I sat back, watching as the foals enjoyed their morning. I'd put on some Disney movies I'd managed to order, and simply let them have their fun while I contemplated suicide. I felt low as the iconic betrayal scene from The Lion King played, only driving the shank of betrayal all the deeper. I couldn't make sense of any of it.

Here I was, a college dropout, lying about my degree, meant only to care for foals, and now I was dug in deep where I didn't belong. I was an idiot among politicians and murderers. Even the ponies I got along with were assassins and courtiers willing to cut eachother's throat for the limited power this tiny city held.

And as my children, the ponies I was to protect, the ponies I loved, enjoyed their now easy life while I got ready to banish what had become my blood. My own family had betrayed me, the mare who brought me here, who pulled me through as I did for her, was sitting in the dark about it.

My mother in law, my friend, the mare I'd spilled my guts to. The mare who asked me to protect her daughter, the mare I'd come to think of as not just a friend, but as someone who truly cared for me, had attempted my murder. And now I was presented with two options, two paths forcing me to banish the person my wife was fighting for, and the one she cared for enough to pull me, a completely useless but opportune bastard into a city that would try to kill me.

I stood up as the movie wrapped up, walking quietly out of the room. The castle was now bright, lanterns and electric lights slowly turning the castle from archaic and damp to livable and homely. But none of it could distract from what I had to do, who I had to betray to deal the law.

I had been back a while, yet I still couldn't face her, I couldn't face Foxglove. I wanted to. I tried, but every time I reached her door, found her in the castle, my stomach sank, my mind went blank and my words fizzle in my mouth. She'd promised a change, as had I, yet I couldn't see her, I couldn't reap the rewards we'd both worked for.

My boots clicked against the stone floor, a single solitary set of steps, constantly drumming away as I marched towards the date. But as I stepped on, something broke my marching, a set of hooves clacking loudly about the stone hall toward the outside. "Ben...talk to me."

I froze, leaning against the wall and trying to formulate a plan.

"Ben, I know what happened, I know who you've been talking to! I know what you've been saying, why you're worried, I know it all! Now talk to me!" A hoof grazed down my leg. "Ben...please, talk to me."

I stared down the hall, watching the lanterns flicker in the distance. "What am I supposed to say? Sorry?"

"No, because you know what, this was the plan all along!" Foxglove shouted, stomping her hoof and causing a loud thud to each through the halls. "Ben, it was always the plan to get somepony- someone into the counthood, then kill them!  Ben, I saw my chance, and I took it! Do you know how many others did the same!?" A hoof gripped my coat, tugging it about waist height. "Ben...I thought about it, killing you, I thought about killing them all! The Av Crag, the Av Iron, I thought about burning them alive, paying them to kill each other off, I wanted it all! But you know what, I couldn't kill you!"

"So what, all you're telling me is how fucking heartless--"

"Because you know what! I tried to lie when I said I loved you, but somewhere in the lies, somewhere in the potions and the drugs, the foals, I actually believed you might love me back! I thought you might actually care about me, more than my body, for what I am. And you know what, I think it was a huge mistake believing you'd actually care about me! Because I- I stopped the hormones, I stopped the potions for you! Because I thought maybe if you loved me then, you might love when when I was normal, when I spoke with a clear mind, and when I could prove I wasn't an idiot!"

"Foxglove I did love you!" I shouted, starting to walk down the hall. "I- I still love you...but you saying all this, I don't know what you mean by it!"

Foxglove followed close, "Ben, when we met...I knew who you were, or I thought I did. You were some young stallion, I could buy you with sex, with the life, it was supposed to be easy Ben! But it never is, because I really did think, somewhere in my drugged out mind, you actually cared about me, and I let myself care back!"

I stopped dead in the hall, resting my head against the stone. "Foxglove...is this what you--"

"Ben you've barely spoken to me since you've been back! Don't pretend you know me, because who I was, that hyper sexual freak, that thing, that's not who I am!"

"So what do you want!? You want me to pretend I didn't fall in love with that? You want me to admit I liked the sex?! That I liked having you hang off me like that!?" I leaned against the wall, planting my face against it. "Maybe I loved that mare, maybe I'm shallow!"

"Ben, I don't want you to explain a thing! I know what's going on, I know what happened and who I was. I wish you could have been there when I started changing back, but you were gone! And I know it's not your fault, I know it's hard facing all these things, but I want to be here for you--"

"And what if you're not the same!?" I screamed, pulling my arm up and tucking my eyes against my shoulder. "Foxglove...what if I don't love what you really are? Can I ask you go back? Could I?"

"Ben, face me!" Foxglove shouted, pressing a hoof against my boot. "Ben, if this is how it ends, then this is it, but I won't have you stand there and refuse to speak to me face to face!" The hoof tapped against my boot a few times. "Ben, I saw you change, I saw what you were before the change. You were kind, you were ready to help, and I wished I'd known you better back then!"

"Why!? You were going to--"

"I was going to kill you, but how could I?! You- you asked me to change, for you, but you were worried! Not about yourself, but for me! How could I kill someone begging me, demanding me to get help, to get better!" The hoof traced up my leg. "Ben, without you I'd still be nursing foals back in some dark room in Canterlot! Or- I'd be sitting on the throne, watching as I sent ponies to die for a cause settled thousands of years ago! I'd be screaming my head off for blood then crying like a baby because I couldn't control myself. And now...maybe I didn't expect this-" A hoof grabbed my free hand, tracing it down as she pressed herself against my leg. "-maybe nopony expected this, but it happened...and even if this is the end, I'm glad it did."

I felt my hand press against Foxglove's stomach, her taut skin warm under my touch. "Ben...please, if this is the end, at least look me in the eyes when you say it!"

I took a deep breath, my stomach twisting as I tried to think of what to say. "Foxglove...I don't know what to do." I turned to her, finding her standing proud in the middle of the hall. She was beautiful as ever, but something about her hurt me, stuck needles into my skin, burned me. Her eyes felt brighter, and her body felt stronger, even her face felt powerful, yet still endlessly elegant. Her coat was darker, yet shined in the lantern lit hall, her hair was bright, and her fangs, just peeking out from her lips shone bright white. "I don't know what to do."

My eyes started to sting, my arms trembled as I fell to my knees. "Foxglove, I don't know what to do." I croaked, breathing haggered and heavy. "I really don't know what to do." I caught myself before I fell flat on the ground, on my hands and knees before her. "Foxglove, I just don't know what to do!"

"It's okay Ben."

"It's not okay!" I screamed, my voice growing hoarse, "Foxglove I've got kids! It's been a year, I've been here a year and my life has changed so much! I just- I don't--"

"Under the darkness, I will hold you, until we outlast the day." Foxglove sang, pressing her head under my torso and nudging me upwards. "And when the sun falls, and we come out to play, we shall be free."

"Stop it!" I screamed, throwing my arms around her and sinking my face against the side of her head. "Foxglove...stop it."

"And when again the moon falls, and it's time to go away, we shall never fear." Foxglove nuzzled my head. "Because we always know, as the sun falls away, the night will hold us again." She continued to hum, supporting my upper body as I bawled into her mane. "It's okay Ben...it's okay...everything is going to be okay." Foxglove let out a soft sigh. "Trust me, and it'll all be okay."

I pulled back, staring my mate eye to eye. My stomach was in a thick knot, constantly growing tighter as I tried to stand. But I couldn't move, locked eye to eye with a hazel irised murderer. Sat with a confessed traitor, begging me to trust her. I was face to face with a devil, yet only one phrase came to mind. "You promise?"

Foxglove smiled, growing misty as she stared at me. "I promise, Ben, I promise."