“It’s… complicated…” I said.

“Oh really? Well you two seemed to be talking about something important.” Dash said, landing in front of me and crossing her arms. “Maybe I should just ask Cecil.”

“I had to lie to Sam.” I said quietly.

“About what?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.

“About how… things are going…” I said. “Like… I said… everything is complicated…”

“Why was he crying?” She asked.

“What… would you say… if I told you it wasn’t Sam who hit Twilight?” I asked.

“But… Twilight said…” Dash stammered quietly.

“All because of one person… Sam believes Twilight doesn’t love him… and Twilight believes Sam hates her…” I said. “It’s… really… complicated…”

“Why… we need to tell everyone!” Dash said, grabbing me and trying to pull me to my feet.

“No… we… can’t.” I sighed. “We just… can’t.”

“Why the hell not?” She said angrily.

“Because… Sam is the only thing keeping everyone safe right now…” I said.

“You’re not making any sense… What aren’t you telling me?” Dash asked.

“Sam’s now… king of a changeling hive…” I said.

Dash just stared at me in utter confusion.

“And…” I started.

“What the actual fuck?” Dash snapped.

“The major problem… is who the queen is…” I said.

Dash took a step back. “She… You…” She stammered.

“So… you know who?” I asked.

“You’re going to listen to HER? This is just another one of her ploys. You don’t know her like I do… like Twilight does. We have to tell people.” Dash said.

“She told me she loved him. And if she was lying then… I couldn’t tell.” I said.

“But… He doesn’t love her.” Dash said.

“He does because he thinks Twilight hates him. And it has to stay that way.” I said.

“Why? I don’t understand…” She said, grabbing her head in frustration.

“Dash if you love me then you can’t tell anyone, got that?” I snapped.

Dash took a step back and stared at me. Her look of surprise faded slowly and she closed her eyes. “You don’t want me to tell anyone… you really think this is the best thing to do?” She asked quietly.

“I do…” I nodded reluctantly.

She took a deep breath in. “Then I won’t tell anyone.” She said, turning around and walking away.

I jumped up and put a hand on her shoulder. “Dash I…” I stammered.

She jerked her shoulder away and looked at me. “I won’t talk to anyone… But don’t talk to me either.” She said, flying up and away from view.

I fell back onto the bench again and put my head in my hands, feeling both dread and sadness surge through me. I couldn’t tell anyone… There… There was too much at stake. And If that means Rainbow Dash staying angry at me for awhile then so be it...

I sat there for awhile, just thinking. After I was done moping I got up and started walking home. I opened the door and walked inside. “Rainbow Dash? You here?” I called, only to be greeted by an empty house. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. It’s funny how telling your best friend and wife a lie to save an entire species can wear you out. As I walked in I noticed a box on the kitchen counter, wrapped in a red ribbon. I looked at the insignia on the card attached to it, squinting as I stared at the familiar picture.

I opened the card and looked at the writing inside. “A present for you and Cecil. Keep it safe, keep it close.” I read to myself. I unwrapped the box and opened it. I nearly collapsed as my heart dropped, stepping away from the box as I tried to process what I was looking at. Was… This some kind of sick joke? What kind of message is Chrysalis sending us. I… I need to show Cecil.

---------------------------------------

Cecil’s POV:

“Cecil… Please tell me what’s wrong.” Fluttershy asked, gently pulling me against her and brushing her hands through my hair.

“It’s nothing… really.” I sighed.

“Cecil...you know you can tell me anything..” She said.

“That’s just the thing… I promised someone I wouldn’t.” I said.

“Well, Pinkie always says that the fastest way to lose a friend is to lose their trust...so if you really don’t feel comfortable, then I won’t make you.” she murmured.

My eyes darted around the room as thoughts shot through my mind. I put my head in my hands and groaned.

“Cecil? Are you ok?” Fluttershy said worriedly.

I jumped up and looked at the floor. “Why do you have to be so… you?” I said.

She giggled and said, “Well, I can’t be anyone else, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”

“If I tell you… No matter how horrible it sounds, you won’t tell anyone?” I asked in as serious a tone as I could muster.

She thought for a minute and sighed. “Cecil, unless it was about you killing yourself, I would keep any secret you told me.”

“I won’t. Though… I might as well. The things she’d do to me if she figured out I told you…” I mumbled, scratching my head.

“Things...who would do to you?”

“Chrysalis…” I said hesitantly.

Fluttershy gasped, a look of shock flashing across her face before she motioned to go on, albeit slowly.

“I guess I should start from the beginning shouldn’t I?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Well… Red and I went out and… were looking for Sam.” I said.

“Um...did you find him?” she queried.

I nodded slowly. “But… not in any conditions we expected.” I mumbled.

“W-what was wrong?”

“Well we went to find Mary. She had been moving into Ponyville and Sam was helping her carry boxes and furniture. But…” I started.

“But?”

“But it was deserted. It looked more like someone was moving out… than in.” I finished.

“Oh..well, did you find him there?”

“What we found was a trap.” I said, staring at her.

She started to look more worried by the second, asking “Oh no! A-are you both ok?”

“I’m fine! don’t worry… that’s not the problem.” I said quickly, sitting down and grabbing her hand.

“Oh...I’m sorry, I was just so worried about you two..I don’t want to lose you. But what happened?” she asked, hugging me while she did.

I gave a smile as she held me, though it was quick to fade as I remembered the rest of the story. “The short story… Sam thinks Twilight was cheating on him and Twilight thinks Sam hates her.” I said, staring straight at the floor.

“Oh..oh goodness...it...It’s not actually like that is it?”

“If it wasn’t all built on a lie… then I wouldn’t be keeping it secret now would I?” I sighed.

“S-sorry...i just wanted to make sure…” she said.

“No no I didn’t mean… there’s nothing to be sorry about. This is a burden that…that I have to bear. Just promise me you won’t tell Twilight.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye…” she said as she went through the motions.

“FFOOORRREEEVVERRR…” they both heard, looking for the source of the noise.

“What was that?” I questioned with a hint of confusion in my voice.

“I-I think it was Pinkie, just forget about it…”

“Well there’s one thing I can’t forget about.” I smiled.

“Oh...did I do something wrong? I’m sorry...” she said.

“I’m talking about you.” I said, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her neck.

“Oh...my…” Fluttershy said as she blushed and moaned slightly.

I grabbed the bottom of Fluttershy’s shirt and slowly started to lift it up over her head. Just as it started covering her eyes, the door opened and Red glanced into the room.

I looked at him, then down to Fluttershy’s breasts. “Um…” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nothing… Nothing is wrong.” I said quickly.

Red motioned for me to follow him.

“Busy…” I snapped quietly.

“Um… You’re the one that started…” Fluttershy said in confusion.

“I mean… I would be busy… If I wasn’t paying so much attention to you!” I thought quickly.

“Oh…” She said quietly.

Red frantically motioned for me to hurry up.

“What do you want!” I said angrily.

“I.. I um… I’m sorry.” Fluttershy said nervously.

I groaned and put Fluttershy’s shirt back on, letting her see again. She turned her head and looked at Red, her face flushing brightly. “Oh…” She mumbled.

“I need to talk to you.” Red said.

“Is it about Sam?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“I… Y-you told her?” Red stammered.

“What do you want Red… we’re kind of busy.” I said.

“Well if she knows then just… come out when you’re finished.” Red said hesitantly before shutting the door.

I stared at the closed door for a second. He looked really worried… like he’d seen a ghost or something. It’s probably really important, I should go see what he wants. “Okay, where were we?” I said, pulling her off the bed and down to the floor. She immediately squealed loudly before starting to giggle.

---------------------------------------

Red’s POV:

I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited on the couch. I kept the box in my lap, staring intently at it. I don’t even know what this means… Is it a threat? How am I supposed to respond to this? Maybe it… no that’s silly.

My attention shot upward as I heard the bedroom door click open and Fluttershy walked down the stairs with Cecil following in turn. “Are you done?” I asked sarcastically.

“We weren’t up there for too long…” Cecil said.

“You were up there for four hours.” I said irritatedly.

“As I said… not too long.” Cecil nodded.

“What do you need, Red?” Fluttershy said.

“We have a little gift… or maybe death threat, from Chrysalis.” I said, holding out the box.

Fluttershy opened the box, gasping in shock. The second she looked at its contents she dropped the box to the floor.

“Fluttershy what is…” Cecil started. His eyes widened in horror and saw what the box contained as the single item fell from it’s container and out onto the hardwood floor. Sitting in front of us was a small, pink, butterfly broach.

“That...that’s not possible...we buried it with Nicholas in a coffin!” she exclaimed.

“What… could she possibly hope to accomplish… by sending us this...” Cecil asked shakily.

“Scare tactics… maybe the message means that… if we fuck up… we’ll end up like him.” I shrugged.

Cecil looked up at me wide eyed. “Red… did you tell anyone… anyone at all?” He asked.

My heart started beating faster. “Rainbow Dash…” I said slowly.

“And… did she say anything that would give you the idea… that she might tell someone else?” Cecil asked.

“She said… she wouldn’t tell anyone.” I said.

“Maybe… she didn’t have to.” Cecil said.

“Yeah...I know Dashie, if she said she wouldn’t, she won’t.” Fluttershy said.

“No no no that’s not what I mean…” Cecil said. “You know Chrysalis better than either of us Fluttershy… tell me something.”

“What?”

“She’s smart right?” Cecil asked.

“Yes..”

“So… Why would she let the only two people who knew her secret go… Unless…” Cecil said hesitantly.

“She had a contingency plan…” I mumbled.

“Really?”

“This is all just too easy… there’s no reason to keep us alive.” Cecil said.

“But she said… she needed to make Sam believe that she is sincere.” I said.

“But that doesn’t require us to be alive… unless she needed… us… oh god…” Cecil mumbled.

“But what could she need us for?” Fluttershy said.

“She knew we would tell someone…” I said, the realization hitting me hard.

“But why… It’s part of her plan but… why?” Cecil asked.

“Maybe...maybe she wants hostages…” Fluttershy queried.

“That still doesn’t make any sense… If she took hostages and Sam found out then it would be all over.” I shrugged.

“She said not to tell Twilight… But what if she didn’t want us telling anyone? You told Dash… and I told Fluttershy. That means they could be in danger.” Cecil said, grabbing Fluttershy’s hand.

“Oh no! We...we have to do something!”

“We need to find Dash…” I said quickly. “Maybe it’s not too late.”

-------------------------------

“Where do you think she’d be?” Cecil asked.

“I don’t know…” I said uncertainly, looking around at the many people wandering around in the marketplace.

“Let’s search then.” Cecil said.

“Where should we start?” Fluttershy asked.

Cecil looked at me.

“What? How am I supposed to know… Not like she tells me where she goes when she ISN’T angry at me.” I said defensively.

“Well… let’s start with where ever she spends the most time at.” Cecil suggested.

“Well neither of us can fly… Oh…” I mumbled, looking at Fluttershy.

“Will you?” Cecil asked as he looked at Fluttershy too.

“I… Okay…” Fluttershy said hesitantly.

Cecil hugged Fluttershy, “Thank you…” He smiled.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. Her wings extended and she flew off to search the clouds.

“Where should we start looking down here?” Cecil asked, turning to me.

“I guess we could ask around. Maybe Rarity or Pinkie has seen her?” I suggested.

“Sure.” Cecil nodded. “How about we start with Pinkie?”

“Sure that sounds like as good a plan as any.” I sighed.

Cecil’s eyes suddenly widened.

“What’s wrong?” I questioned.

“We just… sent Fluttershy away from us…” Cecil said.

“To find… the only other person… who we told about Chrysalis…” I stammered.

“Oh god… what have we done?” Cecil said, putting his face into his hands.

I put a hand on his back. “Listen… we just have to stay calm. She’s probably fine…” I said calmly.

“Probably…” Cecil said shakily.

“Let’s just focus on finding Dash… If we find her, we probably won’t be far off from Fluttershy.” I said.

“Yeah…” Cecil nodded, “Lets find Dash…”

Cecil and I walked until we reached the cake shop, opening the door and walking in.

“Hey Pinkie.” Cecil said as we saw her working with Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

“Oh hi! How are you two doing?” Pinkie said with her usual beaming smile.

Cecil shrugged.

“Have you seen Rainbow Dash?” I asked.

“Mm… Yep.” She nodded.

“Really? Where?” I asked quickly.

“She came in to buy a few things. She seemed really down… What happened?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Nothing.” Cecil said. “Do you know where else she was going today?”

“Of course silly! Where does she always go when she eats lunch?” Pinkie asked as if the question was rhetorical.

“I… don’t know?” Cecil said uncertainly, giving me a small glance.

Pinkie extended her finger and pointed up.

“Oh. Right.” Cecil sighed.

“So whatcha lookin for em for?” Pinkie asked, leaning against the counter as she stared at us.

“We just… wanted to find her.” Cecil said.

Pinkie approached Cecil and squinted. “What are you hiding…” She said quietly, scratching her chin.

“What’s… under my clothes?” Cecil said uncertainly.

“Hmm… I don’t know.” Pinkie mumbled, seeming a little more intrigued.

Cecil threw a glance at me and kept his mouth shut.

I shrugged, switching my glance between him and Pinkie.

Pinkie pulled up Cecil’s shirt and started looking at his stomach, walking around to his back.

My lip twitched slightly as I held back a laugh. “Keep searching… I think you’ll find it.” I said.

Cecil glared angrily at me.

Pinkie let go of his shirt and pulled down his pants.

“Pinkie…” Cecil said uncertainly.

“Shh.” Pinkie said quickly, pressing a finger to Cecil’s lips.

I clamped my hands around my mouth as the urge to laugh got stronger.

Pinkie stuck a hand into Cecil’s underwear and started moving it around, as if searching for something.

Cecil glared at me this time coming a little closer to a death stare.

“M… may...maybe you… should try the back..” I said shakily before putting my hands back over my mouth.

“I will e-” Cecil stopped as Pinkie grabbed his ass. His eye twitched as he continued to stare at me.

Pinkie walked back around to the front and kneeled down, scratching her head as she thought.

“What the actual hell Cecil!” Fluttershy said, staring into the shop at Cecil.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Cecil said quickly.

“I dunno… He was getting pretty into it.” I shrugged.

Cecil mouthed something eerily close to ‘I will end you.’

“Ooo maybe it’s in here!” Pinkie smiled, shoving a finger up Cecil’s ass.

Cecil stiffened up.

Fluttershy walked up calmly and took Pinkie’s hand, yanking it out. “Pinkie… stop it.” She said quietly.

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said, jumping up and walking back to the counter.

“Before you say anything…” Cecil stammered.

“We will talk about this later.” Fluttershy said in an almost creepily calm tone.

“O… okay…” Cecil said quietly.

“And I see YOU were enjoying the show.” Fluttershy snapped, glaring at me.

I took a step back, tripping over a slippery spot on the floor and falling straight on my ass “I… I um…” I stammered.

“Fluttershy… did you find Rainbow Dash.” Cecil asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah she did.” Dash said, peeking into the shop. “What’s the problem anyways… Fluttershy wouldn’t tell me anything.”

I jumped up and rushed over, pulling Dash into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay…” I said.

“I’m fine…” Dash said in surprise, returning the hug.

“I don’t care if you’re mad at me so long as I can keep holding you like this…” I mumbled quietly.

“Red… Did… something happen?” Dash asked.

I shook my head and kissed her cheek repeatedly. “No… I’m just really happy to see you.” I said.

Dash pushed me away and crossed her arm. “I’m still not forgiving you…” She said quietly.

“That’s fine.” I smiled, hugging her again.

Dash stared at me for a moment before letting out a long sigh and returning the hug. “You’re such an idiot…” She said.

“Oh hey you g-” Mrs. Cake said, stopping and staring at Cecil, a small blush hitting her face. “Why are your pants down?”

Cecil looked down at his underwear before looking back up at her. “Why… aren’t… yours?” He said hesitantly.

Pinkie leaned over. “He has a point…” She whispered.

Fluttershy smacked Cecil in the back of the head and he immediately pulled his pants up.

“Okay so everyone’s okay… That’s great.” I said with a small sigh of relief.

“Yeah… that is.” Cecil nodded.

“Maybe we should um… Talk to Sam?” Fluttershy suggested.

There was a loud crash as a bowl dropped to the floor. Pinkie snapped to the four of us and stared. She walked towards us with a large knife in her hand. “Yeah let’s go talk to Sam.” She agreed.

“Oh… really… bad idea…” Cecil said quietly.

“Pinkie… just put the knife down.” I said calmly.

Pinkie pointed the knife at me. “You put the knife down.” She snapped.

“I… I don’t… what?” I mumbled, backing up against the wall.

“Pinkie calm down.” Fluttershy said.

“It wasn’t Sam.” Dash said.

My attention snapped to Dash. “Dash…” I said quickly.

“What wasn’t Sam?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“He doesn’t even know it happened.” Cecil said.

“God damnit Cecil…” I said quietly.

Cecil stared at me for a few moments.

I sighed. “The one who hurt Twilight was an imposter. He was a changeling sent by Chrysalis to make Twilight think Sam hated her and made Sam think Twilight didn’t love him in order to bring him back to the hive and become king so their entire race could survive.” I said.

Pinkie stared at me for a moment. “Oh okay.” She shrugged.

“S… so the knife?” Cecil asked quietly.

Pinkie looked down at the knife. “Oh sorry.” She said, tossing it to me.

I staggered back, catching the knife and slightly juggling with it before getting a firm grip on it.

“So when are we going to tell Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

“There’s… a really big risk with telling Twilight… or even telling Sam about what happened to Twilight…” Cecil said.

“Who cares. Let’s just tell her and get Sam back. Let’s barge into the damn hive and get things back to the way they should be.” Dash suggested.

“It’s not that simple…” I said.

“It’d be too dangerous.” Cecil said.

“We’ve taken Chrysalis before. It’s not like it’ll be any different this time.” Dash shrugged.

“Well… technically we lost… horribly… last time.” Fluttershy said.

“I think she’s learned from her mistakes too…” Cecil added quietly.

“She said herself that she loves Sam right?” I asked.

“Yeah she did.” Cecil nodded.

“That still doesn’t make what she did any more right, even if it is for her race. And it’s not like they’ve been the nicest bunch in the past.” Dash said.

“That’s not what I meant… If she really loves him then she can’t stop him if he wants to leave right?” I asked.

“Right.” Cecil nodded, “I’m guessing you have a plan to achieve that?”

“Well of course!” I said with absolute certainty as I stood up.

“Okay, let’s hear it.” Cecil said.

“We’re going to walk up to their front door and knock.” I said.

“That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard and you are dumb.” Dash said.

“Well… sometimes it’s the most obvious strategy that works.” Cecil said.

“Should we tell anyone else?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s already too late to not tell everyone… though maybe for safety reasons… we should still avoid telling Twilight.” Cecil said.

“Okay… I’ll go get Rarity. Cecil you get Applejack and let’s all meet at my house.” I said.

“Yeah… sure…” Cecil said with a small nod.

------------------------------------------

“Okay so when I said this I hadn’t considered that I have absolutely no idea where the hive is.” I said, scratching my head.

“Well this is starting out fantastic.” Rarity said.

“I don’t reckon we can just up and stroll in there if we did know where it is.” Applejack said.

“She has a point…” Fluttershy nodded.

“We did end up in the park when they teleported us out of the hive.” Cecil said.

“And I’d imagine they have a limit to how far they can do it so…” I started.

“It’s in the park!” Pinkie said, hopping excitedly.

“Under it to be precise… At least I hope so.” Rarity said.

“Okay. Let’s start searching there… I’m sure they have a surface entrance somewhere.” Cecil said.

“Alright… Let’s go poke the beehive.” I said.