A True Person

With a slurping sound, the last piece of chitin separated, revealing the changeling's brain before Alexei's eyes. The man, using telekinesis, carefully lifted the brain and began to scrutinize its structure. An unusually large cerebellum immediately caught his eye.

"About like that of a pegasus?" the man speculated, but his attention quickly shifted to another part of the brain. "Is this it?"

Alexei had already performed autopsies on various creatures of this world and had some experience in studying their anatomy. Earlier, he had even tried to compare the structure of a pony's brain to that of a human's, but he had quickly abandoned that idea. Even though he had seen a human brain in live - he had no medical education, so his observations were quite amateurish.

Speaking of the unicorn's brain, apart from its slightly different shape, the main difference was the frontal lobe. The circle standing out against the rest of the brain's surface caught his attention. This was where the horn connected to the brain through connective and neural tissue.

Seeing it for the first time, the comparison to the third eye immediately came to the man's mind. He had once read about Tibetan monks making a hole in the skull at the forehead to gain the gift of clairvoyance and achieve enlightenment.

He had expected to see something similar on the changeling, but found a small spherical bulge. It was from here that he felt the response when he scanned the still living changeling with his mental energy.

"So their telepathic connection comes through physiology rather than magic?" the man muttered thoughtfully.

Licking his lips, Alexei picked up the scalpel with his telekinesis and began separating the hemispheres.

Dropping a potion from several vials on the mysterious bulge, he reactivated his mental scan.

He soon confirmed what he already knew - it was this part of the changeling's brain that was responsible for the "hive mind".

Of course, it would be better to run such tests on a still-living changeling for more accurate results, but the man feared that he might send a signal to one of his kin. Alexei was unsure of his methods of blocking mental energy against a creature he had never dealt with.

Sighing, Alexei stepped away from the table and slowly lowered himself to the floor, leaning against the cold wall that seemed to be his only support at this moment. His mind was busy thinking about how to get out of this messed up situation that fate had put him in.

Despite all his attempts to interrogate the changeling, Alexei never managed to extract any valuable information from him. It was not about the man's persuasion skills, but about the changeling himself, whose memory had been skillfully distorted by someone else. He didn't remember why he had joined the gang, didn't know their plans, didn't remember past encounters with other changelings, and his own name had been lost somewhere along the way.

The only thing at his disposal was the task of gathering information and waiting for instructions on the next meeting. Surely he had other tasks, like promoting that drug they'd found in the bags, but all those memories were already drowned in the currents of oblivion.

There was no way to get anything out of him, and the man dared not even think of trying to enter his mind with a nightmare. The telepathy abilities inherent in these creatures from birth made them part of the collective consciousness.

What would happen if a changeling tapped into this network while the human was poking around in his head?

The nightmare would be instantly destroyed and a counter-attack ensued. Good if it only ended in the loss of the nightmare - coma, dementia, or death were more likely outcomes. Though, during the entire interrogation, the changeling hadn't tried to send any signals - the man was still wary.

He understood that the changeling was being cautious for fear of exposing the others, but how would he behave if the man got inside his head?

He shouldn't exclude possible traps and protection spells left on the changeling by whoever had edited his memory. All in all, the changeling's interrogation had failed.

The idea of using the changeling's blood for a transformation potion to leave Canterlot with their help now seemed impossible. The transformation potion did not grant the magical abilities of the creature being transformed into, but it did copy its physiology down to the smallest detail. That meant that Alexei's brain would be altered as well, which was unacceptable.

By turning into a changeling - he would immediately unconsciously tap into their telepathic network and be instantly exposed. There were some ideas about deliberately damaging that part of the brain, but even for Alexei that was already beyond insane. The plan to disguise himself as a changeling had also failed.

He had another idea, to use the changeling's blood for a potion to suppress the nightmare's rejection. Given the innate changeling's magic built around alteration and transformation, the idea sounded reasonable.

However, after a few tests, the man realized that nothing would work. At most, what such a potion would be able to do was temporarily slow down the rejection. And the blood of a regular changeling wouldn't work. He used the Luna's blood in the ritual, so the changeling's blood would have to match. He needed the blood of an alpha changeling, a royal.

Were there alicorns or something similar among changelings? The human didn't know.

Even if he found a royal, what next? He didn't have time for a long preparation and it wouldn't be as easy as what he had pulled off with Luna.
It was all just impossible dreams.

And that was what the man needed most right now - time and a safe way to leave Canterlot. He couldn't stay here any longer. His grand plans had fallen apart in just one day.

Security measures in Canterlot had increased dramatically. A bunch of guards with some kind of analyzing artifacts roamed the streets and took samples of magical energy from anyone suspicious. If there were any problems with the result of the analysis - they were immediately scanned.

The locals didn't have any problems passing the energy analysis, so no additional scanning was required and there was no particular discontent.

The human would fail the first test - he had no magical energy whatsoever.

The only good news for him was that it looked like they weren't looking for him specifically.

At other times, he might have just laid low and waited for the storm to clear, but the circumstances were different now. In the current situation, such behavior seemed like suicide. His body was rejecting the nightmare, and the matter was getting worse by the day.

Previously, he had planned to sow the seeds of fear in Canterlot, gather enough energy within himself, and then forcibly merge with the nightmare. It was far from an ideal solution, but he had no other options.

In the history of this world, no one had ever attempted such a symbiosis with a nightmare. At least, the human had never heard of such a thing. The story of Luna and Nightmare Moon was a mere obsession, but not an interdependence. For the native beings, such a ritual would be mostly pointless - they already possessed both types of energy from birth. So why would they do it?

The lack of predecessors meant that humans had to forge a path on their own. Rough fusion was the only way he had at the moment. That plan had also collapsed

He could not expand his organization now because of the heightened security measures in the city. His literary plan collapsed next - arriving at the publisher's office with a new story, he found that someone was already waiting for him.

Most likely it wasn't an ambush on him specifically, but someone sent from the palace to convince him to delay publishing stories about the human. Perhaps they were only suspicious. Alexei preferred not to take any chances and stopped showing up there.

His main task now was to escape from Canterlot, and that was very difficult. He hadn't left the city after escaping from the prison not only because of a daring plan to merge with the nightmare under the noses of the alicorns - he simply couldn't leave it. All entrances and exits of the city became tightly controlled. Of course, spatial magic was also controlled - otherwise he would have escaped through the portal long ago.

"Celestia still hasn't taken me seriously because I'm sitting quietly," the man pondered. "Also, she doesn't want to make a fuss and set her sister up, so she's acting carefully. She really has nowhere to rush - I can't escape the city, but I'll become reckless if I'm cornered. She has some insight into my personality. She must also have noticed the disappearance of the drug gangs. I didn't attack any common ponies or touch any honest businesses. I specifically targeted the gangs exclusively.

"Knowing her character - she should be pleased that I killed them. There's even a possibility that she's already anticipated my actions and is waiting for me to contact the nobles to dispose of them. One thing I know for sure is that she is preparing something to find me and capture in an instant."

The comfortable life with Silver Breeze also had to be abandoned - Flint Dustcloud's identity had been compromised.

He now lived in the basement of a dilapidated building in the slums of Canterlot. The beggars knew his name and it was only because of an unfortunate coincidence - one of them had seen him with Silver when they were shopping. However, they didn't know the identity of the mare, the address of their home and his visits to the publisher - the man had checked that out thoroughly.

He could give up a comfortable life for his safety, but he didn't want to give up his newly formed gang - they were too important to his plans.

Celestia also began to suppress all the rumors that his friendly company of beggars and strays were spreading. Or perhaps it was Luna?

The gray pony's face frowned at the thought of their last encounter with Luna. It had happened a while ago. In the Dreamworld.

Luna had already guessed he was alive and hiding from her, avoiding sleep at night. Luna started changing her sleep schedule and sleeping at random times to catch him off guard.

That's how she stumbled into a unicorn waiter's dream, falling asleep after a night shift in which the man had thrown his own banquet. He'd managed to slip away from her, but it had been very close.

"If I hadn't been so vigilant, and she had already fully recovered - it would have ended very badly," the man hummed.

Just another instance where he'd nearly lost everything. Things like this hadn't touched the man's heart in a long time - he was constantly walking a tightrope.

Right now, he was watching all his plans in Canterlot crumble and there was nothing he could do about it.

It didn't work? He would just try again, ten, a hundred, or a thousand times. Not a thousand or a million failures could derail him from his path. It wasn't just about the goal of his path, or even about perseverance.

How could he give up his path if only in this world, he felt so alive? He finally felt like he belonged.

There were no doubts, no regrets - he was on the right path. He would keep moving forward no matter what.

He could no longer go back to his past life - it made no sense to him.

There was no going back for him, and most importantly, he didn't want to go back.

Celestia lay on a blanket in a secluded corner of the Royal Garden, enjoying the rays of sunlight that played on her white fur like dancing stars. Her multicolored mane shimmered with all sorts of hues, reminiscent of the northern lights, and her violet eyes sparkled with a mysterious light.

Usually she spent this time with her sister, but today Celestia wanted to be alone, to take a break from the usual rush and enjoy a moment in solitude.

No meetings in the morning, no plans for the evening, and just her alone in this park. Needless to say, her mood was just great?

If it weren't for all the pre-holiday hustle and bustle that she would have to immerse herself into again tomorrow, her mood would be even better.

It was not a small matter - she had to present the new alicorn in front of the whole country, and all this during the wedding of this very alicorn. Preparations for the event were held under the strictest secrecy - only a chosen few knew what was being prepared in Canterlot.

"Cadence knows how to be persistent," Celestia said thoughtfully, her voice sounding quiet in the silence of the park, but a smile played on her lips. "As befits an alicorn of Love."

Though she didn't think Cadence was ready to go out into the world yet, she couldn't postpone the wedding date again - love could be quite reckless and crazy.

As soon as Cadence ascended - she immediately disappeared from all radars, and only a few ponies knew that she had become an alicorn. It couldn't have been otherwise.

Upon learning of the young alicorn's appearance, there would be plenty of those who would want to take advantage of her. The intrigues of nobles and kidnapping for ransom were just the tip of the iceberg of possible problems.

Magical experiments, breeding experiments, alchemy - every part of an alicorn's body was considered a high-end magical ingredient - and various rituals.

Celestia didn't even want to think about what might happen to a young alicorn captured by a rather curious unicorn devoid of moral restraints.

Celestia frowned slightly as the face of a certain creature that had already taken advantage of the alicorn flashed through her mind. She took a deep breath in and exhaled, regaining her composure - this was the second time she had been slapped by that arrogant creature.

"I promised Luna," Celestia repeated to herself, taking another deep breath.

Luna wanted to capture the human with her own efforts, and Celestia had promised not to interfere.

Earlier, she had expected the human to be a convenient tool to heal Luna's soul, but things had gotten out of control at some point.

Besides the obsession with the idea, all those little sister's old complexes came back.

They aren't fillies anymore. Why couldn't they just work together? What and who did she want to prove?

"Luna slept through this entire thousand years of imprisonment," Celestia reminded herself. "To her, it all happened as if it were yesterday. She's already doing the best she can. I shouldn't put any pressure on her.

"But this can't go on any longer."

Finding a non-magical creature in Canterlot without major search operations was proving to be quite a problem. They even had samples of human flesh and blood, but it was all useless. All matter in this world was filled with magical energy, and spells interacted with it as they were used.

How to search for a creature living outside the usual laws of magic?

There were some powerful large-scale scanning spells that might yield some results...

But after that, she would have to fight off a pack of nobles howling about their privacy being violated.

And yet magic remained a flexible and powerful tool, capable of warping reality at the mage's will. The problem was not the magic, but the spellcasters who could not figure out how to use the tool in this situation - after all, non-magical creatures had never existed on Equus.

Coming up with a search spell specifically for humans was only a matter of time.

Arcane had already found a way out of this situation. He had created a unique blood magic spell capable of tracking a human's location in Canterlot. Although it was only a prototype with a limited range for now, Arcane assured that he would soon complete the final version capable of covering the entire city.

The best part of the new spell was its hidden nature - it only worked with the target's life energy. In densely populated Canterlot, no one would notice such minor fluctuations in life force, making it the perfect tool for stealthy searching.

Celestia rose from her blanket and carefully looked around the park around her. With a faint smile, she created an impenetrable shield, shielding this part of the park from prying eyes.

Then she fell onto her side and began rolling around in the grass, sinking into childhood memories.

Bursts of joy and carelessness filled her heart as she recalled her adventures. She loved running away from her parents into the woods, where she had many secret glades hidden in the dense thicket. Of course, they always knew where she was, but sometimes pretended they couldn't find her, playing along with their daughter's amusement.

Relaxing on the grass, Celestia spent some time reminiscing, letting the light spring breeze play with her mane. But soon she opened her eyes and snapped back to reality.

"Periodically giving in to your impulsive urges is the basis of good mood and mental health," Celestia quoted the man as saying. "Your advice really does work. You know, I can teach you something too.

"In the face of absolute power, any crafty scheming is useless."

With a glance at the sun, Celestia felt it was time for her to head back to the palace. But she still had a little time left.

"If Luna finds you before the spell is ready, so be it, she will decide your fate," Celestia thought nonchalantly, looking up at the sky. "Otherwise, I'll come after you myself.

"I want to see your face when a little sun bursts inside you."

A gurgling sound coming from the half-rotten table interrupted the man's thoughts as he contemplated his escape from Canterlot.

Several working plans were swirling around in his mind, but all of them were quite extreme in its methods. The odds were not in his favor. Even worse: by doing so, he wouldn't just provoke Celestia - she'd be truly furious and personally go after his head.

He walked over to the table and stared into the bowl of blood, in which floated a tangle of pale red creatures that looked like thin leeches or worms, but had rows of sharp teeth that made them horrifying to look at. It was one of his side projects.

After making sure the creatures were fine, Alexei smiled satisfied and dipped his foreleg into the bowl. The leeches immediately burrowed into his skin, beginning to chew their way inside his body. Soon they disappeared inside him, and his wounds healed.

It was a blood magic spell based on alchemy that he created himself. The leeches could reproduce inside his body by feeding on his blood. He could command them to jump out and burrow into his opponent. After drinking other's blood, they would return, digesting it into life energy and speeding up the host's regeneration process.

The spell was a side part of his research into the possibility of converting one energy into another.

The effect sounded fearsome, but in reality it was very pale.

The leeches were fragile, and their attack power was negligible - they couldn't even get through the shield of a four-year-old unicorn. They needed time to digest the blood. The regeneration effect was unimpressive and was just the cherry on the cake for someone who not only possessed a regeneration tattoo, but had greatly improved this aspect after the ritual. The same phoenix tears should be thanked for that.

Many would say it's a pretty crappy spell, but the man didn't see it that way. And not because he was its creator.

There was no such thing as the strongest spell, only the strongest spellcaster.

The leeches had one very nice characteristic - they consisted of his blood and were concealed perfectly in his body. They were almost impossible to detect. Even if he was completely scanned - the leeches would remain undetected.

They could be used not only to collect other's blood, but also to store small items - leeches had rather large and stretchable stomachs. A few balls of poison would easily fit inside a leech. And no, he wouldn't get intoxicated by his own poison - they could provide a high level of containment. The items were also difficult to detect while they were in the leeches' stomachs.

Finished with the leeches, the man took the potion from the table and drank it. There was a hissing sound and his fur began to change color. Black smoke billowed out of his body and he glanced at himself from the side - a pony with white fur, dark blue mane and tail, and blue eyes.

The city was full of unicorns with such colors and he, with his physique, could very well impersonate the son of some unicorn and an earth pony.

He could turn into a unicorn, even if only in appearance, and blend in completely with the crowd, but the man didn't think that was a good idea.

Didn't the ones the royal guards were looking for think the same way? According to the information from the beggars and his rats, it was the unicorns that were checked most often.

Taking a pair of small bags with potions, the man put on a tattered scarf that hid a rib.

Finished with his preparations, the man left his temporary dwelling and headed towards the center of town - he needed to restock his ingredients and visit the bookstore.

Carefully looking around and listening to his senses, Alexei, in the guise of a white earth pony, deftly maneuvered through the streets of the city, avoiding encounters with patrols of royal guards and heading towards the shopping districts.

An alchemy store owned by a gryphon appeared in front of him. A rather odd choice of profession for a griffin, but it didn't bother the man - he liked dealing with griffins. They didn't ask unnecessary questions, and the human didn't ask about the origin of the goods in the store.

"Please stop for a moment, sir," came a voice from behind him.

Alexei flinched slightly - he hadn't felt anyone approach him. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.

Turning around slowly, he saw two unremarkable unicorns with a tired look. Outwardly, they looked like ordinary clerks who had skipped their morning coffee, but their gazes told him that the conversation was going to be anything but ordinary.

"Lost, guys?" said Alexei with a smile. "Where are you from? Manehattan? Tell me where you need to go and I'll guide you. I won't take much. I swear."

"We're here for work," one of the unicorns replied dryly, pulling a token out of his bag.

Alexei looked at the token with Celestia's insignia radiating solar energy and the smile disappeared from his face.

"'Oh. Did I violate something?" he asked worriedly. "I was just on my way to buy some healing herbs. Gryphons are quite the hustlers, sure, but their prices..."

"No, no," the other unicorn shook his head denyingly. "You haven't violated anything. Just a formal inspection."

His partner had noticed the white pony, finding his gait and body language somewhat odd. He hadn't noticed anything of the sort himself, but he trusted his friend's opinion.

Meanwhile, the second unicorn retrieved a golden plate with runes from his bag and held it out to Alexei, holding it by telekinesis by the corner without the runes.

"Put your magical energy into it," the unicorn said demandingly.

The white earth pony relaxed somewhat and smiled again, reaching out a hoof towards the plate. The hoof touched the plate and the unicorn shifted his gaze to the runes on it.

In the next second, he screamed in pain.

The pony, with a bone sticking out of its neck, spun around sharply and delivered a powerful kick with its hind legs at the unicorns, throwing them back into the wall.

There were shouts of Canterlot citizens rolling around in agony, but Alexei paid no attention to them. He rushed toward a familiar alleyway to the left of the store.

Suddenly something hit him in the back, the fur on his body hissed and began to change color rapidly - the effect of the potion had been destroyed.

Glancing back, he saw that the unicorns were already rising to their feet, and one of them was signaling an alarm.

Without stopping any longer, Alexei ran into the alley. But after a few meters, he felt his body begin to itch and his muscles began to cramp. He could feel his disguise starting to fall apart and he would soon revert back to the human form.

"It destroyed both potions?!" Alexei exclaimed mentally and put all his mental energy into action, trying to counteract the effects of the spell.

The reverse transformation slowed down, but he couldn't stop the process completely.

Visualizing a map of the area in his mind, Alexei rushed towards the city canal. There were several entrances to the sewers there. He just had to make it in time.

After running a few blocks, the man heard the flapping of wings somewhere behind him. A moment later, four pegasi in light metal armor appeared above him.

The man activated the rune bone again, but it had no effect on the pegasi, only their armor glittered, blocking the man's spell.

Grabbing a few vials from his bag, he was about to throw them at the pegasi when a sharp pain pierced his mind and his telekinesis was interrupted. The rejection came at the worst possible moment.

Gritting his teeth, the man forcibly activated his telekinesis, picked up the falling vials and threw them at the pegasi.

One of the pegasi flapped his wings, creating a powerful blade of wind that scattered the explosion to the sides. None of the pegasi were hit by the blast.

The human didn't react in any way, continuing to run while the erupting flames provided cover for a few moments.

Alexei's body took a hit after the failed telekinesis, he was feeling dizzy and unable to use spells in such a state.

"Thirty... no, twenty seconds will be enough," the man thought as he ran out of the alley into the street and looked around the surroundings.

When he saw the window of a house, the man ran full speed toward it and smashed through the glass, flying headlong into someone's house.

When he got up, he looked around the living room and saw that the owners were also there.

There were two unicorns hugging each other on the couch, looking at the unexpected guest with wide-open eyes. The guest's appearance was matching - torn ears, shredded face, blood streaming from its nose, and a wild look.

"Hostages?" a thought flashed through Alexei's mind, but he dismissed it immediately.

He had a chance to escape as long as he kept his pace. Getting stuck with them here was just delaying his death.

The unicorns, meanwhile, made no sound and, as if paralyzed, continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes.

The man, too, remained silent and still, unwilling to bring them out of the shock they were in.

A drop of blood from his face fell to the floor, breaking the silence. In the same moment, the unicorns screamed in unison, and the stallion lit his horn and covered himself and the mare with the shield.

After standing for a few more seconds, the man listened to his senses and nodded in satisfaction, rushing across the living room to the opposite window. Once out of the house, he was immediately confronted by the pegasi, bringing the full force of the wind down on his head.

Wiggling in all directions and dodging spells, the man pretended not to notice he was being surrounded.

Waiting until all the pegasi were in range, the man telekinetically ripped out his left eye and threw it into the air. The eye glowed red and spun in the air as if looking around. In the same second, the pegasi's bodies were covered in scarlet light and they collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

The scarlet light collided with the armor and it sparked violently, but the armor couldn't seem to completely offset the effect of the spell.

"Should last about a minute," the man quickly estimated, already rushing away. "Good it worked at all."

Opening his bag, he pulled out a vial and took a sip on the go. After a few moments, his heart pounded furiously and he sped up. He caught a glimpse of the fur peeling off his legs and sped up even faster. He had no time at all.

Feeling bursts of teleportation-like energy somewhere a few blocks to his left, the man abruptly changed course and took a detour.

"Now the housing blocks will end and I'll come to the main street," the man thought, checking the mental map. "It won't be too far to the canal there."

Once he reached the street, he jumped over the café tables, causing a commotion and screams among the customers. Across the street, a unicorn standing outside a store lit its horn and rushed towards him. Perhaps he wasn't part of the guards, but only wanted to help.

But Alexei didn't have time to sort out the details. Grabbing the flower vase with telekinesis, he threw it at the unicorn's face and instantly rushed into the alley.

Rushing through the narrow alleyways like a whirlwind, Alexei was already at the exit to the street where the canal flowed when he suddenly froze.

Between him and the saving water, a group of royal guards appeared in a flash of teleportation. They were mostly unicorns, but there were some earth ponies among them. One of the unicorns held a metal net with runes in its telekinetic grip, the mere sight of which made the man frown.

The stomping of hooves and metal clanking somewhere behind only added to the tension.

"Stop," the leader of the guards spoke in a steady voice. "You are surrounded and there is no..."

The unicorn didn't have time to finish his sentence.

The gray pony's eyes twinkled and his left foreleg flashed with scarlet veins. In the next moment, his leg disintegrated into scarlet energy, which streaked towards the unicorns after being drawn into a sphere.

It happened so quickly that only a few of them had time to raise their shields.

There was a powerful explosion that threw the guards aside and made way for Alexei, who rushed toward the water on three legs.

"Ugh, fuck," the unicorn mumbled, unconscious for a few seconds, and tried to get up, but to no avail.

He had been hit hard by the blast, and was also covered in rubble from the collapsed building wall. Had it not been for the magic shield built into his armor, he might never have gotten up.

Concentrating, he looked around and made sure that all of his teammates were alive.

Some lay unconscious, but most were already regaining consciousness. The two earth ponies in his squad didn't seem to be impressed by the blast at all - they weren't hurt at all.

Now, using their innate earth magic, they were quickly getting everyone out of the wreckage, keeping an eye on Alexei. They might not have been hurt thanks to the unicorns' shields, but the magic shown by this gray pony was quite worrying.

What if he sacrificed his entire body at once? They weren't going to attack him without the unicorns' support. It was already a matter of more than just their safety.

Squinting his eyes, the unicorn looked towards the culprit who was now standing right by the water.

Some sort of red worm had emerged from the gray pony's neck, from which he extracted something and added it to the potion vial. Shaking it up, he tossed the vial across the canal into the iron grate. The liquid that hit the metal began to hiss and melt the bars.

Gritting teeth, the unicorn began to rise to his hooves.

The man, meanwhile, jumped into the canal and swam towards the bars.

Actually, there were several grates leading to the sewers on this side of the canal, but all of them were reinforced with runes. He had marked this one, which had not been repaired in a long time, and had memorized it for just such occasions. He didn't want to lose another limb by breaking the rune grating with brute force.

When he reached the other side of the canal, he kicked a few of the acid-damaged bars with his hoof and pulled himself up and began to crawl inside.

Suddenly, he felt something behind him and rushed in, but not in time - something stabbed him in the right hind leg.

With a hiss of pain, the man crawled away from the entrance. After moving a dozen meters forward, the man was able to rise to his feet and look at his leg, where a thorn of some plant was sticking out. Plucking the thorn out and throwing it away, he was about to continue his escape when he saw something disturbing - the veins in his leg were swollen and green.

"Poisonous plant, earth pony magic," the man immediately recognized it.

There were no antidotes in his bag. And judging by the speed of the poison's spread, regeneration would not save him.

The situation seemed hopeless.

"There are no hopeless situations, only people in despair," the man thought coldly as he looked at the pegasi hovering in front of the entrance.

A smirk slid across his lips as the veins on his poisoned leg glowed red.

The following explosion shattered the entrance to the sewers, cutting him off from his pursuers.

Losing his balance due to the loss of another limb, the man fell to the ground and continued crawling. After a couple minutes of movement, his skin began to peel off and his hooves split open, preparing to transform back into arms.

His whole body itched and scratched, his muscles cramped, but the man continued to crawl.

"Honey, are you all right?" the mare asked worriedly, fanning the sweating unicorn with a napkin. "Should I get you some water?"

"No need, I'm just... a little stressed out," the unicorn tried to grin casually, but no one would believe his bravado.

Brave Heart, despite his name, had been horrified by the sight of blood since childhood. The bloody pony that had swept by earlier, bringing with it a primal brutality and violence, had driven him into a panic attack. He was still recovering, and his eyes were still rippling in front of him.

Good thing he had his understanding mare, Misty Aurora, by his side, who had always been a support to him.

"Did you suffer an attack, sir?" the azure stallion was asked by a guard who approached.

"No, it's just..." Brave looked even more confused.

"My husband has a big and kind heart," Misty joined the conversation. "After seeing such mayhem and the destruction that followed, he can't stop worrying about the lives of the common citizens of Canterlot."

"We are doing everything we can to catch the culprit, ma'am," the unicorn frowned slightly, sensing an implicit jab at the competence of the royal guards.

"I'm not accusing you of anything," the mare smiled sincerely. "We're just a little worried. But I believe that soon, through your efforts, the culprit will be brought to justice."

"You can rest assured that he will, ma'am," the guard replied seriously, and then pulled two gold plates from his bag. "I need to analyze your magical energy."

"Why test random witnesses?" Brave asked incomprehensibly.

"It's part of formal procedures, sir," the guard spat out the standard phrase.

"Seems like a waste of time," Brave Heart continued indignantly. "Aren't you supposed to be looking for the criminal? Do you need me to point out where he ran off to?"

He didn't actually remember where Alexei had run off to - the unicorn was so scared he didn't even remember what he looked like. He just wanted to drown out his embarrassment with passive aggression.

"Stop it, Brave," Misty said sternly, touching the plate with her magic. "He's just doing his job. You should apologize."

"I don't..." Brave started to say, but stumbled under his wife's gaze. "I apologize, officer. I didn't mean any of that, it was all nerves."

Nodding silently, the guard handed him another plate.

After checking the results, which showed that the couple was fine, the guard thanked them for their cooperation and went to the other ponies.

"Going back home?" Misty asked her husband.

"Didn't you want to go to the museum today?" Brave asked perplexed.

He didn't want to go anywhere anymore, but for his wife's sake, he might as well be patient.

"So much has happened," Misty shook her head. "Let's put it off for another time."

Brave looked gratefully at the mare and energetically nodded his head.

The couple headed for their home, a quick fifteen-minute walk from the cafe.

To Brave's delight, the journey home was uneventful.

"What should I make for dinner?" Misty asked as she closed the front door and headed for the kitchen.

"Your choice," the unicorn shrugged, plopping down on the living room couch.

Even though they hadn't had time to eat at the café - he didn't have much of an appetite.

"I'll make something up," the mare sang out, returning from the kitchen with a glass of orange juice.

Brave gratefully accepted the cold drink and drank it in a volley.

"Rest up," the mare said gently, taking the empty glass. "I'll be in the kitchen."

Brave nodded and made himself comfortable on the couch. After the adrenaline had left his body, he felt a little drowsy.

"Why not take a nap?" the unicorn thought. "Misty will wake me up when everything is ready."

Closing his eyes, he relaxed and unexpectedly quickly fell into sleep.

A few minutes later, Misty appeared from the kitchen, looking at her sleeping husband. A smile spread across her face and she headed to the basement of the house where they kept pickles and stuff.

Turning on the magic lamps, Misty walked past the shelves and made her way to the farthest corner.

On the cold basement floor lay a bound, snow-white unicorn mare with a light green mane and tail. Her mouth was glued shut with some green slime and her horn was broken off.

The sharp light and hoofsteps had woken her, and now she stared in horror at the mare before her. It was an exact copy of her.

"Wake up already?" Misty smiled. "Such a rush, we didn't have time to finish."

In a flash of green light, a halberd appeared in the air.

The dark wood shaft was adorned with two curved blades on the sides of the tip, and two smaller blades twisted in the opposite direction. Such a design resembled the silhouette of some sort of beetle.

The material of the blades looked a lot like bone. Here and there, the blades were covered with cracks and jagged edges, and the end of the shaft was tied with several strings of beads.

The weapon looked extremely primitive and decrepit, but Misty didn't seem to care. She gazed lovingly at the halberd in her telekinetic grip. A certain moment from the past flashed before her eyes, and her smile grew even wider - her arrogant mother had been struck down by that very halberd.

Turning her gaze to the mare weeping on the floor, Misty's eyes squinted, and the halberd swung, piercing the helpless captive.

Not a single drop of blood fell to the floor as the halberd vibrated and, like a ravenous beast, began to suck the life force out of the mare.

A few moments later, the dry mummified remains with the halberd sticking out of her chest were lying on the floor.

At the owner's wish, the halberd returned and pressed its shaft against her side. The mare's back arched and she moaned in pleasure as all the energy gathered by the halberd rushed into her body.

"Ah, wonderful as always," Misty exhaled, throwing her head back and savoring the moment. "You never disappoint me. No sex or drugs ever came close to this feeling."

It was a feeling of progress, a feeling of her growing strength.

What could be better than this? Nothing.

Even though she'd killed her mother, it was only because of this beautiful weapon - she still had room to grow.

"And with a little help from one pink alicorn, I will transcend the species," Misty thought with a smirk. "You never even dreamed of that, did you, mother?"

Breaking away from her pleasant thoughts of the future, she glanced at the mummified corpse.

Misty thought of a couple options on how she could dispose of the body. Not that it was such a problem, but there were guards around, and she had to be careful. Excessive cautiousness had never failed her before.

The creatures' bone and flesh contained magical energy, and it would take effort to destroy them. Turning a corpse to ash with a powerful burst of flame was easy, but it could attract attention. Thinking of a suitable method, Misty picked up the corpse with her telekinesis and dragged it upstairs.

Brave awoke to the pleasant smell of stewed vegetables hitting his nose. Stretching sweetly, he rose from the couch and headed for the kitchen. A pot of cooking lunch was bubbling on the stove, but Misty wasn't in the kitchen.

Brave sighed - he wanted to stealthily walk over to her and give her a surprise hug.

Suddenly his nose smelled something else. The odor was very subtle and almost imperceptible, but Brave always had an excellent sense of smell.

"What does it smell like?" the sniffing unicorn thought incomprehensibly. "Like damp and mold, but there's something else. What is it?"

Stepping out of the kitchen, Brave sucked in air a few times and began tracking down the source of the odor. Investigation led him to the bathroom.

As he approached the door, it suddenly swung open and Misty stepped out of there.

"Oh, you're awake already, honey," Misty smiled, kissing her husband on the cheek. "Lunch is almost ready. Did you dream anything good?"

"I dreamed some meaningless nonsense," Brave hummed. "Something about a kingdom of giant mice worshipping a cat that lives on the moon."

"Mouse kingdom?" Misty laughed heartily. "You can tell me about it at lunch. Will you help me set the table?"

"Sure," Brave replied and was about to turn around when he remembered why he'd come here in the first place. "Honey, what's that strange smell? I think it's coming from the bathroom?"

"Huh?" Misty tilted her head in wonder, but then her eyes sparkled with understanding. "I bought a new cleaner made from natural ingredients."

"Is it that good?" the stallion asked doubtfully. "The smell is really weird..."

"Very good," Misty nodded seriously. "It doesn't leave a trace of dirt."

Shrugging, Brave turned around and headed for the kitchen - his wife was smart enough not to fall for some bullshit marketing trick.

Misty turned around and looked at the tub, where brown liquid was bubbling beneath the green foam.

Throwing a glance at the melting hoof sticking out of the water, she closed the door and headed for the kitchen, purring some clingy Canterlot motif.