As we sat just inside the gate to Canterlot Castle, I pored over a redacted book on magic theory and spell construction. Beside me, Emerald was reading a more age-appropriate book by the name of Little Bunny Kung Fu while she enjoyed the sun and the way my black shell held heat. My reading was more out of boredom than any real desire for research; waiting for the last member of our little party—my new bodyguard and warden—was taking too long. We still had a few hours until we had to board the train, but based on the way Starlight was pacing, she was just as frustrated by the wait.

Personally, I just hoped that whoever the princesses assigned would be understanding about the fact that I was above the mental level of your average eight-year-old filly, and wouldn't view me with disgust for what I'd done and what I'd become. Already, my mind was coming up with possibilities. Sergeant Revelry and his quartet of underlings were a likely pool of candidates. All of them were at least familiar with me, but at the same time, we were maybe too familiar to keep things entirely professional. Plus, if Evening Script could get past me being a bug, she'd probably want to do more of that cosplay shit she had me do that one time.

"Hey, Star," I said aloud, catching not only the unicorn's attention, but also Emerald's. Something had to be done to distract Starlight before she wore a track into the castle grounds. "I know unicorn telekinesis is more an expression of innate magic than any specific spell, but do you think that there's some sort of inherent anti-gravity component?"

Just like that, I lost Emerald's attention. I didn't exactly blame her; I once tried to explain my magic to her, and she just got this far-off look in her eyes. While what I could do fascinated her, when I started 'talking like a grown-up', it was hard for her to follow. At least she was a good kid, rather than someone who would beat me up for my lunch money while calling me a nerd over my knowledge.

Starlight, at least, did stop her pacing. Instead she made her way over to the sunny spot I was lying, and took a seat beside me. She glanced down at the section I was reading and perked an eyebrow. It was all about properly constructing 'classes', 'methods', and 'functions' for parts of a larger spell and calling them in the main spell rather than charting it all out repeatedly. The book had called the style of magic 'object-oriented spells'. It seemed pretty useful for complex spells with a lot of repeated components, especially for spells that only functioned while channelled. A big downside was that a spell became magnitudes less readable, and it could be particularly hard to work into a weaved spiral spell. Plus, once a spell was created, unless it was documented perfectly, modification would be hell.

From the corner of my eye, I caught her cringing. "Oh wow," Starlight answered in a hesitant voice. "I mean, yeah, you could use anti-gravity to lighten a load, but I'm not sure implementing it through that method is the best idea." She conjured up one of my notepads and pencils from the luggage stacked nearby and started writing out something. "If you want to mimic telekinesis through object-oriented spellcasting, you're better off using runes to do things like modify weight, air resistance, and the effect of gravity, rather than negate it."

I looked at what she wrote and felt a bit confused. Even though she was just writing in basic sun-glyphs, it felt like I was looking at something completely foreign. Those were definitely words, but they didn't exactly make much sense.

class object: def __init__(self, weight, colour): self.weight = weight self.colour = colour object.weight = get target.attribute(weight) originalweight = object.weight object.colour= get target.attribute(colour) originalcolour = object.colour while Channelled == True: object.weight = originalweight / 2 object.colour = rgb(255,10,42) check Channelled if Channelled != True: object.weight = originalweight object.colour = originalcolour break else: pass

I looked from the paper to her expectantly. "This is in horribly simplified scroll format, lacking any sort of proper rune interaction," she began, "but basically what this spell would do is halve its weight while turning it a ruddy colour." She pointed to the conditional statement. "Can you guess what this is?"

It took a few moments of examining the paper before I thought I understood. The spell checked whether it was still being channelled. If the caster ceased, I imagined it would draw on just enough magic to reset the weight and colours to their default values. For lack of a better descriptor, it looked to be some sort of fail-safe to return the object to its natural state. "A fail-safe?"

Starlight nodded. "Object-oriented spellcasting, especially when directly modifying the attributes of objects, can be particularly potent, and when done properly, is incredibly efficient." That made my eyes widen. I already knew about the inverse proportionality between spell complexity and cost of magic, and looking at this and how it would probably operate to pull off a light spell, I could imagine how it might be enticing. "The problem becomes that if you don't properly create escape clauses, or leave things exactly as you intend, you could permanently alter an object, or create a spell that drains you dry."

That caused a shiver to run down my back. I already knew too well what it felt like to be burned out. I couldn't imagine how shitty it would be to have something as simple as a light spell kill you because you used the wrong syntax. "If you think that's bad, a sufficiently constructed spell can quite literally bend reality at negligible cost," she continued, noting my unease. "Back before Twilight took me under her wing, when I wasn't as good a pony as I am now, I actually used an object-oriented spell built upon one of Star Swirl's greatest accomplishments: a time spell. I broke the world with that spell and its consequences, and it took Twilight's help to set it right."

Not too far down the path, I heard a familiar voice. "My apologies for keeping you all waiting. As you already know, I am Tempest Shadow, and I am to be your bodyguard and minder from this day forth," said a dark mare in a black suit jacket, armoured black greaves, and black sunglasses that did nothing to hide the gnarly scar over her right eye. Between that, the mane style, and the broken horn, it wasn't hard to recognise who she was. There was a smirk on her face as she strolled up without even a saddlebag. "Princess Sparkle certainly keeps an interesting household."

She lowered herself to get a better look at Emerald, who unsurprisingly shied away a bit. "If I'm to be a bodyguard, I'd best make sure I know who's who. Let's see, you must be the miracle filly, Emerald." She glanced over at Starlight and gave the mare a curt nod. "That makes you the 'big sister' and fellow reprobate in reform, Starlight Glimmer." I could practically see the daggers that Star was glaring at Tempest. "And of course my favourite little maniac," she concluded, reaching over to tousle my mane. "You're looking a lot more stable than you did the last time I saw you."

Before anyone else could say anything, Emerald looked from the intimidating unicorn to me, and then back. "I don't think Anon's allowed to stay at stables anymore."

If not for the fact that I heard ponies referring to hotels as 'stables' shortly before the invasion, I'd have been confused. Instead, I just gave a tired sigh. "No, I'm pretty sure that's all of Manehattan I'm allowed to stay at anymore." Looking from Tempest to Starlight, I said, "If you don't already know the story, ask Starlight about what we went through there."

That honestly looked to be the last thing Starlight wanted to do. I couldn't exactly blame her for not trusting Tempest. The mare had gone from the commander of an invading force—a force that the both of us had personally fought against—to being assigned as my bodyguard and minder. She had every right to be suspicious of the mare. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it took her years to begin to trust her.

"Well, let's get a move on then," Starlight said in a rather brusque tone. She was careful not to disturb me as she stood up and stretched. With a much more patient gaze, she watched as Emerald and I stood up. She even took the books we'd been using and slipped them away into her saddlebags. "Twilight was kind enough to book us a private car, but it's likely still busy down at the train station." Well, at least I know why we aren't just riding directly with Aunt Cadance now. She may have forgiven Tempest, but it'd be a long time before they'd be able to be in the same room for a long period of time without being discomforted. She cast a wary glance at me. "Just, when we get there, can you promise not to freak out?"

With a raised brow, I shook my head. "Nuh-uh," I responded. "I'm not playing that game, because it never ends well for the person who promises not to freak out. Just ask Auntie Twilight." I glanced at Tempest as I remembered trying to make that exact bargain with Twilight. "If there's something there that you think is gonna distress me, tell me now and I'll retreat into the shared dream space until we're on the train."

Even as it looked like Tempest wanted to ask what I was talking about, Starlight gave me an accusatory look. "You just don't wanna walk to the train station," she said, earning a giggle from Emerald. She wasn't wrong, but at the same time, I did need some time to myself. Finally, she rolled her eyes. "Fine."

~ 50 ~

For the next hour or two, I sat at the small table inside the dream room. It would have been easy to simply use this time to catch a few winks, but instead I was making use of a neat little feature I'd discovered about the place. See, although this place was technically a dream construct, my mind was still connected to it. If I were to conjure up a spell I'd been studying and pick it apart, I could then technically instantly memorise a fragment of the spell by summoning a 'book' labelled 'Memories - Magic' and pasting it in.

Although I was still not one hundred percent settled on the sort of method I wanted to use for the levitation spell, I had a few ideas. Above the table floated a spell matrix encoded in the way that unicorns used to cast their spells. Like the many that I'd reflected on over recent days, it was one I'd pulled out of a book on the magical equivalent of physiotherapy. This one was a spell designed to lift and move specially designed training orbs with varying levels of magical resistance to simulate weights.

On its own, the spell was useless, as it was specifically keyed to the harmonic frequencies of the orbs, but there were very useful pieces to be found within it. As I broke down the obfuscated runes, and stripped out the unicornian style minutia—reflected on the hovering projection—I found there to be a few useful structures in the spell. Even without knowing what some of the runes were, I was able to infer enough to understand that one command structure spoke to forming a magical grip on an object and taking into account the magical resistance. Meanwhile, this other one was all about manipulating objects inside and outside the caster's line of sight.

Definitely wanna keep those two.

Dismissing the useless parts of the spell, I wrote the remaining fragments into my memory and laid my head down on the table. As it stood, I probably had everything I needed to construct the initial prototype of my own telekinesis spell... That said, I'd definitely want to get Star's thoughts on it before I submitted it to Twilight. Even without thinking about it, I could feel a rough spell already coming together in my mind.

Honestly, I was kinda surprised that the entire time I've been in here, Emerald hasn't at least spoken inwardly to check in. Then again, maybe she thought I was actually asleep, rather than working on my homework. It was gonna be interesting when it came to helping my little sister 'catch up'. Her reading level was below what I imagined should be the norm for fillies her—Or is that our?—age, and I got the impression that her maths level was just as low. Even if we eventually had to split so that she could start attending school while I stayed in the Crystal Empire to heal, I was sure I'd be able to help her from afar.

There came a knock at the door, startling me out of my relaxation. Just a bit, though. There was only one pony that visited who bothered to knock. If Harmony or Hunger showed up, they typically just appeared or walked in like they owned the place. With a shrug, I banished the last of my work, and called out, "Come on in, Princess Luna."

When the door opened, and Princess Luna stepped in, there was a soft smile upon her face. "I can never quite get over this anomalous fixture in the realm of dreams," she commented, raising an eyebrow as a teapot and a plate of eclairs shimmered into existence on the table. "With how Harmony has made it permanent, and anchored both your minds to this space, I cannot help but wonder whether either of you would have the capacity for..."

As she shook her head to clear her head, she joined me at the table. Since this was a dream space, I had no limitations like in the physical world, so I wreathed the teapot in a blue aura. At the last moment after pouring, a teacup took form. "It is strange to see you asleep at this hour," Luna commented as she accepted the beverage and an eclair. "Is everything alright?"

I shrugged as, from the same kettle, I poured a mocha latte for myself. "Just taking some time to myself until we're on the train." I took a bite of my eclair, and then furrowed my brow. The flavour was off, but I couldn't put my hoof on it. "Starlight tried to make me promise not to freak out in the train station plaza, but wouldn't tell me why... which meant that it was something I was really not gonna like." I rolled my eyes, and then smirked. "So I said, 'Screw it,' and came here to work on my first study project."

There was a look of recognition on the princess's face at the mention of something I wouldn't like, although she tried her best to mask her reaction. Seeing as she clearly did not want to go onto that topic, and get me riled me up some more, she sipped her own simulated drink. "I know of the matter to which she referred, and I agree that exposure to it would be unwise at this juncture," Luna agreed, letting out an appreciative hum at the calming flavour of French vanilla coffee. "But if you would like some good news, you are likely to find a far more pleasant surprise waiting for you on the train. Consider this to be a gift from both myself and Celestia."

I... am going to the Crystal Empire to face punishment and seek treatment for my mental health issues, and they're giving me presents? I could feel my cheeks flush, even if it shouldn't be possible to blush through chitin. Bah... Dream logic. "That... honestly, seeing you guys giving Tempest a second chance is more than enough of a gift to me." I tapped my hooves together. "Even if she didn't do much, potentially not even for the right reasons, I'm grateful. She saw I was suffering during the march through Canterlot, and chose to do the right thing and get me inside as soon as possible when Auntie Twilight explained that the toxic atmosphere was killing me."

The princess nodded. "We thought you might feel that way, but neither I or my sister would think to dissuade them of their choice." A smile creased the mare's face as she set her empty cup down. Their choice? When our eyes met, I couldn't help but feel she was withholding a bit of mirth. "We hope that you, Emerald, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike enjoy this gift." Rising from her cushion, she fixed me with a knowing look. "Remember to behave for Tempest, as well as for Cadance and Shining Armour, and those you will be working alongside while serving out your punishment. For now, I must take my own rest."

At that, Princess Luna faded out of existence, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the simulation of my bedroom. Although she was clearly inferring that there would be something or someone was waiting for me when I returned to the waking world, back on the train, I didn't choose to wake up right away. Rather, I found myself looking around the room, wondering. How long has it been since I physically slept in my pillow nest? How long will it yet be before I can cuddle up with Serenity in my pillows?

The fact of the matter was, I hadn't looked at the calendar since going to the world in the mirror. It was the seventh of October when I left. I'd been unconscious for a week after the conflict outside Donut Joe's, and awoken on the twenty-fourth. Time got hard to keep track of after that. Was it a week that I spent healing before the invasion? Two? That time was little more of a haze of making and testing spells, dodging Discord, and managing to avoid meeting the ancient unicorn who was very interested in my special talent. We spent at least three days in Manehattan, but that time was kinda hazy too. A few hours on the air ship, followed by two days in a nightmare. Since then, it'd been what, another week?

That placed the date anywhere between the forty-eighth and the fifty-fifth of October. There was at most half a month until Nightmare Night... and I still hadn't considered what sort of costume I might wear. The easy answer would be to go in my changeling queen form, or maybe transform into a human and have Rarity make something cute for me. Scary probably wouldn't be the best plan, because honestly? The scariest thing I can even think of at the moment is me.

'Oh, hey! Anon! Why aren't you dressed up for Nightmare Night?'

'This is my costume.'

'What's it even supposed to be?'

'A war criminal.'

Yeah, that'd go over real well.

With a shake of my head, I dismissed everything I'd conjured up since dropping into this layer of consciousness. Once the room was back to its regular condition, I rose from my pillow. I made a show—to nobody in particular—of brushing the dust off myself as I made my way to the door. Instead of getting on with it and leaving, I cast one glance around the room.

What'll become of this place when I outlive Emerald? I wondered to myself. This place was created by Harmony to serve as a bridge between our consciousnesses—a place where one could rest while the other was in control, when there was only one body between the two of us. Even now, the place persists, and although I have no doubt I could change it, and expand it and those changes would persist, I can't help but wonder. As a changeling queen, I will live for at least a few hundred years longer than the average pony lifespan at a minimum, assuming I don't get my dumb ass killed.

Maybe I should add some things to keep Emerald entertained... Or maybe I should teach her how to do things in the dream.

~ 50 ~

When I came to, much to my surprise, I was facing a bench on which Starlight and Emerald sat, reading. Near the door, I could see Tempest standing guard—alert, but overall disinterested. Why did I find Starlight and Emerald being opposite of me so strange? It may have had something to do with the fact that I was very much aware of my carapace pressing against somepony, and that pony was wearing clothes. Actually, it wasn't even just one pony. I was wedged between two of them.

There was a soft chuckle, followed by a soft voice I'd grown quite used to hearing from all the time spent in the castle. "Dearest sister," came the monotone voice of Natural Talent as she lowered her head to greet me. "I do believe Lady Anonymous has finally awakened."

"That she has, darling sister," came Refined Skill's usual cheerful response as the blue-maned sister also ducked her head into view. "I hope your rest has been a fulfilling one."

As I looked from one to the other, I couldn't help but feel some disbelief. It had been something I'd joked about with Star on the night of the festival, but I wasn't actually expecting it to come to pass. Yet here they were, right beside me. Princess Luna's words in the dreamscape clicked, and I was left with a dumb smile on my face. A present indeed.

"Did you two really transfer to Auntie's service?" I asked, pushing myself up into a seated position. I could feel my cheeks flushing beneath my shell in embarrassment. "Not that I'm not happy you're here or anything... I'm just surprised is all."

Although Talent mirrored my action, Skill removed herself from the bench. Rather than answer my question, she just smiled at me. "Now that you are awake, I shall fetch a meal." She quickly turned to the others and asked, "Is there anything my ladies would like from the service cart?"

While Skill took down Starlight, Emeralds, and—to my surprise—Tempest's requests, I noticed Talent conjuring up a brush out of nowhere. I didn't resist as she started running the brush through my mane. It kinda perturbed me that her sister didn't ask me what I wanted before slipping out of the train car, but I was quickly distracted as Talent once more began to speak. "Truth be told, Princess Twilight should have had staff assigned to her when first she received her Castle of Friendship."

There was actually some slight fluctuation to her voice as she spoke, not unlike the time she showed anger towards Rainbow Dash. "One baby dragon should not be responsible for an entire castle. Especially when he is not a servant. Now that the castle's permanent number of residents is five—" She cast a furtive glance toward tempest. "—six if Tempest Shadow stays on as a body guard once your punishment is fulfilled—it is no longer feasible for Her Highness to not have maids."

Again she chuckled as she observed Starlight reading with Emerald. "Besides, it won't be easy raising two fillies in a castle, even with Lady Starlight and Sir Spike to help." With a shake of her head, she levitated the brush around to the other side of my head and started working down that side. "Busy ponies like them, like most nobles, rely on ponies like us for help explicitly because they cannot be there all the time. Just as I helped you learn how to read, and my sister taught you how to walk and control your hoof fields, so too shall we help you and Emerald to become fine young ladies."

After that, Talent was content to brush my mane out in silence. Not too long after, Skill returned with sandwiches, cookies, and bottled soda for the others. For me, however, I was presented with a large jar filled with concentrated liquid love. Evidently, she'd stopped by Cadance's car, and the alicorn provided her with some love for me to eat. So while the others ate, I forced myself to slowly nurse the jar, listening as Starlight told Emerald a bit more about the Crystal Empire. Even Tempest couldn't quite resist listening in.

The next few hours were filled with quiet chatter, interspersed with quiet periods of reading and dozing. At one point, not long after the cookies, Emerald got the sugar rush and needed to burn energy. Since she couldn't exactly run on the train, or even back inside the castle, she didn't exactly have a great outlet. Being the responsible big sibling, I put on my earth pony form and wrestled with her for a bit. I'd have done so in my changeling form, but I was more used to my strength in my pony shape. I wouldn't have earth-pony magic buffing my strength, but I was capable enough to alter my muscle mass to keep up with the younger filly. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry about my chitin getting crunched.

Starlight wasn't all that thrilled with the two of us play-fighting. Maybe she was worried I might have an episode and hurt Em, or that the contact might trigger something in Em. Either way, she needn't have worried. I actually had fond memories of play-fighting with Sara and Laura, so it wasn't all that hard to make sure Emmy won while still making it challenging for her. To be honest, she probably needed a win.

I think the only unicorn who was actually amused by our antics was Tempest. On top of Star's anxiety, Talent and Skill looked like they wanted to interject, probably because of the desire to see us grow into fine—read proper—young ladies conflicted with the rough-and-tumble behaviour playing out before them. The former commander, on the other hoof, seemed to be considering something, while radiating mirth.

"It's an earth pony thing," she finally commented when Emerald wore herself out. "A lot of the earth pony fillies from the village I grew up in would wrestle to bond, to blow off steam, or to establish a pecking order." Tempest never left her spot by the door to the next car, but she seemed to finally settle into her role as she watched Emerald fall asleep, still draped across my back in the middle of the floor. "With the way she looks at Anon, I doubt it was dominance play, but there was definitely some bonding and blowing off steam."

Over the train's public address system, I heard a mare's voice. "We are now approaching the Crystal Empire's environmental barrier." That caused the two maids to perk up, and I realised that I wasn't the only one having her first trip to the Crystal Empire. "The sensation of crossing through the barrier has been known to cause minor inner ear disturbances in some ponies, and in rare cases, unicorns may experience minor horn sparks. This is normal, and nothing to be concerned about." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Skill gently rubbing at her horn with an anxious look on her face. "Following that, we will be pulling into Crystalia Settlement Station in fifteen minutes..."

I tuned out the rest of the announcement, instead focusing on the window behind Starlight. It was still snowing heavily outside the train. Yet, as we drew closer and closer, the snow petered out, and the sky started growing brighter. Then, without warning, I felt as if I passed through some sort of field of energy that resisted my entry slightly. On top of dragging my body—as well as the still napping Emerald—a few metres, my transformation was forcibly dispelled. It felt like I was being pressed in upon, at all sides, by various sensations. Then, just as quick as it came, it went.

The adults all let out startled noises at the sight of me migrating towards the back of the car, but I wasn't paying them any mind. Once the sensory overload passed, I was too caught up in feeling. I was no stranger to a place having a strong atmosphere of emotion; I'd experienced it once at Canterlot High School, and then again in Canterlot after the city fell under the Storm King's control.

This was nothing like that, though. No, in this place, the air was alive with positive emotions—joy especially. It brought tears to my eyes when I realised just how much emotion was in the air. It wasn't as filling as love, but it was so rich that even passively feeding would mean I had to start burning a lot more energy. Here, I could just enjoy regular food and collect mass, with the occasional love feeding to ensure I met my neurological needs.

Chrysalis, you stupid, stupid mare, I couldn't help but think as I stared out at the sky. Soon, the train began to turn, and off in the distance, I could see a great crystal spire. If only you knew then what I could feel now... Your hive would never have gone hungry here... You would have been able to step out in the light, make peace with Cadance, and lead the true changelings into prosperity, never having to prey upon others again.

This drove my thoughts into a darker place. If only you weren't so revenge-driven, Chrysalis. If you hadn't foalnapped me and been changed by my subterfuge, Hunger would never have needed to drag the species out from extinction. I might not have fallen to her influence... I heaved a sigh as I cleared my eyes while Starlight watched me with worry. I would likely still share a body with Emmy, but things might've been different.

There was no use in thinking that way, however. It was possible that Tempest might've made good on her threat, had I not turned myself in. My soul was darkened and scarred, but a city yet lived, and I sadly could not deny that Chrysalis and Hunger both had a hoof in that. I wonder, though... If Chrysalis knew that her swarm could subsist peacefully here in the empire... If she tried to open diplomacy, would Cadance have allowed her to move her hive here?

Author's Note

Behold the bastard-mutant that is magic based on python.

Yes, Anon's spells as seen in Vlogs of an Ancient Insect are mostly utilising object-oriented spellcasting in Scroll Format. Especially her spatial fold spells. I can't even begin to imagine how small she'd still have to write to get stuff done on slates with OOS Scroll Format spells.

Chapter updates will continue to remain intermittent. Been on a bit of a fic-listening kick and was listening to an old Prototype 2/MLP crossover fic for a bit, as well as a lot of more depressing stuff. When I haven't been on my listening sprees, my attentions been divvied up between this, Vlogs, and Shadows Over CHS, although it's been mostly the latter which has seen most of my focus over the last couple of months.