Time Vigilante: The First Reset

Chapters

Act 1: Forging Identities
Act 2: Secret Agents
Act 3: You really ARE an idiot.
Act 4: Let the Trials Begin
Act 5: Nightmare Finale
Act 6: Welp. There Goes the Neighborhood.
Interlude: Dirty Queen (Cloppy Fun!)
Act 7: Meet the Equestria
Act 8: New Arrivals
Arc II, Act 1: Magician Space Catt
Arc II, Interlude: Switchy Shenanigans
Arc II, Act 2: Substitute Souls
Arc II, Act 3: Concequences
Arc II, Act 4: Feels
Arc II, Act 5: Problems
Arc II, Act 6: Deals
Arc II, Act 7: Bad Time
Arc II, Act 8: Unexpected Developments
Arc II, Act 9: Gryphon's Rage
Arc III, Act 1: Goodbye Old Friend
Arc III, Act 2: Magic Chimerism
Arc III, Act 3: Poison Clop
Act III, Interlude: Day After
Arc III, Interlude 2: Chaos on Dustbowl

Act 1: Forging Identities

Ugh... did anyone get the number on that tank? I swear, I've never hurt so much in my life. Well, I guess there was that one time I actually got run over by a car, but that's another story. Back then, I could tell what hurt. This time, I can't even feel my fingers or toes, and it felt like I had several bones or body parts dislocated, or sticking out of my body. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that I could still feel my body, I'd be inclined to believe my spine was split it half and torn part way out of my back.

Wait a second... somethings not right. Sure, the pain comes with the feeling of your body parts being forcibly rearranged, but... shouldn't I be bleeding?

...I'm not bleeding. That's... I don't even... what? Okay, I need to check this out. I opened my eyes... only to immediately shut them. GOD that hurt! Seriously, how is it so bright!? I should at least be able to filter some of that light in through my eyelids, but that isn't happening. Now I really had to see what was up with my body. I tried to move my arm in front of my face to shield myself from the inevitable light, but I found myself struggling with my motor functions.

Now I was scared. This has never happened before. When I got hit by that car, I could at least move what I wanted, how I wanted, but now my arm doesn't seem to remember how to move the right way anymore! It's like some stupid troll went and remapped all the controls in my head to be backwards. I decided to forgo the remapping of my mental controls and simply opened my eyes. It hurt, but I had to see what was going on.

I blinked through the sunlight, making out small details at a time. I registered a tree. Then the foliage of a forest. Then the forest itself. I could just barely see the edge of a forest. There was what looked to be a cottage nearby, but it seemed inactive at the moment, aside from a borderline horde of little animals going in and out of it. It was kind of weird, but I could care less at the moment. I had to see what was up with my body.

I turned my head to look down at my body, a little freaked out by the fact that my neck felt longer (At least I could move THAT right...), and I froze at the sight that greeted me. This wasn't my body. The stump-ended hooves and black chitin hide, coupled with an orange thorax, or whatever it is on my barrel was evidence enough to that conclusion. I moved my tongue to feel my teeth and found two large fangs protruding from my mouth.

I'm... a changeling... though strangely, I was missing the holes in my legs, and I could feel that I still had hair, despite it's unfamiliar positon resting on my head. Now I had greater interest in my surroundings. If I was a changeling, I'd better not let anyone see me. I could feel that I was lying in a bed of some kind. I looked around at the forest around me, but I didn't see anyone. I looked at the cottage, and the lights were on, but I couldn't have heard anyone inside over the noise the animals were making.

As I looked around, I didn't notice a little white bunny hop over to me and promptly kick me in the face. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to get my attention. I stared at his scowling face for a few moments, too stunned to begin to interpret what he tried to tell me in charades afterwards. There was only one bunny I knew who had the balls to simply go and kick someone like that. Angel Bunny.

Seeing I wasn't paying attention, he kicked me again. Thanks, Angel. You just stopped me from panicking. "Sorry, what?" I asked. I almost winced at the slight buzz in my voice, but that hardly mattered. Usually if something shocking happens, I have to force my mind into either a state of analysis, or ignorance to ensure my sanity, but with Angel there, there was no chance of me remaining in Ignorance Mode.

"I said, it's about time you got up, ya lazy bug!" I heard a voice say irritably. I also felt the irritation the bunny was radiating... I blinked. It appears as though communication with animals is possible for changelings, though with shapeshifting powers, I suppose it's only natural. "Come on! Fluttershy said she needed to see you when you got up!"

"Okay, just hold your horses. It's not every day you wake up in a body that's not yours." I pretended to snap at him. He needed to be taught some manners, and one way or another, he will learn.

And thus began the marathon of tumbling changelings and laughing bunnies. By that, I mean I spent about an hour getting laughed at by Angel whenever I failed to get my motor functions working properly. It was like playing QWOP, it was so frustrating! It was about as hilarious to the bunny watching too, but I managed to get it right after a while or so. My controls weren't fully remapped, but at least I had a full range of motion to go with. After getting mastery over my motor skills, I moved on to my next order of business.

"Alright, time to learn shapeshifting!" I proclaimed to my audience.

"Shapeshifting? How are you supposed to do that? Isn't that powerful magic or whatever?" Angel questioned. I felt his confusion as he asked.

"It's actually the innate ability of changelings. I just need to figure out how I'm supposed to do it..." I trailed off as I mentally went over the number of theories I'd read in fanfictions. One of them said all you had to do was imagine the pony you wanted to be, and that's it. I knew that couldn't be right, because it was too simple. Besides, the changelings actually use magic to change. That much I'm sure of. The question is, though... how do I access my magic reserves?

I did some searching through myself, and soon enough I found a sort of energy in my head. Not knowing how I was supposed to approach such a thing, I simply gave it a mental poke. I was thrown off my hooves by the recoil of the magic blast that was sent out of my horn. Luckily, it passed the trees without so much as scratching them.

"Okay... note to self: don't poke the magic." I said, as I continued to stare after the quickly vanishing green dot in the distance. I could feel the fear from the many animals around me as I sat my head on one forehoof in thought. Maybe I needed to mold that energy. I just need to keep it away from my horn while I work with it. Okay, here it goes.

I pulled my magic away from my horn, and molded it into a pony shape. As soon as I did that, the impression of a character creator popped into my mind. There were presets of all the ponies I already knew, and then there was the "custom" option. I went and selected the Fluttershy preset and pushed my magic into my horn. A flash of green fire crossed my vision, and I saw Angel's look of shock.

"How do I look?" I asked Angel in Fluttershy's voice.

"Like a unicorn version of Fluttershy." Angel responded. I raised an eyebrow, but I remembered a fact from that one story where Applejack was always a changeling. She'd said to become an Earth Pony, she had to push her magic into her hooves... maybe I need to do that. Push my magic into whatever body part that corresponded with the race. It'd certainly make disguising a bit harder, but I can deal with that.

I took the magic from my horn and pushed it to my small, insect wings, and another flash of green later, I could feel large feathery wings at my sides. "How about now?"

"Now it's a perfect copy! But can you act the part?" Angel asked, a hint of a smug tone in his voice. I nodded confidently.

"Yes, I'm sure I can. Where's Fluttershy, by the way?" I asked. Angel shrugged.

"Probably with that stupid bird band or whatever. Nowadays, she's always out, helping with preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Hardly has enough time for us anymore. That's okay, though. I'm always here to watch over everyone." Angel said.

"Summer Sun Celebration, huh?. Wait, didn't you say Fluttershy would want to see me when I got up?" I said to distract myself from the fact that I'd shown up during the very first episode of the show.

"Oh yeah." Angel replied blankly. "Let's go then. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting." He said while hopping away.

"Hold up. Wouldn't want to spread confusion at there being two Fluttershy's walking around would you? I'm going to make a Custom Pony." I explained. I closed my eyes in concentration and used the Character creator feature of my magic. Luckily I knew just what I wanted, so I didn't dwell too much on the options. After about a minute, I was a light orange coated unicorn mare with a flame colored mane and tail and emerald green eyes.

Summer Dash, at your service! Backstory and cutie mark prepared in advance! "Alright, let's go." I said before departing with him. He led the way first through the cottage, then on the path to town. Meanwhile, I fell into deep thought. From the info I'd gotten from Angel, nopony knew what a changeling was yet. I also learned that the Summer Sun Celebration was coming up, and the only time you hear about that in the show is in the first episode. So, by logical conclusion, I'd landed in Ponyville the day Twilight shows up.

Yep. I'm screwed. Oh well, best to live it out before Nightmare Moon comes to plunge Equestria into eternal night.

"Hey, who's that?" I heard Angel ask. I followed his gaze up to follows a chariot of royal guards delivering a certain purple unicorn to Ponyville.

"That," I answered with a false smile, "is the personal protege of Princess Celestia. She's here to oversee the preparations to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Whatever. Come on, Fluttershy's just this way. I can already hear those birds." Angel said irritably. I snorted at his attitude and just followed him again. A minute later, and Fluttershy was within sight.The second I saw Fluttershy, Angel spoke up.

"Alright here she is. Now I'm outta here. I can hardly stand to be around such noise!" He whisper yelled before taking off for the cottage. I merely chuckled and shook my head at his antics. Then I carefully approached the shy pegasus while she directed her bird band. I sat there and appreciated the music as she directed it. As soon as she stopped the birds to correct the off-tune one, I stepped forth.

"I have to agree. Maybe you could bring that volume down a bit too. You're over powering the other voices." I said softly to avoid scaring them. Fluttershy turned in surprise, but she didn't leap up or squeak in shock. She was frightened, but not massively so. I gave her a kind smile, which she returned in kind.

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. Who are you? Um... that is, if you don't mind me asking..." She asked. I waved off her concern.

"It's fine. I'm Summer Dash. What's your name?" I asked, allowing my voice to raise a bit. I felt the animals become a little unsettled at the rise in my voice, so I decided not to allow my voice to rise any higher.

"Oh, um... my name is Flutter..." she introduced, trailing off at the end. I raised my hoof to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you Fluttershy." I said with a smile.

"You heard that?" One of the birds nearby asked incredulously. I never even bothered to react to him. Fluttershy took my hoof and shook it, saying it was her pleasure.

"Guess I'll see you around, Fluttershy. See you at the Celebration?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. I'll definitely be there." Fluttershy said, waving goodbye. I waved back and then trotted off. My next destination was around the library, where I knew I'd find Twilight. I picked up my pace, heading towards the massive tree in the center of town. I took the road that lead straight there, and somehow, I managed to avoid bumping into Pinkie Pie as I passed Sugarcube Corner. Though I did see her… right by Twilight, where the chariot had landed. I waited for Pinkie to gasp and dash off, before trotting up to her.

“Hehe… Don’t mind her, she can get a little crazy when it comes to new ponies. That was Pinkie Pie, and she knows everypony in town.” I said in a friendly manner.

“That seems to be an understatement…” Twilight muttered. I rolled my eyes but giggled anyway.

“Yeah… and so is claiming her to be absolutely impossible. If you see her do something that, really in all honesty should be impossible… for the sake of your sanity, do not question it.”

That certainly got her attention. She raised her eyebrow at me in curiosity. “Why?” I chuckled at her, before settling on the simplest explanation I could give her.

“You’ll see. In any case, you’re here for the Summer Sun Celebration, right?” I switched topics real quick. “To oversee them, as per the Princess’s instructions?”

“Yeah… how’d you know?” she asked, curious, and most definitely suspicious. I shrugged with a bit of a smile.

“I know a lot of things I shouldn’t, thanks to a certain cinematic show back where I come from.” I hinted at my knowledge. That did nothing for her suspicion, so I did something to try and quell it. “And no, I’m not a spy, or anything. I’m more like.... An Oracle, I guess, cause I know one version of the future. And it is one hell of an extensive future I know.”

“....Riiiiight.... I’m just going to… go.” I could tell she didn’t exactly believe me. I rolled my eyes at her as she started trotting away.

“Alright, fine. Don’t believe me. But feel free to find me when you learn that saving the world from Nightmare Moon really does rely on you making friends.” I called out after her. I started trotting in the opposite direction, but I kept a count in my head. 3… 2… 1…

“This town is full of crazy ponies!” ...Damnit, I was hoping she’d turn around and start sending me a barrage of questions. Ah, whatever. I just know now she’ll come looking for me after the whole thing’s over.

After a while of walking aimlessly through town, I sighed. There was no way I was gonna skip out on getting myself into the Mane 6’s story, not when I was already involved to some degree. I was gonna face Nightmare Moon with them, whether I was actually a good help or not. Hehe… maybe I could help fight Nightmare Moon, like stall for time or whatever… Ah, it’s hopeless. I can’t help them now, not in as useless a state as I am now. I… I need to train up, get my body working at peak capacity before I go anywhere with Twilight… Maybe I could find another changeling in town to help me out. There has to be somebuggy. I could probably find a changeling by looking for background ponies that are also helping with the Celebration’s preparations.

Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Looks like I’ve got my own mission now. Confidently, I trotted onwards, hoping to find changelings in disguise. Hehe…. If all else failed, I could just stand in the middle of the market and drop my disguise there. I’d definitely get a changeling’s attention then.

I suddenly get distracted from my thoughts by a strange smell. It was sweet… like sugar, but not only that, it was somehow familiar… and absolutely intoxicating. Wondering what the hell it was, I turned and followed the smell like a moth to a flame… and considering what happened next, I’d say that’s an accurate description of my trance.

“Hmph… can’t believe they sent a newbie after me.” was all I heard before I was suddenly overtaken by a massive pain in my skull, followed by darkness swallowing my mind.

Act 2: Secret Agents

I groaned once again as I slowly came to. Thankfully, I was more aware of my body than when I woke up the first time, and it reminded me of what had happened, especially the pounding headache I felt and the bruise that was making itself known with each throb of my skull.

“Oooooowww… Okay, who the hell hit me, and why?” I groaned out, hoping my captor was there. I couldn’t open my eyes, since there was something covering them real tightly, so I just settled for listening. By my voice though, I could tell my disguise was gone. So whoever it was knew I was a changeling. As well, I was tied down to a chair with… Ropes, it feels like.

“Oh? I thought you knew. After all, every changeling that’s ever came into my shop has only ever come for one thing…” I got a response, as I’d hoped, but it was full of hate. Suddenly, my blindfold was ripped off, in a painful way, might I add. What stood in front of me then was a scarred changeling, though from the mane on it, and it's blue irised eyes, I could tell it was BonBon. “My capture and prosecution. Or did you not know I had a bounty on my head?”

“Uh… I only just woke up as a changeling this morning.” I replied with heavy snark. She blinked, and then facehoofed.

“Great, now I’ll have another ‘forbidden crime’ being held over my head… At least tell me you know who made you a changeling? Converts are forbidden, unless it saves a pony’s life.”

“I think it’s more of a what then a who, and the answer may involve dimensional shenanigans” I answered. “So uh… yeah. Can you let me go? I just wanted to look for a changeling that could help me learn how to use my new body.”

“...You know you sound crazy, right?” Bonbon replied. I just chuckled.

“Well, maybe I am crazy, but I’m not mentally deficient.” I shot back. “I can still remember who I am, what I am, and I can still perform advanced algebraic equations.”

“...Whatever. Fine, I’ll show you the ropes. We just gotta touch horns.” she said, though clearly she still didn’t believe me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her when she said ‘touch horns’ though. It sounded a lot like ‘touching tips.’ Little pervy, but the way she said it still fits the action.

“Alright… just be prepared when you go diving at my memories. There’s a lot of porn, and I haven’t exactly sorted out where they sit in my mind.” I warned her. She recoiled and stared at me in shock, probably for being so blunt.

“And… how’d you know I was going to do that?” she asked cautiously.

“Because I’m crazy… Oh wait, you meant my reasoning. It’s because I can tell you still don’t believe me, and you were just looking for an excuse to get in my head. I welcome you there, because you need to see proof of my sanity and I wanna be able to use this body well, especially for what I have planned.”

“And what exactly do you have planned?” she asked with a glare.

“A fight with Nightmare Moon.” I responded bluntly with a straight face. She blinked and stared for a second… before bursting into hysterical laughter. I held my face with probably more intensity than I needed when she started laughing, and waited for her to notice.

“Oh wait, you’re serious. Let me laugh harder.” she said when she did. Then she proceeded to fall on her back from laughter. I sat there smugly, knowing she’d know the truth when I shoved my memories up her horn.

“I told you I might be crazy. But you have to be if you’re going to be prepared for anything. Just look at my memories, alright?” I told her. She rolled her eye and get herself back to her hooves as she calmed her laughing down.

“Alright fine, but when I see how mad you really are, I’m tossing you out to the mob.” she replied with certainty. I just smugly smirked at her as she brought her horn to mine. Within practically an instant, but what felt like several minutes, I felt memories rise to the surface of my mind… mostly the ones about porn though.

“... Dude, you are one fucked up human.” Bonbon eventually stated as she stared semi-blankly into my eyes.

“I try.” I said with a shrug. “...By the way, did you know you smell like chocolate? It’s really distracting, I think I’m getting high or something.”

“... Dear Celestia, you’re weak willed.” she muttered with a deadpan.

“No, I’m just pointing something out. And if I’m not resisting something, it’s because I chose not to. In any case, could you at least teach me how to use magic? I’d rather not die simply because I tried to push myself doing something completely out of my league.”

“Like fight Nightmare Moon?”

“No, like cast some sort of uber powerful, sustained laser or something. I already kinda fucked up by shooting a plasma bolt into the sky. I’m lucky I didn’t hit anything.”

“That was you?! …. Actually, now that I think about it, it isn’t that surprising. Still, do you know how dangerous that was?”

“Yes, but I had to learn how to disguise somehow. I wasn’t just gonna waltz into town looking like I’m gonna eat everypony. But that was the point. I still gotta learn so I don’t fuck up again and actually hurt anyone.”

“You’re reckless… hopeless… You’re going to get yourself killed. You know that, right?”

“Pffft, naw. I’m too determined to let myself die. Come on, I gotta learn something at least, before night falls.”

Bonbon groaned, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with me any longer. “Fine, but we’ll do a trade. You bring me love, and I’ll teach you something. I guess it’s something like a vendor system from those video game things I saw in your memories.”

“...Oddly convenient.” I commented. Bonbon finally cut the ropes binding me to my chair. As I got up, she brought our horns together, and I felt… something new stirring among my memories.

“There, you know at least the basics all changelings should know now. Everything from Hive Mind connections, to Emotion draining. Passive feeding will only get you so much, and it causes ambient emotion to sometimes overshadow what you feel. Don’t let it stay ambient, if it comes to that.”

“Gotcha. Makes sense too.” I replied to acknowledge that I’d heard her.

“By the way, I’m curious… why’d you pick out a female disguise? I noticed in your memories you were male, but...” Bonbon asked.

“Because reasons.” I replied. “Very perverted and possibly stupid reasons.”

“...Oh dear Celestia, why…?” Bonbon groaned. “Look, just… go. Go and get some love or something, I don’t care. You’re giving me a migraine.”

“Okay.” I then proceeded to say whoop! Repeatedly on my way out like Zoidberg. I had a big laugh once I got to the top of the stairs… Oh, I guess I was in an underground interrogation room. How typical. Wait...This doesn’t look like BonBon’s shop. Where the hell did she take me? Bah, it doesn’t matter. I just gotta find Sweet Apple Acres, and feed the fuck off the familial love I know I’ll find there.

Step 1: Disguise. I quickly used that Character Select thingy in my head to once more return to my disguise of my favorite werepony OC, Summer Dash.

Step 2: find out which way to go for the Apple farm. Thankfully, I was close enough to the treebrary that I could just look down the right road to find out where the farm was. As well, it didn’t seem like the sun had even reached its peak for the day yet, so it could be around lunch time. I must not have been out of it for that long. I passed Twilight again on my way there, and she stopped when she noticed me.

“You again? Are you following me?” she asked. I stopped and gave her an innocent look.

“To be honest, I was thinking about it, but I kinda need to forge my own path if I’m gonna help you take out Nightmare Moon.” I answered.

“How do you plan to help?” she asked skeptically.

“Just try and keep her attention with a duel while you figure out how beat her.” I said reasonably. “I know I don’t stand a chance in a full fight though, but I’ll do my best.”

“Well, that’s more sensible then I expected to come from you. Still, I don’t have time for this right now. Maybe talk to me about it later when I don’t have a schedule to keep.” she said.

“Sure. But I won’t promise not to run into you again later.” I said with a chuckle. With that, the two of us went our own ways again, though not before I heard Spike whispering overly loudly about me being really crazy.

The rest of my trip to the farm was pretty uneventful, but when I did get there, I felt a steadily heavier atmosphere of something pleasant, Love I’m guessing, as I got close. Feeling some of it myself, I had to fight the urge to simply give in to the emotion and run out there in all my chitinous glory, calling them family. That wouldn’t exactly go over well, for obvious reasons. So, I used that memory Bonbon gave me to start pulling the emotion I was sensing, which let me feel my own emotions clearly. It was relief in case you were wondering.

By the time I spotted AJ bucking trees, I was feeding full-draw on the ambient love, and it was threatening to overshadow me again. It wasn’t too bad though, I could at least keep my own emotions separate from the Apple’s emotions. It might make me a bit friendlier than normal, but not enough to fall out of character. I’ll definitely have to come back for the leftovers tomorrow, when the family reunion’s over. That is, assuming this emotion ambience thingy actually works that way. I didn’t notice AJ walking up to me in my emotion-entranced state, or my trance until she said something.

“Howdy, pardner. Here for tha treats, or somethin else on yer mind?” she asked, sounding amused. I shook myself out of my trance quickly to answer.

“Oh, er… sorry. Got kinda lost in the emotions of this place. I’m… kinda unusual that way, being sensitive to other’s emotions.” I answered with a blush. I held out a hoof for a shake though. “I’m Summer Dash, and I’m new to town, though I suppose you already noticed that.” Thankfully, my half-truth didn’t set off any alarms for her, and she eagerly accepted the hoof shake. It was jarring, but I expected it, and was thus prepared.

“Well, mighty nice ta meet y’all. Ah’m Applejack. Ah’m mighty sorry if tha emoton thingy gets too much fer ya though. The family reunion is happenin today, an’ we’re all excited to share our recipes at the Celebration.”

“Heh… Yeah, I can feel it. I’m fine now, but… if it gets more powerfull, then… I may need to go elsewhere for a bit. To recover, you know?.” I said, though I was focusing more on the slight pain in my hoof.

“Alrighty, just make sure an’ let somepony know when ya gotta run.” AJ said.

“Yeah, I will.” I said with a warm smile. “So, I think I’d like a taste of those treats you mentioned. They’re apple related, right?”

“Darn tootin’! Wouldn’t be Sweet Apple Acres if we didn’t have apples.”she replied with a grande smile of pride.

“Hah, yeah, that’s right.” I agreed with a chuckle.

“Let’s go, we still got more food than a buffalo could eat in a year.” AJ invited, leading the way. I happily followed, letting the family’s excitement fill me as I greeted each one. Once each one was introduced, and I somehow managed to commit them all to memory (probably something to do with that advanced memory info Bonbon put in my head that I still haven’t processed yet,) I got to the part where eating was involved. The first treat to appear on my plate was an apple fritter, courtesy of the pony with the same name. When I took a bite of that thing, I froze.

There was no words to describe how that apple fritter tasted… It was good on its own, the cinamon on it appealing to my tastebuds. But there was something else in there, something that made the taste absolutely heavenly. It had love, joy, determination… but best of all of that… was pride. This pony was proud of their cooking, and damn right they should be.

“Holy… Oh Sweet Celestia, this is the best damn apple fritter I’ve ever tasted!” I shouted, getting a surge of joy and pride from the pastry’s chef. It was enough to make my mouth water. Sweet… delicious… pride…

“Wow, you certainly liked that, huh? How ‘bout another dish?” another Apple, this one I think was Red Gala, offered, presenting me with and Apple Cobbler. Eagerly, I scooped it up.

“Thanks, Red Gala.” I replied, before biting into it. Again, the incredible taste of emotion and food mixing together assaulted my brain. This dish had a particular spice of excitement to it, as well as the pride I tasted earlier. I was at least prepared for the tase this time, but I still melted at the flavor.

This went on for some time. Apple would present me with another piece of heavenly food, I would complement their cooking and the next in line would come. By the time we were all done, my gut had actually distended from the amount of physical food in it, and I could feel the onset of Emotion Overdose.

“Woo, boy… I… I think I’m getting… too full to continue… AJ, I gotta go. Before my… condition starts acting up.” I said as I turned to her.

“Huh? Oh, darn… nearly fergot about that. Ya got a pretty tough mind if you could stay this long. Alright, Ah’ll help ya out.” she said, before helping me get to my hooves. With her help, I managed to get outta the orchard before I started leaking.

“Phew… thanks, Applejack. I was cutting it a bit close back there…” I said once we were at the edge. However, I grimmaced as I felt something leaking from my nose. I brought a hoof up to wipe it away, and it came off… orange? No, wait, it looked more red than orange. Based on the info from Bonbon, it was a mix of the Apple Family’s Love and Pride. Heh… Well, I guess I’ve reached my limit.

“Oh my.. Are y’all okay? It wasn’t bad, was it?” AJ asked, worried from seeing the red. I chuckled.

“I’m fine. And no, it wasn’t bad… just overwhelming. I should be fine once I get it looked at. Don’t worry, I can make it on my own from here.” I assured her. I could sense she doubted me, but she didn’t speak up on it. After all, I did tell her I’d get it looked at.

“Alright then… I’ll see ya at tha Celebration, right?” she asked. I nodded as I answered.

“Eeyup. Wouldn’t miss it for the world…” I chuckled internally at the hidden meaning I put into that reply. AJ actually chuckled a bit and her doubts lessened. Guess the fact that I’m making little jokes made it more clear that the situation isn’t as bad as it might look. “I’ll see ya later.” I said, before turning and leaving. Next place I was headed to, was straight to BonBon. I used some of the Overdose to push my mind, letting me connect to Bonbon through a hive link, though there was just the two of us in it.

“Heya. I’m coming back, overdosed on Pride and Love.” I said through the link, once it was made.

“Oh boy… just be careful nopony sees the liquid emotion, okay?” she replied.

“Applejack already saw it, but I passed it off as blood, and convinced her it was nothing serious.” I reported. “Glad I warned her I was sensitive to emotion early on.”

“...Well, that’s a stark change to your earlier stupidity. I guess you can be clever when you need to be. Come on over to my shop, and we can do the transfer there.” she said.

I started tracing the hive mind signal to Bonbon, though to continue holding up the connection, I had to use more of the energy I had, thankfully bringing me out of overdose, but then I stopped to preserve what was left… and then I somehow walked through the Rich Bitch neighborhood.

At first, I tasted pride in the air, though it was weak. I could sense that it was pretty strong though. When I looked around though, I spotted Filthy Rich, and...Spoiled Rich. Hatred flooded my veins at the mere sight of her, especially knowing what I did about her. Though weather it was my own hatred, or the hatred of Nobles seeing a commoner pony, I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that I felt like biting that damn mare’s head off.

And then the whiff of smoke caught my attention, followed by a strange burning sensation in my legs. Confused by this development, I looked down… and nearly yelped out loud at what I saw. My disguise was starting to burn up. Scared, I booked it as quickly as I could out of there, following where I’d last felt the Hive Mind connection. By the time I got there, I could feel my disguise trying to rip itself apart despite my best efforts to keep my magic under control. Before it could, I leaped through the doors. Thankfully, there was only one other pony in Bonbon’s shop at the moment, and it seemed to be a mint green unicorn. Lyra, I think, though my mind was a bit fuzzy from adrenaline, and… whatever the fuck messed with my disguise. She looked unconscious though. Welp. All the better. Time to let it drop.

“Oh horseapples, what the hell happened?” Bonbon asked as she rushed over to me.

“I don’t know… last thing I remember before this started, I was staring at Spoiled Rich with hatred flooding through me…” I replied, breathing heavily. My hooves still ached, and I sat back on my haunches to rub them. However, I froze when I felt a slight bump. Looking down, I spotted a hole forming in my arm. “W-what the hell?! Bonbon, what’s happening to me?! I didn’t wake up with holes, but now I’m getting them…”

“Shit… alright, look, you’re going to need to stay low for now. You’re suffering Negative Emotion Poisoning, it can happen to the best of us.” she said, before bringing her horn to mine. Before I knew it, the ache was gone, but so was half my supply of Pride and Love. I did, however, understand a few new concepts. Like Rip Feeding, which was a stronger, more dangerous version of the drain I was taught earlier, and my current condition… Well shit. That NEP totally knocked out my magic for the next hour. I’m gonna be stuck here for a while…

On the bright side, I learned a few combat spells on the side. Now I’m not stuck with just plasma bolts. Powerful as they are, I can’t really rely on my aim. Somehow, my mind treated this thing like a video game and presented me with a bunch of different things, like a skill tree, spells, and what have you. The skill tree thing was mostly blank, except for some things I already knew about, like Changeling Mimicry and Enhanced Memory. In another “menu,” there was a log of tasks, or “quests” along with their rewards. Currently, I had three. One was to train up on my new spells, another was to assist the Mane 6 with their Nightmare Moon problem later, and the third was an ongoing one to get Love for BonBon. Glad I had this, it’d be a bitch to keep track of everything I agree or decide to do later on.

Another menu showed me what perks and status effects I had. Aside from NEP, there was also a listing for Fire affinity, and weakness to ice and dark magic. Wincing at those weaknesses, I made a mental note to do something about that. I noticed it getting added to the Quest Log, and smiled at that.

Bonbon seemed confused, yet amused at the various faces I was making. “What’s up with those faces?” she asked. “Someone else connect to you with the Hive Mind?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… no. It’s just that I’m checking out this weird video game interface I’ve got in my head… I think it’s that Changeling Memory manifesting as something I can easily understand.”

“Curious… but not that surprising. Everyone’s mind works in their own unique way. At least you’ve got the memory working easily. I knew some changelings back at the hive who had trouble working out certain parts of the hive mind for the longest time. They were mostly converts that wanted to join up with the hive, but there were a few natural born ones too.”

“Ah. Well, I guess I find it easy because I was a gamer back in my world. The interface in Borderlands was the best one for me, so my “menus” kinda resemble it. Did you see that one in my memories?”

“I think so...But I’m not gonna try too hard to recall it. Instead, I’m going to bring you some place you can practice those new spells I gave you. Y’know, so you don’t hurt yourself trying to use them later.” I quirked an eyebrow.

“Where are you gonna take me with no disguise to cover me?” I asked, with probably more snark than I should have (Yeah, that’s kind of a recurring theme…. I really need to work on that.), and Bonbon was quick to reply.

“There is a secret facility hidden in Ponyville. Unfortunately, I can’t exactly allow you to know where it is, because it’s part of… well, I’m sure you understand.” she said, leaving up to interpretation. I nodded in understanding.

“So then, where’s the bag you’re gonna put over my- MMPH!” I was cut off by exactly what I was asking about. Welp, at least I got my answer. In my surprise though, I ended up tripping over my hooves and hitting my head on a wall or something. Whatever it was, it really knocked my brain loose or something, because I couldn’t really think straight after that.

“You really ARE an idiot…” I heard Bonbon mutter.

“Oh shut up… stupid talking homicidal flower… I WILL befriend the fuck outta you, and you’re gonna FUGGIN LIKE IT!” I muttered, reminded too vividly about Flowey to be convinced that wasn’t real… however, my mixed up brain couldn’t process the danger I typically associated with Flowey until after I’d passed out.

Act 3: You really ARE an idiot.

~Agent Sweetie Drops~

...Well, that was weird. I wonder what she meant when she called me a talking homicidal flower? Based on some of that… well, I don’t know how she calls some of that porn, too much blood to be that. Her world has way too many fucked up fetishes. However, as I dwelled on what she could have meant by that remark, and “befriending the fuck out of it,” I decided it was probably best not to know. It was probably some other blood-soaked bullshit. Though I thought that gore stuff wasn’t one of her fetishes? I suppose I could just ask about it when she wakes up. Either way, I still have to get her to that training facility. Hopefully she turns out like that knuckle headed ninja one of my fellow operatives told me about. What was that anime again? Fishcake? No… Nabooru? Damnit, I know the name…

Ah, whatever. It’s been too long, I should probably meet up with that guy sometime, for some down time. Before that though, I had to deal with this idiot changeling. Hopefully she wasn’t so hopeless she’d fuck something up in her sleep.

Thankfully, the only thing that happened was her dormant body knocking the phone off the line. Though rather than get pissed, I was reminded that I had better call the other agents about everything that’s been happening. I’m overdue for a report anyway, especially after dealing with that amnesiac mint unicorn. I swear, the next human I meet is gonna kill me…

I rang up my partner, and waited for him to pick up. At least I had the luxury of knowing he wasn’t currently in the middle of a job this time.

After a moment he picked up. “Hey there, it’s been a long time, how have you been?”

“It’s been… pretty insane to be honest. I’ve got a whole load of problems, one of which is an ex-human changeling.” I replied, not bothering to hide how tired I was.

“An ex-human? How did that get here? Do you need help?” He asked.

“No fucking idea… I think she rambled some nonsense about a deal or whatever, but I was too busy worrying about her hopeless plans. Stupid drone thinks she can take on an Alicorn… pfft. As if.” I still had to roll my eyes at the idea.

“Seriously? That's one deluded changeling alright. But that mention of a ‘deal' worries me. If that's how she got here, who knows what else could come from it. I'll meet up with you in a while and start observing her from a distance. See you soon.” He finished with a serious tone.

“Good. I’m already letting her at some of the spells I know so she can at least defend herself, but having you around as a backup would be a great weight off my mind. At least then, I can focus on this amnesiac unicorn I found in the Everfree.” I said, genuinely thankful I could take my mind of the ex-human to some degree. I hung up the phone, before moving on to the drone before me. Still sleeping… Must have hit her head really hard. Hope she didn’t get a concussion. She’d be crushed that she couldn’t help anyone.

With a sigh, I picked her up and tossed her onto my back, heading to the very back of my shop to get to my private training facility. Once I got down there, I dropped the drone bodily onto the floor, and put together a quick dousing spell I copied from a Manehatten fire department to wake her ass up.

“OH FUCK! ...WHY THE HELL AM I A FISHPONY?!” She shouted upon waking up .As I stared, I couldn’t help but agree. She’d just turned into a merpony out of nowhere, whole dolphin tail and everything.

“That...is one fucking weird way to react to water. Hey wait, aren’t you supposed to be suffering from NEP still?”

“...Damnit, I’m stuck like this.” she replied after a look of concentration came and passed.

“Welp. Have fun with your new fishy parts. I have a friend I need to meet.” I said, turning around and walking out. I didn’t want to deal with that shit, but lucky for her, I had a pool down there. It was quite the journey without four hooves though… hehe. Well, if she can make it before that form dehydrates, maybe I’ll consider giving her more useful combat abilities. In the meantime, I’ve got a meeting with a friend to get to.

~Summer~

Come on *flop* it’s not that far *flop* you can do it *flop* Just one … more… *splash!* “Hah! That’s right, Nature! You can’t suffocate me!” I cheered in victory. Shocking bit of information, shouting like I did when I turned into a fish wasn’t exactly safe. I very quickly ran out of air, and had to double time it to the pool I thankfully noticed before I could suffocate. Yeah, not a pleasant experience. I mean… I could have DIED! And Bonbon left me to do just that! Though I can’t fault her for not knowing I could have, since I doubt she ever turned into a fish, but seriously. I might be hopeless, but you can’t just stick around for five seconds to help a guy out?

Okay, I’m rambling. I think I’ve got a concussion or something, my brain still isn’t on the right track… I wonder if I could use this state of mind against Discord? I’m thinking of some pretty chaotic things right now. Ooh! A few of them would be good revenge against Bonbon for leaving me to die!

Okay, come on Summer. Focus. You can’t just sit here in the pool blankly staring at the floor as you sink to the bottom like you’re dead. You’ve gotta do some… Oh hey, is that Bonbon freaking out? Maybe my death-like staring at the floor is scaring her. Time to move!

I quickly jolt into action, bolting to the surface like an arrow out of a crossbow. Wow, these fins make me swim really fast… Wheee! I’m a rocket fish! And I just slapped Bonbon in the face with my tail, and flopped against the ceiling. Ow. Despite the pain though, I couldn’t help but focus on the fact that I just slapped bonbon in the face, trout style. That thought alone brought back memories of Don’t Laugh challenges on Youtube, and I laughed my tail off on my way to impacting the floor. Right next to Bonbon, whom appeared to be shocked to the point of unresponsiveness.

“Well, that happened. Hey Bonbon? Is being slightly delirious one of the symptoms for NEP? Just curious, because I think I’m going bat-shit insane.” I asked casually after I abruptly stopped laughing.

“...Fuck this shit, I’m out.” she said, turning around again and leaving.

“Noooooo! Don’t leave me again! I almost died last time!” I whined. “...And you didn’t answer my question!”

“UGH! JUST SHUT UP!” She promptly slammed the door shut. Welp… That went well. I guess I should just get back in the water and try not to suffocate.

Phew. I think that nap really helped. Now my mind’s clearer, though I can’t really remember much… I do remember a near death experience, but that’s about it. Hmmm…. Why does everything feel so… wet? Looking around, I catch sight of… my… tail…

“Okay, when did I decide to go sleeping with the fishes?” I asked myself out loud, mostly to hear the joke as my coping mechanism. After a few minutes to get used to being a fish, I looked around at the surface. Bonbon was up there, staring at me from the top with a stern look.

“So… what happened?” I asked when I came up.

“You went And I quote, ‘Bat shit insane.’ And for the record, yes. Delirium is part of NEP, but it’s never that bad.”

“Oh. Well, now I know not to let myself eat anymore bad emotions. In any case… I think NEP’s worn off, so I could probably turn back now.” I said. I backed off into deeper water before letting my magic flare - Heh… felt good to have it back - and easily returned to my base form. With that breather out of the way, I pulled myself out of the water.

“That’s better. I think I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic in there.” I said with a satisfied stretch of my hind legs. “Anyway, where’s the shooting range? These spells you gave me would best be tested on actual targets.”

“Just this way.” she said, promptly leading the way. What I saw when we got there blew my mind though. It looked like something out of Tron. Things here looked too high tech for Equestrian society

“Holy fuck, I just walked into a Tron bunker.” I uttered out loud.

“A friend of mine put this training room together. It has multiple settings, but I think stationary targets will do for now.” Bonbon said and trotted to a small panel next to the door. After pushing few buttons I saw several small crystals, jutting from the walls and ceiling, light up. Right after that several floating archery targets digistructed in multiple places in the room, starting from about halfway across the room till the very end. I was too busy gawking at how badass this whole experience was to shoot at anything though. After a few moments of that though, I felt a slight sting on my flank that made me jump with a high “EEP!”

“Focus, you’re down here to train, not gawk at my shit.” Bonbon called from the console. Grumbling, I recalled the spells Bonbon had given me knowledge of. Mostly it was the basics of elemental magics I could use in various ways. First, there was Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth. Then there were the secondary elements, Shadow, Light, Poison, and Force. As for attacks, there’s a few basic ones the four primary elements can be tied to. The first is the channeled one, that basically generates a stream of the element, or avalanche in Earth’s case. The next level is the bolt. Don’t really have to explain that one. then, there’s the condensed explosive form, which is like the bolt, but it explodes. So it’s kinda like elemental rockets. The last one is the Nova, which in Gamer terms is the AoE cast, centered on the caster. Each primary element has their own awesome effect, but it’s advised I don’t use the Earth element while there’s something like a roof over my head. I found it somewhat amusing that Earth had more potential for collateral damage than Fire, but then again, no forest fire could compare to the damage an Earthquake could cause and fire is easy enough to control, as long as you treat it right.

So to start with, I focused on Fire, since it was the element listed as an affinity in my UI. My affinity for fire made it so that element cost half as much magic to cast, and it’s easier to cast fire magic. As well, I can learn how to control it faster than the other elements since it comes naturally to me. The first thing I did was build up the magic in my horn, before steadily binding certain molecules of the air to the magic. Then, step two, I started vibrating those molecules to create a fire. The faster they vibrate, the hotter the fire. Once I felt heat radiating around my horn, I felt a small sense of urgency to cast the spell, but I held back. I needed to make sure this wouldn’t overload, or die as soon as it was cast. After checking to make sure the magic was stable, I took aim. And finally, I cast.

“Good job, you have pretty good control. But you need to work a bit on your aim.” Bonbon complimented after I’d managed the cast. Looking up, I found burn marks on the wall a few degrees to the upper left of the target I’d fired at.

“Well, good to know my old accuracy rating still stands. I definitely need to improve on that. For now though, I think I’ll make sure I can cast the rest of those elements.”

Training went like that for about the rest of my stay in there. Stability and magic control, I found, were another affinity to add to my perks menu since I had no problems with them at all. Nothing blew up, or failed to cast and my aim got progressively better as I got used to using my head to do so. However, the problem came when I tried to apply an element I didn’t quite understand. Poison was a difficult one to cast, due in part to the fact that it’s effect had a massive drain on my magic for as long as its effect remained. The element essentially made sure the spell’s effect didn’t die the second its work was finished. And that meant a massive drain on my magic. Bonbon advised that I avoid applying any secondary elements for now, at least until I have a greater mana reserve. For now, though, I should aim to refill. Another hour or so at the Apple farm might do just the trick.

Once I was on my way with my disguise thrown back on, though, I found Twilight and Spike walking by with Fluttershy hot on their heels. Oh boy… Looks like it’s time for that party.The party might fill me faster than the Apple Farm would. With a friendly smile, I approached the trio.

“Heya.” I greeted simply. I didn’t want to run my mouth like Spike and Fluttershy at this point, because it might push Twilight over the edge. She was more annoyed by my third appearance, but was thankful I chose not to bug her about helping her. She didn’t respond to me as we walked on, but I was fine with that. I was content to hear tales of how Twilight once freaked out about a pencil box, to the point of ignoring Spike when he’d found it. Poor guy. Still, at least Twilight learned to at least consider others if she’s asked for help looking for such things in a freak out, or at least as far as I’ve heard from Spike’s tales of his life. Who knew Twilight had so many embarrassing stories? No wonder she was eager to ditch Fluttershy in the show.

Once we were at the library, Twilight started to make the excuses she did in the show to ditch both me, and Fluttershy, so I just shrugged and headed off to the right. Spotting the window I had decided to enter by, I stopped and took a cautious look around. Nopony was out and about at the moment, so I took a deep breath and designed my second disguise. A green coated pegasus, with a mane of a lighter shade of green and yellow done up in a ponytail, with golden eyes and a talent for music.

Just to be extra safe though, I looked around once more to see if there was anyone that saw me change, but thankfully, there was nopony. Cheering for my luck, I used my wings to get myself up to the window, and quietly slipped in. It was still pretty dark in there, but thankfully, I could see in the dark. There were plenty of ponies here, and a lot were looking at me. No way I could switch disguises here. Again, praise my luck, I ended up near the staircase up. So, I could easily just head up, saying I had to use the bathroom or something if anyone asked, and switch up there. I just had to chuckle at my luck though it was almost like some story where the author highly favored their character or something… I just hope Lady Luck wasn’t about to come and demand a refund though. I need to be-

“SURPRISE!”

...Well fuck. Maybe I should have just traded horn for wings in my favored disguise… Damnit, I really need to work on my foresight. Well, I need a plan.... I could probably slip upstairs while Twi’s busy dealing with Pinkie. I’ll have to go quick...

I promptly start making my way casually up the stairs like nopony’s business, acting like I belong here. On my way up, I start thinking about what I’d say to anyone that asked. Once I was out of sight though, I immediately switched my disguise back to my preferred one, changing as fast as I could. I smiled in comfort once I was safely disguised as my recognised form. But then I sensed something weird… it kind of reminded me of a soda, but with a metallic bite to it… though some part of me associated that taste with shock. But where was it coming...from…

As I turned to find the answer to that question, I found its source. Fluttershy was staring at me from the top of the staircase with her jaw dropped. I quickly put 2 and 2 together, and groaned to myself.

“Well there’s Lady Luck’s refund…” I muttered.

Act 4: Let the Trials Begin

“Y-y-you just….” Fluttershy whimpered in fear as she stood frozen at the top of the stairs. I could sense the fear, and, while thankfully it wasn’t enough to cause another case of NEP, it did leave my heart feeling strained.

“Fluttershy, please, don’t be afraid. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” I gently assured her. “And in case you’re wondering, no, that fire didn’t hurt me.” I sensed the fear ebb away, but in its place was a rising curiosity. The fear never fully went away, but it was a little less noticeable now.

“H-how did you do that?” she asked, her voice shook a little as she asked. For a split second, I considered dismissing it as “magic mumbo jumbo.” Then I remembered I’d woken up in her backyard, so she must have tended to me for some measure of time. I owe her one.

“It’s part of what I am. You remember that bug you took care of? That was me. I’m part of a shapeshifting race of creatures called changelings. We eat positive emotions, but it’s kind of hard to do that with a face full of fangs.” The new info brought Shy out of her mane a bit, and I sensed a small hint of wonder, though the rest was caution.

“You were that poor creature? You were so weak when I found you… what happened?”

“I was starving, I think. Your tender loving care fed me enough to get back on my hooves. Though uh… could you not tell anypony about me being a changeling? We aren’t supposed to be common knowledge, and what ponies do know about us assume we’re dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Why would they think that… that is… if you don’t mind me asking.” she asked timidly.

“Simply because they don’t know anything about us besides what we eat. Well, that, and because the only changelings ponykind has encountered have been the bad ones that follow evil or power hungry queens.” I replied. “I’m one of the kinder changelings.” I slowly approached as I explained, but I smiled and closed in for a hug with that last statement. She squeaked in surprise, but as I hugged tighter, she seemed to at least let go of her fear to some degree and hug back.

“Out of the way!” a familiar voice cried, rushing up the steps. Thankfully, I managed to pick Fluttershy up and move aside before Twilight could bowl us over in her hot-sauce fueled panic.Fluttershy broke the hug to stare after the purple fireball.

“Is she okay?” she asked in concern.

“She’ll be fine, as soon as she gets some water. She just drank a bottle of hot sauce.” I replied. “Come on, I know a certain spell that could help her.” I said, getting back to my hooves. Fluttershy, at the suggestion of helping somepony, followed along. For a moment I got the feeling as if I was being watched, but before I could even begin to turn around, it was gone. Shrugging it off for now though, I returned to more important concerns. As I caught up to Twilight, I prepared a channeled element spell, but I combined the Fire and Ice elements.

“Hey Twi. Got a water spell here.” I told her when I saw her. Seeing as she was having no luck with the bathroom sink, she eagerly turned to me. I chuckled as I started channeling the spell, essentially turning my horn into a faucet. Twilight was eager to drink up, happily cooling the burning fire she’d accidentally drank. Once she’d drank enough, I stopped the spell.

“Thanks, Summer… You’re a lifesaver. What are you doing up here, anyway?”

“Came to study up on various combat magic, but I can’t actually cast any of it until I see it in action.” I replied. That got Twilight’s interest.

“Why not?” she asked curiously. I considered letting my disguise drop in answer, but… Then I came up with an excellent lie.

“I’m a “learn by example” type. The pages of a book don’t really register too well for me.” I replied. And it wasn’t a complete lie.

“And what’s wrong with books?” Twilight replied indignantly. I backed up and held my hooves up in an expression of surrender.

“Nothing! It’s just the way my brain’s wired.” I said to placate her anger. She just narrowed her eyes at me, saying nothing. I narrowed my eyes back at her. “I know that look. You’re calling me a liar. Fine, you keep on thinking I just don’t like books. If I had my things with me, I could show you I’ve been making efforts to write my own.”

“Have you ever actually tried learning from a book?”

“I told you it doesn’t work for me.”

“But why?”

“You really want to know? It’s… It’s because of my special talent, see my Cutie Mark? It means “basis of magic”, my talent is to see, observe and replicate the basic magical processes and interactions of casting a spell. But I have yet to find a way to learn a spell using any other way.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize…” she started, feeling remorseful for all the accusations she’d pinned on me, though there was also a great deal of curiosity.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s helped me out of more than my fair share of scuffles.” I replied casually. “I can even copy technique.”

“Technique?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Fighting style. The one thing I gotta work on is my reaction timing though. I’m not really all that fast when it comes down to it.”

“Fighting? Why would you want to be fighting?” Twilight asked, repulsed by the idea. Fluttershy meeped and shrunk back a bit.

“Reason one: Living in bad neighborhoods, you gotta know how to fight. In those kinds of places, it’s fight or die. Reason two: I’ve known about Nightmare Moon’s return for a few years now. I’ve been preparing for her.”

“Oh my… your hometown sounds absolutely horrible!” Fluttershy whimpered. I sighed, having not wanted to cause her to pity me. Also, as a side note, pity tastes super salty. I hate it.

“Well, I suppose I can agree with preparing…” Twi said, evidently looking to see past the vulgar idea of how I prepared.

“Yes, speaking of which, I’d like to learn how to teleport. I haven’t exactly learned that one yet.” I said, helping to move along to another topic.

“Oh! Yes, I can help with that!” Twilight said, happy to teach someone new magic.Twilight started to go on a lecture, but I quickly stopped her.

“Hey, remember what I said… A lecturer's fine, but it’s too long and tedious. Learning by example is faster.” I told her. Her ears folded back in embarrassment.

“Er… right… sorry. But still, it’s dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.” she said.

“I know. The same could be said for working with magic in general. I once accidentally shot off a plasma bolt because I didn’t know what I was doing. Lucky it only burned through a cloud.”

“A plasma bolt?” Twilight asked, intrigued.

“Yeah, just let me show it off by firing at that conveniently placed plank of wood.” I said, before turning to said item. However Twilight quickly got in the way,

“Hold on! No need to be reckless here. I’m curious, but I’m not about to destroy anything to learn!”

“Uh… remeber the-” Spike tried to interject, but Twilight, blushing a little, stopped the reminder.

“No thank you, Spike. I don’t need to be reminded of that incident.” she said with a deadpan.

“Well then, I say we talk out how we’re going to take on Nightmare Moon. I’ve already found the books we can reference for help.” I said, changing the subject, readily dropping the spell issue. Twilight at least remembered my “talent” and request, teleporting over to the table as I took the proper books off the shelfs. Fluttershy came over too, curiosity and nervousness filling her as she looked over the books. I’d gotten the Elements of Harmony reference guide out, as well as the Equestrian History book Nightmare Moon’s legend could be found in.

“Wait, is that…” Twilight muttered as she approached the reference guide.

“That’s right. And I’ve been studying it. There’s six elements, only five of which are known. It says they were last known to be in the old castle ruins in the Everfree, but I’ve already been there. I’ve read into those things with my own eyes, and… well, they won’t work for just anypony. Nor will they work until Nightmare Moon is actually free.”

“Oh… Well that’s a very big problem. Any idea who they’ll work for?” she asked.

“They’ll work for the ponies that are most true to what the elements represent. One example I can think of right off the bat is a member of the Apple family. None of them can lie to save their life, and they value family above most other things.”

“Wow, that… that makes sense…” Twilight said, thinking deeply. “But… who all would fit the rest of the elements?”

“I’ll tell you one thing. Whoever can unite the users of the rest becomes eligible to hold the final element.” I hinted. Twilight blinked at me when I said that.

“You… You want that power, don’t you?” she accused. I frowned, looking away.

“I do. But fate, as well as Princess Celestia, has other ideas.” I confessed. I looked back at her. “So my plan now is to play with Nightmare Moon’s emotions while you work out the elements.”

“Wh- Play with her emotions? How do you even know how to get to her?” Twilight asked, confused. That seems to be a running theme by now.

“Look here,” I said, turning to the legend of the two sisters. “You’ve already read this, right?” At her nod, I continued. “It talks about how two sisters fought, and two was reduced to one. You have one princess on the throne right now… Don’t you think that’s a little attention worthy? Celestia had a sister. Nightmare Moon is that sister.”

3...2...1… “WHAT?!” both Fluttershy and Twilight shouted, though it was more of a soft yell than a shout.

“Yeah, I know. It’s amazing how oblivious ponies can be… Anyway, I can use that. Nightmare Moon might feel a little guilty under all her anger and envy. I can play to that, and plead with her to stop fighting. Of course I’ll have to fight as I do so. Bringing up the guilt ought to cause her anger to rise in an attempt to cover it.”

“And how exactly do you plan on surviving that?” Twilight asked, looking at me once again like I was insane. I probably was.

“Saving all of my magic for dodging and reinforcing my body against attacks. Basically, defend and dodge.” I replied. “I know anything I might even be able to hit her with will only piss her off.”

Twilight groaned. “You’re hopeless…”

“Hey! I resent that statement. I am full of hopes! And dreams!” I said in a overly theatrical manner. Twilight rolled her eyes. Chuckling myself, I recomposed myself. “Anyway, I wanna go over some of the material I’m gonna use, so you won’t be too distracted by the surprise of me using it.”

“That sounds reasonable at least. Let’s hear it.” Twilight conceded. I nodded and started going over what I hoped to say.

Finally, the time has come. Everypony was gathered for the Celebration, waiting in a massive crowd for Princess Celestia to arrive and raise the sun. Only Twilight, Fluttershy, Bonbon and I knew the sun would not be raised today. Since the party, I'd absorbed what my UI told me was a copious amount of energy from the celebrations.

The three of us watched the stars tensely, knowing the four brightest ones around the moon would soon release the Nightmare. Music went off announcing the beginning of announcements and Mayor Mare stepped forth to do them. I simply tuned her out, more focused on the stage from which the Nightmare would appear. I felt the hatred beginning to form there, and I knew Nightmare Moon had already escaped the moon. The stars simply signified when she would strike.

"She's already here." I warned Twilight. She gulped in fear, but stood firm.

"I'm ready for her." Twilight said unwaveringly. It was tough for the two of us to simply remain quiet and wait for Moonie to show herself. When she did, she put on quite a show. I couldn't help but play the Time Eater's theme from Sonic Generations in my head as she came into view.

“Guards! Stop her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” Mayor Mare ordered, but I knew it would be useless. As the guards went down, Nightmare Moon laughed harshly.

"Have I really drifted so far into urban legend that I no longer count as royalty? Fools! You have no idea who you're messing with." she spat. I just sighed.

“I can count three mistakes you’re making right now, Nightmare Moon. Want me to list them?” I called up. Everyone gasped as I spoke out unwaveringly, and Nightmare Moon recoiled as if struck. I could tell she struggled with actually taking what I said seriously, or spitting back at me. Thankfully, I didn’t immediately get a lightning bolt to the face, so that was something at least.

“Alright, I’ll bite… Tell me what’s wrong, little pony.” she said cautiously.

“First of all, you assume way too much. Your first assumption was that noone here would recognise you, much less be able to read you like a book. The second mistake is hating everything blindly, all that undirected hate and anger you use to hide your weakness is just blinding you to what’s in front of you. That weakness being that you aren’t yet at full power. And your third… is fighting for the wrong reasons.” Nightmare’s eyes widened in surprise at that last one.

“I’ll fight for whatever reason I-”

“Fine, stay weak then. But the only way you’ll win over Equestria is by fighting for what you believe in. That goes for Luna too, I know she’s in there somewhere.” Speaking that name earned me a roar of fury, and the first lick of NEP I no doubt would suffer if I kept this play up. Grimacing, I stepped back brushing my tail against Twilight to signal her to leave, and interrupted Nightmare Moon again. “We’ll settle this at the Castle of the Two Sisters, where you were originally banished. I’d hate to take advantage of your weakness so soon.” She growled menacingly at me.

“I’ll be waiting for you, but don’t expect to survive the trip!” She shouted in rage, before changing into her cloud form and flew out, and I took a breath of relief, nearly collapsing on the spot. AJ was quick to rush to my side.

“You okay, sugarcube?” she asked in worry, likely remembering I was sensitive to emotion. I nodded my head, glad to have a friend like her.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. All that hate and anger… it was painful. I can manage though.” I assured her. “It’d be bad if it came from a whole horde of ponies… Ugh, this fear isn’t doing me wonders either.”

“Let’s getcha outta here then.” she said, helping me to my hooves. As AJ headed out with me, I noticed a certain rainbow contrail heading off after where Twilight went. Evidently, AJ noticed it too.

“Consarnit, Rainbow…” she muttered.

“Let’s go, she’s probably after Twilight. I had Twi sneak out while I had Nightmare Moon distracted, Rainbow probably noticed and got suspicious.” I explained. The other four members of the soon-to-be Mane 6 joined up with us on our way out, likely wondering what that rainbow maned braggart was doing now. Just as we were leaving the building I once again got the feeling that I was being watched. I managed to look behind me in time to see something hide behind a wall and out of sight. I didn’t catch what it was, but it had a very dark colour. As much as I wanted to check that out though, I had higher priorities. NEP was getting stronger the longer I stayed near the panicked citizens of Ponyville, and I had to hurry before it advanced to the point of blocking my magic.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to reach Twilight and Rainbow having an argument, and my magic wasn’t blocked before I got to the forest edge. I stepped in between them before it got too heated. “Alright, calm down. You don’t need to be antagonizing the pony that’s gonna fix this whole mess.” I told her. That of course, got a lot of confusion and surprise out of the rest of them, save Fluttershy, who was just scared and hiding behind her mane.

“Who are you?” Rainbow turned on me right then, rather than listen to me.

“My name’s Summer Dash, and I’m not the enemy here. Besides, I’m the one that planned out that confrontation and Twilight’s escape.”

“What do ya mean by ‘The one that’s gonna fix this’, sugarcube?” AJ asked as she held Rainbow back to calm her down. I smiled as I answered.

“Nightmare Moon’s defeat depends entirely on a set of artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. Twilight here is destined to be the one that unifies the users of the known five.” I explained.

“Oooh, you mean she’s like some sort of Chosen Hero or something? I should have thrown a Chosen Hero party!” Pinkie said, getting hyped. I giggled at that.

“Sure, we’ll go with that. But it remains to be seen who most closely represents the elements. Hopefully you five are a good fit, because you’re all we have.”

“Wait, so we’re gonna be like… a superweapon or something?” Dash asked, sounding a little hyped. I nodded with a smile.

“You hit the nail right on the head there. You girls are going to be using the Elements to stop Nightmare Moon.” I said, laying it out for them.

“But what about you, Darling? What’s your role in all this?” Rarity asked. I shrugged.

“Nothing specific. I just want to make sure you all make it.” I said vaguely. I turned towards the forest, and started trotting in. “Come on. The Elements are in here.” Twilight joined my side as I went in, and shortly, after a small bit of hesitation, the rest of them followed. Rarity of course gave her expected protest of mud and crap.

As we went through the forest, we chatted about various things with Pinkie being the main instigator of each topic. Mainly it revolved around me being new to Ponyville at about the same time as Twilight, which Rainbow pointed out was a little too convenient. I explained that away as having known about Nightmare Moon’s return for years.

“But Nightmare Moon was just an old mare’s tale, how could anyone take it seriously?” Rainbow asked when I said that.

“Well, I’ve always known there’s some truth to legends. It’s up to the individual to find out how much is exaggerated or missing. After all, legends have to come from somewhere, right?” I hinted.

“Oh boy… If that’s the case, then I’m really regretting not paying attention to my history classes.” Rainbow said, dread filling her. At that moment, all conversation was cut off by the roar of a manticore.

“Damn, looks like Nighty’s made her first move…” I said to the others, bracing for a fight. I knew Fluttershy would step in though. However, as the Manticore stepped in, I felt the bite of hatred from behind us as well. Turning towards the source, I found three pairs of eyes glowing from the dark. They came out to the light revealing a trio of Timberwolves with Nightmare Moon’s hue. Well, that’s different… I thought nervously. Armed with knowledge of elemental knowledge though, I smirked.

“Hehe. Faced with impossible odds… Might as well say hello to another typical Tuesday.” I joked. Rainbow shot me a glance when I said that, just as I prepared a channeled fire spell. “I’ve got these guys, you girls deal with the manticore.” I said, fully facing the possessed hunks of wood.

“Facing us alone? You’re a hopeless idiot. Even with fire, you can’t take us all down.” the lead wolf snarled. I chuckled at them.

“Wow, is that gonna be a running theme? I’m not that hopeless.” I retorted once the others got started on their fight. The Timberwolves paused when I replied.

“Wait, you can understand us?” the one on the right asked. Instead of replying, I took a potshot at him with a fire bolt, causing his body to catch fire. He easily burned away, despite his panicked rolling on the ground. The other two stared in horror at their comrade as he burned away, and slowly turned to glare at me as I smugly grinned back at them.

“That was a dirty trick…” the left one snarled. I shrugged.

“So what? In a world that’s kill or be killed, there are no rules.” I said coldly. “And in the Everfree forest… It’s kill, or be killed, isn’t it?” With that, the wolves made their attack. I switched from bolt casting to channeled, turning my horn into a flame thrower. I didn’t stop until I didn’t feel their teeth trying to dig into me. Once all that remained was ash, I smiled to myself.

“Hehe. Get dunked on.” I muttered as I started to undo the damage they’d done to me. Glad I’d dealt with my threat easily enough, I turned back to the girls to find they’d pacified the Manticore. I strode past them, muttering praise to Fluttershy as I went past her and the manticore licking her.

“Hey, what happened to the Timberwolves?” Rainbow asked.

“I burned their bodies. Not sure what happened to their souls.” I replied flippantly. “I don’t think they’ll be bothering us for a while at least.”

“Okay… Casual killing aside, let’s move on.” she said, quickly moving along. After a while of journeying, I made an effort to make conversation.

“So uh… Anyone else got a horror film vibe from this forest?” I asked to start. Rainbow took it in a heartbeat.

“Oh hay yeah. Ponies are always telling campfire stories about this forest. This forest is home to some of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria, and they say anypony who comes in never comes out.” she said, enthusiastically sharing the tale.

“Meh. I’ve seen worse stories. You should hear the one about the Slendermane. Or the Nightmare on Elm Street.” I countered. “This would be a good setting for the first one.”

“Oh dear… those stories don’t sound too plea-” Fluttershy started to say, but then... CRACK I shouted as the ground under us fell, leaving us without a stable ground to stand on. However, I found that I hadn't moved an inch across the fallen surface.

“What the…?” I muttered as I still stood standing. My awe was interrupted as the ground I stood on started glowing a deep blue, and I felt tremors right under my hooves. “Shit!” I quickly moved to get off the glowing circle of magic, thankfully just before that circle of the ground came flying out of the rest of it, like a bullet through the air. I couldn’t rest though, as another circle came right under me again, and I had to dodge once more. This kept happening as I made my way down the wall like a spider, until finally I reached the grassy part at the bottom. The plantlife held the ground together too firmly for Nightmare Moon to launch it. Breathing heavily as I recovered from that, I waited down there for the others.

“I think we should stick to the grass from now on… Nightmare Moon really has it out for me.” I mentioned to the others when they got to me.

“How did you stick to the wall like that? Because that would be a great trick at parties!” Pinkie asked, having seen me on my way down. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity all saw it too, so no way was I getting out of that question.

“I have no idea. I didn’t even know I could do that.” I answered honestly.

“Uuuh huh…” Rainbow said suspiciously. “Come on, you gotta know something.”

“I honestly had no clue. I’ve never been in a situation that would have revealed that power!” I shot back. “Look, can we just go and get the Elements? Forget about my freaky Spider Pony powers for a second. We are exposed here, if we don’t hurry, Nightmare Moon might just collapse the cliff right on top of us.” They all looked at the cliff at that, and nodded to each other in unison. With them in agreement, I started leading the way.

Deeper into the forest, things got dark. Real dark. Even despite my natural night vision, I could hardly see. Must be one of Nightmare Moon’s curses...

“Oh, ew… I just stepped in something.” I heard Rarity complain.

“It’s probably just mud.” Rainbow waved it off. Then I heard a loud crunch, like bone breaking.

“...That’s not mud.” I stated what everyone was thinking. Almost right after, the forest took on a sinister glow, and I could finally see. But what I saw made my heart skip a few beats and my blood freeze.

“G-ghouls…” I whimpered, scared for my life. I looked around, hoping for a way to escape, but all around they were too tightly packed to allow for any escape. “Girls? Please tell me one of you know how to stop those things?” I asked, my voice quivering from my fear.

“HIT THE LIGHTS!” Pinkie suddenly shouted, causing us all to whirl around and look at her grinning face. I was stunned as she pulled a bunch of spotlights out of her mane. Okay, I know this world operates on cartoon physics. But even that’s pushing it. I thought as I stared.

“Pinkie, please tell me this is going somewhere. Just one touch from those things, and we’re dead.” I said, still shaking a little from the adrenaline my previous fear had filled me with… Wait, no. That shaking was my disguise destabilizing. I tried to get it back in working order before Pinkie suddenly started singing. To my surprise, it was the same one from the Show, rather than one fitting the Ghouls situation. As she sang and laughed though, she used the spotlights to point at the ghouls.

“Wh-wha...? Bushes?!” I sputtered with shock. How did I miss that? There were a few actual Ghouls though, but at least now I could see the escape routes. I smirked when I saw the Ghouls recoil from the light though, melting away into shadows as the light focused on them.

“Well, I guess I should join the fun…” I muttered, before grabbing one of the other spotlights and aiming it. I noticed a dark cloak vanishing behind one of the trees though, reminding me of my follower from throughout the day. As I continued using the light to destroy the actual Ghouls though, I kept an eye on that one spot where the stalker vanished. Once the song was over, I voiced my concerns.

“Girls, I think I’ve got a stalker. I keep seeing this dark cloaked figure just ducking out of sight at the last second.” I told them.

“Ya reckon it’s someone workin fer Nightmare Moon?” AJ asked, concerned.

“No… what’s worrying is that I can’t get a read on them. Normally I can track through emotion… this pony, whatever they are, is very good at hiding from me.”

“Say what?” Rainbow asked, having not heard about my sensitivity to emotion.

“Yeah, I’m sensitive to other’s emotion. I kinda had to run from AJ’s farm earlier today because there was too much of one emotion from her family.” I replied.

“An’ she got away jus’ in time too. We jus’ passed the gate o’ the farm when her nose started bleeding.” AJ backed me up.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me? If strong emotions affect you that badly… it must have been torture to be even near Nightmare Moon!” Twilight exclaimed, genuinely concerned about me.

“Yeah, like that would have gone over well. You’d probably have tied me up in some chair in the library for my own protection. Or somepony would have. Either way, my comfort is my last concern right about now.” I answered.

“Darling, nothing against your goal or anything, but maybe it would be best for you to return back to Ponyville. Who knows what will happen if she get’s to you again.” Rarity said, sounding determined, yet worried for my safety.

“Let me tell you why that’s not an option. First, something else could kill me on my way back. Like a cockatrice or manticore. Second, Nightmare Moon’s been gunning for me since I challenged her. If I left and got separated from you girls, I’d be far less likely to survive. And third, we can’t waste time having one or more of you escort me back. Besides, I’d rather die a hero than live a coward.”

“Yeeaaaaahhh…. Challenging her probably wasn’t a good idea. What did you think would happen?” Rainbow said with a deadpan. “What would you do if we didn’t come with you?”

“Then I’d drag you guys with me since I already knew you girls were the ones to use the elements.” I retorted.

“Well, you better not be slowing us down when we finally get to the Elements.” Rainbow said before we all resumed our journey.

“Oh, I’ll be slowing Nightmare down when you get there.” I promised.

Soon enough, I heard the raging waters of a river. I had to groan though. “Great… water…”

“What’s wrong with water? You aren’t a pegasus.” Twilight asked.

“Typically in video games, water is the most dangerous place to be. Even if we could survive the current, Nightmare Moon might put something in it that could kill us.” I explained. “Some of my worst experiences have been in water…”

“We’ll need to find a way across it somehow.” Twilight replied. I nodded.

“That isn’t in question. Let’s just hope there’s a way across nearby. I’d hate to have to build our way across.” When I finished talking, we emerged from the thick undergrowth to the bed of a raging river. Looking along it, I heard a voice weeping. I knew it was Steven Magnet, but I feigned ignorance.

“Wonder if that fuss is causing the rapid currents..” I muttered to the others.

“Let’s go see.” Twilight said, leading the way. Past a few bushes, we found Steven throwing his tantrum. Twilight and Rarity go to talking with him, though I watched the water for any unpleasant surprises. Like a massive predator or something. My vigilance was well awarded when I heard Steven whine about a strange blue mist drawing in a Basilisk into the river, which ruined his lustrous scales. Hearing that, I blinked and looked at him. He wasn’t toying around about it though, some of his scales looked broken and messed up.

“Did you say a Basilisk? As in a giant lizard that can paralyze you with just a look?” I ask, very worried for me and my friend’s safety. What have I done?

“The very same! Thankfully it wasn’t too hungry, but it seemed very interested in claiming this territory for whatever reason.” Steven replied. “And it had the nerve to break my scales!”

“Ugh… This guy seems a bit vain. Who’s to say he isn’t exaggerating about what caused the break?” Rainbow brashly accused.

“I can tell he’s not lying.” Rarity said. “Not much should be able to break those lovely scales. They look so well cared for.”

“Oh, yes I know!” Steven agreed.

“And that expertly coiffed mane…”

“I know, I know!”

“Along with you beautifully styled moustache!”

“It’s true! I take good care of it!”

“All ruined because that mangey basilisk!!”

“It’s truuuuuuuue!”

“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!” Rarity declared, before going up to Steven and taking one of the broken scales. Then, in a dramatic show of drama for the sake of having drama, Rarity used it to cut part of her mane off. Steven swooned from the drama of dramaness with a dramatic shout. What followed was an eye roll from me that was probably felt around the world, making my attitude about Rarity’s drama very clear.

Then Rarity started using the hair she cut out to sew his scales back together. Pretty clever, really. Much better than cutting her tail off the create a mismatched mustache that Steven somehow still liked in the show.

Before the scene could go on any longer though, a monstrous roar erupted from the water upstream, as well as the large head of a basilisk. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all immediately looked away, having either paid attention, or simply being too afraid to look. I managed to keep myself from looking despite wanting to see where the danger is coming from, but Rainbow Dash and AJ looked. Pinkie though stayed stone still, probably imitating being paralyzed or something. Thinking quick, I devised a plan to survive this.

“Anyone got a mirror?” I asked loudly, though AJ and Rainbow couldn’t answer, having been paralyzed.

“A mirror? Why would I bring a mirror?!” Said Twilight, getting slightly panicked.

“I’m sorry darling, normally I would have one with me any time I go out of town. But this was on such a short notice I didn’t have time to take it!” Exclaimed Rarity. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was too paralyzed with fear to say anything other than “meep!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t normally stash anything in the Everfree for related emergencies. I’ll have to get on that when this is over.” Pinkie said sheepishly.

“Then I guess I’ll have to innovate!” I said, eyeing the water and combining channeled ice with Telekinesis. The result was basically a magical rendition of Pokemon’s Ice Beam. The good news was that this froze a good part of the river, making it more crossable, but the bad news was the basilisk was strong enough to break free of the new encasement it found itself in. I flinched as the beast completely shattered the frozen parts of the river, but seeing the result of that, I grinned.

“Hah! Just as planned!” I said as I grabbed one of the broken bits of frozen river with TK, and lifted in up to the Basilisk’s eyes. Twilight gaped as I did so, and as the basilisk froze up with only a slight twitch.

“And that’s why you bring a mirror with you.” I said with a triumphant smile. Pinkie cheered with a massive hop.

“YAY! Summer beat the big nasty basilisk! Oh hey, and the river’s shallow enough to cross now!” Pinkie pointed out as she turned to the river. Steven, while shivering from the cold - to which I smiled apologetically - cheered as well.

“Right. Let’s get moving before Nightmare Moon has another chance to kill us.” I said curtly, hopping into the water. Well… I tried hopping into the water, but Steven’s tail swept under me before I could land.

“Here, let me help. A hero like you deserves nothing but the best!” he said with high praise. The admiration I felt from him was already making good headway on restoring what I’d used, as was the hope I felt surging forth from the girls.

“Hehe, thanks. You’ll take care of the Basilisk, right?” I asked as I traversed his tail.

“Of course, don’t you worry! That brute will be long gone before you ever pass through here again.” he vowed. I smiled and gave him a salute once I’d crossed. And once again there was that feeling of being watched. I quickly looked around and saw a blur shoot across the river further downstream. I frowned, staring at the spot for a bit.

“There goes my stalker again…” I muttered when I saw AJ noticed my stare.

“Persistent, ain’t he?” she replied. “He better not be workin wit Nightmare Moon.”

“If he is, he’s got another thing coming. So far there’s nothing we’ve faced that we haven’t overcome. We might tire out at this rate, but… I still have hope we can succeed.”

“Let’s go, sugarcube. We can’t just sit ‘round, we got places ta be.” AJ reminded me. I nodded and departed with her, the other girls having already moved on.

Finally we got to the bridge before the castle. Rainbow managed to stop Twilight from falling off the cliffs, like in the show and made the same quip about that.

“Well how are we going to get across this?” Pinkie asked with an exasperated sigh. In response, Rainbow raised her wings.

“Uh… Duh?” she said.

“Oh yeah. Hehehe!” Pinkie giggled as Dash took off and flew to the other side. As I waited for her to get back, the only thing of note that occurred before the mist rolled in was a timberwolf showing up. It didn’t really bother us, probably because we weren’t in its territory, but it did unnerve the girls.

When the mist did roll in, Twilight tried shouting out to Rainbow. But, it was no use. Nightmare Moon sound proofed those clouds, making sure Rainbow couldn’t hear a thing. I put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulders, giving her a reassuring smile.

“She’ll be back. Just trust that she won’t abandon us. She’s said before she never leaves her friends hanging.” I told her. She stared at me for a moment, through which I felt her emotions slowly boil hope to the surface of a soup of other emotions.

“You haven’t lead us astray so far. I’ll trust you’re right about this as well.” she said, returning her own smile. I nodded as I cast my gaze out across the fog. I smirked when I felt Nightmare Moon’s increasing frustration.

“Ah, there’s that Frustration. So beautiful when it comes from her.” I said, cluing in the others about Rainbow’s inevitable choice. Soon, Rainbow was back, clearing the mist with her entrance. The girls went up to her, cheering for having her back. I chuckled as I came up too.

“Yep, that’s the Element of Loyalty for ya. You definitely deserve it, Rainbow.” I praised her.

“Yeah, I know. I’m not about to leave anyone behind just because some flight crew asks me to join them. Besides, she must be stupid to think I’d believe a flight team actually exists in the Everfree.” she said, practically oozing pride. I drank up, standing back to enjoy it. “Hey, uh… you okay?” The question from Rainbow brought me out of my trance.

“Yeah… you remember how I said I’m sensitive to emotions? They also affect my magic in various ways. Pride gives me the biggest boost.” I once more hinted at what I really was. I wonder how long it would take them to find out?

“Well, that’s mighty surprisin… Y’all didn’t jus compliment mah family’s food jus ta get more pride from ‘em did ya?” AJ asked in suspicion. I shook my head.

“No, it’s just that I could taste the pride in that food too. It really did taste good.” I replied, not wanting to disillusion her about that too.

“Hey girls, we should probably keep going. The Elements are right up there.” Twilight reminded us. I eagerly joined her in that opinion, readily starting to cross the bridge… but as soon as I got onto the bridge, it snapped right down the middle, like some invisible sword cut the ropes. I braced myself with wide eyes as the bridge fell, and I only just caught sight of the girls reaching out for me.

“Summer!”

“FUCK!”

Act 5: Nightmare Finale

Hanging onto the broken bridge, I had to struggle against the worry the girls felt for me to stay sticking like a spider to the bridge. Thankfully the fall’s impact didn’t do much to throw me off, but the worry was still taking its toll on me. I still managed to climb back up though, much to the relief of the girls.

“Hehe… Did you forget I could walk on walls? Now quit your worrying. It’s making my knees weak and tastes like lemons.” I told them once I’d made it up. The joke got more relief out of them, as well as some small measure of love. Sensing that love - and the fact that it tasted like chocolate - I braced myself for a group hug. I was not prepared for a cartoon horse pileup.

“Whoa! Little too much force there, girls!” I said as they practically dog piled me with hugs.When they were done hugging, I refocused everyone on the problem ahead of us, effectively cutting off what was left of the worry.

“Looks like we aren’t getting across this way…” Pinkie muttered.

“Oh, no… this bridge was the only way we could get across fast enough. And nothing near us can be used to cross safely…” Twilight trailed off, hope fading. The others seemed to readily listen to her, and like the lost hope was a siren song, the other’s hope began fading fast.

“So this is it?! One broken bridge and we just… give up…?” I could tell that even despite the defiant words, Dash was losing hope too. Sure she could fly, but not all of us could.

“No, we still got this.” I said with far more determination than I thought I was capable of. The others looked at me, my confident smile worn comfortably. “We just gotta figure out what all we can do. Dash and Fluttershy can fly us across one by one… but that would split us up and make us easy target. We could drop a tree across, but looking around there aren’t any tall enough to do that… Come on, Summer, think. What magic do you have?” I mumbled to myself as I brought up my menu. I put in a little magic to try and let the Girls see it, but it didn’t work. I’ll have to figure it out at some point later, but for now... “Let’s take a look, Ice… I could build a path across with that! But.. no, that’s too much for me… What else… Teleport! That’s it girls! We teleport across!”

“That will be rather taxing on us, dear... “ Rarity warned.

“That’s okay. You girls won’t be needing it. I’ll be fighting Nightmare Moon myself while you six work out how to use those stones.” I replied. “Before we get started though, I need all of you to think about something you’re proud of. It’ll really give me a good boost.” I was quick to get some Pride from Rainbow and Pinkie. They both got started without question. I was met with confusion from the rest for various times through before first AJ started emanating pride, followed by Rarity, then Twilight, and finally Fluttershy. I smiled as I drank up, filling up to maximum capacity, and then beyond. Once I felt that liquid pride starting to leak from my nose again, I stopped.

“Alright, that’s good.” I said. The girls gasped when they looked at me.

“Summer, you’re… Wait, that’s not blood…” Twilight started, but then she looked at it closer.

“Nope. That’s liquid pride… heh, don’t worry, it just means I’m full. Now let’s get across.” I said, walking over to AJ, who started piecing together what had actually happened at her farm with me, based on the expression on her face. Before she could voice whatever it was she was piecing together though, I used the spell and teleported the two of us across. AJ took a moment to look around, noting I’d given the two of us a temporary privacy.

“How’d you know ah…? Nevermind. ah suppose you wanna talk about what ah figured out?” she asked. Lot smarter than she was in the show, I’ll give her that.

“I do. You’ve put together that I’m not really a pony, haven’t you?” I stated more than asked. She nodded.

“Ah have. What are ya then?” she asked, more curious than suspicious.

“All I can give right now… is a name. I’m what’s called a changeling. Maybe you’ll see my true form while I fight. But for now, I think I’d rather the others figure it out themselves as well.”

“I… I think I see what you’re doin. Layin out tha clues so it ain’t so shockin when they find out. An here ah thought you did nearly everythin the blunt way.” she said with a chuckle. I chuckled too.

“Yeah… Blunt really is more my cup of tea. Normally I’m not all that good at subtle.” I replied. Then Twilight and Rarity teleported over, with Rainbow and Fluttershy flying in right behind them. I smiled at them as they arrived, all none the wiser about what I’d just revealed to AJ. Once more I felt pride from them all, probably some unspoken agreement that I needed all I could get. Rarity and Twilight seemed a little weak in their legs, but otherwise showed no signs of exhaustion. I blocked the emotions from them, for fear that I’d be weakening them too much, but I gladly drank from the others. Once the liquid pride got running again, I stopped them altogether.

“Alright, I’m back up to full again. You girls head on in and get those Elements working. I’ve got a date with an Alicorn.”

~Rainbow Dash~

I nodded to Summer, as did the rest of us. Together, we took off for the elements, but I hung back at the door when I heard another pony’s heavy wing beats. Turning back I spotted Nightmare Moon landing a few ponylengths away from Summer behind her. My breath caught in my throat as I stared, waiting for something to happen. I hated having to sit back and do nothing… but even I knew I was no match for an alicorn.

“So here we are… despite everything you’ve thrown at us, I’m here, and at full power nonetheless.” Summer said, not turning to face Nightmare Moon.

“Yes… you certainly are a curious little pony, I’ll give you that. That is… if I can even call you a pony.” Nightmare Moon replied in an acid tone, directly accusing Summer. I expected Summer turn whip around and spit something back, but I was surprised when all she did was shrug.

“Heh. You got me there.” she said casually. Wait, what?! What is she-?! Wait… The emotion thingy… the sticking to walls… I don’t even know where she came from. Has she been lying to us the whole time? No… I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she isn’t a pony, but she’s still my friend. I looked back up in time to find Summer slowly turning around to face Nightmare Moon with a neutral frown.

“Let’s set the terms for this fight. You still have honor after all, don’t you?” Summer asked, the frown turning into a smirk for now. But the way she was looking at the alicorn… it made a shiver run down my back.

“Of course. I am the Princess of the Night. Even whelps like you deserve that much.” Nightmare Moon spat back. Summer’s grin only grew wider. How the hell is she just standing there and taking insults like that? Is she really going to accept that crap? I wondered.

“Good. Then the first rule is no death. This is a duel, not a fight to the death.” Summer declared.

“That is acceptable.” Nightmare Moon nodded.

“Alright… the second rule is the losing terms. The duel isn’t over until either party submits defeat.” I blinked. Already, I could think of a number of loopholes that specific term could present, having been friends with a gryphon who tended to play dirty like that. Was Summer planning something?

“Fine, what else?”

“If you lose, you need to give up your host. Let Luna live her own life, and you will forever be expelled from her body.” Summer declared. At that, I raised my eyebrow. Was Summer suggesting a parasite of some kind? And how the hell does she know Nightmare Moon’s real name, if it even is? Nightmare Moon on the other hoof seemed to be shocked speechless.

“How? How did you know?” Nightmare Moon demanded. Summer chuckled softly.

“Let’s just say I know a lot of things I shouldn’t. As for what happens if I lose? I’ve already made a deal prior that will send me home if I fail, so I’m not that afraid of dying. Still… I hate my world, so I’m determined not to go back.”

Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrow while my jaw dropped. HOLY BUCKING TARTARUS, SHE’S AN ALIEN?! Summer has a lot of explaining to do when we finish this.

“Your world? Well, aren’t you a strange one… Well then, unless there’s anything else, let’s get started.” Nightmare Moon said, getting into a battle ready stance.

“Yes, let’s…” She said with a slightly sad tone despite the smile on her face. After a moment, I heard the sound of a piano playing a sad song… The song seemed familiar to Summer, likely one she’s heard play many times now. But even still, she tensed as she started singing.

“Listen and hear a song nature is singing,

Sit down a while and watch the stars a twinkling,

A pleasant breeze flows by, leaving a trail of...tears…

This… is… your… fault, right?”

Summer gazed at each think as she sang about them, seemingly letting her guard down… Nightmare Moon seemed to tense up more and more with each thing mentioned, but when Summer said tears, Nightmare Moon looked away, staring at the ground… was that the beginning of guilt? Summer sighed at the end of the verse, before Nightmare Moon suddenly bolted forth in an attempt to strike Summer down. But even as Summer dodged each attack, she sang.

“Standing in the castle of old,

Who thought we’d be here like this together?

On a gorgeous night like this, I ask…

Why is it that you fight?”

When Summer sang the question, Nightmare Moon hesitated, giving Summer time to put some distance between them. But Nightmare Moon didn’t give up. She charged up a powerful beam, and launched it haphazardly at Summer, making it really dangerous, but easy enough to dodge. I leaned forth, drawn by the intense fight, and the emotions that were felt. Even I could feel the sadness.

“I believe there was a time

Where we could be friends and things were better

Playing good pranks, enjoying laughs,

Can we go back to that?”

As she sang on still, Nightmare Moon kept on the attack, firing lasers and throwing punches, but I could see the song was taking its toll on Nightmare Moon. Her aim was getting way off, almost like… someone was trying to throw the aim off. Maybe Summer was right? That there is something controlling that pony? My breath caught in my throat when Nightmare Moon managed to actually hit Summer at the end of that verse.

“If you’re in there listening… Luna

just please let go of the power

And let’s please forget all of this.”

That verse brought Nightmare Moon to a stop, head hanging low. But I noticed a slight glimmer, a tear, falling to the ground. Then Summer did something I couldn’t believe was possible. Her body burned up in green flames, each lick of it like the leaf of a tree… and out of the fire came Princess Celestia's body.

“Even after what you did she believed in you,

‘Til the end.”

After that verse, Summer grimace, and the fires came licking away at her body again, this time leaving nothing but… some kind of alien bug pony. She had slightly different proportions to her body, closer to that of a stallion, but what do I know about alien ponies. She also had a few bits of what looked like an extremely short mane and tail around some weird fin-like things. The sight of Celestia’s form melting away into that though set Nightmare Moon off, and she shouted in rage as she shot off another beam, striking Summer in the chest. I was scared for her… but she still got up, albeit weakly.

“Looking at your face right now,

That expression tells me

I can't afford to leave it to them.

Turn this path around, wipe your dirty hooves clean.

Give up!”

True to the lyrics, there wasn’t a trace of Equinity left in Nightmare Moon’s face. Just a homicidal, murderous look. Something tells me this “Luna” couldn’t resist the parasite thingy anymore. Summer managed to tackle Nightmare Moon to the floor, in an attempt to pin her down as she sang out that last line, but Nightmare Moon had no trouble throwing her off, and even less aiming another blast. I stared in horror as I saw Summer’s now bleeding form standing back up. No, Summer… please, Don’t risk yourself like this… She’s too far gone now, the rules don’t apply anymore! I tried to beg mentally.

“Please don’t… fight back…

If you’re my friend…

Please…”

Summer pleaded as she continued to dodge. I noticed holes in her legs, growing for whatever reason… Is that what negative emotion does to her? If she keeps fighting, she’ll die from the emotions more than anything. Things aren’t looking good for Summer.

“Listen and hear a song nature is singing,

Sit down a while and watch the stars a twinkling,

A pleasant breeze flows by, leaving a trail of -

How could you have done this?”

For a moment, saw pain and guilt come back to Luna’s face. It was enough for Summer to recover a little, but then it was gone.

“Is there still a glimmer of hope?

Will you chose to do the right thing?

Please now, friend,

If you’re there.

Have a change…Of heart.”

By now, Summer was breathing hard, and she looked too exhausted to dodge anything else. She looked at Nightmare Moon as she approached with a defeated look, but Summer refused to submit defeat for whatever reason. Did she still think there was a chance?

“Listen and hear a song nature is singing,

Sit down a while and watch the stars a twinkling,

What a nice night…”

Seconds after, the piano stopped. Then Nightmare Moon swung her hoof with a triumphant smile on her face. Crack! Summer’s body crumpled down onto the ground, limp and her horn… it flew off, tumbling over to me. I could only stand there and stare as greif filled me.

“Summer…” I heard AJ’s voice beside me. I was so wrapped up in the fight, I hadn’t noticed her there… was she there for the whole fight?

“Hmmm… it looks like she hasn’t been sent home yet. I wonder what the details of that deal was?” Nightmare Moon’s voice snapped me out of my despair. Then I saw her aura around Summer’s head, in all reality a mind reading spell of some sort, but I assumed it was probably a spell to finish her off or something.

“SUMMER! YOU CAN’T DIE, NOT LIKE THIS! GET UP! Please… get up…” I cried. Normally, I’d deny ever crying… but in that moment, there was no hiding the tears on my face.

Nightmare Moon snapped her head towards us, probably because of the interruption, and I saw something strange, an odd glint in the forest on the other side of the ravine. She was just about to take a step toward us when something hit her in the back and exploded, making her skid about two pony lengths away from Summer.

“What the buck?!” I shouted, trying to get a good look at whatever the hay it was. And then I saw… there was a dark figure standing above Summer, it was shaped like a pony, but wearing a black cloak, making me unable to see just who it was. The only thing really visible were it’s eyes, pure white glowing eyes looking at Summer from the darkness inside of the cloak.

“You did good kid, I’ll take it from here, you just rest up.” It… he said with a deep, hoarse voice before looking at Nightmare Moon. Wait… could that be the stalker? I noticed Summer looking up at him weakly. And she seemed to think the same.

“H-holy shit, it’s the pony version of Batman…” she joked weakly. Whatever Batman is… Nightmare Moon only glanced at Summer for a moment as she got herself up, before focusing on the greater threat.

“Who the hell are you? Another wannabe hero? Or are you just trying to take my victory for yourself?” she spat, pissed at him. AJ nudged me, drawing my attention to her.

“Hey Dash… is it just me, or does Nightmare Moon look a little worried there?” I looked again, actually reading into her.... And yeah, she does look a little worried. Could this guy have a lot of power then? Maybe enough to actually beat her?

“Yeah… Let’s go grab Summer while Nightmare Moon’s distracted.” I said, taking wing. AJ nodded and readily joined me.

“A wannabe hero? Unlike the kid I have experience, and I don’t want to take anything from you, I just want you to give something up.” The...Batman replied, getting into a readied stance. I noticed Nightmare Moon gritting her teeth as we took Summer and carried her away.

“Then I’ll have to stop playing games.” Nightmare Moon replied. Getting into a battle ready stance as well. Around her, phantom swords formed, all poised to lance right at Batman.

“Figures.” Batman replied and formed his own weapons, a sword, almost as black as his cloak and strangely shimmering, appeared levitating on his right side. On his left was a floating orb of some kind of energy. As much as I wanted to stop and gawk at the epic show I was about to witness, I had to get Summer away from Nightmare Moon. Focusing on where I was going, I ducked into the old castle, shouting to the others.

“Girls, Summer’s down!” I shouted as we carried her. At that moment there was already another explosion from outside. They all turned towards us with horror. Once we’d dropped her off, I turned towards to door again. “Sorry. As much as I wanna help Summer recover, I gotta head back out and make sure that new guy wins.” I explained, before heading back out.

What I saw was something unbelievably awesome! Nightmare Moon was in the air and controlling her swords to go after Batman. Meanwhile, Batman was just sliding across the ground, like if it was ice and dodging or blocking every strike. That small energy orb was flying around Nightmare and shooting her with beams of magic, forcing her to split her focus between dodging the beams and attacking Batman. Batman suddenly shot up after Nightmare, somehow jumping higher then should have been possible, and aiming his sword to strike her. Nightmare noticed and brought two of her swords to block, and another to strike him from the side. Seeing that, Batman let his sword strike the Nightmare’s defending swords and grabbed the hilt of his sword with a really dark grey hoof, dark enough to be almost black, and pulled himself up, throwing himself over the attacking sword and above Nightmare. Nightmare frowned and got ready to strike him again, when she was hit by a beam from the other side. She turned and saw the orb floating there, shooting again. She moved to block it with a sword, when another beam hit her in the back again. Whirling around she saw Batman standing on his floating sword and shooting another beam at her from under his cloak.

I heard hooves coming up beside me and saw AJ joining me in watching the show. “I uh… don’t think he needs any help.”

Batman’s beam hit Nightmare square in the chest and sent her back to the ground. More frustrated then injured, Nightmare shot out from the dust cloud with an angry roar and sent all eight of her swords at Batman from various angles. Batman and his orb started rapidly shooting down the swords, getting four of them to bounce away before the rest came in close. He flipped off from his sword, dodging one of Nightmare’s. Then he managed to shoot down another, before quickly blocking the third with his own sword, while reaching the peak of his jump. That unfortunately left him without a means to defend himself from the last one, which flew at him from a side at a high speed. Batman narrowly avoided it by throwing his orb at it, sacrificing it in the process, as he finally bounced off the sword he was blocking, he failed to notice the Nightmare was nearly upon him. Noticing her at the last second, he managed to throw up a barrier to defend against a point-blank beam. While his barrier held, he was thrown on a collision course with a castle wall. When the beam let down, he was already halfway to the wall.

Then he did something unexpected. He aimed himself headfirst towards the wall like an arrow. With a barely audible *click* two clasps on the back of his cloak clicked free, revealing two holes, from where a pair of impressive bat-like wings emerged, allowing him to pitch upwards and barely avoid the wall. As he rose up, he lost speed and started flapping to stop at a hover, looking back at the gaping Nightmare Moon.

“Holy buck, he’s an Alicorn?!” I exclaimed in shock, staring at him.

There was a faint smirk visible under all that darkness in Batman’s cloak, that only caused Nightmare to grind her teeth.

“I wasn’t going all out on you before, but don’t expect that now!” Nightmare roared at Batman and started shooting at him with beam after beam. Batman dodged them all, his wings making it quite easy for him to maneuver in the air, but he had a few close calls, making his cloak a bit torn at places. Batman then made himself two more swords and charged Nightmare. She summoned back her eight and also charged at Batman. They clashed in the middle, sending a small shockwave from the clash. Nightmare immediately used her larger supply of swords to push Batman back and overwhelm him, but it wasn’t easy for her, as he was dodging and putting up last second barriers quite skillfully. But even that wasn’t enough, and Batman was sent crashing into the ground near us. As he got up he briefly held a hoof to his head and I heard him mutter.

“Damn… it’s already starting, my time is running out.”

“That doesn’t sound good…” AJ muttered.

“You mean all that awesomeness has a time limit?! OH COME ON!” I shouted, outraged. “Ugh… I’ll get the girls so we can cover for you.” I volunteered. I knew he was on our side, so why not? Rushing back inside, I called out to the others.

~Summer~

Oh god, this fucking hurts like hell… it was like getting my dick ripped off. Testicals too. I tried to thank Rainbow for at least getting me back to the others… but then I noticed something. I couldn’t sense any emotions anymore. Nor could I taste anything, not even the lush air of the forest. Did… did having my horn punched off remove my ability to eat? Oh god, this is a true nightmare… I quickly checked my status menu, and saw the Silenced debuff right beside NEP. The debuff is normally associated with the cancellation of magic… but this one is described as exactly that. I can’t use magic at all… and that means feeding too.

“Fuuuuuuuck… I really should have thought that through better…” I groaned out loud.

“Gee, ya think?” Twilight snarked. “That was absolutely insane, Summer.... And by the way, you have a LOT of explaining to do.” she said, gesturing to my chitin covered form.

“Hehe… Yeah, I’ve been dropping hints here and there so you guys could figure it out. AJ found out first. The point was to make it so the final reveal wasn’t such a big shock.” I replied in answer.

“Well, you did a good job of that… by shocking us with almost dieing!” Twi shouted at me. I waved a massively hole ridden hoof at her to calm down.

“Calm down, will ya? Your anger’s just gonna make the Negative Emotion Poisoning worse…. Or would if I could still sense or eat any emotions…” I told her.

“B-what? You… You can’t eat any emotions anymore?” Twilight asked, shocked speechless.

“I need my horn to do that.” I answered. Fluttershy’s hooves shot to her mouth as she realised the implications, Twilight recoiled in shock as she finally noticed what was missing from my forehead. I heard a thud coming from behind me, followed by a sound of a balloon deflating turning around let me see Rarity just laying passed out on the floor, that bit of news was probably too much for her… or she imagined what it would be like if she lost her horn. Next to her was a teary eyed Pinkie with fully deflated mane.

“Summer? Y-you’re not g-going to starve, a-are you?” Finally asked Fluttershy after a few moments of silence… or as close as you can get to silence with a fight going on outside. I sighed.

“Yeah… I probably am.” I replied with a defeated tone of voice.

“B-But *snif* I didn’t even throw you *snif* your ‘Welcome to Ponyville‘ party yet.” Said Pinkie, really on the verge of breaking down crying right then and there.

“That’s okay, Pinkie. I counted Twilight’s as mine as well.” I said with a smile.

“But… but then if you went away forever like that… We could have had so much fun together…” Pinkie whimpered.

“And we still can. Listen… I have a plan” Hopefully that would restore their hopes, because I really don’t have a clue how I could come back from this. Thankfully, they were all ears. To stall for time, I told them about how I’d felt two sets of emotions from Nightmare Moon in that fight. One was guilt and despair, the other anger and hatred. I explained how Luna and Nightmare were two totally separate identities… and that gave me an idea.

“If we can separate the two, and I can get the Nightmare to take me as host, I could potentially use her to fix the damage done to me. Though if that’s not enough, then… Well, I suppose you girls could blast me with the Elements. They’ll fix what Rarity did to her mane, so why not fix what happened to me too?”

“Summer, wait a moment. If Nightmare takes you as her host, wouldn’t she just take you over too?” Asked Twilight. I shook my head.

“No, because I’m not emotionally unstable. The only reason Luna’s still possessed is because the Nightmare tricked her, and now she’s too guilt ridden to fight back. I’ll be too calm and rational to be taken over.” I claimed.

“You can’t be sure that’s how it works! You could just be too weak to resist, she will just overpower you!” Twilight almost shouted back at me, it was clear she didn’t want me to die, but at the same time she didn’t believe Nightmare could be controlled. I just chuckled at her.

“Twilight… My mind is far too hard to break. I’ve seen things that would give demons nightmares. And yet, here I stand before you, calm and sane as any adventurer. My dreams are full of nightmare fuel, yet I don’t consider any of it a nightmare. The Nightmare can’t break me. I can break it. Oh yeah, and did I mention I only woke up as a bug pony at the very moment you got to Ponyville, Twilight? I used to be a bipedal, mostly hairless, highly evolved ape.” At that point, I was sure I was bragging, but I needed to get the point across. Needless to say, the four present were shocked speechless.

“Holy buck, he’s an Alicorn?!” I heard Dash shout from the door. I blinked as she said that. A male alicorn? That’s not… That shouldn’t happen. I moved to get up, but Twilight held me down.

“You aren’t going anywhere.” Twilight said defiantly.

I sighed. “Fine… I’ll stay away from the fight.” I grudgingly agreed. “But what about you girls? Maybe if you fight together or something, you’ll hit a deus ex machina moment and hit your Harmonic Awakening or some shit like that. By the way, how’s the progress on the that going?”

“I’ve tried everything I can think of, but so far, nothing…” Twi replied. I chuckled.

“Well try this. Accept true friendship into your heart. These artifacts are based entirely on that bond. You just need to feel it.” I explained.

“OH COME ON!” I heard Dash shout. Everyone turned to her at the door, where a moment later, Dash came flying through. Right after her though, Batman was thrown through the wall, smashing it in the process. AJ was also tumbling through with a big hoof mark on her cheek. Nightmare Moon stared with contempt down at Batman, noting in particular that one of his wings was torn. I could only stare as Nightmare Moon picked Batman up helplessly in her telekinesis, and just threw him back out through a window, whose shattered glass cut further into him, and he was sent falling into the chasm.

Gritting my teeth, I growled slightly. My echoey voice had the extra effect of my growl sounding extra primal. “Looks like it’s time for the final showdown. Show her what you girls are made of.” I said, putting Determination into my voice to give the girls a morale boost. When Nightmare Moon spotted me though, smirking and not breaking down like earlier, I saw a faint expression of hope on her face… but it only lasted two seconds before the Nightmare took back control.

“You see that girls?” Rainbow said with her own smirk. “Luna’s got hope! I say we show her it ain’t for nothing!” The girls cheered together, taking stances as they got ready to fight. Rainbow was the first to strike, zipping forth to deliver a blow, and AJ was running up from the other side. Rainbow was easily blocked, and all Nightmare Moon did about AJ was kick back a hoof, which threw the earth pony into a wall with an agonized scream. Nightmare Moon tilted her head forth to shoot Dash too, and she was thrown into a wall too. That immediately crushed the sense of hope we’d built up.

“Fuck… Twilight! Try using a few spells!” I shouted. Twilight nodded, charging up what looked like a teleport, as well as a beam blast. I smiled as I saw her pull it off… only for the blast to leave nothing suggesting Nightmare Moon had been hurt.

“Huh. That tickled. My turn.” she responded with a phantom sword that went straight at Twilight’s horn. My eyes widened as the blade cut the horn down the middle.

“Twilight…” I muttered. Then she turned to Pinkie and Rarity, who were both staring at Nightmare Moon in fear. Neither of them stood a chance… In the blink of an eye, both of them were neck deep in the floor. Then… She slowly walked towards Fluttershy, the intent to harm her clear in her eyes. That was the last straw.

“Girls… It can’t end like this… You were all supposed to win… If you don’t win, this world will be gone forever… You’ll never have fun together…” I called out to them. This was such a horrible idea… I should never have come. Maybe I really am… Hopeless…

“He he… Summer is right girls, think of all the smiles and sounds of Laughter we would miss out on!” Pinkie piped up. As she spoke, I saw one of the Elements pulse a pink color...

“Uhh… Ah Honestly can’t tell where you get all this stuff, but ah’ll be damned if we don’ give it our all!” AJ said as she pulled herself out of the wall. Another one of the Elements pulsed orange.

“Right! What kind of Loyal friend would I be if I left you all hanging!” Rainbow's words made another pulse red.

“P-Please… miss Nightmare Moon, would you Kindly stop hurting everypony? And… maybe let Luna go free?” Fluttershy asked, and though her words were making yet another element pulse yellow.

“Such uncouth behaviour! A true lady must be gentle and Generous, not a brute like you!” Rarity said as she pulled herself out of the floor. The last element pulsed too, and I felt my hope returning.

“You may have taken away my Magic Nightmare Moon, but you can’t take away our Friendship!” Twilight defiantly joined the others. The very air pulsed as she stood against Nightmare Moon.

“WHAT?! But you were beaten! I won! There is nothing you can do to stop me!” Nightmare slipped into denial, fear clearly shown on her face.

“No… This isn’t over yet Nightmare! We can still stand together! As long as we have the will to go on, then there is still Hope!” I replied defiantly, feeling something pulse within me. I gasped… judging from what’s been going on… that can only mean I… Well shit. I guess there’s more than six Elements. I turned to the girls with a serious look. “Girls, when we power up the Elements, we all need to give it the same command to make it work most effectively.” I advised. Thanks to my changeling ability to scan things as they work, I actually did know this. “So, what we need to do is ask it to heal us, and then move the Nightmare to me. Alright?” Though they were hesitant, they nodded. They had all heard about my little Nightmare Fuel speech. Set in the knowledge we’d all give the same command, I nodded to Twilight.

“Let’s do this.” We both said simultaneously. With that, the light show began. Each element hovered over their respective owners, mine and Twilight’s being the last ones, as they materialised above us.

Nightmare however wasn’t just going to stand there. “YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!” She screamed at me and started charging up her horn, but she was having problems with doing it, as if something was holding her back… Luna!

All seven of us started levitating in the air, moving to form a circle with Nightmare Moon in the middle.

“No! NO! If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!” Nightmare got her magic back in working order and took aim at me. With the Elements already working to heal us all, we were all pretty much just floating targets for her.

“No! Summer!” Rainbow shouted, when Nightmare’s intentions became perfectly clear, if she can’t win, she will at least disable the Elements by taking me out.

Just as Nightmare was about to fire her spell and end me, my attention was drawn to the hole she created by tossing Batman through. I noticed an odd glint of light right by the ravine.

“NOW! Say goodbye to Summer Da-Aaaahhh!” Nightmare screamed out as she was hit in the back of her head by a beam of magic, sending her aim off and instead of hitting me, her beam harmlessly exited through a broken window. All of us turned to look where it came from, and we saw Batman standing right next to the broken bridge on the other side of the ravine. While his cloak was in tatters it still hid almost all of his defining features. I saw that his wings were once again hidden, his left eye was scrunched shut and the light in his right was flickering. While it surprised me and the girls to see him standing there, Nightmare was just frozen and unmoving from the shock of seeing him up and not dead. I just smirked as we all finished healing, mine and Twilight’s horns having grown back. Next up, separating Luna and the Nightmare.

“Relax, Nightmare. You aren’t gonna die. But you won’t be bothering Luna for a long time, either.” Twilight promised. Our elements each fired forth a beam, converging in the middle, just above Nightmare Moon one by one. My element was the last one, and it seemed to turn the whole beam golden as it rained down upon Nightmare Moon. I grinned widely as I shouted out in victory.

“Get dunked on, you megalomaniac!” I said as I gave my element the command to move the Nightmare to me. Nightmare’s body started distorting and splitting into two, after a second there was the small form of Princess Luna laying on the floor and a mass of darkness floating above her. I saw Nightmare’s eyes inside that darkness, and they were wide with fear as it started being sucked into me through my element. But almost immediately after the eyes were absorbed, the beams of magic from the Elements faltered and the connection I had with the rest of Nightmare broke. There was a sound of shattering glass and the cloud of darkness started rapidly expanding. At that moment there was an explosion of energy from the point of where all the beams were merging with one another, the darkness was dispersed into a thin fog and thrown out of the windows.

As the Elements powered down, I took notice of how each stone dispersed, each particle making their way to their wielder's necks, and Twilight’s crown forming. When we all touched down, a wave of weakness washed over my body. I felt so tired… despite my attempt to stay standing, blackness washed over me. At least I had the comfort of knowing I wouldn’t be out for long.

Act 6: Welp. There Goes the Neighborhood.

When I awakened, I could already hear the girls fussing over something… something about alien bugs? They must have been up already... I groaned as I sat up. “Yeah… definitely not looking forward to the next time we use these things…” I muttered as I held my horn.

“Oh, you’re up…” Twilight started, but I held up a hoof to stop her.

“Look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do. A lot has happened…” I said waiting a moment for my headache and hornache to clear up. Then my Menu popped up automatically with a notification, as well as a couple “quest complete” popups. I blinked in surprise at the first notification.

Level Up!

Scout Form Unlocked!

Magic Capacity Increased!

Emotional Resistance Increased!

F̸̧̀͝p̨̛̀͘g̢͜k͘͏̶̸̕h̛͟í̶̕ ͏̨͜͞F҉̷̶̢͟f̷̵͟͝v̸͘͘z̴̛͠ Unlocked! Ability unrecognisable until conditions are met!

D͢͜x̢̡v̸̶͜͝҉e̛̕҉̶q̨̀́ ̷̢́̕͝W̢͜͠͝g̶̀͝͠c҉҉̷o̕͜m҉̶̀ń̛͏̵̛m̸̨͜͡ Unlocked! Ability unrecognisable until conditions are met!

Illusion Affinity Perk Gained!

Dark Magic Vulnerability Weakened!

Shapeshifting: Intermediate Unlocked! Small Non-pony forms now available!

Element of Hope Bonded! Would you like a tutorial? Y/N

“Well, that’s new.” I muttered as I looked at the notification. I also noticed a new tab blinking at the top of my vision titled Allies, so saying no to the Tutorial for now, I checked it quickly to find that the Mane 6 and Nightmare were listed there. Batman was too, though he was listed with quotation marks to show it was just a temporary nickname.

“”What? What’s going on, Summer?” Pinkie asked, not knowing what I was seeing.

“Uh… Well, ever since I woke up in this body, I’ve had this sort of video game styled menu in my head. It’s uh… got a new tab, and it’s saying I just unlocked a bunch of stuff. It’s also saying… I got a new form or something?”

“You what?” Twilight asked, struggling with what I just told her. Dash however, seemed enthusiastic.

“Lemme see!” she said, sounding hyped to see what it was. Pinkie was right by her side. The others didn’t seem to know what to make of anything.

“Uh… alright, just let me see if I can figure out how to make the menu show up for you girls…” I replied, before delving into my effects menu to check the details on the Illusion affinity. I frowned as I noticed it didn’t take away the mimic limiter. “Crap, I still gotta mimic to learn spells… You wouldn’t happen to have some kind of… I dunno, projector spell or something Twilight?”

“Can we focus on other more important matters first, please?” Twilight said with a sigh. “You still have to explain yourself.”

“Right… Hehe, got carried away there. Anyway, as Dash probably heard, and told you girls, I’m from another universe. I chose to leave because my world has become nothing but a cesspool of idiots, where the people that are actually worth something are too far and few in between to count for anything. My world is a loathsome place, where you hear of murders and crimes just about every other day. This world is known of, though in all honesty, noone really believes it to be real, they only think it’s a world of myths and stories. I made… some kind of deal to get here, choosing specifically to become a changeling because I always considered shapeshifting to be one of the best powers to have.”

“That certainly explains a lot… but why shapeshifting? Why that?” Twilight asked. In answer, I transformed into a fluffy little fox.

“Because then I can do this.” I said in a really high pitched voice similar to the chipmunks, crouching down with my tail curled around in front of my face. Fluttershy recoiled in shock, before suddenly bolting forth to snuggle the fuck out of me.

“Oh my gosh you’re so adorable!” she squealed. And because Fluttershy is so huggable and cute when she does this kind of thing, I hugged back.

“You too!” I replied with a squee. I looked off to the side to see the others giving us weird looks.

“What? You can’t deny she’s cute when she does this. There’s a lot of people back home that would say this scene would cause diabetes.” I said, still with my chipmunky voice.

“Yeah, it probably would, if I weren’t immortal.” I heard a divine voice as a light shined through the window, butting off Rainbow’s sudden laughter. Twilight gasped as Princess Celestia took her entrance. I meanwhile just chuckled and leaned back all laxly.

“Took you long enough. I was wondering when you were finally gonna pop in. I’m guessing you heard enough to know I’m an alien?” I greeted casually, much to the shock and horror of all the ponies but Twilight. Especially Rarity. Celestia just giggled.

“Yes, I did. I even caught the part where you oh so subtly alluded to knowing the future. Honestly I’m not too sure I would have caught it, if I didn’t have a thousand years of experience. You’re good.” she said with a smile. I chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, well… it’s only the big events like Discord’s Escape, King Sombra’s return, and some other minor trivia.” I replied.

“Wait… did you know all of this would happen too?” Twilight asked. I shrugged.

“I only knew for certain Nighty was supposed to come back and you girls were supposed to beat her. My existence here kinda fucked with the accuracy of how it was all supposed to play out. All I knew was that I’d appeared in Fluttershy’s back yard, so the timeline was already altered to some degree, simply because she found me. Butterfly effect and all.”

“I completely understand… but you realize what you did here today jeopardized the fate of Equestria, don’t you? You should have taken time to think this out, rather than run headfirst into it with no idea what you’re doing like an idiot.” Celestia chastised me.

“Hehe…. I am a little knucklehead, aren’t I?” I replied sheepishly, still a chipmunk voiced fox.

“Yeah, but you’re no ninja. So next time, think it through.” She shot back. After a moment, she turned to Luna who appeared to be waking up. “Speaking of what just happened… Luna!”

The lunar Princess jumped in fear, turning to her sister with pin pricked eyes. Celestia continued but in a calmer tone. “You know… Summer’s offer still stands. At least from me. We used to be closer, the best of sisters! Can’t we go back to that? To put all this fear and sorrow behind us? We don’t need any more heartache…”

Integrating Nightmare…

New power analyzed.

Nightmare at 5% completion. New Quest added!

...Contact Established.

What the fuck? I thought as I stared. Wait… I remember in the battle, Nightmare’s body only got part way into me before… something happened…

Ugh… my head… why does it feel like I got my horn chopped off and the rest of my body doesn’t exist anymore? I heard a pained voice in my head.

“Now I’m worried on a number of levels.” I muttered out loud. Everyone turned to me.

“Huh? What wrong?” Dash asked. “Luna just reunited with her sister, we won, everything’s fine!”

“I uh… I can hear the Nightmare in my head. And apparently, she isn’t in one piece. I only have 5% of her.” I explained. The princesses paled.

...Well fuck. That explains why I feel like shit. Nightmare muttered. Under my Allies tab, Nightmare was changed into Nightmare Remnant. I sighed as it changed, adding a 5% next to it. Best to keep track of it.

“You mean… she’s still free?” Luna asked, tears of guilt and pain staining her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Luna. We’ll hunt her down. If Nightmare isn’t complete within me, then you know I’ll be looking for what’s left. I’m not about to let anypony else suffer if I can help it.”

“The keywords there are “if you can help it.” Can you?” Celestia asked. I hesitated.

“Probably not… but I’ll be damned if I don’t try. Princess, I think it would be best if the Elements stay with their bearers, in case we need to gather again to deal with a Nightmare Fragment.”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. All of you, keep the elements close at all times. You might never be able to tell when a fragment’s influence will strike. Also, Summer? Could you please drop the squeaky fox disguise? It’s very hard to take anything you say seriously sounding like that.” Celestia requested. I blinked and looked down at myself. Hehe… I managed to let myself forget that. With a sheepish smile, I changed back into my first disguise, much to the disappointment of the second cutest pony present (Sorry, Shy. Luna’s cuter than you when she’s like this) though I did contemplate becoming a bunny for her when I spotted her adorable pouting.

“Oh yeah, by the way Princess… you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that-” Rainbow started, gesturing to where Batman was last time we saw him, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Uh… The Batman dude that helped us out, would you?”

“Yes, he’s one of my most prized agents. Though it’s hilarious you call him Batman…” she giggled a bit, though she tried to hide the laughter slightly. “You may learn more about him eventually. He’ll be getting very busy with this Nightmare Fragment business very soon.”

I really hope she means she’s sending him out to just FIND my fragments. I’d rather not have any part of me destroyed. Nightmare protested.

I doubt anything but the elements or a REALLY determined psycho could destroy you. I replied, referencing Chara. I could feel Nightmare pale at the memories.

Gee, thanks. It’s not like I needed to sleep or anything. She snarked.

Do you? I asked, bewildered.

...You get my point. She pouted. I giggled.

“I just gave the Nightmare nightmares.” I told everyone. That got a few hearty chuckles, a vengeful smile from Luna, and worried looks from others.

Look… I’ll try and help you however I can. I want to rule the world, not destroy it. And those fragments will be trying to destroy what they can without my mind to guide them. Nightmare tried to change the subject.

Prerequisite achieved! Dream Walking ability Acquired!

Ignoring the notification entirely, for now, I continued the conversation. I’m sensing a But. Potentially one you might not be able to stick with, because I will be rigorously working on your personality for the duration of your stay in my body. I replied.

Don’t count on it. She deadpanned at me. OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! she screamed when I showed her my memory of a necromorph.

Your motivation. I replied with an evil chuckle. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually desensitize to the shit like I have.

...You’re still scared of them. I can tell. She deadpanned at me.

Yeah, but I’m more of the OH SHIT, KILLITKILLITWITHFIRE kind of jumpscare reactors than the RUN FOR YOUR LIFE kind. Then again, living around Pinkie might train that out of me… I need video games.

Nightmare just huffed, before going silent. Able to focus on the others now, I turned my attention to them. I only just caught the end of Celestia saying something about Luna looking cuter with a cat outfit on. I had to strain my face to keep from smiling or laughing at Luna’s expense.

“Oh, but if Luna wears a cat outfit, then you gotta undo all that magic mumbo jumbo that makes your mane ethereal, your size bigger, all that jazz… and you gotta wear a bunny outfit.” I said to cover for Luna.

“Ooh! Good idea!” Celestia replied, wiping the smirk of my face, and preventing Luna from finishing her giggle. The girls were looking at us in horror.

“Oh dear… I do hope those outfits don’t look too demeaning…” Rarity muttered.

“Oh! And we’ll wear them to a party!” Celestia said with a wide grin.

“Okay, now you’re pushing it.” Pinkie said with an unamused look. Celestia… no, this couldn’t be the original Celestia… I’ma call her Celly. She just grinned at us with a shit eating grin.

“I’m just messing with you.” she said with a giggle. Then she turned and started heading towards Ponyville. “Though I would be very willing to do it…” Groaning I just followed her out.

“Let’s just get to Ponyville and throw a party for Luna.”

As we exited the forest, we found the the ponies of Ponyville had already repaired the damage they’d made in their earlier panic, and the celebration’s decorations were back in place. However, I spotted one pony in the crowd who was radiating anger, and glaring right at me. I could even see her grinding her teeth.

“SUMMER!” she shouted when I saw her.

You’re fucked, aren’t you? Nightmare asked as I started repeating ohshit to myself.

Not helping! I replied as I tried to think my way out of this one. I couldn’t just run… By the time I’d thought even that far, Bonbon had already marched up to me and started dragging me off to somewhere else. When we got there, I noticed it was the same building I came out of when I got done with that training room. Then she pulled me into the elevator, and punched me in the head.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING IDIOT!” she shouted when my face slammed into the ground. “DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW MANY LIVES YOU JUST PUT AT RISK?! I SHOULD HAVE YOU LOCKED AWAY FOR THAT FUCKING STUNT!”

Getting myself off the ground, I wobbled a little from the daze of my face meeting metal. “Unfortunately, I’m wielder of the Element of Hope.” I said, making a slight spin off of the Unfortunately, I am High King of Skyrim meme.

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit! We both know that little trinket was never meant to pop up out of nowhere. You just got fucking lucky. The Elements would have been just fine if you’d just sat back and let Twilight and her friends go by themselves.”

“Why are you getting so pissed now, anyway? You already knew I was going to do this.” I asked, legitimately curious.

“I was going on the hope that you’d either die before you got the chance, or chickened out. So I guess it’s partly my fault, but still. The point still stands, you should NOT have done that!”

She seems like a bitch. Nightmare interrupted my response. I growled at her.

No offhand comments like that, please. I need to deal with my conversation. I shot back. Turning back to Bonbon, I started on my reply again. “Look, what’s done is done, and as far as I know, only Starlight Glimmer can go back to change it. And I doubt she would.”

“Ugh… fine. But next time you do something stupid, you probably won’t be able to count on my partner saving your ass. You are lucky I told him about you.”

“Yes, I do seem to be made of luck. I just hope Lady Luck won’t demand a lethal refund.” I muttered sourly. “But, look at the bright side. I did end up turning out like a certain knuckleheaded ninja.” And then I got my face launched into wall by a megaton hoof just as I remembered Celly mentioning said ninja.

“YOU’RE NOT NARUTO!!”she shouted.I groaned, but I was at least able to reply.

“Maybe not, but I do know shinobi culture… Somewhat… How’d you even know about that guy anyway?” I spoke, shaking my daze off.

“My partner.” she replied curtly, before the elevator finally opened back up, revealing the training hall once more. The second that door opened, she marched forth and powered up the systems, turning one of the switches to maximum difficulty, and another to “Returning fire.” I gaped as I looked at those settings, but then she went out into the room herself and shed her disguise.

What followed was a jaw dropping display of absolute destruction I could only compare to something out of an anime.

“...How the fuck did you just blow it all up without damaging the training hall?!” I nearly shouted. Nightmare was internally freaking out too.

...Holy fucking shit, I picked the wrong ponies to mess with. She muttered amidst her freak out.

“Precise demolition. Or in terms an idiot like you would understand, very carefully.” Bonbon hissed at me. Okay, it seems she’s still angry. I should probably leave, before she remembers she still has a drone to kick the snot out of. I’ll buy more spells from her later.

Thankfully, I made it out without anything happening, but when I made it to the street, I ran into Lyra. For a moment, I froze, wondering if Lyra would freak out about humans… but all that happened was a calm greeting.

“Oh hey there. You’re one of BonBon’s friends, right?” she asked. “I haven’t seen her since some weird pony showed up to talk to her. I got this weird Dark Knight vigilante vibe from him…”

“...Uh, Oh! Yeah, she’s uh… Well, I’m not allowed to say. Very secret agent-y stuff going on.” I replied, figuring if Lyra didn’t know yet, Bonbon didn’t want her to. “She got pretty pissed at me for screwing with the timeline and nearly getting myself killed. But you never heard that from me, okay?” I requested.

“Got it. If she asks, I’ll just tell her I figured it out myself.” she said, though I sensed a bit of doubt. Something told me she had other plans.

“Liar. Whatever… I just hope I can take what she’ll dish out later…”I said with a sigh before turning away and leaving. I still had a party to get to.

Once I got back, I was quick to rejoin the girls. They were glad to see me, though understandably, they were curious about what Bonbon dragged me off for.

“Basically, she wanted to kick my ass.” I replied casually. They all blinked when I said it like that.

“Well… you look fine, so I guess you got out of it okay?” Rainbow carefully guessed. I nodded.

“I managed to talk her out of it for now.” I explained. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if I found some of my chitin was bruised. She’s got a punch that could knock down a building…” I said, rubbing the spots on my head that she’d hit. I was still sore there.

You said it… Nightmare agreed.

“Uh… why?” Twilight asked, sounding like she may have been afraid of the answer. “And how?”

“For the first one, it’s because I actually went and faced off with Nightmare Moon. For the second, I’m obligated to remain silent, even if I have no clue.” I said. I noticed Celly out of the corner of my eye, giving a slow nod with an exaggerated squint.

“Wait, I thought you said you knew a lot of things you shouldn’t?” Rainbow protested.

“Ture, but I was referencing my foreknowledge, not forbidden knowledge. I don’t know everything, just mainly bits of the future that involve you girls.”

“Oh. Well what all should we be watching for?” Dash asked. I chuckled.

“Let’s just focus on one bad guy at a time, alright? Discord’s up next, and he should be breaking free some time after the next Grand Galloping Galla. Not sure when exactly, my timeline knowledge isn’t exactly the best.

“Oh, that’s good. Guess we won’t be worrying about anything big for at least the better part of a year then.” Twilight sad with a sigh. “And that gives us plenty of time to prepare!”

“Bad idea. You can’t plan anything for a master of chaos. He can turn any plan into whatever works in his favor. I say we just deal with him when he comes.” I said dismissively. “Honestly, I’m not all that sure how we’re gonna beat him in this timeline. In the one where I didn’t exist here, you beat him by catching him when he was cocky.”

“Well we’ll need at least tips to help deal with him. There has to be something we can do to gain an advantage.” Twilight insisted.

“Fine, there are some things to watch out for. For one, he’ll try to reverse our personalities. That may be inevitable though, because he got frustrated and forced it on Fluttershy when she couldn’t be tricked.”

“Oh… my… that… that sounded kind of lewd…” I heard Shy mutter. I blushed in response.

“Um… I didn’t mean it to come out like that…” I assured her. “A-anyway, he might also pull out a riddle or two. Now I’m normally pretty good at riddles, so it probably won’t be too big of an issue, but we’ll need to stop and think about every part of it.”

“Anything else?” Dash asked.

“Yeah. He really knows how to dangle our desires in front of us, so he’ll be tempting us with things that could potentially sacrifice our virtues.” I said. “That being said, I could turn out incredibly dangerous if he messes with my head. I maybe be forced to sit this one out for your safety.”

“But what about your Element? We need all of the Elements to use them.” Twilight protested.

“I’m not even sure you need mine. This one never existed in the original timeline.” I replied with a carefree shrug.

“Oh hey, by the way, Twilight…” Celly said. “You don’t have to come back to Canterlot with me. In fact, I think it’d be better if you stayed here with your friends!” Twilight’s eyes suddenly turned into black holes as she stared at her mentor.

“REALLY!? YESYESYESYESYESYES!” Twilight cheered as she hopped excitedly. Pinkie joined her in the excited hopping for a very clear reason.

“And what about me? I don’t think staying in Fluttershy’s back yard would be healthy.” I asked. “No offense Flutters, you’re cute and all, but your animals didn’t like me.” As much as that comment was targeted at Angel, I wasn’t kidding. Some of them really didn’t like me. I remember feeling some fear and hatred as I was leaving when I first woke up. It was really salty.

“How ‘bout mah farm? We got spare room for ya, and like ya told me b’fore, our food’s really healthy for ya.”

“But I would be expected to do certain chores to stay there, wouldn’t I? I don’t think I’m up to par to work on a farm. It takes a degree of endurance and patience I don’t have.”

“How about I just give you your own house?” Celly suggested. “That way you can live by your own rules.”

“That sounds awesome. Heh, thanks Celly.” I replied. Celly only raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “However… Can I get house with two bedrooms? I don’t want to live alone. I’m too used to living with a family of five.”

“Really?” Pinkie piped up. “I actually know somepony who's looking for a roommate after her last one moved out. And I could probably help you guys find a way to earn some money too, if you’d like.”

“Oh! Heh, wow. Thanks, Pinkie. You’re the best, when it comes to convenience.” I said, glad we’d sorted that out. “So where do they live? I wanna go introduce myself, and see who they are.”

“Sure! Come on, I know a shortcut.” she said, before bouncing off in a seemingly random direction. I just followed her. And then, seemingly in the blink of an eye to me, we were there. Pinkie was already knocking on the door by the time I got my bearings. That was some shortcut…

“Coooming!” a voice sing-songed out, before an aquamarine unicorn mare opened the door, smiling. “Oh, hello Pinkie! Are you having another party?”

“Yeah, but I came to introduce you to someone. Summer here wants to live with you!” Pinkie said, shoving me forward. “Okay have fun! Bye!” and then she was gone. Well, I guess she’s planning a Congratulations on finding a home” party or something. I wouldn’t put it past her.

“That pony. Good friend, but would make a horrible roommate.” the mare before me said.

“Pfehh… No kidding. Least she’s good if you need contacts though.Anyway, I’m Summer Dash. Nice to meet you.” I said, turning to hold out my hoof to her. She reached out and gripped it with a surprisingly tight grasp.

“Mirage…” she trailed off “nice to finally meet you in person, Switchlock.” Mirage replied. My eyes widened as she used my changeling OC’s name. Her horn glowed as the air around us shimmered, some kind of illusion barrier if I had to guess.

“H-how do you know that name? And who are you? I’ve never said it here… and I didn’t even think it could have been my changeling name.” I muttered that last part, but I was still shocked. Please, please whatever deity may be listening, don’t tell me I just stole some changeling’s body…

You uh… probably did. This body… it shows signs of age. Biologically, it’s 20 years old. Nightmare informed me, causing me to feel like throwing up. Great, not only did I steal some poor sap’s body, but it came with an extra two years.

“Dear, how do you think a queen tells all those drones apart? And my actual name is Shinkiro. And before you ask, its Neighponies.” And with that, Mirage went up in sapphire flames, revealing a alicron sized changeling, that look quite different from the only example of a queen I knew of, Chrysalis. For one, she didn't have a long mane, as a matter of fact, it looked almost identical to Vinyls, in both shape and its neon blue color, two, she had beetle like wings, and when she split them open, a long, scorpion tail unfurled from beneath them. And three, instead of the tiny little fangs most changelings had, she had the real deal, along with teeth that reminded me of a moray eel.

“...Holy shit, you look like you went through half of a Necromorph transformation. I’d shit my pants if I had shit, or pants.”

...I honestly have to agree.

“Is that some kind of undead?” she asked, confused by my outburst.

“Kinda, but it is constantly evolving and is deadlier than any vampire, werewolf, or zombie could ever be.” I replied, a little embarrassed I’d referenced a video game out loud.

“I’ll be sure to make note of that. Considering the weirdness this place attracts, it actually sounds like something that could happen.”

“Oh, uh… Not so much. It’s just something my world made up for a good horror series. Though if such a thing does make it here, then even assholes like Sombra and Queen Chrysalis would have a good reason to stop being evil long enough to fight alongside ponies.”

And then something soft and chitin covered landed on my face. Immediately, I tried to reach up and pull it off, but it didn’t budge. At first, I thought of headcrabs, but they didn't have chiten, so a facehugger?

“...OHFUCKINGHELLGETTHISFACEHUGGEROFFOFME!” I freaked out, flailing like my life depended on it.

Calm down, you idiot. It’s just a baby changeling. Facehuggers don’t exist here. Nightmare scolded me.

“Peeko! Stop it, can't you see you're scaring him!?” Shinkiro said scoldingly

“Sowwy…” I felt whatever had ambushed me removing itself from my face, revealing itself to be a changeling the size of house cat, giving shinkiro big wide eyes in an attempt to look as cute as possible.

“That is so adorable, I might have to put Fluttershy in Second Place…” I muttered as I stared. “Oh, uh… what was that about Neighpone? It sounds similar to some place in my world.”

“Basically, everything in Nieghpone is either giant or venomous.”

“Wow… That sounds more like Australia in my world. Everything has a way to kill you there.” I said, dreading the thought of ever going to this Neighpone place.

“That sounds about right. Even the changelings, if you couldn't already tell.” Shinkiro said as she picked up peeko and put her on her back. I chuckled nervously, though I assumed that due to her having a child with her, she wasn’t very violent minded. “And Bonbons said some things about you…” she said fixing me with a glare. Welp. I’m dead.

“Uh… yeah, I don’t suppose we could skip all that fuss? I’ve been over it many times now. I know I was stupid.” I said sincerely. “But honestly, I had to take risks. Even existing in this world for me is a risk in itself, because it changes things from the timeline I know. And there have been changes to parts of Equestrian history. Things have happened that are different already than the timeline I know, like Bonbon being a changeling, and Celestia being far more carefree than I knew her to be.”

“...Are you saying time travel was involved?” Shinkiro said, holding a forehoof to her head like she was trying to fight off a migraine.

“Um… Well, that’s close enough.” I said, deciding for once not to be an ass about little details.

“I’m just going to save myself the headache and pretend i didn't hear that.”

Me too. You can’t feel it, but my head’s pounding trying to process those details. Nightmare agreed. As I absentmindedly nodded my head, I became aware of a tugging on my mane and a weight on my neck, as well as a high pitched infantile giggling.

“The kid’s on my back, isn’t she?” I asked with amusement. Though the fact that she was practically invisible to my senses, that brought up a good question. “Hey, why are the two of you practically invisible to my other senses?”

“One of the perks of being a Queen. Drones can’t sense you unless you let them. Its how i've been able to find other changelings in ponyville without them finding me.” she said with a dangerous tone and grin. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I get the feeling she could kill us faster than you could blink, even if I was at full power. Let’s not piss her off, yeah? I had to agree.

“I uh… Yeah, I see. And what… happened to the ones you found?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t regret asking.

“Oh, grill them on their intentions here, let them stay if there peaceful, or else drive them out of town.” she said, going back to a calm, friendly tone of voice.

“Oh good… I was worried you’d say something like you ripped them apart or something.” I said, greatly relieved. “Well, since I might be living here for the foreseeable future, mind if I come in, take a look around?”

“By all means” she said, stepping aside to let me go in first. As she threw her disguise back on, I noticed a perception filter falling. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to copy it.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a kitchen to the right. I suppose it’s because I was the cook in my family, but it brought back a lot of guilt and nostalgia. I was gonna miss cooking such big meals. The kitchen sat mostly unused, though that didn’t mean there was nothing to cook. It was clean, too, I noticed. Way cleaner than I could ever keep my own (though that was typically not my fault, I swear.)

The second thing I noticed was what was sitting in the storage closet just between me and the kitchen. A changeling in a pod. “Oh. Is he one of...?” I trailed off as I realized I may be assuming things. Something my parents have repeatedly told me to watch. Maybe it was the nostalgia and guilt that let me remember to catch myself this time.

“One of…?”

“Yours? I just… I caught myself assuming again.” I said, finishing a question and dismissing the need for an answer.

“No… Its just someone i had to use more invasive interrogation methods on. No, not torture.” She said, reading me like a book. “Forceful access of the hivemind.”

“Hivemind… heh, yet another part of being a changeling I have yet to experience.” I said with a small roll of my eyes. “I probably better get some practice exerting my control over it. I wouldn’t want someone like Chrysalis getting easy access to my head.”

“No you wouldn't. Someone like her would probably subvert you free will and turn you into a mindless drone.” she said, showing a clear hate for that name. I sighed.

“I know. I’ve seen how she acts, and she’s definitely the kind of person that would do anything to get her way. I hope I can convince her to be a better person when I do meet her. It’s possible my memories could get her to turn her shit around.”

“Well… I could assist you in that. Nothing like experience to make learning something easy.” she said with that “i’ve got an idea” smirk.

“Heh, I’d be up for some lessons, if you’re offering.” I almost immediately regretted saying that when her grin widened further.

“Then we start now.” The instant she said that, I started finding thought hard to make, and my hooves felt unsteady under me. Slowly, I felt my consciousness being dragged deeper into me, like some western guy just roped me. Despite my shock, I tried to struggle against it. A headache, soon followed by a migraine shot through my skull as I made attempts to fight back, but inevitably, I failed. It felt like my mind was in chains, and every thought of resisting Shinkiro brought back that pain I felt. Maybe… maybe I should just give up? I never really was made of determination… “so, do you understand what it feels like now?”

The question, I noted, brought about an even stronger urgency to answer than I normally felt for anyone. Still I answered, despite wanting to question exactly what it was she’d done to my mind. “Yeah… it’s devastating. No… worse. I never stood a chance…”

“You actually put up more of a fight then nearly any drone or scout I've had to do this to.” she pointed out. The statement however, didn’t fill me with pride like I’d have expected it to. Though I suppose it was the subjugation that did it, I was still confused by my emotions.

“I… I don’t know what to say to that…” I managed through my little slurry of emotion. Wait, what did I want to question?

“Are you even still trying to fight it? I’m not feeling any resistance.” I shook my head to that.

“No. The pain is too much. I can’t win, so why torture myself like that?”

“Because how else would you break free?”

A small pain began in my head when my rebellious answer came to me. “Well, I’m hardly ever alone.” That’s your cue, Nightmare. Hit it hard.

Heh. She won’t know what hit her. In the next instant, I felt the chains on my mind start to corrode, as if bathed in pure acid. As the dark magic consumed the chains, I felt my mind free itself up, and my pride blossomed once more.

“Holy shit… I was not expecting that.” Shinkiro muttered. “You don't happen to have multiple personalities do you?”

“Personalities? No. Souls though… That right there was the work of just a fragment of the original.” I said with a slight chuckle. “Still, I doubt it’s enough to hold off Chrysalis’s full power or yours.” I added with a serious tone.

“Okay, im not even going to question the souls bit. But do you want to test that theory?” she said with a grin. I nodded solemnly.

“I should. The other soul needs to get stronger as much as I do.” I answered. The feeling returned, much stronger this time. Even Nightmare was shocked by the strength of it. It was so constricting, like a Boa seizing my every breath and thought. Right away though, Nightmare started her work, and it did destroy some chains, but more came before she could finish the job. I joined her, helping her with the titanic TF2 match going on in my head. We managed to hold the fort for about… I don’t know, maybe a minute? But then my shoddy support fell off and we got dominated.

I tried breathing hard from the surprising exertion of that struggle, but I found I couldn’t do a thing. No control… I found I couldn’t even leave my mindscape, though I could still feel everything my physical body was doing.

“Now, that's about as far under as I can put you with you still being aware of what's happening. Can you nod your head if you understand?” she asked. I found that with that command, I could nod at least. I wanted to try and answer with my voice… but that was still locked up. She stared at me for a moment before realizing something. “Go ahead and speak freely.”

“Thank you. Geeze, it’s so freaking… restricting. Not sure I’d like going any deeper. It’s already claustrophobic enough up in here… though it’s not bad if you ever wanna use it for sex.”

I get the feeling she didn’t mean that freely…

“Is that an offer?” she said with an amused expression.

“Uh… Well, I’m not against it…” I said sheepishly. My dirty mind was already started on scenarios, ones I wondered if she could see. Particularly a memory of a story I ready in the past that involved a queen dominating and breeding a certain star caped magician.

“Oh my, such naughty thoughts.” she said tauntingly.

“Um… Eeep?” I said, though I couldn’t turn into fluttershy for effect. It was pretty crappy though.Of course that reminded me of a fic where Flutters um… “made friends” with timberwolves. Oh boy… I can feel myself getting wet from all these thoughts…

“Well then, let's go to my room, shall we, it seems Peeko already ran off to bed.” I was forced to obey, my body following her on its own and my nether lips getting ready. God, tonight was bound to be good...

Author's Note

So uh... yeah. You can probably tell what's cumming up in the next chapter. I'll be optional so you can skip it if you want though.

Interlude: Dirty Queen (Cloppy Fun!)

Oh god, you’re really letting this happen, aren’t you? Nightmare gawked as I put up no resistance to my command. I eagerly awaited Shin by her bed. Shinkiro followed and get onto the bed, undisguised, before motioning for me to join her. I let my body do so with a smile, eager to begin. Already, I was getting wet enough that she could easily just slide right in.

“Now lay down.” she ordered, and I did so, getting onto the bed. She started petting my mane. “Good girl.” In response, I purred. This was just building my anticipation.

“I’m looking forward to getting rid of my virginity, my queen~” I purred to her.

Dear god.... I sincerely hope you won’t come to regret this later. Wake me up when you’re done… Nightmare groaned.

“Now why don't you stop hiding behind your disguise?” she purred out. At this, I was a bit uncomfortable. I prefered my disguise over my true form, mostly because it was female. I didn’t really have a choice though, and my disguise ripped itself off. I shivered in discomfort as my dick came back, fully erect. It was a very unwelcome feeling, having that heavy thing hanging between my legs. I noticed her staring at my erect member, eyeing it hungrily. I soon felt it being stroked by her magic. Internally, I sighed. Of course she’d pick that one. As much as I didn’t like to use it, I had to accept that I would be using it from time to time. As it was stroked, I started breathing a bit rougher, my legs shaking slightly as I was stimulated. “Ohhh~ you a big one.”

“I guess that’s one good part about this thing… I was much smaller as a human.” I replied. I think a bit of my contempt for it came out in my voice. She soon rolled me over and mounted me, and when she did, I could feel her folds basically clamping around my dick. I gasped, a bit shocked by what I felt, since I’d never actually felt it before. The pleasure was crippling.

“H-holy shit… that is so very different from just using my hands…” I muttered. She just made a happy purring sound and pushed herself further down. I would have arched my back from the pleasure, but my body wouldn’t move for anything but Shin’s commands. She just layed there, a satisfied look on her face. “Are you enjoying yourself now?”

“Admittedly it’s not as bad as I thought… but I’d still prefer my pussy.” I replied. I felt her walls squeezing my member rhythmically, as she purred again. At this point, my cock was pulsing in time with her. The closer I got, the more the squeezing died down. Oh dear god, I never wanted release this badly! It was maddening, and at one point I think I blacked out. But still it wore on.

“P-please… just finish me…” I begged, too worn out to act even if I could. The squeezing picked back up as she purred happily.

“Aww, what's the matter, close already?” she teased. I whimpered in response, thinking maybe changelings actually did last as long as she was suggesting. Which means I’m either impotent, or just unlucky… Oh god she's nibbling on my ear!

“P-please… it’s too much…” I begged again, “And I hate this kind of teasing.”

“Did you… not know you can suppress that?” she asked, sounding like she honestly couldn’t believe it. I blinked.

“Well… c-considering I’ve o-only been in this body for- Ah…! a few days now…” I said sheepishly, despite being on the brink of an orgasm.

She giggled. “Deary, that's like, seduction 101. I'm surprised you weren't told this already.” she said.

“W-well in m-my defense, I’ve only ever kn-known one changeling b-b-before you… and she p-probably assumed my p-plans would get me killed, a-and wouldn’t be worth it.” I explained.

“Oh dear… I’ll have to have a… talk with her about nearly squandering such potential.” she said with a slightly irate tone.

“T-that’s good… but can we finish first?” I said, feeling my climax crawling further out of reach thanks to the talking. In response, I felt her wall contract against my cock, bringing me back up and then some as she pushed me past the point of no return. Holy shit, Changelings were effective! As I came, I felt my cock shooting out more cum than I thought I could even produce. I had to grind my teeth to keep myself from collapsing in the middle of cumming, but I somehow kept it going for, what felt like a full minute. By the time I was done, Shin was bloated enough to make a believable claim at being pregnant, though I suspect that if it weren’t for the chitin, she’d be bloating like a balloon. Once I was done, I wanted to collapse, breathing like I’d run a marathon.

“H-holy shit… way more productive than as a human…” I felt her lie me down on the bed beside her, as she began to cuddle me for some reason.

Well, that was intense… I could feel it in every corner of your mind.

Heh… just wait till I try some of the stuff I’ve seen in Hentai.

Oh dear god…

“This was lovely…” I spoke as I felt myself cuddling her back.

“Oh, it most certainly was.” she purred out, smiling.

“I’d be glad to do this again anytime.” I said as I closed my eyes. Yeah… tonight was great...

Act 7: Meet the Equestria

“So Pinkie, you said you could help me find a job?” I asked. It’s been a day of sweet, sweet, relaxation after all that’s happened, and I got around to checking my little quest menu to see what all I had to do lately. Getting a job was one of them, and it reminded me Pinkie had made the offer to help with that. So that’s what I went off to do today. It was easy enough to find Pinkie, I just had to stop by Sugarcube corner and wait for her to meet me.

“I did! I gotta know what you can do first, though.” Pinkie replied.

“I was a good cook back home, I could probably work at a restaurant or something.” I replied with a shrug.

“Maybe you could work at the Red’s Quickburger? It’s a really good restaurant, though most ponies go there for their hayburgers. And sometimes Hamburgers too, but those mostly get served to gryphons.”

“Alright, I’ll check it out. I’ve got nothing against meat. I used to be an omnivore, so I could eat whatever. Will you show me the way?” I said. Pinkie happily nodded.

“Sure! Come on, it’s just down the street.” Pinkie said as she started leading the way. I just followed along, looking around absently now that I didn’t have anything vital to be focusing on. When I got there, though… I started regretting asking Pinkie to help me with a job hunt.

“Oi! Get yer bloody arse in the kitchen, and finish that damn hayburger!” I heard a scottish accent shouting when the door to the place opened. Looking towards the source, I almost could have sworn I was staring at a gryphon version of the damn demoman from TF2. He had the whole eyepatch thing going on, though he wasn’t wearing any explosives. Thankfully.

“Order up!” I heard what sounded like the Scout shout as well, completely ignoring the Demobird. Shooting the voices owner a look, I saw a red pegasus with a baseball cap and mic set on his ear, coming in with a note pad.

“Got new shipment of meat here. Should keep stocked for next week or so.” A russian accent sounded out as a minotaur came in with a big box. He just went on into what I guessed was the freezer.

“Keep your voices down!” An australian voice called. Looking, I found a zebra approaching me. “You’re all scaring the lil sheila over here.” Of course that actually called attention to me.

“Danke, Scope. I vas going to point zat out, too.” At this point, as I turned to the Medic’s voice, I was starting to thing the whole cast of TF2 was here. To my surprise, the Medic was a Thestral.

“That’s right… Didn’t Pinkie say something about a new employee yesterday? It better not be that backstabbing changeling from the other place again…” I heard a slightly muffled voice from by the grill. Probably Pyro.

“Yes… It was a shame our own changeling was reduced to a soulless husk…” a gruff voice said grimly. As I looked at Soldier, the one that spoke, I sensed grief fall over them all as that one guy was mentioned, but only for a second, before it lifted. Soldier was just an earth pony, and still had his hat on, but he definitely looked tough enough to take a rocket to the face.

“Could you close that door there, miss? Kinda hard to keep the Soundproofing on with it open.” I heard the Engineer ask. He was a unicorn, and stood out as the only one without a hat, though he did have a tool belt on him. As I turned to do so numbly, I noticed Pinkie was already gone. She’d left me alone with the TF2 Mercs… I’m gonna get her back for that.

“Much obliged.” the Engineer said with a smile. “Mah name’s Tinker. Mah friends around here are Heavy Load, that minotaur with Delivery, Quick Scope, our zebra working the phones, Fleet Step, our pegasus waiter, Manic Flame, our dragon chef, Crocket Vigil, our head of security, Crimson Mercy, our… butcher, though he does more than that, and finally, Captain Degroot, the owner of this establishment.” Tinker introduced everyone. I blankly waved.

“Ve used to have another. A changeling by ze name of Switchlock, who acted as our intelligence gatherer, to find… trends, and ze like.” Mercy added. I froze up at the name.

“Wait… Switchlock? And Crocket said something about…” I trailed off as I put it all together. I noticed a dragon head peaking out of the kitchen as I thought, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

“Guys… I’m gonna need to know what happened. Because I think I’m in your Spy’s body.” I said before dropping my disguise. Mercy gasped upon seeing what I was.

“Z… Zis is amazing...Your personality is already having a drastic effect on ze host body…” he said as he got closer, examining me. The other mercs were just staring at me, caught somewhere between shock, and confusion. I kind of was too, what with Mercy being all caught up in physical changes rather than the fact that I was a different person in a familiar body.

“I guess you weren’t very close to Switch…?” I muttered as he started running his hooves through my mane and tail… wait, when did it get that long? It felt about medium length. I guess that’s what Mercy was talking about, with the surprised statement…

“Very interesting…” Mercy said, ignoring my prodding question.

“Uh, don’t take that the wrong way, pal. Mercy always puts things like this before anything else.” Fleet said. “But uh… what exactly… happened? And how do you even know our line of work?”

“Well, that answer involves a lot of explanations involving time travel and the multiverse.” I replied.

“Try me. Switch has done a lot of explainin in the past, and if there’s any part of him left in there, you can too. I might not get it, but you can at least try. We got two geniuses here that can catch it all.” Fleet challenged. I rolled my eyes.

“Well alright. Thing is, I’m from another universe. Back home, we’ve got shit tons of advanced video games, and I’ve got one called Team Fortress 2. You guys are the stars of it. Online, multiplayer only, objective based First Person Shooter. Until recently, there’s honestly been nothing else in the market that could compete with it. And a lot of people called it a hat simulator.”

“Pfft, hehe. A hat simulator, good one.” Fleet said with a laugh as he now suddenly was wearing the Bonk Helm… the rest of the crew was wearing different hats too, laughing as well. I was kinda scared when I saw that Manic had on the Pyrovision goggles and ghastly gibus.I blinked though as I felt something on my head too. Looking up, I saw the same gibus on my head… but there was something strange about it I couldn’t quite think of off the top of my head.

“Ooookay….Well then, moving on.” I said, dismissing the hat thing for now. “I also knew about this world from a cartoon that was supposed to be marketed toward little… fillies, but it attracted a lot of adults too. Got a whole fandom and community going.”

“And I take it you were part of that?” Fleet asked accusingly. Proudly, I smirked at him.

“That I was. And knowing what I did thanks to the show and fandom, I helped kick Nightmare Moon’s ass.” I said, tapping my Element. Nightmare scoffed in my head.

Oh please, I nearly killed you. If it weren’t for Batman, I’d have your head. She shot back. I ignored her.

“So yer sayin ya know tha future, lass?” Degroot asked. Then he pointed at Manic, gesturing for him to get back to the stove again. I nodded in response, getting the feeling that this guy was an absolutely epic multitasker. “Ya wouldn’t happen ta know any good opportunities to make some cash, would ya?” he asked with a grin. I was a bit intimidated by that grin.. But I did have a few ideas right on the spot.

“Maybe at some point. The timeline’s a bit screwed up from the original, but there’s still some events you could get into. It could be a while, but I’ll give you a heads up when it gets close.” I said.

“Alright. Fair enough, I supose. Still, we owe you Switch’s story still, don’t we?” Tinker said.

“Yeah, still wondering about that. Especially because the deal I made to get here landed me in this guy’s body.” I replied.

“Ay, it was a grim, bloody tale… It was one of the rare days BLU and RED joined together to fight. Both of our teams had lost our spies, captured for an experiment of some kind. The rest o’ us gathered up to take back our teammates…”

~3rd Person~

It had been a week since any of RED had last seen their teammate Switchlock. Degroot kept the businesses he ran going as best he could, though some of the time he seemed even more drunk than usual. Switch was the main one that kept Degroot from going overboard, so that was the first big tip RED had that he was even missing. The second was when he missed the appointed intel sharing day. Things pretty much went south from there. RED was forced to start searching for their missing teammate, and it was a quick process thanks to Tinker’s ingenuic mind. Tinker managed to track the unique signal Switch’s invis watch gave off to help the team find him, and they found the watch… but without the changeling it was attached to. Strangely, the BLU spy’s watch was there too. Tinker was quick to contact BLU’s engineer.

“BLU, Ah think we have a problem. Our spy’s gone missin, and we jus found his invis watch… Your spy’s watch is here too.” Tinker told them when they picked up.

“...We’re on our way.” the BLU engineer replied. The signal began crackling a bit as someone else picked up the signal.

“Hello? Am I speaking with mercenary groups known as RED and BLU?” A deep, kinda scratchy voice said over the radio. Tinker hesitated out of caution, and that let the BLU Scout answer instead.

“Yeah? What of it?” he asked snappily. Evidently, he didn’t much like the frequency jacker either.

“Good, I was worried I got the frequency wrong. Now, let me tell you a few things. I know where your missing comrades are, and I will tell you where that is, but there is something me, and the organisation I work for needs from you.” The voice said back. That immediately sent both teams into a frenzy, demanding this guy give their spies back. Most assumed that was a ransom, but Scope and the BLU Medic managed to calm their teams. Somehow.

“You might want to clarify what you mean, mate. That there sounded an awful lot like a ransom.” Scope told the mysterious speaker.

“Wait, it did? Sorry for that, no, we didn’t kidnap the Spies, but we are after those who did. There is a group conducting illegal and unethical research, we were gearing up to storm their facility, but the defences there aren’t something you can just go around and it would take us too long to do it by ourselves. We have an operative near the site, I need you to rendezvous with him and raid the facility, once you are inside you will be able to rescue your teammates as well. There really isn’t a reason for us to not work together.” The speaker clarified, which somewhat calmed the teams.

“Ay, ‘tis true. Havin’ our spies back is a good enough reason to fight, but can we expect any… compensation?” Degroot asked. The other teammates chuckled. Good al’ Degroot. Always looking at opportunities for cash. There were a few seconds of silence before the speaker replied.

“...well, there are a lot of very dangerous devices and information in that facility. Too dangerous to exist. Since you will be helping us get it locked away I’m sure there will be some… reward for the services you do. Depending on how much you manage to haul off site, and to us in case we will be unable to take the facility, you will be rewarded accordingly. However it will take a few days to sift through all the stuff, so expect a delay of 2 weeks max. Is that acceptable?” Came the reply, the speaker sounding a bit uncertain, but strangely concerned as well. Degroot grinned.

“Yes, tha’’ll do, mate. Now, can we get a name?” he asked. Tinker was particularly interested to hear that answer.

“I have a few, but you may call me Alpha, I’m sending you coordinates of our operative, get to him and he will work with you on getting inside the facility. I’m also sending you contact information, so you can get in contact with us in the future. Out operative is a green dragon named Hidden Fang. Do you need anything el--crap. I just got a word that something is happening inside the facility, you need to move now, if you want to get there in time!” Was the reply, sounding a bit panicked at the end. The whole team shared a glance, before Fleet gave a single, short reply.

“We’ll be there. Just tell us where.” he said. BLU scout gave a similar reply. Alpha didn’t reply, but a beep on Tinker’s device told them he sent all the information he said he would. A similar beep was heard over from the BLU team a second later.

“So, what happened when you got there?” I asked when Degroot finished that part of the story. My GUI flashed a bit, highlighting “Batman” in the Allies list and added “Alpha” as another alias when they mentioned him.

“Well, we at least got there quick enough. Scope’s truck can be real reliable when you gotta get places quick, especially with Tinker’s new engine.” Fleet replied. Before I could question how the hell a truck existed in Equestria, he continued with a grim frown. “But the minute we got there, things started goin crazy.”

Scope hit the brakes, hard. He had to stop, for the shock of what he saw at the facility. Once he’d stopped, a similar screeching of breaks was heard beside them. Fleet had fallen over and hit his face against the wall, but he was quick to get up and check out what was wrong.

“What the hell is your-” Fleet started to yell, but then he saw what Quick had stopped for. “...WHAT?! Where the hell did they get Grey’s bots!?”

“Did you just say…” Vigil started to ask as he went to look as well. “...Damnit. Where’s Marasmus when you need him?”

“Well I’ll be… Hey boys!” Tinker called out to BLU as everyone got out of their respective team’s trucks.

“Yeah, we see ‘em.” BLU Scout said as he hopped out of the blue truck. He looked radically different from Fleet, mainly due to having a mane. White as snow and tied up in a ponytail.

“We don’t have an upgrade station this time, lads.” Degroot noted as he glared down at the two metalhead snipers guarding the front doors. One of those snipers looked like it was holding a Machina, a weapon that struck the fear of god into the Heavies.

“No respawn either.” Heavy Load added. Mercy dug out a Kritzkreig from the RED truck, doing a quick maintenance check on it before turning to the others.

“Does everyone have a Dead Drop?” he asked, holding up his own. BLU Scout nodded.

“Yeah, I thought ahead, made sure to grab ‘em as I went out. I knew we were going without Respawn.” he replied.

“Good thinkin, Blur. We got ours too.” Fleet said.

“Where’s Fang?” Manic asked, looking around for him.

“Right behind you.” said dragon spoke, a shrub nearby suddenly fell apart, showing that it was just a collection of branches being held together by him. He was green, just the right shade to blend in with the bushes. He was wearing a belt with pouches and with what looked like a button in the front, on his head was a helmet with a visor protecting his eyes and his hands were protected by fingerless gauntlets with some kind of a gem on the top side. “So you are mercenaries that I’m supposed to be working with?” The two teams shared a quick look, before Mercy stepped up to answer.

“That’s correct, freund. Though zis could prove to be very difficult…” Mercy said, looking back down at the mechanical snipers.

“Good thing I brought my Hitman’s Heatmaker.” BLU’s Sniper said. “No offense, I know how much you love the Huntsman and Classic, Scope, but they won’t be good for gettin us in. Not without calling attention to us.” Scope sighed, before rolling his eyes and gesturing for the other Sniper to take the shot.

“Whatever your plan on getting us in is, you better act quick.” Fang interjected and pulled out a beeping device. “There is some kind of energy buildup in there, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to let it do what it’s supposed to.”

“Agreed…” Both engineers replied as the BLU sniper got into position. In quick succession of each other, he shot both of them in the head. However, as soon as they were both down, an alarm system sounded, shocking the mercs.

“Ach! NOW what?!” Degroot shouted as the front doors locked down.

“How about we get some more gun?” BLU Engineer said with a smirk as he held his Jag. “Or in this case, more bomb.” he added, pointing the wrench at the BLU Demoman’s sticky launcher. Tinker smirked as well.

“Mighty fine idea. Let’s do it.” he said. The owner of the sticky launcher grinned as well, handing it over.

“Only ever did this once before. This is going to be a blast…” Degroot scoffed.

“Oh, fine. You lads go ahead and blow it up, Tavish… but me an my Zatoichi’ll get the most kills ya know.” Degroot replied, hoisting said weapon with the Charg n’ Targe in his other tallon.

“I’m guessing it was pretty tough to get through.” I said. Mercy nodded.

“Ya, it was indeed. Zhe dumkopfs had so many Soldier and Demo bots… it was a nightmare just keeping everyone alive.” Mercy replied. “I had to turn off zhe Übercharge Limiter at one point. zhat left my Kritzkreig basically damaged for the rest of the mission…”

“How damaged?” I asked, a little worried. The Kritz was a good medigun. Losing it altogether would mean one less healer for the team for that mission. Though I knew the worry was unjustified, because they stood here before me now.

“No more Übercharge. It could still heal, but I wouldn’t be able to Charge anyone.” he replied. I sighed in a little relief.

“For my part, I brought the Pain Train.” Vigil continued. “I had a feeling we would be capturing a point at some point, and I turned out to be right. The Black Box saw very much action that day as well.”

“Go Go Go!” Vigil shouted as they entered the first main room. The engineers were in back, picking up scraps the robots left as the two soldiers charged at the front lines. Tavish and Degroot were laying waste to any of the mele classed robots that got too close, working surprisingly well together, especially at one moment when Tavish whipped out his Claidheamh Mor out and threw it like a javelin through a Knightbot’s head that was about to take Degroot’s.

Vigil smirked upon seeing a capture point. Scope fired an arrow ahead at a Brass Beast bot standing on the point, freeing it up for capture. “Nice shot, soldier.” he complimented briefly before pulling out the Pain Train and rushing to the point. With the BLU Soldier covering him, he made it to the point with the two scouts, and helped the two capture the point.

“Hey wait… how does the point capturing thing even work? I always passed it off as video game stuff in my world, but…” I asked, interrupting the story a bit.

“Ah, well that’s a bit complicated… See, all of us always carry a little hacking tool, works automatically whenever we get close to something it can work on. Like a terminal for instance. My buildings are protected by a firewall, so it wouldn’t work on them, but you get my point.”

“Snrk…” I chuckled at the pun, and Tinker smiled.

“That’s refreshing… Switch always hated puns.” Tinker said with a chuckle.

“That’s interesting… anyway, carry on?” I prompted.

“Gearbox, let’s get a Dual Sentry up!” Tinker shouted as the point started capping. Tinker put away his Widowmaker real quick as he set up his part of the sentry, though seeing a scoutbot’s legs nearby, it gave him an idea. “Gear, I’ve got an idea. Keep the sentry up.” Tinker said as he took the legs and started working with them.

“You got it, Tink.” Gearbox replied, setting down his Pompson to work on the sentry. As they worked, the Pyros stood ready near them, Manic wearing the Phlogistinator attachment over his muzzle and wielding a Powerjack in his claws.

“Men, watch your backs. You have spybots on the loose.” the team heard on their coms. The heavies were quick to look around and check their team real quick. Thankfully, every member was accounted for… for now.

“Pyro! Watch entrance!” Heavy Load shouted as he revved up his Tomislav, watching one himself. The BLU Pyro nodded and ran over to one of the entrances with an Axtinguisher ready, and a flame broiling in his mouth.

“ALERT! SECTOR A SECURITY BREACHED! SECURITY PROTOCOL FOR SECTOR A TERMINATED!” A voice came in on the speakers. “A SUICIDER BOT HAS BEEN DEPLOYED.” In the next moment, they all heard the familiar ticking and beeping of a Sentry Buster. The team looked back and saw the engineers were only half done with what they each were building, which was looking increasingly like a walking sentry. Mercy and the BLU Medic quickly got to work.

“Shoot zhe bomb!” Mercy called out as he aimed his medigun at Vigil. The two set off, but the BLU Medic was still working on his own Ubercharge, using the original Medigun.

“Oh, crap! That thing’s got a frikin MINI NUKE!” Blur said when he caught a peek at it. “We gotta stop that thing before it blows!” he shouted as he took a few pot shots at it. Absolutely nothing happened to it though.

“Charge me, Doc!” Vigil called as he took aim at its legs. Mercy obliged, shouting a battle cry in german as the Kritz did its work. However, even the crit rockets hardly did any damage. But Mercy noted they at least worked… An idea formed in his head as he switched the medigun to another setting.

“I’m overclocking zhe Über!”

Vigil felt something different happen as the overclock took effect, and as he fired, he was amazed. Rockets flew from his Black Box as if he was using the Air Strike with the parachute, and yet he wasn’t even reloading. However, that proved effective and necessary when the first five overclocked crockets only left a small dent in the legs.

“Grace! Is your Uber ready?” Mercy shouted back.

“Nein!” the other medic replied. “I’m only at 80%!”

“Ve need it faster!” Mercy warned. Another ten rockets, and the bot was starting to limp. Metal was starting to crunch as Vigil kept up the assault.

“Mercy, is this overclock even safe?!” Vigil asked as more rockets rained from his Black Box.

“Probably not!” Mercy replied. “But ve need everything ve have!” Finally the bot’s legs broke under it thanks to the barrage. Mercy quickly cut off the Uber, and took his medibeam’s pack off to check it.

“Nuke bot down!” Vigil announced. “Tinker! Gearbox! Shut it down!” The engineers quickly got to work together, rushing to the downed bomb. They backed off when it started threatening to go off though, and thankfully it worked to stop it.

“We need it blind!” he called out.

“Heads up!” Scope said, letting everyone know he was using Jarate.The sounds of the bot shorting out came soon after, and the engineers started their work.

“...Wow. I am utterly speechless.” I muttered. “And you know what? We’ve been focusing on the mission, rather than what happened to Switch. You guys have a knack for theatrics, or are you just trying to stall so you don’t hit the bad memories so soon?”

“Theatrics, I guess.” Fleet replied. “Bad memories ain’t so bad since Switch is… kinda back.” I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

“Heh, alright then. So, what exactly happened to Switch? Can we get to the part where you found him?” I asked.

“When we captured final point, mission started falling apart. Had to split up for intelligence, and rescue.” Heavy said, with a sad shake of his head. “BLU went to take intel, while we went to save spies.”

The path to the holding cells was surprisingly linear. It was also surprisingly easy, considering all they had to do was group up behind Heavy and let him borrow Degroot’s shield for a very effective charge. The corridors were that small, and Heavy could easily use a broken off iron door as a bullet shield as he charged. But when they got there, Switchlock, and the BLU spy, Swapkey, had some pretty bad news for them. The first bit of it was that Switch wasn’t even awake. He was knocked out cold, visibly starved. The second…

“Oh thank Celestia you’re here! ...Never thought I’d be so happy to see RED’s mercs… Still, it’s good you’re here. Any longer, and there’d be nothing left of Switch’s soul.” Swap said.

“What? How could this happen?” Heavy asked.

“They’ve been observing our souls while we change… but since Switch cannot feed here, for whatever reason, he’s been chosen to be observed more since he’s dying anyway. They don’t even know how to look at our souls without taking a chunk…”

“...I will kell them all.” Heavy vowed.

“Amen to that, brother.” Vigil agreed. “Tinker, can you get these doors open?”

“Observing...souls?” I asked hesitantly. Tinker nodded solemnly.

“And that wasn’t the worst thing they were doing. BLU managed to get all the intel back to Celestia’s agents, so they’d know more than we do… but we did find out that they were trying to find a way of transferring one’s soul into somewhere else.” I felt nauseated from that revelation. Nightmare retched in my head, clearly feeling as sick as I did.

“I… I guess I didn’t make a deal to get here… did I…?” It was just all too confusing. I just had to question my memory. I remembered making a deal to get here… but was it real? Hell, could it even be possible that I was never human? At this point, I was starting to think anything might be possible.

“Who knows what happened on your end? Still, things went pretty bad for us after ah got the doors open. Though Heavy made good on his promise, it wasted too much time.” Tinker said.

All across the facility, things had started exploding in the middle of Heavy’s killing spree, evidently some sort of self destruct sequence. Degroot had started carrying Switch, but then Fang showed up at a moment, seemingly appearing from nowhere in a tight locker space, and actually helped carry the unconscious changeling out.

“They’ve started up the Spectral Manipulator. If we don’t get out now, all our souls could be ripped out in an instant.” Fang said as the RED team lead the way.

“Where’s BLU?” Swap asked.

“They are using a different path than we do. There was so much stuff to collect, it had to be put on a cart to move it, so BLU are escorting it to the train exit.” Fang informed. “That’s also where this path is headed, so we’ll all meet up at the exit.”

However, when they all met up at the exit, they found the doors to be locked tight. BLU team was completely stuck there, unable to move forward.

“Locked in? Not for much longer. Medic, Switch needs to be woken up. He and I shall go and hack into the systems to get this door open. We’ll be needing our Dead Ringers.” Right after Swap declared that, both medics used their mediguns on Switch. The holes in his legs closed up after a bit, and soon enough, he began stirring.

“WARNING: 3 MINUTES TO SELF DESTRUCT.” a computerized voice called out. That woke Switch up in a hurry.

“WHAT?! ...Oh, merde…” Switch muttered in horror when he realized what was going on. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when he was presented a Dead Ringer by a black hoof.

“You will be needing this.” Swap said, determination ringing from his voice. Switch was taken aback by that, but took the Dead Ringer. “Come. Let us hack the system.”

“Je suis avec toi (I am with you), my friend.” Switch replied after a pause, sharing in the determination. With that said, the two of them set off.

“Hey, you two! I’ll meet up with you along the way!” Fang shouted after the two Spies, before suddenly diving into the nearest ventilation shaft, somehow squeezing into a space too small for him to normally fit.

However, when they finally returned, the three that had gone were sprinting back at speeds Fleet and Blur found astounding. Then, an explosion was heard deep in the facility.

“Shit!” Fang acted fast, grabbing Swap since he was running next to him and giving him his belt, he threw him fast at the waiting teams. “Bunch up together and hit the button!” he yelled as a visible wall of energy appeared behind him.

Switch and Fang sprinted as fast as they could, but it was clear they couldn’t make it in time, neither were they close enough for Fang to throw Switch as he did with Swap. Fang turned around and raised his left arm, the gem in his gauntlet glowed and a shield-wall appeared in front of him, facing the energy wave. The shield held for a few seconds before it started cracking.

“I said hit that button!” Fang yelled again, as Swap was just picking himself from the ground. Switch was still too far when the shield broke and the energy passed over Fang, who immediately slumped to the ground like a puppet with it’s strings cut. Seeing Swap was not going to press the button on Fang’s belt, Switch lit his horn and sent a blast straight at it.

The belt lit up and a rather large bubble-shield raised around the teams, cutting Switch off either way. Switch raised his hoof to salute his team.

“Farewell. It has been an honor working with you all.” He said as he accepted his fate. After he was too subjected to the same thing as Fang was, the energy hit the second shield, hard. It too started cracking after a few seconds, but before it could break the energy dissipated.

“Switch…” Manic muttered.

“Damn… that was really emotional…” I muttered in awe. Degroot nodded.

“Ay… when we got back home, we all spent our time greifin for im. His soul… It was gone. No trace of it left.” he said. “We took his body and brought it to the Everfree to bury it, but… well, embarrassingly, we had to get out of there before we could be turned ta stone by a bloody cockatrice.”

“Though uh… I s’pose it was a good thing, considering how ya turned up now.” Scope said sheepishly.

“... How come you had to run from a cockatrice?!” I asked in disbelief.

“I don’t fuckin’ know las. It was some kind of bloody super cockatrice or somethin, not even my loch’n load could kill the bloody thing!” Degroot snapped.

“... So, what? We have an übercharged cockatrice running around the forest?” I asked after thinking on it, coming up with reasons the thing would be invulnerable. Mercy blinked, and facehoofed.

“Dumkopf… I knew I shouldn’t have just tossed that broken Uber Core into the forest…” Mercy muttered. That was followed by a facehoof/palm from EVERYONE present, including Nightmare. In the back of my mind, the little muse that helped me as an author was laughing his ass off. Who knew the Medic could be this stupid? At least he wasn’t like the one from Rise of the Epic Scout. What a nightmare that would have been.

At that moment, I just noticed that somehow, the crew had been keeping the restaurant going even as they told about what happened to Switch. Off to the side where Fleet was usually leaning in, I noticed a small, dark grey unicorn filly with BonBon ordering something from Vigil. I took a moment to appreciate the filly’s grumpy face, since I was in need of something to uplift my spirits. I spared her a chuckle though, not wanting her to feel any worse.

“Say, since you’re takin’ Switch’s place in more than one way, do ya think ya could head over ta BLU’s place in Canterlot, ‘n let them know? They might be our rivals, but they should know what happened.” Degroot asked me. Smiling, I gave him a salute.

“Aye aye, captain.” I said with a smile. Figured I should lighten the mood however I could. Degroot smiled back at me, apparently liking my attitude.

“Hah! I like the lass, she got a better sense o’ humor than the ol’ bug ever did.” he complimented with a smile. I giggled at the praise, before putting my standard disguise back on.

“Alright, I’ll head out then.” I let them know before turning and heading out. Once I was gone, they all returned to their positions in the restaurant, running it as usual. Still kinda surprised a merc group would be running a restaurant. With a drunkard at the head....

Just before the door closed though, I heard Degroot shouting something particular. “Ka-BEEEWWWM!” Shortly, it was followed by an explosion of some kind, but the noise was canceled the second that door clicked shut. I stood stunned for a second… before just walking away with wide eyes. I ignored Diamond Tiara laughing at me as I passed her, and just kept walking.

Author's Note

Yeah, kinda skipping the clop chapter for now. Apparently my more regular co-author is a bit ~~squeemish~~ averse to it... But don't worry, it'll come out sometime.

Here's the team's names here in case you missed anything. I know I missed some of them.

RED

Scout: Fleet Step; Pegasus

Soldier: Crocket Vigil; Earth

Pyro: Manic Flame; Dragon

Demo: Captain Degroot; Gryphon

Heavy: Heavy Load; Minotaur

Engi: Tinker; Unicorn

Medic: Crimson Mercy; Thestral

Sniper: Quick Scope; Zebra

Spy: ~~Switchlock~~ Summer; Changeling

BLU

Scout: Blur

Soldier: Direct Charge

Pyro: Inferno

Demo: Captain Tavish

Heavy: Power Lift

Engi: Gearbox

Medic: Saving Grace

Sniper: Steady Aim

Spy: Swapkey

Act 8: New Arrivals

“Thanks for getting the girls together, Twi. There’s some news I’ve discovered that… honestly, I think I need a bit of help getting over.” I greeted everyone assembled. We were in the library again, all seven of us, having gathered everyone around so I could share the news I learned with the mercs.

“Really now? You seem like the tough to break kind, so it must be sumthin big if yer admittin that.” AJ immediately sympathised.

“Yeah… turns out, this body wasn’t made in a day. It belonged to someone else that died before I showed up. Someone else pretty much sacrificed himself to save their team on a particularly dangerous mission that ended with his soul getting ripped out. I ended up replacing that soul…”

“So you mean… you’re like a zombie or something?” Spike asked.

“Zombies?! WHERE?!” Pinkie freaked out. My laughter at least calmed Pinkie a bit.

“No, not zombies. The thing is, I’ve wondered if I’m just living a borrowed life. I’m wondering if my memories before waking as a changeling are even real.” I admitted.

“That’s… pretty heavy.” Rainbow said, not handing out some dismissive snark thankfully. Don’t know why I was expecting that…

“Well, no matter what happened in the past, you’re one of us, Darling.” Rarity said supportively. I smiled at her in thanks.

“Thank you, Rarity. I’m glad to be supported… but what if it’s only temporary? What if this body eventually rejects my soul? What then?” I asked, bringing my concerns to bear.

“Summer, you have a dark spirit empowering you. I don’t think it would let you just disperse like that.” Twilight reminded me.

Tch. Like hell I would. I need a competent host to get my fragments back to me. Nightmare pitched in.

“...Heh, yeah… She’s just too quiet most of the time. I sometimes forget she’s even there. Thanks…” I murmured with a small chuckle.

“Summer, y’know asking those kinds of questions won’t make anyone happy. I mean, you can’t answer them right now, so why ask?” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie has a point, Summer. It’s not good to get caught up in questions like that. Um… that is, unless you have a better idea…” Fluttershy meekly said. I giggled a bit.

“You guys are right. I’m glad I talked it through.” I said genuinely. I sat back on my haunches and held my hooves open for a group hug, which they all gladly joined in on. After enjoying it for a good moment, I let go and said my goodbyes.

“Alright. I’m headed to Canterlot there. A piece of this body’s past is there, and I might be able to put together a stronger net of Friends.” I said. “It won’t be long, I promise.”

“Alright. Good luck!” Pinkie enthusiastically said.

As I made my way to the train though, I ran into Bonbon and the unicorn filly again. “Oh, hi there. Who’s this?” I asked, gesturing to the filly.

“Hi Summer, this little cutie is Spectral Ember, she’s… my friend's little sister.” BonBon replied calmly, if she was still angry with me, she didn't show it. However, the one that did show anger was the filly. She didn’t much seem to like being called cute, which, like some kind of parasite, brightened my day from the cuteness and rained on hers. Since I was now focusing on her, I could make out a few new details. She didn’t have a Cutie Mark and looked to be about CMC’s age. Her mane and tail had colour of a slightly dull neon blue, same as her eyes. She also had a single streak of pure black running through the entire length of her mane and tail, she probably dyed that way it in a rebellious fit or something. The way she looked around sure made it look like her adorable grumpy face wasn’t changing anytime soon.

“Heh, nice to meet you, Ember.” I greeted.

She looked me over and turned her head to the side slightly. “I like ‘Spec’ better.” She half grumbled.

“Well, alright.” I said with a smile. “Well, I’ve gotta go. Got a few ponies to meet up in Canterlot.” As I passed Bonbon though, I paused and leaned over to whisper to her.

“I get the feeling that filly’s not just pouting over being seen as cute… Adorable as it is, I’d rather not have to fight a filly in the future. Don’t let the chance of a nightmare possessing her exist in the slightest.” I warned. For some reason, a very visible look of fear crossed her face as she glanced at Spec. I could guess why… but somehow, I got the feeling most of my guesses were wrong. Leaving it at that, I trotted onward, just putting the question away for later. I had a team of Mercs to meet.

~Sweetie Drops~

After that rather ominous warning, I turned to Spec once more, though I thought for a moment I hid my fear well. “Well, she certainly knows how to be scary when she wants to be.”

“Let’s just go.” Spec said with an annoyed tone. I nodded, not teasing her this time. As we moved along, I felt a call from the local hivemind. It was Shin again, probably wanting me to talk about more hive business. Summer knows the future after all, so maybe she shared some pretty sensitive information about one of the other queens. So naturally, I started heading towards Shin’s house, letting Spec know about the meeting.

‘Sweetie, do you know what you almost did…?’ Shin’s voice sweetly asked through the hivemind. Somehow a pit of dread started forming in my gut from that tone. Shin was pretty unpredictable a lot of the time, but one thing that was common with her was that a sweet tone like that normally wasn’t good. I almost didn’t answer for fear of finding out she was going to kill me… but that would probably be a last resort. She’d more likely take my will for a bit if I didn’t answer.

‘Uh… this… this has to do with Summer, doesn’t it?’ I asked with a sigh. ‘This should be something spoken of face to face. It’s too important to talk about long distance.’ I quickly set a fast pace to her place, taking Spec with me. Having a filly with me might mitigate any bloody results, but there’s no guarantees. I got there quickly enough, and knocked on the door.

Shin promptly opened it, and by god was there an aura of doom around her despite how sweet her voice sounded. “Ah… there you are… and who is that?” she said in reference to Spec.

“Spectral Ember. She’s a friend’s sister.” I replied with eased practice.

“Hello!” Spec exclaimed with sudden cheerfulness, probably planning something. I sent her a quick warning look. Shin was someone too important (and sometimes sadistic) to mess with.

“Now Sweetie, do you know what you nearly did to Summer, and why i’m taking this so seriously?” she asked with a slightly less sweet tone than before.

“I almost got Summer killed, yeah. I know… But I… er… I’m not too certain about why it’s so serious.” I replied, stopping myself from dismissing how serious it was.

“Just think about it. He has potential. Hes already gone from a drone to scout in a matter of mere minutes. Just how much further could he go?”

“Isn’t Summer that nice mare we met just a few minutes ago? Why is she talking about her as if she was a stallion?” Spec asked me quietly, but loud enough for Shin to hear it. I almost wanted to laugh at the question. It had a deep and complicated answer I couldn’t get into right now… but it’s for the best. She likely already knows the answer anyway, and is just asking to keep appearances. Rather than answer though, I decided to play along as well.

“Yes, why is that? I mean, she may be a changeling like myself, but clearly she prefers the female gender.” I said back. “Heh… teasing about gender confusion aside, no. I had no idea Summer even had that potential in the first place, nor was there any way I could have known.”

“You didn’t even try to stop him from going into the everfree…” she said, her tone slipping into dangerous levels.

“She told me when we first met what she planned. I thought her stupid, crazy, and not worth saving. I admit I made a mistake when I ignored her, but it goes to show I’ve still got some teachings and habits from Chrysalis to leave behind.”

“Isn’t it kinda Summer’s fault then? If she knew what she was getting into?” Spec once again piped up, bringing up a good point.

“Sush, the adults are talking young one.” Shin dismissed Spec.

That caused Spec to slightly frown and again whisper loud enough for Shin to hear. “Why is the bug lady being so stubborn?”

“I guess it’s because she’s a queen. But you did bring up a good point, Summer clearly had her own agenda and she did a good job of keeping it.” I replied. Turning my comments back to Shin, I kept a passive frown. “Spec’s a lot more mature than you think. She’s far from ordinary.”

“And so is Summer.” Shin shot back.

“There was nothing I could do to convince Summer how stupid she was being, taking on Nightmare Moon like that. She was lucky enough to survive this time, and lucky my partner was around to save her flank, but she at least somewhat knew what she was doing.”

“She clearly overestimates her own abilities and assumes to be right in an argument. With an attitude like that it’s no wonder she acted so suicidal.” Spec commented with a tone of casual disinterest, only looking at Shin from the corner of her eye as she started looking around.

“Yeah, I noticed that attitude as well. She must have been a cocky teen in her old life.” I added.

“She’ll probably end up as dragon chow.” Spec commented while inspecting the wall next to us. No idea what she is looking for.

“Meow!” Spec whipped her head towards to source of the noise, and I had to chuckle at what I predicted would come next.

One changeling in a cat disguise applied to face later, and Spec is flailing her hooves around enough for her to fall over. “Ahhh! Let go! I can’t see!”

‘Pfffft, Damnit Peeko!’ I laughed over the hivemind. All I got was a bunch of nymph gibberish in response as Peeko all but demanded Spec pet her.

“What is this? A cockroach? No wait, it’s hairy… a spider? A cockroach mixed with a spider? Or maybe a rat?” Spec started to ramble with a slightly panicky shake in her voice. I saw Shins eye twitching as she tried to reign in her anger.

‘This is why you don't ignore her.’ I messaged Shin over Hivemind with a giggle at Peeko’s antics.

‘Great. She's like the pink one.’ Shin groaned back.

‘Can be, but she’s not as insane.’

Spec has meanwhile managed to get Peeko to let go by petting her head. “So cute..”

“The funny thing is, Summer completely freaked out and started screaming something about ‘facehuggers’, almost like some kind of post traumatic stress attack, while this filly acted like it was completely ordinary…”

“I’ve seen weirder.” Spec said matter-of-factly, while gently rubbing Peeko’s back.

“I suppose that alien would know of some horrors.” I said with a shrug.

~Summer~

I felt a shiver run down my spine for a few seconds for some reason as I managed my UI. Currently I was on the train, riding onward to Canterlot, and I’d taken the time to check out that tutorial my UI offered earlier on the Element that had bonded to me. Evidently, it could be used on its own. All the elements could be, if they met a certain criteria. And it was a very obscure and tricky criteria, which is why the girls never found out about it. It’s basically a fusion of focusing your magic, and the represented virtue into the Element itself, and it gets exponentially more powerful with each other Element combined with it. Like, for instance if two elements were used together, both elements would be as strong as two elements each. And with them being used together, it makes for the strength of four times the base strength of the elements.

The tutorial suggested there might be more than 7 Elements, but it was so vague about it I might as well be imagining the hint. Based on the facts presented though, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was damned lucky to get an element. If it were just six, there would have been no way we could have recovered from some of those permanent injuries, like Twilight and I getting our horns broken off. But that also means that the Mane 6 in the original timeline were lucky as fuck too, to have not taken any injuries whatsoever. Well, besides Rarity’s tail.

But this comparison made me wonder… should I try to keep Discord’s return the same? Or should I take big risks again, and hope I can come out alive like the first time? For now, only time would tell. I may end up forced to take risks.

Hey, don’t worry yourself about Discord. That bastard’s too unpredictable to take on with a plan. Besides, based on some of the stuff I’m finding in your head, you should avoid him at all costs. Nightmare advised.

Huh? But why? I asked, confused.

First off, your personality is a crazy mess. You enjoy chaotic things, a lot of which could be brought to life if Discord saw what was in here. Second off, if he Discords you, not only would there be no hope, but you would be a zealous spreader of Despair. And knowing what you do… Twilight would never break free of Discord’s influence.

Well… Shit. But you could break the spell, right? ...Right? I replied, a little nervous.

Not unless you were a Queen. And according to your little UI doohickey, you’d need at least 80% of me for that. That immediately set off a notification in the Quest Log, changing the priority of the Nightmare Gathering quest and adding the mentioned criteria.

Welp. I guess we REALLY need to keep an eye out for your fragments. I concluded. At about that time, the train finally rolled to a stop. Out the window, Canterlot’s station greeted my sight. Looks like we’re here. Time to start searching for BLU.

I got started right away, asking around if anyone knew where to find them, or a gryphon named Tavish. None of the civilians knew, but when I decided to try asking a guard, I got results. The guard directed me to one of the lower class streets in the city, the road amazingly named after the gryphon I was looking for. When I spotted BLU’s sign, I went right for it, heading up and knocking on the Employee’s entrance. Their sniper was the one to answer the door, so he was the one that got my friendly smile.

“Hello. I’m here with some news about RED. I believe all of you should hear this.” I greeted the zebra.

“Alright, mate. C’mon in, I’ll get Tavish.” he said, holding the door open for me. I nodded my thanks, heading in with him, and waiting as everyone gathered. I looked at their spy, Swapkey in particular, since I thought he might want to know the news most. He of course noticed my look and raised an eyebrow. I just nodded slightly to him to let him know it wouldn’t be long until I shared what I had to say.

“So, what’s new with those maggots down there?” their soldier, Direct Charge asked once everyone was gathered.

“Someone came back from the dead.” I told them. “Someone you all thought sacrificed himself in that joint operation a few weeks back.”

“No… you don’t mean…?” Swap asked, removing his cigar in shock.

“Yeah. Switch is back, but it ain’t his soul piloting the body.” I said, before releasing my disguise. They all gasped as I took the shape I originally woke up as. I smiled at them as they stared. “It’s my soul.” I finished.

“Oh, bloody hell…” Tavish muttered.

“He’s not lying… It’s Switch’s body, alright.” Swap confirmed.

“Yeah, but seeing as I prefer the female gender, his body’s changed… quite a bit.” I said sheepishly as I allowed the changes my personality had caused to spring back in. All of BLU stopped suddenly, and shared a look. Then they burst out laughing like hyenas. I just stood there dumbfounded as to why they were laughing so hard.

“The lad’s a lass!” Tavish shouted in the middle of his laughing, and I had to blink. They were laughing about a transgender? Wow. Immature, the whole lot of them. Then again, I guess they were all pretty use to mocking and taunting RED so really it should come as no real surprise. Especially the way I made the reveal.

Eventually, Charge was the first to stop laughing. “Well, thanks for the news. But is that it?”

“Actually…” Swap started. “This isn’t the only instance of a soul receiving a body it doesn’t belong to. I assume you were told the tale of our joint operation?” I nodded leaning in to listen. “The dragon, Hidden Fang has a new soul as well. Yet, somehow he still lives up to the old name he lived by. No one can find him.”

“Interesting… I wonder if one day he’ll come to me? I’ve been working on the timeline, changing a few things for the better. I know one version of the future, and changing it has to attract attention from anyone else from my world.”

“The future?” Blur repeated, surprised.

“Yeah. I used what I knew to help strike down Nightmare Moon, and I got a cool artifact out of it.” I said, leaving out that I almost got myself killed.

“Bet you got your ass handed to ya.” Blur shot back.

“Admittedly, yes…” I replied hesitantly.

“You almost died.” Swap said with a deadpan. That brought the room to silence once again.

“...Say! I know a few opportunities for more joint operations in the future. Could pay well.” I said, changing the subject.

“I don’t suppose it’s any worse than Nightmare Moon?” Blur replied.

“Some are… yeah. One of them is Discord. He’d probably be more like Merasmus in a fight… hopefully.”

“Yeah… Merasmus was a terrible fight. Not gonna do it again.” Blur said. The others gave their agreement.

“Alright, how about Tirek?” I said. “Or King Sombra, he’s way earlier.”

“Ooh, those might actually be fun!” Charge said.

“I’d advise against going against Tirek, Switch. A changeling with no magic is a changeling with no life. You would be dead the second he sees you.” Swap countered.

“Oh yeah… makes sense. Okay, so there’s two assholes I gotta avoid at all cost.” I muttered. “I guess I’ll just have to hope for some kind of Anti-tirek mcguffin, and trust the girls with facing Discord.”

“Ay, that would be for the best, lass.” Tavish nodded. “No point in gettin yourself killed again, if there’s better options.”

“Right. Well, I did what I came to do. Oh, and before I forget, Swap. Manic told me to say Hi for him.” I said just to tease him. Swap shivered visibly for a moment, and I laughed mentally at his expense. Turning for the door, I started heading out, putting on my disguise once more. Of course with my feminine figure back in full force, my flank started swaying with my step, something Blur’s whistle told me did not go unappreciated. “And by the way… the new name’s Summer Dash.” I called out before the door closed. I wondered if Blur would start trying to woo me or something after that.

~???~

Oh god, my head… I feel like someone just took and started beating the hell out of my head with a nailed baseball bat. More than that, my spine felt like it’d been ripped out of my back and torn into multiple parts. And my legs felt like they were bending the wrong way too, but somehow they didn’t hurt as much as I thought they should have if that were the case. I groaned as I woke up, not enjoying it at all. Honestly, if I weren’t in so much pain, I’d probably just go back to sleep. But I needed to find out why I was hurting so much. What I saw when I opened my eyes was nothing short of mind breaking.

Ponies. They were all just staring at me like I’d grown a third head or something. Not only that, but they were wearing lab coats and looking down at me where I was laying down. This pretty much brought to mind all of those aliens getting dissected scenarios you see on tv and stuff. Needless to say, I kind of freaked out.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! What’s going on?! Where am I?!” I shouted as I scrambled off the table and tried getting away from them. I only got as far as getting off the table before I was restrained by some invisible force.

“Please, calm down. We don’t want to hurt you.” one of them tried to reassure me. Yeah right, that’s what they all say. I did my best to break out of whatever was holding me, but I paused. Something was telling me I’d need my mind more for breaking out of whatever was holding me rather than my body. I needed to focus. Taking a deep breath, I followed my gut and focused on the thing holding me.

“Let me GO!” I shouted as it came undone. The pony doctors stared at me with dropped jaws as I backed away further, but I tripped as I tried to get to my feet. “Wha-?” I muttered, dazed as I looked down at my feet. I had to blink a few times when I saw paws and white on orange fur there instead of what I was used to seeing. I faintly noticed a few of the ponies scrambling to get the heck outta dodge, but I was too caught up in noticing that I had a freaking bipedal cat’s body. And my legs were all wrong… it was like… like my foot was reduced to just my toes, and the rest of it wasn’t meant for setting down anymore. I think my brother called it digitgrade or something? I don’t know… In any case, as the doctor ponies cleared out of the room, I curled up as best I could, just too afraid to do much else.

What…. What happened to me?

Arc II, Act 1: Magician Space Catt

After I’d had enough time to thoroughly freak the hell out, I managed to start thinking. I knew I had to get out of here. These pony guys wanted to experiment on me for who knows what reasons, so it’s only common sense that I should take that opportunity away from them. They were afraid of me, too. Maybe I could use that to my advantage? My attention was brought to one of the other tables in this lab place, where some kind of tech was blinking. It looked like some kind of computer chip, but it kept blinking away, beeping like it was trying to get my attention. I got up, taking a bit of time to get used to my new legs, and made my way over to it. I heard something click on my forehead, before some kind of gem thing could be seen in the corner of my eye. I bet I would have looked cute, looking cross eyed at the thing.

I spotted a hand mirror over by a table near the one I had been laying on, probably something to show me what they’d done to me when I woke up, or maybe one of them was vain, but either way, it was convenient for me. Taking the chip, I headed over to the mirror and looked into it. Checking out the gem thing, I saw a spot the chip would fit perfectly into. It kinda freaked me out a bit. Was I some kind of cyborg cat? Maybe the chip had answers… Hesitantly, I brought the chip up to the gem’s slot, and put it in. The gem retracted back into my head, and I saw some kind of UI appear.

AI rebooting. Please Stand By. I saw a bunch of progress bars start filling up, and holy crap was it fast. Text flew across the UI faster than I could read it, hell, faster than I could even blink at some points. The reboot was a pretty short process and didn’t take much time to complete. What looked like a holographic version of me, but with slightly different looks appeared in a small window, yawning with a stretch.

“Aw yeah… That was a nice nap. Too bad I could never wake myself up. Anyway, Hiya Captain! I’ve got some good news and bad news.”

“Wait, Captain?” I asked, confused. The AI blinked, and recoiled harshly.

“Well shit… scratch the good news then. I take it you don’t even know who you are then?” I nodded my head, a little insulted by that remark.

“Of course I know who I am! I’m Catt. I just… I don’t know what happened to me, or why I have this weird cat, cyborg body…” I said, my irritation dying down as I started to realize I had a body that in all honesty, I would probably enjoy for its sheer cuteness.

“Oh, so the old captain’s pretty much gone forever, and you’re taking her body. Got it. Well I guess I could show you the ropes then.” the AI said with a bright smile. However, before we could get started, I heard hooves coming from the exit door. “Uh oh. Quick, get those gloves! You’re definitely gonna need them!” the AI said, making a golden sort of waypoint dot in my vision. It circled around me to a pair of broken looking gloves full of some kind of tech. I hurried over to them, grabbing them before following the waypoint out another door.

“Oh, joy! Scans are showing you’ve been injected with some new genetic material. You don’t need those gloves to cast spells anymore… still, best to hang on to them. I’ll guide you out of here, don’t worry.” the AI said.

“Wait, spells? I can use magic?” I asked, shocked. I looked at my paws in a new light, remembering what I’d done earlier to break out of my restraint. Was that all… magic?

“Well… not purely magic. But hey, it’s close enough.” The AI said with a shrug. I followed the waypoint around a few corners, dodging behind a door every now and then when the AI and I heard hoof steps. Man, this place must be a freaking castle or something to have this many hallways and corridors. It’s ridiculous. At one point, I think I accidentally hid in some Royal’s bedroom, but I noped out of there so fast, I didn’t get to see whose it was. Whoever’s it might be, I had a feeling we were just getting incredibly lost. At least until we made it to the throne room. There, I at least got some small sense of where I needed to go. Thankfully, since the guards were all busy looking for me, noone was at their post. It was a straight shot for the doors.

However, just as I was about to get there, the sound of massive wings flapping was all the warning I had before a huge pony about twice my size with brilliant white wings and a horn dived down and cut off my path.

“Little one, please stop running.” the big pony said in what sounded a lot like a motherly voice. “Nopony wants to hurt you. Do you think we could maybe sit down and talk for a minute?” I was hesitant, but… couldn’t see any sign of lying here. There was nothing pointing out that she wasn’t being perfectly honest, but I was still pretty scared.

“She’s not kidding around, kid. Maybe you should calm down. It’s pretty possible those ponies back in the lab weren’t the guys that originally took us for experimentation.” the AI encouraged. Letting go of the breath I was holding, I nodded and let myself fall onto my butt. I noticed right then that for whatever reason, I had four big, fluffy tails. I curled one of them around to hug, hoping it might even help me feel safer.

“... Daaaaaaw…” I heard the big pony in response to what I was doing. Hehe. Still got it.

“Warning: Dangerously high levels of Cuteness. Seriously, kid. Turn it down. I might have circuits for a body but I’m pretty sure I can get diabetes too.” the AI said. I had to giggle in response, but luckily thanks to the face the big pony was making, I had another explanation for it than the AI, which she didn’t seem to be able to see.

“So, my name is Celestia. You can call me Celly though. Who might you be?” the pony said as she sat down with me.

“I’m Catt. And that’s with two T’s. But… this isn’t my body. Do you know who put me in it? My AI friend says it might not be your guys.” I said. She seemed taken aback.

“AI? Where is it?” she asked, curiously. I pointed at the gem on my forehead before the AI could stop me, and I only noticed she was trying to stop me when it was already too late. “In your gem? I thought it was in a chip…”

“Uh.. it is…?” I responded unsurely. The AI facepawed hard.

“Well how’d it get in that gem?” Celly asked. You know what? She isn’t the bad guy. She should know.

“I… I put it there…” I replied, knowing how stupid that decision could have been.

“... You just put something you found in your own head? Did you even know what it was?” Celly asked, sounding like she couldn’t believe the stupidity. I know that tone very well. My older brother used that tone a lot.

“I thought it might have answers. Besides, the thingy in my head had a slot for it.” I reasoned. “And besides… something about it was familiar to me.”

“Really now? Maybe some part of the Captain’s still in there.” The AI mused.

“Maybe you’re remembering your ship? I’m sorry to say, it was disassembled by a madman who used it to build a robot army.” Celly said resentfully.

“Damn… is the cloning chamber still intact?” The AI asked.

“Uh… the AI wants to know if the Cloning Chamber’s still intact.” I relayed the question.

“Cloning chamber? I don’t know… we didn’t have one with us when we recovered you. Maybe the madman ran off with it…”

“Well maybe I could help track him down?” I volunteered. Wait, why would I volunteer for that? I hate working.

“Heh… yeah, the Captain’s still in there. I don’t even have to finish scanning your soul to know.” The AI said with a satisfied look. “Not that surprising, really. The captain once had their soul ripped out by an eldritch god, and she still kicked its ass.”

“Wow… Could I be that strong?” I asked it. She just laughed.

“Pffft, no. Your soul is nowhere near as strong as hers. If you tried to face down a god, you’d be ripped to shreds in an instant. The best you could probably do given good training is a titan.” She dismissed. I pouted a bit, put off by her laughing. This though, caused Celly to giggle.

Behind me, I heard a door frantically open, and a guard rush in. “Princess! We can’t… find… her…” I turned around slowly as the guard trailed off.

“Uh…. hi?” I said awkwardly, hugging another tail close to me. To my surprise, the Guard pretty much ignored the cute gesture, and just looked between me and Celly for a moment.

“I guess you found her. And since there isn’t a big fight, you two have made friends.” he stated more than asked.

“That we have. And it’s amusing watching her react to whatever her AI companion is saying.” Celly replied.

“Alright, I’ll go call off the search.” the guard said, before heading off. He closed the door behind him, but I noted it was with the glowing aura of Telekinesis. Which reminded me I was supposed to be able to use magic.

“Hey, Celly? Could you teach me magic, please?” I asked kindly. She blinked.

“You can use magic?” she asked back in surprise. I nodded. “Wow, Magician Space Cats… What else does the universe have in store for us?”

“Pffft, hehehe… If she’s surprised by that, then wait till she meets a Glitch. Or an Avali.” The AI laughed. I was a bit curious from the mention of those.

“That reminds me, what even am I? Y'know, besides the obvious.” I asked the AI. Celly stared as she waited for an answer she wouldn’t hear from the AI.

“You are a Kineptic.” the AI replied with pride.

“A Kineptic… Somehow, that sounds familiar, and not just because of this body…”

“Well it’s something to identify you with, at any rate.” Celly said with a smile. “You know… unless you want us to call you Cyborg Kitty.” she added in a joking manner.

“No, that’s alright.” I declined. Okay, what the hell. I would have said yes before… is this the Captain’s soul helping me be mature? … I don’t like it.

“Well it’s not like you can talk it out with the Captain. There isn’t enough of her soul to bring her consciousness back. Just influence the way you think and feel.” The AI replied to my thoughts.

Well then I guess it’s just something I have to get used to… I thought to myself.

“Hey, could you ask if they’d repair the Gloves? I’d very much like to talk out loud.” The AI requested. I nodded and held the gloves up.

“Could you repair these? The AI says they’ll let her talk out loud.” I asked. Celly took them in a golden glow, making them levitate beside her with a smile.

“Sure. Come along, I can teach you something on the way.” she agreed. Together, we stood up and started to walk together. Along the way, Celly gave me a few pointers for how better to control my magic, which I was grateful to learn. The AI was quick to jump in after that, and teach me a few of the spells the Captain once knew. Needless to say, when I fired off a highly explosive bolt that somehow didn’t damage the castle, Celestia was pretty impressed. And when I teleported too, she applauded me. As I learned, I couldn’t help but smugly smirk at the image of my brother dropping his jaw at how fast I was learning this stuff. He always did say I was the most irritating person to teach, and that I was far too slow in most everything I did. Though I guess it’s mostly because of the Captain’s soul helping me focus, be mature, and all that jazz. Maybe even some of her memories were there, helping me recognise what they were talking about. Still, it’s faster than I ever learned before. By the end of practicing the spells though, I was feeling pretty hungry.

*Grrrrrr* My stomach growled harshly. “Oh dear… Hehe, I may have forgotten you didn’t know what fuels our spells. See, spells use up nutrients you get from food. So you’re about to be responsible for a sudden increase of dietary expenses.” The AI explained with a slight chuckle.

“Up for a meal?” Celestia asked with an amused smile. I nodded sheepishly.

“Uh… yeah, the AI just told me my magic’s fueled by food’s nutrients.” I told her. “So I probably shouldn’t practice too much, unless you’re okay with spending more on food.”

“Wait, seriously? Well then, you just might be one of the solutions to our food problem I’ve been looking for. This castle receives far more food than anyone knows what to do with. More than a third of it ends up rotting before it can be eaten.” Celly replied.

“Sweet!” I cheered. I was so going to practice the hell out of my magic. In the meantime though, I needed to eat. When we got to the kitchen, I stood in awe of the sheer number of cooks working. There were at least two dozen running about doing this or that, generally being busy. There were also a whole bunch of guards, I assume to have been off their shift or something, getting orders. Many turned our way when we came in, and they bowed for a second in greeting.

“Hello, Princess.” one of the chefs greeted.

“Wait, you’re a princess?!” I asked in shock. She raised an eyebrow.

“You mean you didn’t notice the Guard call me that, or the tiara?” she replied.

“I uh… wasn’t paying attention…” I muttered. Celly just chuckled.

“It’s okay. I know cats have a pretty short attention span.” she dismissed the issue. She turned back to the chef who seemed unperturbed by anything we just spoke of. “Catt here needs a huge meal. Make it my size.” she said.

“Alright, coming right up.” he said, already getting started on it. “Come on, boys! We got another Alicorn Special to make!” he called out, spurring the kitchen to even greater action. I just had to stare, shocked by how good everyone was at multitasking. I mean, I’ve seen plenty of youtube videos about people working bakeries, but this was crazy.

“Impressed? They’ve had a lot of practice.” Celly said as I watched. “See that one with the golden mane?” she asked, pointing to one. I nodded as I spotted the one she was talking about. He had an orange coat, as well as a mark on his… flank that looked like a ham. “He’s in charge of cooking for carnivores. He’s one of the few ponies I know that can stomach even the thought of meat. He’ll be the main one cooking for you, so if you get real hungry, just go to him.”

“Alright. But what’s wrong with meat?” I asked.

“Ponies are peaceful. Seriously, we haven't had a war for over a thousand years. You can probably imagine being as peaceful as this, even the thought of something dying to feed another being makes them queasy… though to be honest, we’re perfectly capable of eating it otherwise.” she answered.

“Wow. Ponies would hate Florans then. The savages have a plan to kill pretty much anything they meet, half the time. And probably eat it too. It’s a good thing they’re afraid of Kineptic though. Hehe. Superiority by fire.” The AI commented.

“Florans don’t sound too nice.” I muttered.

“Florans? What?” Celly asked. I told her what the AI told me. “Oh dear. And from the sound of it, they’re plant like. Am I right?”

“Eeyup.” I once again passed the message.

“They might enjoy the Everfree forest. We have wolves that’re made of wood, called timberwolves.” I shivered at the thought.

“Let’s change the topic, please?” I requested. For a moment though, I marveled at how vocal I was being. Normally I don’t talk this much unless I’m in a derpy mood. And I’m only ever serious if I’m mad or in trouble. I guess this Captain is really affecting me. At this rate, I can’t help but wonder if I’m going to end up being a hero like the Captain too.

“Order’s up!” the golden maned pony Celestia pointed out earlier shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts with shock. I managed to not fall out of my seat though, but seeing a large amount of great looking meat and seafood made my mouth water.I was a bit sceptical about the seafood, since I didn’t like it in my old body, but I was a cat now so… I might as well give it a try.

Before I even knew it, the whole plate was empty. No stains, no scraps, nothing. The plate was cleaned completely off. “Wow, I can’t believe you ate the bones too…” Celestia commented from the side.

“... I think I blacked out. What’d I miss?” I asked. In response, Celly just fell over in absolute laughter. “...what!?”

“You pretty much just… Let’s just say you had a cartoon moment.” The AI explained, barely containing her own laughter.

“You have to do that again, the looks on the Noble’s faces was just priceless.” Celly said as she finished up her laughing fit.

“Nobles? Oh great, I hope they aren’t uptight jerks.” I groaned at the mention of them.

“They can be at times, but I’ve tried my best to keep that attitude out of them.” Celly replied as she got up, fully recovered from her laughing fit.

“Whoa, you mean we have Royalty that actually does something about their nobility? That’s quite a shock. Still, we oughta know who to watch out for, she did say she’s only tried her best to keep them in line.” The AI muttered.

“Any we should watch out for? The AI brought up a good point.” I asked.

“Oh, sure. Keep an eye out for Prince Blueblood, he’s the worst. White coat, blonde mane, and enough brain to match the Blonde stereotype.” Celly replied. “Actually… let’s back up for a second, doesn’t the AI have a name? A name would be more interesting that always calling it ‘the AI’ don’t you think?”

“Oh, I didn’t think to ask…” I responded.

“Well Dad made me to help pilot a ship… but we don’t have a ship to pilot anymore, so I guess I can’t call myself a Ship-based Artificial Intelligence Lattice - or S.A.I.L. for short - anymore. Could use a more unique name anyway, too many AIs are called SAIL. You got any ideas?”

“Uh, okay… How about Kitty?” I suggested enthusiastically. She giggled at that.

“Hehehe! I think that’s a bit too silly. Your body’s going to fully mature in a year, so maybe think of something serious you’ll stick with?”

“Alright… How about…” I struggled to think of something. At first I thought of maybe what my brother might call it, since he’s always seemed pretty good with names, but then I strayed to ideas that, honestly kinda scared me with how good they were. Maybe it was more of the Captain’s influence? Either way, I had a good one before long. “Catrina.”

“That sounds like a pun. I like it.” she replied. I blinked at the unintentional pun, before laughing with her about it. It was supposed to be a play on my own name.

“Alright then, Catrina it is.” I said with a smile.

“Cute.” Celly said, looking disappointed she couldn’t hear the conversation we shared. “Wish they’d hurry up with those gloves…”

“Me too actually. I wonder what else they do besides let Catrina talk.” I agreed. Catrina didn’t respond to that one in answer, probably just wanting to leave it up to my imagination.

“Say, now that you’re full, how about some more training?” Celly offered. I gave my answer in the form of a massive grin.

Training went by in a flash, mostly from how fun it was just to make things float around or teleport. Target Practice as fun too. I managed to actually blow up a few too. The guards just couldn’t stop gawking when I kept hitting targets dead center at their training grounds. Though thankfully, more of the Captain shined through as I trained, keeping me from using magic recklessly. Ideas for pranks or thoughts about “what would happen if-” were just left as those. Ideas and thoughts. But, needless to say, magic is fun.

The next day, Catrina suggested we try out combat training. My body still had the Captain’s muscle memory, so combat should come to me by pure instinct. Or at least, so she said. She told me she figured it out from how fast I learned various spells. I have to admit, I was eager to figure out more of the Captain’s skills, but I was willing to bet it was just more of the Captain shining through. I mean, I was just a girl, before I got this body. All the interests I had was laughing at funny videos and playing games. I guess what’s left of the Captain wants me to have fun while I’m running around in her body, instead of sitting around moping about being pushed to do things I don’t want to.

That being said though, I wasn’t about to dismiss that I was having fun on account of that. When I got to another training ground, this one a sparring feld, Catrina pointed me to a staff. The Captain was apparently proficient in those kinds of weapons, and Catrina sited that the Captain typically used it like a spinning saw blade, always twirling them fast enough that it left an after image. It was good for both defense, and offense. When I got to practice with it, I found I could do it pretty well, but Telekinesis made it so much easier. I used both my paws to telekinetically hold one staff each, spinning both fast enough to make wind.

Practice got real fun when I was put up against a pair of guard recruits, who apparently were at the top of their class. One was a unicorn stallion, and the other was a Pegasus mare. They started out with a distraction tactic, where the unicorn of the two unloaded on me to distract from the pegasus trying to get at my back, and while it did work the first time, it didn’t work quite so well after that. Every new tactic they played always worked the first time, a few of them actually more than that, but I still learned them and learned how to counter them.

However, in the last leg of their attack, I pulled something that surprised everyone, myself and Catrina included. As I crossed my staffs to make a flashy counter to one of their moves, I felt my magic snap out into them, and yank something out of them, only for whatever I yanked out to be put back in… in the wrong pony. Both of them fell back on their flanks after that, stunned by… whatever the heck I did.

“Wh-what the heck?! What just happened?!” The unicorn asked…. Which was strange since up until then, it had been the pegasus talking all casual like that.

“That… was a very disorienting experience.” the pegasus stated, which confused me since the unicorn was the one talking like that. They both looked at each other after they spoke, and the unicorn promptly freaked out with a lot of screaming.

“...OH SWEET CELESTIA, WHY ARE YOU ME?!” he screamed. Wait, what? Did I just make them switch bodies? The pegasus seemed to take it a lot better.

“Wait, what? Ooooh….. I seem to have… your parts now…” Okay, apparently the intelligent unicorn guy was a bit of a perv.

“...I think we broke something.” Catrina muttered.

“FIX IT! PLEASE, DEAR FAUST, FIX IT!” the one that was supposed to be the pegasus mare screamed at me.

“U-uh, I’ll try…” I promised, but I doubted I could. I mean, I had no idea I could even do that, let alone how. I focused hard, trying to find that trigger inside me that went off in the spar, but either it was a one time accident, or I just wasn’t looking hard enough. Considering I didn’t even know what I was looking for, I’m banking on the other one.

“I wonder what it-”

“NO! You will NOT have your fun in MY BODY!” I overheard the two guards arguing. I shivered in disgust. I was with the mare on this one. I could tell he was having pervy thoughts.

“Oh come on, let him have his fun.” Celly encouraged. “I actually happen to know how he feels. Besides, this swap should only be temporary.” Everyone looked at her like she’d grown a third head.

“Um…. I’m only 10.” I said. That excuse, I hoped, would stop the nonsense.

“Oh. Well then, nevermind.” Celly said with a blush. “Uh… can you switch them back?” she asked.

“I’m trying, but I don’t even know what I’m doing.” I replied, thankful to change the subject. She sighed.

“Alright… I’m going to call the closest thing to an expert we have.” she said, heading back into the castle. I waited with the Recruits, trying to find the right trigger the whole time. It didn’t help that the guy in the mare’s body kept spitting out innuendos he thought was subtle though, and I almost felt like I should just leave them to their fate out of disgust. I hate perverts… and that mostly applies to my older brother, but still.

“Hey, I have an idea. Start up your magic, and let’s try a few things.” Catrina suggested. I did as suggested, and waited for her to continue. “Okay, reach for them with it, try to find out what you grabbed.” Again, I did so. But still, there was nothing. I couldn’t figure it out. I groaned as I gave up.

“I’m sorry, guys… I just can’t figure it out. I dunno, maybe I can figure it out over time, I just can’t do it right now.” I apologised.

“A-alright… just please, don’t give up on it. I don’t want to be stuck in this pervert’s body forever.” the mare begged. The guy just stood by, completely okay with this. I nodded.

“Maybe I’ll have an answer by tomorrow?” I naively hoped. Celly came back right about then.

“Well, there’s news… but I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.” she reported. “Turns out, the expert is coming, and he says you two should try to touch each other, or at least stay close if that doesn’t work, but… well, he’s got his own embarrassing situation to deal with for now, thanks to being severely weakened. He won’t be back to peak condition for at least the next week or so.”

The ex-stallion grinned when she said they should touch each other, for obvious reasons, but the mare knew exactly what she meant. Both of us groaned at Celly for that choice of words. The mare was quick to act on the suggestion, but nothing really happened.

“Oh, wait… I think I see why that expert suggested that. Things gone wrong like this, what with a soul being in the wrong body, nature tries to correct that automatically. But if a spell is strong enough, it can keep that correction from happening too easily.”

Wait… so you’re saying I put them under a really strong spell?

“That’s right. Not as strong as whatever put you in the Captain’s body, but strong enough that physical contact can’t correct it.”

Oh boy… this could be bad then.

“Don’t worry too much… an answer should come somehow.”

Thankfully, a distraction came when my stomach growled again. I guess breakfast wasn’t big enough. Celly giggled.

“Alright, Razor Wing and Code Red, you two report to Shining, and make sure to tell him what happened. Catt and I are headed to the Kitchens.” Celly said.

“Myaaaa~” I purred and nuzzled Celly at the mention of food. Pretty sure it was another cartoon moment, but hey. It was cute, and no one could deny it! Together, with me purring and nuzzling Celly from her back, we headed to the kitchen.

Arc II, Interlude: Switchy Shenanigans

~Razor Wing~

I groaned in relief as we finally got to Shining Armor. Red just wouldn’t stop spitting out an innuendo the whole time we were walking, particularly hinting at what he planned on doing in my body tonight. It disgusted me. Thankfully he stopped when we got within earshot of the Captain.

“Oh, back from training the cat, you two? How’d it go, Red?” he asked, turning to me. However, Red was the one that replied, putting on his usual intelligent mask.

“Well, she’s actually pretty good. Both of us had difficulty keeping her under pressure, but we had to cut short due to an accidental spell that caused us to switch bodies.” he replied. The captain just stared as Red said that last bit.

“...An accidental… body swap?” he asked, like he wasn’t sure he heard that right.

“That’s right… I’m Razor Wing. The cat doesn’t know how she did it, so she can’t fix it. We’re hoping she can at least figure it out by tomorrow.” I told him. He stared for a few seconds longer, before he suddenly smirked.

“This seems like an amazing opportunity for training.” He declared. Of course, now both Red and I were groaning. Shining always had the craziest ideas for training.

“I knew it’d come to this…” Red muttered.

“And just for that, neither of you are switching back for a week.” Shining declared, glaring down at us for our complaints. “You two are going to use this next week to teach each other how your bodies work, and how to utilize each other’s magic. And as soon as the cat can learn how to replicate what she did to you two, I’m going to have at least half the guard undergoing the same training. This way, we can all be prepared in case something crazy like this happens when we face a threat to Equestria.”

“Yes sir.” I said with a salute. I didn’t want this to go on for any longer than it had to, so I refused to give him any reason to further extend that punishment. Besides, it was weird enough feeling Red’s stallionhood swinging about under me, even if it wasn’t erect. I did not want to feel it for more than a week.

“So I get to be a mare for a week…” I heard Red mutter. That was immediately followed by the familiar sound of my wings shooting up. “...What the?”

“Wingboner…” I told him with a facehoof. “Dear Celestia, I really hope you never experience Heat… You’d be unstoppable.” Wait a second, I haven’t dealt with it yet this month… and it should be around that time… “Oh shit.”

Evidently, Captain Shining Armor had just come to the same conclusion, but was having the opposite thoughts in regard to it. “Hey, even better. You two can get even closer. Help each other resist mental effects like that.” Captain, you can be one cold, hard dick. You know that, right? Not even getting used to the idea before you drop training on it.

“I’m considering quitting the guard.” I told him in reply with a deadpan. That actually put a frown on the captain.

“... Well, I would say you wouldn’t get to switch back in that case… but that’d be too evil. I wouldn’t do that to mere recruits.” He said. “But you know… if you quit, then you won’t get the promotions I planned for when you completed this.”

Wait, he what?! I immediately looked at Red to see if he’d heard that too. Seeing him looking back with the same incredulous face, I knew I hadn’t been hearing things. So I set Red with a glare.

“You get my body pregnant, and I’m castrating yours and forcing you to switch when I go into labor.” I threatened. Out of the corner of my eye, I could even see the captain cringe, but Red was cowering at the idea. He definitely knew I desperately did not want to get pregnant.

“Well then. I hope it doesn’t come down to that.” the captain said, nervously clearing his throat. “I’m going to go tell the Princess what I’ve decided. In the meantime, you two go ahead and get started.” he then practically bolted out of there, leaving us alone. Red still seemed a bit scared, but at least made an attempt to compose himself.

“Right then, let’s try to figure out our magic. I’ll start.” He said, before stretching out my wings. I had to duck right then as he somehow managed to shoot himself completely over my head without flapping once. “OW, SON OF A BITCH!”

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!” I shouted at him as I turned to look at the results. The good news was, he didn’t break anything. The bad news however, was that he ended up making a huge mess we would no doubt have to clean up together. And it was the worst kind of mess too.

“...Would you happen to know anyone that can use some kind of time travel spell? I want to go back and find the guy that invented coffee, and rip his throat out.” Red groaned.

“Ugh… I’ll get the mop.” I groaned too.

Fucking Coffee Stains. At least the captain didn’t have carpet installed in his office. That would have been a true nightmare.

“Okay! Now that we took care of the coffee problem, let’s move on and try not to spill anymore.” I said. Now that we’d moved to the training yard, we probably weren’t going to spill anything else, but best to get that in the air just in case.

“Right… so what did I do wrong?” Red asked, getting to the point. I sighed as I got started.

“Well what did you do in the first place?” I asked.

“I just channeled magic into the wings.” he replied with a shrug. Okay well that’s not much to work with…

“Okay, well… I… hmm… Let me try my method with your horn, maybe we can piece together what we’re doing wrong from that.” I said, not knowing what was wrong. So I did just that, cycling my magic into the horn, where I kept it nice and controlled… but then I saw a rave light shine out of my head. “...What the fu-” I was cut off by a laser popping out of the horn, shortly followed by another, and another. “HOLY FUCK, THAT’S SOME MASSIVE RECOIL!” I shouted as I tried to turn it off. Unable to, I just stuffed it in the dirt. Thankfully the training armor kept me from hurting myself, but I still felt the heat that rapid casting generated.

“That was scary… I honestly thought for a second you were going to keep going until my horn melted off.” Red muttered as I pulled said horn out of the dirt.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly learn anything if I let that happen, would I?” I retorted with a readily sarcastic smile.

“Okay it looked to me like you were pulsing your magic like a heartbeat. Or maybe a wingbeat… Still, as a unicorn, it’s not a good idea to hold any of it inside the horn unless you’re charging for a difficult spell. You have to let it flow outside.” Red advised, completely ignoring the face I was giving him. Hearing that, I got an idea of what Red did wrong with my wings.

“Oooh… Yeah, I see what you mean, you did the opposite with my wings. Pushing the magic out generates lift, so it’s good to keep it in until you flap.” I said. He blinked, and nodded in the same manner I did earlier; realizing what was wrong.

“Aha… Well that was easier to resolve than I thought, really.” Red muttered. “Let’s put it into practice then.” I nodded, and got to channeling my magic. Taking his advice and letting the magic cycle outside the horn, I got it to show a light, pleasant glow… but what was strange was that it wasn’t Red’s color, Blue. It was amber, like my eyes.

“Huh… that’s weird. It must be linked to your soul or something.” Red observed. Shrugging, he extended my wings and gave a careful, experimental flap. It did lift him a bit, but it wasn’t anything like that jet blast in the office earlier.

“Alright, that’s good. Couple it with a good jump, and you’ve got liftoff. Uh, don’t try it unless we go over good landings, though. I’d prefer it if my body doesn’t get caught in a bad crash.” I warned. He nodded in reply.

“Alright, well there’s that laser spell you accidentally used earlier. You think you could control it if you focused? Just pulse it like earlier once.” he said.

“Um… gee, I dunno. Could it really be any harder?” I asked sarcastically. “It’d be a better use of my time learning telekinesis.”

“Alright… Well it’s pretty simple. Just reach out with your magic. Thanks to that horn, the aura’s pretty far-reaching.”

“Thank you. Now, I’m just gonna skip the light things, and go straight to the dummies.” I said, turning to the test dummies. Hastily, I reached out for one with my magic, feeling it slither out like a strange third appendage to engulf the practice dummies. I only got two of them at a time, but I’m willing to bet it was mostly muscle memory. Red’s lifted way more that this before, and no doubt his horn’s muscles know how to do it. I just… need to catch up.

“Wow, pretty good… nopony is this good their first try.” Red declared, impressed.

“I’d like to thank your muscle memory.” I shot his praise down.

“Do you really have to be so negative?” Red groaned as he took off his training armor. “Whatever… it’s getting late, and we should get to bed before curfew. I’ll try flying tomorrow. Maybe that expert’ll be by around then too.” he said before heading towards his dorm… which was also every stallion’s dorm.

“Other dorm, jackass. You’re a mare.” I said stopping him as I headed his way instead, having taken my own armor off. At that reminder, he suddenly grinned and turned around with a skip in his step. I couldn’t help but groan. Captain Armor, with all due respect, you were an idiot to allow him to stay in my body for any longer than necessary.

However, when I got to the stallion’s dorms, one of the other guards there pointed out something that made my breath freeze in my throat. “Hey Red, why do you have Razor’s cutie mark?”

“...Well, this is going to be awkward to explain…”

Arc II, Act 2: Substitute Souls

~Catt~

I was having a pretty weird dream. And that in itself was pretty weird, considering I never remember my dreams. But what was weird about this one was where it took place. Normally, if I even do remember a dream, I’d be in some kind of forest or in my local neighborhood. This time, I was in a pretty awesome looking space ship, flying through the universe. I just couldn’t help but stare, aware this was a dream, yet too stunned by the sights to care.

“Heh… pretty amazing, huh kid?” Someone said behind me. I turned, only to see… myself? No, that was the one this body belonged to. The Captain. “Yeah, space is a pretty amazing place to travel. All kinds of adventure and danger… but this isn’t why I’m here with you right now.”

“You… want to talk to me, don’t you? Is this the real you?” I asked. She chuckled at me.

“Yeah, it’s the real me. But I ain’t the captain anymore. You are.” she said, taking a particular hat off her head and putting it on mine.

“Wh-what? But why?” I asked, a bit surprised.

“Well, you’re in my body now. I can’t take it back, my soul is in too many pieces. My body needs someone strong to keep it going. And with some help, you could be as strong as me some day. Maybe stronger.” she told me with a confident smirk.

“Really? But… Catrina said….” She shushed me.

“Ignore that old bag of circuits. You wanna know what she told me when I faced of with Cthulhu? She told me the chances of winning were so low, I might as well just turn around and start running. And well… I still won.” she said with a proud smirk.

“So… she overestimates everything you fight?” I asked with a bit of a smile on my own face. She nodded with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s about the size of it… but hey, at least she keeps ya on your toes. Now look, you might not have a ship anymore, but there’s something you gotta know. At some point, a group that’s been hunting me could show up. They’re merciless. Well… you know the cliche. Won’t stop till you’re dead, blah blah blah… but hey, you can handle it, right? You’re already picking up some of my skills. Not to mention some of the enhancements that crazy old guy gave us.”

“I guess… Who are they?” I asked.

“They’re a cult of Florans I pissed off a while back. These guys are actually pretty teched out, almost to the point where you could barely call them Florans anymore. More than I can say for that crazy old dude that stole all my tech implants, anyway… speaking of which, you should probably get those back. You’ll need them.” She said completely seriously.

“Oh… well crap. I heard about them from Catrina. Is there anything else I should do to prepare?” I asked. I wanted to be as ready as possible. Maybe it’s a gaming habit I got from my dad, or maybe it was more of her going into me, but either way, I wanted to be as ready as possible.

“Well, you could go find the cloning machine Old Fido hijacked. Link back up to it, bring it back to Canterlot, and as long as you have money, you won’t stay dead. I had a lot before I broke though, so you should be fine.” she assured me.

“Wait, what kind of money? How am I going to get more if I can’t even get off the planet?” I asked, worried I’d run out of money.

“Oh, uh… Well, I guess you could ask Catrina to modify our Matter Manipulator to turn materials directly into Pixels. But then again, you’d have to find it, and the Upgrade modules to do that… Ugh, it's like some tedious video game all over again.... Well, just don’t die.”

“I won’t.” I promised.

“Good. Now, on to more present matters, let’s talk about those two recruits you switched.” she said, getting up on her feet, walking up to the captain’s chair, putting in a few commands on the dashboard. “I’ve been looking into our new magic. From what I can tell, you have quite the task ahead of you. Not only was that incident earlier a total fluke, but you still lack the mental discipline to pull off something like that on purpose. Thankfully, the second thing should come to you naturally if you at least try some mental exercise. The hard part is the actual spell. It’s something I never had access to, so you’ll have to figure it out yourself. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you with it, if I’m reading this right, and I’m reading this right, you should have the ability to perceive souls of others, that is your first goal in at least gaining control over that ability.”

“Aw… but that means I can’t help those two tomorrow.” I complained with a pout.

“Hey look, the gloves should help a lot. But, now that you can do magic without them, they’ll only be a crutch. Maybe once they’re fixed, you can use them to try and switch those guys back, but then you should try and figure it out without them.” she told me. Seeing as I’d asked to get them fixed two days ago, they should be done soon. I smiled at that small hope.

“Alright… I’ll give it a go.” I promised.

“Alright. Hey, I’ve got more work to do, so you go ahead and get to having your own dreams. You still have a night to enjoy.” she said. I noticed out the window the sight of space dimming a bit.

“Wait, you can’t train me yourself?” I asked, trying to stop the dream from shifting away somehow.

“Relax, you’re still young. I want you to enjoy it while you can.” she replied. That was all there was left of her, before I slipped into a peaceful dream, full of the usual forest with cute little bunnies and foxes, playing around and dancing together.

“Hey, kid! Rise and shine, you got another morning ahead of ya!” Catrina heartily woke me up. I grumbled, wanting to just go back to sleep. “... Well, so much for hoping you weren’t a heavy sleeper like the Cap… Come on, don’t make me get to the extreme measures.” For some reason, the mention of that sent a chill down my back, and I felt my tails stiffen up in fear.

“Okay, okay… I’m up.” I groaned, sitting up. I noted my tails flicking about with agitation from being woken up. I’m really loving how fluffy they are. They make really good pillows.

“Have a good sleep? I noticed you were drooling a bit.” Catrina said in a teasing way.

“Yeah, best cake I ever tasted. But you know it’s kinda creepy to watch someone in their sleep.” I said, counter teasing. She just stuck her tongue out at me. “I met the captain, by the way. She’s pretty cool.”

“Wait, what? I thought Sonya was gone.” Catrina said, shocked.

“She is, in a way… she just kinda popped up in my dreams, said hi, and told me to watch out for a few things. Also told me there’s not enough of her left to appear in anything but my subconscious.” I replied with a slight frown.

“Huh… well then. What exactly did she warn you about?” Catrina asked, worried.

“A cult of mechanical Floran. And an old guy that took some tech implants.” I told her.

“Oh, those guys… no idea where the heck they get their numbers, but they have been persistent. Well, Sonya’s been kinda dead for who knows how long. They’ve probably moved on. Hopefully.” Catrina said. “Anyway, we should probably get some breakfast.”

“Yeah. I wonder what they can make…” I said, getting up. As I walked through the castle, I got a lot of odd looks. Some were good, some were… kinda creepy, and some were full of fear and hate. Lot more of that last one. I heard a few snooty sounding ponies ask why I wasn’t locked up yet, but Catrina got me to ignore them. I got to the dining hall without too much trouble, and I found Celly there, already ordering breakfast.

“Hey, Celly? I… I heard some ponies saying some pretty mean things about me… someone even asked why I haven’t been locked up already.” I told her when I sat by her. Her eyes narrowed in clear anger.

“Would you happen to know who it was? I’m going to give them a stern talking to.” she replied. “If anyone’s talking that way, then obviously I haven’t been as thorough as I thought about getting rid of such narrow minded thinking.”

“Uh, yeah… he had a blonde mane and white coat. And something like a tux…” I trailed off as I noticed Celly groan.

“Him again? Sometimes I wonder why I haven’t already kicked him out onto the street…” she got out of her seat, and started pacing agitatedly. “Still, the reactions are at least somewhat reasonable. I mean, you did use forbidden magic… but my scientists have told me the natural use of it was kinda stuffed into your body while there was still no soul in it, so it falls under the “Natural Dark” clause of the law. Those reports should be common knowledge…” She grumbled on for another few minutes before her breakfast showed up, which surprised me. Her breakfast… was a giant cake.

“...Why are you having cake for breakfast?” I asked with a deadpan.

“Alicorn metabolism. Gotta keep on the calories, or I’m going to turn into a stick. Kinda like how you gotta keep eating to use magic.” she replied.

“Uh… huh.” I said, not quite believing her. Turning to the golden maned cook. “Can I get a few pop tarts please?” I asked. He nodded, happy to serve.

“Going simple, huh?” she asked. “Must be eager to start training. Sorry I can’t stick with ya though, but I’ve got day court to run. Those two you switched should be back with you for training today.”

“You sure? They didn’t just switch bodies, they’ve got parts they aren’t familiar with too. Wings and horn switched, and all?” I asked.

“Yeah, but my captain tells me they’re already getting used to it. You can help them train each other too.” she encouraged. I shrugged. I guess it makes sense their superior would turn that accident into a new training regimen. I wonder if he’s some kind of super drill sergeant…?

“Hey, Princess. We’re here.” I heard a buzzing voice behind me. Turning around, I saw some kind of bug like alien pony with a candy colored mane, standing by a small grey Unicorn filly with almost neon blue highlights in her mane. And that filly was also staring at me with wide eyes.
“That filly… there’s something off about her, my scans can’t decide between normal and off the charts weird. It’s sticking with normal mostly though, so maybe that bug thing’s messing with my scans.” Catrina muttered.

“Oh hey, glad you’re here. Those two recruits are out by the training yard.” Celly said, pointing off towards said place. The chef came back with those pop tarts I asked for and I thanked him, before following Celly and the Bug out. As I followed the bug, I felt a small urge to stalk the heck out of it, maybe play with it like prey for a bit, and my tails reflected that in the way they shot back and forth. But the worst I did was creep up on her without making a sound and make some funny faces in the hope she’d turn around. The filly seemed to try a bit hard not to laugh at my faces though.

Eventually, the bug thing caught on, and turned around. She stared for a good few seconds, during which time Celly looked to find out what everyone was staring at. She fell over and laughed her flank off. Soon, the bug followed that example. I couldn’t exactly keep myself from laughing with them any longer, and joined them, rolling on the floor. I was interrupted when the grey filly jumped on my back and latched on with surprising strength.

“Gah, what the-” I turned around, trying to get her off. It ended up leading to a pretty funny (from the outside view) game of chase, with my tails being the hapless victims of my paws. At one point I tried getting down on all fours and bucking her off like a bull, but even that failed. Though I did accidentally find out I could run better on all fours from that ordeal.

“Oh jeeze, this is too hilarious…” Catrina laughed. I almost stopped to laugh with her… but then decided to keep the laughs rolling in by continuing to freak out. But then the filly stopped it by letting go and sliding off, using my tails as a slide. Then was a good time to stop and laugh, and the filly apparently agreed with that notion too.

“What is everypony laughing so hard about?” I heard another voice ask. Turning to it, I saw a midnight blue pony walking in, looking somewhere around my age, or maybe twice the filly’s. Seeing both wings and a horn on her, I quickly assumed it was a relative of Celly’s.

“Ohai. I’m just being a silly kitty.” I greeted her. The blue pony stared at me with wide eyes.

“...Sister? What the buck is this?” she asked, still staring at me.

“That’s a Magician Space Cat we rescued from an evil experiment stuffing her with forbidden magic in an attempt to prepare a new body for a senile megalomaniac. Don’t worry Luna, she’s on our side and protected by the Natural Dark clause.” Celly summed up rather bluntly. Just because I thought it might be funny after that, I just booped her nose and said “nya~”

“...Can we keep her?” Luna asked with a wide smile. Celly stuck her tongue out.

“Mine.” she jokingly said, pulling me into a hug. Luna giggled along, before looking at everyone else.

“We see thou have a greatly assorted party with thou. A changeling agent, a feline alien, and a filly naturally in possession of some dark magic, similar in some aspects to mine own.” Luna pointed out. The filly’s eyes bulged out and she took a step back from Luna, apparently surprised and shocked that she sensed it.

“Wait, Dark magic? I knew she wasn’t tripping out my scans for nothing…” Catrina said, staring the filly down. Not that she could see it.

“Looks like my AI wasn’t mistaken after all.” I said, staring at the filly myself.

“Wait, AI? Where the hell’d you get one of those?” the bug asked in shock.

“It belonged to me. Or at least, the last one this body belonged to, but whatever. How about some introductions? Not all of us know each other.” I suggested. Luna nodded in agreement.

“Verily. You may address me as Luna. We have recently returned from… a rather dark and painful chapter of mine life.” she introduced herself, more to me than the rest, it seemed.

“Alright, nice to meet you, Luna. I’m Catt, pretty much an unintentional body jacker filling in for a broken soul. And I have with me in my head an AI named Catrina who does the smart things for me.”

“N-Nice to meet you. My name is Spectral Ember, but you can call me Spec. I’m staying with Drops until my… brother recovers.” Said the filly. Luna narrowed her eyes at the filly.

“We can tell that thou art not being perfectly honest… but we can see thou hath a reason for such, and shall not pry.” Luna said, moving on and looking at the bug.

“Heh, you never could do subtle. Still, Honesty chose you for a reason, back in the day.” Celly commented.

“Right… anyway, my name is BonBon, or at least that’s my cover. I’m Agent Sweetie Drops, Celestia’s best in covert ops.” the bug introduced herself with a bow. “Happy to make your acquaintance, Princess Luna.”

“Right, so onward to the body swapped recruits!” Celly said jovially. Luna recoiled at that.

“What?! You mean the rumors are true?!” she freaked out, before rounding on me. I was surprisingly quick to react, throwing my paws up to try casting a shield spell in case of anything, though nothing happened… on either part.

“It was an accident.” I assured her. “I never meant for it to happen, and I’m doing my best to figure out how to fix it.”

“She has done nothing to deserve imprisonment, Luna. Lay off.” Celly sternly commanded. Luna glanced at her sister in surprise. Then after a moment thinking to herself, she sighed.

“Very well. We apologize for being so quick to assume. We have had rather poor experiences regarding the magic thou hath command of.” Luna said sincerely.

“It’s okay. And for the record, I don’t actually have command of it, just possession of it.” I told her, reminded of what Sonya told me last night.

“Don’t spread that around, it wouldn’t end well for you if you did.” Spec suddenly interjected. I was confused as to how.

“Why?” I asked. “I’m trying to figure out how to control it. All I need is some mental discipline and to know how to cast the spells in the first place. At least, that what this body’s owner says.”

“Ponies assume. A lot. And if the worst assumers of them hear that, they’ll assume you’re uncontrollably dangerous on account of you having dangerous and forbidden magic you can’t control.” Celestia clarified.

“Oh… would it make it any better if I clarified that I just can’t use it yet?” I asked, hoping there’s at least some saving grace for that mistake.

“But you already used it once. They have all the evidence they need.” Spec somberly pointed out.

“Oh… Okay, I’ll just keep it quiet.” I said, hoping I could figure things out before I had to prove anything.

We all moved on, Luna coming along just because I was super cute, and we got to the training grounds without further interruptions. When we got there though, we got hit by a pretty amusing surprise.

“LOOK OUT BELOW!” a frantic mare’s voice screamed. That was immediately followed by something knocking me off my feet. We ended up tumbling into Luna in a tangled mess of hooves, paws and tails.

“Well, that happened…” the dazed mare muttered. I recognised her as Razor Wing, from the other day, though I guess now it’s Red Alert, considering I switched them.

“Hai der.” I said, though I ended up having to spit some fur out of my mouth after speaking. Some of my tails and her mane got caught in it. “Bleh… what kind of hair care do you use, it tastes terrible!” I complained. Whatever it was, I could tell the stuff practically saturated with it or something.

“Ugh… That would be Red not using my shower right. Or my makeup.” Razor stated over on the other side of the training yard. I spotted her… him? Trotting over to help untangle us. “How was that by the way? You didn’t get to that part.” he said teasingly.

“Awkward. It was very awkward.” Red said with a deadpan as the two of us were engulfed in an amber aura. As Razor started trying to untangle us though, she ended up pulling on my tails. A lot. And it really hurt.

“Hey! Watch the tails! Ugh, why the heck do Kineptic even have this many tails?!” I complained.

“Hell if I know. I’m no scientist.” Catrina replied with a shrug. “Maybe it’s something to do with storing calories, so you can use more magic?”

I rolled my eyes and helped as much as I could with untangling us, whacking Luna in the face with one when it got untangled unintentionally. When we finally did get untangled, Red was quick to take air again.

“You sure you’re up to fly? You did just crash.” Razor asked.

“Yeah. I gotta keep practicing until I get it right. If I can’t stay in the air for more than 2 minutes at the least, then I’m not done.” Red replied.

“Heh… I think you’re getting a bit of my attitude.” Razor commented.

“So whom is whom?” Luna asked when she was finished spitting my fur out.

“Each is the other one?” Spec oh so helpfully supplied, while carefully poking the unicorn in his leg. Said unicorn giggled in a very not man-like fashion.

“Yeah, I’m Razor Wing. And that perv in my body is Red Alert.” Razor introduced. We all observed Red as he was trying to stay in the air. It took him about half a minute to once again lose control and crash, this time by smacking into a wall, prompting Razor’s eye to twitch.

“Just what is he doing?” Spec said with a tone of utter confusion.

“Apparently trying to be a flying brick.” Razor muttered with a deadpan.

“I’m trying to learn how to fly!” Red shouted back, though I spotted a bit of work on Catrina’s part, animating a red vein popping on her head. I tried not to laugh, but…. Well, trying didn’t work.

“I’ve been working on magic, but him flying around like that is pretty distracting.” Razor commented. I nodded in response.

“Yeah, I can see why. Nothing like watching your own body slam face first into a wall to distract you from something you really oughta be doing.” I agreed, watching Red try once again to stabilize. Spec meanwhile managed to climb on top of a nearby dummy’s head and was frowning in Red’s direction.

“And you haven’t been giving tips because…?” Celly asked.

“It’s more amusing this way.” Razor laughed.

“You’re probably gonna feel that when you get your body back.” Sweetie Drops warned. Razor just smirked.

“He’s over controlling his magic.” Spec muttered just loud enough for us to hear, but not loud enough for Red. Taking note of that observation, I watched Red for a moment, a few ideas popping into my head for some magitech accessories I could use to mimic pegasus flight… but I knew the ideas weren’t from me. Still, the idea of flying was very appealing. Red managed for a whole minute, this time, before he just stalled and fell.

“Agh, damn it…” Red cursed, glaring back at his… her wings. “These things are really hard to keep working.” he complained to Razor.

“Hey, not my fault you’re doing it wrong. Bright side of it at least is that for the next week, you get to fly.” she said, effectively turning Red’s focus off of complaining and onto gathering up some courage. As she did though, I noticed Spec’s expression. It looked like she was up to something… Being the fun loving kid I was, I was eager to find out.

She waited until Red was back in the air and somewhat stable, then she lit up her horn with almost neon blue magic and her face scrunched up in concentration.

“Whoa now… she’s using dark magic. What the heck is she doing?” Catrina said, staring Spec down. Luna turned toward Spec, tensing up and watching with caution, but thankfully not acting out.

After a few seconds of concentration I saw a change in Spec’s eyes. There were several small neon lights just… floating in her iris, it looked almost like small embers of some kind of... spectral… flame. Huh, is that where her name comes from? Evidently, Luna could see what Spec was aiming to do. Spec’s horn first let out a few sparks before blasting some bright blue embers straight at Red, whose eyes widened in surprise. Immediately, she pushed a lot of magic into her wings and jet straight up to get out of harm’s way, barrel rolling on her way, before cutting off and stalling for a second, before just hovering there. Then, as if realizing what she’d just done, she laughed in utter joy as she spun out, just letting her magic flow naturally as she dived.

“I totally got it!” she shouted in joy as she made a few loops. Razor chuckled.

“Nice move, kid. Thanks for that.” he said, smiling at Red taking joy in flight.

“OW!” Red shouted as she hit something. Turning, I saw she’d slammed into the training weapon’s rack. “Okay, note to self. Do not close eyes while doing tricks.” I heard her mutter.

“Welp. So much for that moment.” I said bitterly. It was a good moment too…

“You are welcome…” Spec weakly muttered from the floor, where she is now laying sprawled out and resting. I had to chuckle. I guess it took a lot out of her.

“That was an advanced spell for someone her age. It was similar enough to one of the base Kineptic spells though, but with the added benefit of Dark Fire. Maybe we could find a way to copy the effect in the Pulse module in your gloves?” Catrina theorized.

“We already have Soul Magic, Catrina. I’m not about to give anyone any more reason to lock me away.” I countered with a slight glare. Moving on though, I turned to Celly. “That reminds me though, hey Celly? Are my gloves done yet?” I asked, cutting into Luna’s rant about how dangerous Spec’s move was.

“Gloves? Pray tell, what gloves dost thou speak of?” she asked. I took a moment to appreciate just how weird Luna was talking, and how it seemed to get weirder the more distressed she was.

“They’re something the original owner of this body used to cast spells. Though due to experiments, I don’t need them, and they’re more of a pair of enhancers. Sort of a crutch for me when I need to do something currently out of my reach.” I said.

“Yeah, they should be. I’ll send for someone to get them for you.” she said. Her horn lit up for a few seconds, before it was over. Almost right after, there was a magenta flash, and suddenly I was staring at a purple unicorn, staring at the gloves like they were some kind of epic treasure. I guess this one must have some extreme love for science or something… He did hand them over though, and shortly teleported off somewhere else.

Putting them on, I held out my palm, and Catrina displayed on top. “Hey! Looks like they put it back together quite nicely. And it looks like someone even installed a few adaptive scanners. I should be able to function better, thanks to these.”

“Cool.” I commented with a smirk.

“Whoa…” Luna muttered as she stared at Catrina. “Tis very advanced… art thou certain it’s not just a personality moved from a living being?”

“I guess I could be, but if I was, I have no way of remembering anything before waking as an AI. Dad, or what you might call my inventor, made me specifically as a partner for Sonya. Or Catt now, since Sonya’s soul is kinda nothing but shards.” Catrina replied. Luna blinked, looking between me and Catrina.

“Catt has mentioned it before, but… now that We’ve heard it in more detail, We are interested. What happened?” Luna asked.

“Mad scientist found an alien’s ship and abused the knowledge it held, as well as its original inhabitant, tried to mess with soul magic so he could steal the space cat’s body, and it ended up going off like a bomb, nearly destroying every soul in the blast radius. Old guy got away, and now nearly two weeks later, new souls are filling in. First was a mercenary group’s spy, a changeling you now know as Summer Dash, and now the cat’s got a new soul. I think you know where this could lead.” Celly summarized. Luna paled a bit, though I perked a bit at the mention of Summer. I recognised that name… My brother always used that name for some character he used in roleplays online and stuff. Could it be…?

“Who else was in that blast?” Luna asked… no, demanded.

“One of my dragon agents. His name is Hidden Fang, but… his body was never found.” Celly replied with a somber tone. “He was likely the first to obtain a new soul, and whoever it is doesn’t know a thing about who he once was.”

“Oh boy… Hey, maybe if we can get a few Upgrade Modules, I can upgrade these gloves more so we can help find that guy.” Catrina suggested. I stepped in finally, wanting to get in my own question.

“Hey, back up a second. Did you say someone’s going about calling themself Summer now?” I asked, referring to the recognition I had earlier. Celly was a bit surprised.

“Uh yeah. Why, you recognise them?” she asked. I nodded.

“That’s the name of a character my brother used for Roleplays.” I clarified.

“Wow, really? Talk about coincidence.” Catrina remarked.

“I don’t think so…” I replied, glaring a bit. “I’m willing to bet that somehow, my brother got the two of us dragged here for some reason. And I wanna find out how and why.”

“Well when I met with Summer once, she mentioned a deal of some kind… and then she almost got killed trying to face off with Nightmare Moon.” Bonbon spoke up.

“Yes…” Luna said with a slight cringe. “We remember her mentioning that before she began the duel. How she fears not death, for it shall only send her back home… to a place she hates. She spoke of another world as well, so there is no doubts about her origins.”

“Wait, he almost died?! How?!” I exclaimed.

“She is a changeling, a race sensitive to extreme emotion. She faced Us at the height of my guilt and Nightmare’s rage, and both emotions took their toll on her. We also hit her several times with powerful spells… if her song hadn’t motivated Us so, the first strike surely would have ended her.” Luna recalled.

“... He won in the end though, right?” I asked, just wanting to be sure. “He’s still alive?”

“That she is… and she has fully recovered from mine wrath as well, or so We are told.” Luna replied.

“... He lost, didn’t he?”

“... She picked a fight with an Alicorn. Honestly, what did you expect?” Celly interjected with a deadpan. “Especially when she refused to even try to land a single blow.”

“Ugh… he’s insane.” I groaned.

“She still helped bring Us back from the darkness. She now bears a newly generated Element of Harmony, along with one Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“Pfft… typical. Always trying to be a hero, doing reckless things and getting something cool out of it. If dad were here, he’d end up grounded for weeks because of that stunt.” I groaned.

“So, you gonna try out that soul magic?” Celly prompted, easily changing the subject. “And before you switch Razor and Red back, my captain has suspended them to each others bodies for a week for… some grievance he didn’t tell me about.”

“It was attitude.” Razor replied. “I gave him grief for marking this experience up as training, and he saw fit to show me why I shouldn’t question his methods. Because they really are good methods.”

Celly’s next comment was cut off as I tested the soul switching spell with Catrina’s help, targeting Luna and BonBon. As I worked it, I could actually feel and make out what I was doing. I could even feel how I’d connected the two through some kind of line, and how a bit of them passed through it. And I could sense their shock and surprise as they switched in almost the blink of an eye. Once it was over, Luna, now in the buggy body, glared at me.

“You could have warned me, you know. I didn’t even agree to this.” she complained. I blinked, seeing she wasn’t talking weird.

“Agreed. Tis a… Bleh, what the hay?!” Bonbon made a face when she talked weird. “This archaic speak has to go…”

“What? Hey come on, what’s wrong with it?” Luna pouted.

“Firstly, it is a dead language, and secondly, it may confuse some ponies. Some ponies may even fear thou- you more for it, as it sounds far too… commanding, imposing, and official. It also makes tho- You sound rather angry.” Bonbon explained.

“I see your point…” Luna admitted. “But it’s not an easy habit to get rid of.”

“I can tell.” Bonbon replied, and I could hear the grating effort it took to just say I.

Spec was at this point apparently rested enough to get back to her hooves, and was occupying herself by circling and poking Luna, who turned to stare at her.

“...What are you doing?” she asked, looking a little annoyed, but mostly curious.

“I’m just… looking how cool this is!” Spec supplied, moving her poking to Bonbon.

“Sure you are.” Luna deadpanned, causing Spec to splay her ears back but otherwise nothing else, save for a faint glow around her horn and a sound of scribbling.

“Well, I’m good to switch you guys back if you’re ready.” I spoke up.

“Yes please. Being an emotion sensing bug is kind of unsettling.” Luna pleaded.

“And being a cute Alicorn just does not suit my tastes.” Bonbon agreed.

“Cute?!” Luna cried out. But then I got to casting to cut off the argument. As I quickly worked the spell, it soon became Luna’s own cheeks that were blushing in embarrassment.

“You’re cuter when you blush like that.” Bonbon stated when she saw it. Luna groaned, hiding her face.

“Hey come on, Woona. As long as you look like that, you might as well embrace the idea of being cute.” Celly pitched in. Oh god, even that nickname was cute… they’re really pounding it in, aren’t they.

“Spec, why are you taking notes?” I asked, since no one else seemed to be even curious.

“I… err… why are you asking?” Spec nervously responded, hiding the floating scroll behind her.

“Just curious. I didn’t take you for the studious type.” I said nonchalantly.

“You seem to understand a lot more about magic than you, or your age, might let on.” Catrina noted, causing Spec to sigh.

“My brother couldn’t come on account of still recovering, so he asked me to make notes for him. He is the real expert after all.” She said with a glance at Luna and resumed her writing. I glanced too, noticing her narrowing her eyes just the slightest bit, but making no comment. Red hovered a bit over Spec’s head, looking down at the notes she was writing, but looked a bit confused.

“What kind of language is that?” she asked.

“A special one.” Spec smugly commented before rolling up the scroll and giving it to Bonbon, probably for safekeeping.

“What? What does it look like?” Razor asked.

“Like a bunch of pictures…” Red replied.

“Sounds like hieroglyphics.” Catrina guessed. Spec just smiled and shrugged.

“Could be.” Celly said with much the same smile and shrug. “Hey Catt, how about we pay your brother a visit? I was thinking of heading down there anyway to check on a student of mine.”

“Sure. I’ll need some time to prepare though, I’ve still gotta practice the Soul Magic thingy without my gloves.” I agreed.

“Alright. I’ve got about four days to prepare. Take all the time you need.” she said, before grabbing Luna and leading her off somewhere else. “Now sister I think it’s time I started expl…” Her voice trailed off as she left.

Arc II, Act 3: Concequences

~Summer~

Well, it’s been one hell of a week. The crazy storm happened, and I got shut in with Shin, who treated me to another mind blowing mind control “training” and then I found out through AJ, Twi, and Rarity’s emotions the next day that more went on that night with them than just an awkward slumber party. Apparently that storm helped Ponyville get the Kink on…

Now, about two days later, we’ve got yet another incident. Trixie’s come to town, and her posters are all over the place. I got one hung on my face when I spaced out at one point, which is how I found out. So naturally, I started questioning the timeline’s order. And then I gave up and made plans for dealing with Trixie.

I came up with a few different plans of action. One was discouraging her, by showing up on the stage and directly challenging her, followed by a total thrashing in her own form, another was simply doing the changeling thing and replacing her to put on a real show, and a third, more cooperative option would be to put on a real show with her, after somehow managing to convince her she’d bring ruin to this town if she went on acting as she did. Though something told me that last one had already happened, and just doing the same old thing would be pretty boring.

So, for the sake of not putting too much stress on my shoulders, I picked option A.Though the first thing I had to do was Analyze her spells, which meant I had to let my friends get picked on first… This was gonna suck.

To pass the time until the show, I went to the library and looked around for a good book. As I looked around, passing over the Daring Do books, I spotted one book in particular that really caught my attention. “The hell? “Five Nights, by Dark Crow...” They have the Five Nights series here?” I muttered, taking it off the shelf and inspecting it. On the cover was a half-n-half picture of what I was pretty quick to recognise as a Freddy Fazbear. One half was his regular, friendly animatronic self, but the other half looked more like Nightmare. The Animatronic of that name, not my cohabiting spirit.

Holy shit, that’s some badass nightmare fuel right there. Nightmare muttered in awe and fear.

Yeah, well you don’t want to play the Games. I warned her, bringing up a memory of watching Markiplier play the third one. One of the jumpscares, specifically. Nightmare winced at the brief image, not quite as scared of this one as the last jumpscare I showed her.

I take it it’s not an enjoyable read then? Nightmare asked.

Could be. The games were good, in the fact that they leave a lot to interpretation, like who the Animatronics really are or why the Animatronics kill the night guards. I replied. Putting the book back, since I didn’t want to ruin the mystery I’d already come to enjoy, I moved on to other books. Another one I found interesting was near the back of one of the Daring Do shelfs, coated in a light covering of dust. Pulling it out, I checked the title.

“Daring Beginnings: Chronicles of Daring Do’s first adventures. For Mature readers only...” Huh… so a prequel of sorts? Maybe she did something along the lines of what the Tomb Raider series did, and started releasing things from back in the beginning. Interested, I headed up front and checked the book out with Spike registering it. I didn’t have time to read it thoug. My time spent browsing was well spent, and the show was only about 20-30 minutes from starting, so I rushed home to put the book up, saying hi to Shin as I stopped by, before switching out my unicorn parts in my disguise for pegasus parts and headed for the door. But then Shin stopped me.

“Just what do you have planned this time?” Shin asked, causing me to freeze up.

“Uh… well, there’s this stage magician coming into town that I know is kind of a dick. I was just gonna… kinda… jump in and challenge her after she humiliates my friends. No better challenge than fighting oneself, right?” I said nervously.

“I honestly don't know what to say, a changeling that doesn't understand the concept of subtlety?” she said with a clear deadpan.

“Yeah… I never was very good at it. Then again, I wasn’t born a changeling. I was just a casual gamer and roleplayer wasting his life on the internet.” I replied.

“Is roleplaying really much different from taking on a disguise?” she asked, waving the difference off like it was nothing. I glared at her for such ignorance.

“Yes, it is. The Roleplaying I did was never live action, and always in writing. So really, the big difference is personal experience, and REAL reaction time. To tell the truth, I can only come up with ideas as fast as I can write a sentence, and in the heat of the moment, that is dramatically slower.” I argued. I was about to argue my case further, but then I caught sight of the clock and was reminded I still had a show to get to. So, I excused myself, and went to leave once again.

When I got there, Trixie was still behind the curtain, biding time for a crowd to gather, by the looks of it. Around ten minutes later, Trixie opened the curtains, just in time for Twilight to show up too. I winced a bit as I got a taste of Trixie’s pride. It tasted disgusting, like spoiled spinach. Must be because it’s selfish pride, and not the stuff someone feels for something they worked on for others.

“Hey Summer… why are you a pegasus?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion when she noticed me hovering nearby.

“To get here quickly. I wanted to see the show, figured I’d come to see if this one has any talent.” I replied. It was kind of a lie, but hey. No harm done, really.

“‘This one?’ You mean you’ve seen others?” Dash asked, intrigued.

“Yeah, back home we had something called Youtube. Let us post videos on a worldwide database, and look them up as we pleased. Plenty videos about stage magicians there. Though I mainly looked at the fails for some good laughs.” I replied.

“Huh. Sounds cool.” She said, though I could tell she didn’t quite grasp just how big Youtube was. Either way, with Trix setting off some small light shows for attention, I could tell the show had started.

“Welcome, welcome! Prepare yourselves, for you are about to lay witness to the amazing magical prowess of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie stated flamboyantly.

“Great and Powerful, huh? Never heard of you.” Some pony in the crowd griped. I noticed Rarity in the crowd nodding at the comment, making a mostly quiet complaint herself.

“Oh come on. She said Great and Powerful, not Famous. Give ‘er some room.” I shouted at that pony. He just frowned and flopped down on his rump with a pout. I noticed he had a weird looking grin for a cutie mark that looked vaguely trollish, but I wasn’t about to jump to conclusions.

“Hmph… Now, if there won’t be any further interruptions, let’s begin. Today, the Great and Powerful Trixie brings you magic the likes of which you have never seen!” Trixie boasted. “Today, you bear witness to the most magical unicorn… in all of Equestria.” This of course brought about some rather vocal complaints from the crowd, most notably from Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow. Trixie narrowed her eyes at them.

“Well now, it appears we have some neighsayers in the audience...Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know my claims are not a joke?” Trixie taunted. Of course, I did nothing to defend that this time. I wanted to keep up a facade of just checking things out still.

“Well then, miss “Great and Powerful,” what the hay makes you think you’re so great in the first place?” Dash challenged.

“Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has the magic capable of vanquishing an Ursa Major.” Trixie boasted, casting a few fireworks with a bit of illusion magic I analyzed.

“That’s an Ursa Minor.” I interrupted. Trixie promptly went bug-eyed in shock.

“W-what?! No, this is a Major, it has to be! The dreaded beast was the size of a mansion!” Trixie protested.

“Nope. That’s just the baby. Pretty sure any you faced off with got the attention of Mama bear and pissed it off. Ursa Major’s red, and about three times as big, maybe bigger.” I explained. “Though… I have to admit, even tangoing with a Minor is impressive in itself.”

“Wait, are you serious?!” Dash asked in shock, her jaw dropped. “So you’re saying she just pretty much doomed whatever town she defended from a Minor?”

“Pretty much.” I replied.

“NOT cool.” Dash said, glowering at Trixie. Trixie gulped as the facts settled in within her head.

“O-okay… I made that up… but I still have a talent I would like to demonstrate! I can still do anything you can do better!” Trixie nervously said, slipping into first person speaking, but remaining defiant and proud.

“Uh-huh… Prove it, ya two faced, lyin’ snake.” AJ challenged, stepping up onto the stage. Pulling out her rope, she started twirling it. “Let’s see yer fancy magic do this!” AJ started skillfully jumping through the hoop she created with her rope, pulling tricks and stunts left and right. When she smugly finished, Trixie’s nervousness had washed away into nothing but defiance.

“A simple task for one as talented as myself!” Trixie spat, using her magic to control the rope. In no time, AJ was tied up and tossed into the crowd with an apple gagging her like a certain sex toy.

“Hey! Cut it out with that showing off crap!” Rainbow objected, flying up to the stage. “That’s my job!” she said, getting in trixie’s face. She then proceeded to take off into the sky, making use of her speed and rainbow trail to create a spectacular and colorful display of awesomeness. Trixie however, was quick to dismiss the act and turn it against Rainbow. I couldn't help but growl in anger as I watched Rainbow get knocked off the stage.

“Okay, someone seriously needs to give her a real challenge. Someone with just as great a horn.” I called out, mainly aiming my comment at Twi, like the others were encouraging, but then Rarity took the cue herself since Twilight was too scared of “showing off.”

“Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace.” Rarity stated. And the Trixie insulted her hair.

“Oh… It. Is. ON!!!” Rarity glared hatefully at Trixie. She stalked about the stage as she gave a short speech about grace and beauty, before tearing down one of the curtains and in less time than I remember her ever making in she show, she created a dress from it. Hell, since it wasn’t animated like a cartoon and actually there in front of me, I was actually stunned by it… right up intil Trixie rolled her eyes and turned Rarity’s hair into a mess of rotten greens. When Spike made his typically blunt comment about it being green, and Rarity ran off crying, I stepped up to the plate.

“Alright, looks like I’m the last one, since Twilight’s apparently scared for the wrong reasons.” I said as I landed on the stage with a short, disappointed glance at Twilight. Turning to Trixie, I glared her down. “You’ve proven you can beat us all… but I have one last thing for you. One true challenge. Can you defeat yourself?”

With that question, I kicked my magic into gear and turned into an exact copy of her. Trixie was left shocked and gaped at me as I glared challengingly and pridefully at her. “Let’s see just how Great and Powerful you really are!”

“Heh… looks like things are about to get REAL good…” someone in the audience murmured. I also noticed Bonbon in the crowd staring at me in horror for pretty much exposing myself like that. Not that it mattered, apparently, since no one here reacted badly to it.

“Y-you… But… I thought changelings…” she sputtered, apparently shocked that a changeling would so shamelessly challenge her. I was kinda surprised that she knew that changelings even existed, let alone what they were… but I just rolled with it, barely blinking at the idea. She’s a traveler. More often than not, she’s probably run into changelings in a bad moment.

“Surprised? Well, I’m quite different from the standard changeling… mainly that my soul belongs to a highly advanced race. One that relies on intellect and adaptability to thrive. Hehe… you’re in for a true showdown, Trix.”

“Hmph. No changeling has stood up to Trixie in the past, and you should be no stronger.” Trixie defiantly stated, starting up her magic. I just smirked.

“Oh yeah? Big difference between me and them: I’ve got nothing to lose, facing you.” I taunted back, kicking my own into gear. Trixie’s eye twitched slightly, and she set to work. With a fierce look of defiance, she stomped her hoof for theatrics as she aimed her horn skyward. A firework shot straight up, hitting a cloud, where upon it exploded, separating the cloud into different bits. As lightning arced between those parts, I noticed it took the shape of a flower… As it all happened, I did my best to match her move for move, making the timing scary accurate. Heh… perk of changeling mimicry, you could pretty much copy like Kakashi using the Sharingan eye.

Needless to say, Trixie was surprised. “H-how…? Trixie is impressed… Trixie has heard changelings were good at mimicry, but has not imagined it was this accurate…” Trix muttered. I sensed the slight feeling of nostalgia I have learned to associate with remembering something, and seeing it differently. Looking back in the crowd, I saw even Bonbon was impressed. Guess mimicking was never this accurate… maybe it’s my talent or something.

“Your turn, Trix.” I informed her. She glared back, before casting her next spell in a snap. It was so quick I almost didn’t catch that it even was cast… but next thing I know, both of us had coated the stage in almost choking amounts of illusionary smoke. Seeing her gathering up some in her magic, I smirked smugly as I cut out of Mimic mode and went to create a smoke construct of my own. Somehow my quick mind managed to first come up with Lunala, the majestic bat legendary in the latest generation of Pokemon. Trixie’s eyes widened slightly when she saw I was finished before her, but deciding not to give up she grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes, gathering more smoke than what she had originally planned. For a few moments, it just continued growing, reaching a massive size and eating up almost all of the smoke.

And then a familiar face popped out of it. Nightmare Foxy. Of course, having played the Five Nights series myself, I only flinched. I had sort of a bad habit of not showing my fear. It doesn’t work well on camera.

“...Is that really the best you can-” I was cut off as an ear destroying scream shot out from the crowd. Looking, I saw the crowd backing away from Sweetie Belle, who looked like she was trying to rip something out of her mind, or something. Almost immediately after, I was slammed by an overwhelming amount of fear, and I was instantly overshadowed by it. I could even feel as my disguise was torn off. It was crippling… and either it hit me with NEP so hard, it tore a hole through my throat, or I was just so afraid my breath failed me. After a moment, Nightmare got to work dealing with it, and I could manage a bit on my own, but what I saw after filled me with dread. Sweetie Belle was surrounded by some kind of dark aura that seemed to be radiating raw hatred, and it was swallowing Sweetie Belle up, consuming her in her fear-ridden state. Rarity was there, holding Sweetie, but it looked like fear was starting to replace her concern.

Oh, fuck… Uh, yeah, this isn’t good. Nightmare said, just before chunks of some kind of metal and wires ripped out of Sweetie Belle’s flesh, covered in her blood. Rarity recoiled, screaming in horror as mechanical parts tore out of Sweetie Belle, connecting in different parts and ways. After a moment, it started looking like the vague form of a pony exosuit or something… and then a plastic eye ripped out of Sweetie’s eyes. That was an animatronic ripping its way out of her… I felt like throwing up, the sight was so sickening. But I couldn’t look away. And yet… I couldn’t find the will to even take any action.

Come on… move! Do something! I begged myself, but I was just too… scared. Too many doubts filled my thoughts, too many fears caught my attention, and not to mention Nightmare was starting to writhe in pain from my fear, and would probably be throwing up if she could.

“Fucking hell, she’s turning into one of… one of Dark Crow’s abominations…” Trixie muttered in absolute fear, backing up. I however, just fell back on my ass as I stared, dread, and more importantly, grief filling me. Tears blurred my vision as yet another thought filled my mind.

This… is all my fault…

~Catt~

Something felt wrong as Celly, Red, Razor and I approached Ponyville on the train. It was pretty early in the day still, flowers were blooming and birds were singing, but… something just felt empty in the air. Like there was a void, sucking out all the happiness.

“Something doesn’t feel right…” Celly muttered.

“Watch out… I’m reading some really high level Dark Magic in the area. Something huge is going on in the middle of that town.” Catrina warned. Getting off my chair on all fours since Celly advised that I act like an actual cat to avoid bad attention, I went over to Celestia to whisper to her.

“Catrina says there’s a huge surge of Dark Magic…” I whispered. Celly narrowed her eyes. Then, with me suddenly on her back, she flew out of the train doors before the train was even fully stopped at the station. I had to hang on pretty tight to keep from flying off, but soon enough we arrived at a horrifying scene. A small filly was being torn apart by something metal crawling out of her skin, and she was screaming bloody murder while another white pony was scrambling away from her. It almost looked like some kind of pony version of the FNAF animatronics, but it was just so horribly mangled, I couldn’t tell for sure. Celly looked pretty pissed off when she saw it, but the thing was VERY quick to react.

“Oh, I am going to Fuck. You. U- AGH!” Celly screamed as one of its wires whipped out and surged electricity into her. She tumbled back to get it to let her go, and I fell off as a result. Simply dropping my act, I stood straight up and used the Dimensional Storage spell Luna taught me to get out my gloves.

“O-okay… can’t get close then… Let’s see if long range works.” Celly said, readying a spell. The animatronic demon thingy just stood there smiling madly.

“Bad feeling about that…” I muttered. It was too late though, as Celly had already shot off the spell, the strongest she could make apparently. It was a really powerful laser, and I saw her huffing from just channeling it alone. I was shocked beyond shocked when the animatronic just absorbed the spell and reflected it back.

“Oh, fu-” And then Celestia was sent flying into a building behind us.

“Princess!” I heard seven voices cry out in shock. Then an almost feral growl caught my ears, sounding even worse due to the double tone it had.

“That bucket of bolts is SO going down…” said voice spoke angrily. Turning, I spotted a fiery orange maned changeling on the stage, glaring at the animatronic with slitted amber eyes. There were just a few really small holes in her legs, but it didn’t look too bad. The gathered crowd was quick to disperse, screaming in fear as they ran for their lives. Only seven remained, including the changeling.

“Whoa, hey! That changeling’s got some of the same energy this robot’s giving off…” Catrina noted. I was curious about that, but I was soon given an answer.

“Girls, form up! We gotta get that Nightmare into me, like the first fragment! Kineptic, we’ll need your help, if you can protect us!” the changeling shouted. “Just don’t hurt it, there’s a filly in there!” I just nodded, getting a wooden spear out of my storage spell and holding it with my magic.

“I’ll hold it at bay. You just do whatever it is you’re doing.” I promised.

"̡̛͟L̴͏̷̛e͝͡t͏'̡̧̧͢s̵͘ ̶̡p̴͜͠͝ĺ̴͢͞a̶̷͢͡y̧͟.̴̕͘.̡̢̧͠͝.̷̢̀͢͠"̢͟͠ The animatronic hissed. I could still hear the kid whimpering in there. How the hell was she still alive? The animatronic lanced another wire at me, leaving me no time to think. I spun my spear up to deflect the wire, but it wrapped around the spear. I just kept spinning it, getting the wire all twisted up.

“No thanks. I think I’d rather enjoy something more tame.” I shot back at it. Then I yanked the spear away, freeing it from the wire and pulling the Animatronic off its feet. Or… I thought I did. The thing actually jumped at the last second, making me launch it at me. Metal claws slid out of its hoof as it flew at me, catching me by surprise. Out of reflex, I teleported away, to a random spot behind it.

Seeing it had missed me, it moved on to another target. I gasped as it turned toward the white one, who seemed to be crying so hard, her makeup was staining her face. “Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt? The adults are busy, so let’s just keep up the game.” I taunted it as I tugged on the dark parts of their soul.The machine lurched, and a part of it quivered when I tugged.

“Whoa, what the fuck did you do?!” the changeling shouted in shock as it saw the effect.

“Sorry, lady. A magician never reveals their tricks.” I quipped, too busy focusing on keeping the Animatronic busy. It looked like it worked, kinda, but it also pissed it off.

Before it could strike at me again, Red swooped in from above, and tackled it to the ground. Razor came running in soon after, firing his horn ahead of him in a small ring around the animatronic, creating the base for a containment spell, one of the first Red taught him while they were training each other over the past four days. It was a pretty good tactic. Pegasus distracts, Unicorn binds, and I weaken them to keep them from breaking free. Celly came up with it while we were working yesterday. Working my part in, I scrambled the dark parts of the soul, really messing with its connection.

“Alright, that should do it. Let’s take the shot, girls!” the changeling shouted, causing me to notice the seven ponies around glowing different colors of the rainbow. Each were floating about, preparing some kind of uber spell or something.

“Nice. Looks like someone’s about to taste the Rainbow.” I said. I only noticed after the fact that one of the ponies in the circle was a rainbow maned pegasus, who didn’t look all that amused.

However, before it could fire, the animatronic moved out of the circle… by teleporting. “Fuck! I thought it couldn’t use magic!” Razor cursed. Before we could do much about it, a wire wrapped around me, surging with electricity. Now thankfully, my fur soaked up most of the damage and kept my tech safe, but it still hurt. A lot.

“MOTHER FUCK!” I screamed. Red was quick to help, swooping in to cut the wire with her wing blades. The wire was cut, but then we heard the filly yelp in pain. Red shook her wing a bit, probably from getting a light shock from the wire, but she wasn’t too hurt.

“Well, that didn’t go too well…” Razor muttered as we regrouped.

“Yeah, and there goes our element of surprise.” Red agreed.

“Can’t win ‘em all. Let’s go for plan B.” I suggested. They nodded together. With that, I reached out with my magic for it’s soul, but I found my reach blocked. “Uh oh.”

"̡͜͞M̵̡̕y̷̨͘͝ ̴͜͝͝͠t̴̸u̴͜͟r̶̛̕͝n̷̵̵̕͢.̶͞͡͞͏"̕͏̡ The animatronic smirked and quickly advanced on us.

“Red!” Razor called. Red took her cue, jumping forth and holding her wings in front of her to defend. The animatronic struck out, landing a heavy blow with its metal claws against Red’s defense, and she started to buckle a bit from the force.

“I got your back!” I called as I gave him a boost, using my magic on Red’s soul to help strengthen the connection between his soul and Razor’s body. It helped immensely, allowing him the physical strength his own body had, which in turn allowed him to stand strong against the Animatronic’s attack. However, the thing just electrified itself, sending the volts pouring into Red’s blades, causing both her, and the filly in the machine to scream in agony. She held up for another few moments, before she finally collapsed.

However, those few moments were all the seven ponies needed to fix their aim and fire. Before I could even blink, the rainbow beam fell onto the animatronic, causing it to scream in agony instead. Switching to the Soul-Vision Sonya told me about four days ago, I watched as the black soul was torn from the greenish one, and pulled toward the amber one of the changeling.

Once that was done, the metal on the filly started falling apart When I saw just how bad a state she was left in, I had to turn away, or risk throwing up. It was horrible… I can’t even describe it, it was so bad.

“Shit, she’s dying…” The changeling reported when she went to check on the filly.

“No… Sweetie Belle…” the white one weep loudly.

“I’ll get help. We can save her, Rarity, we just need to keep her stable until I get back.” the changeling said.

“I’ll try, Summer. I’ll keep her in stasis for now.” The purple one said. “I need someone to check on the princess though. She took a pretty bad hit…”

“I’ll check.” Razor volunteered, leaving us.

“I’ll stay here, make sure the filly’s soul stays here.” I pitched in, already kicking my magic into gear. Not a moment later I heard a faint sound of hoofbeats getting closer, turning my head to see who is coming I blinked when I recognised it was Spec. She was really pushing herself to run as fast as she could, and she was heading straight here.

“Spec? What are you doing here?” Summer asked. I was personally pretty surprised that this filly was running TOWARD a scene that made adults blow chunks. I guess maybe that filly’s seen some really messy stuff though?

“What…*pant* happened here? *pant* Such darkness...” Spec rasped out, clearly out of breath. When she took notice of the mangled filly she flinched and looked away, but didn’t really look all that ill as one might expect.

“I was having a duel with Trixie, when suddenly Sweetie Belle had some kind of psychotic break and turned into a Five Nights horror. She was possessed and destroyed by a fragment of Luna’s Nightmare.” Summer explained.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” I spoke up. I then punched her in the face. “That’s for being an idiot again, brother.”

“Ow… Wait, WHAT?!” Summer stared at me in shock.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Spec looked from me to Summer few times before pointing at Sweetie Belle and shouting. “Don’t just stand there! Do something!” Twilight was already casting the stasis spell as she said that.

“Right, I’ll question that later.” Summer said before dashing off though the air towards what looked like some kind of restaurant. I just focused on Sweetie Belle’s soul, keeping it held together and stable. Eventually, Summer came back with a thestral wielding some kind of weird looking… wait a freaking second. It’s the Medic from TF2. I can not believe it. And… was that the Engineer too? They were both ponies… Dear god, this has to be the second weirdest day of my life.

“Ooff…. Zat does not look pretty…” the Medic muttered. “Don’t worry though, my Quick-fix should do zhe job… mostly. I can’t regenerate any limbs, sadly.”

“Just do what you can, okay, Mercy?” Summer asked. The Medic nodded as Summer turned to the Engineer. “Tinker, since Mercy can’t fix her limbs, do you think you could work these leftover parts into something she can use?”

“You bet your hat ah can. Ah’ll just need ya to get some of Grey’s bot parts from mah lab.” The Engineer replied. Summer nodded and hurried back to where they came from, while The Medic, Mercy, started using the Quick Fix to heal what he could of Sweetie Belle. Summer came back soon enough, carrying the parts with her.

“Thank ya kindly. Now to get ta work.” Tinker said, before beginning to arrange the parts. Soon enough, he was building a prototype, though by then I could feel my grasp on Sweetie’s soul starting to weaken. And I was getting kinda tired… and VERY hungry. Around the time the prototype was half done, I had to snap myself awake since I’d accidentally let go of Sweetie’s soul. I managed to catch it, but my grip was even weaker.

“Uh… guys? My grips slipping. Might want to hurry up with that, or we’re gonna lose her.” I warned, fighting back a yawn.

“Damnit… Ah’m goin as fast as ah can.” Tinker cursed. Rarity pretty much fell apart at the news.

“NOOOOOO! Please, don’t let her die… she doesn’t deserve to die like this!” Rarity wailed. Summer tried to comfort her, but since she didn’t have anything to say, she just gave Rarity a hug. I faintly noticed that Spec was mumbling something to herself and was shaking her head, but when I almost let go for the second time she nodded to herself and faced me with an expression showing so much determination I had to blink, just to make sure I’m not imagining it.

“Use me.” She said with a tone showing complete confidence in whatever she was planing.

“... What?” I asked, not sure what the heck she meant. Based on the blush covering Summer’s face, she had her own stupid ideas of what she meant, but I doubted that was it at all.

“You can’t hold her soul like this, you won’t last long enough, so don’t do it. Instead use me, switch us and she will be safe.” Spec elaborated. She was right… but could she really guarantee that? I mean, wouldn’t she just be sacrificing herself? As the soul slipped from me again, I saw I didn’t much have any choice, despite the many objections I heard from around me, but there was one last thing I heard that made me make my decision.

“Do it. Spec knows exactly what she’s doing. She’ll be fine.” Celly’s considerably weaker voice called out from behind me. Spec smiled at me, and for a second I once again saw the small embers floating in her eyes. Smiling myself, I did the switch, using the last of my strength to switch them out. Once I let go, I fell over, my stomach finally making its complaints known.

“Woo, boy. Why didn’t ya say anything about bein hungry? Ah got a protein bar in mah toolbox here. Here, you can have it.” Tinker said, passing me a bar from his box. I greedily ate it up, discarding the wrapper and just as quickly forgetting it.

“That works… for now. I’ma need a feast of pop tarts later though.” I replied after it vanished. My brother then proceeded to laugh a little, no doubt thinking about Nyan Cat.

“Ahaha… I forgot, Kineptic are basically Starbound’s way of making Nyan cat a playable race.” she muttered to herself. “Not to mention their capacity to make amazingly cute anime faces.”

“Shut up. I still owe you a flatter face.” I silenced her.

“...Dang, when did you get good at comebacks? It’s like you’re a completely new person.” Summer marveled. I was interrupted by Spec’s body groaning and getting up.

“Uuuuggh… Wait… I’m still alive…?” she said, getting up. I noticed her eye color had changed, making them green. I got up, at least able to now without tripping, and stood between her and her body.

“For now, yes. I had to pull you out of your body to save you.” I told her.

“Wait, you… then…” she looked at her new body, and visibly freaked out at seeing they weren’t her hooves. “Wh-what? What happened?” Rarity tackle-hugged her before I had a chance to respond. “Rarity!” she squealed in joy. Wow. Talk about mood whiplash.

“So… is Spec dead now since you aren’t holding onto her?” Summer asked. I was about to answer yes, but when I looked, I was shocked to see Spec was still there, her soul burning bright, neon blue, and unwavering.

“Uh… wow, she’s… as alive as ever.” I muttered, stunned. “She must be made of Determination or something.”

“Could be… I haven’t even used zhe Ubercharge yet.” Mercy replied.

“So uh… what happened?” Sweetie asked as she and Rarity finished snuggling.

“To put it short, to save you, we had to switch you with someone else with a stronger soul, since I couldn’t keep holding yours. Engie here’s building you some replacement parts and stuff so you can have a fully functioning body to go back to. Maybe even a few upgrades to compensate for… well, a lot of things.” I summarized. Sweetie Belle winced as she seemed to be remembering what happened to her.

“Right… that thing in my head… it came out and tore me up. I could feel it… consuming me the whole time…” she lamented. Rarity hugged her tightly in response as she shivered from remembering the experience.

“...I feel the need to apologize.” A new, unknown voice spoke up somewhere outside the group. Looking, I saw another unicorn, this one light blue and wearing some cheesy stage magician getup. Her hat was off though, held sorrowfully in front of her.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Trixie, and… I’m the one that caused this. I recreated a creature from stage smoke that resembled one of the horrors from the Five Nights book on stage, and… shortly after, she had her horrifying transformation. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots…” Trixie said. Summer stepped up though.

“I have my own share of the blame. I’m the one that lead to the thing that changed her being free as it was.” she admitted. Trixie stared at Summer for a moment in shock, almost like it was suddenly the first time she was seeing her.

“Prosthetics are done.” Tinker announced. “Now step back. Ah need room to apply them.” Everyone did as asked, stepping back to watch. Thankfully, Sweetie’s body wasn’t covered in blood anymore, but the missing limbs and holes in her body were still kinda freaky. When I saw the prosthetics though, I had to blink to see if what I saw was really as confusing as it looked. All I saw was a whole bunch of different parts that vaguely looked like they fit together to create some sort of full body covering.

“That’s… really complex, it looks like.” I commented.

“Yeah, most o’ this is for function and maintenance. Ah put real heavy emphasis on maintenance.” Tinker replied. Based on that, I think I could see why most of it looked pretty crazy. Tinker then started applying it, making liberal use of his wrench to either tighten parts or press in parts better. I turned away, not very interested in watching him pound robotic parts into a filly.

“So Catt… do you know how the heck a Kineptic’s body ended up here? Kineptic shouldn’t exist on this planet.” Summer asked eventually. I just held out a glove so Catrina could respond.

“Well, we ran into a bit of pirate trouble out in space, and Sonya’s ship kinda crash landed after we got our engines shot out. The captain’s pretty lucky she… well, mostly survived. Catt’s training herself up to be able to handle some of the Captain’s unresolved problems.”

“Really now? Heh… guess she’s finally useful for something now, good on ya!” Summer jabbed at me with a bit of a grin. I just rolled my eyes. Normally, that’d piss me off, but he’s said in the past, I only get mad because I let him get to me. I guess it’s thanks to Sonya’s soul that my temper’s not quite as bad.

“Well, you honestly haven’t changed much. Still a freak obsessed with being right.” I shot back. She frowned and looked away in guilt.

“Well… you aren’t wrong… Oh Shut up, Nightmare.” she spat at some entity I didn’t quite hear. I raised my eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.

“Sorry… dark spirit in my head. Kinda stole her from Princess Luna, and I’m still working on getting the fragments I couldn’t absorb.” Summer replied.

“So, you released the crap that pretty much killed that filly?” Catrina asked accusingly. Summer nodded, but I could see clearly that she regretted it. Sweetie Belle was off to the side, listening.

“But… you didn’t mean to, did you?” Sweetie Belle asked, clearly trying to find at least something good here.

“No, I didn’t. I wanted to get all of the Nightmare, to protect everyone else from being hurt by it, and so I can help everyone else with everything else that’s going to come in the future.” Summer replied.

“Well, you can’t do things on your own. Nopony can. I mean, seriously. Do you think I go and do all of Canterlot’s paperwork by myself? Hell no! And besides, now you see the consequences of your actions.” Celly pitched in, gesturing to Sweetie’s body, which looked about finished now.

“Yeah… I can see how stupid I was now. Honestly, I should have seen it coming, too. The harder I try, the harder I fuck up… It’s been the case for the longest time…” Summer lamented.

“Well, you know what they say about the road to hell.” I told her. Tinker called out, saying Sweetie’s body was finished for now, and should remain stable without Mercy’s midibeam keeping her alive. Heading over, I prepared to do the switch again.

“So, Sweetie Belle… it might take a while for you to wake up, and things are going to feel weirder than an average day in Neighpon, but you’ll live.” Tinker spoke to Sweetie.

“Alright. I guess I’ll see you in a few days then?” Sweetie said hesitantly, both to Tinker, and to Rarity.

“Yes… I will be seeing you.” Rarity replied, tearfully. Tinker nodded as well, and turned to me. I nodded back, and cast my spell. Spec’s body went slack in Rarity’s embrace almost immediately, and not a second later Spec awoke with a start, shivering.

“So, cold… it was so cold...” She started to mumble. Rarity hugged her a bit, helping to warm her.

“Don’t worry, darling… it’s over now. And Sweetie Belle will be back in a few days. You did a wonderful job.” Rarity said. Spec was still shivering but managed to nod and whispered something only Rarity could hear, to which a simple nod was the only answer given.

“Hey Rarity, you mind if ah take Sweetie back to mah workshop to work on her? This was only a rushed prototype, and ah’d like to fix something up so she’s got somethin better to walk around in. This model’s a bit shabby, and she could use a few changes, in case it takes any damage, and whatnot.” Tinker asked Rarity. Rarity nodded.

“I would hate to leave her with just this, and have to put her through that mess again if she gets damaged. If you wish to do better for her, feel free to do so.” Rarity agreed.

“Thank ya kindly, miss. Ah promise, nothin bad’ll happen to ‘er under our care.” Tinker swore as he picked Sweetie up in his magic. Rarity went with Sweetie, lovingly staying close, watching over her, and keeping Spec close.

“Alright, well… call me if you need anything!” I called after them. Summer nudged me a bit, getting my attention.

“Hey… you know, their whole team’s here. All nine classes, plus Blu team too. And I’m in their Spy’s body.” she whispered to me. I just stared at her for a bit, before replying.

“Wow. That is simply amazing.” I said with a deadpan. “Things must be pretty crazy for you here.” Noticing some of the looks the other ponies were giving Summer from behind her though, I cleared my throat with pointed looks behind Summer to get her attention there.

“Yeah… I know. I have a lot of making up to do.” Summer said somberly. I almost didn’t catch what she mumbled next. “I’m… not even sure I could forgive me.”

Arc II, Act 4: Feels

~Rarity~

I sat by Sweetie Belle’s bed as I waited for her to wake up. The whole ordeal from a few days ago still replayed in my head each time I saw her, but each time I reminded myself she was still here. That through the efforts of Summer’s sister and new team, Sweetie Belle still lived. Though every light that briefly lighted up on her, and every mechanical sound of motors working reminded me she would never be the same again. I sighed as once again, a motor system was tested, Tinker nearby keeping an eye on some screen.

Just getting more depressed as I looked at my little sister, I looked out of one of the hospital’s windows, only to see Summer still in her true form, shifting about through the streets. I cringed as I saw her, hooves riddled with holes yet again, reminding me of how she looked after her confrontation with Nightmare Moon. She mentioned Negative Emotion Poisoning back then, and I couldn’t help but think she may have yet another case of it here. Especially looking as miserable as she did, I thought she must be killing herself with her own emotions. Unable to bear the sight of her getting worse each day, I set myself to do something about it.

I got up and left the hospital, saying farewell to Tinker on my way out. The first thing I did was go to Twilight’s house, as this was something all of us needed to clear up. As soon as I saw her, nose deep in a book, I spoke up. “Twilight, dear… we need to get the girls together, and have a talk with Summer. We need to move on, or all this grief will get the best of us. As well, Summer appears to be dying, likely from her own depression. You know how she spoke of that Negative Emotion Poisoning.”

“Wait, Summer’s what? Oh no… She is taking on all the blame, isn’t she? We all agreed to her plan with Nightmare Moon, so why is she only blaming herself?” Twilight wondered.

“Well, we made it pretty clear to her that we all held her responsible, remember?” I replied, still guilty about that myself.

“...You’re right… I… none of us were in a mindset to acknowledge our own part in all of this at the time… we all just blamed Summer for all of this, and now... We all need to move on if we want to get past this. I’ll call the girls together. Can you talk with Summer’s roommate? Maybe see if she’s done anything about Summer’s depression?” Twilight requested. I nodded, though I was reluctant. There was just some air about that mare that made me uncomfortable… like a predator sizing up their prey at times. Still, it had to be done. I was at Summer’s house soon enough, knocking on the door.

“Just a moment!” a few seconds later Mirage opened the door. “Oh, hello Rairty. What brings you here?” I sighed a moment as I once again acclimatized myself to her presence.

“It’s about Summer. I wanted to ask you if you’ve noticed her depression and if you’ve done anything about it, since you live with her.” I asked. Her happy look immediately turned sour.

“Not even slapping her and screaming at her to get ahold of herself has worked…” she said. I sighed.

“I feared as much… The girls and I are gathering to do something about it.” I informed her.

“Do what, exactly?” she asked curiously.

“We’re going to talk to her, and let her know none of us are holding her completely responsible for what happened to Sweetie.” I answered.

“I think she will be glad to hear that” she said with a smile. I smiled too, already thinking about getting rid of that awful depression. Saying my farewell to her, I headed back to Twilight’s house, believing Twilight would be done gathering everypony by the time I got back.

I wasn’t far from being right, only having to wait for about 3 minutes or so for them to arrive. Summer was the last one to arrive, apparently having been asked to come by Pinkie, if the colorful invitation she held was any indication.

“So… what’s all this about?” Summer asked. It was the first time I heard her voice since that fateful day, and… it sounded like she was practically in the grave already.

“Summer, this is about your depression. You’ve been shutting yourself in and avoiding us ever since Sweetie Belle… And we can see it’s killing you.” I told her.

“The last thing any of us heard you say is that you have a lot of making up to do. You can’t exactly do that by shutting yourself in and isolating yourself.” Twilight added.

“And you can’t redeem anything if you’re dead. I mean, what are you trying to do, give up?” Rainbow Dash added as well.

“Ah’m not all that sure how much y’all know ‘bout this world’s future, but ya seem ta be missin’ the part where things ain’t as bright an’ candy colored as it seems. Ponies still die, whether from natural causes or not.” Applejack bluntly explained.

“But you helped save Sweetie. Not only that, but you aren’t the only one to blame for that Nightmare mess. We all agreed to your plan, back then, so we all share in the guilt.” Fluttershy explained, surprising me as well as everyone else in her being so vocal. She turned to us when we all stared at her. “...What? Summer’s helped me with my confidence issues.”

“Wait, did you guys actually think I really did nothing while I was depressed? I still get bored enough to want to do something other than sulk, and helping Fluttershy with that has been something I’ve wanted to do from the very beginning.” Summer interjected. The rest of us stared for a few moments, before moving on.

“Moving on… Summer, the point is, you need to stop taking all the blame for yourself and move on. You saved my sister with your quick thinking. Focus more on that than why she was hurt in the first place.” I told her. Summer sighed, but she seemed to actually consider everything for a minute.

“Yeah… but the whole situation just reminds me about how most of my life, I’ve been relying on Luck. That situation only turned out the best it could because of it. Mercy and Tinker could have been elsewhere, Catt and Spec could have not showed up… really, it’s like my life is run by Luck.” Summer said with a sad sigh. “I can’t rely on it forever.”

“Hey, why not? My tricks are 20% luck. And they almost always turn out awesome, or end conveniently.” Rainbow asked, leading to me fighting the urge to facehoof. However, Summer was interrupted from responding as we all heard the front door open.

“Hey, y’all. Sweetie’s wakin’ up.” Tinker’s voice called in. My heart fluttered as I turned with a smile. I’d been looking forward to this for a while now. And judging from the smiles on everyone else’s face, including Summer’s, they all were as well.

~Sweetie Belle~

The systems just running through my head were pretty confusing at first, but over the few days I was out, I managed to figure out what did what. When I learned how to operate most everything I had added to me, it was finally about time to figure out how to wake up. It… took some patience, but I finally was able to figure out the “boot sequence”... Which I wonder why it was called that? I didn’t see any boots flying around. It’s kind of silly to call something a boot sequence if there aren’t any boots involved. When I woke up, I tried to yawn out of reflex. I was cut off when a familiar pair of hooves wrapped around me in a loving hug.

“Oh Sweetie Belle… it’s good to have you back.” Rarity cried happily. I happily hugged back as best as I could.

“It’s good to be back, Rarity. You would not believe how complicated these new systems are!” I explained as we embraced.

“You seem more cheerful than expected. You do something to cope with what happened?” I heard Summer off to the side. Turning, I found all six of Rarity’s friends smiling happily at us.

“I deleted the memory.” I replied. “Well… as soon as I found out how, anyway.”

“That’s good. Nopony should have to live through something like that. It’s good you found a way to prevent the mental scars.” Twilight said. I grinned in joy at the praise, something I noticed Summer perked up at. I also noticed Summer looked kind of out of shape, now that I looked at her closer, but she didn’t have any holes, so… I just shrugged it off for now. I heard a door squeak and turned to look, and saw a filly walk in. My systems kicked in right then, analyzing every feature of her, from her grey fur, to her slightly dull neon blue streaks in her mane, to the basic nature of her magic. Honestly, the analyzing thing was a bit overkill in my opinion, but on the bright side, I’ll never forget a face now. That being said, I also noticed she was wearing a scarf, and slightly shivering. The analyzer though brought my attention to her magic though, my new UI saying it was half unicorn, half… something dark, but with a distinct difference between what attacked me. This magic did not have a will of its own, or any kind of super evil influence over her… so maybe she was one of those Natural Darks I heard about in class?

“Hello? Is she awake yet?” Asked the filly. The analysis was so fast she didn’t even have time to notice that I was looking at her. I sat up and waved to her.

“Hi there! Are you the one that helped me while the engineer guy was working on my body? I uh… kind of erased that bit of memory since the sight of my own body freaked me out.” I greeted, admitting that little issue. She blinked and a relieved smile spread across her face.

“Yeah, that’s me. Don’t worry about the memory, I would have told you to erase it if you didn’t yet.” She trotted next to my bed and jumped up on it, so she was sitting almost right next to me. “My name is Spectral Ember, but call me Spec… I’m just… so glad that you are still here.” She introduced herself, and I noticed small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. I guess something big must have happened once for it to mean this much to her.

“Need a hug?” I offered, almost immediately she closed the distance between us and hugged me so tightly I could have sworn to have heard metal creak. I hugged her back, but I noticed she was strangely cold to the touch, still shivering every once in a while.

“D’aaaaaaaw….” I heard several voices to my side. I ignored them in favor of asking why she was so cold.

“Hey… why are you so cold? It’s about 76 degrees in here.” I asked, using the Farenheit readings.

“It’s because of what happened few days ago. When we switched… there was so much cold, like nothing else ever existed other than that coldness… you either deleted that or Catt’s magic protected you from it, but not me. Now I can’t stay warm no matter what I do. But don’t worry, it’s getting better.” Spec explained.

“Oh… yeah, that sounds horrible.” Summer commented.

“You have no idea.” Spec mumbled in a barely audible volume, and I felt a few tears falling on my back. In response, I hugged her slightly tighter. Rarity joined the hug as well, and I’m sure both of us appreciated it.

~Summer~

While Spec, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle were having their moment, the rest of us stepped out to talk. I was trying my best to ignore Nightmare nagging at me about torturing her with such a debilitating depression as we left. I personally wasn’t too sure what to talk about, but I did see Bonbon leaning against the wall outside the door.

“Oh, hey Bonbon.” I greeted. “Here with Spec?”

“Yeah. Y’know, I never thought I’d see that… filly in a hospital. Then again, nearly sacrificing herself like that… I’m amazed, to put it simply.” Bonbon replied. “But then… it reminds me slightly of you. Risking your life in the hopes something good would come of it… I still say it’s incredibly stupid, but it looks like everything still worked out in the end.”

“Yeah… sometimes I think I’m the luckiest bastard in the multiverse.” I muttered in response.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Rainbow once again pointed out. She didn’t need to say anything else, having already given her reasons for luck being pretty good.

“Like I said, I can’t rely on luck forever… can we change topics? This one’s getting old and redundant.” I requested. AJ glanced towards Sweetie’s room.

“How do y’all think the town’s gonna treat her now?” she asked. The rest of us made the connection easily enough. Sweetie being a Bot was a rather striking change.

“No idea. But I do know ponies like Diamond Tiara and Spoiled Rich will be exploiting this to its fullest, Diamond as a bully, and Spoiled as an enterpriser. I can already think of a few hundred ways those two could make Sweetie’s life hell.” I said somberly.

“Don’t you worry, Sugarcube. If anypony tries to take a whack at Sweetie, Ah’m sure Rares’ll put them into shape.” AJ assured me. Coming from her, I could believe it, but…

“But Spoiled Rich is one of the most influential ponies here. Not only is she head of the school board, but she’s also got the ears of pretty much all the nobles.” Twilight voiced my doubts.

“Heh… but you’re the Princess’s student, and you’ve got her ear.” I pointed out as I thought of that argument. “And Princess Cadence was your babysitter.” Twilight blushed as I pointed those out.

“Well yeah, but…” Twilight started.

“No buts, Twilight. You have influence. There’s gonna be points where ponies get needlessly hurt unless you use it. I’ll let you know when, if you’re ever unsure, though. Alright?” I proposed. Twilight nodded her acceptance.

“But there’s still those who’d go even against the Princess if they believe they’re doing the right thing…” Fluttershy pointed out.

“And if they try, they have Seven Heroes to stand against.” Rarity’s voice resolutely stated. I turned to find her leaving the room. I suppose she was letting Spec and Sweetie talk things out.

“Seven? Pretty sure Spec and Catt are part of the group now.” Rainbow threw in. Rarity smiled at that.

“Hey, you girls know what this calls for?” Pinkie said with a huge smile.

“Heh… It’s party time.” I said, using my magic to make sunglasses appear on my face.

~Catt~

Meanwhile, at Canterlot, the Guard captain, Shining Armor had decided to put me and about half his guard through the crazy training regimen Red and Razor had gone through. Of course, when those two were allowed to switch back, I switched them right away. I knew it was bad enough how it was. Both of them were embarrassed to go back to the barracks each night. What was interesting during the training regimen was that a few of the guards I switched happened to be changelings, so that let me get a good look at their souls. AND it let ponies know what it was like to be one of them. The changelings freaked out about being discovered, but I calmed them by telling the my “sister” was one, and had good standing with the Princess. They still asked me not to tell anyone about being changelings, which I obliged for now, and they taught their switch partner how to switch back into the disguise they were using.

Of course, needless to say most of the guards were mortified. Pretty much all of them were given a gender swap, meaning the mares had to teach the stallions about the intricate horrors of Heat. The changelings got a kick out of it though. It meant plenty of lust and humiliation to drink up. Some of those changelings were violet, which meant they fed best on lust apparently… which I made a mental note of so I could avoid them in the future. Already the ponies swapped with them were acting a bit more...loose… in their sexuality.

Once I got done swapping everyone the captain asked me to, I headed back to my room and started getting ready. Celly wanted me to make myself presentable for… something. Some kind of important meeting, or something. The best I could do was let some maids brush and clean my fur, fluff my tails and fit me into a dress that I simply adored. It looked like the usual party dress, but with a fanned out skirt on the bottom, looking somewhat like a rose, and it had glowing lines all across it. It looked both pretty, and like it belonged in Tron. It also glowed all the colors of the rainbow, each one fading into the next along the lines.

Once I was all dressed and ready to go, I headed to the meeting room Celly told me about, hiding my gloves in my tails. When I got there, I gave the Princesses, both of them were there, a flaunting bow, showing off my dress.

“Ooh, that looks real pretty!” Celly enthused. Luna’s look assured me she agreed. I smiled as I appreciated their approval.

“So, what is the meeting about?” I asked. Celly and Luna shared a look, Celly’s being one of trollish glee, and Luna’s a look of sheer disapproval.

“You’ll see in a few minutes.” Celly hinted while Luna stared a hole into her skull.

“I really wish you would stop being so vague, sister. It irked me to no end even before I had been corrupted.” Luna groaned.

“Trolling… intensifies…” I caught Celly whisper as she cast a spell. Suddenly doors opened on the other side of the room, and in came a bunch of nobles.

“Oh, that cheeky little… I thought she told us it’d be better not to reveal ourselves to the public! This looks like the whole of nobility! They’re all going to talk about us, regardless of what Celly tells them!” Catrina complained. The nobility saw me too, and those that came first stared at me as they walked toward their seat more slowly.

“Celly…? What is this?” One of the ones I haven’t met asked.

“This, Jade, is a new noble I’d like to introduce you to. Duchess Catt.” Celly introduced in a formal tone I hadn’t known she had. Blueblood and Fancy Pants shared looks at that, and I could tell they realized what was going on, but neither said anything against it.

“Ah yes… it’s nice to see you joining us today, miss Catt. It will be a pleasure collaborating with you in future matters.” Fancy said in a tone that suggested he expected this.

“Wait… I’m a noble now?” I turned and asked Celly in shock. She nodded with a grin.

“Ugh. This has to be another one of her infantile pranks. There’s no way some cat’s going to be thrown in with us without knowing a thing about it.” Another noble groaned. I honestly was with him on this one. Still Celly said nothing, convincing me it was.

“Oh? Perhaps you may be right, sir… I do find it hard to believe this situation is very legitimate…” And then as murmurings about pranks grew among the crowd, Celly snapped into action, slapping some kind of document onto the table.

“Wh-what is that?” Blueblood asked, looking nervous, and I believed he had a right to be considering the triumphant smirk on her face. Luna picked up the document, scanning through it with at first a neutral face. Her jaw starting to fall filled me with dread.

“This… is legitimate…” she muttered. Due to everyone having fallen dead silent when Celly slapped the document down, everyone could hear it. “Catt really is a noble now…”

I gulped as I suddenly felt about three dozen eyes fall on me. “I have a very bad feeling about this…”

~Sweetie Belle~

“I have a great feeling about this!” I cried as I trotted along to school with Spec. It had been about a day since I was released from the hospital, and I was already headed back to school. I already had a lot of work to make up, having been asleep for four days, and Rarity urged me not to make it any worse. But we both agreed inviting Spec along to help in explaining Natural Darks, as well as earn some extra credit.

“I’m not sure Sweetie, are you really ready for this?” Spec asked me. She was looking much better then she was when I woke up. She no longer needed the scarf, which I learned was made by Rarity, because she wasn’t nearly as cold anymore. She probably still had a day or two before whatever caused it wore off completely, but she wasn’t shivering anymore.

“I’m sure. Tinker gave me some advanced processing while he worked on the prototype, so things shouldn’t be that hard. And really the only ones you gotta watch out for are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Those two are always so full of themselves, it’s a wonder their heads still fit through a door.” I said, half jokingly. Actually, Silver Spoon wasn’t that bad, but she was kind of a follower.

“Ha ha, well, if you say so.” Spec giggled a bit, but then frowned. “Sweetie, even though you now have all these enhancements and everything, you shouldn’t rely on them too much. If you do, you might forget who you really are. You don’t want to end up as just an unfeeling machine, looking for the most ‘optimal solution’, right?” She said somberly and with a hint of worry. I hesitated, thinking about that.

“Are… are you sure that could happen? I mean, I still have my own definition of the best, I can still focus on keeping in mind what’s good and bad…” I trailed off, thinking about what could happen if I forget what’s good and bad. Spec looked away for a moment.

“I don’t know… probably not, but… do you really want to find out? I mean, as long as you remember that you are Sweetie Belle, and that you are still a pony, despite of what other say, you will still be you.” She said with a small smile and gave me a brief hug. I smiled as I returned the hug.

“Yeah, you’re right. I have a few friends that can help keep me in check, if that helps. And my sister definitely won’t let me fall that far.” I suggested.

“It does help. You can’t face something like this alone, you know that, right?” Spec said sounding both concerned and slightly relieved.

“Yeah. I can’t even cook alone.” I said, joking a bit but acknowledging that I was actually pretty terrible. “I even tried this morning with my new enhancements. Still can’t avoid burning anything.” This caused her to actually laugh a little.

“You will figure it out in time. And you can’t possibly be any worse than me, when I tried to cook last time, the food came alive and ran away.” She said with air of both humour and seriousness at the same time.

“Really now? Well worst I’ve done is turn Orange Juice into some kind of black charbroiled sludge.” I replied with a giggle.

“We probably shouldn't try to cook together then. I don’t think Equestria could handle the results.” Spec said, also giggling.I giggled as well, thinking of how well that would mess with Diamond Tiara. As we reached the schoolhouse though, I just let the conversation end, leading the way in. I asked Spec to wait outside for the teacher to call her in, to which she agreed. As expected, when I walked in, every eye in the classroom turned to me, a mix of sympathy and fear. Mrs. Cheerilee was quick to respond though.

“Hello, Sweetie Belle. It’s good to see you alive and well after what happened. We were all very worried.” she greeted happily.

“Thanks miss Cheerilee. I brought a friend with me today. She was one of the ponies that helped save me. It’s because of when you talked about Natural Darks, since I think she is one.” I said in return.

“Oh! That’s very interesting, is she waiting outside?” she asked with clear interest. “I was actually planning on giving a more in depth lesson about them today, coincidentally enough.”

“Yeah. I asked her to wait until you called her.” I answered. She nodded and turned toward the door.

“Well come on in then!” she called happily. Spec opened the door and slowly stepped in, nervously looking around, before her eyes settled on miss Cheerilee.

“Hello, I'm Sweetie’s friend, Spectral Ember, most ponies call me Spec.” She said rather nervously, probably because of the whole class staring at her. Cheerilee stared for a few seconds, clearly shocked.

“Um… I’m sorry, I was just expecting somepony… older.” Cheerily said after noticing she was staring.

“Yeah, she and I switched souls when I was about to slip away so I didn’t have to hold on for any longer. I owe her my life. As well as a few dozen other ponies…” I trailed off at that last part. Spec came in for another reassuring hug, which I gladly accepted.

“It’s okay Sweetie, you know that any of us would do it again if you, or somepony else was in danger.” She gently told me. Cheerilee smiled at that.

“That’s an amazing thing to hear. Scary that it was another filly to take your place, but… wonderful nonetheless.” she said.

“Hey, she’s still here.” Scootaloo, one of my closer friends pointed out. “Especially after volunteering to have a near death experie-”

“Scootaloo, this does not mean you will be allowed to participate in your so-called ‘Extreme Sports’ so don’t even ask.” Cheerilee firmly shot her down. She pouted a bit, but didn’t seem too put down.

“It wasn’t a pleasant experience.” Spec said and once again shivered from remembering. At the front of the class, Diamond Tiara sat glaring at me, and I could tell she was about to spit out some scathing remark. Before she could though, I cut her off.

“No Diamond, I’m a Cyborg, not a robot. There’s a big difference, and cyborgs are way better.” I told her. The look of utter shock on her face brought nearly the whole class to laughter. Diamond’s glare at everypony got the laughter to stop pretty well though. Giving Spec a small glance, I turned to Cheerilee to talk about her. “So miss Cheerilee, what exactly were you going to talk about for today's lesson?” I asked as I headed to my seat.

“Oh yes! Right…” she cleared her throat as she looked at Spec. “Actually, Spec? Could you look over my lesson notes and see how accurate they are? We don’t really know any Natural Dark ponies in town, so I couldn’t get these facts verified.”

“O-Of course, miss Cheerilee, I’ll take a look.” Spec relied and levitated said notes in front of her. After a few moments Spec had a small frown on her face and looked up at miss Cheerilee. “Miss Cheerilee, most of it is correct, but there are some important things you have wrong.” Everypony, myself included, leaned in in interest. “Here your notes say that Darks can only use Dark Magic energy to cast spells. A lot of ponies think that, but it’s wrong. We can use normal magic too, as I’m doing right now, it’s just that Dark magic we are attuned to doesn’t affect us negatively. Another point you got wrong is that Darks can be found out immediately after birth. In most cases, the Dark Magic imprint we have only starts to develop at around the age most ponies get their Cutie Mark. Last thing that is wrong here, is that Darks can use all kinds of Dark Magic freely. We can only use what we are attuned to, if we try to use anything else, we could get corrupted just as any other pony.” Spec finally finished her explanations and levitated the lesson plan back to miss Cheerilee. Cheerilee was actually quite happy and surprised about all of that.

“Wow, those were some critical misconceptions indeed. Thank you, Spec. Um… if you don’t mind my asking, what kind of Dark Magic are you attuned to?” Cheerilee asked.

“I… uh… that is… I actually have quite a broad attunement, but I only know a bit of Shadow magic and Dream magic. I also know a small trick with fire and embers, but I don’t have a name for it yet.” Spec listed off after a brief hesitation.

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool.” Scootaloo gushed. “Hey… what about Luna’s Nightmare? What kind of Dark Magic is that?”

“I don’t really know all that much about that. I only know that Nightmare is separate entity that came from somewhere else.” Spec carefully admitted, I had the feeling that she did know more, but didn’t want to say it for some reason. Maybe it’s to complicated and it would take too much time to explain? Or maybe she just doesn’t want to.

“Maybe that question would get more answers if you asked the Nightmare itself. I’ve heard one of the new Element Bearers, Summer Dash has it.” Cheerilee said. “But… please, don’t swarm her with questions. She might be a changeling, but that much excitement could be bad for her. Like bingeing on Pinkies sweets.”

“Hang on, are you even sure Spec is a Dark? She could just be making those things up.” Diamond protested. I scoffed.

“Diamond, my scans show more than enough Dark Magic to corrupt a normal pony. She’s a Dark, no questions asked.” I shot her objection down.

“Oh who cares about your stupid scans, you piece of Scrap.” Diamond shot back. “You could be making things up too, because Spec is your friend.” Everyone glared at Diamond for that.

“Diamond Tiara, that’s enough.” Cheerilee stopped Diamond’s tirade. “Sweetie Belle almost died, so you should not be antagonizing her.” Diamond hardly reacted, other than to pout, but then Cheerilee did something I wasn’t really expecting. “However, the school board will get really agitated if I don’t explore those possibilities… Spec, can you provide any credibility to what you say?”

“I… I have my identification card here with me.” Spec said and levitated a small black card to Cheerilee. “I could also do a small demonstration, if you need actual evidence.”

“I believe the ID is sufficient. Thank you.” Cheerilee accepted with a smile, giving it back. “However, since you offered, I think a demonstration at the end of the lesson would be nice.”

“Of course.” Spec shortly replied and put her ID away.

~???~

Canterlot Castle - Science Division

I looked down on a team of scientists, hidden in the ceiling through a crack…. That I really shouldn’t have been able to fit into. I still question how the heck my body was this compressible, let alone how I even got into this body in the first place, (Honestly that soul bullshit doesn’t fly with me. Souls don’t carry memories.) I still had to figure out what else these guys knew about my situation. From what I could tell, they already had eyes on my brother and sister, one of which had gone through a gender swap (I still find that one incredibly suspicious, as it has been pretty much everything he’s been blabbering about and wishing for back home,) and the other one’s got some kind of crazy soul powers now. (Hah! Take that, asshole! She’s not useless, after all!) But there’s still a few things left I needed to find out. Where the hell “Summer” is, and how we’re supposed to get back home. My fist and I have a lot to talk to “her” about.

Arc II, Act 5: Problems

~Catt~

“So. You’re a noble now.”

“...Y-yeah. Kinda… scary, I guess?”

“I can imagine. I mean… we don’t even know what it means to be a noble.”

“Yeah… And you’re sure Sonya didn’t know anyone that could even remotely help?”

“Could is another story. It’s a matter of whether or not they would. Friggin people wouldn’t stick their neck out unless it meant getting in their enemy’s way.”

“Then I guess I really will have to wing it…” A knock on my room door pulled me and Catrina out of our conversation, and I sat up on my bed.

“Duchess Catt, the Princess has sent me to inform you that she has arranged for me to teach you how Nobility works.” The familiar voice of Fancy Pants called. I breathed a hefty sigh of relief, thankful both that I was getting educated in regard to Nobility, and that it was Fancy Pants I was being taught by.

“Thank Celestia…” I muttered, fittingly using one of the ponies’ expletives. “Alright then, any special place we should be then?” I asked, climbing off my bed.

“Yes, come and meet me in the Royal Gardens when you’re ready.” Fancy told me. I soon heard him walking off.

“Something feels weird about this… I just can’t put my paws on it. Let’s just go grab us some breakfast, then we’ll head off and see what he’s got to teach.” Catrina muttered. I just nodded, stuffing my gloves in my tails again, and heading out. I hadn’t taken off my dress yet, since I loved it that much, and it was my only dress too. That, and I was kinda lazy. My gloves just didn’t add well to the image. I grabbed my personal guards Red and Razor on my way to breakfast, which was a few pounds of fish since I wasn’t really in that much of a rush today. Tuna actually tastes better as a cat, apparently. I used to really dislike fish as a human.

As I made my way to the Canterlot Gardens, I saw Spec. “Oh hey there, Spec. What are you doing up here?”

“Oh? Hey Catt. My brother is finally better, so I came to visit him myself.” Spec responded when she noticed me.

“That’s cool. How’s Sweetie been?” I asked, curious since I haven’t heard much of her since I left.

“Sweetie woke up just yesterday, and is already up and about, trying her best to catch up with what she missed. But the way she acts… it’s as if nothing happened at all, it worries me a bit.” Spec cheerfully replied with a large smile, even though it fell a bit when she expressed her concerns, she was still smiling.

“She’s probably trying to get people to stop worrying. She knows ponies aren’t exactly going to be happy after that nightmare, and probably doesn’t want them to be too sad about what happened. Sonya used to do it all the time, pretending something didn’t bother her so no one else worries about her unnecessarily.” Catrina informed me, to which I simplified and translated for Spec.

“Yeah, that’s probably it, but I still fear what will holding it all in do to her.” Spec said, just as we got to a place with doors to the deeper parts of the castle. “Well, here is where I split off. It was nice seeing you again.” She then went in the direction of said doors.

“Alright, hope to meet your brother! I’ll see you around.” I said goodbye before heading off on my own way. When I got to the gardens though, I didn’t see anyone. At first I wondered if maybe I’d heard him wrong, because I wasn’t paying attention or something, but then I got worried something might have happened to him. I was about to ask Red and Razor to help looking for him, but suddenly they weren’t there either.

“Hah… so naive…” I heard a buzzing voice, before the electric tingle of magic ran up my spine and everything went black.

"...Well crap. Hey, wanna play go fish while we wait to wake up?"

~Summer~

The clatter of pots rang out through the kitchen as once again, Manic and I were working together cleaning Dishes. The restaurant was just about to close for the day, so we were cleaning in the kitchen while the rest of the team worked on pretty much everywhere else. Reason I was doing dishes instead of basically whatever else was because it was something familiar to me. It reminded me of home, and how I pretty much hogged cleaning duty in the kitchen all to myself back when I was human. I still did a damn good job of making everything spotless, which Manic praised me for. Apparently, no one else on the team bothered, and just threw everything in the dishwasher, which half the time didn’t really clean everything. My method was quicker, and by far more efficient, even if it did work as good as some of the newer models. Hell, even Tinker’s thanked me, since now he doesn’t have to do maintenance on the dishwasher anymore. Another job off his plate, and we have cleaner plates!

Today though, something interrupted my sacred duty. I felt an invasive presence in my head, like a compass screaming at me to go to the edge of town, a presence I was certain Shin could feel as well. I sighed, dumping the rest of the dishes in the soap water I’d prepared to let them soak, before turning to Manic.

“Sorry, but something’s trying to bust into the local Hive Network. I’m gonna go check it out real quick, and hope it’s not something bad.” I told him, before heading out. I let the rest of the team know about it too, and Degroot allowed me leave, agreeing that it was important. He sent Fleet with me, in case it was something bad though, so I at least had the comfort of backup that could stuff me full of pride.

“So, another changeling, huh?” Fleet said as he flew with me.

“Yeah, one that apparently wants to be found, so either he’s got a message, or a trap waiting for us.” I replied, thinking logically.

“Heh. No problem, I’ve gotten outta lots of traps before.” Fleet pridefully boasted.

“I bet none of the traps that you escaped were Times Ten Quickie Bombs.” I shot back.

“Well duh. Who the hell can get away from those monsters?” Fleet huffed.

“Dead Ringer Spy?” I suggested. “With a Kunai?”

“Forget I asked…” Fleet facehoofed. When we got there, we found no more than three changelings waiting for us, all of them Blue.

“So you did come. I was getting worried you wouldn’t bother, and the local Queen would hit first.” the apparent speaker of the group said almost smugly.

“Yeah, I came. Would probably be in another way if you hadn’t interrupted.” I hinted. His face twisted in disgust as he caught the hint.

“Wow, what a joke.” Fleet sarcastically remarked.I ignored him, just giving the speaker a demanding look.

“We came to tell you we have your sister. Queen Chrysalis offers Catt’s safety in exchange for information you hold.” The changeling bluntly stated. I blinked in surprise. Queen Chrysalis was already striking this early? Discord’s return hadn’t even happened yet! What the hell info did they want anyway?

“What information? Why attack now? I thought you guys were planning an invasion of Canterlot in a couple years.” I asked, making Fleet do a double take at me.

“I was there when you were talking to the Bearers. I overheard you sharing what you knew about the future, and reported it to my Queen.” The changeling answered. I gasped as I remembered that…

“Summer, we… we gotta know. Just how much do you know?” AJ asked, about a day after we’d faced Nightmare Moon. Of course, they still haven’t gotten everything out of me since Celly pointed it out, and I still owe them answers.

“I know a lot, really, too broad to cover it all at once. But the first few things we should be watching out for is Discord’s return, and Queen Chrysalis attacking your brother’s wedding, Twilight.” I said, turning to her when I spoke of her brother.

“Any idea when those happen?” Twilight asked, worried for her brother.

“Some, but my knowledge of the timeline isn’t perfectly linear. I do know Discord doesn’t come until after the next Grand Galloping Gala. Don’t worry about Chryssie though, I’ve got a plan to deal with her.” I assured with a grin. Probably right then was when that other changeling heard me. I mean… we had been out talking on the street after all. It’s not that hard to listen in. Admittedly not my smartest choice… but that’s not saying much, really.

“Right… probably shoulda had Twilight use Soundproofing. Then again, this means I can actually put my plan to work sooner than later. Tell Queen Chrysalis I’ll deal with no drone. I want to speak with her in person.” I told him. He scowled at me, but I could almost swear I saw the faintest hint of a smirk.

Hmph… he’s got the aura of a traitor. I should know, I made one. Nightmare warned me. I took note of that.

“And tell the truth. I’d rather not have my sister killed because you’re a greedy bastard that wants the throne.” His face full of shock told me my guess was right.

“H-how did you know…?” he whispered, the two changelings at his side glaring full force at me.

“You’re easy to read.” I lied. The instant I said that, I lanced out with my mind, taking my shot through his shock to connect to his Hivelink.

I heard Chrysalis demand.

I replied coolly. I sensed hateful surprise from her, and fear from the Messenger.

The traitor’s voice was cut off as I felt Chrysalis’s mind pretty much stabbing into his. Before me, he curled up in a little ball of fear, shaking in despair. Fleet looked between me and him in awe.

“Wow. You really know how to mess them up.” Fleet muttered in awe.

“That’s not me. That’s his queen, finding out about his attempt to betray her.” I replied casually. Fleet whistled in admiration.

Chrysalis promised.

I asked, since I had sensed Shin’s murderous desire from the moment these three announced their presence so loudly.

Chrysalis replied flippantly. The connection was cut then, and I grinned at the three.

“Alright then… looks like Chrysalis is letting you three have a bad time. Who wants to go first?” I said with false joy. All three of them seemed to panic at that, at least until their leader slumped over, his eyes dulled to grey.

“Oh boy… hey, uh… Summer? We kinda got a…” Fleet muttered as he spotted Shin. Turning, I smiled at him.

“Relax… she’s not here for you.” I said ominously. The two lackeys turned around just in time for Shin to pounce on one of them with a loud screech, and within seconds he was no longer struggling, already fully under her influence. The other remaining changeling tried to run, but Fleet was faster.

“Hey, where you think ya goin’?” Fleet taunted as he flew upside down in front of the changeling, who by now was scared beyond reason. Said changeling just cowered, hiding his head under his own hooves.

“Please… please just…” I barely heard him whimpering. I just sat there, watching with a satisfied smirk. This is the fate that befalls traitors.

Absolutely beautiful. You know, for once, I’m thinking maybe we can actually be friends. Nightmare approved.

“You two, bring him with you.” Shin demanded the two changelings, who started slowly heading toward the remaining changeling like zombies. Slow, shambling movements, legs full of holes, groans from time to time… it was really horrifying to the last one, who was trying to scramble away from them in blind fear. It was useless though, and he was hauled away.

“That is gonna haunt my dreams for decades to come.” Fleet stated.

~Sweetie Belle~

As I went up the stairs to my bedroom at Rarity’s, I rubbed the gift Spec had left me with. It was a shadow-weave scarf, and while it didn’t do anything for warmth, it did look pretty cool. She made it during her demonstration, where she created it using her own shadow. It is kinda long and it looks like it fades away into nothing at the ends, but it seems to just trail in the air behind me and doesn’t get in the way at all, I also noticed it get’s shorter if there isn’t room or if it were to obstruct anything. Unfortunately, Spec had to go back home to Canterlot after the class ended, it sounded like her brother is finally better, so she went back to be with him. I think she gave me that scarf so I have something to remember her by in case it is a long time before she can visit again.

I froze in my room when I saw my calendar. I was going back to Mom and Dad tomorrow… Oh no, what are they going to think when they see me like this?! There is no way they won’t freak out, and even worse, while the chance of them not liking me anymore is close to nonexistent, they will DEFINITELY not look at me the same way ever again… I might not like the way they look at me now. Worst of all though, they might blame Rarity for not protecting me, and never let me come back here again! Ugh… this is going to be one heck of a mess… maybe I could ask Summer or Twilight for help?

In any case, my new body still used up energy, and I needed to recharge. I’ll have to worry about all of that tomorrow.

My dreams showed me no comfort, and left no room for mercy. The first thing I saw when I went to sleep was a bunch of freaky, nightmarish robots. Something about them though… it was almost like the freakish appearance they had meant nothing. Like they were innocents forged into monsters. I was given no rest though, as the very second I registered that, I was interrupted by somepony slamming a crowbar over my head.

“Get out of here you freak! Machines like you shouldn’t exist!” the familiar voice of my dad screamed. I turned with tears in my eyes to find… an army of my mom and dad, each holding either a frying pan or crowbar. The metal nightmare things roared, jumping forth challengingly as if to my defense, but it stood no chance. A thousand frying pans crushed it in nearly an instant, a few of them made of gold… or was it neighponium? Either way, the resulting banging was… ear shattering. The others didn’t fare any better. Before they could get to me though, something shot past me on both sides, both forms darker than shadows.

~Rarity~

“Sweetie Belle… please, calm down, nothing can hurt you here…” I pleaded once again. I was losing hope though. Sweetie Belle’s screaming and flailing hadn’t gone down in the least since I arrived to quell it, and I was beginning to doubt I could help… but then suddenly, it stopped. As it did, I could feel something passing by me, but… I didn’t see anything. I worried about what it could be, but I could at least see Sweetie was still breathing. Just giving up on questioning it since I had no answers, I leaned down and hugged my sister with everything I had.

~Summer~

I rushed to try and get into Sweetie Belle’s dream, Nightmare right by my side. Her dream had turned black in the Dreamscape not that long ago, and since Luna was still out of commission in the dream-guarding business, I took it upon myself to get there. However, when I was almost there, Nightmare pulled me back.

“Wait! Something is already in there with her.” Nightmare said, pointing at the dream. I paused for a second to look, watching as it turned from black to cyan. I looked into the dream to see what just happened and what I saw caused me to pause. Sweetie was wearing that ‘totally anime scarf’ Spec made for her earlier, but that wasn’t the strange thing. The strange thing was that it was moving. Both ends of the scarf shot from either side of her and blocked all attacks and all attackers from view. Both ends then drifted in front of Sweetie and formed an archway in between them, from which a small figure walked out of.

“Shhh... it’s ok now Sweetie, the nightmare is gone.” The figure started to soothe poor Sweetie.

“Is that...” I muttered, recognising the voice.

“S-Spec…? Is that you?” Sweetie hesitantly said as if she couldn’t believe it, still shaking from fear.

“I’m here Sweetie, no nightmares are going to haunt my friends anymore.” Spec said hugging a still shaking Sweetie.

“How the heck is Spec there?!” I almost shouted in shock.

“H-how are you… how did you get in my dream?” Sweetie asked, almost as if she’d heard my question… but more realistically, she was probably thinking the same way.

“I said before that I know some Dream magic, I wanted to be here sooner, but you didn’t give me permission to enter. Only when it was almost over did I get in here. I had to use the scarf to get around needing your permission.” Spec explained.

“... Thank you!” Sweetie said, jumping forth to hug Spec with all her might. Seeing that, I felt touched. These two were starting to build a pretty deep bond. The thought of those two together like that… it filled me with emotion and threatened to spill out of my eyes as tears. Nightmare looked at me with disgust.

“Really, Summer? Really. You’re going to ship those two?” she said condescendingly. I folded my arms in defiance.

“What? They’re cute. Like that… and YOU RUINED A PERFECT MOMENT!” I shot back. I froze when I noticed Spec looking right at us.

“Oh shut u-” Nightmare froze too. Spec narrowed her eyes into a glare for a second before turning back to Sweetie.

“Keep the scarf close to you Sweetie, it’s a ‘Hero’s scarf’, it protects the hero, so that she might protect others. And try to talk about your problems with your sister and friends, don’t bottle them up, or it may end worse then just some nightmares.” Spec said while gently rubbing Sweetie’s back to fully calm her down. Sweetie smiled at that, breaking the hug.

“I will. Seeing an army of mom and dad beating things down with a lot of frying pans convinced me of that.” Sweetie said. At that point, I figured we should probably move on to another dream, but I wanted to do something… devious first. I stuck my head into the dream, and shouted for all I was worth.

“I SHIP IT!” I giggled madly as I ran the hell out of there. I could almost hear Spec raging in the back of my mind as I ran. Nightmare screamed out as I pretty much left her for dead, even though she'd just automatically teleport to me if I left her too far behind.

Author's Note

Obligatory Pan Spam:

Arc II, Act 6: Deals

~Summer~

“Summer! I got a letter from the Princess!” Twilight shouted as she ran to me. I stopped, waiting for her to catch up. “It’s your sister, she’s been kidnapped!”

“Thanks for telling me, but I already knew. Queen Chrysalis is holding her for ransom. She wants what I know.” I told her. Twilight was stunned.

“Queen Chrysalis? Is that why you didn’t tell anyone when you found out?” she asked, put off by the fact that I hadn’t told anyone about something this important.

“I’m sticking to the plan. Just let me handle this. I’ve got it covered.” I said confidently, reassuring her with a smile. She hesitated, but she didn’t look all that convinced. “Look, regardless of what happens, this is still my problem. I have to get my sister back. I’m sure you’d be just as determined if it was your brother on the line.”

“I…” Twilight hesitated again. I put my hoof on her shoulder.

“Trust me Twilight. Unlike when we faced Nightmare Moon, I know exactly what I’m doing. Queen Chrysalis is the one villain I have many plans for. Everything from Mercy to a Bad Time.” I assured her. “Just tell Celly Chryssie has her, and I’m headed out to deal with it.”

“A...Alright. Where are you even going though? Do you know where her hive is?” Twilight asked.

“We’re meeting at Dodge Junction. She’s taking Catt with her.” I replied. “I shouldn’t take too long. If I’m not back by the end of the day, it might be safe to assume things got more complicated than I planned for.”

“That’s a pretty big if…” Twilight muttered.

“Just relax. I’ve got this.” I assured. “I’ll see ya when I get back.” I said, before hugging her goodbye. Then I turned and headed for the train station once again. The wait for the right train wasn’t that long, thankfully. About two hours of just sitting around in the train later, and I heard a thud on the roof of the car I was in. Curious, I used my wall crawling power to take a peek at what was on the roof, climbing out of a window to get there.

“What the buck? How the hell is she…?!” I heard one of the other ponies shouting inside, as I stuck to the wall. I also heard a few facehoofs from what I assumed to be changelings.

“Oh, don’t mind me. Just your friendly neighborhood Spider Mare.” I called back inside jokingly before climbing up. I heard a few colts burst into laughter at that as I spotted a familiar cloaked figure on top of the train.

“Oh hi there, Batman. Stalking me again? You know if ya wanted to date or rape me, all you have to do is ask.” I greeted, laying it a bit heavy on the jokes. He looked at me for a few moments before shaking his head and sighing.

“Are you always like this?” He said in a VERY un-Batman-like voice, before lowering the hood. His fur was light grey, very big difference from the almost black I saw on Batman, both his mane and eyes were bright, almost glowing neon blue, with the exception of a single streak of pure black in his mane. A horn poking out of his mane made it clear he is a unicorn, and his unamused expression made it clear he didn’t like the joke.

“Holy shit… If you aged Spec up and gender flipped her, you’d have what I see before me…” I muttered. The wind probably swept my words away, but my lips weren’t exactly hard to read. The whole image prompted him to smirk.

“Oh, yes, my little sister told me about you, and how she almost died when helping to fix your mistake.” His face suddenly hardened. I sighed.

“Yeah, then I spent about half a week killing myself with depression. She probably missed that part, considering I shut myself in to keep anyone from seeing how shitty I looked.” I shot back.

“Oh, she told me. I just wanted to gauge your reaction for myself. I also know that she did what she did of her own choice while knowing the risks, so I’m not holding it against you.” He said with a faint smile, probably because I apparently said the right thing.

“That’s good. I’d rather not face the wrath of an Alicorn.” I said, referencing Rainbow’s brief freakout back in the Ruins. But he got strangely confused by that.

“What are you talking about?” He then flipped up his cloak on one side to reveal his completely normal, wingless body. I also noticed his Cutie Mark, a blue flame, similar to the classic artistic visualisation of a soul, with what looked like either wings, or horns on the top.

“...Oh, so those bat wings you whipped out in the Nightmare fight were some kind of spell or something?” I asked, jumping to assumptions. He look at me for a few more seconds before he snorted in laughter.

“You think that was me? I came down with food poisoning the day before Summer Sun Celebration. Seriously, never eat anything my little sister cooks, it all looks just fine at first, but once you are about halfway through, everything suddenly comes alive and tries to run away. Including what you already ate.” He said while still chuckling a little.

“Questionable cooking aside, what makes you think I believe you just teleported on top of this train? It’s been moving for the past two hours, there are no mountains or high places to jump on from, so the only way you could have accurately gotten on top of this specific car is by flying. Plus, it’s not hard to identify you as that guy if you’re still wearing the exact same cloak. Seriously, I can still smell the faint scent of shadows from it.” I argued, believing I’d backed him into a corner with that. He just stared at me with his mouth hanging slightly open for a few seconds, before gesturing to the cloak.

“Are you serious? That is your argument? This is Shadow-weave, every cloak made from it looks exactly the same, that’s the point. Everypony working for the agency can take one when they want.” He said while flapping the side of the cloak up and down. I deadpanned at myself.

“Alright, admittedly I’m not good at arguing based on intuition… but you still didn’t address how you got here. Oh yeah, and I recognise your Almost Nightmare magic signature. There’s that against you too, since not every Natural Dark feels the same, in terms of Dark magic.” His left eye started twitching at my continued accusations.

“I don’t know what are you trying to prove here, but if you are that curious, then fine. I did fly here, are you curious how? Then watch!” He was clearly irritated by my continued accusations. His horn lit up with a bright neon blue aura, and his eyes started shivering, as if there was a fire burning behind them. A faint mist gathering by his side attracted my attention. It looked as if it was flowing inside of him, but after a second of observation I saw that it was compressing and mixing with threads of magic connected there. After me staring intently at that for a few seconds, he apparently showed what he wanted with that and sped up the process. Before I could so much as blink twice, there were definite shapes of two long gossamer wings growing from his either side. “Like what you see?” He added with a smirk. I deadpanned at him.

“Fine, keep your damned secrets.” I said, too frustrated to continue. “But when it comes to me, pointless secrets like that are overrated. They’ll go up in smoke sooner or later whether you want them to or not, so why bother?”

“I’ll tell you something, Summer.” He said as his wings buzzed and he floated in front of me. “I met the guy, he has lost more than you can imagine because his secrets got out, so don’t try to find anything on him. Also, how many Darks did you meet? Two, Three? You have no idea how their signatures work, me and my family have hereditary magical talents, Spec and I test on almost exactly the same signature, the only difference is the power we have. Think about that a little bit.” He said as he landed and with a flick disintegrated the wings back into mist, before teleporting inside the train. I rolled my eyes and climbed back in with him. Ponies were still staring at me, and changelings were still banging their heads against the table at my nonexistent subtlety.

“Whatever you say, dude… but if that’s the case then the guy that got his ass handed to him by Nightmare Moon must have been your dad or something. Must be embarrassing.” I shot at him. Suddenly, ponies were staring at him too, more out of acknowledging a Burn than out of him doing something strange.

“You should be happy he did, otherwise you would be dead and the world would be shrouded in the Eternal Night.” He shot back, clearly not caring about the stares.

“Oh believe me I am. But you’re wrong about the Eternal Night and me being dead thing…” I said, thinking back to the deal I made to get here. I’ve been remembering more and more details about it as each day passed. And I knew he wouldn’t like what would really happen if I died here. I was an idiot to accept, but I can’t go back on it now. I care too much about this world.

Wait, WHAT?! You agreed to THAT?! FUCKING HELL, WHY! Nightmare screamed in my head as I brought the memory up in detail. I winced at the pointed reminder of my stupidity.

I was desperate and stupid. Let’s leave it at that. I insisted heavily. Nightmare thankfully shut up, but I still felt her seething in rage and hatred at me.

“Oh? How so?” He just had to ask, what even is his name? He didn’t tell me! I sighed as I cast the sound proofing spell, and answered.

“If I die, I get sent back home to my own body. Alone. My brother and sister will be sent to the void, eternally lost there, and… this world will burn away into Fallout, with the gates of Tartarus thrown wide open.” The look on his face said it all.

“You idiot! Gambling with the fate of an entire world?! Just who do you think you are!” I think the soundproofing bubble actually wobbled from his shout. I said nothing, just letting him shout his grievances away. I’m sure my eyes were hidden in the shadow of my mane, with how low I let my head hang. He calmed down after about a minute and was just shaking his head. “I’m SO reporting this, just how selfish can you get? Dooming an entire world AND your siblings while you will be safe and sound back home? Well?” I had to stop him there.

“No, not safe or sound… my parents are gonna be gone if I go back too. So I’ll essentially be living on the streets with nothing but me and my despair. You’re right, I was an idiot… but I’m not about to turn back on my deal. And by the way, you can forget about locking me up to keep me safe. I have to get involved, or that deal…”

“That’s not my decision to make. I just hope you will be happy with how your siblings will react to those news.” His eyes have changed into a cat-like slits at this point, and he was writing something down on two separate scrolls. The movements his pen was doing on one of them though… I couldn’t see just what he was doing, but the movements looked as if he was drawing pictures in there.

“I doubt either of them will react well, but I never planned on telling them. Or anyone for that matter.” I said. “If he still can, my brother is going to kick my ass.”

The train came to a stop soon after, and I was glad to get off. Dodge Junction really wasn’t that big of a trip to get to. “Alright then, Mr. Bodyguard. This is my stop. Celly did send you to keep an eye on me, didn’t she?” I said, not looking at him as I started heading off the train.

“My name is Soulfire, and she sent me to ensure Catt get’s safely back to Canterlot.” He said as he was following me. “But… she did tell me to make sure you get back too… so you better not screw your schemes up.”

“Like I told Twilight, I know exactly what I’m doing here.” I told him, not saying anything beyond that.

“Didn’t look that way when you almost got killed.” He shot at me. I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not talking about that. Each threat to Equestria is their own unique case. I’ve got the most on Chrysalis. Really, she’s the only one I know exactly how to handle.” I explained.

“Oh... well if that is the case, then I probably should have brought some popcorn to watch the show.” He said with a hint of humor, his rage probably fizzled out by now.

Once we were out to the station, I looked for anyone holding my name on a sign, since that’s the best way to get the attention of those who don’t know who’s looking for them. Y’know, since Chrysalis would no doubt be wearing a disguise here. Seeing no one, I just sent out a ping for the Local Hivemind. I heard a few ponies gasp, staring at me.

“Lady, I don’t know if you’re trying to get yourself killed or what, but doing that… isn’t the most advisable thing around here.” One pony whispered to me.

“I’m trying to get the Queen’s attention. She and I have a deal to strike.” I replied coldly to him. I smirked as his shocked and horrified look.

“W-well… good luck…” he said, slinking away. I felt another ping in reply from the far side of the village, and followed it right away. Soon enough, after following more pings, I found her. She was sitting in an outdoor cafe, wearing the disguise of… well, basically herself as a pony. I knew she wasn’t really all that creative, but just switching black for white, and removing wings and holes really seemed to work for her.

“Hello, Chrysalis.” I greeted as I took a seat in front of her across the table. Her eyes twitched a bit at me not using her title, but she let it pass to keep up her disguise.

“Hello, Summer. So, why exactly did you demand to be spoken to in person?” Chrysalis asked. Before I answered, Soulfire came to the table and took a seat on one side, his cloak nowhere in sight.

“Greetings.” Was the only thing he said. She only glanced at him.

“I wanted to discuss the future. I know your… family is falling on hard times. I want to help, but I can’t if even one pony gets hurt.” I said. She raised an eyebrow in interest.

“So you know a way we can get more food?” she asked with clear interest.

“Yeah, but we have to wait for it. The Crystal Empire’s coming back sometime in the next couple of years. But so is King Sombra.” I responded. She froze at the mention of the Empire, and I could sense a wave of rage, sorrow, grief, and a small bit of hope from her.

“H-how do you know this? How do you even know such a place exists?” she asked, her voice low and quivering.

“Let’s just say I’ve seen certain events in another timeline. Chalk it up to a strange version of time travel, if you will.” I explained.

“How soon?” she demanded.

“I can’t be certain, but I know it’s at least a month or so after the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Royal Guard Captain, Shining Armor. Until then however, you may want to consider not hiding anymore. I already revealed that changelings exist, however unintentionally, and have built a rather positive first impression.You have a chance to be accepted, if you’re willing.” I advised.

“Why should I? The Royal Guard has attacked my kind thoughtlessly on numerous occasions… what guarantee do I have that any of my children will be safe?” she demanded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She kept from shaking rather well though.

“I’m an Element Bearer. I’m a known changeling. A simple message to the Princess, and one announcement later, you’ve got free reign… as long as you don’t hurt anypony. I can convince them to pardon you for taking my sister, but it won’t be easy.”

“Actually…” Soulfire decided to make himself known. “... I have something that might interest you on that exact topic.” He then proceeded to reach into his own shadow and pull out an official looking scroll and gave it to Chrysalis. Chrysalis looked a bit weirded out that he’d reached into his own shadow, but opened it and read it.

“Dear Queen Chrysalis, you have been charged with the abduction of a person of Noble status, and have reasonably given cause for war. However, you, nor any pony in Equestria could have known, so an alternate proposal will be presented. Return Dutchess Catt unharmed within a week, and all shall be forgotten, no records of the incident will be kept and there will be no consequences because of this mistake.” Chrysalis read out, though I threw up a Sound Proofing bubble once I heard the word Charged.

“Well shit…” Chrysalis muttered. I however had dropped my jaw.

“Wait a fucking second, Catt’s a Noble?!” I said with reasonably widened eyes.

“Yes, she is. Celestia elevated her to a Noble status in recognition of her selflessness during the recent incident in Ponyville, despite having no obligation to help in the first place. The official paperwork went through the day before her kidnapping, before any announcements could be made. I hope this clears up the situation to the both of you.” Soulfire recited as if he was reading from a note of some kind, the fact I noticed there were lines of text scrolling down one of his eyes further cemented this belief.

Suddenly, I heard a ruckus from an empty table nearby. It sounded like a bunch of changelings complaining about losing, as well as my sister cheering in victory.

“What the…?!” Chrysalis exclaimed, as I saw her eyes glow for a second. I quickly used my Mimic ability to copy whatever spell that was, and used it. Turns out, it was a special variation of a Light Bending spell that allowed one to see or alter certain spectrums of light. Copying Chrysalis’s frequency in a heartbeat, I spotted my sister playing three other changelings at a game of Poker. And winning.

“Unbelievable.” I muttered as Catt scooped in a bunch of bits.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing either. They should be making sure she isn’t going anywhere.” Chrysalis agreed, twitching in anger.

“Hey, give us a break. You can’t honestly expect us to stand against the Pupydog Face on this one, can you?” One of them pleaded. As they said that, Catt made the face mentioned. I felt my heart melt.

Oh god help me, I’m melting! Nightmare squealed. I could feel her smiling in diabeetus though, so I didn’t bother. I could also feel Chrysalis’s emotions being worked into a flurry. However, all of us were distracted by Soulfire, whose already pretty weak emotional output suddenly faded away to nothing.

“Dafuq?” the changelings with Catt suddenly said, staring at him.

“What in the…” Chrysalis muttered in surprise and confusion.

“Okay, that’s weird.. His soul’s not in his body anymore, but it’s still connected somehow.” Catt said, getting up and inspecting Soulfire closer.

“That face… it was too much.” Soulfire suddenly said in a dull monotone befitting a certain rock farmer, his eyes grey and empty looking. That was just too creepy.

“The face is gone, okay?” Catt said, a little worried. A second later his emotions came back, and with them his eyes colour.

“I see... ” He said with a small smile.

“How’d you do that? I thought I was the only one that could mess with souls.” Catt asked.

“Oh, you are the only one who can mess with souls… of others. Wouldn’t exactly be the expert in the field if I didn’t have at least some experience with it, would I?” Soulfire said, his smile turning into a small grin.

“... Wait, SPEC?!” she said in shocked recognition. I stared at him at that.

“WHAT?! NO! I’m her brother! She told me she mentioned me when you asked about her notes. I thought she said my name or something…” Soulfire said after being thoroughly shocked by her exclamation. Though I narrowed my eyes at him, Catt believed it.

“Oh right… heh, sorry.” Catt apologised. I just sighed, rolling my eyes again. “Queen Chrysalis, may I have my gloves back please?” Chrysalis blinked, but looked at me for a second.

“Fine. I got what I wanted. I no longer have any reason to hold onto you.” Chrysalis agreed, levitating the pair of gloves from her side over to Catt.

“Right, now that that is over, is there anything else either of you want to discuss?” Soulfire asked looking from me to Chrysalis.

“I think I need time to consider what I’ll do. Many things have changed…” Chrysalis said, getting up. She broke the light bending enchantment over Catt as she left, taking her changeling posse with her… and chewing them out for losing all their bits to a 10 year old cat in a game of Poker. I had to laugh at that, especially when she smacked one of them upside the head for suggesting the game.

“Well, now that we are all done here, I think it’s time to get back. Don’t want to accidentally start a war just because you don’t show up on time, right Catt?” Soulfire said as he also got up from his chair. Catt happily joined his side.

“Right. Hey, what’s your name, anyway?” she asked.

“Soulfire, but you can call me Soul… not you!” He replied, that last part aimed at me. I rolled my eyes. Then I froze as I realized something.

“Hey wait, if my sister’s a Noble, doesn’t that make me one as well?” I asked.

“Yes, you get it by association...” Soul sighed. “... but because of how she got the title your’s is in name only.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll stick with the Element Bearer title. It’s far more powerful.” I said almost in a deadpan.

“Sure, Catt was only granted the title for her own protection anyway, makes it easier to guard her and harder for other to make moves against her. Celestia probably didn’t tell you that, did she?” Soul asked with a shake of his head and a knowing smile.

“So… basically it’s Celestia’s glorified way of saying ‘Hi! I’m your mom now! I shall protect you!’” Catt accused, using an exaggerated imitation of Celestia’s voice. I almost choked on my laughter.

“No, it's her way of saying ‘You are under Equestria's protection, so you don't have to be looking over your shoulder all the time ‘. In her own trollish way.” Soul said, using the exact imitation of Celestia’s voice.

“Wow, impressive voice acting. You might as well be a changeling.” I complimented.

“I’m not, but I did study their abilities and managed to create some convincing imitations. But the voice think is one of the few that actually work perfectly.” Soul explained.

“Still, pretty cool. I’m guessing you got most of it from Bonbon. Well, I guess I’ll see you guys around. I’m going home.” I said, before turning around and headed back to the train. I nabbed a few of the bits Catt won on my way away though, sneaking them into my mane.

“You are going back on the train? I was going to take a shortcut to Canterlot.” Soul said before I could go more than a few steps. I chuckled.

“I’m good. Besides, shortcuts seriously disorient me. Pinkie already showed me how weird it can feel.” I denied.

“Suit yourself, my work differently though. I have no idea how she does hers.” Soul said before standing next to Catt and both of them were obstructed from view by a tall pillar of blue flames. Few seconds later the flames died down without even leaving scorch marks and the two of them were nowhere in sight. Shrugging at the, frankly, unimpressive sight, I just turned around and went on my merry way.

~Sweetie Belle~

“Hey Rarity? I need to talk with you about something…” I started when I came down for breakfast. Rarity was already making pancakes, but it was something I needed to talk about. I owed it to Spec.

“Is it about your nightmare?” Rarity asked, looking clearly concerned. I paused at that. She knew?

“Uh… yeah.” I said. I paused to wait and see if Rarity would explain how she knew. She did give an explanation thankfully enough.

“I heard you screaming in your sleep. I was just so worried, and I couldn’t calm you… I have no idea what happened, but eventually you calmed down.” Rarity said.

“Oh. Well, my friend Spec jumped into my dream and helped me out. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about… I wanted to talk about the reason for the nightmare.” I said.

“Oh? What is it?” Rarity asked, finishing a pancake.

“I just… I’m worried about how mom and dad will react to what happened to me.” I admitted. Rarity sighed.

“I’ll admit, I’m worried as well. But I have faith it won’t be too terrible.” Rarity said. “The only way to know for certain is to face them.”

“I thought as much…” I muttered. I almost jumped out of my hooves when I heard a knock on the door.

“I have an idea… head up to your room while I talk to them. I’ll let them know before they see you so they can be prepared, alright?” Rarity said.

“Alright. I’ll wait.” I said, heading up to my room. Once in, I stood by the closed door to listen for what Mom and Dad would say. I heard Rarity letting them in, greeting them with a carefully controlled tone.

“Good morning Hondo, Cookie.” Rarity began. “Please, come in. We have something to talk about.”

“What, no nickname?” Dad said jokingly. Then his tone turned serious after a moment of silence. “What happened? ...Where is Sweetie Belle?”

“There’s something you should know before you see her. About five days ago, a dark spirit attacked Ponyville… Sweetie Belle was horribly mangled during the brief attack, and she…” Rarity paused, and I heard her sniffle a bit. She was crying, I could tell.

“No… please tell me she didn’t…” Mom begged.

“She didn’t die, no… but almost. Through the efforts of the town’s top medical and engineering experts, she survived.” Rarity said.

“She… survived? How badly was she hurt?” Dad asked, surprised.

“Nearly half her body was gone. She’s had it all replaced with working mechanical prosthetics and enhancements though, which should allow her to live normally.” Rarity replied. Silence reigned for a while, before I heard mom speak up.

“C-can we see her?” she asked. There was only silence, and I guessed that Rarity had nodded. Sighing, I opened the door and started heading down. Every click of my metal hooves sounded like thunder to me due to the deafening silence from downstairs, and I could barely keep my breathing steady. When they came into view, I had to fight the desire to run for it and hide somewhere they couldn’t find me. Brushing my hoof against the scarf Spec gave me though, I found the courage to stay and stand tall.

“H-hi mom and dad. I… I hope it’s not too depressing…” I muttered to them, my half-robotic voice just driving home the point that I was beyond different. I winced at it, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too much.

“Amazing… I wish they had this kind of technology back when I was injured in a game.” Dad said, awestruck. Surprised, I looked up at him. He was smiling at me, though I could still see the pain in his eyes. “You’re lucky, Sweetie. I’m glad you’re still alive.”

“Oh Sweetie!” Mom bawled as she tackled me into a hug, crying a river of tears. I was still shocked, but I still returned the hug. After a while of hugging it out, both Rarity and Dad joining during it, they broke off and started talking again.

“So, what all can you do now? Rarity said you got enhancements.” dad asked.

“Uh… I don’t really know yet. I’d have to ask Tinker.” I replied sheepishly.

“That scarf is wonderful, darling. It suits you, and Rarity truly did a good job making it.” mom gushed. I blinked.

“Uh… actually, Rarity didn’t make it. A filly that helped save me did. Her name is Spec.” I said, setting her straight. They both blinked in confusion.

“Another filly? What did she do to help?” dad asked.

“She switched souls with me so I wouldn’t die while Tinker was working on my body.” I said.

“You mean… somepony sacrificed themselves for you?” mom started to cry again.

“No. She was a Natural Dark, and actually held up pretty well against the touch of death. I deleted the memory of the whole experience when I could, so I don’t remember how bad it felt, but she willingly took the suffering for me.” I explained. “She’s at Canterlot castle right now, spending time with her brother.” Mom cried more, but now with thankful happiness.

“I… must admit, when they were going to switch back, I almost wanted to keep Sweetie Belle in Spec’s body to guarantee that she wouldn’t die, even if it meant Spec wouldn’t live.” Rarity said. I was shocked to hear that, but… I could understand why at least.

“We understand, Rarity. We would have felt the same way.” Dad assured Rarity. “Oh hey, pancakes! Did you two not finish them yet?” he suddenly said, changing the topic.

“Why ye-”

“Mine.” dad said, grabbing Rarity’s plate with his magic and floating it over to him with a playful grin. Rarity pouted a bit, but her smile gave away how she really felt. Giggling, I hopped up into my seat and started eating my own.

“Hey Sweetie, do you think maybe we could meet Spec? She sounds like a nice filly.” Mom asked.

“Yeah, I think we could.” I confirmed with a smile.

~Catt~

“OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MY SCANS?!” Catrina screamed as we were shortcutted to Canterlot. I just sat there in the little anti gravity bubble of fire, trying my best to ignore it. Of course, the annoyed face I was making was rather amusing to Soul, but I was in no mood to acknowledge it. When it was finally over, Catrina started to calm down, but her freak out didn’t just stop. My gloves beeped, signalling Catrina wanting to speak out loud. I held one up to oblige.

“Please… please never do that again… It reminded me way too much of Sonya’s fight with a corrupted demigod.” Catrina begged, grumbling to herself about something regarding pocket dimensions.

“Wow, I did not expect that anyone would take it that badly. Sorry, I’ll warn you next time.” Soul… sort of apologised, cracking a smile. “Still… what was that about a demigod? Sounds interesting.”
“Sonya had to fight a demigod once. Couldn’t really hurt it herself, since she was nowhere near his power at the time, but she survived long enough for him to get back to his senses and kick the possessing demon out of his body.” Catrina explained.

“Well damn, she really knew how to keep herself entertained, but how exactly does that relate?” Soul questioned.

“The Demigod could create pocket dimensions, and send people there. Sonya and I were unlucky enough to get trapped in one, and while there, my sensors were either disabled or scrambled.”

“That explains it, it feels like the reality just ends at the border of the pocket dimension, doesn’t it?” Soul asked with a knowing smirk. Catrina nodded, a dark look on her face.

“Yeah… How did you know? As far as I knew, the Demon, the Demigod, and Sonya are the only ones outside of AI’s that know that about Pocket Dimensions.” Catrina asked.

“Easy, I pulled us through one to get us here. It’s not that hard to maintain a small one if you know how. Getting one in the first place is the hard part.” Soul informed. Catrina arched an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything further. She closed her hologram and just went back to cursing the existence of pocket dimensions in my head. Shaking my head, I looked around at the Gardens where we had appeared. I recognised it was the last place I saw before I was knocked out before, and happily started heading towards the throne room, where I no doubt would find Celestia running Court. Soul was trailing not that far behind.

When we came near the doors, a guard standing watch gasped upon seeing us and dashed into the doors. I just waited for him to come back and explain, rather than barge in potentially in the middle of a hearing. The guard eventually came back and held the doors open, and I heard Celly making an announcement.

“Alright then, before we go on to the next hearing, there’s someone I’d like to introduce you all to. Someone get the Broadcasting camera please, this is something I’d like more than just Canterlot to know.” she said.

“Oh wow. You must be very special to get that treatment.” The guard said in awe, smiling. I was a bit hung up on one fact though.

“Wait a second, ‘broadcasting?’ You guys have television here?” I asked in shock. I hadn’t seen a single TV set since I got here.

“Yeah, obviously we do. What did you think, that we are in the Stone Age?” Soul said with humour. I deadpanned at him.

“First off, this planet doesn’t have weapons more advanced than magic and spears as far as I’ve seen, and second off, I haven’t seen any TVs. So of course I’d reason there might not be tvs.” I said.

“Ok, what do weapons have to do with this? How exactly do they relate to a society's technological level? But good point about not seeing any, there’s only a few in the whole castle. Not like you got out much to explore either.” Soul said.

“Well...normally technology level balances out between every department of a society.” I added.

“Really? And you are making that observation based off of what? One example?” Soul jabbed.

“Florans. They’re about as primitive as cavemen.” I answered confidently. “Catrina told me the only reason they’re even capable of space travel is because they stole technology.”

“And that proves what you said how exactly?” Soul said, getting slightly annoyed.

“Well… okay, fine… I was wrong.” I gave up.

“Don’t feel bad about it, it happens to me too.” Soul assured me. “Hey, the crew looks about done setting up, you better put on your best smile when you go out there.”

“Good thing I kept my dress on.” I muttered as I readied myself, dusting my dress off a bit.

“Ladies and gentlecolts of Equestria, I have a rather important announcement to make today. Over the past week, we here at Canterlot have been helping to acclimate a new resident to this world they’ve awakened in. It’s been a chaotic ride for the most part, but lately they’ve proven they are of sound judgement and mentality. I’d like to introduce you to Catt, a Kineptic whom I’ve personally witnessed go well above and beyond of what is expected of any Equestria's citizens. Not only was she critical in helping to defeat a vicious monster threatening Equestria, but also helped save an innocent life, all white disregarding her own personal comfort or even safety. It is for these reasons that I have decided to grant her the title of Dutchess.” She held out a hoof, gesturing in my direction with a smile. With a proud, but subdued smile, I walked in, smiling and waving at the cameras and nobles attending. Many of the Nobles just stared, still finding it hard to believe that I was among them, let alone what I did to earn my title.

“So that’s why she’s a Noble now… well then, I commend you, young Catt.” Prince Blueblood spoke up, applauding. I smiled a bit wider at that and bowed as more applause rang out in the throne room.

“As well, as a member of an alien race, should she ever regain contact with other Kineptic, she will be named an ambassador for them, helping us to forge positive relations.” Celly declared. Blueblood’s eyes lit up at that idea, catching the implication of space travel. Somehow, I get the feeling he was going to desperately try to be a friend or something to me. My gloves beeped, signalling Catrina again. I brought one up to let her talk, putting it on for her.

“You shouldn’t put your hopes too high. Not all of every race is peaceful. Some, sure… but you’ll need to watch out for raiders and the like if you ever decide to start exploring space.” Catrina warned Celestia.

“Alright. Well, that’s all for now.” Celestia said, facing the cameras. “Until next time. And sorry for interrupting your shows, I know there were some good ones on.” With that, the cameras turned off, and they wheeled them out of there. Just as the last camera was out of the room, Soul came in and headed straight for Celestia.

“Celestia.” He said with a small, but respectful nod.

“Soul.” Celestia said, mimicking the gesture. “I’m surprised you got her back so quickly. I knew there was a reason I hired you.”

“Thanks, but I didn’t really do that much, mainly just cut down on travel time.” He said with a smile, before his expression morphed into the one of seriousness. He levitated a small scroll to her and continued talking. “Here is my report, you should read it as soon as you can.” Her casual attitude vanished when she heard how serious he sounded. Even I could tell it was something big. She opened it right then and there, reading through it. As she read it, her face slowly fell, until her mane hid her eyes.

“Is… is this true? You’re sure she isn’t just making it up for attention?” She asked, keeping her voice low so no one else could hear.

“I’m not a mind reader, so I can’t be completely certain, but if her reactions to when I was shouting at her in rage when she told me are anything to go by… I think it is true. But there is one thing that confuses me, if she knew the consequences, why was she so intent on killing herself by facing Nightmare Moon?” Soul said, also keeping his voice low.

“I looked into her mind when I first saw her. She knew nothing of how she arrived then… it’s possible the deal was blocked from her memory when she made it, and she’s subconsciously been fighting that block each day.” Celestia suggested.

“Possible, blocks like that are made to be undetectable and usually tailored only to one mind. Summer taking in Nightmare, and therefore a second mind, must be overpowering the block. But details aren’t all that important right now, how we act on this information is what matters the most right now.” Soul responded.

“What’s going on?” I asked, curious beyond patience now. Soul glanced at me with a sad look in his eyes.

“Should we tell her, or should Summer?” He said.

“Tell me what?” I asked, getting a bit worried. Celly looked away, making me seriously worried.

“She needs to know.”

~???~

“She needs to know.” Celestia muttered sadly. I almost leaned in from my position high up above her throne. After pretty much wasting my time in the science labs for information, I gave up and decided to spy on the leader herself for answers… but then this interesting tidbit came up.

“Catt… Summer made a very dangerous deal to get here. One that involves you and your other brother’s very souls, and the fate of Equestria. If Summer dies and gets sent back to her world, the gates of Tartarus will be opened, Twilight and her friends will die, every alicorn will be sealed away, and you and your brother will… will…” she couldn’t finish, too emotional at the moment to say what will happen to us.

“Will be sent to the Void for eternity, stranded in nothingness.” Soul finished with a somber tone.

“WHAT?!” I couldn’t stop myself from shouting. When their eyes shot up in shock, I scrambled to hide again, but lost my grip and fell like a clumsy idiot between them all. The ground cracked under the force of my face slamming into it.

“Fang? How are… wait a moment, Fang got soul-blasted… Let me guess, you are the missing brother?” Soul asked after a momentary shock. I groaned, letting my head fall back to the floor.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag…” I muttered. As soon as I said that though, my sister tackled my face, hugging me for all she was worth.

“Nyan!” she mewled adorably. And I am not ashamed to say it was adorable, because it fucking was. When I felt her quivering though, and something wet dropping onto my scales, I subtly hugged her back, but it looked more like shame covering to the outside observer.

“Care to explain why you were hiding around, sir?” Celestia demanded. I groaned. Yep. Today’s gonna be another one of those long ones...

Author's Note

Arc II, Act 7: Bad Time

~Summer~

I sighed happily as I stepped off the train, glad that I’d taken at least the first steps towards saving Chrysalis. The rest of it lied on her. However, as I entered town proper, I noticed something felt different about the atmosphere. At first I tried looking for a difference in the nature around me. But there wasn’t really that much of a difference. Birds were still going peacefully about their day, flowers still stood in full bloom under the bright and cheerful light of the sun, and a pleasant breeze blew by. Yet, no matter how appealing it all was, I just couldn’t really sit down and appreciate it. I could feel something… else, and it sent a very bad feeling down my spine. A feeling that… for some reason brought to mind the deal I made and almost failed out of pure cocky attitude. I decided maybe I should go see Twilight. Maybe she knows what I’m feeling…

Walking through the streets though, the feeling only got worse. Was it just me, or was everypony looking at me with… disappointment? When I noticed that emotion in the air, thick with anger as well, I also noticed there were no changelings in sight. Not in the least. Even Shin and Bonbon didn’t seem to be in town if the emptiness of the Local Hivemind was anything to go by.

When I got to the library, I had to stop at the front door to fight against the dread filling my mind. I was pretty sure I knew what this feeling was now, and knowing nearly crippled me with apprehension. I felt like I was about to have a bad time.

As I reached for the door to knock, there were enough chills in my spine to make it feel like it’d been frozen stiff. And the memory of my deal pounded in my skull for attention, further filling me with dread. I felt my sins crawling on my back.

… You know what’ll happen when you open that door. You know it’s inevitable. So why haven’t you gone in already? Nightmare spoke up. I sighed.

It’s Judgement. Noone’s ever eager to face it… I’m far from an exception. I just… I need to be prepared, emotionally. I replied. Admitting I wasn’t really ready for this at least took some of the weight off of my mind, but didn’t entirely stop the apprehension I felt. Nightmare stayed quiet as I drew in a deep breath, steadying my heart before just opening the door. Inside, the sound of voices suddenly cut off. From where I was, with the door open, I could sense Soul’s magic again. I guess he got here before me and told them about what I’d done. I didn’t waste time going in, knowing what I was about to face was unavoidable, and stalling would only make the apprehension worse.

All six of the Mane 6 were there, and I could sense a variety of negative emotions from them. Reasonably, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the angry ones in the group. Both of them were glaring holes into me as I entered, and judging from the twist in my gut, that was almost a literal interpretation. Twilight and Rarity were feeling… betrayed, and more than a little disappointed. Fluttershy and Pinkie though… it really, physically hurt to see them like this. Both of them were crying, ridden with fear, and the pain of betrayal. Seeing all of this, I wanted to hate myself. I was the one to blame for their current state, even if I wasn’t the one that told them and it tore me apart knowing this. But I forced it down, and looked at the one responsible for telling them.

“Hello again, Summer. Celestia’s orders, I just delivered a scroll to Twilight.” Soul said, slightly frowning in my direction. I sighed.

“I guess I should have seen this coming. Just when I decide I have a secret I need to share… someone else comes along and blows it in the worst possible way.” I said, staring at Soul with barely withheld anger.

“Don’t look at me like that. I only informed Celestia, just as was my duty. It was her decision to inform others as soon as possible, I did bring up the choice to let you explain, she didn’t chose it.” Soul said with closed eyes and air of professionality, but his emotions, however poorly I could sense them, told me he wasn’t all that happy with that decision either.

“I know… I know… I’m still angry though, likely because of Rainbow and AJ to some degree, but I’m not exactly keen to hate myself again.” I said. I paused for a minute, trying to think without my hate clouding my thoughts, but it didn’t work too well. “When you get back to Canterlot, could you do me a favor? Tell that little control freak of a Princess not to deal with my problems for me. If she wanted the girls to know my secret, she should have come to me and encouraged me to tell them myself.”

“You weren’t there when she found out, you should count yourself lucky it’s just this. In a way, you present a global danger to this world, bigger then Nightmare Moon was. If she told the nobles, you wouldn’t be able to set a hoof in Ponyville, because droves of Royal Guard would drag you out of the train mid-travel. You understand that this is you getting off lightly?” Soul said, being quite clear on how it could have been worse.

“I’m sure I’m only getting off easy because the Deal requires me to participate…” I said, looking away.

“You could have been locked up and brought out to participate when related… problems cropped up.” Soul calmly informed. I sighed, just feeling more depressed. I don’t deserve that mercy.

“Why did you do it, Summer?” Pinkie asked, sniffling.

“Because I was desperate and stupid…” I sighed, thinking back to my parents. “Mom and dad always did say I don’t have the common sense or judgement to get out of the rain… Guess I’ve proven them right… again…”

Twilight sighed, stepping forth. “Summer… I’m going to ask you what you asked me the day before we faced Nightmare Moon. Do you think even the worst person can change?” I raised my eyebrow, wondering what she was getting at. She already knew I believed they can.

“Yeah. Anyone can be a better person if they just try.” I replied, finishing the quote. She put her hoof on my shoulder as she continued, looking straight into my eyes.

“It’s often said that the first step to changing is admitting what’s wrong. But you seem to forget what the second step is.” Twilight prompted. Pinkie perked up then, getting at what Twilight was saying, as did I.

“Trying…” Pinkie muttered.

“You’re right… I was never very good at committing myself to anything. I guess I just saw Equestria as my ticket to commitment, and I was desperate to find something worth committing to.” I said with a sad sigh. “Then again, I was never very good at figuring out my own motivations either.”

“At least you are able to admit your own faults. Seeing as you aren’t actively seeking to bring about the end of the world, and whatever agreement you made was not even done in this dimension, there can't be any charges made against you. But, you have a responsibility now, I hope you are up to it.” Soul said, looking at me. “I made my own mistakes, don't think I didn’t, but I learned from them. I know you can too.”

“I certainly hope so… I made one mistake many times in the past. I always kept assuming, to the point where my parents told me not to trust my gut.” I said, giving a hollow chuckle.

“Then why not ask for a second opinion? Don't you have another mind inside that head of yours? What does your gut tell you about me?” Soul asked with a small smile.

“Heh… good point. Another fault of mine is communication. Now that I think about it… maybe I’m wrong about you being…” I struggled to think of the concept.

A dark twist on changelings that isn’t actually a changeling? Nightmare supplied.

Nah, something else… I replied, still thinking. ...Actually, that might be the closest thing to what I was thinking of.

“Well, some dark twist on changelings that isn’t actually a changeling, and really sucks at picking which secrets aren’t really worth keeping.” I finished. He looked about ready to retort, probably to outright dismiss that claim, but then he stopped himself and actually started thinking about it.

“You know, I don’t hide my fascination with changelings, and I readily admit my attempts to emulate their abilities. But I don't spread my secrets around, especially with those I barely know.” Soul said with a frown, but then he smiled as an idea came to him. “Who knows, maybe we'll get to know each other better over the course of my stay in Ponyville.”

“Wait, what?” I stepped back a bit in shock. “You’re… you’re staying here now?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia has posted him here, to watch over you.” Twilight replied.

"Well… not really, more like watch over the whole town. What, with how disaster prone it is, it already made me question why there isn’t a permanent guard patrol yet.” Soul brought up his own perspective of the situation.

“Oh, that… well, there’s a group of Mercenaries here that just enjoy beating the crap out of anything that tries to attack.” Rainbow replied.

“Oh yeah, those guys.” Soul said, slightly embarrassed that he apparently forgot about them.

“Still, those guys aren’t gonna be able to stop anything possessed by a Nightmare Fragment. Especially if they’re anything like the Animatronic.” I said, glad the mood had lightened, now that I’d noticed it. That “bad time” feeling was gone too. Rarity winced at that reference, but the atmosphere had gotten at least good enough that the sadness wasn’t as palpable.The others though seemed to be reminded of the depression I’d gone through after facing it, and their emotions cleared up a bit.

“Well, now that this was all cleared up, onto some better and hopefully less apocalyptic news. Though, considering who it's about I'm not getting my hopes up. Your brother, Derek, finally showed up.” Soul informed. I blinked. Then I deadpanned.

“The fucking ninja’s right behind me, isn’t he?” I asked. Sure enough, when I focused my senses, I caught a shitstorm of various emotions, the most prominent being amusement. That “bad time” feeling came back in full force, and I subtly primed my Dead Ringer.

“Yep. Now get dunked on.” a very unfamiliar voice said before me. A fist hit me in the back of my head, and I saw my body collapse in front of me. Of course it was just an illusion, but it was pretty convincing, and I got to see the girls react to that.

“What the fuck, dude?!” Rainbow shouted, pointing at my fake body, obviously outraged. Derek just laughed and shrugged it off as I made my way to AJ, taking her rope.

“Oh come on. The bastard deserved it for dragging my happy ass to this world. Especially for dooming it like he did.” he said.

“Ah’m not gonna argue that point, but it was still uncalled for.” AJ said, glaring at him.

“You don’t have to be such a jerk to her!” Fluttershy said at truly normal volume, much to my pride. Her lessons are going well. I quickly snuck off to get behind my brother.

“You feelin’ lucky, punk? Nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it!.” Pinkie said, suddenly wearing a Wolverine mask as she glared intensely at my brother.

“Wait a second, Summer’s not breathing!” Rarity suddenly screeched. As she made that observation though, my Dead Ringer ran out of charge. The loud sound of me decloaking rang out through the library and everyone froze as I appeared, wearing a smirk on my face and AJ’s rope ready to tie him up with about the strongest knot a well experienced Western pony can make.

“Got anything smart to say now?” I asked smugly, using Fleet’s voice before yanking on the rope, tightening it and pulling Derek onto his ass.

“I did not see that coming… You know, Spy’s not gonna be happy about you taking that thing…” he said.

“News flash, bro. I am the spy. And you’re about to get Dominated.” I said, turning his head to face the girls who each were giving him dangerous looks… except Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane to avoid seeing the mass punching about to commence. Soul was meanwhile shaking his head.

“Children…” I heard him mutter.

“Oh, don’t mind us. Just a couple teenagers having a silly sibling riv-AAAAAA FUCKFUCKFUCK CUT THAT SHIT OUT!” I screamed as Derek managed to somehow slip his arms out of the rope and struck out at a pressure point on my neck I didn’t even know I had. It had no effect but discomfort, but I was overwhelmed anyway.

“...She squealing like a foal.” Rainbow muttered as she stared. I grit my teeth and turned into Heavy to get my brother’s hand off of me, and it worked… for about two seconds. Then my brother was hitting another one at the base of my tail, and I was squealing again. Rainbow burst out laughing as a tiny, panicky voice came from my new body.

“Dude, I’ve studied the pressure points of every species on this planet. Nothing you change into can save you.” Derek taunted. Deciding to prove him wrong, I turned into Catt. This form, he was stuck on, but then he decided to go for the most familiar point. I breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t work.

“You were saying?” I taunted back. He stuck his tongue out in focus.

“Hang on, let me just…” He reached again and I instinctively flinched… and then he met his mark, hitting a spot just under the center of my belly, and I collapsed as a strange feeling overtook me... Whatever it was, it felt goooood….

“...Okay then, that happened.” Rainbow said. For some reason, I could sense Rainbow was both weirded out, and… turned on?

“...I am never touching there again.” Derek said, feeling disturbed. Whatever… I just sat there, staring at the ceiling and purring in bliss.

~Catt~

“Farewell, and remember, Catt. It’s okay if you make a mistake at your age. Just get some practice, and you’ll fit in well enough before you know it.” Fancy Pants - the real one this time - said as I left his house. Or rather, abode, as I apparently should start adding to my vocabulary. I nearly gagged as I thought of it. I just felt too silly to talk the way he’s been telling me I should. Maybe it’d grow on me eventually, but for now… Just, bleh. But Fancy says I’m doing pretty well. I’ll trust he knows what he’s talking about, because nothing about what I said felt legit.

“Listen, Prince Bluebitch! Pleasuring you is not in my job description! So why don’t you just FUCK OFF, before I report you for abusing your position, AGAIN!!” A very angry mare’s voice screamed. I stopped just as she came storming out of a room I almost passed. A grey mare with dark blue hair and neon yellow eyes passed, her bat like wings flared for what I’d learned was an intimidation instinct. Looking into the room she’d left, I found Blueblood stunned.

“Wow… a mare in Heat… denied me… Well, I suppose not everything you hear is true. Even the city bicycle has her limits.” he muttered to himself.

“You obviously don’t know how Heat works.” I commented dryly. I was only put off slightly by that, but considering all of the ‘That’s not me saying that’ moments I’ve had since I met Sonya, I wasn’t all that surprised.

“...Oh, Shizno. It’s you.” Blueblood whimpered, clearly afraid that I’d found out about his attempt to take advantage of a mare. But I was confused about his curse.

“Shisno, what?” I asked.

“...Soul shared that celebrities in his world said that.” he explained, taking the chance to change the subject, likely wanting to take advantage of my cat-like attention span. It worked… kind of.

“Yeah, that’s a commoner’s word.” I deadpanned. “By the way…” I said, revving up my magic. Reaching out toward the cowering jerk, I messed with his perception a bit, leaving him with the illusion of him being a mare.

“Wh-what? What did you do to me?!” He squealed. I just saluted.

“Have a nice day. Don’t worry, it’ll be gone by dusk.” I said, before teleporting away, in the direction of where that maid went. As I went to find her, I found a trail of her discarded maid outfit which actually looked more for kinks than utility, Catrina spoke up in alarm.

“Shit, Catt, you gotta find that mare quick! I’m sensing a spike in Dark Magic in the area! It could be a Nightmare!” Catrina warned. I steeled myself as I started running.

“Send a message to Soul. I’ll try and keep it here.” I said before coming up on the kitchen. Heading through there, I snatched up a few Pop Tarts so I could refill on nutrients if I had to. “No time to explain, we got an emergency!” I shouted as I ran off with the food. When I finally caught up with the mare, I saw it wasn’t really a pony… but the Scarlet changeling I did find was already surging with shadows. I tried to reach out with my magic to tear the Nightmare out, but I was already too late.

~Derek~

I poked my… well, sister passed out on the ground and crotch soaked with her own emotions which were glowing pink. I was hoping I could find another pressure point to wake her up, but no such luck.

“...Welp. Guess we’ll just have to wait for her to wear it off.” I said, before turning to the girls, who each looked disturbed and aroused to various degrees. The Pink One seemed to like it the most. However, before I could really do anything else, Soul’s head shot up and he shoved a hoof into his hair, deep into his hair. It went in so much it must have been inside of his head or something. After about a second of rummaging around in there he pulled out a futuristic looking tablet.

“Whoa, cool! What is that?” Pinkie said, looking close at it. The others leaned in with similar interest, though some of them I noticed were looking at Soul strangely, probably wondering how he got to be like Pinkie with that mane thing. However, I noticed a red warning symbol flashing on it and discarded my own questions.

“No time for games, Pinkie. Catt just sent a Code Red.” I interrupted, pointing at the red symbol.

“Right.” Soul said as he tapped the symbol, to see what it was about.

"Guys, we have a Nightmare at Canterlot! Haul ass, or we're gonna end up blowing something up!" Catrina shouted on the other end of the line. After a few minutes, it showed a changeling mare wreathed in shadows.

“Oh no… we can’t get there in time!” Twilight said in clear fear. Suddenly, Summer’s eyes snapped open, showing cerulean slitted eyes. She shifted into Nightmare Moon’s form as she got up.

“Relax, our little friend here knows a shortcut.” Nightmare said, cleaning the glowing liquid off herself as she spoke.

“Wait, what the hell? Nightmare?!” Rainbow shouted.

“I’m bound by Summer’s will. You don’t have to worry about me stabbing you in the back anytime soon, as much as I want to.” Nightmare assured. Rainbow grumbled a bit, clearly not trusting her, but Twilight held her back.

“She’s right about the shortcut, but I need space to take us all. Clear up some space!” Soul instructed as he stashed the tablet back into his hair and started shoving whatever furniture was near him to the walls. The girls hardly had any room to question things what with how that tablet emitted the sound of a loud explosion before it was put away, and soon, everypony was moving things. Spike came in in the middle of it and started to question things, but I interrupted.

“Just help move things. There’s an emergency and we need to teleport.” I told him. He stared at me for a second in something like awe or whatever, before nodding and joining in. It was done before we knew it, and the girls looked to Soul for instruction.

“Alright, now just don’t freak out.” Soul said and scrunched his eyes. When he opened them a second later they were still the same neon blue, but this time they were slitted, just like Nightmare’s. He then lit his horn and stomped with his right forehoof and five lines made from shadows flew across the floor, splitting and merging before finally forming two concentric circles, with the larger one only just fitting into the cleared space. Next he stomped his left forehoof and the space between the two circles was filled with various magical runes and glyphs.

“Ooooh!” Twilight seemed to gush over all the magic going on. I guess she was an enthusiast. The others though hardly flinched, most likely wanting to help deal with the Nightmare.

“Everyone who is coming, into the inner circle!” Soul commanded, standing in the exact middle of it. I joined him without hesitation, though I noticed the butter yellow one, Fluttershy I think, glancing nervously at the edge of the circles, but it was only for a moment. Then she joined the rest in stepping forth. When we were all inside, Soul’s horn started glowing brighter and colour in his eyes grew so vibrant it started emitting light. All the runes and both circles erupted in neon blue fire, the flames from the inner circle went above us all and closed up above us like a cocoon, the same happening below. Soul grit his teeth as his coat turned several shades darker and then suddenly, gravity gave out. The girls yelped a bit, though Fluttershy curled up into a scared little ball, breathing deeply to keep as calm as she possibly could. Nightmare seemed to have no trouble with it all, just using her wings to “swim” around a bit.

“Hey, this is kinda fun. I’ll have to tell Summer when she recovers.” she said. After what I guess was about ten seconds of weightlessness, the fire-cocoon burst outwards and gravity reasserted itself, depositing us in the palace gardens.

“We are… using a… train to … get… back.” Soul wheezed from his spot on the floor.

“Agreed.” I said, understanding why. “Now, where the hell is that-” BOOOOM I was answered in the middle of my question by an explosion tearing a small hole in the castle roof nearby, and I saw Catt’s body flying out of it, as well as a large number of very bright, glowing, blood red bolts of magic.

“I’ll take Soul. You guys get up there and fight.” Nightmare said, picking up Soul. “Just remember what Summer told you about those Elements.”

“You got it, Nightmare. I’ll head up and see if I can’t get its attention.” I said, spreading my wings. Without waiting for any reactions, I took off. I was a pretty skilled flier, good enough to move through the air as easily as if I was running. And being a parkourist in training, that meant pretty well. I caught Catt on her way down, noting that she was a little injured. Rage filled me at the sight of it.

“Wh-Oh, it’s you! Good, now maybe we can stand a chance…” Catt said, glaring ahead at the Nightmare. The possessed changeling hovered in the air on crystalline wings ahead, smiling psychotically at us with crimson eyes. However, rather than continue attacking, she started fleeing towards some place.

“Shit, she’s headed to the Royal Vault!” Catt said in alarm. “We can’t let her get there, there’s tons of weapons there the Princesses have collected over the ages!”

“She’s not going anywhere…” I growled, bringing Catt up to hang onto my back. I pushed my wings to their limits, chasing the enemy as fast as I could. Unfortunately, the Nightmare was faster. Another hole was punched in the castle roof as it crashed through the roof to get at whatever it was after. I followed suit, smashing in where I thought she’d be. I missed, and the Nightmare punished with a fairly strong shot to my torso, which threw me and Catt across the room, smashing a few glass displays on my way. I twisted in mid air and flared my wings to recover, saving my sister from slamming into a wall again. Spotting a black blade in the case in front to me, I grabbed it, not giving a damn about the Dark Magic warning on the display’s sign. I smirked darkly as I saw the blade was a scythe. I frowned however, as I felt magic entering me.

“Oh, don’t mind me. Just protecting your soul from that thing’s corruption.” Catt said from my back.

Ahead, I saw the Nightmare grab one of the staffs in a smashed display. Seeing her holding it the way she was, I was struck with a sense of familiarity.

“Huh. So you’ve become the Scarlet Devil, have you? Well… guess it’s time to play Bullet Hell.” I said with a smirk, pointing the scythe at her. Dark Crystals started sprouting from the ground around her, but she dodged nearly effortlessly.

“Scarlet Devil? I like it… though I’ll be the one playing games with you.” she said with an even wider grin than before. She aimed the staff at me, and I just barely dodged to the side as a massive beam fired, and she swung it like a lightsaber. Seeing the beam cleave one of the walls completely out, I knew I should probably not get hit by that thing. Of course it didn’t help that the beam left little particles of plasma-magic-bullet things in its wake that I could tell would seriously hurt me if I touched. Hearing her shout of exertion, I looked to find her swinging again, and dodged to the side again, this time twirling my scythe in front of me and sending a constant barrage of crystals at her. Eventually, I had to grab a sun-decorated shield from another display case to block her own barrage of bullets. I had to toss it aside afterwards though, as the surface had melted slightly. It couldn’t withstand any more shit.

Next massive ball of magic she sent my way though, I tried to cut in half with my scythe. It did not work. Instead, I was sent flying again, smashing through a wall this time. What I saw when I recovered though made me grin. Those were a lot of swords.

“...Nice…” I said as I grabbed a pair of Katanas. Seeing the interest I had in all the swords here, Catt grabbed a Claymore and set it on her back, where it promptly disappeared. I blinked.

“Any other weapons you want to use?” She asked. Seeing what she had in mind, I grabbed a Buster sword, more Katanas, a few shields, a Rapier and a Zweihander. Each one, plus the Crystal Scythe, went to Catt, and I wielded two of the Katanas. Once it was all gathered though, the Scarlet Devil barged in with a curious face.

“Say hello to my little friends.” I said tauntingly, crossing them in an X as I lunged at her. She used the Staff to defend, trying to disarm me with a quick swipe at my claws, but I met that attack head on, making an attempt to cut the staff in half. It didn’t work, but she grit her teeth as she leapt away, settling for ranged combat again.

“Catt, Scythe!” I demanded, holding out my hand. She took my katanas and handed the scythe back, which I used to send another barrage of crystals at the Scarlet Devil. This time, my attacks struck true, and while she tried to raise a defense, it was a losing effort. I was surprised though as a pulse of magic from her wiped out every magic projectile either of us had generated, and my scythe stopped working for a moment, allowing her to escape out the roof. I followed, busting another hole in the castle.

However, I was surprised yet again when I saw not just one, but four of her. I stared, stunned for a second, before smirking. “Heh… pulling out all the old tricks, huh? Well then, let’s get on with it!” I said challengingly as I began firing yet again. I noticed none of the clones were defending themselves, but the main one kept dodging or shielding herself with the staff whenever I targeted her. If that wasn’t crazy enough, all four clones were shooting different patterns of magic at me, forcing me to be very careful about where I was, not to mention the chaos the Element Bearers had to deal with from the ground below. I had Catt use a Katana to try and bat away a few of the bullets that got too close, and she got lucky enough to hit some of the smaller red ones back at them. Though that one got turned into a tennis game between the two, it at least distracted that one enough to not be spewing out bullets every time it stopped swerving around.

“Surprise, motherfucker!” Nightmare screamed as she tackled one of them out of the air, driving a butterfly knife into its back. It exploded into magical residue right then, and I saw her body go flying off. Knowing it should have been vaporized instead, I was reassured she was still alive, thanks to a certain cloak. With the number of bullets flying at my face reduced, I could actually move around better, and Catt had more room to swing. With that freedom, Cat was able to Tennis yet another clone, sending back its own yellow bullets until it too was destroyed. I focused on the main one, tearing away at her defenses. Eventually, one crystal got a bit too close for comfort, and she hit another anti-magic pulse. She hissed at me in anger, clearly not enjoying that she was losing so badly now. Rather than taunt her this time, I asked Catt for another blade.

“Catt, Zweihander.” I said, handing over my scythe. She readily obliged, giving me the long and heavy blade. I flew at the Scarlet Devil for a direct assault, swinging hard and strong when I was close enough. Once again, she defended with her staff, fighting back with both hoof and staff. I gleefully traded blows, taking the occasional hit to either the chest or arm, but then she kicked me back and started charging something. When she unleashed it, I could see her breathing hard as she started pulsing a massive wall of blue bullets, though strangely, it didn’t have any bullets in the center row. Seeing that I could avoid it simply by staying in the middle, she decided to do something about that and used a hoof to start generating a green wall of bullets with just a single column missing from it. That missing column was moving with each pulse though, and I was forced to follow it to avoid being hit.

“Buster sword!” I called out, handing Catt the Zweihander. The switch came just in time, as I was caught by an unexpected rotation reversal, and had to block some of the bullets with the massive blade as I tried to catch up.

“NEIGHROY WINGKINS!” I suddenly heard a shout from above. In the next second, a lance of pure golden magic lanced down and hit the Scarlet Devil. It automatically triggered another magic pulse, destroying every projectile again. This time, I gave Catt the Buster Sword without asking for anything in return. I saw Celestia drop down to hover on the other side of her, and Nightmare rising up from below to the side. Nightmare’s eyes had changed again, one of them cerulean and the other neon blue. I could only guess what that meant, but as of right now, I just assumed it meant she was in Bad Time mode.

“...Now I’m suddenly wishing we brought along Shinkiro. That would make this little moment that much better if we had four ponies here.” Nightmare said.

“I don’t think now’s a good time to be thinking about that, Nightmare.” I replied, aiming the scythe at the Scarlet Devil. Celestia gaped at the weapon.

“Sombra’s scythe?! How the hell are you wielding it without becoming an Ultimate Edgelord?!” Celestia asked. I just pointed a thumb at Catt. “Oh. Seems legit.”

With that out of the way, Each of us began charging our strongest attacks yet. Shadows gathered around my scythe, moonlight pulsed in Nightmare’s horn, and Celestia’s magic glowed with magnificent radiance, but there was also a blood red aura growing around the Scarlet Devil as she charged an attack of her own.As each of us finished charging, we all fired at once, shadows arcing out of my scytch, a helix of lunar magic waving forth, and golden rays of powerful sunlight shot forth… and the Scarlet Devil dodged it all, still holding onto her attack and still charging it.

She weaved tauntingly around Celestia and Nightmare beams, as I went on to attack her. As soon as I started firing though, she unleashed her attack, and a chaotic series of firework-like explosions started blazing through the air. Celestia and Nightmare both stopped their beams and started chasing the Scarlet Devil through the chaotic minefield of bullets, with me following, though I had trouble weaving and dodging so many at once and from so many different directions. Nightmare though seemed less focused on dodging and more reliant on shields, though I couldn’t help but think how draining it must be on her… wait a second, her file never said anything about knowing a shield spell that powerful. On and on the chase went, simply turning into a blind game of shoot the fuck out of her as we dodged. Nightmare was using more spells I knew Summer didn’t know, like bolts of cold fire, which thankfully slowed Scarlet down.

Finally, another Magic Pulse cleared away the insane bullet hell, but it did nothing about the ice coating her, and I took advantage of that. I dived down from high in the sky where I was, and swiftly delivered a powerful punch to her head, knocking her clean out of the sky, along with her consciousness. She landed with a heavy thud on the ground, near the Element Bearers. That group took their turn, forming a circle around her and activating the Elements. I came down and landed nearby with Nightmare and Celestia, watching the Elements do their thing.

“So… are you not gonna help, Nighty?” Celly asked. Nightmare blinked for a second, questioning how Celestia addressed her, most likely.

“I can do many things for Summer. Using her Element is not one of them.” Nightmare explained.

“Makes sense.” Celestia allowed. Then the rainbows united, and started drawing the Nightmare out of the changeling, moving it towards Nightmare… Okay, that’s gonna get confusing.

“Hey Nightmare? Ever considered getting a new name?” I asked casually.

“No I haven’t… but I get the oddest feeling that I’ve already been given a new name… multiple times…” she trailed off with an annoyed look. “I suppose I’ll go with Eclipse. Better than Nightmare.”

“Cool.” I replied. And then the fragment merged with her, and her mane got all ethereal.

“Oh hey, Summer’s waking u-” she suddenly dropped her disguise and fell over snoring.

~Summer~

Oh god, I was having such a great dream… so many lovely little tentacles… But alas, it seems reality’s caught up with me and I have to leave the idea of me getting stuffed silly behind.

When I yawned and opened my eyes, I was surprised to find a Level Up menu staring me in the face.

“...Whoa, what have I been doing in my sleep?” I asked in surprise as I checked out what I unlocked.

Nightmare at 17%

Level Up!

Soldier Form Unlocked!

Enhanced Healing (lvl2/10) Upgraded!

Shadow Clone (lvl1/5) Unlocked! Only 4 clones at a time.

Magic Capacity Increased!

Emotional Resistance Increased!

Dark Magic Vulnerability Eliminated!

Shapeshifting: Advanced Unlocked! Large Non-pony Forms Available!

Looking at my magic to see how much I had now, I nearly shit myself… well, had I any excrement in the first place, I would have emptied myself of it right then. My magic capacity was… insane. If I could compare it to anything, I’d think it’s maybe around Alicorn level.

“Like what you see?” I heard a familiar voice call from inside of my mind. I almost freaked out for a second, but I already had one there that wasn’t incapable of changing her voice. Nothing could convince me Nightmare was doing this though.

“Yesssssss Me gusta.” I hissed, Gollum style in my head.

“Well, then too bad it's only temporary, right?” Soul’s voice called out. I blinked at that.

“Say what?” I asked, confused. “Hey wait, this isn’t where I passed out… You went around piloting my body, didn’t you!” I accused. I sensed Nightmare’s amusement.

“Hey! Stop the baseless accusations, I didn't touch the pilot seat, I was on defence duty. Isn't that right Eclipse?” Soul argued. I sighed.

“I’m sorry. But I can’t help it that you’re a suspicious little devil.” I replied, dropping the accusation on the basis of Nightmare’s emotions.

I was the one piloting. You just came so much, you didn’t have much of a will to bypass. So I decided to take your place for the crisis that popped up at a bad time.

“Well that explains a lot. But how the fuck did I cum?” I asked, confused still by that statement.

“Pressure point?” Soul pointed out. I paused for a minute to register that. I did remember a struggle with my brother… I’d gone Kineptic and was about to taunt the bastard for not knowing my pressure points there, but then… nothing. But, knowing my brother made me cum gave me epic teasing material, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Oh he is so getting teased for that.” I said to my two brain-mates.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I kinda want to get going, if you don't have anything against it, not that you could stop me mind you.” Soul said and his mind came right next to mine, hooking an arm around it like a friend showing another his vision. At first I wondered how that feeling was possible, but then I freaked the fuck out.

“Wait, what the fuck?!” I screamed a bit, wondering what the hell he was doing. Seriously, the first though I had was that he was taking over my body or something.

“Yesh, do you always scream when someone wants to show you the way?” He said as his mind slid an arrow in front of my vision. I just sat there staring for a second.

“Uh… s-sorry. I’m kinda freaked out by this whole… you’re in my head, thing.” I apologise as I got up and started heading towards… wherever he was pointing me to. The girls seemed a bit concerned when I didn’t react to them at first, so I assured them I was there by waving to them.

“Don’t worry, I just gotta take care of something.” I said, staying subtle for Soul. I figured he probably didn’t want me spilling anything for him. I knew I didn’t like Celly spilling my secret for me. Still kinda pissed about that by the way, so as I passed Celestia, I slapped her. “That’s for telling the girls instead of even trying to get me to talk.” I said, leaving a stunned princess behind.

Up next, came the very weird experience of finding Soul’s non-neonified body sitting with eyes wide open, staring soullessly at me in the doorway to his room.

“...That’s not creepy at all.” I muttered as I stared back at it.

Actually, it’s really not. It’s a pretty good way to defend himself from the unwary. That stare is rather effective.

“It’s also gonna leave his eyeballs stinging for hours. I’m surprised they aren’t crusted over and disgusting looking yet.” I deadpanned.

“That… well… maybe. I left my recounts of the adventure in the pile over there.” Soul said, pointing to a pile of things behind Nightmare, that I swear wasn’t there a second ago.

“Okay. Do uh… do I need to do anything to help you go back?” I asked, kind of uncertain since I’d never experienced something like this before.

“Nah, I'll just…” And with that his mind was gone from my head, and majority of the magic went with him. The magic draining out of me that quickly felt sickening, and I dry heaved as the last of it left, leaving me with just three times as much as I started in Equestria with. I managed to add a “hidden potential” tag to Soul’s profile in my menu while I was dealing with feeling sick. Licking about my mouth to make sure nothing was wrong after that experience though, I accidentally stabbed my tongue with my fangs. Which were way tougher and pointier I might add.

Over the next few seconds, Soul’s body returned to it’s normal coloration. When he was done returning to it, he started rapidly blinking. “Sorry about that Summer, but there is no other way to do it safely… you weren't kidding about the eyes, stings like no tomorrow.”

“Ow, mah thung…” I muttered, quickly attempting to get my tongue unstabbed. When it was free, I felt the hole close up pretty quickly. “Wow, the healing factor upgrade’s doing wonders already.” Looking toward the pile though, I wondered about that adventure recording thing. Sifting through it, I quickly grabbed and stored the log in my tail.

So, back to the battlefield? That scarlet changeling should be waking up soon. Nightmare prompted.

Right, let’s go. I replied. “Hey, Nighty and I are headed back to the battlefield.”

“Wait for me, I'll come with you and Eclipse, but my body is still not up to regulation standards.” Soul said as he started limping slightly behind us. I raised my eyebrow at what he said for a moment.

Eclipse, huh? Nice. I complimented.

Thanks. Soul suggested it. She replied casually. When we got back, I was hit by another wave of worry. I reacted accordingly.

“Relax, Soul’s fine. Eclipse got him to his room to rest up.” I explained.

“Yeah, transporting all of us here really messed me up, not doing it again anytime soon” Soul added.

“Understandable.” Derek said, gathering together a bunch of weapons.

“How about a nice nap on the train back to Ponyville?” Catt suggested. Derek stared at her for a few seconds.

“Just… holy shit. It amazes me how mature you’re being.” he said.

“Yeah, well I’ve still got a fraction of the original soul in this body helping me.” Catt said, folding her arms.

“Makes sense.” he nodded. After a moment, we heard the scarlet changeling groan.

“Ow, my head… That’s the last time I listen to a voice in my head claiming to be a good Queen… Where the hell...” she groaned, before noticing who surrounded her. She stared right at Princess Celestia and the Mane 6 in fear and shock. Though Celly was giving me an apologetic look, the Scarlet didn’t interpret it right.

“OH SWEET HIVE, SOLDIER SAVE ME!” she screamed, diving behind me. I felt the tingle of her connecting to my mind like a safety net, and her mutters of fear and pleas for safety whispered about in my head. Well, that answers whether or not changelings can determine each other’s class. I just gotta find out how to myself.

“I uh… already did. These ponies won’t hurt you, not now that I have the thing that possessed you.” I said with a chuckle. She stared at me for a second.

“R-really? You mean Princess Celestia isn’t here to banish me to the moon?” she asked.

“Pffft, oh please… I’d only do that if we couldn’t save you from that Nightmare Fragment. I came to help fight your possessed self. It was one hell of a thrill…” Celly replied. “I should really do that more often.”

Connected to me as she was, I could sense memories returning to her. “Oh… Oh shit, what the fuck have I done…?” she started tearing up. But I reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Nothing. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. So don’t shed a tear, because you had no control over it.” I said, before leaning in and hugging her.

“Glad this is over so quick, that fight sure was mentally exhausting.” Soul half groaned from his spot in the circle. Everyone turned to him in confusion.

“Dude, you weren’t even here.” Rainbow shot out. Soul smirked.

“You sure about that?” He said as he closed one eye and shot a bolt of cold fire to the side, coating a bit of the ground near the impact with some ice. Derek’s eyes widened immediately.

“That explains why Eclipse was using spells that weren’t on Summer’s file…” he muttered.The others slowly came to the realization as well.

“Wait, you mean you shared Summer’s body with Night- er… Eclipse?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, for a bit. We delegated tasks to fight better. Just because my body is of the verge of collapse from exhaustion doesn’t mean I can’t fight with my mind.” Soul nodded and answered.

“Amazing… did you know about that when we met? I mean, I thought I asked you to share with me everything you could do.” Celly asked.

“Partially, I told you the limits of these things, and I knew that it was possible for me to do this, but I never predicted that I would be actually using it this way. Too many risks when used with a pony, and I didn’t know changelings were that different back then.” Soul explained to Celestia, using vague terms and possibly referencing things only the two of them know.

“Eh, alright, I’ll let it pass. To be fair though, Summer’s pretty special. So how’d you split things in there?” Celly asked, pointing at my head.

“I took care of shields, danger awareness and aiming, Eclipse was focusing on movement, planning and actually attacking. She had access to my magic and spells to use if requested.” Soul answered.

“That’s pretty cool. Heh… and you said Fang had crazy abilities…” Derek said with a slight scoff.

“Oh, please. I never knew half of what Fang could truly do, and I didn’t know how he did what I know about.” Soul retorted. Derek just rolled his eyes. I guess he wasn’t really in the argumentative sciencey bullshit mood.

“Heh… Guess I’m pretty lucky…” the Scarlet muttered.

“Could be luckier. How about joining our merry band of friends, miss…?” I trailed off as I didn’t know her name.

“Crescent Rose.” she replied, offering a hoof for a shake. I deadpanned a little as I shook it.

“Summer Dash.” I gave my name in return. She smiled as we shook.

“And yes, I would love to be friends.” she said when we finished.

“Auntie Tia, please help me!” I suddenly heard Blueblood screaming. Turning, I saw him running to us with a look of humiliation. I heard Catt snickering as he drew close, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Please, I am so confused right now. I’ve become a mare, but nopony can see it. Please, just… help me..” he said, sounding pretty defeated. It was almost depressing… but it was Prince Blueblood, so I got a kick out of it.

“I… I’m sorry, but you look just fine to me.” Celly said, though I could see just the faintest sign of a smirk.

“That’s what I’m saying. Somehow, despite what I can see, hear and… feel,” Blueblood shuddered. “Nopony else can. And it… I’m just so confused…”

“Well, I don’t detect any illusion spells. So, you really are still a dick. But… maybe if you learn your lesson from this, I can find out who’s responsible and get them to fix this.” Celly promised.Though the way her eyes flicked to Catt, I figured she already knew who was responsible, and enjoyed it.

“Th-thank you, auntie.” Blueblood said, hugging her.

Arc II, Act 8: Unexpected Developments

~Summer~

I smiled as I heard Rarity, Twilight, and Soul come into RED’s, where I was currently working. Finishing drying the last dish, I put it up and hung up the towel. I dismissed the clones I’d spawned from my new ability as I left the kitchen then. Those things were quite handy, really. They worked like Naruto’s clones.

“Dishes are done, Degroot. You mind if I take a lunch break?” I requested.

“Ay, go ahead mate. Just heard yer friends comin’ in.” he replied. I smiled as I went out into the restaurant proper, and met my friends there.

“Heya. Just got lunch break.” I greeted. Rarity was about to return the greeting, but then she spotted something and her face twisted into disgust.

“Oh, how horrid…” she muttered. I turned to find out what she was looking at and saw Degroot’s picture hanging on the wall. It was from his Gibus days, as he calls them. Days in which he was known… as the Demopan. On him in that picture was the Bombinomicon, the Pyrovision goggles, and of course, the Ghastly Gibus. Of course, the drunken way Degroot was holding that frying pan over his head, I could definitely see why Rares would react that way.

“Yeah, Degroot says he was a lot more drunk in that picture than usual.” I explained.

“Wait, more drunk than usual? And he’s supposed to be a demolitions expert?” Twilight said, dumbfounded.

“And I’m supposed to be a stealthy spy with a suit as sharp as all my knives.” I replied to prove the point that no one here was really normal.

“At least he looks happy.” Soul provided his own comment before Rarity could jump on the suit part. I chuckled.

“Yeah, everyone here usually is. Unless someone decides to start trolling their team, anyway.” I said, thinking back to my last game of TF2 on my computer back home. At least in Equestria, we don’t get any world-clipping issues, and sentries firing at us from underground.

~Captain Degroot~

Back When the Loch’n’Load Was Still OP As Fuck

“What the bloody hell?! How the hell’d they get that sentry there!?” Degroot shouted as he watched bullets and rockets flying out of the dirt in Upward. Teammate after teammate fell to the damn thing, until finally it targeted him. One rocket to the face later, and he just quit. That team then had to face their demoman drinking himself dead in the Spawn Room. Heavy took Degroot’s pirate hat when he wasn’t paying attention, gladly replacing his Gibus.

~Summer~

...Why do I suddenly feel like I’m gonna be proven wrong?

“Hey, ladies, what can I getcha?” Fleet greeted with a flirtatious smile.

“Flirt with these two, and we’re bringing Rainbow Dash next time.” I threatened. He winced, instinctively closing his hind legs together. I’d long since learned why rainbows make him cry.

“Okay, fair enough. So, seriously, take your pick.” he said, gesturing to the menu’s.

“What’s wrong with Rainbow?” Twilight asked. I chuckled, leaning in.

“Let’s just say there’s a reason both scouts cry at the sight of rainbows..” I whispered. I then pantomimed getting kicked in the nuts. After seeing they understood, I went on to browse the menu, skipping straight to the meat section. I noticed Soul did too, and though Rares and Twi noticed as well, they pretended they didn’t. Probably didn’t want to even think about having meat. But that little glance they sent our way and their slightly nervous twitches were apparently enough to tip Soul off to their stance to the food he was looking at.

“Maybe another time.” He quietly said as he quickly flipped back to vegetarian choices.

“I think I’ll go with Spaghetti and Meatballs.” I said, completely ignoring them. Soul sent me a quick narrow-eyed look before looking over the exotic dish section and choosing there.

“I’ll have sapphire and fruit salad, powder the gems please.” He chose.

“That have something to do with you being Natural Dark?” I asked, staring a bit in confusion.

“Not really… I think it’s just me. Not even Celestia is sure why I can process that.” Soul said with little uncertainty.

“It makes sense, to some degree. We already know your body’s unusual.” Twilight said. She pointed at a certain item on the menu for Fleet before continuing. “Like dragons, you can likely absorb the magic naturally present in gems, except for you, it helps your magic potency, rather than magic resistance.”

“Wow, an unusual body… better than an Unusual weapon.” Fleet joked. I laughed with him on that one, though Twilight and Rarity didn’t seem very amused. Soul chuckled a bit and looked at Fleet, more specifically, his hat. He lit his horn for a few seconds before speaking.

“Isn’t that even better?” he said as he pointed at Fleet’s… I think it’s called Special Delivery, but I do know it’s the hat from the Milk Man set. On it, I saw blue fire had come alight on it. Fleet took it off to inspect it, and stared with an epicly dropped jaw.

“Okay, just for that, your meal’s goin’ on the house.” he said, getting a little hyped as he put it back on. Rarity finally ordered her meal, pointing at an item for Fleet.

“Alrighty then, I’ll get this order to Manic, and you’ll have it here in no time.” Fleet said before heading off.

“Now Summer, what was that you said about a suit?” Rarity said, apparently not willing to let it go. I rolled my eyes and shifted into the suit, mask and all.

“Is this to your satisfaction?” I asked, using the accent as well. Rarity just swooned. Soul looked me up and down and smirked.

“You are missing something.” He then pulled out what looked like a packet of cigarettes. “Want a smoke?” he then flicked his hoof like one would with a wrist. “Or two.” I noticed there were now two packets of cigarettes resting atop Soul’s hoof, he repeated the gesture again and there were now five whole packets on a small pile. “Or perhaps five?” I chuckled a bit, ignoring the outright breaking of nature and just passing it off as highly magically augmented slight of hand.

“I can only think of two explanations for you knowing that meme. Number one is being an ex human like myself, and the other is that it somehow exists here.” I said.

“Does it matter?” He said and let the cigarettes fall to the ground… where they never made sound of impacting. Quick check later revealed that there were no cigarettes on the floor. Twilight and Rarity looked pretty dumbfounded by all of that and it showed in the way their mouths wouldn’t close.

“Kinda. I mean, it’s not that important, but I’d love it if I knew a human in Equestria that I didn’t hate to a larger than normal degree.” I said, ignoring the physics breaking again.

“You mean one that you didn’t shove headfirst through dimensional barriers?” He jabbed, glancing at the girls. They were still staring at Soul with this broken look.

“Oh come on. I didn’t shove them through, I dragged their souls with me. And it still stands that I hate my brother and sister to some degree that is larger than average. Other humans I haven’t really known, I can handle fine, as long as they behave the right way, but them? Yeah, much as I like having them around, I still hate them. You know, typical sibling bullshit.”

“No, i really don’t. If you didn’t notice, me and my sister happen to be on rather good terms.” Soul said with a shake of his head.

“Whatever. It’s not uncommon, one of my english teachers in middle school once told me about her two daughters. Says they never fight ever. Said teacher was the one that actually inspired me to be a writer.” I said. Twilight snapped out of her state at that.

“Oh! You’re a writer?” she said, definitely interested. Rarity took interest as well.

“Yeah, I’ve written a few stories related to this world. Fanfictions, since I was a fan of the show and I had these fantasies about changing some of its history.” I explained.

“Well congratulations, fiction became fact, hope you like the results.” Soul said with a slightly dramatic tone. I rolled my eyes.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up meeting the other version of me that’s writing this timeline up. I’m half expecting to when Discord breaks free after the Gala. If I do, I am so gonna fuck with him for putting me in so many bad situations.” I said with slightly sadistic glee.

“... did you come up with me as well? The other version I mean.” Soul said after surprisingly short time.

“Probably not. I mean, me? The strongest thing I’m willing to come up with in a realistic scenario in this world is a friggin werepony hosting a Windigo Spirit for InFamous style ice powers. You’re obviously a lot stronger than that. Other me probably had a couple co-authors or something since I can’t really write without others helping generate the drive to.” I said, just waving it off.

“Alright, sounds interesting. We should probably stop though, this is getting so potentially meta that Pinkie is probably having a seizure right now.” Soul said, subtly looking at the girls.

“I forgot about the fictional worlds connection thing… I suppose it might just be easier to call them timelines. The concept is rather interesting…” Twilight muttered.

“Yeah. So anyw-” I was cut off as I heard an explosion. But it didn’t come from the kitchen, it sounded like it came from the distance, in the direction of Carousel Boutique.

“That came from my boutique!” Rarity panicked.

“You girls go on and check it out, I’ll hold onto your orders. Vigil’s headin’ with ya.” Fleet said as Vigil came out.

“Hey! I’m here too, you know!” Soul exclaimed with obviously false anger. Fleet waved it off, saying he was surrounded by girls, so it was hard to see him. Obviously meant as a joke, but he was kind of an ass about it. I promised myself I’d bring Rainbow back with me when we came back anyway to teach him not to insult that strongly.

At Rarity’s home, we stopped to stare at the big, gaping hole in the wall. “What the hell…?” I muttered. Though I noticed myself say it in Spy’s accent, which made me notice I was still in the suit. Switching out for my own disguise, I started heading closer.

“That is the work of a charged Plasma Blaster. I’ve fought waves of Six Hundred Sixty Six robots enough times to know what it can do. I had better not find Grey Mann in there, or somepony is going to get their ass kicked straight to the moon!” our hotheaded soldier friend said angrily. As I got closer, I saw Sweetie Belle holding her hoof far away from her with the most absolutely terrified look on her face.

“I have lasers in my hooves! And I don't know how they work!” Sweetie shouted in fear as she spotted us. Soldier froze in place, clearly afraid.

“Whatever you do, do not panic!” Soldier shouted. “Summer, go get Tinker. He should know how to help.” I nodded and took off flying without a disguise. Soon enough, I was back with Tinker.

“Phew… that’s a mighty strong laser.” Tinker said as he stared at the hole for a second. Then he turned to the cyborg responsible. Nopony had moved as of yet, much to my surprise. Tinker leaned in, apparently noticing something. “What the… Oh, hell. Sweetie, close all nonessential programs!” Tinker shouted.

“N-nonessential programs?” Sweetie asked with a trembling voice. “O-o-okay.” After a moment, I noticed what looked like a targeting reticle vanish from her eyes and a very high pitched whine sound stop.

“Alright, y’all. It’s safe.” Tinker said, heading forth. We followed him closer, and Rarity was the first one to sweep in and hug her.

“Oh Sweetie Belle… Whatever caused that mess? Are you okay?” she asked.

“I… saw a spider.” Sweetie said sheepishly. I blinked at that, looking at where the center of the blast was and saw the twitching legs of a spider. It was one of the Star Back Spiders. Vigil stared at the spider too.

“You were small and pathetic, and now you are dead. Amen.” Soldier said to the spider. Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wondering if he was crazy.

“Yeah, all of the mercs are quirky in their own way.” I told her.

“Tinker, did you know about this?” Soul said, pointing at Sweetie’s hoof, while also using that cloak of his as a tarp to cover the hole. Where he pulled it from I don't know.

“‘Fraid not, mister. To be completely honest, I didn’t even know what half the parts I put in her did. Guess now we found out though… I’ll need to finish that second model soon. No way I’m letting her keep those. And I need to run a few tests to see what they can do.” Tinker said.

“Well don’t destroy them. I can see potential.” I said smiling at the hole.

“What?! How could you suggest such a thing!” Rarity freaked out. I held up a hoof.

“In the distant future, there’s going to be a certain badass escaping from Tartarus. He steals and eats magic to grow stronger. That,” I pointed at the hole, “isn’t magic. So it can actually damage him.”

“Damage… you mean we can’t just stop it?” Twilight asked, a bit concerned. I nodded.

“There’s some things you just can’t show mercy to, Twilight. Tirek is one of them.” I said solemnly.

“You better make sure that that is the last possible option, I don’t like the idea of having a filly going up against him.” Soul voiced his opinion.

“Me either, but there’s at least three or four years before he starts growing more powerful. That’s enough time to train Sweetie how to effectively and properly use those weapons.” I said. Rarity seemed even more aghast about that.

“Weapons?! As in Plural?!” she screeched.

“Well yeah. Most of those parts were from a Nightmare that badly hurt my sister. You honestly think a laser weapon is gonna be the only weapon she has there?” I reasoned.

“Let me get it straight, you want to train a filly into a living weapon? Make an innocent pony into a machine of war?” Soul asked, getting slightly angry.

“No. I want to train a filly to defend herself and avoid repeats of this incident. What happens when we aren’t there to protect her? If she can’t protect herself, or if she hurts somepony else on accident…” I let the sentence hang for a second. “If this goes bad, I’ll take full responsibility. But I have hopes that this won’t end horribly.”

“You… you bring a good point. But… do you know what will happen if Canterlot nobility hears about the weapons? I really hope you are right about it not ending bad.” Soul relented and turned to Sweetie. “What about you Sweetie Belle? What is your choice?” The way he was looking at her was… strange, he has to be hiding something.

“...I think Summer’s right. I can’t just… freeze up in a bad situation. I need to learn.” Sweetie Belle hesitantly said. Rarity glared at Sweetie.

“Absolutely not! I will not have my sister running around with the tools of brutes in her!” Rarity said, clinging to the protective instinct.

“Well it’s a good thing they aren’t the tools of brutes. They’re tools of justice, defense, and most importantly… life savers.” I pointed out. Rarity seemed a bit less resistant at the idea after that, but she was still hesitant.

“Choosing the path of a hero? It's strangely fitting, considering what you are wearing. Did you ever tell Rarity what the scarf stands for?” Soul said, confusing us for a moment. Rarity frowned as Sweetie blinked in realization, and smiled in Determination.

“Oh yeah! Spec called it the Hero’s Scarf. She told me ‘it protects the hero, so she may protect others.’ I haven’t stopped wearing it since she gave it to me…” she said with a heartfelt smile. Then she frowned. “That reminds me, what is Shipping?” I had to struggle not to burst into laughter. Rarity though got a bit nervous and glanced at all of us.

“U-uh, why do you ask, Sweetie?” Rarity nervously asked.

“Well, in the middle of a moment between me and Spec in my dream, someone off to the side shouted ‘I ship it’, but I never saw who it was…” Sweetie Belle explained. I saw Soul glaring at me from the side, probably knowing about my dream walking ability and automatically pinning me as the shouter.

“W-what?” I stuttered from nearly failing to contain my laughter. “Don’t look at me, I’m not the only one capable of dream walking.” I said, failing partially to keep a grin off my face.

“Then why are you struggling so much to keep a straight face?” Soul said with slight amusement at my failing attempts. A snrk escaped me then as I got an idea.

“Because I find it really… floats my boat.” I punned to cover up. Twilight and Rarity groaned. In the back of my mind, a tiny voice that wasn’t Eclipse was cursing Sans to the grave. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes though. At least Soul stopped with the glaring.

“Hey Soul?” Sweetie Belle called. “Would you happen to know when Spec’s coming back? Mom and Dad want to meet her.” Soul blinked and looked away slightly.

“No, unfortunately I don't. There was an… incident in Canterlot the day she came back, and she was sent elsewhere for her safety. Her potential is… big, she is fated to replace me someday, should something happen to me.” Soul explained with a mix of emotions, sadness and… guilt? Sensing that, I almost let my suspicions about him come back… but held off for now. Sweetie and Rarity frowned in disappointment at that, sad that they wouldn’t be seeing Spec for a while. Rarity then spoke up.

“Soul, dearie… what is that fabric you put up?” she asked, looking at the covered hole.

“This? It's called Shadow-weave, or ‘solid shadows’ if you want it blunt. Doesn't really do much but look cool and help with concealment. Why are you asking?” Soul explained.

“It’s absolutely marvelous. Just seeing that sheet is inspiring numerous ideas!”

“Heh, let me guess, you want some for your dresses, don't you?” Soul said with not so enthusiastic, but knowing smile. I chuckled as Rarity nodded with a very hyped grin. “I’m sorry to break it to you, but it doesn't quite act like your normal fabric.” Soul said as he used nearby scissors to cut a corner of the sheet off. The corner quickly dissipated into nothing and the sheet slowly regrew the missing part. “It tries to keep the shape in which it was created, so even if I left you with a roll of the stuff, you couldn't work with it.” At seeing Rarity’s sad and disappointed expression he quickly continued. “But! There could be a way.”

“Really?!” she gasped. “Please tell me!”

“It’s going to take a while, but if you can get through the psychological testing, you could get a permit for using the Shadow-weave spell. It’s surprisingly low on the Dark Magic scale of power, enough that it's possible to use it safely for short periods of time. So, what do you say?” Soul said. Rarity blinked at that, before thinking it through.

“I believe… I might be willing to do that.” Rarity agreed, much to the encouraging smiles of those present.

“Great, all you need to do is send official request to the nearest certified institution, which I believe is in Canterlot. Then it's just bunch of paperwork, interviews, magic testing and finally finding a capable teacher.” Soul recounted what will be necessary with a smile.

“Sounds easy enough to handle. I shall be there tomorrow, provided I can make arrangements for someone to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said. Tinker was quick to jump on that.

“I could keep an eye on ‘er. Not too much trouble keepin a filly in check.” he said, tipping his hat to her, which I noticed right then was an Unusual.

“Alright then. I’m going back to the restaurant. Lunch break’s almost over, and I still haven’t eaten.” I called out, turning and heading back to the restaurant.

“I’ll come too, and I’ll bring Sweetie with me.” Rarity said. Twilight joined soon after. Soul checked the sheet one last time and stepped along behind us. Tinker and Vigil joined us as well, walking along happily.

When we got back to the restaurant, we took our seats again, Tinker and Vigil heading back into the employee’s area. Sweetie got her own order too, and Fleet brought the meals in.

“Wait, is that meat?!” Sweetie asked in horror when she saw my plate of spaghetti.

“Yeah? What’s the issue here?” I asked, pretending to be ignorant.

“Real sensitive of you Summer.” Soul said sarcastically. I tilted my head at him.

“What? It’s just meat, it’s not like I eat ponies.” I said. I could have sworn I saw Sweetie turning a bit green there, but she was made of mostly metal. It must have been my imagination.

“But… you kinda do. Emotions and all that.” Soul argued. I deadpanned.

“There’s a huge difference between eating ponies and eating emotions.” I replied.

“I know.” He said with a grin, before getting a bit more serious. “But you could at least respect that ponies are instinctively repulsed at the sight of meat being eaten. Most of them anyway.”

“Fine, but it’s not like I can help it. I love meat.” I replied. Though I refrained from adding ‘in more ways than one’ for the sake of Sweetie’s innocence.

“I’m not telling you to give it up, just… next time. Let’s stop arguing and start eating.” Soul said with a sigh. I nodded, getting started with my spaghetti. I chuckled as I thought of Papyrus because of it. The rest soon started on their own meals, with various degrees of unease about my food. To get it over with, I wolfed down all the meatballs and went from there at a calmer pace.

“Alright then, meat’s gone. Now, on with lighter conversation topics. Hopefully.” I prompted. Twilight took that chance to ask about something I could sense she was wondering about since the moment she saw Soul get those smoke packs out of nowhere.

“Hey Soul, how did you make those packs just… appear?” she asked.

“Oh, you mean like this?” Soul said and pulled a sealed scroll from under the table, he then stuffed it into his mane. “It’s a play with perspective, it looks like the stuff just appears, but I actually pull it from elsewhere.”

“Oh, so magically enhanced sleight of ha- er, hoof.” I summarized.

“Yeah, you saw me do it without the tricks before. I use my shadow to access a small pocket dimension I created, figured that physically reaching into my shadow every time would freak ponies out, so I kinda mimic what Pinkie is doing.” Soul explained. That set off a rather complex train of thought in my head that lead me on a roundabout journey to my next question.

“...Does it suddenly occur to anyone else that Pinkie might be a Natural Dark and just not know it?” I asked.

“... I don’t think so? I mean, I should have noticed, and she should have been confronted about it already by now.” Soul replied, suddenly in deep thought.

“And if she’s got Chaos Magic like Discord somehow? She is rather chaotic.” I suggested. Twilight blinked as she processed that idea.

“Oh my gosh, this could explain everything!” Twilight gasped.

“No, 42 explains life, the universe, and everything.” I retorted jokingly. “This just explains what you’re talking about in a presentational context.”

“Details.” Soul muttered. I just grinned a bit, at least until Fleet shouted in my ear.

“NEEEEEERD! OW!” I slapped him.

“No. Bad scout. Bad.” I scolded him like a dog. I heard Degroot laughing up a storm in the kitchen after that, and just smirked as I waited for the fallout of that. Fleet, predictably, got angry and shouted his “I’m gonna headbutt ya” line as he began chasing Degroot around the place with a bat. Meanwhile, I just sat at my table, slurping up noodles. Like a boss. Soul only glanced at that with a raised eyebrow, but quickly returned to his salad. Sweetie though was giggling at the cartoonish display, but she still ate her own salad bowl.

~Catt~

I purred happily under the loving petting of my brother. It had been a long time (at least by my standards) since we had seen each other, and he was actually spending some time with me now. Of course the first thing he asked was how it felt to be pet, probably because of how fluffy my tails were. He became dead set on helping me find out when I told him I had no idea. Catrina refused to speak when I agreed though, despite multiple attempts to get her to. It was like it embarrassed her or something. Eventually though, Derek had to get up, which meant he had to stop petting me.

“Aw…” I pout sadly, already missing his fingers getting behind my ears.

“Sorry, sis, but I have paperwork to get to.” He explained. I sighed and waved him off, before heading off, just wandering the castle. Eventually, I got to the gardens where some nobles were talking. Said nobles noticed me and one of them started coming over. I rolled my eyes, already used to this happening.

“Hello, sir. Would you like to speak about something?” I asked courteously, as Fancy had taught me to speak. I fought the urge to gag on those words.

“As a matter of fact, yes I would, mi’lady. If you have the time that is?” the stallion approaching said with a smile. I almost rolled my eyes.

“Yes, I have no current appointments. What is it?” I asked, hiding the irritation I felt.

“I just have a message I would like to get to your sister, that’s all.” He replied, smiling disarmingly. I sighed.

“I’m sorry, but unless it’s something that can save more ponies’ lives, she likely won’t be interested. She’s a guardian, not a political pawn.” I warned him off. He seemed undeterred, however.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that, I assure you. It’s just that I’ve heard she’s done wonders about a shy pegasus’s attitude, allowing her to be more assertive. I’d like to ask if she can come and help me with my child. The little brat just won’t take no for an answer anymore, and seems to believe she can just order us around and get whatever she wants.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Actually… that does seem like something my sister would be interested in helping with… I’ll pass her the message, then. It’s up to her where it goes from there.” I agreed. He nodded thankfully.

“Thank you. I’d best be off, but it has been a pleasure speaking with you.” he said, smiling before walking away. I almost could have sworn I heard him chuckle as he did though, but since Catrina said she’d picked up nothing, I shrugged it off. I headed back inside to avoid running into any other nobles, but was surprised by my brother hugging me from behind.

“Hey Catt, come on! The princesses got a secret, and I want you to come with to find out!” he said before promptly dragging me away. In the blink of an eye though, I was set down… somewhere else. What the hell? Did we warp or something? “Sorry if the shortcut was a little disorienting. I’m a little new to them.”

“I-it’s fine… just surprising.” I replied. He then crawled forth through the upper ventilation shaft we were apparently in (wait, this castle had ventilation? I thought it was enchantments!) gesturing for me to follow. Eventually, I heard a pair of voices, one more familiar than the other.

“Art thou certain thou hast thought this through, sister?” I heard Luna ask.

“Yeah, relax. I have it completely planned out. There’s no way he can deny anything I point out.” I heard Celly reassure.

“What about the way he feels about this? Surely if he wished to remain hidden when he arrived, he dost not want a position of power such as ours.” Luna skeptically asked. Celestia shrugged.

“He just wants to keep our world from falling like we do. He’s just going about it a different way. As soon as his way fails though… well, he won’t have a choice in the end. When ponies start asking questions it will be too late for him to just disappear.”

“Thou knowst about his other appearances though, dost thou not? He dost not hath only one identity to assume.” Luna countered.

“Pfft… yeah, she’s gonna bust it sooner or later. He’s already noted how she nearly outed it the instant there was a glimpse of similarity had it not been for his quick thinking.” Celly shot down that worry.

“And what of the political fallout?” Luna asked simply. I almost felt the smirk Celly had taken to giving.

“What fallout? Just relax, Luna. I’ve played the part of the puppet master for so long it’s almost second nature. Just a subtle line here, a secret agent there, and voila. Things are better. If it helps, I’m sure revealing what he’s done for Equestria lately wouldn’t hurt anything.” I almost facepawed as she said that.

“...Sister, Summer struck you for that line of thought.” Luna reminded her. “He will likely do worse if thou even try to do that against his will.”

“That’s… actually kind of a scary picture.” Celly hesitated.

“Indeed. As well, he is not ready for the responsibilities he must face.” Luna argued further.

“Oh, he’s had preparation. He just doesn’t know it yet.” Celly slyly remarked.

“Ugh… thou hast changed much in the past thousand years, sister… We almost don’t even recognise thou.” Luna groaned.

“Hey, c’mon. The last thousand years haven’t exactly been quiet, or easy. I learned a lot, tried new things… but it was still pretty lonely being the one and only pony up on the throne.” Celly protested.

“Is that why thou hath changed your name?” Luna asked curiously. I blinked in surprise at that and almost missed Celestia’s reply, especially how her tone had shifted from cocky and youthful to old, tired, and serious.

“Luna, after you were banished, I felt awful. I had failed you, and the entire kingdom with you when I ignored your concerns. I couldn’t go on like nothing happened, but I couldn’t leave either. I thought about taking my own life, but that would be even worse for the entire world. So, if I couldn’t end my suffering, I decided to endure it and come out better for it. I decided to be a different pony, and I buried my past self and my old name with it, because I couldn’t bear the pain of being addressed by it.” Derek slinked forth a bit, touched by the speech. Then, he fell from the vent, landing silently in the room.

“Your highnesses…” he said, holding out a few sheets of paper. “My paperwork is done. Very moving speech by the way.” he said. I just sat there watching in horror.

“Oh, thanks. I hope it wasn’t too cheesy. I’ve been trying to work the cheese out of it for the past hundred years.” Celly said, sounding pleasantly surprised. Luna dropped her jaw.

“You require more cheese.” Derek joked in a false deadpan. I groaned out loud at that.

“Oh, look what the cat dragged in.” Celly punned. “You two have been listening for a while, huh?” As I crawled out of the vent, knowing it was hopeless to stay and hope she didn’t hear me, I rolled my eyes… and then I saw her looking at me with a super cheerful expression that came across as homicidal.

“Y-yes… but all we heard was some pronoun game…” I muttered. Her expression lessened slightly. “I won’t tell anyone.” Satisfied with me, she turned creepy mcCreepyface on Derek.

“Don’t worry, I’m the quiet type.” He assured. Celestia smiled normally in satisfaction.

“That’s good. But if I find out someone else knows about this… you two will be missed.” Celestia promised. With that ominous vow in place, the two of us turned around and walked out as quickly as we could without running… until we were out of sight, and we started sprinting away in a mad dash to get some distance.

Arc II, Act 9: Gryphon's Rage

~Sweetie Belle~

It’s been a few days now since the newest nightmare had attacked, and Tinker’s been working extra hard to help me with the weapons issue. By now he’s analyzed all of what I had, and put blocks on them in my programming. He’s left the ones I used at the boutique unlocked since I still needed some way to defend myself, and taught me how they worked. As Rarity was away, dealing with her Dark Magic license, it was up to the others in town to watch over me, and it was Tinker and Summer who took that job seriously. Both of them gave me their full attention when I was around them, Summer listening when I talked about Diamond Tiara, and Tinker helping with my weapons and fears about them.

I came across Soul a few times during those few days, though he always seemed hesitant about something. Seeing him reminded me of Spec, which reminded me of that time when Summer had interrupted my dream to shout about shipping us. It really annoyed me, but not enough to make me want to delete it. Not that I would, I still wanted to remember Spec. But that Shipping remark…

Ignoring the matter for now, I sighed as I looked from Soul to Summer. “Why again did you just pop into my dream to shout about shipping?” I asked. She blinked, but realized what I meant quickly enough.

“Oh, because that moment you and Spec shared was just too cute. Why bring it up now though?” She asked. I pointed at Soul.

“Every time I see him, I’m reminded of that moment.” I told her. Soul’s eyes slightly widened and he recoiled a bit.

“What? Why? How do I have anything to do with it?” He asked.

“Because you’re Spec’s brother.” I said, a little confused about the panicked reaction. Summer seemed to be a bit annoyed that he was hiding something though, and rolled her eyes. She didn’t say anything though.

“Oh… right. The obvious, got it.” Soul said, before hesitating for a moment, just like he always does. This time however… “Sweetie… there is something about Spec that… you should know, as her friend. It’s… did you know why she calls herself Spec instead of for example Ember, even if that is more straightforward?” He said, but for a moment it looked like he wanted to say something else.

I tilted my head slightly, curious and confused. “No…?”

“She can get a bit philosophical from time to time, she started doing it after she came to understand she’s only a ‘speck of dust in the grand scheme of the universe’. A bit strange, but she was never really normal to begin with.” Soul explained.

“Oh. That’s kind of cool.” I said, though now I was curious about what he’d really wanted to say. Summer rolled her eyes and started to leave.

“Ah, you know what? I’m gonna go see how RED’s doing. You two go ahead and talk all you like.” she said as she left. Then she went on to mutter to herself, and I overheard something about expecting a “good game of angry birds” soon.

~Summer~

At first as I left I hesitated just outside the entrance, hoping maybe the lack of my presence would help Soul say the thing I could tell he wanted to tell Sweetie, but it was for naught. Sighing, moved on, heading outside.

As I headed towards the restaurant, I came across Mercy, who appeared to be carrying home some groceries. I could smell mangoes though, and saw a number of other thestrals following Mercy with hungry looks. One of them was even drooling, moaning the word Mangoes like a zombie. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched, but then I heard Fluttershy squeak in fear. Turning, I saw a certain gryphon intimidating her.

“Wow. That was sooner than I expected.” I muttered as I altered my course. As I drew closer though, Gilda froze up. I stopped, curious as to what had gotten her attention. I saw Gilda looking around, sniffing for something, before suddenly her head snapped in my direction, and she was glaring with murderous rage at me.

“Summer, get away right now! She’ll kill you!” I heard Bonbon scream in my head. I felt my magic flow on its own then though, charging up a quick teleport. I was too surprised to stop it, and before I could blink, I was down in Bonbon’s training facility with her looking rather relieved.

“Thank you, Shin…” Bonbon said over the hivemind. “OKay, evidently you know nothing about Gryphons. You just set that one into a mindless bloodthirsty hunt. At least Degroot’s usually too drunk to be set off by your presence, but that gryphon’s young and sharp.” Bonbon said out loud before holding something out to me. It looked like a perfume bottle, but the brand name confused me. “Darkling’s Anti-rage” claimed to be capable of allowing changelings or Darks to befriend gryphons.

“Gryphons are extremely sensitive to both changelings and Darks. Since you’re both, the gryphon is going to try and hunt you down and kill you. This should hide your scent, at least for now. But like I said, she’s young, and sharp. She might see through it, which is why I’m staying here.” she said as I took it.

“Huh. Never thought I’d be putting on Perfume.” I muttered as I applied it. I nearly gagged as I smelled it. It smelled like last year’s salad, topped with a month old, uncooked steak! “That isn’t perfume…”

“You’ll get used to it. For now, you need to get back out there and find Soul. He still doesn’t know the Gryphon’s hunting.” Bonbon said, opening an elevator I hadn’t seen before.

“Oh, shit.” I muttered, remembering Sweetie was with him. I rushed onto the elevator and pushed the button that would send me up. I waited for what felt like way too long for the doors to open again, switching to another disguise as I did. My new one was a green pegasus I’d once designed to be Summer’s Sister in my stories. I flew as fast as I could once I was out, going straight back to RED’s workshop. However, neither of them were there. I panicked as I started flying around, looking for the two. I was in such a panic I forgot I could use Eclipse to find Soul, but thankfully after a while, I remembered.

Eclipse pointed me to Sugarcube Corner, where a party was being put together. I groaned, hurrying down there. “Soul!” I shouted as I entered the bakery.

“Yeah?” Soul asked while concentrating on hanging decorations with his magic, acting as if nothing was wrong, not even looking at me.

“Gilda’s in town. Haven’t you heard of what Gryphons do about Darks and Changelings?” I asked, hinting at the danger.

“Er… I do? Wait… is that you Summer? Oh! Let me guess, you didn’t know, and it was you she was looking for, running all around the town?” He asked and started snickering. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“Yeah. But the point is, she could just as well attack you too. This is her party after all, and with you here… she may just go insane.” I warned. He just looked at me with unamused expression and did his shadow trick to pull out a bottle of Darkling’s Anti-rage.

“You were saying?” He said. I rolled my eyes.

“I doubt it works perfectly. Nothing ever does. Besides, you’re a pretty strong Dark, so it’s possible that she could see through it. There’s a reason Bonbon’s taking refuge in her training room.”

“Fine.” Soul sighed and applied a heavy dose of the smelly substance. “It takes a few moments before a gryphon locks on target, if I see her sniffing in that specific manner, I blink out before she can see me. Sounds good?” He said before hiding the bottle.

“Yeah, it works for now.” I said begrudgingly. “Now, I’m getting out of here before she-” I was cut off as a certain gryphon came in and everypony shouted surprise at once. “...Fuck.”

“At least calm down a little, G. It’s a party, nothing’s gonna attack you here.” Dash was reprimanding Gilda as she came in with her. Gilda’s eye twitched.

“This surprise nearly gave me a heart attack!” she shouted back, making it clear she wasn’t amused. Dash rolled her eyes.

“If I had a bit for every time somepony said that… Yeah, I know. Pinkie really needs to manage her surprises better.” Dash said, giving Pinkie a pointed look. “But you’ll be fine.”

“Whatever… ugh, I just can’t get the smell of Darkness out of my nose…” Gilda complained, before looking around. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, but moved on. “Stupid dark changeling…”

“It’s not her fault she triggered you. She didn’t know about the Dark Rage thing. Really wish I’d said something before now.” Rainbow lamented.

“How can a pony not know about the Dark Rage? What, does she live under a rock or something?” Glida asked, irritated.

“No, she’s an alien from another dimension.” Rainbow seriously replied. I facehoofed. “One where there’s apparently only one sentient race.” I double facehoofed. The smacks coming from next to me signaled that Soul apparently shared my opinions on the matter. Gilda stared at Rainbow like she was insane.

“Dash, you must be going crazy.” She stated. “Where’s the brain-sucking remark that goes with a statement like that?”

“G, that’s zombies, not aliens. Besides, she’s not that kind of alien. She doesn’t even stick probes up ponies’ butts.” Dash corrected. I groaned.

“Oh shut up already!” I shouted. Gilda turned to me in surprise.

“Summer? That you?” Dash asked. “Oh, sorry…wait, what’s the name of that disguise?” Gilda seemed agitated at finding out I was here.

“Emerald Symphony. Supposed to be Summer’s sister in my stories.” I replied shortly.

“Alright. Hey, G, how about a bit of punch? Might wanna cool off before you do something you’ll regret.” Dash suggested.

“...Sure, Dash… would hate to hurt anyone…” Gilda said through clenched teeth. She kept her eyes on me, though she glanced at Pinkie with a hateful glare once. When she drank some of the punch though…

“Oh, shit! WHY IS THIS SO PLUCKING HOT?!” she squawked with a bit of fire shooting from her mouth. Dash rolled over in laughter. I however, stared grimly. I couldn’t let this continue… at the rate I knew it would go, Gilda would kill someone. I then switched my disguise back to Summer and channeled a very weak ice spell into my horn and aimed at her mouth. The slight sizzling sound of fire getting put out assured me my aim wasn’t off, and I had pulled a successful rescue.

“Oh wow… thanks, uh…” Gilda paused as she saw me. “Oh. It’s you.” I smiled sheepishly.

“Girls! No fighting during the party. You are both better than that.” Soul said as he walked between us.

“I didn’t plan to. I was actually hoping to purge this party of what pranks there are, since Gilda’s clearly pissed just being here. I don’t want a Nightmare to possess her.” I said, looking at Dash. Dash blinked in surprise.

“Wait, say what?” Dash asked, surprised about that little fact.

“Wait, you did the prank?” Gilda asked Dash, surprised enough that she slammed her talons down on the table nearby. But it accidentally sent the Punch bowl flying, sending its contents all over herself and Soul.

“Aw, be careful a bit, would you?” Soul said as he got over the shock of being suddenly drenched in punch and started wiping it off with some nearby paper towels. “...Wait...” He suddenly went wide eyed and slowly turned his head to Gilda. Said gryphon’s eyes were bearing into him with a primal rage that I could personally tell was half genuine. There was glee in there too, like she just got an excuse to maim a pony. Then, she roared, leaping at him. He barely managed to slam his body to the ground, belly pressed against the floor, as Gilda flew over him, but managed to inflicted deep scratches on his back as she was passing. Gilda was quick to turn back around and strike out again, but this time, I was already moving, and I got in the way. Her claws made extremely agitating metal scratching noises against me thanks to my metal chitten when I dropped my disguise. There I stood in Soldier form.

“What the pluck?! Metal…?!” Gilda shouted, revealing her control. Dash noticed as well, but of greater shock was that Gilda was actually at least somewhat in control.

“You… you were faking?!” Soul asked with a slightly pained voice as he turned to face her. Gilda narrowed her eyes in hate.

“Gryphons were built for dealing with your kind… why fight nature for some shitty little treehugger’s dream? I’m going to rip you apart.” Gilda said with clear rage.

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Gilda, if you chose to fight… you will die.” I warned.

“He he, you think you are something Gilda? I have faced something before, and trust me. You ain’t nothing!” Soul declared, his posture shifting to a readied stance. Gilda hesitated for a moment, long enough for other ponies to join our side. Twilight, AJ, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy joined us for a staredown. Sweetie Belle stepped up too, aiming her hoof at her.

Dash joined our side with a glare to match all glares. “It’s almost hard to believe you’ve been abusing my trust all this time… Almost. I’ve seen it from day one, but I just… I chose not to believe it. I guess what they say is true, but I never expected you to be a killer. Get out. I never want to see you again.” Rainbow said. Gilda was taken aback… but hardly showed any remorse. She glared at Soul and me for a few moments, hesitating as she weighed her options.

“So, what’s it gonna be, Gilda? Get Dunked, or live?” I asked.

“This isn’t over, you stupid Darks… I’ll be back.” she said before leaving. With her gone, we began addressing more immediate concerns, like Soul’s wounds.

“You alright, Soul?” I asked.

“It’s just a scratch, I went through worse.” Soul waved off my concerns. I sighed in relief.

“Alright then. So Summer, what’s with the metal?” Dash asked. I shrugged.

“Got it from Nightimatronic. Part of the defense boost it gave me.” I answered. Though Shin wasn’t really a big fan of the new shell in bed so I’ve had to keep it disabled for a while.

“Hey Dash…” I heard AJ say. The two then started quietly whispering to each other, though I got the gist of their argument about why Soul’s stance had looked so familiar.

“Sweetie, would you be so kind as to go with me, away from the crowds? There is something you should know.” Soul said with the air of determination, guess this encounter was the push he needed to finally say what he wanted. Sweetie looked about ready to break down after that whole ordeal, but hearing Soul, she perked up a bit.

“Y-y-y-yeah.” her voice glitched a bit. They slowly walked for a fair bit, Soul probably giving Sweetie time to collect herself. I was silently following behind them, curious what he has to say, after they were some distance away from the party they stopped and Soul started talking.

“Sweetie, what I’m about to tell you must stay secret for now, promise me you won’t tell anyone until either me or Spec say that you can.” He said, sounding serious. Sweetie nodded with just as much seriousness.

Amazing… and all it took in the end was an attempt on his life. Maybe we should try that more often? Nightmare suggested jokingly, knowing I’d refuse. I rolled my eyes.

Soul then leaned over to Sweetie and whispered something to her ear, but I was too far away to hear. He then put up a silencing barrier when he was done and sat back up normally. Predictably, Sweetie exclaimed something in shock, and disbelief before leaping forth and hugging him, which he carefully returned with a small smile.

I smiled, before heading back into the cafe where Pinkie was organizing a second party. One to celebrate truth saving Dash from a bad friendship. I leaned against the wall just outside of the room they’d gone to, getting once again into my favored disguise and waiting for them.

Few minutes later I saw Soul and Sweetie returning, Soul’s wounds were already bandaged. He must have done that after I left.

“Finally told someone? I’m glad.” I said when they came in. Sweetie flinched a bit in surprise.

“Wait, she knows too?” Sweetie asked.

“I didn’t tell her, but she is rather smart after all… well, smart when it is convenient for her.” Soul explained.

“I was just lucky enough to catch hints and crazy enough to get it right.” I said shrugging it off. With that, I got off the wall and started heading off to Pinkie. “Still… good on you for not letting someone else find out first.” I said as I left. Soul called after me something that surprised me.

“I’m not going to be keeping this one for much longer… it’s just not worth it.” I smiled, happy he was letting this one go.

~Gilda~

It was infuriating, having to run from those ponies with my tail between my legs like a damn coward. If it weren’t for the fact that those stupid ponies got in the way, those two Darks would be as good as dead. Especially that changeling. They’re all idiots to trust that thing.

“Idiot. Do you really think you can stand up to them alone? You’re far too weak." a voice interrupted my thoughts. It sounded like an evil me. I looked around to try and find out where it was coming from, but I didn’t see anyone. “Hah! You really are an idiot, huh? Can’t even figure out when a voice is in your head or not." the voice taunted.

“Hey knock it off. I’m busy trying to be sane after facing a bunch of insane ponies. How they can stand being even close to them is a wonder in itself. Don’t they see they’re just being used?” I argued.

“You mean like you used Dash? One might ask if you are any better.” The voice shot back. I hesitated.

“I… I admit, maybe what I did to her wasn’t the best thing…” I said.

“Don’t worry. All can be forgiven, if you just kill the Darks. Show them how wrong they are. Prove you’ve been right all along. Ponies are weak and stupid, they don’t even know what’s best for them, but you can show them. Just accept my power…" the voice said.

“Of course… I need to go back, and stop those idiots from making a bigger mistake.” I agreed. As I get flooded with power, I heard the voice laughing maniacally.

“Good… Now everyone that fucked with you is going to know just how bad they fucked up. We can start with the bitch that betrayed you… Rainbow Crash.” The power flooding into me started turning painful as I realized just what I’d gotten into. The power of Darkness suddenly made itself very clear as it flooded into me.

“Wh-what?! NO! She doesn’t know what she’s doing, leave her outta this!” I protested. However, I suddenly felt myself laughing.

“I’m sorry… in what part of the deal did I say you would be in control?” It spoke using my mouth. I screamed in silent, unheard horror as my body started changing, bones ripping from flesh and reshaping into something entirely… new. What have I done?

Arc III, Act 1: Goodbye Old Friend

~Rarity~

I stared at my new license with pride as I left the licensing agency. It was a “student license”, meaning it’s only the first step towards the goal I set to accomplish here. Still, it means that I can now find myself a capable teacher and legally start training under him. As I admired the license though, I found my interest caught by a lounging drake nearby. His green scaled body was covered mostly by a black trench coat, which seemed to give him a vigilant air that suggested he was subtly alert to most things going on around him, however distracted he looked.

“Oh, hello. You must be Rarity.” The drake greeted. “I think we met once, briefly before a battle with one Scarlet Devil.”

“Ah, yes, you must be the drake that fought her head on. You also found that one… ahem… pressure point…” I was reminded. We were both blushing at the mention of that.

“Yeah… Summer hasn’t been making fun of me for that, has she? I didn’t even know a pressure point like that could even exist.” he replied.

“Oh, she has. It’s deplorable, really, but I’m not about to step into a sibling’s rivalry.” I replied.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I need help getting back at… her, anyway. Could you take this to my… sister, please?” He asked, taking some kind of square object out of his trench coat. I looked curiously at it, and the few wires attached to it.

“What might this thing be?” I asked.

“It’s called a laptop. I’m not sure how it came here with me from my world, but… well, Summer will know what to do with it. And even better, I left something in it that'll get me some revenge for teasing her about that pressure point.” Derek explained.

“That doesn’t sound very nice.” I said, almost declining.

“Don’t worry, aside from the prank, she is going to love having it back. Just uh… don’t let her shut herself inside abusing what’s on that thing, alright? Seeing her active as she is, I’d hate for her to throw it away because of that… like she did her education.” he begged.

“Oh? Alright then. I’ll be sure to give it to her when I can.” I promised. I considered maybe holding onto it until next Hearth’s Warming, but it was too far and knowing Summer’s luck, she’d find it before then. I took the laptop in my magic as he stopped leaning against the wall.

“Thank you.” he replied with a smile. “I better get back to the castle. Secret Agent training’s gonna be brutal if I’m caught out here.” he excused himself. It reminded me that he supposedly came to possess one of Equestria’s agents. Before I could reply, however, he leaped into the air, wings launching him forth like a rocket. When I looked up to follow him with my eyes though, he was already gone.

“Well that was interesting…” I muttered as I began heading for the hotels to check out before going to the train station.

~Summer~

The girls and I were circling around Twilight as she finished her letter denying the tickets she had. I had, wisely, not spoken a word during the whole ordeal, other than to tell Twilight there was a lesson to be learned in response to her asking me if I was there to hassle her about tickets too. Thankfully, it mostly played out as it was supposed to… I think. I haven’t exactly seen the episode itself for some time, but Twilight did still learn the lesson in the end.

When Celestia sent the letter back though, I frowned at how spectacularly different it was. Rather than asking why she didn’t just say so, it said:

“Dear Twilight,

Good job on learning that lesson. But really, you could have just asked for more. Seriously, what’s wrong with speaking up? Worst thing I’d do is disagree or say no.

Your ever loving if sarcastic teacher,

Princess Celestia.”

Spike read out. But what raised my eyebrow further was Twilight’s reaction to that. She rolled her eyes.

“What a troll…” she muttered with a smile. It was at this moment that the doors to the library slowly opened with an almost ominous creaking. On the other side was standing Soul, he was still bandaged from the incident with Gilda, and he had the a face that just screamed bored and annoyed.

“Hey girls, heard about some chaos in town. Is there anything interesting going on?” He said with a voice dripping with exhaustion and boredom.

“Yeah, the whole town freaked out over Twilight’s spare Gala Ticket. Even Twilight’s friends got in on the bribing and freaking out.” I replied.

“Figures...” He muttered. With two flashes of light and sounds of teleportation, there were four new things floating next to Soul. One was a golden ticket, the other three were stacks of papers about his height. “I got mine earlier today… along with tons of paperwork...”

“Aw, that sucks… I wonder when Rarity’s gonna get back.” I idly thought.

“Soon, probably. It shouldn’t take her that much longer to go through the procedures. So, anywhere from five minutes ago to two days from now is about accurate guess.” Soul said. We all froze as we started hearing screaming and loud crashing coming from the train station.

“Another Nightmare?” Spike asked uncertainly with clear fear. I nodded.

“It certainly sounds like it.. Come on, girls. Looks like it’s time for more Harmony.” I said, leading the way. Soul followed too, after burning all the paperwork… which transformed it into a giant ash cloud which flew off in Canterlot’s direction. I filed it off into a “ask later” file and ignored it. When we got there, we found what looked like a double-mutated Tank from Left 4 Dead, with a shit ton more ugly added to it. It didn’t even resemble any race known on Equis, but… as I stared into its eyes, I recognized it. Gilda… Heh. Guess it was a good thing I left you alive. Maybe if I save you this time, I can farm you for Nightmares. I thought darkly. I caught myself though and hesitated… but I was shocked out of my thoughts by the Nightmare taking a swing at a cat. A cat I recognized…

“PEEKO!!” The utter rage, fear, and shock I felt from Shinkiro’s shout left me stunned, and incapable of thought for a few seconds. When I recovered I saw Soul standing on the other side of the Nightmare. Peeko was on the ground next to him and unharmed, but the same couldn’t be said about him. His coat was several shades darker, eyes slitted and he was bleeding from a large gash on his left side. I had to quickly review what I saw while I was out of it.

First came a pulse of darkness from behind us, next there was a dark blur shooting past us and towards the Nightmare. The blur grabbed Peeko but received strike to it’s side from Nightmare’s clawed appendage in her place, staggering and slowing it enough to reveal it to be Soul. Soul used his remaining momentum to slide away, his hooves just gliding along the ground like if he was sliding on ice. After stopping he put scared but unharmed Peeko on the ground next to him and turned to glare at Nightmare, bringing us to the current moment. AJ and Dash seemed a bit shocked at Soul, for whatever reason, and all I heard from them was a muttered “Batman...” but I was still too dazed to put it together.

The massive beast just stared with obvious and familiar hate at Soul, not even bothering with any preamble before lunging at him to tear him open. However, before it could do anything more than get its claws under his coat, Shin launched forth in a boiling rage, tackling it to the ground with the impact of a meteor. Soul used this opportunity to charge up a teleport spell and both he and Peeko disappeared in a flash, with him reappearing next to me a few moments after that. In concern, I took a look at his state to see just how badly that thing had injured him. The wound was quite deep and would require medical attention soon, however, it wasn’t bleeding nearly as much as something this size should have. Fluttershy was by Soul’s side in a rush, scanning it over.

“Oh dear, this is… very deep… How is it not b-bleeding faster?” she asked.

“Magical suppression, I’m cycling raw magic through my body, slowing the bleeding and dulling pain slightly.” Soul answered, not taking his eyes from the monstrosity. A loud series of explosions went off, drawing my attention to the fight. Shin was firing a massive stream of white hot exploding fireballs at the Nightmare, who was doing its best to block it with both of its arms as it tried to advance, its own murderous rage feeling just about as powerful as Shin’s. My eyes widened as I saw that, my courage quickly fleeing me. There was no way I could face that thing myself…

Holy shit, Shinkiro has a MASSIVE Fire Affinity. Eclipse commented. I had to duck as the Nightmare punched one of the fireballs our way, and I was further struck with fear. It was like watching a battle of titans… Shin gave up on the fireballs and started charging up close again. The Nightmare reacted in kind, making an attempt to slam Shin into the ground with its massive arms.

“I hope she will keep it occupied long enough.” Soul muttered and dashed slightly to the side, away from us, but not closer to the battle, and started doing… something. I don’t know what exactly he was doing, but I could feel his raw power started to rise. This was accompanied by shadows slowly forming into ribbons and whipping around him.

“What the-?! What’s going on?!” Twilight freaked out, visibly scared by the…demonic energy, is the only way I could describe it, surging forth into him.

Shin meanwhile had set herself on fire to counter being crushed, ensuring that though she was pinned, it hurt the Nightmare to keep her that way. Her scorpion tail lashed out, trying to get past its armor to inject poison. The Nightmare didn’t seem too phased by that though, and turned to us as it sensed Soul’s darkness growing. Then it spotted me, and grinned with satisfied malice.

“Not so cocky now, are you Summer?” it spoke with a mix between Gilda’s voice and a demon’s. More the demon’s voice, making it almost unrecognisable. “You can’t get us all so easily. This time… you and all your friends… WILL DIE!” Then it brought up one of its arms, aimed at me, with a massive spike of bone squishing its way out of it...followed by a dozen more.

Time slowed to a crawl as the spikes were fired at all of us. Girls immediately jumped away from where they were standing in an effort to dodge, I however was paralysed by fear and couldn’t move. The sound and sense of powerful magic at work partially brought me out of my daze and brought my attention to Soul. He was straining to keep all the magic he was building up in check while casting a powerful spell, which turned out to be a shield spell defending us from the spikes. He managed to block almost all of them when the strain proved to be too much and the shield broke and the whole thing backlashed against him, causing him to yelp in pain as his horn cracked and the magic fizzled out. The few remaining spikes were aimed a bit too high to hit any of us, except one, which was heading straight for me. I finally managed to regain control over myself and tried to move out of the way, but I was far too slow to manage it. I was almost accepting my fate when an object slammed into my side and barely pushed me out of the way. The sound of the spike impacting whatever that was that pushed me made my heart stop as I was dreading what I’m about to see if I take a look. When I saw Soul laying there on the ground next to me with a hole all the way through his chest, and the spike, covered in blood, was embedded in the ground behind him, I was stunned.

I took that next second, which felt like an eternity to process what just happened. Soul… he’d just sacrificed himself to save me. The Nightmare’s taunting laugh got my attention and I turned to find it still had Shin pinned down.

“Really now? Are you that weak that you have to let some hero save your ass? I thought you were better than that. I thought you wanted to be this big hero. You’re nothing but a pitiful little bug…” I clenched my teeth in anger as it taunted me.

“Soul… If that thing could beat him, and keep that other one pinned…” Rainbow muttered, clearly afraid.

“This could be it…” Twilight shuddered. The fear was almost overwhelming. But I stood firm. I knew one ability I had that could turn this around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fl27wKaGFw

“No. We can still win.” I said firmly. There was no way I was going to let anyone else die. I would not let fear control me! “NIGHTMARE! You’ve only seen how I deal with you when I’m worried about mercy. About saving the host. But you’ve made the terrible mistake of picking a host I have no mercy for! A monster like that has no place in Equestrian society.” I started walking towards it, starting up my magic. “Let me share with you a human term. An eye for an eye… A soul for a soul… You’ve taken the life of someone I’ve come to care for. So now…”

I finished the transformation in a flash, revealing the form of Raiden, wielding the Muramasa. I pointed the blade at the Nightmare. “I’m going to tear you out of a bleeding corpse!” As I let my bloodlust consume me, I noticed my slowly draining magic reserves suddenly fill up, and the number glitch between 100% and Infinity. I charged forth, leaving sparks of lightning in my wake as I threw forth bolts of my magic in plasma form. The barrage was strong enough to make the Nightmare flinch, and I kept it up until I got to it. When I got in range, it swiped at me, but was forced to release Shin when I dodged simply by jumping on top of its arm. When I jumped to its other arm to avoid the swipe from it, I drove my blade into its neck.

Memory Mimic: High Frequency Blade

The Nightmare screamed as the blade just sitting in its spine started to tear its neck off. When its head fell off though, it kept attacking. Right, necromorph. Needs to be dismembered. I remembered. I gladly got to work, making wide swings at its limbs in attempts to cut them apart, but to my surprise, the arms didn’t fall off on the first swing. The Nightmare hit me in my surprise, sending me flying into the train station’s ticket booth. I just laughed as I pulled myself out of it.

Memory Mimic: Ripper Mode

“Oh, this is gonna be FUN!” I shouted. I pulsed my magic, sending energy coursing through my veins, and my aura turned blood red. I dashed forth once again, Shin joining the fun as she meteor tackled the Nightmare again. With the Nightmare distracted, it couldn’t do much to stop me from swinging at its limbs, eventually dicing them. Shin burned away the other arm, having already damaged it severely while it had kept her pinned. Now left with nothing but a torso and horribly deformed legs, I was confident I could finish it off… at least until its missing limbs suddenly grew back.

“Hah! Thank you, Hydra genes!” The Nightmare laughed tauntingly. I laughed with it.

“Oh, but that just means I can tear you apart over and over and over again!” I shouted at it. That put a frown on its face, and it said nothing else. I once again attacked, but this time it knew what I was going to do. Rather than let me get close again, it started firing more bone spikes at me, these now launching like a Rail Gun.

Memory Mimic: Zandatsu

Slowing time, kinda, I just cut them apart before they could impale me. When the Nightmare saw what was happening, it stopped and charged at me, but Shin latched on then and started trying to tear through to the monster’s heart. That distracted it and allowed me to get close and start cutting again. But before I could dismember anything this time, it threw me off. I landed some distance away, and it started charging me again. This time, it didn’t ignore Shin, and backslapped her away.

Memory Mimic: Prototype Hammerfists

My fists grew in size and weight, but I had the strength to wield them. And wield them I did, stopping the Nightmare dead with a single punch. It was stunned after that due to blunt force trauma, so I did what naturally came next.

Memory Mimic: Prototype Blade Arm

I stabbed it, piercing right through to the other side and puncturing its heart. At that moment though, I noticed a new bar on my UI. It was flashing red and getting close to full, and I started feeling like my insides could burst into flames… but I ignored it. The satisfaction of a kill was almost upon me.

Memory Mimic: Consume

The Nightmare’s body began melting into my blade, each strand of flesh and bone being consumed by each cell in my arm. I grinned at the Nightmare’s look of utter fear as it saw me finishing it off.

“You’re mine now. DIE!” I shoved my blade further into it, accelerating the rate I consumed it. Soon there was nothing but me, Shin, and a bloody mess. Panting heavily as I released my new form and abilities, I now noticed a large black dome surrounding the battlefield. How long had that been there?

I suddenly felt very sick and started vomiting, some kind of dust or something coming out. As well, the glitched number on my magic started to go back to normal, leaving me at just 1%. The barrier fell then, just shattering. Finally, I felt somewhat normal after that, if seriously weak.

Level Up!

Hunter Form Unlocked!

Changeling & Dark Detect Unlocked!

Enhanced Healing (lvl3/10) Upgraded!

Magic Capacity Increased!

Shapeshifting: Weaponshifting Unlocked! Can now transform body parts into various weapons!

Special Circumstances no longer fulfilled: Memory Mimic Disabled.

Ally Update:

Eclipse: 27% Complete

Soulfire: Deceased

“Summer!” Twilight shouted as the barrier fell, rushing towards me with concern, quickly followed by the rest of the girls. Their concern for me started filling me back up, saving me from the 1% brink.

“I’ll be fine… I just need to feed for a bit.” I replied, hugging her when she got to me.

See you later Soul. Been nice seeing how utterly psychotic Summer can get. I heard Nightmare say in my head. Then after a moment, Oh wait, he’s already gone. Welp. I’m off to Summer’s mental reconstruction of Grillby’s. Well that explains the power I felt… and the burn I can still feel. It feels like my soul is on fire. I would have laughed at how it practically makes up Soul’s name, but… I still felt it. And it’s not pleasant.

“Oh sweet Celestia, you feel so hot and cold at the same time… You’re in bad shape, Summer.” Twilight said.

“Like I said, I just gotta feed. I’m at only 1% here, but your concern’s helping. What happened to Soul’s body?” I asked, getting up and walking in its direction. I spotted it, and nearly gasped at what I saw. It was grey now, almost white and it was cracking, breaking down into the same dust Nightmare did inside me.

“No…” Pinkie whimpered as she saw it. “I… I can’t believe he’s gone…”

“I’m glad I at least avenged him. I still feel like shit for putting him in that position in the first place though.” I muttered.

“He was the one that stood up to Nightmare Moon when Summer went down though… That was the Nightmare at full power, right? Why’d he fall to this lousy fragment?” Dash asked, wanting to deny that it had happened.

“Because this one has been consuming creatures in the Everfree to steal and absorb power. This one was a 10% fragment, with power and abilities it wouldn’t have without preparation. Nightmare Moon wasn’t at full power though, and I severely threw her off by playing with her emotions.” I replied. Shy started crying a bit then, just bursting into tears.

Soul’s body completely disintegrated into a pile of dust at this point. We all stood there, mostly in silence for a minute before movement caught our eyes. The pile started stirring a bit, as if something was moving under it.

“What the fuck?” I said, surprised. Shy had stopped crying for a moment after seeing it, and the others stared, dumbfounded. The dust pile was now full on wobbling and not a few seconds later a small grey hoof shot from the side, followed by a sputtering head… a very familiar head. It seemed that all of us had made the same observation, seeing as we all shouted the same thing at the same time.

“SPEC?!” Was what that joint shout was. I didn’t join in, I was merely surprised he was still alive.

“...Well then, I guess this isn’t the first time you’ve died.” I stated. Suddenly, Spec was hugged by a Changeling Queen turned Glomp Missile.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!” Shin happily repeated at Pinkie level speeds.

“Ahh! I.. er.. no problem! Really, I’m glad I could help…. please put me down?” Spec nervously replied, turning to me with a begging expression and gesturing to Shin.

“My Queen, please. That pony is not a teddy bear.” I said to Shin. The girls all just looked super confused, except Pinkie. Shin let go of Spec, and turned to the girls, with a bit of a sheepish grin.

“So uh… what exactly is going on? And why did Summer call you her Queen?” Dash asked.

“To put it in a way you would understand, basically I'm the queen bee. Bit of a swarm mentality.” Shin said dismissively, though I noticed AJ looking between us in a bit of an uncomfortable realization.

“And as for what’s going on here, basically, I’ve pinned a few of Soul’s secrets here from the moment I met him, and this here proved I was right. Soul is… well, to put it simply, either not a pony at all, or just a very weird one. I find it weird how he’s taken this gender swap thing.” I said pointing my hoof at her. “But then again, it’s probably not the first time he’s died and done this.” That caused Spec to sigh.

“Admittedly, this wasn’t the way I wanted this to come out.” She said as she picked up a bit of the dust. “I told you about my name Summer, remember? If you think about it now, it takes on a whole different meaning.” She said as she slowly poured the dust back to the ground. “Spec of dust, fitting isn’t it?” I chuckled a bit.

“Spec? What are you…” Sweetie Belle’s voice called out.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me of the last thing I said when I saw you like this.” I said with a mischievous smirk. I then heard the soft whine of a pulse beam charging.

“Set to stun.” Sweetie’s command relieved me a bit, but then I felt pain surge through me.

“OW, SON OF A BITCH! THAT STILL HURTS!”

Arc III, Act 2: Magic Chimerism

~Rarity~

As the train pulled towards Ponyville, I was caught by surprise when it began slowing down long before it should have. The train’s conductor spoke up on the intercoms, sounding as surprised as I was.

“Attention passengers, the Ponyville train station appears to be in a state of severe destruction. We will need to let those of you getting off here leave without a stable surface. Apologies for the inconvenience.” We stopped only just outside of where the destruction lied, and I had a good view of it as I stepped out. It looked like a pair of very powerful monsters had fought here. There were also a few burn marks here and there, as well as a large amount of blood.

“OW, SON OF A BITCH! THAT STILL HURTS!” Summer’s vibrating voice screamed from near the train station. For a moment, I was scared the battle was still going on, but when I looked, all I saw was Summer squirming in her base form, with Sweetie Belle pointing a hoof at her with an offended look. As I trotted up to check out what was going on, I also saw Spec sitting in a pile of dust, and the girls all looking like they had just been crying. Sweetie Belle was also hugging Spec. Behind everypony, I saw a crowd beginning to form, and a rather large black blur darting off somewhere.

“What exactly is going on here?” I asked as I came up. Summer, in her typical fashion, was quick to answer in her own blunt way.

“Oh, nothing much. Just another Nightmare attack, followed by Soul kind of dying and having to turn into Spec in front of us all thus revealing a secret I’ve been trying to get her to drop since we met. Oh yeah, and I just killed for the first time in my life. Damn nightmare consumed so much, there was hardly anything left in that husk.”

“Very blunt Summer, you really don’t know what it means to be subtle, do you?” Said slightly grumpy and kind of embarrassed looking Spec. I was still hung up on the kill part.

“I’m sorry, you did what?!” I asked incredulously. The other girls were doing a fine impression of me as well… or was that a fish?

“I uh… Well, a lot humans like me… that is, those that play certain video games… we don’t exactly have a problem with killing things that don’t… well, We’d be willing to kill if there were no negative consequences, or at least ones we’d be able to handle. I killed the Nightmare because its host wasn’t anything sentient.” She turned to the girls then. “That’s why I said it made the mistake of using something I didn’t care for as a host.”

“So there was nothing left in there? What happened to the fragment?” Fluttershy asked.

“The fragment’s in me. I used a new ability I didn’t even know I could use, and copied powers and abilities I knew of… the last one being the ability it used to get as powerful as it was. I consumed it, like a virus. I learned thanks to that, that there were just so many minds mushed together it was nothing but a soup that Nightmare was drinking up. Whatever was in there, it was already practically dead, and not really worth saving.” Summer said.

“I’m… actually with Summer on this one.” Spec voiced her opinion. “When I looked at the soul of that thing, I was horrified. That Nightmare absorbed souls from several beings to use as power batteries, it didn’t bother to keep them separate, like Summer and Eclipse are, and the souls already tore each other’s identities apart. If Summer didn’t kill that thing, I would ask her to do it. I don’t condone killing, but this was the best choice, not for us, but for them.” She then pointed to the bloodstained ground. I was torn between sympathy and horror at this revelation. Looking at the blood stains, I almost missed Summer hesitantly looking about.

“...Gilda was in there.” She said. Rainbow was instantly looking at her.

“What?! B-but how do you know! You said everything was too mixed up!” Rainbow accused.

“Yeah… but I could feel that same hatred for Darks and Changelings I felt in Gilda as I fought. The hatred was preserved above all else. Everything else was just a big soup of suffering.” Summer said sadly.

“But… Gilda wouldn’t have let anything like that beat her! She’s too tough!” Dash denied, quickly falling into tears.

“Dash… what if she was the original host?” Summer pushed further.

“She probably was, and that made it even worse for her.” Spec said sadly.

“I know. But it’s best to accept what’s happened, because nothing can change the past…” Summer said. She seemed a bit hesitant at the end of that, like she suddenly thought of something that brought doubt to her statement. But then she shrugged it off, like it was really only a phantom feeling of being wrong. Knowing how I occasionally get that feeling myself, I let it go, and nopony else seemed to want to pursue the topic either. Instead, I decided to question something else brought up earlier.

“So… Soul was Spec all along?” I asked, turning to Spec.

“I… err… I would say that it’s actually the other way around, but it doesn’t really matter all that much.” She said, looking slightly away. I smiled a bit in sympathy.

“Oh, Don’t worry dear. But what name do you prefer?” I asked, a little confused about that matter.

“Which one I prefer? Well, depends on how I look like, so Spec while I’m like this.” She answered.

“Welp. I’m going to RED’s. Gotta talk about how I can use my new Weaponshifting ability in our matches.” Summer said, walking away.

“Oh! Summer, wait! Your brother wanted me to give something to you!” I said, getting the laptop out of my saddlebags. Summer froze in absolute shock when she saw it.

“Oh. My God… Is… Is that what I think it is?!” she asked, clearly not believing her eyes. She then darted forth at speeds that threw Rainbow out of her depression out of being utterly impressed, and yanked it out of my hooves. “Holy shit, it is! Please tell me it works…” she opened it, tapping at a few keys with her magic. Sweetie Belle stopped hugging Spec and both of them went to check it out.

“Fuck yes, it’s fucking connected!” She cheered obscenely. I frowned disapprovingly.

“Summer, language.” Spec said in response to what Summer said.

“I don’t care! I can read fanfictions again!” she cried happy tears as she hugged the laptop like a lost lover.

“Not if you shortcircuit it with your tears.” Spec said, poking the laptop. Summer’s gaze snapped to Spec in an instant.

“...You’re Ex-human.” she accused with a sense of finality.

“This again? Does it matter?” Spec responded with a bored expression.

“To me it does. Like I said, I might not like all humans, considering most are the greatest scumbags I know of, but I’d enjoy knowing any living here that I didn’t drag with me.” Summer agrued.

“Uhh… look. I’m not exactly hiding that I wasn’t always a pony, but I’m not spreading it around either. Can you please drop the human questions? Reminds me of things I would like to forget.” Spec responded.

“Alright, I understand.” Summer relented. “I know there’s worse shit on Earth than a bunch of internet trolls.”

“Hey, Spec? Where did your Cutie Mark go?” Sweetie Belle asked, causing Spec to sigh.

“Disrupted, until I properly recover.” Spec said. Upon seeing our confused looks she chose to elaborate. “Cutie Mark’s most accurate definition is a ‘symbol of one’s soul’. This ability of mine that allows me to come back puts a strain on my soul, causing a temporary disruptions. It mostly affects my ‘symbol’ and magic. When my soul and magic recover enough, my Cutie Mark will come back.”

“Oh, I see… but then what does that mean for foals like Sweetie Belle?” I asked, curious. It almost sounded like it meant she really could get her mark one day… but I had to be sure.

“Her soul isn’t damaged, so that’s not a problem, that would be her body. She is capable of going through process of getting a Mark, all intelligent creatures are actually capable of that, but it’s only ponies who naturally display them. And Sweetie’s mostly robotic body likely isn’t capable of that anymore.” Spec answered after thinking on it for a few moments.

“Oh… so does that mean I can get it, but it just won’t show?” Sweetie asked.

“Yeah, that’s exactly it. I’m sorry that I can’t read them from just looking at a soul. I’ll look for another way to show it, but I’m not even sure there is a way.” Spec said sadly, embracing Sweetie in a hug. Sweetie hugged back, happy at least that she still can get a cutie mark. The scene was cute enough that I almost forgot Spec was an adult in a child’s form.

“And that’s why I ship it.” Summer said with a face that clearly stated she adored it as much as the rest of us.

“Shut up.” Spec shot Summer a half hearted glare. Most of the others chuckled regardless of the fact that Summer was implying an adult in that relationship. Twilight and I however, frowned, myself repressing a gag… or was that from the smell?

“Girls, I don’t mean to break up a moment, but we shouldn’t linger here for any longer. Why, the scenery is awful and the smell is getting positively repulsive.” I said, politely gesturing to the bloodstains.

“Alright, I need to get all of my questions organised anyway. Spec, would you mind coming over to the library in… two days?” Twilight asked.

“Alright, I’ll be there.” Spec said. After that we quickly agreed that those who would want to ask their own questions, or just be there to watch, can come too. Summer also volunteered to show off her laptop during that.

With all that out of the way, each of us went our own way, Fluttershy going with Rainbow to comfort her.

~Twilight~

It was a few days after the latest Nightmare attacked and it was revealed that Soul and Spec are actually one and the same. I bumped into Spec yesterday on the market and we set the time for today’s gathering to just after lunch, we informed the rest of our friends so they can make arrangements if they wanted to come. Thankfully, everypony invited came, and just in time too, which allowed me to get started. I had a lot of questions to ask.

“Hey Spike, could you bring us some drinks?” I asked Spike as the others arrived.

“Sure thing, Twi.” He said as he went off to prepare them. I turned back to Summer, knowing that out of my list of questions, one for her was one of the first.

“So, uh… Summer, what exactly was life like as a human? So many things have been popping up that I haven’t exactly gotten around to asking…” I asked a little awkwardly, not very sure if it was the right question to start with.

“Oh, it was kinda dull, and felt really restrictive, but that’s just about what’s expected of a teen’s life. Then again, I was just on the verge of being an adult in an economy where all but the lucky or pretentious ones hated their job. And as lucky as I was, it never meant a thing if I didn’t put effort into it. Which… I really didn’t. I was more obsessed with this little thing, and everything I could screw with on the internet.” She waved the laptop around a bit. Spike came in about then, and started distributing the drinks as I noted what Summer said about her society.

“So, you were addicted to the internet. I hope you don’t plan on doing that again in this world.” Spec said with a frown.

“Relax, I’ve got too much to love in this world. Maybe I can do a bit more writing like I used to in my world, but I won’t be on this thing constantly. I actually have a job now.” Summer assured, gesturing towards RED’s. I briefly glanced in the direction, but she was suddenly wearing several hats stacked on top of one another when I looked back.

“Oh my, how ghastly…” Rarity cringed. Summer blinked and looked up, as if just noticing the hats.

“Oh geeze… I swear, I have no idea how to turn that off. The guys back at the restaurant must be having a Hat Moment.” She said apologetically. “The best thing to do is just ignore it.”

“How does that even work?” Spec asked, eyeing the hats with suspicion.

“No one knows. Except maybe Discord, I’m gonna have to ask when he breaks free.” Summer muttered.

“Good luck with that, I don’t think he… oh no.” Spec started, but went quiet with some kind of realisation.

“What’s the matter?” Rainbow asked, seeming to have gotten over the fact that her old friend was truly gone now, if a bit shaky still.

“All this Nightmare business is creating a whole lot of negativity and destructive chaos. I don’t think it will take as long as it should have for Discord to escape.” Spec explained.

“So he’s gonna break out before the Gala then…” Summer said contemplatively. Thankfully her ridiculous hats were gone now.

“How soon though?” I asked worriedly. Knowing something that big wasn’t going to happen on schedule thoroughly unnerved me.

“Unmeasurable, it could be during the gala, day after, or month before.” Spec said, clearly not happy about it.

“That’s not gonna be a happy day. I better work more on my mental defenses then. I really don’t want him messing with my personality. I’m already unstable enough as is.” Summer said, clearly worried.

“Yeah, I noticed. You have a lot of work ahead of you.” Spec said matter of factly. Summer rolled her eyes.

“I won’t have to, much, but I should nonetheless. Eclipse is about half my defense in my mind. The other half is, usually against more normal enemies, my psychotic hidden nature.” she said, more to me and the girls than to Spec. I blinked in surprise.

“I’m sorry… what?” I asked to clarify.

“Here’s the blunt truth, or at least as I see it. I’m half psychotic. Video games and the internet have left me desensitized to many horrible subjects, such as death or rape. I can even make myself bleed without flinching, should I so chose to.” Summer said with a bit of a sigh.

“And that is your fatal weakness against Discord. He’s going to unleash that in the world if he get’s to you.” Spec said, eyes narrowed at Summer.

“If so, let’s all hope the worst thing he uses is the tentacles and eggs. Everything else is a lot worse.” Summer said. I blinked at the implications, and blushed madly, glancing at Sweetie Belle who thankfully didn’t quite understand… either that, or she’d just erased that line from her memory. Either way the blank look was a blessing to me, not to mention Rarity.

“Wait, I think I’m missing something here. All I heard there was ⧫♏■⧫♋♍●♏⬧ and ♏♑♑⬧.” Sweetie Belle said, confused. I was confused too, when her voice only came out in strange beeps, possibly one for each letter of some strange font for all I know. Spec reeled her head away from Sweetie in shock.

“Oh cool, she’s Gaster-censored. Don’t worry, Sweetie. If everything goes well against Discord, you’ll never have to find out. And trust me, you do not want to find out.” Summer happily commented.

“What the?! Where did that come from?” Spec asked Summer. Summer thought it through for a moment, seemingly conversing with Eclipse.

“Eclipse seems to think it might have been the Nightmare that possessed her. She thinks some of the fragments still have some bits of my memories or something, and they’re drawing inspiration from them to create new forms for their hosts… like Sweetie Belle’s animatronic, and Gilda’s Necromorph.” Summer explained.

“Right, right, I figured as much. But why that exact beeping?” Spec asked, pointing at Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, because that’s how you speak Wingding. Duh.” Summer said with a silly grin. Pinkie joined the grin, but for a different reason.

“OOH! I WANNA LEARN HOW TO SPEAK WINGDING!” She excitedly shouted. Summer giggled a bit, before giving a serious answer.

“Alright, in more likelihood, she’s got some sort of censoring thing installed, something I bet Tinker scrapped together from Nightamatronic’s old code and tested before implementing. Now no matter what we say, if it’s something Sweetie Belle shouldn’t hear, it’ll bleep it out Gaster style.” Spec tilted her head to one side and half closed her right eye in confusion.

“Who is Gaster.” She asked. Summer stared for a second before giggling.

“How could you not know who he is? You make a pretty good impression of him right there. Curious, with a creepy looking eye.” she said, almost jokingly with a large amount of giggling. When she calmed down, she continued. “But I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t know. You must have left Earth before Undertale came out. Here, let me show you.” She said, before once more opening her laptop. She was quiet as she began pushing a number of buttons, and I as well as the rest of the girls, with Spike, Sweetie Belle and Spec, gathered behind her in a surprisingly stable pile to watch what was happening on screen. On the screen, she showed a few images, a few that struck me as wise, and a few that sent a shiver of fear down my spine with how… insane the skeleton she showed us looked. His face’s similarity to Spec’s confused pose earlier was visibly unnerving her.

“I think I have inspiration for my next Nightmare Night costume.” Spec nervously added. Summer chuckled.

“Well, then lemme show you some inspiration for new attacks.” She said with a cocky smirk, as she typed “yet darker glitchtale” into a bar at the top. The cinematic she showed afterwards… was simply mind blowing. There were no other words to describe what we saw.

“I… I’m not sure how to feel about that.” Spec said with a shaky voice. Her magic lazily sputtered into action, creating a small, pebble sized orb of magic, which then shot off a few magic blasts at the ground, kicking up dust. “He he… I’m not exactly comfortable with knowing that.” The orb was then surrounded by a very hazy projection of a hand. Summer inspected it for a moment with an impressed look.

“Not bad, for how much magic you have. Maybe at full power, you can mimic Full Power Gaster.” Summer suggested, pointing her cursor over another… cinematic link below titled “Your Best Friend”, which seemed to be another Glitchtale title.

“I’m not sure I want to.” Spec nervously muttered, dismissing the orb. Summer chuckled.

“Hey, the dude’s pretty nice, when you get to know him… when he isn’t scattered across the Void like the Nightmare Fragments are across Equestria. He’s desperate to exist again, and that’s the only thing really pushing him to go against morals.” Summer explained. Spec for some reason jumped back in shock after hearing the word “Void”.

“S-Summer, that wasn’t funny. Why are you even m-mentioning the Void?” Spec asked, looking slightly disturbed. Summer frowned in worry.

“Um… because one of Gaster’s experiments pretty much erased everything in his own timeline except him. And he couldn’t really handle being stuck there, so he got scattered across the Void. What, do you mean to tell me that’s what you used to get here? The Void?” Summer asked.

“Y-yeah, I didn’t have the luxury of instant transportation, or any sort of guide. I pretty much spent some time in there, flying towards Equestria at full speed, even though if you know how Void works you would know that your speed doesn’t matter at all.” Spec admitted, nervously sweating. At that Summer sighed.

“Well, the good news is you were lucky enough to get an Equestria that wasn’t already destroyed or fucked up to some degree. You said you just targeted Equestria? I take it you didn’t bother specifying what kind of Equestria. You could have just as easily gotten a Displaced Equestria, where your power is next to nothing compared to some of the guys running around out there.” Summer said, almost scoldingly.

“Hey! I didn’t have the option of actually choosing, “Equestria” was the best I could do, and I could have just as easily left and go to the next one if I got a bad one. At least my stunt didn’t endanger the entire world.” Spec retorted.

“Alright, I’ll give you that… but what if you’d pissed off a Displac-er? Those guys have the power to send and TRAP you in tartarus, or even worse.” I was starting to get a little lost, and I knew I wasn’t alone.

“Well, I’ll give YOU that, but really, why would that piss them off, it’s not like they have the exclusive right to send people off to Equestria.” Spec said, confusing us even more.

“Hey, you never know… You could piss off the Merchant by just accidentally ramming him wherever you’re going.” Summer argued back.

“Uh… what the buck are you guys talking about?” Rainbow finally spoke up. It was about time someone stepped in.

“Oh, just talking about the multiverse.” Summer dismissed.

“And how I theoretically could have gotten in trouble with my pretty much uncontrollable Void dive.” Spec added.

“Everypony’s runnin’ the risk of gettin’ in trouble, ain’t they?” Applejack mused.

“It would seem so. Oh I do so hope we don’t begin to emulate them.” Rarity dramatically taunted. Summer’s smirk put me off though.

“Oh, trust me… everyone is going to at one point. But unlike me, it won’t end apocalyptically. Only catastrophically.” Summer promised ominously.

“Ah don’t like the sound o’ that…” AJ muttered. “Ah s’pose ya won’t just up and tell us though to avoid it?” she asked.

“Nope. You girls still need to learn the lessons, even if I’ve already seen it thanks to the internet.” Summer replied. Spec shook her head.

“While logic would dictate to just tell you to avoid any problems, there are things that need to be experienced for them to have meaning.” Spec said with a sigh at the end. I nodded in understanding.

“Oh, except for you, Fluttershy. I’ve already helped you avoid that by putting the right brand of confidence in you.” Summer suddenly said to a beaming Fluttershy.

“Thank you, Summer.” Fluttershy said. Rainbow stared for a few seconds once again in disbelief.

“It’s still unbelievable…” she muttered.

“I know, I don’t believe it either.” Spec chimed in. Summer chuckled, but otherwise didn’t comment. I suppose she wanted to keep the matter of how she did that a secret.

“Okay girls, as interesting as that all is we’re getting a little too off topic.” I said, and once again had attention of everyone in the room. I took a second to put away my notes on everything that was said and prepared new paper to take more.

“Spec, I’m rather curious about how your resurrection… thingy works.” I said, turning to her.

“Well, that is both incredibly complex and at the same time easy to explain. I don’t think I could ever explain the detailed workings and mechanics of it, but simplified concepts are rather easy to grasp.” She said, looking to me for the cue to continue. I nodded for her to go ahead. “It’s probably because of how I got to Equestria. Much like Summer and her siblings, I was a bare soul without a body, unlike them I got caught between two massive power sources. I entered during last year’s Summer Sun Celebration, precisely on the magical tether between Celestia and the Sun. The combined magic coming at me from both sides was enough to create a fully functional body from scratch, but there are some differences from what is normal.” She explained.

“Normal being…?” Summer waved her hoof in a “go on” gesture.

“My body requires constant cycling of magic to remain stable, when that is cut off, bonds between its particles degenerate, breaking it down into that dust-like substance. That process however isn’t only one way, as this dust can be recharged and molded into another form, as long as it doesn’t break down completely.” Spec continued on with her explanation.

“Huh… Kinda reminds me of that old Soul Reaver game on the first Playstation… in a way. Except it’s magic, not souls.” Summer muttered.

“Never played that.” Spec commented. Summer gestured to her laptop.

“Got it on here, if ya ever want to.” she offered. “But, onto the next topic. What’s with the gender thing?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. The first time I got to this form, and the first time I actually resurrected myself, was when I was testing what all I can do with changing my form. I managed to turn myself into a pegasus, and I mean fully, no temporary wings or anything. Then when it came to changing back i wanted to try adding back horn without getting rid of the wings. It all backfired, spell destabilised and my body caved in on itself into a pile of dust, when i dig myself out of it I’m a filly. Ever since then my body seems to default itself into this form when I resurrect.” Spec said.

“I think I might be able to explain that.” I interjected. “Some tests have revealed that most females tend to recover their magic faster than males, even if they are twins. In turn though, the males are capable of putting a lot more power into their spells. Your body defaulting to that could just be a natural inclination to restore as much power as possible as quickly as possible.” I suggested, writing that in my notes.

“As good explanation as any, doesn’t bother me at all to tell the truth.” Spec shrugged. Summer chuckled.

“I’d been wondering why all the local feeding changelings were female… Guess that answers that. The more you know~” she idly sang. Applejack smiled a bit at Spec.

“Well, ah for one respect that you can accept somethin’ like that. Most ponies would freak out ‘n make some big dumb mistake tryin to change back. ‘Specially mah brother.” She said with a giggle. I joined her in giggling.

“If my brother went through something like that, he would lose his mind!” I said, barely containing myself at the thought of it. The thought of my brother as a mare though was amazingly easy to see.

“Interesting mental pictures.” Spec said, suppressing a chuckle.

“How about some actual pictures?” Summer said, with her laptop hovering near me. Curious, I turned it around and looked… and laughed, hard. A moment later, I heard AJ laughing as hard as I was. After we’d calmed down, I heard Rarity clear her throat.

“As amusing as it was to see that, let us move on, shall we? Spec, with this resurrection ability of yours, doesn’t this mean you’re immortal, like the princesses?” Rarity asked. Spec reacted almost immediately, looking at the ground in front of her with a somber look.

“It does. Even if I don’t use it, the way my body is doesn’t allow it to naturally age.” She said in a low, almost sad tone. Summer saddened too.

“Damn, what a mood killer…” Then like whiplash, she grinned again. “On the bright side, you’re super cuddly like this!” As if to prove Summer’s point, Sweetie Belle zipped forth, hugging Spec like a plushie. She might have been hugging too tight though, if Spec’s slightly panicked expression and slow shift of colour of her face from grey to blue was anything to go by. Spec’s way of calling for help was a bit unexpected though. Her horn started flashing in sequence, each flash accompanied by a familiar beeping noise and projecting a symbol above her head.

“●♏⧫ ♑□???? ♓ ♍♋■????⧫ ♌❒♏♋⧫♒♏” I couldn’t read it, or understand, but it wasn’t like I needed to. Summer went to Sweetie and tapped her.

“Hey, let go. You’re really loving her to actual death.” Summer said with a little grin. Sweetie gasped and let go, swiftly jumping to apologize and ask if Spec was okay, though she stopped to glare at Summer for the ‘loving’ comment. Spec, for her part, was gasping for breath for a few seconds before shaking her head and canceling whatever spell she used.

“I’m fine, really, nothing wrong. Just watch the hug power next time Sweetie, will you?” Spec said after catching her breath.

“Uhm… I have a question.” Spike got our attention and made his presence known. Before he could ask though, Summer jumped in fright.

“Holy shit, when did you get there?!” She asked. “Oh wait… Sorry Spike. I didn’t notice you…”

“You aren’t the only one...” He muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Don’t worry, Spike. You’re still my number one assistant for a reason.” I said, giving him a nuzzle. Spike smiled and hugged back, before turning back to Spec.

“Anyway, Spec? How’d you change again if you were a pegasus?” He asked.

“I still could use magic while I was like that, but it was incredibly unwieldy. I found out I can channel magic through my entire body instead of the horn and use it that way, but it’s really not something for complex casting. I can also do it the other way around, that is flying as a unicorn by creating temporary wings, but they can’t handle very high stress.” Spec said.

At that, Rainbow, Fluttershy and I got very interested. “Oh! Does that mean a regular pegasus can use something simple like levitation?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so… well, at least not naturally. I was only able to turn into a pegasus because I already had small amount of latent flight magic, the transformation just brought this magic into the front while pushing my unicorn magic into the background. Not even the strongest magical chimerism in a pony would give enough for direct levitation.” Spec explained, not quite looking at any of us.

“Oh, I see. I suppose it makes sense. I probably should have reminded myself that the strongest recorded cases of chimerism, Commander Hurricane, Clover the Clever, and Chancellor Puddinghead-”

“Snrk….” Summer snorted.

“-were some of the very few known strong cases.” I ignored Summer.

“Actually, that gets me curious, do any of you girls have a case of chimerism?” Summer asked, suddenly no longer needing to resist the urge to laugh.

“I don’t know actually. There should be a few tests to find out though…” I said, grabbing a book from the Magic section. I looked through it until I found the page I needed. “Aha! I already have several parts for a machine that could work. I just need to assemble them!” I said triumphantly as I started heading for the library basement. As I left, I heard the others following me, Applejack speaking up to ask her own question.

“So, was ah jus’ imagining things, or are you actually the pony that saved Summer’s life when we fought Nightmare Moon?” she asked.

“So you noticed. Yeah, that was me, I was secretly following you just in case some unexpected danger appeared. I didn’t want you to know at first, but I figured that with all those Nightmares around, hiding power is just going to go against you.” Spec answered after a few seconds of silence.

“And what about the Alicorn thing?” Rainbow asked. I caught Summer giving her a pointedly interested look as I began gathering the parts in my lab.

“I’m not one, however it may look. What you saw was more along the lines of Nightmare transformation. I have locked away vast majority of my own power, because I can’t remain in control of it for a long time, it’s enough to physically change me when I let it all out. I almost released it during the last Nightmare incident, you would all see it if it didn’t force me to stop.” Was Spec’s answer. Summer sighed.

“The nightmares are getting smarter. They must have copied some of my past combat experiences before it all broke.” She said in warning.

“Why compare yourself to a Nightmare, Spec?” I asked as I fit yet another part and calibrated it.

“Because… I’m more similar to her in terms of nature of my existence then to an actual pony. When I stood up against Nightmare Moon back at the castle, she asked me if I wanted to take her victory for myself. That’s because she thought I’m another being like her and that I wanted to take Luna from her and just possess her myself. I found out quite early that I don’t actually require a body to continue living, I’m not sure if that would even classify me as alive in the first place…” Spec said, trailing off at the and.

“That’s very interesting... ” I muttered as I clicked the last part into place. “Alright, it’s done. Who wants to test first?” I announced.

“Ah’m up for it. How’s it work, Twi?” AJ asked.

“Just sit down in the chair and let me calibrate it.” I said, stepping back. She nodded and climbed into the chair. From there, I started working on it, and ran it. Eventually, the results printed, and I picked it up.

“Looks like you don’t have any chimerism, Applejack. Your magic is a hundred percent Earth Pony.” I said. She smiled in pride, something I knew Summer appreciated, if her goofy expression was anything to go by.

“I’m next!” Rainbow said, flying forth into the chair. She bounced in the seat eagerly as I ran the machine again. This time, the results surprised me.

“This is interesting… Evidently, Rainbow has a small amount of passive Unicorn magic that helps with her speed, somehow.” I announced. Rainbow smirked.

“Heh… Well, I guess that might explain how easily I can fly.” Rainbow gloated a little. “Then again, that just means I’m even more awesome.” I rolled my eyes as Rarity stepped up next, getting into the chair without a word. I ran the machine again, and the results… confused me to say the least.

“Wait, this can’t be right… The data’s corrupted.” I mutter, confused.

“Corrupted? Did Rarity break it?” Summer asked.

“No it’s… It’s saying there’s something there, but the letters are all…” I trailed off, trying to make sense of what I saw.

“No point questioning what has no answers. Let’s just move on, alright?” Summer suggested.

“Agreed, let’s not waste time here, darling.” Rarity agreed. Pinkie was quick to take Rarity’s place.

“My turn!” she said as she started the machine for me somehow. However, instead of a sheet of paper, the machine spat out a flurry of cats wearing strawberry frosted pop tarts and flying out with rainbow trails, all of them meowing a very catchy song. Summer stared, jaw dropped wider than any of us, but was the first to recover… with uproarious laughter.

“Oh my fucking god, that was amazing! Do it again!” she cheered. Fluttershy squeed, showing her approval as well.

“Well, that’s Chaos Magic at work if I ever saw it.” Spec said after she recovered. I still just stared at Pinkie, feeling my eye twitch. But Spec was right, that was probably chaos magic, which meant the laws of reality didn’t apply. So it was best not to question it.

“Hey wait, this thing didn’t work like that in the show when you had your greatest freakout ever. How come it’s working here?” Summer asked in confusion.

“The machine was likely configured differently. I’ve configured it to read magic here, when normally it’s made to read brain activity. I only reconfigured it this way because of the subject of magic chimerism.” I replied.

“Oooooh…. Yeah, that makes sense.” Summer accepted. “Hey Flutters, you’re up.”

“Okay.” she said, tenderly climbing into the seat. I once again ran it, and waited for the results. When they came out, I saw it was a little longer than the others, not counting Rarity’s corrupted one. Picking it up, I read through it.

“Another error, but with different symbols...These scans are confusing.” I muttered. Summer raised her eyebrow.

“Let me see them.” She requested. I handed both of the corrupted ones to her, hoping she would be able to decipher one of them at least. She blinked at Rarity’s.

“Oh wow, this one’s written in Dragon language. I can’t read it, but I can lend you my laptop to help translate it.” Summer said. She then turned to the other one and squinted at it. “I don’t recognise… Oh. OH! Wow, Shy’s special. No wonder she was always so afraid of things.”

“What? What does it say?” I asked excitedly.

“This is written in changeling dialect. Almost gave up on it, but Bonbon came and translated it through the Hive Mind. Shy’s got an Unmasked Changeling signature, and it’s the Yellow type. Fear. Explains why she prefers the company of her loving animal friends.” Summer said with a satisfied sigh.

“That really does explain a lot. Both how she can talk with animals so easily, and why she was so jumpy before. She probably passively hoarded fear, but because she isn’t an actual changeling, she never got rid of it.” Spec theorised.

“Interesting… Well then, Spec, would you mind letting it scan you too?” I asked.

“Ok, but the results now, and when I fully recover will probably be a bit different.” She said as she climbed up the seat. I started it again, and waited for the results. What I saw was just about what somepony would expect of a natural dark filly, with Unicorn dominance, with a small bit of Dark, and Pegasus on the side.

“Not very impressive, but that’s to be expected of in that form, right? Okay, now it’s my turn.” I climbed onto the chair, and Summer took the liberty of starting the machine for me. When the results came, I watched in anticipation as it printed… and kept printing. I was astounded there was just so much of it. When it finished, I took it and looked over it, though I was disappointed that so much of it was corrupted in many various ways. The only thing that was clear was the Unicorn magic, but that was a given. Summer looked at it over my shoulder.

“Holy shit, Twilight. That’s a lot of shit. With that much chimerism, you might as well be like… the Alicorn of Magic or something.” she said, putting a weird, knowing inflection on that.

“Summer...” Spec growled at her. “Can I gave a look too?” She then asked in a normal tone. I passed it to her as Summer giggled at Spec. She looked at it for a few moments before speaking. “Well, this just makes sense as far as I know. Every single pony has trace amounts of foreign magic, most cases are so faint it’s completely undetectable, it’s called chimerism only when it can be detected. With Twilight’s unnaturally high magic potential, it only makes sense that these trace signatures are pushed into the detectable range.” She said, giving it back.

“I guess I’ll just have to figure out what they are on my own.” I said, excited at the prospect of discovery.

“Well, thanks for this, Twilight. Maybe we can meet up again some other time when Spec’s back to being Soul. Ought to be real interesting.” Summer said before leaving. One by one, the rest of the girls thanked me for the experience, and left. Now alone, I mulled over my scans, trying to figure out if maybe there was any kind of pattern among it. I had a lot of work to do...

Arc III, Act 3: Poison Clop

Author's Note

Warning, there is clop in this chapter.
Triggers: Unbirth, oviposition, bondage, Slime pony and a certain Nightmare being the submissive little victim.
There will be a warning when you reach it.

Arc III, Act 3: Poison Clop

~Summer~

It’s been a few days since that little meetup, and the summer days are coming to a close. Soon the little children will have be going back to school, turns out that the school in Ponyville is open even during summer, but unless you were doing badly in the previous term, or just want to get extra preparation, it’s completely optional, but there’s still a few events left before then. For one, Zecora has yet to arrive in town for anything, and Fluttershy still hasn’t gotten any dragons to take a hike and sleep somewhere else. There have been some new developments though. I’ve started training Sweetie, and it’s been going swimmingly so far. I’ve started off each morning with her by having her repeat the phrase “Protect the Innocent, Help the Helpless” to remind her why we’re doing this and why she still has weapons. A sort of passive brainwashing without actually getting into her head, according to some. After that, I moved on to start going over Tinker’s notes with her, to discuss how each weapon should be used.

Another occurrence that happened over the past few days, is Rarity’s growing frustration with trying to find a Dark Magic mentor. Apparently the ponies she’s been asking have mostly been either too busy with their studies or too busy digging their heads deeper up their ass. Twilight’s given a few references, but so far the results from those haven’t come in. At this rate though, Rarity might as well ask Soul if he could teach her.

I was headed over to the boutique to see if Rarity had any replies yet, since I dearly hoped she could get a mentor. However, I noticed the streets were pretty empty. Normally at this time of day, everypony’s out doing something. Wait, empty streets, midday, tumbling tumbleweed… Zecora’s here, isn’t she? I sigh and roll my eyes, making a pointed effort to not stray too close to any doors a pony could yank me through until I could get to the boutique. Rarity wasn’t there of course, and I facehoofed upon realizing she’d be at Sugarcube Corner, hiding with the rest of the girls. Sighing, I went back out, and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“ALL OF YOU PONIES ARE SUPERSTITIOUS IDIOTS!” I expressed my frustrations.

“Well, I never!” A voice exclaimed to my side. I turned to look, surprised someone was actually out. A light blue unicorn, with a spiderweb cutie mark stood there with the most insulted look I’d ever seen.

“My apologies, I was talking about everypony that shut themselves in because of the stupid, unbased rumors flying around about that zebra.” I said. I noticed her squinting at me though, like she was suspicious of something.

“I’m Web Weaver, I was just dropping off some silk Rarity ordered for one of her dresses.” she introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, miss Weaver. I’m Summer Dash. I came to see how progress was for her in getting a Dark Magic tutor.” I introduced. “However, I then noticed how everypony was gone, having fallen to the power of Stupid.”

Weaver had a small chuckle at my statement, before I realized, she had somehow corralled me back into the boutique and was really eyeing me. “Just who are you? The only Pride changeling that lived here has been dead.”

“Hey, same body, new soul. Switch got yanked out of his body, and I made a deal back in my world that ended in me replacing him.”

“Thats a lie and you know it.” Next thing I knew she went up in violet flames and was replaced by something that would give me the creeps thinking about it for weeks. It looked like a changeling with spider legs instead of wings, and a lower jaw that split down the middle. She actually pounced me and begun wrapping me up in web while I was recovering from shock.

“...Well, this is a surprise. A changeling that can’t use their empathy to detect what’s true and what’s not.” I glared at her. “...Please ignore the lust, it’s just that you’re hitting a lot of fetish points right now.”

“So you have fetish for you insides being liquefied and sucked through a crazy straw? And that whole ‘empathy lie detector’ is incredibly easy to bluff if you know what you're doing.” She replied with an acid tone. Welp. There goes all the lust.

“No, I’m talking about bondage. And as for the knowing what you're doing thing, honestly more often than I’d like to admit, I really don’t.” I said with a deadpan.

“Just… Stop trying to confuse me and tell me who sent you here!” She spat back with a look that could only be described as ‘either this girl has no sense of self preservation, or she’s ballsy as all hell.’ I’d go with the second one.

“Bitch, I’m a fucking Element Bearer.” In response, my Element, still wrapped around my neck since I got it, lit up. “And if you really need a superior’s word, tap into the local hivemind and ask Shinkiro.” I irritably shot back. A few minutes of silence later and she backed off, apparently having tried to call what she thought was my bluff, only to find out it wasn’t. I didn’t even know changelings could blush that deep

“Well… This is more awkward than that time I met a changeling who had inherited characteristics from a Draconian Tapeworm.” she muttered. I tilted my head in confusion, but let it go.

“...So, since after saying how you’d kill me, staying in this web isn’t very kinky anymore, so would you mind letting me out?” I asked. “Oh, and protip, unless you want the world to burn down in hellfire, don’t let me die. Kind of part of the deal I mentioned.”

“Don’t you know it's rude to sass a lady?” she replied in a huff.

“Sorry, I grew up in a shitty society where manners were the first to die. Honor came next.” I snarked. Any retort she could come up with was put on hold as we were alerted by knocking on the door, which opened immediately after, revealing Spec standing there. She took one look at both of us, shook her head and closed the door again, leaving us in an awkward silence.

“... Well that just happened. I wonder what she thought when she saw us…” I muttered. Probably something kinky.

“Indeed” she replied dryly.

“...Would you please let me out of this thing? Or do I have to use my Weaponshifting ability and turn all my limbs into blades so I can slip out?” I asked.

“But you actually kinda look cute all strung up…” Oh god she was pouting... how can something with split jaws pout and look cute! I relented anyway, not even resisting.

“Okay, I guess I could stay. I’m starting to feel kinky again anyway.” I said with a little blush.

“Thank you, it would be a shame to waste all that silk.” She replied with a small smile

...How the fuck is it that every time you meet a strange changeling, you end up in a kinky situation? What’s next, you meet one that has aphrodisiac venom? Ugh… I’m out. Eclipse complained. I giggled.

“Well, as long as I’m here…~” I looked at her suggestively.

“Oh Deary, are you really that aroused?” she asked in surprise. I shrugged.

“It doesn’t take much for me to be willing to do it.” I replied.

“It would be rude to commit such an act in another's house though, no?” she suggested. I was disappointed, but I could accept a no.

“Alright, fair point. Some other time then?” I asked.

“Most certainly, I'd welcome you into my web any time.” she said with a smile.

“Alright. So uh… what was that about the tapeworm thingy?” I asked, bringing up what I had heard earlier.

“Oh you mean Tape Eater? Yeah, her mother somehow got it on with a Draconian Tapeworm, and she inherited some of its characteristics, like the ability to survive just about any amount of heat and be unaffected by acid.” She explained. I blinked, just imagining how the heck a worm could have done that. I had a few fetish fueled ideas, but I didn’t dwell.

“So what did you inherit from?” I asked, curious.

“Dawainin Giant Bark Spider.” she replied.

“Huh. I guess I wouldn’t just be able to cut my way out of this then…” I muttered.

“Indeed, Deary. Don’t worry, i’ll cut you out when it’s time.” she promised.

“Alright then… I just hope the girls don’t end up doing something worse than walking through a few poison joke flowers.” I muttered.

“It’s always amusing to see what happens to somepony who is affected by it…” she chuckled.

“Speaking of which, I’m a little curious to see what would happen to me.” I replied.

“Think of the most embarrassing, but relatively harmless, thing that could happen to you” she replied with a bit of a grin.

“...Kinda hard to. It’s not easy to embarrass me, I’ve got next to nothing when it comes to shame.” I replied.

“Even being turned into a stallion with a permanent hard on? It's happened to a mare before.” she spoke in a cautious tone.

“Been there, done that. And I sported it with pride… false pride, but whatever. I was born male in my world.” I said with a shrug.

She blushed a little “Wow…” I nodded. Spec chose this moment to return, once again opening the doors. This time she had eyes closed and covered with her foreleg.

“Summer? Girls just went into the forest to get Applebloom. That means they will be back soon. So… you should probably wrap this thing up… or would that be unwrap it? Whatever, I warned you, bye.” With that she once again shut the door.

“Well, I guess until next time Deary.” She said as she licked one of her spider legs, and traced it down the cocoon of web trapping me. Apparently her saliva was some kinda solvent, as the webs soon fell away and I was able to finally move again. Widow picked up the discarded webs, and after resuming her disguise, made to leave after placing the silk she was delivering on the counter. I left too, headed for the forest. When I got there, the girls were already coming back with Applebloom.

“Hang on for a second, I’m gonna go grab one of those flowers you girls just walked through.” I said before darting past them, leaving them confused. I soon came back with the flower, smiling with a goofy grin.

“...Why are you smiling like that?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Oh, nothing… just whatever happens to all of us tomorrow morning, you can blame it on these beautiful terrors. Zecora was trying to warn you of them, but like idiots, none of you listened.” I told them.

“Wait, you mean those flowers of all things are gonna mess with us?” Rainbow asked in disbelief. “Then how come you just went and grabbed one?”

“Because unlike all of you, I have no shame so I won’t be bothered by whatever happens to me.” I claimed with a bigger grin.

Oh dear Faust… If it weren’t for the fact that I’m bound to you, I’d have ditched you long ago because of that bullshit. Eclipse groaned.

~Eclipse~

It was the next morning now. The fading edges of vision in Summer’s dream told me that, thankfully, she was finally waking up. I silently prayed thanks to Faust for bringing an end to such a horridly errotic dream… At least I knew now why Summer didn’t want me opening the R34 file in here. She opened it herself and unleashed fresh hell upon the both of us. It was a comfort that at least I would no longer be held within the confines of Summer’s womb, in the dreamscape.

However, when I next opened my eyes, I was surprised not to behold the usual sight of the computer consoles that made up the mental maintenance portion of Summer’s mind. Instead, I was greeted by the sight of my orange forelegs cuddling a pillow. Said pillow had also been receiving oral from me for whatever reason. I spat it out in disgust.

“What. The. Fuck.” I was at least relieved to find I had my own voice, if not quite as imposing as it had once been.

Um… Agreed. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! WHY ARE YOU IN CONTROL?! Summer freaked out.

“...Motherfucking poison joke.” I said with a facehoof.

Oh. Well now I’m slightly regretting touching that thing… Oh hey, my tail’s raised. Is that you? Summer asked. I blinked as I turned to see what she was talking about. Indeed her tail was raised, but I couldn’t force it back down, not even through pushing it with my hooves.

“...Well, this is going to be embarrassing… I really hope nopony takes this as an invitation in the middle of the street.” I deadpanned.

You and me both… Let’s haul ass outta here before Shin wakes up and takes advantage of it too. Summer suggested. I shivered at the memory of what Shin had done last time, and readily agreed. Thankfully I left without incident, but then I had to hurry to the Library. I didn’t want anyone looking at my flanks for longer than necessary. Summer didn’t live too far away from the library, so it wasn’t that long of a trip.

When I got there, the girls were all bickering like fools… again. Only this time, it was an argument about who’s got it the worst. Groaning, I spoke up.

“Oh would you all shut up? I already have enough of a headache here from the shit I’m going through.” I said, my voice immediately getting their attention.

“Wait, what? Eclipse?” Twilight asked uncertainly. “What happened to Summer?”

“Shoved in the back where I normally am.” I replied. “Now let’s go find Zecora and get this cured before I flash the wrong pony.” I insisted.

“Wait, why should we go to her?” Rainbow asked.

“Because she has the cure’s ingredients. She saw you frolicing into the damned flowers like fools yesterday, she knows you’re going to need the cure. Why wouldn't she go ahead and gather them to help us?” I reasoned. Pinkie tried to say something in response, probably that evil enchantress shit, but her massive tongue was in the way. “You fucking idiot. So ignorant.”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, missy!” Applejack shouted. She’s got some lungs on her, that’s for sure. Even as tiny as she was.

“Focus on the cure, and you won’t have to worry about it, Bite Size.” I shot back. I left before they could bother me about it anymore, aiming to head straight for Zecora. I sighed as I caught many ponies staring at my flank. I swear, when it’s not idiots, I’m surrounded by horndogs. I honestly have to wonder how Summer deals with this shit… Oh wait, no shame. Fucking degenerate…

{Clop Begins Here}

After a long, mental spiel of insults at both my host, and the situation to which I’m surprised she didn’t respond, I was interrupted in my forest trek when I heard something in the foliage.

“Summer?” a familiar voice asked. I sighed.

“Sorry, not now. It’s Eclipse, thanks to that damn flower.” I said as I turned to the new face. However, my face slammed into a sticky web instead of open air, obscuring my vision. “...What the fuck?” I tried backing up, but I only ended up in yet another web. At least I could see now, And what I saw froze me in shock. That was a lot of webs. Did I make the wrong turn or something?

“Welcome to my parlour, little fly.” She said with a large smile on her face. Ooooooh, fuck.

Oh fuck yes. Summer grinned in my head.

I felt the web jiggle a little, and realized that… Oh. the idiot never asked her for her real name! Anyways, ‘Web Weaver’ was now above us, using her spider legs to casually walk on the web, and was staring at a certain raised tail.

“...Faust Damn it, I knew this would happen.” I groaned… But Summer’s enjoyment of the situation meant I was getting a little wet down there, which miss ‘Web’ noticed too.

“Hehe, somepony’s excited, don't worry, Deary, I'll wrap you up nice and snug.”

“...Just… Just don’t make me hate this more than I already do.” I begged.

“Oh, Deary, there's no need to be ashamed.” She cood as she went to work, slowly and methodically wrapping me up in her silk, until after a few minutes, she came to a stop at my neck. It was surprisingly more comfortable than the rush job that was done at Rarity’s.

Ooh, this is way better than before. Ought to be a really nice little treatment. Though I wonder if she has any eggs to lay… Summer muttered. I groaned again.

Please, stop. I do not need that mental image. I begged.

Oh, but you might not be prepared to face it if it happens if I just stop. Summer taunted.

“Now Deary, I’ve had some blank eggs that have been causing me some discomfort…” She said as she opened the portion of silk covering my dripping slit. I squirmed a bit, certain I would soon be taking that discomfort. But I knew it was pointless, and not only that, but my squirming could just be mistaken for horny want.

“Oh, what an eager little fly.” She smiled, as i noticed a small plate of chitin above her entrance slide open, and an ovipositor peek out. I choked up a bit upon seeing it, wanting to look away but unable to.

This is going to be...Eggcelent. Summer punned horribly. I mentally screamed.

Miss ‘Web’ soon had her ovipositor hovering over my dripping slit. “Oh, would you rather I finish wrapping you up first?” she asked teasingly.

“Please, just… get it over with.” I begged, spreading my legs as best I could. She slid it into me, gently pumping as she shivered from the pleasant sensation.

“You’re a tight one…”she cooed. I grunted a bit as the sensations ran up my own spine, clenching instinctively on it as it entered me. I grit my teeth to hold back a scathing response, instead just seething at Summer. She however was having the time of her life.

Really wishing I’d saved my virginity for this… this is heaven… she moaned. ‘Web’ picked up the pace, while at the same time picking up my cocooned body and carrying it to the center of the web. I felt the first egg start to move down her ovipositor, and squirmed a bit, arching my back as it set off all the best nerves. The deeper it went, the less I was beginning to hate this situation.

F-fuck… Damn you and your fetishes Summer, I should not be enjoying this! I mentally screamed. Soon came the second egg, setting off a similar, but more intense reaction than the first. She gradually sped up, pumping more and more eggs into me until i was starting to feel bloated. By then, I couldn’t really think much beyond moaning and suffering the further loss of my resistance. Soon I was absolutely stuffed, and ‘Web’ finally seemed to have ran out.

“My my, aren't you a glutton?” she asked sensually.

Yes~ Summer moaned.

“Ugh...Damn my host and her fetishes…” I groaned.

Before I could really collect myself, miss ‘Web’ finished the job of wrapping me up. As Summer finished moaning about how full we were, I tried in vain to stop it. But my addled mind just couldn’t seem to cooperate with Summer’s body.

“N-no…” I moaned. When the last of me had been fully encased in silk, I felt her gently bite on my ear, further reinforcing how helpless I was… and how kinky the situation was for Summer. “P-please… I still need the Poison Joke Cure…” I protested feebly. Miss ‘Web’ eventually relented and released me, and I was glad to move on, trying to find my way back to a path I was familiar with, though with my belly heavily bloated with eggs. However, before I could get very far along, I came across something else that stopped me. I was just passing through what at first seemed to be just a normal puddle of water, but then I got stuck halfway through it.

“Oh Faust, what now?” I groaned. The ‘puddle’ soon started to take the form of a transparent aquamarine pony. I stared at it for a moment, before groaning.

“Make it quick, I have a poison joke cure to get.” I told it.

Oh please, take your time… Maybe let it fill us like those eggs. Summer sensuously suggested, still not recovered from earlier.

“Why’d you step in me!? I was having a nice nap! Do you know how uncomfortable it is to have a hoof stuffed in you!?” I just deadpanned.

“...You realize it’s far too easy to mistake you for water?” I pointed out.

“Sure! Call me a puddle why don’t you! I oughta… ohhh~ what's this?” she paused her angry rant when she noticed my tail.

“Poison Joke’s curse.” I bluntly replied.

“Well now I know how to get back at you~” she giggled darkly. I sighed.

“Oh sure, have at me why don’t you. In fact, why not hitch a ride and stay in for a while!” I sarcastically suggested, fed up with this shit.

“Good idea!” I blinked as I realized I’d just tempted fate. I would have facehoofed if I could lift my hoof to do so.

“Faust damnit.” I groaned.The slimy pony crawled up my leg and managed to force itself into my already full womb, somehow, while leaving a bit of itself behind keeping me stuck, and begun vibrating. I moaned, quickly losing control of my limbs and just barely keeping my hind legs standing. Summer was wildly screaming with lust, making it hard to think beyond moans of desire. Eventually the slime pulled the last bits of itself into my womb too, using itself to hold it shut and keep the slime from dripping out. I panted, recovering once again from cumming hard around the slime pony, but feeling incredibly bloated.

“Oh sweet Luna… Can I even fit anything else inside of me?” I wondered. I shivered, hoping nothing else would force its way in as I began waddling off again.

Huh… I look like Blue Drip now… Summer moaned, a memory of some art on one of those web sites she visits propping up. I rolled my eyes, just ignoring it.

{Clop End}

This time, I actually made it to Zecora’s hut. Amazingly, it was only maybe an hour’s trip from Miss Web’s domain… well, an hour unburdened. I took about two to get there. The girls were long gone now, but Zecora was in there, preparing something.

“Zecora? That the cure you’re preparing?” I called out when I stood at her door, knocking. She was quick to answer the door.

“Ah, you must be a friend, one who helped set a better end.” she greeted, subtly referencing the girls. They must have talked about me.

“Yeah, yeah, how soon can it get done? I wanna get my host back in control as soon as possible.” I griped.

“Such a strong temper. Very well, we shall skip the idle banter.” Zecora said, clearly annoyed by my attitude. She went back to her brew, stirring it again. “The others were quite worried. Fearing that away, you would be carried. They will be set at peace, when they see you return in one piece.”

Really cutting it close with those rhymes, Zecora. Summer winced.

“I know, dear Summer. But do you really expect me to rhyme perfectly?” Zecora replied. It took me a moment to realize she’d neglected to rhyme there, aside from the fact that she’d heard Summer. I sat there in awkward silence after that, just processing it for a few moments and trying to think of something to say. Eventually I settled on nothing.

~Summer~

I sighed in relief as I regained control. I pat my still bloated belly, glad to have a passenger within. I’d been craving this for the longest time… too bad for Eclipse though. She didn’t have to go through all that shit. The girls all stared at me now, certain I was back in control. Eclipse hadn’t said a word to them when we got back, so it was up to me now that I was back.

“Here’s the deal: I have no shame, so the Poison Joke threw someone else in control that had plenty to be ashamed of… and the world exploited that. Eclipse got me dominated by a spider pony, and a goo pony.” I eagerly shared. They were all blushing so red so quickly, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight got nosebleeds. I laughed at their looks, amused at the implications.

“Wh-where did you even meet th-the spider pony?” Fluttershy asked.

“Why? You interested?” I asked, earning a jet of blood from her nose. She passed out after that, and I laughed harder.

“Hey Shin! You would not believe what happened to me today!” I called out as I once more entered my home.

“Let me guess, you underestimated poison joke and had a run in with a certain spider changeling hybrid?” she called back with amused chuckling.

“That, and a slime pony decided to hijack my womb. Poor Eclipse was just so fed up…” I laughed, getting a grumble in response from said dark spirit thingy.

“Wait, is that why you still bloated? I thought that was from Widow…” She asked in surprise.

“It’s both actually. Though I wonder how long it’ll stay in here. Feels nice, and I almost never want to let it out.” I replied, noting the spider pony’s name. “Flutters might be interested in visiting Widow.” I said as a sort of afterthought.

Act III, Interlude: Day After

The next day found my belly back to normal, as well as a trio of ponies I’d had the pleasure of being pleasured by chatting together at the dinner table. I was a little disappointed that my hijacker had left, but I suppose I couldn’t just keep it in forever, as much as I wanted to.Still, I got up and joined them for breakfast. I decided to cook up some fried eggs, despite none of us needing physical food. Changelings could still taste it though, which meant they were treated to a delicacy, especially when I made some bacon and toast to go with it.

Bacon was the first thing gone from my plate, mainly because I didn’t want Peeko to keep trying to steal it.

“So, uh… is it just me or does having everyone who’s screwed me in the same room feel kinda awkward?” I said as I sat down at the table.

“Is that true Shinkiro? I didn’t know you were into...” Widow said teasingly.

“Real form has one, so no, i'm not. And i would appreciate if you didn't say such things around Peeko, Summer.” Shin replied. I chuckled.

“Sorry. So, uh… yeah, sorry about how rude Eclipse was. Getting shoved into control was not pleasant… for either of us.” I apologise, mainly to Widow and the slime pony.

“Wait, you have multiple personalities?” The slime asked with a confused look. I blinked.

“What? No, I have multiple souls. The other one’s a broken fragment of the Nightmare that once possessed Luna.” I replied.

“Eep!” said slime literally melted into a puddle in fright. Not at the mention of Nightmare, but of Luna. I stared for a second.

“...What?” I asked, confused.

“She was the one who lead the hunts!” she squeaked in fear.

“Oh. Well keep in mind she’s as weak as a little filly right now.” I said, hoping that would comfort her. The puddle on the floor eventually stopped quivering.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, when the elements ripped the Nightmare out of her, it took all her magic with it. She’s still recovering, and regrets everything she’s done to hurt anything.” I said.

The feeling of getting glomped by a slime was weird, but not unlike when you get hugged in a pool.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Peeko soon joined in by hugging my face again.

“... Not that I don’t appreciate the hugs, but I don’t even know your name.” I said to the slime.

“O-ocean Breeze.” she replied. Before I could reply however, someone knocked on the door. The changelings present immediately threw on their disguises.

“Come in.” I called out. The door opened, revealing that it was Soul who was knocking.

“Summer? Girls said something about…” Soul said, stopping when he noticed the situation I was in and stared for a second. “Ok, I don’t even know what I was expecting, it’s always something weirder than the last time.”

“What, weird? Dude, it’s just thursday.”

“Really, another changeling?” Widow lamented, as both her and shin let their disguises drop. Soul for his part only jumped a little, before shaking his head and fully entering.

“No, he’s just a very weird ex-human. He was actually that filly from yesterday.” I replied.

“Summer, both of those are practically top secret information, you let them slip again and you’ll be going someplace cold.” Soul said with threatening undertone.

“Well I’m sorry you have trust issues.” I said sarcastically. “I could give a damn about that being secret.”

“Ummm, who's that?” Ocean hesitantly asked.

“Name’s Soulfire, call me Soul.” he said in his normal tone, before switching back into threatening one. “And I have reasons to keep that down, Summer. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

“So the scary stallion is really a cute little filly? How adorable!” Widow squeed.

“It’s the other way around.” Soul groaned. I giggled.

“Hey Soul, should I tell them it only happens when you die?” I asked, while making it blatantly obvious it was just a taunting way of telling them.

“Strike two! Get a third one and you win a ticket to Moon express!” Soul said slightly angry, though I just giggled in response.

“What? I asked this time.” I said.

Please don’t. I don’t want to go back to the moon… Eclipse begged. I sighed.

“Alright, fine. My lips are sealed.” I said before shifting into myself with a zipper on my mouth. Ah, the magic of shapeshifting.

“That’s at least something.” Soul muttered. “I only came here to make sure you were alright, girls had some concerns about you because of yesterday.”

“Like what? I got the Poison Joke cure. All that happened was me walking away heavily pregnant with a slime. I even talked with them… and I think Fluttershy’s interested in Widow.” I said, confused about their concerns.

“Oh Dear. You mean the shy little yellow one?” The arachnide changeling said with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s her. I told the girls about how I got so stuffed, and her nosebleed turned into a jet.” I said with a giggle.

“I might just have to oblige her.”

“Ughh… Is that all you can think about Summer? All your weird kinks and fetishes? You know what? I don’t care, I came to check on you and you are obviously fine. Unless any of you have anything against it, I’m leaving.” Soul said, already turning to the door.

“Why don’t you stay a while, we’ve got bacon?” Shinkiro asked.

“...Why? Why do you want me to stay? You obviously have a lot of… changeling matters to talk about or something.” Soul said after a moment of hesitation.

“Oh, no Deary, it was a social visit.” Widow said, before Peeko turned to look at Soul with an expression that would make anyone feel like a horrible person for saying no to. Soul tried to resist for a few moments before finally giving up and walking to the table.

“Fine, you win. Still don’t know what you want me here for.” Soul said as blue flames washed over his body, darkening his fur and making his eyes slitted. “What, you are without a disguise, I thought I would follow suit.” Peeko was right in Soul’s face just… staring at him intently.

“Peeko. Why you being so creepy?” I asked. She pointed at soul's face without breaking eye contact. I intensely stared at the intense staring contest, waiting for a real answer.

“You don’t like my face?” Soul guessed. Peeko giggled but kept staring intensely. “Alright, you win.” He relented and blinked. Pekko startled giggling and clapping, and backed off.

“So, Soul, do tell. What brought you to Ponyville?” Widow asked

“Keeping an eye on miss walking apocalypse over here.” Soul answered and pointed at me.

“Really? She doesn’t look like Pinkie on caffeine.” she replied. I sighed grimly.

“If I die, so does the world. It’s part of a deal I made to get here in the first place.” I explained.

“Oh…” Widow said, now look a bit glum.

“W-wait, t-the world going to e-end!?” Ocean stammered out, latching onto me like a barnacle.

“If Summer get’s killed, then it’s pretty much it for the whole world. Real dumb decision on her part if you ask me.” Soul calmly said. “I never got half of your names by the way.”

“O-ocean B-breeze” The slime replied

“Widow.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Soul politely said.

“Breeze… you seem a lot more shy than when you dominated me.” I stated inquisitively.

“I was angry, you woke me up…” She replied. I nodded.

“Ah… Well I wouldn’t mind if you ever decide to do it again.” I said with a smile.

“So, Soul, tell me…” Widow spoke up. “Do you like being the pretty little filly?” That question prompted a subtle eye twitch from Soul.

“I don’t mind that form from a personal standpoint, what irks me are limited access to magic and how others tend to see me. But playing the blunt and highly observant to annoy those that dismiss me can be fun.” He replied, glancing at Shin.

“How cute! Maybe I should baby you next time that happens!” Widow squeed. Shinkiro sniggered at her response.

“Don’t.” Was Soul’s sole response to that. I could tell he’s getting annoyed.

“Okay, I can tell the jokes overstayed its welcome.” Widow said, still chuckling a little.

“Thank you. Now, what even brought this odd gathering on?” Soul asked.

“Basically, yesterday.” I answered.

“Right, all because you just had to go and pick a Poison Joke flower. How did you dispose of that thing?” Soul said.

“I burned it.” I said, pointing to the burned flower in the vase I left in the center of the house.

“Good. And a warning for all of you, don’t try to hit me with a Poison Joke curse as a prank, or anything else. I have severe, violent and immediate reaction to it.” Soul warned.

“...Violent how?” I asked warily.

“Blast of coldness strong enough to freeze a wendigo solid. That violent, you wouldn’t get away in time.” Soul said with a serious look on his face.

“Have you actually tested that on a windigo? Or are you exaggerating?” I asked.

“I… never found a wendigo in the first place, but every measuring method available failed to record just how cold that blast is, always goes below the scale. Machines break and magic just… fails to get it.” Soul admitted.

“Wow, that is cold. I’ll take your word for it.” I muttered.

“Sounds like it could kill…” Shinkiro added. Ocean shivered at the thought of being frozen.

“Yeah, never actually tested that but all the data points towards it being able to. But you know Poison Joke, you can’t take anything for certain with that plant.” Soul said. Before anyone could say anything else though, a small cloud of smoke flew through a window and transformed into a small stack of papers in front of Soul.

“Um… Wow.” I muttered as I stared at the stack. “I’m afraid to ask what all that is.”

“Ughh… It’s paperwork Celestia keeps sending me. There is going to be more, so I probably should go now.” Soul groaned, but before he could do anything, another stack arrived. I winced as it arrived, already imagining how big it’ll get. Probably bigger than my belly yesterday. As Soul picked it all up in his magic and started to head towards the door, few more showed up, there was enough to stack it higher then he was, and it wasn’t stopping.

“Oh dear god… Here, let me help.” I said, jumping to pick up a bulk of it and rush to get it out.

“Thanks… but I think it’s too late.” He said as he pointed towards the window. There was a smoke cloud the size of our dining table squeezing its way in.

“Oh god i’m getting paper in meeee!” Ocean shouted in mock distress. I deadpanned for a moment.

“Well what do you expect me to do? I can’t stop that message.” I stated.

“I know. I shouldn’t have stayed.” He said, voice full of regret, as the cloud of paper-doom finally got in and started hovering above him. It stayed there for a second before erupting into a shower of paper and scrolls, completely burying Soul under literal mountain of paperwork. I sighed as I started helping dig him out. It took us about ten minutes to get him out from under all that paper and gather every loose bit of paperwork that flooded the entire room. “Thanks for the help, I’ll just teleport it all with me. I don’t think it’s a good idea to be lugging this much stuff across the town.”

“Good idea.” I replied. I turned back to the Shifter group and left Soul to his stuff. “So what now?”

“See you all later? Sometime...maybe?” Soul called out to us before his spell finished charging and he, and all of the paperwork, were gone in a big flash and a loud BANG. I noticed one got left behind though, and almost took it and teleported with it to him, but then I noticed who had written it.

“Oh well shit. Hang on, I’m gonna add this to the Flower.” I said, tossing the piece of shit to the vase. It burned on the way. “Heh… just what Blueblood’s trash deserves… Too bad he’s too important to kill.”

Arc III, Interlude 2: Chaos on Dustbowl

“Okay, I think I’m ready for round 13 of Anti-dominance training.” I said as I came home for the night. It had been a crazy day. Thankfully without any signs of Nightmares on the rise for the past four days. Dragonshy happened today as well, though I didn’t go… especially after I’d heard that dragons make frequent meals out of changelings. I’d just finished up checking with the girls after they got back, and decided I needed to get some more mental training.

I soon felt shins mind pressing against my own as she tried to will me into submission. I stood strong against it, even pushing back with my mental defenses, pressing a few memes against her mind, particularly the Nyan Cat. She was caught off guard by my sudden increase in ability to resist, let alone fight back, and actually succumbed to my will. I was actually surprised when I succeeded, and I didn’t know what to make her do, really… It was kinda creepy having her stare at me, unmoving though.

“...Uh, act like a cute kitty.” I said, drawing inspiration from the thought that had downed her. She promptly started nuzzling and brushing against me, demanding affection. I giggled, petting her with hands. It was nice, despite what I was petting being nearly twice my size. Especially when she started purring. After a few minutes of thinking, I sighed. “I’m kinda stuck on ideas… ugh, even Writer’s block isn’t this bad. Can you help, please?”

“Perhaps have me please you? Or just snuggle with you?” She suggested eagerly.

“I think I’ll pass on the Pleasing for now. Maybe snuggles… Unless you can get me bloated like the other two did.” I suggested, mentally giving a free speech command.

“I wish I could, but I don't have any eggs currently.” She replied in a much more monotone voice, before holding me in a hug. “You did well overpowering my mental defences.”

“I’m actually surprised I held out at all without Eclipse backing me this time.” I said with a proud smile. “Hehe… Welp, I’m gonna go take a shower.” I said, though hesitantly. I cut the mental link before Shin could pick up on it and find out how I’d treated my old human body. Absently, lost in thought, I got into the tub without looking, and stopped to look at what I felt around my hoof. Then I stared with wide eyes at what I saw.

Heheh… Now you fucked up. Eclipse said with a chuckle. I soon felt her presence leave me, meaning she was leaving me to suffer this one alone.

“I thought I told you to not wake me up! I literally fell asleep like, fifteen minutes ago!” Ocean hissed as she looked at me, and promptly dragged the rest of my body into the tub until her slimy body was occasionally lapping at my chin, aside from what was covering my horn. I panicked and tried to teleport out, but my magic didn’t move an inch. That fueled my panic further and I flailed as best I could, but my limbs kept getting pulled back into their original position like a rubber band was attached to them. “Did you not realize slimes are null-magical creatures? We don’t have magic, and aren’t affected by it.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention!” I pleaded.

“Too bad!”

I woke up, surrounded by goo. At first I wondered how the hell I’d gotten into the bathroom, but then I remembered last night. God, I must have kept the neighbors up last night with how much I was moaning. She must have exhausted herself keeping me on edge with her teasing for so long, and passed out… and I probably slept in her shortly after. At that, I held still, not risking waking her up again. As fun as it was, I didn’t want it to occupy my morning.

“Oh, finally awake? You looked so comfy…” she murmured. I chuckled.

“You make a good bed... And an excellent dominatrix.” I commented.

“I-i do?” Holy crap, I didn’t know a slime could blush. I chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah. Though if you react like that every time I piss you off, I might go waking you up more often.” I warned. “Any sexual contact is like a reward for me.”

“Meep!” Ocean squeaked. I could feel her blushing around me. I chuckled as I moved to get up.

“Welp. I’m headed to RED’s. I got work to do, we’re having our first match since Switch died.” I said, stretching happily.

Dustbowl, first stage, RED spawn

I smirked as I checked my gear. Today was going to be a fun day, for me at least. I’d just learned that the rules of this match were nothing like the game. The only thing that mattered was that you stuck to your weapons for kills, because killing any other way was a permanent death. The whole system was linked heavily to Mann Co’s weapons. Though I did learn the hard way earlier this week that dying was still a painful experience. Playing around with Degroot’s Loose Cannon is not something I recommend.

Of course, even touching the Eternal reward forced me back into my changeling base form, but once I get a stab, I should be golden.

Bang B-b-b-ba-bang The sounds of pan spamming filtered into my room and I facehoofed. Of course they would be idiots before the round started.

“Need a dispenser here!”

“Pootispencer here!”

“Gottamove that gear up!”

“Pootis-POW!”

“Huddu huddu huddu!”

“MEEEEEDIIIIC!”

I groaned, covering my ears and opening the Dead Ringer. Maybe it would save me from any ear damage.

“Mission begins in 60 seconds”

Everyone promptly grabbed the melee weapons they were actually planning on using as the RED teams gates opened, giving us a minute to set up defenses and get into position I headed out, using my wings to stay above and out of sight until I could get to my spot, sticking to the wall above their spawn doors like a creepy alien predator. Our scout saw this and flashed me a quick wing up.

“Mission begins in 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” The Blue spawn doors opened,and the enemy team rolled out. I quickly noticed the circle of fire surrounding the enemy Heavy. I quickly messaged our Sniper using the temporary hive mind links I’d set up for us, asking him to deal with the heavy after I take out the Medic. Sniper agreed, though he messaged Soldier that he was gonna soak the Heavy. Soldier took aim, and waited for the cue. Degroot was already hiding between the wall and the shack by their spawn, getting ready to taunt kill with his Zatoichi. Engineer and Heavy were set up in the building the first point was on, Heavy already wound up and parked by the dispenser, just waiting for an attack, with Pyro keeping an eye on his back.

Then, chaos. Sniper took the shot, and the dart exploded into a color of piss, soaking the enemy team, before Soilder got lucky and exploded them with a crocket, leaving Degroot giving him the stink eye. The Medic was still alive though, having hung far enough back to avoid most of the splash damage, but I took care of him quickly with a drop stab, landing in front of him and sinking my knife between his eyes. The knife worked its magic, evaporating him and allowing me to take his form.

Absolutely beautiful… Hey, where’s their Engineer? I blinked as I noticed said unicorn hadn’t showed up in the killfeed.

*Thwip* The sound of a flying piss filled dart sounded, followed by the dying scream of the Engie told me our sniper had the same thought, yet got the answer.

Behind you. Eclipse warned.

“Think fast chucklenuts!” was what i heard before a jar of… ‘non milk substance’ flew at my face. I ducked, but it still covered me as it shattered on the ground behind me. I shook a bit as I felt the air clearly against my wet back, glaring at the blu scout.

“I am going to enjoy sinking my knife into your skull.”

“You’ll have to catch me first! Woosh!” He snarked as he sped off. I smirked however, tapping into my own abilities Eclipse granted me. Remember scout form? That’s still there, and with it, my speed and reflexes were as well. I heard the sound of the enemy heavy’s gun revving up behind me, distracting me from the scout.

I announced. I whipped out my L’etranger and shot at the Heavy’s trigger finger in one fluid motion. It worked for a moment, but his medic was pocketing him, and I had to act fast. I took a swipe at him with my knife, nicking his cheek a bit, but then I felt a giant nail spike drive through my skull and the Match Ui I was provided with was counting off seconds till respawn.

I sighed to myself in the semi-void as I watched the rest of the team hold A for a bit. However, the Pyro got backstabbed,and the spy got the engineer killed by his own sentry fire, before sapping and running from the Heavy, who was quickly chipped away at by splash damage. Our scout managed to suicide rush the enemy medic and take him out with a mini-crit F-A-N shot at point blank before getting punched across the area.

I respawned before anyone else could die though, but they had already capped A by the time I got back. I walked into them and let them trigger my Dead ringer, to which their pyro was smart enough to guess was fake, despite it being more well timed. I decloaked above him, in the A building, and fired a round into his energy pack, causing it to malfunction and discharge.

“Mmmph? MMMPH!” He screamed before his pack exploded, killing him. The killfeed registered it as just a Critical Death, and that I caused it.

‘Random crits are fair and balanced’ Eclipse snarked. I chuckled.

Yeah. Too bad it wasn’t random. I just aimed at a critical spot. I shot back casually. Like I said earlier, this world does not operate on the same rules the game does.

You should get that Teleporter. Eclipse advised. Turning to them, I nodded. Maybe I could get in a good Telefrag. I made my way to them, dodging the sight of the respawned Heavy using it, before snapping it. I stood on top of it, and waited for the sapper to break, with another sapper ready to throw, taking direct inspiration from the Meet the Spy video. The second the sapper was destroyed, I was briefly stunned by the sensation of every cell in my body tearing at and bullying the cells of someone else, effectively telefragging the engineer. I looked around for the sentry and threw the sapper at it before it could target me though, running on autopilot mostly as I processed how it felt to telefrag.

Enemy Spy behind you! Eclipse warned. I turned just in time to block a stab from him. We held there for a moment, staring each other down.

“Nice to see you again, Swap.” I casually greeted in a western accent as I broke off and gained some distance.

“Likewise.” He replied simply.

“I suppose now is the moment we have an epic battle… but I would win, simply because of Eclipse.” I said with confidence.

“Indeed… what exactly do you propose then?” He asked. I chuckled as I looked up at the sky. The sun was at it’s peak.

“A classic western duel. Like they say when it’s appropriate…” I paused for dramatic effect. “It’s High Noon.”

Weapon Analyzed: Unusual Neighponium Ambassador copied. Now wielding.

My L’Etranger faded away, replaced by the enemy spy’s Ambassador, which was wrapped in Shadows. As if the world had decided to make it convenient for me, a tumbleweed rolled past me, and Tinker sat to the side, strumming his guitar.. He was actually doing a taunt kill on the Blu team’s unaware sniper, but it was still rather convenient. Swap tensed, ready to draw, but I used my magic to mark the tumbleweed, and the point for it to reach before either of us could fire. Seeing the enemy Pyro come around the corner just as the tumbleweed actually made it to the mark, I couldn’t resist, and fired twice in the same second, blasting open the heads of both the Pyro and Swap. Both of them screamed as they died, shocked that I’d just taken out both of them.

“Nice shot, mate.” Sniper called out, impressed. However, the loud sound of a Machina firing rang out, and his head was suddenly gone. Out of fear, I opened the Dead Ringer, looking for the other sniper. I spotted him just as he fired, sending the tracer round straight through my skull, but at least the DR saved me from dying that time. I quickly made my way to the sniper, intent on stabbing him to get revenge for the death of ours. I had to dodge past their heavy when doing so, but I was in position when the Ringer ran out of cloak. I chuckled as I came up behind him, noting that he was wearing earphones. He probably couldn’t hear a damn thing. Without further hesitation, I stabbed him.

“Alert, the final control point is being captured!” The announcer shouted. In alarm, I turned to find the enemy medic and heavy Übercharged on the point, and mowing down my team. I rushed to get to them, triggering my dead ringer again as I ran, with Swap’s Ambassador in hoof. I managed to make it behind the medic without being seen, and aimed at the pack on the Medic’s back. The second his charge wore off, I unloaded all six bullets into it, completely destroying it, as well as denying the Heavy any further healing for the rest of the medics current life. The Medic backed away in fear, screaming as he noticed me. The heavy turned in anger, revving up his gun to protect his medic against me, but I shoved my knife up the barrel, preventing any bullets from tearing out of it.

“Agh! Oh, you are going to pay for that… IN BLOOD!” The Heavy lunged at me, but he was far too large and slow to catch me. But then he took his gun and swung it at me, catching me off guard. I’d been thinking these guys stuck purely to the game… Guess I was wrong, and me getting my breath knocked out of me was a sharp reminder about how wrong I was.

Your team’s back. But so is their sniper. Try not to get shot and keep stalling for just a moment longer. Eclipse advised. I rolled to the side to avoid the heavy’s minigun smashing into me. Getting back up, I reloaded my gun before getting back into a fight with the big guy. He’d discarded his big gun, now wielding a standard shotgun and already aiming at me. Expecting a random crit, I readied my Dead Ringer while defiantly glaring at him, standing in a pose that hid the ringer from sight as I aimed my ambassador at his face.

I was distracted momentarily as the BLU Soldier came in rocket jumping, holding one of the enemy engineer’s toolboxes with his Jag strapped to his belt. The distraction cost me my Ringer triggering. Though the sound of the Heavy by me getting a sniper bullet to the head assured me I didn’t need to worry about him anymore. I decloaked and kicked the Medic bodily off the point, before retrieving my knife from the dead heavy’s gun. I had brought multiple knives out with me, but I hardly needed them all. I just liked to keep numbers in my favor.

The soldier turned toward me as the teleporter began building itself, and fired his rocket, but I caught it in my horn’s grip and turned it right back on him. Due to the system actually taking magic deflection into account, the rocket actually gained mini crit, and took out half the soldier’s health. He frowned as he stepped back, whipping out his shotgun. I fired at him, forcing him to dodge though, which threw off his aim.

“Die, Schweinhund!” The medic shouted as he jabbed me with his Ubersaw. It distracted me enough for Soldier to take aim with his shotgun again. Rather than continue to face them though, I had them trigger my Dead Ringer. I smirked as my team finally came in, Degroot dive bombing in the air with Scout, both using Eyelanders. Degroot cleaved through the Soldier’s head while Scout impaled the medic.

“Hey, this thing’s actually pretty good!” Scout said as he checked out the blade he wielded. Then he screamed and threw it to the ground.

“Ay, did it talk to ye? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt ya.” Degroot assured.

“No. Way. That things way too creepy, I ain’t touchin it again.” He said backing away from it. Degroot rolled his eyes and picked it up himself, now dual wielding the swords. I chuckled as I sapped the teleporter.

“Please, I’ve got a voice in my head 24/7. There’s nothing creepy about it at all.” I claimed.

“Easy for you to say, bug face. Your kind are born with that.” Fleet shot back. I rolled my eyes.

“You forget, I used to be just like you, before I got my soul shot across space and time.” I said laughing. I picked up some health as I waited for the BLU team to respawn.

“Hehe, yeah.. OH MY GOD, THAT HEAVY HAS A SENTRY!” Fleet was instantly taken out of his calm moment as the enemy heavy ran in wielding the Headless Horse’s Axe, and a level three sentry on his back.

“I got it.” I said as I flipped open my Dead Ringer and rushed in. I put the Eternal Reward away for now, switching up for the Kunai. However, the Heavy didn’t let me go, striking out at me the second I decloaked and taking my head.

I watched from the death cams (No idea how those work, but I’m not questioning it) to find our pyro doing flybys to try and take out the Heavy, raining fire on him as he flew. However, it soon got even more chaotic as the enemy Soldier rode on a flying Demo doing rocket runs as well, and the scouts were having an aerial dogfight. The enemy spy was sighing, pretty much giving up at this point. The second I respawned though, a familiar voice called out over the coms.

“Hey boys, as much fun as you’re having, you should probably call off the match. We’ve got a lead on Grey.” My sister said. All fighting stopped that instant. I shared a look with the BLU Demo while he was landing next to me.

“Looks like fun time's over. Let’s grab some custom weapons and haul it to base.” I said. He nodded and took off for BLU Spawn, taking the soldier, Direct Charge with him. All of us dispersed, heading to our respective spawns to get out of the map. We had another mission to complete.