Author's Notes:

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Have you ever come up with or introduced a character that you hate. Like, actively, instinctively hate them to the point you find it difficult to introduce them into the story without trying to rub them out in the very next chapter?

Bluebone is that character to me.

Trying to write somebody whom is not just morally bankrupt, but believes that it's perfectly acceptable, and will destroy anything and anyone in their path simply because they are there has been the biggest hurdle in getting this chapter out. I've had to re-write this chapter five times now to not give away too much of how much of a bastard Bluebone is while still trying to get across what a monster he is.

CHAPTER 19

“Gentleponies.” Bluebone said calmly, sweeping into the facility, hidden deep below the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns without warning, causing the Unicorns present to drop what they were doing and bow immediately, leading to several score sheets of paper and cups of coffee falling to the ground.

“Sir! You should have told us you were coming!” One of the Unicorns stammered, bowing behind the massive hardwood reception counter that dominated the room.

“That defeats the purpose of a ‘surprise inspection’.” Bluebone resonded in a pleasant voice, but still the Unicorn that had spoken up flinched as if struck.

One did not question the Chairman of the Shadow Council, even innocently. More than one Pony had found themselves in an unenviable position after such a gaffe.

“Y-yes sir, my apologies. Ah … the Council is waiting for you on the third level, room thirty-four.” The Unicorn bowed and pointed to one of the double-doors that lined the walls. “In case the Guards did not let you know, sir, Councilmembers Smoke Stacks and Salty Rogers have invoked the crisis act. We’re currently running with full magic dampeners, so please do not attempt any form of magic beyond telekinesis.”

“Hmph. Why am I not surprised that those two would jump the moment something goes wrong.” Bluebone muttered out loud, then nodded and moved through the doors indicated, the Unicorns in the ‘lobby’ waiting several seconds before breathing a sigh of relief, the unfortunate Unicorn who had questioned the Chairman curling up into a ball beneath his desk.

Lab-coats, guard uniforms, all of them worn by Unicorns, greeted Bluebone’s eyes. Cold, cream-coloured sterile corridors and doors of polished steel, lit by enchanted crystals that produced harsh white light surrounded him. The faint thrum of the magic-dampeners grew stronger and stronger the deeper he went, arcane engines built to mask the facility from scrying attempts and to muffle the abilities of Unicorns to the bare minimum.

Hundreds of thousands of bits, and decades of work, had gone into this facility. Hundreds of Ponies bribed into performing the work and then bribed again into silence, or ‘relocated’ if the work they had done was too sensitive to let slip. The entire facility had been built at the same time as the school above it had been by Bluebone’s paranoid ancestors, building the school both to further the glory of Unicorn supremacy as well as to provide a viable cover-story for the massive amounts of dirt, rock and resources being shifted to and from the site, the cold, sterile rooms and corridors intended to serve as a bunker for the Shadow Council and their families to take refuge in during a possible civil war with Celestia, until Bluebone’s grandfather, Bluelocks, had found something world-shattering in one of his ‘diplomatic’ visits to Gryphonia.

A small, tattered book, written in Celestia’s own hand. A diary looted from the Castle of the Two Sisters by a Gryphon tomb-raider centuries ago, and being peddled by a street-vendor who had no idea the treasure he was trying to sell.

It had taken several years, but Bluelocks had hired the finest translators and code-breakers and put them to work, unlocking the code and revealing that Celestia was rushing to prepare Equestria for some great and terrible meeting against the ‘Unspoken Foe’, and that the nation required at least five Princesses to match the power of this foe, one for each of the Five Tribes.

And the revelation of a ‘Fifth’ Tribe had shaken the Shadow Council to its foundations. For all their work against Celestia, they had still considered her one of their kind, an offshoot of the Unicorn Tribe surely, but fundamentally one of them.

That Celestia’s only blood-tie to the Unicorn Tribe was her children, that she belonged to some long-vanished indigenous Tribe, that her claim to Equestria superseded anything the Unicorns could counter, had severed whatever bonds the Council might have grudgingly claimed to the Solar Monarch. Celestia was an outsider, and had no right to stop the Unicorn Tribe from claiming the destiny that was, and is, rightfully theirs.

Yet the Prophecy that had been found in the diary still remained as great a threat to Equestria as Princess Celestia’s continued rule. It would not serve the Shadow Council’s interests if they freed the nation from it’s inept ruler only to have this ‘Unspoken Foe’ wipe all of Ponykind out afterwards.

Five Princesses at least were required to stand against the Foe, according to the Prophecy, yet the thought of leaving their beloved Equestria in the hooves of some misbegotten relic from the past galvanized the Shadow Council as nothing else had, quelling internal disputes and feuds and uniting Ponies whose families had never had any interactions with a common purpose beyond their petty grievances with Celestia.

If the Princess who led their nation was inherently unfit for the role, then they would make one who was, and either replace Celestia directly, or wait until after the Unspoken Foe was defeated and then unseat Celestia in the aftermath. Yet despite countless sacrifices to the cause, nothing had worked.

Bloodlines had been catalogued, trying vainly to cross-breed Celestia’s descendants to force an Alicorn birth had only resulted in normal children despite taxing magical rituals and staggering mortality rates amongst the offspring. Grafting procedures had only created horrid monsters whose very bodies rebelled against themselves. Attempts to ‘grow’ Alicorns from donated egg and sperm samples and rare physical samples from Celestia, normally hairs taken from her brushes, had refused to produce anything but failure, the ‘divine’ quality of Celestia’s own matter steadfastly refusing to combine with the other materials.

Samples of hair, and even blood, from Luna and Cadence had been rejected from being used to create the Council's successor to Celestia's throne, the former for being a ‘beastial’ Thestral, the latter for being a ‘cloud-headed’ Pegasus, but tests had proven that both Alicorns possessed the same ‘divine’ quality that prevented hybridization as Celestia herself. Curiously, however, the hairs from a much younger Cadence would have proven fruitful, but their age, as well as the unsanitary condition of their storage, had rendered them impossible to use in any of the Projects.

Only a freshly ‘ascended’ Alicorn’s essence lacked the ‘divine’ quality that thwarted the Council’s efforts to breed a Princess of their own, and it was painfully apparent that Twilight Sparkle, while naïve of both life and politics, was far too entrenched in Celestia’s tyranny to ever consider joining the Shadow Council’s noble work. Much like her family, Twilight was a willing traitor to her own kind.

Even armed with precious samples of Twilight’s hair, hoof-shavings and horn-scrapings, the twisted mind of Professor Beaker had only produced a single abomination, although his work was the closest the Shadow Council had even come to true success, even if his materials had come at such a high cost to the Council

“Sir, this way!” A pair of guards flanked the doorway he had been directed to, the only external hint that this was something more than another room of cells or operating rooms the small black numbers above the door and the lack of a biohazard symbol.

Nodding wordlessly, Bluebone entered the room, repressing the urge to roll his eyes as the Shadow Council, three-dozen Stallions and Mares, all Unicorns and all devoted to the cause, stared at him with annoyance written clearly on their faces.

“Bluebone. So glad you could join us.” One muttered, shuffling several pieces of paper between his hooves. “I take it your trip to Gryphonia was another waste of time?”

“On the contrary, Almond, it was a perfect waste of time in the eyes of all involved, and that’s exactly what we needed. The zealots amongst the Gryphons are nicely riled up by my ‘heinous’ acts and as furious as they are at how easily The Pretender cowed their military leaders, I have little doubt we’ll see a revolution soon enough, which will distract The Pretender from our own coup. Behind the scenes, I have secured a contract for our members to be the sole middle-men for the diamond trade between the Gryphons and ourselves, which will nicely fund our experiments here and our other projects across Equestria, and I have an excellent alibi for this … debacle that I’ve heard is being pinned on me.”

There was silence but for the rustling of papers all throughout the room as the other Shadow Council members re-read their reports.

“Yes. the 'debacle' of six mercenaries attacking in plain sight, claiming to have been hired by yourself … strange, is it not, Bluebone?” Another Unicorn, a Mare this time, asked softly. “It strikes myself as very odd, considering how subtly we have conducted our operations for the past few decades, very odd that such a blatant and ham-fisted approach should be taken. And all of this done without the Council’s express permission too. Even the Chairman must have the Council's permission before engaging in such actions.”

“My dear Emerald, if I wanted that cur, Night Light, removed from this world, it would be in the comfort of his own home, forcing him to watch impotently as that novelist-whore wife of his was violated to death before his eyes, before I personally dispatched every single last Pony who had dared to call him friend before his eyes. Only when I had completely, utterly broken him and ruined everything he held dear beyond repair would I grant him the mercy of oblivion.” Bluebone countered. “If I wanted Night Light brought before me, I would not have relied upon useless Mercenaries, I would have called upon our own forces, and had him ambushed on the way back from that filthy little tavern he frequents so often. Quickly, silently and invisible to the Guards, just like all of our … acquisitions for the good Professor’s experiments.”

“So you are stating that you did not, in fact, hire the Mercenaries? Perhaps your son, Blueblood …” A third Unicorn from the back-rows asked loudly.

“Do not refer to that … that pansy as my son.” The large white Stallions snapped, letting his anger reveal itself like a lash that silenced the other Unicorn. “Would that Clarinet had not died whelping my daughter, I might have had a worthy heir. As it stands, now I only have that popinjay to provide me with something I might mould to serve our great and noble cause. Besides, he knows perfectly well what will befall his precious collection if he crosses me a second time. No, I suspect this was a play by a Noble House outside of our own order, some foolish family who thinks they can earn Celestia’s favour by trying to humiliate one of her most outspoken critics.”

“And you do not believe one of us would have done so?” An unseen Unicorn asked, the silence of the room total and crushingly complete in the aftermath of that question.

“We are, all of us, gathered here for the sole purpose of elevating our Tribe to its true position, that of leadership over the flighty Pegasi and the dim-witted Mud-Ponies.” Bluebone said, smiling warmly with cold eyes up at his ‘allies’. “United we must stand, for divided we shall fall, and our great nation will forever more remain under the hooves of an unworthy Princess. Only together, only as one mind, one body, can we remove this taint from our land and restore the land to its rightful rulers. Only together, can we save Equestria from its Princess.”

“Be that as it may, Bluebone, we’re still going to need to tread very carefully. You know that the Pretender has been looking to destroy the Council since she became aware of our existence.” Another Unicorn spoke up, an unlit cigarette hanging out the corner of her mouth. “You know what we will have to do if Celestia puts you in that prison of hers. No leaks, no matter the cost. Were those not your own words when your father was imprisoned?”

“And they are words I charge this Council with today. If by some act of tyranny that Celestia manages to put me behind bars, I expect this Council to do whatever it takes, to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure I do not expose them.” Bluebone said, his face not betraying a single hint of the anger he felt, but instead a mask of calm acceptance. “No one pony is too valuable to risk in this endeavour, as I have proven multiple times to this Council. Speaking of which, how goes the Project?”

“With the acquisition of a large cache of Dragon’s Fire from Celestia’s own cellars, Professor Beaker swears he can create a teleportation matrix that can … can finish the process of uniting our three Eves together without the risk of rejection that the previous attempts suffered from.” Another Unicorn up in the back-row piped up, levitating a stack of papers up to his eye-level. “I … don’t understand most of this egg-head stuff, but he claims that the hairs our agents recovered from the Traitor-Princess’s room have been broken down into Alicorn Essence without the ‘rejection agent’ and stored appropriately, and that he believes that if the infusion is performed while the ‘Eves’ are being combined inside the Teleportation matrix, which will be fuelled by Dragon’s Fire, and thus our Unicorn Eve will be unable to disturb the matric. Without her … interference … what comes out should be a viable incubation device for future Princesses.”

“Nnngh. Let us hope it doesn’t end like his last attempt. I can still see that … thing … crawling out of the teleportation matrix.” A Unicorn muttered, and was joined by several others voicing opinions of disgust.

“The attempt to turn an adult Pony into a Princess by trying to mimic Twilight’s own ascension ended in failure, to be certain, but this time we’re attempting the long-term route.” A third Unicorn spoke up, obviously one of the ‘egg-heads’. “Since we can’t transmute limbs onto a Pony and make them an Alicorn without both host-body and limbs violently rejecting each other, and attempts to artificially induce Alicornism into the Bloodlines has failed, our only remaining option is to use fresh Alicorn Essence from Twilight Sparkle and attempt to use it, and a living, artificial Alicorn ‘womb’ to birth the Princess this Kingdom needs to rule it.”

“Assuming that this convoluted mess of a plan even works, how do we intend to keep control of an Immortal?”

“Wouldn’t charm-spells woven into the Alicorn from birth work?”

“We have no idea if the very divine nature of the bloodline would allow that to happen. Our best bet is to raise the new Princess ourselves, and ingrain loyalty to us as it’s primary directive.”

“You are assuming, of course, that it won’t rebel like all teenagers do and pursue it’s own agenda!”

“Not if we apply the right … pressures … during it’s childhood. Make it fear us, and that fear will subconsciously control it’s actions towards us.”

“Yes, make the all-powerful being feel hatred and fear towards us, nothing can possibly go wrong with that plan!”

“It worked for my children! At least I am attempting to continue my bloodline, rather than mounting the rumps of other Stallions!”

“You have to admit that he has a point, old bean. Your children are either shrinking violets who flinch at the first sign of anger or have rebelled against you entirely and side with the Princesses just to spite you. We need a Princess that will fight when we want her to fight, and not a moment longer. Your method would only give us a rebellious weapon that could blow up in our faces at any moment.”

Taking care to keep himself from grinning, Bluebone walked between the rows of bickering Unicorns, having once again united them in purpose against Celestia, and just as importantly, making them work with him at their head, as was only right as the only pure-blooded descendant of Princess Platinum within their ranks.

Soon, Celestia would be deposed and replaced with a Princess of truly Noble blood, and Equestria would flourish, as it was always meant to, under the benevolent guidance of the Unicorns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…okay. So that’s the final rune-circle. Okay. Alright, now comes the creepy part.” Twilight groaned, feeling her vertebrae pop as she stretched her neck out. “Sunset, Trixie, I need you to focus on your magic and clamp down on any and every spell you’re casting. Try to throttle the magic, so that I can get rid of the Fuku.”

“Trixie is unsure about this …”

“Just remember, Twilight, turn-about is fair play …”

“Ye-e-e-e-es, as I said, creepy part.” Twilight blushed slightly, taking a step back from Sunset Shimmer. Trixie was nervous, which was normal when confronted with a spell bearing as many negative connotations as a tentacle-field spell, but Sunset seemed positively … delighted to have the spell cast on her. Creeeeeeeepy!

“Twilight, is it really necessary that I sit here?” Luna chipped in, looking both bored and irritated inside her own circle at Twilight’s side, smears of chalk-dust on her lips and hooves. “Should I not be seated at the stair-well in-case somepony tries to escape?”

“Normally, yes. But the tentacle spell isn’t the most … discriminating spell in the world. I’d rather have you here, so I only need to focus on one barrier spell, rather than have you get caught up in the tentacle-field.”

“And anypony that comes down the stairs?”

“They’re on their own, but I will pay for their therapist bills.” Twilight quipped, her horn flaring with her personal magical aura, copied by the ground around Trixie and Sunset, which began to turn black, a slick, latex-plastic black that began to sprout dozens of long, slender tentacles that waved in the air for several seconds, growing longer and thicker, before bending down to caress the Ponies in their midst.

Moments later, the air was filled with the smell of ozone and the yelps of startled Ponies as flashes of electricity lashed out from their Fuku-armor, vaporizing the tentacles that had touched them, even as more tentacles began to sprout from the field of black latex that surrounded Trixie and Sunset.

“Oooh, the suit tingles when it does that!” Sunset cooed, shuddering with an ecstatic look on her face, while Trixie squeaked and yelped with every flash.

“Does she have to do that?” Twilight muttered, channelling more power into her spell, while Luna merely glared flatly at Sunset, her eyes flicking from the golden Unicorn’s face to her black cloak and back again.

With every surge of power, the field of tentacles regrew, yet the Fuku-armors lost their lustres. After the seventh assault, one of the tentacle managed to physically touch Trixie, making the blue Unicorn shudder before it was disintegrated, and on the tenth assault, Sunset was actually stripped of her skirt, with only a few weak arcs of power trailing across the tentacles, doing little more than making them twitch.

“Twilight, I think that’s enough…” Luna whispered, not taking her eyes off of Sunset, who was lewdly nibbling on the tip of a tentacle, giving Twilight a smouldering look. “There’s something very wrong here.”

“You mean aside from Sunset acting like … well, us a few days ago?” Twilight muttered, cancelling her spell and sighing with relief as the black latex tentacles slowly dissipated into purple mist. “Okay you two, strip out of your Fuku’s now, you should be able to remove them without any problems now that their magic has been drained away.”

“Maybe you could come over here and help me?” Sunset winked, slinking out of her coat and shirt in a way that made a ball of heat swell up inside Twilight’s stomach, even as the coldness and sense of danger swelled in her chest.

“Trixie is … very glad you did not use that spell on Trixie the last time, Mist … Miss Twilight.” Shaking like a wet Diamond Dog, Trixie all but ripped herself out of her Fuku, grabbing hold of the offending garments with her teeth and manually pulling them off her body, rather than risk using her magic.

Disrobed, the two Unicorns shot each other matching glares of contempt before their bodies rippled, and Luna and Twilight had a moment of blissful silence, before they found themselves latching onto each other and screaming as a horrific transformation took place before them.

Trixie and Sunset distorted. Their eyes bulged, their bodies shrank, their manes and tails ran every spectrum of the rainbow and exploded in length, strange creatures appeared before them waving magical wands of awkward design, warped devices of unfathomable purpose burst into being and then exploded into magical sparks, and right before it seemed the two would deform into tiny, stocky caricatures of their original beings, the two snapped back to normal size before collapsing on the ground, the chalk-circles that had been made to redirect and neutralize as many different types of spells as Twilight could think of bursting into clouds of chalk and ash that drifted through the air.

“Twi? We heard screamin’, wha’s goin’ on down there?” Applejack hollered from the second storey of the library, where she, Rarity and Spike were hunkered down in a protective spell-circle of their own.

“It’s over! Oh dear Faust, it’s over! Just stay up there till Luna or I come to get you!” Twilight yelled back, muttering an apology to Luna as the two Alicorns disentangled themselves. “Uh, manure, I think I messed up.”

“What are you … oh no.” Luna asked, looking to where Twilight was pointing. Lying face-down and breathing shallowly, Trixie’s tail had somehow transformed into a long, leonine tail tipped with a small tuft of the same silvery hair, and Sunset sported a similar tail, as well as cloven hooves of brass and two large, black, bat-like wings where her small black cloak had once been, the golden Unicorn’s closed eyes twitching as she struggled to recover from the shock of her bout of involuntary transformations. “Twilight, reinforce your barrier, and drop a second one across the stairs. I will be wrapping us both in anti-enchantment wards, and under no circumstances are you to let either of these two Mares kiss you or look into your eyes.”

“Okay, creepy and oddly specific.” Twilight muttered, channelling more power into her shielding spells as she felt the warm, tickling sensation of warding runes being traced with magic onto thin air and placed onto her body. “They’re just still warped from Weeaboo’s spells, right?”

“Mayhap, but I would prefer to not take chances. This … Sunset Shimmer looks much like an ancient foe of my sister and I, a breed of mortal Fiend known as a Succuponi, the creation of a coven of embittered Mares during the first few centuries of Celestia and my reign as Princess of Equestria. When we refused to allow the Coven to raid nearby villages for Stallions for their rituals, rituals that often ended in the rape, dismemberment and devouring of the unfortunate Stallions they captured, they called upon the powers of Tartarus and attempted to transform themselves into Princesses to wrest control of the lands from us. Needless to say, their plan failed, but they caused immense damage to the Ponies of that era before we were able to isolate their weaknesses and banish their entire, debased race to Tartarus.”

“Ugh … but Sunset did transform into some sort of Fiend back on Dirt, I mean Earth. And it … sorta looks like … what she changed into. But when we Harmonized her, she changed back …” Twilight murmured, turning pale at Luna’s words. More of this ‘dark history’ Luna kept hinting about.

“Succuponi can easily use illusions to assume the form of whatever their victim desires most, and they possess the ability to enthral the weak-minded through eye-contact. They can also establish a life-link through a kiss or a … carnal contract, through which they can command the victim as a puppet to their will, and if the victim is a male, the Succuponi can siphon the live-energies of their victim to power their own magic. Unfortunately, neither Celestia or I ever found a way to break the magic that binds a Succuponi to it’s victim other than banishing the Succuponi to Tartarus, where it’s magic cannot reach Equestria.” Luna continued explaining, painting layer upon layer of wards upon herself and Twilight, her eyes twitching from Sunset to Trixie, then back to Twilight before roaming back to the two other Mares. “Twilight, this is very important. Under no circumstances are you to let Sunset or Trixie, especially not Sunset, meet your eyes or kiss you. You are not a true Immortal yet, and I fear that if they are able to corrupt you, you will be turned into a Succuponi yourself. I … I would have to use the Petrification Spell upon you if that happens, Twilight. We cannot allow the Element of Magic to fall into the hooves of the Succuponies, they would be able to crack open their prison in Tartarus and flood back into Equestria, and finish off the Ponies once and for all.”

“What … what do you mean? Finish off the Ponies?” Twilight hissed, added another layer to her barriers and spreading them all over the walls, floor and ceiling, weaving anti-teleportation magic into the new barrier. Luna makes this sound like an actual threat, not just another day of weirdness in Ponyville. “You mean they’d attack Ponies?”

“No, Twilight. Celestia and myself only found out that Succuponies could siphon the life out of their male victims after we assaulted the Coven itself, when it was too late. Thousands of Stallions died or were drained to the brink of death as the Coven drained their life-essences in an attempt to escape our banishment spell. Hundreds of Mares were turned against their will into Succuponies to serve as cannon-fodder against us, and turned other Mares in-turn, all of whom were either slain or banished to Tartarus with the Coven.” Luna explained as Trixie began to slowly stir to wakefulness, Sunset Shimmer still out cold. “The reason there are so few Stallions in Equestria is because the last time Succuponies walked the land, they devoured almost every Stallion that they could catch to sate their eternal hunger for male essence, and the Stallions who had been contracted by Succuponi, willing or not, were far more likely to sire Fillies than Colts, a trait that has bred true ever since. In the aftermath of the war, the loss of so many Stallions almost destroyed the Three Tribes, and forced them to inter-marry or face extinction.”

“We cannot allow you to fall to these Succuponi, nor can we allow them to escape this basement and begin the cycle again. No matter what, Twilight, we must hold the line here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“….sent a message to Celestia without a Flame-Scroll spell?” That … sounded like Twilight?

“More like a magical beacon. Any Royal agents within fifty miles will sense it through their regalia and send a message to Celestia. All we have to do now is hunker down and wait for my sister to arrive and help us contain the situation … oh. The blue one is waking up.” That deeper voice belonged to the Lunar Princess … Trixie felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought of being prone and helpless before the fearsome Princess of the Night.

“Tw-Twilight?” Trixie mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position with limbs that trembled as if the Great and Humble Trixie had just run a marathon, and her rear felt … odd. Like it was far too long and heavy.

“I’m … here, Trixie. How are you feeling? What are you feeling?” Mistress Twilight’s voice sounded muffled, but so deliciously close. Just hearing her concern and worry made all the pain and humiliation of being Sunset’s unwilling partner seem so distant now.

“Trixie feels … strange. Is there something wrong with Trixie’s tail?” Trixie asked, trying to turn her head to look, but falling over onto her side as the effort overwhelmed her with vertigo. “Trixie has not felt this bad since she had that bad batch of oats in Baltimare … oooogh.”

“Yes, uhm, there’s something … different, yes. Do you … remember exactly where you brought that Spell-Scroll?” Twilight asked, little more than a purple blur in Trixie’s eyes.

“Trixie was … Trixie remembers … earning it from a Minotaur who said she had bought it from a Pegasus who had been fired from a newspaper in Canterlot.” The Show-Mare stumbled over her words in an attempt to not sound bad before Twilight, rubbing at her eyes to try and clear her vision before standing up again, blinking blearily and struggling to stand against the wave of vertigo that rushed through her. “The Minotaur had no use for the scroll, since she could not use pony-magic, and the Pegasus skipped town after making the trade.”

“Yes Trixie, but where?” Now it was the Lunar Princess speaking, and it wasn’t vertigo that sent Trixie back to the floor.

“A-A-A small trading-post at the border of Gryphonia! Featherbrook, where the nearby Gryphon miners come to trade gems for food and medicinal supplies!” Trixie whimpered, pressing her face down into the floor. “Trixie had heard that a Minotaur merchant had made a bad trade when she was passing through the town, and Trixie thought that maybe the Scroll could … help Trixie with a problem.”

“I’m not entirely sure what Weeaboo’s spells could help with. Okay, Luna, I’m fairly certain that Trixie’s not one of those …”

“Perhaps. That tail concerns me, but she does not have the … tainted aura … that Sunset Shimmer does. Can you make another barrier spell?” Luna spoke up, sounding wary. Nervous, even. “I suspect that Sunset Shimmer does not quite understand exactly what she is, being trapped in the other world with no ancient texts to research her condition, and so has not made a proper Carnal Contract with Trixie, but I would rather not take the chance that she could control Trixie through the Contract, incomplete though it is.”

“I … think I can maintain a third barrier, yes. You’ll handle the wards?”

“Yes, I can give Trixie some protection, but I fear that if Sunset truly is a Succuponi, then Trixie is her first ‘Daughter’, and Succuponies can control their ‘offspring’ through verbal commands.”

“So … can’t we just stick cotton or something in her ears while Sunset’s still unconscious?”

“…Oh Faust, why did we never …”

“It’s okay Luna, trust me, sticking with Pinkie Pie for three years has taught me all about obvious solutions right under our noses.”

“What … what are you talking about?” Trixie mumbled, feeling numb and cold at being talked about like she was some sort of … threat … by her beloved Mistress, before she was enveloped in Twilight’s purple magic and levitated away from a golden-yellow blur that Trixie assumed was Sunset Shimmer, and then icy-cold magic was applied to her body, clinging tightly to her skin and itching slightly.

“It’s … just trust us, Trixie. When you first met Sunset, did she have wings and strange hooves?” Twilight asked, a tendril of magic moving a bang of silvery hair out of Trixie’s face. “Was she … different from other Ponies when you met her?”

“Define … different. She had wings, yes, Trixie remembers that, but claimed to be a new Princess. Her hooves were different than normal …” Trixie replied, confused. Just what has happened?

“New Princess? Balderdash, if she’s a Princess, I’m Discord’s cousin, twice removed!” Luna snapped, sounding enraged. “I take it that Sunset seduced you?”

“Luna!” Twilight sounded horrified. “A little tact?”

“I need to know if the spell will require two Ponies or one. Better we know now and can send them both through at once than send only one through now, and dozens more at a later date because of a lack of caution now.”

“Trixie … Trixie is ashamed to admit, but the attraction was mutual, or at least Trixie thought it was. Trixie had not thought that she would meet another of her kind so far from the coast, and when Sunset offered to help translate the Scroll with Trixie, Trixie finally thought she could be rid of her curse.”

“Wait, I thought you and Trixie were fighting over the Scroll.” Twilight asked, sounding confused. I think my eyes are slowly coming back into focus.

“We did … but not at first. We had several days of co-operation before Trixie woke up and found Sunset trying to sneak out of her wagon with the Scroll. Trixie was … hurt. And angry. And … things went very strange after that.”

“And what did you mean by ‘your kind’. Are you saying your tail has always been like that?”

“That’s impossible, Luna. I’ve met Trixie before, and she had a perfectly normal tail!”

“Tail? My … tail?” Trixie muttered, rubbing at her eyes again and craning her neck to stare at her flanks and saw … a long, blue tail, tipped by a paintbrush-like tuft of silvery hair.

I must be seeing things! Trixie thought to herself, rubbing at her eyes again, and when the vision of this strange attachment to her rear refused to dissipate, she grabbed it with her hoof and gave an experimental tug, wincing as a jolt of pain shot up her spine.

“WHAT IN FAUST’S NAME HAPPENED TO TRIXIE’S TAIL?”

“Trixie.”

“What is this? What happened to Trixie?”

“Trixie!”

“The Great and Talented Trixie looks like somepony grafted a Gryphon’s backside onto her plot!”

“TRIXIE!”

“Eeeep! Trixie apologises, Princess Luna.”

“Just … stop. What did you mean ‘one of your kind’?” Luna sighed, putting a hoof to her temples and rubbing firmly at a throbbing vein there. “Has any member of your family had black wings like Sunset Shimmer?”

“Wha … No, Princess Luna. Trixie’s family have been mostly Unicorns and a few Earth Ponies who married into the family. No Pegasi or Thestrals, not that Trixie knows of.” The blue Show-Mare said weakly, looking at the twitching tail that was now curled around her hooves with a mixture of horror and confusion. “Is that what you meant?”

“So … you were eager to hook up with another Unicorn?” Twilight asked, levitating several boxes, looking for something in the many boxes and crates at the back of the room.

“Uhm … no. Does … does Trixie have to answer the question?” The blue Show-Mare asked, turning pink and crossing her fore-legs.

“Trixie, by the authority of my crown, and for your own sake, I suggest you answer truthfully. If Sunset Shimmer is a ‘Dark Force’ as I fear she is, I will have to banish her to Tartarus. And since you claim to have not had a tail like that before you began carnal relations with her, I can only assume you have likewise been tainted.” Luna said, loudly and firmly, sighing heavily as Trixie flinched and almost dropped her face to the floor again. “I need to have proof that you are not tainted before we can risk you being released out into the world.”

Trixie shifted from hoof to hoof, feeling utterly miserable, before letting her head hang low and nodding softly.

I did not want anypony else to know. I wanted Twilight to know, of course, but not … not like this!

“Trixie … understands, Princess Luna. P-please, do not let word of this get out. Trixie’s name is already held in desperately low opinion in Equestria.” The blue Show-Mare begged, sitting on her plot and spreading her hind-legs out to the sides. “This is why Trixie sought out the Spell-Scroll of Weeaboo the Sage.”

Her horn twinkled, barely more than a cantrip, but the effect was obvious. Her pale blue belly turned darker and darker between the junction of her hind-legs, spreading up to the top of her ‘waist’, a spreading black length that grew out and thickened from her flesh, forming a solid, black-furred Stallion’s sheath.

“OH OF COURSE!” Twilight snapped, putting a hoof to her face and groaning loudly. “You cast the Spear-Maiden spell on yourself for a night of fun and it won't come off?”

“N-no, Mist-Miss Twilight!” Trixie babbled, pulling her fore-hooves over her revealed body-part, burning with shame and embarrassment over her exposure. “Trixie sought out the Spell-Scroll to try and find a cure for her family’s curse!”

“What?” Twilight and Luna said together, giving Trixie a bug-eyed stare.

“The Lulamoons have been burdened with Weeaboo’s Curse. Trixie’s family has been searching for a cure ever since we were infected by a Neighponese sailor five generations ago, and Trixie had hoped she could use the Spell-Scroll to apply a counter-curse and thus be a normal, natural Mare!”

“Lying Mule.” A new voice muttered, and all three Mares jumped and turned to look at Sunset Shimmer, who was groggily trying to stand. “Get rid of it? Tartarus, you can’t seem to stop trying to use it on anything that moves.”

“Oh buck me sideways. Trixie, put these over your ears, and DO NOT REMOVE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!” Twilight shouted, magically throwing a pair of industrial-grade ear-mufflers to the Show-Mare. “This is an order from two Princesses, Trixie Lulamoon!”

“Y-yes Mist … Miss Twilight!” Trixie saluted, grabbing the hard yellow-plastic ear-protectors and shoving the foam-lined head-set over her ears. Why does Twilight want me to not hear what is said now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sunset Shimmer, what are you?” Luna thundered, her horn glowing ominously as Sunset Shimmer staggered onto her hooves, blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision. Trixie sat behind her barrier, yellow ear-protectors clapped onto her head, looking back and forth at the scene before her with obvious confusion on her face.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a Princess.” Sunset scoffed, smirking. “Wings of a Thestral, Horn of a Unicorn, Strength of an Earth Pony.”

“No, no you are not. Your hooves are cloven, Sunset, and your tail is not that of a Pony.” Twilight pointed out, sliding behind Luna as she saw Sunset try to look her in the face, and decided that having a very angry Lunar Princess between herself and a possible Succuponi would be the best defense against accidentally being charmed. “Do you remember when you changed into what you are now?”

“Pffft, they’re cloven because I’m better than the other Princesses. And maybe I’ve got this tail because I’m a newer, better form of Princess, all four Tribes of Ponies, not just three.” Sunset retorted, sounding annoyed as every time she tried to move around to get an unobstructed view of Twilight, Luna would move in turn to block her. “Will you move, you nag? I haven’t trekked halfway across Equestria with the Inept and Stupid Trixie to stare at you! Twilight, I need to talk to you in private.”

“I will not allow that, Sunset Shimmer. On my authority as a Princess of Equestria, you are to be taken into custody by the Equestrian Guard under suspicion of being a Dark Force.” Luna replied tersely, likewise not meeting Sunset’s eyes but focusing on a spot above the Unicorn’s head. “Failure to comply will force me to believe you intend to do harm to Equestria and her people, and I will have to stop you.”

“You and what army, moon-butt.” Sunset scoffed, flipping her mane back and sneering down her muzzle at Luna, who frowned but did not meet Sunset’s eyes.

“SUNSET SHIMMER! COME OUT WITH YOUR HORN DOWN, AND YOU WILL NOT BE SMOTE INTO ASHES!” Celestia's voice boomed, loud enough to be physically painful, making the roof shake and dribbles of dust spill down over the Ponies inside the basement.

“I don’t need an army, little filly.” Luna smirked. “I have a big sister.”