More than most, I know the pain of surviving.

One year ago, the world died.

Two hundred thousand dead, in the span of a night. A tragedy to such a degree that I can not speak on it adequately. No amount of platitudes or words I have could still the grief of the world, and for good reason. I think that actions speak louder than words - and so - here stands the memorial to those dead.

The world has forged these walls. These heavy things of marble, inlaid with ornate materials torn from the sky and the ground - transported by those willing, smithed and enchanted by the world itself. And every brick - personally inscribed with the names of those who we will never, ever forget.

But the time for mourning - is over. As the rainbow struck, the world has been irrevocably changed. And that is why I say that the world died - and something new followed in its wake.

This new world - this new Aezilan, cannot be braved by one nation. The rifts in the force of magic itself - we cannot address them alone. I speak not just for the nation of Equestria, but for the Dragonlands, the Lands of Griffonstone, of Panthera, of Istanbull - of all of Aezilan. We - cannot - do this - alone. We must - we must stand together.

I know that there are those of you that hear my words - and while you might agree with the message, there is a rage you feel. A rage that I have acted too slow - that I should’ve been quicker. And to that - I say you are right. It has been too long that Equestria has stood on its own - when it could serve as the base for something greater, the focal point of the whole world - a single united front against the bleedbeasts.

I will repeat that, but more concisely. Know these words - and know that I mean them with every bit of my heart.

Aezilan first.

There is much to be dealt with. Forces, encampments to be amassed - the creatures of the bleed to be dealt with, reparations towards those wounded, both Equestrian and Pantherian in nationality and all those in-between. There is much to do, and not as much time to do it as any of us would like. Now is the time for action.

Hear my words, those of the world. Tonight - the Concord of Concordia shall be signed, and the gates of the City Concordia and the Castle Concordia will be open to the entire world. We will embrace you - rulers, tired, poor, the huddled masses and all those beyond and between.

Tonight, we shall stand together. Not as a city, not as a nation - but as a world.

Aezilan first.

What was once an ephemeral mass of shifting hues - pink and green and blue, swirling like fire, water, magic...now lay as short, pale pink strands that hung down just to her neck. While her ear was a little less close to the ground than she would’ve liked - considering how Ivory Chaser was still recovering - she had heard whispers that the populace of Concordia, of Equestria, believed it to be an act of mourning.

In truth, Celestia had no choice in the matter. It was one of the many wounds she suffered from -

her world shattered with the mountain
there was a rainbow
and she screamed.

...one of the many wounds from The Fall of Canterlot.

To say that Equestria had been crippled would be flat-out deceitful. Celestia’s mane hung limply down to her neck as her eyes shined with a little bit less luster - and each day she awoke with barely enough strength to move the sun. It was as if the sun was somehow wounded, and withholding its strength from Celestia. It was barely within her capability to go through an entire day - and so she lavished in every possible moment of rest.

And yet, Celestia’s wounds still paled in comparison to some. Goldspur hadn’t woken up from his coma yet - while Ivory looked to be more bandages than pony. Steelshy’s body hadn’t been located - and Celestia couldn’t help but weep as she added her name to each and every brick that lined the walls of Concordia.

Of the six fillies - there were variable amounts of progress. Applejack had stayed within Appleloosa while the Concordia Project began - but the second that there was a room for her to stay, she hadn’t left her father’s side for longer than a minute. For the first four months, she didn’t have too much contact with anypony save Celestia and Rarity - until Twilight and Fluttershy joined that list.

Rarity was helping Ivory Chaser with his day-to-day, and even changed his bandages in some of the spots where he was less burnt. Cadence often came by to stay with her for a night, making sure Ivory was alright while she slept.

Fluttershy was quiet. Far, far more quiet than she usually was. While Celestia had offered to take her in - she seemed to prefer staying in her mother’s room, often spending her time alternating between checking up on Rainbow Dash or sitting with Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was still broken. Deeply, deeply so - wounded in a way that Celestia wondered if it could ever be repaired. The sheer amount of physical trauma inflicted to her at such a young age - and while harmony had restored her body to full form, undoing some of transformation the Nightmare had forced her through...it didn’t have the same effect on her mind. With nowhere to go - and considering her history, she was granted a room within the castle under minimal supervision from Celestia.

It was often Rainbow Dash who Luna wept about the most, Celestia noted.

Pinkamena, as Celestia had been able to glean - was kept within Twilight’s room, dormant. She required no food, no air, no water - instead, the girl seemed to be imprisoned in a crystal, crackling with energy as it flickered and blurred in a way slightly reminiscent of Discord’s own movement.

As for Discord - he, along with Frost - seemingly both...disappeared during the Fall. And research into this - Ceresze had been rather fruitless, especially with their limited resources. So far - they had only turned up a name - Cereliaesenea.

And as Celestia walked through the halls of the Castle Concordia, no crown upon her head - musing upon the aftermath of the Fall - there was the filly at the center of it all.

Twilight Indomita Sparkle.

She had initially been thought dead. Her body was limp by the base of Pinkamena’s crystal, next to the other shallowly breathing fillies. There had been a few attempts from the Judicators to retrieve her body - but her vicious protector warded them off after their initial inspection. It had only been Celestia - fur and skin missing in splotches, one of her wings broken - limping, bleeding, and panting - who had been able to cradle her daughter in her forelegs.

Twilight lay dormant for the first two months after the fall. No pulse, no breathing - but Celestia knew that those things were more of a...luxury, rather than a necessity for Twilight. She had been kept in Celestia’s room with only the rarest bits of company. The fillies had all visited, save Rainbow Dash and Pinkamena - while Fluttershy had spent most of her time here. None were allowed past a certain point save Celestia.

Celestia walked into her room, letting out a slight sigh as she inspected the spartan nature of it. While Celestia wasn’t one for excessive decadence...she still did enjoy a bit of luxury. But most of the bubbling cocktail of emotions she felt rise within her were - longing, almost. Once, her room was decorated with artifacts of her accomplishments, her failures - her sister, her friends, her lovers, her family.

She had managed to recover a few of the more durable artifacts, as well as cram a few into her somewhat limited subspace dimension. Unlike Luna, she never really had the talent for such a spell -

But a wistful smile came to her lips as a dragon leapt down from the top of her canopy bed and bit down towards her neck.

Celestia glanced down, rather unamused. She picked up the dragon by his tail - no larger than a house cat. His scales were a shade of perfect violet, only a smidge darker than Twilight’s own coat. A row of slightly brighter spines lined his back, the tips of them shifting into a green shade - but unlike most drakes, he was already fully quadrupedal, his head shaped like an ancient dragon...and had two sets of eyes.

“Hello, Spike.”

Spike responded by gnawing on Celestia’s neck toothlessly, before Celestia tugged just a little bit more and pulled him free. He grinned widely, his four eyes blinking unevenly.

“Are you going to take me to Twilight, now?”

Spike wriggled around before dropping down onto the ground, and rolling onto his back - presenting it up towards the princess almost arrogantly.

“I can assure you that I will rub your belly, once you show me where your sister is.”

Eager at the thought of belly-rubs, Spike crawled along the floor towards a seemingly arbitrary spot of the wall. He stuck his nose down to where the wall met the floor - and squeezed himself flat before he morphed into shadows that slid through the wall.

Celestia pressed her hoof against the wall - and pressed a little harder, before the wall was enveloped in a lavender glow. There was a bright flash - and there, stood Twilight.

The walls were made of dark iron, while the floor was a circle of dark moonstone - then lined with gold, with a central plate of glass underneath Twilight. The filly - or, through the sheer matter of technicality, the teen - was circling the plate of glass as she dragged her hoof along it. There were small fragments of obsidian floating around her as she telekinetically manipulated them with enviable precision to carve away at the object of her attention.

Twilight herself stood about as tall as Applejack had, prior to the fall. She stood in the center of the room - a far cry from the small filly she had once been. The edges of her form seemed to blur, and her coat was impossibly perfect - but her midnight black hooves were speckled with dots of violet light that moved as she moved, and her horn was a curled weapon reminiscent of lich-kings of the past.

“Must you move your room every day, Twilight?” Celestia stepped into the room and kneeled down, absentmindedly rubbing a writhing Spike’s belly. “It would be nice if I always knew how to reach you.”

Twilight didn’t look back at Celestia.

“Y-you could always just say my n-name.” She murmured. Her voice was monotonous - sounding slightly disinterested, almost. Yet, Celestia could feel the majority of Twilight’s attention resting on her. “I could come to you,” she shrugged.

Celestia tutted. “I would like to be able to visit my daughter.”

Twilight turned her head to the side. “...yes. I’ll - r-r...rem...remed…” She shut her eyes. “Remedy the s-situation, soon enough.”

“You’ve made a lot of progress.” Celestia stood and placed a hoof on her back.

“Fluttershy - is...helpful. Words come easier, now. Still - strange, sometimes. Certain words.”

Celestia’s gaze slowly landed on the smooth black orb that Twilight was working on - grooves lined with silvery-blue mithril and small flecks of precious stones spread throughout its surface.

“It’s - the rifts. They’re - annoying me.”

“Are, you by chance, referring to the bleeding force of magic itself as the subject of your annoyance?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded fervently. “It’s - it’s...dumb. And - stupid.”

“I know you well enough to know that you have a rant beginning.” Celestia whisked a cushion from her bed into the room, sitting down as she pulled Spike into her lap. Spike began gumming on Celestia’s chest.

Twilight inhaled deeply. Her horn lit - and it was only then that Celestia realized that the shards had been levitating without Twilight’s magical glow - and her workings began to speed up as she circled the orb.

“The entire universe is founded on a single idea of an arbitrary defined concept that we call magic. A very long time ago, and some indeterminate amount of time, an entity beyond death was killed. But they can't be killed - because they're beyond death. It's a contradiction, an oxymoron - a living paradox that cannot sustain itself. The crude language that the writings of the Deer -"

"You’ve read the writings of the Deer?” Celestia perked up with a hint of worry. Twilight flashed her a look. Celestia held her hooves up apologetically.

“...the crude language that the writings of the Deer use is organic in nature. They describe known reality as a “rotting corpse,” using the idea of leylines like veins and arteries. They look at a single, fixed and determined fact and run wild with it - when it could be replaced with any concept. Like - salt. If I was to say that salt was the product of a dead god, such a claim would be insane. Salt is something produced by natural processes - basic chemistry, undeniable and immutable laws of science. The conventional leyline theory uses magic in lieu of salt - but magic is...it’s more like...chains. Binding magic is most often represented as chains, when chains are hardly the most efficient way of binding something.”

“Conventional logic suggests that locking something in a sealed, indestructible box would be far more efficient than chaining it - but magical chains that curl and snap around prove themselves, time and time and time again to be more effective. The reason - is consciousness. Belief. The reason why chains work is because people believe it will works, and magic bends to fit that. If consciousness at large believed that fire was the best way to heal something, then it would - it’s just how magic works. Magic is consciousness - and there’s no difference between the two. But conventional magic - it’s...ordered, and rigid when consciousness is unrestricted and everfluid. Leyline theory suggests that rigid magic is natural - while...rift theory, I suppose, suggests that rigid magic is an unnatural aberration that exists much in the same way as chains do - consciousness - and that this behavior is expected from such a degree of magically induced harmony.”

And with that, Twilight let out a long exhale.

Celestia stared at Twilight. “...Twilight?”

Twilight stared at Celestia. “Celestia.”

Spike gummed on Celestia. “I have no idea what you just said.”

Twilight shrugged. “I know. It’s just nice to have someone to talk to.”

Celestia smiled slightly. “It would be nice to have a slightly -” She paused. “...dumbed down, explanation, another time. For the time being - you, my little star, need to get dressed.”

“B-but-” Twilight haplessly gestured towards her orb. Celestia just looked at her, until Twilight huffed. “...fine.”

“Good filly.” Celestia leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her head.

“You took it from me.” A mutter.

Thud. Thud.

“My mother.” A murmur.

Thud. THUD.

“My childhood.” A whisper.

THUD. THUD.

“My - fucking life!” A choked whimper.

An echoing snarl rattled around in the inside of a marble room as Rainbow Dash tore open yet another punching bag with a furious punch. It was sent hurtling towards the wall, where it smacked against the marble - cracking the wall and sending a spray of sand out onto the floor.

It wasn’t the first bag. And with little to occupy her mind and her body - no family, no friends - with constant supervision due to her history of violence...it wouldn’t be the last. Rainbow slammed her hooves down into the ground, panting and heaving - wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead even as she started hanging up another one.

Fluttershy cleared her throat.

Rainbow whirled around as her wings snapped open. Her eyes narrowed - before she let out a soft grunt, her wings slowly closing.

“Knock.” Rainbow hissed out.

“I did.” Fluttershy spoke very quietly as she tip-toed her way in, making care not to disturb the sand before she sat down a few feet from Rainbow. “For two minutes.”

“Oh.” She spoke disinterestedly, not waiting a moment before she started stretching - and immediately began pounding into the punching bag.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

“Yes.”

“You know I’m still going to do it anyways.”

“Yes.” Rainbow whispered.

“Do you want to talk, today?” Fluttershy tilted her head to the side. Maybe the hundred and eighty first time would be different.

“No.” Rainbow spun around and bucked the punching bag. It disintegrated from the force of her blow - a spray of sand staining the windows, the two halves of the bag slapping against the accumulated pile of rubble that Rainbow had made.

“Then I’m going to sit here, and I’ll be here if you want to.” Fluttershy whispered. She shut her eyes.

There was a bright flash - and Rainbow Dash whipped her head to the side. Fluttershy wasn’t there - and there was a familiar prickling at the back of her neck. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed slightly - before she let out a huff.

“Good,” she lied.

The room here was cold, and Applejack hated that.

It was the cutting edge of medicine. Sterile and clinical, white and pure - floors of cold marble with the ever-omnipresent scent of antiseptic and other miscellaneous chemicals. Hanging lamps and fixtures of magelight, casting their cold white glow over the halls. To leave here, you would leave with a part of that - sickly cleanliness - grafted to you, sticking to you, staining you.

Worse, yet, was the noise. The faint hum of the magelight everpresent, only interrupted by the occasional chiming of the vitallium crystals. Affixed to a torchère made of gold, the red crystal thrummed as it pulsed out data beyond Applejack’s comprehension. She knew some of the lines that danced along the crystal represented her father’s heartbeat - yet, that was about it.

“I brought you food.”

Applejack jolted. She craned her head around, letting out a soft hff as she saw Rarity, levitating two plates of burgers and fries.

“I thought you don’t like burgers.”

“I’m not entirely partial.” Rarity tutted as she took a seat by Applejack’s side. “But I don’t know how to cook, and you like burgers.”

“Two birds, one stone.” Applejack grunted as she took the plate from the air.

“Have you ever noticed how - barbaric an expression that is? However you look at it, it seems to imply that you’re crushing two birds with a single stone.”

Applejack opened her mouth mid-bite - then with a look from Rarity, promptly swallowed first. “Just a saying. Y’don’t read into them too much.”

“Well, yes - I understand it’s just a saying. But sayings have their origin, and the origins of that one seem rather - cruel.”

“Yeah.” Applejack looked down. “...I guess.”

Rarity turned to look towards the stallion. Goldspur was laying down on his side - looking almost peaceful. It was a far cry from the beaten, bloodied wreck of a stallion that had entered the bed initially.

“Any news?”

“Nope.” Applejack shook her head. “...You?”

Rarity smiled weakly. “Father isn’t going to need the bandages in a few more months. But the scarring - it’s…” She turned to look to the side.

Applejack looked down.

“A-at least, I won’t need to change the bandages anymore. Truly dreadful - all slick with -”

Applejack reached out and placed her hoof on Rarity’s hoof. “They’re gonna get better.” She whispered.

There was silence, for a few moments - before Rarity cleared her throat and stood up.

“Well - come on, then.” Rarity gestured towards the door. “Let’s get on it.”

Applejack looked up at her. “Um...huh?”

“It’s the speech today. Now, I know you don’t like dresses - but I got you a burger, so you have to wear a dress.” Rarity leaned over and grabbed Applejack’s hoof, and began hurrying her out of the room.

“What - n- I didn’t agree to tha-” Applejack stammered.

“Hush!”

“-just a matter of finding the right location - on a global scale there’s bound to be at least one thinpoint - thinpoint? Thickpoint? Contradictory, yet meaning the same thing in this scenario - which should we settle on?”

“Um. Twilight.” Fluttershy murmured.

Spike crawled up Fluttershy’s back, resting on her head. He meowed - an unsettling noise coming from a dragon.

“Oh. I like that - yes, bleed. So, regardless - there has to be a point of bleed somewhere strong enough for - for her.” Twilight wildly gestured towards the floating pink crystal in the center of the room. “It’s-”

“Twilight.” Fluttershy spoke sternly.

Twilight blinked. She slowly turned to look at Fluttershy. “...Oh. You’re here. Y-yes, I wanted to - show you something.”

Fluttershy crossed her arms and didn’t respond.

Twilight looked to the side. “...S-sorry.”

“For?”

“...teleporting you...without asking.” Twilight ground her hoof into the floor.

“I was having a conversation, you know.”

“B-but -”

“No buts, missy.”

Twilight continued pawing at the floor. Spike growled lightly at Fluttershy - but was promptly sated as she picked him up and hugged him, where he then nuzzled into her neck.

“...Okay. You can show me what you want to show me.” Fluttershy said after a moment.

Twilight perked up at the same time Spike did - the only difference being that Spike started gumming on Fluttershy’s neck while Twilight began levitating shards of glass around the room.

“Tell me w-what you remember about the r-rainbow.” Twilight began circling Pinkie’s crystal.

“...um - there were - the three of us, and we were talking to you…”

“Exactly!” Twilight raised a hoof. “Three fillies, one madmare, one monster-”

“You’re not a monster-”

“-besides the point. And the results - a change on the geographical scale - so much concentrated so-called harmonic energy - broken stars with clipped wings, fleeing gods and a screaming shout towards the heavens. Hello, universe! It’s Aezilan.” Twilight was pacing around the room in a series of grooves she had carved for herself even as her tone got progressively more - manic for lack of a better term.

“T-twilight. Um - you’re - doing that thing…” Fluttershy pawed nervously at the ground. She was much better at dealing with Twilight than most other ponies - really, it wasn’t too different from a slightly problematic animal...but even still, her rants were still a bit unnerving.

“Yes. I am doing that thing. We’re - all doing that thing. And she - she’s the connection.” Twilight pointed, then - for lack of a better term - unpointed and pointed again at the crystal, fixated in the center of the room. “It’s - the six of us. Connected by one unifying magical force, hinged on her - on you, on them, on me. And she’s here, flickering back and forth through time - pained, tortured.”

“Twilight. You’re scaring me.” Fluttershy whispered. Spike nuzzled closer to her.

Twilight shook her head. “Fluttershy -” She walked over and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“We can fix her.”

The first voice was small. A weak, pale reflection of the brave warrior she once was - the syllables trembling in tandem with her shaking limbs, even as she slowly fixed her sister’s hair. “Are you ready?”

The second voice was fake. A thin porcelain mask riddled with cracks - hair limp by her shoulders, every inch of her power used to keep herself from falling apart. “No.”

The mountain stood every bit as proud as Olympus once had. It was not the Canterhorn - for the Canterhorn had been utterly obliterated in the wake of the rainbow. The sheer presence of harmonic magic shooting straight into the land hadn’t been without any effect though.

The land itself had changed. The borders of the Everfree were pushed back, allowing bits of Ponyville to be reclaimed from the once ever-creeping forest. A new mountain had torn itself out of the ground - surrounded by a small “crown” of mountains - earning it the name the Cantercrown.

And in the wake of the death of 200,000 - of which half had been Equestrian - so came the Concord of Concordia.

Celestia’s wings spread as she descended from the castle, nested into the side of the Cantercrown. The sun was high in the sky, the rays seeming to strike her as her shadow cast itself over the amassed crowd - hundreds of thousands of faceless beings, not Equestrians - but Aezilians. An entire dragonflight perched on the side of the mountain and on its walls - overlooking like stone gargoyles. The carriages of the deer - the personal guard of the griffons, the technologically enhanced chariot of the Minotaurs - all expected.

The closest thing she had to a family was already at her destination. Lady Beollyssurth’s gargantuan form was perched on the side of the mountain, claws digging into its side and her head poking out around to rest by its front. The Lady Thaola stood by Lord Hermes and Lord Zarart - talking softly with the others.

The enigmatic panthers had sent a sleek albino panther that held herself low to the ground and bare of possessions, as if she was ready to pounce at a moment's notice. The moose had sent perhaps the largest equine that Celestia had ever seen - towering a head taller than even the gargantuan Frost, making all others look small in comparison to him. Ornately decorated, yet notably unaccompanied.

It had been a long time since Celestia had the pleasure - or displeasure, depending on the conversation - to speak with the Lord Utan. The zebra lord was a truly beautiful mare, beautifully adorned with piercings and tattoos that curled around her body. Yet, the dark stripes on her fur seemed so dark - that perhaps if you were to only see the Lord Utan, you would surely say that zebras are black with white stripes. And Celestia knew why those stripes were so dark.

There was one that Celestia was very surprised to see. The clouds seemingly swirling around him, crackling and rumbling with thunder as he inspected a storm-cloud that was dancing around in the center of his hand - the Speaker of the Quetzalcoatl, Kadir.

His long body coiled around itself, his draconic head shifting into a body of feathers - four arms and two small legs...yes, the Quetzalcoatl were a dead race - hunted to nigh-extinction by the paranoid in the wake of the Discordian era, as all quetzal bare more than a passing resemblance to him.

Celestia shut her eyes and let out a deep sigh as she steeled herself.

It was little surprise that most of the rulers she had extended an invitation to hadn’t arrived - the Seaponies, Bugbears, Wolves, Yaks, Rams, Hippogriff, Naga, Changelings, Abyssinians, the Fae…

But even still - she was sure the next words that came from her lips would reach their ears. And so - she would have to choose them carefully.

She cleared her throat yet again as her horn lit - and her voice was cast over the mountain over the Cantercrown -

“One year ago, the world died.”

“Aezilan first,” Twilight murmured to herself as she helped Celestia take off her regalia.

“Are you saying you disagree?”

“No.” She shrugged. “I just thought it was a nice line.”

“...Thank you. You know, Luna helped me with it.” Celestia let out a soft hum as she stood up, slowly tossing her mane back.

Twilight was still.

“She is my sister, Twilight. And I love her more than I love the stars themselves - I love her every bit as much as I love you.”

“She hurt you.”

“Yes, I suppose she did. When driven mad by forces beyond her comprehension.”

“It’s still - her. Within her ability. Her capability.”

Celestia nodded. “You know, Beollyssurth said the very same thing about you.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side.

“That I should kill you. That you could destroy the world - that such a thing is within your capability.”

“Oh. I suppose it is.” Twilight looked down. Across the room, Spike let out a low growl - then fell silent as Twilight flashed him a look.

“I believe that most people, when pushed to an extreme - have an equally extreme capability. To judge them off what they could do would be an inaccuracy. And I just know you love accuracy.”

“...well, in a scientific sense, but that’s not really-”

Celestia let out a rather mirthful giggle. “It was a joke, my little star.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh. That - makes sense.”

“The point is - that you cannot avoid Luna forever. She is your aunt - my sister, my best friend. Would you visit her - for me?”

Twilight turned her head to the side. “You’re playing the for me card.”

Celestia nodded. “I am. Have you any retaliation? I should warn you, I’ve been practicing against puppy-eyes.” She glanced at Spike - who was currently gnawing on his own tail while rolling around over Celestia’s bed.

“...only if I get to speak to Be...Beolly-”

“You can call her Beo, Twilight.” Celestia scratched behind her ears. “She’s your godmother, after all.”

“I thought that was Cadence.”

“You can have two.” Celestia shrugged. “Those terms are agreeable - but can I ask why?”

Twilight shrugged. “Spike wanted to.”

Celestia nodded slowly - and after a moment, decided it was better not to ask.

“Goodnight, Twilight.” Celestia leaned in and planted a soft kiss underneath her horn.

“Goodnight, Celestia-” And even as the words left her lips, she could feel the world shifting underneath her as Celestia faded away into nothingness. The world faded away into nothing - and Twilight stood in an abyss. Alone - not even Spike’s presence gnawing at the back of her skull, or the faint tug she could feel towards those other fillies.

And as Twilight looked around - she could see nothing. No magic, no bleed, no - anything. And for the first time in Twilight’s life - her heart raced with fear.

A voice as sickeningly smooth as velvet crawled up her neck and washed into her ears.

“Hello, Twilight Sparkle.”

The creature that stood behind her was evershifting. A deer, a minotaur, a pony and a thousand other creatures all at the same time - and Twilight found herself transfixed as she watched its very soul shift shape in tandem with its form - until it settled on a wolf.

And so, the red-eyed skeleton extended a paw towards her.

“My name is Antaicus. Would you like to have a conversation?”

-

Author's Note

Behold! A discord server!

The beginning of the second line.