Some days, you just wanna sleep in, you know? It's entirely your fault if you stay up late finishing your manuscript and charging up some gemstones or some similar shit, but nonetheless your body needs the sleep. That's how today found me: lying in my hanging basket of pillows in my more compact bug filly form. I was totally wiped out and sleeping off the consequences of my foolishness. Was.

Without warning, the portal to the upper floor opened, bathing my lair with midday light. "Anon! Anon! Wake up!" exclaimed an excitable mulberry unicorn, reaching into the nest of pillows to drag me out. "I need your help!"

If not for the fact that I was too tired to give a fuck, I'd have turned into a boulder right there in her hooves. Instead, I freed myself from her grasp, flying into the air, and then reverting to my normal size. When I dropped to the floor in front of her as the spatial fold closed behind her, she didn't even flinch. She just smiled at me with uncontrolled glee when I turned on the light. It's so hard to be mad at you.

"What's the dizzle, home-sizzle?" I asked, reaching out and booping her on the nose. "I haven't seen you this excited since I gave you that special brownie recipe I got from Pinkie Pie."

Before I could pull my hoof back, she seized it with her magic and started dragging me back toward the portal door. "I'm throwing a traditional unicorn sleepover, and you're invited!" she exclaimed, not even looking as she opened the portal back upstairs. "Since you can become a unicorn, and you're friends with my new friend who's also a unicorn, and you're friends with all the honourary unicorns, of course you're invited too!"

That caught my attention. I didn't know there were many unicorns her age here in town. There was at least one foal—Peach Fizz, one of Pipp's fan-fillies—so there definitely had to be parents around too, but the rest I'd encountered seemed to be more touristy than local. "A new friend that I know?" I asked. The only unicorn friends I can think of, at least off the top of my head are you and Alphabittle, girl.

She nodded, guiding me over to the door. "Yeah! Misty! She was on your show that one time!" she explained. "Remember? Sunny said she was asking about you when you were sleeping off the booze that time, too." She opened the door and slowly pushed me out. "Anyways, I need you to go and buy us some time to finish getting everything set up. I promise to pay you back by feeding you later!"

"I—" The door closed in my face before I could voice anything. Not only had she just shanghaied me into attending a sleep-over, but she was offering up fresh love, too. On the one hoof, I was a bit peeved at not getting a choice, but on the other, I was curious about the traditional unicorn sleepover's traditions. Plus, it'd be a good opportunity to probe Misty about where she was from. It'd be nice if she was that nice stallion's missing filly.

With nothing else to do, I retrieved my glasses from my pocket dimension and assumed my bespectacled unicorn mare disguise. If they needed to buy time, I'd wait for her down at the bottom of the path leading up to the Brighthouse. It was a bit disappointing that she didn't even let me grab my phone, because I could have recorded a video while I waited. Instead as I walked down the path, I found nothing better to do than toss stones out at the ocean.

Maybe I can just share the tale of this sleepover with my viewers.

I also had to take care when tossing stones out over the water. Hitch was friends with most of the critters in town, including the bloody seagulls. The little winged rat with the tuna can on his head—Kenneth, I think he called the little blighter—was lurking around, watching me. It was clear he was looking for a reason to fink on me, and I had to imagine he might've spoken to the pegasnails I'd threatened the other day. If I so much as hurt a feather on a bird while I waited, Sheriff Killjoy would be riding my ass into the sunset.

The young mare's emotional spectrum alerted me to her presence, long before she ever spoke up. It was a mix of anxiety, excitement, and... guilt? Still, rather than do the freaky thing and turn to face her before she announced herself. "Hey, uh, Anon, right?" she said, clutching a patchy-looking pillow to her chest. "It's been a while."

That thing's seen better days, I thought when I finally faced her. Not exactly what you'd expect for somepony apparently part of a popular social media clique.

"Sure has, Misty." I smiled at her and then angled my head toward the community garden. When she got the picture, I started walking over to the garden's stone wall, reclining against it. "Izzy and them are all getting things set up, so how about we go over here and chat a bit."

Although she also took a seat beside me, she didn't mimic my seating posture. Her anxiety was really starting to skyrocket. "What, um, did you want to talk about?" she asked, starting to fidget.

I could practically see her beginning to sweat. "Relax, girl," I said in a soft voice, waving a hoof and gesturing at the sky. "You're wound up so tight somepony could play you like a viola. This your first sleepover or something?"

"W-what? No, of course not!" she denied way too quickly. When I just cocked an eyebrow at her, the young unicorn sighed and buried her muzzle in the pillow she was clutching to her chest. "Y-yeah. Is it that obvious?"

With a shrug, I plucked a dandelion out of the grass and levitated it close to my face, giving it a quick sniff before popping it into my mouth. She looked surprised that I'd just eat a wildflower without washing it or any sort of seasoning, but to be fair, I hadn't even gotten a chance to have my first cup of love in the morning. Could anypony fault me for needing a snack?

"To me, sure," I explained, looking back to the younger mare. "If I had to guess, you've never been to one of these kinds of shindigs before, and you're probably scared you won't fit in. How'm I doing so far?" She nodded, but her anxiety was starting to drain away, replaced with mounting embarrassment. "You have no more idea what a traditional unicorn sleepover entails than I do, huh?"

"I..."

I shrugged. "Look, Princess Detective Zipp Storm gets all investigative over one thing or another. Everything's a puzzle to her, and she can get intense, so if you start acting all squirrely, she might start getting in your face," I explained. "I'm not saying tell them everything about you, but be honest with what you can be." I levitated my glasses onto my horn and then shut my eyes. "For example, if she were to ask you where you're from, or maybe where you grew up, what would you say?"

"Bridlewood!" she exclaimed a bit too quickly. Everything in her emotional aura screamed that she didn't even believe herself. She almost seemed ashamed, or confused. "Where else would a unicorn grow up?"

I cracked an eye open and gave her a sidelong look. "That's exactly what I mean," I put my forelegs behind my head and slowly slid down until I was staring up at the sky. "You don't believe that yourself. If you're too ashamed of wherever you grew up, even if it's just some mud hut out in the sticks, just say you didn't grow up in the Bridlewood settlement, nor were you around a lot of ponies. They'll be more patient about that whole social anxiety you've got going, and if they find out about your cutie mark, it won't be the end of the world."

There was a startled squeak and massive fear spike. "You knew?" she squeaked. Her breathing became fast and shallow, and before I knew it, the poor thing was hyperventilating.

Smooth, Anon.

I rolled to my hooves, and quickly made to fix my mess. In a flash of magic, I sprouted a pair of big fluffy pegasus wings and grew to my changeling queen size. Before the poor kid knew what was happening, I grabbed her by the withers and pulled her into my chest floof and wrapped my wings around her in a pegasus hug. "Hey, hey, shhh... Slow, deep breaths."

It took the filly several minutes to calm down. Her anxiety slowly abated as time went on, but there was a moment of some sort of internal conflict... Fear, confusion, and self-doubt played out in her emotional spectrum, but eventually there was a feeling of delicious gratitude.

"I've never been hugged like that before," she whispered as she struggled free of my grip. Her voice was wistful when she next spoke. "I didn't know wings could be so warm... But preening her is so hard..."

I don't think I was supposed to hear that bit... The more time I spent around this pony, the more questions I had about her home life. She wasn't used to ponies apologising to her, she was socially awkward, and she sounded like she had experience with somepony's wings, despite the tribes only reuniting in the last few months.

She must've been raised by a pegasus who didn't much care for treating her like a foal so much as a servant.

"If you play your cards right, you might be able to get a wing hug from Princess Pipp," I remarked, shrinking back down to my unicorn disguise's regular size, although I kept the wings out. With a gentle elbow nudge, I glanced up to the Brighthouse. "Have you seen how fluffy her primaries are?"

I could just make out Izzy in one of the windows, waving at me. "Looks like they're all ready in there." I started walking up the path to the Brighthouse. A glance over my shoulder showed that she was hesitant, just standing there, blushing. "You good, Misty?"

She didn't seem any more confident than she had been, but she didn't seem as anxious now. With a shake of her head, Misty did her three-legged trot behind me, continuing to clutch her pillow. It was curious that she wasn't just carrying that with her magic, but I had to remind myself that the ponies of this era were still getting used to their magic. She might not even know how to draw from her reservoir and create a basic twinkle.

When we got to the front door, I booped the doorbell and then silently counted down. Three, two, one. The door burst open to reveal Izzy, Pipp, Sunny and Zipp. Time for some fun. "Welcome to the Brighthouse, Misty," Izzy exclaimed, which I mimicked perfectly in sync with her. This earned a giggle from everypony there. "Misty, uh..." Izzy leaned in close and whispered. "What's your last name?"

Poor kid never saw it coming. She was panicking, looking around for something... anything. "Ah, uh... Brighthouse!" Everyone just stared at her, and I resisted the urge to facehoof. It was a very, very powerful urge. Her nervous laughter did nothing to help that, either.

I reached over with my wing and patted her on the shoulders before nodding. "Breathe, Misty," I whispered. "You got this."

Misty shot me a grateful smile, and she calmed herself. "It's Brightdawn." Giving me a quick glance, noting my quick wave of the hoof, she swallowed before adding, "And I'm sorry about being all weird earlier." Zipp almost opened her mouth, but I shook my head and mouthed 'later'. "The truth is... this is my first sleepover... I didn't grow up in Bridlewood like you... I just grew up alone with my caretaker in the middle of nowhere..."

What's funny is that this totally wasn't a lie in the least. She genuinely believed every bit of it... so why did that make me suddenly feel so suspicious? I could see the suspicion in Zipp's eyes, but Pipp and Sunny looked empathetic towards her. Meanwhile, I was once again wondering if Pinkie wasn't one of Izzy's ancestors, because I swear I'd seen that exact same excited grin on her face.

With an excited squeal, Izzy all but levitated Misty in through the door. "Welcome, Misty Brightdawn, to your first, and the best unicorn sleepover in your life!"

As I followed everyone inside, shutting the door behind me, I couldn't help but feel bad for Misty. Barely in the door, and she was kind of getting overwhelmed. I quickly pantomimed deep breaths to her, and then went to intercept Zipp. "Be right back," I announced, conjuring up a spatial fold spell on the underside of my hoof as I walked over to her. "I still need to have my wake-up cup of love—" I glanced at Pipp. "—and I need to borrow Zipp for a moment."

Before the pegasus could protest, I opened a tear in space beneath the two of us, dropping us into the space in my room above my pillow nest. She was caught so off guard that she quickly fell into the hanging bowl of pillows and blankets. Having been ready, I merely spread my wings and glided over to the cask of love. By the time she fished herself out of my little slice of heaven, I'd already turned on the lights and poured myself a cuppa.

Waving her over, I reclined on the sofa and took my time drinking down my love. "What the hay, Anon?" she grumbled as she untangled herself from the duvet that had once been draped over most of the pile. "If you wanted to talk, you could've just pulled me aside." She paused, glancing at the empty space above my sleeping arrangement. "Why do you even have a spell that just drops you into your bed?"

I shrugged at that last bit. I named it 'Fuck it, I'm Out', but that wasn't important. "I just wanted to head off something before it caused any drama," I explained in a soft voice. She looked kind of surprised, and maybe offended that she was the one being implied to be likely to cause drama, but she remained quiet until I finished my cup of changeling life-nectar. "Zipp, you're brave, loyal, smart, and too damn curious for your own good, but can also be a bit... intense. You're a lot like Rainbow Dash in that way...

"That's not always a good thing, either," I continued, setting the mug down and levitating a small plush opossum out of the pillow pile and pulling it into a hug. It was Serenity—the very same plush I'd once been gifted by Princess Luna—and although the calming enchantment had long since worn off, I still had the placebo effect. "I know what it's like to be a socially anxious pony on the receiving end of that sort of protective drive. I don't think you and Misty might reach the level of drama between me and Dash right after I turned into a changeling, but... It would still disrupt Misty and Izzy's special night."

The brainy speedster looked a bit crestfallen at that. I'd never told any of them anything about what I'd done in Manehattan all those years ago, how badly it and the Storm King's invasion broke me, nor just how close I'd once gotten to making one of Mom's best friends end me. Their pity belonged nowhere near me, and telling them would just result in Hitch wanting me out of town. That said, I think the weight of what I said got to Zipp.

"But she's totally suspicious!" she argued, albeit halfheartedly. "How does somepony just grow up in the middle of nowhere and not know anything about their own people?"

I was tempted to point out that back in my day, there had been such things as pony trafficking and straight up slavery in some less civilised parts of the world. It wasn't too out there for me to suspect that she might have been trafficked as a foal, and sold to some pegasus hermit as a servant. That said, I was trying to defuse the princess—not activate her.

"Oh, it's totally suspicious," I agreed, glancing over to the door. "That said, I can tell you that the anxious, scared filly thing isn't an act; she genuinely doesn't seem to have any clue how to react around others. She's not used to being treated well, and I'm sure you'll notice it if you throw some genuine compliments and kindness her way, too."

With a shrug, I set down the plush, hopped off the sofa and started walking toward the portal door. "I'm not saying 'Don't be sus of her'," I whispered as I passed. "I'm just saying keep the foal mitts on, okay?"

~ 07 ~

You know, if I'm being honest, I kinda expected Izzy to try and rush everypony through every one of the sleepover's traditions. She seemed so excited to showcase every single one, and that seemed exactly what would be in-character for her. To my surprise, she actually was taking her time, so that not only Misty could enjoy it, but so too could the rest of us.

Horn decorating was a neat affair. Sunny, Zipp and Pipp all had rolled cardboard ones protruding from their manes, and while Misty, me, and Izzy had our own real or transformed ones. While the hostess stuck all sorts of gemstones—they might have been glass—to her horn, Pipp ended up with a glitter goatee because someone didn't put the container's lid on right. Personally, I liked the flame pattern Misty put on hers.

The game 'Dare the Mare' had these really weird rules. It made sense to Izzy—and apparently Pipp—but I had a hard time following it. Basically the gist I got was that the player spun the number wheel, and then take a dare from one of the other players. If it was odd, they got to do a fun dare, but if it was even, it'd be funny. They'd move forward if they succeeded and it was in line with the theme, or back to start if it was more in line with the other.

Izzy was out to win, while everyone else was looking to enjoy themselves. On Pipp's first turn, I dared her to give Misty a wing hug. Since the blue filly's resulting blush was funny, Pipp got to continue. Out for revenge, she dared me to reveal what kind of pony I was attracted to. Dunno if she was trying to embarrass me, but I don't think any of them were ready to see me turn into an alicorn composite of the friend group. It had Zipp's figure, Hitch's colouring, Pipp's fluffy plumage, Izzy's mane, Misty's eyes, and Sunny's smile.

They all just sorta stared at me for a few moments after that. Then a few minutes after that, Misty slowly said, "I didn't know mares could like other mares like that." Poor sheltered kid. "So you like all of us like that?"

I couldn't help but spend the rest of the game just giggling. "This is gonna sound weird," I explained, watching as Misty did the Cha-cha Slide for Izzy, "but I don't actually know what I want in a pony. I find different things attractive for different reasons, but as a changeling, I'm most attracted to the kinds of emotions, be it what I feel from others, or what they make me feel. All of you and Hitch—" I gestured at the main group with my wing as I transformed back to the earlier alicorn Anon form. "—are some of the happiest, most positive ponies I've ever met, and if I'm being honest, Misty here just gives off this little sister vibe that triggers my big sibling instinct." I paused for a moment at the wide-eyed looks and then shrugged. "Oh, if you were asking about lewd feelings... Dunno. Don't exactly have a lot of thought behind that beyond, 'Mares are hot'."

I didn't much care for the hoof-reading. Something told me that it wasn't exactly Misty's sort of thing either, because she was looking around when she thought nopony was watching. It was honestly kinda suspicious, and I could see Zipp giving me a look as if to say, "Are you seeing this shit?"

Between that and the tea-leaf reading, nothing too unusual happened. Somehow, both my hoof and tea-leaves apparently determined that I would find a worthy opponent and that our battle would be legendary. I don't know if that meant that somepony was gonna set up a poker tournament for me to crush, or if I was about to get some sort of archnemesis to clown on, or what. Meanwhile, apparently short-term misfortune would lead to good things in the new year for Misty.

The unfettered glee exuded by Misty when she pronounced the ponycorn to be the best thing was simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. It was just candied popcorn, but you'd swear you just fed her one of Pinkie Pie's famous triple chocolate cupcakes. What kind of food was she eating that makes this officially the best thing she's ever eaten?

Despite being behind schedule, we sat through the entirety of Trotting Hill, a staple movie for unicorn sleepovers. I could practically imagine Izzy saying "If we don't do everything, it's jinxie!" That said, I think she was seeing how much of the unicorn experience her fellow unicorn had missed out on during her youth. I actually had no idea exactly how old any of these girls were, but I had Misty and Pipp pegged for nineteen, while Zip was probably twenty-three, and Izzy and Sunny tied at twenty-one. Still it was clear the girl had missed a lot growing up.

During a pee break, an intermission during which I popped downstairs for another mug of love and to grab the largest and comfiest pillow from my nest, Misty finally initiated a conversation herself while sneaking a bit of Pipp's chocolate ponycorn. "So, um, where's that little dragon from earlier?" she asked with a hum. "Shouldn't he be enjoying the party as well?"

That brought a smile to Pipp's face. "Oh, Sparky?" she clarified. When Misty nodded, she explained, "Hitch is limiting the overnight dragon-sitting until he gets the hang of his dragon fire."

A short aside about dragon fire, cutie marks, and some other silliness between her, Misty, and Sunny happened, but I stopped paying attention partway through. Instead, I was gauging just how close the white pegasus sibling was getting to interrogating the youngest unicorn. Her entire emotional spectrum was screaming suspicion, and I didn't blame her. As the night went on, especially during the sleepover song, Misty only seemed to get more antsy, occasionally fidgeting with a locket that was around her neck.

Eventually, when a discussion popped up over what traditional game they should all do next popped up, I watched as Misty slunk off upstairs without a word. If she'd been looking for the bathroom, I'd have been willing to show her, but she didn't even ask, so she was up to something. Zipp was certainly right that she was up to something...

Rather than follow her up, I pushed open a window and crawled outside. Using some innate changeling magics, I slowly crept up the near vertical wall to one of the stained-glass bedroom windows, and started watching. I couldn't see everything from my vantage point—the window I'd chosen was by Zipp's bed and attached desk, and partially obscured, but it was clear that she was looking for something. She was peeking under Sunny's bed, under her pillows... Girl, you're just asking to find something you weren't meant to see if you go searching places like that.

Eventually, I guess she got frustrated. Muttering something to herself, the blue unicorn rushed straight over to the window I'd been watching through. I quietly climbed further up the wall, and hung upside down from the gallery balcony. When she pushed the window and leaned out, I saw she was holding that locket of hers on one of her hooves.

"Opaline, I'm in!" she whispered to the locket. "But no lantern. What do I do next?"

Why does that name ring a bell? I paused for a moment before remembering the first time I met Misty, disguised as her in an alley. Hadn't she said something about an Opaline casting a spell? I also remembered that name making me surprisingly angry despite my inability to recognise it. No... Ponies today don't use spells; their understanding of magic is in its infancy, so how does...?

For a moment, nothing happened, but then a surface on the necklace opened like an eye, and a cloud of smoke drifted out. From within the cloud, the ethereal head of a dark-coloured unicorn emerged. She was definitely older by a fair bit, and her white mane seemed to be braided around her ears. The pony, this Opaline, groaned and rolled her eyes. "THINK, Misty!" she snarled, fixing the young unicorn with a glare. "There's got to be some way up to that glass room at the top! It'll be there with the pris-beam! Don't come back without it! Then their power is ours!"

The projection of the mare broke into a cliché super-villain laugh, which Misty tried to mimic. Oh dear, oh dear. The mare seemed momentarily surprised by the laugh. "Oh. Better, Misty. But it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be a show-off." A moment of glee at being praised was quashed as the admonishment followed.

When the smoke crept back into the locket, and Misty pulled the window shut, I was left sitting upside down on the underside of the balcony. Was this sweet young mare really just here to rob Sunny and deliver a magical artefact to some mysterious unicorn? Is she really an enemy? I didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying what I'd just seen. Yet, at the same time, those emotions of Misty's were genuine. The way she reacts like somepony used to abuse... It's possible she's being used and doesn't even realise it because she's been isolated growing up.

~ 07 ~

Whatever the next few events were, I missed out on them. Instead, I returned to my room and started poring through my bookcase's contents with a text indexing spell. Mom had given me some of the most complete histories of Equestria from her library before sealing me away, so surely there must've been some sort of record... some mention of an Opaline. Yet I wasn't finding anything. There was a reference in the index of the History of Skyros, but all the relevant pages had been torn out.

As I stared down at the vandalised historical tome, I could hear the girls up above talking about sharing stories... Sunny was taking the lead, sharing what sounded like Mom's story... At least, at first. it stopped sounding familiar at, "But then one day, a magical accident happened!" Wait, no... It does... Why does that.. "An earth pony got hurt by a unicorn! Everypony started fighting with each other! The princess, wanting to protect her kingdom and all of the ponies in it, decided to put all magic into three crystals before it got out of hoof..."

I let out a strangled sob as the memory of a hospital waiting room floated up from the depths of my mind. The door into the operating suite opened up, and Mom stepped out, still wearing blood-stained scrubs. Despite the surgical mask covering most of her face, it did nothing to hide the tears in her eyes. The moment her eyes locked on mine, I could see her emotional aura turn completely blue with sorrow and guilt.

Despite the hive-resin patchjob covering my own wounds, I rushed over to her. "Mom, were..." I stammered, trying to keep myself from panicking. "Did you..."

She broke her gaze and, in doing so, my heart. "It's too soon to say, Anon," she whimpered, tugging my taller form into a tight hug. "Emerald's lost a lot of blood, even though we've healed most of the burns, we don't know if she'll pull through." She buried her face in the length of green mane hanging down over my withers. "All we can do now is make her comfortable and hope she pulls through."

The memory shifted. I was no longer in the hospital room, but instead in the map room of the Castle of Friendship—my unofficial war-room. My chitin was starting to flake and crack in places, but the worst part was the holes in my legs. How long had it been since I'd eaten any love? I was staring down at the holographic map of Equestria and all of the surrounding lands, projected above the table.

"Come on, you stupid fucking tree!" I shouted, slamming my forehooves down on the edge of the table. "You know as well as I do that Opaline is to blame for all of this, and she'll just keep pushing Equestria out of harmony! Just show me where she is and I'll fix the Tartarus damned problem!"

Behind me, the door opened, and in stepped Mom. She looked just as haggard as I felt. Her mane was a mess, and it looked like it'd been days since she'd preened or taken a brush to her coat. "Anon, come back to Canterlot with me, please," she pleaded. "Emerald misses you, and your crusade isn't helping! If anything, you hitting the bases of her cultists is just making things worse!"

I couldn't help but gape at her. "Mom... That monster's the reason my sister is in the hospital!" I shouted in my two-tone voice. I stomped the ground so hard that the chitin of my hoof cracked, and tears spilt down my cheeks. Green hemolymph began to well up from the split as I stared at it. "I swore I would always protect her, and Opaline made a liar of me!"

Mom shook her head, a pitying look on her face. "She didn't put the incomplete spell in that stallion's hooves, my little love bug," she whispered. "She's been stoking racial tensions and built a cult following, but what happened to Emerald was a freak accident!" Her magic encapsulated my hoof, and the bleeding stopped. "You're so intent on getting revenge for her that not only have you not visited, but you're actively killing yourself! She doesn't want this... She never did..." It was a slap in the face, but she was right...

Again, the memory shifted. I was in Canterlot castle, surrounded by mages as Mom supervised. My body had recovered from my state of starvation, I'd said my goodbyes, and we were getting me ready to go into stasis. I wasn't paying the spellcasters any mind; I was too focused on Mom as she loaded all sorts of books into my pocket dimension.

"Before you leave for the future, I want you to make a magical oath," she was saying, her back turned to me. "I have a plan in place, but you're too unpredictable to account for."

I eyed her with suspicion. Mind magic still put me on edge due to the effects Chrysalis' geas had on me. "What would this oath entail?"

As she finished loading my personal stash outside space and time with untold knowledge, she turned to me and fixed me with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I want you to promise that, whatever happens with Opaline in the future, you will only intervene if an innocent is in immediate danger. You may do what you think is necessary to undermine her, but whatever group reunites the Unity Crystals is destined to become the next Guardians of Equestria. Opaline is a threat, but so long as things go according to the plan Fate helped arrange, she will remain too weak to pose more than a stepping stone for them. They'll need to learn about her themselves, though. No spoilers."

I didn't like it... This was getting into Harmony's manipulative bullshit territory. That said, she was giving me a fair bit of leeway to operate. Sure, I would never get my revenge for what happened to Emerald by ridding the world of the evil pony that set her near death into motion, but I could guide and watch over Mom's and the Elements' successors. If the Unity Crystals never reunited, however, I'd be trapped in a dreamless sleep outside of time forever, as that would be the condition allowing the capsule to open.

"I promise."

Shaking my head, I brushed tears from my eyes and looked back down at the torn-out pages of the History of Skyros. A slip of paper shimmered into existence—no, that's not quite right. The enchantment hiding it from my eyes dispersed. I was left staring down at Mom's crisp writing.
Anon,

If you're seeing this note, you've begun to regain your memories. Specifically, you've remembered who our enemy was, and likely all of the hurt that she has caused you. I am writing this to remind you of your purpose. You agreed to go into the capsule in order to watch over the ponies of the new Equestria, and you are still expected to guide their magical development. First and foremost, however, your magical oath is top priority. Watch over the ones that united the Unity Crystals and broke the magical seal on your time capsule. Guide them, but intervene only if there is no other option.

More than that, I want to remind you how proud I am of you. I watched you grow from a troubled young filly, so full of hurt and potential, into a strong young mare who grew past her trauma and into one of the most talented mages of our time. I know you can push past the grief of leaving us all behind, as you have in the past, and make the new world a better place. I want you to be safe from the schism to come, and Désirée insisted I ensure your survival no matter what.

I know you still hold a grudge against her for her role in you becoming a changeling, but I want you to know... Once you're sealed away and the capsule has been entrusted to somepony, Désirée is giving up her current incarnation in order to fuel a protective spell that shall gradually erase your existence from the memory of all living beings—including my own—until you're released. She wanted to ensure that the enemy and her cult cannot find a way to harm you.

Since this is the last time I will be able to say this, I want to tell you how happy it made me to have you in our lives. It hurts so much knowing that I'll never again remember all the good times, nor the bad, by the time I've finish purging all references to you from history. Who would have thought that the little troublemaker shipped to me in a crate for stealing Celestia's cake would become such an important pony in our lives? As your Mom, adoptive though I may have been, I do this for you, my precious little changeling daughter.
I will love you always,
Princess Twilight Sparkle

I gently set down the scrap of paper, reeling at the flood of emotions. It was as though a dam that had been created by the restriction of my memories had broken, and the grief of nearly losing my little sister, the guilt I felt at having never visited while she was recovering, and the lingering wrath I felt towards that goddamned alicorn, Opaline, were all free to assail my mind all at once. That left me feeling incredibly small, so much so that I didn't even notice my form shrinking down to the tiny alicorn filly disguise I wore when I handed myself in to the Storm King's forces so long ago.

Making my way over to the sofa and cask, I picked up my foalhood emotional support plush. I regretted not learning how to refresh the enchantment, but it seemed like such a long time since feeling overwhelmed enough to need the enchantment. Sure, it would've been nice to have her enchantment when I had the breakdown that drove me to drink.

As I sat there, hugging Serenity, I levitated my mug over to the cask and filled it. At the very least, I could count on love to calm me down. Still, I couldn't stop myself from weeping as I read #1 Changeling Daughter on the mug.

~ Elsewhere ~

Despite the fact that her minion was currently deep in enemy territory, attempting to steal a magical artefact that she could hopefully use to empower herself, Opaline Arcana, the Alicorn Queen of Fire wasn't nearly as concerned as she ought to be. Sunny Starscout's miserable friends didn't have the slightest clue that they had a spy among them, and she'd been watching Misty with a scrying spell during her minion's meet-up with the changeling. If anything, the changeling was the main threat to her plan, but she didn't seem any the wiser to their plans.

Still, as she sat in her rec-room of doom watching Trotting Hill, a strange feeling came over her. As an alicorn with millennia of experience, she wasn't unfamiliar with the sensation of a spell being cast upon her, or conversely, a spell wearing off. This specific sensation reminded her of cobwebs being pulled free of her mane when dusting the west entertainment quarters, back before she'd acquired Misty. Evidently, somepony had cast a spell on her, a long time ago, and it was only now wearing off.

It was then that a feeling of dread began to set in. Misty, her only pawn and means of interacting with the outside world, was in the Brighthouse. The changeling, Anonymous Flicker was also residing in the Brighthouse. Opaline had memories of that changeling now—ones that hadn't been there before. The other adopted daughter of that detestable Twilight Sparkle, who had a penchant for pack bonding with the strangest of ponies, was alive and present... and this changeling had at one point been on a bloodthirsty crusade searching for the fire alicorn.

She ran to her throne room and glanced down into the viewing pool. There was no sign of an outbreak of chaos or havoc at the Brighthouse... and Misty was currently fretting about something in the nearby gardens. By all appearances, things were serene... So why was it that she felt fear?

"Am I in danger?" she asked aloud, watching as her pawn walked back up the path to the main building. "Is sending a vulnerable filly into the changeling's den a massive mistake?" She shook her head and dismissed the thought. "She would've started trying to hunt me down the moment she woke up if she remembered who I was. I have nothing to worry about from the likes of her."

Author's Note

Taking a bit of lore from Make Your Mark, and a bit from Tell Your Tale. Never much cared for Misty borrowing the compact to talk to Opaline.

No video log in this half of the chapter. Instead, we are getting some ~ 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓮 ~. The part of the reason that Anonymous Flicker cannot remember the months leading up to her hibernation in the time capsule, as well as why Opaline can not remember Anon.