The last meeting had worn heavily on all present, as they gained no new battle strategies and lost the only ones they had. The guards grimly prepared for the oncoming storm, while the ponies and Wrath attempted to pass the time, but it just dragged on and on. The sun hung high in the sky and they would not arrive until the following evening. The darkness on the horizon was never far from their minds.

"...and that is how I found Opal." I finished, smiling at Wrath. The two of us have been discussing pets for the past hour or so. Well, more so me going on about how I found Opal for an hour.

"But enough about my kitty, do you humans have pets?"

"....yes. We have many. Humans have domesticated most every creature on our world, with few exceptions." Wrath responds.

"Okay, but have you ever had a pet?" I watch as the human seated across from me strokes his beard in thought.

"Yes, two. I have had a dog and a rather large snake." I wrinkle my nose at snake. A snake? Who in their right mind would own a snake? Those things are so.....disgusting! Apparently my disgust shone through, as Wrath gave me an amused look.

"I take it you don't approve?" I shake my head. Don't approve? Who could approve!

"What ever could posses you to have a snake?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"She was very useful. And I never had to feed her, as I did my dog. She hunted for herself." I suppressed a shiver, and turned my gaze to the filly laying next to Wrath, sleeping peacefully. Her color has changed again. Her previously grey mane has now faded to a light pink. What exactly did that spell do? I look closer at the filly. Her eyes have changed too, from red to rose. She acts nothing like that creature did. Nothing at all. You could scarcely say they are the same being....I wonder.

I lean forward and squint at the sleeping filly. A previously meat-eating, solitary carnivore; sweetly cuddling up against a creature that tore off one of her arms... This seems wrong. I will talk to Twilight about this as soon as I can. My eye flicks to Wrath, who is now giving me a strange look.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"Yes! I was just...uh.." I glance around the room, looking for a scapegoat. My eyes fall first on the window, where I see snow falling on a desolate landscape, then on Wrath himself, the human clothed only in a loincloth. Hmmmm

".......I was just wondering if humans had some natural resistance to the cold?" I blink innocently at him.

Wrath's curious gaze turns sour. Attention diverted. Success!

"No, we usually do not." I bring my hoof to my mouth and suppress a squee as a thought comes to mind. Iiiiiiiideeeeaaaaaaaa!

"Then how do you plan to survive outside once we reach the crystal empire? Your skin would freeze would it not?"

"..... I said usually. My magic grants me some resistance to the cold."

"Only some? The Crystal Empire is the coldest place in Equestria, some resistance just wont do!" A massive smile envelopes my face. "Darling, you simply must let me fashion some winter-wear for you!" His horrified expression does not faze me in the slightest. "I could make you look absolutely dashing!"

"I..um. No thank you Rarity." The human fidgets some in his seat. Obviously unused to the type of scrutiny he was experiencing.

"Oh but I insist, in fact. Spike!" The small dragon immediately turns from his conversation with Pinkie and comes dashing over.

"Yes Rarity?" He asks with twinkling eyes.

"Could you be a dear, and run to the storage car and grab my purple suitcase? The violet one, not the royal."

"Of course!" He loudly declares, turning on his tail and running into the guard's car. Wrath levels me with an uneasy look as I rise and make my way toward him. I pull my measuring tape from my carry-on.

"Now we will start with some basic measurements."

I watch Wrath stand as Rarity begins to measure every inch of him. The uncomfortable human squirms this way and that as Rarity rushes about his body.

"That is a weird thing to see." I say, looking back to Pinky. She lay next to me, upside down, her head dangling just off the seat.

"Yup, like a puppy measuring a timber wolf." I nod sagely in agreement then look at Shendu, who has woken from her nap with her pillow having stood. Her mane is changing too. Her eyes seem an even lighter pink than they had been yesterday. Rainbow Dash approaches Shendu and whispers something to her. I squint at them as she leads the filly further back into the train.

"Why did Dashie take Shendu?" Pinkie asks beside me.

"I don't know." Pinkie puts a hoof around my neck and pulls me into her. I 'EEP' in surprise.

"Hey, doncha think the whole thing with Shendu is a little weird?" She whispers. I look across from us at the sleeping AJ and Twilight, who has her face buried in a book.

"How do you mean?"

"Like..." She gestures meaninglessly with her hoof. "How does a rampaging monster turn into such a cute little filly? Somethings funny Fluttershy, I can feel it in my tail." I look her in the eye and nod faintly. When Shendu....interrogated me she was completely different than she is now. Now she is like a lost little filly. If you didn't know what she was before, you could never tell.

"I get what you mean Pinkie, but what can we do about it?" She holds her other hoof to her chin in thought.

"We could talk to Twilight? If anypony knows it would be her."

"COLD" A booming voice shouts. Pinkie and I turn to see Wrath with both his hands firmly holding his loincloth, and a blushing Rarity levitating her measuring tape nearby.

"I knew you were sensitive to cold!" Rarity shouts. Wrath scowls and turns up his nose as Rarity returns to measuring, this time at his neck.

"And what about Wrath?" Pinkie asks slowly. "He is taking the whole Shendu thing better than he should. Almost like he knows something we don't." I squint at the disgruntled human, Rarity snaking around him with a maniacal grin on her face.

"He definitely knows something." I agree. Pinkie releases me and makes her way over to Twilight. She pokes her in the muzzle and pulls down her book. She then begins to whisper in her ear. Twilight looks worried, then nods and whispers back. Pinkie points to me, and I reflexively hide behind my mane.

"Twilight said we'll talk tonight." Pinkie whispers to me after a moment. I peer out of my mane and see the smiling pink mare.

"OK"

Rainbow Dash<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The door to the farthest storage car clicks shut behind me. I turn and look into the mostly empty room. Most of the baggage that was brought was put into the first storage car, so this one nearly empty. It has a good amount of free space. Perfect for teaching someone how to properly fly.

I look at Shendu, who is standing in the middle of the room flexing her wings. I approach her slowly. Her eyes follow me as I circle around her. Her form is completely normal. Aside from the slightly larger wings, she looks like any other pegasus filly.

Once I finish my circle, I address her.

"Shendu, have you ever flown before?" She nods, then shakes her head.

"Only once, but it was out of reflex. I did glide a few times though." I pull one of her wings taut, and run one of my primaries down the length of her wing. The spell Celestia cast completely mended her wings, they are in near-perfect condition, aside from a few days of little to no use. I move to the other side and do the same to her other wing.

"Out of reflex huh?"

"Yeah, Spike scared me and before I knew it I had my back to the ceiling." Weird. It's not unheard of for a pegasus to fly out of fear. But...She was a monster wasn't she? Why would spike scare her? How could he?

"Alright, try to fly." I stand on front of the filly while she stares at me nervously.

She raises her wings and begins to beat them sloppily. She moves a couple inches off of the ground before losing her balance and tumbling to her side onto the ground. I shake my head.

"Alright, lesson one. You have to move your wings at the same time. Once you have them as high as they can go you need to beat them at the same time. Try again, this time focus on that." She gets up from the ground and nods. She concentrates and her tongue peaks out of her mouth. Her wings beat and she raises a little higher off of the ground than she did last time, before she tumbles to the ground again.

She groans from the ground. I giggle.

"It takes practice, you'll get it eventually. Now, again!" She raises up, and takes the same pose.

One crash later- "This is gonna take awhile." Shendu whines.

"Yes, it is." I agree. "But I didn't get to be the fastest flier in Equestria overnight. Now again!"

Princes Cadence sits on the crystal throne. Her eyes are shut and her horn is alight with powerful magic. A small nudge to her side causes her eyes to slowly open. In front of her stands her beloved Shining Armor. At the sight of him she smiles tiredly.

"Thank you." She mumbles, her eyelids fighting against her.

"Cadence, please. Let me take over the spell. You need sleep." Shining says, nuzzling his bride. She wearily shakes her head.

"You don't have enough power Shining. The..... *YAWN* The Crystal Empire is much larger than Canterlot. And Canterlot did not have dark magic being thrown at it regularly." Shining frowns.

"It's better than no shield. I know you're an Alicorn, but even you can't keep this up forever." Cadence straightens her posture and yawns again. Then determination overtakes the drowsiness in her face. Her eyelids having lost the battle.

"I don't have to keep it up forever. The call for help reached Celestia. I know it did. She will help, I am sure she is already on her way."

"Even if she does come herself. It would take her days to reach here." Shining retorts.

"That's what I am counting on. It has almost been two days already. She should be here soon. In fact, could you have a lookout posted in the direction of Canterlot? Just so we know when they arrive?" Shining looks at his wife, conflicted. After a moment he nods and smiles. He pulls Cadence into an embrace, one she readily accepts.

"I will do as you ask, but promise me that if it gets to be too much, you will let me take over." Cadence's grip on him tightens.

"I promise." Shining releases her, and turn and slowly trots out of the room, giving glances back to Cadence who is watching him with a small smile.

"I will be back before too long!" He shouts as he opens the throne-room door. The door shuts with a thud and Cadence is alone in the room again. Her smile morphs into a frown.

"I hope so." She whispers to the crystal walls.

"I think I've got it!" Shendu shouts, her wings beating rhythmically. She is hovering just over Rainbow Dash's height, and has been doing so for the past five minutes.

"Great job kid!" Rainbow exclaims. Joining her in the air. "But I think we have been back here long enough, I'm getting hungry. The others should be eating by now, lets join them." With that she begins to walk out of the room. I follow her with a spring in my step. I can actually fly! This is what I have always wanted!

We begin to pass through the second storage car. Wait, no it isn't I always wanted to... to... What did I want? My steps slow to a halt. I did not always want to fly, back in my old body I wanted.... I wanted.... I... I can't remember.

I look down at my hooves and take a few small steps forward. I hear the door ahead clink shut as Rainbow Dash moves into the guard's car without me, but I can't summon the will to follow her. The motion has become to routine, walking on four legs. I feel like I have been doing it for years, when it has not even been a week.

I try to remember what it had been like, walking on two legs or using my claws and walking on eight but... I can't remember. I lift up a fore-hoof and examine it. The black fur looks pristine and incredibly soft. I turn my head and stretch a wing. The black feathers spread apart as I stretch it further. When I first got this body I had no idea how to even move my wings, but now? They feel so natural. It's like I have had them all my life...

I try to think back to my old body, but I can hardly seem to recall anything. I remember......hunger and, and blood. But no actual memories. I remembered some yesterday, but they are gone. It's almost like I never even had that body, like a dream... fading away.

My musings are interrupted by the door creaking open again. Contessa's head pops through the doorway.

"If you are hungry, your companions are eating now." She remarks, her tone emotionless.

"I'm not really hungry." I respond. I'm not sure if there was ever a moment in my old body where I wasn't hungry. Contessa raises a brow and enters the car, shutting the door.

"So I have a question for you." She starts.

"Yes?"

"What is a filly like yourself doing on this train to the Crystal Empire? I was told that the human would be bringing a filly with him, but that was the end of it." She doesn't know what I was?

"Umm, it's like you said. I have to be with Wrath. So if he goes, which he did, then I go too." Her face remains neutral as she speaks.

"But why? I heard what happened with him. Rescued Princess Cadence, then rampaged through Canterlot and made it to the palace. Where he killed the changeling queen and collapsed at Celestia's hooves. I know that part. But how in that time did a filly as young as yourself come under his care?"

Before I can respond the door opens again, this time Twilight steps through. She looks to Contessa, then me, and smiles.

"There you are! Come on, everypony is eating." She tells me. I scamper past Contessa and to Twilight, who opens the door for me with her magic. I trot into the guard car, the door shuts behind me, closed by Twilight's magic. I guess she wants to have a word with Contessa. Thank you Twilight! I make my way through the guard's car, luckily I'm ignored by the guards as they too are eating.

Finally entering the car with Wrath and the others, I see something that makes me feel an emotion I have never felt before. I see Wrath, with a fluffy blue and white coat and matching pants, but that isn't all. He has on a frilly, fluffy, tiny hat that barely goes ear to ear.

The sight is so unlike what I know of the human, and so unlike what I expected that I find myself on the ground, crying with laughter.

A unicorn stands alone, watching the wall. What little sun there was is falling, and darkness is about to reclaim the landscape. In other words, Sombra's attacks are about to resume. There had been a mere fifty guards assigned to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, to cover the whole of the perimeter, they had to be spread very thin. This guard in particular was facing toward distant Ponyville.

The nearest guard is roughly one mile away in either direction. But the lone guard here was not worried. He knew Princess Cadence's shield would hold. He was here only as reconnaissance. To keep watch, which had also been his job back in Canterlot unsurprisingly. But he wasn't complaining, because at least this was interesting.

It is almost hypnotic to watch Sombra's attacks. The massive hunks of crystal were his first tactic. But they harmlessly broke upon the shield. The second was this weird black fog that spread over the shield and attacked every stop on it at once. That didn't work either. In the last attack. He had simply barraged the barrier from one direction with pure dark magic, it failed as well.

The guard finds himself almost excited to see what the shadow of a king is going to do next. He is frightened of course. But beneath the disguise that all guards wear to make them look the same, is his cutie mark, a light shining into blackness. His special talent is exploring things that seem scary. So this guard is very eager to see what is about to happen.

So he waits....

And waits....

and waits...

Midnight passes, and the guards eyes are glued to the landscape, nothing. Then, something appears, walking towards the barrier. At first the guard simply can't see it, but as it gets closer, the light from his horn should at least somewhat illuminate it. But all h can see is the silhouette of a pony. As it gets closer the guard becomes confused, he should definitely be able to see the pony's features by now. The guard's jaw drops as the figure reaches the barrier, and is fully illuminated.

It is a pony, with no face, made of blackness. The area just surrounding the figure is darker the nearer it is to it, almost as if the figure was actively sucking the light out of the air. The guard watches with rapt attention as the silhouette rears back on its hind hooves, then slams the barrier with its fore hooves, the silhouette then shatters, but the barrier trembles slightly from the blast; something it has never done before.

The guard searches at the surrounding landscape, and to his horror sees hundreds of them approaching from the landscape, emerging from the darkness. As far left as he can see to as far right as he can see, the figures appear in even greater numbers as they appear from the blackness of the night. Hundreds quickly turn to thousands, and the guard finds that he is no longer eager to see what is about to happen.

Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight stand in a small circle, having just sneaked to the back of the train.

"So girls, what exactly did you want to know?" Twilight starts, looking from friend to friend. Pinkie immediately raises a hoof, widening her eyes and begins to jump up and down slightly. Twilight smiles and point to her.

"OK, I wanna know why Shendu and Wrath seem so close now. I mean, friendship being magic aside. When she was the monster he literally tore off one of her arms, and now she is content to use him as a pillow? Something is funny about that Twilight." Fluttershy nods as Pinkie speaks, then both look to Twilight.

"Alright umm, well. I have two theories." Twilight says. "The first, is that the spell Celestia had us cast is also effecting Shendu's personality, who she is fundamentally. So that the only thing that would remain the same between pony Shendu and Maiden Shendu is their memory."

"That is disturbing on so many levels." Fluttershy mutters. Pinkie nods.

"What is the second theory?" Pinkie asks. Twilight smiles slightly.

"It is a little better than the last one. My second theory is that pony Shendu is forgetting Maiden Shendu altogether. If this one is correct she may soon wonder why she can only remember back to several days ago, when her body seems to be eight years old, give or take a year. But honestly girls, this is only speculation. We wont be able to tell what is going on with her for sure until the spell stops changing her."

"The spell is still changing her?" Pinkie looks around confused. "I thought it was over right after we used it and we saw Shendu.....um. You know. hurt." Fluttershy shakes her head.

"Her body is still changing. Her eyes are getting lighter every day, and her mane was grey when we had her at dinner with Celestia. Now it is light pink." Fluttershy explains.

"I didn't notice it was pink?!" Pinkie exclaims. "How could I not have noticed?! I'm like the pinkest one here!" Twilight and Fluttershy share a long-suffering look, then both smile.

"Did you girls have any other questions?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, how is Wrath dealing with Shendu as well as he is?" Twilight sighs.

"From what he has told me, Wrath can meditate and visualize the souls of anypony. My guess is that whatever is going on with Shendu, he already knows what it is, so it isn't bothering him. Or at least he isn't showing it."

"I wish he would tell us." Pinkie says, her ears drooping, Flutershy sags her head and Twilight just looks down.

"Me too Pinkie, me too."

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay guys! Holidays and all that jaz.
If anybody sees some stupid typo or grammatical mistake I missed, please let me know.

Anyway. Here is Chapter 18.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!