The process of birth is as horrible as it is beautiful.

Early life is a spectacular mess; from the rowdy goat kid that is off butting heads within minutes of tasting air to the humble baby bird struggling to crack its way out of an egg.

With those first few steps, babies stumble from one state to another; from nothingness to personhood. In this way, birth is the truest expression of change this world has to offer; one that we repeat in our lives, time and time again. Ever struggling, ever changing, ever pleading for someone to pick us up out of the cracked shells and shower us with unconditional love.

In the depths of the hive, two pairs of feet–one in beat up sneakers and the other, miraculously, in kitten heeled pumps-scrambled down a set of dark hallways that seemed to loop forever.

Adagio Dazzle ran in lockstep with Purple Prose, better known as Buck; the man that had been her growing obsession for half a year. Together they dashed through the winding halls of the changeling hive, which had grown around an old hotel called the Little Snowdrop Inn.

It was all moth-eaten carpets, wallpaper overcome by crawling black stone, and strange holes opening in the walls at irregular intervals. Unmarked doors zoomed past, as did odd openings in the walls leading to who knew where. Adagio and Buck banked around a corridor, nearly stumbled over each other, then ran for their lives at double speed. Hanging green lights of strange, changeling make illuminated the path forward, while a roiling red fury charged up behind them.

Not too far behind, a ghastly voice screeched with all the murderous fury of a hornet trapped in your ear canal.

“How dare you! How dare you despoil me in my own hive!” Queen Chrysalis howled as she rounded the corner. She was in her traditional bug-horse form, but crackling with a ferocious red energy. She belched a ball of slime at the duo, but they slipped around a corner before it could connect.

“She means me, doesn’t she!? Shit shit shit shit SHIT!” Buck said.

“Just keep running, idiot!” Adagio said.

In any other heist, Adagio would be planning her next three moves, but now she couldn’t seem to pull away from a single, persistent thought. One that hammered heavily in her chest like a snare drum.

Buck was holding her hand.

A tingle of chaotic magic burst on Adagio’s tongue like a ripe grape. She got the distinct sense that Buck was angry at her, and somehow she was even angrier at him, but the feeling was drowned in an intoxicating mixture of frustration, confusion, and elation.

In his haste, Buck had swaddled the egg Adagio had stolen in his pink scarf, but it wasn’t burning him as it had her. Now, while Buck held it in place as they ran, Adagio could see tiny motes of energy sparking from Buck’s chest and into the egg.

“What is this thing? What’d you steal?” Buck huffed.

“Oh, nothing much, just the Queen’s entire plan!” Adagio gloated.

“What?” Buck said.

“It’s an egg incubated with your mana!” Adagio said.

“What!?” Buck said.

“Congratulations, Buck, you’ve got your very own bastard child!” Adagio said, and suddenly her whole body staggered forward. She let go of Buck’s hand, as he’d come to a dead stop.

He was staring at the egg, his expression unreadable even to Adagio.

“....I’m a Dad?” Buck said.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Chrysalis screamed from around a corner.

“Okay, hol’ up, I’m trying to process-” Buck rambled, but Chrysalis would not be dissuaded. Another ball of slime plastered the floor next to Buck and Adagio.

“You can be appalled later; right now we need a place to hide! I can’t get my bearings like this!” Adagio said.

Adagio felt a current running through Buck. Fear, of course, that was natural, anxiety too, and buried beneath an odd, quiet joy. It tasted like hot chocolate and peanut butter sandwiches. A spike of paternal exhilaration the overwhelmed any other flavors in the air. That can’t be good, Adagio thought.

“You can’t run forever! Come back! Come back so I can feast on your fear!” Chrysalis cackled from somewhere behind them.

“How many times am I going to get chased around a hotel by a crazy monster lady!?” Buck said.

“Maybe you just have one of those faces, Buck!” Adagio said.

“Oh, now she’s got jokes!” Buck said.

“Or maybe you just have a type!” Adagio laughed.

Suddenly, a jagged beam of red and black energy whizzed by her neck.

Somewhere behind and above Buck and Adagio, Chrysalis was screaming curses at them. A violent flurry of mana bolts hammered down like meteorites, targeting Adagio, but she ducked and dodged each one, grinning triumphantly.

Buck, meanwhile, struggled to keep his footing as he scrambled to avoid a couple of stray shots which seemed to curve toward him.

“Woah, woah, woah! Hey, cut that out! You’re gonna hit the baby!” Buck shouted. The only response he got was a searing red beam striking at his feet. “I said, LAY OFF!”

Buck’s shout burst into a blast of reddish pink flame right across Chrysalis’ form. She lurched into the ceiling with a yelping thud.

“Wha-you hit her! How did you do-” Adagio said.

“Oh, shit, sorry about that!” Buck called out.

Chrysalis screamed into the plaster as if it were a pillow, then her head spun with a sickening crack and she shot off a cannon blast of red mana.

Buck and Adagio were already running again by the time it hit the ground.

“GAH! Okay, okay, she’s pissed! I maybe gave her too much mana!” Buck said.

“You don’t say!? What were you thinking!? Anything? Anything at all!?” Adagio said.

“Oh, bitch, bitch, bitch! I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas!”

“I was going to slit her throat in flagrante delicto!” Adagio said.

“Wha-No! We’re not doin’ a murder!” Buck said.

“Well at least I had a plan!” Adagio said.

A hole opened in a nearby wall. Buck and Adagio leapt into it simultaneously, scrambling through suite after suite, scuttling over bedspreads as Chrysalis hurled mana bolts, demands and furnishings.

“I’LL SWALLOW YOUR HEART!” Chrysalis screamed.

“Holy shit! This is a kidnapping! We’re kidnappers! I thought you were coming to rescue me!” Buck said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt your fun!?” Adagio jabbed.

“You know what? Yeah, you did! You interrupted the third best blowjob I’ve ever had!” Buck parried.

“HA! Did you hear that!? Third place! Pathetic!” Adagio cackled over her shoulder. “Naturally, I’m the undisputed champion of-” Adagio started.

“You’re second place, actually.” Buck interrupted.

“WHAT!?” Adagio said.

“Hah!” Chrysalis laughed.

Another hallway. Buck and Adagio took a hard left, then a right, then another left, but the black stone walls of the hive seemed never-ending.

“Who could possibly be first?” Adagio said.

“Berry Punch!” Buck said.

“Who the hell is Berry Punch!?” Adagio squealed.

“That’s not important! Look, I was really making progress in there, and if you hadn’t-” Buck started.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Chrysalis howled, and suddenly, a huge black manticore leaped over Buck and Adagio’s heads, landing in the hall ahead to block their path. Its mane was dark green and its eyes glowed with crimson malice as it prowled forward.

It seemed in her fury, Chrysalis couldn’t maintain a full disguise; rather the curdling of Buck’s mana and her own created a towering form of dread. The old floor boards groaned beneath her hulking form as she stalked toward the pair.

“Uh-oh, uh, uh, Random Bullshit, Go!” Buck said, holding out his hands.

Chrysalis flinched, but all that came out was a bit of red smoke and a fart noise. The egg briefly glowed red.

“Ffffffuck.” Buck said.

“Progress you say? What progress were you making, Purple Prose? Did you intend to humiliate me further before she arrived!?”

“What? No! I wasn’t trying to-”

“LIAR!” Chrysalis snarled.

A clawed bigger than Buck’s torso came down in a vicious swipe, but Adagio’s rapier slashed across the palm before it could connect.

The manticore lashed out again, strobing green, and what Adagio caught with the edge of her sword was the Changeling Queen’s gnarled horn. She’d returned to her human form, but her ears, wings and horn remained. Her eyes were bright red, surging with wispy black mist.

“Ah, there you are! What happened to your true form? What, did Buck smear your makeup?” Adagio smarmed, but her chiding fell on deaf ears.

All sense of wit and one-upsmanship in Chrysalis was lost behind a blood-boiling hatred. She swung her horn like a saber, snarling as she tried to lop Adagio’s head off, but in a battle of blades, Adagio had the clear edge. She grinned playfully, parrying every strike.

“Can we please just talk about this!?” Buck said, frantically.

“What?” Adagio said.

“No! I won’t let you steal my people’s future!” Chrysalis said, and a red explosion blasted out of her horn.

Adagio yelped as her back hit the wall, then screamed as Chrysalis stomped on her sword hand, another blast gathering at the tip of her horn, ready to melt her face off.

“Stop!” Buck grabbed Chrysalis by the shoulders and yanked her off Adagio, and the misfired mana stream was pulled into the egg. Chrysalis yelped in shock, flitting back into the air on her gossamer wings.

“You dare to lay a hand on me now!?” Chrysalis said.

“Okay, okay, hold on, let me explain–” Buck said.

“Scoundrel! You sneak into my home like a thief in the night and you confuse me with a…a soft voice and a firm hand, just to steal my people’s only hope! Did you mean any of what you said!?” Chrysalis screamed. Buck could swear he saw tears in her eyes.

“Wha–O-Of course I did! Chrysalis…I meant every word.” Buck said, and for a moment, Chrysalis stared at him like he was a distant star. “I don’t wanna fight you. Here.”

Adagio gasped as Buck held the changeling egg out to its mother. As Chrysalis reached for it, the egg pulsed with a warm pink chime, causing both Chrysalis and Adagio to shrink away.

“AIIEEE! What have you done!?” Chrysalis screamed. “I’ll have my child back, even if I have to tear your arms off to get her!”

The hive quaked as a terrible new form erupted from the floor. Now Chrysalis was a huge worm with six-eyes and a set of four pink jaws lined with gnashing teeth. It unleashed a chest-rattling shriek as it charged.

“GAAAAH! Holyfuckholyfuckholyfuck!” Buck screamed.

“Just run, you fool!” Adagio barked, and the pair just barely managed to skid down another hallway as the leviathan drilled through the walls and floors to chase after them.

“Don’t you have any other spells for this!?” Buck shouted.

Adagio hummed under her breath, trying to pull power from Buck, but the hunger of the egg rivaled even her own. She couldn’t draw any substantial mana out while competing with the infant changeling.

“I can’t get any mana from you while you’re holding that thing!” Adagio said.

“Alright, alright, alright, shit, uhhh…! I got it! Next time we turn a corner, I need you to grab on to me!” Buck said.

“What?” Adagio said.

“Actually, I need you to sit in my lap!” Buck said.

“Absolutely not! You reek of that creature’s fluids, you, you-!” Adagio said.

“What’d you want me to do, get into a fist fight?” Buck said.

“Yes! No! I don’t know! Anything besides letting her put her hands on you after…after the way she…!”

“Woman, will you stop debating and just go with me on this!?” Buck said.

But Adagio could keep debating. Indeed, Adagio was certain she could spend a lifetime just like this, running from danger while she and Buck argued about nothing and everything, with a little pout, a harsh word, and perhaps, sometimes, with the very smile she couldn’t seem to keep from her face right this moment.

“Fine.” Adagio said.

They skidded around a corner, and Adagio nearly snapped out of Buck’s grasp, but he caught her wrist and pulled her down, and now she was straddling him with the egg between their chests, and Buck was muttering something and running his hands through Adagio’s hair. He was close. So close, Adagio’s hair covered them both. So incredibly close, Adagio could taste the sweets and sex on his breath. She was so lost in the look in Buck’s eyes, she barely noticed her curtain of curly orange locks turning the same dull dark green as the wall the pair was sitting against.

And so they sat there, chests bouncing with hushed breaths as the Chrysalis worm roared by with the ferocity of a homicidal freight train.

“GIVE HER BACK! Give me back my child! Give her back!”

Chrysalis’ screams were one part fury and three parts anxiety. She left sparks of red and black in the air as she rumbled through another hallway.

Buck and Adagio barely noticed. For a long moment, they simply sat staring at each other, breathing heavily as the color ran out of Adagio’s hair. They were both blushing.

“We…we really do have to stop meeting like this.” Adagio said.

“In crazy magical death traps?” Buck said.

“Well, you always take me to the nicest places.” Adagio giggled.

And she kept giggling; a high tittering noise she barely contained behind a hand.

“What? What’s so funny?” Buck smiled.

Adagio pointed down to Buck’s lap with a shaking hand. He was in boxers; his pants forgotten on the floor of the Queen’s bedroom. The queerest sense of deja vu washed over Buck, and a snicker sputtered out from between his teeth.

“You…hahahah…you are ridiculous!” Adagio wheezed between her fingers.

“Shhhshshsh! She’ll hear us!” Buck chuckled, holding up a finger, but Adagio batted it away. It only made her laugh harder.

They sat there for a moment, trying to shush each other between giggles, and an airy blue glow warmed the inside of the egg. They laughed and laughed, until they finally managed to catch their breaths, their foreheads touching, their eyes sparkling at each other.

And then, for what seemed like the first time in eons, Buck and Adagio kissed.

It was a tiny, simple thing. Their lips softly touched for hardly a second, and as they drew back, Buck and Adagio smiled at each other like they’d just shared a small, intimate joke.

It felt wholly natural; a simple, tender greeting, the kind they might share at breakfast, or in a threshold just before parting for the night. The kind of kiss that made their presence in each other’s lives seem as mundane and beautiful as a sunrise, and from that warmth bubbled a sentiment they both knew they shared, but wouldn’t dare articulate. That was, until Adagio did the impossible. Before she could catch herself, three words came out of her mouth.

“I miss you.” Adagio said.

The egg’s glow turned pink.

Scootaloo was in that place again. It was something between a shameful memory and a wild fantasy, which she desperately hid in the back of her head. It seemed she came back here often, moreso recently with the summer heat and the running and all the crumminess of counter work. It was the perfect recipe for frustration, and that meant a certain amount of venting.

The warmth of the summer sun tickled Scootaloo’s skin, and the sweet white vapor of the clouds cooled her as she floated through an endless pool of sky. She was laying down, paradoxically proud to be nude. In this place, she could care less about the size of her breasts, the shape of her shoulders, or the persistent fuzz on her legs.

Scootaloo came to this place to be admired.

She came here to be Scoots.

As she drifted in an endless expanse, high above the rusted ruins of the world, Scootaloo sighed. She could feel a tender, feminine caress slipping effortlessly along her lower curves, and plush lips moaning as they savored the taste of her inner thighs. At the same time, her arms were up and over her head, her wrists pinned down by one big, strong hand while the other dug stubby fingers into her scalp in a familiar, euphoric scratch.

“Mmmm…please…please, more…! Touch me more!” Scootaloo squeaked in a high, reedy voice that lacked any of the boyish rasp Diamond Tiara had made fun of back at CHS.

The firm, rough hands grabbed greedily at Scootaloo’s small, perky breasts. She moaned as tender, squeezing fingers roamed across her form.

“Ah! Mm!” Scootaloo shuddered as her nipples were pinched and twisted, the same way she treated them when she was warming herself up.

Scootaloo’s knees were thrown open, and she could feel a wet, long tongue coil expertly around her vulva, sampling the salty wetness just between her delicate lips before sliding up with tantalizing slowness to lap right at the spot where the clitoris gave way to the splitting labia. It was a quick, greedy sampling of Scootaloo’s shallow nethers, right where it tickled her the most.

“Fuck, fuck…please!” Scootaloo whined, not caring who heard.

“Please what?” Came a voice that made Scootaloo shiver.

“Fuck me…! I want it…I want it in me again!” Scootaloo said.

“You hear that, babe? Scoots wants to get fucked.” Came a low, rolling chuckle, right by her ear.

“Perhaps, darling, if the Little Birdie begs a little bit better~”

“Please, please, I want it! I wanna get held down and touched all over while that fat cock punches my guts!” Scootaloo said immediately, with perfect diction, and it totally wasn’t because she practiced her begging voice in the mirror.

And Scootaloo felt herself lavished with hungry affection, and her eyelids fluttered, catching glimpses of the fantasy she’d been obsessing over since she’d gotten her first taste. She felt she could melt into a puddle under the intense desire surrounding her, like she was riding on a jet of hot air, like she was teetering on the edge of total ecstasy.

And meanwhile, in the real world, Scootaloo hung precariously on the edge of a cloud.

Her eyes had rolled up into her head, glowing a sickly green with tenebrous purple wisps streaming out of them like a dastardly fog. A thin line of drool dripped down her jaw, and her cheeks had gone crimson in the throes of her unnatural slumber. Each phantom caress upon her psyche hitched her body in an ecstatic shudder, shifting her closer and closer to the edge of the cloud; and a terminal-velocity drop into the snowfield below.

“Get down!” Starlight shouted, tackling Sunburst to the side. A drone the size of cow streaked just inches overhead, crunching a massive chunk out of the wall. Four more followed right behind.

“Yikes! They’re practically rocket powered!” Sunburst said.

“So move!” Starlight shouted.

The pair scattered as the wall exploded in a shower of wood chunks and black stone. Starlight leapt over the assault, hovering across the room with a flash before rising aloft, while Sunburst scrambled to duck under a second charge, before finally rambling out an incantation that allowed him to join Starlight in the air.

“We’ve got to lock these guys down! They could bring the whole hive down on our heads!” Sunburst said, wobbling unsteadily.

“What do you think? Crystallization?” Starlight said.

“Well, we don’t have the right components…” Sunburst said.

“But we’ve got lots of mana! Come on!!” Starlight said, reaching for Sunburst’s hand, but then one of the monstrous drones barreled into the air, trying to snap her up in its mandibles.

It was all Starlight could do to bank in the air and dash away, dragging Sunburst along by the hem of his starry cape.

Everywhere the pair floated, another set of snapping jaws came for them, or a bodily bullrush, or a gout of flame, while Starlight and Sunburst struggled to stay alive, and all the while a crackling swirl of yellow and blue mana balled between their hands. On the outside, it looked like a frantic dance to the death, but between Starlight and Sunburst was a steady certainty. So long as they had each other, they could do anything.

“Have you got it?” Starlight said, wincing as she struggled to hold a miniature star.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Sunburst said.

Just then, one of the hulking changelings breathed a jet of red flame bigger than the two sorcerers combined. Sunburst tried to yell an incantation, putting his body between the flame and Starlight, but then Greg the drone leapt in front of them both, belching out a crackling black and red flame of his own; leftovers from the battle of Bucks.

The other drones jumped away from the sudden burst of heat.

“Woah! Thanks, uh, uhm…” Sunburst said.

“Greg!” Gregor said, buzzing among red embers.

“Now!” Starlight said.

The power between Starlight and Sunburst’s hands exploded into a starfall of streaking green comets. Greg zipped out of the way just before the magical barrage pummeled the lobby, each meteoric strike growing a chunk of green crystal. The monstrous changelings charged into the air, powering through a projectile or two, but each in turn were overwhelmed by the raining spellfire, falling to the ground like birds in a hailstorm.

By the time Starlight floated to the ground, and Sunburst stumbled to it when his aura gave out, the mutated changeling drones were encased in green crystal.

“We need to start evacuating now, before anything else happens!” Starlight said.

“Agreed.” Sunburst said.

“Greg! Get them out of here!” Starlight barked, and the changeling drone dutifully scampered off. With a well-aimed blast of raw mana, Starlight blew a hole through the front doors, finally creating an exit through the thick snow at the cost of another piece of quartz.

“This way, people! We’ll have an airlift for you in just a minute!” Sunburst said, waving as a procession of traumatized cityfolk filed out of the hive, finally free.

“What could have done this to these drones?” Starlight said, peering at the trapped monsters. “You don’t think…you don’t think Buck and Chrysalis made these, do you? Look at their eyes.”

Even now, the huge drones’ eyes glowed with red, feral fury.

“Oof. That’s a whole can of worms, isn’t it? Maybe I could get a sample off one and study it. There could be valuable information about the nature of magical creatures. Changeling biology is so mysterious and understudied, I’d barely even know where to begin.” Sunburst mused, squinting up at the sky through the hole in the ceiling. “Wait. Something’s wrong.”

A bottle of night had spilled across the top of the world. The rift had gotten bigger, the darkening clouds swirling around it, and the hailstones tumbling down hit the roof in a chorus of shattering thuds. Sunburst thought he saw lightning crackling up there.

“That doesn’t look good. Do you think you could go up there and check on Scoots?” Sunburst said.

“And leave you alone down here? Are you nuts? I just got you back; I’m not leaving you alone again!” Starlight said. Her hand hadn’t left Sunbursts’, and an expression of deep desperation flashed across her face like distant ambulance lights.

“Oh, somehow you’ll manage without me. Don’t sell yourself short!” Sunburst said with a smile.

“You’re not funny.” Starlight said, chuckling in spite of herself. Sunburst gently tucked a lock of Starlight’s hair behind her cheek, and she full-on blushed at the tender way he looked at her.

“I know today has been…long, let’s say, but you’re doing fine. We’re doing fine. Better than fine! We’ve won all the fights we’ve been in since we got here!” Sunburst said.

“We got ambushed in the main hall. Like three times?” Starlight said.

“And we’re still alive! Considering the odds, I’d call that a miracle!” Sunburst said.

“Miracle!” Greg repeated, shuffling a frazzled-looking Silver Spoon out into the snow.

“So what’s a few more? I think today’s a good day for miracles. We’re all more capable than you think. As long as we let the magic of friendship guide us, there’s nothing we can’t-”

A reddish black ray of arcane energy zipped across the lobby, just past Starlight as she dodged to the side, a right through Sunburst’s stomach, knocking him into the teleportation circle. He disappeared in a blue flash.

“Sunburst? Sunburst!” Starlight lunged at the chalk circle, but a second beam turned it into a smoldering crater. Starlight turned with tears in her eyes to see Chrysalis floating in the air, her eyes gleaming with malicious mischief.

“What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment.” Queen Chrysalis said, descending from the ceiling on her tattered dragonfly wings. Behind her, the ballroom doors crashed open, unleashing a skittering wave of dark, warped forms; the remaining changeling drones, ready to lunge.

The Queen’s gnarled horn glowed and another zap screamed at Starlight, but Greg the changeling leapt into its path and was smashed against the wall with a sickening crunch.

“Greg, no!” Starlight said, and found, to her shock, that she genuinely cared for the creature.

“That should teach you a bit of loyalty to your kind, Traitor.” Chrysalis hissed. “And as for you, this realm’s so called Starlight Glimmer.”

Chrysalis clenched her fists, baring her teeth, and with a high, keening buzz of her wings, the crystalline prisons fell away from her mutated spawn, who glanced once at their ruler’s terrifying presence and chose to focus their fury at Starlight.

“I sincerely hope you don’t surrender, so I can watch my children pummel you into paste.” Chrysalis finished with a sneer.

Starlight Glimmer thought she might explode. With a long, deep exhale, she focused her emotions, sharpening them into a singular point, as simple and effective as a fencing foil.

“Where’s Buck?” Starlight said.

“Purple Prose? That fool? Why, naturally, I drained him, and let my drones string him up in a cocoon for later.” Chrysalis lied. She raised a fist in the air, and the monstrous drones snapped and snarled at Starlight as if straining against an invisible leash, but the defender of Canterlot’s eyes stayed focused on Chrysalis.

“Oh, that’s a shame.” Starlight said.

“Is that so, little pretender?” Chrysalis sneered. “Are you surprised to see your plan to capture me fail a second time?”

Starlight grabbed all the quartz from her pockets, and an odd gray light shone from her hands. The crystals crumbled to dust, for Starlight Glimmer had drained them of mana.

“No. It’s a shame, because Buck was the only thing protecting you from Me.” Starlight said, and her head spouted equine ears and a pale purple horn.

“Enough of your bluster! Guards! Rip her apart!” Chrysalis shrieked.

Just as the snapping mandibles closed around Starlight Glimmer, a crackling blast of blue erupted from her body. Ribbons of mana wrapped around Starlight’s arms and legs, hardening into segmented plates. The massive jaws were pried open, trembling against the sudden strength in Starlight’s hands, which were encased in shimmering blue gauntlets. They pushed fruitlessly against her firm stance, anchored by a pair of sturdy armored greaves, and then suddenly went still. The monstrous drone turned pale, the blazing spellfire in its gut flickering down to an ember until it fell to the side, twitching.

An orb of red mana blazed in Starlight’s hand, twisted, hissing, crackling into the shape of a wickedly sharp bident. Starlight’s eyes were focused, but a slight red jolt sparked at the edges, matching the color of the spear in her hands. She was smiling. Smiling, because she’d been right all along. All she had to do was finish this fight; right here, right now, before this monster had a chance to hurt anyone else.

That would be her Justice.

“What have you done!?” Chrysalis said.

“Oh, please. Do you think only you and Adagio are allowed to drain mana?” Starlight said.

Adagio touched her lips in plain surprise.

“What’d you just say?” Buck said.

“Nothing.” Adagio said, averting her eyes.

“...right.” Buck said.

Adagio tasted a salty, bitter emotion on the tip of her tongue. She rose from Buck’s lap indignantly. She recalled the sinister, lecherous look on his clone’s face and felt a perverse twinge of regret.

“So you can still feel shame, even after all of that.” Adagio said, crossing her arms. “And here I thought for the briefest moment you might be growing past it. A break indeed. Hm.”

“The fuck does that mean?” Buck said.

“Would you believe that Starlight Glimmer thought you were turning over to that insolent insects’ side? As if you weren’t playing her from the start?” Adagio swerved. This wasn’t the time.

“‘Dagio, I’m not playin’ nobody. Chrysalis is hurting, and so are her people. If I can help them, I will.” Buck said.

Adagio scoffed at Buck; half wanting to chastise and half wanting to check him for stray mana, but he was still sitting on the floor, cradling the odd egg, staring at the swirl of colors inside it.

“Did she do something to your mind, or are you just delusional?” Adagio said.

“No! We just…I thought-”

“Oh, that’s a new one! You thought! Imagine that.” Adagio snapped, fully expecting Buck to come back at her, but instead she saw real hurt in his eyes.

“It wasn’t like before. I…don’t tell anyone else, but…I think I transformed in there.” Buck said, slowly, carefully.

“You awakened?” Adagio said.

“Yeah.” Buck said.

“For her.” Adagio spat.

“Look, I didn’t mean to! And it’s not like it was the last time!” Buck said.

“What?” Adagio said.

Buck got to his feet, wanting to avoid being small in the face of Adagio’s anger. Though he knew he’d only make her madder, Buck also knew he needed to be honest.

“The last time…the last time, I really freaked Ditzy out. But this time was different! I let my mana out, and Chrysalis didn’t run from me. I dunno, that has to mean something, right?”

“No, it doesn’t! You’ve been getting better at controlling your mana. If you had a stable awakening in there, it’s your achievement. It wasn’t-it didn’t mean anything! She just got lucky!” Adagio said.

“I dunno. I think I was really tapping into something. It was like…I felt, I dunno…in control for once. It felt good. And she was really into it. I think that’s why she’s so mad. I think we had a real connection.” Buck said.

“What are you-” Adagio said, but Buck kept going.

“And while I was, giving it to her, I realized, that’s why my magic is all crazy! Because I’m not using passion to make magic, my passion is pushing something else! That’s why it gets so intense when I’m with Ditzy, and when we did that first bit of training-” Buck rambled.

“I cannot believe you.” Adagio growled.

“Huh?” Buck said.

“I’ve spent so much time trying to gently draw your magic out. For weeks, I have been teaching you, and respecting your little boundaries, and guiding you as you struggle to grasp the simplest principles of magic.” Adagio said.

“Okay, that’s not fair. I didn’t-”

“And you insist on bottling up your feelings so all I can have is piddling drops of your mana, while you go and throw it away on…!” Adagio said, rubbing her eyes with her arm, trying and failing to keep it together. “You have made everything so difficult for me, Buck, when the answer to your overabundance of mana couldn’t be more obvious.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Buck said.

“It’s ME, Buck! I’m the answer!” Adagio exploded. “You have a surplus, I have a great demand! It’s not complicated!”

“It’s extremely complicated.” Buck murmured.

Adagio stomped toward Buck, a finger wagging at his face as she launched into a full-on tirade.

“I have done everything I can to help you! And you…! You throw yourself into the arms of that cowardly, sniveling little spinster in training who has no clue how to handle you.”

“Hey, now-”

“You lay down with that creature who violated and deceived you, and all of a sudden you’re taking on new forms, and exploring other sides of yourself, and making these…these breakthroughs!” Adagio said.

“I…wha-are…are you jealous?” Buck said.

“Is this revenge, Buck? Is this you getting back at me for deceiving you? Even though I’m the only person in this whole wretched world that understands what you’re going through?”

“What the fuck are you-”

“Do you need me to be your enemy? Is that what you want? It seemed to work for that disgusting mosquito you’re so enamored with now. Or would you prefer I draw you in with sweet-nothings and baked goods, just so I can toss you out like Ditzy did!” Adagio shouted.

Buck looked stunned. His mouth moved slowly, trying to form words. Adagio put a hand over her mouth, but she couldn’t cover up the pride in her eyes.

“Sunburst told you.” Buck said.

“It was obvious.” Adagio muttered.

“Sunburst told you, and the first thing you do with it is throw it in my face.” Buck said.

“Well, maybe if you’d said more than a sentence to me before we were trapped in this-”

“I’m not–no, no, you are not making this all about me! You think it’s easy, trying to be vulnerable around someone like you!? I’ve been keepin’ it chill and professional. I thought that’s what you wanted!” Buck said.

“You know what I want, Buck.” Adagio said.

“No, I don’t!” Buck said.

“Oh, of course not. It’s that Ditzy Doo. She's been poisoning the well since I entered the picture, convincing you that I’m some wicked witch come to gobble you up!” Adagio said.

“That’s enough.” Buck said.

“And now she’s got you twisting yourself into knots, trying to justify doing everything but the obvious; coming to me.” Adagio snarled.

“Stop it! This isn’t about Ditzy! It’s about you! You make everything so…so fucking transactional!.” Buck said.

“Because bartering is the only way I can get time with you!” Adagio said.

“You used me for my mana, and now that you can’t just squeeze it out of me, you’re bargaining for it, and that’s fine, that’s fine, you do what you gotta do, but you don’t get to pretend like I’m committing some crime by not crawling back to you just because I screwed things up with Ditzy!” Buck said.

“You let her convince you that your power is a problem, but it’s only a problem for her! She can’t handle you!” Adagio said.

“You just don’t get it, do you? Even if Ditzy wasn’t around, even if it was just me alone, that wouldn’t change what happened.”

“Oh, what happened, Buck?” Adagio scoffed. “What did I do that was truly so terrible?”

“I trusted you, and it was a mistake.” Buck said. "You poisoned the well, Adagio. It was you.”

“I…” Adagio tried to pull a reversal. She reached for her wit, and it simply wasn’t there.

“And you still won’t tell me how you feel about me. So we can be colleagues. We can work together, and we can help each other when we can. That’s fine. But I’m not gonna sit around waiting for you to decide you wanna have a real relationship with me! I can’t do that again.” Buck said.

The storm of emotions welling between the two kicked up inside the egg in Buck’s arms. Adagio’s indignant jealousy, her regret, her rising anger, and Buck’s own frustration, confusion, and obvious unanswered need. It swirled between them in a chaotic strobe of colors, but neither paid attention to the miniature mana storm.

“So you’d prefer that love-sucking insect!?” Adagio shrieked.

“I think, maybe if we get her to stand down, I could-” Buck said.

“Oh, for the love of–She’s playing you! You’re letting her win!” Adagio said.

“This isn’t a game!” Buck shouted, the egg’s color pattern shifted to red, smoking in Buck’s hands. Buck took a breath, trying to steady himself. “Look, she…I know she’s bad. I know, okay? I get it. But-”

“Oh, for the love of-she and her wretched spawn are not your responsibility! If we don’t capture her now, she’ll just run off and build another hive somewhere else. You can’t change her by pontificatingabout redemption and tolerance and other made-up drivel! She hasn’t changed; she just wants to feed on you.” Adagio said.

“Well, yeah. She’s starving.” Buck said.

In a singular, terrible moment, Adagio felt sympathy for Starlight Glimmer. Buck’s glibness was truly a terrible thing to grapple with. Adagio grabbed Buck by the collar in the same way she’d done to Sonata and Aria countless times before, gritting her teeth.

“So you’re just going to give her what she wants!? After the way she treated you!? You think you can sweet-talk her into changing? Well I’ve got news for you Buck, she’s been playing this game for generations! She is a soul-sucking monster! She doesn’t deserve another chance!” Adagio said.

“And you think you do?” Buck said.

It felt like a frozen knife had jabbed at the back of Adagio’s neck. She released Buck’s collar and was silent for a long moment. She couldn’t bear to look at his face. Her eyes fruitlessly searched the floor for a witty comeback, and found only tears.

“That is not fair.” Adagio said.

It was quiet in this corner of the hive; the silence hanging like a heavy black curtain between the two, leaving them to stand awkwardly in the aftermath.

“...we need to keep moving.” Buck said.

“Hm.” Adagio said, wiping her eyes.

“Can you….can you uh, taste where the others are?”

“...No. All I taste is a big ugly pile of drama and angst. And that thing.” Adagio sighed, pointing to the egg.

“So we're on our own, then.” Buck said.

“Wait. Maybe not.” Adagio said.

Adagio closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. She had noticed something. Chrysalis wasn't chasing them anymore. She still couldn’t taste any mana beyond the chaotic swirl in Buck’s hands, but she could feel the floor shaking beneath her feet. She could just barely hear the sound of some rumbling clash in the bowels of the hive.

The floor suddenly lurched downward with a violent, cracking groan. Buck caught Adagio just in time to stop her from tumbling down a hall that had become a steep slide.

“What in the world is happening?” Adagio said.

She looked down, and realized with a start that Buck was holding her by the waist. Their eyes met, and for a moment, a fragile tenderness splashed across Adagio’s face.

“You alright?” Buck said.

Adagio’s eyes sharpened.

In a quicksilver flash, Adagio leveled her rapier at a shadowy figure just over Buck’s shoulder.

“Woah! Whosat!?” Buck spluttered.

“Identify yourself. Now.” Adagio said.

A round, gray, terrified face with purple eyes and platinum colored hair emerged, then shifted into a dark, familiar changeling drone with milky blue eyes.

“Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah, it’s cool, I know her!” Buck said, putting a hand on the sword’s basket.

“Oh, what, did you fuck this one, too?” Adagio grumbled.

“Stop it. Tymbal, right? What’s up?”

“I-I-I need your help!” Tymbal said.

Somewhere across the collective unconscious, Sunburst awoke in a deadfall. Here, as he tumbled through the sky like a grand piano out of an airplane, Sunburst got the distinct impression that things were off the rails once again. He had a million questions, but they were all drowned by the rumbling snare of thunder, and the howling wind.

“If I’m falling, I probably should have hit the ground by now.” Sunburst groaned, looking down.

He was indeed falling, but not downward. It seemed the situation above the Little Snowdrop Inn had indeed spiraled out of control. The roof was now a geometric spiral of brick, wood and ancient insulation. And lead. Probably a lot of lead, Sunburst thought idly, raising a hand to shield his face from the hailstones flying around.

Indeed, Sunburst was falling, or was it floating, up into the air at a speed that seemed a bit less than terminal velocity; some speed between an urgently late city bus and a boulder rolling downhill.

“So that’s not good. Okay, okay, status report. Where’d I put that spellbook?” Sunburst said sluggishly. He felt like his tongue was made of melted cheese.

His hands felt slowly along his knobbly thin form, unfeeling as if he were in a dream, then recoiled from a hot, singing wetness somewhere in his mid-section. Something inside him–something probably important–was ruptured. He saw his own life blood floating weightlessly upward. Up toward the hole in the sky.

“Oh. I’m dying. Oh, okay…that’s…wait. Wait, wait, wait!”

Sunburst scrambled to reach behind his back, where he’d tucked Stygian’s spellbook securely in the strap of his suspenders. A blot of his blood stained the edge of the page as he started flipping frantically.

“Adagio’s gonna kill me for staining this…” Sunburst murmured, trying to find just the right spell for his predicament. He wondered idly if old Starswirl the Bearded had thought up a fail-safe spell for just such an occasion as the yawning chasm in reality grew closer and closer.

Sunburst muttered a quick incantation, pressing one of his quartz crystals against the wound in his chest, and howled in pain as it grew over and into the wound like an improvised scab.

“Sss…It’s not pretty, but it’ll stop the bleeding. Now, how about a levitation spell?” Sunburst said, and though he spoke the incantation and spent a crystal, the spell fizzled out. “Okay, cool. Great. So that didn’t work…but, staying positive, maybe I can find Scoots while I’m floating!”

Sunburst turned his body around to look, and found he could not get himself to stop spinning like a swivel chair. He rose further, above the cloud line, above the thunder and hail, and was briefly blinded by the setting sun. He was just beginning to wonder if this is what it was like in outer space when he finally saw it.

Something was coming out of the rift. Or was it? It was hard for Sunburst to describe what he saw; even to himself. A vast skeletal horse head made of angry darkness was inside the rift. Its form shimmered like a mirage, and as Sunburst rotated, he saw that it was wholly two-dimensional; disappearing briefly as his perspective shifted. Its jaws were opened wide, inhaling a purple, shadowy mist rising off of a small orange figure, which thrashed and squealed in the throes of a nightmare.

“Scoots!” Sunburst said, and the black eye sockets of the skeletal beast blazed to unholy life.

“Oooh! Another dreamer?” The nightmare howled, and its voice was a berserk scratching on the inside of his brain. It's dark holographic form flickered with glee as it lunged, only to press against the edge of the rift as if it were aquarium glass.

“It hasn’t broken through yet!” Sunburst thought to himself, and suddenly his aura flared up, throwing him at Scootaloo, who was writhing faceup on the edge of a cloud. “Scoots!”

Scootaloo was drenched in sweat, her teeth gritted as she twitched with pain. There was a strange purple glow coming off her eyes.

“Some kind of spell…” Sunburst said, opening the book once more.

“Children? Go out and greet our guests.” The skeletal abomination said, and it’s jaw turned up in a rictus grin.

From this close, Sunburst could see what lay on the other side of the rift; a strange red crystal in a desolate, blizzarding tundra. A massive skeletal horse head emerging from a crack in its side, and then…a stampede of small, skeletal horses with butterfly wings glowing with malice as they charged forward.

Sunburst took his best approximation of a fighting stance, his fists flickering like low-wattage lightbulbs.

“Okay, cool. Okay, cool! That’s…that’s…aaaAAAUGHHH!” Sunburst screamed.

Sunburst expected his life to end right there and then. He’d had a good run, he surmised, and very few regrets, but he needed not reckon with them right now.

The horrific phantom creatures wriggled through the rift, only to shriek in pain. The golden hour light of the sun touched them, and they caught fire, squealing back into the dark depths of their strange, blood red crystal.

The enormous skeletal phantasm gasped in about the same tone as Sunburst.

“Huh.” Sunburst said.

Then he bent down and started rummaging through Scootaloo’s pockets. After a moment, he found his prize; a piece of muddy purple quartz with a pair of unicorns carved into the sides. The sealing charm.

“RAAAAAAGHH!” The nightmare howled, and ghastly spirits, worms, skeletons and bile erupted from its horrible maw.

“Alright, that’s enough of that!” Sunburst said, tossing the charm into the rift.

The hole in reality bent inward around the charm. It detonated like a miniature star being born, and the dark tundra, the red crystal and the nightmares therein bent into the tiny singularity, like light being dragged into a black hole.

With a gurgle like a clogged sink, the rift had finally been shut. It boomed, blowing away much of the cloud cover around it, giving way to a clear summer sky.

“Wow. That was pretty easy!” Sunburst said.

And then he heard a crash. And another, and another. Sunburst looked over the side of the cloud and saw the chunks of peeled roofing, black stone and studs pulled from the top of the hive were falling. And so was Sunburst, and so was Scootaloo.

“Nevermind.” Sunburst said.

Starlight Glimmer was sprinting. Not floating, and not hobbling around, but sprinting across the lobby of the Little Snowdrop Inn, through a storm of gnashing teeth and hulking forms, toward Queen Chrysalis.

Her bad leg ached, but she pushed it into the back of her mind; so long as she had enough mana, she could keep her legs armored up. She could keep moving. It felt good to have her footwork back, even temporarily. And so, it was time for her to do what she was best at.

Starlight remembered her training. She pictured every speck of magic in the universe gathering between the spikes of her conjured bident, and found an equilibrium there. This place was an aberration, and she would make it right.

One of the monstrous drones bore down on Starlight, and with a decisive, unthinking motion, she caught it in a sparkling blue lasso of mana and spun it, using its back-breaking momentum to send it hurtling into a wall. Another leapt into the air in an attempt to dive bomb Starlight, shrouding itself in a battering ram of red mana, but its momentum ceased when Starlight raised her bident. A red orb had gathered there, growing larger and brighter as it siphoned off the beasts’ mana. The creature collapsed to the floor, drained.

“Two down!” Starlight said with a smirk. “Greg! Are you up?”

“Greg…okay.” Said a shaky voice. Greg the changeling rose to his feet, wincing. He was thoroughly singed, with an oozing green gash carved across his side, but his eyes were sharp with determination.

“Go protect the hostages!” Starlight said.

“Friend!” Greg said, and rushed out of sight. A phalanx of drones charged after him, but Starlight knocked them each out of the air with a flurry of blue spellfire from her fingertip. Her mana bolts were swift and decisive; each a whipcrack that stunned, but didn’t kill. Each shot made the energy ball in her bident shrink.

“None of you will leave this place alive!” Chrysalis said, and Starlight found herself harried by a swarm of black bodies.

Buzzing wings and flailing limbs buffeted Starlight from all directions, striking her about the head and shoulders. Starlight covered her head, trying to let her gauntlets take the punishment, but the drones kept hammering into her.

“You are nothing but a pathetic stand-in! I’ve faced the Starlight Glimmer of Equestria; and your power is a fraction of hers! Once my children finish beating you senseless, I’ll make sure you suffer more than anyone!” Chrysalis said.

A strike to the back forced Starlight to take a knee.

“Shut up…SHUT UP! You’re lying!” Starlight said.

A shimmering blue bubble shield formed around Starlight, then popped outward, scattering the drones. Just as Starlight began to get her bearings, Chrysalis herself flew in, grabbing the tip of her bident.

Starlight fired off a burst of blunted mana, trying to knock the changeling Queen away, but they plinked off her form like paper balls. The stone around her neck nullified each shot.

“You’re pathetic.” Chrysalis sneered, and with a dark red blast from her horn, she sent Starlight hurtling into the waiting jaws of one of the hulking, monstrous drones.

As Starlight Glimmer fell across the lobby, facing certain death, her vision went white. Time slowed to a drip of inevitable futures. Starlight saw a vision of her body torn into bloody pieces by the monster. She saw Sunburst impaled on the tip of Chrysalis’ horn. She saw the people of Canterlot dragged into dark corners, their screams muffled by grasping, chitinous claws.

She saw her father’s smile.

The red fury Starlight had stolen surged down through the bident and up her arm. Just before the creature could close its jaws around her, Starlight Glimmer extended a gauntleted hand, whose forge-poker glow cooled from red to blue to pitch black.

She fanned out her fingers.

The sound was like a cleaver biting through a side of beef. It was quick, precise, and brutal.

Starlight Glimmer stood between two gorey pieces where a ravenous mutated drone had been. In her sudden fury, she’d cut the creature in twain, and the lobby wall far behind it, and several trees up the mountain.

“NO! What have you done!?” Chrysalis screeched, hurling a red mana bolt.

A blackened, mailed hand caught the raw fury and swallowed it whole.

“I warned you, didn’t I?” Starlight said.

Starlight’s face was pale as death. The conjured armor plates coiled about her form like black pythons. A pair of wings protruded from her back; at once leathery and dark like those of a bat, but ending in rows of blood red cardinal feathers. Instead of a swirling unicorn’s horn, a pair of sharp black horns swept off and over her forehead. She was smiling in the way a fox does as it enters a rabbit’s burrow.

The last standing mutant drone charged wildly at Starlight, its eyes full of desperate hunger.

With a flick of Starlight’s wrist, a terrible barbed scourge of blue-black mana snapped through the air. The monster drone fell into bloody fourths before it even hit the ground.

“NOOO!” Chrysalis howled.

“That rock might be able to protect you against magic, but it can’t protect them.” Starlight said, and her scourge extended, raking a swathe of rent gore through the flying drones. The children of Chrysalis splattered to the floor in pieces. “And it won’t protect you when I rip the wings out of your back.”

Chrysalis looked at the carnage, and then at the frigid smile on Starlight’s face. Despite all her bluster, Chrysalis cupped the changeling stone pendant in her hand, and took a single step back.

“No.” Starlight said.

The lobby went cold. A wall of baleful blue fire erupted behind Chrysalis, going black as it spread into a circle, blocking off all ways in and out.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Starlight said, and with a single mighty flap of her wings, she lunged at Chrysalis in a blur of black malice.

A wide, purple tip pushed teasingly against Scootaloo’s entrance. Despite her flooding wetness, she felt the same anxious excitement as the first time she’d felt it. It had been sudden, then. A ruthless pile drive of the hips, impaling her in a deliciously violent way, but now, as she’d imagined since that encounter, she was being tantalized and teased with the sweet threat of that penetration.

She longed to be kissed with a tongue that tasted like cheap gummy candy, while a set of sharp nails trailed along her sides and tortured her most sensitive spots. Scootaloo wanted to feel their adoration again. To be chosen. To be devoured.

“Yeah? Well that’s too bad, Squirt. You were just a one-time fling, and you know it.” Said a familiar voice.

Somewhere, a muffled voice called out: “Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo’s eyes shot open. She hung above a brilliant cyan sky, devoid of a sun, yet painfully bright like a shadeless summer noon. It stretched to an unseen horizon like an endless ocean, its clouds bubbling like foam atop a boiling pot.

Scootaloo’s arms and legs were bound to a cross made of rusted junk; the ruined pieces of skateboards, scooters and bikes; every crash and tumble she’d ever experienced, smashed into a jagged heap and crushed into the shape of a Saint Andrew’s cross. Sweat dribbled down her form as she realized she wasn’t just attached by her limbs. The torturous contraption tore into the sensitive skin on her back with each twitch of her body, as if jagged meat hooks were gripping her ribcage from behind.

“No, no, wait, wait, I don’t want this!” Scootaloo tried to say, but nothing came out. She tried to turn her head, but rusted chains bound her head in place.

“Oh, yes you do. You want everything they can give you, but you can’t take the heat. You never could.” Said the voice Scootaloo had been trying to drown out for what felt like a lifetime. It was raspy and tomboyish, full of unshakable confidence and raw sexual dominance. It was the voice of the sky itself.

There was a peal of thunder, and suddenly, a structure tore its way up from the boiling depths of the sky. It was gray, industrial and brutalistic; another abomination of rusted scrap. Somewhere from deep inside it, a voice echoed out, shouting “Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo saw a wide metal mouth and heard the grinding wail of a thousand teeth crushing a pile of horse bones. She saw wings and hooves and rib cages turning to powder between two crushing, toothy spindles, blazing into a glowing furnace in the guts of the device. On the back of the machine was a spigot that vomited rainbows into the open skies; spreading it across the air like a technicolor oil spill.

Scootaloo tried to call for help, to find the aggressive, affectionate imps that had been dancing through her mind and across her skin, and then, as if summoned by her wheeling desperation, there they were. But something was wrong.

It was Buck and Adagio, but their skin was shiny and off-color. Their hair was stuck in thick clumps, and their smiles lacked any sort of warmth. There were odd wicks over their heads, which roared to life, blooming into rainbow fireballs.

Scootaloo heard a scraping groan, and suddenly the cross lurched forward, rolling on a swivel to point Scootaloo down at the grinder, and she knew suddenly that she was hanging by chains, and they were boiling, warping, inside her, getting ready to break.

“You can’t take the heat, Squirt. And you can’t handle them. You’ll always be an after-thought.” Said the sky.

And suddenly, the two objects of Scootaloo’s obsession were below her, standing on nothing yet intimately, horrifically close, facing away, and somehow the absence of their eyes made Scootaloo feel all the more exposed, broken and hot.

“No, please! Don’t let me go! PLEASE!”

“You hear that, babe? She wants us to pull her up.” Said Buck.

“But if we drop her, the Little Birdie can just fly to safety!” Adagio said.

“With those puny wings!? She’s nothing but dead weight!” Buck laughed.

“A pity. Oh well, if she can’t take the heat, she’ll just need to get cooler.” Said Adagio.

They were laughing. Laughing at her, and the flames, the flames were melting them! Their faces contorted into long, gaping masks of cruel jubilation, and their skin ran like rivers of multi-colored wax as they cackled at Scootaloo in a harmonic unison.

Something was tearing; something precious and small and long unappreciated was being ripped from Scootaloo’s back, sending burning read streaks of agony shooting through her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized nothing but shredded feathers and bloody pulp was holding her in the air above the gnashing grinder.

“ABOUT TWENTY-PERCENT COOLER!” The sky screamed.

Scootaloo’s wings tore off with a hideous snap. Her voice was gone, replaced by the ragged, squawk of a slaughterhouse fowl as she fell end-over-end into certain doom. All the while, those horrific candles that had been Buck and Adagio laughed in unison with the horrible, endless blue sky.

And then, out of nowhere, a klaxon horn blew through the whole of the world, shattering reality in one massive toot.

“SCOOTS!” Sunburst shouted. He tapped repeatedly on his phone’s screen, which made a stock air horn noise right next to Scootaloo’s head.

Scootaloo bolted upright with a squawk. The whole world howled with a fell wind, and thunder louder than any she’d heard before boomed in all directions. She was in the middle of a storm, but the hail, the rain, the debris, they all bounced off a hazy yellow bubble of force.

“I’m cool, I’m cool! I’m the coolest!” Scootaloo said.

“That’s…that’s great, Scoots. Are you okay?” Sunburst said.

Scootaloo looked around blearily, and with a sudden blush, realized that Sunburst was holding her in his arms. While chunks of debris rained down into the valley below, Sunburst was lazily drifting down, swaddled in a light yellow aura.

“Did I…did I do it? Did I close the rift?” Scootaloo said.

“Nooot exactly,” Sunburst said.

“Oh.” Scootaloo said, and her bewildered expression turned gloomy.

“But! You did get the charm most of the way up there! You did great, Scoots! Especially considering the circumstances!” Sunburst said.

“You’re just saying that…hey, what the heckie was that big thing?” Scootaloo said.

“I’ve got no idea!” Sunburst said.

Scootaloo cringed as bolt of lightning lanced through them in a flash, or attempted to. Instead, it bounced off the bubble of swirling yellow sparkles.

“Woah! What’s this spell?” Scootaloo said.

“It’s my own little twist on Somnambula’s Weather Abjuration!” Sunburst said.

“I don’t understand any of those words, but it sounds cool! What are we going to do now?” Scootaloo said.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d get this far.” Sunburst shrugged, and just then, his aura flickered out. The two started plummeting out of the sky at a speed that would mangle limbs and snap necks.

“Okay, cool! Okay, no, that’s fine, okay, cool!” Sunburst rambled, flipping rapidly through Stygian’s spellbook. “Okay, we’ve got about thirty seconds before we hit the ground at terminal velocity. That’s thirty seconds to figure this out! Any ideas?”

“HEEEELP MEEEEEEE!” Scootaloo shrieked, her arms flailing as she tried to swim back up into the air.

“It’s okay, Scoots! We’ll be okay!” Sunburst said.

“HOW CAN ANY OF THIS BE OKAY!?” Scootaloo said.

“I don’t know! But you’ve got me, and I’ve got you! So it’ll be okay, somehow!” Sunburst said.

“I-! That’s…really sweet.” Scootaloo blushed, and a pair of pony ears popped out of the top of her head. Her descent slowed slightly.

“WOAH! Scoots! Your head!” Sunburst said, pointing.

“What’s wrong with my head!?” Scootaloo said, swatting at her dome. Her pony ears vanished with a twinkle, and she started pushing terminal velocity once again.

“Nothing, nothing! You had ears! You awakened a little bit!” Sunburst said.

“What? Why!?” Scootaloo said.

“I don’t know, but this could help! Try to think! What do you feel when you use magic?” Sunburst said.

Scootaloo looked downward and saw the ground rising up to dash her to pieces like a dropped kettle. She covered her eyes, barely catching a shriek behind her teeth.

“EEEEEK! I dunno, I dunno! Oh, this is so embarrassing!” Scootaloo said.

“That’s okay! It’s okay that it’s scary! These are big, weird feelings! You don’t have to tell me, you can just think about it!”

“It’s like, like, light? And woozy, and floofy, and a little horny, I think?” Scootaloo said, her face turning red.

“That’s good! That’s good! And how do you get to that place?” Sunburst said.

“Well the first time, Adagio was like whispering in my ear, and then, and then later Buck was talking to me!” Scootaloo said.

“You really care about them, huh?” Sunburst said.

“I just…I really…I don’t know! It feels good when…when they look at me!” Scootaloo said.

“You want them to like you?” Sunburst said.

“When they see me, it’s like…I can see me, too! And then I don’t have to feel so small!” Scootaloo said, and suddenly the wind whistled, and her tiny, delicate wings erupted from her back in a flurry of feathers.

“You did it, Scoots! You did it!” Sunburst said.

Scootaloo grabbed Sunbursts’ hands and flapped her wings as hard as she could. They buzzed like a hummingbird’s wingbeat while Scootaloo’s legs kicked in a wild, fluttering pattern. She groaned with strain, trying desperately to soar into the sky with Sunburst in tow, but was only able to slow their descent the slightest bit.

“I can’t do it, Sunburst! I can’t fly!” Scootaloo cried.

The ground was rising with monstrous speed to meet them, and they were out of time. Through her tears and the rushing wind, Scootaloo could barely see a bunch of people down there, moving around like fire ants in the rain. A bunch of people that were going to see her and Sunburst get smeared across the snowy ground, all because she was too useless to save them both. Scootaloo shut her eyes and waited for the end.

But the end didn’t come. Neither did the ground. Instead, the fall slowed, and somewhere in the distance, there was an long, odd rattling sound. Scootaloo's eyes opened.

It was a cloud of fluttering colors; red, yellow on black, shining blue and deep ambers and auburns, greens and browns. Butterflies. Not a migration of them, but a collection of species that ranged far beyond the Everfree mountain range. Enough butterflies to cover the snowfield in the shimmering light refracting through their wings.

A shifting mass of flapping wings and tiny bodies had scooped Scootaloo and Sunburst into a bizarrely gentle grasp. A million miniscule legs carried them down toward the ground, where they could see many, many more butterflies lifting a bunch of traumatized, shivering people into the air.

High, high above them, casting the longest shadow of all, stood a figure astride a shifting platform made of those butterflies. If one were to squint against the emerging sun, they would see a figure with fluffy, elegant wings, long, trailing hair, and a tambourine keeping a gentle rhythm.

Scootaloo looked on in awe, her wings and ears flickering out of existence just as her feet finally touched the ground. She got a warm, full sense in her stomach that something about this was profound, but she wouldn’t find the words until much, much later. Little wings, little bodies, and yet, here they were, working a miracle.

“Sunburst…what is this?” Scootaloo said.

Sunburst hit the ground face first with a squishy thud, then lifted a snow-covered finger.

“That, Scoots, is an airlift.” Sunburst said.

“Friends…?” Said a shaky voice. It was Gregor, stumbling through the snow toward Scootaloo and Sunburst as a line of civilians stepped forward to be scooped up by the legion of butterflies. He was clearly injured, and each step caused him to grimace.

Sunburst ran up, his hand aglow with a chunk of quartz to heal the drone’s wounds before he even began talking.

“You’re that changeling from earlier! Yeesh, what happened?” Scootaloo said.

“Family.” Gregor groaned. Rather than a rend in his side, the impact had shattered part of Gregor’s carapace like a dark mirror.

“That Chrysalis sure likes punching holes in people…” Sunburst muttered.

“But waitaminute, if you’re out here, where’s Starlight?” Scootaloo said.

As if in response, flash of red light slashed through the back of the hive like a scything blade. It flew across the valley, cutting a gash into the mountainside.

Just as the last of the civilians were lifted into the air, Scootaloo heard a distant warning rumble from halfway up the mountain. She’d been snowboarding enough times to know what that meant.

“We should maybe get back inside.” Scootaloo said.

Echoes of heavy thuds and roaring spellfire reached into the depths of the hive. The sound of vicious bickering had stopped, replaced by a weighty, tense silence.

Tymbal led Adagio through the halls, suites and holes. By the siren’s reckoning, there was a not-insignificant chance this was another trap, but she couldn’t seem to focus on that possibility, or make a plan. All she could think about was how Buck was trailing behind her, and how much space there truly was between them, now.

The egg in Buck’s arms had ceased its chaotic strobe. The light from inside was a deep blue, so dark it seemed to pull light into itself. Buck stroked it gently, and a pink pulse flickered in its center.

“Buck?” Adagio tried.

“…I don’t wanna talk anymore, Adagio.” Buck said.

“I’m just saying, you shouldn’t get attached to that thing.” Adagio said. “It’s a weapon. A weapon that Chrysalis fooled you into helping forge.”

“It’s a baby, ‘dagio. It can be whatever it wants to be.” Buck said, and the pink light within grew brighter.

“...sentimental fool.” Adagio muttered. She heard Buck scoff, and tasted his bitter feelings.

“Can’t you ever stop?” Buck said.

“Oh, what? Can’t take criticism? I thought you were a writer? I’m sorry; an aspiring writer.” Adagio spat.

“You…I’m not doin’ this with you, Adagio.” Buck said. He began to shuffle past her, and Adagio’s hand rose, almost to the hilt of her sword, as for a microsecond, she considered slugging Buck across the face with its pommel. Instead, she held a hand out and touched his chest, firmly stopping him.

“No. You tell me right now, what is your plan?” Adagio said.

“What’re you talkin’ about?” Buck said.

“You are holding the fulcrum of the Queen’s scheme. This is the future she spoke about during dinner. You understand that, right? It burned my hands when I carried it. Now you’ve taken it, and you’ve been staring at it like a mother hen, so I am asking you before we go one step further, what are you going to do with that egg?” Adagio said.

Buck stared at the egg for a few seconds, and then he carefully set it down on the ground beside him.

“I don’t know.” Buck said. “But I’m not gonna let anybody raise this kid in captivity.”

Tymbal, who was waiting next to a hole in the wall, gasped quietly behind a hand.

“That’s not good enough! We are about to go out there and fight a true monster! We will not survive if we don’t work together, and I cannot trust you if you don’t even know what we’re fighting for! Details, Buck! Do you plan to hide this entire hive in your apartment? Are you going to make friends with the Queen and invite her over to play tabletop games!?”

“I dunno, maybe the Pillars could like, get them a warehouse down by the docks to stay in, or hell, you’re rich as fuck, maybe you could set them up with a place to stay! I just want everyone to get out of this alive and safe-”

“And when the smoke clears, what is your plan!? How do you plan on taking responsibility for this mess!? For powering up the greatest threat to this world!? What did you think you would accomplish, cuddling up with that monster!?”

“I DON’T KNOW! Maybe I could change her mind! Maybe together we could convince her not to attack the city no more, and find another way, without all this blood and hate! Maybe I just wanted something good to happen, JUST THIS ONCE! What’s wrong with that!?” Buck roared, his golden eyes sparking red.

“What if you got hurt, Buck? What if you try to reason with Chrysalis, and she kills you, huh!? What do you think your little housewife will say when she finds out you died, and she and her little child have to forget you? What were you thinking!?” Adagio said.

“I-I did what I thought was the right thing to do! I knew you guys would be fine if you had the book, so I was trying to buy some time, so I did the only thing I’m good at! I didn’t think me and Chrysalis would-”

“I know! I know, and it was a good idea!”

“Well, I didn’t-wait, what?”

“But you didn’t need to put your life on the line! You could have run over and given me some energy, or started a ruckus in the ballroom. You didn’t have to get so vulnerable all alone in a place where I couldn’t see you!”

“I…wait. Were you were worried about me?” Buck said.

“Yes! Of course I was worried about you, Buck! Obviously, I…do you think I don’t care what happens to you!?” Adagio spluttered.

“I think you care about what happens with my mana.” Buck said.

Adagio flinched, looking genuinely hurt.

“Oh, Buck…that’s…that’s you. It’s your mana. It comes from you. It’s yours. Of course I-”

“Look, I get it, alright? I got in too deep. This always happens. I always make the same mistake. I overcommit, and I get too intense too fast, and it all blows up in my face.” Buck said.

“That sounds like a destructive pattern. I think Ditzy’s case could corroborate-” Tymbal began.

“Quiet, you!” Adagio snarled.

“She’s just tryna help, don’t yell at her! Lookit me, look, I screwed up. Alright? I screwed up, and I put everyone in danger, and that’s the opposite of what I want. I’m a screw-up, okay? That’s what I do. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Buck said.

“No! Of course not!” Adagio said.

“Then why are you so pissed at me!?” Buck said.

“Buck, I’m not mad because of what happened, I’m mad because…I…” Adagio trailed off.

She could feel Buck’s heartbeat. He was here, right in front of her. He was pantless, bruised and dirty, but he was safe and he was warm. And somehow, he was still talking to her. Still going on about his best case scenario; where everyone–including his enemies–had a place in the world, and a place in his heart. And it was impassioned, certainly; she could see fancies of angry red veins and swirling squiggles floating around his head, but it wasn’t just passion, and she knew that, too. She’d know it all along. And Adagio felt beyond foolish. Something hit the floor of her own heart, and broke like a porcelain figure.

And Adagio touched her lips, still feeling the tender warmth from earlier, and she felt that warmth running down her cheeks.

“I’m mad, because I thought you were letting her…I thought you’d fallen into a trap. You were all alone in this horrible place, and you’re only here because you were asked.”

“You thought Chrysalis was using me again. Like the first two times.” Buck said, glumly.

“But you had her under control. She was eating out of your hand. You took the gambits she used against you, and threw them back in her face, and you had her squealing underneath you. I didn’t teach you that. You looked at me expecting a rescue, you didn’t need me. I’m the one that stumbled, and compromised your scene.” Adagio said, her lip quivering.

“Adagio…” Buck said, reaching up to tenderly catch her tear with a finger, and she shuddered and covered her mouth. Adagio slumped down, holding on to the front of Buck’s silly red vest with one hand as she sobbed into the other.

“And I’m mad because I’ve seen that side of you, and I want it. For me, and for both of us, and I can’t keep watching you waste it with Ditzy Doo! I can’t stand to see you throw yourself at someone who doesn’t appreciate you, because I…I…”

Here, finally, Adagio slid to the floor, and her nails dug into the carpet as she finally fell into heaving, full-body hysterics. Fat, heavy tears rolled down her face, dripping onto the carpet as she sobbed.

“I ruined it, Purple Prose. I ruined everything. I didn’t trust you, and now I don’t even think I know how to. I keep prodding at you like a spoiled little schoolgirl, and you just keep on giving me chances, every time, every time I ruin it! Every time you reach out for my cold little heart, I smack your hand away! Why don’t you hate me!?”

“Adagio, I don’t hate you.” Buck said, kneeling down, offering a hand up.

“When am I going to learn, Buck!?” Adagio sobbed.

“It’s alright.” Buck said, and the feeling of his thick arms squeezing her made Adagio spiral into more of a gasp than a cry.

“I don’t wanna fight you anymore!” Adagio whined into Buck’s chest.

“I know. I don’t wanna fight you either.” Buck said, petting Adagio’s hair. “I just want us to get along, ‘dagio. I wanna know you, for real. Without all the sneaking and the sniping.”

“I’m sorry.” Adagio sniveled.

“I know.” Buck said. “And I accept your apology. I know none of this is easy for you. Y’know, for all your talk about emotional authenticity and intention and all’a that, it seems like you really got your wires crossed when it comes to me.”

“It’s never been like this for me!” Adagio said.

“Yeah?” Buck said.

“It’s like, every time we touch-”

“You get this feeling?” Buck said.

“Wha-”

“And every time we kiss, you swear you could fly!” Buck sang.

“Oh, I take it all back. You are the worst.” Adagio said.

“Aww, c’mon, that was a perfect set up!” Buck laughed.

“Insufferable. That’s what you are. It’s that glibness of yours that drives me crazy.” Adagio said, shaking her head.

“Is that so? What else?” Buck said, and with a great deal of tenderness, he turned her chin upward so he could look into her eyes.

“I hate that you’re comforting me even though we’re fighting.” Adagio said.

“Yeah?” Buck said.

“And I hate that you keep trying to work things out with me, even though it would be so much easier to just cut me out of your life like any sensible person would!” Adagio said.

“Uh-huh.” Buck said.

“And I hate that you’re trying to convince me that we have even half a chance of getting that horrible, monstrous weevil to see reason. And I hate that I’m coming around to the idea! And I hate, hate hate that you keep…looking at me, with that stupid smile that makes me want to…” Adagio trailed off, blushing.

“What?” Buck said. “What’s it make you wanna do?”

Adagio looked up at him with a deep gulp, then she laid her head against his chest and squeezed him tight.

“It makes me want to hold you. Okay? Is that enough for you, Purple Prose? Have I embarrassed myself enough?” Adagio grumbled.

“That’ll do.” Buck said, patting Adagio’s head.

And for a few seconds, they stood there in a tender embrace, warmed by the pink light coming from the egg. An iridescent rainbow gleam shined through them, igniting into a pair of equine ears on Adagio’s head, and a pair that were longer and sharper on Buck’s.

“Oh, wow.” Tymbal said. “You two really love each other.”

Buck and Adagio fell into a duet of stammered mumblings to the tune of; “I wouldn’t say that exactly…” and “Let’s not be too hasty!” and “It’s a little more complicated than that.” and “Who even asked you!?” but even as their words stumbled headfirst into each other, their hands stayed together.

“Buck, what are we doing?” Adagio said, finally.

“We’re gonna go save the world, I think.” Buck said, scooping the egg back into its makeshift scarf swaddle.

“Oh, is that all?” Adagio laughed.

“C’mon. Lead the way, Tymbal!” Buck said.

“Okay!” Tymbal said, and they were off to meet the pandemonium waiting ahead.

Contrary to popular belief, Queen Chrysalis was never one for dedicated study. Changeling Queens were famously secretive with their knowledge, and the one that came before Chrysalis was hardly different. Every piece of arcane esoterica she knew, she had gained through practicality and plunder.

However, there were lessons passed from monarch to monarch. The blazing power of love: that ambrosia that all changelings coveted from the bottom of their rumbling stomachs, and it’s opposite; the frigid force of hatred.

Just as love could sustain and preserve a changeling’s body, hatred existed to despoil and desecrate. It was impersonal and broad, like a winter wind, black and bottomless as the sea. It was said that all changeling shells had been darkened long ago by the hatred of ponies, and so they always returned to their reviled forms as a reminder to guard against their gazes.

Chrysalis believed something else; that hatred was a fuel that could grant the power to destroy one’s enemies, but only if it was ignited by a desecrated love. She’d never seen that theory put to proof until this day.

A blast of red and black erupted into Starlight Glimmer. Chrysalis poured her might, fury and indignity into a deadly jet of mana, and it barely slowed the crippled earthling down.

A brutal haymaker hammered into the Queen’s face, sending her to the floor, her moss-colored hair splayed out across the carpet.

“Get up.” Starlight said.

Even though the changeling stone protected Chrysalis from the cold fury of Starlight’s magic, it could not defend against physical strikes.

Every time Chrysalis flinched or threw her arms up, Starlight turned to lash at the surrounding drones.

So the queen rose, her eyes filled with loathing, and a frigid explosion of pain blasted into her guts. Starlight’s mailed fist was as cold as a metal post in a snowstorm, and the writhing plates on it were spiked for the express purpose of mauling.

Chrysalis tried to silence her howls of pain, to show dignity to her drones, who even now were wasting away from starvation. She had failed them. She had failed the empire.

Another punch, this time to the ribs. A kick that tore something loose in Chrysalis’ stomach.

“AUGHH!” Chrysalis screamed.

She was down again, gagging up a wad of green ichor as she tried to hold her guts in.

“Get up!” Starlight said.

Pride was ever the Queen’s fatal flaw. She had underestimated these human’s capacity for hatred. And this folly would signal the end of her legacy.

Chrysalis was yanked upward by the roots of her hair, and through the haze of pain, she saw Starlight Glimmer’s foot draw back to kick her guts in again.

In this moment of agonizing shame, as she lay prostrate before her kin, Queen Chrysalis resorted to a tactic she’d only fallen to once before, when she was encased in stone.

She prayed that someone would save her.

A changeling Queen has no friends. A changeling Queen is a living example of the ferocity, guile and ambition of her people, and Chrysalis had been that for as long as she could remember. The only time she’d make an alliance, it was just so she could break that pact whenever convenient. She had no allies, no friends, and no true lovers.

That is why she was so shocked when she saw the freezing flames across the lobby part around a pinprick of pink light.

And then came Adagio Dazzle, the certified thorn in her side, kneeling down to cradle her head, her other hand aglow with a soothing pink light. She felt the blinding pain in her stomach lessen.

“Has the world gone mad?” Chrysalis groaned, turning her head to see the king of all fools, Purple Prose put his body between her and Starlight Glimmer.

“Something like that.” Adagio said.

The end of golden hour scattered a dying ember glow across the Canterlot’s east side. A shimmering orange dapple shone over the old boarded up brownstone buildings and blocky apartments, glittering like a ribcage in the setting sun.

Just as some of the last straggling Mom and Pop shops of Canterlot began shuttering for the night, a dark, rumbling shadow fell across the neighborhood, lazily drifting south east from the Everfree Mountain range to spill a drizzle of fat, cold raindrops on the Dusty Pages Memorial Library’s high red brick facade.

Smolder stood in one corner of the old geography section, flipping idly through articles about old rock farms and quarries around Canterlot. She wore a ratty old jean jacket over a flowing pink and red polka dot dress. One of her thick boots squeaked softly on the linoleum as she fidgeted, leaning against the stacks.

“Nope, no flare-ups since the first time. The exercises are working.” Smolder said, blowing a strand of her long purple and blonde-streaked mohawk out of her face.

“I see. And have you encountered any strange events since the fair?” Sweetie Drops said. She had a book about traveling the west coast open, and was pretending to scan it with great vigor.

“Nope. No creeps in cloaks, no bugs wearing my brother’s face, nothing.” Smolder said.

“Good. Any developments on the caves?” Sweetie Drops said.

There was a long pause. Smolder’s booted foot tapped a bit faster.

“Almost all of these maps contradict each other. I still haven’t found the specific tunnels that connect Canterlot to the mountains.” Smolder said.

“...I see. You may have better luck searching the records at town hall. Deeds and such. You might find caves that were given over as part of old land deals.” Sweetie Drops said.

“Right. As soon as I know anything…” Smolder said.

“You’ll let me know.” Sweetie Drops said.

“...and if I do this, you promise you’ll leave me and my brother alone?” Smolder said.

“You and your brother are as safe as possible right now. If your situation changes, The Pillars Organization will take whatever steps necessary to ensure your safety, and the safety of those around you.” Sweetie Drops said.

“And you won’t disappear us? Or fuck with our heads, right?” Smolder said, her eyes turning sharp and reptilian in the space between blinks.

“The Pillars Organization will not resort to any drastic measures so long as the situation remains stable.” Sweetie Drops said.

“But what does that mean!?” Smolder said. She rounded the corner and found that Sweetie Drops was gone.

“Shh!” Moon Dancer shushed.

Smolder rolled her eyes, hiding a hand behind her back. For a moment, it seemed like her nails were lengthening into claws.

Thunder shook the library windows, and a sudden patter of rain punctuated it, drumming a staccato beat across the pavement.

A soft, wet clacking noise was buried under honking cars and road rage. It was the sound of heels; ones that Bon Bon thought were sensible but flashy. They were powder blue. Rain soaked into her yellow blouse and dark mauve skirt. There was a squeak and a ca-chunk noise as the door of a black, antique sedan shut. No noise as a cream-colored forehead came to rest on a dark steering wheel.

Bon Bon was fading away. Sweetie Drops was doing everything to hold it all together. She sighed, answered a text on her phone, and drove off.

“Don’t move yet. She’s thrashed you.” Adagio said, softly. “I can numb the pain and stop the bleeding, but that’s it.”

Queen Chrysalis gasped as Adagio touched her gently. The siren’s hand glowed with a pink heat that sizzled across her purple, bruised stomach.

“What is…what is wrong with you?” Chrysalis said. There was a crinkle as a shard of the changeling stone necklace fell off and vaporized.

“There must be something in the water.” Adagio said.

Meanwhile, Buck tried to make eye contact with Starlight. This was impossible, as Starlight’s eyes had gone pure white, as if a whole spectrum of anger was trying to beam its way out of her skull.

“Okay, Starlight? Hey. You in there? Look, I can tell that you’re pissed right now, and I get it. I get it. But, we’ve been doing a lot of talking about feelings, and connecting and all that, so, uh…do you want to talk about it?”

Buck slowly waved a hand in front of Starlight’s face.

“NO! I’ll slaughter anyone who gets in my way!” Starlight said, raising her scourge, fully intent on reducing Buck to a pile of quivering jelly.

“A’ight, see, you’re doin’ that thing again; we talked about this! You gotta consider other people’s perspectives, instead of putting all your focus on the sugondeez.” Buck said.

“...the sugondeez?” Starlight said.

“SUGONDEEZ NUTS! HAH!” Buck said, and a miniature supernova erupted in Starlight’s face. With a noise that was equal parts explosion and clown horn, Starlight was sent careening in the opposite direction, crashing into a smoking crater of black stone and wood.

Buck looked at his hands, then turned to Adagio and Chrysalis with a befuddled thumbs up.

“I…don’t know what’s going on anymore.” Chrysalis said.

“First time?” Adagio said. “Wait, Buck, look out!”

Starlight Glimmer exploded into place just in front of Buck; some sort of chaotic, instinctual teleport. Buck squealed as she caught his thumb in a crushing grip.

“Owowowowow! Okay, okay, I know tensions are high, but-”

Starlight threw Buck across the lobby, over the grand staircases and through the doors to the ballroom. There was a crash, and a long cymbal roll as Buck landed in the orchestra pit.

“Buck! Are you okay!?”Adagio shouted.

“Haha! Not at all!” Buck called.

“Ha!” Starlight cackled, once. And then her expression slowly returned to that blank fury as she turned to Adagio and Chrysalis.

“Oh. Well…this has been a long time coming.” Adagio sighed. She rose, unsheathing her rapier, and began to step in a slow, deliberate rhythm around Starlight Glimmer, her blade raised between them. “Your fight is with me. If you take your eyes off me…well, who knows what could happen?”

“You. You wouldn’t dare get in my way. Not now!” Starlight growled, and her armor shifted, slithering up her form. Snakes made of enchanted iron wound through Starlight’s hair, forming a long ponytail of hissing, fanged mouths. The blazing red bident returned to Starlight’s free hand, a torch of red flame gathering between the tips, while the blue-black scourge scraped the air with a series of snaps.

And as Adagio assessed that she would now have to weather a storm of blows for her mortal enemy, there was a moment where the facade cracked. Some foolish man had convinced her she was invincible, with nothing but soft words and a hand. And for a moment, the pink sheen around her wavered.

But then she remembered something equally important.

The lobby rang with a warm, flirtatious riff as Adagio awakened. It was like the first, tantalizing saxophone notes of an experimental jazz set.

Shimmering pink excitement washed over Adagio’s form, covering her in a pearly rainbow sheen. She didn’t need to check for the ears or the fins at her back; she knew the feeling of power well. She craved it.

“I’m Adagio Dazzle, and I get what I want. And right now? I want everyone to live.” Adagio said.

Starlight lunged at Chrysalis, but the tip of Adagio’s blade sniped at her wrist with needle precision. Sheathed in a sparkling pink aura, the blade flashed as Adagio tagged Starlight’s forward thigh with enough force to dent the armor around it.

“Get out of my way!” Starlight snarled.

“Let’s dance, ‘Glimglam’.” Adagio said.

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Starlight roared.

And the mountain roared back.

Outside the hive, the Everfree Mountain range had grown sick of being abused. Unseasonal headwinds, rumbling earth, and a massive freak snowstorm had upset the balance of nature.

Sunburst, Gregor and Scootaloo, unable to pierce the strange, cold barrier at the front door, had just managed to climb up the side of the hive. Gregor boosted Sunburst up from the bottom while Scootaloo pulled on his cape with all her might, yanking him up onto the battered roof tiles.

“Come on, Sunburst! How can such a spindly guy be so heavy!?” Scootaloo said.

“Maybe it’s all the books in my bag.” Sunburst wheezed, rolling onto his back.

Gregor glanced over the massive hole in the roof with wide eyes.

“Friends?” Gregor said. “Heavy!”

Scootaloo came to his side, squinting down through the floors to the lobby where a veritable lightshow was taking place. There was a clash of black and pink, and the hive rumbled.

“Wooooahh…they’re anime fighting down there!” Scootaloo said.

“I hope we’re winning.” Sunburst said. As he sat up, he caught a glimpse at the valley behind the hive, just in time to see a roaring wave of ice and stone bear down on him.

“Scoots? Greg, was it?” Sunburst said. “Hang on.”

With a splintering crash, an avalanche ripped the Little Snowdrop Inn off its foundations.

Buck was lost in that black space between impact and dreaming. It was hardly the first time.

Somewhere, distantly, Buck could feel his fingers twitching and hear the pounding of his heart in his ears. He considered the bleak soreness that would plague him after he woke up, and for a terrible eternity, he thought it would be easier, really, on everyone, if he just didn't bother.

But then, through the chilling despair, there was a warmth. A tender voice calling out to him. Saying “Come back. Come here. Just lay your head here, and stretch out. Let me hold you. Let me hold you.”

And it was the strangest thing, because Buck expected Ditzy Doo. He could feel the warmth of her lap on his cheek, and the heft of her breasts at the top of his head. He knew the sweet smell of her generic sea spray shampoo and the motherly warmth of her thighs. He knew them so well it ached.

But it was because he knew Ditzy's presence so well that he was shocked to find the voice calling to him wasn't hers. It was Adagio’s.

Buck awoke in a chaotic bed of bent wooden necks and clanging brass bits. It was dark, but Buck knew a pratfall when he felt it. With a snap of his fingers, Buck ignited three lanterns of soft red light over his head.

It seemed his landing in the ballroom's orchestra pit had placed him inside a drum, with a cracked violin under him, and its accompanying bow wound around his leg.

Much of the instruments were burnt; Buck assumed numbly that he'd ignited them in some way as he landed. Maybe that had saved his life.

He frantically felt around. Miraculously, nothing was broken, not even the egg.

Buck had woke up to the sound of Adagio calling him, but something was off. Her voice lacked the husky confidence that made his hair stand on end. Instead, it came out shrill and squeaky.

“Please, you have to get up! don't…I don't know what will happen if you don't get up, so please!”

It wasn't Adagio. It was Ditzy Doo! But, no, that wasn't right either. It was Ditzy Doo's body, with her flaxen hair and cocked yellow eyes, but with Adagio's voice.

“Tymbal? That you?” Buck groaned. “I think there's a flute stuck in my hair…why're you like that?”

“Oh! Uh, s-s-sorry, I thought it would help you wake up! I-I-I know you and Ditzy do a lot of t-t-touching, and you and Adagio talk a lot, so…!” Tymbal rambled, shifting back to Silver Spoon, and then her true changeling form.

“Why is the ground shaking?” Buck said, stumbling to his feet. Tymbal held his arm steady as he rose.

“I-I think that's the hive.” Tymbal said.

“That can't be good.” Buck said. “Did we win? Everybody get out safe?”

“Uhhh…” Tymbal gestured broadly at the ballroom doors, through which pink and black strobed and struggled.

“Okay, cool, great. I-hey…” Buck said, his attention shifting to the floor, where an accoustic guitar sat, fully intact. It had a fine, oaken finish, and with an idle pluck of Buck's fingers, it twanged a sensuous chord. Still in tune, after the crash.

“Ooh…you're a naughty girl, aren't you?” Buck growled.

A tree speared one of the front windows of the hive with a great crash, and a portion of the floor tumbled away in a wash of white inertia. Floor boards, rocks and tree limbs flew through the lobby in a storm of debris. The avalanche dragged the hive down the valley, and soon there would be nothing of it left.

It was a miracle anyone inside was still alive.

What surprised Adagio most was that it was easy.

Perhaps that wasn't the exact right term. What Adagio did was easy in the same way dancing the flamenco was easy. Once you spent enough hours, days and months getting your timing just so, it became thoughtless. Mundane, even.

Adagio had been sword fighting for generations. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could defeat Starlight Glimmer in a one-on-one confrontation, but this was not that.

Starlight Glimmer discharged a rain of howling, thoughtless hatred on Queen Chrysalis and her brood, lashing out with scourge and torch and hissing, striking snakes in her hair, and though it all, Adagio danced.

Her blade moved without a moment’s consideration, slashing, riposting, turning blows aside. Her smile was just as sharp. Once, twice, thrice, a stray strike grazed Adagio, but she was so full of heat and wonder, she barely noticed.

Another tree ripped through the lobby. A wall crumbled. A piece of the roof caved in, but Adagio was lighter than a tune on the wind. Nothing could faze her, let alone touch her. Not even her opponent.

Her rapier was wrapped in a sheen of pink light. It was like a glowstick whizzing around in a mosh pit as it parried countless blows, each strike ringing like a tin bell. Every flick of Adagio's wrist and every bold swish of her hips seemed to place her exactly where she needed to be, for with each step the siren took in this improvised dance, she turned aside one of Starlight's attacks.

It was not giddy twitterpation or love drunkenness that moved her; Adagio was certain. She was hummimg, twirling and laughing, but she wasn't manic. It was an elation of certainty.

Somehow, at the other end of this horror show, Adagio saw a future for herself. One that included Buck. And for once, the very thought didn't frighten her.

“No one wants you here! No one cares about you! All you do is make messes everywhere you go! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE!?” Starlight screeched.

Starlight fanned out her fingers, and the air snapped into another black, scything blade, trying to lop both the Siren and Changeling Queen in half. Adagio's rapier lashed out and struck the blade in its direct center. It sundered and slashed through the walls on either side of Adagio.

“Hm? Did you say something, dear?” Adagio said.

"I HATE YOU!" Starlight screamed.

Each clash of blades sent sparks of hate and love scattering across the rumbling lobby. Chrysalis crawled across the floor, trying to sup up a speck of that energy so that she might heal her wounds, but all she found was the remains of her children.

“It's not enough…it’s never enough!” Chrysalis sobbed.

Just as Adagio could see a future, so too could the Queen of the Changelings. She saw that her people had suffered monstrous casualties in this war she's waged. She saw an endless uphill battle to keep even this dwindled amount fed. She knew that this fight would decide their fate. The grumbling in her stomach was more painful than ever.

And then, she saw it. There, standing at the top of the twin staircases, pantsless and carrying the legacy of the changelings, as well as a guitar, was Purple Prose.

https://soundcloud.com/user-172575235/carry-on-wayward-son-solo

His style was sloppy, low and soulful. His words were a bit slurred, and he seemed unsteady on his feet. And yet, despite his exhaustion, the words and the strings beneath them came flowing from his fingertips, blazing like the sparks from a forge.

“Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion.

I was soaring ever higher, but then I flew too high!”

It wasn't a sonnet of love, nor a lustful serenade. It was a ballad that spoke of growth, resilience and humility.

“Though my eyes could see, I still was a blind man.

Though my mind could think, I still was a mad man!

I hear the voices when I'm dreamin’! I can hear them say;”

Buck sang out, the hive charged towards a rocky valley wall, where it would certainly crash and dash everyone within to pieces. Atop the hive, Gregor, Sunburst and Scootaloo stood together, a rainbow sheen surrounding them.

Sunburst was encanting one last desperate spell, trying to slow the deadly slurry sweeping the whole building away. He had a hand on Scootaloo's back. She was just ahead of him, trying to will the winds to guide the hive, pushing it out of the way of the biggest trees. Gregor stood hunched to their side, breathing gouts of pink flame, which melted any debris that threatened to hit them and break their focus.

All feared they wouldn't be enough, but as the song drifted up, they all awakened. A thin, flickering horn. A set of tiny wings. A shining spring green carapace. They didn’t need to be the strongest, the fastest or the toughest; they would find a way, regardless. The classic rock jam mixed with their chant, and its lyrics became the spell itself.

“Carry on my Wayward Son! There'll be peace when you are done!
Lay your weary head to rest,
Don't you cry no more!” Buck sang.

The hive suddenly banked to the west. A stiff wind had altered its course, and now it barreled headlong into the valley forest, knocking over trees as it went. Soon it would clear the forest and sweep into the main road beyond, creating a ludicrous new obstacle for any passing cars.

The turbulence sent Sunburst and Scootaloo tumbling down through the hole in the ceiling.

He slid down one of the banisters on his knees, wailing out the chorus, having to duck low as Starlight swiped at him with her scourge. Rainbow sparks shot off the guitar as Buck played a solo that was equal parts righteous and sloppy. A bit of red got behind them, and they streaked out like darts, hitting the wall of frozen flame and instantly turning it rainbow, then pink. With a rugburn-inducing slide across the floor, Buck landed at Adagio's side. She looked at him with a mortified smile.

“What is wrong with you people!? You think singing a stupid song can fix everything!?" Starlight howled.

She stomped toward Adagio, her black, coiling armor boiling away in a wave of prismatic flame.

"You think we can all just hold hands and talk about friendship, and have it all work out!?” Starlight screamed out in fury, rushing to rip Buck to shreds, but Adagio reached out and caught her by the waist.

“Don't take it personal. It happened to me, too.” Adagio said.

“You don't get it! I failed! I lost everything! My family! My home! It's all gone, because for just one second, I dropped my guard! Because that's what happens when you let monsters do what they want! Now Sunburst is dead!” Starlight screamed to the ceiling, just in time to see the dead man falling toward her, as well as Scootaloo and Gregor, the changeling drone.

And a massive wave of ice and debris behind them.

For Adagio Dazzle, time slowed to a crawl. Here were all of her dear friends and enemies laid before her. She could feel the power coursing through her like a champagne high; sweet and bubbly.

Chrysalis, the usurper laid at her feet, Starlight Glimmer, certified thorn in her side, rushing to embrace the only good wingman Adagio had ever had. Her dark side had been conquered, her enemies vanquished, and her spoils...well, even her stray pet had returned. A bitter, ruinous voice burbled up from the black depths of her heart and issued a dire warning.

"These are not your people. You know who your people are." The shadowy sea hissed.

There was no one who could stop her. A wet, broken beam, let's say, fell on Chrysalis. And a strangely thick chunk of ice just happened to pierce Starlight's heart. And then she could steal Buck away, and devour his mana in sweet little chunks, until...

But then another voice broke through the clouds above it. One that was far more like Adagio's own.

"Adapt or die." It said simply, and it's voice was hot honey spreading across a morning sky.

Adagio turned, and there was Buck. He was already halfway into a dive, having thrown the guitar over his shoulder. The egg was still swaddled, but it had drifted to his back. His arms were outstretched.

Adagio Dazzle flashed with a brilliant pink flame. The air around her ignited into a whirlwind of light, twisting around Buck, then Starlight, Sunburst, Scootaloo, Greg the drone, and Chrysalis. They all packed in tightly around Adagio, cradled in a great shining yellow coil.

Adagio reached out to embrace Buck.

From the corner of her eye, Adagio saw that the golden wind shimmered into a familiar face. Her true form. Her eyes of purple deeper and more radiant than the finest ink. Her elegant fins. Her viciously sharp fangs, glinting as Adagio Dazzle found herself looking at herself, and liking what she saw.

The first chunks of shingle and rubble fell onto the conjured siren, but they simply bounced off her beautiful golden scales. Adagio spied an old scar right at the bottom of her neck; a jagged star-shaped darkness where her pendant once rested. It pulsed with a soft pink shimmer.

Buck swept Adagio into a high hug, and she squeezed him like she was the only thing anchoring him to the ground. They awakened together in a blinding flash.

The windows buckled, then exploded as the hive struck the treeline. A thunderous cacophany echoed acrouss the valley as hundreds of pounds of snow brought the hive to a crashing, calamitous halt.

The red eye of the sun drowsed low against the waving horizon as a small group of the most confused people on earth rode a wave of migrating butterflies back to town. Some were wobbling, some were laying down, but miraculously, they were all supported.

Cauldron Bubbles sat cross legged like a genie on a carpet, watching the sun set, her pink hair whipping in the wind. Silver Spoon stood at her side, arms crossed against the airy chill.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Silver Spoon said.

"Home, I hope." Cauldron Bubbles said, her purple cheeks gone gray.

"Are you alright?" Silver Spoon said.

"This is the most sober I have been in three years." Cauldron Bubbles said. "How about you?"

Silver Spoon saw Canterlot City sparkling in the distance, its glass and steel towers glimmering in a bright, golden hour mist, storm cloud slowly drifting over it.

"...eh. I've got my own therapist." Silver Spoon said.

Adagio Dazzle scrambled across the crash site, snow crunching under her pumps with every step.

Across the field, Starlight Glimmer wept, cradling Sunburst in her arms.

“Sunburst! Sunburst, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore!” Starlight sobbed.

Adagio thought she heard Sunburst give a simpering consolation as she stomped through the hive’s carcass. Broken beams, splintered trees and chunks of black stone lay scattered across the snowfield like the pieces of a fallen dollhouse.

“Not like this, not like this!” Adagio said, frantically following his scent. She wasn’t going to lose him again. Not now.

“BUCK! WHERE ARE YOU!?” Adagio screamed.

The valley was quiet.

And then a fart noise came from the snow. Adagio whirled around, wiping the tears from her eyes as she ran toward a bright neon red arrow pointing at a pair of beefy legs sticking out of the snow.

“There you are!” Adagio said.

“Mmmphhmhphmm…!” Buck said.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Adagio laughed.

With a trill of Adagio’s tongue, the fresh powder spat Buck out like a sunflower seed. With him came the glowing egg that was his progeny, and the queen of the changelings herself.

“Are you hurt? How do you feel?” Adagio said, walking straight past Chrysalis.

“...cold.” Buck said, his naked knees shivering. The guitar had been scattered to shambles across the field.

“You absolute fool.” Adagio said, hugging him.

With a gasp, Scootaloo’s messy purple hair breached the snow like a leaping whale in the surf.

“HUUHHH! HUH! I’m okay!” Scootaloo said. Adagio dropped her a wink, and smirked at the blush that spread across Scootaloo’s face.

A black form twisted its way out of the snow, groaning, and several others came crawling up behind.

“Greg…tired.” Greg said. He'd gone back to his original form; ashen skin, holey limbs and tattered wings.

Somehow, someway, they were all still alive.

“Is everyone alright?” Buck called out.

“What do you think? Spineless maggot.” Chrysalis snarled.

Her awakening had stopped entirely, leaving her with nothing but her long, lanky human form. Her face was so drained now it was nearly skeletal. Her eyes were yellowed, her wings tattered once more. A thick green ooze dripped through the holes in her fingertips as she held her lower abdomen.

“Oh, shit. Sunburst? We need a medic over here!” Buck said.

But as Sunburst moved to help, he was stopped by Starlight’s grip on his wrist, and the cry of Chrysalis.

“Stay back, you foals! Stay back! You’ve ruined everything!” Chrysalis said, baring her fangs. “Drones! If any of you can still move, seize them! Now!”

But the drones didn’t attack. They were looking at Gregor, who seemed remarkably lacking in defects or holes just then. His carapace was covered in rifts, through which a soft pink light was coming through. He looked like a cocoon ready to break open.

“What are you doing!? Get them!” Chrysalis began to say, but then a hand fell in her face. Buck was kneeling in the snow, offering her a hand up. The egg they’d made together shook slightly.

“I’m sorry it came to this. But you don’t have to fight anymore! We don’t have to fight anymore.” Buck said.

“What?” Chrysalis said.

“Y’all here me!? Can we all admit we’ve had enough!? At the end of the day, we’re all just strangers in a strange land, fighting over scraps! But we’d do so much more if we worked together! Today, I’ve met changelings that could be kind, and vulnerable! Changelings that could care for others! That could put others first! Are we really so different? Look, these guys know about this organization! I think if we talk it over, they could help make a home for you!” Buck said.

“At last, one final indignity. Is this the Pillars you mentioned? Any batch of humans powerful enough to house my family could easily imprison us!” Chrysalis said.

“Nuh-uh! I won’t let that happen! If it comes down to it…I’ll go with you! Or we can trade my powers for your safety!” Buck said.

“You cannot possibly mean that!” Chrysalis said.

“He does.” Starlight said, wiping tears from her face. “He really does.”

“Yes, well, be that as it may…why would I let a sniveling, weakling, desperate little human accompany me into enemy territory?” Chrysalis huffed.

“Because you know I’ll help you.” Buck said.

“Help me? Help me!? Like you helped destroy my hive!” Chrysalis balked.

“I know what your people need, and I think you do, too. You’re not monsters, you’re just hungry. And lonely. I can help you, Chryssi.” Buck said.

“Chryssi!?” Chrysalis gasped. Adagio snickered.

“You need to be loved. Just let me…”

“You are out of your mind!” Chrysalis said.

“Let me love you.” Buck said.

He reached out, pink spellfire licking down his arms to the tips of his fingers.

Queen Chrysalis reached out…and at the last second, shrunk back, but it was too late. Buck’s fingertip brushed hers, as so too did his mana.

The changeling stone around the Chrysalis’ neck disintegrated.

Pink light surged into the queen’s body, mending the holes with transparent red gauze as thin as gossamer dew. Her hard, dark shell became soft and deep brown like a cherry wood. Her horn was long and curved like an elegant waning crescent. Her thin, delicate wings filtered the summer sunlight into a pearlescent lilac color. Her eyes were as bright and orange as a sun-dappled clearing, and her hair was a hanging canopy of beautiful pink blossoms. She pulled from her tattered robe the spoon Buck had shown her at dinner. Her eyes watered at her new form.

“Oh.” Adagio said quietly. “She’s beautiful.”

And Chrysalis looked out at this strange gathering of outcasts, which had come into her home and killed it with kindness. She saw her people, exhausting and famished, pulling themselves out of the snow. And she looked at Starlight Glimmer, who even now seemed completely floored by Buck’s actions. And she remembered what she’d done.

“...You’re right, Purple Prose.” Chrysalis said, rising into the air.

“I am? I mean, yeah! Yeah!” Buck said.

“I’m not a monster.” Chrysalis said.

Just beyond the distant treeline, Tymbal shrunk to the ground behind a trunk and covered her ears.

“I’M EVERY MONSTER!” Chrysalis howled, and began to change again.

The lines were barely perceptible to the naked eye, but Adagio didn’t need to see. She could taste the bitter betrayal in the air. Streams of energy swept out of the assembled drones, and they all fell to the ground, hollowed.

“No! No! No! Why!?” Buck shouted. Adagio pulled him out of the way just before a massive black claw swiped him up.

Chrysalis was like an ancient dead oak, all gnarled black limbs, with leaves made of flickering pearlescent insect wings. Her mossy hair hung off her towering form like a weeping willow’s curtain. Her face was like three gaping knotholes frozen in a permanent yawn. A roiling chamber of caustic green mana lay behind a horrendous, splintered gash in the middle of her trunk; a gut overflowing with hatred. Her horn was like two twining beanstalks which had gone white and petrified.

“I AM THE MOTHER OF MONSTERS! AND SOON I SHALL BRING FORTH ONE THAT WILL TEACH THIS LAND TRUE FEAR!” Screamed Chrysalis, and the whole valley shuddered.

“Scatter!” Adagio said.

The gang didn’t need to be told twice. Scootaloo made a break for the trees. Sunburst pulled on his very last reserves to float in the opposite direction. Adagio ran to Starlight, and with the lightest touch, brought the huntress to her feet.

“Plan?” Starlight said.

“The old plan; we take her down! Do not let her get that egg! Buck!” Adagio said.

Buck was right behind her, and right behind him was a splintering score of tendrils covered in puckering, hungry mouths. Buck’s aura came off him like pink steam, and the mouths sucked it up greedily. The energy curdled on its way to the queen’s heart, causing her towering form to grow.

“Fuck that, fuck that, fuck that! Okay, alright, alright girls, up top!” Buck said.

He clapped hands with Starlight, awkwardly paused in front of Adagio, halfway in a hug, then a handshake, and then back to a hug, and then he gave her a thumbs-up and ran with the egg.

“Ah! Uh, uhhh…you got this!” Buck said.

“Did either of you think that was going to work?” Starlight said, flashing red.

“It…was worth…a try!” Adagio said, shimmering pink. She had a mortified blush on her face as she slashed apart the branches chasing Buck.

Starlight took to the air, raining shots of blue mana on the titan, while Adagio hummed softly to the snow, causing it to form a circle. The flailing tree limbs swiped at her, and though she slashed their hollow shafts apart with her rapier, still more came to swarm her like a pit of needle-faced vipers.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Adagio said. She kicked at the snow, sending a flurry up, which turned into reaching hands on white limbs, wrapping around Chrysalis and tangling up her tendrils.

“GIVE ME THE CHILD!” Chrysalis howled, and more limbs erupted from her back, groping blindly in all directions, chasing after the egg.

“Sunburst!” Starlight shouted, and she fell through the air, conjuring another red bident, and just barely managing to reach down and snap Sunburst up before a thicket of flailing hands erupted from the ground to catch him.

Several more of those limbs snaked under the snow, burrowing through the ground to chase after Buck.

“Oh shit! Uh, uh, uh, uh…SCOOTS! GO LONG!” Buck said, and he threw the ball into the air, where Scootaloo was waiting in the boughs of a tree.

“Yeah! Keepaway!” Scootaloo said, but as she bounded off the branch, she found her legs kicking at empty air for far too long. The gaping maw of Chrysalis’ new form inhaled a vacuum, dragging Scootaloo in and siphoning her mana.

“GIVE HER BAAAACK!” Chrysalis rattled.

“Uh-oh! Nonononono! Uh…STARLIGHT CATCH!” Scootaloo said, and with a sudden rush of air, she shot the egg up like a free throw toward the pair in the air just before a bunch of the queen’s creaking limbs wrapped around her legs.

“Woah! What the hell, why me!?” Starlight said, snatching the egg under her arm.

“KILL YOU! KILL YOU ALL! REEEEEE!” Chrysalis roared, and her mouth and eyeholes erupted skyward in a caustic storm of boiling mana.

“Hang on!” Starlight said, and banked her bident through the air like an ace pilot, spinning into a mad evasive roll to avoid getting shredded.

“Ohgeezohgoshnonono! I hope this doesn’t awaken something in me!” Scootaloo said as the dark, knotted limbs curled around her arms and snaked up her legs, the leaf-like wings buzzing and chirping. A crack of splitting timber chopped through the air, and suddenly Scootaloo was falling again.

“I’ll hold her back! Finish the spell!” Adagio said, hurling disks of frozen water from the snowfield, slicing off the queen’s limbs before they could impale Scootaloo.

Chrysalis screamed in pain and fury, and though Adagio had chopped off several limbs, yet more blossomed from the stumps.

“What do you think we’re trying to do!?” Starlight complained, zipping the bident around like a drunken dragonfly. A pulse of red energy passed through her like a current, then shone through Sunburst’s extended hand as he struggled to gesture out an incantation.

Adagio saw the snow shifting, taking on characters and loops and little orange colored calculations while Starlight and Sunburst streaked through the air. The lines were just about to connect, but then a stray shot splattered into Starlight Glimmer. She shrieked, and the egg bounced out of her grip, and then it was a mad scramble of flailing limbs.

“Woah, woah, woah! Adagio, catch it!” Sunburst rambled.

“Not now!” Adagio said, and with a whirl of her hands, some snow formed a big soft cushion for Scootaloo to land on. She hit the ground running. “Buck, grab it!”

And then came Buck again with a spry leap and a spin around a snatching limb. He just barely caught the egg, and kept running without a word.

“NOOOO!” Chrysalis roared, shooting out a bramble of snatching limbs. She caught Buck by the ankle…and then was shocked to see Buck throw the glowing pink egg down at her roots, only for another Buck to catch it and throw it to Starlight.

“NOW!” Adagio said.

The spell circle ignited like a spotlight from the gods, spitting up great chains of arcane force to bind Chrysalis. Her tree-trunk body doubled over, her face dragging across the ground, vomiting up more mana as she shrank in size.

“NO! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU ALL!” Chrysalis screamed at the Buck in her grip.

Gregor the changeling took his true form once more in his mother’s clutches. A patch of his caparace snapped off, revealing a vibrant spring green shell beneath.

“Mother! Stop! Love! We need love!” Greg said. His eyes shone with a timid defiance that Chrysalis recognized.

The Queen’s gnarled branches curled around Greg’s throat, and then there was a horrendous, echoing snap. As her human form returned, Queen Chrysalis tossed Gregor away. His dark form hit the snow at an awkward, crumpled angle, and then he lay still.

“NO!” Buck screamed.

Queen Chrysalis hit the ground like a felled redwood tree, scattering a cloud of snow in her wake. Buck barely felt the shaking earth as he ran to Gregor’s limp form.

“Hang on, little buddy! I got you, I got you! SUNBURST! HELP!” Buck said, sliding to his knees at Greg’s side. The changeling drone was bent in a way that went beyond pain.

Gregor the changeling looked at Buck, tears welling up in his eyes. His shell cracked with little beams of pink light.

“Friend?” Greg croaked.

“You’re okay, Greg! You’re okay! We’re gonna fix you up!” Buck said, his hands glowing with pink light.

“You love. Always love.” Greg said, reaching for Buck’s hand.

Through the wet curtain of Buck’s falling tears, he watched Greg reach for his hand, and then fall apart. His shell burst open like a cocoon, but there was no butterfly inside. Gregor the rebel drone fell to hollow black pieces, which then dissolved into green goo.

“No…” Buck whimpered.

Sunburst was at his side in seconds, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Buck's skin faded to a grayish pallour as he slumped over, cold tears falling down his cheeks. His hands clenched in the green-splattered snow, his chest heaving up and down. He looked across the valley, and saw the other piles of goo that were once the last changelings in this world.

Buck’s expression broke apart, and the only sound he could make was a low, choking sob that rose into a wail as he turned his eyes to Chrysalis, who was hunched over in the snow, clutching her stomach. She couldn’t move without wincing in pain.

“Why? How could you do this?" Buck whined.

“It was defective. Don’t you see? They were…all of them were broken. They were soldiers.” Chrysalis said.

“THEY WERE CHILDREN!” Buck screamed, and a massive pillar of red flame erupted from him, sizzling the fallen snow into mist.

“They made a sacrifice for the next generation. As is every changeling’s duty.” Chrysalis said. Her expression was hollow, as if she were walking through a dream.

“There’s not going to be a next generation!” Starlight said.

All eyes turned to Canterlot’s staunchest defender. Though her furious awakening was gone, there was still a sharp hatred in her eyes as she held the pulsing pink egg in one hand and a charge of reddish black mana in the other.

“Starlight…no!” Buck said.

“You sniveling little cripple!” Chrysalis said. “I swear, as long as I live, I shall see you suffer for this!”

“No! No more suffering! No more attacks on Canterlot! I’m ending your plan, right here and now!” Starlight said.

“Starlight, what are you doing?” Sunburst said.

“Justice!” Starlight said. “She’ll take this thing and make a monster that will kill us all!”

“Starlight, it’s a baby!” Buck said. He made to move and a sizzling black bolt zapped the ground in front of him.

“Don’t move! None of you move! Don’t give them your sympathy! That’s how it starts! And then they take everything from you, because that’s what monsters do!” Starlight said.

Chrysalis started to scream at Starlight, but then the snow at her feet slipped into shackles around her wrists and ankles, and a band of ice froze her mouth shut. She looked frantically at Adagio, who had been silent up until now.

“You don’t have to do this, Starlight.” Adagio said.

“This is exactly what I do! I hunt monsters! And if I don’t stop this monster right now, she’ll destroy the whole world! It would be better for everyone if they would just DIE!” Starlight said, and her shadow twisted into her demonic from earlier.

“Think, Starlight. You call us monsters, but look at what you’re becoming.” Adagio said.

Starlight was caught at a crossroads. She tumbled through visions of her past, searching for an answer. She saw her father’s face. She thought of Ditzy Doo and Sugar Belle and Double Diamond and Fleet Floot, and everyone else he’d harmed. She thought of the last time she’d seen her mother’s face. How she looked so incredibly tired.

And then she thought of little Dinky Doo out on the playground, frolicking and looking at bugs with a big smile, all by herself.

Starlight Glimmer began to cry.

“I…I wouldn’t. I wasn’t-I…Oh…what am I doing?” Starlight said, sinking to her knees.

First, it was Sunburst, who caught Starlight gently and held her shoulders.

“You’re okay. It’s okay.” Sunburst said.

Then it was Buck, who gingerly balanced the egg with his hands before it could topple over.

“We got you.” Buck said.

Then came Adagio, who took Starlight’s free hand with a care and gentility that surprised even her. She hadn’t looked at someone with such motherly warmth since her sisters had left. She didn’t say a word.

Even Scootaloo, who had been fully unconscious until Starlight started screaming, flopped her way into the group hug.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry I hurt you!” Starlight cried.

“It’s okay. I forgive you.” Buck said.

“How could you possibly forgive me!?” Starlight said.

“It’s just what friends do.” Buck smiled.

Starlight sniffled, and finally relaxed

The egg cracked open.

It was the size of a kitten; its head bigger than its whole grubby body. It was black as pitch, and in the place of a horn, there was a pair of pink beetle-like mandibles coming out of the fore and top of its head. It let off a buzzing, squeaky yawn, opened a pair of bright pink eyes, and stared right at Starlight Glimmer.

“Mmmma!” The baby burbled.

Starlight Glimmer went pale.

“Oh…oh shit, uh…hey little guy! Welcome to the planet earth!” Buck said, and the newborn changeling let off a gurgling chirrup as he tickled its chin.

“Pawanet-eawth! Shit!” The baby parroted.

“Don’t curse in front of the baby!” Starlight said.

“Fwontofdawbabbee!” The baby said.

“Oops.” Buck said.

Adagio, through the shellshock of the moment, felt Buck well up with an intoxicating mixture of emotions; pride, wonder and peace radiating through him and the whole group in a warm, pink haze. It tasted like old baseballs and sweet lemonade.

“What…” Adagio sighed. “What are you going to name it?”

“...Mandible.” Chrysalis said.

“Mandy, for short!” Buck improvised.

“Mawwbee!” Mandible chirped.

“That’s right, that’s you! Aww man, look at these chompers!” Buck said, poking at the jaws, which suddenly clamped down on his finger. “YOWW! PISS! PISS!”

“Yow! Piff! Piff!” Mandible said.

“Buck! Honestly, you’ll give it a potty mouth at this rate!” Adagio said, reaching over “Here, let me hold it.”

The infant changeling tried to snap at Adagio’s fingers, but she pulled away just in time.

“Hey! You little…! Ugh.” Adagio said.

“Like mother like daughter, huh?” Buck chuckled.

“Hah! Hahahah!” Starlight laughed suddenly.

Chrysalis tried to rise, but the wounds in her stomach hadn’t healed. As her metabolism overclocked itself trying to keep her stable, Chrysalis realized that her form was starting to melt. She had barely enough energy to move. All she could do was watch.

Her last scion was in enemy hands, her empire was destroyed, and her means of rebuilding it was beaten to a bloody green pulp. It was all over. But then she felt the warmth coming off the group holding her child. And as Buck moved toward her, she saw a smile on his face that gave her a deep pause. A changeling had been born, and the strangers from this world had taken it into their arms, and held it with such tenderness, it brought a tear to her eyes.

“Can we talk?” Buck said, holding the cooing baby changeling against his chest.

“NO!” Chrysalis screamed.

Buck was barreled over by an explosion of feathers and claws.

A roc; a massive bird of legend with greenish-black feathers swooped into the sky, carrying Buck in one talon and her now crying child in the other. A sparkling blue ray tore through the air, forcing Chrysalis to slow her flight.

“LET HIM GO, CHRYSALIS!” Starlight barked.

“SCREEE!” Chrysalis squawked.

Chrysalis circled in the air. Even battered and exhausted as they were, the defenders of Canterlot were already preparing to fight her again. A sword, a knife and a book were drawn. Starlight pointed a finger at Chrysalis like a loaded pistol.

“Let him go.” Starlight said.

Buck plonked into the snow face first. Chrysalis darted low over the treeline, using the canopy and the setting sun’s light to cover her escape.

“Come on, guys, we can still catch her!” Scootaloo said, breaking into a full sprint, but then she stumbled and almost fell on her knife as Adagio, Starlight and Sunburst moved in the opposite direction.

They went to help Buck to his feet.

“Just let her go.” Buck said, shaking snow out of his hair.

Even now, Chrysalis was becoming a shadow in the distance. She wasn’t flying toward Canterlot. Buck wasn’t sure where she was going.

The hive was nothing but a ruin, and the unnatural snow was finally beginning to melt. It would take time and resources to cleanse the area and repair the strained threads of reality surrounding the valley, and even more time to remove the debris and carnage.

There were questions and fresh traumas that needed to be unpacked, conversations to be had, and wounds to dress.

But all of that could come later.

“...he’s right. Let’s go home.” Starlight said, and she, Sunburst and Scootaloo started down the valley, leaving Buck and Adagio alone to stand in the reaching shadows.

Adagio’s shadow was elegant and petite, full of welcoming curves like the ocean’s rise. It reached out with tenderness and fear in equal measure for Buck’s shadow, which was sturdy and broad, with just a hint of tall, straight horns, a suggestion of wings, and a scarf blowing in the breeze.

“Buck? Are you coming?” Adagio said.

“Yeah, I…” Buck muttered, watching as twilight’s dark purple curtain fell over a human world that still stood. For today, that was enough. It had to be.

“Happy Birthday, Mandy.” Buck said.

Buck turned to follow the group, and as he did so, he spared Adagio a small, tender smile. Adagio slid an arm around Buck’s, warming herself with his presence, and he didn’t stop her. Whereas before they’d come up to the Everfree Mountain Range with a cold distance between them, they descended it in lockstep, gaining on their friends.

“Ayo, Sunburst! You got any pants in that jeep o’ yours?” Buck called.

As the Defenders of Canterlot left the battlefield, the Everfree Mountain range went to sleep beneath the first stars of the night.

Deep in the gloaming shadows of the trees on the opposite side of the range, an era was ending.

A skidding divot was dug in the dirt, with feathers scattered all around it. Chrysalis laid in the roots of a towering oak tree, holding her stomach and making every effort in the world to not scream.

Her arms were like thin charcoal twigs, her legs no better. Her black sheen had faded to a dull grey, and she had but a few locks of her wispy, moss colored hair left to hang about her face like silvery spider webs. Her lower stomach was a mess of oozing green guts. She had moments left.

Her kingdom was gone, and the means of rebuilding it was destroyed.

But she had what she wanted.

“It’s not over yet…!” Chrysalis groaned, and a black horn flickered on her forehead just long enough to fire a thin green beam.

Chrysalis gritted her teeth as she cauterized her own womb. Her life blood stopped spilling out. This, at least, she would survive.

Her newborn daughter did not follow her example. Little mandible lay horizontal in the air, her great jaw-horns clamped onto a branch. She was crying hysterically.

“Shh…shush now, mommy’s in blinding pain…!” Chrysalis rapsed.

She took Mandible, and with a pinch at the grub’s neck, forced her to let go of the branch. Then Chrysalis balanced the child on one hand, while her other clutched at her ruined guts. Even as she sank to her knees in agony, she bounced the baby on her arm.

“I need…I need more mana! I need more love!” Chrysalis snarled at the darkened woods, but it seemed all the animals had fled when she plummeted out of the sky.

So she would starve, instead. The irony was not lost on her.

Chrysalis looked at her child, Mandible, a veritable wellspring of energy, and a toothy smile curled across her face.

“REEEE-!” Mandible shrieked.

“Shhh…shhh…it’s okay. I know, I know, it’s all so confusing, isn’t it?” Chrysalis cooed. “Mommy’s okay. Mommy’s got you. Mommy just needs a little mana…”

“M-My Queen?” Came a timid voice.

Chrysalis hissed, shifted halfway into a timber wolf, and then nearly collapsed.

“My Queen!” Tymbal said, stumbling from the shadows with a mostly empty crate of quartz.

“Tymbal…my loyal retainer…I thought I’d lost you!” Chrysalis said.

She was barely strong enough to lift her head, now. She was bowed at Tymbal’s feet in a ghoulish reversal of fortune.

“No, m-m-my Queen! I wasn’t foolish enough to get devoured! I hid away with some c-crystals just in c-c-case!” Tymbal stammered.

“Yes, yes, wonderful, now just slide it over to me.” Chrysalis said, her lips cracked and dry, her voice quavering. A stray beam of moonlight slipped through the clouds and showed her face beginning to melt like candle wax.

“Oh, my Queen! I-I-I didn’t see before! Are you well?” Tymbal said, setting the crate down.

“No, fool. I’m not well. I starve as you stumble and simper at me like a slack jawed unicorn!” Chrysalis hissed. “Now be a good subject, and give me the crysssstaaals!”

“C-Call me your daughter.” Tymbal said.

“WHAT!?” Chrysalis shrieked.

“Not your subject. Say that I’m your daughter, a-a-and I’ll give you the crystals.”

“You impudent little ingrate! You would dare extort me? MEEEE!?” Chrysalis hissed.

“This is a diplomatic relation. I g-get what I want, and you get to live.” Tymbal said.

“How dare you bargain with me!” Chrysalis said.

“W-w-why not? I learned it from you, Mother.” Tymbal said.

Mandible stopped her fussing and giggled with glee.

Chrysalis looked up with a disgusted awe at this final act of treachery. The distance between her eyes and Tymbal’s seemed incalculable and vast. There was something dark in there. Something familiar.

“My daughter. I’ve taught you well.” Chrysalis croaked out.

Tymbal slid the box to Chrysalis, Queen of a dying kingdom.

Within moments, Chrysalis bloomed into a form that was simply emaciated rather than skeletal.

“Hold this.” Chrysalis said, holding the grub out. Tymbal took Mandible dutifully, and smiled warmly as the baby nuzzled a cheek against her.

Chrysalis stretched briefly, then with a flash, took the comely human disguise she’d worn at dinner; pale green skin, buxom curves and lime-green eyes. Instead of the orange tresses from before, her hair was a deep, shining phthalo green.

“S-So, what do we do next?” Tymbal said.

“Now? We go into hiding.” Chrysalis said. “A storm is coming for Canterlot, and it would be easier to weather it if those insufferable ghouls believe I’m dead. They’ll find nothing but a bloodied wreck where they saw me last.

“And what about the rest?” Tymbal said. “What of Purple Pro-”

“Don’t you dare speak his name!” Chrysalis snarled. “They’ll be much too busy in the coming days to hunt me down. I will watch them carefully, and when they inevitably face disaster, I will decide what to do with them then.”

“Understood, Mother.” Tymbal said.

“Now then, we’ll need new identities.” Chrysalis said.

Tymbal’s dark form shifted to a human girl that Chrysalis didn’t recognize. It seemed in some way vaguely familiar, but her mind was too addled to know why.

Bright yellow skin and raspberry-colored eyes. A swirl of soft cerulean tumbled about her shapely shoulders in an elegant curl. She had a dainty, svelte form with long, slender legs and arms, her petite breasts sagging low. And she smiled with an even grace, like a sylvan elf or a zonked-out hippie.

“I'm well ahead of you on that.” Tymbal said. “There’s a substantial stack of named documents at the therapy center. We are sure to find more identities there.”

“Excellent. We’ll find a cozy hole to hide in while this all blows over. Now then, I believe there was one more sample I told you to acquire, before the battle…” Chrysalis fumbled around on her person, until she awkwardly produced something.

It was a clump of yellow hair that still smelled of seaspray shampoo.

“There we are. I’ll have a midwife for my youngest, at the very least.” Chrysalis said, with a grin.

The night flashed with lightning, and the scarred queen disappeared into the darkened woods.

In the aftermath of the battle, no one noticed the snow stirring in the wreckage of the hive, nor the green gore stains sinking slowly beneath it, as if the earth itself were drinking them in.

A symphony of grumbling engines and cascading raindrops filled the streets of the upper east side of Canterlot, punctuated by the chatter of bar-hoppers huddling together beneath umbrellas. Overhead, neon lights fought for the privilege of a stray glance, while the smell of soaking asphalt muted the city's rancid bouquet.

The sudden cloudburst slowed the rush hour hustle to a grinding halt. Eyes were cast down to watch out for shoelace-soaking puddles, hands over phone screens to keep the water off. No one was paying attention to much of anything besides keeping dry. Rain splattered the rooftop of a squat warehouse at the tip of the business district, rushing down its storm drains and spilling out into the gutters with a gushing roar.

An door opened on the side, and through its bright threshold sat the hive's former hostages shivering under blankets, and eating little bowls of stew provided by a small crew of service workers. Some were chatting, some were staring at the ceiling, but all were safe. Bon Bon waved at the group with a sugary smile as she exited the building.

"You all will need to stay here overnight for medical check ups and interviews! All of you, take care now!" Bon Bon said. As she shut the door, her practiced smile flattened into a grimace.

Sweetie Drop’s sensible black shoes clacked along the sidewalk. She stepped around a poor soul laying side up in the rain, raised a middle finger at a whistle that accosted her from across the street, and just barely lowered her umbrella as an elevated truck attempted to splash her at a corner.

As always, she was the picture of poise, in a white collar sort of way. Sweetie Drops blended into the bustling panoply of the inner city like a plastic shrub in a mall planter. That splash had gotten her shoes, and she felt a shiver as the cold rainwater sunk into her socks.

She was beyond emotionally exhausted. Despite her practiced, unaware stroll, her shoulders were slumped, and her feet dragged. Purple and pink hair was frazzled, and it seemed like at any moment she might fall asleep mid-step. It was a dangerous state for a young girl to be in, especially on this side of town, at night. Fortunately, she didn’t have far to go.

It was a 50’s style diner, featuring half a crashed sports car over a boxcar style windowed facade.

For all intents and purposes, the Sweet Snacks Cafe had seen much better days. The old car trunk above its awning had put on a splattering of rust spots, and the once bold pink and orange and turquoise paint on its street side was peeling in long stripes. One of its windows had been boarded up for about five years. It looked like another Mom and Pop shop that was losing the fight against the ravenous reach of corporate real estate. Much like Sweetie Drops, it blended right in.

A little brass bell dinged as Sweetie Drops entered. The diner was empty. Even the old jukebox was dark and silent, giving the place a hollow feeling. The checkerboard floors and shiny chrome on everything felt like a hollow parody of a future that had long slipped out of common hands.

A tall, spindly girl with light orchid colored skin and hair like a foaming river looked up from her broom and dustpan as Sweetie Drop’s shoes squeaked on the linoleum floor. She had on a vintage apron and diner shirt, complete with a little paper hat, a pair of roller skates, and a smile bright enough to give pause to any disgruntled customer.

“Oh! Oh, hi there! Welcome to the Sweet Snacks Cafe! We’re like super duper closed right now, so you’ll want to come back in the morning! Our business hours are-” The girl said, but she was cut off by a flat voice coming from behind a register, and a newspaper. A set of skate-clad feet were up on the counter.

“That’s alright, Silverstream. She’s a friend of mine. Go ahead and clock out.” Said a woman that could have been the girl’s mother; soft pink skin and shining, well coiffed blue hair, but whereas the girl had purple eyes, the woman’s gaze was a piercing blue. She was wearing a nametag that said “Sunny Sugarsocks.”

“Okay, Auntie!” Silverstream said cheerily, and without a second thought she took her apron off and skated out into the rain.

“You don’t have to take the skates!” The woman said, but the bell had rung. The girl was gone.

“Auntie? I didn’t know you had family, Sunny.” Sweetie Drops said.

“You know I don’t. Headed to the back?” Sunny Sugarsocks said. She idly licked a thumb, flipping a newspaper page.

“No. I’m waiting for someone.” Sweetie Drops said.

“Take a seat. You want any grub?” Sunny said.

“You know I don’t come here for the burgers.” Sweetie Drops said, sitting on a red-cushioned stool.

“Your loss.” Sunny said, pulling a key out of her apron. She slid it into a lock box built under the counter, which gave way to a glowing number pad.

Sweetie Drops took a seat on a stool while the non-plussed shopkeeper punched in a code. With a mechanical beep, the boxcar windows shifted to an opaque tint. Even the roaring rainfall from outside was suppressed to a dull fuzz. Sunny Sugarsocks stepped into the back kitchen, and was not seen again. The diner filled with an electrical buzz, the lights flickered, and suddenly a silhouette sat beside Sweetie Drops at the counter.

Somehow, even now, the sudden appearance made her flinch.

If one squinted, they could make out a small, square shouldered projection in all black, wearing a suit, tie and fedora like a 50’s G-man. The shadow didn’t turn its head as it spoke to Sweetie Drops. It seemed to be scribbling away at some insubstantial stack of paperwork, taking the odd swig off a steaming cup.

“I’ve been told that the changeling situation has been contained.” The shadow said. Its voice crackled like an old radio recording.

“Yes, Director.” Sweetie Drops said. “The enemy base is destroyed. The hostages have been retrieved, and the crisis has been averted.”

“What is the status of the Queen?” The Director said.

“At large. She allegedly suffered a mortal wound before fleeing. I’m expecting a full report from Sunburst by night’s end. That is the situation, Director. I’ll begin processing the refugees tomorrow.” Sweetie Drops said.

“Is that all you have to say?” The Director said.

Sweetie Drops was silent. Even the slightest dip in the Director’s voice made her break out in a cold sweat.

“I was expecting a report weeks ago. How could you allow this situation to spiral so far out of control?” The Director said.

“I…have been working overtime containing the activities of these ghouls. At the same time, I have been managing the siren situation. If I had even a smidgen more support-” Sweetie Drops said, but she went quiet as a shadowy hand raised.

“I’m not interested in your excuses.” The Director said. “Have you found any information about the ghouls invading your region?”

“No developments as of yet. I’m going to conduct a full interview with our agents and see if they managed to collect some valuable intel.” Sweetie Drops said.

“And what of their compatriots? What of the siren, and the human she pursues, Purple Prose?” The Director said.

“I have reason to believe that he’s tangentially related to the Fillydelphia Incident. I have not conducted a formal investigation on him as of yet-”

“Do you believe him to be a threat or not?” The Director said.

“All I know is that he contains an unprecedented amount of mana, and Adagio Dazzle wants him for some unknown reason. For all intents and purposes, he seems like a typical specimen.” Sweetie Drops said.

“So did Sunset Shimmer. We will not be making that mistake again.” The Director said.

The statement loomed heavily in the air. Sweetie Drops preferred not to think about what measures might be taken.

“And what about the siren? Did she comply with our agents?” The Director said.

“It seems that way. It looks like she isn’t on the side of those zombie creatures.” Sweetie Drops said. “Sunburst mentioned by text that she may be moving toward the side of good, rather than simple allyship. He said that a lot has happened.”

“Sunburst…that boy has a nasty habit of covering for others. I don’t care about his opinion; I want yours. You should have gone with them.” The Director said.

“I was busy dealing with rogue drones and processing victims and calling in air support, and every other job that keeps this show running! I’m just one person, overseeing this entire city! Give me a break!” Sweetie Drops snapped.

The shadowy phantom known as The Director stopped writing, and turned its featureless face to Sweetie Drops, who all at once felt like Bon Bon, sweating in freshman trigonometry.

“...You’re right, of course. It seems you need a bit more muscle in the field. I’m sending two of our finest agents to your sector.” The Director said. “Consider them your proctors. I’m sure they can make a more objective evaluation.”

“But sir!?” Sweetie Drops said.

“In the meantime, I want detailed testimonials from both Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer about what has occurred today. After that, we will decide what to do with Adagio Dazzle and Purple Prose. If necessary, you have to be ready to process them.” The Director said.

Sweetie Drops idly felt for the memory stone in her pocket; her means of ‘processing’ troublesome elements, and found that it was missing. Her lips tightened into a pale line as she realized where it must be.

“...well?” The Director said.

“Yes, Director. I’ll see that it’s done. Agent Sweetie Drops out.” Sweetie Drops said.

The silhouette nodded, and then disappeared. The Sweet Snacks Cafe regained its chintzy charm, and Sweetie Drops let go of the breath she was holding.

Sunny Sugarsocks emerged from the kitchen, having removed her roller skates.

“Sheesh, that sounded nasty. What’d you do to make the old man mad?” Sunny said.

The only answer she got was the chime of the bell as the door shut.

If there was one thing Ditzy Doo hated, it was silence. Silence was heavy and isolating. How many times had Ditzy Doo held her tongue when she really shouldn’t? Was she doing it, even now? Given enough time in silence, Ditzy Doo would spiral down a hole in herself.

So, Ditzy had formed a habit. For as far back as she could remember, she’d hummed a little tune, or clattered a stick against things as she walked around, or just talked to herself. Most often these days, it was a pair of sewing needles clacking. As long as there was something to hear, Ditzy Doo didn’t have to be alone with her silence. Even better if there was someone to listen to.

So Ditzy talked a lot, some–she was aware–would say way too much, and then she’d drop into these long, inarticulate periods where she didn’t have much to say to anyone. She’d been in those a lot as a teen.

That’s why Ditzy was worried as she sat across the dining table from Dinky Doo, who was poking at her alfredo with a tired expression Ditzy knew all too well.

“Soooo…how was school today?” Ditzy tried.

“It was fine.” Dinky Doo said, staring into her bowl. “I gots a B on my paper.”

“That’s wonderful, Dinky! You’re so smart!” Ditzy said, beaming.

“Hm.” Dinky shrugged. There was a brief smile on her face.

“Is…is everything okay?” Ditzy said.

“I’m fine.” Dinky said.

“Dinky Doo, are they bullying you?” Ditzy said.

“No, Mama. It’s fine.” Dinky said.

And on and on it went. Lately, Ditzy’s brash, energetic daughter that had made so many wonderful messes seemed a little far away. Something had happened at school, or was happening, and Dinky just didn’t know how to articulate it.

“You know, if something is wrong, you can tell Mama. I’ll listen. I’ll always listen, Dinky Doo.” Ditzy said.

“Promise?” Dinky said.

“Pinky promise.” Ditzy said, the two locked little fingers, and for a moment, Ditzy’s sweet smile was reflected perfectly on her daughter’s face. It melted her heart. For a precious few seconds, they continued to eat, but then Dinky spoke up again.

“Mama?” Dinky said.

“Dinky?” Ditzy said.

“I’m s’posed to write a thing about my Papa on Friday, only I don’t gots a Papa.” Dinky said. “But everybody else has a Papa; I seen them when you come and get me after class! Everybody but me.”

“I see.” Ditzy said.

“I asked Miss Cheerilee if I could write ‘bout Buck, and he said ask your Mom, a’cause Buck isn’t my guardian! But what does that mean, Mama?” Dinky said.

“It…sometimes, there are important names, like Papa and Mama, and you need to have this…piece of paper, to prove it. Cheerilee means Buck isn’t your papa by law, but that doesn’t mean you can’t write about him!” Ditzy said.

“Mama, where’s my Papa?” Dinky said.

“I told you before; your Papa was very sick. It wasn't safe to be around him.” Ditzy said.

“Why doesn’t he come and see me?” Dinky whimpered.

“Oh, sweetie…” Ditzy said. She got up to hug her daughter, but Dinky Doo suddenly burst into tears.

“Pound Cake said my Papa won’t come see me because he hates me! ‘Cause I mess up all the time!” Dinky said.

“Don’t listen to him, Dinky. He’s being a bully!” Ditzy said.

It broke Ditzy’s heart to see her pride and joy hurt like this; stuck with questions that had no easy answers.

“That’s just not true! It’s like I always say; your best is your best is your best! There’s nothing wrong with you, Dinky Doo, you just have to try different things!” Ditzy said.

“Okay, Mama…” Dinky said.

“Your Papa would have loved you if he could have known you,” Ditzy lied.

For a bit, Ditzy and Dinky Doo sat in horrible silence, eating their dinner. But then Dinky looked back up from her bowl.

“Mama?” Dinky said.

“Dinky?” Ditzy said.

“Where's Buck? I wanted to play legos today.” Dinky said.

Ditzy looked over at the third chair at her table. It hadn’t made a squeak since Buck last sat at the table.

“I…Buck had to go away for a little while.” Ditzy said.

“Can’t we go see him?” Dinky said.

“...no, Dinky. Not right now. He's a little sick.” Ditzy said.

“Is he sick like my Papa was?” Dinky said.

Tears fell down the little girl's purple cheeks. Ditzy saw a genuine panic on her daughter's face.

“...I'm not sure.” Ditzy said.

“Mama, is Buck gonna go away? Is it because I muss things up all the time?” Dinky said.

“No, Dinky, no, none of it is your fault!”

“But what if Pound Cake is right, Mama? What if my Buck won’t come ‘cause I burned the shrinky dinks, or, or, a’cause I can’t cut construction paper good, or ‘cause I get my words all mixed up!?” Dinky said.

“Dinky, Buck loves us! He wouldn't leave just because…! It's complicated, grown up stuff. Sometimes, grown ups need a little time apart, to figure things out. I had to make sure-”

“You made Buck go away!?” Dinky said.

“Don't you take that tone with me!” Ditzy said.

“I wanna see Buck!” Dinky said.

“Dinky Doo, that's enough. If you don't stop yelling, you're not getting dessert.” Ditzy said.

“I don't want dessert! I wanna see Buck! I wanna see Buck!” Dinky said, and before Ditzy could say another word, Dinky ran from the table, sobbing.

Ditzy Doo sat there for a moment, wondering if this was it; if she was starting to become her mother, and the very thought made her shudder.

The bedroom door creaked softly. The little purple wonder lay face down on the bed, sobbing into the sheets.

“Dinky?” Ditzy tried.

“No!” Dinky said.

Ditzy moved closer, to touch her daughter’s back, to try and offer just the slightest support.

“Dinky Doo, it’s okay-”

“NOOOOO—!” Dinky screamed into the sheets at a pitch and decibel that upset all the dogs in the apartment complex.

Ditzy pulled her hand back.

“Okay, sweetheart. I’ll give you some time. We can talk about it when you’re ready.” Ditzy said.

“Noooo…” Dinky whimpered.

Ditzy closed the door, and leaned against it for a long moment. She wiped her eyes with a sniffle, and went to undress the table. She needed some time, too.

As Ditzy began to do dishes, she fought valiantly against the silence. She reached into her memory, and found a tune to hum.

She couldn’t remember the words, but she could remember the melody. It was her only memory of her father; a soft lullaby in a low voice at the far back of her childhood memories. It was Close to You, by the Carpenters.

Just as Ditzy was sinking into the comfortable drudgery of cleaning dirty plates, she found they were all sitting spotless on the drying rack. Then she looked around and happened to notice a thin layer of dust had formed on her shelves, and there were crumbs on the kitchen floor. Ditzy grabbed the broom, and the sift of it against the floor drummed a little beat to go with the song.

The self-care pamphlet that Silver Spoon had given her lay open on the coffee table, but there was mess there too, so Ditzy cleaned around it. There was dirt near the door from when she and Dinky came in. The vacuum purred, pushing away the silence, and just as Ditzy Doo finished emptying its dust bag, she noticed the laundry hamper was full. She’d gather up the clothes Dinky had left lying around, and then she’d go to bed.

Before Ditzy knew it, she was in Buck's bedroom, picking up clothes.

It was dark. Buck's overhead light was out, and the one in his closet cast a flickering beam of dingy yellow across the carpet, splashing light across a pair of jeans sitting crumpled at the foot of his bed.

Buck was always so forgetful when it came to his laundry, his hamper would overfill. Then he and Ditzy would do laundry together. It was a way to save quarters. Or, that’s how it had started.

Suddenly, something strange caught Ditzy's eye. A bit of clothing she didn't recognize, tucked behind Buck's bed. It was a pair of sweatpants. She almost ignored the sweatpants entirely, but she thought it would be wrong to just leave them.

A woman's large; too big for Ditzy herself, and too small for Buck. They were light purple in color, with a little yellow drawstring, and a gold diamond pattern sewn into either hip. They had to have been sitting here for months, forgotten, but they still smelled like expensive perfume.

A frigid winter wind spread through Ditzy’s stomach as she slammed the pants into her cheap, plastic hamper. Then she kicked the whole thing over with a shriek, spilling a mix of her families’ clothes and the awful lavender interloper onto the floor.

There was a thud at the wall loud enough that Dinky Doo, on the other side of it stumbled away from the bed with fright.

Ditzy Doo’s knuckles ached. She had broken the skin. A drop of blood dripped down on the floor, where Ditzy saw that odd, rune-covered stone she’d picked up earlier. At some point, it had tumbled out of her cleavage and onto the carpet.

“Oh, right. This’s a…whoosit…” Ditzy said, her left eye trying to drift into focus as she held it up to the light.

“It’s a…memory thingie! Like the one Starlight used to help Buck.” Ditzy said. “I totally forgot about it. Hm.”

Thunder clashed, shaking the window. The battering rain became a pounding torrent on the window to Buck's room. In the yellow gleam of Buck’s closet light, the memory stone's runes gave off a soft blue glow.

Despite the chaos outside, it was silent in the room. But as Ditzy Doo looked at the memory stone, she had the singular thought that it didn’t have to be.

Not for long.

Starlight Glimmer kicked the engine over, the jeep retorting with a growling puff as it chugged back toward Canterlot. She didn’t seem to be looking at the road, so much as dissociating in the same direction she was driving. Rain spilled down the windshield as the bright yellow lights flew over the muddy mountain path.

Sunburst had passed out the second he managed to sit in the passenger seat. At some point, Adagio’s head had slumped to Buck’s shoulder, and since then she’d been snoozing with a kitten’s snore. Scootaloo’s head was face down in Adagio’s lap, and she was snoozing with a chainsaw’s snore. Buck had spent the laboriously long ride watching the mountain turn to forest, then the forest to a dark highway with old, run down streetlights.

It was past midnight when the ratty old jeep finally rolled its way back to town. Starlight grumbled something to the tune of dinner, and Buck knew a place.

Downtown Canterlot was drowsing into a late lull. The streets were half sunk in widening puddles as early risers stumbled drunkenly home. Neon eyes scanned the jeep’s roof with a vibrant glow, until it came to rest under a lit wooden sign at the very edge of the east side that said “Donut Joe’s”.

The Defenders of Canterlot, bruised, battered and beyond tired, stumbled into the old brick building.

It was a space in transition between sports bar and gay bar. There were tvs in the corner showing both sports reruns and old rom coms. The menu had diabetes-inducing names on it like “The Sugardriver” and the Donut Delight Burger”.

Lyra Heartstrings was practically screaming “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse on the karaoke stage, her long, messy hair flipping around her face while the eponymous Joe worked at a panel casting multicolored lights and a bit of fog into the mix. Nothing but stragglers and night creatures remained in the bar, knocking back dangerously sugary drinks and cheering.

Adagio Dazzle groaned as she slid into the booth, rubbing her temples at the raw emotion hanging in the air.

“Ugh. She sounds like a lovesick raid siren.” Adagio grunted.

“Hey, it’s not about bein’ perfect, or good, or consistently on key. It’s about soundin’ bad, passionately.” Buck said, sitting down opposite her. Before we do anything; hey Joe, give us a round of bitters!”

Joe gave a thumbs up, and a woman with an orangey brandy tan and a bun of two-toned purple hair came by with a round of shots and a notepad.

“Thank’s Doo Wop,” Buck said, raising a glass. “Okay, so before we make merry and all that, I wanted to propose a toast. To Greg! He was…a true, true friend!”

“...He was persistent.” Starlight said, joining in.

“He was terribly sweet.” Adagio said, lifting her cup.

“He was brave!” Scootaloo said around a mouthful of free bread.

“It sounds like he learned from the best.” Sunburst said.

“We couldn’t’ve done it without you, buddy.” Buck said.

The glasses clinked, and they all slugged back their shots. It tasted like equal parts licorice and turpentine. Sunburst gagged. Scootaloo seemed to get drunk in an instant. Adagio had literally no reaction, and Starlight struggled to mimic the siren’s straight face.

“Alright!” Buck smiled. “Ayo, Doo Wop! Six Double D’s!”

“All of you, eat up! Everything is on me tonight!” Adagio said with a smirk.

“Are you serious?” Buck said.

“Try and stop me.” Adagio said.

As the night stumbled into a dance, the Defenders of Canterlot tore through two courses of bar food, and two thirds of a cherry pie. As they chatted about their experiences over this extremely long and complicated day, they clinked glasses a second and third time.

“And I said ‘How about Joe?’ and he said ‘Joe what’ and I said ‘Joe mama!’” Buck said.

“Hah! Gottem!” Scootaloo slurred.

“So that pissed him off. And he was doin’ a buncha Dormmamu shit! I’m talkin’ big firebursts and meteors droppin’ and spikes up from the floor, and I’m like, man you need to be careful with them metaphors, and I realized that I’m really going through some shit, and just putting my head down and running at it isn’t helping.” Buck said.

“And then what did you do?” Sunburst said.

“We hugged.” Buck said. “And that was that. He poofed.”

“Wow, really? He sounds lame.” Starlight said.

“He was kinda superfuckinghotthough…” Scootaloo mumbled.

“How did you guys deal with uh, Heart Song?” Buck said.

“Who?” Starlight said.

“He means the clone of me.” Adagio said, grimly. “We killed it. It was the only way.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.” Buck said, biting into a curly fry.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adagio said.

“Nothin’, nothin’! Buck said. “Scoots, how’d you find us?”

“Backalley portal.” Scoots said, setting up a little paper football, which she flicked through Buck’s fingers.

“Nice!” Buck said.

Adagio felt a buzz in her pants, and checked a text from Sunburst. She blushed and frowned sourly at him, while he tilted his head at Buck. It took a mammoth effort for Adagio to find the right words.

“Ehm...Buck, I wanted to say-”

“Ooh, Buck! What happened to your magic-sucking stone thingy? Don’t you need that to not, you know, blow up?” Scoots said, accidentally interrupting Adagio.

“Oh, yeah, uh, it’s gone. Exploded, I think.” Buck said.

“But you’re not on fire. What changed?” Sunburst said.

“You know, maybe I just needed to vent?” Buck said. “Clone me wasn’t really evil, evil, he was just frustrated.”

“About what?” Scootaloo said.

Buck and Adagio looked at each other for a moment, then their eyes hit the floor.

“Okay, are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Starlight said.

Buck looked at Adagio, who sipped on a fruity drink while staring at nothing in particular. She was hiding a red blush behind her curly orange bangs.

“The cloaks! They’re the Order of the Horned Lord! Chrysalis said it!” Starlight said.

“Who’s that?” Scootaloo said.

“They were a…they were a cult that worshipped the devil Tirek and…” Starlight said. Under the table, Sunburst laid a hand on her thigh. “And my Dad was their leader. He hurt a lot of people, trying to bring my Mom back to life.”

Scootaloo gasped in a lungful of air. Adagio glared at her.

“Don’t.” Adagio said.

“Your Dad was a final boss?” Scootaloo peeped.

“Yeah, but wasn’t he torn to shreds by the portal he made?” Buck said.

“These monsters are reanimated people.” Starlight said. “The living dead. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Oh, shit, that’s right. I’m so sorry, Starlight.” Buck said.

“It’s alright, Buck. It honestly feels good to finally talk about it. And, uh, you can call me Glimglam. It kind of grew on me.” Starlight said, with a little smile.

Adagio glanced at Sunburst, bewildered at the fact that Buck and Starlight were getting along for perhaps the first time. He smiled and shrugged.

“Woah…I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do a smile like that!” Scootaloo said.

“I know! Isn’t it just terribly precious? Starlight Glimmer managed to make a friend. Imagine.” Adagio smirked.

“I can make friends just fine! All I had to do was own up to what I’ve done and actually have a conversation. Ever tried it?” Starlight sneered.

“There it is.” Buck snickered.

“Well! This has been an excellent team-building exercise, but my hair is a disaster of twigs and tangles and I need a mirror to correct that. I’m going to the little girl’s room.” Adagio said, standing up. “Buck, would you kindly order me another drink?”

“Oh, uh, sure! Whaddya want?” Buck said.

“You know what I like; something strong, extra-sweet and a bit sharp.” Adagio purred.

“Right, somethin’ hard and fruity.” Buck said, with a warm smile.

“Surprise me.” Adagio said, and sashayed away.

The table was quiet. Glances were cast at Buck, who seemed to be observing Adagio’s retreating back with great interest.

“...And you’re sure?” Starlight said.

“She’s on our side, Glimglam. I don’t know how many times I gotta say it.” Buck said.

“I understand, I swear I do, it’s just…somebody has to be the skeptical one, alright? It’s like she said; if no one pays attention to her, who knows what she’ll do?”

“Heehee, Buck’s paying all kinds of attention to that booty.” Scoots said over a half-eaten plate of chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and veggies.

“Eat your peas, Scoots.” Buck said. Scootaloo didn’t know which was worse, the fact that she’d somehow managed to order a kids meal at a bar, or that having Buck scold her was the tiniest bit of a turn on for her.

“Are the Pillars going to track down Chrysalis?” Buck said.

“Almost definitely. As long as she’s out there, she’s a threat, though I don’t think she’ll come after us again any time soon.” Starlight said.

“Yeah, we super kicked her butt! I mean did you see her at the end? She was totally thrashed!” Scoots cheered.

Starlight looked guiltily at her hands for a long stretch of seconds. Buck’s expression was just as grim.

“All those poor kids…” Buck said.

“Oh, and what was the baby thing with the big pincers all about?” Scoots said.

“That…that was my daughter, I think. Chrysalis, well, she used me and my mana to make her. Mandy.” Buck said.

Scootaloo’s jaw dropped.

“That was yours?” Starlight said.

“You’re a dad?” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, I guess…I guess I am. Oh man, what am I gonna tell my folks? What am I gonna tell Ditzy!?” Buck said.

“What are we going to tell The Pillars?” Sunburst said.

“Does that mean we get to call you daddy, now?” Scootaloo said.

“Doo Wop, hey! Long Island! And a tequila sunrise!” Buck said, raising his hand.

Scootaloo saw him blushing, and stifled a small, radiant moment of satisfaction.

“I think we all did amazing today. I know there was a lot of energy in the air, and a lot of things that need unpacking, but I think we should also acknowledge that we saved the world today.” Sunburst said.

“That’s right! We’re like superheroes, you guys!” Scootaloo said.

“Superheroes? Yeesh, you social workers always talk such a big game.” Spoke a voice, in an accent more slur than english.

Let’s all of us take a moment to really appreciate Berry Punch.

Of all the sketchy thirty-somethings that loitered around downtown Canterlot, Berry was certainly one of them.

She was a master at the ancient esoteric form of martial arts known as “white girl wasted”, giggling as she took swigs off a bottle of champagne. She moved with a wobbly balter that made hands around her reach out in case she needed to be saved from a fall.

Her fluffy, slightly sticky hair was the color of a wine dark sea. She had tattoos of various drinks, grapes, glasses and bottles running all the way down her arms, and other kinds of tattoos in less conspicuous places. She wore a black tube top cut scandalously low, hugging her plump bust. Her jean skirt had a bad habit of showing way too much whenever she bent over the bar, and behind her smeared lipstick and heavy eyeshadow lay a glazed expression that communicated in no uncertain terms that she owned two cats and would break out a tarot deck during the morning after.

She was also sitting on Buck’s knee.

“Heeeyyyy Buck~!” Berry Punch hiccuped. “Sounds like you got another job! Didja finally get sick of that crusty old Mrs. Cake yellin’ at you?”

“Hey! Berry! Uhh…your breath smells like absinthe; like a lot of absinthe…do you need me to call an ambulance?” Buck said.

“Nuh-uh, I’m pre-gaming for a party tonight!” Berry Punch said, nearly falling from Buck’s lap. He had to hold her up just to stop her from pitching over.

“Is that right? Who’s having a party this late?” Buck said.

“You and me. At my place, tonight. Sounds fun, right?” Berry Punch said, suddenly stroking Buck’s chest.

“Woah, take that down a notch, huh?” Buck said, looking mortified. He gently removed Berry Punch from his lap, and so she sat on the table in front of him.

“Who the hell are you?” Starlight said.

“Hey guys, this’s Berry Punch. She’s my ex-”

“Girlfriend, obviously! Gimmie a kish!” Berry cheered, throwing her arms around Buck’s neck, nearly sticking a knee in Scootaloo’s mashed potatoes.

“Woah, okay, I’m not doin’ that.” Buck said, pushing Berry’s hands away, but she slid onto the edge of the seat next to him.

“Ohhhh that’s right. You don’t like doin’ it with drunk girlsh, ‘cause your such a good boy. Soooo sweet!” Berry Punch growled, stroking his chin.

“Berry, cut that out. We broke up.” Buck said.

“Then why’d you fuck me so good after that, huh? Besides, you’re the only one that thinks that. Everybody else knows we’re like together.” Berry Punch giggled, and then she shuddered at a murderous presence behind her.

“The man said no to you. Get a clue, before I beat one into your hide.” Adagio said.

“Pssh. You and what gang?” Berry Punch said, meeting Adagio’s frigid glare.

“Leave. Before you find out.” Adagio said.

“...Whatever! Try me, see what happens! Call me sometime, Buck!” Berry Punch said, and her black crocs stumbled into the bathroom, with her right behind them.

“She gone?” Buck said.

There was a long, torturous wretching sound, a toilet flushing, a cat’s shriek, and then the lighter-click-clack sound of a cigarette being lit. Spreading embers glowed beneath the door.

“...yes.” Adagio took her seat, surreptitiously removing a twig that was still stuck in her hair.

“Whew. That situation is…it’s complicated.” Buck said.

“Aren’t they all?” Adagio said, bitterly.

“Thanks, though.” Buck said. “Looks like you’ve rescued me again, ‘dagio.”

“W-Well, of course!” Adagio blushed. “She has no right treating you that way. Like…”

“A piece of meat?” Sunburst said.

“A plaything.” Starlight said.

“A bottom?” Scootaloo said, then vanished under the table as Adagio glared at her.

“Like anything less than what you’re worth.” Adagio said.

“Well, thanks again, but I don’t really feel like much of an asset. I almost got us all killed today.” Buck said.

“Right, I was going to ask. Now don’t take this the wrong way, but what in the world were you thinking powering Chrysalis up like that?” Starlight said.

“If there’s anyone to blame for that, it was me.” Adagio said, quickly. “Buck had the situation well under control when I got there. You should have seen him. Chrysalis was mewling like a little kitten as he…”

Adagio stopped suddenly. Buck was giving her a stern look.

“That is to say, ehm…I overextended, and it cut off Buck’s strategy at the knees. It was an honest mistake.” Adagio said.

“That doesn’t answer the question, though. What were you trying to do, Buck?” Starlight said.

“Oh, come on, Glimglam, you know! I was tryna…I thought…I don’t know what I thought. Maybe if I just gave her what she needed, she would change for the better. I thought that’s what I had to do to save Canterlot, but now it seems like that was…” Buck said.

“Incredibly stupid?” Starlight said.

“Well, it was naive.” Adagio said.

“No! It was incredibly brave! Buck, that’s an amazing thing!” Sunburst said.

“And super horny! I wish I could’ve seen…” Scootaloo said.

“I’ll tell you about it later.” Adagio said.

“Hey!” Buck barked.

“As long as Buck is okay with that!” Adagio said, throwing her hands up.

“The point is that you showed Chrysalis that not all humans are monsters. You tried to save those drones, and you tried to save her, and from what it sounds like, you really touched her heart.” Sunburst said.

“Oh, trust me, she was not ready to be touched that way.” Adagio snickered.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Buck said, getting up.

“Wait, Buck…I didn’t mean to offend you.” Adagio said.

“I know. I’m just tired. Feels like we were on that mountain forever.” Buck said.

“It sure was a hard day’s work! We’ll wire you the money as soon as we get it. Same as you, Scoots.” Sunburst said.

“Woo! I helped!” Scootaloo said.

“Does this mean we can depend on you for the rest of this fight?” Starlight said.

“Let me think about it.” Buck said, and made his ponderous way to the door.

“...I understand. Rest up, Buck.” Starlight said.

This time, it was Adagio’s turn to watch him walk away. She leaned a cheek on her palm, and with a terribly stricken look in her eyes, she released a long, hissing exhale.

“...well?” Sunburst whispered, nudging Adagio.

“What?” Adagio mouthed out.

“Don’t you have something to say? To Buck?” Sunburst whispered.

“Now!?” Adagio whispered.

“If not now, then when!?” Sunburst whispered.

“Why are you guys whispering?” Scootaloo said.

Adagio scoffed, turned her head, and saw Buck’s hand on the door. She snatched the tequila sunrise from the waiter’s approaching plate and sucked it up in a matter of seconds. Then she rose.

“Buck, wait!” Adagio squawked.

Buck stopped and turned around. The rest of the bar’s few patrons also turned to look.

“Yeah? What’s up, ‘dagio?” Buck said.

“I…! That is…I need to speak with you! It’s urgent.” Adagio said.

“Can’t it wait a day? I’m bushed.” Buck said.

Adagio looked at the table, pleadingly. Sunburst shook his head, Starlight shrugged, and Scootaloo gave two thumbs up.

“No! Ehm, no. No, it can’t wait.” Adagio said.

“Okay. What’s up?” Buck said, stepping back over.

Standing in Buck’s shadow made Adagio feel like a tiny seagull staring up at a lighthouse. She was tiny and confused, trying desperately to assemble the right words. Somehow, even now, she felt lost in his presence. Adapt or Die, she thought to herself, and a tiny pink glow lit in her heart.

“...you still in there?” Buck said.

“Buck…this can’t be where it stops. Today, you…we all gave this world another day, but we both know that the fight isn’t over. I…we need you.” Adagio said.

A look of disappointment crossed Buck’s face as he considered it. Fancies blossomed into little red squiggles around his head.

“...alright. Next move you make, I’ll be with you.” Buck said.

Starlight looked relieved and Scootaloo looked excited. Sunburst looked at Adagio and rolled his hand.

“And…?” Sunburst mouthed out.

“A-And! There’s also something I’ve been meaning to say to you.” Adagio said.

It felt like all the blood in her body had rushed into her cheeks and ears. She realized with hideous clarity that Buck might very well reject her, run home and beg Ditzy Doo to take him back, and her mouth turned into a barren desert. Why did this have to be so difficult? It was better to say something stupid, she reasoned, rather than nothing at all.

“Okay?” Buck said. He had that warm smile on his face; the one he made when he was listening, the one Adagio despised for how it made her feel.

“Buck, I…am…so proud, to see how quickly you’ve grown. I watched you struggle with your lessons, week after week, and you’ve spent a few days out in the field, and you’ve mastered the use of your fancies, you’ve achieved a stable transformation, you’ve learned minor illusions, and…and we, ehm…well, you have taught me quite a lot in the small amount of time that I-I’ve known you, and I…I think you are incredible.” Adagio said.

“Oh, wow. Uh…thanks! Wow!” Buck said, blushing. “Yeah, I sure as hell’ve learned some lessons from you.”

Sunburst coughed, and Adagio was certain that if she’d been born a unicorn, she would have melted his brains with her glare alone.

“Yes! I, think, we have…learned quite a bit from each other!” Adagio said.

“Yeah, like the kind of lessons you learn from working on a fishing boat.” Buck chuckled.

“hahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!” Adagio’s giggle turned into a way-too-loud cackle. Scootaloo started to join in on it, but Starlight grabbed her shoulder and shook her head.

“That is to say, I think we both remember the first formal lesson, I taught you, yes?” Adagio said.

“Yeah. Yeah, seriously! Right, if you don’t acknowledge your emotions, the spell won’t-yeah.” Buck said.

“It won’t come out, exactly.” Adagio said.

“Yep.” Buck said.

“Indeed, yes.” Adagio said.

“Wow. Theming.” Buck said.

“I think that it is clear that…we…that there are emotions here.” Adagio said.

“Oh, absolutely.” Buck smiled.

“And emotions can’t be allowed to boil over, out of control.” Adagio said.

“Yeah, they need…they need to be acknowledged.” Buck said. “For everyone’s sake.”

“And ours.” Adagio said. “I think it would be best, if we agreed to share our feelings, honestly.”

“This is startin’ to sound like an investor meeting. What’re you trying to say?” Buck said, leaning forward.

“I have a proposition for you.” Adagio said.

Adagio leaned forward.

“I’m listening.” Buck said, gently touching Adagio’s arm.

The rest of the bar leaned forward. Forward, and over the pair’s shoulders, where smoke was starting to pour out under the bathroom door.

Adagio’s raspberry colored eyes sparkled as she looked up at Buck; full of the colorful neon lights around the karaoke stage.

Lyra Heartstrings was still there, considerably drunker, and just hitting the first refrain in Don’t Stop Believing. Her soprano voice was like a gentle, whistling kettle, warming Buck and Adagio’s hearts to a fever pitch.

“I…we need each other. I think that you and I deserve another chance. I want...” Adagio said.

Adagio couldn’t say it. She couldn’t dare to say it. She would burst into flames, she was sure of it.

“You wanna be my friend, Adagio?” Buck said, his eyes catching the red flickers of a raging furnace.

Adagio took his hand and placed it on her cheek.

“No, Buck. I want to be your pet.” Adagio said.

Scootaloo’s jaw dropped a second time. Sunburst, who had been quietly recording this, dropped his phone. Starlight’s fist hit the table as she tried to swallow the hardest laugh of her entire life.

A miniature event horizon apocalypsed into existence behind Buck’s head, making a noise like a soaring bottle rocket as it spun into a glittering, pink galaxy made of roses.

The bathroom door clattered open, revealing Berry Punch, and a pile of burning toilet paper just as the bar's sprinklers went off.

“Woo, you go girl!” Berry Punch cheered.

Author's Note

Lock the doors and close the blinds; we're going for a ride!

Song Review: I Can't Decide by the Scissor Sisters, contrary to popular belief, is not actually about murdering your nemesis. Sub-textually speaking, I believe its about grappling with the notion that someone loves you.

It's a jaunty, show tune-esque tap number played on a chaotic mix of banjo, guitar, snare drums and a goofy Casio keyboard. Made for Scissor Sister's second studio album Ta-Dah, back in 2006, and featured in an infamous Newgrounds animation about cute boys in dresses, it was a mainstay among the girls of my high school anime club. The lyrics speak about trying to stifle feelings of warmth and twitterpation; to deny love for the sake of safety, and allow your heart to wither and die.

When someone comes to you seeking to pull you from isolation, it can feel like an attack; your emotions welling up again and again, trying to drag you into the danger of vulnerability. The instinct to shut down and be a loner, to push away affection in favor of safety, is one that shrivels the soul from the inside. The chorus describes agonizing over whether to let your feelings blossom or to kill them.

There was no better song in the world to describe Buck and Adagio's tumultuous relationship, or Queen Chrysalis and her resistance to being loved rather than taking love.

Folks, this year has been a wild ride for me. I've been through some incredibly high highs and hideously low lows. As a result, this final chapter of the Chrysalis saga took most of the year to write. After spending a whole year on this singular arc, I wanted this chapter to feel like a lunatic spiral, and for the last few paragraphs to feel like an explosion.

It's been hard times on my end, and even harder to keep the creative flame burning. When I picture my ideal life, I see myself sustained by my art, rather than fighting to make it.

To that end, I've begun the mortifying process of monetizing my writing. If you, gentle reader, have ever worried over my well-being, want to see me write more frequently on this website, or just feel like sliding me a tip, please consider buying me a coffee: (https://ko-fi.com/xerricklamerrick) and look out for further details in my upcoming, first ever blog post.

End of Act 4