"She was one of them?!"

Shining's fury was evident as he paced up and down in the main chamber of the Golden Oak Library. Nearby, the front door was open, and the two guards who had accompanied him here were standing watch out in the cold air of the night. But they were not alone here right now, as Cadence had also arrived, and was currently handing a warm cup of tea to Twilight, who smiled in appreciation as she took it. Spike, who was likewise nearby, stayed beside his Mother, never once taking his eyes off her as she took her first few sips. After almost a full minute of non-stop pacing, Shining finally stopped, before turning to Cadence in anger.

"We should call up Ambassador Rarity. Have her explain why they had a spy here the whole time!"

Cadence turned to him with a frown.

"Shining! Calm down!"

But the stallion did no such thing.

"Calm down?! Cadence, those Lunars had a spy living with my sister! Watching her day and night! Heck, she's even been to Canterlot! Who knows how much info they have on our capital now?"

Cadence's frown deepened.

"Shining! Not now!"

Instantly, the stallion stopped, and his eyes drifted down to his silent sister. Realisation came to him, and he raised a hoof to his temples, rubbing them before letting out a long sigh.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Twilight. You've been through enough tonight."

Slowly, Twilight nodded, before glancing back up at her brother and offering him a small smile.

"It's fine, Shiny. I'm just a bit..."

She paused for a few moments, then looked back down at the ground.

"...well...I don't know what to think about tonight."

Shining stared at her, then looked over to Cadence, who, likewise, was looking as though she was trying to think of something else to talk about. Then, a "lightbulb" expression came to her, and she looked back to Shining.

"So...what news of the drones?"

Shining's frown returned, and he turned to face the still-open door.

"They've been taken into custody. By the orders of Princess Celestia, any rogue Changelings found within Equestria’s borders are to be handed over to King Thorax. He's been looking for the remnants of Chrysalis' army ever since they lost the war."

Cadence considered that.

"But why would they want Twilight?"

The nearby stallion looked back to her.

"It's obvious. Capture an important Equestrian citizen, then issue demands. Maybe they figured they could convince Celestia to provide them with supplies or some means of fighting back at Thorax."

He pointed to Twilight.

"And given that you were Celestia's apprentice, that made you a prime target."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for making me feel better, brother."

Understanding dawned for Shining, and he started scratching the back of his head in a nervous manner.

"Right...um...sorry."

But Twilight's irritation was short-lived, as she once more let out a sigh.

"Do you think they'll be back?"

Shining shrugged his shoulders.

"Hard to say. Now that we’ve found them out, the might try to lay low, depending on how many more are still out there. But, to be safe, I'll have those two..."

He pointed to the guards.

"...stationed outside your home for the next few days, if that's okay with you?"

Twilight nodded in acceptance.

"Sure."

But it wasn't long before Shining continued.

"Having settled that...I think we should get back to the matter of...Trixie."

Twilight hunger her head a little.

"Shining..."

But the stallion cut her off.

"No, Twilight. The Lunars had a spy in our midst for months, and we never even suspected."

His sister looked at him disapprovingly.

"She saved my life tonight."

Shining paused, his expression softening.

"...I know that. And believe me, I'm grateful to her for it."

Again, his face resumed its sternness.

"But that doesn't change the fact that, in the long run, the knowledge she's gained about us and our country could do a great deal of harm."

His eyes drifted to Cadence.

"As I said, we should get Ambassador Rarity to talk with her about this."

Cadence herself started to open her mouth to reply, perhaps to counter his position on this matter. However, she was unable to get a single word out, as Twilight, rather quietly, started speaking instead.

"It won't do any good."

Both of the other ponies looked to her.

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.

Twilight looked to her, then to her brother, before eventually settling on Cadence.

"Do you remember that big dinner we all had together? Here at the Library? Remember the way Rarity looked when she saw Trixie, completely surprised?"

She glanced away from both of them.

"I think that, whatever Trixie was here for...Ambassador Rarity had no idea what it was. I don't think she even knew Trixie was going to be here."

Hearing that, Shining grumbled.

"Plausible deniability. Of course."

After casting her brother an irritated look, Twilight's face softened back to what it was before.

"Maybe...but regardless...I don't think this is something we can just talk to them about."

Shining looked to her, taking in her words, before eventually giving a short nod, albeit a reluctant one.

"In that case...I need to get going."

He started making his way towards the door.

"I need to write up a full report about this to send back to Canterlot."

Pausing, he looked over his shoulder, to Cadence.

"I'll need your help with it."

Cadence nodded, then looked back to Twilight.

"Will you be okay here?"

Twilight smiled in appreciation.

"I'll be fine, Cadence. Thank you."

The pegasus mare considered that, then returned the smile, getting out of her chair and following Shining out. The latter gave his sister one last look, which Twilight gave him a reassuring smile over, before nodding to her and closing the door. Now, it was just Twilight and Spike, alone together. After what seemed like a full minute of silence, Twilight exhaled deeply, looking down to her son with warmth.

"Come on, Spike. You've been up long enough.

But Spike himself looked back to her with concern.

"Mom? Will...will we ever see Trixie again?"

The question had caught her off-guard, but not for long, as she thought quite hard about it before looking over to the door that led outside.

"I don't know, Spike. I just...don't know."