Twilight, now getting Applejack to stop laughing at her brother, sat down with a huff next to Big Mac. As she sighed, she looked over and saw him staring dejectedly at his teeth in his hoof. Nudging him in the side she gave him a small smile.

"You know it's a little funny." She said putting a hoof on his shoulder. "Come on, give me one of those big smiles like you used to do." She said teasingly while shaking his shoulder a bit.

"Ah would, but you're shakin' the shoulder ya bit." He said wincing.

"Sorry, didn't see the blood." She said pulling her hoof away. "So, everponies here, but where's Camo?"

"At this rate," Soul Song added as she bit into a fish. "I'd say he's still afraid of me. He could be hiding. Who knows?" She said nonchalantly.

"As long as he's not getting into anymore trouble," Celestia said. "We will not have any problems."

Before Twilight could make a response, the very changeling came sneaking in. His eyes instantly locked onto Celestia, she upon seeing him, looked away with her cheeks turning red. As he made his way to the large table, he quickly pulled out a chair next to Soul Song, the banshee sitting next to him scooted away when she saw the look of fear on his poorly made smile.

"Morning... Again Camo." Twilight said only slightly disturbed by his smile. "Is... Everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah." He replied. "I've never felt better. Aside from the insufferable feeling of pain as the blood is returning to my back legs and horn, then I feel great!" He said. "Did I also mention I got my leg back?" He asked flexing it above the table. "Celestia, after you left, came in and gave me a new one."

"I only did it as an apology," the alicorn said. "For what me and my sister did... Earlier." She said the last word while coughing faintly into her hoof.

"Speaking of earlier," Soul Song said glancing at Camo, her eyes reverting back to lifeless marble. "What exactly happened in there? I heard a lot of screaming, and then... Something like seaweed hitting a rock on the shore."

"Uh... Nothing that should be repeated. Ever." Camo said. "And if it does happen again, I want no part of it. I couldn't feel my legs halfway through it, and my horn... I didn't even know you could do half those things with a horn."

As he rambled on, the others were blushing furiously as they stared at the white alicorn who was trying her best to hide behind her wings. Even as Camo went on into very, descriptive, detail, he failed to notice the midnight blue alicorn appear in a flash.

As Princess Luna looked at the guests blushing faces, she noticed the animatedly talking changeling, and once she heard what he was talking about, she quietly approached him from behind. The others now seeing the lunar alicorn glaring down with purple cheeks at the changeling, had caught his attention, looking up his mouth hung open in silent terror.

He yelled first before trying to run on his chair, which in doing so, made the chair slide back and fall out from underneath him. His head hit the table with a loud crack, his body slid off the chair and onto the floor where his ear gave a few twitches.

"Hm, knocked himself out. Impressive." Soul Song said casually. "I'll take him to my room. I'll be right back." She said putting the unconscious changeling on her back.

As she trotted out of the room, Princess Luna took Camo's seat. Giving a nod to her scarlet faced elder, she turned to the others, all of them looking slightly embarrassed.

"How much did he say happened?" Luna asked.

"Too much." Rainbow said. "Way to much." She said putting her hooves over her eyes. "Gotta get the images out... Burn everything... Erase everything."

"You all must understand, it was not entirely our fault." She said. "It was that artifact he had once brought. And, unfortunately opened it in our presence. Again."

"So, that thing that was brought in," Twilight said. "It put you and your sister into a state of extreme estrus? That very same thing your sister told me about in the hospital?"

"Yes," Celestia said. "And, as you all would surely not know, is that we only go into a natural heat cycle one every... Five hundred years to six. When it does happen, the effects are much worse than that of a normal pony."

"Can we please stop talking about the princesses and Camo?" Spike asked making them all jump. "Yes, I was actually here for once, big surprise. Now, can we change the topic? Preferable something less erotic?"

"What else is there to talk about?" Applejack asked getting a snicker from Rainbow. "Ya know what ah mean!"

"What about..." Spike trailed off as he felt a disturbance in his stomach. "Oh. I think a letter is-" his sentence was cut short when he belched a plume of yellow fire that quickly turned into a scroll. "That's weird, why did it come out yellow?"

"Why do I have a bad feeling I already know who that scroll was sent to?" Twilight said levitating it over. "Lets see what Chrysalis wants now."

She opened the letter quickly, she read through it slowly, and finally she hit the table in front of her leaving a hoof mark. Dropping the letter, she was breathing deeply in through her nose, both fore-hooves pressed on the table and were slowly leaving drag marks, her wings fluttered in rapid burst only adding to the light glow her horn was giving off.

"I don't believe it!" She said furiously. "The entire hive was evacuated! I gave the order specifically for it to be evacuated! But there's still two more in there. And she's threatening to kill them if I don't agree to her terms."

"Terms?" Rainbow said flying above the table. "You already kicked her flank, and you have an army! Just go in there and bust them out!"

"And if I can't get to them in time? What if she see's us coming and goes down before us?" Twilight said. "No. I can't risk anymore unnecessary deaths."

"Anymore?" Rarity said. "Twilight, who else passed?"

Twilight opening her mouth to answer closed it just as suddenly. Looking away she just shook her head, angry tears flowing dripping down from her chin. She tensed as she felt a hoof wrap around her and pull her into a hug. She gladly accepted it and cried into Big Mac's good shoulder.

"Well... What are the terms?" Spike asked reaching for the letter. "She wants to fight Twilight only within castle grounds. That's not so- oh. Not again." He belched up another plume of yellow fire, this time a picture materialized. Looking at it, his eyes widened and his jaw made an audible crack when it fell. "Uh, Twilight, I think we may have a problem. Take a look."

She pried herself away from Macintosh's chest to grab the photo, looking at it her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"S-Spike..." She said, her voice a little raw. "This is a picture of Chrysalis, but she just painted herself different colors. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal, is that I don't think that's just a new look." He said taking it back. "She managed to use me to deliver the messages. And turning my fire yellow? Even the princesses can't do that, no offense of course," he said raising his claws in a defensive stance. "But she must have gotten some huge charge from somewhere."

"Let me see that," Celestia said. "I've seen a few magical alterations in my time. I may be able to give some insight as to what she may have undergone."

He gave her the picture, and as Celestia looked over it, her brows furrowed in confusion. Looking back at the others, she shook her head before giving it to her sister. Luna, looking over it, her eyes suddenly grew slightly wide.

"I-I recognize this magic." She said. "All of them."

"All of them, what do you mean? There's more than one?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. The black triangle upon her face was the mark of King Sombra's soldiers, the red upon her sides was to be on Nightmare's elite guard armor. If you look at her horn," she pointed to the magic enveloping it in the picture. "You can see the faintest hint of red, giving a clue as to a similar power compared to the alicorn amulet. Twilight, you had better be on your guard, or else the tiniest mistake could end badly. There's no telling what Chrysalis can do with that much energy."

Twilight for her part, was taking the news reasonable well. She had the crazed grin on her face, her right eye occasionally only twitched once and not the usual two every minute and her mane looked like a carpet of rose thorns.

"I-I'm just going to go read." She said. "Spike, would you care to join?" She asked using one eye to glance down at him.

"S-Sure!" He stuttered.

As the two left, Spike turned back to the company inside and flung his arms to the sides in an expression of shock. A call from Twilight brought him back to his senses and he quickly scurried out of the room.

Spike was nervously following his step-sister, watching as she went in no general direction. The guards, any who saw her, gave her a startled glance before passing, all the while whispering about her. Spike, sighing, took a risk and jumped onto her back, she stopped to look back at him, the smile growing smaller just a bit.

"Hey, Twilight," Spike said rubbing the back of his neck. "Listen, I know this is all a huge shock, but... I still think you can win. If that means anything, does it?"

"I-it does." She said. "Now, how about we stop going through random hallways and just go to the library?"

"Twilight," he said uneasily. "Don't you remember the last time you teleported while you were this stressed? You popped Scootaloo's fifty bit ball, by teleporting inside it."

"Spike, what are the chances of me teleporting us into a book?" She asked.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" He asked receiving a stare from her. "That's not an answer I'm comfortable with."

She rolled her eyes and, in a flash they were gone from the hallway and appeared at the libraries doors. Smiling at the familiar sight, she pushed the doors open and was immediately hit by the refreshing smell of ink on parchment and paper. Looking around, she noticed there wasn't any sign of the librarian, only Spike and herself.

Going in, she closed the doors without a sound, Spike hopped off and began walking with her as she found a table with two chairs. Pulling it out for her, she rolled her eyes a him before sitting. Pulling out a chair for himself, he sat next to her, both of them looking around the deserted archives.

"So, what kind of book do you wanna read?" He asked as she put a hoof to her chin.

"How about... A brain teaser. Because Celestia knows I need something to take my mind off about everything that just happened."

"Right. One book coming right up." He said jumping out of his chair and going to the Q's.

As he left, Twilight was about to lay her head down when she saw a pair of purple eyes staring at her. Stiffing a scream, she leaned back and saw it was only a changeling drone. Sighing, it looked at her before pulling up its own chair.

"Is... Mare feeling well?" It asked, its voice instantly recognized by Twilight.

"Drone? How'd you find me?"

"Hive mind." It said tapping its horn. "We sensed you in distress."

"Oh... Yeah, I just got a big shock a moment ago. So, I'm guessing you know about... Alfred?" She said looking down, the fresh sting of tears threatening to hit her again.

"Yes. He is doing well."

"Oh goo-what do you mean well? He's dead!" She said staring wide-eyed at the drone.

"I-I did not mean to upset you." He said. "But, he is very much alive. I give you my word, he is alive." He said staring her straight in the eyes. "The swarm had not felt any pain if he did die. He is still alive, and here in the castle."

"W-Where?" She asked, not noticing Spike as he came back with a book.

"Did you hit your head? Or are you just not very alert?"

She gasped and looked up, turning to the left slightly she saw a purple eyed changeling giving her a beaming smile from above. He jumped down, landing gracefully on the table. Getting off, he pulled a chair up from another table and sat down.

"Alfred...?" She said. "B-But you... Dead ... How?" She asked incredulously.

"I'm a changeling," he said. "Were practically the ones who invented mimicking. And I made myself look like I was stabbed, but really, all that happened was me partially turning into a barrel."

"But... All the blood? It was puddling." She said.

"Don't you mean clites?" He said making a few drops on his hoof. "When you've been mimicking for so long, you tend to get a very quick reaction time when doing so."

"So... You just faked your own death?"

"In order to remain alive? Yes, yes I did." He nodded. "Sorry for not telling you earlier, I had enough trouble getting up this death defying mountain. But, now I'm back. Oh, it seems Spike there has something for you."

She looked down and grabbed the book from her irritated assistants grasp, holding it in her magic she quickly slapped Alfred across the face with it.

"Ow!" He said rubbing his sore cheek. "Alright, I deserved that." He admitted. "I should have sent a letter. I apologize."

"I thought you were dead!" She said rising from her chair. "When did you get up!?"

"After you beat the hay out of my mom." He replied. "This really stings. Can I get some ointment?"

"Just... I have half a mind to smack you again. Or even punch you for not telling me." She said slumping back into her seat.

"Oh, come on. I didn't want to die." He said in defense. "But, speaking of that, what are you going to do to my mom if you win the fight?" He asked tapping his fore-hooves together. "Just wondering."

"If I win is stretching it a bit, don't you think?" She said glancing down at the book. "She says she still has two more prisoners in the dungeons. Two changelings that have been down there since this all began. So, she's not giving me much to go on for letting her live."

"Well, I suppose some things can't be helped." He shrugged. "I'm going down to town to get something to eat, do any of you want anything?"

"An apple from the orchard." Spike said belching up two bits. "A macintosh, if they're in."

He nodded, took the bits, and changed into the same stallion as Twilight had seen him as before. Watching him leave, she looked at the book Spike brought her and felt a few braincells burn out at the title.

"Quantum Physics... By Discord, the Draconequus." She said. "If there's anything to distract me, it would probably be this."

Author's Notes:

So... Alfred is one sneaky little bugger.