(Ker - chunk), The sound of the cred stick falling into the bin below the money tree made his soul feel just the slightest bit lighter.

"What am I doing here?" Dante morosely asked himself, the unsaid answer coming as he could neither bring himself to go inside or to depart from the entryway. Chill winter winds made the faux paper lanterns hanging from the entrance gate sway, spawning an endless dance of shadows.

Half remembered fears lurked always just out of sight and the endless play of shadows held phantoms within. A shudder ran through him and lodged in his stomach like a nauseous oily mass. He could shut his eyes, but he could still see them. The scenes from the warehouse lingered. The Yakuza driver almost cut in two by Split Klaw. The bullet-riddled corpses in the ready room in front of Gwynns blood-splattered drone, Man at Arms. The slight hesitation from the driver Silky had mind-controlled as he fought the mental command Silky had given him, aware of what was happening, yet still, inexorably the pony had put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger. And lastly to the Yakuza pony under Dante's own hooves, lying in a pool of blood, alive but barely. 'You're wasting time,' Silky had off hoofedly remarked as Glass Darkly had channeled healing magic into the pony, ensuring that at least one would leave alive from that crimson drenched warehouse though any recovery promised to be lengthy.

'Walking sacks of meat, that's all they are.' Silky had proclaimed. Glass wasn't sure which of Silky's transgressions infuriated him the most. The incessant whining, the proposals to recruit orphan foals as a distraction force, or the fact that Silky had dismissed Glass' explicit warning not to break the security alarm ward as Glass had perfectly predicted what would happen.

"What am I doing here?" Dante asked himself again. He knew the answer, but it brought him no closer to enlightenment. A part of him wondered if everything that had happened to him was some sort of karmic punishment. If not his own then at least for the company he kept.

He did not turn when he heard the door, stained by the passage of the hooves of thousands of former restaurant patrons, open.

"So," Clear Chakra began, "You seem even more lost than the last time we spoke."

Dante was not surprised, Clear Chakra was a monk, not a fool, there would be a hidden camera watching the blessing tree.

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Not long, but long enough."

"And?" Dante turned fixing the bearded monk with a look, finding him looking a bit more disheveled than usual.

"And what? Do you wish me to act as if I cannot see that you have not pursued balance? Before you were unsure, conflicted. Now? Now you are haunted, and, something very dark lingers at the edge of your shadow. So I say. Did you come Dante looking for enlightenment, or for absolution?"

"It's not like that, times have been hard, I've had to work with a narcissistic monster of a unicorn, do things I don't like in order to make ends meet to make certain...."

"To make certain that you can manage your growing appetites for secrecy and, something else, not riches, not a mare, no, maybe a hunger for glory, no but maybe respect. Something commands your heart, something that promises enough respect to fill the bitter lake you've dug rather than seeking a healthier path. What is it Dante?"

Clear Chakra took a step forward which was mirrored by Dante in reverse. Dare he tell Clear Chakra what he had discovered? That he held two of either five or six artifacts that could redefine Equestria? That something very strange was mutating his body beyond recognition? Dante struggled, ultimately Clear Chakra broke the moment.

"If nothing else Dante, at least reconsider what you've done to your face. I know your chosen industry values youth like Apple-Zap values nu-bits but it is another lie that is easy to get lost within. Your surgeon's crafted mask isn't even particularly good, you look more like a stretched out mare than the handsome fresh-faced colts I hear trideo producers so adore."

"What?!" Dante stammered both horrified at the pronouncement and worried that he might have an errant blue tendril of hair floating in the breeze. The door behind Clear Chakra opened and a peach haired mare stuck her head out into the courtyard.

A voice that was an uneasy mix, half driven mid-level manager mare, mixed awkwardly with the infatuation of a school filly's first crush broke the moment between master and occasional pupil.

“I know you said it would only be a moment Chakra, but I’m afraid it is getting late and I have a full plate of meetings tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to it for a change, your yoga lessons have helped me so much. I can’t remember the last time I was so free of stress.”

The mare walked up to Chakra and nuzzled him in the neck. Faint amethyst glows flashed unseen from across the walkway as Dante looked her over and easily noted that there was little indication the mare's yoga mat had been out of its case. The same could not be said for the mare and her yoga outfit.

Dante had no words and said nothing as the mare turned, gave a little joyful hop that normally was reserved for filly’s half her age and left with a bouncing, energized prance. Dante could not have said why but he instantly loathed her, a tension in his gut was like a slowly twisting knife as she glanced back and gave Chakra a knowing look before disappearing around the corner of the gate. Dante was half tempted to give the little tart all the 'stress relief' she could ever want and more, that spell was one of his specialties after all. By the time he was done, she’d be lucky to drool her way through a presentation on the quarterly revenue targets.

“Dante….,” Chakra began.

Who did she think she was anyway? Dante had known Chakra for years and she just prances in and….

“Dante, it seems your thoughts are running away with you.”

“What, I mean what is this? You start lecturing me on balance while you’ve got a student waiting for you to come back so you can finish instructing her on the finer points of ‘yoga technique’?!”

“I am but an old stallion Dante, I admit it, desire won out over prudence this time. There, I have granted you a truth of mine, will you grant me a truth of yours?”

“…. Maybe,” Dante watched Chakra sullenly.

“Are you upset that I broke the Buddha’s guidance, or… upset that it was her and not you?”

Dante's mind was racing a thousand miles a second, the half-heard question rattled around his head and an answer fell into his mouth without full consideration. Dante answered without care for the low probing tone or curious implications Chakra had used.

“What do you see in her that you’d do 'special sessions with her, but not me!” Dante petulantly demanded.

A few seconds later his mind finally caught up to what was said. A pair of slate gray hooves were all but jammed into his muzzle as he realized what he had just implied.

“Uh,” Dante stammered, “that came out all wrong, that’s not what meant, I mean…. uh,”

For the first time in ages it was Clear Chakra who was visibly confused.

“In all the years I have known you, I don’t believe you ever acted like this before. Shown anything resembling urges like this. I question if you are well? Are you truly yourself right now?”

“I honestly don’t know what caused that….”

Clear Chakra paused and regarded Dante for a half moment.

“I am not certain if you are lying to yourself or no longer can tell which strands of the web are real and which are false but I sense that you have spun ever more versions of the truth. You wear them like a shifting skin. Now are you going to tell me what is really going on?”

For a long moment Dante considered. For a long moment, he considered letting it all go. Then the memory of the peach haired mare intruded on his thoughts.

“What is her name Chakra?” Dante meaningfully asked.

Chakra's look turned pained, “It is unimportant to what you really need Dante.”

“Fair enough…I’m overly stressed out and frazzled by my compatriots and their shenanigans. I really should find a better way to unwind or stars forbid, a vacation,” Dante let out a strained laugh, “Good talking to you Chakra.”

Dante turned and walked out the gate, his shadow lengthening from the lanterns behind until it merged with the pervasive twilight of Bellevue.

(Later)

“So you see Doc, I sort of had this gardening accident,” the large Diamond Dog growled, one hand holding a bloody towel firmly against his side, “I fell and accidentally stabbed myself with my trowel, uh, three times.”

A beige pony with scrubs almost as dingy as the walls gave a big smile from behind the heavily barred window.

“Those garden trowels will get ya every time, I’ve lost track of how many gardening accidents I’ve treated over the years, but don’t worry Dr. Nick will you have fixed right up in a jiffy.”

Hermann aka Glass Darkly rolled his eyes from his place in line behind the Diamond Dog, not that it could have been seen behind his glasses, and waited his turn, which came as the Diamond Dog was led away to a back room that contained far more improvised equipment than most clinics.

“So how can Dr. Nick help you?”

Glass Darkly gulped, looking into a grin worthy of a Cult of Equality hardline fundamentalist. The muted noise of a Diamond Dog howling in pain in the back didn’t help.

“I need a full-body scan, high detail, download it to this, no other copies.”

Hermann held out a blank data chip.

“Oh no worries about that friend, your privacy is guaranteed with Dr. Nick, especially as I am well aware that to do otherwise would be most unlucky. I too would surely suffer a horrendous gardening accident, just like my predecessor, Dr. Pepper who alas accidentally set himself on fire whilst tending his petunias which caused him to fall down a flight of stairs and into a high voltage electrical relay.”

Hermann winced, but still planted an Influence spell in the Dr.’s mind while following him to the medical station to ensure no other copies would be made, and that the Dr. would be busy with his other patients rather than watching any real-time results.

The scanning booth was filthy, but the only further thought was for the contents of the chip he retrieved when it was done.

Fortunately, all attention was on the gang of Griffons that arrived as Hermann finished, paid, and left, a wheelbarrow between them loaded down with three badly beaten Griffons, a tire iron still embedded in the helmet of one.

“Nooooo,” Dr. Nick wailed, “how many times must I warn you, sufficient head protection is required during your Society for Creative Anachronism re-enactments!”

(Later)

Glass Darkly swore as he turned in at the entrance, the security station still conspicuously empty. The same three holographic pegasi endlessly cavorted around the same AR rainbow sign, though the blue tones were washed out. Glass wondered how long it would be until that got fixed. Allowing the car to be parked in the underground garage he got out and reviewed his surroundings. He was growing paranoid of late. Long looks and checks of his agent found nothing out of the ordinary, a few security lights flickered uncertainly, others were out entirely, but that was nothing new. He emerged from the shadows and watched as a group of rough-looking earth ponies loitered on the other side of the small weedy patch of grass that in the day served as the playlot for the complex’s children, at least those that weren’t spending their time jacked in.

Glass trudged up to his balcony entrance, made a show of sitting down and checking his commlink. He briefly assensed, looked around checking for any magic being used in the vicinity, and went astral. It was simple to go through his own magic ward and find the hidden canister he had set up, he reached a spectral leg into it, and felt the canister vibrate slightly. The magic detecting slug let out a wail that could only be heard by the sensor inside the soundproof canister. Returning to his body, he got to his feet just in time to hear the heavy-duty secondary maglock, which was only wired to the canister, disengage. If the complex management ever came around to do an inspection they were going to be mad at finding their entry barred by a lock who the only key was Dante himself, but somehow Dante doubted he would be staying at Rainbow Falls Ranch long enough for that to matter.

Despite his weariness, he went through his ritual. Scan for surveillance bugs, check his anti-tamper indicators, look for any sign that people were watching. It took time, he didn’t feel like relaxing, but a rumble from his stomach was insistent on food. An emptied packet of soy applesauce was added to a growing pile in the trash can. His tender teeth and gums would tolerate nothing harder.

With each moment as Glass shoveled the modern Equestrian version of gruel into his mouth, aided only a little by the Apple-Zap imitation cinnamon, his anticipation and fear of what the small data chip sitting on his table in front of him held only grew. Finally, he could delay no longer. Checking as always that his Medkit wasn’t able to send a message back to its maker he slotted the chip in its auxiliary port and went to log in to the diagnostics.

“Medkit login, user Glass Darkly.”

“VOICE PRINT, GLASS DARKLY, NOT RECOGNIZED,” the small box noted in its flat uncaring tone.

“Not, this again you infernal machine, validate hoof print, user Glass Darkly.”

“HOOF PRINT, GLASS DARKLY, NOT RECOGNIZED.”

“Seriously?! Validate retinal scan, user Glass Darkly.”

One wincing eye scan later….

“RETINAL SCAN, GLASS DARKLY, NOT RECOGNIZED.”

Dante started to get annoyed, but found he lacked the energy. For a long moment he beheld the small box between his hooves and tried to think of the user ID and password he had set up back when the unit was new long ago. Drawing a blank, he considered his options.

“Maybe,” he considered, “Create, new user….uh, designate Mirror Darkly.”

“NEW PROFILE CREATED, VOICE PROFILE CREATED, SET HOOF PRINT AND RETINAL SCAN.”

Dante winced, but complied, he could delete the extra profile once figured out what was wrong with his Medkit.

“THANK YOU, PLEASE SET BASELINE RECORD.”

“Groan, there are 10 pages of selections…,” Dante trailed off before noticing the option for 'Quick Create'. Thinking himself clever he punched the AR button and waited for the kit to take a drop of blood. The option to download biometric data from a file was also a welcome surprise.

“Why do the little things always take so much work?”

A sullen pulsing red that lit up his face belied his statement. A litany of data errors flashed warnings. The specialized auto-soft program that ran the Med Kit was at a loss to understand the data it had been fed. A large number of the blanks simply ran past his gaze without truly registering, but the blank at the top, the one so Central to his current weirdness had its own gravity.

METATYPE: NOT RECOGNIZED, MAJORITY PRESENCE OF METAGENE MARKERS NOT ON RECORD. EARTH PONY CONTAMINATION PRESENT

“...Well, Dante, you’re apparently no type of pony on file…”

He spoke to himself, letting his head rest on the table. With this confirmation he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to see the scan. He scrolled through the pages of errors until he got to the recommended health topics. Among the high priority links telling him to schedule an appointment with a licensed Medicarro physician was a link he had no explanation for as to why it was present. He hesitantly tapped the AR link searching for some kind of explanation and a preloaded media file began to be projected into his dark apartment.

“WELCOME MISS DARKLY, MEDICARRO, AN APPLE-ZAP COMPANY, IS PLEASED TO PRESENT THIS INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION OF THE COMPLETE FILLY’S ROUND UP TO GROWING UP.”

“What….”

The inside of a cozy barn filled the holographic display, High stacks of hay imparted a feeling of privacy as an energetic filly on the verge of being better described as a mare leaped into frame and landed with a million nu-bit smile on her face.

“Hey filly friend, I’m Blossoming Flower, and I can’t wait to get to know you!”

On a certain level, Dante could appreciate how customized the program was. The filly's ghostly horn and wings betraying that there were three versions of the erstwhile hostess, his Med kit couldn’t decide which to use and so was showing the filly as an earth pony/Pegasus/unicorn mishmash. On a certain level he thought he might have heard of this actress filly though with a normal, non-cliché moniker. He, however, was not operating on that level.

“What is….”

“Oh, you seem confused. I was feeling confused and overwhelmed recently too, you see I’ve been going through so many changes lately, but my dad had me checked by a Medicarro doctor and he reassured me that it’s an entirely normal and healthy part of life. Do you want to discuss it?”

“What is this!?”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” the filly was blank-faced for a moment before the program reset, a slight hitch followed by a conspiratorial grin returning, “Are you experiencing strange feelings for a special some pony? I can tell you’re alone, it’s just us fillies, I promise I won’t tell any pony.” Flower rubbed her hooves and leaned in as if waiting to be told a secret.

A vein throbbed at Dante’s temple, “Why is this being shown to me?”

Flower's face took on a scholarly cast, “Well, you see there comes a time in every filly's life, often not long after a filly finds her cutie mark when a special kind of magic begins. There are difficulties of course, and it is more a journey than an event but you are not alone. I, your family, and your extended Apple-Zap family will be there to support you in your journey as you grow into a young mare. After all it tak-“

“Stop program!!!” Dante commanded, Flower froze in mid-sentence. “Medkit, clarify! Why has this program been recommended? Why is it considered relevant?”

The flat tinny voice of the Medkit answered.

“BLOOD ANALYSIS FOR USER MIRROR DARKLY SHOWS ENDOCRINE LEVELS CONSISTENT WITH A FILLY EXPERIENCING PUBERTY. SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF BIOMETRIC DATA SUPPORTED THIS CLASSIFICATION.”

“Listen you infernal machine, I am NOT a mare!”

“APOLOGIES USER MIRROR DARKLY, BLOOD GENETIC ANALYSIS GENERATED A RESULT OF 67% POSITIVE FOR THE PRESENCE OF MARE CHROMOSOMES. RECOMMEND THAT YOU SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR LOCAL FRIENDLY MEDICARRO GYNECOLOGIST TO DISCUSS YOUR BIOMETRIC DATA.”

Dante took a step back, his face frozen just as much as Blossoming Flowers'. Every bit of recent weirdness was slowly reexamined under this new context. As the evidence mounted Dante finally found the courage to approach the machine once more, he’d look at the raw scans himself and figure out what was causing his Medkit to malfunction so badly, there had to be some other explanation.

He slowly worked his way through the sections one by one. The scans of his head clearly showed the fangs growing in under his existing teeth, as well as what was clearly the base of a developing horn, a growing cone that likely would soon betray its presence.

A sigh filled the room, he knew about these, but the scans offered no new clues as to why. Moving on did answer a question. His bones horribly pitted in some places, fresh growth in others. The growth plates that would have fused long ago were open and clearly active. The measurements confirming he was a solid inch and a half taller with little indication that he would stop growing soon.

A grim certainty that had stalked his quiet moments of late moved in towards brutal finality as he brought up the scans for his mid-section. A hissing wince followed by a thud as Dante let his head fall to rest on the worn wood finished plastic. Above him in all their holographic glory were the two twin growing masses behind his shoulder blades. The resolution on the scan wasn’t good enough to show what kind they were but the source of the ever-escalating ache in his back was clear, he was growing a pair of wings just under his skin.

Silently, he flicked the scans from his head to his back. Horn. Wings. Horn and wings.

Breathlessly he considered the implications.

“Well Dante you’ve won the genetic lottery, you’re mutating into a fragging Alicorn.”

A long moment passed as he rubbed his temples and tried to consider the implications. Remembering he hadn’t reviewed everything he forced himself back to the list of scans. His hoof was starting to shake as he forced himself to look at the last set of scans.

Several minutes passed in silence as Dante got a much more detailed view of his hindquarters. Without a word, he turned like a zombie and trudged over to his cabinet. Reaching behind the imitation oats he retrieved the last hidden bottle of cider from the case he had bought to celebrate his first successful run. He popped the seal and downed half the bottle. After that, things got fuzzy.

(Later)

The sound of a few colts playing and sunlight on his face slowly worked through a titanic struggle to rouse Dante. He looked down to the empty bottle of cider by his hoof, and the two blotters of bliss stuck to his arm. A realization dawned on him, he was propped up against the wall. Fitting he supposed….he was up against the wall, in more ways than one.

“So…,” he croaked, throat feeling like dry cotton, “an Alicorn…an Alicorn mare.” A dispirited laugh started, but after his voice cracked halfway through it mutated into sobs. It was several long moments before he was finished. The scans that had wrecked his composure were still on display above the table in the next room.

“Fragging mare hormones, no wonder I’m so emotional.”

He considered how he would hide this. Chakra had already noticed, which meant others would soon as well. A look down confirmed that everything appeared normal, but it was likely only a matter of time before well. She, her, Miss, the pronouns were so innocuous, yet profound. And that was on top of the whole Alicorn bit.

“Miss Dante Haze, Alicorn about town,” Dante growled, mentally hitting himself. A throb deep in his gut reminded him he had never shifted back last night. Another groan as the realization hit him that his flamboyant mane was exactly the type ponies expected an Alicorn to have.

“How was I so blind?” He winced, “Well Miss Haze, you’re going to get out of the Shadow business just like you wanted at least, every pony in the industry will be falling all over themselves to get you signed to a contract, they’ll be hiring show mares to decorate the set backgrounds of the summer trid flicks, Horizon's Bridal Expo would kill for an Alicorn to serve as the centerpiece, and of course the annual Pony Illustrated swim saddle edition will be doing production shots soon.”

Dante spat the words, acid in his voice, mocking the very concepts. Dante grabbed his muzzle with both hooves and fought the urge to vomit.

“No, oh hell no!!!”

An angry pounding on the wall reminded Dante that he needed to keep his voice down. He couldn’t reveal this, not with Silky relaying everything to the Couch Mare Club, if Silky didn’t pursue him, they’d likely sacrifice him as part of some ritual. But how, it’s not like he could hide it, or? His thoughts turned to what had happened last time he had left things to the meta planes, might he?”

The preparations were quicker this time, Dante was less apprehensive as he sketched out the ritual, it still took several hours. Anytime his motivation flagged all Dante had to do was recall the scans from Dr. Nick. It was late into the afternoon before he was ready. Once again he hurled his awareness to the boundaries of space and time until reality once more broke down.

(Within the Metaplanes)

“It has come again, it seems answers to questions already known.”

Dante could sense the spirits that lingered beyond the edge of awareness.

“Please I need to know, two, things,” in his mind’s eye he brought forth the four artifacts whose shapes he knew and a question for the ones he did not. The amethyst, emerald, ruby, sapphire and possibly one or two more. “I must know if these are a sister set to the Elements of Harmony, from where did they come, what links them together?”

Snickering voices laughed within limbo, whether they would answer his question hung in silence, until.

Dante's mind swam, the uniform darkness of the edge of unreality closed in on him, broken suddenly after only a moment by a flare of soft blue light; a glowing crystal in an ornate holder on a messy wooden desk. He was on a catwalk, near a cluttered workspace at the bottom of a large spherical room. It must have been more than a hundred meters to the ceiling, smooth walls tiled perfectly in shimmering hexagons each no more than a pony's height across. He stood meters away from the pillar of dull steel and blinking lights, crossed with tubes and circuits and spinning gadgets, scarred by unfamiliar runes, dominating the center of the room from floor to ceiling. Massive tubes and wires arced in from the room's equator to attach all along with the monstrosity's height like a stallion suspended by threads.

He heard a dull hum all around him and a deep, rhythmic pulse punctuated every second that passed by. Dante's mind caught up to him, and he took a step toward the desk; catching only a glimpse of the alien runic writing before being interrupted. A panel on the near side of the sphere hissed, and Dante's head whipped around just in time to see it disappear upwards into the wall, the sound and sight reminding him comically of 2001's *Star Trot: Enterprise*. Two ponies stepped through the gap, a dull gray hallway behind them before it was shut out by the panel slipping back into place. He recognized one stallion, but not the other.

"Radiant, I'm not involved with the Interdictors anymore. You should know, my cannons just won us a monopoly over national weapon contracts." A cream Pegasus stallion with a messy blonde mane, a tired face, and the physique of a soldier. He wore a real (if worn) leather jacket emblazoned blue with a pair of wings and the bold letters EQPC over long flowing robes.

"We've got the effective range up to three hundred miles in the Trottingham bunker, we're going to mirror it to the other sites starting Monday," Radiant Pine, head and CEO of Radiant Industries, clad in silky white, gold-trimmed robes. A fine ebony staff upon his back nestled between a half dozen empty looking silk bags. "You're absolutely certain there's no way to turn this mess into a giant cannon?" He waved his hoof at the masterpiece of machinery to Dante's side, not breaking his gaze from Danger Close since he entered.

"We *could* make it into one giant Fire Bolt if you wanted, but the moment we do, we'll lose the city to metal-spined extra-dimensional impostors." Danger Close plopped his satchel down on the desk near to Dante, various gems and scrolls rolling out and adding to the clutter. "We went over this a long time ago. The best use for the interdictors is as interdictors; that's why we call it the *interdictor project*." He sighed and stepped around the desk, approaching the pillar.

"What am I doing here anyway?" Radiant asked, his eyes sliding around the room lingering only slightly on the spot where Dante stood before continuing, "What do you need the Core for, I mean."

Danger Close reached the pillar, the interdictor, and with a general wave of his hoof a column of lights appeared along the edge of a blank panel, steam released from its perimeter, and a soft green glow formed a square on the formerly blank section of steel. "It's part of the artillery trials, and I've got an idea about Sunny. Maintain Forbiddance for me while I use it, you're spending the day here in Thunderhead anyways. If your secretary is to be believed, something about municipal enforcement."

Radiant sighed, "Crescent I'll have your head. Fine, but you get to upgrade this," He waved a brown hoof to the pillar, "and the interdictor out on Harmony, I've got the other three." A drawer slowly glided out of the smooth metal. A shining, familiar emerald suspended by crystal threads rested within, mist spilling out around it.

Danger Close scooped the monstrous gem carefully out of the holder, then tossed it carelessly into his bag, shoving the spilled contents back into the opening. "I'll do the Firebase. I'm headed there anyway. Send me the prints." He hoisted the bag onto his shoulder and with a quick joking salute to Radiant, he disappeared into a blinding flash of light.

Reality within the Meta Planes shifted again, the indistinct voices returned.

“And it wants to know what it is, doesn’t it? Not for us to tell it what it is,” other unseen voices answered, “show it what it has already seen, maybe it will understand if not, fun to watch it try.”

Dante started to argue to protest but it felt like he was falling, down into an endless abyss…a sudden jolt and after clearing the stars from his eyes he realized he was looking at road cluttered with scorched and broken paving stones. Murmurs filled the area. He looked up and found a large crowd of ponies, all tired, dirty, many with singed clothing, funneling into a long line. A haphazard sign fluttered from one wall, the script at first escaping Dante until he recognized the Old Equestrian.

“Eques…Equestria, uh Town, no? City, Equestria City Refugee Camp?” Dante puzzled it out, and then realized what he was looking at…especially as he turned around and recognized two of the ponies in line. Two of the four he had seen previously. Where the other two were he had no idea. The mare of the two was still holding that odd bundle.

He approached them, apprehensive, they seemed to take no notice of him… He started to clear his throat but stopped when a pony walked right through him.

“Oh, so,” Dante whispered.

In the distance, a low pall of smoke rose from the horizon. The line snaked through the entrance of a ruined courtyard. Dante suppressed a gasp as a printed posted of Archon Celestia fluttered from one wall ‘Strength through Unity, Obey All Edicts,’ opposite was a poster with a pine tree motif, the base surrounded by money. ‘Radiant Pine Industries Wants You! Yes, You! Safety and Security', then in a much smaller font, 'with adequate pay, not responsible for industrial accidents. ‘

The sound of a low thumping noise was disconcerting and as the line snaked through the entrance Dante recoiled. Two ponies in what looked like the powered mil-spec armor Knight Errant might deploy were slowly passing up and down the line. But this looked more advanced. Each carried what looked like a laser rifle…except the central crystal was constantly in a state of flux, the color-changing through the colors of the rainbow. The ponies in the line shrank back a little as the juggernaut on one side passed down the line. Dante was in awe as the pony looked the line over through the expressionless face of his visor.

“How?” Dante began.

The armored pony turned and Dante had to remind himself to breathe. ‘MK3 Power Armor - Property of Radiant Pine Industries’ was stenciled in small lettering on the back, along with a collection of assorted stenciled faces with lines through them…kill markers. Dante watched the stallion recede until he noticed the mare tugging on her partner’s saddlebags.

“This isn’t going to work,” she whispered, “They’re going to - “

The stallion cut her off.

“It’s okay they’re scanning for the dimensional invaders, we’ll be okay.”

Only then did Dante realize that at the head of the line, the ponies were filing past a unicorn with a strange device that looked like a detector of some kind. A third armored pony flanked him, while two odd emerald-eyed ponies watched from a small stage whispering between themselves.

“Do you think those are?”

“Don’t look at them, but yes, I think so.”

Dante had no idea what they were going about, the line moved ever forward.

“They’re going to recognize us.”

“We can’t leave the line, they’ll want to know why. If I had known….”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

The line moved forward, and the two ponies were doing a good job of keeping their body language neutral but Dante was next to them unseen, he could tell they were terrified. Finally, the stallion whispered.

“I’m going to distract them, you have to get away.”

The stallion tensed, but whatever was planned ended as at the head of the line the detector unicorn called for a halt, as his staff flashed sullenly red. For a moment there was confusion but the strange two ponies on the stage pointed at a group of three refugee ponies and the armored stallions began to converge.

In an instant, the demeanor of the three refugee ponies changed from cowering and afraid to defiant. One ran towards the nearest armored stallion who responded by raising his gun. A brilliant flash of rainbow light seared Dante’s eyes and he felt like his teeth were going to rattle loose in his head. When his vision cleared there were only wisps of rainbow smoke and a scorch mark on the courtyard’s floor where the refugee pony had been. The second dove for the other stallion. Another flash. A miss, but the second refugee pony was caught by the near-miss and flung like a rag doll. He flew into a half-destroyed wall with a sickening sound of several things breaking. A smear of red decorated the wall as the pony slid to its base, the blood, however, quickly shifted towards a green ichor like substance.

The third pony dove among a group of refugee ponies and quickly took a mare hostage with a twisted dark knife.

“You wouldn’t!” The pony screamed behind his hostage, his eyes glowing blue.

The nearest stallion had his rifle trained on the pony and hesitated. Unable to fire without hitting the hostage.

The second armored pony nevertheless raised his rifle. The refugees started to beg, easily able to tell that they would be hit as well, even as the hostage-taker tried to take better cover behind his hostage. The armored pony spoke as his hoof tensed.

“By standing order of the Equestrian War Council, and confirmed by order of Commissariat Protector Radiant Pine all enemies of Celestia are to be destroyed without consideration for -“

The sentence was never finished as the hostage-taker pony….well Dante wasn’t sure, but it looked like the pony had, detonated.

The stallion of the two ponies he was standing next to got up after taking cover as a shockwave knocked ponies from their hooves. An unholy wail rose up from the mass of injured and dying ponies at the head of the line seconds later.

“Run….”

The mare needed no urging. A mass of yelling ponies ran for the exit, into that mob the two disappeared, the mare still running on three legs as she carried the bundle.

Dante looked back and gasped…a broken form lay at the bottom of the wall, the second pony that had been missed but flung. Except now, even with his limbs splayed out at unnatural angles only possible with broken bones, he was clearly a changeling. His eyes burned blue. The changeling coughed and spat up ichor.

“You may have killed Chitina, you may have killed the others, but you haven’t….won...(cough). And YOU! You will never be ponies no matter how hard you lie to them. They will never let you be their equal,” the broken changeling addressed the impassive two ponies who looked on with hard emerald eyes. “We will remember and someday we will (cough)…have our vengeance for our dead queens, on this world, and on the traitorous Emerald usurper.”

Dante felt himself being pulled away, pulled towards the exit, not sure why, but as he was yanked through the wall, a sickly pulse of green lit the ruins just before a rumbling explosion rattled the stones.

Dante turned back but found only blackness. When he opened his eyes he was once again in the schoolhouse.

“No…not this again,” his voice trembled.

He looked down and his cutie mark even before it started to melt off his flank was faint. Once again he could not stop the almost scripted doom. He ran away to the accusing chants of being a monster.

This time it was not KE security ponies but rather the power-armored juggernauts that he heard tromping through the halls looking for him. Changing his color was easy, he remembered that trick easily. He looked into the expressionless visor and once again noted that he was not the white-coated, amethyst eyed monster.

Once again he found himself escorted from the school. The juggernaut raised his hoof to his ear…

“Understood, take all the colts to be scanned, Roger.”

Dante felt his heart fall into his chest. He was powerless to stop it as he was shoved into a room from which the school colts were being led at regular intervals. He started to breathe heavily and turned away to look into the hazy glass of a bookshelf.

“Can’t be a colt…can’t be a colt…,” he whispered…

As he looked at his reflection a crazy idea occurred to him. He stared at the reflection and willed with everything he possessed to change that reflection. He was surprised when the reflection started to shift. How was this possible…but he didn’t question his good fortune. He forced his features to change and then whispered to himself as he searched for the candy-sweet voice that lucky fillies used to ensure no one could deny their requests.

Thudding, heavy boot steps came up behind him. He forced himself to breathe normally and turned.

“What the?” The hulking power-armored trooper questioned.

(Sniffle) “Mister Guard Pony, I think there’s been a mistake, they took me from my filly friends and brought me here.”

The armored juggernaut looked down into the quivering face that Dante was doing his best to sustain.

“Oh, sorry about that little filly, we’ll get you sorted out and back where you belong. Command, I got a missorted filly in the colt group. Have someone take her back to the other fillies.”

Dante was ecstatic as he was taken back out the other door, doing the best to hide that it was only his face that he had managed to shift. As he was let out into the garden, away from the Radiant Pine affiliated agents standing scanning the remaining colts, he was ecstatic.

He all but skipped through the garden not caring where he was going. It was before finally he remembered himself. When it pushed through his hazy mind that none of this was real. He was still in the Planes. Why did this keep happening?

“Why indeed?”

A soft, assuredly seductive voice questioned.

Dante turned, still in the form of a mismatched filly/colt, and found a mare made out of shadow looking at him as she watered an overgrown mass of amethyst streaked vines that had grown to nearly envelop a statue.

“Who the Tartarus are you?”

“Who indeed? I love the look by the way. The voice is a little sweet for my taste, you should work on that. Let’s just say I’m greatly appreciative of you putting so much effort into avoiding certain misunderstandings between our friends and….well I’m not really sure what we’d call Silky Sheets. Comrade implies a certain degree of respect he hasn’t earned.”

“Why are you doing this to me?!”

Dante demanded, not sure how this shadow was related to his problems. She moved around the statue and Dante’s heart skipped a beat as he saw the statue she had been obscuring, a stone version of Clear Chakra in flagrante delicito with his new paramour.

“Hahahaha, oh that’s so classic. I’m not doing anything, you’re taking care of all the work on that. I’ve been preoccupied with a much larger, more difficult project. Namely, coming back from the dead, or what passes for it.”

“You’re dead?”

“Well there are several degrees of it, you won’t understand, at least not until you do. I’m not sure how much longer that’s going to take, you’ve been a bit dense.”

“I want nothing to do with you, you stay away from me."

“That’s both easily done and yet harder than it might seem. I’m a bit closer than you might think.”

“You still haven’t told me who the Tartarus you are.”

“He’s right you know. He’s terribly uncouth, has an over-inflated sense of his skill, and doesn’t consider the long term but Silky Sheets is largely correct. You keep putting your faith in a hope that ponies will choose the nobler path if given a chance. That didn’t happen in the past.

Radiant Pine didn’t save Equestria in the Age of Heroes because it was the right thing to do, he did it because it made him rich, and kept his prize from being taken by invaders beyond the stars. The Alicorn sisters he helped install ruled for a thousand years and told everyone they were all but gods. It lasted until one went insane and tried to take it all for herself, the other ineffectual, only able to maintain her rule by getting sycophants to fight her battles for her. I will answer your question as to who I am simply.

The future is littered with prizes, we have all possibility and eternity before us. You spent years clawing your way up the line playing by the rules enforced by the powerful. You waited on fools because you wouldn’t dare refuse. Tell me after all that, have you drunk your fill, or do you want more?”

Dante started to answer but found he had no words. The specter continued.

“You know what they say, nice stallions always finish last. Harsh but true…so…what are you going to do about it.”

“It is not,” Dante began but stopped…

“Ssshhhhh,” the shadow walked up to him, “we’re running out of time, so let me send you away with a parting gift.”

“What -“

“BOOP”

The shadow booped him in the nose, it felt like he had been thrown backward, all sense of time and space faded as it felt like he was falling.

Dante wasn’t sure when he woke up, though he wished that whatever mare that was screaming would be quiet. It took a moment before he realized the mare was him.

(Several moments later)

Dante fought back the urge to dry heave into the sink again. Looking into the bathroom mirror didn’t impart any reassurance. He didn’t recognize the face that looked back at him. His face had finished rearranging itself, starting with his muzzle, right where the shadow had booped him. Finally deciding that the worst of it was over. He slumped back against the wall. A second look down confirmed that it was only his face that had changed, well that and…

“Well you’ve got a cover mare worthy face to go along with your cover mare worthy mane, aren’t you lucky Dante.”

The voice that came out was not his, it was a mare’s voice. A voice like honey. The first time this had happened he had panicked, not this time. With some effort, he felt for the power. Long moments passed and it took several attempts but despite how weird it felt Dante slowly morphed his face back into a shape he was familiar with. Half an hour later he was himself again, in fact in his face at least he was all the way back to how he had looked before this all started not the wan, thin muzzled aberration. Though, he knew, like his coat it was a lie. He didn’t care.

“Welcome back Mr. Haze,” his deep baritone voice rumbled. “We have work to do, four other relics, four Cores from the Age of Heroes to find.” His stomach rumbled, “Right after we eat.”

Author's Note

Game Notes: The team is hired to retrieve a crate from a Yakuza (syndicate) affiliated warehouse after a courier runs off with the crate she was supposed to deliver and is feared to be on the verge of selling it to the highest bidder. A fairly decent infiltration attempt goes south when Silky Sheets (A PC) disregards the counsel of Glass Darkly and breaks an alarm ward. Resulting in a vicious fight with the Yakuza ponies within the warehouse. Ultimately the Yakuza are defeated and the crate is recovered. Dante suspects that the cargo is important, but following earlier events, there is no support from within the rest of the group to look inside. The crate is turned in with the contents unexamined.

Later Dante takes a meta planar dive and confirms a growing suspicion. The two powerful Foci stolen in the earlier mission are in fact two of six Cores from the Interdictor Project making them incredibly powerful relics dating from the Age of Heroes. (The earlier crossover D&D game where they were used to stop a Planar Invasion). Concerned as to what exactly could happen should this be shared with the remaining team members, the information is kept secret for the time being.