Changeling Theory

Darkness surrounded her. Darkness, and nothing but.

It was not the type of darkness when one is on the preface of sleep, but the kind that can only be attributed to birth. That shroud of deep void that encompasses the vision, with only consciousness accompanying the vegetable of a body. Chrysalis no longer knew how conscious she was. For her, that darkness never faded. She didn’t know if she was alive; not in this prison of stone.

I feel pain.

Yes, and also hunger.

I feel tired.

Yes, and cannot sleep.

I feel everything.

The anger. The desire to right what was wrong. The urge to rip the cords out of Her neck and listen joyfully at Her gurgled screams of agony like a symphony. It would have been her first time hearing any kind of music. The more she thought, the more she could hear it. The more she could see it. The more she could taste the blood as it splatters across her face and drizzles down to her lips.

She tried running her tongue around her mouth but barely felt them. The air stung, seeping into the cracks that ran through its palette. She had to get out of here. She had to —

“Wake up!” someone shouted, banging on the prison bars. The rattling bounced off the cell walls.

Chrysalis’s head shot up, her chest thumping with the shrill of a drumbeat. A drone clad in ebony armor stared back at her. Edifice. He was giving her a stern look. Did he know what she was thinking? Did he know what she wanted to do to their queen? She was in this cell for going against Her orders, after all. Could he make the easy assumption that she would only further defy their majesty?

“Queen Tiran hasss granted early release,” he hissed quietly. “You ssshould thank Her.”

That meant she had to offer the queen her rations for the next week. So essentially, she was still being punished. Her already yearning stomach would see another seven days without fulfillment. Damn that bitch.

The cell filled with an ambient emerald glow, and that sound — Oh, that sweet sound! — of keys rattling reverberated in her ears. The door screeched open and Chrysalis stood up.

She hadn’t realized that she was laying down all day (Days? Or was it hours?). She had been in the cell for nearly a month, given only a hunk of dried meat once a week. Nonetheless, her loss of energy combined with her legs having fallen asleep made it difficult to walk. Or, more like a hobble.

Chrysalis would laugh if it wasn’t her. From Edifice’s perspective, she probably looked stupid. She dared not raise her head, lest her vision be cursed with the grin on his face.

She stepped out of the cell and, just like that, weakness took over. Tiny white spots clouded her sight as her fetlocks wobbled to keep her upright. Pins and needles caused an annoying sensation to travel up her legs. Chrysalis clenched her ocelli shut, hoping it would pass over. Something brushed up against her shoulder.

“Please, Chrysalis,” Edifice said. There was a genuine sense of concern in his voice. “You’re weak. I’ll share some of my rations with you.”

“Th-thank you,” Chrysalis responded. She was tempted to lay there and wait for the weak feeling to pass away. Maybe Edifice would be kind enough to fetch her some food? However, the coppery taste in her mouth screamed for immediate attention.

“Water,” she gasped.

Chrysalis heard the rustling of armor from beside her, and a second later Edifice dangled a thick bota pouch by its strap in front of her face. She swiped it out of the air, falling to her side and rolling onto her back. Focusing whatever magic that she could muster, she used every ounce of energy to pop off the cork, throw it aside, and pour the cold liquid down her throat.

Never did water taste so delicious.

Much of it missed her mouth, but Chrysalis didn’t care. She guzzled it all down. She even squeezed the pouch so that the water would come out faster. She was sure that Edifice would be upset that she was drinking up all of his water ration, but he was understanding. He wasn’t like the other changelings, who were blind to their own perception of reality. He knew she needed it more.

Chrysalis was disappointed when it ran out. She knew the water couldn’t run forever, but some desperate part of her mind wished that the very pouch in her hooves could produce a never-ending supply. She felt better, aside from a scratchy feeling in her throat, and the dizziness was gone.

She felt along the bota’s soft hide with her hoof as she laid there and cradled it to her chest. Then, a realization kicked in: this wasn’t Edifice’s bota. His was leather.

Chrysalis raised it in the air and tried to examine it the best that she could through the dim light of the cavern. It was coated with white fur and had a peculiar marking at its base. A shepherd's crook leaning against a sleeping sheep. A cutie mark.

Her ocelli widened. “You’re a hunter now!?”

“Apodemi didn’t sssurvive the last hunt, ssso Her Majesty ordered me to join the crew.” A sort of pride mixed with hesitance filled his voice, and a subtle but careful smile spread across his face. He pointed at the bota. “That’sss my first kill.”

Now Chrysalis didn’t have any reason to feel bad for wasting his water ration. Hunters were granted unlimited rations so long as they fulfilled a weekly quota. That meant Edifice could swipe her some extra food and water each week. Hunters weren’t allowed to share their rations with another drone, but the Queen didn’t have to know that. No other drone had to do that. Edifice already shared this water with Chrysalis, and she knew the perfect hiding place away from the nest.

Edifice was kind. Edifice would listen to her. Edifice did everything she told him to do. This would make life in the hive a bit easier for her. Not by much, but at least she wouldn’t go hungry.

Her stomach rumbled, and Chrysalis looked over at Edifice pleadingly. He rubbed his fetlock shyly.

“You can have sssome of my meat ration,” he hissed. “But Her Majesty has demanded your presence immediately.”

Chrysalis jerked up and threw the bota against Edifice’s chest plate as hard as she could — which was a pathetic display considering her weakened state. Edifice didn’t flinch.

“Screw that bitch. If she thinks I will kneel down before her and kiss the ground she walks on, then she has another thing coming for her. I will not suck up to her. I will not succumb to her madness. She’s a tyrant — tyrant!”

Edifice lurched forward, jumping on top of her and throwing his hoof over her mouth. Chrysalis struggled beneath him, trying to pull her head away so she could continue with her tirade, but he pinned her to the ground, and she couldn’t move.

“Chrysalisss, please, you can’t speak ill of Her Majesty! That’sss what got you locked up in the first place. Imagine what Her Majesty will do when she findsss out that you still speak out in contempt!”

For a moment, Chrysalis considered biting down on Edifice’s hoof. Then, she thought about it. He was right. The queen was merciful to not kill her on the spot. If anything, it was merciful that she got any food whatsoever during her stay in the concrete prison. The queen had done more than spare her, and Chrysalis knew why: she was trying to right her. She was ensuring that there would be no more contemptuous words spoken about her.

Side with me, and I take care of you. Go against me, and I will show you what ‘a fate worse than death’ really means.

Chrysalis relaxed her body. Fine. She would play along. For now.

Edifice removed his hoof from her mouth. “Her Majesty has asked that you not be escorted. She expectsss you immediately.”

A test of faith, Chrysalis thought. If I approach her by myself and waste no time in doing so, then I must not have something to hide. She had to hold back a smirk. She had a lot of things to hide. The queen thinks I’m just another mindless drone. Well, she will find out in due time that that’s not the case.

And she would find out at the same moment that a knife plunges into her throat.

~•~

“Meet me at my nest when Her Majesty isss done with you. I will feed you.”

They had climbed up a considerably long flight of stairs. It was less than two stories high, but in Chrysalis’s weakened state it felt like more. What could have taken five minutes took ten, and any offers from Edifice to help were turned down, even when dark spots dotted her vision. She liked the difficulty. After all, if she couldn’t climb a simple flight of stairs, then how would she win against the queen? This was a war of the minds, and Chrysalis had to prove that hers was the strongest of all.

“Thank you, Edifice,” she said.

Then, she stood there. The two remained silent. Chrysalis stared at the door on the other side of the long corridor. Waiting behind them would be her. The queen. The bane of her sad, pathetic existence. The tyrant.

The feeling wasn’t present when she was in her prison cell, but it was certainly present here and now, in this corridor, where Chrysalis was only twenty feet away from the queen’s throne room. It was that feeling that came with a pulsating heart, weak legs, and an invisible anchor tethered to her waist. The realization hit: Chrysalis had to face Her. The person who had thrown her in the cell and could easily toss her back in.

Don’t show fear, Chrysalis thought. Not in front of Edifice. You can in front of the Royal Bitch — She expects you to. But not in front of Edifice, no…

She took a single step forward, followed by a second one. Two became three, then four, five, six, seven. Soon Chrysalis found a rhythm. She practically floated down the hall, her mind at an in-between state of disbelief at what was about to transpire and placebo determination. Still, her legs carried her, and soon she was already standing before the tall doors.

She gulped. The only way out of this was to get through it. Chrysalis’s mind was set. Get it over with now, and relish in how she would beat the queen later. She pushed the door open.

The throne room was easily the most decorative part of the castle, in that it was the only part of the castle with decorations of any kind. Shards of green crystal emitting a loud glow lined the walls from sconces, filling the room with almost-perfect light. There were no windows — another thing that the rest of the castle didn’t have. There were, however, several paintings. None of which depicted the changeling empire and all of its glory. They were all stolen.

Chrysalis recognized one of them. It was one she tried to claim during a raid on a home east of the Badlands. It depicted a camel ascending a flight of stairs that led into the mouth of a skull. She found this piece captivating. Chrysalis didn’t quite understand art and the intricacies of symbolism, but—how the ponies put it—it spoke to her.

Unfortunately, it being “art,” it was deemed contraband, and the piece was confiscated the moment she got back to the castle. Since that day, the painting had been perfectly etched into her memory. Staring at it now, she was surprised by how well she remembered all of the little details such as the pot of hemlock in the corner, or the exact curvature of the artist’s signature. It should have been hers, and now it’s the queen’s.

Where the fuck is She? Chrysalis thought. The queen demanded she arrive to the throne room, but She wasn’t even here. The throne was empty. There was no one to greet her. Was this part of the test?

A door slammed. Chrysalis swiveled around to see the silhouette of a tall figure emerging from the dark. It stopped, its face barely visible beneath the lights of the room and its emerald irises glowing vibrantly.

The queen spoke, “I hope you learned from your insolence.”

Chrysalis froze. A million possibilities ran through her mind when she was in that prison cell of what she would do when she confronted the queen again, but none of that mattered anymore. Here Chrysalis was, facing Her. What else was there to do?

She bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty. I was a fool.”

The sound of the queen’s regal hooves grated against her ears as She walked up to her. “So, I shan’t expect it to happen again?”

“Yes, Your majesty.”

The clanking stopped. “Good. Now I will ask: what made you think it was a good idea?”

“They were innocent, my…” Chrysalis felt the urge to vomit come over her before she had a chance to say the word. “My queen.”

“Innocence doesn’t feed. Livestock does. That’s all they are. Nothing more, nothing else.”

Chrysalis perked up. “But Your Majesty! We don’t —”

“Silence!” Queen Tiran bit, baring her sharp teeth at the drone. Chrysalis immediately shut up and went back to bowing. “You dare talk back against your queen after being thrown in the dungeon for that exact crime? Have you no shame?”

“I’m sorry Your Majesty. It’s just that… I wanted to make a suggestion. For the betterment of the tribe.”

Queen Tiran grew silent. She tilted her head, quirking a brow. “‘For the betterment of the tribe?’ Do tell, what is this suggestion?”

“We don’t need to eat meat. Out of all the races in Equestria, we are by far the most superior because we don’t need actual food or nourishment to survive. All we need are feelings or… or the life force of plants. If we stop kidnapping ponies and change our habits now, we may be able to end this war.”

“Oh?” Queen Tiran fell quiet once again, looking as if she were mulling the idea over in her head. Then she laughed. She laughed, she laughed, and oh that laugh corkscrewed itself into Chrysalis’s ears.

“Change our habits? I say we’re already on the right track. Think about it, drone. Yes, we don’t need actual nourishment to survive and can live off the feelings of others. But feelings are just a small part of it. It’s what powers our magic and gives us the energy to perform, but the brain? Oh, the brain carries so much more. We must eat because it’s what makes our army more superior than our enemy’s. What else is there to say except that I hope we win this war so that swine of a princess gets what’s coming to her.”

Chrysalis perked back up. “Queen, if I may—”

Pain. Pain coursed through her body. In her head it was worse, like nails dragging across glass. She brought her hooves up to her ears, but it persisted. The noise was inside of her head, playing its demented song of agony.

“If I may, if I may, if I may…” Queen Tiran mocked her. “Perhaps it was wrong of me to imprison you because it has only taught you to fear my tactics. Or, perhaps it was wrong of me to let you live?”

Chrysalis writhed on the floor. What felt like sharp sticks poking into her sides suddenly became sharper. It felt as if her limbs were being torn away from their joints.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream loud so that Edifice could hear it. She wasn’t sure what he would do or if he would even save her, but anything to to the pain would be enough. Instead, all that came out was a long croak.

“You are a drone. A drone meant to serve. A drone, and nothing else. As a drone, you will listen to your queen. As a drone, you will perform the tasks your queen has set. As a drone, you will not speak ill of Her. This is how it will be until the day that you die. Is that understood?”

Chrysalis nodded quickly and kept nodding as the pain lingered. Finally, it was gone. For the most part. She had a splitting headache, but the rest of her body felt fine. She rested her body on the floor, breathing heavily.

“Stand at attention.”

She didn’t hesitate. The moment Chrysalis lifted her head a massive rush washed over her. Still, she picked herself up. It was slow, it was excruciating, but she refused to show weakness. The drone stood straight, feeling as if she could kneel over and pass out in an instant.

“What is your duty?”

“To serve the queen.”

“What is your job?”

“To be a soldier.”

“What does that job entail?”

“To serve the queen and the tasks She sets out before me.”

“What is your job as a citizen of the hive?”

“To serve the queen.”

“Good. You are dismissed.”

Chrysalis wanted to vomit. Not just because of the nauseous feeling in her stomach, but because the words took immense effort to force out. That, and it made Chrysalis feel defeated. The queen soiled her soul, stripping it of any ounce of pride it had left.

She was making her way toward the door when something crossed her mind. If she left the room now without saying anything, then this defeat would be permanent. Chrysalis refused to accept that, not when she’s already built up so much resentment for Her. Oh, how she yearned to see Her drown in a pool of her own blood…

No. She had to say something, but it couldn’t just be anything. It had to be calculative. It had to give her more hope for the future… And, just like that, she knew what she had to say.

Chrysalis turned away from the door and back to the queen. “Your Highness, permission to make an inquiry?”

Queen Tiran stopped midstep upon the dais leading to her throne and craned Her head back toward the drone. “Hurry, and don’t make it stupid.”

“I’d like to become a hunter. I think it would redeem me. And I would be a good asset to have.”

Queen Tiran sat on her throne, her green irises vibrant beneath the darkness of the room. She smiled, Her sharp teeth gleaming. “I admire the audacity in your request. Very well, consider this a chance to prove your worth. But know this…” Her smile faded, blending in with the dark room. All that was visible were her eyes. “Don’t think I am willing to forget your crimes that easily. As a huntress, you will be given the hardest of tasks. Starting with this one: every beginning hunter must kill at least one to prove their worth.” The queen’s smile returned. “I want you to kill six. Six, no more and no less.”

Chrysalis thought about it. Would she be able to kill six ponies like that? She had no problem with killing. Fuck, she did it all the time during raids. But being a huntress meant she had to be incognito the entire time. Not just that, but killing six ponies meant there would be more bodies to transport to the hive. That meant she would have to avoid being seen while her arms were full.

Chrysalis smiled. This would be a chance to get on her good side. In fact, Chrysalis was up for the task. Not only would she kill six ponies, but she would do it within a timely manner. A manner so timely that even the queen herself would be impressed. It didn’t matter what task would be set before her, because she will put in twice the effort that was expected of her. Then, she would get on the queen’s good side. Then, she would become an important asset to the queen. Then… one day She will wake up with her throat sliced open.

“Consider it done,” Chrysalis said.

If nothing will come together, then I will force something together.

~•~

The trees outside rustled from the sheer force of the wind, tapping their branches against the windows. The wind howled like a roaring beast as the blizzard outside blew in every direction. Tiny flakes of snow spilled onto the floor of the School of Friendship.

Starlight didn’t know how long she was staring at the hole. All she knew was that she created it. It was the last thing on her mind, really. What she really had her mind set on was the killer. She had it in her sight. It was standing right there. Starlight shot a beam that should have been a fatal blow and instead obliterated the entire wall.

I had it, and now it’s gone, Starlight thought.

“Starlight, friend, you’re going to catch a fever standing there.”

Starlight turned her head to see Trixie, a steaming mug of hot cocoa hovering in front of her.

Starlight looked back to the hole. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I just need to clear my head.”

Why wouldn’t she need to? Her students almost died, and she could have prevented most of the mayhem. Instead, she was too busy wandering around aimlessly chasing a ghost.

“You have no reason to blame yourself,” Trixie said. “Some things are out of our control.”

Steam wafted into Starlights faces the mug of hot cocoa floated beneath her chin. “Besides,” Trixie continued. “Nocreature died.”

Starlight stared down into the little concoction of chocolate, marshmallow, and cinnamon, and enveloped the mug with her own magic. “There’s the thing,” she said, before taking a sip. “I should be the one in control. I’m the headmare of this school. It is my responsibility to ensure the safety of every student.”

If Starlight had shown up five minutes earlier, then she could have prevented far more than the worst from happening. She could still picture herself standing in that room with a stunned group of students. Silverstream was cupping a bloody talon over a spot on her neck where the feathers were soaked to a bright crimson. Smolder lay on the floor, unconscious. Both of them, along with Gallus, were receiving immediate attention in the medical wing.

There was another thing on her mind, however. It was what she did after seeing Ocellus lying still on the floor in front of Mr. Black. She became enraged.

“What did you do!” she had yelled. Then, without thinking, her horn ignited.

Mr. Black was thrown against the wall, her magic wrapped around his neck. She was sure in that moment that he was the killer. Without a doubt!

Then she felt one of her students tug at her shoulder. It was Gallus. Her attention still fixated on the hippogriff gasping for air, talons around his neck, she quickly realized that she was too brash in her assumption and dropped him.

He didn’t even scold her for it. In fact, he chuckled and said, “I’ve been through worse.”

Despite the feelings of no ill contempt thrown her way, Starlight found herself still thinking back to that moment. She was usually more rational than that. However, there she was with her magic wrapped around Mr. Black's neck, ready to watch the life drain away from his body. The only reason why she let him go was that a student stopped her.

Was her head in the right place anymore? Starlight thought back to the last few days and realized that she couldn’t remember most of what happened. It all felt like a distant memory, with only the most horrific of moments perfectly etched into her mind. Finding Lemongrass’s corpse. Watching Skeedaddle get his head crushed in. Realizing that the killer was near them all along and not taking the proper action in time to stop them.

“The Gourmet and Sugar-Free Trixie went through the effort of making that for you. You should drink it.”

Starlight glanced over at Trixie then down at the mug. “Oh!” she exclaimed, then brought the mug to her mouth and took one big gulp. It burned.

She didn’t make a face to indicate her burning mouth, but Trixie added a snippy comment anyway, “It’s hot.”

“Thanks,” Starlight gasped. The roof of her mouth already stung, while her taste buds felt like they were scalded off her tongue. Her throat would be sore in a bit. She took another sip and hid her pain.

“Tall, dark, and mysterious would like to speak to you again,” Trixie continued. “He says that he has some questions.”

Starlight nodded. “Right.” She turned in the direction of her office. “I figured he would.”

If not about the incident, she thought, then surely relating to Ocellus.

The two went to the Headmare’s Office. Inside, Ocellus lay spread out across an easy chair with her head lolling over the armrest, a sliver of saliva dripping down her chin. Mr. Black sat in front of her silently, staring off into space. When Starlight closed the door, he turned his head toward her and said, “How often does she act out?”

Starlight was dumbstruck for a moment, mostly because she wasn’t ready to go right into questioning. “Uh…” She searched her brain for any instance where the changeling lashed out with her emotions in any way. There was the death of Lemongrass, but her reaction made sense. Other than that, Ocellus was a good student who rarely let her emotions overwhelm her.

She shook her head. “I can’t say that she ever does. This would be a first.”

“Does she have a violent history of any kind?”

Starlight nodded. “She grew up under Chrysalis’s reign. I imagine that she might have endured some abuse along the way. I don’t know for sure, however.”

“Mental trauma, mostly,” Trixie spoke up. Starlight glanced over at her. “She talks about her experience a lot during our sessions. The hive wasn’t exactly known for ‘kindness,’ and Trixie infers that she may have emotions in reserve.”

Starlight walked up to the changeling resting on the easy chair, setting her mug down on the desk. “Getting extremely emotional doesn’t explain why she tried to kill all of her friends. She’s usually so level-minded.”

“If I may add,” Mr. Black incurred, “and allow me to state that this is based on very little evidence so far, but I am qualified to infer such a diagnosis based on my psychology degree. It is possible that she has developed a type of Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is common with creatures who have experienced some form of trauma throughout their childhood. This is just a suggestion, however. We still have to wait for her to wake up.”

Starlight stared down at the still changeling. She examined the magic inhibitor on her horn, and her eyes trailed down to the strange metal box that encapsulated both of Ocellus’s forehooves. It looked to be a pair of cuffs.

“How strong was that tranquilizer you gave her?” Starlight asked. She turned back to the hippogriff.

“Hmm…” Mr. Black scratched at the spot directly beneath his beak with a single claw. “Although it was an elephant tranquilizer, the dosage wasn’t nearly enough to take down a fully grown calf. Now, if the yak — Yona was it?” —Starlight nodded— ”Right, if she were the one on the rampage, then the most it would have done is make her drowsy due to her body mass. And maybe if the changeling was in yak form, we would still be trying to contain her. But she was in griffon form. So, if I had to guess…”

“Die!”

Starlight practically lurched out of her skin as the cold cuffs that Ocellus was wearing suddenly wrapped around her neck. Starlight was immediately glad for the bulkiness of the cuffs, because if they were any thinner then the changeling would be choking her out. Instead, Ocellus brought her close so that the pony was forced onto her haunches, and yelled, “If you come any closer, I’ll kill her!”

Starlight thought she saw Mr. Black raise a brow. This was confirmed when he lowered his sunglasses down his beak slightly, exposing the blue of his irises. He pushed the sunglasses back up to his eyes. “Not your brightest student, is she?”

“What are you going on about?” Ocellus bit. “I’m threatening to kill her. I’ll do it before you even realize that it happened!”

“Yes, and how do you plan on doing that?”

“I’ll use my magic! I’ll make her head explode. I’ll compress her cranium until brain matter splatters everywhere.” She brought Starlight closer, trying but failing to put more pressure on her neck. “I’ll do it all in an instant, and you won’t even have time to react.”

This didn’t sound like Ocellus. It sounded like someone else. Her voice was much more guttural and full of malice. No, whoever this was, it was not the Ocellus she knew.

“You can try,” Mr. Black continued, “But it’s not going to work.” He pointed to her horn. “That inhibitor around your horn prevents you from conjuring magic. The worst you could do is get a headache. And that’s hurting no one but yourself, is it?”

Ocellus tried to pull the rectangular cuffs closer around Starlight’s neck. It was uncomfortable — very uncomfortable—but not life-threatening. “I’ll snap her neck!”

“Your hooves are in too awkward of a position to do so.”

“I’ll stab my horn through her head!”

“I’m an arm’s length away from you. Do you really think that will work? Out of everyone in this room, you should understand the most how nimble I can be.”

The grip around Starlight’s neck loosened a bit. Ocellus grew silent. Then, after letting out a terrifying sound that was surely fueled by the frustration of Mr. Black taking her out so easily, Ocellus bit down on her neck.

Starlight screamed. Both Trixie and Mr. Black were on them immediately. Casting her magic, Trixie forced Ocellus’s jaws apart. Mr. Black tried to pry her forehooves from around Starlight’s neck, but the changeling’s grip was too tight, and the two were squirming so much that it made it difficult to get a decent grip.

Ocellus kicked her hind leg out, hitting Mr. Black in the beak so that the hippogriff backpedaled. Once Ocellus released her jaw from Starlight’s neck, the two fell to the floor. Starlight thrashed and kicked. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a choking sound mixed with the gurgle of her own saliva. Ocellus finally found the right angle to choke her from.

Trixie cast her magic again, this time focusing it all on Ocellus. The changeling lifted off the ground a little, but her grip remained, dragging Starlight up with her. Immediately, Starlight wanted Trixie to stop, stop, just stop helping now please you’re only making things worse!

Fishing through his satchel, Mr. Black procured a key and inserted it into the lock of the odd-looking cuffs. They opened, and before Ocellus could even attempt to make her escape, Mr. Black picked her up by the back of the neck and slammed her facefirst into the floor.

Although the slam looked plenty painful, Ocellus didn’t react. Instead, she swiped her hoof, trying to hit Mr. Black in some way. He calmly grabbed it and pinned it to the floor alongside her head.

“Right,” he said. “Are you done with your tantrum?”

“Fuck you.”

Starlight let out a loud gasp, breathing in and out, in and out. She laid on the floor for several seconds, waiting for the air to refill her lungs. When her breathing died down, she turned her head to where Ocellus was pinned to the floor. There was a lime-green liquid smeared across the tiles. That same lime-green liquid was flowing out of the changeling’s nostrils.

Starlight sat up, her face contoured in rage. “Stop hurting my student immediately!”

Without looking up, “Nevermind that she just attacked you? Student of yours or not, she would have killed you.”

Starlight got to her hooves. “I don’t care! Whoever this is, it isn’t Ocellus. Until we figure out what’s wrong with her, I’d appreciate it if you don’t treat her as anything less than a living being!”

Mr. Black grew silent. Starlight thought she had him stumped or that maybe she had broken through some kind of ego-barrier, but then he spoke up again. “So, again, your student normally doesn’t act this way?”

Her frown remained, but she nodded. Then, making sure to keep a bit of sternness in her voice, she said, “She’s normally kind and delicate. She would never go out of her way to harm the other students.”

“Have you noticed signs leading up to this event?”

“Not until the other day.” She stopped herself, dropping the frown into something more contemplative. Her eyes widened. The other day. The other day when Ocellus had randomly guessed the death of Lemongrass. The other day when the exact moment that Ocellus touched her hoof, it triggered Starlight to remember every gruesome detail of the night before.

Starlight didn’t realize that she was quiet for too long until Mr. Black called for her attention. “Is something the matter?”

Would he accuse her of harboring evidence? In her own way, Starlight knew that Ocellus was somehow responsible for all that had happened in the last few days. Albeit, it was all confusing to her. Ocellus wouldn’t harm a fly, Starlight knew that. But she had to sell her own student out if it meant others would be safe.

Starlight sighed. “She… she knew about Lemongrass. The first death. I didn’t know how or why, and… I still don’t know how or why. Because unless she was acting, the revelation was so sudden. I don’t —”

“What do you mean, sudden?” Mr. Black looked up at her.

Starlight’s jaw quivered. “I-I mean if Ocellus knew at the time that Lemongrass was dead, then I don’t know why she suddenly decided to reveal that she knew. We were having a normal conversation, then she touched my hoof, and then…” She shivered, not sure how to explain the cold feeling that ran through her body. “And then, she said, ‘Is Lemongrass dead?’”

“Did you have a flashback when she touched you?”

The room went silent. Starlight opened her mouth, ready to respond, but all that came out was silence. How did he deduce that? If he was a detective, then he certainly earned his badge. But where was he going with all of this?

“Judging by your silence,” he said. “I can infer that my assumption was correct.”

Starlight closed her mouth and nodded slowly.

Mr. Black turned his head toward Trixie and nodded. “Do me a favor and recuff her. I need to gather more evidence before I arrive at my final conclusion.” He turned his head back to Starlight. “I’ll need to visit your students.”

~•~

Silverstream heard nothing. Not a cry, not a whisper, not even the soothing sound of white noise to block out the silence. She heard, quite simply, nothing.

She looked across the room, over at Yona and Sandbar. The two were talking up a storm, probably discussing what had transpired. They were just words to her. Words without any direct meaning. Suddenly, it felt like nothing had meaning. Not while she was still muddled within the depths of confusion. Confusion for one of her best friends and why she attacked Silverstream the way she did. Confusion as to why Smolder still laid unconscious. Confusion, confusion, and nothing but confusion on her mind.

Silverstream glanced over at the unconscious dragon. The lamp on Smolder’s bedside table had been flicked off, so it was hard to make out her friend’s face. Green Hearth’s Warming lights hung from the ceiling of the Hospital Wing, blinking on and off, on and off, lighting the dragon’s face in small intervals. If she focused, Silverstream could barely make out Smolder’s frame moving up and down subtly with each breath.

Silverstream shot air out of her nostrils, finally accepting that her friend was (somewhat) okay. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep. All she wanted to do was worry about this tomorrow. Not now, not in the next five minutes, but tomorrow, when all of her thoughts would be realigned.

Tomorrow…

Something nudged Silverstream’s side.

Her eyes cracked open. “What?” she groaned.

“You doin’ okay?” Gallus asked.

Oh, it’s just him. Her eyes closed again. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

No, I’m not, is what she really wanted to say, but she also really wanted to sleep. As much as she wanted to vent, she didn’t have enough energy to carry on for another five minutes.

“Sorry about what happened,” Gallus continued. “On the date. That was weird.”

Silverstream looked over at the griffon, befuddled. “What?”

“Our first date.” Gallus lifted a claw in the air, flicking his wrist as if motioning to something, but there was nothing to motion to. “It went horrible? I wish it could have gone better.”

“Oh,” Silverstream laid her head back against the wall and sighed. “I mean, you tried. It was going pretty good until that detective guy showed up.”

The image of the mysterious hippogriff standing amidst all the chaos at the Tree of Harmony emerged in her mind. How did he know where to find all of them? Silverstream found that the more questions that got answered, the more that showed up. She tried not to think about them.

“I just…” Gallus continued. “You know how it is?”

Silverstream turned her head back to the griffon, eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Gallus sighed, eyes rolling as if simultaneously rolling over the words in his mind. “You deserve better. Like, wow, that was shit.”

Silverstream straightened up and extended her wing around Gallus’s back, draping it over his right shoulder. Scooting closer, she rested her head down against his other and closed her eyes. “I loved our date, for all it’s worth. You couldn’t have done any better.”

“No, I mean like, wow, I’ve been a shithead.”

“You’ve been trying your best.”

“No, mean… when you found out that Lemongrass died? I should have been there. It was shitty of me to think that it was okay to leave you like that.”

Silverstream’s eyes opened and she sat up, staring at Gallus. She looked into his eyes and realized that… they were bloodshot.

She sighed, the wing draped over his shoulder drooping. “Gallus, you’re still high.”

Gallus reached a talon to his face and rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his index digit. “Is it really that noticeable?”

Silverstream lifted her own talon and placed it on the back of Gallus’s neck, massaging it. “We can talk about this when you’re not paranoid. How does tomorrow sound?”

She held her breath. What were they even going to do tomorrow? Here she was, acting like the upcoming week would be normal. Ocellus was in custody. She just tried to kill them.

Silverstream tried to draw some ideas from her brain to figure out what would happen the next day, but she was left with a blank slate. They probably wouldn’t even have time to talk.

Silverstream continued massaging the back of his neck. “Scratch that — we’ll talk when everything gets better.”

She reached her other talon up to the pad that was bandaged against the patch on her neck where feathers should have been.

Suddenly, it felt like nothing would.

Silverstream leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Worry was for tomorrow. If she worried too much now, she wouldn’t have the energy to cope with the aftermath later. All she wanted to do was sleep… sleep… sleep…

Breathing. Silverstream heard breathing. Breathing that grew louder and louder with each passing breath.

Her eyes shot open, and she looked in Smolder’s direction. The dragon was squirming in bed and hyperventilating.

~•~

Smolder woke up in a strange room under strange lights. It was dark, but every few seconds the lights would flash green, allowing for a good view. A divider stood on one side of her, and on the other was a night table with a lamp flicked off. A dull pain throbbed in her forehead.

She sat up and scanned the room. The green lights flashed on again, and she could see an entire row of beds on the other side. She looked to her left and saw the same. They were all empty. She was alone.

Smolder laid back down, glad that her aching head had a comfortable pillow to fall on. She was in the medical wing, laying on a shitty bed. Well, not that shitty. She was comfy. The room was just the right temperature. For the first time in a while, all Smolder wanted to do was snooze away.

She had had trouble sleeping the past semester. She tried several methods at first, but eventually, her mind would get clogged with various thoughts that weren’t exactly kosher; not a lot of them were. She tried thinking of happy things at first, things that she enjoyed. Tea parties, for example. However, something about them suddenly felt… pitiful.

Smolder no longer took interest in the girly stuff that made her days feel a little brighter. She remembered when she first got into tea, how she studied the various leaves and experimented with how to get the strongest flavor. Shit, she put more effort into studying tea leaves than she did with her actual schoolwork.

Then, one day, the frilly dresses and all of her herbals were tossed into the trash. Smolder wanted nothing to do with them. They didn’t matter in the grand scheme of anything. Nothing mattered. Well, her friends did, but they would be gone soon. After that, she would have nothing else to live for. Her life was almost over. Not in a literal sense. She had no plans of offing herself anytime soon, although… sometimes, the feeling did show up.

Occasionally, Smolder wondered what it would be like to die. Like now. She imagined herself going through some tragic accident that cost her her life. She imagined all of her friends going to her funeral, standing next to her casket and moping, then going up to the podium and saying something sappy like, “Anyone remember Smolder, that scaly fuck?”

Okay, maybe that’s not how it would happen to the exact detail, and Smolder knew it was fucked up to have those sort of thoughts. She had them anyway. And just liked that… she couldn’t sleep again.

Her eyes blinked open. Green filled her vision, then dissipated. Green filled her vision, then dissipated. Green filled her vision, then dissipated. Green filled her vision —

Breathing. Smolder heard breathing. Someone was in the room with her. She looked to her left, down the row of beds. The room was briefly illuminated with green, and she saw that none of the beds had any occupants. She turned her head toward the divider — the room illuminated, and a silhouette appeared. The room illuminated again, and the silhouette returned.

Well, shit. Just when Smolder thought that she had a room to herself, she discovers that she has another roommate. She would have to not pay them any mind.

She stared back up at the ceiling, examining the many glow-in-the-dark star decals clustered together. Smolder thought that maybe if she counted each star individually her mind would become occupied enough and allow her to sleep. She started…

One… Two… Three… Numbers rolled through her head like the wheels of a cart speeding downhill. Seventy-six… Seventy-seven… Seventy-eight… She lost count. Either she skipped a few numbers or there were so many to count that she counted the same ones. Nonetheless, it was progress. Eighty-five… Eighty-six… Eighty-seven…

“Smolder…”

Smolder stopped counting. She tilted her head toward the divider. The room was illuminated. The silhouette appeared. The silhouette was gone. The silhouette appeared. The silhouette was gone.

“Ayy, you say something?” Smolder tried. The silhouette appeared.

Nothing but heavy breathing. The silhouette disappeared.

Exhaling air out of her nostrils, Smolder resumed counting stars.

One… Two… Three…

She stopped. There was no use in continuing. She wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon. Maybe she could sneak into the library and read a book to pass the time, or better yet: sneak into the cafeteria, so she could get some food. Part of her regretted turning down Gallus’s offer for free pizza. It had been a while since she last ate something. Come to think of it, wasn’t the last thing she ate that bowl of porridge Ocellus didn’t want?

Scratch that. It was two bowls of porridge. Her stomach rumbled.

“Smolder.”

Her head jolted back toward the divider. The lights flashed. This time the silhouette was sitting up.

“What?” Smolder said with a touch of annoyance. Was this creature going to bother her all night?

“Come here,” it said in a hushed voice.

“What’s up?” she somewhat whispered, but she was sure her new roommate heard her.

“Come here.”

The lights flashed, and the silhouette held an arm out, gesticulating with what looked to be a claw.

Smolder sat up. The lights flashed, and the silhouette’s arm lowered.

“Listen, if ya need to tell me something, tell me something. Don’t make me put in the work for it.”

The lights flashed, and the silhouette remained still. Only, there was something… uncomfortable about how still it was. As if it could see Smolder through the divider, and not just her own silhouette. The divider might as well not be there.

Silence filled the room. The lights flashed. The silhouette remained still. The breathing intensified. The lights flashed. The silhouette remained still. The intensified breathing kept at a stagnant pace. The lights flashed. The silhouette remained still. Smolder slid out of bed.

“Yo, what do you need?”

No response. The lights flashed. The silhouette stared back at her.

“If you don’t need something then why do you keep calling for me!?”

No response. The lights flashed. The silhouette stared back at her.

Frustrated, Smolder reached toward the edge of the divider, pulled it aside, and yelled, “Quit fucking around and —”

The lights flashed. Smolder stared back at herself. Only, it wasn’t herself. Well, it was, but the dragon might as well have been unrecognizable. The entire left side of her face was gone, exposing her skull. Her eye was still in its socket, staring back at the real Smolder like she was the only thing it could see. What really sent shivers down Smolder’s spine, however, was the piece of brian that was exposed where a shard of skull was missing.

“They hate you,” it said. The voice was unrecognizable. It sounded guttural, like it took immense effort to say those words. “They hate you. You don’t need them.”

Smolder stepped back, forgetting that the bed was behind her and bumping her rear-end into it. Her eyes were wide, filled with all sorts of shock. She wasn’t sure how to register the sight. She only knew that it was in front of her, and even that wasn’t enough to convince her that it was real.

She fell back on the bed and rolled over on her back, and hit the floor on the other side. She banged her knee on the way down, although that was the least of her worries.

Smolder ran—waddled more like, what with her injured knee. Still, she kept at a fast pace. The decorative Hearth’s Warming lights continued to flash, and every time they went dark her heart stuttered, thinking that it would only take one moment — one — for the room to go black and she would trip over essentially nothing.

She didn’t, however, and she made it to the door. Without looking back, Smolder opened it, and burst out of the room, slamming it shut behind her.

The hallways flashed on-and-off, on-and-off, on-and-off with the same green lights. However, unlike the medical wing, there were no decorative Hearth’s Warming lights strung from the ceiling. The green light was simply there by its own apparition.

Smolder ran down the hall. Her footsteps echoed, grating against her ears, feeling like taunts. “You’re not moving fast enough!” they were saying. Then, her own footsteps overlapped with the sound of other footsteps running behind her. She didn’t look back.

Smolder swerved, turning in the intersection of the hallway. She didn’t know where she was going. It was away from that thing, and that was all that was important. She ran, the green lights flashed. She ran, the green lights flashed. She ran…

Finally, Smolder arrived at a door at the end of the hall. The footsteps sounded far away, so maybe she had time to hide in there?

In her desperation to get inside, she almost ripped the door off its hinges by ramming into it. The solid wood crackled, but it showed no signs of damage. Smolder reached a jittering claw to the door handle, pulled it open, ran inside, and locked the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door, not huffing but hyperventilating. There was this weird loud whistling sound with each breath she took, and she did her best to calm herself down.

Think happy thoughts… Think happy thoughts… Think happy thoughts…

She thought of tea. Yes! Tea, that’s right! I love tea. I — I also love to play dress-up. I love to dress up in frilly dresses and drink tea. I prefer it when the leaves are in the water instead of the packet. It makes the flavor more robust…

Her breathing was starting to die down. Smolder slid down against the door, sitting on the floor. Her breathing continued.

I still have my tea kettle set. I should see if any of my friends would like to have a picnic sometime. I can introduce my favorites. Oolong, Earl Grey, green, hibiscus…

Her breathing died down. The green light appeared. Her mind was calm. The green light appeared. She closed her eyes. Smolder knew that she wasn’t in the safest of places, but she lacked the energy to get up. Part of her wanted to let that monster catch her and end it all right away. Another part of her wanted to get as far away as possible from the school.

She opened her eyes.

The green light appeared.

Smolder couldn’t move. She could only see. What she saw was a grisly sight. There, standing a few feet in front of her was another Smolder, holding Gallus’s severed head and ripping a piece of his brain out with her teeth.

The green light appeared, and there was Gallus’s headless corpse laying next to the doppelganger. The green light appeared, and there was Silverstream with the cords in her neck strewn across the tiled floor. The green light appeared, and there was Sandbar with his eyes gouged out. The green light appeared, and there was Yona with the contents of her stomach spilled out.

Smolder did the best she could to hold back the urge to vomit. The smell of gastro intestines and rotting corpses filled her nostrils. The green light appeared, and the doppelganger turned to Smolder.

“I know you’re hungry,” it said.

Smolder tried to scream but couldn’t. Her breathing built up, and she was making that loud whistling sound again.

The light returned, and the doppelganger dropped Gallus’s head onto his corpse. It rolled onto the floor, landing on its side and facing her with its tongue lolled out. The light returned, and the doppelganger began walking toward her. Smolder’s breathing quickened. The light returned, and it was already almost there. Smolder was paralyzed. The light returned. The doppelganger kneeled down in front of her.

“The hippogriff,” it said. “Not the pink one, the tall one with black feathers. He’s against you.”

Smolder tried to say something, but her breathing overlapped. The light returned, the doppelganger placed a claw on her shoulder.

“They might get in the way. They don’t want you to make it to Canterlot. The first chance you get…” The doppelganger opened its jaw wide, exposing the sharpness of its teeth. Then it bit down. “I know you’re hungry. You want to do it. But first, the hippogriff. Do him, followed by the pink one, followed by the griffon, and the rest… Do you understand?”

Smolder nodded quickly, trying to provide an audible, “Yes,” but couldn’t. The doppelganger shook her shoulder.

“Smolder…”

The light returned, and it placed its claws on both her shoulders and shook her. “Smolder…”

Her breathing intensified. It shook her harder.

“Smolder!”

Smolder jolted up in bed, swiping her claw through the air and catching someone in the face. She was breathing heavily, although not hyperventilating. She looked at the creature that shook her awake and saw that it was Gallus, holding a talon over three parallel scratches across his cheek.

Smolder glanced around the room, past all the confused faces of her friends and toward the divider. The green light flicked on, and it was pushed aside, revealing an empty bed. Smolder let out a relieved sigh.

“You good?” Gallus said.

Smolder looked back at him and saw that he was still cradling a talon to his face. “Uh… yeah. Sorry, dude.” She scratched her head and looked around some more. Gallus, Silverstream, Yona, and Sandbar were all there standing around her bed, but where was…

“Ayy, where’s Ocellus?”

Immediately, everyone looked uneasy, as if she casually dropped a slur. She opened her mouth to ask about what was going on, but Silverstream spoke over her before she got the chance.

“You… don’t remember much… do you?”

Smolder tried to recontextualize the entire night in her mind. Well, it started with picking Ocellus up from the dorm, they had a small argument, they went to the Treehouse of Friendship, they watched a movie… and at some point, she faceplanted into the ground. Now she was here.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Anycreature mind telling me what’s up?”

Not a word was spoken. Smolder looked around again, trying to put the pieces together. Sandbar appeared like he was ready to say something, but he fell back into silence quickly. Yona simply backed away. Gallus was the one to take the step forward and say it outright.

“Ocellus went batshit and started attacking everyone. First Silverstream, then me, then you tried to save me and she attacked you, then she… started turning into things. One thing led to another, and you hit the ground. Hard.”

Brief images of what transpired sprang forward into her mind. She remembered trying to pry Ocellus’s jaw apart from around Gallus’s talon and getting headbutted in the eye. It wasn’t enough to be painful, but it still felt sore. Another memory flashed, and her attention was broken away from the movie. It was Silverstream screaming. She didn’t have a good view of the chaos because the light of the projector blocked her path, but after getting up she saw all the feathers scattered along the floor and in Ocellus’s mouth.

Whatever happened tonight, Smolder didn’t quite understand. All she knew was that she wanted to see Ocellus. Maybe then there would be answers to whatever the fuck was going on.

~•~

“Do you need me with you?” Starlight asked Mr. Black. They stared at the doors leading into the medical wing from across the hall.

“That would kill two birds with one stone, yes.”

Starlight looked up at him, an eyebrow quirked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, once I gather all I need to know, I’ll have to inform them of what’s going on and what’s about to happen. The same goes for you. It’ll be best if you’re present so that I don’t have to repeat information.”

He began walking ahead. Starlight stood there, befuddled. “Excuse me, but you still haven’t explained what’s going on.”

Still walking ahead, Mr. Black called back, “You’re a smart gal from what I’ve gathered. I think you’ve put it together yourself.”

Starlight tried to think about it for a moment. She thought, she thought, and she thought, but no ideas came to her. Her mind was, quite simply, blank.

“I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.” she said, catching up to him.

Mr. Black stopped, Starlight halting directly behind the hippogriff. He turned, and for the first time since she met him, tilted his head down at her. “Hm… that’s right. I suppose you wouldn’t find it to be the most logical of conclusions to jump to. Tell me, Starlight, you’ve seen a lot in your lifetime. Do you believe in the possibility of a possession taking residence within one of your students?”

Starlight froze. She examined Mr. Black’s face, trying to find any hint of a joke. He was one hundred percent serious. The weirdest part about it was… she thought of it as plausible. Part of her couldn’t exactly put the pieces together still. Another part knew exactly what was going on but didn’t quite understand how to handle the facts. The only evidence that Ocellus was possessed was her drastic change in personality… and carnivorous behavior.

Starlight nodded slowly.

“Good,” Mr. Black said. “Now I will tell you this: believe that absolutely everything is possible for the next five minutes. If not, you won’t be able to cope with the facts. You might not believe them at first, but trust me, every single sign points to the fact that you are, without a doubt, also possessed. Once I visit with your students, we can finally put this one nail in the coffin. Then, well, we start away at the next nail.”

Starlight’s mind was blank. What Mr. Black had just said was absurd, but… she thought she was just going insane the last few days. No, how could she be this dumb? It should have been obvious but some stubborn part of her mind blocked it off.

How else could the killer be so difficult to kill when she had it in her sight? Was she really going insane during those hallucinations? How, in one swift turn, did she end up in a cave, when only moments before she was in the School of Friendship?

The weirdest part about tonight wasn’t her students almost getting killed, suddenly ending up in the catacombs beneath the school, or even realizing that she was possessed the whole time. Neither was it the fact that she wasn’t surprised. It was the fact that Mr. Black, your typical Canterlot detective, was able to make such an absurd deduction.

“Are you coming?”

Train of thought broken, Starlight saw that Mr. Black was holding open the door to the medical wing and waiting for her to go inside.

“Oh, yes, sorry.”

As Starlight passed the hippogriff and entered the room, a thought lingered on her mind.

Who are you really, Mr. Black?