Project DYES

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Uninvited
Chapter 2: The Debtor's Due
Chapter 3: New Blood
Chapter 4: Parallel Lives
Chapter 6: The Project
Chapter 7: Lacuna
Chapter 8: The Dying
Chapter 9: Details, Details
Chapter 10: Stalemate
Chapter 11: Breaking Habits
Chapter 12: Dead Weight
Chapter 13: Do Changelings Listen to Love Songs?
Chapter 14: Broken Mirrors
Chapter 15: Birds of a Feather
Chapter 16: From the Ashes
Chapter 5: Tricks of the Trade

Chapter 1: The Uninvited

Compass looked out the musty window toward the light shining in his eyes. He grabbed the blinds with his mouth and pulled them shut. Now there were only two stars on the floor, small specks of light that came from fresh holes in the blinds. His tongue went from one fang to the next, gathering the dust that had been misplaced. He spat onto the wooden floorboards and moved to the table set up by the wall. While the house was in pitch darkness, Compass’s eyes sorted it out perfectly. His ears, while being a bit hairy, were capable of detecting even the slightest step from downstairs. Those who lived with him maintained the same gifts, and yet... And yet, on the table, were an envelope, a pamphlet, and a poster. All collected by the residents of this manor, all foreign and foreboding in nature.

Compass had brought his people out of the crumbling foundations of what had once been a proud nation. He had seen Celestia’s armies trample the souls he had cared for, and now there was propaganda in his new home. Taking shelter in a dilapidated mansion on the edge of Canterlot, these refugees had worked hard scavenging what they needed from their well-to-do neighbors. They only went out at night, and as far as the ponies knew this building was deserted and haunted at best. And yet someone trotted into their abode, leaving them with messages of change... Of surrender. Someone knew they were here.

Compass looked down upon the envelope, and pulled out the note inside. It had been addressed to him: “Compass, I know who you are...”

A smirk creased his snout. “I know who I am. Who I was. The time may have changed... But the war goes on.”

A creak in the floor broke his concentration. He turned eagerly to the source, only to see another resident.

“Soldier?! Report!” he shouted.

“No sign of any intruders yet, sir...”

“Do we know how he got inside?” Compass’s voice was plain, if not monotone.

“We can’t say for sure... If it was a pegasus it could’ve come through an open window. Uh... A unicorn could teleport inside, or a... An earth pony could have jumped in through an unlocked window or...”

Compass sighed. “The door.”

Soldier was knocked out of his stupor. “What?”

“Tell the others to start locking the front door.”

“But we never do that... they’ll forget!” Soldier reasoned.

“I know. But a closed door makes much more noise.” Compass grinned. “Keep an ear out for trespassers.”

“I thought there was only one?” the confused pony asked.

“If they really know who I am, then they’re not working alone,” Compass growled.

As Celestia’s sun rose above the Canterlot skyline, a purple unicorn made his way through the city streets. Walking at a calm pace, his glasses would not resist to sag and slide down his snout. Green magic kept them in place over his yellow eyes. His hearing, on the other hoof, appeared to be perfectly fine as his large, hairy ears gathered the usual, unwanted attention that most bats would feel. Under the glasses, his eyes were round and at home under the Sun. The telescope cutie mark and lack of armor would often instill enough of a “normal” vibe to keep the ponies calm. But there was never anything to fear from bat ponies from the start.

The wind was blowing in the city again. The unicorn’s blue mane began to obscure the saddlebag on his right, but it was the heavier one. Needlessly, he would glance back at it, as if expecting it to fall. The wind kept blowing. It grew colder as he reached his destination.

The darkened windows of the abandoned estate were foreboding to everypony in the town. The tales of the ghosts that dwell within had reached his large ears, but he did not care. He knew what was inside. Yet a frown creased his snout because for the first time on a windy day, the door remained quiet and still.

“That’s not a good sign,” he said in a whisper, talking to himself. “But I did come all the way here...”

He looked at the saddlebag on his right, then to the one on the left. Magic carefully opened it just enough for him to take a peek inside. Papers, a pen, and a marker were all accounted for. He turned back toward the former mansion. He calmly and quietly made his way up the small steps of the porch and toward the front of the door. Safe from the wind, his horn glowed bright enough to pull a piece of paper from his left bag.

“Just gotta make sure it’s ready for sending.” His eyes scanned the paper from behind his glasses, from the beginning of this address to the word “help” at the bottom. “I do not want to make another mistake.”

With a gulp and a raised hoof, he carefully touched the door. It was latched. Magic slowly turned the knob, and his hoof quietly pushed the door open. The purple unicorn trotted inside, using his magic to silently latch the door behind him. He moved from the light of the door into the black darkness inside.

“Just one quick message and we’re out of here,” he mouthed, not breaking his habit.

The green marker was pulled from the left bag and popped open. His head shifted quickly to either side to check for movement. His ears ever alert, he put the marker to work on the wall. It would take but a damp cloth to clean, but he was sure they didn’t know that. Finally, the words “Hail Celestia” were written upon the wall in their native text.

He took a break from his small, quiet breaths to mouth more words, “That shuffling is getting closer.”

The marker’s cap popped back on as he carefully sidestepped away from his writing. He placed it back in his bag in time to hear something drop from the ceiling. He jumped back in time to hear the sound of a hoof hitting the ground where his neck once was. The unicorn’s horn glowed with enough light to cause the bat pony to squint; the magic retrieved the note from the left bag and with a bright flash turned it to ash. Both parties blinded by the magic trick, the horn now searched for an object from the right bag. It didn’t find it in time. The bat pony, still blind, charged the off-guard unicorn. Now on the floor, his green light showed the bat pony’s smug face.

The unicorn lifted his front hooves toward his head. “I’ll come peacefully” he said. “Take me to Compass.”

The bat pony smiled. He looked over the fallen unicorn and sniffed. His fangs dug into the unicorn’s skin as he pulled the intruder off the ground. The saddlebags remained on the ground, which bothered the unicorn. Pulled forward by the bat pony, he glanced back to see another bat attempt to pick up the bags, then peek into the heavier one.

The unicorn’s gaze was jerked back around as they approached the stairs to the basement. The bat went behind and nudged the unicorn forward; his horn was barely bright enough to illuminate the steps. The bat hissed and prodded all the way down, but his captive remained silent. There was no fear in his strides, or hesitation. He followed his captor’s orders through the dark hallways of the manor’s basement.

Finally, they reached an empty room. The unicorn’s green light illuminated a chair, and he was led to it. The bat sat him down, and he could hear the flapping of leathery wings swooping into the room. It landed somewhere a few paces in front of the unicorn.

He could hear the shuffling of a hoof going through his own saddlebags. “Is this all he brought with him?” a deep voice said.

“Check the other one...” the scavenger responded, his voice much higher.

A bright green light brightened the room and the unicorn saw the two bat ponies shield their eyes from his bag. Adjusting quickly, the deep voiced bat reached in and pulled out the lantern. Its green fire cast strange shadows on the wall. He set it down on the floor, and sent the captor and scavenger out. A large door slammed shut behind them.

“So you’re the pony that’s been circulating all this propaganda...” The bat pony smiled, awaiting a response. His patience was short, and his smile faded. “You say you know who I am?”

The unicorn smiled. “Ah, Compass! I was worried you were having some lackey interrogate me for a moment there...”

“You don’t recognize me? I didn’t think I had changed much over my years of service to the Queen...” Compass’s eyes focused on the unicorn, attempting to remember a name.

“Well, I have,” the unicorn said, lifting a hoof toward his glasses. “My perceptions are not as strong as they used to be.”

Compass’s patience wore thin again. “Who are you?”

The unicorn chuckled. “You don’t recognize me? My name is Midnight Masquerade.”

The bright yellow eyes of the bat blinked and his fangs glistened in the light. “I don’t believe you. I never have, and I never will.” Compass’s gaze turned to the envelope, then the bags, the lantern, and finally back to the unicorn sitting in the chair. “Foresight.”

The smile faded from the unicorn’s snout as his brow furrowed. “I killed Foresight a month ago at least. I refused to relinquish my namesake.”

“Your namesake?” Compass chuckled. “You mean to tell me you’re not over a thousand years old, ‘Midnight Masquerade?’”

“My knowledge is; my body is not,” Masquerade explained with no emotion.

Compass sighed, and smiled. “I don’t want your life story.” Midnight’s face remained blank. “Alright, what do you want from us?” The bat looked at the unicorn’s longer ears. “You’re obviously one of us and you want us to join Celestia’s army or something...”

“That all depends...” Masquerade said, stretching his front hooves. “Are your minions hiding or waiting?” Compass’s head crooked to a side. “In case of emergency, say... some royal guards break in, do your bats hide from the light with their ample abilities or do they strike the ponies down?”

“Celestia doesn’t want cowards?”

“I’m just wondering how alive all your friends will be in ten minutes.” A grim smile creased Midnight’s snout.

“And how would they know to come here? I got every pony in town chatting up how haunted this place is!” They were both smiling now.

“Within seconds of entering this place, any pony can see the plain message I wrote to you and your ‘friends.’” Midnight leaned forward. “But they won’t be able to read it.” The smiles disappeared as Compass grew more confused. “It is in the Ancient Language of our kind...”

A look of pure horror overtook Compass’s face for a second, but he shook it off. “I will give you one chance to cover up your work and leave this place for good.”

“The Queen told me something similar a long time ago.” Midnight smiled again. “I didn’t take that chance either.”

“Then we are at an impasse...”

The heavy door creaked open as a strong hoof pushed it away. A bat pony as big as Compass trotted inside, his steady breathing betraying the walk he had made.

“What is it, Timber?” Compass asked the silhouette before Midnight.

The pony’s voice was deeper than Compass’s. “I spotted a group of armed guards heading this way. It doesn't look like a standard patrol...”

Compass did not flinch. “Get our soldiers in ambush positions. Give them bows and spears, and make sure that any intruders are taken care of.” He blinked, and grew more anxious. “Now!”

“Yes, sir!” the bat said, turning and slamming the door in haste. The galloping hoofsteps could be heard as he ascended the stairs.

Midnight’s eyes went from the darkness that shrouded the closed door back to Compass. The bat’s face was smug, awaiting the pony’s comment.

“I’m impressed, Compass.” Midnight chuckled. “You hide your fear so well.” The bat glared at the pony. “I know there’s a reason why you never got promoted to a leadership position...”

Compass grinned. “You and I both know she held me back. So if you think I’m scared, then you believe that she’s right.” Midnight’s mouth opened but his thoughts were derailed. His mouth closed as he gulped. Compass chuckled. “You can still stop this. Just leave and tell those stupid soldiers that we don’t exist and we can put this behind us.”

Midnight’s confused countenance avoided Compass’s eyes. His gaze finally settled upon the lantern he had brought with him. He took a deep breath, and turned back toward his captor.

“No. This is your grave, not mine.”

Compass just smirked. He turned from the stern pony, chuckling. The lantern was lifted into the air, revealing a table in the back of the room that held Midnight’s saddlebags.

The loud BANG of the front door being forced off of its hinges dragged the unicorn’s gaze to the dark ceiling. Looking back toward the bat revealed the large table hurtling towards him. The direct hit knocked his back off the chair and onto the cold, cement floor. The table landed on top of him with force of Compass’s weight. The bat’s hooves pushed it down, resisting the pony’s strength. Midnight was pinned.

“I really, really doubt that,” the bat whispered.

Midnight’s bare eyes turned up to the ceiling with hope. The footsteps of at least four soldiers could be heard at the now open entrance of the house. Midnight gasped under the weight of his captor, who took a hoof off of the table. The steps made their way to the message the pony had written.

The bat looked back down toward the pony that was still struggling to breathe. “What’s the matter, Foresight? Not enough of your own namesake?” The bat laughed, and the ceiling lit up in green.

And his strong hoof struck the table, crushing the pony underneath.

He screamed.

Several minutes earlier...

The six soldiers finally found their destination: the haunted manor on the edge of town. Nopony was ready to go inside but the unicorn captain pushed them onward. One of the subordinate unicorns refused to be intimidated, taking point and laughing at the rumors.

A smug smile ruffled his snout as he trotted to the front door. “So this is the place?”

“Yes, Mirage...” the captain confirmed, hesitant to see what the soldier was planning.

“Are you sure?” one of the earth pony soldiers asked. “Is it... safe?”

“Of course it isn’t!” the captain yelled. “Our mission is to secure this building, but the reasoning is that somepony submitted an anonymous tip that there are changelings hiding out inside!”

“What if they’re... ghosts?” a pegasus asked.

“There’s no such thing!” their officer denied. “Besides, this ‘source’ is apparently very reliable. But there can’t be too many changelings inside for it to be delegated to a troop our size. Just stay calm, and secure the building!”

He turned and nodded to the unicorn at the door.

“Yeah, guess I should knock, right?” he said, rearing up. A powerful kick from his hind legs sent the door off of its rusted hinges and onto the floor inside the house, and not landing softly.

“MIRAGE!” the captain screamed, yet not as loud as the door. “How are we going to get the element of surprise if you just alerted everything in that house to our presence?”

The unicorn simply chuckled. “You have me patrolling this street every day, sir. I got sick of hearing the door creaking in the wind!”

“That’s no excuse to potentially jeopardize an entire mission!”

“Maybe they’re scared now?”

The captain sighed and motioned for the others to enter the house. Everypony made their way inside, with Mirage and the officer taking up the rear. The other unicorn in the squad used his horn as a flashlight for his companions. The squad stopped at the lit up wall in front of them that was covered in strange runes. Mirage pushed his way to the front to see it, then was pushed out of the way himself by the captain.

“It’s changeling writing,” Mirage said, standing half in the dark.

“How can you tell?” the skeptical captain responded without blinking.

“It’s... green.” The pony pointed his pale yellow hoof toward the light green markings on the wall. “What else could it be?”

“Let’s keep going, colts...” the captain said, turning from the writing and Mirage. He gestured to the unicorn and a couple others. “You three go down that hallway...” a quick head turn mid-sentence sent the three soldiers down the corridor with haste. “You two are with me...”

Mirage and the pegasus trotted calmly behind the captain. No words were spoken as they carefully surveyed their surroundings with two “flashlights” lighting their path. It was a few paces of walking before they heard the scream. A high pitched wail echoed throughout the halls of the manor, like a banshee at full speed. The lights flew around the walls, checking everywhere for the source. There was nothing.

A lower pitched scream sent the three ponies turning and running. This time, it was one the soldiers. The word “ambush” bounced off the walls as the three backtracked and advanced toward the source of the cry.

Around the corner, their eyes caught a glimpse of a large bat pony close a door. In the room, the three soldiers just lay there. Motionless. A bat pony swooped down just long enough to sniff and poke one of them before Mirage’s spear penetrated its skull. The body simply turned to ash, leaving behind nothing but a bow and a couple arrows. The captain’s horn scanned the area as Mirage took back his spear and secured the armaments. Two bat ponies charged the three, only to be defeated as well by the team’s spears. The bodies also turned to ash.

“Bastards took them by surprise...” the captain said, looking over the bodies of their fallen companions.

“Definitely changelings.” Mirage stared at the closed door, obscured by the darkness.

“Definitely a setup!” the officer said. “These changelings were too well prepared...”

Mirage’s head turned back toward the captain. “One of them got away, sir... we can’t let them get away!”

“Private Desert Mirage,” the captain said, sternly. “These fiends set up a strong enough ambush to kill our squad’s better half! And I have dealt with enough of your shenanigans for one day!” He turned toward the dead unicorn, and picked him up off the ground. “We’re taking our fallen back to their families.” He took one last glance towards Mirage. “Now either help your friends or die here alone. We are retreating.” He looked over to the shaking pegasus. “Now.”

The two ponies gathered the trio of deceased soldiers. Desert Mirage simply stood there. He lit up the two ash stains on the floor with his horn and, finding no more ammo, turned back toward the door. His spear was his favorite weapon, but he was amazingly accurate with the bow. Now they were both tucked within his armor.

As the pegasus and unicorn turned with their heavy load to leave the building, the captain glanced back one last time. “Mirage, we’ve lost enough soldiers already. If you don’t turn around right now, you will be decommissioned. I will not be responsible for another--”

The door in front of Mirage creaked open, interrupting the captain. The handle stopped glowing. “Goodbye,” the soldier said, solemnly. He descended into the darkness, and the door closed behind him in a pale yellow haze.

Mirage’s horn lit up just long enough to see the stairway. He carefully navigated the steps in pitch darkness.

He was not alone.

An unseen hoof shoved him forward and he tumbled down the steps. His spear rolled out of his weakened grip and into the blackness of the basement. Mirage looked back toward the staircase, only to see a silhouette moving quickly down toward him. He rolled out of the way and readied his bow in the darkness. A flash of his horn revealed a large pony directly in front of him. A strong punch from its foreleg threw the soldier back into a wall, dropping the readied arrow, and barely holding onto the bow. His legs and sides ached, but he charged a stronger flash spell. He activated it, running to the side to lose the brute. The light blinded the bat pony for just a second, and the unicorn was gone. An arrow pierced the bat's side, and it screamed in a much lower voice than Mirage had expected. It turned to see the soldier readying for another shot.

The bat pony charged. In the darkness, Mirage only felt the recoil of his shot now. And heard the soft grunt of a bat pony, and the large THUD of it hitting the ground.

Desert Mirage lit up the corpse of his fallen foe. He saw the arrow protruding from its head, then looked at the one in its side. He chuckled. “Yep... still makes them turn around.”

After a few seconds of scanning the area with the flashlight spell, Mirage found his spear again. He turned back toward the body of the bat, and poked it gently with the sharp end. Speckles of blood could be seen on the floor, and now on the tip of his spear. A confused frown bent his snout.

He turned from the corpse to the sounds of voices, only to find an eerie green glow seeping into the basement from underneath a door. The soldier trotted towards it in the dark, his magic grabbed the handle as his foreleg readied his spear. With a swift, yet futile pull he found that the door was locked. He put his ear to it. He could hear a faint whimpering, as if somepony was in pain. Then there was a gasp, and a few loud hoofsteps.

The door suddenly gave way, opening into the room. As the unbalanced Mirage hit the ground, he could see a pony weakly lifting an upside down table off of themselves. The entire room was bathed in green light. The soldier reached for his spear, only to see it kicked away by another angry bat pony. It growled at Mirage, who simply glared back at it. He smiled as his horn brightened, knowing just the spell to use. He fired a blast from his horn. The bat dodged it. The green glow overtook the room and Mirage found himself floating. Then, an unseen force pushed him toward a wall as the green haze disappeared. He rebounded off the wall and rushed the bat with his bare hooves. His foe smiled and, with a burst of green flame, revealed its true form. The changeling hissed at Mirage and its horn glowed bright green, ready to attack.

Mirage stepped forward. The changeling's magic pulled the soldier's spear from the darkness. Mirage charged, pulling at the spear with his magic. The weapon finally slipped out of both their grasps and rolled toward the third pony still laying on the floor. The yellow eyes of the pony met the soldier's as its hoof reached for the spear. The changeling saw an opening. It pushed the soldier to the ground and lunged for the spear. Its green magic pushed the third pony away from the weapon. The monster turned with its weapon, grimacing.

Mirage simply smiled back. "It's good."

The changeling glanced back toward the third pony only to see that it had a glowing horn. It stopped. The heavy table fell onto the changeling's head. Mirage trotted slowly toward the creature and lifted the table off of it. The changeling writhed on the floor, whimpering. The soldier simply smiled as he readied his weapon for the final blow.

"Wait!" a deep voice shouted. The third pony lifted his hoof. His voice grew more quiet when the soldier stared at him. "Don't... Don't kill him..."

Mirage simply stared. This pony looked like a bat, but he was a unicorn like him. Eye and coat colors were hard to see in the dim, green light. Magic pulled some saddlebags from the darkness and to their owner. The pony reached in and pulled out a scroll to show the soldier.

"My name is Midnight Masquerade..." he said, unraveling the scroll in the light. His voice was weak. "I work with the princesses... I track down rogue changelings..."

Mirage pulled his spear away from the writhing changeling and trotted closer. The scroll he was presented with was signed by both Celestia and Luna, and gave its bearer great authority over anything related to changeling "immigration." Mirage sighed and let the stallion put the note away.

Midnight stowed the scroll away carefully, making sure nothing could possibly damage it within his saddlebag. He tucked it into place and searched the once heftier bag for what the changelings didn't remove. He turned from the bag, his hoof on the item, only to see a blood-stained spear pointed at him.

"'Midnight Masquerade,' huh?" Mirage smirked. "The Midnight Masquerade? As in the fictional changeling?"

"I'm not..." Midnight started, losing his train of thought. "I... I honestly didn't think ponies even read those books..."

"So... you're real?" Mirage questioned, losing the smirk.

Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course I'm real. The books are marked Fiction to keep identities and locations a secret."

"Huh..." Mirage finally lowered the spear. "So why are you a bat?" Midnight stared blankly back at him. "...Again?"

"I was born this way," Masquerade said proudly. "...technically."

The light dimmed in the room, and Midnight quickly turned toward his lantern. His hoof pulled the rope from his bag and he trotted toward the lantern with it.

"This is a bad time to get sidetracked," he said sternly.

He turned toward the growing darkness and pulled a chair into the light. The whimpering that Mirage could still hear in the darkness was silenced. Magic sat the unconscious changeling into the chair, and tied it up with the rope.

"Perfect." Midnight turned back toward Mirage. "How many changelings did you kill on the way here?"

"Just... three?" Mirage scratched the back of his head. "Does the bat pony count?"

Masquerade shook his head. He picked up the lantern in his mouth as his magic put his saddlebags onto his back. He turned from the pony and left the room.

Mirage left the changeling in the chair and followed Masquerade with his flashlight spell. The green haze managed to keep ahead of him, and finally disappeared at the top of the stairs. Mirage ascended the stairs after it, and as he opened the door he could see the entire room lit up in green.

"It's always good to keep spare fuel handy," Masquerade said, turning from the stains on the floor where his squad mates were slain. "It seemed one of the changelings managed to drop it in here." Masquerade frowned with worry. "...where's the rest of your squad, Mirage?"

"They kind of... died." His eyes looked up to the ceiling. A sudden realization brought them back to the eyes of the other unicorn. "How do you know my name?"

"O, I got that right?" Masquerade said in disbelief. "I have a few connections in the military... I think your name came up once in a conversation or something..."

"Really?" Mirage asked excitedly. "What about?"

"I barely recall a rant about insubordination..."

The enthusiasm vanished. "Oh..."

Midnight turned away, trotting down the hall. His lantern floated around him, moving from wall to wall while its wielder looked for clues. Finally, he reached the light green markings from earlier. He placed the lantern on the floor and searched his saddlebags, too busy to see Mirage catch up to him.

“Can you read those runes?” the soldier asked.

The purple unicorn looked from his saddlebags to Mirage, then to the wall. “Hail Celestia.” His voice was higher, with more twang. Mirage gave him a confused glance that was replicated on the unicorn’s face. “I’m... I’m not sure where that came from,” he said in his normal, deep voice. His hoof reached for his throat and his eyes scanned the runes again. “That changeling downstairs must have hurt my voice when he shoved that table onto my throat.” He turned back to Mirage. “Remind me not to read anything aloud in public.”

"Where are you going?" Mirage asked the unicorn that was now trotting back into the darkness.

"I've got to check on our 'friend.' You should get back to whatever is left of your team." The trotting came to a sudden stop and his eyes peered back at Mirage from the darkness. "And don't say anything about me. ...They'll never believe you."

Mirage smirked as the friendly changeling disappeared into the darkness. The pale yellow unicorn trotted out toward the light, and made his way back down the street. He was not sure if Masquerade was serious, but he did know that his captain always is.

Chapter 2: The Debtor's Due

Every night, the changeling would sleep under the green, phantasmagoric light of his lantern. But tonight, he lay on the ground in dimness. The lantern's fuel had become too scarce and, sadly, it barely lit up the corner in which it was placed.

The dimly lit office in which he stayed was one that he was quite familiar with now. He did not need the light, and yet he still wondered if taking it out of the Crystal Empire was such a great plan after all. He shunned the thoughts and turned on the ground. His eyes closed firmly in the near complete darkness. He tried to enjoy the silence.

Desert Mirage reported bright and early to his commanding officer. Yesterday’s events had seen him decommissioned from his squad, but the captain wished to meet with him one last time to discuss the true consequences of his actions.

“I had to avenge my squadmates, sir,” the unicorn pleaded to the captain’s back. “You can’t expect me to leave a job half-finished.”

The captain simply sighed. “You say you ‘dealt with’ every changeling in that accursed mansion?” he asked without turning around.

“Of course!”

“And do you remember the objective of that mission?” He looked back, only to scoff at the confused look on Mirage’s face. “It was to secure the mansion. Those were my orders to you.”

“I--”

“But they were not the orders given to me.” He turned to face the unicorn. “It was inherently a distress call... but could have been a trap.” He took a step towards him. “So I’ll ask again: What exactly did you do back there?” The captain saw the soldier’s eyes fall to the floor. “You were still technically part of this team, and if you did manage to rescue anypony... there could be a promotion in store for you.”

His head perked up. “Really?”

“I’m a stallion of my word.”

Midnight Masquerade finally picked himself off of the floor as Celestia’s sun reached its peak in the skies above Canterlot. Green magic brought the dim lantern to his desk, where he watched the contents shift and float on the waves of heat and light. He looked toward the drawer on his right, and wondered how much longer the lantern could last without more fuel. Then he looked at the door.

He jumped. Despite his attention, the three hard knocks on the door still caught him off guard. The changeling trotted around his desk, taking a moment to check a mirror to assure himself he was still a purple unicorn. The door remained silent during his slow coming about, but he knew better than to keep him waiting. His hoof steadied his glasses as his horn lit up the door’s handle. It opened just enough for him to see the piercing eyes of the Colonel looking back at him.

The Colonel was a unicorn, taller and more muscular than Midnight’s form. His eyes glanced briefly into the dimly lit room before focusing in on the changeling. “I hope you had a good nap,” he said sarcastically. “You know, three soldiers died out there.” His voice was stern.

“I’ve actually got a lead this time--”

“Three ponies. These missions of yours are becoming far too dangerous.”

“When I contact you for help, I ask for the best.”

“And I forewarned that all of our ‘best’ were sent out to the Griffin borders for the week, including your friend Thunder Sword.”

“I didn’t expect a small time changeling leader to be able to--”

“I don’t care what you expected. My hooves are tied here; you can’t send for reinforcements anymore.”

The changeling simply sighed, his eyes glanced back toward the dim lantern and back to the Colonel. “I can’t fall into any more traps then.”

“We’ve also got a new recruit for this little project of yours...”

“I didn’t approve any--”

“You’re about to.” A large folder was shoved into the changeling’s chest by the Colonel’s magic, forcing him to take a step back in recoil. “Take a look over his file. I need the approval within three hours if the guy is getting in.”

The changeling’s eyes scanned the width of the folder. His eyes jumped up as the door slammed just in front of them. He turned from the door and made his way back to his seat.

“Don’t worry, this’ll only take a minute...” he whispered. His hoof stroked the side of the lantern.

The magic opened the drawer on his right while his hoof covered his mouth. He shook his head and closed it.

“Stupid habits...” he whispered to himself.

He opened the drawer on his left and pulled out the ink and quill. Almost eagerly he opened the folder with green magic, and the unicorn smiled. Name: Desert Mirage was at the top of the first page. The changeling quickly flipped through the rest of the files until he found the approval form. The quill was lit up in green and dipped in ink, and Midnight Masquerade soon stood upon the once empty space marked “Department Head Signature.”

“First chance I get...” he whispered. Midnight turned to the lantern, closing the folder and pushing it aside. “But he did save my life, didn’t he?” He stared into the dim flows of the lantern, his horn shining brighter, and covered his mouth with his hoof.

Desert Mirage trotted slowly through the corridor of the unfamiliar compound. He did not think he would ever be in such a high ranked squad, or ever work for the some fictional changeling. Yet there he stood, at last, at the door of the changeling's office. He knocked five times, excited to get started. The stories told him that this changeling had faced dragons and wolves without any fear, and Mirage could not wait to prove himself.

The door opened, and he could see the room lit up in the bright green light of the lantern from before. It's light reflected off of the glasses of the purple unicorn sitting behind the desk. Mirage's brown eyes scanned the room, attracted to the clutter of folders and papers that covered the shelves behind the changeling. There was but a single book on the shelf, laying on its side and covered in dust. Taking the last few steps inside, the door closed behind him. His attention finally turned back to the "pony" in the chair.

"Hello, Desert Mirage." The pony's familiar voice almost seemed to echo in the small room.

"Hello, Midnight," Desert responded. "...sir." He trotted closer and saluted.

Midnight exhaled through his nose. "'Midnight' is fine, I don't expect you to call me 'Sir' here."

Desert made his way to the chair in front of the desk and sat down. "So you're the Midnight Masquerade?"

The glasses on the pony's snout lit up as they were lifted up to the eyes. "Not quite... The changeling who wrote those books you read was my grandfather, you could say."

"Was there ever a third?"

"I think we're a bit off topic," Masquerade said, flipping through the pages of a folder that was sitting on the desk a minute before. He pulled out a single sheet and pushed it into Mirage's chest with his magic. "This sheet will give you all you need to know about changeling ranks."

Midnight gave the unicorn some time to skim the sheet over before continuing. "You don't have to memorize any of it. In my experiences, these refugees have abandoned those standards."

"So every changeling was once a pony?" Mirage asked, his snout glued to the paper.

"That is the norm of Chrysalis's Hive, yes. Our shapeshifting magic is passed down from generation to generation, and ponies have a good balance of mental and physical space to work with."

"There are... other hives?"

"Easily could be. I'm not the first changeling to get exiled from a hive and I'm not going to be the last. I know the Hive under Chysalis had some blood feuds with a couple other hives a long time ago, so they could have survived." Masquerade glanced toward the lantern for a second. "But I digress... I only follow leads on changeling refugees from Chrysalis's Hive which, as you know, was destroyed about a month ago."

"Actually, I had no idea." Mirage said, his eyes finally lifting from the paper. "How was it destroyed?"

"The Elements of Harmony are capable of many amazing things."

"The what?"

"Nevermind. It's not important."

"But I want to know."

"Alright, my grandfather and father worked together to sabotage the foundations of the Hive... The Elements--er, powerful magic sent the changelings flying into it, and it collapsed on top of them all. Including Chrysalis, who I believe has taken her most loyal subjects and departed for another land."

"That sounds pretty awesome." Desert stopped to notice Midnight's stern face. "But what happened to your grandfather? Did he ever write a third story?"

Midnight sighed. "If it were up to me, The Changeling Chronicles wouldn't actually be available to public viewing. But my power is only so great so the third was pulled from the shelves about a week or two after it was published."

"Oh. Did it not get enough use in that week?"

Midnight's horn glowed green as a book passed over his head and dropped onto the desk in front of Desert. "You have clearance to read it. Last time this was on public display, two changeling assassin elites had found it and realized my grandfather and father were working together. They tracked my heritage down, and now only I remain." His voice lacked emotion.

"Wow... That's kinda heavy..."

Midnight maintained a straight face. "It happens." He sighed. "Anyways, the two readings you've received should cover the necessary intel for the job. I'm going to sign you up for some special training so your name looks better after this little project falls through."

"You lost me again."

"I have yet to meet a single civilized changeling out there. I doubt it will be much longer before the search is abandoned."

"But we're also killing rogue changelings," Desert added. "That's gotta count for something."

A few more papers were added to the unicorn's pile. "That should be all you need. I must retire for the night; if you need anything you can ask around and make sure to get your new weapons at the armory before tomorrow."

"When are we meeting again?" Mirage asked, gathering the materials and his thoughts.

"How about lunch? There's a good donut place around here."

"...for lunch?"

"Brunch, dessert, whatever! See you tomorrow, Desert."

The unicorn carried his things quickly out the door, which slammed shut immediately behind him. Desert knew he must have done something wrong again, but he shrugged it off and made his way to his new quarters. Somehow he made it to his new bed without getting lost. Eager to learn for once, he pulled out the single sheet of paper and read it while reclined on the bed. He scoured the data until he found the entry for the "assassins" he had heard so much about.

His smile was robbed from him. His eyes turned to the vague direction of the changeling's office. A smirk wrinkled his face as he turned back to the page. "I don't know what I expected..."

The next day...

Celestia’s sun overlooked the local donut shop. Desert stood across the street, taking a breath. His new armor was silver instead of gold, and felt heavier. Unphased, he trotted inside. Several ponies were enjoying a bite to eat, and Midnight was sitting on a stool next to the counter, chewing on a bite from his own treat. Mirage trotted up to him and took a seat on the counter. He placed his helmet on the counter and looked closer at the changeling’s treat: a donut without icing, filling, or even sprinkles.

Midnight swallowed. “How’s the armor fitting?”

“It’s a bit heavy. I like it.” He smiled and turned to the baker, Donut Joe. “I’ll have a donut.”

“What do you want on it?” Joe asked.

“Just glaze.”

“Sometimes I wonder what that tastes like,” Masquerade said, looking down at his plain donut. “Judging by the sugar crystals, probably Pride.”

"Speaking of..." Desert said, not realizing how relevant his topic was. "I read through your file on the ranks last night." Desert paused for a response but was met only by Masquerade taking another bite of the plain pastry. "You said that changeling assassins can never get 'elite' titles, yet your father was killed by an assassin elite?"

Masquerade stopped chewing. He watched Joe serve up the glazed donut.

"You should eat that before it gets cold," the changeling appealed.

Mirage took a small bite, his eyes fixed on Midnight.

Masquerade sighed. "They weren't normal assassins. They were the top of the line, expendable assassins... The kind that are only around because they refuse to just die. The term 'Assassin Elite' is reserved for these outcasts, who are doomed to be worked to death."

"What'd they have against your family?" Mirage asked, taking another bite.

Midnight put his pastry onto the counter. "They were my family." His mouth twisted as his ears caught what he had said and folded down. "I mean... They were monsters. I..."

His hoof snatched the pastry from the counter and sniffed it. He took a reluctant bite as he gathered his thoughts. Midnight's eyes looked toward Desert's, only to see him staring back half shocked and half amused.

Masquerade shook his head and swallowed his bite. "Stop staring at me like that... You act so suspicious of me and it makes it hard to think..."

"But you're a changeling..." Mirage added, a little too loud for a public area. A hoof went to his mouth in realization.

"Don't worry... everybod--er, everypony in here already knows I'm a changeling. How else am I going to get Joe to feed me this stale dough?"

Without another word Mirage’s magic yoinked Masquerade’s donut and he took a bite. The donut dropped to the counter as the unicorn spat out the bits in his mouth.

“And what were you expecting?” Midnight’s head crooked to the left. “Another lie?”

Desert wiped his mouth and shook his head.

“Must I remind you that I’m in charge here? If you don’t trust me, you can pack your bags and go home.”

“I trust you... it’s just--”

“I’m a work of fiction, right? A little story sitting on a shelf gathering dust...” The changeling took a sniff of the air. “Fine. Pack your bags and get ready to go home.”

Desert defeatedly reached for his helmet.

“...to look for changelings,” Midnight added. “It’s a recon mission to Appleloosa.” He smiled. “Finish your donut. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Masquerade found his way back to his office only to find an old friend waiting for him inside. A cream pegasus with a blue and white mane wearing silver armor sat at the desk, looking at the dim lantern Midnight had left there.

“I didn’t know the griffins were this close to home, Thunder,” Midnight said, trotting into his office.

“So you did make it out alive!” Thunder Sword said, turning from the lantern to a folder on the desk. “I brought my application.”

Midnight crooked his head. “Don’t you have your own squad to worry about?”

“We have a temporary leave. No harmful activity on the border in weeks... so I figured I’d see how the domestic borders are.”

“And you think I’ve found leads to changeling breaches in pony society?”

“Isn’t that your job?”

“My ‘job’ is to find the one in a million changeling whose guts aren’t as toxic as the fuel in that lantern and help them join our little society. Only killed about fifty changelings since getting this job... I speak for this department, of course... So your kills are included.”

“I heard you almost...” his voice trailed off. “I mean, what did you find in that mansion?” Thunder Sword asked.

“Nightmares of course; typical of a purist resistance.”

“...purest?”

“No... ‘purist,’” Midnight corrected. “They don’t believe in constant disguises like I do because they love everything changeling. No... actually, I think they just hate everything else more.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah... great.” The changeling sighed. “We’ve got a recon mission tomorrow morning in Appleloosa if you want to join.”

“Awesome,” Thunder said, getting out of Midnight’s chair. “You’ll let me on the team, then?”

“Of course. Just be informed that your weapons...” Midnight’s gaze settled on Thunder’s combat knife. “...should be inconspicuous. It’s a recon mission, not an extermination.”

“Easy,” the pegasus said proudly. “Anything else?”

“You’ll have your ticket sent to you when the paperwork goes through and this lantern is going to get recycled... all tonight. So yeah, that should be it.”

“You’re giving up the lantern?” Thunder worried. “That’s the lantern you’ve had since--”

“--since you guys found me in the Crystal Empire with some of my memory gone and my eyesight stunted.” A hoof straightened his glasses. “I know. But its time as a light source is well past due here.” Midnight’s eyes met Thunder’s and a grin creased the changeling’s false, purple snout. “I never expected a soldier like you to be so sentimental.”

“I’m just worried about you. It’s been a while and you probably don’t remember--”

“The tall, tall cliff at the edge of the world?” Midnight spoke sternly. “Reading those stories bring back more sentiment than some cracked lantern can possibly restore.” The light in the room flickered more than usual. “I suppose I should get going... I’d hate to see it die after all this time.” He picked up the lantern and placed it in his saddlebag, concealing it.

Thunder’s voice stopped him from leaving the room. “I thought you said you didn’t care if it died?”

“A lantern is but a cheap, one in a million construction of glass and metal; it cracks and rusts away. It is the light that I fear to see die... or maybe I just hate the darkness more.”

Midnight turned from his friend and trotted out the door, eventually finding his way to the light that only Celestia’s sun at noon could offer.

Chapter 3: New Blood

His eyes strained in the darkness. Black began to envelope the room as his strength faded. Hoofsteps scratched the ceiling above him. All he could hear now was a speeding heart and an anxious breath. He closed his eyes and tried to run, but his legs would not budge. Restrained by a now invisible rope, he stayed in his chair. A heavy door flew open behind him. The darkness of the room fought a strange green light in a war painted on the walls of the room. Compass simply sat in awe, unaware of the visitor in his midst.

The changeling standing in front of him watched the bound creature struggle to maintain his bat form after an entire day without food. The green light within the lantern faded for a moment, and when it returned the two changelings were staring at each other.

“I was hoping you forgot about me, Foresight,” Compass whispered in the dark.

The changeling simply stared back at him. He lowered the lantern to the ground gently.

“If you’re trying to break me, it won’t work,” Compass replied, sensing a trick. “We are all creatures of the shadows; darkness does not phase us. Just take your dying lantern and leave.”

The changeling’s horn lit up as a valve on top of the lantern was turned. A hatch on the top opened, and a foul smell filled the room. “It’s a bit of an acquired taste.”

“It’s almost as disgusting as yourself. How do you survive so long?”

The changeling said nothing. He trotted past Compass and toward the door. The rope tightened around his waist, but suddenly gave free. He turned to see the door shut, and trotted up to find it locked.

He sniffed the air of the room again. Deep in the back of his tongue he sensed something familiar. He licked his lips and spat out the dust.

Midnight left the mansion. The wind howled in the night, muffling the screams behind him.

The Canterlot train station was busy as always. Midnight often avoided this place; the emotions were never as pleasant as the donut shop. A sniff of the air revealed a cloud of hope and love, but even more abundant were the feelings of dread and regret. Nopony who regularly visits a train station would host a proper meal. He took a deep breath as he scanned the station for his team. Thunder Sword stood at the edge of the room, waiting with two saddlebags.

Midnight trotted towards him with more energy in his steps. For the first time since he had returned to Canterlot, a lantern was not weighing down his right side. He smiled at the pegasus, who returned the gesture.

“You seem excited,” Thunder noticed with a grin. “Something happen last night?”

“I’d just like to think of this mission as a bit of a vacation. And it helps that I tied up a few loose ends that have been bugging me: mission reports and such.” Midnight simply smiled and looked around. “Where’s our third...?”

“Our third... what?”

“Our third pony. I had to enlist him after the mansion incident; he saved my life.”

“I’m sensing a pattern...”

“Well, he kinda went rogue to do it, so we figured this would exonerate him.”

Thunder’s head crooked. “He went rogue?”

“After several casualties on both sides, his captain ordered a full retreat. From what I can tell, Desert Mirage chased down a brute and managed to kill it.” He looked up at Thunder. “We’re talking about a soldier with full combat training and all positive emotions drained out of him. One that only knows fear, hatred, and anger when it’s not looking at its boss.”

Thunder shrugged. “So he’s killed a stronger beast than a simple changeling. Do you think he would have survived that trip we took?”

“Shining Armor barely survived that trip, and he was easily the best of us,” Midnight replied sternly. He turned to Thunder. “...no offense.”

He smiled and shook his head. “None taken.” The smile disappeared and his head was suddenly still. “Shining barely survived the trip?”

“My father stopped a spear-wielding executioner from getting to us, but even he was too slow. Luckily my grandfather...” His voice trailed off.

“Since when do you have family members?”

“Since I’ve had to do research to remember who I am.” He looked at his saddlebags. “I just don’t feel that connected to the Midnight in the story anymore.”

“And that one’s the ‘grandfather,’ the one I know?”

Midnight looked at the ground. “It’s a long story.”

“Hey there, Midnight!” The voice of Desert Mirage picked up the changeling’s disguised head. “You must be Thunder Sword,” the eager unicorn said.

The pegasus took a step back. “And who are you?”

“He’s our third.”

“Oh, right.” The two shared a brief smile until Midnight interjected.

“I know you’re a bit eager, Mirage, but that armor is the exact opposite of subtle.”

Desert looked down at his silver chestplate and back to the changeling. “We’re on a mission, right?”

“A recon mission. Less is more in covert ops like these.” A flash of green pulled the armor off of the unicorn and placed it into the saddlebag on the changeling’s right. “That’s better.”

"Isn't that going to weigh you down?" Mirage asked Midnight.

"I'm stronger than I look."

The conductor's holler signaled their train's arrival. The three ventured aboard, finding an empty car to sit down in. They sat at the back of the car, with Sword and Mirage's seats across from Midnight and his bags' seats.

"So... Were you guys talking about your trip to the Hive?" Mirage asked, breaking the short silence.

"Not really..." Midnight answered.

"He knows about our trip to the Hive?" Thunder asked. "I thought that was classified."

"He's read the books, and knows well that they're not entirely false."

"So is being part of this squad going to get depressing?" Desert asked, crooking his head towards the changeling.

"You ask this question to all your commanding officers?" Midnight responded, sounding annoyed. "I mean, you're still a soldier."

"Yeah, but now I report to a changeling..."

"Which means I understand how important morale is for the group." Midnight tried to hide the bit of resentment he felt. "That's why we're starting with a peaceful recon mission in a place that probably doesn't have any changelings actually hiding out."

"Wait..." Thunder interrupted. "So why are we going then?"

"You wanna risk your neck just to murder someone who is simply scared and lost?" Midnight stared at Thunder. "...Later."

"I want to help someone who is scared and lost. When does that happen?" Thunder asked.

Midnight simply grinned. "Later."

"What about those soldiers who literally tried to kill us a couple days ago?" Desert asked.

The smile disappeared from the changeling's purple snout. "What more is there to add? They were united behind a leader who didn't like me very much." The smile slowly returned. "And you killed like three of them, a brainwashed brute, and helped grab the leader in the end!"

"But were they just scared?" Thunder asked.

Midnight sighed. "They were practically soldiers. About as scared as we all are. Except the brute; I doubt he had any emotion left."

"So when's the next real mission?" Desert asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead. I doubt I'll need to with how the past couple months have gone." Midnight looked away from them. "They'll probably disband us for the lack of progress. A good changeling is one in a hundred thousand kind of deal."

"What about the bad ones?" Thunder asked, trying to sound encouraging. "Hay, what about the leader you two grabbed?"

"I used an old memory spell on him," Midnight droned. "Nothing of interest. And too much of both of our pasts to immigrate."

"And you reported all this, right?"

"What's one more dead changeling to the Colonel?" Midnight continued in an almost solemn tone. "An updated report will say I interrogated him and eliminated him shortly after. The means I used are of no matter."

"What'd you do to him?" Desert asked, a little too enthusiastic.

"Nothing short of what he tried to do to me long ago."

"Which was...?"

Midnight sighed. "It's a long story."

"How did you even know this guy?" Thunder asked. "You've been exiled from the Hive longer than I've known you." The pegasus chuckled. "Longer than you've known yourself."

"That's an even longer story."

"And after the Hive was destroyed, you disappear for a whole month before popping up in the newly liberated Crystal Empire. With glasses instead of an eye patch!" Thunder shook his head. "Don't you think we deserve some explanation of that?"

"That eye took so many years to heal..." Midnight spoke under his breath. "Centuries..." he started with a stronger voice. "Centuries that place lay under the frigid cold. Changelings used to tell stories of a place filled with so much Love that the Hive would not need to feed on mortal kind anymore..."

"So you went to stop any changelings there?" Desert asked.

"I don't think I was happy with myself back then. I went there to find a reason to live. Or was it a reason to die?" Midnight shrugged. "I suppose I found both."

The engineer shouted to mark the train's departure. Midnight jerked forward and Desert whipped back into his seat as the car began to move.

Bracing himself, Masquerade continued. "I'm hoping what I find at Appleloosa is just peace and quiet." He looked toward Mirage. "Relatively speaking."

Desert smiled and looked out the window. Thunder kept a straight face as he stared at Midnight. The changeling scanned everywhere else before his eyes settled on the running grass outside the window.

"We won't be arriving before that Sun goes down," Thunder said. "Anything else we ought to know?"

Midnight looked everywhere else before sighing and looking at his two allies. "About what I found in the Empire..."

The door to the car was forced open, slamming against the adjacent wall and causing Midnight to jump. A female griffin flew inside and slammed the door behind her before quickly jumping into a seat across the aisle from the three. She hid her face from them and the door, shaking subtly as she caught her breath.

Thunder looked at Midnight, Midnight looked at the window, and Desert stared at the griffin. As the pegasus tried to coax the changeling into some form of verbal response, the unicorn pushed his way out of the seat and trotted across the aisle. He sat across from the griffin, but this only made her tuck her face tighter under her claws.

"You alright?" Desert asked. He reached out and put his hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. It didn't seem to help.

The door on the other side of the car opened abruptly and the conductor stepped through. "Everypony alright back here?" He trotted past the empty seats to where the three were seated. Greeted with affirming nods, he glanced over to the other side and noticed the shy griffin. "You alright, miss?" She slowly raised her green eyes to meet his. "Sorry to bother you, but did you have a ticket?"

Her claw reached behind her for a small bag tied to her waist. It emerged with a small, black stone. Behind its smooth finish a bright green light shone through, giving the rock a beautiful sheen that lit up the car and made the conductor's eyes grow wide. "Keep the change," she said in a soft yet stern voice. She handed the pony the stone, then looked around the car as the conductor left.

"You okay?" Desert asked, his head crooking into her line of sight.

"I'm fine," she said, putting a claw to her head. "Just a bad headache."

"Are you hurt?" Thunder asked.

She glared back. "I said I'm fine!" Her gaze passed over Midnight, who simply smiled at her, causing her to glare at him as well. "What are you smiling at?"

"Are you suffering from a case of... Vertigo?"

The two ponies looked at the changeling confused, but the griffin simply smiled back.

"My name is Gravity," she answered.

"That's not the question I asked."

"Still got my point across." She glanced at the other two ponies.

"I'm Desert Mirage," the unicorn next to her said.

"I'm Thunder Sword," the pegasus across from her said.

The changeling next to the pegasus, still wearing the form of a unicorn, let out a relaxed sigh. "And I'm... Midnight Masquerade." His smile grew slightly bigger. "I take it you almost missed this train?"

Gravity's green eyes went to the door for a short moment. “Sure, let’s go with that. I’m not sure a bunch of random ponies would be interested in what really happened.”

Midnight crooked his head, his horn aglow. Silver armor flew from his saddlebag to Mirage’s lap. “Put it on.” He continued as Mirage worked his way into his armor again. "I think you'll find that we are actually part of the guard. An obscure regiment anyways." He shrugged.

"All of you?"

"Technically we only deal with changelings," Thunder explained. "But we're having a slow day."

Gravity chuckled. "And how long has this been your job?" she turned to Desert, who finally got his armor back on.

Mirage looked around for a moment. "Well, Midnight's been at this for a few months on his own. Thunder and I just joined up today."

"Really?" She looked between the two newest members. "Any changeling kills yet?"

"We don't do that," Thunder explained further. "We help lost and scared changelings reform and fit into Equestrian society."

"Three and a drained brute!" Mirage bragged.

The griffin smiled wide toward Thunder.

He sighed. "26."

Gravity and the others stared at Midnight. He glanced from one face to the next before stopping on the griffin. "Don't look at me! I lost count months ago..."

"Ballpark it," she egged on.

Midnight looked toward the ceiling as numbers bounced around inside his head. "If I had to guess... Well, it's at least 100 by now."

"And not a single bit of remorse?" she asked.

"We defended Equestria from two invasions now," Thunder explained. "And I'm sure any others killed by Midnight since then were just unwilling to conform or be rational."

"What of the puppets?" the griffin asked. "The ones who just listen to their manipulators and executioner?"

While Desert and Thunder were taken back by her uncanny knowledge of changeling ranks, Midnight jumped at the chance to change the subject. "And how do you know about the changeling hierarchy?"

The griffin smirked and squinted her eyes at him.

Midnight sighed. "Alright, I was just gonna keep going along with it, but fine. Yes, you're a changeling. I get it."

The two ponies glanced back and forth between the two changelings, unsure of what to make of this revelation. Mirage finally stopped, took his armor off again, and placed it on Midnight's lap.

"Well this has been a conversation, but I think I'll go find a place to sleep now." Mirage trotted out the door.

Thunder looked back and forth again, still unsure where to start.

Midnight took the initiative. "So now I have to ask where you got that gem you used to pay off the conductor."

The griffin stared back at him. "We both have a lot to answer for..." She chuckled for the sake of coincidence; it scarred her face with a smirk. "Foresight."

Midnight turned from her to fit Desert's armor back into the saddlebag, then continued to fumble around inside it. Thunder glanced between the two, unsure what the griffin changeling meant.

The smirk on her face grew into a full grin. "You never told them, did you?" she asked Midnight. "I don't think your own friend knows at all what you really are."

Thunder watched his friend ignore the question for a few moments before turning back toward Gravity. "Actually, before you interrupted I think he was about to admit it." His voice was deadpan, and his eyes ignored Midnight's reaction. "The Midnight I knew isn't the same changeling that sits across from me. Not even close. When he left us, he followed the beckoning call of a changeling named Foresight. We have reason to believe that 'Foresight' was actually Midnight the entire time. Not by means of deception, but by means of time travel. The only question we can ask now is, 'How long?'"

"A thousand years," Midnight said. "I went back to stop myself from ever becoming a changeling."

Thunder smiled. "We know."

"How did--"

"Your reports left us all the evidence we needed. Then it was just a matter of putting the pieces together and figuring out why and when." Midnight crooked his head, forcing Thunder to explain further. "We already knew how... You don't just leave for some ancient empire without some idea of what to find."

"And then you don't show up to the Hive until 700 years pass?" Gravity added. "My scouting would imply that you were in the Griffin Kingdom for about 100 years. Where were you for the other 600?"

"I don't have to answer to either of you," Midnight hissed. "I wandered around. I looked for some purpose. Some reason to forgive myself."

"And did you find it?" Gravity asked.

Midnight stared into space for a moment. Behind his eyes, a few screams echoed into silence. He felt the pressure of the three on his brow again. The three Queens he had served looked upon him. Chrysalis wanted to kill him, but Advantage wanted to save him. The third remained silent, grinning. He looked at his hooves and found them covered in red and green. His eye twitched on the outside, and he snapped out of the trance.

"I found the pinnacle of survival. With it, a way to keep others from dying as well." Midnight explained. "I used one of the tricks to get you back," he told Gravity.

"I know." Gravity tried to ignore the short spasm of her ever familiar ally.

"Are you alright?" Thunder asked him.

"I'm fine," Midnight said, stretching his neck. "Just some bad memories."

Thunder put a hoof on Midnight's shoulder. "Celestia forgave you. Hay, we even brought evidence for what we found on Foresight. She laughed and said it didn't matter."

Midnight looked up at Thunder in confusion. "I'm the one who traveled back in time and discovered ancient terms of immortality; why am I the only one confused right now?"

Thunder smiled. "I'll let you think about it some more." He got up and stepped toward the door. "For now, I think it's best we sleep. We'll want to be well rested when we get to Appleloosa."

The others nodded and followed suit.

Chapter 4: Parallel Lives

The train screeched to halt, waking up any sleeping passengers on board. The conductor's call confirmed they had made it to Appleloosa. The four stepped off of the car, saddlebags at their sides. Mirage led the way as they trotted through the desert town. Gravity tried to ignore the looks she was getting.

"You could have been something a bit less obvious," Thunder said, noticing her discomfort.

"I'm fine," she asserted. "I'm glad they've never seen a griffin before."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Let's just say that I don't want to see another griffin in a very long time." Her face dodged from side to side, and her face barely held a shaking smile.

The four finally found a hotel, despite Mirage's guidance. They checked into a single, large room and finally found time to relax since their arrival. The griffin found a chair in the corner while the two ponies sat on the bed. The changeling paced the room in thought, his legs strong from prior travels.

"So, Gravity," Thunder started. "We've heard what Midnight's been up to; how about you? Why did you go to the Griffin Kingdom?"

"Wait!" Desert blurted out before Gravity could respond. "When did we learn what Midnight's been up to?"

"You went to bed before it happened," Thunder explained. "The Midnight who wrote those stories you read did so about 1000 years ago. He went back in time after writing the last one, then lived in the past for 1000 years before replacing that self that we both knew about. He's also immortal, apparently. Even brought Gravity back to life."

"You guys need to start waking me up for crap like that." Desert crooked his head toward Gravity. "So how did you die?"

"Mirage!" Thunder shouted.

"It's alright," Gravity said, raising a hoof Thunder before turning back to Mirage. "I was killed by a large shadow monster outside of the Crystal Empire." She looked toward Midnight, who was now still and staring back. She turned back toward the rest. "The monster turned me inside out with his evil magics." She shrugged. "I was liquefied but I suppose there are worse ways to go; I could be brought back from a liquid."

"And before then?" Thunder asked.

"Ah, yes. Back in the day, I was an executioner. I led the most expendable teams of psychos the Queen could find. She really didn't like me." Gravity looked to the floor, dodging, the others' gazes.

"Why did you go to the Griffin Kingdom?"

"I was to find a source of immortality." She looked toward Midnight. "Someone said that it could be found there. And Chrysalis didn't want it falling into wretcher hooves."

The two ponies crooked their heads at once. "Wretchers?" Thunder asked.

"A story for another time," Midnight said. "Completely irrelevant. There are no wretchers near griffin civilization, let alone Equestria."

"Still can't help but be curious..."

"It's a nightmare wrapped in fangs and blood. Let's not talk about it further," Midnight snapped.

"Now I’m really curious!" Desert chimed in.

"Tell you what... If we ever come across a wretcher, I'll explain the whole thing," Midnight bargained. "For now, I want to hear the rest of 'Verty's story."

"You need something for your throat?" Gravity asked him.

Midnight rubbed his throat. "I think it's fine. Sorry about that, Gravity," he said, with greater emphasis on the syllables of her name.

"Anyways, I think I'm about done with my story." She stared into Midnight's eyes with a conviction intangible by the ponies.

"Fair enough. Anyone up for a walk around town?"

The ponies shrugged as Gravity shook her head. It didn't stop her from joining them at the door. They made their way outside, to the desert air and the happy ponies making their own ways down the streets outside. As they stood there, a firm pegasus hoof prodded Desert to the front.

"Where's a good place to eat around here?" Thunder asked.

"There's a bakery down this street." The unicorn looked over the other three. "I'm assuming everypony likes pie."

As they trotted down the path behind Mirage, Midnight could not help but feel like something was off. Everypony was staring at Gravity's feathers. And yet, he could feel the gaze of another creeping on his shoulder, as though someone could see through his disguise. He shrugged it off as they arrived at the bakery. Thunder and Desert each got a pie to eat, and the four sat around a picnic table to enjoy the meal.

Then the stare creeped up Midnight's spine again.

The changeling looked over his shoulder, distracting even Desert from the pies. Across the way, leaning back from his own table, a stallion stared at Midnight and only Midnight. He was a larger, brown stallion with an eye patch over his left eye. When Midnight's gaze met the stallion's working eye, the stranger smiled and got out of its seat. He trotted toward the four's table.

"Let me do the talking," Midnight whispered. "You guys just keep eating."

The southern pony was soon upon them. He looked over the table very briefly before returning his attention returned to Midnight.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" the stranger said in a gruff voice that betrayed his sincerity. "What brings you so far to the south?"

"I should ask you what brings you so far North," Midnight said, almost glaring at the one-eyed stallion. "Where are they?"

The stallion scoffed. "I can't say I know who you're talking about."

"I asked you a question, Kernel." Midnight's tone was almost a snarl.

“If you’re gonna talk like that...” The stallion glared back. "I'm afraid they ain't in any place that needs finding."

"I just want to talk to them. I know they can explain this." Midnight's tone relaxed.

"Want some pie?" Desert called out from the far side of the table.

"No thanks," Kernel said in an almost neighborly voice. "I'm on what them fancy ones call a liquid diet." He grinned at Midnight.

Desert shoved the rest of the pie into his own face. "Suit yourself," escaped from his overfilled snout.

"Kernel's an old friend of mine," Midnight explained. "He was part of the second biggest hive I ever saw."

"A changeling?" Gravity raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"I thought you said there wouldn't be any around here," Thunder said to Midnight.

"There really shouldn't be." Midnight turned to Kernel. "You don't travel alone. Where are the others?"

"Maybe later," Kernel said. "I'm more confused on why you are not traveling alone."

Midnight shrugged. "I joined Equestria... The ponies, that is. The rulers asked me to help out any changelings interested in joining the ponies as well."

"Y'all thinkin' that the old twins might want in? They're always talkin' about them 'next steps.' Feeding off love in modern eating and other fancy talk."

Midnight smiled. "You can take me to them?"

"Us," Gravity added, gesturing around the table.

Mirage looked down at the two empty pie pans. A quick glow and wave of his horn sent them flying into the bin just outside of the bakery with perfect accuracy.

Kernel chuckled. "Sure. Y'all can come with us."

The one-eyed stallion turned from the table and made his way down the street. The four quickly made their way out of their seats to follow him. He trotted past the hotel, the train station, and soon right out of the town proper. He stopped near the edge of a large forest, too wild and unkempt to be part of the orchards.

"We're catching the next train out of here," Midnight whispered to Thunder. "I'll explain this all on the ride back."

"Y'all better stay 'hind me," Kernel said as he stepped over the first of the underbrush. "Hate for ya to get lost in these here woods."

"Stay close, guys," Midnight added. "Even after we find them."

The four stuck close behind the changeling guide as they stumbled through the woods. Soon, they all felt the weight of unseen eyes staring at them from the darkness. Strange ooze that glowed a bright green was smeared on some of the trees.

"Almos' there now..." Kernel whispered.

Then there was a clearing. Kernel sidestepped out of the way. Bright blue eyes glowed in the dark all around them. Two blue pony eyes peeked from behind a tree. The earth ponies they belonged to rounded the trunk together, from the same side. One was a black stallion with white stripes. The other was a mare, white with black stripes, with a long, black and white mane flowing over her right eye. Like the other's, her mane was styled into a mohawk, but its excess weight folded it over her face. They held hooves as they trotted in perfect sync with each other. Stopping a few feet in front of the four, the stallion stood proud; on the right, the mare just as tall smiled at the four.

"Greetings, travelers!" the stallion said, smiling. His voice was as deep as one might expect from a zebra, but there was no lack of enthusiasm.

"I hope the woods weren't too rough." The zebra mare said in a much lighter voice. It was almost melodic, betraying her honest sense of worry.

"Are you each alright?" the stallion asked. The twins crooked their heads together.

"Not anymore," Thunder said. A huge frown creased his snout and his head shook back and forth. "I'm going back to Appleloosa. I just... I got some papers I forgot to file back in the hotel room."

"Can I--?" Kernel started, reaching out.

"Nope!" Thunder gestured to his back. "I got wings! I'll be fine!"

"You sure?" Desert asked him.

"I'll see you all back in town!" the pegasus said as he took to the sky. He flew back in the direction of their hotel, disappearing behind the treetops.

"Is your friend okay?" the zebra stallion asked.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Midnight said, looking back to meet the eyes of his remaining companions. They shrugged back. He turned back to the twins. "I know the papers he's talking about; probably for the best he file 'em while we chat."

"And what is it that you want?" the mare asked him.

"Just wondering why your hive is so close to the ponies is all."

"Chrysalis is gone." The stallion, with the mare, sighed. "We need our own food."

"This place has plenty, yet not," the mare added, before letting the stallion finish.

"We hunger for more."

"I understand," Midnight said. "Kernel told me you were eating in moderation."

The stallion nodded. "It's the only way."

"Do you two have names?" Gravity interjected.

"Yeah, how do they tell you two apart?" Desert added. He awaited a response, ignoring all the looks he was getting. The twins ignored him.

"Superior." The mare pointed to herself. "And Lesser." She pointed to the stallion.

"We are Advantage," Lesser added.

"Is that even a sentence?" Desert asked.

"No, it's like a surname," Midnight explained. "Kinda. Superior and Lesser are together so often that most of their followers just call them Advantage."

"And what are your names?" Lesser asked.

"Midnight Masquerade."

"Desert Mirage!"

"...Gravity."

"And only two are changelings," Superior noticed.

"Yeah, but you guys don't bother me," Mirage said.

"That is good to hear!" Lesser smiled. The twins turned to Midnight. "We heard you adopt?"

Midnight suppressed any display of emotions. "Only changelings who would swear loyalty to the pony leaders. So, I need morally good changelings. A lot like you... Well, what you want to be."

"So you do not want us around?" Superior asked in a somber tone.

"It's for the best. For now."

Advantage nodded their heads as Lesser took a breath. "Alright. Understood." They sighed. "Was nice catching up."

"Tell us if you change your mind..." Superior added.

"And have a safe trip."

Advantage turned and trotted back into the darkness together. The blue changeling eyes seemed more ominous than before. Kernel simply smiled, hiding his own insecurity. He led the three back to the edge of town.

"They'll want me back as soon as possible," Kernel said as the others stepped past him. His voice was raspier than before, losing the accent for the sound of an afflicting flu. He coughed a few times into his hoof.

"You feeling alright?" Gravity asked.

"I thought changelings couldn't get sick..." Mirage said, scratching his head.

"I'll explain later," Midnight said. He turned to the sick changeling. "Advantage and I all know I turned them down because you guys are too sick." He put a hoof on his shoulder. "They need to be here with you, not running around Equestria with me."

Kernel smiled in between coughs. His grin bore an extra tooth, a curved fang that seemed extra twisted and unhealthy. He turned away quickly and disappeared into the woods, his eye patch floating to Midnight's feet.

"Hey, Carnal!" Midnight shouted into the dark, a random accent strong in his throat for a fleeting moment. A single blue eye looked at him from the trees. "Take care of yourself!"

Midnight smiled and turned around. He and Gravity followed Desert back into town, back to the hotel. The griffin did not want to have too quiet a journey.

"So are we just ignoring the fact that those two were spouting nothing but Haiku?"

"Yep," Midnight answered.

"Alright then. Fair enough."

The three found themselves at the edge of town again. They looked for the way back to the hotel, but found Thunder first. He galloped up to the three, saddlebags on his sides. His hoof reached into one and quickly pulled out a brown feather. He held it out to Gravity.

"The local foals seemed to think you'd dropped it," Thunder explained as Gravity took the feather from him.

She held the feather to her own brown chest; it clashed with its darker shade. Her mostly white head was out of the question, as were the few yellow feathers accenting it. She gripped the feather tighter in her claws as she looked back to Thunder.

"Must be an eagle's. Or a hawk. Not a griffin feather."

"Actually, I've seen a lot of griffin feathers before," Thunder said. "The base of the feather denotes a larger creature than some bird of prey."

Gravity held the feather out to him. He took it back into its hoof, noticing that the base had been severed by her claws.

"It's not a griffin feather."

She trotted past him. He lowered his hoof, letting the feather float to the dusty ground. Mirage chased after her. Midnight stopped to look at the feather for a brief moment. He scratched his head, then reached the hoof out to Thunder. With a subtle shake, a few strands of Midnight's mane fell into Thunder's hoof.

"It takes one heck of a changeling to shed," Midnight explained. "Gravity probably doesn't have the ability."

"Then whose feather is it?" Thunder asked.

"Not just whose..." Midnight picked up the feather with his magic, inspecting it closer. "But what." He stuck the feather into his mouth completely.

"Dude."

"30 second rule, man," Midnight said cheerfully.

"...5 second rule."

Midnight shrugged. "I'm a changeling. Who cares?" He chewed up the feather and quickly swallowed. "Can't get sick."

He beckoned Thunder along as they galloped to catch up to the other two.

From the darkness of the forest, two griffin eyes watched them disappear behind the buildings.

Chapter 6: The Project

Thunder Sword and Gravity watched from the broken window as the train pulled into the station. They turned to their sleeping counterparts and prodded them, some more gently than others. The changeling yawned, stretched, and finally cloaked itself in purple. The two unicorns gathered their things and made their way to the door; the pegasus and griffin followed. The group made their way out of the station and back to Midnight's office, where all of the papers required for Gravity's immigration awaited.

"I guess I never really expected to find a good changeling," Midnight admitted. "Other than me, of course." He chuckled awkwardly as he opened the door to his office. He trotted across the room and made his way around his desk. "It should be around here somewhere..." he assured them as he began his search.

"Think you can do some pondering while you look?" Gravity asked the changeling ducked behind the desk.

His snout did not peek out from under. "Sure, but don't expect anything too immediate."

"So what's our goal here?" she asked, turning to the others as well. "Are we helping changelings or are we stopping changelings from attacking Equestria?"

"Sounds like a little of both," Thunder reasoned. "We saved you, and the other two stopped some changeling gang from terrorizing Canterlot."

"What about Gorman? Or Advantage? What line must they cross before they are our problem?"

"They've already crossed it," Midnight said, pulling a paper from a drawer in his desk and placing it on top with his magic. He grabbed a pen and set it down at the edge before beckoning Gravity over. "Sign your full name here," he explained, his hoof tapping near a bold line at the bottom of the document.

Gravity looked over the paper. "What exactly does this entail?"

"It's an agreement to act like a resident, be willing to remove your form in the presence of royalty or royal demand, and other stuff like 'don't feed somepony to death' and the like."

The griffin smiled and picked up the pen. "Seems fair enough." She scrawled "Gravity" on the line, spacing it such that the "y" was off the right edge and there was a large gap on the left. Without putting down the pen she looked up at Midnight.

He nodded. "You need your first name on there too. Hiding things isn't the pony way."

Gravity sighed. "I was worried you'd say that." She carefully scrawled out "Vertigo" on the left side of the line while Desert looked over her shoulder in curiosity.

"'Vertigo?'" He laughed. "Vertigooo," he sang. He ignored the glare she gave him. He couldn't ignore the punch to the stomach. The pain caused his legs to buckle and bring his body to the floor.

"Keep calling her 'Gravity,'" Midnight said. "Or she'll keep taking you down."

"Don't think I won't," Gravity added.

"'Vertigo Gravity,' huh?" Thunder said. "I don't mean to offend, but how did you get those names?"

Gravity sighed. "Chrysalis didn't like that I was a female changeling and a born leader. I could have ran that Hive, but she sabotaged me at every turn."

"I thought you looked up to her," Midnight said. "Followed every command like a trained dog."

"The alternative was always death," the griffin replied. "She sent me on impossible missions with the worst and stupidest of the soldiers. She let so many die just to try to disillusion me." She sighed and looked down at the floor. "And then she named me 'Vertigo' when I kept coming back." She looked back at Midnight, then to Desert who was helping himself up from the ground. "I hate that name. Only one changeling ever spoke it with a sincere tongue."

"Let me guess," Thunder started.

"You can't. You never met him." She turned to Midnight. "Is it even a him?"

"I think he was," he replied, rubbing his chin in recollection. "I guess he wanted to be like me."

"Oh, so he's dead as well." Her tone did not convey her hope’s defeat; the same could not be said of her face.

Midnight nodded with a frown. "Dead, but ultimately successful in his mission."

"What was his name?" Desert asked.

"His is not a name I like to mention around Midnight," Vertigo said, a worried frown creasing her beaked face.

"I will speak his name but only once," Midnight bargained. "If only to prevent any of you from bringing back memories I'd rather leave buried." He took a deep breath. "Mercy." He glared at Desert. "I don't want to even hear about the concept that shares his namesake. Call it 'sparing' or 'forgiving,' but never speak that creature's name." He looked over to Gravity and Thunder. "At this point, I'm not willing to say why. We're leaving him in the past." He focused on Gravity. "But his namesake should be a top priority among our goals."

“That’s very touching,” Thunder spoke. “But forgiveness isn’t going to win this war.”

“Yeah, that buff guy commands a whole army, doesn’t he?” Desert chimed in.

“Only technically,” the pegasus explained. “His syndicate has dissolved into rival factions back in the kingdom. It’s forced us to tighten the borders and make sure trouble doesn’t leak into Equestria.”

“So he doesn’t have any griffins,” Gravity interjected. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any subordinates.” Thunder and Midnight turned to her, and Desert didn’t seem to catch on. “I’m sure you realized, Midnight, that I was chased onto that train.”

“And where you got that Hive gem?”

Thunder crooked his head toward Midnight. “Hive gem?”

Midnight shrugged. “It’s a gem from the Hive: a rock that absorbed the extra magics of those who lived in the caves above. It has a nice habit of shining bright green in the presence of a changeling.”

Gravity cleared her throat loudly. "I stole it from a pegasus that seemed very intent on stopping me."

"Where was this?"

"The old mansion... A few moments after I was reborn, Gorman and a pegasus found me." She scratched the back of her neck. "Well, it was just the pegasus. I easily subdued him and took his bag along with the gem. I probably would have finished him off with the broken lantern if Gorman hadn't shown up." She gulped. "He chased me across town, and I figured jumping onto a moving train was as good a plan as any."

"What'd the pegasus look like?" Thunder asked.

The griffin scratched her chin and squinted into her memory. "I think... I think he was green?"

"You think?"

Her tone grew more stable and defensive. "Dark room. Green light. As far as I could tell, Gorman was green too."

"But you're sure it wasn't a griffin?"

"They don't make fighters that small, pal." She shook her head. "And even if they did, no self-respecting Gorman would look at them twice."

"So not a changeling either? Not somepony who may have helped him with his weapon situation?"

"Yeah, it's not like he was using a glowing magic stone to track down changelings!" Gravity sassed. "It didn't light up for either of the jerks."

"In Thunder's defense," Midnight said. "It could be possible that the pegasus was a changeling that the stone simply didn't react to."

"A special case?" Gravity crooked her head.

"Very special, but very troublesome." Midnight cleared his throat. "The only changelings that a Hive gem might not react to are those who use a different kind of magic." His eyes glanced from one blank face to another. "Not unlike the darker magics that a particular pair of not-zebras might use."

Gravity gritted her beak. "Are you saying that Gorman and Advantage are..."

He held up his hoof. "It's just a theory. I never got a good chance to study Hive gems."

"It was a pony. Maybe it was green, maybe it wasn't. But it was a pony," she growled.

"And what about Advantage?" Thunder asked, changing the subject. "We still don't even know why they were on the train!"

"Because when I got hit I subconsciously screamed for help and they heard it. No more to it." Midnight stared around the room to make sure there were no more questions. "Anything else?"

Desert raised his hoof. "Is someone gonna teach me how to use this thing at some point today?" he asked, gesturing to the changeling spear leaning in his hoof.

"Let's go, dear." Gravity put an arm around him and they walked out of the office. "I'm sure they have papers to go over anyways."

Thunder turned to the desk and picked up the immigration form. "Well, she's not wrong." He reached in his saddlebag and pulled out a small piece of paper. "I'll just add my report to this form and we should have the entire mission labeled a success!" he said while clipping the extra sheet on. "Barring you becoming mostly dead for a while there." He looked up at his friend, only to see his purple jaw hanging open. The pegasus crooked his head. "Midnight?" The changeling's eyes stared through him. "I can exclude that bit if you want, I doubt the SRC cares..."

Midnight raised his hoof, shook his head, and finally closed his mouth with the hoof. "It's fine as is. Turn it in."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

Thunder trotted out of the office. It was only when he was halfway down the corridor he realized what Midnight was upset about. He rushed forward and didn't look back.

Behind him, another pegasus made their way to Midnight's door. Its hoof knocked twice on the door before it opened.

"Oh," Midnight said, looking up at his unexpected guest. "Have we met?"

The stranger smiled. "You don't remember me, Mask?" he said in a slightly deeper voice than the changeling. He nudged the door behind him with his hind leg. It swiftly swung closed behind him.

Gravity and Desert made their way outside to find a place to practice with the spear. Gravity's claws dug into the point of the weapon. Her horn appeared from her forehead, lifting the green ooze from the tips of her claws and placing it back on the spear edge in new places. She nodded for Desert to pick the weapon back up with his magic.

"It's now calibrated to be much weaker," she explained. "In case you miss."

Mirage scoffed. "Once I get the hang of this thing, that won't ever happen!"

Gravity smiled. "Now, I need you to focus. Think of the spear as an extension of your own horn. Hold the spear with your hooves." Desert took the handle into his hooves. The point shook in excitement. "Now aim for that green area that is the base of the tip. Just focus on it as though you're going to levitate it."

Desert squinted at the point of the spear. His horn lit up and the tip did as well.

"Good! Now try to fire a laser!"

The unicorn looked from the spear to a small patch of grass. His hooves lined up the shot as though the spear was a bow. The weapon glowed until it erupted in a blast of magic. The knockback threw the unicorn onto his back. He got up to find the blades of grass slightly singed. It gave him a large grin.

"Wow!" Gravity looked between him and the brown grass several times. "I didn't think you'd actually be able to do that."

"Please," Desert scoffed. "I'm a natural!"

He took the spear into the air with his magic and spun it around a full 360 degrees. He pointed towards the grass once again, and the weapon fired. He watched the green magic smite the grass, and heard the sound of his spear hitting the ground a couple feet behind him. He looked back at the spear to confirm how far it flew and turned back to Gravity with no expression. He slowly turned from her giggles to the weapon sitting next to the pavement and picked it back up.

"Well." He turned to the grass, intensified his grip, and blasted the exact blade without losing the spear twice. "This is a thing."

"Strange that you can do that," Gravity commented. "It's like the spear was made such that a simple unicorn could use it..."

Desert chuckled. "Yeah, I make everything look easy!"

Thunder knocked on the door to Midnight's office. The door opened to reveal two ponies instead of one. A green pegasus wearing silver armor stood between him and Midnight, holding what seemed to be a folder of papers. His brown eyes met the blues of Thunder Sword.

The cream pegasus smiled. "Hunter? What are you doing here?"

"Thunder! I'm just leaving, unfortunately..." Hunter shook the folder. "Got a lot of paperwork that needs re-filing." He turned back to Masquerade. "You can explain the contingency, right, Mask?"

He nodded. "Go on, Hunter."

The green pegasus trotted past the cream one and out the door.

"Of all the ponies that didn't join us," Thunder said, closing the door behind Hunter. "Why didn't Hunter join? He's SRC like me, a changeling like you... You'd think he'd be forced to work here!"

"I requested that he not join me here specifically," Midnight answered. "He's got a good job and with his horn destroyed, he can't practice shapeshifting so I went a step further and wiped the records of him even being a changeling!"

"Doesn't he still feed on emotions?"

Midnight shook his head. "For the time I kept up with him after the war, he seemed to be eating physical food and having a good time of it." He shrugged. "Hate to bring him back into all this. Besides, he's never lived in a hive like Gravity and I have."

"Fair enough, man," Thunder replied. "So what were you two talking about then?"

Midnight looked down at the desk then back up to Thunder. "There have been some, shall we say, oversights." He pushed his glasses back up his snout. "With Gorman here and his soldiers back in the kingdom, a lot of SRC are out there preventing any border problems. Another team has been sent to monitor Advantage and I've requested that no lethal force be used unless absolutely necessary. The common guards have no reserves to spare and even if they did, they are unfit for combat against 'anything I'm fighting.' Basically, their contingency is keeping us isolated from any soldier-type reinforcements."

"Think Desert and Gravity would want to know that too?"

The changeling shrugged a single shoulder. "I mean, Gravity doesn't know what kind of resources Equestria has and Desert... Well, he saved me by himself. Something tells me he wouldn't even care."

Thunder nodded. "Good point." He took a step closer to the desk. "So with eyes on Advantage and the border, who do we go after?”

"Our job was never meant to be a clean up crew," Midnight explained. "Gorman is hardly a threat without his weapon or army, and Advantage and I are at an agreement. There is no need to pursue them as targets."

"Yes, but Gorman clearly has it out for Desert's changeling girlfriend. You really think just ignoring this guy is the answer?"

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that first sentence," he replied in an almost deadpan voice. He continued with a less monotonous tone. "As for the alleged ignorance, I just think this team needs to be doing what Celestia and the Colonel asked of us. We were brought on to find changelings and so that's what we should be doing."

"And what of Advantage?"

"Advantage is mostly harmless. Stay on their good side and we'll be fine."

"Dare I ask what would happen if we got on their bad side?"

"We die, Thunder." Midnight chuckled. "We most certainly would die."

"Your smile is scaring me a little bit." Thunder backed up. "So where's our next mission?"

Midnight shrugged. "I was going to see if Gravity had any ideas."

"But we know where Advantage is and we could probably track the griffin if we just--" Midnight put his hoof up, but Thunder ignored it. "Just get back to Appleloosa! We could stop these guys before they become bigger problems!"

"Advantage doesn't want us interfering with their hive. Gorman will not be easy to track and is smart enough to leave some traps behind. Frankly, Thunder, I do not want to watch this team literally die just as it's starting to form something... awesome."

"Did someone say 'Awesome?'" Desert's voice called from the now open door. He trotted inside with his spear at his side and Gravity following closely behind. "What'd we miss?"

"Not much, Midnight and I were just talking about what steps to take next," Thunder explained.

"Any ideas, Gravity?" Midnight asked.

She smiled. "Yeah, let's go Gorman hunting. I can't work with my head over my shoulder all day."

Everyone else joined her in looking at Masquerade and smiling. "Can we have an objective that doesn't involve wanting to murder people?" Midnight pleaded.

"He started it!" Desert said.

"Gravity started it," he corrected.

Gravity stepped forward. "And I want to finish it. Now. Let's go back to that mansion and look for clues."

"That's... Not a bad plan," Masquerade admitted. The more he thought about it, the more strongly his head nodded. "Yeah, let's do it!"

"Hold on!" Desert screamed, stopping everyone in the room. "We can't just trot right into a spooky old mansion! Not without a cool mission name!" He looked around at the stare, glare, and state of confusion. "I'm serious."

"How about 'Operation: Shut up, Mirage?'" Thunder said, maintaining his glare as he stepped towards the door.

"We're just looking for clues," Midnight said. "It doesn't need a name." He left his desk and joined Thunder at the door. Gravity soon joined them.

"Well," Desert said, turning back towards his teammates. "Can we at least come up with a cool team name on the way there?" He joined them as they trotted out the door.

Advantage looked at the pony's body on the ground, then back to the wretcher who brought the twins out here. This particular wretcher was a trusted member of the community, one who had been with the pair since the beginning. He trotted up to the pony, flipped it over, and tapped on the silver body armor with his right hoof. It looked up to them with its large, blue eyes.

"Look familiar?" he asked them.

"Friends don't wear armor," Lesser said.

"It's a soldier, Advantage! Chrysalis tried it, now the ponies want us dead too!"

"Why must you waste all our time?" Superior asked him.

"Are you seriously turning a blind eye to an obvious threat?!" the changeling screamed, beating on the armor with his hoof.

"Our friends don't know fear." Lesser and Superior turned from the changeling and trotted back into the dark woods.

As the zebras made their way back to the clearing, they found fewer and fewer pairs of friendly eyes. Bushes rustled in the direction of the dead pony, and the changeling beating it still. Advantage squeezed their hooves together.

We will get through this.

Far too many are leaving...

It will be alright.

Whispers upset the flow of the air.

It's him, isn't it?

The one called 'Disadvantage?'

Upsetting our balance.

Chapter 7: Lacuna

The old mansion had always been in disrepair, but Midnight found the missing front door to be somewhat off putting. His squad followed him in, and their eyes scoured the walls and floors for anything out of place in the decrepit estate. Soon they were at the wall Midnight had scrawled on almost a week ago. The green writing had been crudely crossed out in red paint. A strange symbol not unlike a crescent moon took up most of the wall now in the same red paint. All over the remaining wall a single word had been painted over and over again, each with a different hoofwriting: "Lacuna." The four stared at the display in a mix of confusion and wonder.

"What's it mean?" Desert asked.

"Well, we know someone's been here while we've been gone," Thunder replied.

"Too big a word for common changelings," Gravity noted.

Midnight lifted up his hoof and allowed his form to slip from his grasp down to his elbow. "It's the term for the holes," he explained, twisting his foreleg back and forth to allow light through all the holes in his lower foreleg. "Also for the more unhealthy side effects of unbridled shapeshifting. Advantage used the term, but they heavily discouraged their followers from dwelling on such shortcomings."

"Whoa, cool!" Desert commented.

Thunder shook off the creepiness of the twins. "So what you're saying is it's not Advantage we're dealing with here?"

"But it must be someone who knew Advantage and for some reason wants to defy them," Midnight hypothesized. "This graffiti style is like some cheesy cry for help, like a revolution."

"Was that an intended pun?" Desert asked.

Midnight crooked his head toward Desert, then looked back at his exposed foreleg. He covered the holes back up with purple. "No." He turned toward the hallway leading to the basement. "Let's get going. This way." He turned to Gravity as they all started trotting forward. "You didn't go anywhere else in the mansion before leaving, did you?"

She shook her head, and the four were soon traversing the stairway down to the basement. Beyond the heavy door, broken glass and several feathers were scattered across the dark floor. Midnight pushed the glass aside with his magic while Desert lit up the feathers with his horn. In his yellow light spell, the feathers revealed themselves to be from different hosts; some feathers were brown while others were a distinct green.

Thunder examined the structures. "All the brown ones are griffin feathers... Just like the ones from Appleloosa and the train. These green ones... These are pegasus feathers."

"So he was green," Gravity said in relief.

Midnight trotted up to the feathers and picked up a green one and a brown one. He stuck the two feathers into his mouth, and the others watched his snout pucker. He spat out the green feather.

"Sour apple flavored?" Desert asked, picking up a couple feathers of his own.

"Not exactly," Midnight tried to explain. "Please don't--" The unicorn bit down on the feathers, only to immediately spit them out. "...try to do that," Midnight finished in defeat as the chewed remains landed softly on the cement floor. He sighed. "While I don't identify with Advantage's hive anymore nor condone their tendencies, I still have a stomach that can thrive off of changeling skin." He looked down at the feathers. "The green ones are not changeling. They are as far from changeling as you can get."

"So it's a real pegasus working for Gorman then," Thunder said.

"Seems so."

"Wait," Gravity interjected. "Gorman's feathers? Those are... Changeling?"

"Afraid so," Midnight replied. "Kinda funny in the ironic sense... The elected leader of the last bastion of pride in the Griffin Kingdom and he's a changeling!" Gravity's eyes fell to the floor and her claw scratched the back of her neck. "Oh." Midnight realized. "That was who you brought back from your trip?!"

"How did he bleed?" She looked back up to him. "Changelings don't bleed."

Midnight shrugged. "I can't have all the answers, Gravity. It'd be no fun that way."

A door slammed in the distance, its echo rebounding off the walls of the manor and reverberating within the dark room. It shook Midnight even harder once he realized the wind had no door to shut. The group hurried from the basement back to the entrance. Nothing seemed out of place to the guys.

Gravity shuddered at the sight of the wall.

"Something wrong?" Midnight asked.

She put her claw up to the red inked wall and touched one of the "lacuna's." It smeared the ink down the wall. "It's fresh. This was written seconds ago."

"It's a test," Midnight realized. "Changelings write that word here to prove their allegiance..."

"Allegiance to what?" Thunder asked.

Dark laughter echoed from the corridors not yet explored. A deep, strong voice pierced their ears with the intensity of a drum. "Why don't you come and find out?" Red pony eyes smiled sinisterly from the darkness as a red marker rolled into view and bumped into Thunder's hoof.

"Sorry, we don't follow false Queens," Midnight called to the shadow before tossing the marker back.

"You write fifty thousand words for a single, petty princess so easily tossed aside by true power... Yet you scoff at the idea of but a single word being asked of you?" The red marker rolled back toward them.

"She read every single syllable, yet you can't seem to handle one: No."

Desert picked up the marker and quickly scrawled "No." on the wall.

"Close enough," the voice said, it's voice relaxing slightly. "Come forward when you are ready..." The eyes and the marker disappeared into the darkness, replaced by a misplaced breeze that kicked up dust and chills.

Desert dodged the glares of his teammates as they all trotted into the uncharted black. His yellow light liberated a staircase from the unknown, and the group trotted up it in pursuit of the mysterious voice. A low-pitched growling emanated from in front of them for what seemed to be the entire time. Finally, the light illuminated the second floor. A door waited across a dimly lit hall, guarded by two changelings. They watched the four approach, then opened the door before anyone could speak. They continued to watch the four in silence as Midnight and his team trotted past them and into the room without a single word.

They found themselves in a dark room. The red eyes watched them from afar, their body hidden in the shadows.

"Who are you?" Thunder called out.

"I am Disadvantage," the voice replied. "For I am the force that stands to wipe Advantage and her nightmarish brood from this world!"

"Oh get over yourself!" Desert yelled. His horn glowed in a flashlight spell; he shined it at the eyes with a grin on his face.

Black feathers with red tips covered the red eyes. A red horn poked out from behind them. Disadvantage's legs were black with red patterns down all four of them. His mane and tail followed the motif.

"You're an... Alicorn?" Desert asked, relaxing his spell. The light pointed upward, then his horn focused it at the tip, serving as a bulb that could light the whole room.

The wings receded to the feathered unicorn's sides. His face bore marks of red as well, and as he smiled, a set of small fangs were revealed. "You seem surprised." His eyes focused on Midnight. "Especially you, who had foretold of a black and red king bringing immortality to the hives." He chuckled as Midnight shook his head. "Must you deny me my rightful place in your own prophecy?"

"He's right though," Gravity said, trying to hide her own fear. "You did ramble something about a black and red horn that could stop wretchers from dying." She shrugged. "I mean, your head probably wasn't screwed on right when you said it... But you did say it."

"Don't take his side here!" Midnight yelled. He stared Disadvantage in the eye. "It was a metaphor for a wretcher dying... Not a prophecy! The red horn of the black King Sombra embodies fear and hate. Wretchers are just freaky enough to even consider such emotional energies, in spite of the inherent contradictions they imply. So, when a wretcher dies, if it's heart is filled with hate or fear, it can live on in a liquid state! When used properly, this could very well turn a wretcher immortal!" He shook his head. "How could anyone prophesize an abomination like you?"

The alicorn simply grinned. "What happened to you, Mask?"

The changeling simply glared back at him, choosing to swallow his words.

"If you can't find faith in your own words, then how do you... Expect..." The alicorn paused with words trapped in his throat. He shook his head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Have you heard back from that recon team of ponies sent to spy on Advantage yet?"

"A bit soon for that, isn't it?" Thunder asked. "They were dispatched this morning, but they won't get there until sundown at the earliest."

"Oh..." Disadvantage seemed puzzled by the news, looking around for something to say. "I guess... That explains it..."

"Explains what?"

"Look, me and the guys saw Advantage murder a pony wearing silver armor. I guess that it wasn't anything to do with you after all."

Thunder thought for a moment. "Could have been an advance scout, but they never fight. They report everything..."

"Well, it was a bit remote to be reporting from," Disadvantage reasoned.

"Irrelevant. Advance scouts are all unicorns with knowledge of dragon fire spells, sends scrolls across Equestria in seconds."

"Can confirm," Midnight said. "That spell has saved my life several times over."

"Well then... Maybe it wasn't a unicorn? Maybe it didn't have time to write a--"

"Again," Thunder interrupted. "Advance scouts are exclusively unicorns who know dragon fire and teleportation spells. If they're killed before they can write one up, then it was from a sudden and effective attack." He shrugged. "I mean, that does fit how a normal changeling fights."

"Advantage is not even close to normal," Midnight denied. "The pair have the patience of two Celestias. They always try diplomacy first."

"Always?" Disadvantage said with heavy skepticism.

"The only exceptions involve the murder of one of their wretchers." He shook his head. "And that didn't happen."

"But what if it did?" Disadvantage grinned. "You can't just deny what most of the creatures in this room saw!"

"Even if it was true..." Midnight paused to shake off the sentiment. "I'm sure they had good reason. The twins and I are on good terms; there's nothing you can do to turn me against them!"

Gravity put a claw on his shoulder. "Dude, as someone who thought Chrysalis was actually going to help me... Listen to yourself. Advantage has you wrapped around their hoof, probably for these exact reasons."

"Yes," Disadvantage said, grinning. "Listen to your friend, Mask! Advantage is just using you like they did to all my new friends!" His hooves swung around, gesturing to all the changelings in the room.

"Advantage doesn't 'use' changelings!" Midnight denied. "They discipline them. They help them." He shook his head. "You must have some insane friends if they think Advantage was ruining them."

"You're the only insane one here," Disadvantage said, pausing to look over the other three. "...I hope. Well? What of the rest of you?"

"If Midnight's out, I'm out," Thunder replied.

"If Thunder's out, I'm out," Gravity replied.

Everyone looked at Desert Mirage. He shrugged. "I mean... If I could destroy Advantage by myself, then..." He looked around the room and smirked. "I could probably take all of you on and win too!"

"You really think you're tougher than me?" Disadvantage said, stepping forward with his own smirk.

"That's not what I said!" Mirage laughed. "I said that I'm tougher than you and all your ugly changeling friends."

"And what makes you think that?" Disadvantage growled, crooking his head.

"Well, you have to be one useless alicorn if your parents named you 'Disadvantage!'"

Disadvantage took a step back and chuckled. "What makes you think it's not just a title?"

Desert shrugged. "It's gotta be your name; it matches your face so well."

Disadvantage trotted angrily towards Mirage. He leaned in such that their snouts were almost touching. He glared into Mirage's unwavering eyes. "You think so? You must be the dumbest unicorn I've ever met."

Desert pushed the black snout out of the way as he sniffed the red horn. Slowly, his tongue creeped from his snout and he licked the base of Disadvantage's horn. The alicorn jumped back. He shuddered as Desert simply smirked back at him.

"What is wrong with you?!" Disadvantage screamed at the unicorn.

Desert shrugged. "What? I skipped lunch..."

"Shut up and leave before I order you killed, you... You... Freak."

Mirage stamped the ground, rewarding the threat with a slow clap. "Can't even think of an insult for me, huh?"

Disadvantage shook his head in rage. "That's it! Guards! Soldiers of Lacuna! Kill these trespassers!"

Desert's smirk grew wider as his horn grew brighter. A couple changelings stepped in between them, but the four could still see Disadvantage's horn glow that same color. His red eyes caught the glow, and he ducked down with his forelegs up to grasp his glowing horn.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled from the floor, getting the attention of the changelings in the room. "Stop that!"

Desert chuckled as his spell bent the alicorn's horn until finally it snapped in half. He brought the half up to his mouth, blew off the red coloring and chomped down on it. "Make me, carrot-face!" the unicorn said with his mouth full.

The changelings turned to see their leader still on the ground, and the tear of his horn exposing its true vegetable nature. One changeling pulled at it, slipping the false horn off its masters face. He picked it up and turned to him.

"You're no alicorn! You're just a pegasus with a carrot tied to your head!"

"I bet it's not even a magic carrot!" another said.

Desert swallowed. "There's no such thing!"

"Kill the non-believers! They broke my magic carrot!" Disadvantage yelled.

"You can't seriously be going with that?" Midnight said in utter disbelief.

The changelings jumped the team from all sides. Thunder drew his blade and immediately downed an anxious wretcher. Desert swung his spear around, blasting the front lines with laser blasts. Midnight threw spells and dodged attacks. Gravity dodged the first flurry of hits before a wretcher struck her with a spell from behind, knocking her unconscious. Desert moved to stand over her body and protect her. Disadvantage got up off the ground and galloped off into the darkness. The amount of enemies left made it impossible for anyone to pursue, plus Gravity was still out cold. Desert released a fury of lasers and decimated the last squad of enemies. Running over the ashes of their foes, the three found the room Disadvantage had fled to completely empty and drafty from an open window.

"Dang, he got away..." Desert said in actual disappointment.

"Well, now we know that his wings weren't made of food too," Thunder said.

Midnight went back to the room they came from as the two ponies laughed. "Guys?!" he called out to them. "Did one of you move Gravity?!"

They trotted back out to find Masquerade standing over an ashen, empty floor. The horror on his face spread to the others. Midnight cleared his throat and gestured to the lines of ash on the floor. They followed the trail only to find another open window.

"He didn't," said Midnight.

"He did," confirmed Thunder.

"He done goofed," growled Desert.

Gravity opened her eyes to a barely lit room and to the feel of cold cement beneath her. She was on her back, restrained only by the amount of pain coursing through her head. The noise in the room did not help at all. She looked up to see another griffin in the distance yelling at the black and red pegasus. Then she recognized his voice.

"You had one job, Gunter!" Gorman X yelled at his associate. "All you had to do was incite a fight between the Cyclops and the creepy ones! Or the creepy ones and a creepy one! I give the foundation of an army and you come back with a war lost and expect me to like it!?"

"But... But..."

"Did you bring any... Uh, how you say? Securities?"

"What?"

"Ah, better word: Restraints? Do we have ropes?"

"No..."

"Duck tapes?"

"Are you feeling alright, sir?"

"Go find the ducks, you oversized pigeon!"

"Can you at least get this off--"

"Now! Do you want little miss 'I don't know when she went to sleep' to wake up and snap your neck while your idiot back is turned?" The blurred figure in the distance paused. "Then go!"

The blur turned sharply, and Gravity shut her eyes before he could see that she was already awake. She could only listen to his footsteps approach her body. As the steps echoed next to her ear, she could feel him scan her body with his eyes. A claw prodded her side. She choked down the reflexes. It prodded again. She kept calm. It prodded again. She kept limp. Finally, the eyes released their heavy gaze and the feet scraped the cement as the turned from her. She peeked to find Gorman's back to her. He had discarded his armor and seemed to be doing something to his chest.

He could not hear her get up from the pavement.

Silently, she crept toward him. He let out a gasp, stopping her in her tracks. His back remained turned from her and his head remained glued to his chest, but his claw quickly discarded a red cloth with white trimming and a splotch of green on it. Gorman reached down with this free claw and pulled a completely white cloth from a basket, dipped it in water from a bucket next to him, and slapped the dampness onto his chest. She could hear him wince as the claw held the cloth in place. She carefully stepped closer. His head shook for a brief moment, making it difficult for Gravity to get her claws around his neck. Finally, he stilled his head and took a deep breath. She lunged for his throat.

Her claws grabbed smoke.

The red and white cloth fell to the floor, and Gravity followed it. An agonizing pain in her back leg sent her down to the cement. She turned to find Gorman grinning at her with a sword's hilt in his claw. Her eyes could not see the blade, but her leg definitely felt its presence.

She took the time to notice the sword claw's wrist had an unnatural red stripe with stitches running along it. She turned next to Gorman's chest, which had a deep red tint compared to the rest of his dark brown feathers. Finally, she looked into his eyes and smiled.

Gorman smiled back, and broke into laughter. "I honestly didn't think you would be stupid enough to actually try it, Verdugo..."

"Don't call me that!" she said despite her pain and his thick accent.

"Or what?" he asked, twisting the hilt.

Gravity retched in pain. She looked back at the griffin's arm and shook her head. "At least... I won't need stitches..."

He twisted it back. "Because you are a two-faced harlot with no heart. You cannot bleed without a heart!"

"Yeah?" She tried her best to talk through the pain. "You seem to be doing just fine."

Gorman chuckled. He rose up, leaving the blade imbedded in Gravity's leg. "'I have no heart?' Must I remind you that the Gormans were the proudest griffin family in the kingdom!?"

"That's not saying much."

"Nay, but it is true. We had something that the griffins wanted... A form of charity."

"You were corrupt!" she yelled back. "Gormans kill all kinds of innocent life just for profit!"

Gorman frowned and approached her with an open claw. "You poor, poor wretchling..." He took her claw in his. "What we had... What I had planned..." He shook his head. "I was going to end those dreadful practices." He smirked. "You see, I crawled my way from the lowest ranks of the family with your help. You helped me find my true worth and meet my destiny." He smiled fully for a fleeting moment before anger scarred his face. "Then you come out of nowhere: the shapeshifting queen of lies and filth. You come out of nowhere and ruin everything. The world I loved, the world I cared for so much is burning." The smirk returned. "And as long as I have breath, I will see that yours burns brighter!"

Gravity tried to get her claw back, but Gorman tightened his grip on it. He pulled it up with him and her upper body followed. He smiled and pushed her to the right; the blade acted as a pivot, increasing her pain with every inch. She screamed as she hit the ground.

"You should try bleeding sometime," he said as he picked the cloth back up from the ground. "It's easier to be the good guy when you have a beating heart."

The door on the other side of the room opened, and the black and red pegasus stepped back inside. He carried a large roll of duct tape. His eyes focused on Gorman, as he trotted toward him it seemed obvious to Gravity that he had no idea she was awake.

"I got the tape!" he said, smiling. "Extra strength, water retaining, air-tight seal... You know, the pegasi use this stuff for patching holes in their weather machines!"

"Gunter?" Gorman said, squinting at him.

"Uh, yeah?"

He bobbed his head toward Gravity. "Tape her limbs together. Save a couple strips for me."

The pegasus coyly nodded. "Yes, sir..." He took two steps toward Gravity, then one step back. His eyes widened, fixed to the hilt of the sword. "Sir?"

"If you don't like it, be quicker next time!" Gorman yelled without turning from his own chest.

"Okay then..." Gunter trotted up to Gravity and looked over her limbs.

Gravity moved her claws, feet, and wings together so that the pegasus wouldn't do more damage than needed. Gunter applied the tape to her wrists, ankles, and the base of each wing. He then chewed off a couple large strips and hoofed them over to Gorman. He took the gray tape in his claw and looked over Gravity.

He placed the tape over her beak and sealed it. She could barely breathe and could not speak. "I don't want anymore screaming." He pulled the next piece wide and showed the sticky side to her up close. "You might want to close your eyes for this next part, but I started with your mouth in case you don't." Gravity quickly closed her eyes in time to feel the tape cover both eyelids and attach them firmly in place. "You can still hear, and you can still feel." Gorman laughed. "But that doesn't matter. For you do not listen, nor do you ever reach out."

In the void of blindness, Gravity could hear Gorman walk up to her bound leg and pull the sword out of the cement and pain. The tape suppressed her cries.

"Ah, bliss!" Gorman remarked.

"Not to speak out of rank, sir... But shouldn't we just kill her?"

"The Advantages and the Cyclops know necromancy and search for this one with each moment. Killing her now would not feel complete."

"But Advantage is also a cannibal! It was in the latest SRC report... We could have her eaten alive!"

There was a sound of scaly claw smacking a hairy snout. "Do you even listen to yourself? She is of the Arbiter Blood! You cannot eat those of that blood!"

"...Arbiters?"

"Cannibals! Wretchers! Whatever word your snowflake-sized brain can comprehend! Now go be special outside, where the work is!"

Gravity chuckled underneath the tape. She heard the door close behind Gunter.

"The best part about you only being able to hear and feel," Gorman explained. "This part is so much more fun."

She felt the sword plunge into her back. She writhed on the floor in pain. He pulled her up and propped her body on her hind legs, one of which was still hurt from the first stab.

"Now think of what you've done." Gorman's footsteps disappeared into the silence.

A single tear wet the inside of the tape.

Chapter 8: The Dying

Celestia's Sun crept up on the changeling at his desk. Midnight stared at his desk. It lay barren of anything helpful to the rescue cause. Daybreak was soon upon him but he kept his back to it. He continued to stare at the pointless papers. A knock on his door broke his concentration. Desert Mirage, in full armor, stepped through with his eyes red from a lack of sleep.

"So I'm not the only one trying to think of something..." Desert observed. He yawned and fell into a seat across the room. "We need a couch in here," he said as he sprawled uncomfortably onto the undersized chair.

"We've been so busy chasing Gorman that we never saw this new threat," Midnight said, shaking his head. "Advantage would have warned us if we weren't so far away..."

"We should have let them in," Desert said, trying another position on the chair.

"That would have led to disaster. Wretchers have an aspect of fear that often intimidates other species and changelings." He sighed. "We need to find Disadvantage and get some answers... But with the mansion off the map, I have no leads here in Canterlot."

"Guess we'll have to go back there and look for clues. Again." He sat on the chair backwards and stretched. "When are we leaving?"

"Not for a while yet," a voice called from the door. Thunder Sword, also in armor, trotted into the room. "Just got word from the Colonel. He wants us to go check on Advantage and make sure our troops are okay."

"Now?!" Desert jumped off the chair. "We have to find Gravity! I'm not spending another two days on some twins when my gal's being hostage to some pegasus!" He calmly turned to Thunder. "...No offense." He shrugged and snapped back into loudness. "We have to rescue her!"

Midnight sighed. "Desert, I hate to say it but this is probably for the best. If we find Advantage we can ask them about Disadvantage."

"Two days," the unicorn said in an annoyed voice. "Two days she's stuck with that guy. We have to find her now!"

"Are you feeling alright, Mirage?" asked Midnight.

"I'm fine! I'm just tired!"

"You wouldn't know it, but you're showing a lot of symptoms of a withdrawal," the unicorn behind the desk said. "I fear Gravity may have been feeding off of you. As much as I'd hate to admit, getting away from her will do you good."

Desert glared at him and shook his head. "I. Don't. Care." A smirk creased half of his snout as he relaxed and took a step toward Midnight. "Remember when I saved your life?" He pointed his hoof at him. "You would be dead if I hadn't gone rogue."

Midnight shook his head. "I won't deny you. But it won't sway my judgment. If the Colonel ordered this operation then our careers are all at stake."

"If it's so important then why didn't he come here in person and tell you!" Desert slammed his front hooves on the desk.

"It's very early morning," Thunder explained. "He probably didn't think you guys were awake."

Midnight glanced toward the clock. "So it is..."

"You gonna be alright without sleep?" Thunder asked.

He smiled. "Changelings don't need sleep. It certainly helps our minds, but we don't need it."

Thunder shrugged. "If you're alright with it."

"I usually choose sleep, but one night off won't hurt."

"That's fair enough."

"So what's the plan?" Desert interjected.

"I think seeing Advantage does the most good and that's what I think we should do," Midnight replied.

"Yeah?" Desert put a hoof on Thunder's shoulder. "Thunder and I would rather hunt a black and red pegasus!"

Their argument was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. "Midnight!" the Colonel called from the hall as the changeling opened the door from his desk. "Your team is to go keep an eye on Advantage. We've had to move more troops to the border, so we didn't actually get around to sending a squad out there."

"Knew it!" Desert excitedly whispered.

"Sir," Midnight pleaded. "One of our members went MIA."

"He means she got kidnapped by a black and red pegasus with a magic carrot," Desert explained. "We need to get her back!"

"Go check on Advantage or I will liquidate all of you," the Colonel commanded without blinking. "I expect a dragon fire report by the end of the week." He turned from the three and disappeared back into the hallway.

"Well, that's that," Midnight said in a sadder tone than the others had expected.

"Guess I'll go try to get some sleep," Mirage said.

"Don't bother. Let's just get our tickets and board the next train. You can sleep on the way there."

"As long as I get an entire seat..." Desert stretched his back and jaw. "No need to waste anymore time then."

The three made their way into the morning light and then to the station. Thunder stopped at a nearby stand and picked up a newspaper to read while Midnight ordered the tickets.

Thunder read the headline story. "Huh, apparently we're getting a new princess."

Desert chuckled, his eyes half closed. Midnight just nodded, his mind on other things.

"Equestria Games are coming up." He flipped through the pages. "They'll be hosted by the Crystal Empire."

"Neat," said Midnight.

Desert was taking a light snooze.

Thunder sighed and skimmed more articles. "You hear that Discord got reformed?"

"What?!" Midnight said loud enough to wake up Desert, who promptly looked around before shutting his eyes again.

Thunder smiled. "Yeah, apparently he's sworn to not use his powers for evil anymore."

Midnight crooked his head. "You sure you picked up an actual newspaper?"

"Yeah, apparently the six heroes did it." Thunder turned the paper around to show the article. He turned the paper back around. "Huh. This might just be the first picture of Discord not in a stony prison."

"Well, I still don't trust him," the purple unicorn said, turning back to the station in time to see the train pull in. He nudged the pale yellow unicorn next to him. "C'mon, Desert... Train's here."

Desert rubbed his eyes and trotted behind his teammates as they approached the station. From the train disembarked a single Appleloosan: a smiling, one-eyed, brown stallion who stayed between them and the train.

"Isn't that...?" Thunder's voice trailed off as he squinted toward the familiar pony.

"I don't like this," Midnight said.

"He's just standing there," Desert said. Midnight turned to him. "Menacingly!" the unicorn added before the changeling could say anything.

"Oh, shush..." Midnight held back a smile. "I'll handle this." He trotted up to the wretcher cowpony while his team stayed back and observed from afar.

"The Perfect One has requested your presence," the wretcher said in an unfitting accent.

"That's funny, because my boss just told me I need to keep an eye on Advantage..."

"Don't give our secret plans away!" Mirage yelled into the night.

Midnight tried to ignore him. The wretcher was more successful. "I've been sent here to retrieve you. We're running out of allies since a strange pony started luring them all away with their seeds of doubt."

"So they want me back?"

The wretcher shook his head. "They are afraid somebody is behind this. They want your help figuring out who; they don't want you to rejoin their hive."

"I was about to say..." Midnight chuckled. He beckoned his troops over. "Give me a sec, and I'm all theirs." He turned to the ponies. "Kernel here is taking me back to Advantage and we'll see what we can do about Disadvantage from there." He smiled. "I want you guys to go back to that mansion and find out what you can here. Track down Gravity; that's your mission."

"And, you're just going back to those twins alone?" Thunder asked.

"I'll admit, I have no idea who has the most dangerous job here." Midnight sighed. "I guess it really depends on whatever you find in the mansion." He winked and turned from them. He put a foreleg around Kernel and trotted with him back onto the train. "Good luck, ponies!"

They waved goodbye from the platform as the conductor called for the last time into the morning light. Desert and Thunder stood there for a few extra minutes. One contemplated their mission, the other just leaned on a pole with their eyes closed. The pegasus nudged the tired unicorn and trotted back toward the city. Desert picked up the pace to catch up to him.

"You need some sleep first?" Thunder asked.

Desert shook his head. "Even if I find a good couch, I just can't rest knowing that my girlfriend is being held by some carrot-loving pegasus..."

The pegasus chuckled. "I know how you feel. Let's get back to that mansion."

They hurried along the street, as if racing the morning light. Desert's lack of sleep did nothing to slow him down, and Thunder's well-rested sprint was more than enough to shave time off their trip.

"You know," Desert started in between breaths as he panted outside the mansion. "I think this is our first mission together... Like, just us ponies."

"I think you're right." Thunder smiled. "And since we're going for wretchers, neither of us have much to worry about."

Desert crooked his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, wretchers don't eat love, they eat other changelings."

Frowns creased both of their snouts in realization.

"Let's hurry," Thunder added.

"Yeah," Desert said, his tone revealing more worry than Thunder had heard yet.

The two rushed into the familiar hallway. Thunder took some time to check for extra "Lacunas" on the wall. Desert found the red marker and underlined his "No." before galloping up the stairs to the room where they lost Gravity.

Finding nothing out of place in the hall, Thunder galloped up after him. The sunlight only showed that the room was even more empty than before; the ashes that once covered the ground were gone and not a thing seemed out of place.

"It's like we didn't have an awesome fight up here!" Desert called, thumping the closed window with his hoof. "This is the worst."

"Keep looking!" Thunder called back. "There's gotta be something they missed..."

Desert looked over the room, paying extra attention to the couches. Thunder looked all over the floor for even a speck of changeling ash. Neither found anything suiting their interests. Thunder opened the door to the next room, only to find the original escape window closed as well. But the light shined onto circles of ash on the ground.

"Mirage!" Thunder called. "Hoofprints!"

The two followed the prints down a set of stairs that were invisible in the darkness of the fight. They found themselves in a familiar room, with the ashes leading to the door recognized by both the ponies to be the basement. They hurriedly trotted down the steps to see the large door firmly shut and the ashes leading beyond it.

"Alright, they've nowhere to go," Thunder noted. "Let's take a quiet--"

Desert slammed his body into the door, forcing it open. Thunder joined in the threshold, and they both stared in horror at what awaited them. Inside was Gravity, her limbs and wings taped together and her eyes and beak taped shut. Gorman the Tenth stood behind the shaking prisoner with a large sword, which he promptly set to her neck the moment the door was opened.

"Yell louder next time you find a trail of hoofprints," Gorman taunted. "I almost didn't hear you coming!"

"Don't you even dare--" Mirage growled.

Gorman pushed the blade into Gravity's neck just enough to shut him up. "Dares are for playground delinquents with no backbone to do what they want. I'm no fledgling, and this blade digs deeper into her neck with each word you waste." He smiled and looked over the ponies while Gravity whimpered under the tape.

Desert aimed his spear. "Just let her go, bird-brain!"

Gorman shook his head with a smirk. "Why do I even bother to try reason with a yellow child. Perhaps you need a taste of the adult world?" His grin grew wider as his blade dug deep enough into Gravity's neck to make her body scream out in pain as best it could.

Before Desert or Thunder could react, the blade cut even deeper to silence Gravity. Gorman pushed her limp body aside and it turned to green, glowing goop as it hit the cement.

"She dies scared and alone. Welcome to the real world!"

Desert charged at Gorman with his spear glowing. Gorman simply laughed, the gem in his headdress glowing until he vanished into a green smoke.

Desert swung his head around in all directions looking for Gorman, but the griffin was gone. Finally his gaze rested on Gravity's remains, which only sent his head spinning around the room once more, but much more violently.

Mirage stabbed at everything around him. "I... I'm gonna kill him!"

Thunder backed up, trotting out of the room and making sure the large door closed behind him. Despite the thickness of the walls and door, Thunder could still hear Desert inside the room... Breaking everything.

Midnight and Kernel were probably the only passengers on the train. It impressed the unicorn how friendly the conductor was despite the circumstances. The two changelings sat in a car that would be empty without them. For the first few hours of the trip, they simply glanced at each other while enjoying the view outside. Then, with a raspy, changeling voice from its brown snout, Kernel broke the silence.

"Mask, what is wrong with me?"

Midnight crooked his head. "What... What do you mean?"

"I have nightmares every night. It's a different one each night yet... Every single vision has a bizarre familiarity. It's like memories... But none of them are mine."

"Have you talked to Advantage about this?"

Kernel sighed. "I... I don't remember. They tell me that I should already know how, as if I've talked to them before about it."

Midnight smiled. "Well, that I can certainly remind you of! I overheard that conversation long ago... Basically they told you to face your fears. Or in this case, whoever's fears."

"And they couldn't just say that?"

"If Advantage were straightforward there wouldn't be two of them."

Kernel shrugged and grinned for just that long. "I guess that's true."

"Something else bothering you?" the concerned unicorn asked.

"Why..." He hesitated. "Why did you leave?"

Midnight shrugged. "Destiny, I suppose. There are things that need done for Equestria and I can do them."

"Like turn down your own mentors?" He squinted at the unicorn across from him. "Do you really prefer ponies to your own family?"

"Family," Midnight scoffed. "The ponies are as much my family as Advantage or Gravity."

"And the wretchers?"

"What about them? It's evident that most of them don't even truly follow Advantage. They seek power and they are willing to follow it from place to place!"

A smirk creased Kernel's snout for a fleeting moment. "And you killed them instead of trying to help them."

"You just got here! How could you know--"

"Mask," Kernel interrupted. "Why do you think I was sent to get you?"

Midnight froze in his seat. In his mind echoed his own words from the night before: The pair have the patience of two Celestias. They always try diplomacy first... The only exceptions involve the murder of one of their wretchers. And that didn't happen.
But what if it did?

He shook himself out of it. "That was self defense! Advantage would understand!"

Kernel crooked his head. "For whose sake are you questioning their understanding?"

Midnight crossed his forelegs. "You tell me. They haven't tried to reach me with their telepathy yet..."

The smirk reappeared on the Appleloosan snout. "And you haven't figured out why that could be yet?"

Midnight got up from his seat. "No. I think I'll sleep on it." He trotted to the door. "Good night, Carnal," he growled.

Kernel chuckled to himself in silence as Midnight left the car. He lay down on the seat and looked up at the roof. Faded memories of Midnight from back in Advantage's hive bounced around in his head. "Who was this guy?" he whispered to himself. "Wonder how much time the boss'll take to slit his throat." His eyes brightened. "Perfect timing." He chuckled to himself quietly and turned over.

He shut his eyes to wait for the conductor's call, ready for the nightmares to come.

Kernel woke to find Midnight sitting across from him again. He yawned and stretched from his makeshift bed.

"Have a good rest?" the purple unicorn asked.

Kernel shook his head. "Not in almost a year." His eyes widened and he blinked until they were back to normal. "I already told you about the nightmares..."

Midnight smiled. "Funny how you're willing to trust someone who's going to be executed."

"How long until we get there?" The tires on the train came to a screeching halt. "Nevermind," he said after a quick glance at Appleloosa outside the window.

The two changelings disembarked and headed to those strange woods. In the familiar clearing, the zebra twins stepped forward. Behind them was a spring full of shiny, fresh water.

"Welcome back, Midnight," Lesser said with a smile.

Midnight grew skeptical. "Carnal tells me I'm to be executed?"

"Well isn't someone eager?" Superior said with the same smile.

"Won't you have a drink?" Lesser said in a more ominous tone than usual. The twins pointed Midnight to the spring behind them.

He trotted up to it. "When did this even get here?" he asked no one in particular as his hoof tapped the surface.

The ripples and feel were that of jelly rather than water. Beneath the murky yet shiny surface, two glowing eyes watched him from below. A strange, female voice sang through the trees around him, calming Midnight as he felt beckoned to trot onto the strange pool. He gave into temptation and delighted in the sensation of standing on water without sinking. The eyes continued to watch him as the song went on, distracting him from the other glowing orbs on the perimeter of the spring. Nine green, glowing orbs wrapped in the blue substance rose into the air around him, stretching the jelly and forming what looked like tentacles.

The song stopped.

Before Midnight realized what had happened, the tentacles fell on him and the substance yielded to his weight. His attempt to scream only saw the pool's contents inside of his lungs. Under the surface, he came snout to snout with a creature that seemed to be half-fish and half-pony. It smiled, using its webbed hooves to take his glasses and try them on. It giggled in the voice of the song.

From the surface, Advantage and Kernel watched the bubbles stop. The blue pond turned green, glowed brightly, and disappeared in a flash. Kernel laughed as Advantage's smile slowly disappeared from their face.

"Why are you laughing?" Lesser asked without either head turning around.

"I... I..." Kernel stopped to catch a breath. "I didn't expect you to just kill him so easily!"

Advantage turned to him, and the look on their faces exiled his laughter. "Who are you and where is he?!" Superior growled, pointing at Kernel.

The changeling just shook his head. "I have no idea what you're asking."

"Are you not afraid?" Lesser asked the subtly shaking pony.

Kernel tried to compose himself. "Well, when you look at me like that... Who isn't afraid?!"

A sinister smile creased both their snouts.

"Our friends are not scared."

"So what are you shaking for?" Superior asked.

"Take it off, stranger!" Lesser commanded.

A terrified frown was all the impostor could do, aside from shaking his head and the rest of his body with it. Advantage let out a deep growl, resounding from both their throats as changeling horns grew from their foreheads. Superior's was longer and more twisted, befitting a Queen. Slowly, the zebras disappeared behind a pillar of green flame twice their size, and Kernel was too shocked by their forms to move. With a combined effort, the two horns pulled the two-eyed creature out from under Kernel's usual disguise. They took a step back, surprised at how many feathers this creature had.

"What are you... pony?" Lesser asked in a wretched yet very deep voice.

Chapter 9: Details, Details

A full day had passed since Gorman killed Gravity. Thunder Sword and Desert Mirage found themselves back at the base with nothing to do. Desert sat in the corner, rubbing and whispering to his precious jar. The jar glowed more subtly with each passing hour, the dead changeling inside fading away as her remains stagnated. Thunder shook his head and trotted down the hall toward Midnight's office. Assuming he could get in, Thunder believed he could find something that might just bring Gravity back again, or at least delay stagnation long enough for Midnight to return. He turned slowly to the door to the office and was knocked out of his contemplation by the sound of papers rustling inside.

"Midnight?" he asked, pushing the unlatched door open with his hoof. Sure enough, the purple unicorn was home, rummaging through some drawers such that his two furry bat ears stuck up from behind the desk.

"What do you want?" he snarled, picking his head up to glare at Thunder.

"You're... You're back already!? What happened with Advantage?"

Midnight rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Well, they apparently didn't want me around, so they threw me into a lake."

"A lake?"

He shrugged. "All I know is that I woke up in Canterlot with a bad headache and a worse song stuck in my head." He turned from the pegasus back toward the drawers. "I'm just trying to remember where I put my medicines... You go do whatever it is you're doing," he said, twirling his hoof around as his head was now obscured by the desk.

"Oh, right!" Thunder turned to gallop away, but hesitated. "Stay here; I need to show you something."

"This better be good," Midnight grumbled to himself as the pegasus galloped away. "No, I don't think he suspects anything," he whispered in a lighter tone of voice to himself. "We just have to find that evidence..."

Before he knew it, Thunder was back at the desk with a green jar. He placed the jar on the unicorn's desk. "Midnight... We found Gravity." He sighed and averted his eyes from the other's. "She's... She's dead. We were investigating that mansion and Gorman was in the basement with her. He slit her throat right in front of us."

Despite the full explanation, Midnight maintained a straight face.

"Please!" Thunder begged. "You've got to save her! I know you don't like that she's Desert's girlfriend but Desert's become a complete psychopath since she died!"

Midnight finally sighed, then smiled. He sniffed at the jar. "Girlfriend, huh? Fine. I'll bring her back, but you need to go." He gestured to the door while his eyes focused on the jar. "This is going to take all my concentration and I can't have you breathing down my neck."

Thunder left Midnight alone with the jar, the door slamming shut behind him. The changeling looked over the green light and grinned, baring its fangs. "Dead changeling girlfriend, huh?" His tone was softer again as he unscrewed the lid. "O come on... Not one of these lids..." he remarked before carefully removing the thin piece of metal from the top with his hoof. "So much easier to do with claws," he murmured, placing it carefully with the rest of the lid.

Finally, the jar was open. The changeling lifted some of the goop from the jar with his horn. "I haven't fed on love-enriched flesh in years..." He said in anticipation. His fangs bit into the green. His eyes and cheeks widened as his gag reflex saw him spit the goop back into the jar. He continued to cough and spit for several more seconds in a futile attempt to get the taste out of his mouth.

"You alright, Midnight?" Thunder called from the hallway.

"Fine... Fine..." the changeling said, with coughs and gags breaking up his speech. "Could you get me a..." More coughing covered up Midnight's lack of a word. "Could you... Get..."

"A glass of water?" Thunder finished.

"Yes!" Midnight exclaimed. "Yes! Do that!"

The changeling glared down at the jar as the sounds of Thunder's hooves escaped his range of hearing. He spat one last time. "Of all the store brand ripoffs..." He paused, letting the anger come to a boil. "You are a wretcher! You're a complete wretcher! No love in there at all." His hoof reached out in anger to push the jar off the desk, but it hesitated. "No... No..." he whispered to himself. "Respect for the dead. As you always say... Respect for the dead." He stretched his hooves while his eyes stayed fixed on the jar. "Well, only one way to solve this," Midnight said in his soft voice.

A green glow pulled his eyes to the floor, where an orb-shaped light lied trapped in a transparent, blue tentacle. He crooked his head toward it.

"What do you mean, 'not important?'" he asked the light. "Sure we don't know who this is, but finding out could make all the difference." Midnight paused and listened to the silence of his solitude. "Because his subordinates care. We can see exactly what company they keep!" He looked up at the door for a moment and his ear twitched. "Shhh... Quiet. I just need your help identifying this lost soul..."

The tentacle lifted itself off the ground. A glance behind him revealed the tentacle shared its base with his tail. The blue wrapped around the jar and the green orb moved around within its oozy cage as it scanned the other green light. The blue reached over the top of the jar and squeezed into the opening; the orb soon followed its trail.

The door slammed open as pegasus entered briskly with a glass in tow.

"Would it kill you to knock!?" Midnight screamed at him in shock.

"How's Gravity doing?" he asked, ignoring the purple unicorn's concern as he placed the glass of water on the desk.

Midnight sighed. "Are you sure this is her? I'm not smelling a whole lot of love..."

"Wha-?" Thunder said in bewilderment. "I saw her die..."

"Did she say or do anything that assured you she was really herself?"

Thunder shook his head. "She didn't have a chance. She couldn't move and there was a blade at her neck..."

Midnight sighed again. "Listen... You. I'm thinking that this isn't actually any girlfriend." He shook his head. "The evidence just isn't happening."

The pegasus squinted at the changeling for a brief moment before turning away. "Then who is it? Who did Gorman kill?"

Masquerade shrugged. "Beats me. But it wasn't a girlfriend." Thunder turned back to him and Midnight waved him away. "Go tell the boyfriend. Now."

Midnight looked down at his tentacle still stuck in the jar. Thunder turned away again and trotted out without even a second glance.

"Have you finished yet?" Midnight whispered.

The tentacle retreated from the jar's opening. It slithered back into obscurity, disappearing into thin air and leaving the green light to fade out.

"It doesn't remember what it is?" Midnight asked the empty room. "Really?" His eyes widened and he paused to listen to nothing. "So it's true then... They wouldn't want to fix what Gorman intentionally broke if they were on the same side." Midnight sighed deeply.

The white pegasus reappeared at the door. He knocked twice before stepping inside. "Everything alright?"

Midnight shook his head. "Now what do you want?"

Thunder closed the door gently behind before drawing his knife. "Where is Midnight? The real one."

"I already told you that." The purple unicorn looked into his eyes, grinning with a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Advantage had him thrown into my waters. It's what you might call a 'death sentence.'" A giggle shook his face subtly. "Would you like to join him?"

Thunder took a step back. "Mirage!" he called back to the hall without taking his eyes off the imposter. "Get in here!"

"What's going on now?" the unicorn called back before trotting into view with his spear. "Can't a guy polish his--" The sight of Midnight so soon caught him off guard.

"Desert, this is another changeling posing as Midnight and telling us we can't save Gravity." Thunder took a couple steps to get completely out of the way.

"WHAT?!" Desert screamed in rage.

The monster behind the desk flinched as Desert's glowing spear discharged a blast of magic at him. The eight tentacles that lied in the creature's subconscious, each an extension of its power, took a more solid form. Splitting off from the tail, they quickly wrapped over the front of the unicorn to block the blast. The impact briefly blinded the ponies and managed to rip the monster from its form.

Standing before them now was neither pony nor changeling. It had webbed hooves that sported small spikes that seemed to function like claws. The beast's head had discolored Midnight's ears, but kept their fluffy bat form. Its entire body was a sparkling black, as though someone had spilt glitter on a changeling. Its eyes were strangely reptilian and green. Its snout was thin and elongated, and filled with sharp fangs. Its body was adorned with fins where most ponies had tufts of hair, with exception only to its familiar ears.

Mirage charged his spear. The monster twisted its semi-transparent tentacles into an opaque single form: a fish-like tail, and bolted past the ponies and out of the room. Desert chased after it with his spear aglow, and Thunder chased after Desert with his knife sheathed. The pursuit spilled out of the doors and into the streets, where the fish-monster believed it could lose the ponies as it hopped fences. Thunder spread his wings and flew over the obstacles; Desert charged through. The imposter headed in a straight line, making it easy for Thunder and Desert to make up lost time. Then the creature skittered into the familiar mansion.

The sight of the broken door frame only made the unicorn faster and angrier. The ponies followed the sound of the monster's steps and anxious breath. It took them through winding hallways they had never traveled. Then it disappeared. The sounds had stopped and there was no sign of the fishy tail around any corners. The only door in this room was a windowed screen that looked out upon the mansion's backyard. Vines and weeds cluttering the view and the door, especially around the rusty locks and latches, had the ponies look everywhere else for the fugitive. It took them a few minutes to realize that it may not have needed to use the door.

Beyond the green that covered the door, there stood a dry fountain covered in more vines. The shapeshifter sat on its edge and watched the overgrown door carefully. Its tail split into the eight tentacles and flopped around the dry pool, slowly filling it with water of their own.

"C'mon..." the snout muttered in a feminine tone. "I know you're there..." She took her eyes off the door for a moment to check the water's conditions. "I need your help here..." she whispered anxiously. "Please..."

The vines on the door shook. The door itself was too rusted and overgrown to work, but the changeling knew the unicorn would find a way through.

The fountain waters bubbled. She sharply exhaled and reached into the sparkly yet murky waters with her hooves. Her webbed hooves pulled Midnight from the depths of the shallow fountain. She hugged him. She kissed him over and over. Midnight pushed her away. She waited for him to catch his breath and try to talk. Her snout went straight for his open mouth. Her claws massaged his belly as he gagged on her mouth within his. Finally, she removed her face from his, a long blue tentacle between her teeth. Midnight coughed at the sights.

"I... I don't believe we've formally met," he said, out of breath and hiding his disgust of what she pulled out of him.

The other changeling placed the tentacle with the others, and they quickly blended into the fish tail. "Less talky..." she whispered, cutting him off as she cowered behind him. "More saving me from a crazed lunatic!"

The vines and rust gave way to Mirage and Thunder's strength as they broke through the glass to make it outside. Desert galloped up to the pair, his spear glowing brighter and brighter.

"Stand down, Mirage!" Midnight commanded. "It's me! What's wrong with you?"

Desert stood there. He glared at the two changelings. His spear did not lower in brightness or readiness.

"Midnight?" Thunder called from behind the enraged unicorn. "Midnight, you're alive!"

"Thunder!" Midnight smiled for a brief moment. "What's going on?"

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me." Thunder replied. Midnight glanced at the stoic and angry Desert looming over them. "Oh right... Yeah..." Thunder's voice trailed off. "Midnight... I'm not sure how to say this, but Gravity is... Dead."

"Dead?!" the purple unicorn asked in shock. "You're sure?"

Thunder nodded. "Gorman slit her throat in front of us."

"When?!"

"Last night. We saved her remains, but your changeling friend insisted it isn't her," Thunder explained, gesturing toward the fish-like changeling behind Midnight.

The purple unicorn turned to her. "Is this true?"

"Which part?" she asked. "That I told him that or the thing itself."

"The one that doesn't run my patience out."

She nodded. "It's all true." She forced a grin, trying to keep her lips covering the rows of sharp teeth. "Those remains did not have a trace of love in them. It tasted like pure wretcher and my soul manipulation didn't pull up anything."

Midnight turned back to the ponies. "Alright, let's go back to my office. I want to see these remains for myself. And my glasses." He rubbed his bare snout with his hoof. "I can barely see anything right now."

"What about her?" Desert asked in an ominous tone.

Midnight looked at the fish then back to the unicorn. "She'll come along with us." He looked at her. "I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind."

The changeling looked at him, then to Mirage and his spear, then back to him. She leaned in to whisper something while her tentacles slipped into the fountain behind her.

"I really like your ears," she whispered. She quickly jumped into the pool behind her and disappeared into the shallow depths.

Desert's lasers did nothing to the water in the fountain except turn it green. With a flash, it was dry. The sea creature was gone.

"Forget her!" Midnight shouted over the sound of Mirage's spear shooting the fountain. "Let's just get back to the office!"

They galloped back into the comfort of their headquarters. The jar sat on the desk, barely glowing at all now. Midnight looked around it and finally found his glasses on the floor.

"Shame about that changeling," he said, rubbing his glasses on his chest. "She could have been reformed. Probably." He placed the glasses on his snout. "So, what do we have here?" He opened the jar and put his snout in it. He quickly removed it and shook his head. "Nope."

Thunder crooked his head. "Nope?"

"I know Gravity's remains," Midnight explained. "This isn't her."

Desert's jaw dropped. "But we saw..."

"A wretcher. A decoy." Midnight rubbed the side of the jar.

"So where is she?!" the unicorn almost screamed.

Midnight sighed. "That is what I intend to find out." He picked up the jar and trotted past them. "Come on! We've got a train to catch!"

Gorman the Tenth slowly removed his armor and placed it against the wall. He looked down at the wound the spear blast had left him with days before. The bleeding had stopped for the most part; it was the strange mucus that the infection had produced that worried him the most. He patted the spot with a white cloth; it came back light red. He sighed and looked to the door on the far side of the room.

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter!" he commanded.

A diseased changeling trotted through. This one's main problem was the tiny third eye in the center of its forehead, at the base of its horn. It smiled at the griffin and kneeled.

"I thought I told Disadvantage to not sent his wretchlings to me..."

"Your highness," it spoke with its high pitched voice. "Disadvantage has been captured by the twins!"

"What?!"

"I flew here as quick as I could, sir!" the wretcher pleaded. "I'm afraid there's not much hope for him..."

"There's always hope, soldier," Gorman said without making eye contact. "The Advantages don't kill quickly."

"Sir... They've summoned the Drooling Oasis!" the wretcher warned in a panicked voice.

Cryptic warnings were his least favorite. "And I'm supposed to know what that is?"

"It's a being of pure darkness, sir. A body that can command the water, a voice that can control the soul, and a thirst for blood that never ends."

Gorman plucked at a feather near his wound. The wretcher just stared at him for a moment. "Oh," the griffin said as he realized. "That all?"

"She used to be a heartless souleater. Now Advantage holds the reins, but she's been away for too long for me to know if anything else is true anymore..."

"Noted," Gorman replied. "Do continue, and don't leave out a single detail."

"Well... She used to be friends with Redemption before she had him killed. She has claws that can pierce exoskeletons. Advantage tamed her after forcing her to rip herself apart... Her nine tails are now only used for self defense, nothing else." It paused to take a breath. "Then there's the water. She can make pools of sparkly water out of thin air and use it to teleport farther than any changelings... She eats anything lured into her pools, and I mean anything. Her endless hunger is what earned her the title 'the Drooling Oasis.'"

"Now is that all?" Gorman asked his scout.

"All that I know, sir, except for one detail."

"Spit it out!"

"She... She killed Midnight, sir. No one comes out of her waters alive." It shook its head.

Gorman turned from the wretch, looking at the armor next to the wall. "So, it is done." He looked toward his sword, and its clean, shiny blade. "And you say that Disadvantage is dead already then?"

"Well, with Advantage controlling the Oasis now I can't say for sure."

"Then go find out." Gorman pointed to the door.

"Sir?!" the distressed triclops pleaded. "You can't... You can't just spy on the Oasis!"

"I know." Gorman smiled. "That's why you're doing it." He turned from the scout. "I want whatever's left of Midnight. Just something that tells us he's really dead. But getting your leader back should have top priority, even over your life!"

"Under..." It gulped. "Understood, sir."

It reluctantly scampered out the door. It looked over its shoulder in the threshold in hopes that Gorman might reconsider. The griffin was silent. The door slammed shut behind the wretcher.

"Fools." Gorman sighed and looked back to his blade. "Gunter is in trouble and they're scared of a ghost story. Advantage's are so superstitious it's ridiculous!" He looked to the third party, trapped in the corner of the room in a cage. "We can't make a pilgrimage by ourselves." He shook his head. "I can't carry you all the way back to the Kingdom."

The silhouette in the cage curled up as if it was going to sleep.

"Sure. Ignore me while you can. But if Midnight is gone, then your friends will never discover the ruse." Gorman chuckled. "They'll never come looking for you, Gravity. And soon enough, they'll stop looking for me as well."

Movement in his peripheral turned the griffin's head to the corner of the room. A strange, spiked vine was reaching out from a crack in the floor. Gorman smiled.

"Yes. Very soon."

Chapter 10: Stalemate

"Bubbles?" the zebra known as Lesser called out to the figure appearing out of the dark forest. "What happened?"

"Aren't they adorable, Advantage?" the Drooling Oasis replied, fluffing its bat ears with its claws. "So fluffy!"

"What of Midnight?" Superior asked. "What's your choice?"

She shook her head. "A name: Gorman. That is all I've found."

The twin zebras glanced toward the unconscious pegasus on the ground. "Any connection?" Lesser asked.

The sea creature shrugged. "How the he..." Her body shook and her head twitched, cutting her voice off. She cleared her throat as the tremors stopped. "I have no idea," she said slowly.

The twins smiled.

"Advantage?" the Oasis asked its master. "Why... Why didn't you tell me Redemption was still alive?"

The twins took a step back. “That wretch did not live."

She glared at them as her tail-fin split into nine tentacles. "According to Midnight's friends, he was disguised as another changeling before Gorman slit his throat!"

"Calm yourself, Elegiac!" Superior commanded her by name.

"Are you just going to deny--" Her lungs failed, cutting her voice short. She looked up at her tentacles; nine green orbs glowed brightly as their power coursed into her.

"He died years ago," Lesser said. With a shared nod, Advantage revived Elegiac's lungs. "His body recycled."

"To who?" she asked them, out of breath. "Who took his body..."

"We knew him as Kernel," Superior replied. The twins looked over to the pegasus on the ground and shook their heads. "Shame."

"Kernel?" Elegiac crooked her head. "You mean, my best friend..."

The twins looked to her and nodded. "One and the same, yes," Lesser said.

"And you couldn't tell me this?" she asked them, holding back her rage for fear of her own tails.

"You would have killed him."

"You don't know that!"

The twins each raised an eyebrow. Elegiac carefully sheathed her fangs under her lips before shaking her head. They looked down at her claws. Their gaze went up from there, passing her eyes and settling on her ears.

"You knew Masquerade before," Superior said.

"He was Foresight then," Lesser explained.

"He didn't betray us," Elegiac said, her gaze at the ground. Advantage hid their shock behind a genuine smile. "...I mean, as badly as I had thought." She looked up at them. "I... I didn't kill him or his friends." Water began to pool around her eye. "They threatened me. I felt scared. Provoked. But I ran." She fought a lump in her throat. "I could have eaten them like the rest. And I was so hungry..." She shook subtly. "Advantage, what is wrong with me?"

The twins shook their heads in unison. "Nothing, sweet child."

"You did what you knew was right," Superior added.

Elegiac exhaled softly. Her claws scratched at her belly. "I'm still so hungry. When do we eat?"

"Where is Redemption?" Lesser asked.

"In a jar. Probably on Midnight's desk."

Advantage smiled. A rustling in the bushes pulled their eyes to a triclopean wretcher emerging from the overgrowth. Elegiac turned her head as well to look at the one other follower to return.

"Hello, Advantage," it said, casually strolling into the conversation. "Is that a pony?" it asked in genuine confusion. It turned from the unconscious pegasus to the Oasis.

"What?" she growled. "You really think I'd eat that again? After what happened last time?"

"You ate Midnight..."

She smiled, baring all her fangs. "And who told you that?"

"Nobody..." The triclops started to back away. It stepped in something cold and wet.

It looked down to find a sparkly, blue gel covering its hind hoof. Looking back up, it only saw Advantage. The twins' eyes stared through the changeling, focused on something behind it. It turned around to find its hoof sitting at the edge if a small pool.

A feminine voice spoke, echoing through the trees. "If nobody told you that I ate Midnight, then you saw it! You're a spy!"

The wretcher tried to gallop away, but its hoof was stuck. Elegiac's head peeked up from under the water. Her bat ears appeared to be dry. She chuckled from under the surface, but the sound resonated with the entire area.

"Let me go, you monster!" the triclops pleaded. "You demon! You deceiver!"

The gel wrapped around its leg and lifted the wretcher off the ground. It dangled over the pool, directly above Elegiac. She looked up and opened her mouth wide, showing off two rows of fangs.

"Please! No!" it shouted as it struggled in the Oasis's grasp. "I want to live!"

Advantage stepped forward. "Who has sent you here?" Lesser asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" it shrieked.

The gel lowered it closer to Elegiac's gaping maw.

"It's Disadvantage!" it screamed, covering its face to hide from the teeth below.

The waters below brought the waves of teeth to a calm. "What?"

"That... Pony... It's Disadvantage..." the triclops whimpered.

"Then who sent you?" the waves crashed below.

"The... The king?" it whimpered. "He told me to bring... To bring Disadvantage back..."

"Gorman," the waters whispered.

"The name that you learned?" Lesser asked as the twins crooked their heads.

"Who?" the triclops asked with a shaking voice.

"Worthless." The waters opened the maw of sharp teeth and the wretcher felt itself descend.

"Elegiac! Let her go!" Superior commanded.

The green orbs' glow forced the waters to crash the wretcher to the safety of the dirt. The waves screamed as the maw collapsed into the pool.

The wretcher fled into the hooves of the twins. They embraced her, patting the crying wretcher on the back.

"There, there..." Lesser said. "You're safe now."

Elegiac peeked out from the pool. Advantage glared at her from over the crying shoulders. Her head slowly retreated back into the blue.

"Tell Gorman we trade souls here," Superior said to the shaking changeling in their embrace.

"Am..." the wretcher started.

"No," Lesser answered as the twins shook their heads. "Your soul won't do."

"Wha...?"

"Just go home, child."

The wretcher slowly retreated from their grasp. It flew up from the ground and disappeared beyond the trees.

Elegiac leaped from the pool, which swirled into her nine tails and finally formed into one tail-fin.

"You just let him go?" she asked, crooking her head as she trotted toward the twins. "How do you even know Gorman wants to barter for the pony?"

"Fair is fair, little siren," Superior replied.

"Gorman should know that," Lesser added.

Elegiac trotted over to the pegasus. It was green in color. She prodded it with a claw.

"What..." She cleared her throat to correct herself. "Who do you expect to get for this?"

"Someone of value," Lesser answered.

"One he'll definitely miss," Superior added.

Elegiac shook her head. "He'll never go for that."

"He will," Lesser affirmed. "For this one." The twins pointed to the green pegasus.

"And if Gorman wants to just take this guy back by force?"

The twins' heads crooked the same way for a moment a thought. They uncrooked their heads and smiled at her. "Then we won't stop you."

Elegiac smiled with a full mouth of fangs.

"How many times do we have to take this train?" Desert asked from his bed in the sleeping car.

"At least once more," Midnight answered from the bed opposite his. "We wanna get back to Canterlot, right?"

"And how did you get back there again?"

"I really, really hope you aren't implying that we ask that sea creature for a lift!" Thunder said from his bunk below Desert's.

"What? You got something against seaponies?"

"That wasn't a seapony." Midnight shrugged. "'Kelpie' is a term that gets circulated by Canterlot scholars. But the title that thing earned from the wretchers was 'Drooling Oasis.'"

Mirage sat up and turned to Midnight. "That's who that was?" He smiled and exhaled. "I didn't even recognize her!"

Midnight sat up. "How do you--?" Realization widened his eyes and cut off the words. He crooked his head. "You were that unicorn?"

"You were Foresight?!"

"Didn't we go over this already?" Thunder asked, half annoyed under the bunk.

"I was probably sleeping through that part."

Midnight nodded. "Yeah, I think you were."

"Wow," Desert said as he lied back down. "It's like we met before we met..."

"Hardly." Midnight lied back down. "I was driven insane by that time. Why do you think I've called Foresight 'father' instead of 'past me?'" He scoffed at the concept. "I'm glad I got over my psychopathic tendencies in time to rejoin Equestria."

"Yet you still added Foresight's kill count to your own," Thunder pointed out.

An audible sigh came from Midnight's bunk. "Gravity would have been confused if I hadn't; I wanted to be honest with her."

"Why are we focused on a random jar when Gravity's still missing?" Desert asked.

"It's not just a random jar, Desert," Midnight explained. "It's a wretcher. One of Advantage's. Returning this will allow us a favor."

"And we use the favor to find Gravity!" Laughs echoed from the bunk above Thunder's. "So we are using these creeps' powers!" The laughs were smothered by a hoof and a realization. Desert slowly uncovered his mouth. "Wait... Advantage... Those twins were--"

"Desert!" Midnight interrupted. "Watch your mouth. Not all of us were there how ever many years ago..."

Desert rubbed his chin in contemplation. "That would have been... 6 years ago."

Midnight shook his head. "I don't wanna know how you remembered that. I'm just saying that Thunder wasn't there and I doubt he wants to hear about Advantage's true form."

"Yeah, just shut up for now," Thunder confirmed. He looked from one bunk to another. "You know we missed the coronation with all this searching and riding?"

Midnight shrugged. "Knowing how Equestria works, I'm sure we'll meet the new princess in due time."

Mirage opened his mouth, but only the sound of the train's brakes could be heard. Looking out the windows, the three found themselves in Appleloosa again. They disembarked and headed to the familiar heart of the woods. They each tightened their armor. Midnight carried the jar, Desert his spear, and Thunder his composure.

They entered the clearing to find the two zebras standing next to a pool with a large tentacle made of water dangling a familiar, green pegasus over itself. On their right, Gorman stood with a blade to the throat of Gravity, who was bound by several strips of duct tape. Seeing this, Midnight lifted the jar farther up with his magic so dropping the jar would break it and destroy the changeling inside.

Each party looked from one to the other and back.

"Well isn't this a fine cucumber we're in," Gorman said.

"Pickle. The term is pickle," Midnight corrected.

"Only the uncultured eat pickles," the griffin scoffed. "Now, if we all pass our hostages to the right, we can watch those we love perish in front of us. But, we can also each pass our tribute to the left and return power to our enemies." He chuckled. "So which is it?"

"We always choose life," Superior replied. "Pass left."

"A simple choice for simple minds," Gorman chastised. "Don't you two ever weigh the value-ness of a single life?" He smiled. "Example: If you kill this little bird, my work will be complete and none of you will ever see me again. Not to mention that Disadvantage dies too!"

"Don't listen to him, Advantage!" Midnight pleaded. "There's nothing to gain from preventable death! You taught me that!"

"Quiet, knave!" Gorman smiled and turned to the twins. "Surely a simple vote is worth deciding the fate of these three? It works back in the Kingdom..."

Advantage sighed, their heads turning from Gorman to Midnight and back. They nodded.

"Raise a hoof if you would let them live!" Gorman yelled, his two claws becoming more dedicated to restraining Gravity and holding the knife.

The twins' hooves stayed at their sides. Even the two that were constantly held by one another descended together. Their oceanic friend made the point to plant two claws into the ground to make up for the tentacle suspending the pegasus.

Thunder and Midnight raised their hooves. They turned to Desert, who raised his spear.

A crooked grin twisted his eyes toward the griffin. "Or maybe I just shoot you with this spear again and we call it fair trade?"

Thunder quickly grabbed at the spear in an attempt to disarm him. After a short struggle, the pegasus pulled the weapon clear. Midnight picked up a stick and tossed it to Mirage. He caught it and looked the small twig over.

"You know," Desert chuckled. "I could still kill him with this!" He looked over the others. "I could kill you all with this stick!"

"Shut up and raise your hoof before they think we're outvoted!" Thunder yelled.

Desert sighed, dropped the stick, and raised the hoof that held it. "Yay..." he droned sarcastically. "It's a tie..."

Gorman smiled. "Then I guess it's decided... By whoever... Passes..." He took a longer pause. "First!"

Heads all looked left and right to see who would. Nothing happened.

The waves of water next to Advantage intensified. The snout peeked up from the shallows. "Can I just eat this thing already?!"

"No!" Gorman yelled. "If we don't trade, then there can be no compromise."

"It certainly feels like that kinda day," Desert said after taking a moment to look up at the sky. "Or night, depending on the kind of pony you are..."

Looking up at the sky, the others were all held aghast by the sight. The sun and moon were out at the same time.

"An omen of true stalemate," Superior said.

"It's just a celestial aberration!" Gorman affirmed. "Like an eclipse... Or a solstice." He shook his head as he lifted his claws to his eyes to eliminate glare.

Midnight looked back to Advantage, who looked back in confusion. The purple unicorn smiled. "Catch!" he mouthed, throwing the jar to the twins.

A queen changeling horn appeared from Superior's forehead in time to catch it. The common changeling horn sprouting from Lesser's head also began to glow. The griffin form beside Gorman melted down to a changeling's, releasing her from bondage. She quickly flew away from him, past Midnight, and straight into Desert, almost tackling him to the ground in doing so.

"Hey!" Gorman screamed in rage.

"Fair is fair, Gorman," Lesser explained, his horn receding into his form.

"You liars! Then why do you wait until my back is turned?!"

"Making sure you give her up," Superior explained calmly.

"We'll get your friend down," Lesser added.

The twins turned to the water beside them and nodded. Gorman flew up and ripped the pegasus from her clutches.

"My, my..." Elegiac said, raising her head from her pool. "So rude."

Advantage looked to Midnight, who smiled back at them with a semi-sinister grin before nodding. The twins turned to the water and Superior whispered into its bat ears.

"It is time, child. Kill him."

Gorman shook his friend awake, both completely unaware of the dire situation. They smiled at each other as the pegasus got to his feet. Looking back from him, Gorman's beak almost bumped into the siren-faced changeling's snout. He backed up, shoo-ing his friend away as the monster crawled closer and closer. The griffin quickly pulled his knife from its sheathe. He looked over the beast for any obvious weakness. The gem in the center of her forehead seemed the best bet. He brought the blade down upon it.

*sploit*

Gorman's knife sunk into one of the nine tentacles that shielded the wretcher from attack. Elegiac whipped her tails back, leaving the griffin no time to retrieve it. Advantage and the others moved to assist their nine-tailed friend, only to find plant-like tentacles blocking their route. Thorny vines crawled and wrapped around the landscape. Of the two fighting, only Gorman saw the vines. Despite the breath of the growling, hungry monster on his beak, he could see a victory. He took a few steps back in a calm fashion that threw the beast off.

Elegiac charged him. Her claws ripped at his armor, pulling it apart. Even with his strength, the griffin could barely keep the wretcher's jaws away from his throat. Every punch and counter did nothing to slow her progress. He used his wings to gain some breathing room. He tried to attack her directly with momentum at his side, only to be blocked at every turn. Her thick scales withstood every attempt at a scratch. He tried to go for the face in the hopes of the tails returning his knife. It didn't happen.

"Boss!" the green pegasus yelled from the sidelines. "Here!" His hooves hurled a sword into the fray.

The griffin grabbed the sword and stood on his back legs to position himself for the right swing. The kelpie chuckled as its gem began to glow. Gorman was lifted off the ground by the wretcher's green magic. Much like its master, the aura did not yield to the griffin's strength and struggles. With a tilt of her head, Elegiac sent the griffin flying into thorny vines that had gathered on the edge of the clearing. Tilting it the other way, Gorman flew to the other side of the clearing to meet the other patch of brambles. Finally, she slammed him to the ground where he started.

"I've been around a thousand years, chicken! You really think you can even touch me?" Elegiac taunted.

Gorman could not rise from the ground, his leg twisted by the impact. "You're nothing! You're nothing but a bloodthirsty witch!" He winced as his claw rubbed his broken leg. His other claw reached for his sword.

Elegiac's claw got there first. She threw the sword behind her, and grinned menacingly at the fallen griffin. The cut and bruised Gorman looked slowly up to her eyes. No shame or glimpse of defeat scarred his bright, green eyes. He smiled back.

The kelpie charged him again. The gem on Gorman's headdress glowed as his twisted leg corrected itself. He flipped onto his back and used his legs to catch Elegiac. He threw her over his head, and she landed tails first into the ground. Her tails had become a pool again, and she peeked out to glare at the griffin. Gorman got up and faced her. He chuckled as his eyes began to glow with the gem. With an outstretched claw, Gorman's magic commanded one of the vines to crash into her puddle. It pushed her head back down into the ooze. He watched the bubbles stop before the vine began to recede. It pulled her up, her pool becoming the tails again. Coughing and surprised, Elegiac struggled in futility to get out of the bind. With a snap of his claw, the sword returned to his grasp. He stepped forward, watching her tails sway underneath. With one strong swing, he cleaved each tentacle free. Elegiac screamed in a pitch that stunned everyone else for a short time. The tails themselves scurried around on the ground like scared worms. The one with his knife almost got past Gorman, but he stopped it with a foot to its hilt. He chuckled as he pulled the blade from it.

The tail leaped up onto his chest and made its way into his beak. It disappeared down Gorman's throat who, other than feeling very repulsed, felt no real change after a fit of retching and coughing.

Thunder finally cut through the thick weeds. Desert jumped over him, spear charged and ready to fire. Gravity followed close behind, her griffin form finally restored.

"Don't you two know when to quit?!" Gorman yelled back at them.

Desert fired. Gorman dodged.

The griffin closed the distance and grabbed the spear from Desert. Stronger than Sword, Gorman ripped the spear from the unicorn's aura and pushed him into the Gravity. He turned from the collapsed pair and flew into the sky, away from the madness of the tangled vines. As he flew over Elegiac, he dropped his knife. It embedded itself into the vine holding her, and the weed immediately retreated back into the woods, carrying the helpless wretch with it. Seeing this, the green pegasus turned and flew into the brush and vines, out of sight.

Desert growled at the sky. Gravity lifted him onto her back and turned her head to Midnight.

"Leave Gorman to us!" she shouted, taking a few steps back.

"Don't wait up!" Desert added, holding on to her back as a couple bounds and a leap saw them take flight and pursuit.

Midnight looked around as the two disappeared over the canopy of trees. Advantage worked together to gather the wormlike tails in what looked like a strange, three-legged event at a fair. Meanwhile, Thunder cut apart more of the vines.

"Thunder!" Midnight called out. "We need to save that kelpie!" He galloped into the woods, following the vine's path.

"I thought you said she's more of an oasis..." Thunder said, catching up to the changeling.

"For both our sakes, I hope she's not..."

The woods were much darker down this path. The vines worked together to turn each tree into a black cactus while binding together to block out the sun above. They followed the siren's song in the dark, her melancholy tones always seeming to be a little farther ahead. In the sparse patches of light, they could also follow the wayward claw and fang marks that scarred the tree trunks or whatever covered them.

Finally they found her. The tailless kelpie sang from the dirt, her body limp and weak from the struggle. Her song didn't stop as she lifted her eyes to the unicorn and pegasus. From the corners of her mouth flowed a thick, green substance not unlike drool. She didn't blink. She just kept staring at them as they stepped closer, her song unwavering. Her claws were worn and torn, giving Thunder an even more uneasy feeling.

Midnight reached a hoof out to Elegiac. The long, almost jagged snout of the siren closed, stopping the song to sniff the limb. Her head retreated from the scent, and her eyes closed.

Her jaws lunged toward the hoof. Midnight pulled back in time to not get caught by the bear-trap-like fangs that were no more than an inch away. Her mouth twitched as though an invisible rope tied them together. Her teeth could now barely part, but she tried to speak nonetheless.

"Bring... Them... Back..." Elegiac hissed between her teeth. "I... Can't... Hear... Them... Bring... Them... Back..."

"Her tails," Midnight said. He turned to Thunder's confused face. "Go back to Advantage and get the tails back!"

"What about you?" Thunder asked, concern weighing heavily in his voice.

"I'm staying here."

"But she wants to eat you!"

Midnight smiled. "She wants to eat you too, but your skin's in the way. At least my death will be painless." He paused to watch Thunder stand there. "Go! I'll try to get Elly on her legs so we can follow, but we need the tails!"

Thunder nodded and galloped back up the path, the canopy too full of spikes for flight.

Midnight rubbed the siren's snout. "It's gonna be alright." He crooked his head. "You know, I used to have this problem too..."

The siren growled.

Thunder hurried back into the clearing. Advantage stood still in the middle of it, moving only to see him coming from behind them. They turned; each head had a tail in their mouth.

"Your friend needs those tails!" Thunder explained. "She's growling and snapping and--"

The twins put their hooves up to silence him. They nodded, and galloped down the path. Thunder was surprised to see these twins moving so quickly without letting go of one another. He was also disgusted by the way the tails squirmed and flailed in their grasp and wind. Finally they found Midnight standing over the collapsed Elegiac, without his unicorn form, and giving her a backrub.

"That's all you managed to get?!" Midnight yelled in his high pitched voice. He shook his head without disturbing the tempo of his hooves digging into the kelpie's thick scales. "Give 'em here," he relented, lifting a hoof and putting the other into overtime.

Advantage spat the tails out onto his hoof. Midnight shimmied to the left so his other hoof could rub Elegiac's lower back. The wormlike tails slithered over his shoulders and followed his foreleg to her rump. They planted themselves there. Midnight brought his other hoof back from its short break and looked from end of the kelpie to the other.

"I don't think these two are doing much," the changeling masseuse said. He shook his head again before looking back to Advantage. "The tails don't stagnate, do they?"

"Drool takes care of it," Lesser replied.

"Of course it does," Midnight scoffed before turning back to his patient. "So..." He patted Elegiac on the back of the neck gently. "You might have some drooling, but I think you'll be just fine now." He smiled at her as she finally opened her eyes again. "You feel alright?"

The two-tailed kelpie groaned.

Midnight patted her on the shoulder and smiled at Advantage.

"Take care of her for us, please," Superior said.

Midnight turned back to Elegiac and reached his hoof out to her again. "You heard momma. Come on up!"

She looked around at each of them before lifting a tentative claw.

10 minutes earlier...

"Hang on, babe!" Gravity called to the unicorn on her back as she soared over the trees.

Gorman flew a few yards ahead of the couple, spear still in his claws. His wounds were taking a toll on his speed, allowing Gravity to gain on him as they flew to the edge of the forest.

Gorman turned, flying backwards with the spear charged. He took aim.

"Desert, look out!" the changeling yelled.

Gravity did a roll to avoid the blast, dropping her companion in the process. She swooped down, charging her magic power to gain more momentum. Desert landed on her back again, just above some aggressive brambles.

"Warn me next time you do that!" he yelled at his partner.

"Sorry!"

Gorman had flown beyond the forest, but not out of sight. The couple sped up to make up lost time.

"Look," Desert said, ducking his head down to avoid excess air. "You are super awesome at flying and catching, so why don't I call out the dodges?"

"Fine!" she yelled over the sound of the wind. "Just don't wait too long or I'll buck you off myself!"

Desert chuckled as they gained enough distance for Gorman to turn around again.

"This time we're a team!" Gravity proclaimed.

The spear fired.

"Roll right!" Desert yelled, jumping to his right and onto Gravity's back again.

The laser flew by on their left.

"Woohoo!" Gravity yelled.

The pair flew forward again, getting even closer to the fleeing griffin lord. Gorman charged and fired the spear again before turning back to focus on flying faster.

One hoof stamp on the left shoulder was all Desert had to do before jumping to his left. They reunited mid-descent and continued after him. They were almost right behind him now. Desert grew a large smirk as they made the final approach. He bent down and whispered his plan. A large grin creased Gravity's beak at the corners. They picked up speed. Desert counted to five.

Gorman continued onward, his wings flapping wildly.

Five.

Desert leaped forward into the air as Gravity flipped upside down. He landed on her hind legs, tucked into her stomach. She kicked forwards, unflipping herself and sending Desert flying into Gorman's path. His shadow caused the griffin to look up.

Reflexes saw a sharp spear awaiting Desert's body.

An unseen claw grabbed his, pulling the spear down and flipping Gorman over only to meet eyes with Gravity. Hooves pounded onto his back as Desert landed between his wings. He wrestled the spear away from Gravity, only to have it slip from his clutches and into a familiar, yellow aura. Desert jumped forward, using his hooves to spin the griffin in the process. He landed on Gorman's stomach. Desert readied the spear as Gravity restrained the griffin's arms.

Mirage plunged the spear into Gorman's chest. He stood up on his hind legs and used his forelegs to steady the spear and himself as they began to fall. He focused power into the weapon.

He fired.

The blast destroyed whatever Gorman wanted to call a heart and his body crashed to the ground. Desert, spear in hoof, descended gently on the back of Gravity. Gorman's body retched on the ground, his open chest leaking green ooze instead of blood. Gravity bucked Desert off of her.

Gorman looked at them and lifted some of the goop up with his claw. "I never asked for this, you know!" he yelled at the couple. "I just wanted to rule in peace and prosperity!" He shook his head. "But you! You monsters... You taint everything you see! You are nothing but a stain on this beautiful world!" He continued to rant as Gravity approached. "Cursed! That's what you are!" She picked his sword up from the ground and shook the dirt off of it. "Cursed to want the only thing you can never have!" He smiled despite the green leaking from his mouth and Gravity glaring at him. "Love!" He laughed. "You will never--"

Gravity dug the sword into Gorman's throat, rendering it useless. She pulled it from his corpse, shook some of the goop off of it, and tossed it onto his melting body. Gorman was soon nothing more than a puddle with a misplaced blade.

"Hated that guy," Gravity said under her breath as she walked away. She stooped down and turned to Desert. "Well, hop back on..."

"Gravity..." Desert said in a solemn tone. He smiled. "That. Was. Awesome!" He laughed and hopped onto her back. "We freakin' killed him!" They took to the skies. "Let's do this again sometime..."

"Yeah... Let's not."

They flew off into the trees, returning to their leader and the brambles.

The green pegasus waited until the coast was clear. He galloped to the puddle and picked up the blade. The triclopean wretcher appeared at his side. He guided the blade to the middle of the goop, and the wretcher's magic pulled the ooze onto the sword and bound it to the blade. The pegasus passed it to the triclops. He shook it around and then shook his head.

"Needs at least one more to become the blade our king truly desires," he said.

"Do you think it's worth these doubles' lives?" green Disadvantage asked.

The triclops shrugged. "I wouldn't know. He seems to think it is."

"And that's good enough for you?"

"Yep." The triclops put a hoof on the pony's shoulder. "The boss says to take the week off by the way. Something about them not believing in ghosts or something... It's hard to understand his accent sometimes." He removed the hoof and took a couple steps back. "Well, good luck!" The wretcher teleported, vanishing into green smoke.

Disadvantage looked around as if expecting someone else. He pulled out the glass bottle that was given to him and unscrewed the cap. A strange green light flickered from the dirt, then sparkled in a light blue. He put the bottle down to it, and the light moved in. He quickly closed it and brought the bottle to the light. It looked like a green orb was trapped in a bottle of water. He sighed, shrugged, and turned toward Canterlot.

He spread his wings and took to the sky, disappearing into the light of sun and moon.

Chapter 11: Breaking Habits

"I'm sure they've seen stranger things on the train," changeling Midnight said to the reluctant kelpie. "You'll be fine."

The group trotted onto the station platform, the kelpie followed low to the ground. Thunder procured the tickets while Midnight once again massaged Elegiac's back.

"Why do you need to do that, again?" Mirage asked him.

"It relaxes her," he chirped. "And right now, that's how she needs to be."

"Didn't this thing like... Kill a bunch of ponies last time?"

"What?!" Thunder asked, returning just in time to hear it.

Midnight took a couple deep breaths. "That... That's not important." He put more effort into his shoulder rubbing.

Thunder stamped his hoof down. "No, I'm pretty sure bringing a predator aboard a train full of ponies is a bad idea!"

The changeling gave a brief glare to Desert before turning a calm snout back to the pegasus. "She didn't know any better back then..."

Thunder looked from the kelpie's half-worried face to the unicorn with the spear. "Alright, we'll take her back but if there's any trouble, Desert will take care of it."

Mirage's head popped up from his spear inspection. "What? Why me?"

Gravity put a claw on his shoulder. "I'm with Thunder on this one, hon. A little fish like that should be no problem for you."

"You never saw her all those years back, babe!"

"Would you guys stop worrying so much!" Midnight yelled, flailing his hooves into the air to break it up. "If she wasn't different from then, we..." A realization cut his sentence short. He quickly went back to massaging Elegiac's back. "...we need to get on that train. Sooner we get on, the sooner we get back to Canterlot."

"Pretty sure that's not how trains work," Thunder said.

"You know what I mean!" Midnight picked up the pace, keeping at least one hoof on the kelpie as the group moved onto the train.

The twin zebras appeared at the edge of the forest. The city of Appleloosa was now before them. They scanned the horizon for any semblance of refuge from the vines that had destroyed their previous home. The only place the town could afford was an old, abandoned barn house.

They opened the door together, cautiously. Both heads scanned the barn at the same time, turning together from right to left.

"It's dusty and dark," Lesser noted as they trotted inside.

"With not a soul to be found," Superior added.

"It's just us... Again."

Lesser's head rolled around on its own, scanning for anything interesting. Superior's head had drooped to the ground.

"Think they'll find us here?" Lesser asked. Superior's grip on his hoof loosened. He turned quickly to see her sad state. "Didn't you hear me?"

The changeling queen bore her true form without flinching.

Lesser had seen this profile only once before: The visage of a changeling that had lost all it cared for. It was like looking into a mirror to the past. He looked down at his changeling hoof, free of her touch.

"We conquered the Oasis," he chirped.

Superior's ears flinched at the extra syllables, but she did not speak.

"We can stop Gorman..."

The queen lifted her head, but only to glare at him. The look sent another mirrored memory back to his head. The pain was overwhelming.

A tear ran down Lesser's face.

"I'm sorry," Superior said.

The twins embraced in the dark. They closed the door of the barn with their magic, hoping to never be discovered.

Not again.

The three-eyed changeling flew to the cave its master had talked about, eager to do his bidding. Gorman stood at the far end, alive and better than ever. His chest wound seemed to be fully healed, but his armor was still slightly scarred. The wretcher galloped to his side and placed the sword at his feet.

"It still needs one more to be fully functional, sir."

Gorman took the blade and sheathed it. "I believe I had asked Gunter to take care of this endeavor," he growled at it.

"I... I... I thought you had given him the week off..." He hesitantly turned and began to trot away. "I'll go... And get him."

"Wait!" he called to the triclops. "I need you here. It's probably better this way anyways."

He eagerly galloped back to the griffin. "What do you need, sir?"

"Every weed has its root, yes?"

The triclops crooked his head. "Right..."

"Good. Now answer another simple question. What is the first thing you remember, your earliest memory, of Advantage. Perhaps you had seen them when they were small?"

The triclops thought for a while. "I remember... I remember Advantage speaking to us of power beyond worth. I remember her fixing my horn." It smiled. "She always saw my eye as a blessing."

Gorman scratched his chin. "Who is she?"

"Advantage, of course!"

“Advantage is not a ‘they?’”

He shrugged. “Well, they don’t really care what we call them.”

“Of course.” The griffin shook his head. “But you still haven’t told me much about their early days. Surely you can remember something about where the twins came from.”

The triclops crooked his head. “Twins? Advantage is one being...”

“But of course they are twins! They’re two zebras!”

“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked with a genuine look of confusion.

Gorman let out an exasperated sigh. “Then how do you explain two heads as one being?”

“Advantage,” the triclops replied with the smug satisfaction of a child answering a math problem.

Gorman shook subtly. “Go get Gunter. We are done here.”

The wretcher scampered off.

“And tell him to bring the tail!” the leader called after him.

Midnight sat Elegiac away from the others on the train. They sat facing each other, the rumbles of the train satisfying her needs for a back massage. The others sat across the aisle, Thunder and Gravity taking the window seats while Desert slept with his spear on his lap next to his girlfriend.

“This is much more relaxing than you had made it sound,” Elegiac said, her fluffy ears bouncing up and down. Her smile turned to face the others for a moment. “And they thought bringing a killing machine aboard a train was a bad idea?”

“It’s been far too long,” changeling Midnight said calmly. “The legends of the ‘Drooling Oasis’ didn’t die as fast as your appetite, it seems.”

The kelpie shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about me.” Her gaze returned to the others, focusing on Desert. “That one there has more of an ‘appetite’ than I could ever had hoped to have.”

“Desert’s not that bad...”

“Maybe not now... But there was a time when all his thoughts burned with an unquenchable flame.” She shook her head. “Not a single figure could be trusted. He thought of ways to kill everyone he met.” She turned back to Midnight. “...Even you.”

The changeling smirked. “To be fair, I kinda deserved it back then.”

Elegiac giggled. “There is a reason I called you ‘Betrayer.’ Coming into Advantage’s hive and trying to fix everyone before you even knew what you were dealing with.”

Midnight nodded. “And then leaving just as quickly. Never even met you. Only knew the monster you became.”

“Advantage cared for you, Midnight.” She crooked her head. “Why did you turn your back on them?”

“Destiny called me elsewhere.”

“And last week?” she prodded.

Midnight sighed. “Advantage hasn’t healed enough to look... Well, let’s be honest, those twins look they’ve been dug out of a rockslide. From a volcano. That led into a bramble patch.”

Elegiac’s look stopped the changeling from continuing. "We can't all look perfect."

"And that's fine. But Equestria isn't ready for scary."

Her ears stopped bouncing with the train's rhythm. Her brow furrowed. She leaned in, claws first. "Really?" she whispered.

Midnight winced as the breath chilled his neck.

"Is there a problem here?" Thunder asked, having moved next to their seats to stare down the kelpie.

"We were just having a chat about life in your little country..." Elegiac put herself back against her seat. The ears remained still. "Do you think Advantage is too 'scary' for it?"

Thunder turned to the changeling. "Want to wake up Desert, Midnight?"

"Keep him asleep," he replied, not glancing away from the kelpie. "Elly, we both know you're only here because Advantage demanded it." He shook his head. "But that doesn't mean you can't fit in."

She crossed her clawed fins. "Advantage can't, so I won't." She glared at the changeling. "And there's nothing you can say to convince me."

Thunder took a step back. "I'm gonna wake Desert up."

"And then what?" she growled.

Midnight turned. "Thunder, wait!" He grabbed the pegasus's wing with his magic. "She doesn't mean it."

"What would you know?" Elegiac snarled.

The changeling turned back to the kelpie, letting go of Thunder. "That's a good question." He looked over the kelpie, taking the time for a breath. "Much like Advantage, your fangs belie an inner wisdom."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.

"You're not the Oasis anymore, I know... But you were once. Surely you remember some of the history of the--"

"No!" she snapped. She gulped as the changeling smiled.

"You'd better get comfortable on the train, Elly." He shook his head. "It's not stopping for a long time."

"It's an overnight ride to Canterlot," Thunder clarified.

"True, but now's not the time to use 'day and night...'"

They glanced outside the train's window, back toward the cursed and broken celestial bodies still in perfect stalemate.

The vines coiled around every building in Appleloosa. The abandoned barn was no exception. Advantage held each other inside, listening to the vines creaking around the wood outside. Their heads turned to the closed door, alert for any movement. The slithering creaks made way for streaks of twilight as the door was pushed open.

A silhouette trotted through the light. A green pegasus carrying one of the missing tails in a bottle trotted up to the changeling king and queen without any fear behind his brown eyes.

"So, you are Advantage?" he asked the mass of limbs in front of him.

The black body rose from the ground on six strong, queen-sized legs. Four wings rested behind two necks stemming from the torso. On the left neck, the head of a large, male changeling crooked curiously at the pegasus. On the right neck, the head of a changeling queen stared through him. Between the heads, the two extra limbs jutted from their chest, interlocked as always.

"Aren't you scared of us?" the male head that was Lesser asked, his voice deeper and cracklier than before.

"Gorman sent me to give you this," the pegasus said without blinking. He extended his hoof with the bottle in it. He quickly withdrew it. "But only if you promise to help us kill that griffin Midnight keeps around."

"That is not an option, runt!" the queen head that was Superior yelled in her own crackly voice.

"Well... Why not?!"

Lesser's neck cracked as his face grew more impassioned. "What do you think, you little worm?! You think we like seeing our friends... Our family led astray and slaughtered by your boss?!"

"Only because of your influence on her group!" the pegasus snapped back. "Killing her wouldn't be a problem if you and your students didn't want to raise the dead all the time!"

"We value life above all else; something neither you nor your leader understand!"

The pegasus held the jar over his head. "But what would you do if I destroyed this little tail then?"

Both heads glared at the pony. "You do not want to find out, Disadvantage..."

Disadvantage smirked. And threw the bottle to the ground, breaking it.

Advantage shook subtly as the tail writhed and sank into the wooden floor.

"You could have just said 'yes' and been one tail richer!" he chastised Advantage. "Should we track down that fragile jar of--"

Disadvantage felt his forelegs and hind legs grabbed by Advantage's magic. His disguise was ripped off, revealing the triclopean wretcher.

The queen, horn aglow stared into the floating, writhing changeling's three eyes. "We warned you."

The triclops's screams could be heard beyond the overgrown walls of the barn. The real Disadvantage shook at the sound. Gorman put a claw on his shoulder.

"It's time for Plan B," he said. He flew into the air, and Disadvantage went around the front to watch through the cracked door.

"Just remember what Gorman said, Hunter," the pegasus whispered to himself. "Advantage is just another beast that doesn't have a clue what it's talking about."

The griffin crashed through the rotting barn roof, landing on the surprised twins' back. With a quick slash of his blade, their horns were cut off. He leaped from their screaming mouths sword-first into the pool of ooze that was once the triclops. The remains attached themselves to his weapon, reinforcing it with their power.

"That should do it," the shaking Hunter said quietly. "That sword should be the ultimate weapon now." He tried to steady himself.

The blade and Gorman's crown glowed as the sword erupted in green flame. Advantage, unfazed, moved their extra arms to grab him. The griffin rolled just out of their reach and with a flick of his wrist the blade grew to twice its original length. Gorman rose to his hind legs, his wings spread to keep him balanced as he gripped the elongated hilt with both claws.

Hunter couldn't even understand what either party was saying over the sound of his heart racing. His breaths tried to keep up with the tempo but fell short. The male head of Advantage seemed to be yelling something at Gorman. The griffin rolled his eyes before lunging forward, his blade swinging wildly as though it weighed nothing at all. He had disappeared from Hunter's line of view, but the screams told more of a story than his eyes could have.

"My arm!" Lesser's voice cried out.

"Give us that sword!" Superior growled.

"Gladly!" Gorman said in a smug tone.

Hunter heard the sound of metal hitting changeling carapace... Several times. He closed his eyes and covered his ears to hide from the screams. Then the screaming stopped. The pegasus opened his eyes and peeked through the door again.

Superior appeared, missing an arm but otherwise seemingly unhurt. She saw Hunter out of the corner of her right eye.

"Why can't I feel you?" she asked. Her eyes closed, and her body collapsed.

Hunter pushed the door more open and trotted inside. Gorman stood over the fallen queen victoriously. He shrunk his sword back down and turned to him.

"Every memory our 'friends' gave us put these two together," he gestured toward the oddly small pile that was Advantage, then quickly gestured to another pile on the other side of the room. "So I put two and two together... And took them both apart!"

Hunter gasped at the realization. The other pile stirred as Lesser's head rose from its misplaced half.

"I am still here!" the male half coughed.

Gorman walked over, sword in hand.

"Where are you?" Lesser asked in his raspy voice.

Hunter flinched as Gorman finished him off.

"Come on, Gunter!" the griffin said, walking back outside. "Two down, one to go!"

Hunter said nothing and followed him outside. A slash of Gorman's sword on the door frame intensified the vines' creaking. As they took flight, Hunter saw the barn collapse under the plants' weight from above. His heart was still racing. He couldn't believe Gorman had done it.

Advantage was dead.

Chapter 12: Dead Weight

The vines wrapping around the buildings of Canterlot all but vanished by the time the train arrived at the station. Midnight and his team awoke to the shining sun once again lighting the world alone. Elegiac whimpered in her bed, on her back and eyes half open. Midnight rushed over to her.

"I really hope you're just not a morning pony," the changeling said as he scanned the kelpie.

"Hungry..." she groaned.

"I thought you were always hungry," Desert joked as he approached.

"My stomach hurts more than usual," Elegiac whined. "Usually it makes me want to... Hunt. But now I just want to lie here forever."

"Well, you can't," Midnight said, shaking his head. "Advantage asked us to take care of you and nothing good comes from lying around on a train forever."

The conductor's voice interrupted the conversation. "Next stop, Crystal Empire!"

The changeling chuckled. "Then again, several more hours can't hurt." He looked into his saddlebag, sighed, then turned to the others. "I only have enough to cover two tickets to the Empire... Only one of us can go on with her."

Mirage nodded and galloped out of the car.

"Place feels empty now," Hunter said, trotting back into the base.

Gorman placed his sword on his table before turning to his subordinate. "Why must you always dwell on such melancholy estates?" He smiled. "We took a huge step toward victory today! With our new weapon, we killed that freaky queen and finished off that race of abominations for good!"

Hunter sighed. "It just seems like we're being hypocrites. We used their army and magic against them, especially with that sword. What was so bad about Advantage if their weapons are so good?"

The questions wiped the smile off Gorman's beak. He glanced back at the sword. "I'd consider it a just purpose; that recipe was something they stole from the queen they themselves betrayed." He glared at Hunter. "Everything was bad about 'Advantage,'" he explained, saying their name in a mocking tone. "They justified dismemberment and killing with that awful power of necromancy." He shook his head. "There's nothing good that can come from living forever, let alone leading forever. The Gormans taught me that. Strength of devotion comes from leaders changing with the eras, not sitting there ripping their subjects apart for over a thousand years."

"Just answer me one question, Gorman: If Advantage had no intention of helping Gravity, would you still have killed them?"

The griffin thought for a moment. "If they had been reasonable, I would take Gravity and leave this cursed place. Their fate or fates would be out of my claws." He smiled again. "So let's hope this 'Midnight' can be reasonable."

"I really only have enough for two..." the changeling's gaze bounced from Thunder to Gravity and back. "...Honestly it might not be the best time for me to do this."

Thunder held up a hoof. "Hold on, do we even need to go to the Crystal Empire?"

"The Crystal Empire is overflowing with love," Midnight explained. "If we can get Elegiac there, I'm sure more than just her stomach would get better." He looked to the rest of the group. "But with one spare ticket... Who's going with her?"

"Don't you want to go?" Gravity asked him.

The changeling shrugged. "Our history might not be the most... Helpful for her ailments."

Thunder smiled. "Look, you know that place better than anyone here. You go, keep Elegiac safe and we can handle whatever the Colonel wants back home." He trotted up and put a hoof on the changeling's shoulder. "Okay?" He smiled, only to be met with unease. "Put your form back on and be firm. You'll do fine!"

Midnight reluctantly nodded. "Alright. You guys take care of the office. I'll figure out how to help Elegiac at the empire and we'll be back as soon as we can..." He took a deep breath, becoming a purple unicorn again and forced a smile.

Thunder nodded and left with Gravity. Midnight jumped onto the bunk above Elegiac's and waited for the conductor.

"Are you still here?" Gorman asked his subordinate.

Hunter looked around. "Where else should I be?"

"How about that little base of yours... Finding out where Midnight went off to with our little griffin?"

The pegasus shook his head. "You really think nopony has noticed me missing? If I show my face around there, there's gonna be a lot more questions than just 'How was your day, Hunter?!'" He raised his voice. "They'll haul me off! I've probably lost my only job because of you!"

"Gunter, calm down..."

"Calm down?!" he yelled. "You just killed off a whole hive of changelings and I'm the one who needs to calm down?!"

"That hive was on a perilous edge, a bomb ready to blow at any second," the griffin affirmed. "It's hardly my fault that their queen would light their fuse..."

"I can't believe you are trying to defend yourself, you... murderer!" Hunter was almost out of breath now. "That's all you are... I can't believe I let you talk me into all of this."

"It was all an unintended consequence, Gunter!" Gorman insisted, his claw reaching for his sword. "Don't make mistakes now!"

Hunter turned, galloping for the door. Gorman beat him to it, blade in hand. The sword burned in the griffin's claw. The pegasus took a few steps back. Gorman closed the distance, his flaming blade warming Hunter's chin and poking his neck.

"Advantage went against their word, Gunter," he said in a heavy tone. "I won't let you do the same."

"So what?" Hunter growled. "You're going to kill me, too?"

"I didn't come here to kill anyone, Gunter! It's all gotten out of claw!" His eyes wavered as he began to rant, but his sword remained at the pony's neck. "Advantage said they would help me. But as soon as Midnight gets involved they throw all their favor upon him! Their complete disregard for justice drove away all others they owed devotion to! Their formal followers died at the hooves of Midnight under your care and Advantage just blamed us! They forsaked the souls of their fallen and forgave the real murderer! When they awoke a demon from the abyss to kill you, I knew I had to stop it."

Hunter couldn't stay quiet. "You would have let me die at the hooves of that thing and you know it! Advantage even sided with you during the stalemate!"

"I sided with Advantage!" he affirmed. "Had I voted your life free there would have been no stalemate! I stalled for the time needed to get those vines into the forest. Those vines were able to subdue the demon that I knew Advantage would release on us anyways!"

"Then why aren't we dead?" Hunter asked. "That demon is still alive last I checked..."

"Without its leader, that beast is weakened." Gorman lowered the sword. "Please, Gunter, help me get the real monster that is still free. She took me from my home, let me take her back." He dropped the sword. "We don't even need to kill anything."

Hunter trotted around Gorman and opened the door. "I'm going to find Midnight. I'll see what I can find out about the 'real monster' here."

Gorman smiled. "Thank you."

Hunter disappeared into the daylight, slamming the door behind him.

Gravity hugged Mirage on the train platform. Thunder trotted around them as the train took off. The three made their way back to the office, only to be greeted by their Colonel.

"That you, Midnight?" the gruff unicorn asked the griffin.

She tried to hide her confusion. "No... I'm Gravity."

"Midnight's taking care of a prospective changeling," Thunder explained with a smile. "Gravity here is our first changeling immigrant."

"That's all well and good, Sword, but Equestria was facing a crisis without a single report from any of you." He smirked as he looked from Desert's displeasure to Thunder's straight face, the fear shaking a corner of his snout just slightly. "So let's hear it! What happened back there?"

Gravity kept a claw on Desert's shoulder. Thunder stepped forward. "We negotiated the release of Gravity from the claws of Gorman."

"Isn't it customary to report a kidnapping by a crime boss?"

"Let's just say it was a bit too complicated for that." He shook his head. "We didn't even know if she was alive for most of our mission."

"And what of Gorman?"

"We believe that he was killed by Mirage, sir," Thunder said, nodding toward his friend.

The Colonel put a hoof up to the eager unicorn. "And what of Midnight?" he asked Thunder. "Where exactly has he gone?"

"The Crystal Empire. He had to leave us behind as he only had enough money for--"

"Can you get a message to him?"

Thunder shook his head after being knocked out of his rhythm. The Colonel was talking to Desert.

"I asked you if you can get a message to him." He turned to Gravity. "You too if there's still a horn under there..."

They both crooked their heads.

"Dragon fire, you fools! The magic spell that burns paper and sends the ashes across the winds to a designated receiver!"

Mirage shrugged. “I mean, it sounds cool!”

The Colonel sighed and pointed at them. “You two, come with me!” He turned to Thunder. “You are dismissed, Sword. We'll call you back when we've made contact with Midnight.” He glanced up toward the sky. “It'll be at least twel--” He made eye contact with Desert. “It'll be at least 24 hours.” He waved the pegasus off. “See you then.”

18 hours later...

“We're all alone.”

The voice shook Midnight out of his dream. He looked around the bunk car but it was pitch black. The curtains had been rolled down. He groaned as he stretched over the side of his bunk to look at the one below it.

“Are you awake?” Elegiac whispered at him, her green eyes glowing in the dark.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Why?”

He saw the eyes crook with her invisible head and he couldn't help but return the gesture. “Why am I awake?”

She giggled. “No... Why are we alone?”

Midnight shrugged. “Ponies probably saw you and turned around...”

“Midnight, why did you betray us all those years ago?”

The changeling rested his head back onto his bed. “Advantage kept hassling me. I couldn't take it.”

“Hassling you about what?”

“My destiny.”

Midnight turned his ear toward the lower bunk. Hearing nothing, he went back to sleep.

“But wait...”

Midnight’s eyes were open again. With a groan and a stretch he looked down at the bunk below his.

“Are you awake?” Elegiac whispered.

“Just get on with your question.”

“Why?”

Midnight sighed. “Because Advantage didn't want to see me die.”

“That was your destiny?” Elegiac scoffed. “That's a terrible destiny...”

Midnight scoffed and laid his head back down.

“Wait...” the glowing eyes said to the closing ones. “Did you think that Advantage ever stopped hassling you?”

“What are you talking about?” He scoffed. “After I put the wretched hive behind me, I never heard from Advantage again. Even after all these years, it was Kernel who brought us back together.”

“Advantage never stopped caring, you know.”

“What.”

“They kept me up at night with stories about you. About your journeys. Now I'm wondering why you aren't keeping me awake...”

“Because maybe you're keeping yourself
awake?”

“I will be at this rate,” she muttered to herself.

“What?”

“I said ‘why do you even need sleep?’”

“Because on my diet of strictly rationed forms of love, I tire easily.”

“Well, that's no fun.”

Elegiac tossed and turned a couple times. “So why are we going to the Crystal Empire anyways? Isn't it cursed or something?”

Midnight shook his weary head in the darkness. “How the heck do you know that?”

She paused for a moment. “You ever just let something spill out of your mouth without thinking and wonder how it got there?”

“Only when I'm this tired,” he hinted.

“But seriously, is it really cursed? That's really cool...”

“Yeah. It's in the frozen north, after all...”

“Did... Did you just make a pun?” She giggled.

“Elly, I am really, really tired. If I was any more tired, I'd be this train.” He groaned internally as the words slid off his tongue.

Elegiac giggled some more. “Are you going to be like this all night?”

“Probably...”

“Well, you should probably stop.” Elegiac’s snout snapped shut loudly as she tried to stop herself from giggling. “I'd hate to accidentally bite your head off...”

“What? What are... Water you talking about?” The groans of his fear echoed inside his skull.

Elly’s giggling kicked right back in. “You know what? Forget it...”

“Forget what?!”

“Nothing.”

“Did you not just threaten me with decapitation?!”

“That depends... Does that word mean what I hope it means?”

“Beheading somepony? Literally taking their head off?”

“Oh...” she said, disappointed.

“What did you think it meant?”

“Midnight?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up. Can you just... Shut up for a few minutes.”

Midnight took the opportunity to rest his head back on his pillow. His eyes stayed open, waiting for her to say something.

Elegiac let out a painful groan.

“What's wrong?” he called out to her.

“I can't get up...”

“Why would you--” Midnight peeked over the edge at her green eyes. “You were actually going to try to kill me?!”

“Midnight, seriously, shut up!” she snarled. “My stomach is twisting itself into a knot...” she whined.

“Something you ate?”

She glared at him. “I've eaten a live dragon whole...” She winced in pain. “You think anything in this world can give me indi...gestion?”

“Hunger pains?”

“I'm always hungry!” she snarled.

“What do you want me to do then?”

Her eyes smiled at him. “I can think of... Quite a few things...” The pain caused her to wince for a moment.

“Well?”

“I'm trying to narrow down...”

“What would help you the most?” He leaned closer. “I could massage your stomach area...”

“Could you?” she strained.

“Elly, close your eyes.”

The greenness disappeared as she did.

Midnight shined a flashlight spell onto the kelpie. She was resting on her back with her forelegs at her side and her hind legs spread apart. Her stomach seemed fine; there were no visible signs of bruising, scratches, or blood. Elly peeked an eye open to the light.

“Well?”

Midnight kept staring at her chest. “I think I see what’s wrong...”

“Yeah, it's a stomach ache, genius.”

Midnight’s horn glowed brighter. Elegiac felt her stomach churn even harder. The pain grew so intense she could no longer speak. Finally, it subsided.

“What the heck... Did you do?” she asked him.

“I should ask you the same question,” he replied. “Your ‘stomach ache’ was actually a fulcrum imbalance set upon by a lack of a host template and a frank miscalculation of proper cavity proportions.” He smiled smugly. “And I fixed it for you.”

Elegiac crooked her head and stayed that way for a minute. “So... What happened to my stomach?”

“It was being crushed by your other organs. Apparently, your body forgot what your insides are supposed to be like.” Midnight pulled his head back above his bunk.

“And you fixed it, how?” she asked.

Midnight sighed. “Your body’s genetics had deteriorated thanks to all your wretching, so I had to supply some of my own.”

Elly let out a quiet gasp. “You... Gave me some of your genetics...?”

“I guess... I just focused on proper organ sizes and sent that to you. More magic than anything.”

“And you didn't think to do it the fun way?”

“What ‘fun way?’ You would've died within a few agonizing hours if I hadn't done something!”

Elly rolled her eyes as she put her head back on her pillow. “Sure, whatever.” She sighed as she rolled over. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Glad to hear it,” Midnight muttered under his breath as he rolled back into bed. He closed his eyes.

Elegiac threw up.

Midnight’s eyes opened up wider than ever and he looked over the side, flashlight spell ready. There was no mess, only a scroll of paper lying on the floor of the car.

“Well,” Elegiac said, catching her breath. “That’s a new one...”

Midnight picked up the scroll with his magic and opened it.

“Hey, Midnight!
Guess who just learned how to do dragonfire spells? That’s right, it’s Desert Mirage! So how’s the train ride been treating you? Can you get me some Crystal snowg So the Colonel wants you and the water thingy to stay in the Crystal Empire until after the Equestria Games. He’ll have us take care of any loose ends that come up, but it shouldn’t be too bad since Gorman’s gone.

Also, can I invoke the sacred bro-code right now? I wanna get a bit more serious with Gravity but I’m not entirely sure how. Thought I might write her a song or something. Do changelings listen to love songs? I’m invoking bro-code here, so you can’t be upset that she’s a changeling because your helping you’re good friend out here.”

Midnight calmly reached into his pack and pulled out a marker. He wrote his response carefully, making sure that it wouldn’t go off the page. He rolled the scroll back up, inside out, and flared it away.

“What happened?” Elly asked him.

“Mirage tried to send me a letter. Turns out having a dragon snout allowed you to intercept my mail.” Midnight sighed and fell back into his bed.

“Alrighty then.”

Green fire burst from Mirage’s horn as the scroll was returned.

“Did he get the message?” the Colonel asked him.

“Yep,” Mirage replied, seeing the scroll inside out in front of him. He quickly picked it up and galloped out of the Colonel’s office so nopony else could see Midnight’s response.

Chapter 13: Do Changelings Listen to Love Songs?

No.

Chapter 13 (Really this time): Changelings of Heart

“I specifically asked for him to not be on the team,” Hunter muttered to himself as he went through the files in Midnight’s office. He shook his head. “Nobody I work for likes being a changeling.” He sighed and looked around the office for anything he missed. Then he looked toward the closed door. “I’ve been here for hours and nobody’s shown up.” He shrugged. “I guess I’ll just try somewhere else.” Something caught his eye as he went to leave the room. There was something behind the shelf. He trotted over and carefully pulled the shelf away from the wall.

A bow fell over, landing at his hooves. It looked strangely familiar. Hunter scoffed at it. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He picked up the bow with his hooves and pulled at the string with his wings. “I haven’t held one of these in ages...” He let go of the string, firing a volley of dust into the air around the shelf. “And he just threw it away.” He shoved the shelf back into place, leaving no room between it and the wall.

Hunter trotted out the door and carefully made his way out of the compound unnoticed. He made his way back to Gorman’s hideout, making sure he wasn’t followed several times over. He sighed as he opened the door, readying himself for the foreigner with the freaky sword.

Gorman was sitting at the far side of the room. His armor was on and his sword was glowing in his claw. He smiled at the pegasus.

“Find anything out?”

Hunter shrugged. “Nopony home.” He smirked. “Still mad?” he asked the griffin before taking any more steps into the room.

“After what you said to me?” Gorman smirked back. “I’m more disappointed.” The smirk faded into a frown as he put the sword on the table next to him. “Not in you though...” He sighed and shook his head. “You... You were right.” He nodded along with his words. “Right about a lot of things. Whether or not Advantage and her hive deserved it, they’re all gone now.” He shrugged. “Well, mostly all gone. But the point is that I saw you and them as simple means to an end.” He sighed again. “And I’m torn. A true Gorman would see this through still. A true Gorman would kill anyone in their way.” He shrugged again. “But how does that make me better than that monster?” Gorman couldn’t think of much to add. His eyes strayed from Hunter’s. “You came back here after our fight. Why?”

Hunter shrugged. “At this point, I have nowhere else to go.”

Gorman looked him over. “You have a bow now?”

The pegasus almost fumbled the bow while turning his head. “Oh yeah, this old thing. Midnight kept it for some reason...” He winced at his own word choice. “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘kept.’”

“So your eyes are precise?” Gorman asked him.

“Yeah, I’m a pretty good shot. Why?”

Gorman walked up to him and put his claws around his snout. “Because I need your help, Gunter.”

“With what?” Gunter asked in a beak-ier voice. He looked down at himself to realize Gorman had transformed him into a griffin.

“I just hope you’re as good with claws as you are with hooves,” Gorman said, walking back to the table. He grabbed the sword and offered it to Gunter with a smile. “There’s but a single loose end that needs to be tied up.”

Gunter approached and took the sword from his claws.

Gorman smiled. “I need you to do exactly as I say. Can you trust me?”

“So you two can’t think of any loose ends at all?” Thunder asked Mirage and Gravity.

He paced the bunk room impatiently while Mirage and Gravity sat upon one of the many beds.

“I guess I could clean my spear,” Mirage replied with a smirk. “It is covered with Gorman’s blood...”

Thunder scoffed. “Please. We can’t just relax because the big guy’s finally dead. What about the guy he risked Gravity’s life to save? What about Advantage?”

Gravity scoffed. “Please, Thunder, just calm down.” She waved him off. “This is the first chance we've had to relax in the longest while. For once, everyone who isn’t here are actually going somewhere they want to go and not being forced at knifepoint.”

“Yeah, let's just relax for once.” Mirage stretched as he continued talking, his foreleg taking a while to reach around Gravity. “The games commence in like three days! Once Midnight’s back on the team he can figure all this stuff out...”

“That’s assuming his plans with the kelpie actually work,” Thunder noted. “We should be prepared for the worst.”

“But what’s the worst that could even happen?” Desert asked. “Gorman’s dead. Advantage trusts us enough to give us their little kelpie, and whoever that pegasus was certainly isn’t as strong as we are!”

Gravity reclined on the bed. “Just relax, Thunder. The bastard’s dead, and those twins never wanted to hurt us anyways.”

Thunder trotted toward the door. “All I know is that our problems aren’t just going to go away by ignoring them.”

Meanwhile, a green pegasus trotted into the Colonel’s office.

“Don't smile at me, you cretin,” the Colonel snarled at him.

“Sir, I have come with a humble request.” Hunter cleared his throat. “I want to take Gorman back across the border.”

“You’re taking a dead body across the border?”

“Sir, ...I'm asking on his behalf.”

The Colonel raised an eyebrow. “You're telling me he's alive?”

“He says he won't bother anyone here again.” He cleared his throat. “And he doesn't want Midnight’s team to know anything about this.”

The Colonel smiled. “He doesn't want to die, huh?” He chuckled. “Sure. Get him out of here.”

Hunter smiled. “Thank you, sir!” He turned to leave but stopped short of the door. “Oh, and before I forget... Advantage.”

“What about them?”

“Gorman killed them. He destroyed the barn they were hiding in during the vine incident. And they didn't make it out.”

“Where might we find this barn?”

“Outskirts of Appleloosa, sir.”

The Colonel nodded. “I'll inform Midnight’s team. I won't mention Gorman.”

Hunter smiled. “Thank you, sir!”

“Get out of here.”

The pegasus trotted out of the compound. Once he was out of sight, he transformed into a griffin and flew off.

Another hoof knocked on the Colonel’s door, and another pegasus trotted on in.

“Need something, Sword?” the Colonel asked him.

“Do we know anything about Advantage or anypony who might be working for Gorman?” he asked him. “My ‘team’ doesn’t seem to be up for looking into it.”

The Colonel chuckled. “You just missed the latest report actually.” He smiled. “I could use your team’s help verifying these developments, if you’re interested.”

“What developments?”

“The pegasus that was working with Gorman was last seen hopping the border.” The Colonel shook his head. “Outside our jurisdiction now...” He half shrugged. “But... There’s also our last known sighting of Advantage.”

Thunder sighed. “Where are they?”

“According to the report, they are both dead.”

Thunder’s eyes widened. “What...?”

“Crushed by the vines. And also the barn they were hiding in at the time.” The Colonel chuckled and nodded. “Go figure. The barn house was apparently on the outskirts of Appleloosa.” He crooked his head. “Advantage is... or was... a high priority target. If those twins are actually dead from their own incompetence, we need to be triply sure.” He smirked. “You up for it?”

Thunder sighed. “The Equestria Games are in three days, sir...”

The Colonel nodded. “Of course. Why waste time on national security when gold medals are on the line, hmm?” He waved the sentiment off with a chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. I already have it on good authority that Advantage is dead. I’ll send another team to confirm it tomorrow.”

Thunder breathed a sigh of relief. “Understood, sir.” He smiled. “I’ll go tell the others.”

“By all means.” The Colonel waved him off. “You're dismissed.”

The pegasus trotted back to the bunk room. Desert and Gravity were both laying lazily on the bed now.

“Back so soon, you workaholic?” Gravity asked him.

“No loose ends, it turns out.”

They both rose up and looked at him. Gravity was curiously crooking her head as Mirage frowned.

“The pegasus jumped the border and Advantage kinda died from a vine attack while our backs were turned.”

Desert smiled. “So we're totally telling Midnight that we're here doing nothing, right?”

Gravity put a concerned claw on his shoulder. “No. You don't dare tell Midnight that Advantage is dead.” She shook her head. “Don't even hint at it.” She looked back toward Thunder. “He's with that... Thing right now.” She sighed and shook her head. “I don't want to know what will happen if they find out.” She gave Desert a look. “Especially by dragonfire.”

Desert scoffed. “Fine. I won't tell him.” He trotted toward the door. “I'm gonna go get a pizza or something.” He trotted out of view.

“So...” Gravity said, turning from the empty threshold toward Thunder. “What do you think of this whole ‘Advantage is dead’ thing?”

“What do you mean?”

She smiled. “I mean... I can hardly believe it. I hate to say it but it really is a relief.”

He smiled back. “Yeah, it's pretty crazy.” He exhaled and stretched his wings. “Either way, I'm just gonna head out of here. I'll take this day off and see you guys when we leave for the Empire.” Thunder turned and trotted toward the door.

Gravity crooked her head. “Where are you going?”

“Don't worry about it.” The pegasus trotted away.

“Huh.” She shrugged. She lied back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Welp... This day got boring real quick.”

Midnight awoke to the shout of the conductor.

“Crystal Empire!”

Already the changeling could feel the overabundance of love coursing through his body. He jumped from the bunk and onto the floor of the cabin. He turned to find a sickly kelpie writhing under the sheets.

His smile faded. “Are you alright, Elly?”

The kelpie squirmed as her head turned toward his. “I don't feel too good.”

“You'll be fine once you're out of bed!” he said, trying to keep a smile.

Midnight helped her onto her feet. He scanned her for any more signs of illness.

“Where are we going?” she groaned.

“I know a place. Just come with me.” He put her foreleg over his shoulder and carried her off the train. “I stayed here once before. We'll be safe, and you can rest.”

Elegiac just groaned, dragging her hind legs behind her.

“Can you think of anything that might improve your health?” Midnight asked. “Or even your mood? I'm a bit rusty on my wretching...”

“I can think of one thing...” She shook her head.

“Well, what is it?”

“Is there a quiet bed in the place?” she weakly asked.

Midnight smiled. “Of course there is.”

“I could use a rest,” she said. “And probably some more of your help...”

He looked over what he could without dropping her. “I'm still not even sure what's wrong with you...”

“Maybe you haven't... seen this before?” She coughed. “Maybe... You need to try something new?”

“Like what?”

“Midnight...”

“What's wrong?”

“You're only carrying me for Advantage’s sake, aren't you?” she asked hoarsely.

“I mean...”

“What if Advantage... Gave me to you? Trusted you... With my life?”

“They'll come get you eventually, they love you too much.”

Elegiac shook her head. “But what about you?”

“What about me? Last I checked you almost killed me twice.”

“Can you trust me?” She began to tug her foreleg away from him. “I can walk there if you trust me.”

Midnight sighed. “Go for it. I'm not doubting your strength I just...”

Elegiac stood on all fours, looking back at him with a crooked head.

“So you can walk,” he noted.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Midnight turned and trotted toward a large manor in the city. “Don't you trust me?” He smirked.

She trotted by his side despite her weakened state. “I only asked because I know of an old remedy that might help me...”

“And what remedy is that?”

“If you can trust me, I’ll tell you what you need to do.” She coughed again. “But I need some more bed rest.”

Midnight took her claw with his hoof. “Don't overdo it. Advantage will want to see you back at your peak.”

Elegiac smiled and nodded.

The two changelings trotted into the abandoned manor. Dust filled the air inside the old building. Midnight’s eyes quickly covered several familiar places around the entryway.

There was the dining room on the right, the kitchen right next to it, and the stairs to the bedroom on the left, just through the living room. Midnight turned his head around the corner. The couch was still there. He turned around. That old blanket was still on the dining room table. His head hurt. The locations were all correct but this house seemed much smaller last time he was here.

“So where’s the bed?” Elly asked.

Midnight gestured toward the stairs on the far side. “Come on, I'll help you up...”

She trotted past him and collapsed on the couch.

He sighed with a smile. “That's... Not the bed.”

“Well, it's good enough for me.” She nuzzled into the cushion.

Midnight's memories of his past clawed the space behind his eyes. He tried to ignore the sentiment.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked her.

No response. She was already asleep.

Midnight went upstairs to the bedroom to find a blanket for her. The stairs were the same height, which he found almost odd. At the top, he turned to his right to find the door to the bedroom, but also a hallway around the next corner. The second floor was as big as the first, contrary to his memories.

“I suppose I wasn't in the best mental state when I was first here,” he noted as he opened the door to the bedroom.

Inside was a bedroom he recognized. The closet at the far side seemed almost out of place, with another changeling standing there in all of his memories. He shook off the sentiment.

“At least they cleaned up the broken mirror,” he said as he pulled the comfy blanket off of the bed.

Midnight trotted back down the stairs and laid the blanket over Elly as she slept. He tried to smile, defying the eerie aura of dread looming over him from his memories.

Agitated, he decided to explore some of these “new” rooms. He started with the first floor, trotting past the living room and the kitchen onward through the unseen hall that appeared to be hiding yet another room.

A clean, white sheet had been draped over the door on his left, opposite the kitchen. He pulled it away and opened the door.

It was a large bedroom, presumably for the owner of the house. Large clouds of dust swirled around in the draft. The bed here was large enough for two, and two night stands accompanied it. Opposite the bed was what appeared to be some kind of writing desk. A box of crayons and a picture frame sat on top, coated with dust. His curiosity getting the better of him, he picked up and blew the dust off of the frame to see the picture inside.

The dust was persistent. Midnight grabbed the white sheet and wiped it clean. As the gray sheet fell away, he could see a deteriorated photo of a somehow familiar crystal pony couple. At least, the mare in the picture seemed familiar. Most of the photo had deteriorated too far, and the stallion’s “face” was unrecognizable. Midnight sighed and placed the picture back on the desk.

He turned his attention to the box of crayons. They too had accumulated quite a bit of dust over the years. Looking into the still open box, all of the crayons appeared to be gray. Midnight shook his head, refusing the urge to dust each crayon off. Instead, he pulled out a single crayon to dust off; it was the most worn and used one in the box, reduced to a rounded stump at its end while the others still had points. He wrapped a white part of the sheet around the gray crayon with his magic. He pulled the gray away to find the crayon just as colorless as before. He tried again. He pulled more gray away to find no change. He tried again, as hard as he could. He pulled the sheet away to reveal no change. He breathed in and blew as hard as he could. Nothing flew off of it.

Midnight sighed as he realized it was just a gray crayon. He dropped it back in the box.

He left the bedroom behind and returned to the living room. The unicorn tucked the blanket under the sleeping kelpie.

He looked up and saw gray writing on the walls: Several sets of tally marks counted to almost 40 with the words: “Fallen to dust, No hope left” scrawled around them. Midnight took a step back. He turned his head toward Elegiac and saw the blanket was still covering her on the couch. He looked back and the wall as clean.

Midnight blinked several times. He touched the wall with his hoof. He dragged his hoof down it. It was clean, not even a speck of dust.

“A rational mind, but a bit weary on generalizations...” a female voice spoke from behind him.

Midnight turned around, his gaze on Elegiac again. She was still asleep under the covers. He slowly trotted past her, toward the bedroom.

“So I guess the question becomes...” the voice continued, coming from the bedroom.

Midnight turned the corner to find the same crystal mare from the picture sitting on the bed. She smiled at him.

She crooked her head slightly. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Chapter 14: Broken Mirrors

Midnight took a step back. The mysterious mare simply stared back at him.

“Who are you?” he asked her.

She smiled and shrugged. “Oh, I'm nobody.” Her snout straightened. “No pun intended.”

“But I know you...” He shook his head. “Your face...”

She shook her head. “It's not worth remembering anymore.” She crooked her head. “But why come back here anyways?”

“Come back where?”

She smiled. “Where do you think?”

“We needed some place to stay,” he explained.

“You should have stayed in your little pony town.” She scoffed and got up off the bed. “You should have stayed in your little pony town, Masquerade.” She trotted toward him. He trotted backwards in step. She smiled. “Don't look up.”

Midnight looked up. A large crystal stalactite fell from the ceiling. He barely jumped out from under it in time, launching himself back out the door as the spike shattered into tiny pieces on the floor. Her sinister laugh echoed through the threshold as a sudden, chilly breeze slammed the door shut.

Midnight blinked a few times and tried to catch his breath. He shook himself out of it and galloped back to the couch.

Elly writhed under the covers. She felt the blanket’s embrace and pulled her snout out from under it. She locked eyes with a smiling Midnight.

The dust shifted behind him, latching to the wall and forming a message:
“Use the fear.”
It disappeared as he turned to see what she was looking at.

She inhaled through her nose. Fear reeked off his unsettled form. She smiled. “Thanks for the blanket.” She let out a yawn as he turned back to her.

“Yeah, I know how it feels to not want to go up stairs.” He tried to laugh.

Elegiac chuckled along. She pulled herself upright, keeping the blanket around her as she sat up on the couch. She patted the seat next to her and extended the opening of the blanket.

“You look like you could use some relaxation.” She smiled harder.

Midnight felt a cold chill down his spine. He trotted over and joined the kelpie on the couch. He didn't want to mention the strange happenings in the house.

She put the blanket around them both, pushing her body up against his in the process. Her warmth was a welcome change to the manor’s atmosphere, and he instinctively nuzzled into her.

She put her foreleg around him. Her claws rubbed his cold head and caressed his fluffy ears.

“I don't know if I'll be able to sleep in this house again,” Midnight whispered.

“Shh...” Elegiac patted the back of head. “You'll be fine.”

He poked his head up from the couch and looked around the room. There was nothing but dust.

“What did you expect to see?” she asked him.

“I don't know and I don't want to stick around to find out...” He went to move away from her, but her claw grabbed his hoof.

“Midnight,” she said calmly, getting him to turn back toward her. She smiled with a mouth full of fangs. “You’re afraid of something else and it’s starting to make me jealous.”

The ghost mare rolled her eyes. She shook her head at the kelpie before vanishing as Midnight turned back.

“Listen, Elly,” Midnight explained as he scanned the room. “The worst you can do is kill me. But this ghost seems familiar... Like a faded nightmare.” He shook his head. “I'd rather not lose my head again.”

Elegiac rolled her eyes. “A ghost? Really? That is what this is about?” She giggled. “Midnight, you know there's no such thing!”

Midnight turned back toward with a look of disbelief.

She shrugged it off. “What? I'm a soul eater, not a poltergeist.”

Midnight shook his head. “So you know that a consciousness can stick around after the body is gone! You're helping the case for ghosts!”

The ghost mare appeared behind him.

“You're worrying about nothing!” Elly said, matching his tone. “This is just a soul eater thing!”

“But I am not a soul eater!” He pulled his hoof from her claw. “And even if I was, don't you think I'd remember my victims?” He scoffed. “I mean, I'm not you.”

The room spun around Elegiac for a moment. When she regained her composure, she was off the couch, her blanket had landed on the floor and her claws had stopped just short of Midnight’s neck. A crystal white hoof held her foreleg back.

The ghost glared at her. “Bubbles! We talked about this!” The mare turned to check on Midnight. The unicorn was on the ground in shock. The mare sighed and picked him up, giving Elly her misplaced claws back. “You know better than to provoke her,” the ghost chastised. Her crystal hooves helped turn Midnight the right side up. “It's hardly her fault as it is!”

Midnight stood up and caught his breath. “Who... Who are you?”

The ghost scoffed. “Pony life has made you thick, hasn't it?” She smiled. “Well, good. Because once I'm named, all the fear will be gone.”

“Why do I need to be scared?!”

“Because like all beings who think themselves above consequences,” she smirked. “Mortal peril brings out the best in you.”

“And you think you know what's best for me?!” he snarled at her.

She patted his head. She disappeared.

Elegiac smiled stupidly at him. “See?”

Midnight’s brow furrowed. “See what?”

“Midnight, you were talking to nobody.” She scoffed and gestured around. “There is no one here!”

“She... She stopped your hoof!” He shook his head. “Your claws from getting me!” He realized. “Wait, you just tried to...”

“I stopped myself!” Elegiac insisted.

“She called you ‘Bubbles,’” he added.

“Only Advantage calls me that.” She smiled and crooked her head. “You must really miss them to be imagining all that up!”

“Elly, I swear, I'm not--”

“And frankly I could not care less.” She shook her head. “You don't think I can stop myself from hurting you, do you?” She took a step back. “You think I need Advantage to be able to care about you...r safety!” She took another step back and fell onto the couch. “You don't even trust me.” She put her snout into her claws.

Midnight sighed. “Elly, I'm sorry...”

She looked up at him. “Don't lie to me. You don't even know what's going on here.” She looked over toward the wall.

Midnight turned as well. “So alone” was written in gray.

“Midnight.” Elegiac sighed. “There's been enough suffering in this house from the past.” She shook her head. “Why are we adding to it?”

Midnight took a step back. “And you're sure this house isn't haunted?”

Elegiac smiled. “You know when something just spills out of your mouth and you're not sure how it got there?” She exhaled through her nose. “This house makes me feel that a lot...”

Midnight looked up toward the hallway. “Maybe we should step outside and take a breath of fresh air.”

Scratching in the walls pulled their snouts toward the wall near the stairs. “Can't leave” was written in gray. “Can't leave” appeared on the wall behind the couch. It plastered itself on every visible surface.

In a blink of their eyes, the words disappeared.

Midnight took a deep breath. “Well, maybe not just yet...”

Elegiac had yet to blink. She kept reading the words. Everywhere she looked, “tell him” appeared. Midnight’s voice was a blur. She blinked and the fuzziness in her hearing was gone, and the words on the walls with it.

“Yeah, sure...” she nodded. “We should figure this house thing out.”

Midnight smiled and looked toward the hallway and then to the stairs. “Any idea where to start?”

“How about the basement?”

Midnight turned to Elly, confused. “There's a basement?”

She shrugged. “This house makes me say things. So... Probably.”

A cold breeze chilled Midnight’s spine.

“Can't even order a soft drink!” Mirage said as he placed the pizza boxes on the bed.

“Excuse me?” Gravity asked from the bed, unsure of what was confusing her more.

“The pizza place’s soda machine was ‘out of order...’ Like, how does that even happen?!” He hopped onto the bed with the pies.

Gravity blinked a couple times. “You lost me.”

“Don't you know what a soda is?”

She crooked her head. “It has something to do with pizza?”

Desert smiled and shook his head. “Heh, no. It's just a fizzy drink.”

“And I'm guessing that's better than a non-fizzy drink?”

“With something like pizza?” He opened the box and pulled out a slice with his magic. “Definitely.” He put the slice to his lips.

“Just one question...”

He pulled the slice away from his lips. “What's up?”

“What is a fizzy drink?”

“Well, a fizzy drink has what they call ‘fizz,’ which when dranken fills your mouth with a thousand tiny, popping bubbles.” He smiled. “It's what they call ‘refreshing.” He took a bite of the pizza.

“So, Elly, why does Advantage call you ‘Bubbles?’” Midnight asked her as they descended the stairs to the house’s basement. “I mean... Beside the obvious.”

“What's ‘obvious’ supposed to mean here?” She asked.

Midnight shrugged. “You know...”

Elegiac shrugged back, aggressively. “What?”

He sighed. “You know... The whole ‘last few breaths on the surface’ thing.”

She shook her head and scoffed. “Just can't get over the whole Drooling Oasis thing, can you?”

They reached the bottom of the stairs. The entire room was pitch black. Midnight and Elegiac shined magical flashlights around to check it out, but the conversation persisted.

“So are you telling there's more to your name?” Midnight asked.

“See, the problem is you literally take names at face value,” the ghost’s voice echoed from inside the room. The tones bounced inside the changeling’s skulls, frolicking like nostalgia. “Look at me! Do I look like a two-faced liar to you?”

Midnight’s light focused on the source of the voice. A changeling sat in a chair, writing something in a book. Midnight’s curiosity guided his hooves toward the chair while his fears guided the shaking light. The changeling stopped writing. It turned toward him. Its lower jaw was missing.

A series of sounds that Elegiac couldn't understand or recognize sounded off from the other side of the room. She quickly turned her light to find Midnight shaking next to a sheet-covered chair and desk.

“I take it you heard that too?”

Midnight caught his breath in her light. “I take it you didn't just see a freaky changeling?”

She smiled. “Sure it wasn't a mirror?”

“Elly, please don't start.”

Midnight trotted up to the desk and pulled the sheet off. The desk had only dust, which formed a square outline of what could only be left by a book.

“Saw something there?” Elegiac asked him.

“Yeah... It's like they sat right here.” He gestured to the chair.

“Like a memory, right?”

“What?”

Elegiac shrugged. “Ghosts are just those ‘last few breaths’ of whoever lived here last, right? So it shouldn't be too different from soul eating.”

“But souls in a soul eater have their host to keep them around,” Midnight explained. “Houses are inanimate. Ghosts can't be real.”

Lights flickered on by themselves. The crystals shined onto the walls, revealing another message written in dust.

We took them with us. He took the rest.

Elegiac put a claw on the shaking bat pony’s shoulder. “Alright!” she cried out in rage to the empty space. “Whatever is doing this needs to show itself right now!”

The ghost mare appeared to her, smiling just as she did six years ago.

“Duplicity.” The kelpie nodded. “Of course, it's you...”

“You know this... Thing?” Midnight asked.

“One of the Dream Guardians of the wretched hive.” Elly smiled. “They would help us at night, when Advantage slept.” She looked at Midnight. “You rejected their help all that time ago.” She looked around the room before turning back to the mare. “Where's your husband Silence?”

Duplicity smiled. “You know us better than we know ourselves.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Midnight asked.

“Not you.” Duplicity answered. She turned to the kelpie. “And you've already seen him.” She smiled. “He's hard to miss.”

The lights in the room dimmed back down. By the time Midnight had his flashlight up, Duplicity was gone.

Sharp claws pinched Midnight’s hide. He screeched out, making a bizarre sound. He slowly turned to the kelpie.

She smiled back at him. “You alright?”

“What did you do that for?!”

“Just making sure you were awake.” She chuckled. “Didn't know you had such a vocal range.”

He shook his head and sighed. “If Luna is any indication, dream guardians often have waking lives.” He shrugged. “Then again, I don't remember any crystal ponies in the wretched hive.”

A cold draft pulled Midnight’s gaze to a wall. The dust had settled into a new message:

Only through breaking ourselves do we grow. There is no reason to fear pain or death, except to fear our own growth.

Midnight crooked his head. “I can't tell if it's profound or just stupid...”

“Definitely something Advantage wouldn't agree with,” Elegiac noted. “They absolutely hate death.”

Midnight nodded. “Yeah. If they actually believed this I might have stuck with their hive instead.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Man, I was out of it back then...”

“You weren't that bad.” Elly giggled.

Midnight looked at her. “Yeah, I suppose it's hard to compete with your record.” He chuckled awkwardly. His gaze went back to the wall.

“Break me.” was all that was written now.

“Did a draft change it?” Midnight asked, desperate for a subject change.

Elly shook her head. “No... It just... shifted.” She took a step back. “How much do you know about this Empire?”

“I mean, I lived here for what feels like a year...” He shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I just stopped some words from pouring from my mouth.” She grinned nervously. “I'm hoping it's not correct.”

“What were you about to say?”

“Crystal ponies don't make dust...”

Midnight's eyes widened. He looked at the bottom of his hoof; there was no sign of dust. Memories flooded back to confirm that this is the first time he's
ever seen dust in the Empire.

Words welled up in his throat. They weren't his own. He opened his mouth.

“But changelings will... When they are killed.”

Duplicity clapped slowly. The dust blew off of the wall with a draft. The lights flickered back on as the dust all fell into a single spot on the floor, right next to the ghost mare.

“Well, well, well...” The lights flickered around the ghost. Fangs protruded from her snout. “Looks like you two know too much.”

The lights went out.

Two days later...

Thunder stood at the train platform. The morning air sent a chill down his spine. He looked at the clock and then to the gate. Finally, Desert and Gravity appeared, rushing to join him with just minutes before the train would leave.

“You know, if I wouldn't have to answer to the Colonel, I'd’ve just left you two behind,” Thunder explained as they boarded the crowded train to the Empire.

“Har har.” Gravity rolled her eyes. “Did you get any word from Midnight?”

Thunder looked back at her for a brief moment. “No. You?” He scanned car after car for empty seats.

“I'm worried.” She shrugged. “I guess I shouldn't be, though... I mean, he did survive two Gormans and two changeling queens now.” Her eyes widened. “How are we going to tell him about Advantage?”

Desert Mirage put a hoof on her shoulder with a smirk.

“Don't you dare!” she said before he could even imply something.

“Let's just focus on finding a seat, alright?” Thunder reasoned. “We have a full overnight trip to figure this out!”

“Excuse me!” a blue earth pony beckoned to the team. He gestured to the empty bench on the other side of himself and his own companion, a skinny, orange pegasus. “I think this might be enough seats for you three?” He smiled. “If you don't mind sitting next to a couple of strangers...”

“Not at all!” Thunder sat down and scooched to the window seat, allowing Gravity and Desert plenty of room to squeeze in. “Crowded, isn't it?”

“But quite exciting!” the earth nodded. “My friend and--oh... Where are my manners? We haven't been introduced yet!”

Desert turned to stare off into space, his hooves bored without his spear. Gravity rolled her eyes and sighed before lowering her head. Thunder smiled.

“The name’s Thunder Sword.” He glanced at his friends. “Don't mind them. I don't think they got enough sleep last night.”

The blue pony nodded. “It's fine. My friends call me Brucie!” Gravity picked her head up, her eyes wide. “And this is my friend, Squee!”

The skinny, orange thing waved at the three of them. Gravity smiled.

She crossed her arms and crooked her head as she looked over them. “Brucie and Squee, huh?”

Brucie smiled smugly. “Heard of us?”

The two parties inhaled through their noses to confirm each other’s changeling scent.

“After some of the trouble you've two have gotten into...” She shrugged. “I guess it's no surprise that the Queen left you two behind.”

“Changelings?!” Desert and Thunder asked almost simultaneously.

“Keep up, boys...” Gravity smiled at Brucie. “So, one question, and I promise it'll be quick.”

“Go for it,” Brucie nodded.

“Does the term ‘wretcher’ or the name ‘Advantage’ mean anything to either of you?”

Brucie and Squee looked to each other and back. They shook their heads. “Can't say that we have any clue.” Brucie crooked his head. “Should we know?”

Gravity shook her head. “Just making sure that we really are done with those freaks for good is all.” She chuckled. “Well, for the most part... We're on our way to meet our friend, who's taking care of a monster in the Empire.”

Brucie nodded. “Don't suppose you'd be willing to answer a couple questions for us now?”

Gravity reluctantly nodded. “That would depend on what it is...”

“Well, you never told us your name.”

The griffin chuckled awkwardly. “Of course. My name is Gravity.” Brucie and Squee crooked their heads. She sighed. “But I believe you knew me by that disgraceful name: Vertigo.”

Brucie and Squee’s eyes widened. Squee screeched. “You're Verti--!”

The first two syllables alone had the griffin giving him a death stare.

Squee’s mood deflated like a balloon. “...bird?” He crooked his head. “What was your new name again?”

“Gravity.”

Squee nodded with forced enthusiasm. “Alright. I'll definitely remember that!”

Brucie cleared his throat. “We haven't seen you since before the hive fell... What have you been up to this whole time?”

Gravity smiled and leaned back. “I should ask you two the same question.” She exhaled through her nose. “I've been working with changeling immigration here, and trying to survive some rather... Unsavory applicants.” She shrugged. “What have you been doing with your freedom?”

“Traveling. Seeing the sights.” Brucie chuckled. “Understanding better why they call them ‘tourist traps.’” He shrugged. “Equestria Games are just our next stop...”

Gravity smiled and leaned forward. “Well... Why don't you join us here in Equestria? Get yourselves an actual home?”

Brucie rubbed his chin in thought. Squee bounced up and down.

“Anyone else that's immigrated that we know?” Squee chirped.

Gravity half-shrugged. “Well, you would have known him as Foresight.”

The pair of changelings turned their widened eyes to her, stilling their bodies.

Brucie shook his head and leaned back. “There's no way we're being a part of the same kingdom with that freak again!”

“He killed Dreary!” Squee added. “You remember Dreary, right?”

Gravity put a claw up to Brucie and turned to Squee. “What happened?”

“After you left, Chrysalis sent Dreary and some others to take Foresight down... But he just killed them all!”

Gravity tried to pace her breathing. “It sounds like self-defense to me...”

“Foresight ran into the desert!” Brucie added. “They followed. Foresight came back alone.”

“Were there missing ponies involved in all this nonsense?” the yellow unicorn asked.

“Who are you?” Squee screeched at him.

“Desert Mirage.”

Squee nodded. Brucie thought for a moment before answering. “Yes, actually...” He shrugged. “But that's hardly here nor there; Foresight sabotaged the whole operation in the first place, plus the prior changeling disappearances...”

“Oasis,” Desert whispered to her.

“And what he did to Compass!” Squee added to Brucie’s list.

“What did he do?”

“Ripped his leg off and tossed him out of the hive!” Squee screeched.

Brucie smirked. “He got better.”

Squee crooked his head. “Yeah, still not sure what happened there...”

A leg mysteriously reattached? Gravity smiled. “Oh, I think I have an idea...”

Chapter 15: Birds of a Feather

Gorman and Gunter touched down on Griffin soil. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, what now?” Gunter asked.

Gorman smiled. “We pick up the pieces.” He nodded solemnly. “It’ll be hard... Without her body.” He shrugged. “But probably not as hard as getting her body!”

They chuckled to themselves and began to walk back toward civilization.

Gorman shook his head. “Honestly, though, I’m not sure if we can actually bring the syndicate back together after so long...”

Gunter smiled. “Hey, we’ll do the best we can!” The smile faded. “But what are you going to do with that sword?”

“It's just for those who might try something they shouldn't.”

Gunter sneered.

“I hope I don't have to use it,” Gorman added.

“I certainly hope so...”

Gorman put a claw around him. “Without any bits, we may very well have to rely on something...”

“Did someone say Bits?!” a high-pitched, twangy accent asked.

The pair turned to find a greenish, female griffin smiling at them.

Gorman gave her a patient smile. “We were saying we have no bits!” He chuckled awkwardly. “There's no... Nothing for you.”

The griffin looked them over. “So, y'all need some bits, huh?”

“Certainly a possible event,” Gorman replied. Gunter crooked his head at it all.

“Well, I might have some bits for yers... If yer willing to do a little work.”

“Depends what kind, I suppose...”

She looked them over again. “What’re yer names?”

“I am...” Gorman’s voiced trailed off. He turned to his friend. “This is Gunter! And I am...” His volume lowered dramatically. “Gorman.”

The griffin turned her head a little. “I'm sorry? I didn't catch yer name there...”

“Gunter’s?”

“No. Yours.”

“gorman...” His head went to the ground.

She smirked. “Say again?”

“Gorman.”

She leaned forward with a smile. “I didn't quite catch that...”

“Gorman!”

“Ohh,” she remarked, rolling her head. “Ain't that the name of that one guy who runs that group thingy?”

“You must be thinking of someone else.”

Gunter tilted his head. “‘Group thingy?’”

Gorman turned to him. “Don't patronize the patrons...” He turned back to... “Wait, I don't think we’ve heard your name yet...”

“Ah yes,” the griffin said with a smile. “They call me Gertrude.” She crooked her head. “So... What do y'all think of doing a little farm work?”

“How many bits?” Gorman asked.

“‘Nuff,” Gertrude replied. “Surely you don't take little old me for the kind of bird that doesn't repay others in kind, do yas?”

“I need a fair amount of bits, lady,” Gorman growled. “And if you waste my skill set...”

She rolled her eyes. “I can promise your skill set won't be wasted.” She smiled. “Or my name ain't Gertrude!”

“Bet on something else,” Gorman replied. “I've been burned by names before!”

“Well, now y'all are wasting my valuable time.” She beckoned them along. “We best get going if we’s gonna reach the barn by sundown!”

Gertrude turned and began to fly off toward what could only be a barn in the distance. Gorman and Gunter followed.

Midnight opened his eyes. He was in bed, inside the main bedroom of the crystal manor. The walls were clean of any dust, and had been for well over an entire day. Still, he found himself scanning each surface. He looked to his side and found Elegiac still asleep under the covers. He could feel her tentacle under the blanket, clinging to his side. He smiled and tried to relax, his eyes still searching in vain for some message. He went over the events of that night again in his head:

The lights went out. The ghosts said we knew too much. They attacked us...

He tried to shake the fuzziness out of his head.

They attacked us. We... I... She...

He tried again. The memories were gone.

But there’s no dust... No Duplicity. They’re gone.

A sharp pain forced his hoof to retreat from under the blanket. Midnight’s thoughts subsided to make room for the smiling face of Elegiac.

“Just making sure neither of us are dreaming,” she said with a giggle.

“You think those ‘guardians’ are still around?”

She pulled her head out from under the blanket and shrugged. “Well, I don’t see them anywhere...”

“What happened that night?”

She smiled at him. “Don’t you remember?” She giggled again. “I named them and then they went berserk!” She shrugged. “Not a whole lot they could do, though... Being named drained them of power. By the time we had galloped out of the basement, they were already gone!”

“And then what?”

“Well, the house became a whole lot nicer to sleep in, that's for sure!” She snuggled her back into her pillow, resting her head on Midnight’s purple shoulder. She ran a claw down his foreleg. “Why do you wear this skin, anyways?”

Midnight looked into the gem embedded in her forehead, between the two bat ears. “Probably for the same reason you still have my ears...”

“You like petting yourself?”

Midnight blinked a couple times. “No... I was gonna say that we both enjoy a more personally chosen form.”

“Shame about your brother though...”

Midnight’s eyes widened. “How do you know about...”

She smiled back at him and shrugged. “Well... I might have stumbled upon that last night... Walking through your dreams.”

He crooked his head. “I thought you didn’t know how to dream walk?”

She shrugged again. “I guess we just need to get to know each other better...”

Midnight sighed and gestured to his purple chest. “You know this isn’t my brother’s skin, right? We were both purple, sure, but he had way more birthmarks.” His eyes glanced up for a moment. “And a darker mane.”

Elegiac nodded solemnly. “Want to talk about it?”

He shook his head and turned from her. He got up out of bed. “How long have we been here, Elly?” he asked without looking back.

“About... two days?”

Midnight exhaled and nodded. “Then the others will be here soon.” His magic pulled his glasses off the nightstand and placed them back on his snout.

“Good thing we dusted!” She giggled.

He stepped toward the door. “And after the Games I’ll take you back,” he casually added. But as the words left his snout a sense of realization hit him. He turned back toward the bed.

The kelpie crooked her head at him. “Go back where?”

He turned back toward the door. “Never mind.” He shook his head and trotted out of the bedroom.

Midnight trotted out to the den and sat on the couch. Everything was clean of dust. Judging from the light coming from the window, Thunder, Desert, and Gravity would be arriving at the station in an hour’s time. He was frowning. Almost nostalgically, sitting in this room was depressing him. But he couldn't figure out why.

Elegiac finally trotted out of the bedroom with a smile. She trotted into the den and, without any response from Midnight, hopped over the side of the couch and landed next to him. She snuggled up next to him, but his frown persisted.

“I know what's bothering you,” she said.

Finally Midnight turned toward her. His eyes avoided hers and his frown kept his mouth closed.

She kept smiling as she put a claw up to his cheek. “You know... I don't need to go anywhere.” She shook her head, then began to nod. “Yeah, I think I'm going to stay right by your side!”

Midnight’s empty gaze turned toward the door, the frown persisting. “They’ll arrive at the station soon,” he said in a monotone voice. “I should go get them.”

Elegiac shrugged. “Sure.” She patted his back with her claw. “You go get them, I'll keep watch of the house.” She giggled. “And keep the bed warm...”

Midnight got up, out of her reach. “Later.”

He trotted out of the house. As the door slammed closed from the wind, Elly looked at her claws and shook her head.

At Midnight’s pace, he made it to the station just as the train pulled in. Watching the ponies disembark from the train was enough to move his snout. By the time his friends had appeared, he was already smiling.

Thunder, Desert, and Gravity trotted up to them, with two other ponies following a bit too closely.

“Holy crap, you're alive!” Thunder said with a chuckle. “Is she here?”

“Still back at the house.” He beckoned them all. “We can catch up on the way.”

“Wait,” Gravity said, stopping him mid-turn. “We've actually made some new friends on the ride here!” She pushed the two ponies forward to meet Midnight.

The two parties stared at each other in awkward silence.

Gravity cleared her throat. “Midnight, you remember Brucie and Squee from Chrysalis's hive, right?”

The two parties sniffed each other’s changeling scents. Midnight crooked his head at them briefly before turning to Gravity. “Nope.” He shook his head. “Can't say I remember these two...”

“Are you really Foresight?” the pegasus chirped.

“Midnight is my real name,” he corrected. “Midnight Masquerade.”

“Well I'm watching you...” he chirped back, squinting at him.

“Don't mind him,” the blue pony said, stepping in between. “A friend of Gravity’s is a friend of ours!”

Midnight nodded. “Well met.” He turned and beckoned again. “Let’s get you all settled.”

They trotted at a decent pace until the mansion came into view.

“So who'd you steal the place from?” Squee chirped.

Masquerade rolled his eyes. “Prince Armor allowed me to stay here. Place gives most ponies the creeps for some reason.”

“Was this the place they found you?” Thunder asked. “I don't remember any mentions of a mansion...”

Midnight nodded. “Yeah, that's the thing... Nobody ever recalls this as a mansion. It feels so much smaller when you actually trot inside.” He shrugged. “Probably just some low ceilings or something...”

Mirage was already at the door. “The place unlocked?” he asked as his hoof pushed the door open. The unicorn trotted into the empty living room. “Hello?” he called out. “Anypony home?”

Midnight galloped in. “She should be here...” He looked around but found nothing in either the kitchen nor the dining room. “Elly?!”

“Everything alright in here?” Gravity asked as she brought the other two changelings inside.

Midnight gulped and turned to her. “I'm sure everything’s fine... Just gonna check the back for Elly real quick.”

Gravity passed a concerned glance at Thunder as he trotted past her to the couch. Midnight, their host, had just left for the back hallway and disappeared behind a door. She nodded that direction. Thunder sighed and went to check it out.

“Didn't you hear us calling you?” Midnight said from the other side of the door. Thunder pressed his ear up to it, trying to hear the other side of the conversation. “You should lie down. If your hearing isn't well...” Silence. “Just relax! I can stay here if you want...”

Thunder pulled the door open and looked inside. Midnight turned from the bed to him. “Everything alright in here?”

Midnight nodded. “Elly’s just resting for now.”

Thunder trotted into the room proper. “Oh.” He turned to the bed. It was empty. “Umm... There's no one under those sheets...”

Midnight chuckled and turned toward the bed. “He's got a point. You should probably get a blanket over yourself if you're sick.”

Thunder nodded, keeping a straight face. “Just doing my part.” He smiled and trotted back out to where Gravity was.

“Everything alright?” Gravity asked, crooking her head.

“This could be some changeling thing or something but she's apparently gone invisible and a little sick.”

Concern took Gravity’s beak and pointed it to the room again. “I'll check it out.”

“I know you don't want me to let go, but we do have guests,” Midnight said from around the corner.

Gravity turned the corner to find Midnight’s hoof being held by a sickly zebra mare.

“I thought we were tending to Elegiac?” Gravity asked him.

Midnight looked from her to Elly and back. “What do you mean? She's right here...”

“Interesting form for her to take, I guess...”

Midnight looked over the bat-eared, siren-faced changeling. “I mean... It is her base form.”

Gravity looked at the zebra and then back to Midnight. She stepped forward, checking the zebra against her memories. It had to be Superior. “First of all, that's certainly a disguise and second... How'd she even get here?”

“What are you talking about, Gravity?”

“Midnight, that's zebra Superior in the bed right there!”

Midnight turned to find Duplicity rubbing his hoof. “Don't let go...” she pleaded.

He slowly turned back to Gravity, who shook her head with a frown. “I thought... We got word that Advantage...” Her voice trailed off as a cold breeze brushed the back of her neck. She looked down at her claws. “...died.”

She looked up to see Midnight rubbing his eyes next to the empty bed. He let out a heavy sigh. He slowly nodded, putting his hoof back at his side and glanced briefly toward the empty bed. “Gravity...” he spoke softly. “Can you... I need some... Time.”

Gravity solemnly nodded. “Sure.” She quickly made her way out of the room and shut the door.

“So what's up?” Brucie asked her before she could even turn around.

Gravity took a breath in spite of his urgency. “We don't know where the kelpie went.”

“Excuse me?” Thunder asked, overhearing it.

“The kelpie’s not here.” She sighed again.

“Then we need to go track it down!” Thunder demanded. He turned toward Desert. “Get up! We gotta track this thing down!”

“No.”

The two turned to Gravity, who was glaring back at them. “She's not our problem anymore. Just let her go.”

Desert looked around. “Wait, where’s Midnight?”

“He needs some alone time.” She frowned and sat down on the couch. “I... I told him what happened to Advantage.”

“Is he taking it well?” Thunder asked.

Gravity looked to the floor and shook her head.

The door in the hallway opened. A changeling trotted out. He sniffed a little before coming into the room.

“Were... Were you crying?” Squee asked him, noticing the strange wetness around Midnight’s eyes.

“Screw off.” His voice was a hoarse chirp. He turned toward Gravity. “We need to find her.”

“We came here to relax and watch the--”

“I need to find her,” he said, correcting himself.

Gravity shook her head. “No.”

“She's gone.” He shook his head back. “We can't leave her out there...”

Gravity stepped forward. “How do we know where she is?! Heck, how do we know she's even alive?! I didn't see her when I came into that room; we both saw Advantage! How do we know she even existed at all?!”

“Whoa...” Desert took a step back. “Babe... Don't blow my mind here...”

“Advantage is dead,” Midnight affirmed with pain in his throat and heart. “Elly left as soon as she figured that out.”

Gravity took a breath. “And when would that have been?”

Midnight shrugged. “Probably two nights ago if I had to guess.”

“Do you know where she could have went?”

“With her crazy teleportation skills?” Midnight shook his head. “Anywhere, by now.”

Gertrude brought out some water for her two workers. They were almost done digging out a couple of good holes for the new trees.

“Thirsty?” she asked them.

Gorman continued digging while Gunter looked up from his work to see the two cups of water. The way the light reflected off of the glasses and the clear liquid inside failed to make him thirsty. Somehow, it reminded him of... He shook off the painful memories and went back to work, shaking his head as politely as possible.

“So neither of y’all are thirsty?”

“Only thing I'm thirsty for is some bits,” Gorman said. “And our job is almost done here.”

“And like Ah said, you'll be paid in kind as soon as y’alls are done with them holes.”

Gorman and Gunter both struck their shovels down and looked over their work. The holes were rectangular, about four feet deep and “long enough to lie down in” as per Gertrude’s request. Now it was finally time for their payment.

They trotted around to the front of the building where Gertrude worked. It was an old, abandoned meeting place that was once used for festivities when the Griffins were united.

But now it was dusty, and lined with wooden, empty chairs. Gertrude counted out the bits at the far side of the room. She put the bits back into the bag as the pair of workers approached. Gertrude nodded and handed the bag over to Gunter.

“Go on, now...”

Gorman grabbed Gunter’s arm but a kept his eyes glaring at the griffin. “What about mine?”

“Let the boy go,” Gertrude sternly suggested before turning back to the table behind her. “You’ll have your pay soon enough.”

Gorman let go of Gunter. “Wait for me outside... Something’s not right here.” He shook off the feeling without forgetting it. He walked toward Gertrude.

He stepped in something wet.

Gorman quickly picked his claw up from the wet spot on the ground. Looking down, it was just water spilled from one of the glasses. He looked back to Gertrude. “How much longer?”

Gertrude shrugged without turning around. “That all depends.”

“Depends on what?” he asked, putting his claw back down. He dragged it across the dirty floor to dry it off. He winced at the feeling and just stopped moving his claw altogether.

The doors slammed closed. The dust moved under his claws.

Gertrude turned to him, her eyes glowing green and her claws turning black. “How much you can take before I break you like the rest...” Elegiac’s snout erupted from her false beak, burning away the facade. The dust swarmed like ants and flies around her rear before turning bright green and unifying as her tails. “So in short...” Her melodic yet haunting voice giggled. Gorman took a few steps back and reached for his sword. “I’m sure this won’t take long at all...” She smiled and wiped a strand of green drool off of her snout.

Gorman pulled his sword from its sheathe. It shined in the darkness of the abandoned room. Elegiac crooked her head to either side, cracking it. She took a step back. Gorman took a step forward. “You know who I killed with this blade, banshee?!”

Elegiac smiled a toothy grin. Her eyes glowed a bright green. “You killed a shallow husk! The most modest of forms that perfection can take!”

Gorman shook his head. “I killed Advantage! And with them gone, nobody will be able to bring you back!”

“Most mortals would try to bargain for their lives...” Elegiac hissed. “They would plead with me. They would ask how it came to this.” She shook her head. “But you... You already know these answers, don’t you?”

Gorman took a step back. “So you admit it then? Your horrid existence is nothing more than a blight upon this world!”

Elegiac cackled. “Mine? Sure! I’m a murdering, cannibalistic psychopath!” She kept smiling. “And you’re the guy who’s gone and pissed me off...” She took a step toward him.

“Just like Advantage... Nothing more than a monster with a heart of vengeance and bloodlust.”

She crooked her head to either side, twitching it. “Oh, you say that now... But did you not seek brutal, bloody vengeance upon another of your kind?”

“That changeling ruined my life!” Gorman asserted. “What I do, I do for restoration! For balance!”

“For your own glory!” Elegiac added. “You wanted to kill her to prove you weren’t powerless!”

“Quiet!” Gorman roared.

He charged toward her, sword first. Elegiac leaped out of the way. He felt her magic pick him up. Gorman swung his sword and its magic deflected her gaze. He landed in the puddle from earlier, much bigger now. His claws and paws were all trapped. His sword uselessly swayed from side to side as he struggled.

“Oh, how I wish to say you weren’t about to die,” Elegiac hissed almost mournfully. “You see, this all reminds me of those last moments of Chrysalis... Of Midnight Masquerade... Of Desert Mirage and the rest of your ‘enemies...’”

“All of those fools are still alive, are they not?!”

“They would be dead though... Had a great sage not consoled me. Stopped me from resorting to murder. The same sage who helped a tormented Midnight not try to kill himself in the end...”

“Who could possibly be so stupid to try to save the likes of them?”

Elegiac’s smile returned. “Advantage saved them all.” She shook her head and the dust flew and disappeared into the air. The glow in her eyes was gone. She simply smiled at him. “Shame they’re not around to save you.”

With his beak, Gorman pulled the sword from his stuck claw. Before Elegiac’s jaws could lunge forward, he plunged the blade into the goop and destroyed the whole puddle. He jumped back out of her reach and readied the sword in his claw again.

“That’s the difference between me and them!” Gorman smiled. “I don’t need saving.”

Elegiac crawled toward him, her tails oozing from under her. “That’s because you’ve never fought someone who actually wants to hurt you...” She shook her head. “Always the coward move... Attack them at the most vulnerable and throw countless expendable doubles in front of the actual threats!”

“I am only giving them the treatment they showed me!” Gorman yelled.

He charged her again, and she sank into her pool. Gorman plunged the sword into the water. Elegiac’s alligator-like jaws erupted without warning from the waters and crunched down on his arm. His other claw swatted and prodded at Elegiac’s eyes.

“Let go, you wretch!”

She clenched down on his arm, breaking it under her force. Gorman screamed and swiped at her eyes with his claws. Elegiac let go of his crippled arm to dodge his swipes. She charged her head into him, ramming him and knocking him back. The sword was still in her pool.

Elegiac pulled the blade out and stuck it into her mouth. Gorman got to his feet and made a mad dash toward her as she chewed. He grabbed at the hilt with his non-dominant hand. The blade was warm with power.

“You heartless monster...” Gorman smiled. “They never wanted to be eaten by you.”

The blade’s magic ripped itself from the kelpie’s snout and Gorman plunged it through her head.

Elegiac screamed and leapt back. Gorman charged without realizing her water didn't follow her. But with a plunge of his sword, the waters quickly receded.

“Just hold still and die, you abomination!”

Elegiac leapt back and onto the wall, out of his reach. Gorman spread his wings to join her.

“Every opponent has a fatal flaw.” Elegiac smiled. “You know what yours is?”

“What?”

“You assume you know everything...” Her smile grew bigger and toothier with each word. “I wonder how you would deal with a new perspective!”

He felt her magic envelop him. He felt his body start flying towards hers and he deflected with his sword. Elegiac leapt out of the way as he hit the wall. He leapt off of the wall and hit it again. Dazed, he got up on his feet and looked around. Gorman and Elegiac stood on the wall.

“The look on your face,” Elegiac noted. “And I thought you hated Gravity enough already!”

Gorman charged her, and she leapt to the wall--ceiling. She leapt to the ceiling. Or was the opposite wall the ceiling now? Gorman tried to shake off his disorientation.

The magic pulled him down to the ceiling to join her.

Gorman’s head was spinning. “Is this how you expect to win? Kill me with vertigo?!”

Elegiac simply smiled as Gorman regained his footing. Chairs hit the ceiling all around him, bound by the same spell. One of the wooden stools broke on Gorman’s thick head. He swung his sword in a daze, hacking away at the clutter around him. Elegiac smiled wider and took a step back.

Gorman regained his composure and looked around. There was no sign of the kelpie. A cold breeze fluttered down his spine as gravity returned. Suddenly he was falling up to the floor, with a lot of splintered wood following after.

The griffin held onto his sword as he fell. But the cold, hard floor soon turned into a wretched shade of blue as the kelpie’s watery maw beckoned him in. Gorman smiled and held the sword closer.

Elegiac reached out a tentacle to break his fall, and let him break the fall of sharp clutter above him. Gorman had other plans. He slashed away the tentacle. She tried to catch him with the lower part of it. He stabbed through it with his blade. Using the sword’s magic, he forced her gelatinous tentacle to harden just enough. He jumped away from the rest of her grip, pulling her growth to the side. The clutter splashed into her maw harmlessly as he grasped the sword’s hilt. Elegiac sent another tentacle to stop him. He dodged around it with his hind legs and wings. With a combination of beak and claw, he guided his blade into the tentacle. The magic sapped it of power until it was nothing but dust. Then he turned to Elegiac and forced the sword into her main pool. The magic drained the waters of all matter.

Elegiac screamed in agony as her solid form was forced through the sharp, splintered wood. She tried to claw toward him, but she couldn't move her limbs. The only waters on the floor now were her own blood.

Gorman just smiled. He pulled the sword out of the dry flooring and walked up to her broken, bleeding form. She shrieked at him in disharmony. He cringed at the sound, then shook his head.

“Good to see you finally holding still for once.” He pulled the sword up over his head. The monster shrieked. He smirked. “Now, now... Singing is against the law.”

With a swift chop, the fight was over.

“Come on, Gunter...” Gorman said as he finally left the old building. “We're leaving!”

Gunter took his time responding. Gorman’s sword was bathed in green, held in his non-dominant hand. The other arm was broken and bleeding and his head had a nasty bump on it. Gunter walked into the old building and found nothing left of Gertrude except a pile of broken wood soaking in green slop. He went over to the shelf where she had kept the pitcher for the water. It was dry. He took it and scooped up as much of her as he could get.

“Gunter!” Gorman screamed from behind him. “What do you think you're doing?!”

Gunter quickly turned around, hiding the pitcher behind his back. “Umm... Nothing, sir...”

“Gunter...” Gorman growled. He gestured toward Gunter’s unseen claw. “What's behind your back?”

“Nothing...”

“Don't lie to me.” Gorman pulled his green sword toward Gunter’s throat. “You were going to try to help that miserable--”

The pitcher shattered on the ground. In his fear, Gunter had dropped it. They both turned and looked at all the broken wood and glass behind him.

It was all dry.

Midnight tried to sleep. Elly was gone, Advantage was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it. The others all left to go to the Equestria Games. Midnight sighed and pushed his head deeper into the pillow. He felt sick to his stomach. It churned under the sheets. He rose from the bed, shaking his head as he stumbled into the hallway.

“I know I felt sick,” he said to himself. “But this is really getting to be--” A mass quickly leaped up his throat, forcing him to cover his snout as he gagged. He shuddered and shook his head.

“Feeling alright, Midnight?” Elly asked him.

He nodded as he walked past her and toward the kitchen. He froze in realization. He quickly glanced behind him at the empty room. The mansion was silent outside of his churning stomach. His head hurt for a brief moment.

A pitcher clinked onto the counter behind him. He turned to find no one there either. The changeling inspected the pitcher carefully. The outside was clean. The inside--

The mass leaped out of his snout.

The inside was clean. Midnight took a step back to evaluate. His chest was fine but the pitcher was now filled with something glowing bright green... A dead wretcher. He trotted back up to the pitcher slowly.

The pitcher giggled.

Midnight smiled and wiped the rest of her off of his snout. “You're home late.”

The pitcher trembled as the giggles continued.

Midnight wandered his snout through the drawers in search of a particular kind of food. “I suppose I can take care of you... Keep your light burning at least.”

The pitcher sat on the counter.

“So when did you plant yourself in me?” He asked the pitcher as he opened a cupboard. “Can't teleport to me without some source.” He stuck his head in. He sneezed several times. “Yup,” his muffled voice echoed. “Found it.”

Midnight returned to the counter with a few strips of hay. He blew his nose into a thin napkin. “Bakes by noze beed evvy tim...” he said, wiping while trying to talk. He put the napkin into the pitcher. It quickly was absorbed as the pitcher shined an even brighter green. “You were hungry, weren't you?” He looked out toward the window. “Still an hour or so before the guys get back...” He shrugged. “And we get to figure out how to get you home.”

The pitcher giggled.

Chapter 16: From the Ashes

Midnight carefully poured the contents of the pitcher into the empty lantern. As the last drop made it inside, he turned to smile at his friends, now illuminated with the green glow of the lantern.

“Thanks for making the trip to the store for me, guys...”

Gravity smiled back. “Not a problem at all.”

Desert stepped forward with a smirk. “You should’ve seen the look on that shopkeep’s face when we said we didn’t want any lighting stuff in it!” He chuckled. “He was so confused...”

“So where did you find her, anyways?” Thunder asked, trying to ignore the unicorn.

Midnight shrugged. “She just kinda... asserted herself.”

The pegasus’s head crooked. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Well...” The changeling crooked his own head. “For lack of better words, I kinda threw her up.”

“You ate her?!” Desert half-gasped. A smile creased his snout with pride. “That’s pretty hardcore.”

Midnight flinched. “What? No... She just reconstituted herself...”

Gravity crooked her head as well. “...in your stomach?” she asked with a hint of disbelief.

“I threw up immediately.” Midnight shook his head. “Gravity, you’ve eaten wretch before, you know what happens! I don’t know how she did it, but it almost killed me!”

Gravity sighed. “Sure, alright... But how did she get there in the first place?”

Midnight exhaled and shook his head. “Well, it’s a very... unsettling wretcher trick.” He looked back toward the lantern. “Apparently, consuming any part of a wretcher can instill within you their very essence.” He shrugged. “And apparently, if the original wretcher dies and your thoughts... your emotions are aimed enough on them...” He waved his hooves in the pattern of an explosion. “Fwoosh. The essence just ignites and grows into a whole new wretcher. Like a phoenix, rising from the ashes.”

“Like an extra life?” Desert asked.

Midnight gestured toward the lantern. “Not without its kinks, of course.”

Brucie stepped forward. “So... is it too late to ask what a wretcher is?”

Midnight chuckled and gestured toward the lantern again. “That. That’s the only wretcher left.” He smiled. “And her name is Elegiac.”

“Sorry to interrupt or confuse...” Gravity started. “But couldn’t Advantage have come back to life through you or Elegiac?”

“They... They tried.” Midnight solemnly nodded. “Remember that zebra in the bed? That was their essence acting out. I’m not sure what stopped them from coming back...”

The lantern flared up.

“Whatever it was,” Midnight continued, taking small steps toward the table the lantern sat on. “I’m sure Advantage would have gotten around it if they really wanted to...”

He picked up the lantern with his magic.

“Either way,” he continued. “We should probably get back to Canterlot.” He smiled.

“But first...” Gravity stepped forward. “We should probably go to Appleloosa.”

Midnight crooked his head. “Why?”

18 hours later...

“In their haste, they forgot someone rather important, didn’t they?” Gravity plainly stated as they trotted through the woods.

Finally, they made it to the familiar clearing. The light of Celestia’s sun shone through the trees enough to make out a familiar jar. To the group’s dismay, it was broken and empty.

“Extra life?” Desert asked.

They trotted up to the jar for a closer look. A green film covered the bottoms of the jar pieces, obscuring the surfaces farthest from the breakage.

“We need to leave.” Midnight turned without waiting for anyone else. “Now.” He galloped back into the darkness.

The rest of the group followed the dim glow of his lantern back through the forest. Finally, it disappeared into the bright light of day.

Thunder flew out ahead until he was in front of the changeling. “Wait! What’s going on?”

Midnight shook his head. The lantern flared back up to its usual brightness.

“Is everything alright?” Gravity asked, coming out of the trees with the rest of the group.

“We need to get back to Can...” He winced at his syllables and shook his head. “We need to leave. Town. Now.”

“Can’t you at least tell us what’s wrong?” Gravity asked.

Midnight shook his head again. “Let’s go.”

Desert looked back at the forest. Unseen eyes looked back, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. He took a step closer to the threshold of the trees. He could hear something hyperventilating in the farthest distance. He squinted his eyes to try to hear better. The tall grass at the edge of the forest shook in the absence of wind.

A claw grabbed his shoulder.

“Desert!” Gravity yelled. “We need to go now!” She pulled his shoulder back toward the group, who was already moving back toward the station.

Desert checked over his shoulder, but the forest was almost unnaturally still and silent. He shook his head and rejoined the others.

A pale, drooling snout covered in Kernel’s remains poked out of the forest, watching its prey escape. It trembled under its lungs’ irregular breathing pattern. Its tired eyes watched the changelings disappear into the town. The snout vanished back into the forest completely unnoticed.

The group couldn’t get Midnight to say more than two words until the train was finally in motion. The changeling took the window seat for the first time. He glued his snout to it as if expecting to see someone wave at the station. But finally, the motion of the engine jerked him out of his position.

“Are you alright?” Gravity asked.

Midnight shook his head. “I can’t talk about it. I can’t think about it.” He nodded his head. “That’s how they get you...” A smile broke out on his snout. “You think about them...” The smile broke into giggles. “...They get you.”

“Are the ponies in danger back there?” Thunder asked.

Midnight shook his head again. “No. Only changelings.” He shuddered. He exhaled as he rocked in his seat. “Just forget about it. That’s all we can do.”

“Well, that’s a pretty lame thing to do,” Desert replied. He pulled out his spear. “If it wasn’t going to hurt me, why didn’t you let me just go out and kill it?”

“I said forget about it!” Midnight snarled. “Desert, for once in your miserable life just... just--”

“Calm down,” Thunder finished, addressing both parties. “Midnight... I know you don’t want to talk about it, but if it could be a threat...”

“It’s not.”

“Can you talk about it... Non-verbally?” Brucie asked.

Midnight nodded and gestured toward the lantern. “Desert,” he whispered.

The unicorn crooked his head. “What?”

“The Drooling Oasis.”

“What about it?”

Midnight just chuckled and nodded. “Indeed.” He shook his head. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and looked back at the queens he had served again.

Chrysalis wanted to kill him. Advantage wanted to save him. The third... She just stayed in the corner of his mind, staring at him with emptiness behind her eyes.

He shook his head out of it. For a brief moment, he could feel his hairs stand up on end as eyes scanned his back. He turned quickly to the window again to see nothing but moving landscape.

“We’re going to forget about it, okay?” He sighed. “The jar slipped and broke and he died. Nothing more to it. I just wanted to get home already. I just want this all to end already.”

Brucie spoke up. “Is there anything we can do to make sure we don’t ‘slip?’”

Midnight smiled. “I think I know a little trick.”

With a flash of green, the earth pony and pegasus sitting across the aisle didn’t feel any different at all.

“You want in on this, Gravity?” Midnight asked.

“What did you do?” the griffin asked.

The changeling shrugged. “Just the smallest of changes.”

Brucie looked up and down the aisle to make sure there were no ponies. With a flash of green, his true form was revealed. The blues in his eyes and carapace had been changed to hues of yellow.

“See?” Midnight said. “Should make it easy to identify an Equestrian that way, right?” He chuckled.

“Midnight, are you okay?” Gravity asked.

The smile disappeared from Midnight’s snout. “I... No. But hey... With the wretchers gone, at least we can be yellow, huh?”

A green flame enveloped him for a moment, doing nothing to his appearance.

Gravity nodded. “That’s true. We can be yellow.”

“It’ll be harder for enemies to sneak in. It’ll be harder for us to get hurt... If we’re yellow.”

Gravity nodded.

A few hours later...

Midnight opened his eyes to find Brucie and Squee sitting across from him.

“You told us to forget,” Brucie said. “And I realized we don't have a lot to remember.”

“We were hoping you could tell us more about life here in Equestria,” Squee added happily.

Midnight stretched and yawned. “Of course. Of course!” He rolled his shoulders and sank back into his seat. “I'm... Not even sure where to begin.” He chuckled awkwardly.

Brucie crooked his head. “Well, can we start with a genuine apology.”

“I'm sorry?”

Brucie smiled and shook his head. “Not from you... From us. We judged you quite heavily on your past sins. But now that we've seen your friends and the care you put into making sure everyone is safe... Well...”

“I’M SORRY!” Squee blurted out. “Okay, I'm good,” he added at a barely audible volume.

Brucie and Midnight chuckled. Brucie nodded. “And I am too. You really aren't that ‘Foresight’ we knew.”

Midnight smiled. “Thank you.” He looked around the cabin. “So what have you two been up to since the hive fell?”

Squee shrugged and Brucie crooked his head to one side briefly. “You know,” Brucie explained. “We just traveled around. Kept a low profile. Decided to head to the Equestrian Games and found Verti... Gravity on the train.”

The unicorn nodded. “Her new name does take some getting used to.”

“So, should we be worried about whatever broke that jar?”

“You mean gravity?” Midnight said. He winced at his own word choice. “Not... the griffin Gravity... Actual... It got dropped, arlight?”

Brucie leaned in. “Please, don’t do this cryptic stuff again...”

Midnight rolled his eyes. “It’s for your own safety, I promise.” He sighed. “It can smell fear like a shark smells blood.”

“And you’re sure the ponies aren’t in danger?”

Midnight let out a much deeper sigh. “No. But they don’t know that so they should be fine. It’ll realize the wretchers are all dead and go back to the Deadlands.”

“You’re willing to risk it?”

He nodded. “Sadly, the odds are best this way.”

“Dude...” Squee chirped up, turning to Brucie. “I thought we were gonna sleep tonight. Why are we talking about this?”

Brucie bore a patient smile. “There’s nothing to talk about, Squee. There’s no monster out there.” He turned to Midnight. “It was just your imagination, wasn’t it?”

The unicorn chuckled. “Yep.” He nodded. “Pretty much.”

The earth pony nudged the pegasus. “See? It’ll be fine.”

Midnight smiled. “We’ll get to Canterlot and get you two a real home. It’ll all be fine. You just gotta remember that.”

Squee yawned. “Okay.”

The train pulled into the station of Canterlot. The group had awoken from a pleasant sleep without any nightmares. Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried Elegiac to his office, letting the two ponies behind guide the new changelings to the complex.

Midnight quickly placed the lantern on his desk and reached into the drawer on the right, pulling out his stash of hay. He spilled more of his blood into the lantern to keep Elegiac glowing with health.

“Isn’t that unhealthy?” Thunder asked from the door.

Midnight jumped and placed the hay back inside the drawer. He wiped his snout clean before speaking. “Yeah, a little. But I don’t want to lose anyone else, you know?”

Thunder sighed. “Surely there’s some better way to keep her alive?”

Midnight shrugged. “Not without losing a changeling.”

“Speaking of... What took the jar out?”

The unicorn sighed and shrugged. “I think it was dropped in the chaos.” He chuckled awkwardly. “I almost thought it was... There was this monster that Advantage used to talk about.”

“A monster other than themselves?”

Midnight shook his head. “If you thought Advantage was a monster...” He shuddered as he thought about it. “This... thing they fought over a thousand years ago... They called it Corruption.”

Thunder scoffed. “Corruption, huh?”

“Sounds kinda lame until you realize that Advantage names others based on their best attribute.” A cold breeze shivered down his spine. “The monster was informally known as a ‘drooler...’ It fought against the wretchers in hopes of gaining their crazy survivability. Advantage eventually fought them off.”

“But you never saw them in real life though?”

“The story always sent a shiver down my spine.” He shuddered again. “Which is why I refuse to share it. Honestly, I wish the wretchers had kept it to themselves.” The cold breeze persisted. “It’s like... It gets in your head. And then it just appears. You figure it's just a nightmare. You figure it can’t hurt you. And that’s when it gets you...”

“That’s... Pretty messed up.”

“Yeah... You can see why I didn’t want to tell the rest of them.”

Thunder nodded. “Good thing the jar was broken by accident then, right?”

Midnight nodded back. “Oh yeah. Shame about that.” His ears perked up. “Oh, right! I need the papers for Brucie and Squee!” He ducked behind the desk to search for the forms.

Thunder left him to his search and greeted the rest of the group as they turned the corner. “He’s getting the forms ready,” he explained to the two newest members.” He opened the door. “Go on in.”

The two departed, leaving just Desert and Gravity.

“Well, I think I’m gonna take a walk around town,” Gravity said, stretching. “Wanna join me?”

Mirage hesitated, looking at Thunder with that familiar glint of adventure in his eye. Thunder returned with a confirming shake of his head.

“Nah,” Desert replied. “I’m gonna stay around a bit longer.”

“Suit yourself,” Gravity said. She walked away and disappeared into the sunlight.

Desert turned to Thunder. “Did you learn anything about the monster?”

Thunder smiled. “Oh yeah. It’s called ‘Corruption,’ it’s also known as a ‘drooler’ and appears to be some kind of powerful changeling that eats wretchers and other changelings.” His head perked up but his eyes couldn’t find the source of the draft of air chilling his back.

Desert could.

The unicorn approached the dark window at the end of the hallway. Using his magic, he promptly closed it. Beyond the glass, two bushes rustled.

Desert looked back at Thunder. “I think I know where to look first.”

The two ponies trotted out and around the complex until they found the bushes. Scratches along the fence behind them indicated something had climbed over recently.

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” said Thunder.

Desert scoffed. “Come on, it can’t even hurt us, right?”

A twig snapped and fell between the ponies. Their gazes sent something rustling along the branch, around the trunk, and scampering across another branch before jumping off. But the ponies were already in pursuit.

A changeling landed in the next yard over. Thunder tackled it to the ground. It shook beneath him. He waved Desert to calmly approach as his eyes met the terrified ones of this changeling.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

The changeling looked over the large pegasus that had pinned him down. “Whi... White...”

Thunder crooked his head in confusion. “What?”

It put a hoof to its heart for a moment, then pointed it at the pegasus. “...You?”

“Thunder Sword,” he said, backing off and helping White up. “And this is Desert Mirage.”

Desert just looked over the changeling without holstering his spear.

“Don’t mind him,” Thunder continued. “Do you mind me asking what you were doing in that tree?”

The changeling hyperventilated for a quick moment before regaining its composure. “I... I’m scared.”

“That’s okay.” Thunder patted the changeling on the back. “We can take you somewhere safe. Would you like that?”

White nodded with a smile.

“Desert, go up ahead and warn Midnight we have another changeling coming in.”

The unicorn nodded and led the way. Thunder carefully brought the new friend along. Its black hoof trembled around his foreleg.

“Where... Where are we going?” it asked in its shaky voice.

“A few friends of ours are changelings. They can take care of you.”

“Really?” White crooked its head. “Other changelings?”

Thunder nodded. “They're nice ones. I know the hive can be brutal, but these guys are nice.”

White nodded solemnly.

The trio trotted into the complex. Before Thunder could even say a word, Desert burst into Midnight’s office. Brucie, Squee, and Midnight’s heads rose from their paperwork.

“She wasn’t lying about you people not knocking,” Midnight noted. He crooked his head. “What do you need?”

“We’ve got another one!”

“What?”

“Another one.” He beckoned Thunder and White inside.

Midnight’s ears perked up at the sight of another changeling. “Oh!” He ducked down in search of yet more paperwork. “I’ll get you signed up right away!” He froze. He slowly raised his gaze to the new changeling. “This isn’t a hostage situation, is it?”

Desert smirked. “Maayybe...”

White looked confused.

“No,” Thunder sternly affirmed. “He just wants a safe place to stay,” he explained.

Midnight nodded and resumed the search.

“All done!” Squee chirped happily.

A green glow pulled the form away from the changeling and placed it with the others. Brucie took Squee out of the office, allowing Thunder and White to step closer. Midnight’s snout rose to meet them as they approached.

“Please, take a seat.”

With Thunder’s help, White sat down across from Midnight. The unicorn put the form down in front of it. The changeling looked over the strange piece of paper with a crooked head.

“Are you literate?” Midnight asked.

White shrugged.

Midnight sighed and smiled. “I can sign it for you, uh...”

“White,” Thunder finished.

The unicorn nodded. “White. I can sign it for you and then we can help you get situated here in Equestria.”

White crooked its head at Midnight.

“It just means you’ll be... nice,” Midnight explained. “As long as you can control your hunger to the point that you won’t hurt anyone, you’ll be fine!”

White nodded.

“Okay then.” Midnight signed the form. “Just ‘White?’”

White nodded.

Midnight nodded back. He put down his quill as his horn glowed. “You might feel a slight tingling sensation.”

With a flash of green, White was now shades of yellow where blues once were.

“And you’re all done!” Midnight said with a smile. “Any questions?”

White shook his head.

“Alright.” He turned to Thunder. “Take him back to Brucie and Squee. When Gravity gets back, she can help them integrate properly.”

Thunder nodded. He helped White out of its seat and lead it out of the office.

Alone again, Midnight looked back at his lantern. “We’re actually doing it...”

“Yes, you are,” a voice answered from the door. The Colonel trotted in and sat down. “I asked for a dragon-fire report, but this will do.” He smiled. “I see you’ve dyed a few more changelings.”

“Well, it’s not really a dye as much as it’s--”

“The point I’ve come to affirm is that you’re doing good work,” the Colonel interrupted. “Good enough work, in fact, that your organization will persist the fall of ‘changeling immigration.’”

Midnight crooked his head with worry. “Sir?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Midnight. Your little project here is simply taking on a change of identity.” He shook his head. “Not a change of function or even form.” He looked back toward the door. “Judging by how you’ve been handling the ‘immigrants’ so far, I think we can call you Project D.Y.E.S.”

“Is that like an anagram or..?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be. Either way, immigration proper does not wish to get their hooves dirty signing on changelings, so you’ll be a parallel entity instead of a mere branch. DYES will be in charge of filtering out good changelings from bad ones, and keeping the peace in all changeling affairs.” He shrugged. “At least until something happens that changes everyone’s prejudices.”

Midnight snorted. “Yeah, like that’ll ever happen.”

The Colonel gave him a folder. “These forms will need to be filled out. I need everything about your organization on file, who does what and whatnot. Take your time.”

With that last remark, the Colonel got up and trotted out of the office.

Midnight got right to work, yet something still felt off. He turned behind him to see nothing but a plain wall lit up in green. Yet it was like something was staring straight at him.

He jumped as the office door opened and a griffin walked inside. “So I put the three--” she started before realizing Midnight had been looking the other way. She gestured back toward the door. “I probably should have knocked, huh?”

Midnight’s head bobbed into triangles before he had the shaking and nodding call a ceasefire. “What... What were you saying?”

“So I put the three recruits to bed early. I figure we start up early enough they can watch Celestia raise the sun.” She nodded. “I’m sure they’ll enjoy that.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She crooked her head. “Did White seem... ‘off’ to you?”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “He seems nice so I didn’t confront him about it, but I’ve worked with enough psychotic changelings to know when one’s brains aren’t working quite right.”

“Are you saying he’s... Evil? Dumb?” He crooked his head. “What?”

Gravity shook her head. “I don’t know. Something is wrong.”

Midnight shrugged. “He’s probably just scared. It can really affect a changeling’s behavior.”

She half-shrugged. “I guess.” She crooked her head. “You don’t think he’s that monster you mentioned?”

Midnight’s snout fell as laughing punched through his composure. He shook his head as his snout slowly regained control. “That’s what this is about?!” He chuckled. “There’s no such thing!”

Gravity’s beak stayed perfectly straight. “You’re lying through your fangs.” She shook her head. “You know you can’t fool me.”

“Forget about what I said,” Midnight assured. “There’s nothing out there that can hurt us.” He gestured to his paperwork. “Look, I’m making you one of our top agents in this project!”

Gravity frowned, looking between the changeling and the forms on his desk. “Denial was what made you Foresight. Your acceptance made you my friend.” She turned and walked out of his office.

Midnight stared at the closed door for a few minutes. He shook himself out of his trance. “Denial is the only thing that’s going to save us though,” he muttered under his breath. “The jar broke on its own, and I have to believe that. Because anything else would be...” He shook his head. “...Impossible.” He looked over to his lantern. Elegiac knew much more about Advantage’s tales than he remembered. “Wouldn’t it?”

The light dimmed. Droolers have no limit on their appetite. The light brightened. White... He is not someone I recognize, but he is safe. But his name is off-putting.

Midnight crooked his head. “What do you mean?” he asked the lantern.

Droolers often care more about their appearance... Who else would be named for a color?

He shrugged. “He sure doesn’t act like one.” He crooked his head toward the lantern. “And didn’t you drool for a bit? You never were named for a color.”

The lantern giggled.

She whispered into his ear. His eyes widened and he shook his head. “I’m just gonna forget that you ever said that.” He looked back at the forms. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out how much authority to give to Mirage.” He looked back at the lantern. “What... What is with you girls and knowing these obscure colors anyways?”

The lantern flickered as the giggle rang through Midnight’s mind.

“So this is it,” Gravity said as she looked over the recruits in their bunks. “We’re actually doing it.”

Thunder smiled. “Yeah, almost didn’t expect to actually help some changelings after that crazy week.”

“Kinda sad we didn’t get to kill any more monsters,” Desert chimed in. “...If I have to be honest.”

“So any idea where we might find more recruits?” Thunder asked Gravity in an attempt to ignore Desert. “You’ve been on a pretty good streak.”

Gravity shrugged. “That’s all dumb luck if I have to be honest.” She giggled. “Maybe I’m just that much better than Midnight at this job.”

Thunder nodded. “Yeah, I actually signed on when I heard this job was hurting the guy’s health.” He crooked his head toward her. “Of course, now I realize he was weak from keeping you alive.”

She nodded. “And now that sea monster has got him.”

“Kinda surprised he didn’t just kill her off yet,” Desert noted.

“She’s the last member of Advantage’s Hive,” Gravity explained. “He’s kinda slow to let things go...” Her voice trailed off. She sighed. “Of course, he’ll also tell the scary stories of Advantage’s Hive in his grief as well.” She looked back toward the general direction of Midnight’s office. “I gave him such a hard time for scaring us half to death back in those woods...”

“That’s what that was about?” Thunder’s head crooked back toward Midnight’s office for a moment. “That would explain why he’s been so secretive about it.” His smile betrayed his emotions. “Believing a ghost story to be true just in the hopes of keeping some part of a dead friend alive.” He shook his head. “We need to help him get over this loss.” He turned back to Gravity. “Any ideas?”

Gravity smiled. “Of course. Just get another evil changeling.”

“Huh?”

“We use it as a vessel to get that sea monster back.” She shrugged. “He’ll probably snap out of it pretty quick once he sees her in the flesh again.”

Thunder chuckled. “Well, if his track record is anything to go off of, finding evil changelings should be easy.”

“Yeah, what are we waiting for?” Desert asked as he started toward the door.

“Not so fast.” Gravity raised a claw to stop him. “These changelings here might need our help.” She shook her head. “And I don’t think we want to get into trouble until they’re ready.”

Desert rolled his eyes. “Oh, please.”

A sudden shriek interrupted them, followed by the sound of carapace hitting pavement. They turned to find that White had fallen out of his bed.

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” Desert conceded.

“Huh. I forgot that some changelings aren’t actually used to beds,” Thunder admitted.

Gravity helped White back under the covers.

“We can stop muddling around the issue,” the thoroughly bandaged Gorman said. “You were trying to help that monster. After everything.” Gunter sighed. Gorman put his good claw on Gunter’s shoulder. “I will need you to teach me this niceness.”

Gunter shrugged. “I just figured, you know, we had already won. Why did she need to die?”

Gorman smiled. “And if she gets up and tries to kill us again?”

Gunter crooked his head. “She’s still alive?”

He chuckled. “Of course she is! Any demon of Advantage’s wouldn’t be killed so easily.”

“Well...” Gunter gulped. “I sure hope she’s forgiving after a defeat.” He looked around the rather ruinous structures around them. “Is this Griffonstone?” he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Gorman nodded. “Yep. Syndicate has gone to tartar sauce as you ponies say.”

Gunter blinked a couple times. “Nopony says that.”

Gorman chuckled. “Either way... Our best bet is to lay low and try to learn to put the chairs with the tables.”

“Are you suggesting we become waiters?”

Gorman crooked his head. “What? No waiting! We act! Quietly... But we act!”

“You lost me.”

“The actions of nicety... Nicessity!”

“Oh.” Gunter nodded. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying now. We need to help people out!”

“But quieterly!” Gorman warned. “They don’t trust if you’re on the beak about it.”

Gunter chuckled. “I think we can handle that.”

Midnight lay on the floor of his office. He couldn’t get back to sleep. He looked at the dim light on his desk. The lantern flared up, lighting up more of the room.

“I almost wish you were Vertigo.” He sighed. “That all of this was just one big nightmare.”

Advantage wouldn’t want you moping about.

He sighed again. “But the droolers... They killed them.”

No, they didn’t...

Midnight got up and crooked his head at the lantern. “What?”

Advantage did not get killed by droolers.

He tried to pace his breathing. “Then how?”

...Not droolers.

“How?!”

Gorman. They tried to defend themselves, and remind him that they’re not actually enemies... But it was all in vain.

Midnight put his hoof to his forehead, then slid it down his snout. “I should have known. They probably broke the jar Kernel was in too...”

Probably.

“But...” He shook his head. “Why? Why Gorman?” He sighed. “They fought Chrysalis, the droolers... Why some random griffin that wasn’t even after them directly?”

“To die in battle...
In the middle of a war.
But not the one fought.”

...It’s something Advantage used to tell me. They said it was about how true heroes never die in the wars they fight.

Midnight sighed again, from relief this time. “So they went out like... Like heroes.”

They said that you would go the same way.

His eyes widened. “I’m not sure I would... Say that.”

They would... Or, they did.

“You really think I’m a hero?” He scoffed. “I’m nobody. I couldn’t even do this job right...”

Then drink me.

Midnight stared at the lantern in disbelief.

See? The moments it matters, you’re the hero I know. You know just as well as I do that you’ll find someone fitting to slurp me down.

The lantern giggled.

You saved a lot of lives, Midnight. Advantage would be proud.

Midnight nodded and smiled. “I suppose I did. But what about--”

Shh... We both know the ending to that sentence isn’t worth saying. Just go back to sleep.

Midnight nodded. “We’ve got a lot of lives to save tomorrow, after all.”

Exactly.

The lantern giggled. The light dimmed to a mere flicker.

Midnight closed his eyes to peaceful slumber.

Tomorrow was a new day.

Chapter 5: Tricks of the Trade

Back on the train with their supplies, the four found the empty car and sat down. Mirage and Gravity sat on one side, Thunder and Midnight on the other. Gravity kept her beak pressed against the glass, staring almost uneasily out the window over the boarding station.

“Still worried you were followed?” Midnight asked.

Gravity’s beak stayed at the glass and her eyes remained focused. “I wasn’t followed. If I could be tracked, I would have been caught a long time ago.”

She lurched forward as the train began to move. She finally turned from the window and crooked her head toward Midnight.

“What can you tell us about wretchers, now that we've met them?”

He sighed. “I suppose it’s time for some explaining then?” The others nodded. “Alright... I’m going to take this slow so everyone in this conversation can understand.” His eyes glanced around, staying on no one pony in particular. “In order to understand a ‘wretcher,’ we must first understand a changeling. What is a changeling?”

Mirage smiled, eager to answer. “It’s like a big bug pony, with holes all over it.”

“No.”

“A changeling,” Gravity answered. “...is a shapeshifter, so it is whatever it wants to be.”

“We have a winner!” Midnight smiled. “And when it wants to be itself, it reverts to that exoskeletal form you...” He turned to Mirage, his throat choking on all the wrong words. “Mentioned.” He turned back to everyone else. “Now, if a changeling can be whatever it wants, then all changelings are the same, aren’t they?”

“No,” Thunder answered. “The Queen is special, and the hierarchy of the Hive would have been impossible if every single one was exactly the same.”

“Precisely,” Midnight said. “Every changeling is slightly different. Weight, height, fang, horn, and mane lengths are all individual. And you never see two changelings with the same holes in the exact same places.” He cleared his throat. “These changes are what make a changeling into a wretcher.” He looked around to make sure everyone was still following. “The blueprints of a changeling’s true form are imbedded deep in the subconscious where no spell may touch them. Instead, a changeling simply masks itself with the likeness of its prey. The form is still there, acting as a fulcrum in their identity balancing act.” He looked around once more. “Now what do you think would happen if a changeling took the form of another changeling?”

“I mean... it’s just a cloak, right?” Thunder asked. “Just a terrible disguise...”

“Right. But, what if the changeling were highly trained? What if the changeling learned about their fulcrum, and shifted it. Moved it along such that they might actually think that they were whatever they took the form of?” Midnight checked for confusion on the faces of his friends. “It’s a common strategy of saboteurs. It keeps their stories strong, and helps infiltrate even the tightest security, and be overlooked by the highest scrutiny.” He smiled. “So what is that changeling? A pony or...” He looked at Mirage. “A bug?”

“Still a bug,” Gravity answered. “You don’t forget who you are that easily.”

Midnight chuckled. “Well, you’re right about one thing. Changelings don’t forget who they are very easily at all.” He looked toward Thunder. “But make one mistake, and even that may become unclear.” He looked back toward the others. “I lost my memory twice because I valued a secure disguise over my own identity. But I was lucky. I had taken the form of ponies. I even convinced myself that I could fit in here.” He looked at Gravity. “Now I have to teach others to as well.” He looked at the others awkwardly. “...but I digress.”

Mirage chuckled. “Classic.”

“O shush,” Midnight snapped. He smiled again, looking over the others. “The point is, when a changeling that is desperate for a perfect disguise shifts their own identity for a new, changeling identity...” He shook his head. “Horrible side effects can occur.” He sighed. “The changeling’s ‘true’ form gets overwritten; its own mind cannot give a clear picture of what they really are. How curvy were those fangs? How long? How many holes? How many arms? Lungs? Who knows!” A frown and a smile fought for control of his face. “If their true forms get overwritten, or leave holes that must be undone, it requires even more desperate measures to fix.”

“Like eating your own kind,” Gravity said in an almost solemn tone.

“Yes.” Midnight nodded slower than usual. “As they eat other changelings, they can project their shapeshifting magics onto their flesh, forcing it to take whatever form they want... whatever form they need.”

“I shouldn’t have left you two alone with those freaks,” Thunder said. “If I had known...”

“You’re fine.” A purple hoof rested on Thunder’s shoulder. “Advantage is a good... well, pair of wretchers. They mean no harm.”

“Then why didn’t we bring them with us?” Mirage asked. “If we had a legit good wretcher on our side, it could just eat all the bad changelings!”

“And where do we draw that line between good and bad?!” the changeling argued. “And what of those points when the twins’ hunger becomes too much? Do we watch friends suffer? Do we watch lesser friends die? Advantage has always been a... a thing of inner beauty. Underneath those masks, the twins are twisted and deformed beyond your own nightmares.”

“I don’t know, man,” Mirage said with a smirk. “I’ve had some pretty bad nightmares.”

“Honestly,” Thunder said. “I’m surprised I didn’t think how disturbing those two would be without the zebra faces.” He shuddered. “I... I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, but creepy twins that hold hooves and do that head crook thing...” He shook his head. “I can’t. It’s too much. Too creepy.” He looked out the window, toward the peaceful landscape rolling by. He exhaled deeply. His eyes squinted as the sunset caught them. "Midnight, get me my armor."

"On?" the changeling asked, his hooves rummaging through the luggage.

"On." Green magic clamped the silver armor around the pegasus's chest. As Thunder's eyes focused, he counted in his head. Three. "Gravity!" he commanded. "Duck!"

The griffin ducked down. All she could see was the floor of the train car, but she could hear the glass of the train's window breaking, and the feeling of broken glass landing on the back of her head. Meanwhile, Thunder Sword was ready. He grabbed his knife and slashed at the griffin attacker's arm. The scaly arm retreated back outside the cabin, and footsteps could be heard, coming from the roof of the car. It all happened too quickly for Midnight and Mirage to react.

"What the heck was that?!" Gravity screamed. She shook subtly as she inspected the broken window and the pegasus who sat across from her.

"A griffin just flew up to the window and tried to grab you," he explained, putting down his knife and noticing the red tint of the blade.

"It just can't be simple can it?" Midnight asked, looking at the floor. Amidst all the broken glass, a thin splatter of red blood stained the flooring. His concentration was broken by the sound of the door opening at the end of the car facing him.

A large, armored griffin stepped through carrying a ornamented spear. It walked on two legs, its dark brown wings spread for balance as it carried the spear with its gray claws. The griffin wore silver armor with some unique gold trimmings. Instead of a helmet, it wore some form of headdress with a round, black gem embedded in it. As it continued to step forward, his right claw dripped red onto the floor. As it stepped closer, almost everyone could see that the griffin was male. His large beak was a giveaway to all but the lone unicorn who still ducked behind his seat. His dark gray head held two green eyes that looked over the cabin before settling on Midnight.

"What do you think you--" Midnight tried to say. Without warning, the spear shot out a bolt of magic that struck the changeling out of his form and onto the floor.

Desert ducked under the seat entirely as the griffin checked Midnight's body. "Primitive," the griffin said in a somewhat posh, but distinctly foreign accent. He turned in time to counter Thunder's knife attack. The blade smacked the handle of the spear, and the griffin's palm struck the pegasus's chest, knocking him onto his back. "Foolish," he said over the fallen pony. He looked up toward Gravity. "Did you really think you could get away with it, 'Gravity?'" He chuckled, stepping over Thunder. The griffin put his back foot onto the pony's chest, preventing further attacks. "So why don't you come with me..." He outstretched his arm toward her. "We both know you're the only one who deserves to die here."

Desert jumped over the seat, grabbing the griffin's spear with his magic. Pulling it from the bird's grasp, he attempted a few quick jabs with his forelegs. All of them missed. The griffin jumped backwards and lowered to four legs. His wings folded to his sides as Desert pointed the blade at him.

"Now tell me, yellow one," the griffin said. "Do you even know how to use that?" His eyes and the gem above them shined green.

The point of the spear began to glow as well. It flashed as a beam of powerful, green magic burst from the tip. It collided with the griffin's chest, hurtling him into the door behind him. He broke through, smashing into the door to the next car and landing at its bottom. The griffin looked up at the smiling unicorn.

He clutched his wounded chest with one hand, and pointed at Desert with the other. "I will see to it that you all pay for--"

A blast of magic from the spear interrupted the speech. The blast destroyed what was left of their car’s door, and there was nothing left of the griffin except for a few singed feathers and a puddle of blood. Mirage caught his breath and turned to Gravity who smiled back at him, her horn protruding from her griffin head.

"Of course I know how to use that thing." She chuckled as the unicorn released his magic, catching the spear with his hooves. "Careful, Mirage."

"What? Am I going to blow something up if I touch this?" He smiled as his hooves glided across the handle and lifted the point skyward.

"No, you're just awfully close to tripping over our friends." She gestured to the changeling and pegasus still on the floor; the latter smiled back at Mirage.

Desert quickly picked up Thunder, who then quickly picked up his knife. Sheathing it, he met Gravity over Midnight's body. Desert stayed back, studying the new weapon. Midnight just lay on the ground. No movement caught the pair's eyes. Thunder trotted a few steps forward and picked the changeling's glasses up from the ground. He stowed them carefully inside Midnight's bag.

"Well," Gravity said before exhaling. "At least he's not dead."

"He's unconscious then?" Thunder asked.

She nodded. "Changelings have a way of losing their 'blueprint' when mortally wounded. We turn to dust when killed... Usually."

"Usually?" Thunder asked, trying to be patient.

"It takes special magic or a lot of training to not let a changeling turn to dust. Wretchers like using liquid states, and the smiths of the Hive used some special tactics themselves." She looked from Thunder to the body and back. "He's not dead."

"So how do we revive him?" he asked.

"We wait. He'll come to eventually." She sighed. Her head shook as she tried to think of something. "I guess we could take him to the sleeping car with us?"

"No, he stays here," Thunder said. "With us." He could see the disagreement on Gravity's face, and the utter lack of attention on Desert's. "If that griffin comes back, I don't want any civilians getting hurt when he tries to kill us."

"Griffin's dead," Desert said cheerfully.

"He jumped before the flash," Thunder explained. "There would be way more blood and feathers if he was dead. Just look at Midnight!"

"Good point," Gravity admitted.

"So, while we sit here for the next 12 hours, how about you tell me why that guy wants you dead."

"Yeah, let's do that!" Mirage said, taking a seat with the spear and inviting the others over.

"Alright," Gravity relented. Her magic picked Midnight off the ground and gently placed him in the seat across the car from them. Finally, she joined the unicorn and pegasus at their usual seats.

"In case you don't know where to start," Thunder said. "I can say that I know who Gorman is."

"Who?" Desert asked.

"The one who attacked us," he explained. "A powerful political party in the Griffin Kingdom, namely a bunch of ruthless swords and tax collectors, is all run by Gorman. Been that way for almost a thousand years."

"Technically," Gravity added. "The name is passed down from generation to generation. This one that tried to kill us was Gorman the Tenth."

Desert scoffed. "Why is some rich guy trying to kill us with a magic spear then?"

"You think that little empire is ruled by nepotism?" Gravity asked. "Gormans always respect the ability to fight amongst those who wish to become their heirs."

He scoffed again. "Alright, why is some buff rich guy trying to kill us with a magic spear?"

"Gormans are very protective of their power," Gravity explained.

Thunder scoffed. "Understatement of the year."

"Well," Gravity said aggressively, annoyed by the interruption. "I may have upset his ascendance to 'Gorman the Tenth.' I managed to kidnap him just as he attained the title. Took him back to the Hive..."

"And then?" Thunder prodded.

"I don't know," she said. "I had already knocked him unconscious. I ordered him beaten within an inch of his life and turned into a changeling." She looked down at the red stains on the floor. "Looks like he escaped before any of that could happen."

"And how much time passed after that before the Hive fell?" Thunder asked.

Gravity thought for a while, stroking her chin with her claws. "It would have been... At least a whole month before the Hive fell. Then a few more before the Crystal Empire reappeared." She shrugged. "Or something like that." They both stopped to contemplate.

"Can we just stop," Desert said, breaking their concentration. "And appreciate how awesome this spear is!"

Gravity turned to him, exhausted of patience. "Desert, do you even know what gives that spear its power?"

His eyes scanned the weapon again. "Uh... The comfortable grip and the cool, glowing point?"

"Desert, it's a changeling weapon."

"Oh, obviously," he half scoffed. "I mean, it's glowing green!"

Gravity sighed. After a short pause, a sinister smirk creased her griffin face. "Well, do you know how changeling weapons of that quality get their power?"

Desert shook his head, unsure where she was going with this.

"Well, when a qualified officer of the Hive decides he wants an upgrade for his old spear, he goes down to the 'Worker Den.' That's where all the worthless changelings are."

"I know what workers are," Desert said, growing bored.

"Well, he chooses someone out of that den, picks 'em up and guts them alive!" Her grin grew bigger as Desert recoiled in shock. "He spreads the changeling's remains all over the spear, imbuing it with magical energies. Sometimes, it can take up to three workers to get the job done!"

Desert's shocked face turned to the sharpest part of the spear. He watched it glow subtly and gently glided his shaking hoof up the handle. "So you're saying..." He gulped. "You're saying it's a limited edition!?" A large smile creased his whole snout as he looked upon the weapon with eyes shining with excitement.

Only a fraction of the smile disappeared from Gravity's face. "Well, you're not wrong..."

"Oh, girl, you know you gotta show me how to work this thing!" Desert said excitedly.

"That could have been phrased better," Thunder complained from the side.

The griffin stepped back for another reason. "What did you just call me?" Her smile was gone.

"...Girl?" Desert admitted, his brain too occupied by the weapon to come up with an excuse.

The smile returned to her beak. "Okay, sure. I can teach you exactly how to work that spear." She walked up to him and nuzzled into his neck. "You'll just need to figure out how to project your magic through the spear, and command it to do what you want!" She pulled her head from underneath his, looking him in his red face. "And I can help with that."

"Umm..." The back of Desert's neck suddenly itched as Gravity crooked her head, still smiling. "Would you wanna catch lunch with me sometime?" He smiled half as hard as he sweat.

Gravity giggled. "Sure. I'd love to."

Thunder hid his face behind his hooves and let out an exhausted sigh. The two finally returned to their seats. Desert looked toward the other side of the train.

"So when's Midnight waking up?" he asked, his eyes now glued to the changeling's body.

Thunder finally lowered his hooves. "Yeah, when does that happen?" he asked Gravity after a brief glance toward his unconscious friend.

"I'm sure he'll be awake before we get back to Canterlot," she replied. "...I hope."

"What, you don't know?" Desert asked her.

"Well," she looked over the body. "I don't know... No." They watched her shake her head, and she could feel Thunder's resentment. She stopped shaking and braced herself. "Look, when that guy was in the Hive he was fit. Well fed, powerful magic, and despite his insane rambling he survived missions no one could possibly come back from!" She sighed and turned back toward the body, shaking her head. "I don't even recognize that changeling. His form was taller, his eyes burning green, his voice deep and his horn long. What happened?" She turned her beak back to the pegasus.

Thunder sighed. Then his eyes widened in realization. "When did you last see him like that?"

"Just after the Hive fell."

"Oh...”. He gestured toward the unconscious changeling. “They found him like that over in the Crystal Empire." He turned to Gravity. "He thought he was a crystal pony. Was very protective of a lantern he got there." His eyes widened again.

"What?" Gravity asked.

Thunder smiled. "Nothing, just thought of another question I'll have to ask him."

Hours passed as the train rolled closer and closer to Canterlot. Desert eventually fell asleep, slumped over his new spear. Gravity held his hoof and rested on his shoulder. Thunder just watched the landscape go by through the broken window. He turned every now and then to check on Midnight. The changeling was still slumped over in his new seat. Scrawny build, common horn, and closed eyes that hid nothing special.

Thunder thought back to the day the Hive fell. It was a clever spell and timing that sealed the Queen's fate, or so he heard. At the time, he was still recovering from near mortal injuries. A hit squad of killer changelings had almost taken out his entire team, leaving him stranded in a hospital bed for most of the real fighting. He still remembered the time Midnight came back after his triumph over a similar hit squad. He had become exactly what Gravity had described. A thousand years and nothing changed. He was lucky Shining Armor found him in the Empire. Common soldiers fear changelings. Thunder's eyes stopped halfway to the window. Gravity nuzzled into Mirage's neck. He watched the soldier sleep with the changeling's beak inches from his own neck. A smile creased his own tired snout. He was never a fan of relationships between members of a team, but this pair was somehow refreshing. ... At least for now.

Thunder got up and moved across the car. They would be arriving in Canterlot within a few hours, and Midnight was still out. He sat down across the incapacitated changeling. He slowly put his hoof on his throat. No pulse. He panicked for a second before wondering if changelings even have pulses. He looked back toward the couple sleeping on the other side. He shook off the idea of disturbing them, turning back to Midnight. He nudged the body as one would nudge a sleeping brother. No response. Thunder turned back toward the couple. He carefully made his way to them, and began to unsheathe his knife. He stopped halfway, after weighing the risks. He leaned in close.

"Gravity?" he whispered. "You awake?"

No response.

Thunder carefully moved even closer, biting down on one of her feathers. With a quick and silent pluck he was on the other side of the train again. He peered cautiously over his shoulder to assure himself the couple were not disturbed. He pried the unconscious changeling's mouth open with his hooves and dropped the feather in. The mouth closed itself. He watched the exoskeleton shift slightly as the feather was swallowed. He prodded his friend again. No response. He sighed, but smiled at the more reliable evidence of his friend's survival. He slumped over across from him and tried to get a nap in.

Thunder was the first to wake back up. His sides cramped as he straightened himself, but the pain soon subsided. He dusted off the armor that he had neglected to take off and shook off what remained of his tiredness. Midnight laid on the seat across from him as motionless as ever. Desert was practically a "C" slumped over his spear asleep. Gravity rested her head on the wall of the car now, her feathers blew in the breeze of the broken window. Thunder's eyes stopped halfway back to Midnight, meeting a set of familiar, blue eyes. In the brightness of the train car, the pegasus could now see that the eyes belonged to two zebras. Zebra twins that moved in perfect sync and spoke in a rhythm that was foreign even to him.

"What do you creepy zebra twins want?" Thunder asked them.

"Only what we deserve," the male replied.

"Not just that," the female added. "We want Midnight."

"Is he awake yet?" the male finished.

"He's not waking up," Thunder growled.

"Is... Is he alright?" The pair crooked their heads.

"What do you care? Don't you have a Hive to get back to?"

"It is more than brutish ways," the female replied.

"A Hive needs Trust," the male finished,

Thunder did his best to cover his fear. "Where did you two even come from?"

Advantage gestured behind them, to the car beyond the broken door and the blood stains on the floor.

"Is that car empty?"

"Yes," the male replied as both heads nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I know you're changelings and I'm starting to think your disguises are creepier than your bug forms."

The twins looked at each other. They shared a stare, just looking into each other's eyes with no semblance of emotion.

He gulped. "...is it?"

The two heads turned back to him. "Sadly, that is not the case," the female answered.

"I was afraid of that," Thunder said.

"You're afraid of a lot."

"Get out of here," Thunder growled, moving to the edge of his seat.

"We are scared too," the female said in a calm voice. "We need help."

"I said..." Thunder grabbed the knife from its sheath. "...Get outta here!" he screamed through the knife in his mouth. He was out of his seat now, taking steps toward them in an attempt to drive the creeps off.

"We just want to help!" the male pleaded as the twins backed up toward the door.

Thunder Sword trotted closer, and the two zebras found themselves too wide to get through the door at once. They turned to face the armed pegasus, who continued toward them.

"Thunder!" a female voice called from behind the pony. "Stand down."

Thunder turned to find Gravity awake and out of her seat. She glared at him. He glared back, keeping his stance and weapon in place. She looked past him, and her brow relaxed.

"Advantage? What are you doing here?" she asked the twins.

"We came for Midnight," Lesser explained.

"We waited for you to wake," Superior added.

"Where is this train going?" Gravity quickly asked them before Lesser could speak.

"Nice try," he smiled. "Canterlot."

She sighed, then raised an open claw. "Seriously though, would it kill you to not speak in Haiku all the time?"

"It is cultural," Lesser explained.

Gravity looked to Superior in anticipation. "Is it not just beautiful?" the zebra added.

Gravity's beak went back to Lesser, but the voice came from elsewhere. "No, it's actually really creepy," Thunder said.

The zebras shrugged in unison. "That is your own taste," Lesser said.

"Also," the pegasus continued, "Why 'Advantage?' Two names not good enough for you?"

"Lesser Advantage," the male said, naming itself.

"Superior," the female said, naming itself. "We are one."

"Two heads are better."

"Then shouldn't your names be 'Fewer' and 'More?'" Thunder asked them. "Or 'Lesser and Greater' or 'Superior and Inferior?'"

"We have our reasons." Lesser tightened his grip on Superior's hoof.

"Aren't we digressing a bit?" Superior said, squeezing back.

"Does it matter?" Gravity asked. She glanced toward the body. "He's not getting up anytime soon." She crooked her head toward them. "You think you can help?"

"Yes, of course we can!" Lesser happily began to explain. "A simple..." The twins looked at Thunder for a short moment. "...Soup dish."

"Bring us a bowl or bucket," Superior said.

"We'll cook up the cure." They smiled. "While you all do that..."

"We will retreat to that car," Superior finished, gesturing behind them.

"Bring us what you find."

The two zebras carefully squeezed through the doorway awkwardly, neither one willing to yield and let the other one go ahead. Their hooves never separated from each other's grasp during the entire struggle. Finally, they made it to the other side. The door to the next car was pulled open by green magic, and they began squeezing through the second threshold.

"Are you sure we can trust these freaks?" Thunder asked her. "What if they're trying to kill Midnight for not letting them in?"

"If they wanted any of us dead they'd have killed us in our sleep." She watched Thunder shudder before finally sheathing his knife. "Now come on..." She beckoned him forward. "Let's find this soup dish."

"I don't suppose you brought one?" Thunder chuckled. "This isn't exactly first class dining on these trains. They probably don't even have bowls."

Gravity's eyes widened in realization. "Oh..."

She smiled back at Thunder and buried her claw into her bag. She pulled out a small cylinder with strange adornments. Upon closer inspection, he recognized it as the bottom half of the lantern that Midnight had loved so much. The glass had been neatly cut away, but it was uneven overall.

Gravity stared at the lantern piece in her claw. "A little less practical, but it worked for me." She smiled and looked up at Thunder.

"They're not going to do that to him, do you think?" the pegasus asked. "Turn him to liquid?"

Gravity shrugged. "They didn't do it when we were asleep. And that's hardly their decision anyways."

The griffin walked past the pegasus and into the next car. Thunder watched the door close behind her, somewhat happy he didn't have to deal with those creepy twins for a while. Then he heard Gravity scream.

"Just five more minutes!" Desert called out. Thunder couldn't tell if the unicorn had actually awoken, as his body slumped right back over after the outburst.

By the time he turned around, Gravity was already back inside the car. Her eyes were wide, and her stance subtly shook as she navigated around him. Held by both of her claws, the lantern half was filled with a strange liquid that was a familiar shade of green. She knelt down by Midnight, then looked toward Desert. The unicorn remained asleep. She turned toward Thunder.

"C-can you serve him this?" she asked.

He looked away from her and toward the closed door to the next car.

"Please!" Gravity reached out to him. She shook her head. "Don't go in there. Advantage is... Out of their disguises."

"That bad, huh?" Thunder trotted to her and knelt down. He smiled and nodded. "Give me the lantern."

Thunder took the broken fixture in his hooves, careful not to spill any of its green contents. Against his better judgment, he leaned in for a sniff. Gravity cringed, but the pegasus smelled nothing but steam. Ignoring the griffin, the pegasus took the lantern to his friend’s mouth. He nodded to Gravity, who carefully pried open the changeling’s dormant, fanged maw. Thunder poured the twins’ concoction in. They watched the changeling instinctively swallow every drop. Gravity winced. When the last drop was downed, Thunder passed the empty container back to her. She walked away from him with it. She stumbled around the still sleeping Desert to throw the lantern out of the broken window. Finally she sat down next to the unicorn again, and leaned in for comfort.

Thunder looked back toward Midnight. He lied motionless on the seat. “How long until he wakes up now?” he asked the griffin without turning around.

“I don’t even know anymore,” she admitted in a whisper.

Suddenly the changeling’s body spasmed. It fell out of its seat and onto the floor of the train car. It shook for a short time there until finally holding still, belly down on the ground. Thunder prepared to gently roll his friend over, only to be met with a slight movement. The legs of the changeling moved by themselves, slowly finding places on the floor to put their hooves. They lifted the body up, then joined its neck in stretching and relaxing the long unused joints of the exoskeleton. Finally, the changeling’s eyes opened. Gravity got out of her seat to join Thunder’s side.

“Midnight?” she whispered.

The changeling turned towards them; its eyes squinted at them. Thunder smiled and trotted to Midnight’s saddlebag. He quickly procured the lost glasses and held them out to his friend. Green magic took them and placed them on the changeling’s black snout. Its eyes widened, and now Gravity could see how gray they had become. The gray eyes went from Thunder to Gravity and back.

“Well, what?” the changeling asked.

The griffin breathed a sigh of relief. “For a second there, I thought we lost you...”

“Yeah, you...” Midnight paused to snap himself out of a brief dizzy spell. He put his hoof up to his head. “Sorry, it’s been a long time since I’ve been revived like that.” He shook his head as though it were damp. “Wretcher blood is a heckuva pick-me-up.” Midnight balanced his head on his hoof as it crooked to Gravity. “Did you...?”

She quickly shook her head. “No. Advantage gave it.”

“Ah.” Midnight nodded a few more times than necessary. “They probably want to talk to me if they came so far as to...” He shook himself out of another dizzy spell. He turned and trotted slowly and carefully toward the car that contained the twins. “It’s this way, right?”

The others nodded. “Yep,” Gravity said, just happy to see him moving again.

Midnight made it to the threshold of the first broken door before falling on his rear. He simply sat up, shook off the inherent dizziness, and cleared his throat. “Advantage!” he called out. “You in there?”

No response.

Thunder trotted past Midnight as Gravity waited with Desert. A cream hoof opened the door to reveal an empty car. A light green stain on the floor was all that was left.

“Oh.” Midnight shrugged. “Must not have been too important.”

“But why--”

“Let’s save the questions until my head stops beating, shall we?” the dizzy changeling pleaded.

Thunder smiled and helped Midnight back to his seat.

Gorman the Tenth looked over his right arm, watching the blood drip dots of red onto the dimly lit, concrete floor. He sighed, not turning toward the footsteps approaching him from the dark.

“That was an absolute waste of perfectly divine resources,” he complained. He turned to the winged shadow. “Why is there so much you were willing to omit in your reports?”

“Sir, I swear...” the male pony voice pleaded. “She fled to the train alone. I have no idea how Midnight’s--”

The griffin raised a claw to him. “When new problems arise, we do not look for the source.” He shook his head. “We look for answers. Solutions. Ways to get around such troublesome obstacles.” Gorman smiled as the pegasus took a step back. “I want you to tell me everything about the white one and the yellow one. Why do they tend such a malevolent flock?”

“I... I don’t know, sir.”

“Then why are you still here?” he snarled.

“I... I thought you might want info on Midnight, sir?”

“The Cyclops that isn’t even a cyclops.” Gorman chuckled. “I took your advice. That sea vermin got his shell cracked open before he could finish a single plea.”

“He’s... dead?”

“But not ash.”

“The SRC reports, combined with your knowledge, sir, would imply that Midnight could be a...” The pony looked up from the ground to see Gorman glaring at him in impatience. “...a cannibal.”

“One of the Advantage’s?” Gorman smiled again.

“I mean... he might get better.”

“Quiet your soft beak, you overgrown parrot!” Gorman shouted at him. “Get out there and find out what you can about the white and yellow ones!”

The silhouette scampered off into the darkness. Gorman sighed in his solitude.

“If the bird is in a cage, a fool hides a key. A Gorman kills the locksmith.” He smiled. “It is time I got to better this ‘Advantage.’”