Fallout Equestria: The Ashlands Timeline

Thursday, 11/3/2287
POV: Starlight
Location: Holder Silo

Maud regained her composure much faster than Twilight had after her loss, but that made it more terrifying. Starlight watched her put Pinkie out of her misery, then slowly turned her head to look back at Starlight. Tears streamed down Maud’s face, which was clenched in a rage that Starlight could feel in the pit of her soul.

Starlight took another step back, with her heart drumming in her chest. She feared that she might need the medics that were here for Pinkie. Should she run? For all she knew, that’d just send Maud into a rage.

“I am not about to murder you,” Maud said as if knowing Starlight’s fear.

“I-I didn’t think that,” Starlight claimed with a stammer.

“Yes, you did,” said Maud as she turned back to Pinkie. “And you were almost right.”

“We’ll save her, Maud,” said Mercury, placing a quivering hoof on Maud’s shoulder, showing her bravery by doing so.

“Her and Limestone too.” added Starlight. “I won’t stop until we retrieve Limestone and a soul recycler.”

“Your words are as worthless as you, until you prove them,” Maud said with deadly calm.

Starlight felt her own ire rise at that. Yet, she was careful not to show a hint of her emotion on her face; she only nodded and gave Maud space. She realized, though, that failing to rescue Limestone now wasn't an option, because Maud might turn on Starlight if the only other remaining Pie sister perished.

Maud turned Pinkie’s limp head around, waiting as Pinkie’s gem glowed brighter. A minute later, the glow died into a slow blink, the same blink that Limestone’s had. It signified that the soul had been uploaded, and only then did Maud pop the gem out, slipping it into her saddle bag.

“I failed to save her,” sighed Mercury.

“Don’t beat yourself up over the impossible,” sighed Starlight, then looked at the other ponies from Holder. “The Pies were to stay at this stable. Does that mean you have a soul recycler?”

“Sorry, no,” a mare answered, her voice as crestfallen as her face, refusing to look towards Pinkie. “We waited for a generation, but then used it for spare parts because no one that needed it returned. Then Midnight came demanding it and took the parts of it we could still find.” She was in tears by the time she finished. “I’m so sorry we failed you!”

“We couldn’t even find half the parts by then,” said a stallion, looking no less devastated. “She killed one-tenth for making her force her way in, but let the rest of us live for cooperating with the search after. That was a century ago.”

“How very merciful of her,” growled Starlight.

“We have a soul crystal implanter still,” stammered the mare. “Since it had other medical uses. We even have empty soul gems to install that we found after we’d already dismantled the recycler. I guess that doesn’t help now.”

Having a soul crystal installed was excruciating, so to do it with no promise of usefulness was unhelpful.

“No, it doesn’t,” said Starlight. “What about Dyo? Did you catch him? I have some choice words for him.”

“He grabbed Custard Pie and tried to flee with her,” said Mercury. “But Gloomy tackled him, then dragged him back to the spa once the evacuation was canceled.”

“What about Kyo?” Starlight asked. “Her being absent during this is suspicious.”

“She wasn’t absent,” said Mercury. “She got back earlier than expected and was in the spa when you called up, so he might have come for her too if he knew she was there. She seemed as surprised as everypony else, and I doubt Custard knew either. Poor thing is so confused.”

“I see,” Starlight pondered. “I’ll head to the spa and question Dyo.”

“I will stay with Pinkie for a while,” Maud said darkly. “Don’t kill him before I come up.”

Starlight turned and headed out the way they’d come, galloping as fast as she could once again. She kept her horn charged in case anything dead jumped out at her, but nothing new popped up in the path they’d cleared.

If Kyo didn’t know to stay away, she wasn’t involved, which was actually a little disappointing since it would have allowed for a smooth transition into power for Starlight. Starlight couldn’t imagine Custard harming her family either. Dyo seemed the exception with Pie family values; there was one in every family.

‘Starlight?’ Twilight’s thoughts came over the PCB as soon as Starlight was in range again. ‘Is everyone okay?’

‘No,’ said Starlight. ‘We lost Pinkie, but her soul crystal is intact, so we’ll look for a way to use it.’

‘I see,’ said Twilight, continuing after a long pause. ‘We won’t give up hope. I guess Mercury told you we have Dyo at the spa. We’ll wait for you to get here to question him.’

‘What do we know so far?’ asked Starlight.

‘Only that he tried to grab Custard and leave as if she was the only one he cared about saving, and he hadn’t known Kyo was back in town,’ said Twilight. ‘Also… Watcher provided information, but I don’t know if it’s related. Dyo wanted to live at Tenwhinney Tower instead of here, and Watcher felt he might be willing to betray us to be accepted there. If they're Holder's enemy, maybe he made a deal with them?’

Starlight assumed that Watcher knew such by having overheard conversations, and it made sense, though doing such a thing for such a reason was trivial by any standard.

When Starlight neared the entrance that had less shielding, she teleported as far as she could, arriving in a flash in front of the PUB. She took a glance around the town, which looked like people had been evacuating, but were now streaming back in with the all-okay.

She turned to enter the PUB, but suddenly had to duck as a blue blur shot at her. Kamikaze darted past her and slammed face-first into the entrance without opening it. It was nice to see that she had the wings attached, but apparently they weren’t cooperating.

“Heads up! Sorry!” Kamikaze called back. “They get excited when I’m stressed and even Solar hasn’t been able to completely fix them.”

Starlight had no idea what that was about, but it looked like said wings might slam her into the wall again. Starlight lit up her horn and emitted a pulse of interference; Kamikaze’s head sparked, but the wings stopped fluttering. Starlight caught her with her telekinesis before she hit the floor.

“Ow, buck!” Kamikaze groaned and looked at her. A moment later, her wings became usable again and seemed less agitated. “Thanks, I guess, but how’d you do that?”

“I took note of the frequency Twilight accidentally used on you when distraught before,” Starlight explained, but didn’t feel like going into it. “Is everyone else inside?”

“I don’t know, I just got here,” Kamikaze grumbled, a little irate at the discovery that Starlight could take her down on a whim. “Guess I’ll keep that frequency on record. Would you mind not telling others about that?”

Starlight was in too much of a hurry to answer, and went into the front door with Kamikaze shortly behind her. She found Twilight and teammates waiting in the hallway just outside one of the spa rooms.

There were several spa creatures there too, every one of them looking rattled. Custard was sitting against a wall, huddled into a corner crying while Twilight comforted her. The poor thing met and lost a hero on the same day, not to mention Dyo’s betrayal.

“Clover?” asked Starlight. “The little one shouldn’t be in a place like this, please take her home or to the museum.”

“And get me to a bathroom! The wing-finger function on Spitfire’s wings suck at opening doors!“ said Kamikaze, chuckling, then adding more self-consciously. “So I might need help with… ya know, wiping.” Then more loudly as if to cover the last bit up. “Also you haven’t witnessed enough of my awesome flying! That’s important!”

Starlight couldn’t help but smirk a little at Twilight’s disgusted expression, and nodded to her.

“F-fine, I can barely use the three rock system they use here, but I’m glad to help you recover,” Twilight sighed. “But remind Solar to look into improving that when she’s done with more vital things.”

Twilight smiled as brightly as possible given the circumstances before standing up. She allowed Custard to climb onto her back and headed off. Gloomy followed behind Twilight, which was best, while Kamikaze zigzagged above.

For a moment Starlight had trouble processing it, why Twilight bothered doing it herself rather than telling Rainbow to go find Mercury or a doctor. Was Twilight so deep into compassion that she could twist Kamikaze’s grossest antics into something sentimental? It disgusted her to her very core, and annoyed her that Twilight turned a way Starlight could make her suffer into something positive.

“Crimson, with me,” Starlight said after the others left.

“Oh, I’m useful?” Crimson quirked an eyebrow.

‘You said you wanted somepony to hurt without repercussions, right?’ Starlight asked Crimson alone over the PCB.

Crimson smiled and followed behind Starlight as she walked through the door that the others had been standing around. Olivia was in the hall it led to and opened one of the room doors for Starlight. Without a word, Starlight entered and closed the door behind her and Crimson, locking it.

The spa room wasn’t bad considering the state of everything else, but there was no time to consider that. Starlight’s eyes went to Dyo, tied with his front hooves pulled behind his back, leaned against a wall. He wasn’t alone though; Kyo stood by in silence.

“Empress,” Kyo sighed. “I’m sorry. We didn’t know… I’m ordering those balefire missiles dismantled; we have no use for them.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Starlight said, but asked. “But are you sure you should be here?”

Kyo’s eyes widened, looking back and forth between Crimson and Starlight, but nodded. Starlight would rather her be out of the room, but couldn’t order her to leave.

“Hey,” Dyo’s voice cracked. “Um… I can explain…”

“You will explain,” Starlight glared at him. “Why you saw fit to murder everyone, including most of your family. If you hesitate to answer even for a moment, I will show you how long a pony can endure torture without sweet death. Understand?”

“Y-yes,” Dyo stammered.

“Can I kill him yet?” asked Crimson.

“Ask that again, and you’ll be learning with him, Crimson,” Starlight growled.

Dyo looked at Kyo, but she turned away. Good. Her reluctance to defend him would make him more outgoing in his answers, though Starlight doubted Kyo realized the death threats were real.

“Explain,” said Starlight, locking eyes with Dyo.

“Jacob Timothy Atticus,” said Dyo. His words flowed out all strung together with no pauses as if terrified to stop for breath. “Of Tenwhinney Tower! He told me that if I did this he’d let me live there with Kyo and Custard. What we’re doing in Holder is just going to get us killed! I just wanted a good life for them! I swear I didn’t know the Pie Sisters would be here when I agreed to it. I was going to try to set off the bomb in town, but when they arrived it gave me an easier way to do it, I’m so sorry!”

“Why would he ask you to destroy the city?” Starlight blinked.

“Well, Holder is on bad terms with them,” Dyo stammered. “But also… I think he wanted to see it, and something about Holder being an eyesore when he looked out from the top of the tower.”

“He would murder an entire city for a light show?” Crimson asked. “Classy, if impersonal. Seriously, that’s super-villainous.”

“You will cease admiration,” Starlight growled at Crimson, and she shut it for the time being.

“We’ve always had trouble with Tenwhinney,” Kyo shook her head. “But never like this. This new leader of theirs is vampire-fruit-bat-poop insane.” She looked to Dyo. “Why didn't the Pies being here make you go back on your agreement?”

“If I had,” said Dyo, tears streaming down his face. “They would have come after all three of us in retaliation.”

“You didn't trust your legendary heroes to protect you?” smirked Crimson.

“Did you find anything out while you were gone?” Starlight asked Kyo.

“That settlements are horse apples at returning favors,” Kyo said. “And my spy in Tenwhinney says the arena show for General Limestone is next Tuesday, not in two weeks.”

“What is it with Tuesdays?” chuckled Crimson. “Seriously, those things are bad luck.”

“I must have misheard,” Starlight sighed, hoping that that was a convincing lie. “How do we get in? Any weaknesses?”

“With that energy field, they could take a balefire bomb to the face,” Dyo said. “There’s no way inside.”

‘Solar,’ Starlight said over the network. ‘Get guards and head into the bunker. There’s a stealth bypass suit there that you need to get working before next Tuesday.’

‘Got it!’ Solar replied, no doubt excited at the offer to work on such a thing.

“We’ll use the bypass armor from the armory,” said Starlight. “Since it has stealth capability that Kamikaze's doesn't.”

“I don’t think that’ll work on a shield that can stop balefire,” Dyo shook his head. “Look I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”

So he offered it to them thinking they couldn't even use it. This just kept getting better and better, but luckily he was wrong about that.

“You obviously made this plan knowing nothing,” Starlight growled. “Bypass armor worked on Canterlot’s shield, and that had the CME system powering it. Is their shield better than that?”

“Um, no,” Dyo blinked.

“Ponies this stupid shouldn’t attempt archfiend-level evil plans,” Crimson shook her head. “I’m sure Mr. Atticus knew that; he probably didn’t expect you to make it back to the tower alive, and would have killed you as a liability if you had. Do you think he wants someone willing to blow up their hometown living in his?”

“I… didn’t think of that,” Dyo muttered. He hadn’t thought about a lot of things.

“Is this why you refused to connect to the hive, brother?” Kyo asked. “So we wouldn’t see those thoughts?”

“I… yes,” Dyo said, too fearful to do anything but confess. “And because that thing is going to get us killed! How long do you think it will be before Midnight realizes? If this worked… you wouldn’t have ever known I was involved, and we’d be safe.”

“You think that’s an excuse?” Kyo was shaking with restraint, raising her voice more and more.

“Hive?” asked Starlight. That definitely sounded like something she should know.

“I’ll explain later,” Kyo shook her head. “I can’t take this now, so I’ll check on Custard. I have minimal guards here to keep people from suspecting he’s here, since we’d have an angry mob rushing in otherwise. I’m trusting you not to let Maud know he’s here either, for obvious reasons.” She added more seriously. “He is not to be killed or permanently damaged, understand? His fate will be determined legally.”

“Of course,” smiled Starlight with her most deceptive smile, but Kyo’s hypocrisy annoyed her. When the city was grinding small-time raiders into meat paste, attempted genocide should definitely hold a death sentence whether or not he was related.

But Starlight let Kyo head out, slamming the door behind her. It was doubtful she’d be okay with everything Starlight planned to do.

“So, what was that about a Hive?” Starlight asked again, since Kyo didn’t want to talk about it.

“The spa workers are changelings,” said Crimson. “I say we call them spa-lings. Anyway, I probably would have killed one when I found out, but apparently they have some kind of defensive mechanism that can ‘turn off’ non-changeling magic within the vicinity.”

“Is that so?” Starlight arched an eyebrow. “But I thought Kyo was a Pie?”

“Kyo and the woof-woof aren’t changelings,” sighed Crimson. “They can use changeling magic due to being connected, but they’re all annoyingly pacifist. I wouldn’t entertain any plans of using them.”

A group of pacifist changelings in the city was definitely a liability, especially if Midnight found out, and she was trying to avoid her attention. What’s more, being able to turn off her magic would easily allow them to defeat Starlight if the need arose, and she didn’t have Midnight’s magitech to cut through magical nullifications.

“You know what?” Starlight turned back to Dyo. “Why don’t you tell us about this defensive device?”

“I-it’s made from a piece of Chrysalis’ old throne,” Dyo said, looking a bit confused at the conversation’s turn. “It’s locked behind a coded door. I don’t think they have any intent of moving it, so if you don’t want to be affected, just don’t come here.”

“What’s the code?” Crimson asked. She knew where this was going. “You know it?”

“Well, I saw Kyo enter it a few times,” Dyo said more quietly. So they didn’t even trust him with that, but if he knew it, he knew it.

“And the code is?” Starlight asked.

“I-I can’t let you know,” Dyo shook his head.

“Crimson,” Starlight turned to her. “Remind me again, what was the crime you were forced to leave Stable 27 for?”

“The rape and murder of a filly,” Crimson smirked. “And then rape again, but who’s counting?”

“And how many ponies have you murdered?” Starlight asked again as she watched Dyo’s eyes get wider. “How good are you at torture?”

“Hundreds? I dunno,” Crimson shrugged with a smirk. “Oh, I have a lot of experience.”

“And I bet Maud would love to help,” said Starlight. “After Pinkie’s death in the silo.”

“W-why are you having this conversation?” squeaked Dyo.

“Tell me the code,” Starlight said. “Or I will leave you in the room alone with Crimson, Maud, and a sound blocking spell, with an order to do whatever she wants without consequence.”

Starlight’s psionics were useful for diplomacy, but it was just as useful for threatening. It was effective enough that he was hyperventilating.

“789321,” Dyo said quickly. It was easy enough to remember since it was just back and forth on a keypad. “The locked door is in the other hallway.”

It was doubtful anyone was in the other hall with what was going on. They weren’t exactly taking customers, so this could be perfect timing.

‘Maud,’ Starlight said over the PCB to Maud and Crimson. ‘Meet Crimson in front of the PUB, you and her are to stealthily obtain a device and hide it in her book. Then, assuming you succeed, hide yourself in the book so she can sneak you into the room where Dyo is held. I’m not ordering what to do after that.’

‘I’m on my way,’ Maud responded. She was probably already in town looking for Dyo.

There was no way around it. Now that Dyo had told them that and knew they knew, he had to die. Letting Maud do it would earn Starlight points with her, and she desperately needed those now that Maud didn’t have one of her sisters around her to keep her level.

Also throwing Crimson a bone would ensure her loyalty. Her ability to read ancient logs was more useful to Starlight than the cooperation of a pacifist hive. Once it was done, she could openly state that Maud executed Dyo, and knowing what he did, none of the town’s citizens would be against it. Kyo wouldn’t like it, but it would be without Starlight’s order, and Starlight could explain that she couldn’t punish Maud for it without gaining the ire of the town.

“By the way,” said Starlight to Crimson, aloud again so Dyo would hear. “Remember that we’re guests here, so don’t make a bloody mess for the spa ponies to clean up.”

“Just call me Miss Clean,” grinned Crimson. “So I get my Crimoire back now?”

Starlight fished Crimson’s book out of her saddlebag and floated it to Crimson. Crimson looked like a druggie getting her fix as she hugged it close. It was almost cute.

Crimson grinned as they turned to head out, shutting the door again behind her. Starlight looked back at Dyo as she cast a silence spell over the room. It was easy to do since their device wasn’t active at the moment, and it’d keep anyone from outside from hearing screams.

“Okay then, when she gets back, you’re going to be left alone with her and Maud,” said Starlight aloud again. “Is there anything useful you can provide me that might convince me not to do that?”

“Wait, what?” Dyo’s whole body tensed. “You said if I talked that…”

“I wouldn’t torture you to death in the slowest way possible,” Starlight finished for him. “Crimson can come close, but won’t be able to be as slow as me because I know better spells. Now I repeat: Do you have information that might convince me to let you live?”

“But Kyo won’t…” Dyo started.

“She’s not here,” Starlight said. “And when she finds out, she won’t have a choice but to accept, because you know as well as I do that the city will side with me and Maud over someone who defends the ones responsible for Pinkie’s death. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“I didn’t really want anyone to die!” stammered Dyo, so panicked he apparently gave no thought to the believability of his statements. “C-can I have time to think about it?”

“You have until Crimson gets back,” Starlight said.

It took a good 20 minutes for them to get back. Maud probably wanted to come in the back window to make sure no one saw them. During that time Dyo made multiple pleas, but nothing that indicated that he still had useful information, and he would have given her anything he had at this point.

When Crimson arrived, she had her book with her. She opened it, concentrating on a spell, a moment later Maud flew out of the book and landed roughly on the floor. She barely flinched at the landing and turned her head to look at Dyo. He tried to speak, but only blabbering and tears came out.

Starlight turned towards the door, ignoring Dyo’s whimpering.

“You have it?” Starlight asked.

“We do,” Maud answered. “Also, this.”

Maud held up a single piece of paper. Most of it seemed like scrawled notes about alliance and agreements between settlements, but there was one line that was obviously strange. Penned in one corner ‘What to do about Starlight?’. It had a few tick marks beneath it as if the writer, likely Kyo, had been going to make a list, but then didn’t think of anything.

“Good,” Starlight said, but her smile vanished when she saw her name. “Crimson, scry that and see what was happening when she wrote it. Keep both in your book for now, otherwise they may search and find it in our possession.”

“So glad we could come to an agreement,” grinned Crimson. “I’m glad Maud is here too. This will totally buy me pussy points with her.”

“We will see,” said Maud.

“Y-you have to be kidding me,” Dyo screamed, his pleas unheard outside due to Starlight’s spell.

“No, it’s true,” Crimson told him. “Pussy points are totally a thing. Stallions wouldn’t understand because they’re so bad at earning them.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Dyo squeaked.

Starlight headed out the door, closing it and hearing it lock behind her.

POV: Crimson Prose
Location: Plots Up Brothel

Well that was fun. Crimson had never seen Maud so… expressive. When told that Starlight ordered not to get the spa bloody, Maud came up with all sorts of ways to hurt Dyo without spilling blood. And as promised, Crimson let Maud make the kill. She also told her that she was the one that suggested Maud help, to get a few more points.

“So then,” Crimson said as she hefted Dyo’s limp and broken body across Maud’s back. “How many pussy points did this buy me?”

“Enough for hate sex,” replied Maud, too used to Crimson to take offense. “But it will be excruciating for you, and not now.”

“I’ll look forward to it!” Crimson grinned.

Maud didn’t reply, instead turning to walk down the hall. The spa ponies would be horrified to see this for certain, but sadly they’d all gone to their quarters. The PUB wasn’t empty though, as they found when they strolled through the front room.

“What the bale?” Kyo shrieked as she rushed over. “What did you do? Why did Starlight let Maud in!”

“I snuck her in,” shrugged Crimson, towing the line with the lie Starlight would want spread. That was her job, after all.

“We executed him,” Maud answered matter-of-factly.

“I left him with you to question, not kill!” Kyo’s face streamed with fresh tears, though she looked like she’d already been crying. She could have been sitting here to get time alone after all that happened. What delightful timing.

“What did you think would happen when you left him with me?” Crimson rolled her eyes. “I already tried to kill one of your bug-whores.”

“Bug-whores?” asked Maud.

“We’ll cover that in debriefing,” Crimson said. “More murders should have debriefings, don’t you think?”

“No…” Kyo took a step back. “My brother…”

“He killed her sister,” shrugged Crimson. “Fair trade, right?”

“Shut up, Crimson,” Maud said, then turned to Kyo. “I am not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry that I made you suffer with my vengeance.”

It must have been deliciously difficult for Maud to balance her love of family and sense of justice when a Pie deserved death. Crimson held herself back from making a snide comment though, because she knew what that self-hatred felt like. Also, she didn’t want to jeopardize all the points she'd earned.

“I can’t tell your master not to come here,” Kyo mumbled, still turned away. “But you two are no longer welcome in the PUB. Now, please let me deal with his body, as his sister.”

“I will not return unless ordered,” said Maud. “But he does not deserve the honor of being buried in the same city as Pinkie and Marble. In fact, burial is an honor he doesn’t deserve outright.” Maud paused to twist and wrench Dyo’s head off his body in a few quick motions. “There, you may take the body to your meat-processing mortuary to be made into things of actual use, but the head I will dump outside the wall to rot, and you will make sure it does.”

“Nightmare’s icy passage, I wish I was strong enough to be that brutal,” said Crimson, impressed. It seemed Maud’s violence was indirectly proportional to how many sisters she had living. Kyo looked back at Maud as if attempting to gauge if it was a good idea to take the head by force.

“Please do not attempt to stop me,” Maud warned Kyo. “I prefer not to wrench your head off as well.”

“Please try to stop her,” Crimson purred.

Though sadly she wouldn’t. Even with her whole hive, she’d never get Dyo away from Maud without several casualties, and she wouldn’t risk it. She also couldn’t afford to go against the newly returned Empress and a Pie sister. This was all so delightful.

“Get out,” Kyo mumbled as she turned away again, sounding as if she could barely speak. She leaned against a nearby wall and choked on a sob.

Maud turned to walk out, and Crimson followed to leave Kyo to her crying. Those were emotions that Crimson couldn’t understand. What Dyo tried to do was worse than anything Crimson’s family members had done, if one measured magnitude in raw body count instead of individual sadism at least.

Crimson didn’t care when her family died, and all they’d done was rape her and force her to murder her best friends. Her father made her kill Hayscartes to take his method, which though beneficial to her in the long run, bothered her a great deal at the time. She didn’t see why Kyo cared about a family member that arguably did worse. Even from a sickeningly moral point of view, this was justice.

“Crimson,” Twilight’s voice spoke from behind her after they departed the PUB. Maud continued on by herself. Oh goodie.

Crimson turned around to see Twilight, Gloomy, and Mercury. Twilight was in her previous leather armor and gas mask, so Crimson assumed that Clover wore off and she didn’t want to drink another potion yet. She was doing a fairly good job at making her voice sound similar to Clover though.

Twilight’s face was creased with anger so much it was visible through the gas mask, while Mercury’s face favored reluctant compliance. Crimson assumed they had also believed Dyo was only being questioned. Gloomy was harder to read, and likely wasn’t a stranger to seeing brutal punishments, but he’d probably nod at whatever Twilight said to earn pussy points of his own.

“Did you think an order from Starlight would keep her from getting revenge?” Crimson shrugged. “Besides, if somepony throws candy in my lap, you can’t expect me not to eat it. And I didn’t even make the kill. I let Maud do it; isn’t that kind of like friendship?”

“Crimson…” sighed Twilight, looking at the ground. “I wish you would just try my way…”

“Again,” Crimson shrugged. “Maud made the kill.”

“Maud is not herself,” said Twilight.

From what Crimson had been told, Twilight knew how that felt. Crimson still regretted having missed her episode after her dragon slave was killed. Still, Crimson was certain the real reason Twilight wouldn’t reprimand Maud was that Maud would kill anything that tried to stop her.

“Oh stop,” Crimson said. “If we hadn’t killed him, somepony else would. At least this way he got to buck me before he died.” Crimson wasn’t sure why she felt the need to make excuses to Twilight, even inappropriate ones.

“Whatever,” sighed Twilight. “Mercury wanted you with us when we checked something.” She sounded like she might disagree with having Crimson there.

“What are we checking?” Crimson tilted her head.

“I talked to Bottle Cap again,” sighed Mercury. “He said Cola holed up in his shack in the corner of town and won’t come out. He wouldn’t leave during the evacuation and won’t tell Bottle if Tranquil or Peaceful is in there. After what happened, we should go check ourselves instead of bothering Kyo.”

“Let’s go,” Crimson growled. “We’ll see if I’m joining the ponies that lost family today, but if I am, Bottle Cap will join that club too.”

“Crimson,” Twilight warned. “Enough people have died.”

“Never,” Crimson said, but added more seriously. “And if he killed Tranquil, then I won’t be ‘myself’ now will I.” Crimson threw the words back at Twilight and then looked back to Mercury. “You know where it is? Lead on.”

POV: Mercury Shine
Location: Holder Outskirts

Mercury couldn’t believe a rich merchant with quarters available in Stable 11 would choose a shack at the back edge of town. It was near the corner between the front wall and a sheer cliff, an area that had been abandoned due to a sinkhole nearby. The shack was on the edge, like it could topple in from a breeze, but Mercury supposed that made others less likely to show up.

The shack didn’t look like it’d been much even before the sinkhole formed. It was a shoddy structure built from rubble, gaps between the wood and metal fragments of the wall patched with other fragments, with a rusted tin roof. It was a dump even by post-apocalyptic standards; maybe he was too paranoid to hire a decent builder.

This didn’t seem right. Mercury loaded her telesyringer with a pax potion just in case.

“You two should stay here,” Crimson said to Twilight and Gloomy when they were barely in sight of the structure.

“And why is that?” Twilight asked.

“How do you think he’ll react if a bat and an edgy broken-horn in a gas mask show up at his door?” asked Crimson. “You can come running if he gives us trouble.”

“Or if you give him trouble without cause,” Twilight said. “Fine. Mercury, keep me updated over the PCB please.”

While her logic for having them stay back made sense, Mercury was sure Crimson just wanted plenty of time to hurt Cola before being stopped. If the suspicions turned out to be true, Mercury might not disagree, but Crimson might even if they didn’t. Still, going to get Tranquil without having Crimson come wouldn’t have seemed right.

When Crimson knocked on the door, Cola didn’t open, peeking out a hole drilled in the door instead.

“What do you want, changeling?” Cola accused. “Did Trinity send you to kill me too?”

“Good morning to you, too,” Crimson answered with her best benevolent overmare smile. It had been a long time since Mercury heard that voice. Knowing what she knew now, it sounded so much creepier.

“Xander checked us, sir,” Mercury said. “We’re not changelings.”

“He checked the visitors,” said Cola. “That doesn’t mean you’re not a changeling pretending to be them! Besides… I’m sure he’s been taken too! Everyone is changelings!”

“Look I don’t have to come inside,” said Crimson. “The others don’t matter. I’m Overmare of Stable 27 and it came to my attention that two of my residents moved in with you. Can I speak to Tranquil and Peaceful Melody?”

“They left yesterday,” said Cola, giving no further explanation.

“Left the city?” asked Crimson, arching an eyebrow.

“Um,” Mercury spoke up. “But Kyo told me that the guard logs as of early this morning didn’t record them having left.”

“So?” Cola’s voice got louder and more agitated. “Maybe they flew out.”

“I think the griffon guards would have seen them if they…” Mercury started.

“Well maybe somepony teleported them through the wall!” Cola yelled. “Or they slipped off during that pretend evacuation you pulled to try to get me to come out! How should I know?”

His delusions were off the rails, clearly beyond reason or conspiracies and into the realm of psychosis. Talking would get them nowhere.

“Mercury?” Crimson glanced back at her.

Crimson tapped the door just below where Cola had his eye pressed against the hole peering out at them. Mercury hesitated a moment, then raised the telesyringer, aiming the teleport canister with the pax potion in it just below the peephole.

With the wood of the door pressed against his face, the telesyringer teleported the potion through it just as it would armor and into Cola’s head. A moment later, he fell back from the door and thumped on the floor.

“See? We make a great team,” said Crimson. “This is why you should marry me and Tranquil. Possibly Maud too if I can rope her in.”

Mercury blushed and didn’t bother responding. She knew Crimson wasn’t joking, which made her want to talk about it even less. Crimson shrugged at the lack of response and turned her hind legs to the door.

Crimson was no Pie; she took three kicks at the shoddy door to jar it free. Once it swung open, they saw Cola laying on the other side, on his back with all four hooves in the air and a giant grin on his face.

“Heeeey,” Cola said as if half-dreaming. “Come on in.”

“Why didn’t his head explode?” asked Crimson. “Did it not work?” She should have known better, so Mercury wasn’t sure if that was a joke.

“That was a pax syringe,” Mercury explained. “It pacifies.” She added just to be sure. “Don’t forget, we’re not killing ponies without reason.”

“Right, just don’t tell Not-Midnight we’re in yet okay?” Crimson huffed as she stepped over Cola to go further inside.

“Sorry,” Mercury said. She still didn’t like defying Crimson’s wishes but had learned it to be necessary most of the time. She sent over the PCB, ‘Twilight. We subdued Cola.’

“Far out…” Cola sighed as Crimson stepped over him. With the pax serum, he wouldn’t be fit for questioning until it wore off, and maybe not even then.

The shack had a main room and three rooms adjoining it, one of them a bathroom and two bedrooms. There was no proper furniture, however, and most everything was in boxes, as if he’d never unpacked what he moved here.

There was some loose rope though, which Mercury grabbed and went about binding Cola’s legs for when he was easier to question. The serum shouldn’t last long, only meant to give one time to bind an enemy or run. It was as she did this that she noticed though.

“Crimson, this rope has blood on it,” Mercury called.

“I’m sure it does,” Crimson said from the next room. Her voice was hollow in a way Mercury had never heard it. Mercury hoped that didn’t mean what she thought it did.

“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked as she entered. “Thank goodness Crimson didn’t do anything rash.”

“Twilight-Clover-Not-Midnight?” Crimson asked as she walked from the other room. “From what you know of changelings, do they remain in their changed form when they die?”

“Oh Celestia,” Twilight said, knowing where the conversation was going. “I don’t know, it’s not something we’d experiment on and every dead changeling I’ve seen had died while in their true form. But my educated guess would be that they unshift when they die.”

“I see,” Crimson said with almost Maud-like dead calm.

Crimson tossed a limp body out of the bedroom and onto the floor: Tranquil’s body. Tranquil’s face was frozen in an expression of abject horror, remnants of the detection goo on her face. Her body covered in bruises as if she'd been beaten, though that probably wasn't what killed her. That would be the bullet hole right between her eyes that blasted out the whole back of her skull. Mercury felt her insides twist with guilt, unable to take her eyes off that expression.

“Oh, no, no,” Mercury felt tears roll down her own face. “I’m so sorry, Crimson. This is my fault for not letting you track him down earlier.”

Mercury expected Crimson to agree or say something snide despite the situation. Or maybe be angry that she didn’t get to kill Tranquil first. At the very least she should say something mildly insensitive, but no.

“What is this feeling?” Crimson’s hollow voice said as she looked down at Tranquil, her own tears dripping onto Tranquil’s face. “This isn’t how I thought I’d feel. Is this my fault? She ran from me… and now…”

“Crimson, it isn’t your fault,” Twilight moved close and reached out a hoof.

“Shut up!” Crimson slapped the hoof away with uncharacteristic rage. “It’s your fault that I think it's my fault! You’ve tainted me!”

“The changeling deserved it!” Cola said from where he lay. He was back to his old self and apparently not feeling much self-preservation.

“But the stuff on her face,” said Twilight. “I assume you put it there and then beat her up to put her under ‘stress’, but if it showed she wasn’t one, why did you kill her?”

“Xander helped me test them, yes,” Cola claimed. “But then claimed neither of them were changelings, you obviously replaced him too! I promised I’d release them, but then kept testing them!” With increasingly more violence, no doubt.

“Cola,” Mercury turned to him. “Changelings change back to their true form when they die. This was a real pony.”

Mercury wasn't sure Twilight's educated guess was right, but she didn’t want to listen to idiotic prattle either. Either way he wasn’t contrite.

“We should let Starlight know,” sighed Twilight.

“She went into the bunker after we ate,” said Mercury. “She’ll be out of contact.” She turned to Crimson. “Have you eaten? I know this is hard, so I could bring you something.”

Crimson shook her head, uncharacteristically silent.

“Where’s Peaceful?” Twilight backed off from Crimson and turned to Cola. “The changeling that Tranquil was protecting.”

“What?” Cola looked uncertain at Mercury’s words but shook his head. “Peaceful? I don’t know which one this is; they have the same mark. This one said she was a changeling though! She claimed she was copying the other, that they were a real pony. I called her horse apples; they’re clearly both changelings! But the other squirmed away. I think I broke her wing as she escaped, but a changeling can just grow another one.”

“That idiot,” Crimson laughed, but it was a more bitter laugh than usual. “Lying to save an insect? I taught her better than this.”

“Crimson,” Twilight said. “Let’s take him to jail. We don’t need more death.”

“That’s exactly what we need,” Crimson growled. “Leave me alone with him. What’s the problem? He’s going to be executed anyway.”

“Which I don’t like either,” Twilight said. “And it’s something I hope to change.”

Cola started to speak again only to have his muzzle held shut by Crimson’s magic.

“Stallions shouldn’t speak out of turn,” Crimson said.

“Crimson this isn’t the answer,” Twilight said.

“Excuse me,” said Gloomy from the door, having let them be until then. “Look, I don’t want to give anypony grief. But if this guy murdered her wife because he mistook her for a changeling, then she has a right to revenge.”

“It’s not as simple as that, Gloomy!” Twilight shook her head. “Vengeance like that doesn’t just hurt the one receiving it. It may make Crimson feel better short-term, but it will only damage her mind more long-term.”

Mercury hated it, but she had to agree with Crimson and Gloomy on this one. It was unlike her, unlike the type of pony she wished she was, but she supposed the world outside the stable was changing her.

“Um, Twilight?” Mercury spoke gently. “This guy will only hurt other ponies if allowed to continue…”

“It doesn’t have to work like that,” Twilight shook her head. “He’s mentally ill. He could still be helped.”

“But it does work like that,” Gloomy said. “What the world is and should be are two different things, no amount of wishing changes that. Do you think a city so low on resources that they are chopping up their dead for food can afford to build and operate a psychiatric hospital?”

“Go buck already you two,” Crimson rolled her eyes.

As they were both in front of the door and neither expected it, Crimson pushed them outside with her telekinesis, her clear rage giving her somewhat more strength than usual. She tossed Mercury next, though Mercury was more cooperative. The door slammed behind them, and while Crimson couldn’t lock it, boxes could be heard being stacked against it.

“Crimson!” Twilight called in, but then clenched her teeth and turned to go. “Why do I even try?!”

Despite their disagreement, Gloomy followed her. Mercury wondered what his deal with Twilight was, but it wasn’t the time to ask questions.

“I’m done with today,” said Twilight as she walked away with Gloomy. “Let’s go to the PUB and order a proper Celestia.”

Well, Crimson did tell them to go buck already. Maybe Mercury should head there too on her own this time while Crimson wasn’t there to ridicule her choices.

POV: Twilight Sparkle
Location: Holder

Twilight was changing; she could feel it, and it frightened her. She told herself that she still believed in friendship, but she was losing faith. With things this bad in Equestria, maybe they needed to be kicked into line enough for friendship to be a large-scale option.

Perhaps worse, she felt herself getting used to things. When she first arrived in this timeline, they would have had to drag her away from that shack. But now here she was, relaxing after bucking a changeling even while she knew Crimson was killing somepony. Celestia and Luna would be so ashamed of her.

Crimson was a symbol of how far the world had fallen. Maybe Twilight was obsessed with bringing her back because she felt like if she helped Crimson, she could help anyone. Yet Twilight’s efforts only made Crimson hate her.

“Gloomy?” Twilight turned towards him. She needed to talk to give her mind something to chew on.

“Yes?” Gloomy said, eyes darting up to meet Twilight’s. She realized he’d been staring at her plot end again; she’d spied him doing so several times already, and their disagreements didn’t squash the tendency.

It was surprising he still did it when she was in full-body leather armor and a gas mask, or maybe less surprising? Depended on what he was into.

“Have you been able to contact your friends at Statera?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah,” Gloomy nodded. “Got Kyo in contact with them too. I’m still ordered to stay with you… guess you’ve figured that out.”

Twilight wondered if they asked, or if he volunteered.

“Do they know about my misgivings with eternal night?” Twilight asked. While it might hurt her chances with the group, she wouldn’t deceive them.

“They know,” Gloomy nodded, a tinge of annoyance appearing in his voice, but quickly vanishing. “Watcher already figured out that you opposed Nightmare Moon in your timeline. She says you’re someone worth taking a chance on, and I agree.”

“Thank you, that means a lot,” smiled Twilight. Not to mention, it showed that Luna might negotiate that idea. Twilight hoped that she’d already given up on the idea and didn’t tell Gloomy yet for fear of it affecting his loyalty. “Is there anything you can tell me about the group yet? Like who is the leader? After Luna, I mean, I assume she isn't physically fit to stand on the front line.”

“Watcher is the leader, but most in the group don’t know she’s Nightmare,” said Gloomy. “I was told to convince me to join, because she seems really keen on remaining on your good side. Thanks again for sparing me back then. Anyway, Ovo Factorem seems to be something of a leader too, or at least their tactician. I don’t know what I can say about him, to be honest.”

“He’s a bat as well?” Twilight quirked her ears at that.

“Answering that question would invite other questions,” said Gloomy. “Nightmare trusts him, so I trust him. She says he helped her hack access to the sprite-bot network using a back door he knew about, and that’s why she can communicate with us. Anyway, that’s all I should say about him.”

Twilight didn’t pry but assumed that meant he wasn’t a bat. But why would his species invite other questions? Maybe a crystal pony? That might mean they were cooperating with Skyla, so it’d definitely invite questions.

Or it might be nothing at all. The most important thing was Twilight needed to decide if the final goal of these ponies was something she could allow. The big question was if putting Nightmare Moon in charge would be better or worse than what they had. Sure she was reasonable, but even Midnight had shown some amount of reason when alliances suited her purposes.

“You know,” Twilight added quietly. “I never apologized, I guess, for what my team did to your friends when we first met. I hope you realize I wanted to leave more survivors.” She sighed. “Especially your friend Blinding, I saw in your memory sphere… she was having a… hard time lately.”

“I know,” Gloomy sighed. “In a way, Blinding is another reason I joined Statera and why I’m trying to help you… I want to make a better world so no more of my friends have to go through that.”

“You really are a good-” Twilight was about to ask more when Crimson’s voice buzzed over the PCB. Though Starlight would hear anything over the PCB, Crimson seemed to word things so that Starlight wouldn’t want to interject herself into the conversation.

‘Hey Not-Midnight,’ Crimson said. ‘If you’re done getting bred by the fruit, come here. To the shack.’

‘Is something wrong?’ Twilight asked, not acknowledging the implication. Partly because she sort of wished she’d done that instead of making use of prostitutes with him, but wasn’t ready to admit it.

‘Come and see,’ Crimson said simply.

Twilight tried not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help but wonder if Crimson hadn’t been able to kill the pony. She knew it was unlikely, but Twilight’s blind hope was the only thing keeping her going.

“Twilight?” Gloomy asked.

“Crimson says to come back to the shack,” Twilight sighed and stood.

Twilight glanced back as she walked, chuckling to herself when she saw Gloomy walking behind her with his eyes fixated on her behind again. She was tempted to sway her hips more than usual for him in an attempt to cheer both of them up, but continued on.

When they arrived, Crimson was outside the shack, sitting on the edge of the sinkhole. Behind her were two bags. One was wrapped respectfully in sheets, obviously a body, which Twilight assumed was Tranquil. The other was just a giant limp bag. Twilight assumed Cola was inside, and he wasn’t moving.

“Do you need help with her burial?” Twilight sighed, focusing her eyes on Crimson.

“Kind of,” Crimson said, but didn’t turn to look at Twilight. “But not here. She doesn’t deserve to be chopped up and partially buried in some stallion-infested po-dunk village. So… buck, I sound like an idiot… I want her body to return to her family at Stable 27. Her family aside from me, at least. I don’t think they want to see me again.”

“I’ll make sure she’s returned there once things settle,” nodded Twilight.

“Can you now?” Crimson asked with uncharacteristic softness. “I hate myself enough without staring at her body. And if it’s here, I will stare at it… and possibly less appropriate things. I can even let them know you’re coming, since Chrome will probably answer a call from Stable 11’s system, unlike I would.”

This was a bad idea, even if Stable 27 wouldn’t fight them now due both their truce with Midnight. Yet, Crimson coming right to Twilight showed that, despite her misgivings, Crimson trusted Twilight. Maybe that was a good sign. Then again, maybe Crimson just wanted to be rid of her and hoped she died in transit.

“There's a lot going on now,” said Twilight.

“So, I assume you killed Cola?” asked Gloomy from behind Twilight. “And that's him in the bag?”

“Killed?” Crimson asked. “Don’t you mean executed? You know it's funny. I’m not used to having so many victims available that deserve it. It’s oddly satisfying.”

“How many... innocents have you done this to?” Twilight wasn't sure she should ask.

“Enough,” said Crimson, which Twilight assumed meant she lost count. “But maybe I was wrong. Maybe the best satisfaction comes from preserving justice instead of inflicting pain.“

Crimson turned around finally, looking over at the two sacks. But as suddenly as she turned, she recoiled, putting her hooves on her eyes and crying out.

“Crimson?” Twilight asked, coming closer. “What's wrong?”

“Bucking rainbows in my eyes!” Crimson, continuing to hold her hooves over her eyes as if they stung.

“What,” Twilight was at a loss. “NO. No bucking way!”

Crimson couldn't possibly be an Element! You can't learn a lesson about friendship from murdering somepony! What Element could that lesson even refer to?

“Should I be getting a doctor?” asked Gloomy, uncertain.

Crimson shook her head as if to clear it and put down her front hooves. She blinked a few times as if making sure nothing else weird would happen to her eyes.

“No!” Twilight screeched, refusing to believe it. “I know the world’s changed, but there is no way… no way that the Elements changed that much!”

“Twilight?” Gloomy blinked at Twilight’s uncharacteristic screeching.

“Oh, keep your sexy leather pants on,” Crimson grumbled as she continued rubbing her eyes.

Crimson kicked Cola’s bag and it spasmed, a whimper coming from inside.

“You… didn’t?” Twilight’s expression went slack, going from emotionally charged to calm so quickly that it made her feel oddly empty.

“Don’t go having friendship-gasms over it.” Crimson chuckled as she moved her hooves from her eyes, shaking her head again to clear it. “It’s pretty obvious that this guy is deranged. Getting him help so he realizes what an asshole he’s been is a worse punishment, so I’ll give the possibility that he might not be executed a chance. I make no claim that I won’t murder him after that.”

So she wasn’t ready to admit her reasoning, but the change in action was unmistakable. She spared a pony because of an unlikely chance that he might be saved. Twilight had been at a low point, her faith in friendship having all but disappeared, but now it surged back in full force.

“Crimson?” Twilight said. “I have a... gift for you.”

“A what?” Crimson asked. “Unless it's a sex toy or murder implement, I'm probably not interested.”

Twilight ignored the comment and dug around in her saddle bag. She kept quills with her whenever she could, and picked some up from the barracks, so she pulled one out and offered it to Crimson. Crimson quirked an eyebrow and took it in her magic, examining it as if wondering why Twilight would give her a not-special-at-all quill.

As Twilight watched, a rainbow glittered over the surface of the quill as Crimson held it. Crimson held it further away as if afraid the rainbow would get in her eyes again.

Oh Celestia, it really was that...

“Crimson,” said Twilight. “This will sound strange, but keep that safe; I wouldn't advise even using it.”

“What are you on about?” growled Crimson. “Are you pranking me in revenge for letting you think he was dead?”

“Do you remember what I said about the Chest of Harmony?” asked Twilight. “Well, you said you learned a lesson, then you saw a rainbow. Then I gave you a gift, and a rainbow shone on it too.”

“Wait,” Crimson peered at Twilight and managed a smirk. “So I'm one of the Mighty Morphin Element Rangers?”

“I... think you might be, yes,” Twilight sighed. “Believe me. I'm as surprised as you, probably more.”

“Is this some weird timeline stuff?” Gloomy tilted his head.

“Something like that,” sighed Twilight. “I’ll explain later.”

“Are we done with our moment now?” asked Crimson. At least she admitted that it was a moment. “Yes? Good. I'll keep the quill safe and call Stable 27 to let them know you’re coming through Stable 11, since I have the communication code. Now get going.”

“You’re welcome, Crimson,” Twilight smiled, knowing that was as close to thanks as Crimson could utter. “I'll take Tranquil home.”

It seemed important to do now that this had happened. Perhaps that’s what fate was pushing her to do, though she also needed some time away after today’s experiences.

“Gloomy?” Twilight asked. “Do you know of a safe path?” She didn’t ask him to come along; she knew he would already.

“Sure,” nodded Gloomy. “I can take you around west of the Ponyville Ashlands on the safest route. We can fly over the cloud cover until it gets too hot closer to Canterlot.”

“Thank you, Gloomy,” said Twilight.

“No problem,” said Gloomy. “I can let the team know we’re coming so maybe they can get someone to meet us there; I’m sure Watcher will ask what we’re doing when they see us heading north again together.”

Gloomy helped Twilight by hefting Tranquil onto her back, and they left to find a cart to tow her in, not to mention Starlight to cast a preservation spell. Twilight imagined Starlight would be overjoyed that she had left to risk her life far away.

Twilight hoped Starlight realized how much she needed Limestone. It seemed she had, so there was no reason to think she wouldn’t try her best to rescue the general. Starlight’s best would be better than Twilight’s in this case anyway, and their plan to Twilight’s knowledge involved stealth rather than murder.

Besides that, Twilight was tired of one crisis after another. A simple delivery mission, even a morbid one, was just what she needed. On top of that, it wouldn’t hurt to retrieve Dinky’s research from Canterlot. The little scientist should appreciate having her notes should they succeed in bringing her back to Holder.

It seemed like a good idea to change the subject, though. So, she turned it to something else Gloomy’s friends might have intel on.

“Does Statera know why the Sun stopped? Or does Midnight know?” Twilight asked. “Was it just misuse?”

“If you mean the CMEs, no,” said Gloomy. “The amount of plasma used with those was small enough that it’d regenerate. Something drained it so quickly that it stopped regenerating, and it didn’t happen until over a century after the CMEs were used. Could have been worse, I guess. If it’d stopped while at full strength, no amount of cloud cover would have kept it from frying everything around Canterlot.”

But why would anyone burn out the Sun? Twilight couldn’t think of any reason, not even a villainous one.

“Could Midnight or Trinity be involved?” Twilight asked.

“Definitely not,” Gloomy said. “Midnight is actively looking for ways to reverse the damage, and I’d imagine Trinity would be too since she wants to conquer Equestria, not turn it into a popsicle.”

“Who else is there with the resources to affect the Sun?” asked Twilight. “It was created with magitech, so in theory it should be breakable with magitech, but it’d still be no easy feat.”

“That’s just the thing,” Gloomy said. “As far as we can tell, there isn’t anyone that could. Yet it faded too suddenly to be a natural process. I don’t know how much magitech Skyla and Unicornia have, but Skyla wouldn't with her restoration fetish, and I can’t think of a motive for Unicornia either. I wouldn't put it past Chrysalis to want to destroy everything along with herself, but there's no way she could after losing her Hive.”

“Indeed,” Twilight pondered. “I’ve heard Unicornia mentioned, but not a lot about them. That’s the same name of the unicorn kingdom that helped form Equestria…”

“Yes, the history you got Clover the Clever from,” Gloomy said. “All that’s known is that they’re more advanced than Trinity or Midnight, but keep to themselves in Manehattan. And that they’re brutally racist against non-unicorns.”

“They’re bound to be a problem eventually then,” Twilight sighed.

“There’s no way to know,” said Gloomy. “It’s impossible to get spies in there, even changeling spies from what I’ve heard. All we can do is hope they have good population controls so they never need to expand. From what has been heard from Unicornian caravans traveling for research, most of them believe that the races outside will die out without their intervention, and that it will prove their superiority.”

“And the longer everyone else fights,” pondered Twilight. “The more dangerous they become by not wasting resources by taking part. Not unlike Skyla… either could become a huge problem without warning, and with both relatively hidden, it’s impossible to know exactly how advanced they are or which is more.”

“I’m not sure why Skyla hasn’t invaded to be honest,” Gloomy said. “She’s shown impressive psionic defenses when we sent teams north to investigate her location. I suppose her restraint says something good about her.”

“You mentioned Chrysalis too,” Twilight asked. “She's still active?”

“She could be, there are occasional credible sightings,” said Gloomy. “Some suspect she's allied with Trinity, including Midnight, but according to Statera, even most changelings despise her. They're content to let her live alone in misery, not that any would pass up the opportunity to end her.”

“Killing should be a last resort, not an action of opportunity,” Twilight sighed. “Regardless of who we're talking about.”

“Buck that,” Gloomy growled. “That bitch wears Nightmare Moon's skin like Midnight wears Daybreaker's. That means she skinned Nightmare Moon; our goddess might be suffering skinless in a changeling pod.”

“I see, I'm sorry,” Twilight didn't feel like arguing anything, so cut the conversation off. “You know I want to save Luna too.”

Instead of saying more, Twilight ran all this over in her head, considering potential motives that Unicornia or Skyla might have, or some method Chrysalis might use. She came up blank.

Or maybe someone else? There were as many factions in this Equestria as major cities in Twilight’s. Who knew if she'd uncovered them all. She felt like Limestone described in Marble’s memories, like there was something lurking beneath that she hadn’t accounted for.

POV: Crimson Prose
Location: Holder

‘It’s a slippery slope, you know,’ Paper Cut told Crimson. ‘One minute you’re helping some friendship fetishist find magic keys, the next you’re getting gang-banged by real stallions and not murdering a one.’

“Tsk,” huffed Crimson, walking randomly through the market and not caring who heard her. “I’ve never bucked a stallion and not killed him in my entire life. I won't start now.”

‘Why are you so angry anyway?’ Paper Cut asked. ‘You’ve never been this angry after losing a wife. You killed most of them yourself.’

“Exactly,” said Crimson. “I wanted to kill her myself.”

‘Don’t even try,’ said Paper Cut. ‘You can’t lie to me about your feelings; I’m in your head as much as in this book.’

Unfortunately, she was right there, and Crimson knew she was being unlike herself. She even provided Stable 27 accurate information when she called them to tell them Twilight was coming, though Chrome had seemed oddly unsurprised that Tranquil was coming back to them in a body bag. She even ensured they had a ‘touching’ funeral planned for her; it was such a disgusting moment that Crimson had hung up on her.

‘You feel guilty,’ said Ink Blot. She used to almost never speak in Crimson’s head, but did it more recently. ‘Because you know Tranquil left out of fear for you, that she died hating and fearing you.’

“Shut up!” screeched Crimson. Since when did Ink Blot get such big figurative balls?

‘Crimson?’ Mercury’s voice interrupted from the PCB.

‘You shut up too!’ Crimson answered her equally as harsh. ‘I’m monologuing a one-sided conversation in front of confused onlookers and can’t afford distractions!’

‘But Crimson,’ Mercury ignored the aggression. ‘Tranquil is here at the PUB! I found her at the hospital getting her wing fixed and brought her here!’

‘The PUB?’ Starlight’s voice interrupted. Of course the hub would hear their conversation. ‘I’ll bring everypony over. We need to have a short meeting about what’s next.’

‘You mean the changeling?' asked Crimson. ‘Right. I’ll finish the monologue and come kill-buck the skittle-bug during the meeting. That’ll make me feel better.’

‘No, it’s actually her!’ Mercury insisted. ‘Olivia checked and said she’s not a changeling!’

What? Had Twilight been mistaken about them changing to true form when they died?

Crimson didn’t even answer. She took off running through town as fast as she could, not even stopping when she passed a small colt she could have easily pushed down stairs like a slinky.

‘Kill her right away before anypony else can!’ Paper Cut advised.

‘No, apologize!’ Ink Blot countered. ‘Maybe tie her down and beat her though… only because she’ll like it!’

Crimson didn’t answer either of them. By the time she crashed through the front door of the PUB, she was out of breath.

“Tranquil!” Crimson ignored everyone else in the room and zeroed in on the light blue gold maned pegasus. Tranquil was even wearing her pink-trimmed Stable 27 barding that entertainers wore there, though she'd taken off her pipbuck.

Tranquil waved a hoof, but looked more caught than rescued. That and she looked almost as beat up as dead-Tranquil had been, aside from the distinct lack of a bullet to the head.

“Oh, hey,” Tranquil greeted. “… you.”