Lunar Castle, Graymourne | November 6, 1502 | 12:12

Nightmare Moon missed her sleep. It used to be something she did once a day, now it was once a week. Being tormented for months definitely made it difficult, but at the very least she had less dreams to fool around with given the standard of trauma for equines was higher than it used to be. It was fair to say the nightmares that once caused significant trauma in ponies were now insignificant in comparison to the current events. Regardless of that, she only felt concerned for her Thestrals, which were far easier to manage on a nightly basis.

She sighed, sitting on a throne in a newly-constructed castle room befitting of her demeanor and appearance. It had not been long, but even with the speedy efforts of her Thestrals, time dragging by under the moonlight. Eternal nightfall definitely made keeping track of time more difficult, but at least it made her sleep feel more regular. As she was beginning to feel a tinge of boredom, a loud knocking sounded from the doors.

"Enter," she said with a groan, readjusting herself. The doors swung open to reveal a flaming Daybreaker panting heavily with the all-too-familiar aura of her horn fading from the door handles. The Nightmare quirked a brow, "I didn't expect to see you back so early."

Daybreaker shut the doors behind her and walked forward rather quickly, causing the Nightmare to become cautiously anticipatory. Her pace was uneven, yet her voice was silent sparing the rough exhales of a state similar to that of panic. It was unlike Daybreaker, to say the least, and Nightmare Moon hadn't a clue as to what was going on. Her curiosity was soon to be satiated, however, as the Empress stopped around fifteen feet away.

She looked up to her sister. Her eyes were filled with fire, but steam as well. Water, vaporizing faster than it could form. Nightmare Moon shifted her gaze a bit to notice the strained wings of Daybreaker, and was stricken more so with a now beaming curiosity. As her eyes met those of her sister once more, she could only ponder what possible questions she could ask in the moment of dreadful silence. As long as it seemed, it was not long enough to allow the Nightmare to question as Daybreaker finally spoke up.

"Sunrise has been captured," she said. Nightmare Moon's heart sank. Why? She wondered. She tried to kill her sister long ago, she knew she hated Celestia, but perhaps that was just it. She hated Celestia, in much the same way that she hated Luna. Yet, to see Daybreaker, the true alicorn Empress within her weak sister, grieving a potential loss—it struck her in a way she did not expect.

"Why do you come to me?" Nightmare Moon asked, trying to maintain an authoritative tone. Daybreaker shook her head, looking down. The Nightmare refused to show the foreign emotions she was feeling, yet she was just as clueless about their origin as she was about the fact that Daybreaker would come to her for such a personal issue.

"I. . .do not know. . ." she said softly, before facing her sister once more, "nor do I know what to do. It was Celestia's mistake that cost her, putting into place a spy for the sake of friendship, and these feelings, these emotions. . .I do not want Celestia to create a greater problem than she has already. I need your help, sister."

Nightmare Moon was taken aback. Was this the same Daybreaker she met on the battlefield? Or perhaps it was still fresh for her—but those feelings she mentioned; could it be Celestia's emotions that apprehended her judgement? If that were the case, then the emotions she had now could only be those of Luna. Nightmare Moon shook her head. Luna would not take stranglehold over her mind again. Not after a thousand years on the moon, not after what felt like a thousand years of torment by the griffons. Luna would forgive everything that happened and try to restore what should be righteously-destroyed.

"They are not Celestia's emotions," she said, sternly. Daybreaker looked up to her sister, confused as Nightmare Moon continued, "they are yours, Daybreaker. Sunrise is your pupil as much as Twilight was Celestia's. It is right of you to feel sorrow and guilt for what has happened, but you mustn't let that stop you in your tracks. I shall help you, after all I wish to take this conflict directly to Chrysalis as much as you do. Sunrise will not be harmed."

Daybreaker smiled before she felt a pulse of magic in her horn. Lighting it, a visage of Flash Sentry appeared before the two sisters. Nightmare Moon had come off her throne and down to the level of Daybreaker to watch, meanwhile the Empress herself had lost her smile quickly to equip an expression of reprimand.

"Flash Sentry!" Daybreaker shouted, "Sunrise was kidnapped in your absence! Where were you?!"

"I was tracking the damn entourage she was leaving with," Flash replied defensively, "and before you decide to cast me to the inferno, perhaps you should listen the information I've gathered from them."

"Bold stallion, that one," Nightmare said with a smirk as Daybreaker frustratedly rolled her eyes.

"Thirty-two equines are in danger, the Las Pegasus ARC. General Solar Blaze was using Changeling magic to hide his true identity," Flash started, "I believe they're taking Sunrise to the Vesalopolis hive."

"Damned Insect!" Daybreaker snarled, "I'll have him skinned ali—"

"Not insect, Empress," Flash said. Daybreaker flared her nostrils as she looked back.

"What?"

"Sunrise thought the same thing," Flash said with a bit of shakiness in his voice, before shaking his head quickly to dismiss the thoughts he began to have again, "it's Slyphani, the griffonian spy. He was coordinating with the changelings against the former King Taurus' will."

Daybreaker turned to Nightmare Moon with a look of furious shock. Nightmare Moon herself was surprised to hear that Slyphani had orchestrated such a thing. While he was a notorious war criminal, his silence during most of the latter war made him seemingly old news. Daybreaker turned back to Flash.

"How are they targeting the ARC?" she asked. Flash shook his head again.

"MTECs, a lot of them," Flash said, "he's using it as a way to keep Sunrise from escaping. Her compassion is the only thing compromising her safety."

"Not her compassion," Daybreaker retorted, "her nationalism. She wouldn't spare her life if a single citizen were to be harmed from it."

"We've retrieved a significant amount of griffonian blueprints and have been interpreting them," Nightmare Moon said, "I can have some of the more savvy thestrals employed for disarming, however. . ."

". . .they will still need to be evacuated," Daybreaker pondered, "but it can't be that simple, because. . ."

". . .not only are there thirty-two thousand to evacuate, but the Changelings are likely watching," Flash finished, "and while taking Sunrise would be significant to them, I would be willing to guess that they prioritize number of deaths over influence of deaths."

The three of them were silent for a moment. Regardless of what they did, there was a chance of a terrorist attack on an unprecedented scale, and Sunrise was currently in Changeling custody. Daybreaker gritted her teeth. With all of her power, with even her sisters power in addition to hers, it was not feasible to go against such odds without losing too much. However, if they did nothing, then they would lose both Sunrise and the thirty-two thousand. Likely more from the aftermath. The Changelings might even use it as an opportunity to invade.

After a further silence, another knock sounded at the door. The two sisters turned to it, Nightmare letting out another sigh.

"Enter," she said softly. The door opened up once more, softer this time, revealing Starry Night, the Liege of Warfare Tactics and Intelligence, as she was titled under the United Lunar State's military reorganization. Starry blinked upon seeing Daybreaker, but continued forward anyway as the doors shut behind her carrying a few folders in her wings.

"I wasn't anticipating providing this information in front of Empress Daybreaker," Starry began, earning a curious expression from the Empress, "but our spies have acknowledged Changeling counterparts in the Las Pegasus region."

Starry looked at Flash from the visage, smiling and waving before continuing.

"We've identified six of them," she said as she opened her wing for the Nightmare to levitate the texts and read them along with the Empress, "according to intelligence ascertained from Griffonstone and from our own operations, we are certain they were carrying out what is referred to as a Interception-Decimation Schema. The six counterparts we intercepted and have track of now appear to all be operating within these bounds and are focused on surveillance. There is only one problem."

"No Junior Mindcarrier," Nightmare pointed out, "but if we find the Junior Mindcarrier. . ."

". . .we can cut off their communication to the hive," Daybreaker said with a frown, she glared at Nightmare Moon, "and after we do that, we can discuss why you put spies in one of my major cities."

Daybreaker cut out the feed to Flash without warning, before turning to Starry Night.

"Good work," the Empress said, giving another glance to Nightmare Moon before vanishing in a flame. Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrows a bit before looking at Starry.

"Have I told you that your timing is really terrible?" Nightmare asked.

Sweet Acorn Orchard, Solar Empire Outskirts | November 6, 1502 | 14:22

Drizzlepop wandered around the Orchard, taking a look to see what all was going on today. Ponies plowing fields, harvesting what few crops were left to harvest before the winter rolled around. At this rate, of course, winter might not particularly roll around with the unyielding sun, but the pattern was still there so there was no need to break it. There weren't many youth her age, not exactly. Some a few years older, some a few years younger, but she was a bit of an odd one out. That and the fact that she engaged with a changeling knowingly gave a bit of stigma to her presence that remained unspoken and, fortunately, unbeknownst to her.

After a while, she noticed that Thorax had not left his home, and began to wonder if he was sleeping in. She rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh and walked towards his house. She was carrying a small pink saddlebag with a drawing in it that she wanted to show him. Now, quaint and plain as the house was, it was easy for Drizzle to find given she had committed it to memory much faster than even Barn's house.

She loved Barn, she loved Barn's wife. They were like her parents, real ones at least. Not the ones she had dealt with before. She didn't want to think of that. It was an awful and cruel past and her mind had mostly blocked it out anyway. She had visions of the atrocities burned into her vision after it was lost, the last image she saw was a hoof in her face. That was until Thorax, who gave her the ability to see new things, to forget all of the bad stuff and live in the colorful world again. For that reason, she always thought of Thorax before Barn. Not because Barn was not good enough—he was the best step-daddy anypony could ask for—but he didn't save her from seeing the big, nasty hoof. Thorax did.

She knocked on the door, calling out to Thorax.

"Thoraaaax!" she yelled, "Thoraaaaaax! Are you sleeping in? Father might have to ground you for sleeping in! He did it to me and you're like my brother so he'll treat you fair and do the same!"

She chuckled at her comment for a bit, waiting and knocking again. She began to frown, however, as there wasn't a bit of sound coming from the inside. She began to look around the house curiously, seeing if he might have been playing hide-and-seek with her. That's when she heard hoofsteps behind her. She turned to see one of the civilians behind her.

"Hey, mister, have you seen Thorax? He should be in here but he's not answering his door," she said, "he's not out working the fields is he? I already checked!"

The stallion gave a confused look, before laughing.

"Oh, you mean the Changeling, right?" he said, "not a hard one to spot, but I was looking for him myself. I wanted to chat with him."

"Oh! He's a really lovely pony," Drizzle replied, "especially when he turned green and orange and got his new horns and wings!"

"What?" the stallion said suddenly, before clearing his throat, "ah, I must have missed all of that."

"He was at the gathering the other night, everypony was invited!" Drizzle said, "did you miss it? Oh that would have sucked, the food was so good!"

"Ah, had things to do," the stallion said dismissively, "but that's fine. Tell me what he looked like again?"

"Here!" Drizzle reached into the small saddlebag she had with her and showed the stallion a very silly but very colorful drawing that depicted her and Thorax holding hooves and playing together. The stallion looked on with confusion and thought to himself for a moment.

"Ah, that's definitely strange, I suppose I'll have to ask the 'head honcho' about that, haha," he said. Drizzle chuckled as well.

"Well, Barn should be right over there," she pointed in the direction of Barn's house, "I'm sure he would be happy to tell you all about it!"

"I'm certain he would," the stallion said with a grin.

After he left, Drizzle continued to search around for Thorax. She walked, and walked, and walked, seeing everypony around working hard but not a single Thorax in sight! She sighed loudly and worriedly, turning back to see if he might have been behind her, but there was nopony there. She began to feel a bit sad. Finally, after several minutes of searching, she travelled to the outskirts of the town and waited for a while. She waited for a while longer, and began to sing to herself softly. A lullaby Barn's wife, Sugarcookie, taught her. Sugarcookie was just as busy as Barn was, cooking and cleaning all of the time but occasionally getting together with mares to host small events while the stallions worked all day. After all, it was general in the region that mares would enjoy drinks and snacks that weren't hard apple cider and salted crackers.

In days of old, a young mare told, a tale of destiny. Though times were tough, and feeling's rough, it made the best of we. The time we spent, the lengths we went, to learn the things we know. In days of old, an old mare told, we reap, what then we sewed.

She smiled a bit, thinking it was a funny rhyme. That mare must have had it rough to grow old so quickly! She chuckled to herself, turning around. As she did, a big smile spread across her face.

"Thorax! You came back!"

Hall of Unity, Mount Metazoa | November 6, 1502 | 13:52

"What did it feel like?" Fluttershy asked. Thorax, after having negotiated plans and ideas with the fellow harmonists, was now being showered with multiple questions as to how his metamorphosis worked, what his life was like, and so on. Thorax scratched his head a bit.

"Bliss, it felt like bliss, but," Thorax said slowly, "but like nothing—at the same time. It was as if I was simultaneously experiencing it, and not experiencing it. I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to explain it."

"That's fine," Sunset Shimmer said, "but I have a theory about the Changeling hivemind, and the way it functions on a magiphysical level."

"Shoot," Thorax said. However, before Sunset Shimmer could ask her question, Discord interrupted.

"Sorry to interrupt your interrogatory barrage of our Changeling guest," he said with his typical sense of grandiosity before providing a piece of paper to Sunset, "but my top secret spy, being myself, has discovered some rather uncomfortable information concerning Vanhoover. The whole ARC is rigged to blow by some acting Changeling spies."

Sunset frantically read the paper as the others gathered around her with shock. Starlight turned to Discord.

"That could be as much as forty thousand casualties," she said, "they're using MTECs!"

The group turned to Starlight with questioning expressions as she rolled her eyes.

"MTECs are highly explosive magically-assisted compounds," she explained, "they have a blast radius of around fifty meters per kilogram if detonated under the proper conditions. Not only is it hard to find, but it's incredibly expensive to purchase as well."

"And I'm assuming you know this due to your former affairs?" Applejack questioned with a quirked brow. Nova turned to the earth pony.

"Yes, but mostly from me," she replied, "what concerns me is that, while some of these explosives reach the black market, they almost exclusively come from Griffonstone."

"But Griffonstone fell," Rainbow Dash said, "how could they be making more of that stuff?"

"Maybe a few separatists, Darling," Rarity suggested. Thorax shook his head slowly.

"No, the Changelings had a specific griffonian contact who provided intelligence for a price of an underground trade to the east," he explained, "his name was Slyphani."

The Elements of Harmony chattered with one another momentarily before things fell silent. Eventually, they read further to discover the rest of the situation as disclosed to both Lunar and Solar intelligence and top-secret clearance officials, and began to realize the gravity of the situation. Thorax, however, came to a sudden realization.

"I need to get back to the Orchard, the Changelings might have discovered them on their way to Vanhoover!" he said, frantically gathering himself as he turned to realize there wasn't an immediately quick way back. He turned to Discord before Applejack spoke up.

"Hang on Thorax," she protested, "how do you know they'd be followin' that path exactly? Ain't the Orchard out of the way?"

"I was in charge of the construction and deployment of Vesalopolis' naval fleet," he explained, "our plan was to invade the empire by striking Seaward Shoals by hoof, and Vanhoover by navy. The polar bears had destroyed our hive in Hailberg as well as our only constructed naval fleet, and meanwhile the maginuclear weapon dropped on the Wandering woods destroyed and irradiated most of the path by land. The Jackalope Slopes, from what I remember, were firing autonomous artillery units and anything beyond them was under assumed Empire protection in a strict vantage point that would prevent safe passage. So the safest way to get to Vanhoover for spies would be to enter the Sweet Acorn Orchard from the Taiga Range and head through Sire's Hollow to take an identity before moving on to the Shoals."

"Damn good thing you have that kind of memory," Nova said, "but wouldn't you be a priority-one target?"

"No, they wouldn't even report back about me," Thorax said, "Changelings sent on espionage missions are hive-focused by a specific type of Mindcarrier, their focus is so heavily programmed that they do not falter in the objective, but upon completing their mission, they could have reported back. I need to get to them quickly! Discord, open a portal!"

Discord held up his talon and paw with raised eyebrows as he snapped the talons to open a portal back to his home in the Orchard.

"Your wish, is my command," he said with a bow. Thorax quickly jumped through. The equines and gryphons looked at each other with expressions of worry, only hoping for the safety of Thorax. In the meantime, however, they needed to figure out what to do about the ARC situation.

Sweet Acorn Orchard, Solar Empire Outskirts | November 6, 1502 | 14:42

Thorax stepped through the portal, looking around to see his house. It was untouched, and the curtains were left closed from when he left. He sighed, relieved, walking up to the door and leaning his hoof up to it. He noticed, however, that the door was already cracked open. With a confused look, he leaned down to observe it before taking notice of a droplet of blood on the ground. He let out a gasp, opening the door quickly to reveal the orchard.

Barn was outside. Held up by a single piece of jagged wood which pierced through his rump out of the neck. Sugarcookie was beside him, similarly impaled. Beside her, Spring, and Haze, and the rest of the village all lined up in front of the house by row. It was done in the same fashion as Daybreaker's Changeling executions. Down to every, excruciating detail. Blood from the mouth, as the impaling was done with precision to target a specific line of organs that would cause a lasting death, but no longer than an hour at most.

Their eyes were glossed over, their expressions stuck in a horrified shock as their mouths were held open. Flies had already gathered in numerous amounts around them as the stench of iron was now apparent, along with what looked like a crimson river beneath them. Thorax wasn't sure his heart was still beating, seeing their faces, their bodies, he wasn't capable of thinking at all. He wasn't sure he believed what was happening, until he heard a soft sobbing begin from behind him.

"Oh my god, oh my god n-no—" Thorax stuttered to himself as he stumbled down to run towards the sound he heard. He slipped on droplets of blood as the sobbing remained soft. However, it's softness seemed only to be because the creature producing it wasn't capable of doing much more. He opened up the door to the closet that the sound was coming from. When he opened it, he fell backwards and vomited on the ground.

"Dr. . .dr. . .nnnn. . ." the changeling uttered, unable to produce words but only uncontrolled sounds of horror as he gazed upon Drizzlepop, who was softly crying as she laid upon the floor, bleeding from freshly-gouged eyesockets. She slowly moved her head up, unsure of the noise she was hearing. Thorax began to hyperventilate, trying to calm himself as he attempted to approach her, "Dr-Drizzlep—"

She let out a scream suddenly upon hearing his voice, hiding in the corner and swinging towards him with what energy she had left. Thorax tried to calm her down, but she didn't stop, she just kept swinging.

"Nnooo, no stop st—stop!" she shouted between sobs, "you hurt me enough go away! Go away! GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!"

She continued to swing again. In that moment Thorax realized what had happened. He clenched his teeth, lighting his horns and casting an anesthetic spell over Drizzlepop until she drifted into a soft sleep. It wasn't just an anesthetic spell, but a mercy spell. Thorax laid his hoof on her chest, feeling the pulse slowly die out as she drifted away peacefully from the pain she was feeling. Once the heart beat it's final beat, and the last breath of air sounded more like a soft choking, Thorax inhaled deeply, turning around and walking out the door.

He looked once more at the impaled equines, lighting his horn once more and causing a flame to ignite beneath them all. The house behind him, as well, went up quickly in green flames as black smoke began to fill the sky. He jumped off of the ground, a shockwave blasting from beneath him as he darted into the sky and began to fly to Canterlot.

In days of old, a young mare told, a tale of destiny. Though times were tough, and feeling's rough, it made the best of we. The time we spent, the lengths we went, to learn the things we know. In days of old, an old mare told, we reap, what then we sewed.

But the skies turned black, when the swarm attacked, and left us all with woe.

Canterlot, Solar Empire | November 6, 1502 | 15:32

"No, I don't want theories, I want ANSWERS!" Daybreaker shouted with a booming voice to a table of military advisors and intelligence officers, "Thirty-two thousand lives are at risk and you're trying to give me textbook answers? This isn't a classroom, and this is not a short-answer problem, this is whether or not I decide to have you all executed for inadequacy! Now give me information!"

"Empress, please," one officer said, "we are as sorrowful as you are, we just can't—"

"EVIDENTLY NOT!" Daybreaker shouted again, slamming her hooves on the table as the flames on her tail and mane flared up with steam shooting from her nostrils, "you have fifteen minutes to—"

Before she could finish her sentence, the doors burst open as the two guards on standby fell down from the outside of the room. Thorax stood tall in the center as the equines in the room became awestruck, staring back in silence. Daybreaker, with an expression of disgusted shock, stared him down in a moment of silence before speaking up.

"What. . .in Tartarus. . .do you think you are doing?!" she said in disbelief. Thorax simply held eye contact.

"I'm here to help you kill Chrysalis, take the offer or kill me here."

The advisors looked at one another, knowing he was a Changeling but confused as to why he looked the way he did. After a moment, they looked up to Daybreaker and were surprised to see the mad grin upon her face.

Author's Note

This is the only chapter that has been genuinely difficult to write.