“Cadence? CADENCE?! What did you do to her, Celestia? W̧̟̞̟̞h͔͎̲a̡̞̥͍̻̻t̞͓ ͇͇͔͓̖ḓ̬̞̼͉͎͈͜i̤d̫̟̖͓̖ ̙̟̦̻͝ͅy̜̱͙̣͔͉o̥͓̙͉͈u͕͕̞̞͚͖͞-̣-̞̝̹̖̥͜ "

A burst of magic, about the half the size of a bit, flew through the air toward Ares at an impossible speed. A shadow crept from the floor where Ares was sitting. It reached up, trying to stop the magic flying toward him, trying to protect its host, but it was too slow. The magic passed through the… thing’s misshapen hands and hit Ares’s temple squarely.

Ares’s head snapped back and his body stiffened, his eyes snapping closed as he slumped against Cadence, out like a light. The darkness that clung to him like a shadow reeled back as if the spell had hit it too. It tried to reach out again, tried to grab her, but it was only able to slightly lift one of his ‘hands’ before it sunk back into Ares.

There was nothing harmful in the spell; nothing that would hurt Ares any more than he was already. It was the most quick and painless way that Celestia knew of to knock somepony out. And since she managed to put the two to sleep it would be safer for everypony, both Ares and Cadence included. Now she had a little breathing room. Now she could take a step back and take stock in what the hay was going on and why it was happening.

She had been wrong. Both her and Luna had been wrong. What had happened to Cadence wasn’t some horrible accident; this thing, this shadow had had something to do with it. It had turned Cadence into a monster, and from the looks of things it had somehow managed to possess Ares. She had been wrong and now the two of them were suffering for it.

Princess Celestia, the Lady of the Sun, stared at her niece and her friend with a sadness that she had not felt in a very long time. The air around her was icy cold; the ground, the walls, and even the ceiling were coated in an icy sheen. But she could not feel the horrible life-sucking cold. She didn’t pay any mind to the icy coating on her face and her chest. She didn’t even acknowledge the looks of horror on Shining, Flash, and Echo’s faces as they watched her. All she could feel was a sharp pain of fear, horror, and sadness in her chest.

“I’m sorry.”

With a shaky breath Celestia took a step forward. Her wings extended and her horn glowed. Closing her eyes she let the magic flow out of her horn and the entire hall was encompassed in a bright light. The cold and ice disappeared and everything was bathed in a comforting warmth that seeped down to one’s bones.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Tears started to stream down Celestia’s face as she cut off the magic from her horn. The light faded, revealing a hallway free of ice and debris. Ares and Cadence, who had been the worst off, covered hoof to horn in ice and shadows, now looked normal; peaceful even. If she didn’t know any better she would have said that the two silly fillies had just decided to take a nap in the middle of the hall.

“I-I’m s-sorry.”

Celestia took another step toward the two, grief twisting her features further. A sob escaped her throat as she leaned down and nuzzled her niece’s face. The knife in her heart twisted as Cadence let out a sleepy sigh as her hooves wrapped around her lover, giving him a squeeze. Ares tensed slightly at the contact before going limp in his marefriend’s arms.

Fighting back another sob Celestia gave him a nuzzle. “I’ve failed you two. I’ve failed...”

In her mind’s eye she could see her baby sister Luna. She remembered the look of joy in her face when she first managed to raise the moon. She could still see the first time when she spread her wings and took off into the air like it had happened yesterday. She remembered when her sister had grown quiet, angry at the world. Back then her baby sister had turned into a monster because of her lack of attention, and now it was happening again. Just like before she hadn’t been able to see the darkness in her family and now they were turning into something else because of it.

Yǒ̩͒̆͐͋̽̏͟Û̗͇̙̺͡ ͪ̂ͨ̅̉ͨ͏̬ͅc͚͔̔̄͌ͪ̊̚Ơ͎͇̼̘̳̽̆ͅu͏L̶̟̬̼̟͈ͨ͐̌̆̂͆ͅd̺ͯ̄̆̄̓͗ͦ́ ̸̣̣̲͍̣̫ͅH̡͚̞̤̮͙̃̊̉͊ͤ̈́a̡̮̜̱͎͍͔ͨ̀̐ͩ͒V̟̞̖͙͎̾̒ͨͅę̮̟͖͍̹̯ ͙̤͖̗̱̏̿̃S̩͇̝̲̝a̬͖ͦͪ̓ͅͅV̡̻̠ͅe̵̞ͫ̀̈̆ͮͯDͮ͏ ̫͉̥̙͓͌̕ť̩̄͒̈́̄͘H̗͚̀͋ͣ̿ͥe̳̗̻ͥ̒ͦ̒̓̅̚M̩͍̺͔̍͌̍

Celestia unfurled her wings and pulled the two unconscious lovers into a hug. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

The rational part of her brain kept telling her that this was not her fault. Both she and her sister had used every spell and checked every part of their bodies for signs of dark magic. Nopony could have done more than them. The darkness, the… thing that was inside them, whatever it was, had somehow hidden from them and there was nothing that she could have done about that. But another part of her insisted that she could have done more. Another spell, a different technique, maybe just poking around a little longer, something.

Ŵ͑̃͑̀͏͍͓̤̹͓̯̦eͧ̎̌ ̻̺̲͕̲̎͋H̗̗̗̯̙͚͉͊̇̍͊̊̚͜ṵ͈͇̻̪̮̅ͫ̚N̟̰͇̬̜͈ͯg͑̔E̷̹͈͚͈̥̰̱̾̑̅rͮ

She should have never thought that it was just a fluke. She should have tried harder, done more, been there more for these two. What use was all of this magic, all of this power if one couldn’t keep their own family safe from the things that wish to harm them? How could she call herself a princess after she had done everything she could and she still failed them?

W͇̜̜͇̣̳̻ͧͮ̓e̬̫̩̯̒̀͆͒ͯ̊̚͜ ̻͔̘̺͉̹̭͐͋͛W͒̂ͭi͉̻̰̳̝̎̈̓͠S͙̙̼̥͚̫͛ͩ̎͠h̬͈̫̗̮̤ͩ̿͑ ͎͔̲̫͡ͅTͦ̓҉̠o̵̖̩̲̖ ͚͙͚̝̠̹̤̀̅E̻̝͈͎͆̋͆ͤa̯̫͉͔͙ͭ̌ͨ̍͒̀T͔͎̲͖̯̪ͦ͐̉͊͑̿

Celestia might not have known what evil was inside her human friend and her dear niece but she knew that whatever was residing in them wasn’t good. The cold that had encased the two’s bodies had been filled with hate. The look that Ares was giving her had been one of fear even as he had screamed at her in rage. There was something evil in Mi Amore Cadenza and Ares the human, and Celestia hadn’t a clue to what it was. And that scared her more than she cared to admit.

W͇̜̜͇̣̳̻ͧͮ̓e̬̫̩̯̒̀͆͒ͯ̊̚͜ ̻͔̘̺͉̹̭͐͋͛W͒̂ͭi͉̻̰̳̝̎̈̓͠S͙̙̼̥͚̫͛ͩ̎͠h̬͈̫̗̮̤ͩ̿͑ ͎͔̲̫͡ͅTͦ̓҉̠o̵̖̩̲̖ ͚͙͚̝̠̹̤̀̅E̻̝͈͎͆̋͆ͤa̯̫͉͔͙ͭ̌ͨ̍͒̀T͔͎̲͖̯̪ͦ͐̉͊͑̿

Another sob escaped her throat as she held the two close to her. She hoped that they could feel the love that she had for them; she hoped that they could feel the warmth in her body. More than anything she wanted to use this love and warmth to cast out the monster inside of them, to tell them that everything was going to be fine and actually mean it, but she couldn’t.

Both Ares and Cadence were still frigid, and no matter how closely she held them they didn’t get warmer. Though she could feel frost starting to reform on her wings, neck, and chest she still held them close to her. Celestia could hear somepony trying to get her attention but she ignored them as she wrapped her wings tight around the two of them. She tried to use another heating spell but it didn’t seem to work. She tried again but both of them were still cold to the touch. Ares in particular seemed to be freezing, his body shaking and his lips slightly blue. At a loss on what to do she held him as close to her as she could, gladly sharing her body heat.

W̷͉̰̫̿ͦ͐̒̂̐e̻̓͌̾̂ ́̆͋̃̅Ș̺̹̲͒ͨ̿̄ͦ̓̔ḩ̫̻̯̤̜A̫͙͛͞l̜̩̇̽ͤ͜L̛̹̥̟̲͖͒̊͊̽ͯ ͚͎̳͕̗͛f̽̑̾͞E̩ͣͤ͠ả҉͍̥̹S̮̝͕͈̫̦̃t͈̪͕̯͈̉ͮ̉͆ͩ ̄̈̑͐̃ͥͭ͏̬̟Ǫ͕̪̩̲ͤ͊ͦ̎ͫn̳̝͍̪̫͗͐͂ ̥̈́̂̾͠A̳͙̣̦̠̯̋ͭ͆̈́̈̎ͅl̸Ḽ̟̖͚͍̥͢ͅ

“Somepony go and get the bucking princess! Shining, go and get your sister and her friends. Tell’ em that it’s an emergency! NOW!”

Cracking open an eye, Celestia stared down at her little Cadence. “I’m going to get that thing out of you, Cadence,” she murmured, her voice thick with grief. “Whatever it is. I swear to you that I’ll make everything b-better.”

Celestia didn’t know how long she sat there, holding those two poor, cold souls. It felt like time was running at a snail’s pace, and each horribly long second was filled with her failures laughing at her. She tried to cast another heating spell but her horn simply sputtered and died. Though she didn’t know it her body was shaking hard from the cold. It was sapping her strength, stealing her magic. But even if she’d have known she would not release the two.

They needed her. She needed to be there for them. Celestia had failed to keep them safe; the least she could do was try to warm them up.

“Tia, Tia, what has happened sister?”

A wing touched the elder alicorn’s back. Celestia twitched, her vision blurred with tears, and she turned around. Her sister stared back at her, her deep blue eyes filled with worry and concern.

“Tia, what’s going on? The guards nearly knocked down my door demanding that I follow them and I see this!” Luna swept a hoof over them. “Why art thou holding Ares and Cadence? Why art thou crying? Why dost I feel such a biting chill in the air?”

Celestia blinked as she let Luna’s words wash over her. Her mind was hazy and the corners of her vision blurred. It felt like she was traveling through a tunnel that was underwater. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a shadow slowly making its way up her rear leg.

…What …Why would?...

Ṱ̯͞h͚̫͖̥̭ͤͦË̪̣̮̟̬̕ ̱̤̞̪͕̤͓̓͑̓ͤ͐̆̃oͤ̑́ͤ͂̾̔́N̟̩̲̠͂̇e̮̹͗ͩͧ͆̉͒͋́S̥̙̳͙̯̙̈́̇̌͊̚͞ ̱̑͗̇͑̏y̧͚̔ͤ͗Õ͐ͥ̆̑̉ͪ҉̣̺̻̝̤̙ụ̸̪ͯ ̘̪͈̲̳͇̓ͨ́L̠̖̰̭̞ͪ̒ͣ̈͌o̠̪̍ͫ̑̄͘V̸̄͛̀͐̈̊̾e̮ͣͦ̈́ͩ ̖͔̫̠̖̐Wͥ̿͐̂i̴̖̦̘̬̍ͪ̈́L̯̠̯̭ͤ̚l̪͒ͣ̿͊̓̂̚͟ ͕ͦ͆ͫ͗ͧͥ̚͢S̼̠̫ͪ͂̒̊ͨą͔̟͍T͎̘ͥ̔ȇ̇ͣ͒̊ ̞͇̰͑ͯ̋̚O̷̐͐ư̞̘̤̮͈ͯͩͣ͐̇̊̉Ṟ̮͚̘̯̥͗̽̾̓ ̳̭̰̖͙̃ͬͦ̌̎ͤ̚h̓̿̎́҉̻̠Ú̩̗̳̥n̷̦̲͓͓̬ͮǦ̛̗͚̑ͣͦ̏̑͂eͯͨR̭͊͆́̃ͮ́ ͓͓̹̝͛͋ͥ̇̌f̢͕͆ͩͨͬI̧̹̦̗͇̘̮ͩ̓͋̊̂͛̚r̢ͬ̓̇͋ͫ͗S̟̎ͬͧͪ̍͆͢t̵́̾̇ͫ͗

With a startled gasp Celestia moved away from Cadence and Ares, the fur on the back of her neck standing up. “Sister, get away from them! Get away from them now!” Before Luna could so much as blink Celestia roughly grabbed her. Not taking her eyes off the still unconscious couple on the floor she roughly shoved her sister behind her.

The Princess of the Night blinked in confusion was her older sister frantically looked over herself, her horn glowing brightly. “…Sister, what is—”

“Princess!”

Luna turned her head just as Twilight and her friends, all of whom looked a little worse for wear this morning, came charging around the corner toward them. Though their manes were disheveled, they had bags under their eyes, and Rarity, for some reason, was an interesting shade of green, the girls looked ready to do battle. Each of them was wearing their respective elements, their bodies were tensed and readied, and they had a fire in their eyes that made Luna smile as she looked upon them.

“What’s going o—CADENCE!”

“Twilight Sparkle! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” Twilight froze as Celestia’s voice rang out, scared and shaky but with a sense of authority that made Luna flinch. Her eyes darting toward Twilight and her friends before once again resting on Ares and Cadence, Celestia took a deep, shaky breath.

Before anyone could say anything else the light around Ares and Cadence shimmered. The shadows that the two casted grew darker and elongated. Twilight, Luna, Celestia, and everyone else could only watch wide eyed as the shadows lifted from their host’s forms. They changed shape again and again as they moved to and fro like snakes, searching for something to grab a hold of.

Gasping, Twilight took a nervous step backward as one of the shadows reached its “hand” toward her. “T-That’s…”

Celestia’s horn flashed, and faster than the eye could see a bolt of magic hit the shadow, causing it to disappear in a flash of light. The other shadows, as if sensing the demise of their brother, slinked back into Cadence and Ares.

Sighing, the diarch, nodded slowly. “Yes, my dear student. It is the nightmare, or something very much like it.”

The news hit Luna like a ton of bricks. It sounded like an impossibility. The three of them had had a wonderful evening not a few hours ago. They had been laughing, joking, and eating with her like everything was normal. And after the thorough magical search that both she and her sister had conducted on both Cadence and Ares there was no way that there should have been anything wrong with them at all! But the way that Celestia was looking at the two bashed any hope that this was some sort of sick joke or cruel prank.

Her sister was not a mare that scared very easily. Just like Luna, she had seen things that would make lesser mortals die from fear and she had walked away unscathed. The Princess of the Sun did not hide from the things in the dark; she charged toward them, she battled them, and she defeated them with not a mane out of place. But now she looked scared, now she looked worried, and in Luna’s experience such a sight was never good news.

A sudden feeling of dread overcame Luna as she took a step toward her older sister. “Tia,” she said quietly, barely loud enough to count as a whisper. “What should we do?”

Celestia stared at her niece and friend emotionlessly before her face started to change. Her eyebrows furrowed, her jaw set, and her lips drew back into a snarl. Her body tensed and her stance became aggressive. Her mane and tail, which had been hanging limply against her, started to whip around her head. In an instant the princess had gone from scared to absolutely livid.

“We are going to do the only thing that we can do, my dear sister,” she growled. “We are going to find whatever it is that has a hold of them, we are going to find a way to fight it, and we are going to rip it out of them.”

~-~-~-~-~

I opened my eyes to darkness, my body heavy and stiff and cold. Blinking, I tried to lift my head to see where I was. The second I did so the world started spinning, forcing me to let it flop back onto the floor with a groan. After a few minutes I tried to lift my head again and just like last time I couldn’t do it. After that I managed it on the third time, lifting my head up and looking around.

This isn’t my room I thought, my body shaking and my teeth chattering. Where the hay am I?

To my left I saw my Ares lying next to me, curled into a ball and shivering. I could see frost clinging to his pants and shirt, and his lips were blue.

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. ARES! Though my entire body felt heavy and… wrong I forced myself to my hooves and walked over to him.

It was slow going; I stumbled and veered off course more than I cared to admit. It was like somepony other than me was controlling my legs, but I was determined and scared out of my mind. Something was wrong with Ares and I needed to get over there so that I could figure out how to help him. Eventually, though I was shaking in exhaustion from the effort, I managed to make my way over to my human’s side.

“Ares, Ares, honey?” I wrapped a wing around him, trying to get him warmed up as best as I could, fear gripping me like a vise. “Honey, you need to wake up. You need to wake up!”

Ares stirred, his eyes slowly opened. Now that I was this close to him I could see how pale he was, how sickly he looked. Every single breath he took was slow and labored. “…C…Cadence?”

I could feel tears beginning to form in my eyes as I nodded. “Yes, it’s me honey, it’s me,” I said, managing to keep the panic out of my voice.

Ares blinked, and he picked his head up to look around the room. “Where… are we?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I started to rub his arms with my hooves, trying to get the blood flowing in them. Even to the touch my human felt cold, and though I was doing my best to look calm for him I was freaking out. Where the hay were we? Why did it feel like I had just been hit by a train? Why was it so cold in here? Why couldn’t I use my magic?! WHY WAS IT SO COLD IN THIS BUCKING ROOM?!

I must have looked like I was really freaking out because Ares reached up and touched my cheek. “Cadence? What’s… going on?”

I felt a tear fall onto my cheek as I felt Ares’s cold, shaking hand. Forget about where we were; I needed to find something to warm Ares up. This cold wasn’t good for him and I swear that I could see it sucking the life out of him. Or he’d…. he’d…

“S-Shush, shush, save your strength, hon. I’m h-here. You’re C-Candy’s here.”

I closed my eyes and tried to use some magic but my horn wouldn’t even spark up. For some reason I couldn’t use any spell to get out of here or even warm Ares up. Just like my little human
I was helpless in this room. In an instant the fear that I had been feeling morphed into full-fledged terror.

“E-Everything’s going to be fine, honey,” I said, nuzzling his cheek. Briefly, I considered yelling for help but decided against it. Whoever had brought the two of us here might be waiting for us to wake up, and without my magic and feeling sicker than I had ever been in my life I was in no condition to face anypony at the moment. “J-Just let me find you something w-warm and we’ll get out of there…”

Tearing my gaze from Ares I looked around the room. Though it was dark, nearly pitch black, I could make out shapes around the room. Squinting, I saw that there was a table with something on it in the corner

Touching Ares’s face I rubbed my nose against his. “I need to go for j-just a second, honey,” I said, blinking away tears. “I need t-to find something to warm you up okay? Keep your e-eyes open okay? J-just d-don’t close your eyes.”

It felt like I was in a nightmare. Not a few hours ago I had been in my bed with Ares. We had stuffed our faces with chocolate and had fallen asleep in each other’s arms after making love, warm and safe and happy. I was supposed to wake up in Ares’s arms a little hungover and smiling like an idiot, not like… this!

None of this was right. All of this had to be a dream; a very, very bad dream but a dream none the less. Sooner or later I’d wake up and see that everything was fine and it was just all that chocolate that I had last night. Taking a few deep breaths I shut my eyes tightly before opening them. Seeing that I was still in this cold, dark mystery room with Ares shivering at my hooves I closed my eyes and tried again. Then again. Then once more.

“…Cadence? Are you there?”

Whimpering, I looked down at Ares, my body shaking. “Y-Yes, honey, I-I’m here.”

Ares’s mouth contorted in what I had to guess was a smile. “Good…” Taking a few breaths, Ares started to curl into a ball again. “I’m… cold…”

Though I didn’t want to, I pulled my wing away from Ares and stepped away from him. “Don’t you worry, honey, I’m going to find you something to warm you up. Everything’s going to be fine; everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”

I sprinted toward the table. To my immeasurable relief I found that it was stacked high with blankets. “Blankets? Oh thank Faust…” Grabbing two I raced back toward my human.

Wiping away a tear with my hoof I sat at my human’s head. Reaching down I grabbed him under his armpits and lifted him up so that he was pressing up against my chest. “I-I got you, honey,” I told him, throwing a blanket around his shivering body. Tucking the ends of it tightly around him I then wrapped my wings around him before wrapping the second blanket around the two of us. Placing my head on top of his I then started to gently rock him back and forth.

“Don’t you worry, baby, I’m going to get you nice and warm. I’m going to get you nice and warm and then I’m going to get the two of us out of here.”

Slowly but surely I could feel the warmth seeping into me and my human. The two of us stopped shivering so hard and without the threat of Ares dying in front of me I was able to assess the situation. The two of us were in some darkroom with no windows and no doors from what I could see. It felt like somepony had knocked me out with a spell and from the look on Ares’s face it looked like he had gotten the same treatment. And to top it all off I wasn’t able to use magic.

“Who the hay could have done this?” I whispered, looking down at Ares to make sure that he was still awake and still alright. “And why can’t I remember anything that—”

My grip around Ares tightened as I felt the room around us shift and move. It began to get hotter and the room started to get brighter, so bright in fact that I was forced to close my eyes. If I could have I would have summoned up a shield to protect the two of us, I would have started firing spells, I would have done something. But I couldn’t. In the state I was in I’d be lucky to take three steps before getting tied up or thrown around with magic or something else. So I did the only thing that I could do: I held onto my little human nice and tight and hoped for the best.

“Don’t worry honey, I’ll make sure that nothing happens to you,” I promised, nuzzling the top of his head while I sniffled. “Nopony’s going to take you away from me. Nopony’s going to take y-you away.”

I waited for hooves or claws or paws to roughly grab at me or Ares, or for somepony to start hitting or kicking me. I was also expecting some yelling or cursing or anything that coltnappers or villains did to the ponies that they took. What I got, as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light, was silence. I could feel that somepony else was in the room with me and Ares, I could feel them watching us, but they weren’t doing a single thing. They weren’t talking, they weren’t moving, they weren’t doing anything.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it didn’t feel like the sun was trying to burn holes into my retinas. Opening my eyes up I looked around the now brightly lit room. I could see that it was still windowless but now there was a door-shaped hole in the wall. And standing right in front of the hole was my auntie Celestia.

Relief swept through me as I started at my aunt. It looked like this nightmare was over. Celestia had found out where me and Ares had been taken, she had probably beaten the tar out of the coltnappers, and now she was here to take us home. Everything was fine now. Ares and I were safe.

I was about to open my mouth to greet my aunt, tears of joy in my eyes, when I noticed the look of pain on her face. This wasn’t the look of somepony who had just found their niece and was about to free them. The look that she was giving me was… regretful? Solemn? Determined?

“A-Auntie?”

My aunt’s horn glowed, a candle and a small mirror appearing at her hooves. Her horn glowed again, and I watched in confusion as the hole in the wall closed up, plunging the room into darkness that was barely held back by the tiny candle.

“Celestia… what’s going on? I asked as she slowly made her way over to me. “What’s going on? Where are we? What are you doing?”

“Right now you are in a room of my and my sister’s design,” Celestia said, stopping a few feet away from me. “It is made in such a way that the room’s occupant cannot leave the room without an outside sources intervention, and only if that outside source has the right magical signature.”

I noticed that she was sitting a bit farther away from me than she usually would. Almost like she was expecting me to jump up and attack her. And there was something in her eyes as she looked over me and Ares, a look that I don’t think I’ve ever seen her give me. It was the look that one would give a dangerous animal… Or the look that somepony would give a monster.

“A-And why are in here?” I looked back down at Ares. “Auntie, we need to get Ares out of here. He looks really sick, and the cold’s only making—“

I blinked as the small mirror that Celestia held was put in my face. I was able to look at it for about two seconds before I shied away with a yelp. “WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!”

The… thing that had been staring back at me looked like a nightmarish version of myself. The coat was darker, nearly a blood red color and longer and mangier than mine. The eyes were this deep, dark color; not black but close to it in this light. Even the mane looked different. Where mine hung limply against my neck like most ponies this one was flowing through the air like my aunts would.

I could see tears in my aunt’s eyes as she looked down at me. I could see that the only thing that she wanted to do right now was pull me and Ares into a hug. Something was stopping her though, and the longer I sat there thinking the more that it came clear to me that I was the reason. That mirror wasn’t some sort of joke mirror, there was no spell or charm or anything like that distorting my features to make me look like this freaky monster.

It was just a regular, ordinary mirror. And that meant only one thing. It was the reason why Ares and I were in this room. It was the reason why my aunt was staying a healthy distance away from me. It might have been the reason why it was so cold and why my little human looked like he had one foot in the grave. The realization of what was going on made me start to shake as I held my Ares nice and tight. I had changed into this… thing. I had turned into this… monster…

“…No..."