“...Ridire…”

Lero opened his eyes and his body tensed. The bedroom was silent, save for the gentle breathing of his bedmates. It was dark and felt like the small hours of morning. A quick glance at the clock confirmed his suspicion: 2:15 a.m. Lero let out the breath he had been holding. An outside observer would have noted that Lero’s eyes were slightly different. Nothing radical; they were still the warm hazel color that the girls loved so much. But there was something else in there. A presence that was and wasn’t Lero.

‘He really needs to stop doing this so early,’ thought the human as he rubbed his tired eyes.

Rarity stirred in his arms, sensing the change in her stallion. She nuzzled the underside of his neck and quickly fell still again. Lero gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and carefully extracted himself from the collection of limbs and bodies that filled his large, but admittedly cramped, bed. His absence caused Rarity to unconsciously seek out the nearest warm body and soon she had wrapped herself around Twilight. The violet unicorn gave a quiet mumble before forming a content smile in her sleep.

As he pulled on a pair of jeans and a thick jacket, a tired voice murmured, “...Fingers?” Lero turned back to the bed. Lyra was looking up at him with half-lidded and unfocused eyes. Lero knelt beside the bed and gently stroked her hair. “Wha…”

“Shhh… it’s alright.” Lero ran a finger behind her ear and the mint unicorn slowly closed her eyes. “Go back to sleep.” He stayed a moment and when he heard the Still Way grandmaster’s slow and steady breathing, he gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I won’t be long.”

Lero silently left the bedroom, shut the door behind him, walked to the bottom of the stairs and laced up a pair of boots. Grabbing a day pack and a walking stick next to the door, he left the house and walked into the cold moonlit night.

As he breathed in the crisp, cool air, Lero thought on how his life had certainly taken many strange turns this past month and a half. He had had a good life. The love of three amazing mares, a steady job, and many good friends. This may not have been the life he had intended to build himself all those years ago, in what seemed to him another era, but it was a life he would have never given up for anything.

The Swap had turned his world upside-down. Between Rainbow Dash leaving, Rarity becoming his new lead mare and the rest of the world falling under Discord’s bewitchment, it had all been nearly too much for himself and his family: Twilight’s isolation in her research, watching the other Element Bearers nearly tear themselves apart in their new roles, dealing with Spike’s infatuation (borderline obsession) with Rarity.

He had done what he could. He had helped the Swapped reach equilibrium, a state where they had found some degree of peace with their new lives. Three completely down, two still to go. Lyra had returned and became a pillar of support for him, the stillness he needed in this storm. Together, they helped bring Twilight back to them.

Then there was Rarity. Sweet, beautiful Rarity. Before the Swap, the two had been friends. Not close friends but close enough that he respected her. She was a driven businessmare and a talented tailor. A cynical part of him used to wonder if she was only friendly because of the unique challenge he brought her, designing clothing for a non-pony.

After the Swap, everything had changed. At first, he was resistant to the idea of having Rarity in his bed. His loyalty to Dash had driven him to focus so much on her that he had neglected his real herd. But then, as the weeks marched on, he warmed up to Rarity. She did truly love him. He knew that. It may have been Dash’s cutie mark, along with the new memories she gained from the Swap, but the emotions she had felt were real enough.

After Dash rejected him, Lero felt he was free to pursue Rarity. She held a part of Dash’s soul, the driven part of her, the passion, and the love she had felt for him. And that night he finally realized something himself.

He loved her too. With all his heart.

And when they made love that day, he felt truly free. Free of his burdens and guilt, free of the pressure that had been building for over a month. And later along, when Twilight and Lyra joined them, for the first time in a long time, Lero Michealides was at peace.

Until the next morning, that is.

Lero’s hand suddenly felt stiff, a phantom pain from the burns. He flexed it a few times, then reached down to the forest floor and pulled up a handful of moss. It was cool and he felt the aches in his hand dull.

Spike had not taken it well. The young dragon threw a day-long tantrum, starting with burning Lero’s hand to a crisp. Though things had settled and Lero’s hand healed, there was a newfound tension between the two brothers. As part of a compromise, Lero would focus his efforts on Fluttershy while Spike would help Applejack, who now held half of Rarity’s soul.

Spike’s behavior had become troubling to his family. His crush on the tailor had turned into an obsession… even now that Rainbow Dash the Caretaker had begun dating the herd, his attitude had really not improved.

“She will love me,” the young dragon could often be heard muttering to himself, when he thought the others weren’t listening. Lero hoped that they found either equilibrium or a cure before something drastic happened between Spike and Applejack.

‘A cure,’ he thought as he climbed over a large fallen tree. ‘That is why I am here.’ Lero continued to walk as the dawn finally broke over the horizon.

Twilight had been working hard since day one to find a cure, had driven herself past the point of exhaustion several times. And though Twilight had finally plucked up the courage to enter an ‘experimental phase,’ and begin testing modified versions of Starswirl’s spell in a laboratory setting, they were still a long ways off from finding a cure.

Before, Lero had been desperate and would have given anything to have some higher power take pity and just give him the cure, the way a teacher gave the answer to a question her student was stumped on. He had beseeched the Princesses, Discord, even his friend Doctor Whooves for help. They had all told him the same thing: that it must be Twilight who found the cure.

At first, he had despaired. Then he’d raged. How dare these people do this? His family and friends were not playthings to be toyed with! Who were they to say otherwise!? He had promised himself that he would do anything to help them, he had sworn on his name that he would get a cure.

And that is when It had first whispered to him.

The first time he was contacted, he had blacked out. When he came back to consciousness, he was screaming into a filled tub of water. The second time, he was in his old bedroom. He could remember holding an old glass vial, something was etched on the surface. The next time he was in the kitchen holding a knife. Spike had hold him he was talking to himself.

Days later, he had come back in the town square drenched in sweat and dirt. Rarity had been looking at him worriedly, and had asked him where he disappeared to that day. “I went for a hike,” he had said automatically. “Needed to clear my head.” It happened again a week later but this time he was filled with a strange mixture of foreboding and… hope?

A part of him had wondered what was going on, had wondered where he went and what he did. This was the part of him that everypony knew. Lero Michealides: handyman, ex-masseur, friend of the Elements of Harmony and stallion of Herd Bellerophon.

This was not the part of Lero that was trekking into the Everfree in the small hours of the morning. As far as the world was concerned, that part of him was still in his warm bed surrounded by his herd.

Lero was not a fan of this secrecy. He did not like keeping this side of himself from the others. But he knew that it would only cause problems if they found out. That it would, in all likelihood, lead to the nothing but misery for him, his girls, and Spike.

So he told them nothing. And he told himself nothing. That other part of Lero kept him in the dark on this and many other things.

Many hours later, long after the sun had risen, Lero had arrived at this destination. The large clearing was centered around an oak tree. “Massive” was one word that described it. “Ancient” was another. In front of the tree was a curious thing: a circle of wildflowers and stones.

Normally, such a thing would not seem out of the ordinary to a casual observer. Flowers and stones were scattered all over the place, after all, and if a few should happen to form something that looked like a ring, what of it? But Lero knew better than the casual observer because he had been the one who’d made this ring.

It had told him to make it, two weeks ago.

Lero looked around. The air was alive with energy, foreign and alien to this world, but familiar to Lero. He had felt it before the last time he had visited this place but it was stronger now. The air was silent; gone were the morning calls of birds and insects that had followed him out of Ponyville. The ring he had put together had changed. The flowers were taller and stockier than their brethren, blooming in colors that shined and glimmered in the morning sunlight. The stones seemed to imitate their floral companions and had grown as well, quite impossible under normal circumstances, even in Equestria where rocks were apparently “farmed”. Lero hunched down near one of the impossible stones and saw that shallow patterns had been etched into the surface. Looking closely he could see the pattern slowly grow.

A voice broke the silence. “Admiring your work, Ridire?” it asked. That voice that came from nowhere and everywhere, not a single voice, but rather several. It spoke like shattering glass, a cacophonous choir that sang a single, terrible harmony. Its language was alien and grated on Lero’s ears.

“It is not my handiwork, Messenger,” said Lero, speaking the same tongue. “I just placed the circle. It is you and your magic that changes this place.”

The voice chuckled. “It is as much your work as it is mine. You reap what you sow, Ridire.”

“Enough,” yelled Lero with impatience. “Show yourself!” The Messenger complied.

Lero turned around. There, standing in front of him, was the Lady’s Messenger. The creature was more than a head taller than Lero, bipedal and long-limbed. Its chest was bare, revealing taut, yellowed skin pulled over wiry muscles, tattooed with black designs that shifted and warped with the blink of an eye. It covered its lower half with a black and tattered leather robe that collected around its feet. Several odd trinkets hung from its belt: aged brass tubes, a vial of black ink, a locked tome bound in brown leather, and an intricate hourglass that seemed to ignore the laws of gravity, letting the sand flow through its many chambers in whatever direction it pleased.

The creature's face sent a small shiver down Lero’s spine. Like the rest of it, the creature’s skin looked to be laid over a bare skull. Cracked lips formed a smile that held a set of sharp teeth. It had no eyes, at least not on its face. Lero could see indentations of where eyes should be, but the sockets were simply covered in more yellow, leathery skin. A pair of brown horns rose up from its forehead, swooping back over its bald scalp and then tapering upwards at the end. A pair of black feathered wings rose up behind the creature and it was here the creature beheld Lero. Along its wings, eight golden eyes opened up and stared at him.

“Ridire,” it said in its dry voices, “I bring word from the Lady.”

Lero tensed. “And what does she say?”

The Messenger unclipped a brass tube from his belt and opened it, revealing a piece of parchment. “Her Ladyship accepts your terms.”

Lero unrolled the parchment and read the words, written in a beautiful, flowing script.

"This document hereby does contain the terms of contract between the Seventh Lady of the Winter Court, Queen of the Ivory Towers, Steward on the Far Reaches, She of the Dawn of the Eastern Seas, supreme sovereign of the lands, peoples, creatures and minerals that dwell therein…”

Lero skipped ahead past more names and titles, including his own.

“The second party does, upon signing this document, hereby bind himself in word and Wyrd to the services of the first party in the position of Knight and shall receive all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that are entailed.

"These services shall begin at midnight on the day of the second party’s eldest daughter’s seventh birthday. The length this service shall last until the death of the second party or until he first party sees fit to terminate the contract.

“In exchange for the aforementioned services, the first party shall release to the second party information that will result in the reversal of the magical affliction known as “The Swap”. Additionally, the first party does swear, on word and Wyrd, that all immediate family and future offspring of the second party shall fall under “The Ban of Hunting” until the end of time. This marks said persons as immune to any potential... ‘recruitment’... by the first party or members of that household.”

Lero looked up at the Messenger with disgust. “‘Recruitment’? That’s what you call it?”

The Messenger waved a hand. “All who are taken serve the Lady in some capacity. What else would you call it?”

“‘Abduction’ for one!” he yelled. "'Enslavement' would be an even more accurate term." Lero turned back to the contract, ignoring the creature’s laugh.

“Should the terms of this contract ever be violated by the first party at any point in time after the signing of this document, the second party shall be free to leave the services and obligations of the first party and will be granted free passage to any destination he desires.”

Lero nodded his head. ‘At least I have a potential way out,’ her thought. ‘Good of her to help sweeten the pot.’

“Should the terms be violated by the second party at any point after the signing of this document, the second party shall be marked as an enemy of the Noble Courts of the Fair Peoples and…”

“‘...be hunted down alongside all kin and allies to the point of annihilation’? ‘Including any territories, lands and governments that grant or have granted him sanctuary’?!” Lero looked up at the Messenger in disbelief. “You would burn Equestria?!”

“A fair exchange, is it not? You hold your end of the bargain, your family gains immunity from the Lady and her people. Break your word and the people of your new home shall see a war the likes of which it has never known. And they’ll have you to thank for it. Recall that these were the terms you first agreed to, Ridire."

Lero glared at the Messenger. The creature was right, of course. The last time they had met, it had said those exact words. Lero was an honorable man and would never willingly break his word… but seeing the terms spelled out before him just brought the whole picture into focus.

At the bottom of the parchment were three lines for three signatures: his, the Lady’s, and the witness. Two of the signatures were already in place, one an elegant, flowing script and the other stout and blocky. He did not recognize that script but assumed it must be the Messenger’s signature.

“I’ll need a pen,” said Lero. The Messenger produced a pen and inkwell. Dipping the pen, Lero took a deep breath and signed the document. “There. It’s done.”

“Almost,” said the Messenger. He snatched the pen back. Moving quicker than Lero could react, the creature jabbed the brass instrument into Lero’s hand and pulled it out just quickly. Lero gave a quick yelp and held his hand. The wound was no more than a short but deep scratch but had started to bleed profusely. Lero knew he would have to get a few stitches for it.

The Messenger held the bloody pen over the contract and allowed a single drop of crimson blood to fall on the human’s signature. The parchment absorbed the liquid and a red stain began to spread across the document. Further and further it spread, absorbing into all of the ink, until the entire parchment was stained crimson.

The Messenger held his hand out and the document float up into the air. “Now it is official.” The parchment warped, ripped, and fractured before Lero’s eyes, as if it was coming apart on an atomic level. As the swirling cloud of particles that was once the contract began to collapse, the Messenger spoke again.

“Bellerophon Michealides,” it said, a note of satisfaction in its dry voice, “you are hereby bound by word, Wyrd, and blood to your promise. You shall have your cure in exchange for your loyalty and servitude to the Lady. Upon the 7th birthday of your eldest daughter, you will enter The Lady’s ranks and serve her dutifully until your dying breath. Thus I, the Messenger, do witness and attest.”

The Messenger closed his fist and the cloud was gone. A smile grew on his face. “But before that, there is something you must know, Ridire.” It leaned down until its face was level with the human’s. “There has already been an incursion.” The Messenger reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled something out. He handed that something Lero, who felt his blood run cold.

It was strip of pink linen, worn from many years of use and dirty from weeks of activity. Lero’s eyes widened. It was just the right size for a child’s bow.

A bow a certain yellow filly wore in her red hair.

Lero’s hand clenched, his nails digging into his palm. “How dare you…” he seethed. “HOW DARE YOU?! You come here speaking of deals and honor, yet you have the NERVE to tell me that someone I love has ALREADY BEEN TAKEN?! I should have expected this from you and that bitch from the start! I should never ha-”

Anything else Lero was going to spout at the creature was suddenly cut off. With a strength that belied such a skinny and sickly-looking limb, the Messenger wrapped its hand around Lero’s throat and lifted him up into the air with no effort. Lero choked in the steel grasp, his eyes bulging slightly.

“Mind your tongue, little thing,” hissed the Messenger. “You are not a knight yet. And even then, you are still beneath me. I will not have you besmirching the Lady so, not in my presence.” It leaned in close and Lero could smell its breath, like dry and ancient paper. “Do I make myself clear?”

Lero nodded as best he could while being held up. The Messenger released him and Lero dropped like a pile of bricks. Gasping for air, he ran his hand along his bruised neck. “You.. *gasp*...” he croaked, “took... her…”

“Them,” corrected the Messenger. “As far as I can tell, there were three that were taken from that clearing.”

Lero’s mind realed. Three?! Oh God… the Crusaders!

“And before you go spouting more of your ignorant noise, no, it was not I nor any other servant of the Lady who took them. And even if it was, it would not violate our arrangement. None of them that were taken are your family, nor are they your offspring, and thus are not protected by the Ban.”

Lero shakingly rose to his feet. “...Then who …?”

“That I cannot say. The question you should be asking is ‘What?’ Look at the ribbon. Tell me what you see.”

Lero held up the ribbon. There, on one of the ends, was something white. When he touched it with his fingertip, the substance began to clump together in a stringy, sticky mass… which brought horrible memories of a giant seven-legged spider back to mind.

“Webs?”

“They are called by many exotic names: Jorogumo, Arachena, Neithians. In the Far Reaches, they are simply called ‘skitterskulks’. I cannot say which Faelord she belongs too, if she does at all. What I can tell you is that the three you worry for were taken into the northern part of the forest. And that what took them left something behind. Three somethings. They wander the town as we speak.”

Lero furrowed his brow in confusion… then felt his stomach drop. Clutching the ribbon tightly, he bolted. Before he could reach the treeline, the Messenger appeared in front of him, causing him to skid to a halt.

“So quick to leave, Ridire,” he said mockingly. “You have not even claimed your reward yet.” The Messenger leaned close to Lero’s ear. “Let me tell you your cure…”

“Alright, class,” said Cheerilee in a chipper voice, “now who can tell me the names of the last rulers of the three pony tribes that went on to become the founders of Equestria?” Miss Cheerilee look out on her classroom at a sea of bored faces and inwardly sighed. Sure she always tried her best to keep the upbeat and positive attitude that made her so popular with the colts and fillies in town, but a smile and cheery voice could only go so far, especially on Wednesdays.

“Now now, class, you should all know this one. Remember the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve?” A few hooves were raised. Twist and Dinky Doo were no surprise. Those two were some of the brightest students in the class. She did note that a white hoof was conspicuously absent. In fact it, and two others, had not moved at all that morning.

Three sets of eyes stared at Cheerilee, unblinking. These three fillies had begun to worry her this past week. They were not exceptional students, by any stretch of the imagination. Sweetie Belle was clever in literature and was good with math but not exactly an “A” student. Scootaloo spent most of the school day nodding off, being only particularly active during recess. Apple Bloom always had a smile on her face and a kind word for her teacher. Cheerilee knew that she had been having some troubles at home recently, but the yellow filly had always pushed through whatever life threw at her. And yes, she knew those three had a knack for causing a lot of trouble around the town but they were three of the sweetest things she had ever known.

Then on Monday, something changed. The three showed up at school on time, as usual, took their seats, and sat quietly. For the entire day. It was odd, sure, but Cheerilee had brushed it off with hardly a second thought. ‘Maybe they just had a very busy weekend.’ She had been a teacher long enough to know that most kids were so tuckered out on Monday that they had hardly any energy for class. She had been no different at that age.

Then Tuesday came and went and she saw the same thing. All three Crusaders, sitting at their desks, perfectly still. Just staring at her.

'Maybe they have finally calmed down?' she had finally thought but wasn't entirely convinced.

Today she was officially worried.

"How about you, Apple Bloom?" she asked, trying her best to keep up that optimism in her voice. "Now I know for sure that you know the answer."

The farm filly blinked her amber eyes once, seemingly for the first time that week. "Ah don' know, Ms. Cheerilee." The voice was monotonous and lacked any of the filly's usual enthusiasm.

Cheerilee's smile faltered. "Now you know that's not true," the teacher countered. "Why, your sister Pinkie played a part in the royal pageant just a few years ago, remember?"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. Cheerilee swore she could see something at work behind those eyes. “Ah don’ know, Ms. Cheerilee.”

There was a mocking huff somewhere in the class. “Well there’s no surprise,” said a snobbish voice. “The little blank flank probably can’t even remember where she left her dirty little farm this morning."

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's mocking laughter was cut short. Three sets of unblinking eyes were staring at them. Silver Spoon ducked behind her desk a little, but Diamond Tiara, being a pony of much higher pedigree, played it cool. She grimaced at first, then gave a dainty cough and pretended like nothing was wrong.

Cheerilee watched the whole exchange. She had often wanted to give those two girls a piece of her mind. Not since her high school days had she seen bullies this bad. She had seen first-hoof what bullying could do to ponies. A number of her peers had become introverted due to this kind of harassment, only really coming out of their shells when around a close circle of friends or their herds, if they were ever lucky enough have one. Even Rainbow Dash, the Element of Kindness for Celestia's sake, had suffered from bullies. Now she lived out at the edge of town, alone with her animals.

Cheerilee wanted to stop those two, but she knew who they were and who their parents were. The Riches were one of the reasons Ponyville existed and the Silver Clan was from old earth pony gentry. To do anything to those two would be tantamount to poking a dragon as it slept upon its horde.

Luckily for her, the school's clock was on her side and had just struck 11:30. "Okay, class, time for recess!" This was met with a good deal of cheering and laughter, as the more energetic children rushed out of the doors and into the playgrounds. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stalked out, noses held high. The Crusaders were the last to leave. Cheerilee’s eyes lingered on the trio as they left and she let out a sigh. ‘I do hope everything is alright with those girls.’

Meanwhile, the school’s playground was alive with its usual levels of child-induced chaos, a circumstance that a particular entity would sometimes take joy in; after all, what embodied the infinite potential and creativity of chaos better than a child’s mind? There were several games of tag, hide and seek, and hopscotch played alongside games of pretend. The playsets were in full use, with young pegasi launching themselves into the air and earth ponies roughhousing with each other in tests of strength.

The entire area was alive with activity with two exceptions. The first was a trio of fillies that were simply sitting with each in a circle; a strange sight given the group’s reputation for their own breed of chaos. The other was a pair of earth pony fillies that were glaring at the other group with discontempt.

“What a bunch of freaks,” said Diamond Tiara, her scowl reaching what could only be called “professional levels”. “Not only are they a bunch of blank-flanked babies, but looks like they’re about as dumb as them as well.”

“Yeah,” said Silver Spoon, “they have been acting weird lately.” Diamond Tiara had either not heard or completely ignored the slight tone of concern in Silver’s voice. Silver had always followed Diamond’s lead ever since they were little, though sometimes she needed a little coercion to partake in some of the more involved acts of bullying.

“I know! Nothing we’ve said to them all week is getting any kind of rise out of them! We need to try again.”

“But we’ve already called them blank flanks. What else are we going to do?”

Diamond Tiara thought for a bit, then felt a smile spread across her lips. “I think I know exactly what to tell them. Just follow my lead.” The duo walked across the yard towards the Crusaders while doing their best impressions of Canterlot elites looking down on commoners. Diamond Tiara cleared her throat and the Crusaders turned their heads towards her.

“Well, well, well,” she said as she began circling the small group, “would you look what we have here, Silver Spoon?”

“Looks like a bunch of blank flanks, Diamond Tiara,” said Silver, walking in the opposite direction.

“Oh, it’s more than that. What we have here is a little group of freaks.” She gave a mocking smile. “A brave little group of freaks if you ask me. I mean, they would have to be, to show their faces in daylight.” Sweetie Belle tilted her head but did not say anything. Diamond took it as a question and explained. She walked behind Apple Bloom and poked her hind leg. “You have an earth pony farmer who barely even farms.”

Silver caught on and circled over to Sweetie Belle. Mimicking her friend, she poked Sweetie’s horn. “A unicorn who can’t do any kind of magic.”

Diamond finished with a flick to Scootaloo’s wings. “And a pegasus who can’t even fly! Oh but don’t feel too bad, though. Nopony really blames you since you come from such poor families. Between having a drunk and herdless mother and you two having sisters crazier than pair of cuckoo birds, it’s no real surprise that-”

“We don’t like you,” said Scootaloo. Diamond Tiara stopped her tirade and stared at the orange pegasus. Scootaloo had said it so calmly and as-matter-of-factly that the bully had completely lost her train of thought.

“E-excuse me?” she stammered.

“We don’ like ya,” said Apple Bloom, just as calm as Scootaloo. “Ye’re just a bully that can’t do anything yerself, so ya make other ponies feel bad.” Diamond Tiara stared, her mouth hanging open.

“You try to make yourself feel better because you know you’re a fake,” said Sweetie Belle. She pointed at Diamond’s flank. “That’s what your cutie mark really means.”

“You think your tiara and your cutie mark and your money make you better that everypony else,” said Scootaloo, “that you’re like a princess.”

“But yer just a fake princess,” said Apple Bloom.

“As fake as your tiara.”

“Just a toy.”

“One yer parents dress up ta show off ta their rich friends.”

“You’re just a doll.”

“You’re not even a real pony.”

Diamond Tiara was backing up, trembling with every step. They way the girls were speaking, finishing each other’s thoughts, was seriously freaking her out. And what they said, the way they said it, it was like those dark thoughts that somehow always lingered in the back of her-

“SHUT UP!” she screamed. “I don’t have to take this from you FREAKS! You’re just a bunch of worthless blank-flanked peasants-”

CRACK!!

Diamond Tiara suddenly found herself on the ground. She wasn’t sure how she got there, only that she was on the ground, that the side of her face hurt, and that she couldn’t see too well out of her left eye. She looked up and saw Apple Bloom with her right forehoof raised. Something red was dripping down it. Diamond Tiara couldn’t remember the last time she was really afraid. She always laughed off those things. Other times, her daddy would be there for her, ready to protect her and comfort her. She wanted her daddy.

“We don’ like ya,” she said.

Sweetie Belle then came into view. “You’re just a toy,” said the unicorn.

Scootaloo held up a rock. “And toys are meant to be broken,” she said.

The rock came down.

It was a uncommonly known fact in Equestria that humans are natural long-distance runners, a fact that had bewildered many hippologists. “How could something with only two legs be a natural runner?” they would ask. “Having four legs is ideal for running.”

True, Lero had told them, but it was the way humans were built that made them so specialized for running. Lero had recalled a lecture he had heard in an anthropology class on human evolution. Humans were built for long distance running. Their long strides, upright posture and physiology made them ideal runners. When combined with a unique brain capable of higher functions like foresight and long-term planning and the rare honor of being among the only creatures on their planet capable of sweating, humans quickly rose to the position of apex predator on the African plains.

Ancient humans used to run down their prey over great distances. A group of antelope could outrun them in the short term but often had to stop to keep themselves from overheating. A hunting party could keep a steady pace and would continue to chase after the antelope for hours on end, eventually splitting up the herd and isolating a single, tired, and terrified member. Eventually the prey would collapse from exhaustion, sometimes outright heart failure, and the hunters would finish it off with a large stone or the femur of another animal. This last fact usually produced a few queasy looks from the academics, but others, like Twilight, would listen in fascination just as Lero had when he first heard about it.

Though Lero may not have been in as good of shape as his ancestors, he still would have made them proud as he tore through the forest at a full sprint.

Low-hanging branches threatened to take his head off, roots and fallen logs did their best to trip him, and trees tried to clump close together to block him. Lero just ducked, leapt, and sometimes smashed his way through. Between the adrenaline pumping through his veins and the sheer force of his own willpower, nothing was going to get in his way.

In all honesty, Lero wasn’t entirely sure why he was running. He just… came to in the middle of the forest. He had no memory of coming here, why he’d done it, or what had happened. All he knew was that he had to hurry. Somepony was in trouble.

He kept running past small trees, leaping over fallen logs and shallow streams. A thorn bush caught his arm. He cursed, yanking himself free, the thorns digging through his jacket and into-

The thorns cut into him. They were all around him, shredding his running clothes and leaving his back and arms a bloody mess as he was dragged behind something big. He struggled to get off his back, but whatever had its meaty hand around his leg wasn’t letting him up anytime soon. Daylight trickled through the canopy. Things were pulling at his hair. He looked around and saw small winged things, pulling, grabbing, chittering at him through fanged smiles, laughing at him as-

Lero grabbed his head and cried out. He stumbled and fell to his knees-

Lero was thrown to his knees. Blood caked his back and arms. Everything was spinning. He felt dizzy. He tried to look up. He saw white stone that climbed into the sky. Someone was in front of him. They were speaking some language he couldn’t understand. He was propped up. Something grabbed his face, turning his head one way then the next, examining him. Lero looked into the golden eyes that-

Lero screamed again as another bolt of pain shot through his skull. He had to keep moving. He began to crawl on all fours, even as his senses were assaulted. The birds’ chirping turned into piercing screeches, the dirt scarred his hands, the smell of forestry decay assaulted-

Death assaulted his nose as he crawled on the battlefield. That mixture of blood, mud, and shit he’d never forget. The battle raged on around him, sounds of metal on metal, screams, war cries, beastial howls and bellows. Lero found his sword from where he first fell off his mount. He grabbed the hilt, struggled to get to his feet, bellowing his own cry of-

“Oh GOD!!” he screamed. “Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!!” Lero’s fingernails dug into his scalp, drawing blood. The hurricane in his mind just raged on. Lero stumbled again, spun around-

Lero spun and twirled with his dance partner. She was a vision of flowing, colorful silk and a smile that gave him nightmares. The music played on during the feast, the great hall’s hearth roared and warmed the guests as they laughed and sang and cut into-

“TWILIGHT!!” he screamed. “LYRA!! RARITY!! PLEASE HELP ME!!” They couldn’t hear him of course. His only response was the flapping of fleeing birds and the scurrying of smaller animals. Lero curled into a ball on the forest floor, bloody and screaming. “DASH!! DAAAASSHH!!” He needed her, he needed them all by his side so-

Lero walked through a magnificent bedroom, past a warm fire and a four-poster bed. She was on the balcony. Her gown looked like it could have been made from morning dew. It clung to her body and left so little for the imagination. The moons’ light shined down on her and the breeze caught her flowing pastel hair. She heard him come in. She turned to him, cupping his cheek with a soft hand.

Lero couldn’t see her face but he heard her. That voice that sang and tore apart his soul.

“Mo ridire,” she whispered.

Lero’s eyes snapped open. His face was set in stone. He knew what he had to do now. The fear was gone, replaced with steely and cruel purpose. He got back up, brushed the dirt from his pants, and resumed his running.

“What kind of monsters have you been raising?!” cried Platinum Necklace. “You backwater hicks! I should have had Filthy run you all out town ages ago!” The mare was livid and understandably so. She had been called in from her very important spa treatment only to find out that her daughter had been hospitalized. She hadn’t known what to think until she had come to the school and learned exactly why she had been hospitalized.

“You’re all finished! You hear me?! I’m going to get my lawyers and sue each and every ONE of you country yokels for every bucking bit you have!”

Every member of all the families involved in this sordid business had gathered at Cheerilee’s schoolhouse, with a few exceptions. Filthy Rich was at the hospital waiting for his daughter to get out of surgery, though the doctors said it would be a while.

Their initial diagnosis had been grim: a broken jaw, a fractured skull, several cracked ribs, a compound fracture on one of her legs, countless lacerations… the list just went on. Filthy Rich had just set his jaw and told them, “Make her better, doctors. You make her better.” The doctors had nodded and set themselves to their task.

“And this place?!” continued Platinum. “Well you can say goodbye to your funding and your job, you negligent bitch!”

“Miss Platinum, please!” cried out Cheerilee. She would have been weeping if she hadn’t already cried all her tears earlier. When she had first heard the screaming, she stopped grading papers and rushed outside. At first she had thought it was an accident, that one of the children had fallen off the swing set or something. But then she’d seen Silver Spoon screaming her head off, scrambling to crawl away as she pointed her hoof. When she saw what the Crusaders were doing to Diamond Tiara, every primal instinct that was hard-coded into ponies took over: protect the young ones, stop the threats, stand over the wounded, keep her safe. She wasn’t entirely sure but Cheerilee swore she’d come this close to kicking and biting at the Crusaders.

The ambulance couldn’t have come fast enough. The medics had scooped up a bloody mess that had once been Diamond Tiara into their wagon and sped off to the hospital. Cheerilee had ended school right then and sent all the children away, except for Silver Spoon and the Crusaders.

While the three friends had been locked in the schoolhouse, Cheerilee had done her best to console the hysterical Silver Spoon. The little silver-coated filly had shaken and cried in the teacher’s arms as she gently rocked back and forth, whispering how everything was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.

It was now late afternoon and all Cheerilee was doing her best to keep from breaking down in front of the parents.

The Silvers were clinging to their little Spoon, who kept a trembling eye on the Crusaders.

The members of the Apple family were bunched together in their own group, as was Magnum and his family. Even Applejack was there, somehow managing to pull herself away from her sewing machines to come to this emergency.

Quickfix, Scootaloo’s mother, was a pile of raw nerves; she simply could not believe what her daughter had done. No one could. Even Lyra, who was acting in her official capacity of auxiliary guard, was shaken by the events. Everypony there was aghast with horror over what happened.

Except for Platinum Necklace. She just felt rage.

“Don’t you “please” me, Cheerilee! They were your students! Your responsibility! I knew I should have sent Diamond to a proper school in Canterlot, but no, Filthy trusted you. Said you were caring and responsible and would never let anything happen to our little girl!’

“Platinum, I don’t- I didn’t-”

“Don’t you dare speak to me!” She marched towards the door beside the Silvers. She spared one last look back at the small crowd that could have melted concrete. “You’re all finished! You hear me?! Finished!!” She slammed the door shut so hard that the door frame cracked.

Quickfix was shaking. This was it. She barely had any money, she’d lose her job, and no pony would ever hire her again. They would take her baby away from her. She’d be all alone. No stallion to protect her, no herd to comfort her, and no pony would ever come near her for the rest of her life. “Not again,” she whispered, “please not again.”

“Girls,” cried Pinkie Pie. “What were y’all thinking?!’ She grabbed Apple Bloom by the shoulders and shook her. The filly hardly gave any reaction. “D’ya even know what y’all done?!”

“Ah broke her jaw,” Apple Bloom answered.

Pinkie Pie gasped and stopped shaking her sister. “Wha…”

“I broke her legs,” said Sweetie Belle, as if she’d been asked “how was the weather?” Her mother clutched her father’s hoof tightly.

“And I made sure she’d never be mean again,” said Scootaloo.

The room was silent, save for Quickfix’s quiet sobbing. Cheerilee felt as though she would be sick all over again.

“You three,” she said, “you are not my students.” Lyra’s ears perked up. “Whatever else you might be, you are not my students anymore.” She pointed towards the door as fresh tears rolled down her eyes. “Get out. You’re expelled from my school.”

The three fillies and their families took this as their signal to leave. In a single, somber line, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were first to out the schoolhouse door. Cheerilee sat with her hoof still pointed to the door. She started slightly when she felt a strong pair of forelegs wrap around her. Cheerilee looked up and saw Big Macintosh just holding her. He had lingered behind. His silent gaze held no anger but gave her a warm comfort in her heart. Unable to hold it back any further, Cheerilee buried her face in the stallion’s chest and wept. Big Mac just held her close and stroked her hair.

The road to the town was an entirely different scene.

“Ah can’t believe this!” Granny Smith yelled at Apple Bloom. “‘n all mah years, Ah have never seen such a thang! Ah know Ah raise ya better than this, child! Wha’ in the name of all that is good ‘n the world possessed ya ta do such a thing?!”

“Oh, this is horrible!” whined Pearl. The plump pink unicorn leaned in close to her stallion. “Oh, they’re going to send my baby upstate! Oh Magnum, what are we going to do?”

“It’ll be okay, Momma,” said Applejack, resting a hoof on her mother’s shoulder. She spared a glance at her own flank where the diamond mark ached. “Ah’ll… Ah’ll be there for y’all.”

It was, at most, a half-hearted gesture. On one hoof, Applejack had always held her sister close to her heart, especially after the brief scare last year when the unicorn had said she didn’t want to be sisters with Applejack anymore. Up until now, there’d never been any trouble when her parents had dropped Sweetie off at the boutique, she’d make sure Sweetie did her homework, went to bed on time, and didn’t get into too much trouble while crusading… but this? This was too much.

Now the fashionista could scarcely bring herself to look at Sweetie Belle Knowing her little sister was capable of such… remorselessness, the idea of letting her into her house didn’t sit well with Applejack. Especially since she could already feel the pull of her muse, calling — no, demanding — that she return to the boutique.

Quickfix, on the other hoof, just kept her head facing the ground. She was repeating the same mantra over and over again. “This isn’t happening, this can’t be happening, this isn’t happening...” A voice from above broke her out of her spiraling thoughts.

“Scootaloo!” Rarity was coming in for a landing on one of her cloud platforms. Lyra also spotted Twilight on the platform next to her. Rarity jumped off the platform before it touched the ground and quickly trotted over to the group.

Lyra noted Quickfix’s hardening glare at her swapped herdmate and quickly moved herself between them. “Rarity, Twilight, what are you two doing here?” she asked.

“Oh, Lyra, I heard about the whole thing from Thunderlane. He had to be pulled off duty when he heard how upset Rumble was over this. The poor dear was in tears when he came home and Cloudchaser found him.”

Twilight nodded. “I heard about this in the market this afternoon. The rumor has floated around the whole town!” Twilight paused and cast a nervous glance back toward the group. “It… it is just a rumor, right? The girls didn’t… didn’t really…?”

Lyra’s silence was all the confirmation she needed. Rarity brought a hoof to her mouth and felt tears in her eyes.

“I… got word from one of the town guards. Apparently since they are sisters to the Element Bearers, the lieutenant is officially calling this a ‘matter of national security’.” Lyra gave a brief snort of disgust. “Honestly I think the old stallion just wanted this whole thing off his hooves. He didn’t want to deal with this. Didn’t want to believe that this could happen.”

Rarity pulled Lyra in for a hug. “Oh, my sweet songbird.” She planted a gentle kiss on Lyra’s cheek and nuzzled her. Twilight mirrored the gesture. “Oh, I wish our prince was here.” The other mares nodded their heads. Lero had been missing all day. The only clue to his disappearance was a cryptic note on the library’s center table saying, ‘Gone for a hike, will be back this evening.’

Rarity looked over Lyra’s should and saw Scootaloo just staring at her. It was the first time she had seen the filly since the weekend. Scootaloo would usually come by the house for some weather lessons on Sundays or when Rarity got to leave work early.

Seeing her now, with that mild expression like nothing had happened, well it hurt the white mare.

Rarity let go of Lyra and walked up to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo,” she said gently, “Are… are you alright, dear?”

“Yes,” Scootaloo stated.

Rarity bit her lip. “I heard you did something today. I heard you and your friends hurt one of your classmates. Can you please tell me why?”

“We didn’t like her. She was a bully and a fake. So we broke her.”

“Scootaloo-”

“Just stop it, you nag!” shouted Quickfix. Everypony was taken aback by the quiet mare’s outburst. “This is all your fault!”

Rarity took a step back. “My fault?! Quickfix, how could you say that?”

“Scootaloo was just fine before she started hanging around you and your, your freakshow of a herd!” The group gasped. “She just played with her friends and was a good filly! Then you came along and… and did something to her! Exposed her to something! How else could you explain this?! You and your weird family and your weird friends did something to my baby and made her into a monster!”

Rarity set her teeth. Insulting her was one thing, but going after her friends and herdmates? That was an act of war. “Well, maybe if you were a better mother, you would have realized something was wrong earlier! Scootaloo and her friends have been bullied by Diamond and Silver for years now! If maybe you’d pay attention and did some decent mothering instead of staring at the world through the bottom of a bottle, she’d have someone to turn too! Someone who could’ve shown her right from wrong before things boiled over to a disaster like this!”

“You nag! I oughtta-”

“Ladies, please!” yelled Lyra. “Fighting with each other will get us nowhere. We have a very serious issue on our hooves, something far bigger than some little schoolyard fight!”

Everypony stared at her. “‘Schoolyard fight’?” Twilight repeated. “Lyra, the girls put somepony in the hospital. She might die!”

“And have you ever known these three to be so violent?”

“No, of course not.” Twilight wasn’t sure where Lyra was going with this.

“And have you ever known them to be this callous and indifferent about somepony else getting hurt? Let alone somepony’s who’s been hurt by their own hooves?”

Twilight spared a glance at the three fillies. They were sitting quietly, just staring at the adults around them. “No. No I haven’t.”

“Jus’ what’re ya gettin’ at, Lyra?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Lyra glanced at her. “I saying we’ve seen this sort of behavior before, haven’t we, girls?” The Element Bearers traded uneasy glances at each other as Lyra gazed pointedly at Twilight. “In Canterlot, on your brother’s wedding day.”

Twilight felt a chill in the air or maybe that was just her blood turning cold. The others felt it too and nervously turned their full attention to the three fillies. Twilight walked up to Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom, could you hold still for a moment?”

“‘Kay,” came a flat reply.

“Wha’re ya doin’, youngung?” asked Granny Smith, who stood near her youngest grandchild. Pinkie Pie put a hoof on her shoulder and gently ushered the older mare back a few steps.

Twilight nodded her head and charged her horn. The detection spell was developed immediately following the changeling invasion when a wave of security reforms swept across the nation. Celestia had personally tasked Twilight with the challenge of researching the changelings and finding some way of seeing through their disguises.

And so Twilight spent many sleepless nights going over reports from guards, eyewitnesses, coroners, and hippologists to gain a full understanding of changeling biology and thaumaturgy. In the end, it had been Lero and Lyra that focused her back on track and produced a relatively simple detection spell, one that would scan for foreign magic signatures. If foreign magic was detected, the subject would be illuminated in a green aura.

Normally, such a spell would be performed under more official circumstances; a formal investigation, a warrant, and a locked cell. But given the decidedly extraordinary events of the day (and the fact that two of the most powerful unicorns in the country were present) Twilight felt assured that she could safely proceed.

Twilight concentrated and let the spell matrix form in her mind. She secretly hoped that-

“AAARRGH!!” Twilight’s eyes flew open and promptly rolled into the back of her head. Her skull felt like somepony had wrenched her horn clean from her skull and poured acid into the empty socket. She fell onto her back and started to convulse violently.

“Twilight!!” came a collective cry from the crowd. Rarity and Lyra were at her side in a heartbeat, the green unicorn doing her best to hold her down as her body spasmed. Rarity, who had read about such things in her novels, jammed her hoof in Twilight’s mouth and allowed her to bite down on it; this would stop her from choking on her tongue or biting it off. She grimaced as she felt Twilight’s teeth pierce the outermost layer of her hoof. Ten nerve-racking seconds later, Twilight seemed to calm down. Her eyes came back into focus and she blinked away some tears.

Rarity was holding her head and stroking her mane. “Sparkle-kitten? Can you hear me, darling?”

Twilight blinked again but paid her lover no mind. Instead she focused on the yellow filly in front of her. Twilight trembled and tried to back away from her, as if she was some creature that crawled out her nightmares. Then again, she very could be.

“What are you?” she squeaked.

Apple Bloom stared at her, then glanced back at her friends. They all shared a look and, at some unseen signal, all bolted from the throng of adults.

“Bloomy!” cried out Pinkie Pie.

“Sweetie Belle!” cried Applejack.

Twilight raised a shaky hoof and pointed towards the fleeing fillies. “Stop them! Don’t let them get away!”

Lyra looked to Rarity. “Go! I’ll stay with Twilight, just go!” Rarity nodded and took off after the fleeing trio. Pinkie Pie and Applejack quickly joined her, the three of them galloping after the Crusaders.

The chase sped through the town along the western road. The three schoolgirls ignored all calls to them and dodged and weaved away from their elder sisters with speed and nimbleness that was nothing short of astonishing for fillies their age. Even when Rarity tried to magically grab them with her telekinesis, they simply jinked and jived wherever her mental grasp reached to grab for them. The Crusaders lead them through narrow alleyways, under produce carts, and over garbage heaps in an effort to lose their pursuers. Sometimes one of the girls would grab an object, a bit of fruit or a skillet that had been for sale, and would heave it at the trailing mares. Most were dodged or swatted away with a burst of magic, though Pinkie Pie ended up taking an overripe tomato to the face. A trail of mayhem followed the group through the small town, leaving behind a collection of cluttered garbage and angry shopkeepers.

Eventually, the chase lead them all to the eastern edge of town, near the Everfree border. The adults were galloping at a full tilt but the fillies were still pulling ahead. ‘How can they be so fast?’ wondered Rarity.

“Guys!” came a voice from above. Rarity spared an upward glance and saw Rainbow Dash in the air above them. “What’s going on?” It had just occurred to Rarity that her newest herdmate would not have heard about the day’s event, being so isolated from the rest of the town.

“The Crusaders!” called out Rarity. “We have stop them. They’re heading for the forest!”

“What?! Why?!”

“Just stop them! If they make it to the treeline, we may never catch them!” Rainbow hesitated a moment before flying after the Crusaders.

The trio of fillies ran through the field towards the forest as fast as their little legs could carry them, their eyes staring straight forward. They had almost crossed over into the Everfree territory, when something burst from the treeline. It was a large and ragged-looking creature, covered in mud and twigs and reeking of sweat and blood. One hand was clasped around a walking stick, the muscles of its arm tense beneath torn clothes and knuckles that held it had gone white. It looked ready to swing that stick as a club.

When the creature stared the trio down, its hazel eyes boring into them, its jaw set, and sharp teeth revealed behind a scowl, the young ponies scrambled backward. For the first time in many days, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle showed an emotion:

Fear.

“Where are they?” the creature seethed.

“Lero!” Dash landed behind the fillies but did not approach. Some animalistic instinct had come to the forefront of her brain. She had know Lero for years as a kind and gentle stallion, one she had fallen in love with over the past few weeks. But this? This wasn’t the same man. Her brain was screaming at her. Run, run, predator, hide, fly, hunter, run, RUN!! It took all of her willpower to stay put. “Lero?” She heard hooves behind her and something white passed her by.

“Lero!” called out Rarity, surprise and concern in her voice. The sight of her stallion in such a frightening state was troubling to say the least.

The fillies turned towards the adults, each mirroring the others’ fear. Apple Bloom was about to say something when it happened. The walking stick came down and struck the yellow filly across her face with a harsh crack, knocking her to the ground before a hand latched itself around her small throat.

“BLOOMY!!” yelled Pinkie. She glared daggers at the human. “Let her go!”

“Where are they?!” Lero bellowed, completely ignoring his pink farmer friend. He put more of his weight on the pinned filly, slowly closing her windpipe. “What did you do with Apple Bloom?!”

Apple Bloom choked out a response. “Ah... *gag* Ah... am-”

Her response only angered the human. He tightened his grip and the filly’s eyes bulged. “Ná bréag dom, bruscar!!” he boomed. Everypony gasped. For the briefest moment, Lero’s eyes turned a brilliant, icy blue color.

A bright light blanketed the area. The girls covered their eyes as a commanding voice spoke to them.

“We doth command thee to stop, Viceroy!” it said. “In the Name of the Princess of the Night, release thine grip upon that foul abomination! Guards, shackle her, and the other two as well! We would have words with these three creatures!”

Author's Notes:

Well this was a long break. I apologize for that, but I've been busy this past month with weddings and holidays and all that rot.

Just to clear something up, this story is taking place between chapters 25 and 26 of "Divided Rainbow" and it shouldn't have too much of an impact on that story.

That said, thanks for sticking with me so far everyone! All of you are awesome and I promise that there will be more to come!

Happy New Year!