Changing Expectations: Reflections

by KKSlider

Rating: teen
Tags: Profanity, Violence, Thorax, Human, Anthology, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Princess Luna, Changelings, Original Character
Length: 40682

The entire course of history can be changed by a single butterfly flapping its wings. So what if an entire war was won instead of lost? What if a King never existed?

This is an anthology of non-canon side stories for the Changing Expectations series, each story detailing a different take on the story, on the world, or any other story that can't function as a standalone. Reading Changing Expectations is required.

The entire course of history can be changed by a single butterfly flapping its wings. So what if an entire war was won instead of lost? What if a King never existed? Distorted and twisted, parallel universes offer an infinite number of stories to tell.

Waning Crescent: A world illuminated only by the moon and the stars above. Despite not wanting for light, there are far too many shadows.

Pursuit Of Happiness: Equestria might be the world of sunshine, rainbows, and magic, but not everything is perfect for everyone.

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay: Everyone loves a good villain story. But I'm fresh out of those, so have a mediocre one instead.

Cover art is by Rich May
Special thanks to all my prereaders for proof reading each chapter!

Published 2022-06-15 03:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-12-28 08:38:09 UTC

Waning Crescent 1/3

The sound of swords clashing and spears thumping against shields echoed softly off the stone walls of the Palace.

An amber aurora borealis veiled the supermoon that dominated the night sky, the two sources of light illuminating Canterlot almost as much as the sun would have. However, the color felt a bit more hollow and sterile than actual sunlight would have felt.

The stallions and mares of the E.U.P. were training with the changelings of the Fifth Hive and the thestrals of Vallachia. All three factions had been training together for months now and were constantly pushed to the limit by the instructors.

But before they reached that intangible line in the sand, the instructors pulled back and gave them some slack. Over time, I witnessed the transformation; the ponies, thestrals, and changelings couldn’t have come from a more different set of backgrounds, yet now they fight alongside each other like they all came from the same womb. Or egg, in the changelings’ cases.

‘Shame she purged the Royal Guard of many of its veterans.’

The need for such harsh training regimens came from one simple fact: the Night Guard had lost a lot of its top brass and veteran soldiers during its transition from Royal to Night. Many ponies couldn’t be trusted, many spoke out against the shift in power, and others simply didn’t have the chutzpah we needed.

‘I’ll need to ask about this upcoming war. The Griffons are clearly in no position to threaten us, so why, oh why, do we need such a capable army so soon? We’re losing too many recruits to this ridiculous standard we’re pushing.’

The muffled sounds of the weapons clashing came to a halt as the drill ended. Frowning, I watched as a few trainees were singled out for extra physical training. I had to crane my neck to see them run around beneath the Palace window I was peering out of.

The door to the office opened and a changeling entered, closing the door behind them.

“My King,” General Labrum bowed– not that I bothered to turn away from the window to see her bow.

Every changeling bowed to me nowadays; from the Generals to the Infiltrators, they all took orders from me. With Chrysalis’s and Chamberlain Eucharis’s deaths, I was the ling-in-charge. I had to get rid of the ones that didn’t bow, such as the head-Infiltrator, Intelligencer Ocelli.

I couldn’t afford threats.

“General Labrum,” I acknowledged her. “I see our combined forces are progressing well. You could hardly tell that they were all mortal enemies just a few months ago. The ponies are staying in line, I take it?”

Labrum paused for a moment, “... Aside from the occasional issue, yes. The fact that we’ve mostly stayed in the shadows is certainly helpful in that regard. Our reputation precedes us when things get ugly, though; the ponies have a pretty good idea as to what happens to the traitors and criminals who are, ah… secreted away. It is easy to discourage any fighting, but it’s hard as nails to encourage any sort of goodwill.”

“Hmph,” I grunted. “We peacefully gave them back all of Southern Equestria, did we not?”

“Yes, My King. I heard you have just returned from a visit to Locksdale….”

My blood chilled at the name.

“Was everything to your satisfaction, My King?”

I pressed a hoof against the glass, using the cold touch to ground me.

“Mmm,” I grunted. “We can’t stop.”

“.... I understand,” Labrum whispered.

Steadying my breath, I glanced away from the window, “Anything else to report, General Labrum?”

She grimaced for half a second before getting control over her emotions, “... Yes. Following several rigorous investigations, I believe that we have discovered about half a dozen or so problems, My King, but figuring out solutions seems near impossible.”

Labrum took a half-step back, expecting some admonishment– but I was not my mother. good news was good news, no matter how good it could have been.

I stepped away from the window and let the curtain fall over it. My lack of immediate reaction stirred some fear in Labrum, but she stood still under my scrutiny.

I nodded, “That is…. Interesting. I am glad that your efforts have uncovered things that would have gone unnoticed. Tell me, what are these issues?”

“Ah, well… You see, My King, it is difficult to figure out just how the army is going to–”

I cut her off, “I don’t care about that. Just tell me what you have found.”

Labrum hastily trotted past me to her desk and pulled out some papers. Scribbling down some notes, she presented her findings to me. Much to my disappointment, all of her information fit on one single side of a piece of paper. I took the paper by hoof and not by telekinesis. Quickly, I scanned the entire list and committed it to memory.

‘I shouldn’t be doing this. None of us should. But we have to. She’ll understand. She has to…’

“This is excellent work, Labrum. I definitely wanted more, but this is probably the most I could ask for in such circumstances.”

“Thank you, My King,” she sighed in relief.

“General,” I sighed, “did you really expect me to punish you? This might not be something that Chrysalis would have been satisfied with, but I had hoped that you would have more faith in me than that.”

“Sorry, sir, just… old habits.”

“Well, go help yourself to triple rations tonight. Then, continue to chip away at these problems. The sooner we get them solved, the better.”

Labrum saluted, “As you command, My King.”

I returned the salute before disposing of the piece of paper in the most secure way I knew how. Labrums blinked in surprise when I ripped it apart and stuffed it into my mouth, but snorted in laughter when she came around to my line of thinking.

“You shouldn’t doubt my methods,” I said after swallowing the last scraps. “Heh, I remember being taught how to decipher old military encryptions in a military vessel once. This was one of the ways we disposed of the messages. Not that it was a real message or anything, just a lesson for young… scouts….”

Labrum looked around before asking, “My King? What are you talking about?”

I cleared my throat, “.... Nothing. Nevermind.”

She lifted a hoof, as if to step forward, but held it up, unsure of herself.

“Saint Phasma?” She said my name quietly. “There’s a rumor going around. One that takes a very weird way of explaining your… uniqueness, despite your age. They say….”

“Go on. I’ve heard some ridiculous things during my time in the Hive already, like the idea that Chrysalis ate my father’s head. What you’re going to say probably isn’t as crazy.”

Labrum continued, “.... They say that you are an alien, My King. That you come from another world. It certainly seems to explain some of the things you talk about…”

Though Labrum claimed that she was just repeating rumors, it was quite clear that she believed them herself. You don’t hold your breath when repeating ridiculous questions you don’t believe in…

I raised my head to stare at the ceiling, “.... Do you believe in fate, Labrum?”

“I suppose I do.”

“So you believe that your life is laid out before you were born?”

“Something like that,” she mumbled. “Parts of it, at least. The important parts. The Weaver has a plan for us all. Why? Are you implying….”

My gaze returned to the shorter drone, “Sometimes I wonder if I am free from the chains of fate, or if I am bound up more tightly than anyone has ever been. The idea of fate is very old… Some believed that fate is the measure of one’s life: a piece of string, cut off when one’s life is ended; that your story was weaved before you walked it, and ended with the conclusion of your life. Others believed it to be an infinite cycle, one which can never be escaped unless you rid yourself of all desires.”

Labrum frowned as she tried to discern the deeper meaning in my words. I decided to cut her efforts short and simply give her the answer.

“I definitely believe one of those schools of thought has far more merit than the other, now.”

‘But I sure as hell have no intention of ending a potentially infinite cycle of rebirth if I get to keep my memories. This is as close to true immortality as I can possibly get!’

She stared at me in wonder as the revelation sunk in. I checked the time– and immediately cursed.

“I am almost late for a meeting with the big cheese. Keep up the good work, Labrum. This meager scrap of information is far more important than silence.”

Labrum bowed, “Of course, My King. Good luck with your duties. Before you go, you might want to… freshen up?”

“Freshen up?” I repeated to myself as I stepped out.

My guards formed up around me when I left Labrum’s office and accompanied me across the Palace.

Kicking the door shut behind me, I bought myself a minute or two of reprieve from my duties.

The Palace bathroom I had secluded myself into was unoccupied, a fact I was thankful for. Shuffling over to the sinks, the changeling king that stared back at me through the bathroom mirror was a wretched thing: sunken eyes betrayed the falsehood of the primed and polished black carapace, sparkling adamantium peytral and a simple silver crown that weighed too much, and permanent scowl that ruined any charm an insect could actually have.

I lifted a hoof from the sink and touched the silver crown. It matched my fiancé's: a beautiful burnished silver circlet with one large gem. Unlike hers, mine was a square cut orange sapphire. While I did like the color, the crown felt…. Wrong. It was everything I wanted in a crown but it felt cheap and ill-fitting.

‘Exactly what I want, and it’s not good enough. I’ll be damned if that doesn’t describe everything that’s happened so far.’

“I see what Labrum means. I look like I just crawled out of bed,” I mused.

I splashed some water on my face and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up a little bit. My little break would last as long as I could reasonably make it, but that would not be very long. Especially since I did not have the excuse of actually using the bathroom; changelings only needed to empty their bladder. The plumbing wasn’t equipped to deal with the highly coagulative and cohesive bonding gel that we regurgitated.

The petulant thought of clogging up the toilet anyway brought me a small amount of amusement before I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. My reprieve was cut short when the sound of voices past the door.

Sighing heavily, I pushed away from the sink and opened the door.

“–you in here was a mistake,” a well-dressed gray pegasus was saying as I stepped out of the bathroom.

The mare’s eyes widened in horror when I appeared over the shoulder of my guard, glaring down at the sour pony.

“Is there a problem here?” I asked, my loud words shook the pony as I towered over her, making it quite clear that there weren’t any problems.

“N-no, not at all, Your Majesty!” The noble stammered, hastily bowing before me. “I w-was just, uh….”

“Insulting me,” my lead guard, Praetorian Oestridae himself, offered.

“No! I was… j-just….” The pony stammered.

I snorted, “Shut up. I have neither the time nor inclination to bother with punishing you. Get out of my sight and if I ever hear about you insulting my changelings ever again, there won’t be a next time.”

‘Not that I’ll put in the effort of remembering who you are.’

The pony bowed and backed up, “Yes, Your Majesty! I am sorry, Your Majesty!”

My guards and I watched her leave, before starting on our own journey through the Palace’s hallways.

I turned to Oest, “Some people lack any sense of self-preservation,” I commented. “Did she really just spot you and started slinging insults, Oest?”

Oest grunted, “Yes. It was…. Awkward.”

Another Praetorian piped up, “I do not know how a pony like her has survived the caustic environment of this damned pony-hive.”

I shrugged as I walked– not an easy task for a quadruped, “She’s probably got enough family members or friends in high places– not to mention enough money– to skirt by. Money can’t buy common sense, however.”

“No, it can not,” Oest agreed.

We made the rest of the way to the war chambers in quiet conversation, which ended when we arrived at the guarded doors of the war room. They saluted and opened the doors for me. Oest followed me inside while the rest of my guards took up positions outside.

The war room was pretty small, only containing a large wooden table surrounded by a row of eight chairs on either side and two at the far end. There were some cabinets around the walls, near the large glass windows that overlooked the Palace’s gardens, but I honestly had no idea what they could possibly contain.

The chairs were all occupied save for the two at the far end. The ponies sitting in them were from all four tribes: earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, and thestral. All of them held positions of power and esteem within our newly formed empire. They acknowledged my entry by standing up to attention.

I strode across the room to take up one of the empty seats, “Please, sit,” I commanded them all.

Oestridae took up position in the corner closest to me and stood as still as a statue. As the ponies sat down, one of the thestrals started a conversation with me. She wore a black suit with red interior fabric, a tall collar, and a silk scarf tied around her neck that was pressed down by a gold comet necklace.

“King Phasma,” she greeted me. “I see you actually put some effort into looking presentable today. Did Her Majesty hire hoofmaidens to finally fix your lack of modesty?”

“Elder Sanguine,” I returned the greeting. “I see you’ve found a new cliché vampire outfit to wear. Did you find it buried in a closet, forgotten from when you purchased it centuries ago, or did you see a vampire flic and decide to steal their look?”

Sanguine smiled, “Quite interesting things, these movies are. I did take up your suggestion; I found Nosferatu to be completely enjoyable! I fully intend on finding more like it.”

“I’m sure you are,” I muttered.

“You’re quite lucky, you know,” Sanguine switched topics. “If you were the only one late…”

My ears flattened in annoyance, “I know. Don’t remind me.”

Sanguine gave me an odd look. Much to my discomfort, she didn’t stop staring at me.

“What?” I broke the silence. “What are you looking at?”

“You know,” she whispered, “if you are afr–”

The doors to the room were opened, and all of us rose as my fiancé, the Alicorn of the Moon, strode into the room. The Princess was taller than all the ponies and drones, matching only myself in height. Her purplish-blue armor and its silver embellishments glinted in the torchlight as she stopped and scanned the room. After looking at each of the other ponies in the room, her slitted blue eyes rested on me.

“Moon,” I greeted her.

“Phasma,” she nodded. Then, she acknowledged everyone else in the room, “Sit.”

Nightmare Moon commanded and we obeyed.

Waning Crescent 2/3

Nightmare Moon slowly stalked around the table, pausing occasionally behind one of the seated ponies.

“You have all been hard at work,” the alicorn began. “Toiling away at reforging this chipped and rusted blade of an army into a fighting force. Within a fortnight, I will put the Night Guard to the test. We shall see if your work has produced diamonds….” She leaned in between two ponies, “.... Or dross.”

“Two weeks isn’t a lot of time,” I pointed out.

Nightmare straightened up and resumed her prowl over to me.

“Nay. In times of war, time is a resource that is scarce more often than not.”

“.... Are we at war, Your Majesty?” A Shining Armor asked, trying to look more awake than he was.

Just like me, Shining Armor was not doing so well in the sleep department. Ironic, considering that Nightmare Moon was ruling over the Dreamscape. One would think that she would put more importance on a good night’s rest for her subjects and friends…

Nightmare Moon slowly sat down in the chair next to me, “.... We shall be, soon. The time draws near when our mettle will be tested. If we do not hold, then we will be shattered and undone.”

‘Great, more gloom and doom prophecies. This is worse than what I had to sit through in the Fourth Hive.’

“What will be our… test, Mistress?” Sanguine grinned.

Instead of being afraid of this ominous threat, like the rest of us sane people, Sanguine seemed to be actually excited.

Nightmare Moon levitated a map down onto the table and spread it wide. Equestria, from Dodge City to Vanhoofer, rolled out before us. Nightmare also brought out several sets of miniature ponies from the cabinets– ‘So that’s what’s in those!’– and placed them across Equestria. I recognized the placements as the locations of Night Guard garrisons, with the largest concentration being in Canterlot.

Nightmare explained, “There will be a foe, powerful beyond reckoning. When he comes, our fight shall yet determine the course of all beneath the sky. And above it, for you pegasi.” She pushed many of the small figures into lines facing the north, “We must begin preparations at once! There is no way to discern when the fight shall be, only that we have less than two years.”

“So this is what we have been preparing for,” Sanguine muttered, leaning over the table to see better.

“This is rather short notice,” I pointed out. “Well, not for me, but for most people.”

Nightmare smiled at me and placed one of her booted hooves over one of my own.

“Indeed, young Phasma. Your expertise at forging a military from scraps shall be put to good use! Your efforts must all be doubled! We must set lofty goals for our soldiers, for nothing less than the finest will save the night. Captain Shining Armor,” the stallion sat up straight, “the new officers shall be put in charge of the Night Guard. You shall oversee this transition. Ensure that there are no delays, or else…..

“Elder Sanguine, you must oversee the distribution of the thestral squads into the Night Guard. Your crack units shall be the hammer with which we shall land the killing blows. King Phasma, your Praetorians and Swarm drones shall perform similar functions as the thestrals; any weakness you sense, you must pour into and exploit, like water cracking a mountain in half.”

“We don’t have the love storage for full-scale deployment of transformation tactics,” I pointed out.

“You will get your ambrosia,” Nightmare dismissed the concern. “Leave that to me.”

‘Great, as if I wasn’t enough of a monster. Locksdale is about to get a lot more full…’

“Then I’ll get them ready for their front-line duties,” I assured her.

“The thestrals will be ready, Mistress,” Sanguine bowed.

“The E.U.P. will be stronger than ever, Your Highness,” Shining saluted.

Nightmare stood, and we rose too, “So you shall. Remember, your first test is in one fortnight. If you fail, the consequences will be dire. We cannot afford to lose this fight; so I must place burdens upon your shoulders to keep your hooves on the ground.”

“What, ah, consequences will there be for failing this test?” One of Shining’s officers piped up.

Nightmare cackled, “The punishment will be… What did you call it, my dear?” She looked at me, “Decimation? Is that correct?”

‘Oh fuck. She sure as hell isn’t touching my changelings, but that would only make the ponies hate us more. Being excused from such a horrific punishment would only breed jealousy and animosity.’

I swallowed, “Yes. Decimation…”

Nightmare leaned close to whisper into my ear, “Our chambers, ten minutes from now. Do not be late, I will know. You are lucky I was delayed to this meeting, but my hunger will not face such delays.”

I swallowed again and nodded, “Uh, yeah. Yep, I’ll be there!”

‘Not going to even ask how she knows.’

Nightmare abruptly turned away and strutted towards the doors, “Then you all have your orders. Execute them, before you join in on the decimation yourselves.”

The doors shut behind her and all the ponies turned to me.

‘I really could have used actual information, like defensive lines, logistical support, key locations, enemy composition– hell, even what the enemy looks like. But, as much as I hate to say it, I’m getting pretty good at figuring everything out on my own and delivering the impossible to my vague and ominous leader. Wait, leader? Damn it all, I feel like I’m back to square one again…’

“What is decimation, King Phasma?” Sanguine asked.

“It’s something to be avoided if at all possible,” I sighed, sitting back down. “Decimation. Deci, meaning ten, and… uh... imation, which means to kill systematically. Probably. One in ten soldiers will be… executed.”

The ponies all gasped in surprise or alarm. Several began yelling at each other, and at me, declaring this a ridiculous punishment.

“This is unheard of,” Sanguine shook her head. “Not even during the ancient war did the Princess ever resort to such barbaric measures!”

“Which means she’s thoroughly terrified of whatever mysterious threat only she knows about,” I summarized.

That thought brought some order and quiet into the room.

“Nightmare Moon? Scared?” Shining repeated. He must have believed me, because he continued, “I don’t think I want to know what could scare her, but I get the feeling that we’re going to find out whether we want to or not.”

“Is there any other reason why she would suddenly be okay with killing so many of her own subjects?” I asked. “... Actually, I just had a rather gruesome thought. When I told her about… ergh, these kinds of things, I did mention how it was the soldiers brutalizing their own. But Nightmare Moon might do something stupid like order one in ten soldiers to be completely drained of love instead of being beaten with clubs or rocks.” I groaned, realizing that I was probably right, “That’s missing the entire effectiveness of the bloody punishment of decimation, and it’s painting a massive target on my back!”

“One in ten,” Sanguine echoed. “The world must truly be on the line. Very well, we shall ensure that these are merely threats, and nothing more. Captain, do you think we can pass this unspecified test?”

Shining shrugged, “It’s going to be some sort of war game, undoubtedly. There’s a chance, but… morale is already as low as it can possibly be. The training we’d have to go through, my ponies just won’t see the point.”

“Then we’d best give them some incentive,” Sanguine smiled. “If glory and the importance of our duty aren’t enough, then find material pleasures that will satisfy.”

Shining glared at her, “It’s not that simple. These aren’t bandits we’re talking about, they are my R– Night Guard. They need something more than double pay, or… anything like that. They need hope. Hope that all this,” Shining gestured to us and to the map, “is for something.”

I frowned, “How do you plan on giving them that hope?”

The Captain slumped, “I… don’t know.”

I rose from my chair and started to leave, “Then let’s hope you or someone else thinks of something. I’ll try to weed out more information from Moon, see if I can learn just what we’re going up against.”

Shining reached out and stopped me, “Wait! King Phasma… have you heard… anything? Anything at all?”

I had frozen up at the contact but slowly relaxed. He looked up at me with eyes full of pain and suffering. I could taste his emotions and knew that his hurt was running deep.

'I need to keep leading him on. Losing him right now would be an unacceptable setback to…. everything.'

“.... Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

I nodded, “Maybe. Don’t lose hope: a maybe is far more than a no.”

Shining sniffled and nodded, “Thank you. I’m just so worried about her…”

I patted his outstretched foreleg, “If your sister is anything like you, then I am sure that she will be hard to kill. After all, you’re still standing after I whooped your ass in the invasion.”

The joke fell flat and Shining lowered his gaze, “Y–Yeah…”

When his hoof dropped to the table, I thought about saying something more. Something to lift his spirits so that he didn't turn in every night, wondering if his little sister was dead or not.

Silently, I left the room with Oest one step behind me.

I entered our chambers alone, having sent Oest and my guards off to do whatever they wanted to do for the rest of the shift, and found Nightmare Moon waiting for me. She was returning her regalia to its place on a mannequin near a wardrobe, taking care to ensure the pieces were on securely and straight.

"I trust that you successfully imparted the importance of our duties?" She asked.

"I answered their questions, yes," I replied as I placed my own peytral and crown onto a nearby table. “Are you really serious about the decimation?”

“If we falter and fail, we will die. There is no other outcome, either we win or we perish. Explaining this to the masses will simply not drive the importance of our fight.” She finished undressing and turned to me, “Something drastic must be done, for dire consequences may befall us if our soldiers do not give all that they can. Millenia of peace has lulled Equestria into a sense of laziness and complacency. We have lost any edge we once had….”

‘Two steps forward and one step back. This all just feels too familiar…’

I shook my head to try to clear my thoughts and suddenly found Nightmare Moon to be an inch from my face.

“Damn it, Moon, don’t scare me like that!” I yelled as I reared back.

She followed my retreat and I quickly found my back against a wall and sitting on my haunches with her standing above me.

“I fear that I have been…remiss in my duties,” Nightmare whispered. “This forsaken kingdom is consuming more of my attention than I would have liked. So much to do, so few competent ponies to entrust… I talk too much. As I said before, now is the time for action…”

The taste of the pure love she was offering was nearly overpowering. Yet it only made the deep-seated fears of déjà vu even worse.

Nightmare lunged forward, kissing me aggressively and pressing me against the wall. I froze up when I felt a hoof push against the underside of my chin, lifting my head up so she had a better angle. When she pulled back and slowly opened her eyes, she frowned.

“What is it?”

I blinked, “Err, nothing, Moon. Just a bad memory that came to mind.”

Her nose twitched, “It is more than that. You have grown despondent over the past month, have you not?” Nightmare stepped back, “You are hiding pain. I am somewhat of an expert on such things, you can not hide it from me. Speak.”

I nervously tapped my hooves together as I thought about what to say.

‘I can’t tell her about anything I’m doing. I want to, but it would put my changelings in danger. The entire point is to protect them, no matter what. I can’t tell her about Locksdale, about how I saw all the ponies she sends my way and the meager crimes they commit… I could tell her about how this is all sickeningly familiar…’

“Speak!” Nightmare demanded.

“I’m scared, Moon,” I admitted. “... This war, this love, this pressure to make another army. It’s all too damn familiar. Last time…. Chrysalis nearly put me in a tube for all eternity. I don’t know what could happen this time…”

She reached down and I flinched away from her hoof. Pausing for a moment, she once again brought my chin up.

“My love, there is nothing to fear. That is to say, it is wise to be afraid of this, but you should have faith in me. In us. Together, we will stand victorious, just as we did over our tyrannical families.”

“I don’t even know who we’re facing this time,” I whined.

“.... His name is Epitaph, and he will be the greatest danger we will ever face,” Nightmare Moon whispered quietly. “We will face him, and we will kill him. That is the whole of the matter. I have come too far and fought too hard to lose everything again. I will not lose Equestria. I will not lose my night. I will not lose you.”

I tried to smile, but couldn’t manage, “I don’t know, Moon… If this Epitaph is so dangerous that he’s getting under your skin, then I don’t think we’ll be prepared in time. The resistance is growing bolder, the Night Guard are constantly facing internal issues, and we seem to be making only enemies…”

“The path of the ruler is not an easy one to tread, but it is our duty to do so. We are together in this. We have all the strength we need…”

“What if it isn’t enough?” I asked. “What if we need more than what we have? Shining said that the Night Guard needs something to rally around. What if we give them that something?”

Nightmare glared at me, “What are you suggesting, Phasma?”

“What if….” I swallowed, “... What if we give them their princess?” Nightmare flinched back, and I tasted hatred brewing within. I continued, “Princess Celestia could–”

The only warning I got was a sudden pressing wave of anger and hatred. One second I was looking up at Nightmare Moon, the next second I was on my side against the ground as Nightmare reeled back from a swing. My muzzle erupted in pain at the same moment that Nightmare Moon erupted in anger.

“Do not dare speak that name! To suggest that she is their princess or that we need her! The audacity!”

I gasped and clutched at my muzzle. I felt the warm slickness of blood amid the searing pain.

‘My nose! She– she broke my nose!’

“A thousand years I spent alone, suffering for that wretch! I will not… tolerate…”

Tears gathered in my eyes as I curled up on the ground.

‘Fuck! Come on, get it together Phasma. You’ve endured worse on the sparring field than this! A king doesn’t whimper or cower when he is hit!’

I could not tell if it hurt more because it was Nightmare Moon who had hurt me, or if it was because I was simply not expecting it.

I felt hooves snake underneath me and I froze up once more. Nightmare picked me up– a feat only afforded to her thanks to her equal size– and hauled me across the room, dropping me on our bed.

“– thou art fine! Yes, ‘tis a simple wound, a simple slip up. We did not– I did– ‘tis going to be alright! Hold still, my Phasma, hold still! We will return with medicinal aid. Please, do not, do not–”

Nightmare Moon’s frantic mumbling faded away as she practically flew into our adjoining bathroom. I heard her tear cabinet doors off their hinges as she dug around.

‘Oh fuck, this is bad! I can’t let her think I’m weak or something, I can’t! I can’t! If something bad happened between us– if our union is ended– if I fuck this up, there isn’t going to be a future for the changelings!’

I sat up, still clutching my nose with both hooves.

“– bleeding, then we will deal with the pain,” Nightmare’s frantic mumbling returned once more as she returned and threw a first aid kit onto the bed next to me.

Her anger was gone, replaced with a whipping twister of frustration, sadness, and fear.

“Tilt thy head forward– like that, yes! Thou wilt be fine! We did not mean to strike you, We did not! Twas her fault, that cursed harlot, her pain had– no, it does not matter. She does not matter. Only you. We will not make such a mistake again–”

As she pressed a towel against my nose, I tried to calm her down, “I’m fine, M-Moon! It was an accident, I’m fine!”

‘Don’t break up with me, oh Panar! Oh, I really fucked this up!’

Nightmare wrapped a foreleg around me and pulled me into a tight hug as she used her other to keep pressure on my nose.

“Yes, twas an accident! Thou knows that We would not strike you, my stallion! Twas an accident….” Her ramblings began to slow down as she calmed down.

“I’m sorry! Please don’t break up with me!” I pathetically pleaded.

‘My people need this! I need this! I can’t… this all has to be for something! I can’t lose her!’

The hug tightened as she began crying, “No, never! We will never leave thee, just as thou will never leave Us! We– I am sorry, Phasma. Please, I am sorry….”

It was night.

Of course, it was always night, but it was the new moon phase when darkness returned to Equus.

I felt snug with Nightmare’s hooves wrapped around me from her position as the big spoon. I listened to her rhythmic breathing, and felt her warm breath against my cheek. My eyes stung, but not nearly as bad as my nose did.

Slowly, I raised my hooves to look at them in the dim light. They were covered in blood.

‘S-something! This has to be for something! I am doing what I have to do! Locksdale isn’t my fault, it is us or them! This all is for a purpose… I’m doing all of this to save us! I can make this work!’

Waning Crescent 3/3

The soft patter of rain against leaves filled my thoughts as I sat in the gazebo. Around me, the Palace gardens soaked up the morning rainfall, quenching its thirst.

There were a hundred things I should have been doing. My schedule was rarely empty and delays such as this only made it worse. There were tasks to see to, training to adjust, changelings to speak with, and plans to make.

I sat and did nothing but listen to the rain.

Nightmare Moon was watching me. The gazebo was perfectly visible from her office in the Palace, and she told me not to leave her sight without telling her. That was the only reason why she was not glued to me right now; she could work while keeping an eye on me.

I tried to think about last night and the bloodless times that came before it. Instead, the rain cut through my thoughts like a soothing balm or a numbing tinnitus, depending on how melancholic I was feeling.

I tried not to think about the blood on my hooves and how it never seemed to wash away. The mesmerizing sight of leaves dancing underneath the raindrops helped.

The muted sound of hooves on gravel slowly approached me. I tasted no emotions so it had to be a changeling coming.

“Phasma,” a familiar voice called out as they stepped into the gazebo.

“Coxa,” I greeted him.

“Sorry I haven’t stopped by, it’s been busy,” he apologized.

“Same,” I said.

“I’ve also got nothing to report. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said quietly.

Coxa shifted uncomfortably on his hooves, “But it’s like you said: if no body is found, they can’t be dead, right?”

Slowly, I looked up to Nightmare Moon’s office. I could see her back and mane through the window as she worked at her desk.

“Right,” I repeated.

Coxa followed my gaze, then did a double-take when he noticed my face.

“You break your nose in a duel or something?”

“Yeah.”

He stepped closer, “Uh, Phasma? You okay? You don’t sound okay.”

“Sure, I’m fine.,” I said plainly. “As much as anyone can be ‘fine’ nowadays. Just keep your head down and keep working. At the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold…”

“Pot of… right,” he shook his head. “Something happened. You’re going to tell me what happened.”

I shook my head, “Why do you all continue to press after I say that I’m fine?”

“Because you’re obviously not,” he retorted. “You’re also bad at lying when it comes to… well, you. What happened, Phasma?”

I switched topics, “.... General Labrum reports about half a dozen problems have been found within the Night Guard.”

Coxa’s eyes narrowed, “That wouldn’t put you into this mood. Anyone with half a mind would be excited to hear about that, barring some unforeseen complication…?”

“Vague ideas are all we’ll get,” I explained.

“Right,” he nodded, “so nothing to go all depressive over. Are you really not going to tell me what happened? It has to do with your fucked-up nose, doesn’t it? What happened?”

I tried again, “Nightmare Moon says we’re to go to war with an ominous threat that could wipe us all out. Again.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about that already. Word travels fast– especially something as serious as that. But that’s something we changelings are used to,” he dismissed me. “I can do this all day, Phasma. Or at least for another three hours, I’ve got an appointment with Prince Blueblood that unfortunately can’t be skipped. Bastard still won’t open up yet. Now, am I going to have to waste my entire morning, or are you going to tell me what’s eating you?”

“Let me deal with it, Coxa. Everyone’s got enough on their plates. I have to do this alone.”

He groaned, “It’s like talking to a brick wall, I swear. Is that Oestridae over there, watching us? Hey, Oest! Get over here!” He waved to my guards, who were standing close to the main doors to the garden.

Oest waved back and slowly walked over.

Coxa pointed at me, “Oest, Phasma is being a little bitch. Do you know what’s going on with him?”

Oest grimaced, “.... Yes.”

“Well?” Coxa pressed.

Oest stared at the ground, "I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Coxa demanded.

'I don't want to put Oest in a bind. I guess I have to bite the bullet and tell the truth.'

"Moon and I got into a fight," I told Coxa. "I started it and… she ended it."

"... Nightmare Moon broke your nose?" Coxa gasped. "Phasma, that's…. Panar, I can't even begin to describe it! Oest, why didn't you tell me or Lace?!"

"I said it's my fault!" I rose from my chair.

"I don't care!" Coxa spat back. "You're the fucking King! She should be afraid of you! Of hurting you! We… we won, remember?! We won the war! We beat the ponies and forced them to concede defeat! I don't care that you started the fight, this is not how our King should ever be treated, let alone our friend!"

"If something happens, we lose the key to staying in power in Equestria," I explained. "We can't let all this be for nothing."

"This won't be for nothing, Phasma! Did…. Did you hit her?"

I cringed, "Well, no…"

"Then I don't see any reason why we should let this stand. A slight against you is a slight against all of us!" Coxa turned towards the Palace doors.

I lunged after him, "Coxa, wait! Please, you can't tell anyone! If Nightmare Moon finds out I've been spreading rumors about a fight that I started, she will break things off!"

"Maybe that's for the best," Coxa huffed.

"Coxa, I can't lose her! I… I don't know what I'd do without her!"

He shook his head, "You'll live. Just like the rest of us. Nightmare can't get rid of us easily. We hold power in Equestria now, especially since we're her number one defense against the resistance. Maybe we can even leverage a shift in power."

"No, Coxa!" I hissed. "We're in too deep to stop! It's far too late to try to untangle ourselves from Moon, we have to help her. The Eleventh and Twelfth Legions, they… there's no undoing what they did– what they are doing. We have to press forward. Please, Coxa. I, we, can't lose her!"

He stared at me, "I'm going to speak with Lace. Oest, you will join me. We'll decide what to do."

The two of them left, leaving me alone once again.

As much as Coxa’s talk threw me off kilter, I found myself feeling better after it. The heavy melancholy that had dragged me down was gone, and I was feeling just a bit lighter. I decided to head back inside and try to find something to do, productive or not.

‘Perhaps I just needed to get it all out of my system….’

However, before I could leave the Palace gardens, Nightmare Moon came outside to see me. Following just behind her was Princess Cadance, looking every bit as worn down as her own fiancé.

“Good morning, my love,” Nightmare said as she crossed the distance between us.

“Good morning, Moon,” I smiled back. “Morning, Cadence.”

“Morning,” Cadence said as she watched Nightmare Moon hug and kiss me.

Nightmare moved slowly, taking care not to aggravate my unfortunate injury. Even though my focus was on Nightmare, I could tell that Cadence was upset about something.

“Unfortunately, duty calls to me already,” Nightmare sighed. “I can not spend the lunch with you, dear. Although, I did manage to acquire some free time this afternoon for us. Perhaps we shall get dinner together outside the Palace.”

“Wait, really?” I asked, my face lighting up.

She nodded, “Indeed. We have earned some reprieve– though we must take care to show reserve. We must not let our troops think that now is the time to relax. We shall adopt disguises for the courting.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me,” I grinned.

“I shall get in touch later today. For now, I have fools to oversee and correct. I leave you with Princess Cadence, who wishes to speak with you about… something…”

“Love,” Cadence whispered to Nightmare.

Nightmare nodded slowly, “Ah, yes, love. The Alicorn of Love wishes to speak about love with the King of those who feast on it. Hardly a surprising encounter, one should think. I will see you again soon, Phasma.”

“I’ll look forward to it, Moon,” I smiled.

“One last thing. Marquess Deep Pockets stopped by today, seeming exceedingly… supplicant. Apparently she ran afoul of you and wanted to make a sizable donation to the crown’s latest efforts of reforming the army as an apology.”

I scratched my chin, “I don’t know who… Oh, wait, I think I know her. Some suicidal noble insulted my guards while I was in the bathroom. Must’ve been her.”

She chuckled, “You have managed to unintentionally scare up some support, then! The Marquess’s support will lead to other nobles throwing their support in for our efforts. What did you even say to her?”

“I just told her I was too busy to punish her and to get out of my sight,” I shrugged.

“How amusing,” she remarked. “Unfortunately, I must go now. Till we see each other this evening.”

“Take care, Moon,” I waved.

Nightmare turned and left, leaving Cadence and I alone. There was a pause and silence that dragged on longer than it should have.

“So…” I tried to break the silence.

“So…” Cadence echoed. “… May I ask what happened to your nose?”

I brought a hoof up to my muzzle reflexively, but did not dare to touch it.

“It was a training accident,” I borrowed Coxa’s guess. “I’ve survived worse– and not-survived worse, I suppose…”

Her eyes narrowed, “You must be having some rough training. Not even the guards have injuries that bad. Shiny pushes them, but your instructor seems to be pushing you far harder than she should.”

“I have a higher limit to reach, and no extra time to make up that extra distance,” I explained. “You should probably look into similar regimens. You, ah, didn’t exactly put up much of a fight during the Invasion of Equestria. Now, you wanted to discuss love?”

“I do. I was going to talk about something else, but first I think we should talk about your… instructor,” Cadence said ominously.

“I don’t follow.”

She pointed at my muzzle, “I know for a fact that you didn’t have that before you went to bed last night.”

I backpedaled, “How the hell do you know something like that? Are you spying on me?”

“Did Nightmare Moon break your nose?” She asked, stepping closer.

“No one else was there, must’ve been one of the guards,” I speculated quietly. “Cadence, do you really think you can get away with spying on me?!”

“Do you think Nightmare Moon will get away with what she’s done to everyone in Equestria? Including you,” she jabbed at me.

“Wh… what?” My mind blanked. “What are you… ooh, do not tell me that you’re working with the resistance!” I groaned. “Are you really… Just how many traitors are in the Night Guard? Ugh, never mind, don’t tell me. I’ll pull that answer directly from you later. For now, I would rather you explain why you think confronting me was ever a good idea, Cadence. I didn’t think you’re that stupid.”

“I wasn’t planning on saying anything right away, but clearly things are worse than I feared,” Cadence sighed.

I quickly scanned around for anyone else, but didn’t find anyone.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you, Princess Cadence? I could yell for guards, and they would go and fetch Moon before she even gets to the stairs up to the second floor.”

“Let me put it this way,” Cadence shook her head. “You and I are going to talk. By the end of it, you will help me, and you definitely won't tell Nightmare Moon about any of this.”

“That’s quite the assumption,” I scoffed. “What exactly do you have to convince me to turn my back on Moon and everything I have worked towards?”

“Love, Phasma, love. I’m the Princess of it, whatever good that means nowadays. I’ve made it my duty to know everything there is to know about relationships, and recently about how you and your changelings feed off of it. First, before we talk about Nightmare Moon, let me ask you one thing; are you happy with what’s going on in Locksdale?”

I felt a chill run down my spine. I did not answer the question, instead I glared at her, nearly grinding my teeth in anger.

“You went there two days ago, according to my sources,” Cadence continued. “You saw everything, from the experimentations to the holding cells. I know what’s in there, Phasma. I’ve seen pictures. I would also like to think I know you well enough to say that you wouldn’t be happy with what’s going on in there. You’re not evil. You’re pragmatic. At times, the difference is too small to notice, but it’s there. So tell me, Phasma: are you happy with what you are doing in Locksdale?”

I cringed, “It’s a temporary measure. Once a more effective method of love is found, we can stop the experiments. We can do things humanely. Until then, we have to stay alive.”

“You and I both know that there are better ways to experiment. What’s happening in those walls is far beyond reason. It is cruel, evil, callous, and wasteful.”

“There’s no undoing it! What’s done is done, and this is the quickest way to put an end to the horrors! I can’t abandon the future of my species, we need something and we need it sooner rather than later!”

She stepped forward, “Then answer my question. Are you happy with what you are doing?”

“Of course I’m not!” I almost yelled. “Do you really think I’m the kind of person that enjoys ripping families apart? Draining ponies until they are literal husks, nothing more than mummies? There are ponies in there whose punishment should be nothing more than a fine. Instead, they are often put into a grinder. Sometimes literally! I never wanted that! But we are a species on the brink of extinction. Morals are for those who are better off. We don’t have that luxury.”

“And if you found an alternative?” Cadence proposed.

“This is what I do without one,” I said, gesturing around us. “I would kill you to find a less bloody method of sustaining the Hive. Sustaining and growing, mind you.”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to hurt anyone for this. I know of a better way, one where no one gets hurt. Not even a little bit. Not only that, but it also produces more love than any barbaric butchery you and your changelings could come up with.”

“Why would you ever keep this a secret from me, Cadence?” I asked in disbelief. “If you have a method to end this, you would have given it to me as soon as you could.”

“Truth be told, I only found out very recently,” Cadence admitted, rubbing a foreleg. “But what matters is what you will do. If I tell you this, will you put an end to Locksdale’s crimes against ponies?”

I gaped, “Of course I would!”

She nodded and let out a long breath, “Good. He should be here soon…”

“Who should be here soon?”

“It’s a surprise,” Cadence waved my question away. “Before he gets here, I have one more important question.”

I crossed my forelegs, “Oh you do, do you?”

“I will answer any question you have afterwards,” Cadence explained, “like an equal exchange.”

“.... Fine. I hope you have some good answers for me, such as why you think siding with the resistance was ever a good idea.”

“First, my question,” Cadence said.

Then, she walked forward, stopping only one pace in front of me. Cadence looked…

‘She looks… in pain?’

“How many times has she hurt you?”

“What–”

Cadence stepped closer, and I shrunk back instinctively.

“Nightmare Moon broke your nose, and it wasn’t in any training accident, was it?”

“.... It was my fault,” I whispered.

'Even if Moon doesn't even know the real reason why, I deserve it.'

“Do you really believe that? Do you think that I believe that? There’s nothing that could ever warrant such abuse. Nopony should ever lay hooves on their beloved in that manner. Nopony. Not even a Princess– especially not a Princess!”

“I started it! I started the fight!” I yelled. “I’m lucky that she stays–”

“Don’t you finish that thought!” Cadence jabbed a hoof at me. “I don’t want you to ever say anything like that! I doubt that you even started the fight in the first place, Phasma! Tell me what you did!”

I cringed and tried to back away. However, Cadence gave me no room.

“I… suggested that we… free Celestia….”

Cadence blinked, “... So she’s alive? Celestia’s alive?!”

I winced and nodded to one of the statues standing guard over the gardens around us, “Yes…. suffering the same fate as the spirit of chaos…”

“Thank Cel– ha! Oh, that is a relief!” She regathered her wits, “So you suggested that Nightmare Moon free Celestia, then what?”

I cringed, “Then, uh…” Cadence motioned for me to continue, but I couldn’t.

“Do you even understand what you’re going through? Why it’s wrong?”

“She’s the best thing to happen to me in so long, Cadence! Even with these small hiccups–”

“Small?!” Cadence seethed. “There’s nothing small about this! This isn’t love, it’s.. It’s… bucked up! Something bucked up and not love! There are ways out of this, Phasma. You need to reconsider what you’re doing, what’s being done to you, and change. Change what you and your lings are doing, change Nightmare Moon’s behavior, change everything!”

“This all has to be for something, Cadence. I can’t have come all this way for nothing! I’m not going to spend the rest of my life in a cell as my new species dies off!”

“That’s not going to happen,” someone interrupted us.

I quickly spun around, already charging a stun spell in my horn. Somehow, a gray pegasus had entered the gardens and made it almost all the way over to our gazebo without me noticing. I backed up so I could keep both the pegasus and Cadence in my line of sight.

‘I’m not sensing any emotions from them! That’s how they snuck up on me! That means that he’s…’

The pegasus stepped out of the rain and into my little sanctuary, and eyed me up and down.

“Phas… what’s happened to you?”

I gasped, “Ph– no. There’s no…”

‘He can’t be here. If he was alive, he would have come to me as soon as he could. He would have clarified things and revealed that I didn’t kill him. No… it can’t be him…’

Thorax smiled.

“It’s not possible…”

He chuckled, “Long time no see, huh? It’s been over half a year since we last talked.”

“You… why? How? Where were you all this time?”

Thorax looked down at the ground, “I was in Manehattan when Canterlot fell. I tried to explain things to the pony I was…. err, with at the time. It wasn’t easy, but eventually he listened to me. We left Manehattan, along with his family, and we have been living up north ever since. It was safer up there, at first. Took longer for the Legions to sweep through there, especially the mountains. Ironically, I kinda found the resistance long before I saw another changeling.”

I blinked away tears, “Why didn’t you come to see me? Or even write a damned letter, Thorax?! After all this time, I had thought that you… that you died!”

Thorax trotted over and embraced me in a hug. As usual, I flinched away and froze up.

“I heard what the Legions were doing. I heard what Nightmare was doing… I wanted to see things from the ponies’ perspective… I’m sorry. I should have at least written a letter, you’re right.”

‘M-maybe I’ll cut Cadence some slack and let her go… just this once…’

“I thought you were dead. I thought that I was responsible for your death, Thorax!”

“Ah. I didn’t think… I’m sorry, Phas. I just heard all of the rumors about you and Nightmare Moon, and… I didn’t believe them. Not at first. But when the stories didn’t stop coming, and when things got worse for everypony…” He broke the hug, “Phas, it’s not too late to stop this. I found a better way to harvest love. You can put an end to the horrors of Locksdale.”

“Tell him what you found,” Cadence said.

Thorax nodded, “The pony I revealed myself to? He’s more than a friend… It wasn’t easy. Not with the fall of Equestria as he knew it. But eventually…. It turns out that love freely given is more powerful than love stolen.”

I groaned, “That’s the corniest, most bullshit thing I’ve ever heard. I hate that it's probably true, too!”

“You can undo the damage that’s been done to Equus,” Cadence said. “There can be peace between our kingdoms, between our species. Thorax is proof that we can live together!”

Before Thorax showed up, I was ready to throw Cadence into a cell and be done with her lies. But with him here, I actually saw a different way that all of this could go. A way out, a solution to all of our problems. With the right pressure and maneuvering, the changelings could get out of this mess– maybe even being accepted by the ponies. It would be tricky, convincing everyone that we are victims too would only work so much. Still, everything was falling into place… All except one thing.

I shook my head, “I’m not abandoning Moon. She was there for my darkest hour. I love her, just as she loves me. I’m not losing her.”

“You may love her, but she doesn’t love you,” Cadence said. Before I could even hiss in anger, she continued, “Not in a healthy way, at least. Look at yourself, Phasma. You’re scared of a hug!”

“Phas, what’s she talking about?” Thorax asked.

“It’s…” I stalled. “I…”

Cadence didn’t give me time to explain, “Nightmare Moon is hurting Phasma. That broken nose? It was her. How long has it been like this, Phasma?”

“... It started two months ago,” I admitted. “Right around when she wanted us to reform the Night Guard and reform it quickly. She was stressed out more often and was getting more and more overworked, just like the rest of us…”

‘That must have been when she found out about this threat, this Epitaph. The stress got to her.’

“There are two ways this can end,” Cadence warned. “You can ‘go down with the ship,’ and turn us in. Things will only get worse for you and for everypony. Don’t deny it. Or, you could listen to us, and fix everything that’s wrong with Equestria right now.”

“And Nightmare Moon?” I asked. “What about her?”

“The old legends speak of the Princess she once was before she turned against her sister. The Elements can bring the old Princess back. They can save Princess Luna, but only by destroying Nightmare Moon as she is now.”

“No!” I yelled. “I cannot let that happen! Luna is dead, only Moon survived!”

“You have to!” Cadence insisted. “If Nightmare Moon loves you, truly loves you, then that love would carry on to who she is at her core; if her heart is yours, then Luna’s will be, too. The Elements can save her.”

“She’s right, Phas,” Thorax agreed. “The Elements won’t kill her, not if we use them correctly. We can purify her and bring back Princess Luna. She’ll be like Nightmare Moon, only without the… evil bits.”

“I can’t lose her,” I repeated. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”

“To love something, first you must set it free,” Cadence quoted.

“But what if Luna doesn’t love me?”

Thorax once again pulled me into a hug, “Then it wasn’t meant to be.”

I returned the hug, sobbing quietly.

‘I already plot against Nightmare Moon, just in case. Is this so different? Oh, what am I saying, of course it is! If Nightmare Moon finds out, she’ll kill me! Or worse, she’ll let me live! If this is all true, if Luna really is the person who deserves to live out of us three, then keeping her possessed or whatever is just another life I am ruining… God damn it! Panar damn it! Why couldn’t things just be perfect?! Why does it have to be this way? You know what? Fuck them. We’re doing it my way.’

Slowly, I pulled myself back together.

“... We’re doing things my way,” I whispered. My throat was too coarse to speak normally. “We’re not using the Elements on Nightmare Moon. Not until I’m convinced about all of this. If there’s a chance that you two are wrong, then Nightmare Moon deserves a chance to live.”

Thorax stepped back and shared a look with Cadence.

“That will have to do for now,” Cadence sighed. “But you have to put your hoof down and end this suffering that she’s putting you through. Nopony should ever lay a hoof on their special somepony.”

“Pony this, pony that,” I muttered. “... Fine. I’ll…. think about doing that. Somehow.”

I let out a long breath. I felt numb and tingly all over.

‘Damn it. I really don’t want to do this. I hope she forgives me in the end, but I can’t live like this.’

“I’ll help you,” I whispered.

“You will?” Cadence asked, and I nodded. “... Okay. We’ll help you too, Phasma. Trust us, and we’ll get you through this.”

I slowly shrugged, “If Moon doesn’t make it through this, too, I don’t see much point. The changelings can survive without me–”

“Don’t!” Cadence barked. “Don’t think like that! Princess Luna will… I’m not going to pretend to know what she’ll do, or even who she is, but you should never underestimate the power of love.”

I groaned again.

Cadence continued, “Phasma, if you’re going to help us, we’re going to need two things. First, you have to put an end to the abuse of rights in Locksdale.”

“I can do that pretty easily. Especially if the shutdown is only ‘temporary.’ How quickly will your plan… be?” I asked.

“That depends on the second thing,” Cadence explained. “The Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon destroyed them when she returned. We need to find a way to remake them.”

Thorax nodded, “We figured that only someone with unrestricted access to all the forbidden sections of the Palace could uncover those secrets. Someone like you, Phas.”

“There’s an easier solution than making new Elements,” I revealed quietly. “The Elements haven’t been destroyed. Nightmare Moon tried several times, but she was never successful. She told everyone, including me, that they were gone, but…”

Cadence and Thorax leaned closer in anticipation.

“You found them?” Cadence guessed.

I shrugged, “Rough positions. I only got the report yesterday morning, in fact. It’s going to be impossible to get their exact locations, but Moon scattered them throughout Equestria. Far enough to make them a hassle to gather, but close enough that she could keep an eye on them.”

Cadence pumped a hoof in the air, “Yes! Finally, some good news.”

“We’re also going to need a set of bearers,” Thorax pointed out.

Cadence froze, the joy leaving her like air from a balloon, “.... Oh Celestia. I nearly forgot…. I don’t suppose that rumor of a new set of bearers was true, Phasma?”

“... It was true,” I said quietly.

“Yes! Wait, was?” Cadence asked.

“Six ponies from Ponyville were prime candidates for using the Elements.”

“What happened to them?” Cadence frowned, already guessing the answer.

I shrugged, “What do you think? Moon killed them.”

Thorax shook his head sadly as Cadence’s face darkened, “... Wait. Twilight…”

‘She knows the unicorn, too? Eh, not surprising. If she’s engaged to Twilight’s brother, then, of course, she would know Twilight, too.’

“Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s star protégé,” I confirmed. “She was there.”

Cadence fell back onto her haunches, “That means that–”

“She’s alive.”

Cadence jumped right back up and stared at me in wonder, “She is?!”

“We– that is, the changelings I sent to investigate– only uncovered five bodies. The sixth, Twilight Sparkle, was… missing.”

“You’re certain that she’s alive?”

“I am,” I said. “I can’t explain why, but… I'm certain that she’s not dead. There would have been evidence.”

‘Best not to reveal everything I know right away…’

Cadence began to tear up, "Oh Celestia, that's wonderful news! I was so worried… Shiny has to hear this!"

"It's your funeral if this gets leaked," I said. "If shit hits the fan, I'm throwing you to the wolves."

Cadence wiped away the tears and cleared her throat, "I will gather the pieces. Thorax, you'll have to find new Element bearers. You have the guide. Phasma, shut down Locksdale and give us the locations as soon as you can. In exchange, we'll help you through all of this."

"I'm still not convinced about using the Elements of Harmony on Moon," I reminded them.

"I'm sure that I can convince you eventually," Cadence sighed. “At the very least, it does not matter right now. Even just getting Aunt Celestia back will be a huge victory. She’ll have an idea what to do, what to say…”

I sighed, "Fine." Then, I stepped close to whisper the locations to Cadence. When I was done, I gave her some more instructions, "Don't write that down, just memorize it. If you write anything down, be sure not to destroy it with magic. Anything undone by magic can be remade by magic. In fact, don't use magic on the notes in the first place. You don't realize just how complicated a simple spell, such as levitation, can make things."

"Don't worry about us," Cadence weakly smiled. "Just…. Figure out a way to stand up for yourself. Call on your friends, if you can. Don't be alone when you confront Nightmare. Oh, and stop committing war crimes. Please."

I rolled my eyes, "I'll go shut down Locksdale today. I'll tell them that a new method has been discovered. It won't even be a lie, so I can probably shut them down for good."

'A lot of lings will be relieved to hear that. Not as many as I'm comfortable with but enough to make the decision supported.'

"We'll find a way of getting in touch," Thorax promised. "I'm not going to disappear again. Unless I get foalnapped by extremists in the resistance who are under the assumption that I'm a double agent, despite my obviousness and lack of discretion."

"Is… that a real concern?"

He laughed, "No, but it would make a romantic story. All tied up, knife to my throat, when Diamond bursts through the doors, taking down pony after pony…"

".... Right. I'll tell the First Fang you're okay then, Thorax. They'll want to see you too."

He clapped in excitement, "Yes! The whole gang, back together! We will have to make it soon!"

"The whole gang…" I repeated, ".... minus Tarsus."

"Why, where is he?" Thorax wondered.

I cringed, "You better sit down for a moment…"

Finalizing the design in my head, I used a quill and ink to jot down the outline of my drawing.

“I shut down Locksdale today,” I announced. “So, you know… sorry. You’re going to have to wait for all this to blow over now that we’re not getting any information from there. Look at the bright side: you could be dead.”

I blew on the drawing to dry the outlines. Switching to a brush that I dipped into black paint, I began coloring in my masterful sketch.

"So in short, I'm continuing to work against Moon, despite my best judgment. I think I'll prevent the usage of the Elements but having them on hoof will be an incalculable advantage. I don't think Luna will love me. I've never met her… I hate gambling on unknowns. I hate gambling in general. Better to stick with what I've got, and try to work it out as normal people do."

The slow beep of a heart monitor was the only response to my musings.

"I seem to be at odds with myself, now that I think about it. Part of me wants to do this scheme. The rest just wants to go to bed and snuggle with Moon. I think it's because deep down, there's a version of me who sees all the wrong I am doing and wants to get punished for it. Moon loves that part of me, but she definitely wouldn't approve of what that part of me is doing when she isn't tying it up with rope. Good thing that by the time she'll find out what's going on, it'll be too late."

I switched to gray paint and began coloring in the statue.

"Your sister-in-law and brother asked about you. They're both very worried. I told them that you're alive, but nothing more. I'll keep plenty of cards close to my chest for this…"

I dropped my brush and looked over my drawing and regarded the final product.

‘It looks like a child with cerebral palsy had drawn it.’

I grinned, "Magnificent! I think this is my best one yet!"

I picked up the drawing and showed it to Twilight. I pressed it against the cocoon, as if she was paying attention at all and wasn't comatose.

"Do you like it? I really think that the 'I want to die' text right there really brings it all together. It'll be featured in museums centuries from now, without a doubt."

Slowly, I lowered the shifty drawing.

"Not a fan? Hmph, I'd like to see you do better. I had thought that you would appreciate the drawing's message, given your current situation, Twilight."

Twilight Sparkle bobbed slowly in the pod, the wires and tubes holding her in the center of the part-machine-part-organic pod. Her extensive injuries, up to and including missing two legs and her horn, had interred her in the healing pod indefinitely.

Until we could figure out how to actually apply all of the healing pods' properties to ponies, we would be unable to repair her injuries. The most we could do was keep her in stasis, on the brink of death but never dying.

"Still, a more hopeful fate than what awaited me," I reassured myself. "I'll find a way to fix you. I'm not entirely sure why I went so far and risked so much to save you, but I guess I'm going past that point anyway. If Nightmare found out you're still alive, she probably wouldn't even kill you. You'd be turned into a statue, just like Celestia. Hmm. I hope we can solve all this before the threat to Equestria comes knocking."

I sat down with my back against the pod.

"Things are going to get very messy, but maybe, just maybe, it will all be worth it."

Pursuit of Happiness

As Luna lay against Phasma’s chest in their favorite sitting parlor, a book hovering in her grip, a strange thought popped into her head.

She broke the silence, “Phasma? I do not believe that I have heard your native tongue.”

“English?” Luna strained to hear his answer. “I… don’t think I’ve spoken it since… since I died.”

“... I am sorry,” Luna shook her head. “I did not mean to open old wounds.”

“It’s fine,” he said.

“May I?”

“May you?” He repeated.

“May I hear this language of yours? There are few tongues on Equus. Hearing one from another world would be quite the treat. That is, if you would honor me so. If it is too painful, do not torment yourself just for me.”

Phasma hummed quietly, “It’s quite similar to Equish. The language structure itself, at least. It’s pretty hard to speak in it with this mouth.”

“Please?” Luna begged.

He was quiet for a few minutes. Whether bringing up the courage or thinking of what words to say, Luna could only guess. She set her book down and waited. Eventually, her patience was rewarded when he not only spoke in a language that rumbled slowly like distant thunder but sung. Deep, strange, and rambling, it was nonetheless pleasant to her ears. Luna grinned as she felt the reverberations through his chest and listened to the alien tongue. It lacked any of the usual sounds of Equish, replacing them with sharper consonants and shorter vowels.

Princess Luna groaned and stretched as she was unwillingly thrust into wakefulness. Much to her own frustration, the warm embrace of sleep fled her quickly.

‘This damnable duty of ours, what I would give to sleep in...’

With a sigh of defeat, Luna sat up in bed, blinking her eyes open. The thick blankets fell away as she stretched and yawned loudly. Cracking her neck loudly, she finished her stretching and stumbled out of bed– almost falling on her face in the process.

Phasma stirred but remained in the clutches of the Dreamscape.

‘Lucky,’ Luna sighed internally before stumbling to the balcony. ‘I shall give you a minute more.’

The hot bubble of air wafted inwards when she pulled the balcony doors open. Outside of her bubble of enchanted warmth, the snow-encrusted rooftops of Canterlot glittered in her moonlight. Carefully, Luna reached out with her magic and sought out the jewel of the sky.

Gently, she guided it along its rightful path towards the horizon. On a balcony nearby, Celestia pulled her inferior sun above the skyline. The beautiful oranges and yellows nearly blinded Luna when the light was reflected off the snow that covered the city.

“Bright,” Luna mumbled, stumbling back inside now that her duty was done.

As quick as she could, she pulled the thick curtains shut.

“Phasma. ‘Tis time to wake, the envoy from Griffonia shall be here within two hours.” Luna went to shake the sleeping changeling, “Phasma. If I must suffer, so shall you. Up.”

“Nnnnnooooo!” Phasma quietly moaned, curling up tighter.

Rolling her eyes, Luna set off for the bathroom.

As she was freshening up for the day, there was a knock at the door. Luna finished up the less dignifying parts of her morning routine and transitioned to sitting in front of her vanity and applying the layers of makeup that high society demanded each mare plaster themselves in.

‘Only thing I actually miss from being on my moon is avoiding this unnecessary tedium.’

Luna cleared her throat and called out to her visitor, “Come in!”

She heard the doors creak open, “Luna? You missed dinner last night.”

“I was busy. Please excuse me, sister,” Luna apologized as Celestia entered the bedroom.

“Oh, it’s alright,” Celestia said. “I simply missed your company. Where are you?”

“In the lavatory,” Luna explained. “Getting ready.”

“Are you decent?”

Luna snorted, “I am always decent. More than that, I was always the beautiful sister of us two.”

She heard Celestia laugh, “I mean will I have to hold my breath when I come near?”

“You will live,” Luna smirked, continuing to put on her mascara.

‘Of all the inventions in the past millennia, I can not tell if our ponies have made getting ready for the day easier or more complicated. Surely it was not this tedious…’

Celestia’s head peaked out from the doorway, “Good morning, sister.”

“Good morning, sister,” Luna returned the greeting. “I apologize for not making it to supper. I was relaxing with Phasma and we lost track of time.”

Celestia turned towards the bed, “.... With Phasma, you say?”

“We were holding hooves,” Phasma snickered, finally waking up. “It was the most lewd thing– but you’re too young to hear about it.”

Wordlessly, Celestia strode into the bathroom, brushing past Luna as she began opening several cabinets.

“Agh, sister! What are you…!”

“Luna, have you missed a step in your morning routine?” Celestia quizzed her, shutting the cabinets and sending Luna a worried glance.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Have you… Are you taking your supplements?”

Luna glared at her sister, casually pulling out one of the vanity’s drawers and pulling out several pill bottles.

“Yes, I am. Do not coddle me, sister, I am not some fragile thing that breaks in the wind.”

Celestia took the bottles from Luna and opened up each one, shaking out a pill from each and returning the pills. One container she shook vigorously but produced no medicine.

“That explains it,” Celestia muttered to herself.

“Explains what?” Luna questioned.

“One of your bottles is empty,” Celestia said, as if that explained anything. Pulling out a large box from one of the lower cabinet drawers, Celestia produced a new pill bottle and presented it to Luna. “Here you are, Luna. Please remember to take two of these a day.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth arguing, Luna rolled her eyes and took one tablet of the medicine, not even bothering to get water to wash it down.

“Thank you,” Celestia patronized her with a smile.

“This is a rude way to greet your sister,” Luna said bitterly. “Do not treat me as if I am a foal.”

Her sister frowned, “I’m sorry, am I treating you like that?” Luna nodded, and Celestia wrapped her up in a hug, “I don’t mean it that way. I just worry for your health, and seeing you hurt like this is unbearable.”

“Cease speaking in riddles and speak plainly!” Luna spat.

“You ran out of your medicine and didn’t tell anypony,” Celestia sighed. “This is not the first time it’s happened, and it’s not the last. Just… be down for breakfast soon. I think I can explain things better then.”

Celestia ended the hug and left Luna in a deep scowl as she retreated from the room. Luna tried to return to applying her makeup, but something about the interaction didn’t sit well with her.

“What the hell was that?” Phasma asked, groaning as he rose from bed and onto his hooves.

“Apparently, we shall find out shortly,” Luna grunted, giving up on her attempts to apply the Faust-forsaken invention known as mascara.

Luna pulled out a chair from the dining table and aggressively sat down in it. Aggressively sitting was no easy task but Luna was a champion when it came to sulking.

Though she had a tendency to take it too far….

Suddenly aware of the danger of wallowing in her feelings, Luna looked to Celestia for answers.

“Well?”

Celestia presented a dish of pancakes to Luna, setting it before her. Luna pushed it aside.

“Are you not going to tell me what is going on, Celestia?”

“Why were you absent last night, Luna?”

“I was with Phasma, reading and talking with him.”

Celestia nodded, “Where is he now?”

“He’s sitting next to you,” Luna said, trying to control her nerves.

“There are only two chairs at this table,” Celestia pointed out. “Where is he?”

Luna blinked in surprise and looked around. True enough, only Celestia and Luna were in the room.

“What…? He was just here!”

Her sister grimaced, “No, he wasn’t.”

Luna rose abruptly, “What are you… saying! Darn it, Celestia! What’s… why…” Luna broke off as she clutched her head.

“I hate it when you miss your medication,” Celestia sighed. “Phasma doesn’t exist. He never did.”

Celestia watched Luna squirm at the far side of the table. She wanted to comfort her– she itched to go hug her sister tightly– but experience has taught her to give Luna space whenever she comes down from a hallucinogenic episode.

“Just take a minute and breathe,” Celestia advised.

Luna listened, staring at the table before her, breathing heavily.

‘All this pain. All my fault.’

Luna grunted and put her head in her hooves, “This is not the first time.”

“No,” Celestia confirmed. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“No, I do not,” Luna dismissed. Before Celestia could say anything, Luna continued, “But I think that I must.”

Celestia nodded slowly, “Okay. Was he a changeling this time?”

Luna nodded.

“That seems to be a trend,” Celestia said, stabbing at her pancakes. “Ever since the wedding, this phasm of yours has been a changeling. Fitting that he should be named Phasma…”

“He was a unicorn before that,” Luna realized. “A blue unicorn named Expected Value.”

“That’s the one,” Celestia nodded.

“.... It hurts, Tia,” Luna whispered.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said back. “If I hadn’t banished you to the moon, you wouldn’t have developed–”

“You did what you had to,” Luna shut her down. “It is my fault. Still, thank you for being here for me…. It was too good to be true, was it not? Somepony else from another time– another realm, in this instance. Unable to connect with others, put through pain and trials like me.”

“It’s not that far-fetched to imagine that you wanted somepony to connect with,” Celestia consoled her. “Still, insects?”

Luna blushed and covered her face in embarrassment.

“We all have our tastes,” Celestia continued, “but I suppose you were the more adventurous of us two. Remember Caldera?”

Luna chuckled, “I do now! What a beautiful dragoness…. Stars, I have not seen a deeper shade of red ever since! Her scales were more precious than rubies.”

“I distinctly recall you two passing them off as such,” Celestia smiled. “What was it that you tried to buy with them?”

“A boat!” Luna laughed. “We even got it! I would call its previous owner a fool for believing us, but it turns out that we were the ones being scammed. Blasted thing sank on its first voyage, and the stallion who sold it vanished like the morning’s mist!”

They shared a laugh and remembered that breakfast was sitting in front of them. With the mood somewhat better, Celestia moved the conversation topic along to the Griffon envoy and what they wanted to discuss.

‘Let Luna be distracted with work. Faust knows that’s how I keep myself sane. That, and one-hundred proof whisky.’

Luna had a secret.

As the nights dragged on and dragged out, she had amassed a collection of notes that would send Princess Twilight Sparkle into a passion-fueled rant. Her sister, on the other hoof, would be sent into a fit of conniptions.

Hence it being a secret.

Being the Princess of Equestria had its perks. Aside from the usual things, like always skipping lines or never paying taxes, Luna had unfettered control over all information in Equestria. Actually it was Celestia who had that control, but Luna was slowly easing into her role as co-ruler. Having unlimited access to whatever she wanted allowed Luna to pursue the fields of magic that lesser mages had died in pursuit of, often quite literally burning in the fires of their own ambitions.

The alicorn sisters were not new to these forbidden fields. Dark magic, mind magic, necromancy, summoning, divination, and even the rare scrap of soulmancy would sneak their ways into the Princesses’ studies. How else could one face such dangers without knowing what those dangers were?

So it was not the notes’ existence that would send Celestia into a state of worry, but instead their purpose.

The field of study that Luna had been analyzing over the past few years was not a new one. Starswirl himself had experimented in it and had taught the sisters himself on the matter. Specifically, he taught them that it was a, ‘useless, dangerous, foolish, and pointless matter in getting yourself involved in things beyond your control.’ Naturally, Celestia became the most involved in it, going so far as to give her heart to the matter.

It was the subject of dimensions. Studying them, gazing upon them, and traversing them. Celestia had nearly destroyed Equestria when she ignored Starswirl’s advice, leaving Luna and the Elements of Harmony to pick up the pieces when she vanished to another world. Despite this, Luna coveted the same thing that Celestia had discovered in this parallel dimension: love.

Her heart ached for somepony else. Not just anypony, but somepony who she loved. She had met many stallions and mares in her time, and a number of late had tried to win her affection. But her heart already belonged to another.

Somepony who never existed.

Existing only as a collection of delusions when she neglected her medicinal care, Phasma haunted every single one of her dreams. Luna had toyed with the idea of tormenting herself in recompense for her crimes a thousand years past but had found that the duty was already fulfilled. Everypony longs for what they do not have, and Luna was not above that fault. Nothing more than a hallucination, it was impossible to even speak with Phasma– let alone truly embrace him.

With careful goading, Luna had obtained a few lectures on the subject of dimensional travel from Princess Twilight Sparkle. Luna was of course as much of an expert on the subject as Celestia, she lacked the contemporary understanding and new philosophies and discoveries on the matter. Twilight went into great detail about the multiverse theory, the terrifyingly-named chaos theory, the idea of portals and wormholes, and on and on and on.

Coupled with her own research, Luna found herself with an entirely new problem; it was getting difficult to hide all of her notes in her study. In addition, performing experiments safely and covertly was next to impossible with the possibility of intrusion. Luna had met the limits of possibility. It was simply impossible to continue her deranged passion any further.

Phasma grunted as his shield took the full hit of Luna’s magical blast. He slid back several paces, dropped the shield, and darted to the side.

He continued his story as they fought, “So, no shit, there they were, unimaginably far away from Earth. Their duty was to establish a colony– agh!”

Luna had tracked his movement and followed her attack with a spell that transmuted the dirt into ice. Her foe slipped with a yell of surprise. But her triumph was temporary, as Phasma quickly recovered and took to the skies using his insectoid wings. Luna launched off the ground herself as the battle took to the skies above the dueling pit.

“Colonists? What next?” Luna grunted as she and Phasma parried blow for blow.

He launched a barrage of orange bolts as he spoke, “They received a signal. A… message over the stars. Something shouted into the impossible vastness of space. It sounded like random– son of a bitch!”

Luna smiled as Phasma spun to the ground, smoke trailing from him. Before he could slam into the ground, his wings spread out wide and Phasma glided across the pit. He flipped around, facing the sky, and fired a few Focused Will blasts Luna’s way.

“But it was more than sound. It was a song! An old song of home, of homesickness, of belonging elsewhere!”

Luna phased out of existence. The orange beams of light cut holes in the clouds above as Luna reappeared beneath Phasma, pulling him down and sending them both into a painful crash landing.

She pinned him, wrapping her forelegs around him and pointing her horn at his neck.

“Ergh! You hit like a fucking truck, you know that?” He grunted. “I yield, woman!”

Letting him go, she rolled out from underneath him, “In time, perhaps you will be more capable than a foal with a sword. A lot of time.”

“I’m a trophy husband, I get it,” he groaned. “Ow, that was one rough landing. I’m the one covered in chitin, how the hell are you uninjured?”

“I dodged.”

“You dodged the ground? The fucking ground?!”

“Yes.”

Phasma stared at her. For a few moments, Luna managed to hold her reaction. Then, she broke out into laughter.

“I shielded my back as I held onto you,” she revealed. She offered a hoof, and he took it with an eye roll. “A song of home, hmm?”

“You want to hear it?” He guessed, and she nodded. “Of course you do. What’s in it for me, though?”

“What?”

He smiled coyly, “In return for signing again.”

“.... I will find you,” Luna promised.

The Princess of the Night jerked awake, her fur slick with cold sweat. She was alone in her bedchamber, the thick black-out curtains keeping her room in pleasant darkness despite the time.

“Alone, once more,” she muttered, rubbing her face. “Note to self: lay off the scotch before bed.”

As she headed to the bathroom, she began to hum a song she never heard. Luna had to skip over a lot of the words as she simply didn’t know how to make the proper sounds, instead focusing on the tone of the sorrowful song.

Months ticked by, their passing being nothing more than a painfully slow prison sentence for Luna. All the centuries of solitude on the moon were nothing compared to the hoofful of years of progress that stretched itself as thin and slow as possible.

Deep within the cold embrace of Canterhorn, a staircase wound down from the Palace’s dungeons. Guarded by the Night Guard, its entrance was secreted away and out of sight from any who were not privy to Luna’s confidence. The passage eventually gave way to a collection of rooms. A second study, a small library, a storeroom, an enchanting room, a forge, and the experimentation room.

Luna had almost everything needed to cross dimensions.

Using the might and finesse of her alicorn powers, Luna had carved out the space necessary to continue her search. She collected every scrap of knowledge on dimensional travel possible: rare materials and techniques were perfectly within the Princess’s grasp. The only thing she lacked was time.

Being one of the most watched ponies alive meant that it was hard to abscond away into the dead of night. Luna put in her best effort despite this. An hour here, a day there– any time where she could reasonably not be missed, she was in her laboratory.

Studying. Experimenting. Forging. Reasoning. Theorizing. Enchanting. Eating iced oatmeal cookies despite the diet that Celestia imposed on her.

It was slow work. Agonizingly slow. When Luna sat through dreary meetings with nobles that had far too high opinions of themselves, she was daydreaming about forging the portal matrix control mechanism. When Luna was attending the Equestria Games and watched the greatest that the Kingdom and Crystal Empire had to offer, she mentally was working through the connection entropy dilemma. When she had attended her fifth Nightmare Night at Ponyville, she was thinking about how to achieve negative mass to generate the portal.

If Celestia ever found out about Luna’s obsession, she would never let Luna out of her sight. Luna knew this, so Luna kept it all hidden from Celestia. Sleepless nights were passed off as the usual abundance of stress that Luna endured– not that Luna was lying about that. Sometimes, she would spring forth from her bed, abruptly thrown out of her duties of protecting the dream realm.

Nightmares of what was and what wasn’t shackled Luna. Her dreams, both night and day, became more singularly dominated by her one goal: achieving the impossible.

The quiet buzz of a gas lantern kept Luna company as she was hunched over her desk inside the laboratory’s study. Papers were strewn all about the small space and not a single square inch of the walls was left uncovered in papers or diagrams. Though Luna was not a scholar by trade, she and Celestia had put enough hours into the study of the esoteric and scientific fields to be considered foremost experts in dozens of fields each.

There were only so many damned paintings to make and recipes to try baking, after all. Something had to eat up their free time.

Luna studied by lantern light and used writing utensils with her mouth rather than magic. Luna had to keep magical interference to a minimum within her wards. She never got used to the taste of quills– she would also never get used to the taste of these wood-covered pencils that Twilight had supplied her with, either. Nevertheless, the taste was one of the smaller sacrifices that Luna was making in pursuit of her fantasies.

Pushing away from her desk, Luna bit onto the lantern's handle and sauntered over to the largest room in her lab, the experimentation room. Scorch marks long faded and the telltale rainbow-hue of magical residue coated the walls. In the center of the circular chamber was the apex of Luna’s studies: a nexus traverser.

At least, that was Twilight’s name for the not-so-theoretical device. Luna preferred the simple archaic term ‘portal.’

It was a nine pointed star with a circle carved out of the center. Made of enchanted adamantium and socketed with more gems and enchanted metal plates than Luna could remember, the centerpiece of her dimensional studies looked like a cross between a baroque art piece and some nightmarishly-large piece of industrial machinery.

‘Nine points, just like the changeling’s faith worships.’

Luna had learned to appreciate the finer details of dreams and hallucinations from her studies into divination and her duties as matron of the dream world. From abstract chaos and orderless nothing, fragments of truth were revealed. These messages from the deep consciousness were guided by Harmony. Unfortunately for the mortals trying to comprehend them, they often came across as useless poems and pointlessly undetailed warnings.

In this case, they guided Luna along the right path and reassured her that she was doing the right thing. Confidence was another scarce resource in addition to time. Luna was keeping far too many secrets from her sister. She also recognized that nothing about this was healthy, let alone wise. The fears, worries, and guilt were eating away at her like a devouring swarm of insects. Luna took solace in what signs she could that she was treading the correct path.

Luna adjusted a few enchanted gems in their sockets. According to her notes, this new configuration had the greatest chance of working. High that chance was, Luna was about to find out.

She took position in the magician’s circle that served as the portal’s control surface and began the start-up sequence. In a minute’s time, the device was ready to activate.

“Once more unto the breach, then?”

She reached out with her magic, grasped the handle of an oversized switch, and pulled it down.

The reaction was immediate. Magic pulsed through the manufactured miniature Ley Lines. The gems scattered across the portal began to glow with their empyrean energies, casting a multi-hued glow across the chamber. Already, Luna could feel the static charge building in the air. In reaction to the sudden influx of ambient energy, her starry-mane had begun to whip wildly, as if caught in a gale.

“To bridge the unbridgeable,” Luna chanted. “To achieve the impossible. To connect a world of magic with one of science, a nine-pointed-star shall be born!”

Within the circular frame, a teal shimmer took form.

“Yes!” She cheered. “Across the heavens themselves shall I reach! Eat your heart out, Celestia, this is how you cross the multiverse!”

The shimmer started to grow as if it was an expanding star. It began to snake out from the center of the portal’s frame, reaching towards the edges. The seconds passed agonizingly slowly as Luna’s heart pounded harder and harder and harder!

The words of the song of Earth came to Luna’s mind. She took a deep breath and recited the words.

The magic touched the frame of the portal with a thunderous crack. Instantly, the teal shimmer exploded in size and ripped apart the portal. One wild tendril of magic raced along the magical Ley Lines and slammed into Luna. She flew back from the circle and hit the wall of the chamber with a grunt of surprise, and the air was pushed out of her lungs. Luna cried out in pain as rampant magical energy played havoc across her horn. The nascent portal vanished soon after, its magic escaping into the protective charms that lined the room.

“No,” she mouthed.

‘Please, no!’

She pulled air back into her with an exaggerated gasp, and began to scream.

Celestia found her an hour later.

Luna had taken care to line every room with protective charms. Not only did they save her life and her work in the case of catastrophic failure, but they also warded against teleportation or scrying.

Her sister gazed across the room, taking in the ruined state of the portal and the cracks along the walls. Eventually, her eyes came to a rest on Luna. Luna was curled up on the precipice of the gateway, eyes red from crying.

‘Somepony must’ve told her. I bet it was Gale Wind. His heart is always in the right place, shame his mind is on leave elsewhere.’

“Luna,” Celestia whispered as she climbed the cracked stairs of the portal.

Luna cringed, ‘Great. Now I must endure hours of lectures and–’

White wings enveloped Luna and pulled her into a tight embrace. For a great while, Celestia did not speak. Instead, she offered her company and comfort.

After an eon of slowly trying and failing to pull herself together, Luna managed to put up a front of strength.

"Thank you, sister."

To which her sister replied "... Please make me a promise, Luna."

Luna frowned, "What would you have me promise?"

'If she asks me to abandon my lofty dreams….. No. It simply can not be.'

"Promise me you will never suffer in silence again. Promise me that if you are hurting so much, you will tell me. Or anypony. If I am failing you, please, please! Tell me!"

"You have not failed, Celestia. It is I who have failed. That seems to be all I am good for…"

"Enough!" Celestia snapped. "I do not want to hear you say such awful things ever again. You are not good at failing. If anything, you're rather terrible at it! Banished for a thousand years, and now this mess! What… what even is all of this?"

Despite her best efforts to stay in a mood, Luna couldn't suppress the smile that Celestia coaxed out.

"Very well. I am terrible and failing… This is my… my magnum opus. My greatest work. Or at least, it would have been had it worked. I aimed to bridge the gaps between worlds and travel across to distant dimensions."

Celestia shook her head, "You couldn't have enchanted a mirror like any sane master-magician would?"

"Yes, because that worked out well for you," Luna rolled her tired eyes. "You nearly collapsed only two universes with an unstable connection, nothing big! Besides, the dimension I have my sights on has no magic. A conventional two-way connection is not possible. Something more is required…"

Celestia sighed, “I have so many questions. My spitefulness is demanding to know how you managed to accomplish all of this with our burdensome duties as princesses, but I really need to know why you are doing all of this.”

Luna’s smile dropped, “.... I am alone, Celestia. Yes, I know I have you, but beyond that? I am alone. I have tried to connect with ponies this day and age, but it is… fleeting. I can accomplish only so much. The Elements are out in Ponyville and my thestrals are loyal beyond friendship, but professionalism demands distance at times. The nobles of the court–” Luna laughed derisively, “– well, they have not changed a bit. I am blaming your negligence on that.”

“That’s a tad bit unfair,” Celestia muttered. “I… I don’t know what to say, Luna. I would be lying if I said that I was surrounded by companions myself…”

Luna shrugged, “We are alienated from our subjects. If not by status then by virtue of being overloaded with work.”

“So how does this all fit in?” Celestia asked, gesturing to the portal frame around them.

“... I believe I have found him.”

Celestia frowned, “Him? Who…. Luna, you don’t mean–”

“I do,” Luna nodded.

“Luna! You must understand that this obsession is leading you to ruin!”

“If that is my fate, then so be it.”

Celestia held Luna tighter, “Never again. I will not let you out of my sight. I will not let you fall down a self-destructive path. Not again.”

“Then I guess you shall have to aid me!”

“.... I guess so.”

Luna stammered, “Wait, what? What? What?!”

Her sister grinned, “I said I would not abandon you, Luna. If, after all this time, you refuse to turn away from this path despite knowing where it leads, then I will walk down it right beside you. If it leads both of us to ruin, then at least I will be with my sister.”

Luna looked up to her sister, “Truly? You truly mean it?”

Celestia shrugged, “I mean, I’d prefer not to, but what the hay? Why not try?”

“Huzzah!” Luna cheered.

“But,” Celestia interrupted the merriment, “in return for my help, you must promise me one thing.”

Luna paused, eyeing Celestia wearily.

“... I will hear your request,” she said diplomatically.

“You must show me how you managed to get the time to do all this,” Celestia beamed. “Equestria might have been a tad bit worse if I managed to get away half as much, but that’s a sacrifice that I’m willing to make!”

“Deal!” Luna shook her sister’s hoof. “It has taken me four years to get to this point. With the two of us, this is sure to go by much faster!”

“Two of us?” Celestia repeated. “What makes you think that there will only be two of us?”

Phasma didn't exist. He never did, in fact.

That was an irrefutable truth. Nowhere in Equestria's history did he come to be, and in all adjacent dimensions, his absence was absolute, too. To attempt to find somepony who never existed was simply impossible.

So Luna, Celestia, the Elements of Harmony, and a small army of scientists, estranged esoteric wizards, and overworked interns worked to achieve the impossible.

Luna taught her sister the mischievous ways of procrastination and playing hooky. Not that Celestia was a stranger to such tricks, she merely put herself too much into her work to realize what could be delegated or ignored without consequence. Centuries of habit had ingrained in Celestia the belief that every action of hers was important. The truth was that a good fifth of what she did was not important enough for a Princess's direct attention.

One fifth of the workload might not seem like much, but Celestia suddenly found herself with two whole hours of free time each day. True to her word, she dedicated her newfound freedom to helping Luna's project.

The Elements of Harmony– mostly Princess Twilight– had stopped by to help from time to time. Offering insight, a helping hoof, and quite frankly a quarter of the theoretical workload in Twilight’s part, they helped speed the project along for their friend.

Luna's laboratory quintupled in size and spilled out into many rooms close to its formerly-secret entrance. The relatively forbidden field of dimensional research was opened up to allow additional help. In a matter of weeks, the team made more progress than Luna had in years.

The portal was activated seven more times. Seven more times, it failed. However, each attempt gleaned more insights than the last. Attempting to connect to a dimension with no magic was thought to be impossible. But as they tried and tried again, the team became better and better at creating and holding the portal's connection, feeding all the magical energy from their side alone.

Finally, on the ninth attempt, Luna, Celestia, and Twilight had their most hopeful attempt so far.

“Start-up sequence looks good,” Twilight announced as she examined a printing feed that slipped through her hooves. “Ready for phase two!”

Celestia moved behind a large console covered in buttons and dials and pulled down an oversized lever.

“Phase two initiated!” Shouted Celestia.

Luna, who stood behind the console next to her sister, announced, “I have the mark. This universe is the farthest yet, but we have the mark!”

“Got it!” Twilight shouted back. “Starting the portal now!”

As the Princess of Friendship began the portal’s start-up spell, Celestia and Luna fiddled with the controls on the console, keeping the portal stable as it began to form. The teal shimmer once again appeared within the circular frame, growing larger with each passing second. This time, several metal coils around the portal siphoned off the errant magical surges. Luna and Celestia pulled away this wild energy as it formed.

The teal shimmer finished growing. Now, an opaque blue portal took up the entire portal’s frame.

“All systems nominal,” Twilight confirmed. “Luna, we’re ready!”

Grinning, Luna bridged the two worlds: Equestria and Earth.

“They told me it was impossible,” Luna said softly. “That he didn’t exist. But we live in the world of rainbows and magic and bullshit!”

Celestia looked over and yelled over the growing noise that the portal was making, “Are you saying something?”

“I am saying that with hope and Harmony, anything is possible!”

The portal finished for just one second. For one brief instance, the two worlds were connected. One: a dangerous void that lacked any magic. The other: a world so saturated with it that immortality was a reality for a select few.

‘Bring him to me!’

The spell caster’s intent mattered a great deal when it came to the result of a spell. Luna didn’t just want to travel to Earth. She wanted Phasma. She wanted him here, right now.

The portal, for a brief moment, flickered to show an alleyway that looked like it was in Manehattan. Then, the entire portal vanished. Its power had poured through until there was none left, and the teal glow that tinged the room had vanished suddenly.

But before it shut off, the portal threw something out. Something– somepony that tumbled down the steps of the raised dais and collapsed in a pile of black limbs on the ground.

Luna dropped what she was doing and rushed over.

Phasmatodea, the King of Changelings, groaned as Luna swept him up off the ground and into an embrace. He was different from how she imagined him. His legs were full of holes, his horn was twisted notched, his mane was a short crop of orange flame, and he had that weird crown-thing on the top of his head.

Overall, he looked like a male Chrysalis rather than a drone-royal hybrid.

Luna wept with joy that she was holding him at all.

“It worked?” Twilight asked, approaching Luna.

“Luna? Is it him?” Celestia asked, also coming close.

“It’s him,” Luna said. She leaned down and whispered, “Phasma? Phasma, can you hear me?!”

<.... Egh, what the fuck did he shoot me with?> The stallion muttered loud enough for all to hear.

“Oh, right,” Luna mumbled. “He would not know our language...”

Phasma opened his eyes– two orange slits, thankfully unchanged– and stared up at Luna.

<..... Horse?>

Then, he frowned, and smacked his lips and felt around his open mouth with his tongue.

Luna recalled as much as she could about English, the language that Celestia called ‘nothing more than the sound of distant thunder.’ She didn’t know much of the fictional-turned-true language, not enough to communicate.

So she sang instead.

Hesitantly, Phasma stepped towards Luna as she sang.

Author's Note

Did I make an entire short story based off a meme? Yes.
Was it worth it? No, it was better in my head.

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 1/4

Hunger.

Its specter haunted me. Hovering just behind me, just out of sight, and just out of reach, the feeling weighed me down more and more with each step I took. The gnawing pain was burning me up from the inside out. I could practically feel my body coming apart at the seams.

Days.

I had been wandering for longer than I could keep track of. On three legs, I hobbled through the forest, whispering promises of fixing everything. I knew I could save everyone. I knew that Coxa, Oest, Lace, and Thorax were counting on me. I kept pressing on only because of them. They needed me, just as much as I needed them.

Pain.

Staying upright was becoming an issue. As if the hunger wasn’t enough, the stump that was once my right foreleg was not looking good. It was far from feeling good, either. The makeshift bandage of changeling-gel that I spat onto it was only a temporary solution and infection had set in. Around the gel, I could see discoloration in my chitin. It burned. My whole body was beginning to burn.

Lost.

Beyond the pain, beyond the hopelessness, and beyond the fear of death. I could have pushed through the pain that was wracking my body. I might have been able to press on, despite the hopelessness of my situation and the almost certain fact that Oestridae was dead, and that everyling else was probably dead, too. I might have been able to fight off the infection with my alicorn-tier changeling royal body. I might have been able to survive, had it not been for the black void inside.

With each passing day, my energy waned. I walked for short and shorter periods. It became harder to focus. More and more, I could only think about food. My daydreams and nightmares alike were filled with the stuff. Pastries, steaks, greasy fast food, stale cereal, cookies, chocolate ice cream– anything and everything. And, of course, love. I dreamed about love. I salivated over it. I hated its absence. I hated its absence. I wanted it. I needed it. Where was it?!

My mind drifted away from my own body. As my strides turned to shambles, I lost control over my magic. I could no longer even cast the most basic and meager spells. The ridiculous physical strength that my changeling body once possessed was long gone.

Eventually, I had to confront the terrible truth that I was dying.

I begged. I pleaded. I demanded. I yelled. I screamed.

“Well?”

Slowly, my shambling came to a halt and I pivoted on my hooves.

“I did as you ordered, Phasma,” Praetorian Oestridae said smartly. “I held up my end of our oath. Have you held up yours?”

I blinked and rubbed in surprise. When I opened my eyes again, he was gone.

“Oestridae?”

“The Queen lives,” he said behind me, causing me to jump and collapse onto the ground. “You failed, didn’t you? After everything we did for you?”

As I struggled back up, I panted, “You… you can’t be here. No one is here. No one is here…”

I braced myself and turned to face the ghost– only he was nowhere to be seen. Grimacing, I started my journey again.

‘One hoof in front of the other, just like the songs say.’

“No songs say that.” Lacewing cooed into my ear.

My ears pressed down against my head as I hissed, “You are not here. Leave me alone!”

“On the contrary. I am here, with you, and I’ll never leave you. I’ve got nowhere else to be, after all!”

My vision blurred, “No! Lacewing is out there! You are… just a hallucination. Nothing. Leave. Me. Be!”

My friend trotted around me tutting in disappointment, “You and I both know that’s not true. Oestridae, Lacewing, Coxa, Thorax, Weevil, Eucharis, Cicada– everyling you come close to, you killed.”

I leaned against a tree and knocked myself on the top of my head with a hoof.

“Stop thinking like that! It’s not true! Not true! Just keep going, Phasma. You can fix this…”

With deep, rasping breaths, I willed my heart to slow down, for the hammering in my chest to stop. I shut my eyes and counted slowly, breathing in and out. The whispers faded as I ground my horn against the bark of the tree, the pain grounding me.

When I opened my eyes, I was alone again.

Like a shark getting a taste of the faintest whiff of blood in the water, I tasted emotion.

It was a paltry wisp of happiness but it tasted sweeter than any pure love I had ever devoured. Suddenly, all other thoughts except for ending my hunger left my mind.

I was hungry. Food was somewhere. I could taste something!

I staggered towards the emotion. The faint scent grew and grew with each slow, lumbering step. My jaw dropped and my tongue lolled out as I began to drool. Somewhere close by, there was a pony.

“Oh my, you just never learn, do you?”

Growling in annoyance and anger, I sent curses in the voice’s direction.

Queen Chrysalis lazily hovered alongside me, the soft buzz of her wings melding with the sounds of the forest.

She gave me a toothy grin, “Poor little nymph, still strung up by his vices. If I could feel pity, I would weep for you. Instead, I think I shall laugh! Ha!”

“Get out of my head,” I hissed.

Chrysalis cackled, “No can do! I’m living rent-free in here. That’s the phrase, right? So many useless references and jargon floating around up here…”

Tasting the faint hints of love, I changed course to chase the fleeting food.

She inspected a hoof, acting bored, “Why do you hold on? Why bother chasing this chance at life– if it’s even real and not another phantom of your imagination? Do you plan on getting more friends killed?”

I shook my head, “Your words aren’t worth the air you breathe, wretch!”

“I think I admire that. You so selfishly hold onto life that you would push everyling else underwater to get a lungful of air! That’s a proper royal mindset!”

“Just trying to help,” I muttered, brushing aside a large spider web as I walked through. When I glanced at the tyrant, she had been replaced with Chamberlain Eucharis.

My eyes snapped forward.

“I was, too,” he said.

A shiver went down my spine and I hit myself on the head again.

“Out! Out! Out!”

‘What I would give for some quiet! What I would do to let the pain wash away! I just want to go to sleep and never wake up…’

After what seemed like hours of trudging through the underbrush, I finally found her.

The emotions I tasted were coming from a pony out here in the forest.

When I came across the pony in her cottage in the woods, I was feeling closer to a shambling corpse than a Prince. Every ache in my body screamed out as I neared the small house. I watched as an elderly earth pony mare tended to her flowers in front of her cottage. The delicious orange pony was humming a tune– no doubt remembering fond memories.

‘Love.’

The snap of the twig underhoof was what alerted her.

She shot up from her bed of yellow flowers and scanned the woods. When her eyes locked onto me as I emerged from the shadows of the forest, she gasped in horror and bolted for the safety of her home. In her old age, her movement was slowed down enough for any predator to catch her.

She was quite lucky that I was incapable of even pacing towards her. The thin white wooden door slammed shut as I was only a third of the way across the clearing. The taste of love and happiness in the air became polluted with the sour-yet-delicious taste of fear, all muted by the presence of the building in the way of my meal.

Step by step, I crept closer and closer to the meal. The pony peered briefly through one small window, before slamming shut its shutters. It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter. One way or another, I would conquer the hunger.

When I finally arrived at the doorstep, I took one deep breath and reached out with my magic. My horn screamed in protest. Or perhaps I was the one who screamed… When I began breaking the door down with my bare hooves, it was certainly the mare who screamed. Chitin and wood alike cracked and splintered as I ripped the door away, chunk by bloody chunk. Beyond the growing hole, the pony stumbled backwards into the corner of her sanctuary that served as her kitchen. Ceramic plates fell and shattered on the ground when her back hit the far wall.

When the hole in the door was wide enough, I squeezed myself through it. Desperately, the pony scrambled around for a weapon. Her hooves found purchase on a saucepan that was knocked to the floor. The pony wielded the formidable cooking utensil before her trembling body.

“Please!” It begged. “Take anything! Just leave me in peace! Please!”

I closed the distance between me and salvation.

As I neared, my mind started coming up with ideas. I could’ve disguised myself as a wounded stranger and tried to obtain aid. I could’ve disguised myself as an older pony, passing myself off as her husband– whose likeness I spied for a brief moment when a painting was knocked off the wall by her desperate attempt to get away from me. I could’ve disguised myself as a monster and eaten her in one gulp.

I chuckled darkly when I realized that no disguise was necessary for me to look like a monster to my meal. No, as I loomed over the trembling mare, bloody, haggard, missing a leg, and no doubt drooling, I came to one truth.

No paltry sum of emotions that I could siphon off this pony would do. I was too close to the end– too far gone. I would need everything to survive. I would need a miracle.

“And miracles require sacrifices!” I whispered hoarsely.

I reached out with my mind and grasped the String of Emotion. All around me, a miasma of fear swirled like a vortex.

Then I pulled. I pulled and ripped and tore with all the strength I had left.

The old mare gasped in pain as her wrinkles increased tenfold. From her open mouth, a pink cloud emerged. In an instant, I gobbled it up and pulled on the Thread for more.

More.

More!

More!

The pony died with a wheeze. Her life force was expelled with a putter of breath as her chest was squeezed like a fruit being juiced. As I pulled out and feasted upon her very life’s energy, she shriveled up into a mummified husk.

Her body dropped to the floor and I gasped and brought a hoof up to my mouth, wiping away saliva. I looked down at her corpse with a startling realization; I felt nothing. No remorse. No loathing. No pain. No hunger.

No, that last one wasn’t true. The hunger was still there, merely pushed to the side and lurking at the edges of awareness. I hadn’t defeated it. I merely delayed it.

“A bottomless pit, a bottomless curse,” Chrysalis whispered to me.

Without another word, I turned away from the dead pony and left through the door, casually unbolting it and pulling it open with telekinesis.

“What happened after that?” Coxa asked.

I grunted a reply as I poured myself another glass of brandy. We were in a bar in some backwater town on the outskirts of Manehattan at the moment, enjoying some alcohol despite the Prohibition. My disguise, a blue unicorn with a MuCutie Mark, blended in with the ponies well enough. People saw the fancy letter ‘u’ and nothing more. Coxa’s disguise, an off-yellow pegasus, was a bit too cheery for the moody atmosphere, but these were ponies and therefore he blended in just as well.

“Then I wandered. Survived off the meager pickings at bars, clubs, and other hole-in-the-walls. Eventually, I got the opportunity to make money. All I had to do was work my way up the social ladder of a certain growing distributor of alcohol….”

“How long did that take?”

I shrugged, “It was quite small. When I joined, it was only about eleven ponies. I helped it grow to thirty before I removed the boss and took over. Only had to deal with two assassination attempts since then.”

“And that’s how you got here?” Coxa asked, gesturing to the seedy bar around us.

“That’s right. This place buys from me.”

“That’s… quite the story,” Coxa said in wonder as he relaxed in his seat. “You, uh, might want to leave out some parts if you ever share it with ponies. What about that demon you were speaking with? Nightmare Moon?”

I shrugged, “She’s dead. As far as I can tell, Princess Luna is back in Canterlot. I haven’t seen neither hide nor hair of her in the Dreamscape. It’s a vast place so that’s no surprise…”

Coxa tapped the table as he thought, “I got some other friends. They’ll want to hear that you’re alive. Will you come with me to the city?”

“Maybe,” I sighed.

“Maybe we can help with this business-thing of yours?”

I nodded, “That… could be a good idea. It’s hard finding ponies that have enough of a backbone to bootleg alcohol.”

“Then it’s decided. You’ll come with me back to Manehattan and we’ll…. Do what you say. I’ll admit, though I have been leading our friends around, I’m…. It’s not easy. Stuck so far north with pony newspapers being our only way of hearing what’s going on… They’ll be glad to see you’re alive. Ecstatic!”

I chuckled, “Okay Coxa. You stand relieved of duty.”

He grinned and took a swig of the cheap beer he had ordered.

“Have you seen anyone else?” I asked. “Of the First Fang, that is.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Just some girls and guys from the Lodges– and a number of kinsmares that come from outside of those.”

“We should gather up as many wayward members of our family as we can,” I said. “They’ll be lost and looking for guidance. We can… help them….”

“Like you helped in Canterlot?”

“Shut your fucking mouth” I growled.

“W–what?!” Coxa stumbled.

I blinked and looked at him. He was looking at me with unveiled concern and confusion. That’s when I realized that he hadn’t insulted me at all.

‘I must be getting hungry again.’

“.... Nevermind,” I mumbled.

“You’re always hungry. It’s the curse of being a changeling, isn’t it?”

I glared above Coxa’s shoulder, where Chrysalis was absent-mindedly stealing hayfries off of an earth pony’s plate. Coxa turned to see what I was staring at but gave up when he didn’t find anything.

“You alright, Phasma?” He asked me.

Chrysalis chuckled, “Things are about to get lively,” she said as she pointed to the bar’s front door. Two whole squads of Royal Guards– gold armor and all– were just beginning to file in.

“Are you going to slaughter them all like you murdered our Praetorians in the Palace?” Chrysalis grinned.

“Coxa, get out through the rear exit. It’s through the kitchen. The Fuzz is here, make yourself scarce.” He frowned and discretely looked over at the entrance while I leaned away and tapped on a nearby pegasus’s shoulder, “Cloud. Get the others and get out.”

“Are you planning on staying behind?” The Equestrian asked.

“If I have to buy time, I will. Now get going!”

Coxa gave me a worried glance before rising from the table and excusing himself. Around me, several ponies left one-by-one for the bathrooms– which of course were right next to the door to the bar’s kitchen.

One of the two Royal Guard squads peeled off to intercept. Groaning, I pushed myself up and away from my drink and headed to intercept them myself. When they saw me coming, the lead pony muttered something to the rest and barked an order at me.

“Freeze, Royal Guard! Back up, citizen! I want you up against the wall back there– that goes for everypony else, too!” She yelled.

She was a dark blue earth pony, and her squad consisted of three unicorns and two pegasi. The other squad split up to block the entrance and head to the bar, no doubt to arrest the barkeep and other staff for serving alcohol.

Several patrons looked up in bewilderment as my henchponies and Coxa continued to try to escape. A few paused to look at me for guidance.

“Keep moving,” I ordered.

“Shut ‘yer gob and get against the wall!” The Sergeant yelled again as she got close to me.

“Heh, Not to worry, My King,” Praetorian Weevil said as his phantom stepped out from behind one of the Royal Guards. “We can handle these chumps with booth hooves tied behind our backs! Ain’t I right? Just, uh, maybe make sure everyling gets out alive this time?”

I shook my head vigorously before staring down the Sergeant, “Look, officer, I’m not having a good day, so I would appreciate it if you took your Girl Scouts and fucked off.”

“We ain’t no Filly Scouts!” One of the unicorns barked. “We’re the bloody Royal Guard!’

“No, just a bunch of stupid country hicks,” I muttered under my breath.

“You’re all under arrest for the purchase of illegal substances. I advise you don’t put up a fight,” the Sergeant announced to the room.

I heard Chamberlain Eucharis sigh from somewhere in the room, “They probably all have friends. Families. Lives...”

“It’s their decision to fight,” I whispered in reply. “But I’ll try to spare their pathetic lives, despite their attempts to throw them away.”

The Sergeant stopped three paces in front of me, “Look fellah, there’s no way out of this, so how’s about you avoid a second felony of resisting arrest and just come quietly? You’ll spend a moon in the hoosegow, and then you’ll be on your way home.”

By now, the other ponies who were not heading to the back had moved out of the way and went against the wall that the Sergeant had ordered them to. The bartender was cornered by a large earth pony Royal Guard and looked about as terrified as the civilians. He knew that I was the one who sold the booze to the place and knew that I wasn’t afraid of breaking a few knees.

The whole room now reeked of fear. The confident guards kept cool and their emotions in check, while the patrons and barkeep were becoming more and more afraid for their futures and clean records.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, “Not gonna happen. You’re scaring away my business, love. So I really need you to leave and never come back, you hear?”

The armored pony huffed in annoyance and lunged forward. Perhaps the attack would have worked on a civilian and not a trained soldier. Perhaps her comrades were ready to jump to her aid if I cast any spell that took her down. Perhaps there were a hundred ways out of this fight that I could have taken, yet chose not to.

In the end, I wanted to fight. I wanted to kill. But I was not about to prove to Chrysalis– to prove to that phantom that I had no self-control.

The giant earth pony Royal Guard Sergeant found herself flying in the completely wrong direction. Within the blink of an eye, I had physically and magically redirected her away from me and towards the nearest window. Glass broke. Wood splintered. Miniscule droplets of blood flittered through the air outside from where the shards cut into the mare’s back. She tumbled and rolled across the cobblestone street, coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

Shock now accompanied the miasma of fear.

The ponies’ heads were all turned towards their fallen comrade, leaving the next guard completely unprepared for the wooden chair that shattered across their skull. The unicorn slumped to the ground, unconscious.

‘That stirred them into action!’

The remaining guards took up battle stances, the remaining two unicorns readying shield and stun spells while the other ponies lined up opposite me.

“Gentlemares, I don’t believe that we’ve been acquainted,” I said, dusting off my shoulder. “When you were little foals, you were told stories of scary monsters that would eat you if you didn’t finish your vegetables or go to bed on time. I am–”

They charged forward with a yell of anger. Hissing in annoyance, I quickly teleported out of their way and placed myself conveniently next to the pony on the far left side of their charge. With a well-placed kick to the side, the pony’s right hindleg caved inwards as she galloped to where I once was.

She screamed in pain and tumbled to the floor– much like their recovering leader– while the rest tried to regroup and present a shielded defense against me, shouting warnings of my ability to teleport.

“Perhaps you’re right. Now isn’t the time for talk,” I muttered.

With a snarl, I launched a sphere of concentrated magic at the next pony. The filthy brown ball crackled in the air as it struck home, breaking bones like they were leaves.

Coxa watched as Phasma stepped out of the back door. Emerging from his hiding spot at one end of the alleyway, he trotted over. The door swung shut behind Phasma, with no ponies chasing after him, much to Coxa’s relief.

“You dealt with them?” Coxa asked.

“Yes.”

Coxa looked around, “I guess that’s one way to handle it, but won’t they be looking for us now? Instead of some alcohol dealers, now they’ll be looking for someone capable of wiping out an entire Royal Guard Squad! We need to get outta here before ponies start asking questions…! Phasma? Phasma?!”

Phasma was staring blankly at the brick wall ahead of him. Grunting in frustration, Coxa shook him out of his stupor.

“Hmm? What?” The Prince mumbled, blinking rapidly down at Coxa.

“Phasma, we need to get out of here, and fast! Those Royal Guards will report everything they saw!”

“As well as all the injuries they suffered by the hoof of one single unicorn, yes,” Phasma nodded. “That’s going to be a very concerning puzzle for the Royal Guard.”

“Then our disguises our burnt-as-hell and we need to make like the morning rations and vanish!” Coxa insisted, beginning to gallop away.

He had to pause and slow down when he realized, to no small amount of frustration, that Phasma was taking a far more leisurely pace. Coxa looked over his shoulder at the speakeasy. He strained and heard more commotion around the corner, towards the front doors.

“If we’re lucky, this won’t come back to bite us in the ass,” he remarked.

The changeling Prince ahead of him laughed, “There’s no need to be so optimistic, Coxa.”

“Couldn’t you have come up with a better solution? Like, I dunno, not dining in a place you know could be watched by Royal Guards?!”

“I handled it,” Phasma shrugged. “Now they’ll be on the lookout for a unicorn that doesn’t exist. And, while that means there will be many headaches in the future, conflict was bound to happen. These ponies just don’t know how to keep a secret. This little Mafia I’m building is far inferior to my Lodges… Oh well, nothing can be done about that. Now come on, Coxa, there’s a lot I need to catch you up on.”

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 2/4

From Agent Sweetie Drop’s perspective, the operation was F.U.B.A.R., though the pony would never use the changeling term to describe anything– well, anything at all. It was not her fault that they were captured. In fact, if it were up to her and only her, she would have been well on her way back to her marefriend in Ponyville by now.

But no. Instead of being sent in to infiltrate the burgeoning Manehattan Mafia, as it had come to be called, she was sent in with a partner. Her entire Modus Operandi was working alone and the first time she didn’t, everything went to Tartarus. Sweetie placed all the blame squarely on the shoulders of her ‘partner.’

Daisy Cutter.

‘The name fits her well.’

Daisy was not a clever mare. Or, more accurately, Daisy was not an inconspicuous mare. True to her name, Daisy Cutter had gotten them exposed and captured within hours of infiltrating the Manehattan Mafia. Why ‘Distant Embrace’ had decided to personally assign a second Agent to the operation, Sweetie could only guess; it was likely to do with how ‘Distant Embrace’ had changed in the past few months. The changes were obvious to the ponies that knew her.

Regardless, Daisy Cutter had been assigned and Daisy Cutter had ruined everything.

“Crushing everything underhoof,” Sweetie angrily cursed under her breath.

She was tied up with rope and left in a dark basement. Judging by the muffled sounds of the city outside, she placed herself somewhere around Sumbawa Houses in the Southeast section of Manehattan.

“I can hear you, you know,” Daisy muttered back.

Her oh-so-skillful partner had also been tied up with rope. The two had been tied up with the same rope, in fact. Taking the blessing for what it was, Sweetie was working hard to take advantage of the Mafia’s incompetency. A small blade worked across the inside of their bindings, pushed along by a hoof. If she could cut through the rope, she would free not only herself but Daisy Cutter as well. Despite what misgivings Sweetie had about the pink-white pegasus, having a second pony watching her back as they escaped would be a blessing.

“Incoming,” Daisy whispered.

Sweetie Drops froze just before the door at the top of the only stairs flew open. Blinding light poured out and a trio of ponies walked down the stairs. The old wooden stairs creaked and groaned under their weight as the ponies slowly entered the basement. A magical light above Daisy and Sweetie flicked on, forcing Sweetie to squint as her eyes adjusted to the new brightness.

There was a blue unicorn stallion, a green earth pony mare, and a black pegasus mare. The unicorn seemed to be the leader of the triad, as he walked with his nose high when he glared down at the Agents.

Once again, Sweetie Drops noted that his Cutie Mark was uncovered– as were the Marks belonging to each of the mares. Either these ponies had magical disguises on, or they were utterly incompetent. Sweetie was leaning toward the second option, considering she was bound up in physical rope and almost nothing more.

She carefully cataloged each of their appearances, Cutie Marks, and voices as they spoke.

“You two picked the wrong gang to mess with,” the pegasus chuckled.

“You picked the wrong mares to mess with,” Daisy Cutter countered.

The unicorn rolled his red eyes, “You two were the ones who came all this way to find us. Now, dontcha’ know that breaking and entering is illegal? As is stealing, assault, and… You get the idea.”

The gangsters spread out across the room, sticking to the edges of the light cast from above Sweetie.

“We were just escaping the rain,” Sweetie countered. “Can’t a pony take shelter from the cold, unrelenting rain?”

“I doubt this place even belongs to the likes of you,” Daisy growled at the gangsters.

‘Even if it does belong to them, they’ve certainly abused any sort of lease agreement.’

“You hear that, cuz?” The pegasus chuckled. “We’ve been profiled by these uppity Canterlot-borne white coats. We gotta leave and slum it in the sewers, now.”

Sweetie briefly glanced at her slightly-pink-but-mostly-white partner. Unlike Sweetie, the pegasus did have a Canterlot accent. It was hard to hear most of the time, but present if you knew what you were looking for.

“It’s misty rose, not white,” Daisy muttered.

“Why were you two poking your noses where you shouldn’t be?” The earth pony mare questioned. “Who do you belong to?”

Daisy huffed up, “We don’t belong to anyp–”

“Why don’t you tell us who you belong to first?” Sweetie interrupted.

“If you have to ask that question, then you really shouldn’t have come here,” the unicorn tutted. “Now, if you answer our questions, we’ll let you go without much hassle.”

Sweetie frowned. The stallion’s tone lacked sincerity, and his body posture betrayed hostile intentions. Whatever happened down in this dark basement, they certainly wouldn’t be leaving without a fight.

‘Another angle.’

She let her ears flop backwards, “Look, we didn’t think this place was marked or owned.”

“The lights are on,” the earth pony pointed out.

Sweetie shrugged– as much as she could while tied up, “Yeah? Common trick to keep ponies like us out. But the front door had too much crud in the way to be used often, so we thought…”

The unicorn shook his head, “We’re being polite right now. We’ll ask again, for your sake. Who do you work for?”

Daisy kept silent. Sweetie thanked Celestia for that miracle.

“They ain’t the Scrappies,” the pegasus scratched her chin. “Nor can they be Saints.”

The other two ponies chuckled, with the unicorn adding, “Now that was fun.”

‘Scrapyard Scrappies, South Street Saints. Active in the Western neighborhoods and southern boroughs, respectively. Those areas have been quiet for the past few weeks…. Did these crooks do something to them? I’ll have to remember that and follow up on–’

“Iron Ponies,” Daisy said, managing to effectively sound afraid.

The earth pony frowned, “Who?”

“Iron Ponies,” the unicorn repeated, carefully studying them.

“Never heard of ‘em,” the earth pony grunted.

“Runners,” was all the unicorn said.

That got the pegasus shaking her head, “Pretty sure we got all the runners in the region. None of ‘em would dare set hoof in Manehattan.”

“Thought the competition was weak here,” Sweetie said, building on Daisy’s surprisingly effective lie.

“Well, T?” The pegasus asked the unicorn.

‘T. Sure wish these boneheads used their full names, as well as showing me their Marks. Heh, maybe his name is Tea or something.’

Tea the unicorn shrugged, “Not my job to know that. Iron Ponies are few and far between, we haven’t made any deals or fights with ‘em. So… Iron Ponies, eh? Perhaps we can come to an understanding. You,” Tea said, nodding towards the pegasus, “go tell the boss we got this handled after all.”

‘Honey biscuits, it’s working! So far, at least, but this is a hay of a lot better than Daisy dragging us into the mud!’

“Given the last mess you made, I somehow doubt that.”

All heads turned towards the stairs. They creaked under the weight of a newcomer. He slowly entered the basement, face lit up by a lit cigar hanging from the front of his muzzle. Sweetie took in the details offered by the cigar’s glow and the meager glow provided by the magical light as he stepped down and stood in front of the little congregation.

‘Pegasus, dark gray fur, gray-blue mane, large coat covering the Cutie Mark– no such luck there, dark blue eyes, wearing a mask and some kind of fedora… Something to work with, but this guy’s at least got the bare minimum covered. Boss. Boss… middling grunt herder, or somepony high up? Let’s see, how can I find that out…’

“Have we met before?” Daisy asked.

‘Once again, the newbie is following a script leading Celestia-knows-where. Fine, keep them occupied while I think of the real plan.’

“No,” the masked pony said.

“I… don’t believe you,” Daisy insisted.

The gangster glared at her before half-turning towards the pegasus, “Report.”

“Iron Ponies. Or, at least, they claim that. Found ‘em breaking into the building. I was about to give ‘em the ol’ razzle-dazzle. We can always use more runners.”

“Not these two,” the boss shut him down.

Sweetie took her chance, “Whoah, hold on, buddy! IF you’re talking about making bits– which I’ve got a good ear for– then our door is open! Metaphorically speaking, of course…”

“Are you from Canterlot?” Daisy questioned the black pegasus.

The pegasus plucked the cigar out of his mouth and puffed out a lungful of smoke. Sweetie coughed from the obnoxious fume– but she did manage to get a good look at the cigar. It was from Colta.

‘That’s ritzy. Very ritzy. A high roller, without a doubt. What’s someone with wealth like that in a place like this? Something isn’t adding up. Something huge. Maybe Daisy is actually onto something… If this guy’s from a Canterlot clique, that could explain the bits he’s literally burning away.’

“What’s your name?” He asked Daisy.

“Daisy Cutter,” Daisy answered.

Sweetie flinched.

‘Idiot, what are you doing?! You don’t give out your real name, ever!’

But there was nothing Sweetie could do to save the newbie now. She just had to hope that Daisy didn’t dig her grave too deep for her to climb out of.

“Weren’t you raised with manners?” Daisy asked. “A lady has introduced herself to you, you should return the greeting.”

“Ten bits says she’s some rich daughter of a unicorn noble,” the pegasus mare whispered to the earth pony.

The boss used his other wing to take off his hat as he stepped closer to the tied-up ponies.

“You may call me Oroboros,” he bowed.

‘That’s not a pony name. Sounds almost mythological… Rogue Hurricane should be able to find out the meaning when I get the chance later.’

“Oroboros,” Daisy repeated. “Hmm… No, I am certain we have met before, but where?”

Oroboros snorted, “I assure you, the only way you’d forget me is if I let you. Though, now that you mention it… I believe you have something on you. Something that doesn’t belong to you. Tch, typical Canterlot aristocrat, taking anything and everything they can.”

Daisy flustered, “I am not–”

“Upper district,” Oroboros insisted. “You’re masking your accent– though imperfectly– which means you’ve received some training, but not too much. You’re a new initiate, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daisy said coldly.

“But why give you the pendant, and not the more experienced of the pair?” Oroboros wondered, his eyes settling on Sweetie. “Somepony’s daughter, indeed. Not even Division-P can escape the nepotism that plagues Canterlot.”

Sweetie’s blood ran cold.

‘Division-P?! How does he know?! What’s he talking about?! What pendant– neither of us are wearing anything like that!’

Oroboros breathed in deep– his lit cigar falling from his mouth as he inhaled the smokey air. He chuckled as he stamped out the embers.

“I’m afraid that the two of you bit off more than you can chew. Thal, ice them. We'll get our answers later.”

“No!” Sweetie yelled.

She pressed the knife still held in her hoof against the rope and strained with all her might against the bindings. One of the coils snapped, but the unicorn was already charging up a spell. If Sweetie didn’t hurry–

Her vision went white. Blinking away the spots from her eyes, Sweetie found herself lying on her side against the wall on the other side of the room. A hot, wet trickle from her nose signaled which part of her found the wall first.

On the other side of the room, Daisy Cutter was standing up with her wings splayed wide. The chairs that the two of them had been tied to had been blown to bits. A groan on her left made Sweetie realize that three of the four gangsters had also been blown away by whatever happened.

Oroboros stood in front of Daisy Cutter, foreleg raised to block his eyes.

“What…” Sweetie mumbled, getting to her hooves.

“I know you!” Daisy yelled. “I have seen your face, your soul, your composition! Wretched thing, you dare oppose me?!”

“Go!” Orobors yelled at his prone subordinates. “All of you! Flee the city!”

“You dare turn your back on me?!” Daisy yelled. “Know my strength and kneel to your rightful ruler!”

“I bow to no one!” Oroboros yelled back.

Another white flash– this time, Sweetie had managed to cover her eyes. When she lowered her foreleg, she saw errant flames scattered across the basement. The heat washed over her like a wave, causing her to stagger backwards. She saw that Oroboros’s coat and hat had burned away, exposing his coat of dark gray fur and a Cutie Mark of two interlocked spoked wheels. His mask remained in place.

Daisy flickered out of existence. Rising from a crouched position, the Sun Incarnate burned bright with the fire of the sun itself. Princess Daybreaker bared her fangs at her challenger. Around her neck, a green amulet fizzled with the energy of a failed spell.

‘Distant Embrace? The Princess?! What is–’

“I name you Sloth!” Princess Daybreaker proclaimed. “You hide in the shadows, but there is no place that I cannot see! No darkness remains unlit in my presence! Cower and beg for your life, shade, or I will dash you across the stones!”

The sound of hooves scrabbling on stones pulled Sweetie’s attention away for just a moment. Two of the gangsters were carrying the unicorn towards a corner of the room that held a second stair, this one obviously leading up to some sort of back door. Sweetie made to follow, but the sight of the Princess’s enraged form stole her focus.

Oroboros glared up at the alicorn with teeth bared in return, “I name you Wrath, witch of Locksdale! Come, show me what passes for fury amongst your misbegotten kind!”

Princess Daybreaker forged a shield and spear from flame in the blink of an eye. Oroboros matched her with a hammer of black magic that was almost larger than he was. The green glow emanating from his eyes was unmistakable; the pegasus was somehow using Dark Magic, and was fully intending to fight the bucking Alicorn of Day!

‘Those ponies were right, it’s time to get the buck out of here!’

As the hammer made of void slammed against the wall of flames that Princess Daybreaker held, Sweetie Drops scrambled for the exit.

Licks of flame wormed their way up from the basement stairs as Daybreaker sauntered up them at her own pace. I pulled myself further into the shadows of the first floor, stealing away the light from the room. Its flames were extinguished by the time Daybreaker finished her casual climb, leaving her like a lone candlewick in a pitch-black room.

Her eyes locked onto where I stood in the darkness.

“I am the light,” Daybreaker pronounced. “Where I go, the darkness flees! I am above pathetic parlor tricks!”

But by the time she hurled her spear of blue flame at me, I had already dashed across the shadows to the other side of the room. Her head tracked my movement, keeping her damned shield between us.

I sent a score of blackened arrows her way. They burst upon her shield to no effect, the Nightmare cackling at the display.

“Do you not see how outmatched you are?! This is your death. Save me the trouble: surrender, and I might spare your worthless hide.”

But I had already retreated up the next set of stairs to the second floor. At my command, the drones had abandoned the base– and would quit the entire city, given enough time. It was my duty to give them that time.

“Cur! You achieve nothing by running!” Daybreaker called out after me, taking the stairs with far more speed than before.

A blade of black magic cut through the air, leaving behind orange sparks as it hurtled towards her hooves. Daybreaker leaped up and forward, clearing the blade without issue. However, her hooves caught on the now broken remains of the stairs. Daybreaker’s eyes widened as she fell to the ground with a grunt.

She recovered quickly, but it was my turn to cackle.

“You think this is a game?! I’ll have your skull as a trophy, blighted shade!”

I laughed, “You’re gonna have to be quicker than that!”

Her scream accompanied a halo of flame that enveloped the alicorn. She lit up the second floor with a baleful red glow. The torn wallpapers burnt away like kindling as she lit the communal room on fire. Sofas, chairs, and tables were charred in her wake.

‘If I don’t deal with that, she’ll bring the whole building down on top of us!’

Forced to engage, I sprung towards her, hammer leading the charge. She caught the faux God-Splitter with the edge of her shield, deftly knocking it aside and robbing my charge of most of its potency. I contorted my body mid-air to avoid the tip of her spear. Daybreaker, on the other hoof, could not avoid my own attack. My reckless lunge had achieved a solid haymaker to the side of her muzzle, staggering her. And, importantly, my proximity had allowed me to leech away the heat and light from her personal campfire that covered her.

I used the split second to catch myself in a roll and hop up to my hooves behind her. Her eyes followed me, her mane of fire whipping up an inferno once more.

“Kill the Nightmare!” Oestridae screeched from behind Daybreaker.

“What does it look like I’m doing,” I muttered.

A blue ball of fire burst from her horn and aimed directly at my chest. Creating a slanted barrier, I bounced the ball away from me and towards the nearest window. It shattered the glass in its rapid journey, shedding licks of flame like they were flower petals. When it hit the building across the street, the whole place shook from the impact.

‘Well. Sucks to be whoever used to live there.’

The prospect of some ponies burning up in her redirected attack fueled the rage within Daybreaker. She screamed at me, and charged.

Daybreaker’s spear was already hurtling towards me. Dodging it was no issue, but it came at the cost of being completely unprepared for the edge of her flame-shield that was thrown right where she knew I would hop to. The searing edge slammed into my shoulder, burning fur and searing flesh. The pain broke my concentration, and I lost the chain spell that I was conjuring up.

Daybreaker followed up with the classic Focused Will blast, forcing me to duck. The red laser beam cut a hole straight through where my head was a second before. She yanked her head down, pulling her aim down with it. I scuttled forwards, towards her, in a posture no normal pony could accomplish with their skeletal structure. Daybreaker’s surprise was a delicious reward, but the horizontal slash with a new blade of black magic was an even better one. Blood gushed from the cut on the inside of her left foreleg, splattering across me. Once again, I stole away the heat and energy from her personal flame, leaving her in encroaching darkness again.

“Finish her!” Chrysalis hissed. “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

“Kill!” I agreed through gritted teeth.

Daybreaker responded stomping down onto my chest with her remaining good forehoof. It was no ordinary strike, neither, as the amalgamation had put considerable magical force behind the blow. My pony disguise did not have the fortitude of an alicorn, and my rib cage had broken with enthusiasm equal to the floorboards beneath us.

We fell though, down to the first floor. I landed on my face, still wheezing and unable to breathe from the blow. Daybreaker glided down, gracefully setting down with her injured leg curled up
underneath her.

Daybreaker glared down at me, baring a grin that showed off her fangs, “All that effort, and you only scored a single cut. Yet for my effort, you lay beneath my hooves, drowning in your own blood. Was it worth it?”

‘I’m not going to die! I can’t die! I refuse!’

“Kill or flee!” Oestridae called out to me from the darkness. “Now or never!”

I reached for what magic I had and constructed a teleport spell in my mind’s eye. For the second time, as I lay defeated, I plotted to snatch survival out from the jaws of defeat. The dark magic flowing through my veins was already stealing away the pain that wracked my chest and shoulder.

“Oh, I don’t think so!”

Another Focused Will laser beam, red and yellow and aiming straight for my head. I was forced to divert away the magic from my teleport into a shield spell. The black barrier lasted for only a fraction of a second, taking the entirety of the blast before fading away.

I had magic to spare, but not enough to take many blows like that. And I had no way to defend and cast the teleport spell.

Daybreaker grabbed me by the bottom of my jaw with her injured leg. Blood spilled from her wound as she ignored it and hoisted me up by my head to look me in the eyes.

“I admire your tenacity,” Daybreaker boasted, “but this charade is over now. There is no room for dissidence. No room for a second symbiote, plotting to ruin everything. No, Equestria must be strong to face the darkness, and you cast shade where you walk. Any last words?”

Once again, the darkness morphed into someone standing behind Daybreaker. It was the Prophet this time, the twisted changeling king dripping black ooze from every orifice.

It whispered with a breathless voice, “Pride comes before the fall. I have seen Pride’s tricks, and I know them well. This is not the day we die again.”

My eyes strained to refocus back onto Daybreaker as I readied myself to answer her question.

“... Fuck you,” I spat out.

She blinked, “I don’t know what that means.”

I dissolved in her grip. But it was not her raging inferno that ripped me apart, no, it was the dark magic that burned across my whole body. With a scream of pain, I turned into nothing but a shadow, and flew from the building. I left behind nothing but my plain white Oroboros mask, which clattered to the ground, announcing my departure.

In her rage, I saw Daybreaker burn the building to the ground behind me.

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 4/4

The wait was long. Isolated out in the middle of nowhere, the Division-P agent’s call for backup would take a while. I questioned them on the fact that they didn’t bring all their guns out to arrest me, but they didn’t have any real answers.

No backup plans, no emergency teleports, no supplies in case they got stranded out in the snow forests and plains outside. Absolutely nothing.

“Idiots,” I mumbled.

“What?”

I looked up and saw Daring Do looking at me intently.

“I said you got a smoke?”

She frowned, “That’s not what you said.”

I grunted, “No, but I think I’ve made my point on your ‘plan’ very clear.”

The pegasus glanced over at the other side of the rapidly-cooling carriage, where the Elements were huddled together. Some of them had taken the news better than others. All of them were still quite upset with me, given that I freely admitted to killing anyone who threatened me.

“I expected you to fight,” Daring said. “Your kind always does. Nopony just… surrenders. What’s your angle?”

Sweetie Drops watched our conversation with a curious eye. She apparently shared this line of questioning.

“My kind?” I quoted.

Daring nodded to me, “You know… bad guy? Villain?”

I smiled, “Villain. It was certainly fun to play the part. Just wish people I cared about would stop dying.”

“None of this would have happened if you just surrendered from the start,” Sweetie chimed in.

“Oh, gee, why didn’t I think of that?” I mocked her. “I suppose I got distracted sometime between my friends and subjects getting slaughtered, and mother dearest throwing me around like I’m a volleyball. From the start– do you have any idea how many people died that night?”

Daring nodded, “Four hundred changelings, Thirty-four Royal Guards. The number has been going up since. Though I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that they’ve been increasing in equal numbers. Sometimes there’s even more Royal Guards fallen than changelings.”

I slumped, “Four hundred on the first day of defeat. More since. Though most of that was from our little civil war… Four hundred out of twenty thousand… That’s what, two percent? Two percent of our entire species dead in a single day. I barely got out alive. Sometimes, I start to question if I did. But then I remember.”

When I didn’t continue, Daring raised an eyebrow, “Remember what?”

Instead of staring her down, I switched my focus to the specter of Oestridae. Sloth stood patiently in the group of ponies, the pastel mares unaware of the murdered changeling in between them.

‘Convince the Elements of Harmony not only to spare me, but to turn against Daybreaker. Panar, I haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell.’

“I’m tired, Daring Do. Tired of fighting. Not personally, no, I could go to bat against every last one of you murderers and still have enough in me to give Daybreaker my all. No, I’m tired of losing. Tired of hearing every single report from our skirmishes with Division-P. Tired of hearing who we lost this time. Tired of wondering if today’s the day the door gets kicked down and a team of War Mages burns us alive. You want to know what my angle is? I want the Elements of Harmony to end this nightmare, and kill Daybreaker.”

Twilight split off and marched over to me.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

“If you’ve got something to say to us, then say it.”

“Eavesdropping, little unicorn?” I asked rhetorically.

Twilight glared at me, “The whole train cart is thirty hooves across and it’s one room. We can hear everything you say. I want to make sure I heard you correctly, what did you say?”

“I asked if you had a smoke.”

She shook her head, “A recent study found that those things are linked to cancer, you know.”

I leaned back against the wooden crate behind me, “A cigarette contains over seventy known carcinogens.”

Twilight blinked in surprise, “That’s… not something I’ve heard about. But if you know that, why are you asking for one?!”

“Forget it,” I sigh, trying to ignore the shivering.

Twilight snorted derisively, “One more question to ask later, I suppose. I… I hope you’re nothing more than a liar, King Phasma. If even a fraction of what you say is true…”

I shrugged, “There’s a lot of chemicals, but a lot of them–”

“Not smoking!” Twilight yelled, stamping a hoof.

The outburst put everypony on guard. I sensed the hostility a moment before she snapped, and had the wisdom to at least suppress the reflex to hurl a spell at her.

She ran a hoof through her mane, “Harmony, what went wrong? Why’s the world upside down?”

“The Nightmares,” I reminded her.

Sweetie Drops butted back in, “If what you say about them is true, then… Princess Daybreaker also accused you of being possessed.”

“Do I look possessed? I’m still me.”

“You changed,” Applejack called out from her spot between me and the more sullen and withdrawn Elements of Harmony. “Your eyes and magic used to be as orange as… well, oranges.”

“If you were possessed by a Nightmare,” Twilight continued, “that could be why you have k– hurt so many ponies! If Prince Phasma kept the invasion nonlethal, and it was the Nightmares responsible for starting everything…”

In the middle of the pony huddle, Oestridae was shaking his head.

‘What do you want me to do, then? Say it was all me, but also they should still kill Daybreaker and not me? Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say. I started this, figure it out. Figure out a way to tell them all I’m… a villain– super villain without getting them so riled up that they don’t kill me. And still convince them to go after Daybreaker. This was a stupid idea, but it’s all I have left...’

“Look, girls,” I interrupted their brainstorming. “I’m… not a good person. There’s no shining light at the end of the tunnel. Trust me, I know.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, turning back to me.

I examined one of my hooves, “I admit, I’m not sure what to say here. I’ve killed people. Most of them, I don’t even think twice about. One or two, well… I hope that whatever world they find themselves in, it’s a better world than the one I took from them.”

“Only one or two?” Applejack questioned.

“You don’t sound very remorseful for all the…” Rarity trailed off.

“I’m sure you all appreciate honesty,” I said, standing up and walking up to Twilight. “So I’ll be completely honest here. I need you all to take down Daybreaker. I would also love it if I didn’t die along the way. And in order to execute this masterstroke of manipulation… I don’t know what to say or do to convince all of you. The only thing I can think of is how easy it would be to rip you apart and leave your bodies out in the snow. I mean, honestly, no immediate backup?! All it would take is a single strike against any of the six of you, and I can take the rest of you out one by one.”

The ponies reeled back, the Agents swiftly stepping in between me and the Elements.

“And you,” I looked down at the Division-P crooks. “I don’t even need you two. I could drain you dry of your emotions– leave you nothing more than withered husks– and I wouldn’t lose a single minute of sleep!”

“Like we’d give you the chance!” Rainbow taunted.

I laughed, “You wouldn’t be involved in the decision making process, Loyalty. Just how far away is your backup, exactly? It’s been an hour and they’re still not here!”

"Let's just calm down, now," Applejack said. "We're just talking. That goes both ways, Rainbow."

"I need an answer," I said, stepping towards them. "Daybreaker will kill or enslave the changelings if she isn't stopped. Do you understand this?"

Twilight shared a worried look with her friends, "We need more time to think about this, and to investigate what you claim…"

"That's as good of a start as I can hope for," I sigh. "Fine, then. We'll be in touch."

Sweetie edged closer to me, "You're not going anywhere."

I snorted, "I think you'll find that I-"

I stopped mid-sentence with a deep frown. The teleportation spell had fizzled out right as I tried to cast it, yet none of the unicorns present had not done anything to stop me.

"... Have been interdicted," I growled. "How?!"

The Division agents shuffled to keep themselves between me and the Elements.

"Our backup arrived thirty minutes ago," Twilight announced. "We pulled everypony to here, even the ones waiting at this train's destination."

"Didn't want our boys to go in without full-force," Daring explained. "We're not going to have a repeat of Seaddle."

Slowly, I backpedaled towards the train door behind me. The Agents kept their distance with me, shuffling forward to keep me in striking distance. As I opened the door and leaned out, bracing against the cold wind, I saw a battalion of Royal Guards surrounding the train, hunched down against the snow.

Their horns and spears were pointing right at me.

"... Any of you got a light?"

My chitin itched as we waited, and I readjusted my posture for the fiftieth time this hour. Even with the chair dragged over so my back was to the wall, I still felt exposed. In fact, I felt as naked as the day I was hatched.

… Not even my usual jokes distracted me from the stakes at hoof.

I kept one eye and ear to the door as I gazed out the sitting room's massive floor-to-ceiling window that took up the wall to my left. Canterlot looked gorgeous with its coat of snow.

'It's here, and so damn close! I bet all the drones in Locksdale can feel my Weave. What are they thinking? How many of them are still breathing?'

The door opened and my heart leaped into my throat.

The six War Mages stepped aside to let the newcomer in. My breath left me in a relieved wheeze when I saw that it wasn't Daybreaker who had arrived. Instead, it was the abject failure who decided to grace me with her presence.

"You're alive," Princess Luna breathed. "All this time, you survived…"

"Why are you here?" I asked, glaring at her. "Cone to fetch me and drag me to Daybreaker?"

Luma walked further into the room, towards me. She froze when I abruptly rose from my seat and faced her. At the same time, the six mages took up battle stances behind her. Luna's flicked upwards to my horn.

"... You don't have a suppression ring," Luna pointed out.

Daring Do, from her seat across the room from Me, addressed the Princess, "Your Highness, the Elements decided to… forgo that security measure in favor of avoiding a fight."

Luna glanced at the Agent, nodded once, then stepped closer to Mr. Slowly, she lifted a hoof and reached out to me.

"Why are you here?!" I growled.

Her hoof faltered, "... I gave up on you."

"Oh, you gave up alright," I hissed.

Luna set her hoof down and cleared her throat, "Forgive me, Phasma. We never really properly met, have we? Only briefly, during that fateful night…”

“If you’re going to start quoting poetry or singing…” I trailed off. “You’re far too late.”

Luna looked hurt, and I easily sensed sadness coming from her, “On that, we can agree. I apologize for failing you, Phasma. But I shall not again. This time, things shall turn out for the better–”

“Cut the crap already!” I snarled. “I’m about to face Daybreaker, the scourge of the legions. There’s nothing better about this. If you were hoping for some chance to,” I did air-quotes with my hooves, “‘save me,’ then you’re going to be disappointed. Either Daybreaker is about to kill me, or they are about to kill Daybreaker. And I get the feeling that I know which is more likely…”

I withdrew into myself, tucking my legs against my barrel as I stared at the ground.

‘I might have done a decent enough job at convincing the Elements that Daybreaker needs to be stopped, but they need evidence. They want time. Daybreaker won’t be giving me any of that, I suspect. Either she’ll kill me, or she’ll…’

I heard Mother Dearest’s voice whisper into my ear, “Oh, I don’t think Daybreaker has any reason to bestow that fate, nymph. But if we are going to rot in a prison cell, Phasma, then I will be more than happy to take control and leave you where I found you…”

A blue hoof reached out and touched the armrest on my right side, and I flinched back in surprise, almost toppling over. The alicorn’s cyan eyes studied me.

“Do not give up hope, Phasma,” Luna said. “My…. new sister may be temperamental at times, but she will have many reasons to keep you alive.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” I whispered. “You know what she is, don’t you? Have you spoken with the Elements yet?”

“The mares did not tell me a single thing that I did not already know,” Luna said, the cold pain of sadness cutting through me at such a close distance. “Celestia…. I will save her, too. I’ll save everypony, Phasma. Just… hold on. I know you can do that. Harmony has given me a second chance to set things right.”

I sneered, “The Goddess abandoned us. We make our own luck, pony, and I have cast my die. Let’s hope I wasn’t a fool for throwing everything away for this small chance. Now, go, before I start taking my frustration out on you for your failure.”

She withdrew her hoof, “... I am not Nightmare Moon. You know this. You’ve said as much on the night that this city burned. You are frightened, Phasma, but I promise you that you won’t perish.”

“There are fates worse than death.”

She paled, “Yes… you’re right about that. But none of that is welcome here in the Palace. Not even Daybreaker would abide that.”

I almost told her that Daybreaker’s more ‘friendly’ ways of dealing with me would result in that fate, but I spied the demon once more, lurking behind Daring Do as a floating body of one of my siblings. The damned thing was as subtle as a brick when it came to threatening me, but it was quite the fucking brick…

“I wish I could offer you advice,” Luna said, slowly stepping back. “I wish there were some clever words to say, some wisdom to impart. The truth is, I have no idea what to tell you, other than I will save you from the Nightmare possessing you, Phasma.”

I rolled my eyes, crossed my forelegs, and turned away from her.

“I’m not the one who’s possessed, Daybreaker is,” I lied.

“Your eyes are red, Phasma. Even without such an obvious detail, I can smell the Dark Magic within you.”

I turned back, but she was gone, the doors swinging shut. Where she once stood, I saw myself, looking down at me.

“We lie in the same grave, Phasma,” Sloth said. “If I get buried, so do you.”

“You’re the fucker who’s making it obvious,” I hissed.

“What did you say?”

I blinked and looked over at Daring Do. I averted my gaze, staring down at the ground again and turning away from the door. There wasn’t a point to keeping the pretense of being alert for threats.

For the second time in my second life, I found myself walking up the Canterlot Palace’s main hallway to its throne room, unsure if I was going to die or not. I had been told that ‘everypony’ was waiting for me, and was being escorted by Daring Do. Now, the secret agent was actually walking behind me, alongside six fully-geared war mages, but I still considered that being escorted.

The whole place had finished its repairs since the duels between Celestia, Chrysalis, myself, and Daybreaker. I had to compliment the ponies: I couldn’t tell what was new or what was original. Everything from the new stained glass windows to the marble columns seemed as old as the rest of the Palace.

As I admired the windows, my distorted reflection glared back at me.

“You should have ran after delivering your side of the story to the Elements.”

“Wouldn’t have believed me,” I whispered back to the Nightmare.

“What was that?” Daring asked from behind me.

Sloth, appearing only as we passed by each window, snarled at me, “Perhaps, but we wouldn’t be facing down certain death!”

“Everything or nothing,” I sighed.

I caught the war mages whispering to each other, “– that we’ve been hunting? Seems like a washed up lunatic.”

“Quiet!” Their sergeant barked. “Eyes forward, prisoner!”

I rolled my eyes but complied nonetheless. I was happy to ignore Sloth. Unfortunately, he kept talking.

“There’s always time to escape,” it said. “Thankfully, you had the brains to stand your ground and refuse chains and a suppressor ring. When I say run, you better run, because if I have to take direct control, I won’t be giving it back. We’ve made it this far together, Phasma, don’t throw everything away on a fool’s hope.”

I whispered through clenched teeth, “Isn’t this the second time you’ve given me this ultimatum?”

We arrived before the Nightmare could answer. The pair of large double doors before us slowly swung open as the Royal Guards eyed me suspiciously. The conversation in the throne room fell away as we stepped through the opening doors.

In addition to the thirty guards spaced out along the room, I saw the Elements of Harmony gathered at the base of the thrones, as well as Princess of Food Mi Amore Cadenza and her fiance Captain Shining Armor. Above them, on the thrones, sat Princess Luna and her older sister…

Daybreaker.

The Nightmare-possessed alicorn rose from the throne and stalked down the raised dias towards us.

“Why is he not in chains?!” Daybreaker demanded.

“Because I asked nicely,” I countered.

Her fiery mane whipped back and forth as she growled, “Such pleasantries are to be denied to murderers like you!”

“Takes one to know one, Daybreaker,” I spat back.

The Princess of Food interrupted us, “King Phasma is making an… allegation, Auntie. He says that you are possessed by a monster, like how Luna was with Nightmare Moon.”

Daybreaker paused, examining the smaller pink alicorn by her side, “... Don’t tell me you believed that. The best lies are shrouded around kernels of truth– my appearance and demeanor did change after my fight with Queen Chrysalis, but I had lost everything… Anypony would be changed by something like that.”

Cadance glanced up at Luna, who remained stoic, save for a very small shake of her head.

I came to a halt before the pony congregation as Daybreaker pointed at me, “This wretch is, and always has been, an unredeemable murder, a rot that seeks to destroy Equestria from within and from without. He is the one possessed!”

Twilight cleared her throat, her nervousness almost hidden to the non-changelings, “Your Highness? King Phasma has shared some… disturbing news about Division-P. He claims that the changeling holding facility at Locksdale prison is… Uh…”

I began listing off the intel I had gathered, “Torture, mutilation, starvation, experimentation, execution, non-existent living conditions… the list goes on.”

Daybreaker narrowed her eyes, “Our enemy would claim that we devour the souls of fillies and colts if it meant shaking our faith in Equestria, Twilight. I had hoped that you understood this…”

“If it’s all the same, Your highness,” Applejack interceded, “we’d like to be absolutely sure.”

Only I detected the wave of rage that Daybreaker kept suppressed, “... Of course, Applejack. We can investigate this liar’s claims immediately with a visit to Locksdale, and all of your worries will be put to rest.”

“Better go before she can sweep it all under the rug,” I said.

Daybreaker rounded back towards me, “You. You had escaped from me in Manehattan– a failure of mine which has cost many lives. I’ve made many mistakes in my long life, changeling, but I’ve never made them twice. This ends today.”

I smiled, “Martyr me, then. With my death, no pony would stand by your side if you hurt my changelings.”

“Is that why you didn’t flee or fight back?” Daybreaker questioned, before glancing at the Elements out of the corner of her eyes. “I’m not a murderer, King Phasma. That role has been sufficiently overbooked by your kind.”

“There’s a smoldering ruin in Manehattan that says otherwise.”

“I seem to recall that particular building having housed dozens of infiltrating changelings at the time, and I was working to protect my ponies…”

“Liar!” I yelled before turning to the other ponies. “Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Daybreaker is a monster who will end the changeling race if you don’t save us! There is no escaping her Rage, only ending it! You have to destroy this Nightmare!”

“The only Nightmare here is you, Sloth,” Daybreaker said. “I have done nothing wrong. I can present every action I am accountable for for all to see. I have nothing to hide. But you? Hooferville, Manehattan, Seaddle… You bring death to wherever you go.”

My blood ran cold, “Hooferville was not my fault! Your Royal Guard attacked me! If they were needed for the defense of the town, they shouldn’t have gone picking fights!”

“They were enforcing the law, as their duty demands,” Daybreaker countered. “Because you brutalized them and put all of them in the hospital, dozens died days later when the defenses fell. This is all to say nothing of the crimes you committed in Seaddle and Manehattan! What excuses do you have for those?!”

“I offer none,” I spat. “I will do whatever it takes to save my people.”

“And you claim that I am different?!” Daybreaker laughed. “Twilight, Applejack, the difference between us is as clear as day.” I gagged at the pun while she continued, “There is only one true course of action here: use the Elements of Harmony on this criminal. Harmony will burn away the darkness within him.”

“I came here without a fight,” I told them. “I put my fate in your hooves, because nothing less could convince you that I am being honest here: Daybreaker has to go!”

“This was not the plan!” Oestridae’s ghost hissed at me, pressing a hoof to my chest. “You are supposed to convince them, not put things to chance!”

The mares were clearly torn between us, sharing a few whispers that I was too far to overhear. They looked to Cadance and Luna for guidance.

Cadance had her eyes glued on me, “I have witnessed firsthoof what you are capable of, changeling. But… I don’t trust Division-P. I… Princess Luna?”

Luna leaned back on her throne as the ponies looked up to her for guidance. At such a distance, I had no idea what emotions she was experiencing, and was as blind as everyone else was to her thought processes. My concentration on reading her expression was shattered by a sudden pain lancing through my head.

‘You trust these fools too much!’

I blinked and shook my head. The sound of whispers grew louder and louder with each beating of my heart. The room started to spin as the pain intensified.

‘I will not leave my fate up to chance! I will not have my life decided by the whims of mortals! You’ve had your chance, Phasma.’

I wobbled on my hooves, faltered, and fell. The world went black as I fell.

‘N-No!’

It was not my body that hit the floor, but my mind. One second I was looking at the ponies, hoping that they would side with me, and the next I was in a dark, empty space. Sights, sounds, and other senses filtered through like hazy echoes, save for the whispering. It was louder than ever. It was louder than any other sound. It drowned out the sound of my breathing. It drowned out the sound of my own heartbeat.

At last, I understood them. They spoke in my own voice, lulling me to sleep.

‘The last seal breaks. Your voice harmonizes with mine.’

‘Ouroboros, the snake that eats its tail, the infinite loop of unending death.’

‘This is not the beginning. This is not the end. It simply is. We are as we always have been. Something more than those around us.’

The only outward sign of what had taken place was Phasma stumbling and catching himself a moment later. We froze like that, tilted at a wrong angle, resisting gravity’s pull. Slowly, we righted ourselves. Everyone else was too consumed in their arguments to pay us any heed. Everyone else save for Wrath.

“Enough talk,” we whispered. “There has been too much of it already.”

“Something we can agree on,” Daybreaker whispered back.

Despite the distance between us, our voices were perfectly clear and loud in each other’s minds. We were of a piece, of course: the umbrum.

Instead of trading insults, making demands, or conversing further, we leapt into action. The umbrums’ dark energy flowed through our veins and suffused our entire body. We dashed forward, not through physical space but through the gap between worlds. Outwardly, we were nothing but a shadow. Inwardly, we launched ourselves at the blood red sun daring to stand against us.

A blade of black flame met one of red fire. Wrath snarled back, growling through gritted teeth as we held our blades against each other. With a heave, it pushed us off. The ponies blanched, surprised by our sudden apparent teleportation and strike against Wrath.

Then, Wrath was upon us.

It was a fight like none we had ever faced before. The last time we met, it took everything we had to dodge her attacks– we were at almost every single moment on the defensive. This time, it was a dance that shattered glass and solid stone alike, each step threatening to rip limb from limb. We cast and discarded spells like a bored human would change channels on a television: never staying for more than a few seconds, sometimes less than a single one, and always a blur of activity.

Swords, shields, lasers, elemental spells, kinetic force, transmutation, and many more types were thrown out and countered between heartbeats.

Parry, thrust, riposte, pirouette, dive, roll.

Daybreaker had power. We had flexibility.

Block, counter, block again, teleport, heel turn, kick, closed change.

She had speed. We had versatility.

Our dance was not limited to the ground, either. Both of us had wings and the intelligence to use them. Her giant pegasus wings cut through the air like a well cut arrow. Our insect wings, in contrast, let us dodge and strafe in ways that constantly left her baffled and wrong-hoofed. The entire throne room was our battleground, with errant charges and flanking maneuvers taking us through shattered pillars, darting through the grand vaulted ceiling, and through the occasional wall or window.

In short order, the Palace’s throne room was once again a growing heap of rubble. Between slashes and blocks between conjured blades, we saw that the ponies had all congregated together behind Shining Armor’s shields, hoping to avoid the wild blasts of magic we scattered across the room.

Both of us began accumulating wounds. There was only so much we could do against Wrath’s relentless onslaught, and in short order our chitin was cracked in more places than we could count. But as we blood seeped through the cracks, Wrath’s own dripped from the various cuts we had inflicted with well-placed attacks.

Wrath had been expecting us to be on the defensive again. But after our humiliation in Manehattan, we learned all I could about maneuverability and deflecting attacks rather than fully blocking them. Any beam of solar plasma shot at us was quickly redirected away. Any jab or cut from a blade was parried away and followed up with an attack of our own– up to and including a shoulder-check if needed.

We fought as dirty as we could. Throwing our physical and magical weight against her when we could, biting and kicking when we couldn’t. Wrath’s hot rage grew and grew as we literally nipped at her heels, drawing blood and ire in equal measures. Her decorative peytral and horseshoes began to drip molten gold as she let her fire overtake her.

Their constant use of fire against us was painful. Our body was blistered and burnt in more places than it was cracked.

Laser, shield, ice spear, belly-flop, roll, leg sweep into an enhanced buck.

The blood was roaring in our ears. Our heart beat hard in our chest. The smell of burnt fur and chitin filled our nostrils. The taste of fear was in the air.

Wrath was quick to catch onto any trick we used against them. Our teleports were quickly countered by strong area-affecting spells. Dodging under or around them was put to an end by an empowered hoof kicking out to break ribs. We had more than enough tricks to win any other battle, but this was a duel between gods, and they had more time to grow accustomed to their form than we had. One by one, our fighting techniques were picked apart and countered by the creature of the same twisted fate. Time had rusted their movement, but not her mind.

When they paused, we took the opportunity to catch our breath. We stared Wrath down, panting heavily and trying to get the pain in our chest under control.

“There!” Wrath called out, pointing to us. “Don’t you see?! It’s as clear as day, Twilight!”

We didn’t need a mirror to know what she was talking about. We could feel it coursing through our body, mind, and magic. We could feel the energy pushing life back into our muscles, knitting our chitin, and spilling from our eyes in pure magical energy. The green vapors trailed behind our head as we stalked around Wrath.

Wrath glanced at the Element bearers, “Dark magic! He’s possessed, you must use the Elements upon him!”

“Enough, Wrath!” We called out. “There is room for only one monarch on Equus! You wish to control the sun. He wishes to devour it. But I shall set things right, and put the heavenly bodies into their own cycles! I am sick of this world’s perversion of the heavens. After I kill you, I will free the sun and the moon! So let it be written! So let it be done!”

This time, it was our turn to lunge. Wrath cast a well-aimed beam of fire hot enough to melt steel, aimed straight at our face. We didn’t dodge away, We didn’t teleport out of the line of fire, and we certainly didn’t bother trying to block it.

Instead, as we galloped towards Rage Incarnate, we filled our being with all the dark magic we could muster and simply slipped between the cracks in the world. Our body turned to shadow as we dashed straight through her attack. The beam distorted and displaced the shadows, but did nothing to harm us.

When we phased back into reality, our right hoof was already launching upwards to upper-cut Wrath. The parasite spun from the hit, flying upwards and backwards several paces before it stabilized itself.

Blood dripped from its nose.

We charged again.

We wanted to rip Wrath limb from limb. We wanted to inflict upon it all the pain and death the parasite had caused our race. We wanted to kill the Nightmare, and we were going to make it quick.

The last thing we saw was her horn glowing greenish-red before a light of those same colors filled our vision. We felt ourselves tossed through the air. Now, we had both thrown each other across the room, through pillars and walls, and into the ground many times. But when the light faded, there was only darkness.

Wrath had predicted where we emerged from the shadows, and had struck me right in our face. We couldn’t feel our face from the mouth up. In addition to sight, we had also lost most of our ability to smell.

But we could taste its rage and mirth. We could feel each ripple of magic in the air. We could hear them just fine. Wrath had scored a good hit, but we were far from done.

“What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light!” The insufferable Nightmare cackled.

We turned towards the monster’s voice, “I will carve your fate into the very stars themselves, so that everyone will look up at the night sky and see your failure!”

The font of hatred moved. Moments later, the magic in the air wove and rippled as a spell was hurled our way. We ducked to the side, letting a fireball sizzle past me, and spun around, striking the Nightmare’s intended destination with a roundhouse kick that was strengthened with some of our dwindling love reserves. The blow cracked a magical shield that came into being between our hindleg and its face.

Once more, we danced across the Throne room. It was a shorter, close-quarters dance, almost like a waltz. Wrath used their speed to catch me off guard more often. We used the fact that we no longer even had to look at the Nightmare to constantly throw out unexpected attacks.

When the cascade of spells failed, we were on the ground, biting, kicking, rolling, spitting, snarling, yelling, and firing off useless lasers that always missed their marks.

“Now!”

The blistering form that filled our senses with its hate vanished moments later, leaving me behind in a crater of crushed marble.

‘... That wasn’t Wrath’s voice.’

As we struggled to our hooves, we sensed it before we felt it. A wall of energy, so dense, vast, and absolute that it left us staring at it like a blind deer in the headlights. We could feel the emotions poured into it, every last scrap of love, happiness, kindness, and the other irrelevant sensations. we felt its speed from the gust of wind and chips of broken stone thrown into our face and chest. When it hit me, we felt the power of the Elements of Harmony coursing straight through me, burning away the dark magic that suffered every inch of our being.

As the mountain of magic crashed down upon me, we screamed as we were burned alive.

The pain faded. The smells faded. Everything faded… save for sound. There were voices in the distance, but I couldn’t make them out. The ponies, I knew that, but who was saying what…

I tried to blink my eyes open and look around to see what was going on. The first thing I noticed was that I still couldn’t see. In short order, the memory of what had just happened returned to me. My eyesight was destroyed by Daybreaker, and it would not be returned until I found the time to use a changeling healing pod.

The second thing I noticed is that I didn’t look around. I didn’t raise my head, I didn’t groan and cough, I didn’t place my hooves beneath me and push up from the ground. I didn’t do anything.

I wasn’t doing anything.

‘No…’

I tried to stand up. I tried to shake my head. I tried to twitch a hoof. I tried to scream.

‘No! No no no no! Please, no! No!’

I couldn’t breathe. I felt phantom pressure on my chest and the horrible feeling of utter stillness where my heart was. I was suffocating– I couldn’t breathe! I couldn’t open my mouth, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t scream for help, I couldn’t breathe!

‘Someone help! I don’t know– help! Help me! Someone, please! It can’t end like this…’

The voices were my only connection to the outside world. I focused hard, ignoring the utter stillness of the world to try to listen to the distant ponies.

“... again?” One distant voice called out. The higher, raspy voice belonged to Element of Loyalty Rainbow Dash. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You’re using a powerful artifact that nopony fully understands,” she said. “Indeed, nothing might happen, or I could be banished to the moon for a thousand years….”

“No!” Luna called out. “You will not suffer such a fate!”

“Don’t worry, Princess,” Twilight said. “We’ll… figure this out.”

‘I need help! Someone! Help!’

“– on the changeling king again, right?” The Element of Honesty asked, almost too quiet to hear.

“We will,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“... Once the war is over,” Daybreaker added. The rest of the ponies mumbled confused responses before the monster continued, “You all know what that murderer has done. If we let him wander the halls, or even risk keeping him in a cell, who knows what will happen. Don’t you think that the tribe capable of infiltrating anywhere will work to free him– and then what will happen? How many ponies will be murdered in the escape attempt?”

“You’re saying just leave him like that?” Applejack questioned.

‘Get me out of here– wherever here is! Help me! Help!’

I tried to thrash against whatever held me, but to no avail. I couldn’t even feel anything. I didn’t feel the pain of broken chitin, or the gnawing of hunger, or the endless whispers from that demon that clung to my mind. Simply… nothing.

“I don’t know,” Luna said, continuing a conversation I was only partially hearing. “I just–”

“We will go to Locksdale,” Daybreaker interrupted. “We will see everything that is going on. If I am right, then there is nothing to fear. If the changeling villain was right, then we will put an end to all of it.”

“.... We’re going right now,” Twilight insisted.

“Agreed,” Rarity added.

The rest of the Elements added their support, and Cadance too.

“What do we do with… him?” The Captain of the Guard said.

Daybreaker’s voice called out, “... Take the statue somewhere secure. We will find a place until it is safe to free him.”

‘Statue?! N-No, don’t– get me the fuck out of here! Someone, please, help me!’

“.... Fine,” Rainbow Dash huffed. “But we’re not letting the Elements out of our sight!”

The sound of hoofsteps approached me. It was the soft clip-clop of hooves on the marble floors, coupled with the slightly high-pitched sound of bits of gravel scraping against the hard floor. A faint clanking of armor made itself known, identifying the ponies as Royal Guards.

“Just when the place is back to new,” a mare whispered.

“Like mother, like son,” a stallion whispered back. “C’mon, I’ll take the rear if you take the head.”

“... Be careful,” a third pony said softly. “Bring him to the vaults for now. We’ll find a proper place soon.”

‘Luna?! Nightmare Moon?! Envy! Whoever you are, just help me! I’ll do whatever you want, give you anything and everything– just help me! Please!’

The crinkle of magic surrounded me, but once again I felt nothing. Before, I would have sensed the movement of magic around me as the telekinesis was used. I would have felt the emotions of the ponies that surrounded me. There was nothing but the dead stillness now.

Luna was close now, speaking to my face, “... Sleep well, Phasma. I will find a way to get through all of this with no more ponies getting hurt. I’ll protect your changelings for you. I will get the Bearers to turn against Daybreaker for good.”

‘No! Help me now! Luna! Please!’

“Uh, Princess? Something we should know about… the Princess?” One of the guards asked.

‘Don’t leave me like this! Please… Luna, don’t leave me like this! Kill me!’

“... You’ve heard everything, young colt,” Luna mumbled, ignoring my cries for mercy. “But I understand that it may be hard to hear.”

The mare pawed the ground, “I mean… it doesn’t make sense? You changed appearance, Your Highness, when you were, uh… Nightmare Moon, but if Daybreaker is just the same… wouldn’t the Prince of Dread have changed appearance, too? And name?”

Luna sighed, “Get him to the vault, Cadet.”

‘Luna! Kill me! Don’t damn me to this, end it! Luna! Please! Please! Luna!’

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 5/4

There’s no sound in the Palace’s vaults.

I don’t even know what they look like. I’ve never been inside them, and it’s not like pictures are taken and widely distributed of the most secure room on the entire planet. I heard the sound of metal doors opening when they brought me in, but that’s the only hint I was given. Given how long it took for the doors to open, I can only imagine them as a massive, circular vault door. Or doors.

It’s so quiet…

No sight, no sound, no sense of touch, no emotions, no magic. I was locked inside my own body, apparently turned into a statue by the Elements of Harmony. Belatedly, I recalled the case of the demon of Discord suffering such a fate. Such scraps of knowledge had been carefully pried from the dangerous and terrifying location known as the Manehattan Public Library, yet I had no idea what such a horrible fate entailed.

Alone…

I wondered how long I would be trapped like this. Unable to breathe, to scream, to cry, to beg for death. Luna was apparently stuck on the moon for a thousand years. Would I face a similar fate for trying to save my species? If it wasn’t for that damned Umbrum, none of this would have happened…

Or would it? In truth, it was impossible to tell where I ended and where Sloth began. Even now, I feel unremorseful for many of my actions taken to protect the changelings. Was this the fate I deserved for not believing in a better way? Am I to be damned to the worst ending imaginable for doing anything and everything to protect those who look up to me?

Death would be so much better.

I wanted this to end. I wanted out. Freedom or death, whichever was possible. Maybe in the next life, I could do things right. Maybe I can think of better plans, or win the important fights, or even just have a safer life. Maybe I wouldn’t have to be in charge of everything. Though being honest, I loved being a leader, and I was scared that next life I would be just another average joe. I loved being important, I loved being powerful, and I loved making history.

So where did I go wrong? What did I do to deserve this? Was it my rebellion against Chrysalis? Was it my failure to save Thorax? Or was it when I commanded my friend Oest to die for me? Was there some way to survive in the woods that I missed?

Is anyone going to save me?

There was only darkness and silence now.

Hours passed one by one. I had nothing to do but think, scream in my head, and panic about not breathing. Frequently, my thoughts returned to the alicorn who I could relate to most. She had worked so hard to try to help me; from the moment that failure of an Umbrum Nightmare Moon had died, Princess Luna had attempted to find some way to save both the changelings and the ponies. I… didn’t know if there was any hope at first. Now, all I have is that hope. I hoped that she would succeed and save the day. I hoped that my changelings weren’t being slaughtered out there because of me. I hoped that somehow, this unending nightmare of mine would end.

How long would I be here? How long have I already been trapped in this? If Luna was banished to the empty moon for a thousand years…

I wanted to shudder in fear. I wanted to cry. There were so many things I wanted to do, but all I could do was suffer. Hour after hour of sitting in absolute darkness and silence. I never slept, either. I had to endure every single second of my worst nightmare.

It took days for my visitor to arrive. The sound of the heavy metal doors grinding open was a life raft of sweet external stimuli. I wanted to twitch my ears and face the sound which came from my right. I wanted out…

“That will be all,” Luna said.

‘Luna! It’s you! Please, help me! I can't…’

The pony walked closer, the sound of her hoofsteps growing louder until she stopped right in front of me.

“Oh, Phasma…” she whispered.

‘I’m here! I’m here, Luna! Get me out of here! Please! Luna! Please, Luna…! Are you there? Can you hear me? Am I just imagining things?!’

I did my best to focus on the silence. After what seemed like an entire minute of suppressed panicking, I realized that there was extremely faint breathing in front of me.

‘Luna! Come on! Get! Me! Out! Or– or just kill me! Do something, anything!’

The pony sighed, “I’m sorry, Prince Phasma. Things should have never turned out this way. My mind keeps returning to that one fateful night that I fell to my own temptations and let the Nightmare in. If I hadn’t fallen, I wouldn’t have been banished. If I wasn’t banished, both Celestia and you would be here now, beside me… I failed you both.”

‘I’m here now! Please, listen to me! Help me!’

“Most of the Element Bearers are in agreement: the Elements should be used again to free you. However… Twilight Sparkle is hesitant to go against her former teacher and faux-mother. I don’t know how she did it, but Daybreaker cleaned up everything in Locksdale before we visited on that day. Since then, Daybreaker has wedged enough doubt in Twilight’s mind to stay her hoof. The rest of the Bearers are too unsure of what to do to lend any conviction to the matter. If I press too hard, Daybreaker will… I don’t know what to do, Phasma. I feel so confused, lost, and frustrated. I feel like the only pony I can talk to freely is trapped as a statue, unable to hear a word I’m saying…”

‘Kill me, Luna! Kill me! I want out! Let me OUT!’

She continued, “But we are so close! All I need to do is unhook Twilight Sparkle from Daybreaker’s schemes and it will all be made right! The Nightmare is cunning and patient, however, and is playing the part of a pacified pony princess perfectly. Sard her! I’m not giving up. I will make this right! I will save my sister, end this war, and save you! I cannot express how thankful I was for you to find me, Phasma. If you hadn’t accidentally reached out to Nightmare Moon while we were still trapped on my moon… I will repay that blessing. I have to.”

My wordless screams and cries went unheeded.

“... Thank you for your company, Phasma. It felt good to vent my frustrations. I… We’re going to leave you in the vault. As much as I want to bring you out to somewhere I can see you frequently, I can’t help but fear the minute chances of something happening. Unlike Discord, if your statue were to shatter, I don’t think I could take it…

“I must return to my duties. If I spend too long missing, Daybreaker will know, and… Thank you for listening, Phasma.”

Luna left me alone in the darkness again, the door shutting behind her.

I still couldn’t cry.

I had no concept of time. I was trapped in perpetual darkness without any outside contact for a very, very long time. Weeks? Months? It felt like centuries, regardless of the truth.

A few times, I heard the vault opening and expected Luna to engage in another one-way conversation with me. More often than not, my hopes were rewarded with a coveted scrap of contact. But more than once, it was simply a Royal Guard squad sent to inspect the vault, or something to that end.

Luna described to me various problems she was facing. Most of them had to do with convincing the Elements to kill Daybreaker. It was not easy to doubt the person who taught you everything, but all things considered, that doubt had already been implanted in their minds. The really tricky bit was convincing Twilight Sparkle to do something that could potentially kill her surrogate mother.

At least they managed to keep the Elements on them, and were smart enough to not let them out of their sight.

I listened to Luna in silent sorrow and pain, clinging to every word like they were a life preserver. I quietly begged her to stay. Every time, she left with an apology. That made me feel like she could actually hear- though I know it was just a coincidence.

There was no other way to describe what happened, other than 'time passed.' In the darkness, each second both dragged on and blurred together. I experienced days like one experiences a marathon. Visits were few and far between, until the day it all ended.

The first thing I noticed was that Luna's steps were quicker. The second thing I noticed was the crinkle of magic being used. The third and final clue that something might be up was the loud thud of metal hitting the floor after the vaults doors were closed.

"Faust above, please let this work," Luna whispered.

'Make what work? What's going on?'

The pony stood in front of me, mumbling quietly.

"Tis been some time, you might need to readjust…. Nay, too formal. Phasma, I am… Bah! I am overthinking this!"

The soft sound of magic being cast filled my ears, followed shortly by the sound of something scraping against stone. I suddenly felt a pulling sensation near my chest. The sudden input of a sensation other than sound caused me to cry out in joy.

'What is this?! Goddess, I can feel something again!'

Stone cracked all around me as sensations began rushing back. A sensation of cold air against my chitin sent me into stunned silence. Exhaustion and pain heralded the return of muscles and wounds that I had long forgotten about. My whole body started shaking as I began to break loose from my frozen form.

Now that I could actually feel my body, I realized that I had been frozen while hissing at the all-encompassing wave of magic that had doomed me. My jaw herded side to side as it was freed from the stone, allowing me to slam my mouth closed. The sucking sensation in front of me started to even out, letting me detect the familiar bindings of the weapon held in my outstretched hoof. At last, I finally had an understanding of what was going on.

Luna had returned God-Splitter to its rightful owner. The magic-sapping properties had destroyed whatever it was that was trapping me within my own body. I had no idea it was capable of eroding something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony's work, but I wasn't about to protest.

Gravity pulled on me for the first time since my second-death, and I fell forward. God-Splitter slipped from my grasp and clattered to the ground, but a pair of hooves caught me and pulled me in. I was limp in Luna's grip, shaking uncontrollably as pain started building in my chest.

I was completely overwhelmed by sensations now. I felt the pony's fur and cold peytral and boots pressing against me. I sensed the magic in the air, thick and turbulent from the ridiculous amount of enchantments and artifacts present around us. Faintly, I tasted happiness. The only two senses left blind were smell and sight.

I dared not open my eyes, lest this whole dream be dispelled.

"It worked!" Luna cheered. "Huzzah! Eat thine own excrement, demon! Phasma, can you hear me? Are you- Phasma, breathe!"

The sudden realization that I wasn't breathing- and that I had to- brought a wave of cold air into my chest, and the smell of shampoo into my nose. I forcibly exhaled and inhaled over and over again, breathing manually as I desperately tried to remember how to do it normally.

"You've been away for some time, Phasma," Luna explained. "But fear not! You're in good hooves, now! If I might be so bold, you are in the greatest hooves in the land… I am not detecting any foul magic within you anymore. Are you feeling okay, Prince?"

Between ragged gasps, I managed to clutch onto Luna, holding onto her for dear life.

"You… saved me," I wheezed. "Luna… T-Thank you… You stayed…"

"It is my duty to save those in need. I have a lot of lost time to account for," Luna said. "I see that the Elements have righted most of your wounds. Though, I know from experience that you may feel some aching… Open your eyes, let us see if the worst of your physical afflictions has been corrected."

I kept my eyes shut, "No, please… I don't want… to wake up… from this."

"The Nightmare is over, Phasma. The monster is dead. Unfortunately, the one possessing my sister lingers, but that shall be rectified in short order. I simply could not wait after coming up with the idea of using your hammer to free you. I suspect it was only possible due to the Nightmare taking the brunt of the magic. I wish I knew why it also petrified you…"

I didn't respond to that. Simply breathing was already an exhausting effort, and I was still shaking.

"I will take you to the infirmary, Phasma. They will want to look you over, the changeling healers especially."

"Don't leave me," I gasped. "Don't leave me… in the dark."

"I will not leave you. I intend on returning the kindness you showed Nightmare Moon, Phasma. Speaking of which, I need you to remain as calm as you can if Daybreaker finds you… when Daybreaker finds you. The Bearers will soon act against her, but she will no doubt learn of your sudden freedom before then. I know the duel was just moments ago for you, but can you do that?"

I groaned, "How are the changelings?"

"Better than when you left them," Luna revealed. "Locksdale was shut down immediately. Daybreaker used the perpetrators, Division-P, as a scapegoat to cover her own involvement. The vast majority of them have been incarcerated and await trial. Were it up to Daybreaker alone, that trial would find them innocent- or simply would never happen. Your little outlaw empire has reached a truce with Equestria, and handled the release of Locksdale's prisoners. In your absence, Coxa leads the splinter faction. Your gambit worked, the changelings are safe."

I grunted an acknowledgement and buried my head deeper against her shoulder.

"Thank you, Luna."

"As I said, I owe it to everypony to make up for my lost time and past mistakes."

"No… for talking to me. For staying with me. It meant a lot."

The sensation of fear stole away much of the hug's warmth, "What do you mean? You were… Nay, you should not have heard those conversations. Unless you are saying you heard them while dreaming? Some of those were quite private, and I would appreciate it if you kept them between us."

"I wasn't dreaming," I told the alicorn. "All I saw and felt was darkness. Your words, however rare they were… they were everything to me. Thank you, Luna, for saving me..."

Fear infected her words and corrupted the warmth from her, "No, nay, that is not- you did not… It should have been nothing more than a blur to you! How long ago did you cross blades with Daybreaker, Phasma?! That is, from your perspective?!"

I attempted to shrug, "A very long time…"

Luna's grip tightened, "That was six months ago! You were awake for six months?! Phasma, I am so sorry, I should have forced the Elements to free you, or thought of this idea, or-"

"I'm happy you saved me," I interrupted. "I… I can't say anything more. It was horrible, Luna. I can't imagine what it was like to be on the moon for a thousand years if this is what six months was like."

"These are two different wounds," Luna said, still holding tight. "I was not in darkness on my moon, save for when I traversed the far side. And even then. I could– nay, it does not matter. I'm sorry, Phasma, for everything you've experienced. Let's… let us get you to the infirmary, before any changelings present break down the vault door to get to you. No doubt they have sensed your Hive Mind."

I nodded, "Okay. Just… don't let go?"

I sensed Luna's horn fill with magic as she spoke, "Never. Things will get better now, I promise."

Phasma Is Considerably More Evil But He Is The Main POV Character So It’s Okay 3/4

I examined myself in the white suit. It complimented the dark color of my chitin quite well. At least, I think it did. I had next to no knowledge about fashion.

"What do you think, Coxa? Gold highlights? Red? Orange?"

The drone looked over, scowling. "I think you should reconsider."

"There’s nothing to consider.”

"And if they figure out what we are?"

"Then we pod them," I said simply.

"Considering the mess you left behind in Hooferville, I doubt things will go that smoothly."

I turned to Coxa, “We don’t have a choice. We need allies, Coxa. We need them. You… you have no idea how powerful Daybreaker is. We can’t fight her alone. We can’t.”

He stamped a hoof, "You know this is stupid. It's too hot right now! There's an entire battalion of Royal Guards in the city!"

I chuckled and shrugged, "Seaddle’s a big place. Any response they can muster will take time. If things go wrong, we can clean up and be gone before the fuzz have time to put their boots on."

“These guys aren’t even worth it,” Coxa said, gesturing towards the closed doors behind us. “They’re low-lives. Criminals. Civilians without morals. Ponies! Why can’t we find allies elsewhere?”

“There is no elsewhere, Coxa.”

“What about the bat ponies? Didn’t they have an army promised to Nightmare Moon?”

A shiver went up my spine, “The drones I’ve sent to Vallachia haven’t returned, Coxa. Whatever’s going on there, they have gotten good at keeping outsiders out. I sure as hell won’t be going to them undisguised– there’s no telling where their allegiances lie. We’re doing this, Coxa. We need whatever help we can get.”

Coxa grunted as I passed him, "Your funeral."

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt," I waved his concerns away.

I magically shed my clothing, prying off each piece and folding them, keeping the whole two piece suit together in my magic as orange flames wrapped around my body. Using the Thread of Change, I adopted my Unexpected Value disguise and began redonning my suit.

By the time I was putting my tie back on, I was shouldering open the doors to the dirty warehouse. Inside. A crowd of both ponies and disguised changelings were arguing. Now, my drones outnumbered the ponies two to one, but the ponies didn't know that. Not when it was their friends and comrades next to them that had also been replaced.

When they saw me enter, the heads of the mob of prey turned my way, firing off very menacing glares at me. I put on a grin and waved to them all..

"Well well well, if it isn't the stallion of the hour," A stallion in a black suit and red tie said.

I knew he was the leader of the Dockyard Hounds. Anything past that didn't matter- save, of course, for his swanky outfit.

"Haha, sorry I'm late! Had to do some last minute shopping."

Another gang leader, the pegasus godfather of the Seaddle Stewards, sneered at me, "You kept us waiting for a poundin' shopping trip?!"

I chuckled as I struck a pose, “Totally worth the expedience fee! Now, I am here, let’s skip the pleasantries and get to the heart of the matter; who here wants to commit High Treason?”

Staking out a potential lead was one of the most boring parts of the job.

Long hours of waiting in cafes, in cold carriages, sitting in parks, whoever they could. Being a member of the Seaddle Regular wasn't a thankless job- it was true what they said about mares and uniforms- but it was a grueling one at times.

Detective Long Stand scratched his neck as he stared through binoculars. His spot on the roof of the apartment building gave him a remarkable view into the shattered northwest window of the warehouse. So he waited for hours in the cold, light drizzle. There were ponies in there alright; Long had counted at least thirty ponies entering, and only eight leaving. Through the window, he could see them congregate in the center of the empty structure.

Behind him, the roof access door swung open on rusty hinges. The sound made Long flinch, but Private Curtain's nasally voice made him flinch even harder.

"Any changes?"

"No," Long Stand growled back. "And if there are any changes, I'll send Sparks down to you. There's no need to bother us every five minutes!"

Sparks waived from his spot beneath the raised edge of the building.

Private Curtain shrugged, "If you two get spotted and nabbed, it would be my job to discover that."

"Celestia willing," Long muttered, returning to his binoculars. "... Hang on."

"What?" Came the nasally reply.

The crowd of ponies broke up into a dozen fights. Not an unexpected outcome, given all the marks attending this clandestine meeting.

".... Something's changed. Looks like the targets are getting heated. Guess nopony else is showing up, get the colts rolling."

Private Curtain shuffled his wings, "Finally!"

The door creaked shut behind Long Stand. Long Stand turned back to the shattered window. This time, he spied more than just ponies inside. The thugs weren’t just fighting each other, there was an entire ravenous horde of changelings in there!

"... Oh cowpies! Curtain! Private Cur- ah, buck he's already gone! Sparks, go tell them there's changelings present in Seaddle! Code Green! Code Green!"

Through his binoculars, Long Stand could only watch the slaughter.

I had found the limits of my diplomatic skills. They were, unfortunately, quite a bit closer to outright violence than I liked.

The various ponies and their henchmares were shouting at each other, and at me. Mostly at me.

"Kill them all," a familiar voice cooed into my ear.

I ignored Chrysalis's specter. Giving the ghost some credit, that would have been her exact advice, anyways.

"You know it's true," I insisted. "The searches are becoming more frequent, the patrols more often, the bribes more costly! The E.U.P. are condoning the city in all but name! And this is happening everywhere in Equestria! We have to band together if we want to survive! You all know what they’ve done to Manehattan- the crackdowns, the random searches, the papers requirements… Let them have any power, and they’ll bring the hammer down!"

Also it would be remarkably easier to simply replace each of the leaders.

"Lick your own length, coltcuddler!" The Seaddle Stewards' leader yelled.

"So much for civility," I sighed.

"Like hay I'm ever working with you!" Another growled at me.

"Together, we can turn the tide!" I insisted. "We outnumber those reds and blues three-to-one, even with the golden boys from uphill! We can run this town how we please! Can you dig it, do you understand what I’m getting at?! We can take control of this city! We can force ‘em out and keep ‘em out!”

"Buck you!"

“You can’t say I’m wrong,” I insisted. “The pressure has only been building, and it’s going to keep building. None of us can get into Manehattan with the way it is, and now you’ve seen the signs that the same will happen here in Seaddle. We must stand together, lest we fall apart!”

“Fighting is suicide!” The Seaddle Stewards' leader snapped at me. “I don’t need some jumped-up carpetbagger telling me how to run my business, foal! Did you honestly expect us to just drop everything and listen to somepony who’s still wet behind the ears?!”

I sighed and whispered to my disguised lieutenant next to me, "This isn’t working.”

The disguised drone frowned, "Orders, sir?"

Through the Weave, I silently commanded, "Plan A has failed. Prepare for Plan B."

'... We can pod them all. It'll be a tight window, and the initial scuffle will be loud enough to have the fuzz coming down on us. But… we've had practice. We can make the timing. Pod every pony, get them out the doors and into carriages. It can work. Bur that Royal Guard battalion… The timing will be different. Changed. Can we still make it? What other alternatives do we have?'

"Kill them all," Chrysalis whispered again.

This time, I found myself nodding slowly.

'Forty leaders and Lieutenants. I can spare the lings to replace them. Mmm…. I don't want to. Let's say a fight knocked off a number of the Lieutenants and muscle present. I can whittle that figure down to… twenty four replaceables. Claim the Royal Guard got the rest. Yeah. It can work. But what to do about the ponies themselves..'

I stomped my hoof on the ground. The loud clop was not as intimidating as I liked, but these days I was making do with what I had.

I spread my hooves wide to my unknowingly-captive audience, "Ladies! Ladies! We must adapt! We must change! These are hard times, but the strong will survive! Now, I ask you all, will you adapt and thrive? Or will you fight and starve? Feast… or famine?"

The various 'Up yours, buddy' and 'buck off, sidewalk licker' responses were all that I got in return for my offered olive branch.

Shrugging, I gave the final command, "More for us, then. Because tonight, we feast!"

The second part I shouted aloud and through the Weave. The drones, dispersed throughout the warehouse room, acted as one. The ponies were ready for a fight. They had drawn close in their little wedges of Loyalty, mimicries of their territorial lines across the island. But my loyal subjects transcended their pathetic territorial disputes.

The ponies expected a fight. Hell, so did my drones. But my Weave order was an unmistakable signal. I was crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war.

It was time to feast.

My drones, not ones to ignore an order or pass up the chance, turned the room into a feeding frenzy. Disguises were shed, spells were thrown, and some limbs were torn clean off as they savagely beat down the ponies around them and consumed their love. The ponies put up a fight when they had the chance, but there wasn't much of one to begin with. The drones went wild, and were practically fighting over the chances to quadruple their monthly love rations in a single day.

I stood in the middle of it all, lending a helping hoof at taking down the more troublesome prey. That Seaddle Stewards fellow was particularly stubborn, but a well placed buck folded his hind leg the wrong way and sent him to the ground, where a pair of changelings sucked his love out, leaving him nothing more than a husk.

"Should have taken my offer," I mocked his corpse.

Somewhere behind me, Sloth chuckled.

I had recorded the identities of the important ponies in my Weave. We had no need to preserve bodies for identification. The unicorn who attempted to stab me in the chest with a conjured knife was rewarded by me grabbing him with my magic, draining him till his fur fell and skin shriveled, and dropped his desiccated corpse to the floor.

That was when the city and Royal Guard both arrived in force.

Private Iron Curtain clutched his spear as his squad surrounded the West primary bay door.

When the order came to breach, they followed through without hesitation. In perfect form, they lined up, the unicorn specialist blasted open the metal bay door, and they rushed in, spears and spells at the ready.

Curtain faltered.

A blue unicorn in a blood-splattered white tuxedo was staring back at them. Around him, a field of dead or dying ponies was being picked over by a Swarm of changelings. Four ponies were incinerated in green flames before his very eyes.

At the unicorn’s hooves, a dying, wretched remains of somepony pawed at the ground, trying to drag himself towards the Royal Guards and away from the blood-splattered pony.

“H… help!” The dying pony’s lips mouthed.

The menacing unicorn pointed at the dumb-struck squad and spoke two words which spurred every one of the changelings into action.

"No witnesses!"

Hell descended upon Private Iron Curtain. He and his squad formed up, throwing out stun spells, shields, and spear jabs that would have divided and conquered any unorganized, lesser foe.

But today, they were fighting the Swarm of the Fifth Hive.

Clack clack. Clack clack. Clack clack.

Coxa looked up at me. I watched him from the doorway, swaying side to side as the train hustled along its tracks.

“You keep standing there and people are gonna mistake you for a statue.”

Shutting the sliding door behind me, I sighed wearily as I flopped into the seat across from Coxa. The drone continued to stare at me, the book in his hooves forgotten.

“How are you holding up?”

I turned an eye his way, “Fine, technically.”

“Meaning?”

“Daybreaker… It’s not something you shrug off. Even months later, the feeling remains…” I trailed off as I pressed against the exposed side of my chest.

“Next time, you’ll have backup,” Coxa said. “Next time, you’ll have us. Also, these artifacts from Nisir should help tip the scales in our favor.”

I pushed myself upright, “There won’t be a next time.”

“How are we gonna defeat Equestria without defeating Daybreaker?” Coxa questioned.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “But it was made painfully clear the difference between us. I see why the Legions retreated in their entirety; a Nightmare-possessed Alicorn can swing a love-fed royal like we’re nothing but a wooden baseball bat.”

Coxa shut his book and placed it on the empty seat next to him, “So what? We just give up? Wait for the Inquisitors to dig us out of every hole we hide in? We let them run Locksdale uncontested?”

“We need to get the Elements of Harmony,” I said, rubbing my head. “They killed Envy. Princess Luna is proof of that. We just need them to be used on Daybreaker…”

Coxa frowned, “Tough sell. If they were gonna use them on Daybreaker, they’d have done so already. How do you plan on convincing them to switch sides? Ask nicely?”

“Maybe.”

He snorted, “Good one. Seriously, any ideas? Any at all?”

“Ask nicely.”

“Phasma, do you have any idea what’ll happen if they use the Elements on you?”

I shrugged, “Unless there’s an entire moon I don’t know about named Phasmatodea or something, I think I’ll be safe from banishment.”

“They turned the Draconequus into a statue for several thousand years. They might banish you to the moon all the same. Or they might…”

I raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Coxa shifted in his seat, “I heard about what happened. What Daybreaker said. What it called you. That demon called you a Nightmare.”

“Lie to him,” Praetorian Weevil whispered, suddenly lounging on the seat next to Coxa. “Lie, or I take away every gift and leave you to die again. Or worse.”

I stared at the hole in his neck.

“... Don’t be ridiculous, Coxa. I’m me. If I wasn’t me, you’d know.”

Coxa scratched his head, “Yeah, but… Don’t act like your magic changing color isn’t as obvious as a taste of love. I’ve read up on that shit; the prissy unicorns of Canterlot all agree, it’s bad. What’s going on with you, Phasma?”

I gestured to myself, “I’m fine, see? I don’t know why my magic is that muddy brown. Shit just keeps happening, I don’t have answers. I’m not a local like you guys. One day, my horn wobbles. The next, I learn I’m some freak genetic experiment designed in a lab. The day after that, I kill my best friend. I don’t have answers… Maybe Daybreaker sees me as some Nightmare because that’s what I am? A soul possessing a body designed by Chrysalis?”

“All the more reason to stay away from the Elements,” Coxa muttered.

“What choice do we have? If we keep going the way we are, we’re dead.”

“Can’t you… you know?” Coxa waved his hooves at me, “Use your dream magic stuff. Talk to the Elements– or even Princess Luna through dreams. That’s a lot safer than meeting up in person.”

I gritted my teeth, “I told you, I can’t do that. It was all Nightmare Moon. Ever since she died, I haven’t had any more nighttime visitors.”

“One night at one of our speakeasies can fix that,” he smiled.

“Coxa, this is serious.”

His smile dropped away as he threw his hooves up, “Well? What do you want me to say?! Lace and Thorax are dead?! That we’re going to join them before long?! That our species spent its last chance at survival, and now we’re just a flame sputtering out?! There’s always a way forward. You, Oest, and I can take on any challenge Panar throws our way, you’ll see.”

“Then we better start coming up with something that can convince the Elements to save our sorry asses.”

Coxa picked his book back up, “Or find some other way. It’s there, Phasma. We just have to find it.”

I stood up and headed for the door.

“Going already? You just sat down.”

“I can’t sit still,” I answered. “I’m going to go over our haul. Maybe your other way is in one of the crates.”

I shut the door behind me and shouldered my way past the Red Right Hoof soldiers standing guard. Stepping through the rear door, I was met with a blast of cold air and snowflakes. We were still pretty far north, still close to Shimmervale and the mountain that held Nisir. I paused before entering the next train car. The cold bit through my chitin, and the noise made my ears flop backwards on instinct, but I took a moment to take in the sight of the snow flurry illuminated by the carriage’s lights around me.

One of my ears flipped upwards, rotating towards the storage car ahead of me. But it wasn’t sound that alerted me. It was emotion. There weren’t supposed to be any ponies here. Not on this train.

Quickly, I cast a sound amplification spell that Sloth taught me, directing it towards the empty storage carriage. The sound of voices strained to be heard over the loud clacking of the train wheels….

“What is this stuff?”

“That’s a magical artifact. Definitely a powerful one– don’t just drop it! Put it back gently.”

“Err, right. Sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube.”

“Where did they get all this crud?”

“Not sure. Clearly, whatever they were after in Shimmervale, they found it. What do you think, Twilight?”

“Eee!”

“What?!”

“Ahem, sorry! It’s just… Daring Do just asked for my help!”

As the voices started bickering about what was or wasn’t considered help, I glanced back at the door behind me and let the scrying spell fade away. If the Elements of Harmony were here, then I would need backup to take them down. With Oest and Coxa at my side, we should be able to subdue them rather easily. ‘Should’ being the key word there. But… if they were hurt badly, or even killed, they might never listen to us…

‘Or maybe this is my chance to convince them. To take the final plunge and lay it all out before them. They might kill me… or they might listen. There’s not a single army in the world who can put an end to Daybreaker’s ineffable wrath, but there were six mares who could.’

My reflection in the door’s glass window bared its fangs at me

“Careful now,” Sloth warned me with my voice and face. “You know what that can do to us. You said it yourself: they can and will obliterate a Nightmare!”

“I’m not a Nightmare, you are,” I snapped back at my reflection.

“Are you sure of that? Are the Elements sure of that?!”

The thought of dying again caused me to reach up and feel my heartbeat through my chest.

‘I don’t want to die… But if I don’t take the risk, I will die anyways. We all will die.’

“Coxa is right,” Sloth said. “There is another way.”

“No.”

“There is,” the Umbrum insisted.

“You’re lying,” I hissed. “No, I know you’re just as terrified as I am, but this has to happen!”

“Don’t–”

Dark brown flames covered me from horn to hoof, replacing my chitin with gray fur. It was my blown disguise, Oroboros. This time, I switched from being a pegasus into a unicorn. The change would probably tip the ponies off, but I might need every edge I could get.

I was terrified, no point in lying to myself about that, but determined to try something.

The dark magic in my veins writhed as Sloth made his anger known. I ignored him. Twenty seconds was all it took to etch the carvings onto the train coupling. Twenty seconds to seal my fate, one way or the other.

Opening the door to the storage car, I stepped through and shut the door behind me before I could change my mind. My eyes darted across the dark single room, scanning the silhouettes of boxes for the ponies. My heart pounded in my chest as I forced myself to take deep breaths.

I was thankful that I was the one who could sense emotions, and not them. If they knew how afraid I was… Well. Would they do anything differently?

Atop one of the stacks of crates, Daybreaker glared down at me, her fiery visage lighting herself up.

“Turn back. Now.”

Blinking, I whispered quietly and quickly, “I’m doing this. You want to throw me off and destroy any chance we have at living? If I mess up, we’re both dead!”

Daybreaker vanished in the blink of an eye. A quiet voice near the back was cut off by a louder ‘Shhh.’

Slowly, I reached over and flicked the magical light switch next to the door. It operated similar to a normal one, just without any wires. Crystal lights on the roof of the cart flicked on, illuminating the room in a slight yellow tinge. I noted the fact that several of the boxes had been unfastened from their places. These were the ones that the ponies had opened.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Each step I took brought me back to entering Chrysalis’s lab for the first time. The sound of my hooves echoed across the metal floor in a similar fashion. This time, I had a lot better of an idea of the potential fates that awaited me.

I could sense them. They were spaced out on either side into four distinct clumps. The rear two had a jumble of more emotions, meaning more ponies. The first two were… No, first three. There was a third source of emotions, so faint I missed it at first.

‘Division-P training. That must be the Daring Do pony Twilight Sparkle was talking to.’

I closed my eyes and focused everything on calming down. My breathing slowed as I got some semblance of control over my heartbeat. I gave myself four seconds to prepare.

‘One for the money. Two for the show. Three to get ready… and four to go!’

Opening my eyes, I walked further into the carriage.

Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.

I came to a stop in the middle of their ambush. They hid behind crates with varying levels of success. The two vanguard groups– one of them being a single pony, the other two at most– were the best at hiding. I saw a bushy pink tail sticking out from behind one of the crates at the very rear of the carriage, betraying their position as obviously as their emotions did.

Turning slowly, I examined the nearest crate.

“These were all bound down tightly when we set off,” I said loudly. “I suggest you make yourself known before I throw you overboard and into the snow, stowaway.”

They sprung from their places with admirable speed. A yellow pegasus cut off my exit. A cream earth pony crouched low next to the pegasus, some sort of wooden wand clutched in her teeth. The Elements of Harmony formed up on the other side, towards the rear. Twilight Sparkle stood a pace ahead of the others.

“... I remember you,” I told the unknown earth pony. “From Manehattan, that night Daybreaker came for us. You were there.”

For all the excitement they felt, there was little fear to speak of. Either they didn’t know who I was, or were far too confident in their own numbers and abilities.

“Oroboros,” the yellow pegasus declared, “by the order of Princess Daybreaker, you are under arrest.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I would have thought that Daybreaker’s pet would be the one making the arrest,” I said, pointing to Twilight Sparkle.

“Hey! I’m nopony’s pet!”

“Come quietly, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Ain’t no reason for anypony to get hurt.”

“I don’t really do quiet,” I said. “Besides, you’re all stealing my things. Do you know how hard I worked for all of this?”

“You stole it from its rightful owners,” Rarity piped up. “That much is clear.”

“These are ancient artifacts,” the yellow pegasus added. “Whoever the owners are, I’m certain they aren’t you!”

“They are mine by right,” I snarled.

“They belong in a museum, you have no right–”

I stomped a hoof against the metal ground, “I have the only right!”

The action put everyone on edge. The unidentified Division-P earth pony pointed the wand at me. The pegasus splayed her wings out– nearly whacking her compatriot. The Elements took a step back.

Twilight spoke up next, “I don’t see how raiding some ancient ruin gives you any right to any of this, but maybe we can talk it over.”

“Yeah, in Canterlot!” Rainbow Dash added with a grin.

‘Right. Talk to them. Here goes nothing…’

I took a deep breath, “There’s nothing in Canterlot that awaits me other than death.”

“If you surrender, Princess Daybreaker will show mercy,” the cream pony said. “Nopony will die.”

“You think she even knows what mercy is?” I countered.

Twilight bravely stepped forward. When I swiveled around to look at her, she froze.

“Oroboros… We know who you are. Or rather, what you are. If you want to prove that there are two sides to every story, you have to come with us.”

“Don’t fight,” the Division-P pegasus warned me.

“Daring, let me handle this. Err, I mean... please?” Twilight added. At the pegasus– Daring Do’s silence, Twilight continued, “It’s not hard to guess. First Hooferville, then Manehattan. Alicorns don’t grow on trees– trust me, I’ve checked– and neither do their counterparts.”

“Go on, then,” I told her. “Say my name.”

“...You’re Prince Phasma.”

I gripped the Thread of Change, and will away my disguise. The ugly brown flames washed over me, and I rose above the ponies.

“It’s King, now,” I said as I stood before them all undisguised.

“Didn’t the Princesses say his magic was orange?” Rarity questioned.

“So, will you come with us?” Twilight asked.

I made an effort of looking around at them, “Why would I do that? Daybreaker will rip me to pieces and polish each one into a trophy.”

Several of the Elements paled at that, nausea coming strongest from Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkamena.

“Nopony’ll hurt you,” Applejack insisted. “We swear it. And we’re the Elements of Harmony! We ain’t gonna break any promise we make!”

I ignored the pink one’s furious nodding, “Daybreaker makes no promises. She makes no oaths. I know about Locksdale. I know what the Princess of the Sun does in the dark.”

“What… are you talking about?” Twilight questioned.

I turned and nodded towards the Division-P agents, “Tell them. Tell them about Locksdale.”

The two of them shared an unsure look.

“Daring? Sweetie?” Fluttershy whispered. “What is King Phasma talking about?”

The earth pony– Sweetie, by process of elimination– cleared her throat, “I’ve heard of it, but not what goes on inside. It’s where the captured changelings are sent.”

“Rumor travels twice around the world before the truth even has time to put its boots on and get out the door,” Twilight said. “That’s what the Princess told me. Surrender peacefully, and we will make sense of everything together.”

“... You still have to answer for Hooferville,” Sweetie growled.

“Oh Harmony,” Rarity whispered. “I forgot about that.”

“It was self defense,” I countered. “The guards attacked me.”

“A hundred ponies are dead because of you!” Sweetie insisted.

I worked my jaw in frustration, “That wasn’t my fault. How could I have known? Besides, they weren’t even town guards, they were Royal Guards. It wasn’t their duty to defend against monster attacks.”

“It was their assigned duty,” Sweetie insisted. “And you put every single one of them in the hospital. When the rats came…”

“Not. My. Fault.” I growled. “I didn’t know. Couldn’t have known. I refuse any blame leveled my way. I’m just trying to save as many changelings as I can!”

“Sweetie–” Twilight started.

“Your actions have consequences,” Sweetie pressed.

“... Sweetie is right, Twi,” Rainbow said. “We can’t ignore that.”

“Which is why we’re placing you under arrest,” Daring picked up. “I think we can all agree that a lot has happened in the past six months. A lot. From the Invasion to wherever these magical artifacts came from, there’s a lot you have to answer for, King Phasma.

Twilight added, “If you are confident in the answers you have, then you don’t have to be afraid.”

Daring continued, “But you do have to surrender and come with us. Right. Now.”

I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise. A vestigial reaction, considering there was nothing but a red fin there. A ghost of what I once was, and a reminder of the stakes…

‘Okay. Okay. Right right right– I can’t– but I have to. They haven’t convinced me. I don’t… I need to try again, if I tell the Elements about Locksdale–’

The wand that Sweetie held lit up in a blue glow. I melted into shadow as a zap of lightning shot, crackling with energy and slicing through where I was.

“No!” Twilight yelled.

“You missed!” Daring yelled.

‘So much for peace,’ I thought darkly.

“I told you so,” Sloth cooed.

With a mental sigh, I activated the magical enchantment I had carved onto the train coupling. The ponies were all turning their heads to look up at me, where I clung to the ceiling in a half-shadow form, when the train lurched forwards. All of them stumbled as we began slowing down.

“What the hay was that?” Applejack yelled.

The ponies looked towards the front of the car.

“The brakes?” Daring questioned.

“The coupling,” Sweetie said, pointing at the window. Through it, the lights of the next train car were rapidly shrinking. “We’re braking automatically. He cut us off from the rest of the train!”

The ponies all looked back up at me.

Still half shrouded in my shadow form, I swallowed, “If I am coming with you, the rest of my subjects are certainly not. While I am willing to risk my life, I am not allowing any risk to them.”

“That’s… very selfless of you,” Twilight remarked.

“Over four hundred petty crimes were committed by the gangs connected to the Manehattan incident,” Sweetie quoted. “Forty felonies, too. We can’t just forget those.”

“Only forty felonies?” I repeated. “I would have thought you guys would have found at least one of the bodies by now. That number should at least be double that…”

“Bodies?” Twilight repeated.

I grinned down at her.

“Then you’d better be completely honest when you face Princess Daybreaker,” Applejack said. “And beg for forgiveness. As we said, she’s capable of mercy, but killin’ ponies…?”

My smile faded as I slithered down the wall and coalesced at the front of the train.

“Right. Facing Daybreaker…” I whispered. “I’ll have to… put myself at the mercy of her whims.”

“She can be a fair judge,” Rarity said. “... When she feels like it. Which, if the rumors are true, are less and less often.”

“Before the truth gets out the door!” Twilight insisted, shaking a hoof at Rarity. “Look, King Phasma, you surrendered peacefully. That matters. Plus, if what we’ve heard is true, you weren’t exactly a friend of… of your mother. The Princess will be willing to listen to your story. If you have an adequate reason for… everything you’ve done, maybe she will let you go.”

Sweetie scoffed.

“Lots of maybes, there,” I pointed out.

“You’ve got no other choice than to trust us,” Rainbow pointed out. “Toughen up and face the consequences of your actions.”

I pressed a hoof against my chest, “Easy for you to say. The last time you saw Daybreaker, she didn’t crush your ribcage with a single stomp of a hoof. Do you know what they do to changelings in Locksdale?”

The ponies shook their heads.

With a sigh, I told them.