The desecrated husk of Buck was later found behind the counter at Sugar Cube Corner. To be fair, that was a pretty typical Sunday. Sundays were always top-heavy on customers, and now that it was close to 5 pm, things had slowed to a comfortable crawl. This was just as well because Buck didn't really have the energy to fake enthusiasm today.

Ditzy Doo wasn't in, so Mr. Cake was filling in for deliveries. Buck hadn't seen much of the man this month, mostly because he was more on the financial side of the business than the counter.

It was a gloomy day, one where the clouds did nothing but make the glare worse, and Buck had done his best for the random customers during the morning bit, then gradually slid into the mind frame of a dog that was getting pet too hard. He was frustrated at the attention and about ready to bite at any moment.

Scoots had been just about as fed up as Buck. They hadn't really talked about it, but Buck assumed the attention she was getting for the news story was a lot more obnoxious and potentially dangerous. He was glad she carried a pocket knife.

Buck had to make his face up a little bit to cover the shine on his nose and the streaks on his cheeks. He'd been crying too much to ever really get rid of the redness in his eyes. That was alright, he supposed. People would probably just think he was high. That was better than the real reason.

It was only a role. That's all. It was just a job, and you don't have to do it again. You got the money. You're fine.

Buck did everything he could to keep those thoughts out, which meant trying to hyper-focus on minuscule busy work so he could at least save his self-loathing for when he got home. No need to bother Scoots about this.

At the moment, he was alone, detailing the counter after the trickle of customers through the shift had dried up. It had been the usual cavalcade of instagram dickheads taking pictures, office workers whose sanity was hanging on the same thread as Buck's, and the occasional girl who pretended that she didn't recognize him.

"Are you the guy from the video? With the axe and the tentacles?" Said a high, sorta vaguely northern accent from under a pair of blue horn-rimmed glasses.

"We literally went to the same high school, Silver Spoon. Why you actin' like you don't know me? It's Buck."

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"I helped you get through the Great Gatsby, for your English Class. Sweetie Belle asked me to. Remember?"

"...no, I don't think so."

"I was workin' Sweet Apple Acres when you guys did that stuff for the zap apple jam? Friend of the apple family? Friend of Scoots, and Sweetie Bell, sorta?"

"Uh...no, I don't recall."

"...I cleaned your pool for like a month. Yellow trunks. Remember that thing with Spoiled Rich?" Buck sighed.

"Oh, hey Buck!"

"God damn it." Buck mumbled. "Can I get you anything?"

"Oh, um, a little bottle of apple juice, I guess. I didn't actually come here to see you." Silver Spoon said. Buck could not help but notice that she had grown into a radiant woman since he'd last seen her. Her hair was in a pair of twin braids, and she had settled gracefully into the sort of chubbiness that often comes with post-grad studies, a reasonable diet, and little in the way of exercise. This was a sharp contrast to the stringy little satellite that he remembered hovering around Diamond Tiara back in the day.

"You don't say." Buck said. Silver Spoon swiped a platinum-colored card.

"I wanted to ask Scootaloo if she's alright. She's been looking pretty upset lately."

"Really?"

"Yes. I was going to offer her a free consultation."

"'Scuse me?"

"Buck, I'm working toward my masters in psychology. I'm a practicing therapist." Buck might have thrown his head back and laughed about five years ago. Today, he registered surprise from wherever his consciousness was floating; somewhere in low orbit, he figured.

"No kiddin'? Congrats for that. And, uh, good luck, I guess. I know anthropology can be a hell climb in school; my Mom used to talk about it." Buck yawned, taking a little business card that Silver Spoon had passed to him.

"...Have you been getting sleep?"

"...no."

"Well, you should try it some time."

"Uh-huh. Scoots is in the restroom right now, but it's fine if you hang around and wait for her." Buck said.

"No, seriously, you look like you're falling apart. If it's not too rude, can I ask what's the matter? Was it the tentacles?" Buck looked around, then listened around. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were having an urgent conversation in the kitchen. He winced as he heard his name whispered.

"My whole life has been turned upside down. If I'm bein' honest, I'm being held together with coffee and anxiety and I don't see that changin' anytime soon. As a bonus, I've also got girl trouble." Buck deadpanned. He wondered if Silver Spoon could see the bags under his eyes deepening.

"Oh, well if it's a relationship problem, you should talk to my sister." Silver Spoon said, with a thin smile. Buck flipped the card and was hit with a frantic shock as the implication settled in.

"...Sugarcoat is a couple's counselor? That sounds hilarious, for a few different reasons." He chuckled, bitterly. Buck was very certain that Sugarcoat hated him for something he didn't remember doing. This was a shame because he actually liked her quite a bit when he was in high school.

"She's really, very good at it, actually." Silver Spoon said, without a hint of irony. Must've run in the family.

"I'm just going to assume that you guys are too expensive for my tax bracket."

"Buck, you're a friend of Scootaloo, and Sugarcoat knows you. We can figure something out." Silver Spoon said, a softness sliding into her voice.

"You mean that?"

"I remember you smiling more. I bet you that with the right tools and directions, you can start smiling again." Silver Spoon said. There was a dryness to it that Buck deeply appreciated.

"Thank you, Silver Spoon."

"Don't mention it." She checked her phone. "I have to go, but tell Scootaloo to call me." Silver Spoon said.

"Did you give her that twenty bucks?" Silver Spoon's blushing face scuttled away. The door dinged.

A few minutes later, Scootaloo emerged from the back. By then the conversation in the kitchen had ended.

"What're they sayin' about me, Scoots?" Buck whispered.

"It's not good." Scoots said. "Mrs. Cake is convinced that you drove Ditzy away. She wants to fire you."

"Right, I've been on thin ice, but they don't have nobody to replace me, so I'm probably fine."

"They said the name Norman."

"No way." Buck said. Scoots nodded gravely. It would be just his luck to lose his job right after shattering his self-esteem for a tidy profit. He could coast on it for a little while at least. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be jobless, this time. He could pull on some old contacts and look around for some other gig. It would be like a little vacation, except at the end of it, he would get evicted.

"Buck, this is bad. What did you say to Ditzy?"

"I told her the truth, Scoots, what do you think!?" He was whisper yelling now.

"What are you gonna do, Buck!?"

"I dunno, I dunno!"

"Buck? Could I see you in my office?" It was the comforting, nasally voice of the man of the house. The gloom from outside dropped into Buck's stomach.

"Time to walk to the gallows, I guess." Buck murmured. He put a hand on Scoots' shoulder. He would apologize to her later. She took his hand for just a second and gave him her best approximation of a smile. He noticed then that Scoots looked pretty damn exhausted too. We all are, he thought. We all are.

"Buck, do you know why I called you in here?" Why do bosses always say that before they give bad news, Buck thought. This speech usually came after dropping an order or taking too long in the bathroom or failing to degrade yourself in front of an especially entitled customer. It was either an honest mistake or something that was inflicted on you, the employee, because no one who ever did anything really serious and also intentional would stick around to get sacked. They'd just leave.

"Buck? Did you hear me?"

"No, I don't actually know what I'm doing here." The truest words Buck had spoken all week.

The office was the Cake's cozy little living room. It was a space that Buck was comfortably familiar with, a nostalgic one.

"Well, Buck, Ditzy Doo has called out sick today. When asked why, she cited stress. In her call, she said that she needed to stay away from, well, You. She said you didn't do anything, but she can't be around you. Cup Cake is...she's worried you might have done something to her." Blind fury made Buck jerk into an upright posture. His heart hurt. He took a moment.

After looking around the floor in his mind, he found his Mother's wisdom. No man has ever looked good by responding to allegations with anger.

"No, I didn't do anything to Ditzy Doo. There was some bad news, that's all."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that. Was it bad news for her?"

In all the time that Buck had been around Mr. Cake, he'd barely known the man. That is to say, he kind of treated Mr. Cake like he was Pinkie's protective father. A gently patriarchal presence that seemed to prioritize staying out of the way. He didn't owe the man anything, and Mr. Cake hadn't made it seem like it when he hired Buck. He had never nagged at him or lectured him like Mrs. Cake. He'd always treated Buck like a member of the team. Buck had a feeling that Mr. Cake was in his corner against Mrs. Cake, but something had shifted. Buck had done something that really threw off the team. And it would be better to replace himself than Ditzy Doo. All of that intention seemed to sit in the empty space after Mr. Cake's words.

"Mostly for me. But really, for both of us."

"Uh-huh. Okay."

"Are you about to fire me?" Buck just got on with it. He was sick of suspense.

"Well. Let's...uh, let's go over what happened."

"Alright. Ditzy Doo came over, and I had to tell her something that's really put a strain on our relationship. She had a freak out, which was fair." Buck said. He wanted so badly to just lay down and have a bit of sleep. Just curl up right here on the couch.

"You didn't touch her, and you didn't yell?"

"No sir." Mr. Cake gave a big sigh.

"Okay. Buck, listen to me. I believe you, but we need to hear from Ditzy. Cuppy is talking to her on the phone right now."

"...Did you guys call the cops on me?"

"No, Buck. We just wanted to hear what happened from both sides. You're shaking. Are you alright, son?"

"No, Mr. Cake. I'm exhausted."

"Is it about what happened on the news? The octopus thing and that Adagio Dazzle? Is that why you're all, uh, despondent?"

"Oh, right, everybody knows about that."

Despondency was like a busted-up cabin in a winter wood. That is to say, you could sit in despondency, but you could see that the floor was dirty and the chimney was broken and the chill would very probably kill you, but it was comforting in its own way, and at least while you were sitting, your feet weren't as sore. Despondency was a sort of comfort, in other words, but the problem was that Buck was not sitting in that cabin. He was still wandering through the woods between the cabin and the car crash.

"Man, my feet hurt." Buck mumbled.

"Well, heck, Buck! Pinkie used to go on magical adventures all the time! We don't think any different of you because of that!" Buck saw the sure smile on Mr. Cake's face and felt himself on the verge of tears.

"Mr. Cake, what are you supposed to do when you get the worst news in the world? News that you know is going to taint everything and screw so hard with your life that nothing will ever be like it was before? And you've been wronged, and the person you're supposed to go to for comfort is gone and you're just..."

"Buckling under the weight?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Buck, I've been where you are." Mr. Cake said.

"How? How could you possibly?"

"Do you honestly think I never noticed that my kids look nothing like me?" A tea kettle boiled. Mr. Cake got up, then came back with a porcelain teapot and some mugs. Two steaming mugs now sat before the two men, with a sugar bowl between them. Mr. Cake dropped a few cubes into his.

"Sir, I never meant to remind you of that." Buck flinched as Mr. Cake patted him firmly on the shoulder.

"Buck, it's alright. I guess I'm uh...uniquely qualified for this talk. Look, I was wronged, too. By the woman I love the most in the world. I received some bad news and suddenly, everything fell apart, and I was the one that had to pick up the pieces. You feel wronged and you feel abandoned, and it hurts, but she is terrified that your whole relationship is over. That's her whole happiness, gone because she made a mistake. She is terrified that she can't face you. She needs you, and you need her, trust me, I know, but nothing can change until you decide what you're willing to do and what you're willing to take for the sake of your love. It won't be easy. For me, all I had to do was forgive my wife for a night of fun that went too far. Your situation is, uh, complicated." Mr. Cake said. There was a jingle like an ice cream truck. He looked at his phone and nodded.

"Boy is it." Buck said. He sweetened his tea and took a sip. It was a fruity, herbal sorta thing. The way he liked it.

"But I know the kind of man you are. I've watched you grow, just like I did with Pinkie. You're not mad because you were wronged."

"I'm mad because I want her back, anyway." Mr. Cake patted Buck's shoulder. Buck missed his father. "What should I do?"

"Oh, just wait. She'll come to you. She knows you're worth it."

"...okay. Which...uh...which one are we talking about?" Buck said. Mr. Cake held a smile that Buck hadn't ever seen on him before.

"Go home. You need to rest, son."

"What about Ditzy?"

"Cuppy just got off the phone. You're off the hook, Buck." Buck felt relief lighten his step for a moment. Then he remembered that he was going home, to be alone.

"Thank you, sir. I promise I'll be rested when I come back."

Adagio had finally found Home, again. The pressing coldness filled her with a solitary glee. There was no heat to stir the waters, there was only the drifting song of solitude. Adagio had missed the feeling of peace. She felt the resistance against her fins. She tried to hum a sweet and lonesome tune, but it died in her throat.

Her eyes shot open. Something was tugging on her tail fin. She knew the little fry, with the pearly skin and the purple fins. It was Novo; finally come to visit after so long. Her eyes were wide. She was saying something, but Adagio couldn't hear.

Below them, something shined so brightly that Adagio could barely stand it. Who would bring light to this dark and peaceful realm?

The lights swirled and shifted and sang. It was Adagio's own voice. Novo's lips were moving frantically. Tears bubbled from the corners of her eyes and floated away into nothingness. Adagio took the young fry in her arms to offer her comfort, but Novo's little fins batted at her chest in panic. Then they melted and bled into hooves. Novo's mouth dropped open in a silent scream. The song called far below. Shapes swam in the abyss. Novo shudderd with seizure. Her eyes began to glow red.

It was then that Adagio began to weep. Her hooves--her hands pushed Novo away. Beyond them, the young fry twisted into a disaster. It was lost somewhere in the profane spectrum between horse and fish. Adagio screamed.

Far below, the abyss chittered and laughed.

"Please...I'm sorry!" Adagio's voice came from everywhere and nowhere, and deep within the deafening song that was glowing below. They were coming. Novo tore and bled and dissolved into the nothing of Home. As her blinking eyes and gnashing fangs disappeared, her silence shattered into a shrill screech of agony before cutting off abruptly.

Adagio was surrounded. They were everywhere, like tiny mirrors, or raindrops, or piranhas. It was her, and it wasn't.

Adagio's own young face was all around, on tiny little, beautiful, clever yellow fry bodies.

Beyond Adagio's curly orange hair, she saw her own red eyes in a swarm.

Below her shapely hips, her rows of dagger teeth.

Everywhere around her was hunger and thirst.

"No, please, I can't do this!"

She swam up, but her frail human legs were no match for her swift fins. She looked behind. The cherubs were mashing together, biting and twisting until they formed a replica of her true forms' toothy maw. The jaws opened, above and below her.

"WHO DO YOU THINK KILLED YOUR MOTHER!?" Sang Home.

The jaws closed.

The world was about to fall apart. The dorm was filled with the sounds of fingers hammering across a keyboard.

In a way, Sunburst was used to this. He'd been friends with Buck for who the hell knew how long at this point, and whenever Buck got really burnt, he would retreat to his room and stew in it for a while. Buck had to turn things over in his head several times; that's just the way he processed things, and he would eventually need someone to be a sounding board when he was ready to articulate his feelings. As long as Buck was alone, no one else was in danger. Sunburst would be there when the time came.

This was different. Starlight was different, and Sunburst knew it. Whereas Buck would always eventually want to talk things through, when Starlight couldn't solve a problem right away, she would just move on to the next one and pretend that nothing was wrong.

Starlight had messed things up this time, but there was more to it. Starlight and Sunburst were a team, and so when one failed, the other did as well.

Boy, had they failed on Saturday.

Their mission was the same as always; contain any aberrations and minimize casualties. It was usually a simple, slow job; like being a mall security guard. A lot of false flags with some rare bits of action in between.

Since the Rainbooms weren't in town anymore, magical weirdness was at an all-time low.

That was, until just recently.

Now they were facing something wholly unpredictable, something that needed to be handled with care and delicacy, and Starlight had lost both of those virtues for just long enough to mess it up.

The coffee machine in the kitchen bubbled quietly, sitting at the ready.

"It was exciting at first. What the hell happened to us?" Sunburst muttered.

Sunbursts' tapping at the keys crawled to a dead halt. His mouse clicked twice. The document closed. It was a file titled 'Unified Magical Geometry Draft 4'. It was to be his thesis. Sunburst was sure that it would change the world. And naturally, he couldn't focus on it.

Sunburst slumped in his chair.

Compared to the one in Buck's apartment, the arrangement of items on Sunbursts' desk looked like it belonged on a magazine for office supplies, or maybe a museum brochure. The desk itself was a finely grained, well-carved bit of oak that he and Buck had hauled into Tenpony Towers' elevator after a fun day of antiquing. It had a drawer with a lock on it.

On it was his far too expensive dual monitor setup, and beneath was a lazy juggernaut of a computer tower that was largely host to several solid-state drives' worth in historical documents, esoteric textbooks, and a frankly embarrassing amount of .MOV files that Buck had 'acquired' for him on request. There was a mug that said 'Dungeon Dad' on it; Sunbursts' absolute favorite, which had come courtesy of Scoots, and below it a variety of charts and graphs that he had labored on previously, which were now protecting the desks' surface from coffee stains. There was a shelf built into the desk, filled with books on statistics and world mythology and cryptids and history and thermodynamics. He kept the essentials right where he needed them.

There was a large glass canister filled with water atop the bookshelf. A profane tentacle floated in there; mostly motionless.

Everything was in its place, and for once, this didn't comfort Sunburst at all.

The clock ticked heavily and morosely up on the wall. It was also an old wooden thing that Sunburst had found thrifting, but it had been his mother that bought it. He hated the damn thing, but it reminded him of a valuable lesson.

"A gift well meant is better than a shiny, thoughtless bauble." He recited. Sunburst hadn't spent much time with his father after the divorce, but this was a mantra that his mother had apparently taken from the old man to wield in his absence. Every time Sunburst was given something he didn't necessarily want, his mother would wave that platitude in his face to get him to shut up.

She had said that when she'd given him any number of annotated lists which she swore were essential to his success, and she'd said it when she gave him his first car at 17 before he could even drive and she'd said it when she gave him his first piece of rental property to manage.

Sunburst believed that even if the gift was wrong if someone meant well, it was the core of the action that really mattered.

Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out why the love of his life had broken her own rules on Saturday. Was it an unwanted gift to Buck? Or maybe a cathartic present to herself? Adagio's scowl was barely restrained, as was the near smile on Starlight's face once she finished her tirade.

A familiar groan slipped under the door of the study room.

Sunburst scratched his head perhaps a little too long. His forehead touched the surface of the desk before he rose out of his shrimp pose. He limply pushed aside the rolling chalkboard he had set up in front of the windows and peeled the curtain back. There was a potted philodendron on the windowsil. The sky was dark and cloudy. A thin layer of misting spray fell over Canterlot.

The calendar said it was Sunday.

It had been an entire week, and she hadn't said a word to him.

Sunburst heard the wincing slap of a book roughly shut. Feet dragging along the carpet, then a quiet thump.

Floor time, then. It was floor time for Starlight. Sunburst stepped away.

By now it only took Sunburst a few seconds to fill a mug that he had painted with clouds and box kites back in third grade. It was Starlight's favorite. A splash of cream. A marshmallow floating in it.

Sunburst placed it wordlessly on the coffee table next to where the love of his life was face down, spread eagle on the floor. He felt his mother's specter looming behind his back.

Finally decided to come out of your cave?

"Any progress on the mothman case?" Sunburst said. It was a fair attempt at jocular normalcy. Starlight said nothing. She rolled over, limply grabbed the steaming mug and took a few dainty sips, then returned to her face-down position on the floor.

Are you done giving me the silent treatment, Sunbursts' mother said.

"Okay." Sunburst said instead.

It had never been this bad before. Starlight was usually stressed, and sometimes, when things got just a bit too difficult, she'd go non-verbal and just put her nose to the grindstone. It made it very difficult for Sunburst to be half of their partnership.

"It's almost 10:30. You missed your nap. Do you want me to get you anything? I could play some music?" Sunburst said. His mother's specter squinted. Stop wasting time and just talk to me! You aren't in trouble! Why are you shuddering?

"I was going to do mushroom risotto for dinner tonight. Is that okay with you?" Sunburst said.

Are you being quiet because you're mad? Or did you just run out of excuses? Said the harsh, matronly voice in his head. Starlight didn't seem to have an answer. A shrill buzz blared from around a corner.

If you're going to be so immature about it, there's no need to talk, then. Said his mother.

Sunburst shook his head and walked around Starlight. When he returned, she had curled up into a fetal position, laying on her side. This was an old staple of his that he saved for emergencies. He had quietly placed a weighted blanket in the dryer, and now that it was warm and toasty, he gingerly placed it over Starlight. She let out a sound sort of like a sigh and sort of like a murmur and held the blanket around her shoulders. She was still staring off into whatever mysteries lay hiding in the opposite wall.

Sunbursts' mother crossed her arms as Sunburst sat on the floor beside his girlfriend.

I can see that you're down, but I'm not going to crawl into the pit with you. I will help you climb out, but I will not sit with you in your misery.

"Hey, did you remember to water Phyllis today?" Sunburst said. The indistinct shape beneath the heated blanket shuffled in a way that Sunburst thought was an affirmative.

You're already grown up. Get off the floor and do something, Sunbursts' mother whispered.

"Starlight? Are you in any mood to be touched?"

The blanketed blob nodded. Sunburst laid down and wrapped an arm around her. Starlight Glimmer shook beneath the warmth of the blanket and the comfort of Sunbursts' arms, and then a hollow sob limped through the silence of the suite. The distant scorn of Sunbursts' mother evaporated.

"I messed up, didn't I?" Came the quavering voice.

"Yes." Said Sunburst.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Yes." Sunburst rubbed Starlight's back through the blanket.

"I've ruined everything." Starlight wept.

"No, Starlight, you didn't. You didn't listen to Buck, and you didn't listen to me and you didn't even listen to your own advice. You lost your temper, and you've made a mess, but it's okay because we're going to clean it up together.

"I'm sorry!" Starlight said, desperately.

"I know you are. We don't have to fix it right now. There's more pressing matters, aren't there?"

"I don't know what to do first! They're going to call us and ask why I messed things up! I haven't caught the thing that's out there snatching people up and I made things worse with Adagio and Buck won't talk to anyone! How am I still the worst at this stuff!? I can't do it alone! When am I going to learn, Sunburst!?"

"You're not alone." Sunburst said. He tugged gently at the blanket, and when she lowered it, he nuzzled his forehead into the back of her head. "Buck is hurt, but he also isn't going anywhere. You said you haven't seen any activity near Adagio's suite; she's probably sulking right now. That means the most pressing thing..." Sunburst offered.

"Is covering our asses. I need to go and deal with whatever has been kidnapping people from downtown, before we get told that someone else has been sent to handle it." Starlight sniffled.

"Weren't we supposed to hear from someone about a little backup?"

"More like they wanted to check in on us in person. They don't trust us. There hasn't been a call, or anything, so I guess that was just an empty threat."

"They're worried that we're in bigger danger than ever. In a way, they're right." Sunburst said. Starlight sat up, back against the couch. Sunburst followed, never letting her get out of his arms.

"Because of me." Starlight sobbed.

"Why did you do it, Starlight? Why did you tell Buck so soon? I know you weren't trying to hurt him."

"Did you see the way she looked at me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Adagio gets off on winning. You can see it every time she and Buck talk, because she's always pushing on him. She's grooming him; we know that, but I just...she was going to take him home and he would have filled her up with energy without even thinking about it. She had him around her little finger and I could not STAND the smile on her face as she yanked on his leash. You know why I did it, Sunburst."

"So you lost your temper."

"I was tired of letting her get away with it! I can't stand sitting around doing nothing while your friend is getting pulled into a nightmare scenario!"

"Oh, so you care about him a little."

"He's just a guy, Sunburst! He never wanted to be a part of all of this, and now his whole life is all fucked up! He's being...she's manipulating him into loving her, doing whatever she says. You know I can't just let that happen! Not after everything I've been through." Starlight said, into her knees.

"The leg?"

"YOU KNOW IT'S NOT THE DAMNED LEG, SUNBURST!" Starlight shrieked. She started to push him away, then instead wept into his shoulder. He hadn't flinched.

"We don't have to talk about Fillydelphia until you're ready." Sunburst said, stroking Starlight's back. That city was an old, covered wound, waiting and festering in the dark of Starlight's mind.

The clock ticked. Sunburst rubbed Starlight's shoulder until her breathing eventually evened out.

"I need to go make that risotto."

"I'd rather have shrimp over it than mushrooms."

"I can grab some shrimp down at the docks tomorrow, or maybe the corner store has some frozen in bags." Sunburst said. Starlight held on tight, anchoring him to the spot.

"Mushroom is okay. I was just saying for later on." Starlight said, nervously.

"Okay. Here's my first plan for the night; I'll cook the food, we eat, then we go out on the trail. We're going to figure this out, Starlight. It's what we do best. The question is how, is all."

"You're still mad at me."

"Yes. Can I get under there, Starlight?" Sunburst said. He tried to keep an even tone. It was cold in the suite, and so the toasty pocket dimension under the blanket with Starlight was perfect. Starlight slid an arm around Sunbursts' shoulders and laid her head against his. Sunburst pulled the blanket shut around them.

"I think you were right. I do think we need to teach him magic, but he isn't going to trust you, Starlight."

"What do you mean?"

"Buck has...problems with authority, and you've done a lot of talking down to him. Why would he want to listen to you?"

"Because he wants to live." Starlight seethed.

"Can you try being nice to my best friend?"

"He's naive."

"No, he's not. He's been kicked around more than either of us." Sunburst said. Starlight took a sharp breath, then. Sunbursts stroked her leg.

"I don't believe that."

"Maybe the two of you should compare scars, some time. Then you can find out. The point is, he tried really hard to open up for Adagio. It wasn't like him at all. He's been hurt too much. But he did anyway, because he felt so strongly. He's been terrified this whole time;' he told me as much when we were grocery shopping. Now, what do you call it when someone does something even though they're afraid to?"

"In this case? Stupidity. Don't talk down to me, Sunburst."

"I think it's bravery."

"You're wrong."

"Well, I think you're wrong." Sunburst said. The two smiled at each other. Something in the air settled. Suddenly, as they looked into each other's eyes, the room grew cozied and comfortable.

The kiss was slow and firm. Starlight's face turned red. Her hand awkwardly hovered until Sunburst cupped it in his. Starlight pulled away. Finally, she was smiling, but there was mostly concern in her eyes.

"I need your help with the Mothman case."

"Oh? Do tell." Sunburst said.

"I hate it when you get sarcastic."

"Is that so?" Sunburst dared to kiss her cheek. His smile grew a bit goofier. Now she wouldn't look at him because she knew that she would laugh.

"Following the trail has been really hard, and I'm running out of sensing talismans. The aura is scattering and full of holes. It splinters and criss-crosses all over downtown."

"Backtracking?"

"I think so. This thing is smart; it's going in circles and zig zags, making it extremely hard to follow. I can't get a bead on it."

"You said it's downtown, mostly?"

"That's where most of the lines cross. It's on to us, Sunburst. It's trying to not get caught, so it can't be just a normal magical animal."

"What makes you say that?"

"Its most recent trail was on the Boardwalk." Starlight said. Sunburst stiffened.

"Has it come here?"

"No."

"I swear, that sickly aura sounds familiar. What did it ping as on the talisman? What color?"

"...green." Starlight admitted.

"Green? Well, why didn't you say so? There's only a few things that can be, right?" Sunburst said, suddenly standing. Starlight held his wrist.

"I already know what it is, Sunburst. That's why this is so hard. How are we supposed to track a changeling? Do you know anything about them?"

"Let's look at the book. Come on." Sunburst said. He pulled Starlight to her feet. His other hand held a key, and as that key slid into the locked drawer at the bottom of Sunbursts' desk, the world started to finally slide back into place.

There was the slightest creak as the weighty tome sat. It was bound in soft, unidentifiable wood, and carved in a looping font were the words; "The Unabridged Guide to Magical Creatures." Two designs were carved beneath the words. A trio of butterflies and a jagged star. A guide written with kindness and magic.

Sunburst's finger sped through the table of contents and having found its mark, Sunburst flipped and searched with the speed of a diving falcon until his finger landed on the page and passage he needed.

"It says that tracking changelings is impossible." Starlight grumbled. "The first thing that they're taught is how to evade capture in a million ways."

"However, catching them is not. It is recommended that you procure a tasty treat to offer, as they tend to have a strong taste for sweets, much like ponies." Sunburst narrated.

"Well, that tells us exactly nothing helpful."

"It goes on to say 'for ages, the theft of love energy was central to changeling culture, and some may find that old habits die hard, even generations down the line. This does not mean that one should assume that a changeling that follows them is up to no good. They have a bit of a predator instinct that will compel them to pursue things that even slightly catch their interest with great fervor.'"

"Oh, that sounds familiar." Starlight said. Sunburst had sat, and now Starlight was behind him, the blanket around them both, her arms draped around his shoulders.

"However, befriending a changeling is remarkably simple. The primary love language of their culture is gift giving, and so all one need do is leave something they would like just sitting around. The changeling will come, and then you can introduce yourself.'"

"Bait?"

"The best way to track a beast is to know where it's going. Didn't you say that to me?"

"That was different. That was a swarm of parasprites, that time."

"Yes. And we managed to catch them before they could cause much damage because you figured out they would target a food source first. The farm, remember?"

"That was a mess."

"Well, I mean, the farm was fine. We were the mess." Sunburst laughed. Starlight gave a shy chuckle.

"So we need to figure out what it wants."

"And we're sure that the changeling is what's kidnapping people?"

"Pretty sure. It's not Adagio that's doing it."

"You checked?"

"Twice."

"Of course. Well, let's put ourselves in its shoes. I'm a changeling that came through a rift from equestria. I'm kind of like a locust, but for emotions. A bit like Adagio, but probably smaller, weaker, and I can hide in plain sight."

"Adagio is more like a mosquito. Or a lamprey." Starlight snarked.

"Don't be mean. If I'm a changeling, I'm going to need somewhere to hide out and a food source."

"This world is alien and lacking in magic. I need multiple food sources, because pickings are slim." Starlight droned. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Hence kidnapping several people. Changelings like to snare their prey like a spider and save them for later. If it's crisscrossing downtown, its nest is probably hidden in there somewhere."

"That could be anywhere."

"They like places that are dark and isolated."

"You don't want to go to dark and isolated places in this city."

"We do if we want to catch our changeling. So it's storing people and nesting downtown, and it's been following us."

"It's probably starving. Not much magic around."

"Probably doing a bit better than Adagio. Stronger. Physically, anyway. But changelings don't do much magic, right?"

"Right. They've got one really good trick, and it's natural for them. Efficient."

"But definitely hungry." Sunburst trailed off. Starlight stood up straight, a haunted look in her eyes.

"Oh no...It's not following us, Sunburst." Starlight went still. Her voice dropped.

"Adagio works downtown."

"So does Buck. Adagio isn't with him, so she's going to be weak..."

"And Buck is alone!"

"We have to go." There was a quick patter of feet around the suite, followed by the sound of trinkets shuffled into a purse and pockets. The door slammed, and the defenders of Canterlot got to work before it was too late.

This was not the first time Adagio had awoken from a nightmare. She understood that they came from intangible stressors on one's mind and that only by finding a sense of comfort in the waking world could one banish them. The morning after a nightmare is a space of deep satisfaction. Adagio would awaken in her bed, and within the space of blinks, the terror faded away into yawns and stretches.

It was due to this that she was left speechless by the horror that was waiting just past the nightmare.

Everything was green. She was restrained by some waxy fluid that had pasted her hands to her sides. Her shoulders ached, and so did her wrists. She could only move her head around to regard the pulpy mess that closed her in. The horrid stench that she had experienced dripping from the ceiling of the office restroom now surrounded her, making her gag. She could breathe. She was meant to be alive. Don't panic. Breathe.

There was sheer darkness beyond her vaguely transparent coffin. She could hear the sounds of water rushing loudly through pipes. There were muffled moans. Not the sort one makes when they're having fun. Someone screamed for help beneath a mouthful of something. Several someones. Adagio tried to steady her breathing.

"I see our guest of honor is finally awake." The darkness spoke. Its voice was the buzzing of dragonfly wings. It hummed in Adagio's ear canal like a trapped mosquito. "Let's play a little game. You ask, and I'll answer."

"Let me go!"

"That's not a question. Here, let me give you an example. You were turning in your sleep. Tell me, were you dreaming of him?"

"You have an odd sense of humor, Miss." It was Buck.

"Buck! Buck!? Are you out there!? Talk to me, Buck!" Adagio shrieked. Her voice bounced around in the cramped space and didn't seem to go anywhere else.

"Oh, calm down, Miss Adagio Dazzle." Said the darkness. "I've barely laid a finger on you."

"I think a woman like you should be treated gently." Said Buck. There was a brief click.

"What is this!? Where is Buck!? You will let me out of this thing right now, or I will lose all sense of mercy when I smear you across the streets of this city!" Adagio shouted.

"Ooohhh, dear. Do you think you're in any position to make demands?" The darkness said.

"I ain't cheap, lady. 'specially not for you." Mocked Buck. Another click, which sounded extremely familiar.

"Where am I!?" Adagio shrieked. She tried to rip herself free, but she was so weak. So thirsty. She could see her hair as it framed her face. it was like yellow, crinkled paper streamers.

"Is that really what you want to know? Frankly, you are nowhere that any of the fools in this wretched dung heap of a city will find you. You are alone, Adagio Dazzle. As always." The darkness chuckled darkly. There were a few quieter clicks.

"It's lonely at the top, did you know?" Said a voice that Adagio couldn't mistake anywhere. It was her manager.

"Trust me, it can be just as lonely at the bottom." Responded Buck. Was this magic? An elaborate illusion?

"...why have you brought me here?" Adagio said. The darkness giggled.

"Why? Oh, a number of reasons. You're in this location to keep you out of my way. You're in that cocoon so that you won't move, and you are in my clutches because you're weak. The short of it is that I'm keeping you here while I finish my work." The darkness said.

"Holding you? Like this?" Buck's voice was imploring, but even. Businesslike. Adagio tried desperately to stay focused, but she was weak. Her throat felt raw, and while her voice was still coming out mostly intact, it wouldn't last long.

"What do you want from me?" Adagio said. The darkness laughed.

"What do I want? Isn't that a complicated question? I wanted for a fresh start. I was given one. Now, I simply want what it is that you have, Adagio Dazzle." A pair of sickly green eyes with sharp, slitted pupils glared from the shadows.

"Please let me know if I'm going too fast." Buck said, low and sweet and careful. Where was he?

"What do you want with Buck!?" Adagio shrieked. She coughed painfully.

"You don't know!? Really now, Miss Adagio Dazzle. Have you forgotten why you entered this race in the first place?"

"A sound body, huh?" Said Buck's voice.

"However you're doing that, stop it this instant!" Adagio said. Was it a demand or a plea?

"Doesn't he have the most darling voice?" Giggled the darkness. There was a click, then the familiar sound of Buck whining and groaning softly, buried beneath the slap of hips coming together. A small part of Adagio broke.

"Buck! You can't have him! What have you done to him!?" Adagio said.

"I've already had him. I'm not impressed. For all your affection, he was nothing but a simple little whore. You should have seen his face when I offered to pay."

"Let me appreciate you, Miss." Buck agreed.

"No." Adagio muttered.

"How he marveled over my form. How he lavished me with affection..." The darkness moaned.

"An adorable mole placed right against the navel. The tender slope of shapely hips. A pair of gorgeously sharp and intimidating eyes, placed in a face of classical beauty." Buck growled.

"Oh, Adagio. Why do you insist on grooming and prodding and carrying on for ages when you can simply take what you want?"

"But we all need a little love, now and again. I get it." Buck argued.

"That's a good point, isn't it, Mr. Purple Prose? Perhaps she was just desperate for attention! Perhaps the nasty old siren just needed to cling to a big strong man because she was lonely! One of the most powerful creatures in Equestria, reduced to a purring kitten in the lap of a pathetic, infantile little speck of a human!" The darkness laughed. The green eyes flashed and bounced with mirth.

"He's mine." Adagio croaked. The laughter cut off. The eyes came closer, into the murky green glow of the pod. It was a familiar face.

"Harshwhinny! You disgusting old vulture!" Adagio cursed. Ms. Harshwhinny smiled wide. Shaking her head.

"You wish." Harshwhinny's voice was the same as ever; dignified, snotty, obnoxious.

"Help me! Let me out! Please!" Came the same voice, now far less dignified. A cocoon across the room illuminated, showing Adagio's boss trussed up just as she was. She looked emaciated and half dead. The green ichor crawled like a slime mold, suffocating the woman's desperate pleas before the room went dark again.

"What are you doing with him!? He's mine!"

"I'll do whatever you need me to." Answered Buck.

"Oh, nothing. At the moment. It's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take the man that even a snotty primadonna like you calls "impossible to hate." The very end of the phrase shifted into a flawless imitation of Adagio's voice. "And I'm going to use him better than you ever could." The darkness laughed. A pulsing green light spread around the room. Adagio's mind slowed. She took in as much as she could.

"Let me appreciate you." Buck sighed.

Cocoons hung from a cage of crisscrossing girders just above. Simpering human shapes were trapped inside.

Countless smaller cocoons, pulsing with light, showing fetal forms with twitching wings. Pasted to a patchy floor with wires running through it.

Twitching, gibbering things scattering away from the light.

A slender silhouette striding with a dark poise around the room. A smartphone cupped in its claw.

The green light guttered out. The smartphone's blue light clicked off.

"I will make this city the seat of my power. I will conquer this land, and create a new, brighter world for my children!" said the darkness. "And I'll have Buck's magic to thank for it."

"A masterpiece." Buck purred, echoing in the ensuing silence.

Adagio said nothing. There was nothing to say. She had lost.

"Say it again."

"HE'S MINE!" Adagio shrieked.

"He was." The darkness said, in a tone that was like the screams of an army of cicadas.

Adagio was nearly blinded by a sudden bright light. She squinted through the pain and saw the smartphone, dangling a bit loosely by a length of the same green slime that held her in place. On it, she saw Buck, facing away as he sat on the edge of his bed. Next to Ms. Harshwhinny.

A pair of appendages that were less like hands and more like the gnarled limbs of an ancient, blackened tree slid around the phone. The nails were long and sharp, the joints were multitudinous, the black skin shined like a beetle's back. Little orifices, like the holes in a piece of swiss, were pockmarked randomly across the hands. As the voice of the darkness spoke, the holes constricted and puckered in an unsettling blink.

"And now, he's mine. Just like that. Look at how easy it is to get his guard down. How could you beam at him so when he's such a simple, idiotic thing? How could you let him go when he is so easy to ensnare? Did you think you were the only creature in this world with a bit of ambition?" The talon dragged across the surface of the phone with delicate slowness. The video flickered, and now Buck was laying behind Harshwhinny, running his nails up and down her back.

"I'm sure your Adagio has told you plenty of stories about how I'm a ferocious monster in the office." Harshwhinny sulked.

"No, she was more verbose about describing you. And by the way, she ain't 'My Adagio.' Buck snapped. There was no screaming left in Adagio, now. All she could do was sob.

"Now, let me ask you a question. Do you know what this is?" The darkness said. Pinched between the horrid claws was a small phial, stoppered by a cork. It didn't have any distinguishing marks. Adagio looked away.

"Oh, I suppose not. Here. Have a little sniff." The cork popped off. Adagio's senses were filled with red hot passion and deep shame. A bit of drool escaped the corner of her mouth. She gasped and tried to inhale the very taste of it, her tongue flicking in her open mouth. It tasted purely of Buck.

"It's his very essence, Miss Adagio Dazzle. It's half of what I need, as a matter of fact. For the rest, I'll need his magic." The darkness said, corking the phial back up.

"No!"

"Ooooh yes. The essence was very easy to get, as you can see." A fingernail tapped the screen once, twice, and then the thumb mashed it until it played. The horrible darkness and the smell and the shame dropped away. There was nothing but Buck, the man who wanted to love Adagio Dazzle, being ridden by a woman who looked old enough to be his mother. He wasn't moaning. He was whimpering. He looked terrified and depressed and broken. Adagio had seen that face before. When he was a pony.

Adagio's heart shattered like crystal glass under an operatic shriek.

"But the magic is another story. I wasn't able to drain him properly. I need strong emotions to drink from, and sadly, Mr. Purple Prose dissociated from that scene until he was empty of anything besides angst and self-loathing. Pathetic creature." The darkness spoke over the sounds of the bed squeaking and Harshwhinny moaning and whispering in Buck's ear as she wrung him out. Adagio had a front-row seat to the sight of her slamming her hips down on Buck's thrusting cock. Buck moaned in a trembling voice, and the worst thing was, Adagio couldn't tell if he was faking it.

"No, Buck....no no no..." Adagio said. She had thought she'd washed all her tears away, but here they were again.

"No, It seems that there is only one way to tap this vile creature for his magic. I need to appeal to his emotion. I need his love." There was a flash of light. Adagio saw herself in her prime, standing sublime and bare before her. Her own slender yellow finger trailed along the face of the smartphone, sliding the clip to an earlier point. She tapped a little button.

"Don't hold back on me, Mr. Prose. I paid for the best. You will give me your best. Deeper. Harder!" Moaned Harshwhinny, to the sound of hips slamming into hips. Buck moaned and held her leg as he pounded her pussy. Harshwhinny looked directly at the camera and smiled with a green flash in her eye.

"And failing that, his fear." The other Adagio flashed the smile of an angler fish. Red eyes. Gills. In her hand, the groaning, heaving assault on Buck grew louder and more desperate.

"No! Leave him alone!" Adagio.

"Poor Adagio Dazzle. All your prestige, all your glamour, wiped away in a stamp of the hooves." The other Adagio said. She tapped the phone. The video stopped. "In a way, I can relate. In fact, I'm feeling rather merciful."

"What?"

"If you behave, I'd be more than happy to give you what's left of him when I'm done." It grinned. The pale yellow skin began to darken to grey.

"Who are you!? WHO ARE YOU!?" Adagio wailed. Her lungs gave it their best go. Her voice wavered and cracked.

"Who am I?" The other Adagio spoke. Her red eyes shifted to that sickly green, with slitted pupils. Adagio saw her hand lightly stroke at the transparent wall of her pod, then an inky darkness extended from the palm. The gnarled, perforated talons returned. The face came closer, grinning with fangs that Adagio had never worn.

"I am a Queen! This land will soon be under my rule, because I will succeed where you failed, Adagio Dazzle. I won't need to hide in any shadows, nor shall I ever be trapped in obscurity again! I will rule over a glorious new empire unlike any this world has seen before!" The monster squealed.

Adagio felt a tiny part of her snap. She didn't care what happened to her, now. All she wanted was to get out of here, go to Buck right now and protect him! Her exhausted limbs shook with effort. She couldn't move.

"I am going to take this world from you." The monster buzzed with glee. It's forehead shuddered, and a ragged, warped horn extended from it. Tattered dragonfly wings streamed out like a cape. The chamber glowed once more. The trapped fools surrounding Adagio began to wail in terror.

"No..." Adagio wheezed. The pitch-black head spun upside down with a sickening series of cracks. The hair fell in clumps, extending into a stringy, mossy mess. The fangs lengthened.

"I am going to make Buck MINE!"

"Huh? So your name is Lina Inverse is it? My name? They call me--"

So it was like three in the morning and Buck had officially lost the race with his depression. He was laying on his couch, facing the flickering TV.

On the screen, an image of a small boy wearing some dragon quest lookin' shit disappeared into a sick 90's anime special effect. The amber eyes of a mighty and beauteous sorceress fluttered open. She lay against a large tree, but sat upright and felt her beating heart, then scratched at her bedhead. Her orange hair made Buck feel deeply hollow, now.

"Huh? Was that a dream? I guess it doesn't matter." She yawned.

"That ain't Lisa Ortiz." Buck grumbled. The room filled with a fanciful orchestral sting.

Some might say staying up an hour past bedtime is the opposite of 'resting up', especially if you were spending that time counting empty beer bottles and watching Slayers.

He didn't even god damn like beer, but he had already drunk the last drop of rum, so he'd condescended down to the liquor store and came back with a case.

That was two shots and something like four or five beers ago. Now, he was wondering why the hell people tried to drink their pain away. That shit had never worked on him; if anything drinking vodka made him more depressed.

He was also horrified that he was still only marginally tipsy. Buck swore if this was because of his magic, he would learn alchemy just so he could make a booze that could floor him in one sip. Call it 'Buck's Chuck', make it taste like miller light, by that he meant like potato water runoff but maybe give it some fruity flavors. Make a god damned mint overnight.

In dim retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to take an edible before drinking, either. Well, Buck had already broken one of his personal rules just yesterday, so why not throw out the one about getting cross-faded?

In this way, Buck wasn't so much deep in his cups. Rather, he was deep in one big quantum cup made out of anxiety, ADHD, and a small cocktail of poisons. The trade-off? Well, he was in a different mood, now.

This wasn't like feeling better. It was more just feeling, in general.

His hope that Ditzy would come over and try to talk to him had hit the ground at 10 pm, and once a vulture had flown off with its carcass, Buck was sure it had died. He'd started drinking at 12 pm.

On-screen, a gratuitous few shots of jiggling lady meat flicked through the form of what a layman might mistake for a fantasy-themed stripper.

"Ohhohoho! So, who is this reckless person? Who was fool enough to challenge the world's most beautiful, intelligent and powerful sorceress, Naga the Serpent!?" Said the raven-haired supermodel of a witch in chunky spiked pauldrons.

"God damn, what a woman." Buck mumbled.

There was a knock at the door. The ghost of Buck's hope returned to its body. In his daydream about it, it was represented by a cartoon hamster with "hope" written on the side in red marker. It jumped back to life and began running in a wheel, which Buck at that moment believed was what controlled his serotonin.

Happy. He felt happy.

The knocking came again, but a bit less patiently.

"Comin'! I'm comin'!" Buck drawled, sluggishly rearing off the couch and walking up to the door. He took special care to make sure that his dick wasn't hanging out of his pjs, the most responsible he had been since last Saturday, and answered the door.

It wasn't Ditzy Doo.

Adagio Dazzle stood before his door. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, even lit dimly by the hall light. Her cheeks were puffy and red.

Her magenta eyes were glistening with tears, her lip trembling in that way it did in the few times she regretted her actions. She was shaking.

Caught in the belly of the beast, Adagio wept openly for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. The muffled others suspended in the chamber around her sounded no less despondent. Chittering things scuttled and dripped through the dark. She was so thirsty. She missed him so badly. It was over.

"Adagio?"

Buck suddenly felt very sober. Maybe Mr. Cake was right.

Adagio struggled and wailed against her slimy restraints, while a brutish predator with her face opened trembling arms to the one thing she couldn't bear to part with.

"Buck...!" They sobbed.

Author's Note

Song Review: Lay Your Hands Off My Man is a very simple message to an interloper that has her eyes set on the singer's partner. This encapsulates Adagio's desperate feelings. Despite the nature of their relationship, Adagio wants to protect Buck from a creature not all that dissimilar from herself. The song mock's the facade of the invader's innocence and warns, "You don't even want him, you just want what I have."
To introduce this villain, I had to stretch my imagination to think up a "kick the dog" moment that fit her specifically conniving ways. Creating a scene of emotional strife for a main character and then recontextualizing it as a villainous act is kind of an anime thing, but I think the delivery here is unique enough that it stands on its own. Very Dio, I think.