially not Luna, the rest of you try and just find out where Luna is for now, once we're all done we'll meet up back here and let the queen know what happened."

All of them then saluted and spoke in unison. "Yes sir!"

As they all went their own way and putting up their own disguises, Fastfoot looked to the sky and spotted his own target. "Good, this should be easy enough." He then took on the disguise of a brown pegasus with a red mane and tail, aswell as a bolt of lightning going sideways for a cutiemark. "Let's see just how competitive and fast you really are." He then said as he took to the skies.

Rainbow Dash herself was resting on one of the clouds, though to be fair she had earned it for once, she had been going all over Equestria lately to try and find her friend, Luna may have told her and her friends that Twilight was safe and sound, but she really didn't tell them anything else, including why she just up and vanished, the fact that it had happened exactly on the same day of the wedding had made things worse aswell, they even considered the option that perhaps Luna had been replaced aswell, as such one of the others would keep their eye on her at all times while Dash scoured the land and searched for Twilight without letting Luna know she was doing so, and a few days ago they had decided to let Celestia in on all this, so Rarity had set out to tell her, but she had yet to return, causing even more worries amongst them.

In fact Dash had actually wanted to go and see if she could find her, but Applejack had told her that she needed the rest before she would wear herself out, and after a slightly heated discussion she had given in to AJ's demands for some rest, it didn't keep her from feeling grumpy about it however… But as she was about to rant to herself out loud once more, a sudden pegasus zoomed past her and caused her cloud to dissipate, making her have to quickly take flight before she'd fall. "Hey! What's the big idea!?"

The brown pegasus stopped and looked back at her. "Huh? Oh sorry, didn't see you there." He then flew towards her. "Your not hurt, are you?"

Dash let out a phft sound. "From a weak little gust of wind like that? Heck no, but it could have hurt somepony that isn't able to regain themselves as quickly as I can!"

The pegasus had a apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, I've always had some trouble noticing other ponies while I fly, I'm really only good at flying really fast and racing, but I can't seem to ever win a race since I keep hitting others since I don't see them, I actually came here for that very same reason, I heard there was a pony that might be able to help me with my problem."

Dash raised an eyebrow out of interest. "So your fast huh? Well whatever you say, there's no flyer faster then me."

The pegasus rolled his eyes. "Sure you are, all racers say the same thing you know, so excuse me for not trusting you straight away, plus racing isn't just about speed."

Dash glared at him. "I bet I can race circles around you at least."

The pegasus smirked. "I'll have to see that to believe it… Though right now that might not be a good idea, like I said, I have trouble seeing others as I speed up, so I tend to hurt them while flying, perhaps once I find who I'm looking for and she can teach me how to notice others while flying, alright?"

"… I guess, who are you looking for anyway? And what's your name?" Dash then asked.

"I'm Sidestrike, and I'm looking for a mare called Rainbow Dash, I was told she lives over here, so I came looking for her, she's supposed to be one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria and never hit anypony by accident… Now that I think about it, I should have asked what she looks like, perhaps you can help me miss." Sidestrike then said slyly.

Dash let out a small laugh. "Your in luck then, cause you already found her." She stuck out her hoof in order to shake. "Name's Rainbow Dash, pleased to meet you Sidestrike."

Sidestrike smile and returned the hoofshake, inwardly he was smiling in a different way though. "Same, I hope you can help me."

"Ah!" Dash let out an apologetic smile. "Actually, I promised a friend I would take it slow today, is it alright if I get a raincheck on that?"

Well now, this just wouldn't do, he had planned to take her somewhere separate and take care of her there by challenging her once they'd be alone, so she would then let down her guard, but it would surely seem strange if somepony she never saw before would try to pressure her into doing so, and then another thought came to him, she was the element of loyalty, surely she wouldn't let anypony do something that sounded dangerous without at least somepony else there to ensure they'd stay safe, and then he let out a small sigh as he started his new plan. "Alright, I get it, times of rest are important for a racer afterall, I'll just go and do some practice runs at that gorge in the forest, at least without anypony around I won't hurt them." He said as he turned around.

"The gorge in the forest? Wait you mean the Ghastly Gorge? Stop!" Dash suddenly shouted, but he had already taken off. "Argh! Dammit! He's gonna get himself killed!" She then quickly set of to catch up to him and stop him.

Dash found it odd, but she had been unable to catch up to him before he got there, how did he fly so fast? There shouldn't be anypony faster then her she thought to herself, and as she got to the gorge she looked around in order to find him, she then spotted him as he flew through the gorge and zoomed past the sharp corners and dangerous obstacles quicker then she had seen anypony do it before, excluding herself that is… Though he was doing something she was unable to do so far, he didn't slow down with the sharp corners, Dash was able to go through them with allot of speed, but even she slowed down slightly, yet he wasn't. "How in Equestria is he doing that?"

Her interest now piqued, Dash decided to try and catch up to him, luckily she wasn't planning to follow the course in the normal manner and was going to just fly ahead, but he was still faster then she thought he would be, or was he somehow speeding up? Frustrated she decided to use her ace in the hole, as a cone was starting to form around her. "No way I'm going to let myself get beaten when it comes to speed!" She exclaimed to herself and a sonic boom was heard as a rainbow ring erupted from her cone.

Sidestrike watched as it happened and smirked as he talked to himself. "Interesting, that's quite the technique, I'll be sure to make it my own and improve it… Hmm, let's see, it seems to go a bit like this huh?" He positioned himself properly and tried to replicate it, he was able to create the cone, but was unable to go to the next step and let out a tsk sound. "Figures it's not as easy, but I'll master it soon enough, I just need more data."

Dash had pulled ahead of him and stopped on his path, expecting to be able to stop him once he'd get there, she was sure she could dodge him and grab onto him at the speed he had been flying aswell, but as she turned around to look at his direction, she quickly regretted this as he was heading faster then she had expected, she could even see a cone slightly forming around him as he went towards her, in fact he was going straight for her and didn't seem to slow down. "Horsefeathers!" Was all she could shout before she was hit with the full brunt of his speed, and soon she found herself on the ground, luckily for her she was used to crash landings and knew how to prevent any real damage even when in mid collision with somepony else from all of her training.

Sidestrike quickly landed next to her with a worried look as she laid on the floor. "Oh no! Are you alright!?"

Dash coughed slightly as she was trying to catch her breath. "Yeah… Just a bit beat up, your pretty good you know… Could you help me?"

Sidestrike suddenly had a wide smile. "But of course, I'll help you alright~" He then said as he brought his hoof towards her.

At first Dash found the way he said it a bit strange, but she soon felt a bit of fear as his hoof suddenly came down quickly with allot of force and she heard a loud snap, the fear and adrenaline made it so she didn't feel anything for a moment, but as she looked to her side to see what made the snap, she could see his hoof on top of her wing, that was now bend in an impossible direction, and then it hit her, the fear and pain came at the same time and she shouted.

Sidestrike had a wicked smile. "Whoops, silly me… I only got the one!"

Dash then quickly looked back at him with even more fear as she saw his other hoof coming down, she wanted to quickly escape or dodge it, but he was still pinning her down with her broken wing and then she heard another snap, once more she shouted out in pain and then she looked at him with a look that seemed to shout out why.

Sidestrike took a deep breath. "Terribly sorry, really, I would have actually have liked to race you, but orders are orders… Also, my name's not really Sidestrike, it's Fastfoot." He then undid his disguise. "And your too dangerous to leave unattended." He quickly dodged her blow. "Still got some fight in you huh?"

Now free from his grasp, Dash got back onto her hooves and looked at him with disgust. "I should have known your disgusting kind was involved! What did you do with Twilight!?"

This actually made Fastfoot flinch a little. "How would we know? Your the ones keeping her imprisoned! We're here to save her!"

Dash winched slightly from the pain her broken wings were giving her, but that didn't keep her from glaring at him as she kept her guard up. "Yeah right! Why would we imprison our friend? And why would some dirty bugs want to save her anyhay?"

Fastfoot took on a military pose meant to subdue your opponent quickly. "Because she's our princess!"

"Your p..!?" She started as she was surprised by it, but couldn't finish as she quickly found herself in his grasp and thrown through the sky, before suddenly get blasted by some kind of sticky goo, before she could even react she was completely covered in it.

Fastfoot then walked up to her. "Now don't worry, this won't take long, and it'll mend your broken wings in a few days as long as you don't struggle." He then said as he kept encasing her with the stuff, soon he was finished and Dash found herself in a sort of chrysalis, if she knew what that was that is, Fastfoot then levitated her into a small cave. "Now just stay here till I come get you, once we save the princess, we'll have her decide on what to do with you." He then said before he closed the entrance with a large boulder.



=====+++=====



Meanwhile, another Changeling had managed to find his target as he was getting closer to a certain farm.

Rock Crusher looked at his subordinates. "Alright, you know the plan, spread out and do some recon, I want to know exactly how many ponies are on the farm and their exact locations, stay hidden and leave no stone unturned, then report to me and prepare for the unexpected, move out!"

The other Changelings quickly spread out to do as they were told, meanwhile Rock kept his eyes on Applejack, she didn't look all that special, but the reports on her strength certainly did sound impressive, perhaps one day he would see just how strong she truly was, but right now he needed to ensure the mission was a success and not chase his own ambitions to spar with strong opponents.

A little bit later his troops had returned, he had been surprised when they reported their findings however. "So let me get this straight, your telling me that after all this time and searching over the entire farm, that besides our target, all you found was one elderly mare that looks like she could croak just from being frightened, three little fillies playing make believe in a treehouse and one burly stallion?" Rock then asked and got a 'yes sir' in return, he then facehooved. "This is what I took the most elite of the troops with me for?" He asked out loud and grumbled.

But then Rock suddenly realized something. "Hold on a moment here, from what you told me this farm is massive and requires daily harvesting with how the trees are set up, I doubt the elderly mare and the fillies could really help out much, so that just leaves our target and the stallion… It should be impossible for just the two of them, but I have heard that some earth ponies can do it by simply bucking a tree… But still, for all these trees? That requires quite allot of strength and skill." A sudden smile then appeared on his face and a plan formed.

Rock looked at his subordinates as he started to hand out his new orders. "Alright, listen up you louts! This is what we're going to do, you three are going to capture the fillies, you'll each target one of them and strike at the same time with a chrysalis spell, don't miss and be quick. You two are going to take care of the elderly, same tactic here, but 'm sending two of you just in case she's stronger then she looks, the rest is with me, we'll take care of the stallion first, after that we'll meet back here and then we're going after our main target. Now spread out!"

The fillies and the elderly mare were quickly taken care of, they hadn't even realized what was going on before they found themselves in chrysalises and were taken away to be hidden, Rock had expected the stallion to put up quite a fight with how he looked, so he prepared to hold him off once they were about to strike, but he was disappointed in how quickly he went down after the first wad of goop hit him and he had been unable to break free from it, he looked at the stallion once they had put a reinforced chrysalis around him and wondered if it was truly necessary, if he couldn't even tear off a single piece of goo, then Rock seriously doubted he would be able to break free from a normal chrysalis, this just felt like wasting resources.

Once they stashed away the stallion and met back up with the rest of his troops, Rock sighed as he looked at them. "This is going too easily, at this point I could have just have left it to all of you…" He sighed once more and then steeled his expression. "No, we mustn't become overconfident, we still have one more to take care of, our main target, who knows what surprises she may hide, we'll do this with all we have, for the swarm!" He then shouted, as the others did the same and they headed for their last target.

Meanwhile Applejack was looking around the house. "Granny Smith? Big Mac? Where are ya'll? If this is sum joke, then I ain't laughin'… Where did ya'll go?" She then suddenly heard the door open as somepony heavy seemed to get in, judging from the creak of the boards. "Big Mac? Where did ya go? Ah've been calling out to ya for a while now, Ah can't find granny, did ya see her by any…" She started saying as she headed for the door but instead found a large Changeling that was bigger then Big Mac stand in the doorway, aswell as a few others. "Changelings! What did ya'll do to mah family!?"

Rock sighed and looked to the Changeling next to him. "I thought I told you to check everything and let me know, the boards making a sound is something I would have liked to know."

The Changeling looked back at him and saluted. "Sorry sir, we kept to the ceiling to prevent any of them from noticing us in time."

Applejack growled. "Ah said, where is mah family!?"

Rock now looked at AJ. "Their safe, we're not here to harm any of you if we can help it, so what'll it be? Will you surrender to us peacefully?"

"Peacefully this!" AJ then shouted as she bucked the nearest chair towards him.

Rock responded by raising his hoof to block it and glared once he shattered it, only to find her gone. "Heh, clever mare, but not clever enough."

AJ had tried to run out of the house, she was by no accounts dumb, she knew she could win against several Changelings at once, so she had to warn the villagers, perhaps her friends could even help rescue her family, but on her own she was helpless, so she ran for the door and... "Oof! What in tarnation?" She then said as it wouldn't budge, it wasn't locked though, in fact it didn't even had a lock, she quickly looked around to find another way out, but noticed some kind of goop on the windows.

Rock then walked in. "Give up, we have the place surrounded and sealed, noling or nopony goes in or out without my permission."

AJ looked at him and growled. "Ah should have known all of ya'll can only fight unfairly, Ah'm not givin' up so easily ya hear me!?"

Rock shook his head slightly. "It's not like I want to fight like this, I'd much rather just face you all one on one, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

AJ was suddenly hit from behind her by a wad of goo and she reached around to rip it off. "What the!?"

This made Rock smile, she might just be able to put up a fight, but the smile quickly faded a he remembered the goal for now and that there was a better way of doing this, so he took a deep breath and steeled his expression. "I hate to do this, but give up, or we'll be forced to hurt your family."

AJ's resistance fell right away, as a fearful look replaced her previous expression. "M-Mah family? Ya can't! Please! Ah'll… Ah'll… Ah'll surrender."

Rock sighed sadly. "Yeah, I expected you would… Your like me in that manner."

"Huh?" Was all AJ let out as wads of goo then started to hit her from all around.

"Our family comes first, I would have done the same if my wife and kids were held hostage… I'm sorry." Rock said before she was completely encased and the reinforced chrysalis started to form, she had felt the honesty in his words however.

Once done Rock looked at his subordinates. "Stash her with the others, make sure to leave at least three guards to keep watch over them at all times and reinforce their chrysalises every hour, you hear me? We're not letting our queen or princess down."

The Changelings saluted and began to take her to the others.

"And get that goo off of the house, we can't risk any of those ponies from seeing it at a distance and warning any of the villagers or Luna for that matter." He finally ordered before heading back to the spot they would all meet up once more.



=====+++=====



Meanwhile in Ponyville itself, near the local bakery, one single Changeling disguised as a red unicorn with a green mane and tail, and a cutiemark that was a map with a magnifying glass on it, who looked through the window at the treats.

"They sure do look good, that's for sure." He then said, knowing that not that much further next to him stood a pink mare who then noticed him.

Pinkie hopped towards him and looked at the cupcakes he was looking at. "Oh! Banana surprise huh? Yeah, their great, I like the chocolate ones more myself though." She grinned at him and shook his hoof. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, but my friends just call me Pinkie, your new in town huh? I know because I know everypony here and I've never seen you before, normally I would throw you big surprise party, but I'm currently busy with finding a friend of mine, so what about instead I just give you…" She then reached into her mane and pulled out… Nothing. "Huh, that's odd, that normally works, one second." She reached into her mane once more, but again was unable to pull out anything, she then grumbled and rubbed her head. "I wonder if it was something I ate."

The disguised Changeling however raised an eyebrow and thought to himself. "I see that my innate ability seems to work on her at least, well then, here comes the hard part." He then swallowed and appeared a bit nervous. "Urm… R-right, I'll uh… Just be on my way now." He then turned around and walked away slightly.

"Wait, I'm not crazy!" Pinkie shouted after him.

He suddenly made a dash for it, and she followed him, he smiled slightly at this. "Good, she's taken the bait." He then thought to himself before putting on the expression of fear as he looked at her and shouted. "Stop following me!"

"Not until you let me explain!" Pinkie shouted back at him, it was odd though, she had tried to appear in front of him, but somehow she found herself unable to do so and instead could only run after him like anypony else would, this just made her want to catch up to him even more, there was something off about this pony and she would find out what it was… Aswell as explain herself to him, yes, that was the reason she started to run after him afterall.

As they reached the edge of town, he suddenly ducked behind some trees and Pinkie tried to follow him, she then saw a large branch swing towards her and barely managed to duck. "Drat, I missed." He thought to himself.

"Are you crazy!? That could have seriously hurt!" Pinkie yelled as she got up.

Not wanting to make too big a scene and attract unwanted attention, he decided to keep up the act. "Then stop chasing after me like that! What do you even want from me!? I'm warning you, I have no bits on me, so I make a poor target for a mugging."

"A… I'm not trying to rob you!" Pinkie then shouted defensively.

He had a weary look on his face as he checked her out, but kept the branch next to him as if for protection. "Then why are you chasing after me?"

"I just wanted to give you a cupcake as a present for being new to town but when I reached into my mane I was unable to but normally I can and I wanted to let you know but then you ran away and I chased after you but you still wouldn't stop and I was unable to pop up in front of you like I can with others so then I got interested in finding out what was going on and why I can't seem to do so with you around and I… I…" Feeling a bit lightheaded she suddenly took a big breath, and after a few more she looked back at him. "See? I can't even talk as much as I normally can, and I think it has to do with you, do you know what's going on?"

He looked at her as if staring at a crazy pony. "Uh…"

"I'm not crazy!" She blurted out once more.

For a moment he thought that he may have made a judgmental error into letting it go on like this, as somepony would surely come to inspect what was going on now, but to his surprise, nopony showed up at all, it was like they were ignoring her, he almost let out a gin as he realized, but managed to repress it and instead swallowed as if he was a bit scared. "I-I don't know what your talking about, b-but it could be something I found at the edge of the forest."

"Really? Could you show me?" Pinkie then asked, interested in knowing what could have such an effect on her.

"I-I don't know… Y-your not going to just attack me as we get out of sight, are you?" He wondered if he was taking this too far, but somepony that was afraid wouldn't just suddenly switch from one thing to the other, now would they?

Pinkie sighed. "I'm really not going to do anything bad, what can I do to make you realize? … Wait, I know, you can tie my hooves together, I can just hop till we get there, and that we I couldn't do anything without you untying me first."

This was… This was better then he had planned, he had thought he would just have to say something like that he'd show her as long as she'd stay ahead of him, but here she was actually offering to be tied up. "I… Suppose that could work…"

"Great! Now all we need is some rope and we're ready." Pinkie then said as she looked around.

"That won't be necessary." He replied as he focused his magic into the branch and the fibers separated till there were hundreds of long thin strands which he then wove together till a rope was made.

Pinkie looked at this in awe. "Wow, you must be some kind of rope maker."

He sighed. "Not really, it's just something I learned during my travels, now let's tie you up."

"Yeah, let's tie me up!" Pinkie said, as she then thought for a moment. "Somehow that sounded allot more ominous then I thought it would."

He just stared at her. "Yes, yes it did." He then tied up her hooves as she had told him to do so. "Now follow me."

After a few minutes as they ad gotten far enough from the village to not be seen or heard anymore, Pinkie looked around. "Are we there yet? Do you want to play a game of I spy?"

For a moment he contemplated if he should just indulge her for a bit, he did feel slightly bad for tricking her as he did afterall, but no, the hive came first afterall, so he coldly replied. "Hmm, we might aswell stop now, this is far enough anyway."

The sudden change of tone and atmosphere made Pinkie realize something was wrong, and the twitch she suddenly got wasn't exactly a good one either, so she tried to get out of the ropes, but found she couldn't and realized this had been a really dumb idea right now, normally she might have been able to escape, but whatever was going on was preventing her from doing so, this made her gulp. "W-what are you planning to do?"

He realized she now seemed slightly fearful. "Ah, so that's where your special innate ability to sense things activates is it? That's good to know." He then turned around to face her and smiled as he let his magic wrap around her. "But you don't have to worry, I won't hurt you, your just going to have a nice long nap till we accomplish our goals."

"W-we? Who's we?" Pinkie asked as she tried to move backwards a bit, but with her hooves tied together and her now in the grasp of his magic, that seemed impossible.

"How rude of me." He said as flames burst around him and revealed his true self. "My name is Sour Shield, and with we I mean our hive, we'll take back our princess from you ponies and you can't stop us." Before Pinkie could respond, Sour Shield hit her mouth with some sticky goo. "Now, now, we can't have you going around and warn anypony now, now can we? Just accept that your powerless and fall asleep in the chrysalis." He then started to goop her up and form a chrysalis around her.

After he was done he looked at his handiwork and smiled. "Well now, that went allot easier then expected, I wonder how it went for the others…" A thought then came to him and he frowned. "Wait, what if her random power comes back after I leave? Could she escape then?"



=====+++=====



After some time had passed, Rock Crusher and Fastfoot had met back up, but the others had yet too show up.

Fastfoot was getting worried by now. "It's been too long now, they should have gotten back here already by now… Perhaps we should send out some scouts."

Rock thought for a moment. "I think I heard some of the townsponies say that they saw Pinkie leave town with some stallion, we could start there, the cottage is a fixed location afterall, but if something happened to Sour Shield, then we wouldn't know till it's too late."

"Yeah, perhaps… Alright, send some scouts to find him." Fastfoot then replied.

After the scouts were sent, they took the opportunity to discus some strategies aswell as talk a bit about the ones they captured already.

Rock looked at him with a slightly shocked yet respectful expression. "Dahm captain, you just up and broke her wings like that? I mean I've heard the tales, but I never thought you were really that hardcore, especially since I also heard you like to race fast opponents at times."

Fastfoot looked slightly annoyed. "You know I don't like it when someling uses my rank either, it's not even the proper name for it, that’s the one for the regular army, the runner variant is called speedstar afterall."

"Pft, come on now cap, we all know the queen gave you that one simply because you wouldn't accept an official rank, but that doesn't mean your anything else for us or anyling else, just accept it already cap, it's not like you can go back to just being a regular runner anymore anyway, you have all of us now." Rock replied with a grin.

Fastfoot smirked. "Careful now Rock, or others might think a lowly sergeant is acting like their better then their commanding officer."

Rock put his hooves in the air and pretended badly to be scared. "Oh no, whatever shall I do? They might force me to stop being friends with you and actually have me focus on my career."

They then laughed for a bit before Fastfoot spoke up. "But yeah, I didn't really like doing what I did, and I hope she doesn't resist too much while her bones are being mended in the chrysalis, I would love to one day actually find out just who's really faster… I did learn a little trick from her though, though I haven't quite mastered it yet, but once I do, I'll be even faster." He then grinned as he remembered the cone that had started to form, he was close, he just knew it. "And what about you then? You really decided to force her to stand down by using her family?"

Rock sighed. "Yeah, I really wanted to fight her aswell, she seemed strong, at the very least stronger then that red stallion that was there, but we just can't risk it right now, too much relies on us doing this as smoothly as possible."

Fastfoot nodded. "We all have to make some sacrifices today it seems, but I'm always surprised by just how strategic you can be for a berserker Rock, especially one who loves to fight as much as you do."

Rock chuckled. "Yeah, well, it comes with the job, the higher up you are, the more easily it is to pick the fights you want, and the easier it is to challenge strong opponents as they all want to take down the big guy in the army and claim the glory that comes with it, the moment I learned that was the day I started to realize I needed to learn strategies… But at times like this it can be both a curse and a blessing I suppose." He then sighs. "At least in the past all I had to worry about was who to punch next, now I have to resort to having them surrender without even throwing a single punch… But well, anything for the hive."

Fastfoot agreed and then let out a laugh. "Speaking of, I hear you used your old catchphrase again, how did it go again? 'For the swarm' was it? I remember when I first heard you yell that. Ha! I miss those days."

Rock laughed. "So do I old friend, so do I, you being the fastest and flying or running circles around the enemies to confuse them, while I just let down my old Warhammer and smashed them too a pulp, ah~ Those were the days."

"Speaking off, I heard your oldest is training to wield it these days, you think she wants to pick up your old tittle by any chance?" Fastfoot asked.

Rock thought for a moment. "I certainly don't hope so, she should make her own legacy, not cling to an old one like that, but I'll gladly give her the hammer if she manages to wield it properly, that thing saved my life more times then I can count."

Fastfoot smiled. "And mine, and the lives of many other Changelings, that's why you were called the charging bloodwall afterall."

"Heh, I'll settle for it just saving her life though, those enchantments won't last forever afterall." Rock replied.

At this point the scouts came back, and one of them saluted. "Sir, we found Sour Shield."

Fastfoot regained his posture and nodded. "Report then, why has he yet to return? Did something go wrong?"

The scout shook his head. "No sir, in fact from his report, it went smoother then he had originally planned, but after he put her in a chrysalis, he wondered if she might be able to use her random powers again if he left, and he couldn't secure a safe route back here while hauling her along with him, so he opted for staying behind with her to prevent any issues from occurring."

"Hmm, that makes sense, a loose cannon like her could pose more issues then we can handle, it seems he made the right decision in the end, I should have sent another with him so he could have let us know though… I should have done the same with Cherrydrop aswell in fact, I'll be sure to keep that in mind for another time." Fastfoot said as he looked at Rock. "For now though, let's all head out and see what's keeping her, I've got a bad feeling about this."

Rock nodded and looked at the others. "Alright, you heard the captain, prepare to move out everyling, and be sure to keep your presence concealed as much as possible, we're on the final stretch here, so we don't want to make any rookie mistakes!" After he said so all the Changelings there saluted and made their preparations, soon they would head out for the cottage and see just what the problem was.



=====+++=====



A few minutes later at the cottage, they found out just what was the issue.

Fastfoot narrowed his eyes as he looked at the cottage from a distance. "Is that… What is she doing here?"

"I don't know cap, but it would explain why Cherrydrop has been unable to return so far, she's stuck waiting in those shadows till she leaves." Rock replied as he looked at the situation through some binoculars, before he pointed at something. "This isn't good cap, if the sun keeps up with it's current rotation, then she'll soon run out of shadows to hide in, she may be one of the few that can imitate shadows, but even she has a limit to how far she can stretch herself, they'll find out soon enough if we don't do something."

Fastfoot scratched his head. "I know Rock, I know, but that's Luna we're talking about, we can't risk her finding us before we capture them all and let the queen know… Cherrydrop knew the risks when she took the job."

Rock looked shocked from what he was hearing. "Your just going to let them find her and have her take her own life so they can't find out our plans!? Cap, that's Cherry we're talking about here!"

Fastfoot looked back at rock with a pained yet determined expression. "You think I don't know Rock!? I'm the one who sent her out there! It should have been the simplest of all the assignments!" He then grumbled an held placed his hooves in front of his face, mostly to prevent any of the other soldiers to see the tears. "How… How did it turn out like this? Why did it have to happen to her?"

Rock felt sorry for his friend, Cherrydrop had asked to be assigned to Fastfoot's command for the same reason he had, to be as close to Fastfoot as they could be, but even though that was the same, it was different for the two of them at least… Rock then steeled his expression and stood up. "I'll solve this, you just worry about treating her, she's bound to have gone past her limit a while ago now, so she might be hurt internally already.

Fastfoot looked at Rock as he stood up. "Rock? What are you… Rock! No!" He shouted as the burly Changeling rushed towards the cottage, but he was too late to stop him now, Rock was already at the door. "That dahm fool! He better keep himself safe after all this."

Rock changed his appearances to that of a raging Manticore and kicked in the door, causing both Fluttershy and Luna to look in it's direction with a shocked expression, Fluttershy the quickly went to the beast in order to find out what had caused the beast to come from the forest and lash out like that, but he lashed out at her before she could react, slashing at her face, which made Luna leap at the Manticore as she feared the worse, but it dodged out of the way and seemed ready to fight, Luna quickly looked at Fluttershy and saw she was still breathing, but she decided that the creature would likely attack her again if she didn't take it down, so she chased after it, it then ran to the forest, kiting her away from the cottage without her knowledge.

Once Luna and Rock had vanished past the trees, the Changelings went into the cottage, Fastfoot was the first to enter as he looked at a specific shadow. "It's alright Cherrydrop, you can come out now." As he said that, she slowly came out of it as her body didn't look good, she had forced herself to stay in that form for too long and was likely injured internally. "Come, we'll get you healed up."

It was then that another voice suddenly spoke up. "H-hello? Is somepony there?" The Changelings all looked at the direction it came from and saw Fluttershy, but something was wrong, she was covering her eyes. "Y-you said something about healing, c-could you help me? I-I can't see anymore." She then removed her hooves to show that a large gash now went sideways over her face, as it went over both eyes. "P-please, I c-can't help the animals if I c-can't see."

Fastfoot looked at the forest as he didn't know when Luna would return, but he knew that if they'd take her with them, even if they left one of their own to pretend to be her, they would likely not be able to fool the lunar princess since they didn't know how to act as this mare yet, and since she had heard them, he couldn't just leave her here alone either. "Perhaps I should kill her to prevent the mission to fail, a simple extra cut to the throat would make it seem like she had just bled out from the previous attack, it wouldn't lead back to us at all." He thought to himself as he altered one of his hooves into some claws and motioned for the others to take Cherrydrop away.

After the others had left and as he was about to slash her, Fluttershy felt the sudden increase of malice and spoke up. "A-are you going to h-hurt me? I-if you have to, t-then c-could you at least spare my animal friends?"

Fastfoot just couldn't do it, this mare… If she could feel his malice so much, then why wasn't she asking for her own life? Why was she so concerned by mere animals that were but a source? He the reluctantly changed the claw back into a hoof as he glared at her. "We were never here, got that? If you care so much for these animals, then you won't tell anypony we were here, if you do… Then your not the only one to get hurt." He then quickly thought of something as he continued. "And if you ever want to see your friends again, you'll come to the meadow just outside of town tonight, and make sure to come alone."

Fluttershy had been relieved slightly when she had felt the malice fade away and he said they'd spare her and her animals, but as he said that last part, her ears stood up straight. "M-my friends? W-what do you mean? W-what did you do to them?" She then asked, but got no response, after feeling around a bit, she realized that whoever had been there had left already.

Fastfoot wondered if he had made a big mistake when they saw Luna head back to the cottage a little later, perhaps the mare would tell her about them afterall, but when she came back out while holding Fluttershy in her magic, the pastel mare was trying all she could to stay behind though, even if Luna insisted she'd go to a hospital to get her cut checked out, he then wondered if she was so reluctant because of what he had told her.

Eventually Luna managed to wrest her away however and flew towards the village, giving them the chance to take care of Cherrydrop and wait for Rock, who luckily came from the forest a bit later, it seemed like he had been hit quite hard by something as his leg seemed broken, it was a good thing he was so tough, Fastfoot did not want to lose anyling, especially since Cherrydrop's injuries had been allot worse then they thought and were forced to put her in one of the healing chrysalises.

Fastfoot sighed as he looked at his soldiers. "We'll need to be even more careful starting now, we only have one healing chrysalis left, there are only normal ones after that, and we can't just waste them with how hard their to produce… Sorry Rock, that means you'll have to tough it out."

Rock laughed. "Heh, as if I'd let you use that on me for a minor thing like this, I'll just have it fixed when we get back to the hive… But I won't be able to help much if a fight is to happen like this."

"That's fine with me, you just take Cherry with you and head to the coordinates I'm going to give you, you'll find Rainbow Dash at those locations, your to stay hidden with them in that cave till I come get you, and take some of the others with you, your in no condition to do this on your own." Fastfoot then said.

Rock wanted to tell him he didn't want to, but as he saw Fastfoot's determined face that looked to say that if he had to, he would pull rank over him, Rock just sighed and agreed, soon after heading for the coordinates with Cherry in her chrysalis and a few other Changelings to aid them, as Fastfoot himself headed elsewhere.



=====+++=====



Later that day, Luna raised the moon and lowered the sun, since Celestia didn't lower it herself, something she would surely ask her about next time they'd see each other.

In the field however, Fastfoot was waiting by himself, he had told his soldiers to stay away just in case and if anything would happen, they were to instantly tell the queen everything that had happened.

After waiting for some time however, Fastfoot sighed as he thought to himself. "Guess she's not showing up afterall, either her friends didn't mean as much as we'd been told, or she couldn't leave after being admitted… I should have expected that option though, her injury was quite big afterall… In fact, she might be completely blind, could she even find this place like that if she did manage to get away from them?"

Just as he was about to leave however, he could see a pastel color in the distance and as he waited just a bit longer, he could see it was Fluttershy, once she got nearby she raised her ears as if to listen. "H-hello? Are you there?"

For a moment Fastfoot considered not saying anything as he was trying to figure out how she managed to do all this, but then he heard a certain sound he had heard once before while in a specific form. "Now there's a surprise, I didn't think ponies could use echolocation."

Fluttershy jumped back slightly as he suddenly spoke up. "Eep! I-I'm sorry it took so long to get here… Y-you can hear that?"

"I can, but I'm more surprised that your able to use it, it's not a skill ponies tend to have." Fastfoot admitted.

"W-what do you mean?" Fluttershy gulped as she raised her hoof to her mane and pulled out a little bat. "I-I just had one of my animal friends show me the way, that's all… But… Does that mean that y-your…" She gulped once more. "Not a… Pony?"

Fastfoot sighed, of course, he should have guessed that was what was going on… Though talking to animals like that certainly was quite a special skill on it's own. "That's correct, I'm not a pony, I'm a Changeling."

"O-oh… A-are my friends alright?" Fluttershy asked as her worry for them was stronger then her fear for the situation right now.

Fastfoot smiled, he knew she couldn't see it, but he did feel somehow… Comfortable around her, and it wasn't as if he had to be cruel to her since she was complying. "Their fine, a bit beat up and some broken bones perhaps, but their lives are in no danger, plus we're currently treating their wounds, as I will yours if you come along quietly… Though I must admit, eyes are quite a bit harder to treat then some simple bones, I can't fully say that they'll be completely healed, you may require something like glasses afterwards."

Fluttershy felt her heart fall slightly, not because of what he told her about her eyesight, but because her friends had seemed to gotten hurt. "B-but my friends, they will be fine, right?"

"Hmm, they should, I told the one with the broken ones to not resist it too much if she wanted them to be fully healed though, so in the end it'll depend on if she'll listen to what I told her…" Fastfoot looked at the moon. "But time is short right now, so I'll put you in a chrysalis to heal up while we initiate the next step of our plans."

Fluttershy swallowed once more. "O-one more question before you do so… W-why are you doing this to us?"

Fastfoot was getting suspicious as he looked around. "Your not trying to lull me into a false set of security, are you?" He then asked as Fluttershy shook her head. "Hmm… Well, no matter, at this point it matters little what happens to me, I've already told the others to initiate the next step… Also, you should know that you ponies brought this upon yourselves when you kidnapped our princess! And we will do whatever we must to get her back."

Fluttershy gasped. "Y-your princess? B-but we don't know anything about a Changeling princess!"

Fastfoot was done with the lies and growled. "Stop lying to us! You've kept her nearby for several years now, pretending to be her friend! But it's too late now, we'll take her back and undo whatever brainwashing you ponies did to her!"

Fluttershy started to shy away from the sudden rage. "F-friends? Y-years? Y-you can't m…" She was interrupted by some goo that latched onto her mouth.

Fastfoot was now pelting her with the goo needed to form a chrysalis. "I won't listen to your lies anymore, you should be honored that I'm even building a healing chrysalis around you in he first place, as it's not up to me to decide what will happen to you, the princess will decide your true fate once we have her back."

Once Fastfoot was finished with forming the chrysalis, he looked around once more, wondering if it had been a trap afterall, but as nopony showed up, he sighed and took her away, since he still wasn't certain if it was safe or not, he decided to bring her to a new hiding place however, so that even if others would show up to save her, they still wouldn't be able to save the others, and after doing so he checked in on the soldiers he had left on guard a bit away from the village.

Since there was still nopony showing up to spring any sense of trap, he decided to sigh, since it was likely all still in his head, that mare might not have wanted to tell the truth about knowing about their princess, but she had felt sincere with everything else at least, that didn't stop him from remaining vigilant however. "Alright everyling, our main objectives have been dealt with, it's unfortunate that we couldn't gain any intel on where the princess might be held, but at this point it'll likely be too dangerous to do so, she's likely to be on guard after what happened earlier today, so we'll just send a message to the queen with all the intel so far and let her know our main objectives have been completed, we'll receive our next orders soon after that."

The Changelings saluted as they focused their magic and sent out a signal, causing several other Changelings hiding all over the place to quickly head for Canterlot, normally it would have been enough to use the hivemind for this, but Fastfoot had decided that if they had some way of detecting it, then it would be better to do it in this way, and several heading out at once would reduce the chance of all of them being found out, but even with all of his planning and carefulness about it all, he couldn't help but feel that it still was going too easy, did these ponies have no defenses whatsoever or something? Did they underestimate Changelings so much? Or was it perhaps them who were underestimating the ponies and had they actually planned for all this? Whatever it was, he would do all he could to make the mission a success in the end, so he started to plan for any new possible threats, as they waited for their queen.







*Canterlot, a few hours later*


Chrysalis was sitting in Celestia's room as she looked at the moon, she used to enjoy looking at the moon and the stars so long ago, but now it just reminded her of a friendship lost, and if it hadn't been for her anger at Celestia, she would have likely have preferred the day over the night, but ever since that day, she had loathed both just out of spite, no matter what she truly thought of them… And yet, she couldn't help but look at the moon whenever it was a clear sky, she didn't quite know why herself.

She was brought out of her trance and reminiscence state when she heard a knock on the door however, she realized that one of her Changelings was standing on the other side, a quick scan made her realize it was one of Fastfoot's men, so she opened the doors. "Come in, what do you have to report?"

The Changeling bowed. "Your highness, I come to report that we have succeeded with our main objectives, all the wielders are now captured and won't become an issue when we initiate the next phase, unfortunately we haven't been able to gather much intel on princess Luna, we only found out where she now resides, but we have not found out where she may hold our princess… That said, captain Fastfoot thinks we should make haste because of an unfortunate event that likely has put her on edge and she'll most likely be on guard right now."

"Hmm, I see… That is unfortunate, but not outside of the parameters, we'll head out right away then, the ones left behind will take care of things here." Chrysalis then replied as she got up.

The Changeling looked at her. "One moment your highness, captain Fastfoot didn't want to ask as he doesn't think it's necessary for the rest of the plans to succeed, and he doesn't want you to get worried but…"

Chrysalis looked at him slightly worried. "What is it?"

The Changeling continued. "Sergeants Rock Crusher and Cherrydrop got hurt thanks to some complications, Sergeant Rock Crusher has a broken hoof and Sergeant Cherrydrop pushed herself too much, causing her to have internal wounds, she's currently in a healing chrysalis, but she could do with a professional if possible, could we take some healers with us?"

Chrysalis gasped. "Of course! We'll take with us the very best, I believe Nurse Cannula and Doctor Nebulizer are in the castle right now, they'll be able to help them straight away."

The Changeling bowed once more. "Thank you your highness."

"Think nothing of it, I see you all as my children, and any mother would do whatever they can for their children, now go, tell the others to prepare while I make the final arrangements." Chrysalis then said as she reapplied her disguise.

The Changeling instantly headed out to relay her command to the others.

Chrysalis meanwhile headed for one of the lower areas of the castle that some of them had repurposed into a lab of some sort, she then walked up to one of them that looked a bit frazzled. "Professor Craft, how is it going? Are we nearly ready?"

The frazzled Changeling looked at her. "Ah, my queen, yes, we will be ready before day breaks, it's proven quite difficult since harmony magic is not easily undone, especially a powerful one like this, but we've found that a bit of chaos seems to help quicken the pace for Discord's statue, he's likely trying to escape on his own as is, which makes it easier for us to actually break the spell… And we're getting some interesting readings from it all aswell, we believe that if he ever was to actually become an issue for us, we may have found a way to stop him."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? Now that's interesting, what is it professor?"

Craft smiled. "We believe we have found an element that can block his magical powers, and that’s not even the best thing, it seems to block all magic but Changeling magic, even Alicorn magic is blocked by it, right now we still lack the means to produce a large quantity of it and what we have will likely need to make direct contact to work, but with this all magical races will be powerless to us if they attempt to attack us."

Now it was time for Chrysalis to smile. "That's amazing professor, it's a shame we didn't have this already though, it would have made this whole plan allot easier."

"Of course, if only we had access to Discord before now, we would have likely have had the knowledge already." Craft then motions for one of his assistants and they bring a box towards him. "Please your highness, take this with you."

"What is it professor?" Chrysalis asked as she opened the box, only to reveal there to be a shackle made of some kid of black material inside, and a small device with a Changeling rune on it.

"It's what we managed to process so far, it's not much, but it should prove quite useful to you in the case of an emergency, or you may want to use if for princess Luna, since the chrysalis around Celestia is already draining her magic at such a rapid speed that we may have to combine the other one to it if we're to keep her captive." Craft replied.

Chrysalis nodded. "I'll take good care of it, you just release him and leave the rest to us professor."

Craft bowed. "Of course your highness, we will not fail you or our princess.

Chrysalis smiled as she nodded. "I know you won't professor… But what's this device for?"

Craft smiled, he always showed pride when it came to his inventions. "That's the latest version of the GLM series, it's still a prototype at this point, but I used what else we learned here to improve it even further, it should work with just about any material now, so it should be able to be used in combat without any preparations… Though I must admit we haven't been able to test it out just yet, so if there are bugs in it, we don't know what they will be, but at the very least it should recognize you and the princess as it's controllers."

"I see, if this works then it will indeed be a formidable addition" Said as she then left the room, to go get Cannula and Nebulizer before heading for the rest of her forces that had gathered.

Once there Chrysalis smiled as her Changelings all stood to attention and looked at her expectedly. "My dear children, the time has finally arrived, we will march to Ponyville under the cloak of night and capture princess Luna, after which we'll free my daughter and our hive will be whole once more!" She then pointed in the direction of Ponyville. "Now fly, fly my pretties and claim what is rightfully ours!"

And with that, all the Changelings there took to the sky and headed towards Ponyville as the mighty swarm that they are, their desire to bring back their princess only enhancing their might.





> Friends and Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 08







*Ponyville, a few hours before sunrise*


The ponies were all asleep at this point, otherwise they may have noticed that the dark night sky seemed to be even darker then normal, the stars nor the moon could be seen, only a black like sky was all over Ponyville, as the Changelings had arrived and were now hovering over them, before they all went in to cease the village without anypony even realizing they were doing so

They didn't need to do anything special either, they had no reason to have the normal villagers know it happened, as such they simply changed their appearances to that of the royal guards, when the ponies would wake that morning, they would simply be told that it was a safety procedure, since the elements had all but vanished into thin air, at least that's how it would look like for the villagers and the rest of Equestria.

Right now however, the Changelings knew they had to do one more thing, as they started to form shields of their own around the houses, they didn't know exactly what would happen once they would make their move, but it was likely that Luna would not just surrender easily, so they decided to put up these shields to both protect the villagers, and to block any sound and light that may wake them from their slumber, as to make it seem like nothing ever happened.

That didn't mean they wouldn't try to do it as stealthily as they could however, as one of them turned into Rarity and walked towards Luna's front door and knocking, it took a few moments, but it was soon opened by Luna, who then looked at the fake Rarity with a raised eyebrow. "Rarity? What are you doing at my doorstep at this time of night? … And looking like… That…"

The fake Rarity looked at her own outfit, from what they saw the pony wear before, she had been quite the trend setter, and since the outfit had been ruined by mistake, they had opted to get a new outfit. "You like it? It's the latest in haute couture… I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment if possible your highness."

Luna lowered her raised eyebrow and now had a neutral look on her face. "Is that so? Very well, come on inside Rares, I'll prepare some snacks, I should still have some of those chocolate covered carrots you like so much."

"Ah.. Uhm… Y-yes, that would be lovely your highness." The false Rarity said as she headed inside while thinking. "I didn't know the princess and this pony were on a nickname basis… And who in their right mind likes chocolate covered carrots?"

The Changeling noticed too late her own mistake as the door slammed shut and a barrier formed around the house, before she could even turn around however, she found a ethereal sword aimed at her throat. "Who are you?" Luna then asked.

Still in a disguise the Changeling tried to get out of the situation by acting like she didn't know what she was talking about. "W-whatever do you mean your highness? I-it's me, Rarity."

"Oh please, don't insult me like I don't know, Rarity wouldn't be up at this time to start with, it interferes with her beauty sleep, but even if she were up, then she definitely wouldn't wear anything from Flash Brand, not after that heated fight they had last time." Luna replied as she then made the sword float a bit closer to the fake Rarity's throat. "And you really messed up when you kept calling me 'your highness', sure it took a while, but she never calls me that anymore, plus when you just let me call you 'Rares' and accepted the whole her liking that kind of food as a snack, it really confirmed what I thought, now tell me, who are you and what have you done to her!?"

The Changeling swallowed and realized she wasn't going to get out of here by talking, then perhaps a slight shock might give her the chance, so she undid her disguise and prepared to take off the moment she would see a shocked Luna, instead she was faced by Luna who didn't even seem phased, shocking the Changeling instead.

Luna raised her voice a bit. "I said speak! Who are you and where did you take my friend!?"

Shaken and uncertain what to say, the Changeling opted for talking, but her training at least made her know not to give up too much information. "I-I'm a Changeling…"

"I didn't ask what you are, I know that, I asked who you are, and where my friend is!" Luna repeated, she was losing her patience with this Changeling, what hive did she even come from?

By now the Changeling got over her initial shock, as such she looked back in defiance. "You won't be able to make me betray my kind, I will sooner die then tell you anything, you traitor!"

Luna raised her sword. "Very well then, prepare yourself." The Changeling closed her eyes and awaited her immediate demise, instead being knocked out cold by the hilt rather then die by the blade, Luna then walked towards the door once more as she undid the sword. "Traitor huh? There's only one hive that would even consider me to have been close enough to get that tittle, and I doubt they would hurt others if they don't have to." She then opened the door and undid the barrier while walking outside.

The Changelings didn't fully know what to make of it, they had lost contact with the one that went inside the moment the shield had gone up, but it was obvious she had been uncovered, yet Luna was walking to the middle of town like nothing had happened and then sat down, they were wondering if they should all just rush her or if it was some kind of trap.

Before they could decide however, Luna spoke up for all to hear. "I know you’re here Chrysalis, I don't want to fight you or your Changelings, the one you sent for me is unconscious but otherwise fine aswell, so show yourself so we can talk peacefully, and I doubt I could take on all your warriors here on my own, so you don't have to worry about any trickery."

A few moments passed, but Chrysalis decided to show up, disguised as Celestia and walking up to her as if nothing was wrong. "I don't know what your talking about, 'dear sister'."

Luna scowled at her, which surprised Chrysalis a little bit, she knew that Luna had likely hated her but she d… "Your taste has become quite poor to wear 'her' face and voice, and don't call me sister while wearing her face, I don't want her to ever call me that again, not after what she did to Twilight!" Luna suddenly said, interrupting Chrysalis' thoughts.

Chrysalis stammered for a moment. "W-what do you mean? What did she do to… I mean, what did I… Ah forget it." She then undid her disguise and glared back at Luna. "Now what do you mean? What did she do to my daughter!?"

Luna's face seemed to change to a more calm expression. "It's nothing physical at least, so you don't have to worry about that at least, it's more of a mental thing she did… Aswell as not coming clean at the end when she was given the chance it…" She then sighed. "It's kind of a long story, and to full explain it I need to tell you what truly happened in the past, even if you don't trust or believe me you should at least hear it."

"Why? Why would you think I would listen to your lies to make us doubt ourselves?" Chrysalis asked as her glare intensified. "We don't need your lies, all I want is my daughter back, and perhaps some vengeance for what happened."

Luna looked Chrysalis straight in the eyes with conviction. "Feel free to do to me what you want, you deserve that much, and I will accept whatever you decide will happen to me, but at least know the full story first, regardless of whether you think it's true or not… As for Twilight, she's currently not in town and I have no idea where she truly is, all I know is she's learning more about Changelings by being among them."

"You lie!" Chrysalis shouted. "You have her locked away here somewhere! I know it! Just like you have done so for all those years! Where's my daughter!?" She had tears in her eyes when she shouted that last part.

Luna's face wavered slightly, it saddened her to see her old friend with such an expression. "I'm not lying, you can search through the whole village, tear my mansion apart if you must, but you will not find her… But since it's you, you can likely feel her connection if you concentrate hard enough, I may not know where she is, but I have the feeling she's somewhere close by… But Chrysalis… I don't think you should see her without knowing the full story first, you need to know that the life she had h…" Luna suddenly found her mouth clogged up by a wad of goo.

"Shut up! I won't fall for your lies!" Chrysalis expected Luna to fight it, perhaps even her, so she could fight back and feel better as she would use everything to beat Luna.

But to Chrysalis' surprise, Luna didn't fight it at all, she was a bit shocked at first when the goo hit, but Luna knew at least that this goo wouldn't prevent her from breathing, even if it was a weird feeling to breath a liquid, as such Luna just stood there with a look on her face of sadness and perhaps a little bit of pity, Chrysalis clenched her teeth in rage.

"You… You… At least fight back so I can feel better about defeating you!" Chrysalis shouted with tears in her eyes as she pelted Luna with more goo, but Luna never fought back as the goo covered her and soon formed a chrysalis around her, and once done, Chrysalis was breathing heavily from the constant barrage she had put her all in, before more tears came out. "Why… Why didn't you just fight back?"

As Chrysalis cried silently, her Changelings combed the town, trying to find any inkling of their princess, but came up empty hooved, as such Fastfoot walked up to her. "You highness? We combed the village but…"

"You didn't find her, did you? … I should have known, Luna might have betrayed us, but… Her actions just now, she just… She didn't even put up a fight, she didn't even try… Perhaps… Perhaps what she said has some value at least…" Chrysalis said as she didn't know what to say anymore, her face filled with sorrow, from both wanting her daughter back and the odd feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, this all happened because of some kind of mistake, she soon shook her head though, that couldn't be true, she shouldn't think such things, not till she at least had her daughter back at least.

Fastfoot felt the doubt however, and reflected on what he had done, wondering if it could have been avoided, but then he took a deep breath, he needed to be strong for his queen right now, as he then looked at her. "Your highness, what princess Luna said about the connection, you could at least try, if anypony tries something we'll be here to protect and warn you, at this point there shouldn't be any of them that can stand against us anyway.

Chrysalis sighed as she nodded. "I suppose your right… Alright, make the arrangements, find a safe place that's easily defendable for me to do so just in case." She then said as she disguised herself once more, this time as Luna, she figured it would cause less ponies to question her being there then Celestia, seeing as Luna had been living there for some time now, but perhaps there was more to it then that.

They thought about using Luna's mansion at first, but since it belonged to Luna and this was basically her idea, they couldn't be certain that she hadn't meant for them to go there before some trap was sprung, so they went to the only other place they found that might be safe, a place they had originally thought was just a big tree in town, upon closer inspection it had turned out to be a library of sorts however, and it also seemed that somepony had been living there, but whoever it was, wasn't there right now, so thy decided to pick that place, and Chrysalis started to concentrate on a link.







*Twilight's starting hive, about an hour ago*

Twilight had been burning the night away, as she experimented a little with her new connection to the nymphs, that were now all connected to her through a real hivemind with her, which had earned her a few more antennae by the way, she was being careful however, since the ones connected to her were afterall only nymphs at this point, and not full grown Changelings.

She scribbled down some notes as she talked to herself. "Hmm, interesting, it's easier to make use of this mental enhancement while their asleep, but why? Earlier it was like I was using their subconscious to enhance my own capabilities, but I'm not doing so now, their fully using it for their dreams afterall… Which is interesting aswell, how do I know this? Is it because of my dream walker abilities? But I wasn't able to do that before… Perhaps it's some kind of combination with that and the hivemind… Hmm, I wonder if there's some other use for this other then just knowing their doing so…"

A knock was heard on the door and Twilight got up to check who it was, once she opened it, she saw Nightdash on the other side, who didn't seem so pleased. "Your highness, why are you still awake? Isn't your sleeping schedule more like that of a pony? Us Changelings might not need as much sleep, but if your used to that and with your other side, it might actually effect you, your going to run yourself ragged this way."

Twilight blushed slightly as she scratched behind her back. "Ah! Well… I've actually always been more of a night owl in that regard, plus ever since I started dream walking I haven't felt as tired anymore… Actually…" She put a hoof to her chin as she thought for a moment before continuing. "Now that I think about it, that was also the first time I found out about my Changeling side, though I didn't know what to make of it at the time and thought that it was just something Discord had done to me… And ever since I came here I've been feeling less and less tired aswell… Hmm, I wonder if…" She stopped as she saw the deadpan look in Nightdash's eyes. "And I'm rambling again."

Nightdash chuckled. "Just a smidge your highness, it's one of the many things we've come to know and love about you your highness, we know how you can get lost in your thoughts… Though perhaps you should be careful with that your highness."

Twilight raised an eyebrow out of interest. "Oh? How so? Are you worried that I'll get so lost in my thoughts that I'll not get out of it at some point?" She then joked.

A small laugh escaped Nightdash's muzzle before she shook her head and looked a little serious. "It's just that… you might influence someling over the hivemind your highness, especially the young ones, which is all you have right now."

A gasp came from Twilight as she was now worried. "Oh gosh, I'm not overloading them with my thoughts am I? Wait, their not hearing all my thoughts right? I've been wondering about a few things that I'm not sure is safe for them and… And… Argh! I'm doing it again! I need to stop right now!"

Nightdash placed a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder and shook her head. "It's nothing like that your highness, do you really think I would be this calm right now if it were? My daughter is connected to your hivemind afterall, and while I wouldn't go against you or try to stop you if you decided to continue, I'm sure you'd see or feel my worries in that case your highness."

Twilight let out a relieved sigh. "That's right… I'm sorry, it seems I still get easily flustered over things like this, even after all that training I had with Luna to become proper royalty."

"Don't worry about it your highness, it's what makes you, you. Plus there's all sorts of different royalty out there, Changeling queens basically just act how they want, they try to be courteous and noble like when they meet up, but in their own hives they all act differently, one will be really uptight as you call it while the other will basically not care at all, so you should just remain yourself." Nightdash smiled gently as she said so.

"If you say so… And I'd like to hear more on this later, but right now, I would be more interested in knowing what you meant by my thoughts could influence those connected to my hivemind." Twilight replied as she remembered what they were talking about originally.

"It's quite simple really." Nightdash began. "We Changelings exist to serve our queen, so we tend to adapt to her way of thinking, for example if a queen would have her thoughts filled with ways of improving the hive, then the Changelings will start to wonder aswell and work towards such a goal, while if conquest would be on her mind, the Changelings would grow more militaristic and strategic, and queens know this. But they also know that what they want is not always the best, so one that would want conquest will attempt to suppress that thought, since it might get the attention of other hives that want to remain hidden, the same can be said with bettering the hive, a thought like that can be too general, making the hive spread itself too thin to improve in all sorts of ways, so they try to focus on certain areas."

Twilight sighed as she put her hoof to her forehead. "… I see, so when I'm worrying about you all and wondering about how some things work."

"Then they will likely worry about us all the time and try to find answers they can't answer, yes, it's especially frustrating for little nymphs if their unable to be of help right after they join the hivemind, normally this is offset by there at least being some adult Changelings that they know can help before they get their names and can grow up, but…"

Twilight groaned. "The only adult in this hivemind is me… There are plenty of others here, but they likely feel like you all can't help as much because you can't feel what I feel…" She then sighed. "Guess I really do need to name them soon huh?"

Nightdash nodded. "That would be best, it would mature them quickly and they could become regular Changelings soon after, they would still be in an adolescence stage, but it would stabilize their thoughts more… Also, to be honest, I'm not sure how it might truly effect them, as you seem to get answers on your own aswell as make the questions, your quite interesting that way your highness, most would just leave things like that to the hive itself."

Twilight chuckled slightly at that. "Well, I quite enjoy figuring things out myself, I've always done so, it's not something I feel the hive should have to do for me, I feel like they should focus a bit on whatever they want to focus on themselves, not what I'm thinking of…" She raised her hoof to her chin once more. "Hmm… Let's see, perhaps we should start with your daughter then… Do you think she would like the name Fate Breaker? I think it's a bit fitting since she was the first to break that terrible fate that would have happened had we not made a connection."

Nightdash's face lit up as a single tear rolls down her cheek. "My daughter has a name now, and such a pretty name, thank you your highness." She then bows deeply.

Twilight always felt slightly uncomfortable when they bowed normally, but even more so when they did it deeply, she knew they wouldn't stop though, she even doubted that those that she'd influence would ever stop, so she just accepted it, even if she felt they shouldn't. "I'll tell her the name tomorrow when she wakes up, I hope she'll be as excited as you ar…" She was then interrupted by a sudden 'Woohoo' that likely everyling in the village had heard.

As Twilight looked outside to see where it came from, Nightdash chuckled. "That would be little Fate Breaker, your highness, when a Changeling is granted their name, they instantly know it, it would be quite troubling if a queen of a big hive had to visit them all personally or tell them over the hivemind afterall, seeing as there are a few big hives out there."

"Aww, but I actually wanted to tell her myself." Twilight replied with a slightly sour expression.

Nightdash seemed a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry your highness, I should have told you so you could give her, her name when she woke up yourself…" She also seemed to fidget a little as if wanting to go somewhere. "Uhm… Your highness? Is it alright if I go and check on her? I would like to see what type of Changeling she became and what kind of role she could take… I mean I know she'll just be a drone and all, but since she was the first to connect to you, I want to see if she could take on a role of personal maid or something else."

Twilight had a look of surprise on her face. "You can see that?" She then quickly shook her head. "No, I mean… Sure, go to her, I'll come with you even."

Nightdash thanked Twilight as they ran towards where the 'woohoo' had come from, to their surprise several other Changelings had gathered around and were looking stunned from what they were seeing, which made Nightdash nervous. "W-what is it? I-is my daughter alright? Did something go wrong?"

As Nightdash and Twilight looked at what they were looking at they were surprised to see a female young Changeling that had a slight lavender hue mixed into the black hue of their normal carapaces, her eyes were a full lavender color, her wings were like miniature versions of Twilight's bug like, see through pegasus wings, she also looked thinner and her carapace was long as it fell behind her and slightly moving gently as she moved, almost like some kind of coat, in fact it looked a bit like a lab coat.

Not knowing what she was looking at, and also worried about her daughter, Nightdash looked around for a moment. "What… Who are you? And has anyling seen my daughter?"

"Momma, it's me! Fate Breaker!" The young Changeling suddenly said as she hugged Nightdash. "Isn't it amazing? I'm not a normal drone at all! I wonder what kind of Changeling I am? Am I a useful kind? Noling here has told me anything so far, they haven't answered any of my questions at all, it's like they don't know or something, but that can't be, right mom? … Momma?"

Nightdash blinked for a moment, then hugged her. "Is… Is it really you sweetie?"

Fate chuckled as she returned the hug. "Of course it is momma, but what am I exactly? I haven't heard of this type of Changeling from you at all, I mean I know why my wings and color scheme are like this now, but the other changes are like nothing I've ever heard before, which makes me wonder if I'll be of much use… I am useful, right mom?" She sounded a little worried as she asked.

Nightdash wanted to reply straight away, but the truth was… "I don't know sweetie, I've never seen or even heard of a Changeling like you before… But you do sound a little bit like…"

"Me." Twilight suddenly chimed in. "Oh my gosh! This is because I was thinking and feeling like I was when I named her, isn't it? Oh no, did I… Did I break her?"

At this point Fate Breaker and Twilight were both about to panic when Nightdash suddenly yelled. "It's fine!" She then looked at both of them, but not with a worried look, but one that pretty much says it'll be fine. "Your highness, you don't need to worry at all, nor do you Fate, if this is what I think it is, then it's nothing bad, in fact it's a good thing." She smiled as a proud feeling came from her. "It's said that at the beginning besides the queen, only drones existed, but as time passed and the needs changed, some of them turned out differently, mutations to better suit the hive and the queen, I think you mutated into a new type Fate, one that will prove to be just right for our queen in due time."

Fate's face changed from one of worry to one of expectations almost instantaneously. "You think so? That… That's amazing! I wonder what it is I can do though..." Several options flew through her mind. "Oh! I can hardly wait to find out!"

Twilight however was a still a bit worried as she walked up to Nightdash. "Are you sure it's alright? From how everyling was reacting, I get the feeling that this isn't something that happens very often."

Nightdash nodded as she smiled. "That's true, but its fine, there hasn't been a mutation like this for decades, but that's because all the different Changelings that we imagined were important had been created already, at least that's what I think, at some point the queens likely didn't see the need for new mutations and it stopped, but you think differently then them your highness… A mutation is quite rare however, I heard that for the queens that had them, at most there were only one or two in the past." A small tear seemed to form in the corner of her eye, but it seemed to be one of joy with the feelings that came with it. "I can't believe my little one didn't only get to be the first to link with you, but was also able to become something greater then I thought imaginable."

"I… I see." Twilight sighed from relief. "Well, you know more about this then me, so I'll trust you know what your talking about and not worry anymore." She then looked a bit closer at Fate Breaker. "You know, she sorta looks like a scientist, and she's sorta acting like one."

"A scientist your highness? You mean like a researcher? But why would she turn into a different form of something that already exists?" Another Changeling that was listening suddenly asked.

Twilight looked at him. "Ah, that's not exactly right, a researcher only researches the theory of things, a scientist however will think of the theory and then does the practical part aswell, this often leads them to new discoveries aswell… Also, many researchers will stop once they feel they reached the end of their research, but a scientist will go beyond that to see just how far the actual end line is, at times they even push the boundary beyond what should be possible."

"And you think that she's one of these scientists, your highness?" The Changeling then asked.

"Hmm." Twilight thought about it for a moment before replying. "Well, she certainly looks one and acts like I do when I do stuff like that, I've put on a lab coat myself a few times you see, and I have been called a bit of a mad scientist a few times as I experimented, so she may just b…" She suddenly stops talking as she looks around, as if trying to sense something in the air. "Does anyling else feel that?"

Jackshade walked up to her. "Feel what your highness? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just that…" Twilight felt it again and looked around some more. "It feels so… Familiar."

Fate seemed to also feel it this time as she looked at Twilight. "Your highness, it feels like someling is trying to tug at your hivemind in order to find us, as long as we don't react to it they won't find us but… It feels slightly…" She began as she looked towards her mother.

Twilight then realized what she meant. "Mother… I… I'm not sure if I'm ready for this yet…" She felt slightly nervous as she swallowed the chunk in her throat. "W-what should I do?"

Nightdash smiled as she looked at Twilight. "It's up to you, your highness, if you want to see her already or not, we will be by your side regardless of what you decide, but may I suggest you at least let her know your alright? Every mother deserves to at least know their child is alright."

Twilight looked to the side as she was trying to slightly come to terms with these strange new feelings. "Y-yes, your right, I should at least let her know that much…" She then took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. "So… How do we do this?"

Fate suddenly spoke up. "Since she's tugging at your hivemind, she's basically telling us which direction she's in herself, if you want to let her know where we are you simply do the same your highness, but if you want to let her know your fine without connecting to hers, then perhaps you should send someling else, she'd likely know they'd be send by you since she's focusing on you, and other Changelings wouldn't show up since only you or those connected to you would feel it, so she should understand that they came from your hive by that logic." She then took a small pause as she noticed the others were looking at her and realized why. "Did… Did I really just say all that?"

Her mother Nightdash suddenly smiled as she looked at Twilight. "Well your highness, it seems like you were right about her being something like a scientist now, only those that get a class based on intelligence could come up with something like that so quickly, but to think she would adapt to her class so quickly after only just getting it, it's quite a special class, isn't it?"

"I guess so." Twilight said as she cocked an eyebrow. "It would be easier to say it would be or not if I had some data to back up some other options."

"I'll get right on that your highness!" Fate suddenly blurted out, before she put a hoof to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I just had this sudden urge to do it, its like I…"

Twilight interrupted her as she suddenly chuckled. "I think I know just how you felt, it's something I've often felt myself… I had to contain my excitement more then once when I was with Celestia in the past, it might be a bit harder for you since this isn't just a small part of you but it's literally who you are now… I'll try and teach you how to contain your excitement a bit for the future, just in case there's ever another queen around and we have to act all royal like and such."

Fate bowed slightly. "Thank you your highness, that would likely be for the best… Is… Is it alright if I write this all down now by any chance? Since this change is happening to me right now, I feel it would be for the best if I wrote down everything as I experience it, since I feel like I've changed more then I normally would, I feel smarter and more… Adult like perhaps?"

Twilight chuckled once more. "Feel free to do just that, I'll look forwards to reading your notes and finding out more along with you." She replied as a thought suddenly came to her. "Huh, this must be how others must have felt about me whenever I did that… Interesting, I never thought I'd see it all from their perspective, it's quite… intriguing."

Nightdash cleared her throat. "Excuse me your highness, but it sounded like you want one of us to go and search for your mother, to let her know and all that, I'm the fastest runner here right now, so I'd gladly search for her if you want, all I'd need is the direction of where I could find her."

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts. "Ah! Yes, that would be great, thanks Nightdash, hold on a moment while I try to see where the tug is coming from." She then focuses on the mental tug that's happening and looks in the direction, she was about to point towards it, but suddenly realizes something. "Huh… Wait, isn't that the direction Ponyville is in?"

Nightdash looks to where Twilight is looking. "Hmm, yes it is your highness, perhaps she found out you lived there and went searching for you, though it's also the direction of those ruins in which your gryphon friend is living at."

For a moment Twilight thought about why she would be feeling a tug coming from there, sure, what Nightdash said made sense, if her mother had found out, then she could have started her search there, but there was also some kind of uncomfortable feeling that she just couldn't place, yet felt familiar. "Nightdash and Jackshade, please escort me to Gilda, I've got a strange feeling about all this."

Nightdash and Jackshade bowed as they agreed, but Nightdash did ask one thing. "Why there your highness? I mean I get that your worried about your friend, but if your mother is really searching for you, then why would she go there?"

"I'm not worried about her actually, the tug is coming from further then that, I'm fairly certain it's coming from Ponyville in fact…" Twilight then sighed. "And the odd feeling I'm getting isn't coming from the tug actually, but it feels… Familiar, and if it is what I think it is, then I want to make sure she's safe, she doesn't have the rest of the elements of harmony to protect her afterall."

"Can they really use the elements without you though your highness?" Nightdash then asked.

Twilight shook her head in a uncertain way. "I don't know, but at least they have a chance with them, and perhaps they can find somepony to replace me, or already did…"

Nightdash felt this likely was a painful subject right now. "I understand, we will come with you to make sure miss Gilda is safe then."

"Thank you…" Twilight said as she looked at the other Changelings. "The rest of you, please prepare for the worst, I don't know what'll happen, but I want to make sure we're prepared regardless." The Changelings saluted as they spread out to prepare and Twilight looked at the two still with her. "Let's go."

They then headed out for the ruin where Gilda is living at.



=====+++=====



A little bit later, Twilight and the two Changelings arrive at the ruins.

Before heading inside however, Twilight looks in the direction of Ponyville as the tug was getting stronger. "It seems mother is definitely in Ponyville…" She then looks a bit to the side where the odd feeling is coming from, as she realizes it's coming from the direction that Canterlot is in. "… I hope I'm wrong about this…" She takes one more breath to compose herself as she then walks into the ruined castle.

It didn't take long to find Gilda, since they could follow the smell that came from her cooking something in a makeshift kitchen, which she had made from the ruins of the old kitchen.

Gilda didn't notice them at first, till she turned around and saw them. "Gah!" She was so surprised from their sudden appearance that she dropped her food, as she hadn't heard or smelled them, plus she hadn't seen Twilight in her full queen form yet. "… Twilight? Is that you? Jeez, don't scare me like that, when did you get so stealthy anyway?" She then looks at her dropped food and grumbles. "Well, I hope you don't mind me not serving you any snacks, cause it'll take a bit too long to make new ones."

Twilight just smiled and hugged her. "That's alright, I'm just glad your alright."

"Uh… Okay?" Gilda replied a bit confused, but she did return the hug. "So then, what's up? And don't give me that it's nothing crud, I doubt you'd show up while acting this concerned, unless something was wrong, you know I can take care of myself afterall."

Twilight let go of her and sighed. "I know, I wouldn't try to keep this from you anyway, just in case I'm right…"

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Oh? It must be quite something if you came to check up on me, especially if you don't even know if your right about it… What's going on here Twilight?"

Twilight groaned slightly as she thought about the odd yet familiar feeling. "It's a feeling I'm having… I've only ever felt it once before, and I think it means that Discord is going to show up again."

"Discord?" Gilda asked as she thought about the name for a moment. "You mean the guy that you told me about? The one that made everything go all wonky? That Discord?"

"Ugh, yeah, it's not like he did anything truly dangerous himself, but he was a pain to beat, especially when he altered the minds and personalities of the others… If he really does get out and finds out your my friend, he may want to get his revenge through you, so I wanted to make sure you were alright at least." Twilight replied.

"What about those Changelings that your now the queen of? Aren't you worried about them?" Gilda asked in response as she looked to the two next to Twilight.

Jackshade took a step forwards as he replied. "Changelings are resistant to his tricks, our mind and personalities can't be altered thanks to our hivemind and if he alters our bodies, we can just turn back to our own forms on our own, we're also extremely adaptive to our surroundings, so unless he'd try to actually do us bodily harm, he'd likely just give up after trying."

"And from what our queen has told us, Discord isn't actually that dangerous, since he never harmed anypony physically… Though I do wonder why you haven't told us this was what you were afraid of your highness." Nightdash then added as she looks at Twilight.

Twilight let out a small nervous chuckle as she placed a hoof behind her head in a slightly apologetic way. "Sorry about that, I didn't want to cause a panic since I don't know if it's true, it's just a feeling I'm having."

Gilda tapped her beak as she had a thought. "Hey Twilight? What are you going to do if this feeling turns out to be true?"

The two Changelings now also looked at Twilight who swallowed before replying. "It'll depend on what he'll do… But if he's going to act the same as before, then I'll have to stop him… So I'm going to go to Ponyville and find out what the others really feel about me, hopefully I was just making it all worse then it is in my mind and they'll forgive me."

Nightdash looked a bit worried. "Are you sure your highness? You know your mother is there aswell, are you ready to see her again this soon? You seemed to be unsure of whether or not you were before."

"I know, but I'll have to if I want to go see my friends, she'd know if I were disguised and if I'm that close, and with all this tugging at my hivemind, she would likely find me right away, it may not show where the other is without tugging back, but I feel like that's likely only true if it's at a distant… So I'll just have t…" Twilight was interrupted by Gilda as she spoke.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Your not talking about the one that raised you, are you? Mind filling me in here Twi?" Gilda interjected.

Twilight blinked a few times. "Ah, right… I forgot that you didn't know… Well, my real mother is in Ponyville right now, and… I'm not quite sure why she is, but I'm still unsure if I'm ready to just meet her like this… What if she doesn't accept me as I am? What if she actually did turn evil after all that time? … What if I still want her in my life even if she became evil? Does that make me evil? Will others think I am?" Tears were slowly starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

The two Changelings seemed worried for her but were unsure if they could do something, Gilda however, instantly went for a tight hug. "Shh, shh, shh, it's alright Twilight, just let it all out, I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you." She then said as Twilight burst out into tears.

After a few minutes Twilight stopped crying. "Thanks… I needed that, it seems like your always there when I need someone to feel better."

"Hey, what are friends for, right? I'll always be there for you Twi, just like you were there for me." Gilda replied, before a small thought came to her. "And hey, if you do go all evil on us, then I'll just have to follow you to the dark side till you get bored of it." She jokingly added.

Twilight playfully jabbed Gilda. "You better, I don't know what I'd do without a loyal general at my side." They then shared a laugh. "But seriously though, if something like that were to ever happen, just give me a good slap and tell me to snap out of it."

"Ho~? Your into that kind of play are you? Kinky~" Gilda replied with a certain look on her face.

Twilight instantly blushed and stammered. "Wha, I… I didn't… What are…" She then saw Gilda's expression start to change as she could barely hold in her laughter, making Twilight deadpan at her. "Oh, ha, ha! You know, one of these days your going to say something you'll regret, with all this joking around, someling or somepony might actually think you mean it."

"Perhaps, but I may not regret it even then you know?" Gilda then replied with a smile on her face, confusing Twilight for a moment. "In any case, it sounds like you could use some moral support… And perhaps some actual support if this turns into a fight, so I'm coming with you to Ponyville."

Twilight instantly panicked. "What? No! I can't have you come with me if there's a chance Discord will show up, what if he hurts you?"

Gilda rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I'm tougher then I look, and I look plenty tough as is, I can handle myself, and you don't think I'm just gonna leave you hanging when I know you might be in danger, do you?"

Twilight wanted to tell her no, but the look in Gilda's eyes aswell as the feeling coming from her made Twilight realize that there was no stopping her, so instead she sighed. "Fine, it seems like I won't be able to stop you, no matter what I do or say."

Jackshade looked at Gilda and then at Twilight. "Your highness, if we're all going there anyway to meet your mother and see your old 'friends', then why not let her know you’re here first? It will likely be allot easier if you talk to her in private first, rather then try to do so in town, at least here you can stay in your Changeling form and talk about everything without any issues."

"Hey, yeah, that would make things allot easier, wouldn't it Twi?" Gilda then added as she looked at the food still laying on the floor and grumbled. "I should clean up a bit first if she's going to visit my place."

Twilight looked a bit uncertain about it all. "Are you sure about this? If things don't go so well, then she will still know of your place."

Gilda rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you worry too much about all this Twi, it'll be fine, and if it won't be, then I can always find some other place, it's not like Gryphons normally have allot to start with."

"… You know, you really need to tell me more about that at some point, you never did tell me about your home before you came here." Twilight said with a concerned look.

Gilda looked at her and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, but that'll have to wait till all this is over, I promise to tell you then, alright?"

"Yeah, alright, I understand, and I can wait till then." Twilight said as she then looked at Nightdash and Jackshade. "Mother might get worried if she saw you two here, I mean I originally thought it would calm her to see other Changelings here, but…"

Nightdash bowed slightly. "It's alright, we understand, we're still exiles, if she sees us with you while you have a starting hivemind, she might think you made the connection with us… It might indeed be best for us to head back, but if anything happens, just let Fate know, we'll come running straight away."

Twilight chuckled. "I know, though I'm certain nothing bad will happen now, seeing as I have Gilda here to protect me aswell." Twilight then started to focus as the two Changelings headed back, the tugging was still there, but it was lessening, she wondered if it had taken too much time and Chrysalis was giving up, but she couldn't let that deter her, so she started to tug back slightly, which instantly made the tug towards her allot stronger, as if the one on the other side suddenly got really exited.







*Ponyville, just before Twilight started to pull back*

Chrysalis was about to give up thinking that she shouldn't have believed what Luna told her, or at least not have hoped those words could have been real, but just as she was about to, she suddenly felt a tug back, it surprised her but her mood soared as she instantly increased the pull on her side. "It's her! My daughter is responding!" Tears filled the eyes of the queen, because to her, this meant she would see her daughter again soon.

Fastfoot was the first to enter the room their queen was in. "Your highness! We felt the tug back, is it her? Should we prepare to head out?"

"Of course we're heading out!" Chrysalis replied instantly before she calmed herself. "No, wait, not all of us, it took so long for her to respond, she might be wary or frightened of all this right now… Let's keep it to a small group, just you and me."

Fastfoot thought for a moment. "Hmm, perhaps we should take either Cannula or Nebulizer with us aswell, just in case her slow reaction might be because of some kind of injury."

"… Y-you think she might be harmed? W-we need to go right away!" Chrysalis replied as she started to panic and almost ran outside in her normal form before being stopped by Fastfoot.

"Your highness! Calm down, it'll soon be dawn, so some ponies might wake up soon, and if any of them saw you in your normal form they might find out what's going on!" Fastfoot quickly said as he stood in her way.

Chrysalis just glared at him. "I don't care if they do, we did all this to get my daughter back anyway, now get out of my way!"

Just as she was about to charge her horn, Fastfoot quickly dropped to his knees. "Please your highness! Think about what it might do in the future! If we're not careful, the ponies might find out and decide to hunt us Changelings down for it, they might even try to harm the princess if they ever find her!" He gulped as he almost expected her to still blast him, but after a moment of silence, he looked up to see the expression of pure shock and horror on Chrysalis' face as she imagined it. "It'll also take a little while before one of the medics can join us your highness, so please conceal yourself before we head out."

Chrysalis just nodded before she snapped out of it and turned herself into a green pegasus with a black mane, green eyes and a cutiemark of some pod like eggs with green goo. "… Tell them to meet us at the edge of the forest…" She then said as she flew off.

Fastfoot did just so over the hivemind before following Chrysalis to the edge with his own disguise.

After a few minutes a female white unicorn shows up that has a pink mane and a cutiemark of two snakes coiling around a staff with bug like wings at the top, Cannula's favorite pony form. "Your highness, Captain Fastfoot, I came as soon as I could."

"Good of you to join us Cannula, does this mean that doctor Nebulizer won't be joining us?" Chrysalis asked in her pegasus form.

"I'm afraid he's still in surgery your highness, sergeant Cherrydrop is in a critical state right now, so he had to finish the operation first." Cannula replied with a slight bow.

Fastfoot was the one that winced the most. "I-I see… Will she make it?"

Cannula smiled. "There's none better then doctor Nebulizer, and he's had tougher operations, so she should be fine captain… Also, I took a closer look at the wounded ponies you captured, it's a good thing you know your fracture sir, since the wings of the blue one are broken in a clean and straight way, she'll have a full recovery once she emerges from the healing chrysalis… But the other one wasn't as lucky it seems, the cut over her eyes tore the fiber more then it cut through them, the doctor might be able to help but… She may not be able to ever see again." Her expression falters slightly at the end.

Fastfoot sighed, a little bit of relief but also out of concern, he had promised Fluttershy she would be able to see again afterall, and he was one to keep his promises.

Chrysalis growled slightly as she was getting impatient. "Enough, they'll all be fine with the doctor there, now let's go, my daughter might need me!"

Fastfoot and Cannula saluted as they agreed, before all of them went into the forest and undid their disguises.



=====+++=====



It took a while, but they finally made it to their destination as they got to the ruins of a castle.

Chrysalis looked at it before recognizing it. "The old castle huh? Who'd have guessed that it would be taken down by Luna rather then us after what happened..."

"Should I check around the area to make sure it's safe your highness?" Fastfoot asked while looking around.

"You can stay to the shadows if you like, but I'm not wasting any more time if there's a chance my daughter is in danger." Chrysalis instantly replied before walking towards the entrance, followed by Cannula.

Fastfoot simply replied with a 'very well.' and then took to the shadows, he wasn't a infiltrator like Cherrydrop and nowhere near as good at hiding in the shadows as her, but he had learned how to hide himself slightly from her.

Since they were this close now, it didn't take them long to find Twilight, who seemed to be absorbed into one of the books, which was the only reason she hadn't noticed them being this close already, and she still hadn't notice them in fact, but Chrysalis instantly noticed her, though she was surprised to see a full Changeling princess with a starting crown, rather then the hybrid she knew her daughter to be. "Twilight? Is that you?"

Twilight instantly snapped out of it and looked at Chrysalis, with an extremely nervous look. "H-hi… Uhm… M-mother?"

Chrysalis instantly lunged towards Twilight and hugged her as tightly as she could. "It is you! What happened to you? How come you’re a full Changeling now? Are you hurt or anything? Did those ponies do anything to you!?"

Twilight tried to push Chrysalis away slightly while gasping for air, but was failing miserably, her mother was allot stronger then her it seemed. "Can't… Breath…"

"You can't breath!?" Chrysalis looked at Cannula with a worried look, but wasn't letting go. "Don't just stand there, help her!"

Cannula sighed as she pointed towards Chrysalis. "Your highness, right now you’re the cause of her distress, you might want to let go of your vice like grip."

Chrysalis was a bit shocked and looked at how tightly she was hugging Twilight before instantly releasing her. "Gah! I-I'm sorry sweetie, your not hurt, are you?"

Twilight gasped for air a few times before she was able to breath normally again and rubbed her sides. "Ugh… I'm a bit sore, but I'll manage… I should have expected it though I suppose, mo… My adoptive mother acted similarly whenever she thought I had been in danger…"

"You still think of her? … No worries, we'll get that brainwashing of theirs out of your mind soon enough, and then you'll be able to come back to our hive to be who you were always meant to be." Chrysalis then said as she started to focus.

Twilight raised an eyebrow out of confusion. "Brainwashing? Going back to your hive? But I haven't been brainwashed and I have my own h…" A sudden sharp pain in her head interrupts her as she shouts out in pain.

"Don't worry, it'll only take a moment and then the pain will subside, I'll remove all those pesky false memories they implanted in you soon enough." Chrysalis replied as she started to put her magic through the hivemind that Twilight was just added to by force.

"N-no! Please! Don't! T-their not false… I… I… D-don't take my friends f-from me…" Twilight shouted as she tried to focus and started to think about them. "Come on Twilight, don't forget your friends and family, remember them! Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Spike, Luna, Mom, Dad, Gilda… Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, Luna, Mom, Dad, Gilda… Wait, that's not right, Rarity, Rainbow dash, Spike, Luna, Mom, Gilda… W-were there always so few? Fluttershy, Spike, Luna, Gilda… Spike, Gilda…" She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she was losing something important to her. "P-please, don't take my only friend from me, Gilda is all I have! No pony ever wanted to make friends with me!"

"Gilda? I don't remember any pony named Gilda when we went to Ponyville." Chrysalis said as she continued to remove the memories, not realizing just exactly how big of a mistake she was making.

As if on queue however, Gilda suddenly burst through the doors on the other side. "Twilight!? I heard you yell, is everyth…" She then saw Chrysalis and Cannula and was about to ask what was going on, but then she saw Twilight writhing in pain on the floor as she held her head, instantly turning her gaze into one of pure anger. "What are you doing to my friend!?" She then yelled while lunging forwards, placing herself between Twilight and Chrysalis.

Chrysalis was taken back for a moment and broke the connection, having removed nearly all memories in Twilight's mind, all except for the memories she shared with Gilda and her own name, which would have been next had she not been shocked by the actual feelings radiating off of Gilda and broke the connection, since the feelings were these of true loyalty and friendship aimed at twilight while there was true anger aimed at Chrysalis.

It didn't last long however, as Gilda was about to lunge at Chrysalis but got hit from the shadows herself by a paralyzing spell before she could, thanks to Fastfoot who then walked out of them. "I knew something was off about this, but to think that the ponies actually employed a Gryphon to do their dirty work, that was unexpected." He then said as he took his place next to Chrysalis.

Chrysalis looked a bit confused, before she looked at Fastfoot. "I don't think they did actually, can't you feel it? Her feelings towards my daughter are real."

Fastfoot shook his head. "Those ponies can likely pretend well enough to have certain feelings to fool us your highness, they've been doing so for years with our princess afterall."

"Perhaps… But she's not a pony, and for a Gryphon to have any other kind of feeling then not caring or some kind of anger is unheard of… This may have been her only real ally she made." Chrysalis replied as she started thinking.

Twilight however was laying on the floor as she was almost about to pass out from the pain, but with her last remaining strength she was reaching out for Gilda. "P-please… S-spare my only friend…" And then she passed out.

Chrysalis watched as it happened and then looked towards Fastfoot. "Undo the paralysis partially, just the part on her head will do."

Fastfoot was about to say it would be unwise, but the glare he was getting from Chrysalis for even thinking it made him instantly retract that thought. "Y-yes, of course your highness!" He then did what she asked.

Which he instantly regretted as Gilda started shouting. "LET ME GO! WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU ALL, YOU'LL…" She was also instantly shut up by some magic holding her beak shut as Chrysalis looked at her.

"Hmm, curious, you truly care for my daughter, don't you?" Chrysalis then asked. "I'll let you speak as long as you promise not to shout again, I'd rather not wake my daughter right now, seeing as the pain would likely still be there if she did, do you understand?"

Gilda was furious, she wanted to yell, to tell her off and everything, but she didn't want to let Twilight go through that pain again either, plus she now wanted to know some things aswell, so she nodded reluctantly, which made Chrysalis undo the hold over her beak. "… So you’re her real mom? Why are you hurting her? Was she right to worry about you not caring for her afterall then? What did you do to her anyway!?" Her voice raised slightly at the end, but she kept her own beak shut quickly after she noticed and glanced towards Twilight with worry, luckily it seems it hadn't woke her up, making her sigh of relief.

Chrysalis was slightly shocked when she heard all this. "Not care for her? Is that what those ponies made her think about me? About us? No, I care deeply for her, more then anything else in fact. I was removing all those false memories they implanted into her, they never cared for her, she was only ever a tool to them in case we ever came back, they even made us think she was dead for so long already."

"That's not what was going on at all!" Gilda said, catching herself once more with a raised voice and quickly glancing at Twilight, before she continued. "Princess Luna was trying to protect her, she was afraid you'd open the chrysalis Twilight was in if you found her like that, but that would kill her in turn, after that it was all just one big misunderstanding on princess Celestia's side, and once Twilight came out of it she was adopted by her adoptive parents without them even knowing, even the friends she made never knew, and I know they would never pretend to be friends with her, since one of them is my friend aswell."

Chrysalis seemed unimpressed. "I see, and tell me, where exactly did you get this information from? If you don't mind me asking."

Gilda puffed as she still glared towards Chrysalis. "From Twilight herself, she told me everything that had happened."

Chrysalis nodded, but still didn't seemed deterred or surprised. "And from who might I ask, did she get this information from."

Gilda raised an eyebrow in suspicion by now. "She got it directly from princess Luna herself, but I don't see how this m…"

Chrysalis interrupted her. "Exactly, she was told this is what happened by the very one that stole her from us, you can see how you can't really trust this information, now can't you?"

Gilda was about to reply, but Chrysalis held her beak shut once more, before she continued. "But it seems they got to you aswell, even if you didn't realize it… The one that made friends with you likely only did so to fool my daughter even more… I must admit that princess Luna almost made me believe her aswell." She then sighed. "They'll stop at nothing to have things go their way it seems… But not to worry, I won't remove the memories she has of you, and you can even keep on being friends, I wouldn't take away the only real friend she has afterall."

Gilda gulped, as she didn't like the way Chrysalis was looking at her. "She's lost it, she isn't even considering any of this to be truthful, I… I have to save Twilight somehow… But what can I even do as I am right now?" Gilda thought to herself.

"Hmm, I'm afraid it'll hurt a bit more without a connection between us like a hivemind, but don't worry, you'll feel better after I'm done." Chrysalis then said as she smiled and charged up her magic.

Gilda could only look with fear in her eyes before she was blasted by the magic, the pain soaring through her mind as memories of Dash and the others were taken away from her, leaving only the memories of Twilight, as an added effect the magic also filled in any odd gaps created by the lack of information, such as her reason for coming to Ponyville in the first place, which rather then coming for Dash turned into coming there for an errand, all that remained was how badly the ponies reacted to her, even earlier memories of flight school were replaced by her always having been alone and the ponies all shying away or making fun of her, Twilight was the first and only one to treat her as a friend, perhaps because they didn't seem to care for her aswell, birds of a feather flock together afterall.

After she was done, Chrysalis decided to add one memory to both of them before she looked at Fastfoot and Cannula with a smile. "Take my daughter and her friend to the hive, we're going home."

The two Changelings bowed and did as they were ordered, while Chrysalis let the rest of the hive know they had finished and the next phase was to take place, act like nothing was wrong and everyling retreat to the hive once Discord was fully free.

Some way away, at Twilight's hive however, one more cried out in pain and fainted when Twilight did, causing them all to panic and discus what they should do.





> Recoveries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 09







*Ponyville hospital*


Doctor Nebulizer in his current disguise had just finished his latest operation and looked around, when he didn't find what he was looking for, he walked up to some of the Changelings that had been aiding him while also being disguised. "Excuse me, has any of you seen nurse Cannula? I don't think I've seen her ever since we decided to take the pony patients to this hospital."

For a moment the Changelings thought about it, when one of them remembered and spoke up. "I believe she was called by the queen to join her on a trip to get the princess, they also called for you doctor, but you were still working on Sergeant Cherrydrop at the time, and since the queen needed to go quickly, she just took nurse Cannula with her."

"The princess!? Did something happen to her? Should I head out right away?" Doctor Nebulizer quickly asked as he suddenly became worried about what might have caused the queen to ask for them in the first place.

The Changeling shook its head. "Don't worry doctor, it was just a precaution, and it seems the princess was fine physically, in fact the queen has already initiated the next phase for when the princess would be found, so their now back at the hive and the princess will be able to finally be with the hive, nurse Cannula decided to go with them to the hive for now in case something might happen, but that's just a precaution, so you can focus on those here."

Another Changeling then spoke up. "Luckily sergeant Cherrydrop seems to be recovering nicely, even if she may never regain her full mobility again… How did the operation on that blue pegasus go doctor?"

Doctor Nebulizer sighed. "It was hard to get her under control when we got her out of the chrysalis, but we managed to sedate her enough so I could work on her wings properly, and she should heal up properly now once more, though I do hope she'll calm down once she wakes up, or she may undo the work I did…" He then sighed once more. "Honestly, why did she suddenly start to thrash about in there so much in the first place? From what I heard she kept still for so long till then, had she remained as such the chrysalis would have healed her completely."

The other Changelings looked at each other and one of them looked at the doctor. "Actually, from what I heard, she started to do so when the other pegasus was moved to where she was, it seems she had opened her eyes while in there before, but kept closing them shortly after till then, but when she saw that one in her own chrysalis, she suddenly started to resist it."

The doctor thought for a moment. "Hmm, that's the one with the eye damage, yes?" He got his answer in the form of a nod and sighed again. "That one was on my list before sergeant Rock Crusher, since his injuries aren't that bad, but she had to be pushed back to after this one because of how she suddenly thrashed about… They just keep making more and more work for me it seems…"

One of the Changelings raised a hoof to its head and scratched. "I still don't get why we're just going to release them so quickly though, what if they decide to let others know or attack us?"

Another Changeling replied to it. "They won't, not now that we found the elements in that vault, it was stupid of them to hold the elements so far away from their wielders, plus a spell was used on them to make them think they all dreamed it up or something, since most of those farm ponies were taken out so quickly at night, they likely just think it was a dream even without the spell, the two pegasi couldn't get the spell put on them because they had to be rushed here, but the yellow one won't say a peep according to the captain… As for the blue one, if the others won't say it happened, then ponies will just think she dreamed it up or something, she might even think so herself… I heard the only one that will likely be a bit of trouble, is the white one, since she has been gone for allot longer and needs a whole different story for her absence."

"I heard the pink one has a special guard on her that follows her around though, doesn't that mean she's expected to be an issue aswell?" One of them asked.

The one from before then thinks for a moment. "Your talking about specialist Sour Shield, aren't you? From what I heard, he decided to do so on his own, I think he said something about having to nullify her randomness, said it might cause issues if he wouldn't do so, I'm not sure what they meant by that though."

"I'm more worried about the regular ponies finding out something is wrong if they don't free Discord soon, without him messing with the sun and moon, ponies will find out something else happened soon." The first Changeling then replied, before he looked outside. "Actually, how come the sun is up now anyway?"

Yet another Changeling cut in. "From what I heard, the professor actually found a way to control the magic of those in one of our pods using some of the chaos magic, as such they revised the plans to free Discord and are instead using his statue as some kind of battery in order to use Celestia's magic, their working on automating it so aswell."

"Yes, yes, this is all very interesting and all, but I need to get started on my next patient, could you bring her into the operating room? Eye surgery is quite delicate work and I'd like to get started on it as quickly as I can, every minute that passes by will just make a full recovery that much harder." Doctor Nebulizer suddenly said in a tone that seemed to speak of it's urgency, making the Changelings instantly spring into action as he grabbed some clean tools and got back in aswell.



=====+++=====



Seven hours later, Rainbow Dash started to wake up, she was a bit groggy at first and looked around the room she found herself in before recognizing it as one of the hospital rooms of the hospital in Ponyville. "Huh? What am I… !" She snapped awake as she now was quickly looking around in earnest. "How did I get here!? Where's Fluttershy!?" She then tried to get up but a sharp pain in her back aswell as being tied to the bed made that quite difficult.

Nurse Redheart then suddenly came in and tried to calm her down. "Calm down miss Rainbow Dash, your going to hurt your wings again."

"N-nurse Redheart? What's going on here? Why am I tied down? And where's Fluttershy!?" Dash yelled in a panic, but stopped moving as rapidly when she recognized the nurse.

Nurse Redheart kept trying to calm her down a bit. "When the doctor found you on the road, you were already pretty hurt, but when he tried to get you to the hospital, you kept thrashing about it seems, so they had to sedate you, the restraints are just to make sure you won't make things worse… If you promise to calm down, then I can take them down, and as for miss Fluttershy, she's recovering a few rooms further, we decided to keep her separated because of her current situation and her personality, if you behave yourself, then you may visit her once she wakes up herself."

Dash swallowed nervously as she listened. "W-what's wrong with her? T-the last time I saw her she had these nasty gashes over her eyes."

Nurse Redheart sighed. "We don't normally tell others about he condition of other patients, but since your so close a friend of hers, I'll make an exception… From what miss Luna told us when she brought miss Fluttershy here, a Manticore somehow left the forest and barged into the cottage, miss Fluttershy then tried to calm it down but the creature wouldn't listen and slashed at her… She's lucky to be alive, and she should have lost her eyesight completely from the wound that was inflicted onto her, but the new doctor that came in has done something that should have been impossible."

Dash felt lighter instantly. "So she's going to be alright? Thank Celestia, I was so worried when I first saw her."

Nurse Redheart smiled slightly, but there was a certain sorrow behind it. "Yes, we're not quite sure how or why she left the hospital when she did, but it was a good thing the both of you were together when the doctor found you, you were a bit delirious from the pain though… But you must know that while he did certainly save her eyes, we have yet to find out just how much he was truly able to do, we won't know till her bandages are removed, so she may not see as well as she used to… Still, she would have been completely blind for the rest of her life had he not came here when he did, the doctor said he might have been able to get better results if… Uhm, actually, I may have said too much there, let's just leave it at that, alright?"

Dash narrowed her eyes as she stared at Redheart. "If he could have done better, then why didn't he!?" She yelled.

At this point a doctor walked in, he was a simply brown unicorn with pink eyes, a red mane and tail, and a cutiemark of a nebulizer. "Because of you miss Dash, and I'd like it if you didn't yell inside the hospital, there are other patients that need their rest afterall."

Dash was stunned by what she heard, before nurse Redheart spoke up. "Doctor Nebulizer, you shouldn't tell her that, what if…"

Before she could finish, the doctor interrupted her. "Nurse Redheart, you shouldn't have told her about the condition of the other patient in the first place,… But I don't really care about that right now." He then looked at Dash. "If miss Dash here is going to act like this each time she suspects we did anything but our best, then she needs to hear the whole story, I know it's not the best thing to do, but right now she's disturbing other patients and is hurting her own treatment, perhaps it'll make her think twice before doing the same thing in the future if something similar ever happens again that is."

"W-what did you mean?" Dash suddenly said as by now she found her voice once more and swallowed. "W-when you said it was because of me that is…"

The doctor looked at Dash and sighed. "To be honest miss Dash, when I got to you, you had already been treated by somepony else, and would likely have fully recovered without the need for further treatment, as such I had planned to instantly work on miss Fluttershy's eyes when we got here, but your sudden thrashing around made your injury worse, in fact it became life threatening, as one of your wings snapped with a sharp edge, and that piece of the bone moved into your ribcage, it could have punctured a organ if left alone for too long, so I had to prioritize you over her." He then took a deep breath as he looked her in the eyes. "But when it comes to a full recovery with eyes, every minute counts, so I have no idea how much I was able to do, she may yet make a full recovery however, but it's more then likely that she will have some eyesight issues after this."

Panic filled Dash's mind and it could clearly be seen in her eyes. "N-no, b-because of me Fluttershy might never see again?" She closed her eyes as tears started to flow.

"Ah, I'm sorry miss Dash, it seems I went a bit too far there. You don't need to worry, I'm the best at what I do, I can guarantee with a 97% certainty that she'll be able to see once more, there's even a 78% chance that she'll regain her full sight… I only told you that so that if a similar thing ever happens, you'll think of the situation before you act… It's fine to be loyal to your friends and be there for them, but acting without thinking first can cause the situation to become worse before it becomes better, it might even make them lose a friend if you were to die because of your own actions." Doctor Nebulizer said as he realized he might have said a bit too much.

It didn't do much for Dash, who just stared at the ceiling by now before letting out a sad 'yeah, sure.' That was almost too soft to hear.

Nurse Redheart looked at the doctor as if asking if it was alright to release her, all he did was nod with a slight expression of sorrow, they then both started to undo the restraints, but Dash was still laying there just staring at the ceiling for a bit longer, before she brought her by now released hooves to her face and kept on crying.

The doctor put a hoof on her back as if to comfort her. "Miss Dash, I'm sorry for telling you the truth that bluntly, but you shouldn't blame yourself too much either… It's not like she got hurt because of you in the first place, from what I've been told that just happened because of some wild monster that showed up at her cottage, so it's not like you failed to protect her, she will regain her sight… I promise you that at least, even if it might not be as good as it used to be… Please miss Dash, just believe in my abilities, she will get better."

Dash then looked at him, feeling the need to grasp at any kind of hope at this point. "Y-you promise? She'll really be alright?" She then asked between sobs.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, I promise… I did everything in my power to ensure she's going to be alright, so just go to sleep right now and we'll wake you when she's up, alright?"

Still a bit in a haze, Dash just nodded as she then closed her eyes to get some rest, the doctor and Nurse Redheart then exchanged relieved glances with each other and headed out of the room, once outside Nurse Redheart asked the doctor if it was alright to promise something like that, since there was still a small percentage it could fail afterall, but the doctor seemed certain that things would turn out alright, saying that even if the unlikely thing would happen, he still had some options left and would stop at nothing to fulfill a promise he made.







*A few days later, at the border of Ponyville*

A disheveled and confused lavender unicorn mare stumbles slightly as she makes it past the trees and sees Ponyville, tears fall down her cheeks as she smiles. "I'm finally home…"

Meanwhile, at the hospital, it was time to remove Fluttershy's bandages, and the doctor had arranged for Dash to be there while he removed them.

Doctor Nebulizer stood next to Fluttershy's bed and smiled. "Well now miss Fluttershy, it's finally time to remove the bandages, are you exited?"

"O-oh, yes, very." Fluttershy then replied with a soft voice.

"Now remember, when I remove them, you may not see straight away, your vision will likely be a bit blurry at first, but that's just because you need to get used to seeing for a moment, especially since I basically had to remake them, so see it as a foal that's just been born and trying to see for the first time, there's no need to panic." Doctor Nebulizer said as he started to take off the bandages, though he said it more for Rainbow Dash then Fluttershy. "Also, I'm sorry, but I couldn't do much about the scarring on your face itself."

Fluttershy gave a weak nod. "I understand doctor, I just hope my animal friends don't think I look too scary all of a sudden."

"Doubtful" The doctor then replied before removing the last of the bandages, revealing a large horizontal scar across her face and eyelids. "Animals are more used to scars then then those living peacefully, they likely will just see it as proof of your strength… Now then, the bandages are off now miss Fluttershy, so go ahead and open your eyes when you want."

"O-okay…" Fluttershy replied as she slowly tried to open her eyes, the light slightly burning her eyes from only having seen darkness for so long, making her close them once more, before she tried to open them once again, after getting used to the light she looked around a bit.

At this point, Dash decided to speak up. "H-how is it Flutters? Can you see us?"

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked in Dash's direction. "Is that you Rainbow Dash? It's blurry, but I think I can sorta make you out."

"It'll likely be blurry for a bit longer, your mind has to get used to how your eyes work again, I had to reconnect allot of sinew afterall, but you should be fine in a day or so." Doctor Nebulizer said before Dash could worry.

Dash swallowed as she looked at Fluttershy. "I-is that so… L-listen Fluttershy, I'm… I'm sorry… If I hadn't acted so rash, the doctor could have gotten to you sooner and do a better job of it all… You almost went completely blind because of me…"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, that's not right, I know you would never do anything to purposely put any of us in danger… And if I hadn't left the hospital when I did, then perhaps the doctor would have gotten to me even sooner… And you might not have gotten hurt even worse then you did before…"

At this point the doctor intervened before they could keep on saying that they themselves were the reason. "I think there's something you both should know actually." He then looked towards Dash. "While what I told you a couple of days ago certainly was true miss Dash, I have to also admit that it also saved you both." He then looked at Fluttershy. "And if you hadn't sneaked out in the first place miss Fluttershy, which in turn made miss Dash find you and act as such, I would likely not have been able to save your eyes either, you see I came to Ponyville on vacation, and I certainly didn't plan to visit the hospital while doing so… So when I found you both and saw the severity of your injuries, the first thing I did after we got you to the hospital was to ask if they had any surgeons and specialists around, when I found out that nopony in this hospital was specialized with eyes and that they didn't expect a full recovery for miss Dash's wings, I instantly let them know that I was certified in both cases, in a way its what gave you both a fighting chance… That said, what you both did is still very foolish and you should never do it again, you may not be so lucky next time."

Fluttershy gasped out of concern when she heard about Dash's wings. "Dash hurt her wings? Oh no, will you be alright?"

Dash let out a weak laugh. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I'm more concerned about you then anything… It's a good thing doctor Nebulizer was there when he was though… It sounds like we really got lucky there…" She then looked at the doctor and let out her first real smile ever since she woke up in the hospital. "Thanks doc, for saving Flutter's eyes, and for saving me… I really owe you."

"Nonsense, I only did what any good doctor would do, you can't expect me to just see someone injured and not do anything but call for help, when I'm the only one that's qualified for said help in the area, I made an oath to save lives, not to abandon them." Doctor Nebulizer replied.

"We are grateful though doctor, I mean you even gave up on your precious vacation time, just to make sure I could see again and that Dash could fly again… You didn't need to do so in order to save our lives either." Fluttershy said as she tried to look at him, but rubbed her eyes because of the blurriness.

Doctor Nebulizer stopped her before she could rub too hard. "Careful now miss Fluttershy, your eyes may work now, but they still need to heal a bit more, so try to avoid rubbing them. As for what you said, well, it just wouldn't sit well with me to not do anything when I'm the only one that can, sight and flight are both important afterall, to lose either is no good… As for my vacation, that's not that big of a deal, I run a private practice, so I make my own hours and decide when to take a vacation, I'll simply charge the hospital for my work, though I will give them a discount for not letting them know ahead of time I suppose." He then stroked his chin as he remembered something. "Oh, that's right, there might be a small chance that the blurriness will continue slightly, if it does you may need to see an optometrist miss Fluttershy, I doubt it'll come to that, but needing glasses should still be better then losing your sight completely… Oh, and don't do anything that requires you to strain your eyes for a while, no reading books or things like that for at least a few weeks, if you feel like your eyes hurt be sure to give them plenty of rest, not doing so might cause complications, do you understand?"

Fluttershy nodded and wondered for a moment if she could still use her 'stare', but before she could ask, they heard a commotion from outside the room, the doctor was about to check it out when they heard somepony say the name Twilight Sparkle, which in turn made both Fluttershy and Dash look in the direction of the door.

Dash blinked a few times. "Did they just say… Twilight's here?" The thoughts that had been haunting her ever since she woke up here, came back to her, as she had been wondering if what she remembered about being attacked by a Changeling all of a sudden at the gorge truly happened, or if her mind had just made it up after an actual accident, cause if it was true, then what about what the Changeling had said about Twilight being their lost princess? She suddenly felt ill as she didn't know what to do here, she wanted to resent the Changelings for what had happened to her, but if that had truly happened, then what about Twilight? She was her friend, wasn't she? And she didn't want to doubt her, or resent her, but what if it was true?

Fluttershy also remembered how she had met with somepony that called itself a Changeling and had told her that they had come to get their princess back, who from what she remembered him saying had been a friend of theirs for years now, but unlike Dash, she didn't blame anypony for what had happened to her, even if she had wondered if it had been a Changeling that showed up and not an actual Manticore after that, but even then she didn't feel any malice towards them, she was a bit concerned about if she should even mention what had happened in case they'd hurt her friends though, seeing as Dash hadn't said anything so she likely didn't remember anything, and the others had yet to show up.

The doctor snapped them out of their stupor as he spoke up. "Somepony you know? Stay here, I'll go see what's going on then, I'll let you know once I know, alright? Just stay here and calm down."

They nodded before the doctor left the room, Dash calmed down slightly as she tried to make sense of it all some more, Fluttershy hadn't told anypony about anything, neither had Applejack when she had come to visit them, and from what she remembered being told, they would have been targeted aswell, so it must not have actually happened if they didn't, right? Even Pinkie didn't say anything, and if anypony would say anything about something like that, it would be her, Pinkie's randomness often made her blurt out something she shouldn't know in the first place.

As Doctor Nebulizer got to the entrance where a crowd had started to gather, he could see a unicorn that looked just like Twilight did in the past, down to the cutiemark and everything, she was currently unconscious and being carried on a stretcher however, he then walked up to her. "Alright, what's going on here? Let me check and see what's wrong." He then did a quick scan to make sure if it wasn't their princess and what was wrong. "Hmm, that's odd, I can't tell if she's a Changeling or not… I've never felt such an odd sensation before, perhaps she just looks like her or something… I need to contact the hive about this one, but she does seem to have a lack of energy however." He then thought and looked at nurse Redheart. "It seems she's exhausted, it's like her energy has been completely depleted for days now, prepare a room for her and monitor her vitals just in case, I'll do a closer check on her shortly."

Nurse Redheart nodded and looked at the ones carrying the stretcher. "Alright, follow me." She then looks at the other ponies. "As for the rest of you, please return to your stations, this is no place to clutter up like this." She then led the ones carrying Twilight to a room, where they put her down on a bed before the nurse hooked up some vital monitors.


=====+++=====


About half an hour later, Applejack and Pinkie ran into the hospital a red unicorn with a green mane and tail following close behind, after having been told that some ponies found Twilight and brought her to the hospital.

Applejack instantly ran up to the desk. "Is it true!? Did ya'll really find Twi!? Is she alright?" She then shouted at the nurse behind the desk, who was a bit shocked from the sudden outburst from her. "Well!?"

The male nurse swallowed and recollected himself before replying. "Uhm… Who are toy looking for exactly? I don't think we have anypony called Twi here right now."

"Oh silly, she meant Twilight Sparkle of course, you know, the librarian of the town, student of Celestia, wielder of the element of magic and our best friend!" Pinkie then replied with a smile.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, she is here right now, but visiting hours are over right now, and while she's in no immediate danger, she has yet to get a full inspection, so unless your family I can't take you to her room."

"But we're the other element wielders, I'm Pinkie and that’s Applejack, we're like family." Pinkie replied in response as she put on her best puppy eyes.

It seemed to work slightly, but the nurse then saw the red unicorn. "And who's that? I don't remember hearing of any male wielders."

Pinkie's ears perked up as she looked at the one he was talking about. "Oh that? That's Realm Seeker, he's my coltfriend." She then replied with a wide smile. "We go everywhere together lately."

Applejack was now looking at her confused. "Yer what now? Why didn't ya tell us?"

"Oh well, we only just got together, there's actually quite the story connected to it all." Pinkie began but was stopped before she could go into the length of the story by the nurse.

"Uhm, that's all nice and all, but I really can't let you go see her till the doctor has given the okay, only family members can see her before he does." The nurse then said.

"Do I count?" A voice suddenly said that made the nurse look around in wonder as he saw nopony. "Down here." As the nurse looked down from the desk, he saw Spike stand there. "Hi, I'm Spike, Twilight pretty much hatched and raised me, so she's sorta like a mom to me in that regard right? Then could I go see her?"

The nurse thought for a moment. "Hmm… Hang on, I'll call the head nurse, she'll know." And with that he took out a microphone and pressed a button on it, as his voice was then transferred through the hospital. "Nurse Redheart, please come to the front desk, I repeat, nurse Redheart, please come to the front desk." After that he let go of the button and looked at the young dragon. "She should be here shortly."

Spike nodded and waited silently, Pinkie and Applejack figured that it was likely better to wait for nurse Redheart aswell, so Applejack decided to ask Pinkie a few things about Realm Seeker while they waited, Spike might have been interested to hear normally aswell, but right now he was too worried about Twilight to bother, not that it mattered much, since nurse Redheart almost instantly showed up and Applejack couldn't even ask the first question.

Nurse Redheart looked at the nurse behind the desk and asked him why she was called here, the male nurse then pointed at Spike and the others, before explaining what had happened and that they wanted to see Twilight, after that she walked up to them. "I understand that your claiming to be related to miss Sparkle because she hatched you, correct?" She then asked, as Spike meekly nodded. "Well, there's certainly no precipice for such a case, as far as I know anyway, but I suppose it does count in a way, so very well, you can go see her." She then looked at Pinkie, Applejack and the red unicorn. "As for you three, you'll just have to wait till the doctor has seen her or come back tomorrow during visiting hours." She then smiled at Spike. "Now come along, I'll bring you to her room, she hasn't woken up yet though, so I'll have to ask you to be quiet and just be there for her."

Spike nodded in understanding, he really just wanted to know if she was alright, and staying with Twilight's parents in their house had just kept reminding him of her while she was gone, making him worry even more, that's why he came back to Ponyville yesterday and had asked the Apple family if he could stay there for now, since the library still held too many memories at the time, so when Applejack told him they might have found Twilight, he ran here before they did, not that it had mattered since they were faster then him mind you, so when he was told to be quiet to let her rest.

This however just meant that when they reached Twilight's room, he was unable to keep his promise of been quiet, if only slightly, as the moment he saw her, he shouted her name, ran up to her to hug her and cry softly, nurse Redheart instantly went after him in order to try and tell him to be quiet once more.

Not that it mattered though, as Twilight's opened her eyes ever so slightly, her exhaustion could be seen on her face, but the moment she saw Spike, she smiled at him. "Hey Spike, I've missed you to these past few days." She then weakly hugged back.

At first Spike didn't say anything and just kept hugging her, but once he felt a bit better, he looked up at her. "Only these past few days? Not the whole few weeks you've been gone? Cause I've been worried ever since the wedding."

Twilight opened her eyes a bit more as she seemed confused. "Weeks? Wedding? What are you talking about Spike? Whose wedding? Haven't I only been gone for a few days? I mean that's how long it's taken me to get out of the forest that Discord must have sent me to at least… Speaking of, did the others beat him or something? I expected to come back to some kind of war zone, but everything seems fine right now."

Spike looked at her with a shocked expression as he tried to make sense of it all. "Twilight… What are you talking about? You and the others beat him together, didn't you? You even became an alicorn after that."

Twilight just looked at him with a incredulous expression. "An alicorn!? Spike, ponies don't just turn into alicorns, and even if it was possible, I hardly believe that something like defeating Discord would… Wait, we defeated him? But he teleported me into the forest, straight into some kind of goop and a odd place that was swarming with some kind of bug like ponies. I barely managed to escape without letting any of them realize I was gone."

Spike scratched the back of his head. "Bug like ponies? … You mean Changelings? Like the ones that showed up at the wedding?"

"… You met them before Spike? And you keep mentioning a wedding, what's all this about?" Twilight asked in turn, all the while the both of them didn't even notice nurse Redheart who didn't really know what to do next, who went to get the doctor a few minutes ago when they started.

So before Spike could reply, doctor Nebulizer came in and spoke up. "That's quite enough for now, I need to do some tests on you miss Sparkle, from what I heard you might even have some kind of amnesia, seeing as you don't remember the past year if all you remember is seeing Discord."

"The past year? W-what are you talking about doctor?" Twilight asked as she got nervous.

Spike looked at her and then looked away to avoid her gaze. "Twilight… Discord was defeated over a year ago, and you didn't vanish, you spent that whole time with us."

This was getting a bit too much for Twilight, she was certain she had only seen Discord a few days ago and got teleported into some kind of goo in the forest, but what if they were right and she was missing some memories? Or worse, what if there was something else going on aswell. "A-alright… I'll let you do your tests on my doctor, please find out what's going on with me."

"But of course, I will get to the bottom of this miss Sparkle, you can be sure of that." The doctor then replied before looking at Spike. "I'm afraid I can allow you to come with us little dragon, but it should only take an hour at most to do all of the tests, but I heard you came with some friends, so you should join them, I already gave them permission to see their other friends that are in the hospital right now, so the nurse can take you to them if you want."

Spike was a bit reluctant, but after Twilight told him it was alright, he followed nurse Redheart to their friends, who seemed to be questioning Pinkie about her new coltfriend.

"You only met him a few days ago and your already dating him? Dahm Pinkie, I knew you were fast, but I didn't expect you to work this fast." Dash said before she noticed Spike coming in while nurse Redheart left. "Ah! Spike! How was it? Is Twi alright? Is she… Herself?"

"Huh? I guess so." Spike replied as he scratched the back of his head. "She did say something odd though."

The others looked at him and Applejack spoke up. "What do ya mean, odd? Did she git brain damage or somethin'?"

Spike flailed his claws around as if to dissuade the idea. "Ah! No, no… At least I don't think she did, but perhaps she does have amnesia, the doctor is giving her some tests now that she's awake to find out… She… She doesn't seem to remember anything from after you all met Discord that first time, said something about having been teleported to the forest into some goop, she also mentioned there were those Changelings we saw at the wedding, but she didn't even know what they were it seems."

Dash's ears perked up as she heard this. "Wait, so your telling me that Twilight doesn't remember anything from the past year or so? That she was likely teleported to the Changelings by Discord and kept prisoner there?" She then thought that that would make sense with what she was told, she was likely just switched with their actual princess who was only partly transformed by Discord at the time, this meant that Twilight hadn't been Twilight at all lately and that she could actually be angry at her… Though it also meant that it hadn't been their fault at all, but Discord's fault.

"Uh… Wait, I did? But then, who was with us since then? Wasn't it Twilight that beat Discord along with the rest of you?" Spike asked in reply.

Realizing what Dash had likely meant, Fluttershy let out a small gasp, but didn't say much more, Applejack thought for a moment before she looked at Dash. "Now wait just one goshdarn moment there, are ya sayin' what Ah think yer sayin'?"

"I'm saying that perhaps the Twilight that's been with us since then was in fact a Changeling herself! That would explain why they gave up so quickly at the wedding, right? They didn't want her to get hurt." Dash replied as she then thought about those memories she almost believed to have been a dream, and a thought came to her. "Plus it would mean that that actually happened, right? I'm not crazy… But I still don' know why the others don't remember it, perhaps I should stay quiet about this for a bit longer."

Sour Shield, who was with them in the disguise of Realm Seeker, also had a thought of his own. "Hmm, this may actually work for us, perhaps they'll give up on us if they think all we did was get our princess back and then left, perhaps I should push this idea a bit further." He then looked at Pinkie. "Uhm… What are they talking about? What are Changelings? And what does she mean by your friend wasn't your friend?"

As Pinkie seemed a bit confused after he asked, Dash spoke up. "Oh right, you probably wouldn't know huh? Hmm, we're not supposed to tell anypony about them though."

"Ah reckon that it's a midge too late for that now Dash, the princess did say we could tell our families and such, and since he's datin' Pinkie and all, let's just tell him if he promises not to tell anypony." Applejack then said as she looked to him. "Do ya promise?"

"Oh uh, sure, if it's something so important that the princess made you promise that, then I promise not to tell anypony what you tell me." Realm Seeker replied, before he was told by them what had happened at the wedding aswell as what they were told afterwards. "I see… I'm amazed I never saw any of them while I was exploring all these years… But if what you told me about them is true, then from what I can tell of your previous conversation, it would mean a fake Twilight has been here for over a year now, and she probably went back when the real one was freed, right?"

"That has to be it! There's no way the real Twilight would have just up and left us like that, right?" Dash then quickly added.

At this point Fluttershy was feeling a bit worried that her friends might get hurt or captured again, if the conversation kept going this way. "U-uhm… Does it really matter? Ah! D-don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its fine that another took her place if that's what really happened… B-but it's not like they would have had much of a choice if that's the case, r-right? P-plus we have Twilight back now, don't we? C-can't we just forget about this whole thing and just be happy for that?"

"Hmm, Ah suppose so, it's not like any o' us know where they may be hidin' at anyway." Applejack replied as she scratched her head underneath her hat. "Anyway, it don't matter none till yer both fully healed anyway, leave Twi to me and Pinkie till then."

"What about me?" Spike suddenly asked. "I know her better then any of you, especially if that past year or so, it was somepony else then Twi."

Applejack looked at the young dragon and rubbed his head. "Ah shucks Spike, I didn't mean none by that, Ah already thought ye'd keep a close eye on her without me even mentioning it."

All of this made Sour Shield wonder about something though, perhaps they had been wrong about at least Twilight's 'friends', they honestly didn't seem to have known about her actual heritage, so perhaps Celestia kept it from them and made them Twilight's jailers without them even knowing, while in actuality they had become her real friends… But none of that mattered right now anyway, even if they were, at this point princess Twilight didn't remember them anymore, and they themselves had taken to this new option much too fast in his eyes, they weren't worthy of being her friends according to him, so he decided to keep it to himself, at least for now.


=====+++=====


About an hour later, a nurse came to them, who told them that the doctor had finished his tests, and telling them that Twilight was fine and just needed some rest and get some food, since her magical energy was depleted and she was slightly malnourished, she was even allowed to go back home already since it wasn't at a dangerous level, so they were allowed to see her and except for those that needed to stay in the hospital themselves, they were allowed to take her home.

Applejack then looked at Spike with a smile. "Ain't that great? Ya get to go home together with Twi. Now ya can move out of the treehouse, Ah know it can be awfully chilly there at night, Ah'd have let ya use tha guest room, but Sweetie Bell has been usin' it ever since Rarity left… Ah hope we'll hear sumthin' from her soon." Her face showed some concern now, as did the faces of the others.

Pinkie decided to cheer everypony up by offering a big smile to them. "Don't worry girls, Rarity will find her way back to us, remember that time when the Diamond dogs took her? Nopony can hold her against her will, and now that Twilight is back, she can just find her with one of her tracking spells and such, not even the caverns could stop her last time."

"Tracking spells? That could be trouble… But this Diamond dog thing might be useful, we have been thinking of how to fix this afterall, perhaps we could use them… Or something similar." Realm Seeker thought to himself, as he remembered a report and connected to the hivemind to confirm something, making it seem like he was thinking, once he had what he needed, he decided to speak up. "Why would the Diamond dogs want her in the past? From what you told me, your friend is a fashion designer right? I only ever heard of them capturing ponies that are near gem quarries and such in order to have them work for them, so why would they want her?"

Spike, in order to get his mind off of the issue, was the one to reply. "Rarity's got this special ability that allows her to sense gems, she used it to find to best ones when we were looking for them, the diamond dogs saw this and decided to use her to find more for them, before we came to get her back that is, they've left us alone ever since though, even when we often go back to get more gems."

Realm seemed to think for a moment. "So then, other races that like gems and see her use the ability would think the same, right? Cause I know of a few caves near Canterlot that have some wild dragons living there, perhaps they took her, I mean they don't normally ponynap anypony, but if she really can find gems that easily, then who knows."

Dash suddenly got up. "Well, what are we waiting for!? If they really have her then let's go right away!"

Applejack stopped her from getting completely out of bed however, as she suddenly lassoed her down. "Now hold on there sugarcube, yer still hurt, and it's not like we know if it's true just yet either." She then looked at Realm. "No offence there."

"Ah, none taken." Realm replied with a smile. "It's only a theory afterall, I'll ask somepony I know to look into it, he's in the royal guard, so he might be able to do something."

After thanking him and making sure that Dash didn't get back up again and do something stupid, they said their goodbyes to Dash and Fluttershy and headed for the room Twilight was in, after a few hugs and simple questions, the doctor gave them some medicine to replenish her magical energy a bit faster aswell as getting some much needed vitamins, before letting them go.

Once they got to the library, Spike opened the door and the girls led Twilight to her bed, while Realm helped Spike clean up the library a bit, as it seemed like somepony had made a slight mess of things, once they finished, Realm, Pinkie and Applejack headed back home, while Spike went up to see if Twilight wanted anything, but found her fast asleep already, so he decided to take a small snack before going to bed aswell, only to find that somepony stole all his gems, though judging from the gem crumbs, it seemed like they had in fact been eaten instead, but he shook off that idea, afterall, he was the only one around that ate gems, right?


=====+++=====


It had been a few days now and Pinkie and Applejack had visited Twilight a few times by now, she had also been introduced to Realm by Pinkie, seeing as he was with her every time, she had learned that they had met a few days before she had come back to Ponyville, and there was something about him that seemed to stop Pinkie's random powers, but that only served as the start, as she had followed him while he thought she was crazy, eventually managing to shake her off, but coming back to follow her soon after as he wondered why she had been after him, after being found out himself, they both explained why they followed each other and got interested in each other some more, which then made them decide to spend more time together, until Pinkie had called him her coltfriend at the hospital, after which they talked it over and decided to actually try dating, so far it had gone well.

Twilight had told her friends everything she remembered aswell, but it wasn't much more then they had been told already, she did still have all her memories from before Discord however, which proved that she truly was the Twilight they all knew and loved, since she could remember even small things that normally don't matter aswell as secrets she'd never share with others even if they would force her to.

There was however one thing they hadn't told Twilight ever since she had gotten home, and it had been bothering her at this point, so as they visited her today, she looked straight at Applejack with a concerned look. "Hey Applejack? Why haven't I seen Rarity or Luna around at all? I mean with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the hospital and me being missing for so long, I would think they would rush back here the moment they'd hear about it all, but it's been days now and neither one has yet to show up… What's going on here?"

Applejack started to sweat a bit as she tried to think of something to say, as she was uncertain of if it was a good thing to do, since Twilight while allot better, was still recovering a bit aswell, but before she could decide, Spike was the one to speak up. "Rarity's… Missing." It hurt him to talk about it as he's always had a crush on her, but he knew this was likely for the best, he knew Twilight wouldn't stop till she knew, which is why she asked Applejack to start with, plus she might in fact be able to help. "She's been missing for a few weeks now, ever since she started to look for you."

Twilight was worried, but more then that, she was stunned that they had kept this from her. "W-why didn't any of you tell me till now?"

Applejack seemed apologetic, but also could bear to look Twilight in the eyes. "We were worried ya might do somethin' foolish like try to find her right away… Ya still haven't fully recovered, and we don't want to lose another friend after all that's happened… We almost lost Dash because of her brashness last time."

Realm quickly spoke up at this point. "Actually, I was planning to say something a bit later, but a friend of mine in the guard has been investigating some locations I thought they might be able to find some clues about her, and I have some good news there, they didn't just find a clue,, they actually found her, it seemed that she managed to get away from whatever had captured her and she's currently recovering at the hospital in Canterlot." After having said it, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie looked relieved, Spike seemed to be the happiest among them however.

Twilight still felt slightly angry though, since they never told her about this, and felt that she should have been looking for her before she had been found already, but as she thought of losing one of her friends because of a similar action, aswell as the fact that she had been saved already, she quickly regained herself before she could say anything bad, she then looked at them once more, as she was yet still worried for somepony else. "A-and what of Luna?"

"We don't know…" Pinkie then said as she lowered her head. "We don't even know when she left or where she went… During all this time she kept telling us you were safe and that we shouldn't look for you… Perhaps… Perhaps she knew about what had happened to you, or perhaps she found out after the wedding and made a deal for them in order to release you."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Y-you mean that she may have sacrificed herself for m-me?" Tears started to form in Twilight's eyes. "N-no, that can't be! She has to be safe! P-perhaps the princess can help find her, o-or perhaps she knows something w-we don't." She then looked at Spike. "Spike! Send a letter to her for me, please!"

Getting back onto his feet, Spike was about to agree and get something to write with, but before he could he got spooked by a sudden loud sound that was like a thunder strike right next to the door, as they went to see what had happened, they found that a large ice sculpture was suddenly standing there, Spike took a good look at it. "Is that…"

As the others saw the ice sculpture, they were shocked aswell, this ice sculpture seemed really familiar to all of them but Realm, who even as Sour Shield had yet to see it, the ice sculpture seemed to be in a laughing pose as it was holding something out towards them, which they instantly recognized as Celestia's lost regalia.

"T-that can't be, we got 'im last time, we turned 'im to stone, Ah know we did!" Applejack suddenly shouted.

Spike took the regalia and looked at it. "But this is the real deal, and he was still wearing it at the time… So it has to be."

Twilight looked at the ice sculpture a bit more and came to a realization. "Girls, what if the elements couldn't do it perfectly because it wasn't the real me that used the element of magic? Or what if this all had simply been just another one of his plans from the start!? We can't defeat him divided as we are right now, most of us are even injured."

Pinkie gasped. "That big meany! If this is his idea of a game, then it's no fun!"

As distraught as they were however, it was however nothing compared to how things were at Canterlot Castle right now, as a smoldering spot could be seen where the Changelings had been keeping the actual statue, and the chrysalis they had connected to it that had held Celestia was missing aswell, meaning they had no way to control the night or day anymore, as such, they quickly decided to initiate the original plans and escape back to the hive before it was too late, even those left in Ponyville decided to leave, all for two that is, since Sour Shield felt that the best bet for the hive, was if he stayed close to Pinkie, and doctor Nebulizer simply wouldn't leave while patients he was looking after still had yet to heal up.







*The Badlands, underground, Chrysalis' hive, before the hospitalization of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, aswell as Twilight's sudden appearance in Ponyville*


Twilight groaned as she woke up with a splitting headache, as she opened her eyes expecting to have to adjust them to some bright light, only to find that the room she was in was lit up with a gentle green light that were more soothing then painful to look at, confused she looked around the room a bit as she didn't recognize it, the walls were made of some kind of smooth black material that looked organic somehow, and the bed she was in was as soft as clouds and covered in a lavender colored sheets, and was like silk, she also noticed the two bookcases on the walls filled with books.

She didn't recognize any of this, even if the books made her excited for a moment, but not enough to be worried about this situation. "W-where am I? How did I…" As she wondered, a memory came to her with a small painful jab. "Ugh… Oh right… Mother found me and offered me a place where I'd actually belong… This must be her hive then… But why can't I remember getting here? Did I pass out or something?"

At this point she decided to get up, she was slightly woozy from the headache, but managed to shake it off before looking around the place a bit more, finding that there was a desk and a walk in wardrobe aswell as two doors on different walls. "Hmm… Am I supposed to wait here for mother? At least there's plenty I can do since I don't recognize these books at all." She then thought to herself before recalling one more thing and gasps. "Gilda, she was with me, and we both decided to go together… She has to be here somewhere, but should I go find her first or wait?" She thought as she looked at the doors.

Deciding that she didn't want to leave her only friend alone in an unfamiliar place, Twilight opened one of the doors, finding it to open to a bathroom, it looked quite normal compared to pony bathrooms in fact, just made of more organic looking materials, though she did wonder why there was some kind of empty pod in the corner of the room, perhaps there was some kind of cleaning for Changelings that she never knew of before, and for a moment she wondered if perhaps to other Changelings she would smell or something like that, but it wasn't like she knew what this was for or how to use it, so she decided to leave it alone for now and focused on the other door instead.

The moment Twilight opened the door, she was startled by a voice coming from the besides the door. "Your highness, your already awake? You really should rest a bit more." A Changeling in armor then popped its head inside from next to the door. "But if there's anything you need or want, we can get it for you, your highness, we'll also inform your mother that your now awake."

"Oh… Uh, sure…" Twilight replied slightly shyly as she rubbed her hooves as such, in her mind her lack of friends over the years, aswell as never having a real family and instead being raised in a orphanage, made it hard for her to open up to others quickly afterall, at least that's what her mind made up in the absence of any real memories, as such she was slightly shy. "Say uhm… Was there another that came here along with me? A Gryphon perhaps?"

The guard thought for a moment. "There is one that's the guest of the queen, I believe she's the one your talking about, should we inform her that you want to talk to her?"

Twilight gulped. "I-if you wouldn't mind… Her name's Gilda."

The guard bows before her. "We will let her know, but if you'd prefer, I could also take you to her or the queen myself, we can simply let the other know where to find you in that case."

For a moment Twilight considered it and was about to agree with it, but her new shyness made her look away from him. "T-that's alright, I'll just wait here for them."

"As you'd like, your highness." The guard bows once more as he closes the door.

Twilight swallows and lets out a relieved sigh before starting to think. "I'm not used to this at all, I grew up in an orphanage without any friends or family for crying out loud, how does a princess even react? Am I supposed to act like I'm above them or something?" She then sighs and looks at the books. "At least I've got plenty to read while waiting, perhaps there's some books on proper etiquette here… Wait, why do I like books so much? … Did the orphanage have a library? I think that's right… It was the only place I ever felt at peace, right? Which is why I became a librarian in Ponyville eventually…" A whole new series of memories were made in her mind by her own imagination as she was trying to fill in any blanks she still has.



=====+++=====



A little later, while Twilight was still trying to figure out the blank spots in her memories and was making up a whole new life for herself, a knock was heard outside of her room, making her snap out of it and look towards the door. "W-who is it?"

From outside the door a voice then replied. "It's me, Gilda, your mom's with me aswell, can we come in?"

As she heard Gilda's voice, Twilight instantly felt more sure of herself and confident. "Ah, hang on a moment." She then replied before she shook her head and slapped her cheeks as if trying to wake up and thought to herself. "Come on Twilight, there's no reason to worry about the past now, the future is looking allot better now, now that we found my mother, Gilda even came with me for support." After she calmed down slightly, she took a deep breath and opened the door. "Come in."

Gilda came in first with a smile on her face. "Yo egghead, how have you been holding up? Have they been treating you well?" She then asked before hugging Twilight, who just smiled and nodded as a response.

Chrysalis came in shortly after that. "Of course she's treated well, she's my daughter and their princess, no Changeling here wouldn't even dream of doing anything to sadden her, they've been waiting for ages for their princess to return to them, they would rather die then upset her."

Twilight flinched slightly at that. "Please don't let them, I don't want anyling to get hurt because of me, I'm not anyling important…"

Chrysalis gasped. "My dear, of course your important, even if you wouldn't be a princess, you'd still be my daughter, we're all one big family here, so see them all as your big brothers and sisters, and it's not like I'm making them do so, they all decided on that themselves, I can hardly tell them to do otherwise… In fact." She then looks at the door where the guards are. "I didn't tell them to guard your room to start with, they just don't want you to get taken away by the ponies again… One of them even is part of my personal guard."

As it was mentioned, one of the Changelings peaks inside. "Uhm… Sorry about that your highness… I've uh… Actually been meaning to ask but… Could I transfer to the princess' personal guard?"

Chrysalis just stared back at him with a deadpan look as she closed the door. "See what I mean? Honestly, I think they love you more then me right now." A small smile appears on her face. "But who can blame them, it has been so very long, and you've grown into such a beautiful Changeling princess already, so I'll overlook it for now, I might even give him that transfer."

Twilight blushed slightly, but more from not knowing how to act as she's not used to this kind of attention. "Uhm… O-okay… But I don't want to see them get hurt even more if their like family… I've never had family before, Gilda was the closest thing I ever got to a sister afterall."

Gilda smiled as she put a claw around Twilight's shoulder. "Wow, thanks Twi, I think the same about you… Well, sorta, Gryphons don't really do the whole family thing well to start with, but I imagine this is what it would be like to have an actual sister that cares."

Chrysalis wondered if somehow the whole ordeal had solidified their ties even more then before, and then briefly considered something. "You know… There is an old ancient Changeling ritual that would make it so that's true, at least to Changelings."

"Uh… Your not talking about trying to turn me into a Changeling are you?" Gilda then asked. "No offence, but while I may not agree with my kind and I like Twilight, I don't really want to change what I am."

Chrysalis smiled as she shook her head. "None taken, and no, we don't have such a thing… You'd need quite the amount of raw power for something like that, and I can only think of one in history that could do something like that… In any case, the ritual I'm talking about, it's more like making you blood sisters in a way, and it'll always make other Changelings realize what you are to one of their kind, plus it'll give you the ability to identify Changelings while disguised, even those from other hives will be effected, so they won't just attack you for no good reason, but in return you have to swear to never betray the one you became a blood sister to, if you don't… Well, let's just say that you'd be having a whole different effect on Changelings then, but since your so close, I doubt that would ever happen."

As Gilda was considering it, Twilight suddenly protested. "Wait, you can't be thinking of actually doing that, what if it means for things like talking back to be seen as such aswell? Or what if hitting me on the shoulder counts? Or what if you mention a small secret I told you to another? Who knows when it could trigger… This is too dangerous, don't do it, I don't wan to see you get hurt because of something like this."

Chrysalis chuckled slightly. "Oh sweetie, it won't activate from something like that, afterall, what siblings don't bicker with each other over little things? Or get into a fight at times? Not to mention that an opponent could use some kind of truth spell… No, the other effect would require a really dreadful act of treason, one which would make you think deeply of her as one, even thinking of her as a traitor for a small thing wouldn't activate it… Or it would require her to take your actual life, something I doubt would ever happen."

"O-oh… But… I still don't like the risk regardless." Twilight then replied as she looked at Gilda.

Gilda smiled and hugged her. "I appreciate what your saying Twi, but to actually become a sister to you, how could I resist an offer like that? So don't worry egghead, let's just do it."

Twilight wasn't sure how to act, but the love she was feeling from Gilda made her calm down and realize just how much it would mean to her, to both of them, as such she hugged back. "Alright, if your sure of it, let's do it."

Chrysalis could hardly contain her glee as she saw how happy it made her daughter, plus it would mean her daughter would never be betrayed by her friend like she herself had been. "Alright then, the preparations will take several days, I'll go and get started right away, and I'll have someling come over later to teach you a bit more about Changeling customs, our written words, magic and so forth, I'm sure you might have found out a few things already, but I want to make sure you both get as much of a future as I can offer." She then said as she almost hopped out of the room.

Gilda grumbled after she left. "I've got to learn Changeling customs and writing? Why do I have to do all that aswell?"

Twilight chuckled. "Well, who knows, perhaps some of these books are just the kind you'd like, plus we'll be learning it together 'sister'." She then smiled at Gilda who just smiled back.


=====+++=====


Several days later the ritual had been prepared as promised, and Twilight and Gilda had learned much, even if it had been hard for Gilda, Twilight on the other hoof had gotten more accustomed with the Changelings in the hive, and had gotten over her shyness with so many that supported and loved her, she truly had started to see them a bit more like a family, or what she thought a family would be like that is.

As they entered the room they were told to go to, they found a large room that seemed to have been carved out of a single piece of rock, there were runes carved on the sides of the walls and a big round illuminated pool was in the middle of the room, at the far end was some kind of bowl still cut out of the same rock and behind it stood Chrysalis.

Chrysalis smiled at them as they noticed her and waved for them to get closer, and as they came over she motioned for the other Changelings to leave the room, once the doors closed she looked at them and smiled. "Oh~ This is so exciting, I can hardly contain myself." She then coughed a bit as she got a serious. "Now then, it's quite a simply process here, first I'll fill a part of the bowl with my blood and cast a certain spell over it, this will act as a bonding reagent, after that you both add a little blood of your own, it doesn't have to be much mind you, then as I begin the next part, you will both get into the pool, the solution will then enter the pool and bond with the both of you, turning you into blood sisters."

As she said so, Chrysalis made a cut in her hoof and let her blood flow into the bowl, Gilda and Twilight gulped slightly as she then began the spell, once done they did as she told them before, and after their blood was added and they entered the pool, the runes on the walls suddenly started to glow with Twilight's magical energy, surprising her slightly, but as Chrysalis chuckled she calmed down and watched the rest of the ritual, once Chrysalis was done with the next spell, the blood seemed to almost come to life, as it poured over the edge on it's own and without a magical aura around it, it soon entered the pool and the whole pool started to change color, but once again, it turned into Twilight's aura color, rather then the blood's mixed color, after that it seemed to evaporate as it entered their bodies, and once it was done, all the light in the room vanished.

Till Chrysalis illuminated the room with her own magical aura that is, she also had a great fanged smile on her face as she looked at Gilda. "Welcome to our family!"

Gilda looked herself over, expecting to see some kind of change, but was surprised that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Uh… Thanks? You sure this worked? I don't feel any different."

Chrysalis chuckled. "Of course not, it made you blood sisters, not give you a whole new body, I told you before, remember? And besides now being recognized as family and having the ability to see us while disguised, it's not like you'd get any new powers."

"Aww, I was hoping it at least turn some of my feathers into a new color, or give me the ability to talk with Twi through that hivemind of yours." Gilda then replied with a dejected tone.

"Is that all?" Chrysalis asked and chuckled once more. "There's a few easy spells that can do something like change your colors if you really want, though I don't think you'd ever be able to speak through a hivemind, it requires a certain organ you don't posses, though if you could use magic you could certainly listen to the hivemind, but it would be in it's rawest form, so I doubt you'd be able to make much sense of it while in the hive itself."

Gilda seemed a bit more dejected, but cheered up as Twilight hugged her, who then looked at her. "Come on now sis, aren't you happy to just be sisters with me now? I know I am." Twilight then gave her a big smile.

Gilda smiled back. "I suppose so… Sis… You got used to saying it quite quickly huh?" She then hugged back as Twilight just enjoyed the hug and didn't bother to respond.

After they left the room, several Changelings seemed to have been waiting and suddenly started to whisper between each other, but just before they could get uncomfortable, the Changelings suddenly swarmed around them and took them to the main dinning hall, where a large feast had been prepared for seemingly the entire hive, it seemed they weren't the only ones who had been exited about this.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle, in the secret lab, a chuckle could be heard from a statue, before it seemingly exploded, causing those there to panic, but before they knew what had happened, a alarm from the other secret lab where Celestia was being kept in a chrysalis was heard, and as they got there, Celestia and her chrysalis were gone, not much later they would hear of the sudden appearance of a ice sculpture right in front of the Ponyville library and would start to retreat back to the hive.