The morning came with little ceremony other than a small communicator buzzing on the table beside us. The mistress rose, yawned and groggily answered the device before we washed and breakfasted. Wearing my reins and head collar, she lead me out and down the muggy corridor to a small room with two waiting mares and a tall male in a white coat. None of them smiled when we entered and I immediately picked up on the hesitation from the mistress.

“Here he is, treat him properly wont you.”

“We will ma’am”, said the male coldly. I had my hackles up, this guy was bothering my mistress and the look on her face said it all.

“I’ve got to leave now Captain, be a good boy and do what they tell you, understand?”

I was distraught, my heart pounding in my chest. She was leaving me here?

“Mistress?”

Tears started to well in her eyes, “It’ll all be alright, I promise.” She looked up at the white coated pony, “I’ll be back in an hour as we agreed. If you harm him in any way…”

He nodded and she left in a flurry of gold and white, all but slamming the door shut behind her. The male turned back to me, looking me up and down while his assistants wheeled over trolleys full of bottles and brushes.

“Right then, Tops, Tails, I want this coat prepped properly before we apply the coating. I’ll get him measured up for the lenses.”

I stood there staring at the door like it would open at any moment and she’d come back for me. I was nearly in tears. Had I always been such an emotional wreck as this?

The mares wiped me down thoroughly, the acrid stink of chemicals burning my nostrils. Paper was placed over my muzzle and stuck in place, my ears plugged and my eyes measured. I had no idea what was going on, but true to his word, the stallion didn’t injure me in any way, in fact the only discomfort I felt was a faint tingling sensation across my fur. While the mares worked, the male brought over two transparent lenses, into which he plopped a couple of drops of some clear liquid. He spoke to me in his monotone voice,

“Hold still, this may feel a little strange but it won’t hurt, do you understand?”

I nodded.

Holding my head to one side, he held my eye open and dropped in one of the lenses which made me struggle slightly with the strange sensation. My eye felt cold and odd, but once again, he was right; whatever it was didn’t cause any pain. The process was repeated for the other eye and he stood back, nodding.

He spoke more to himself than to me, “They cover his eyes well, you can barely see the colour underneath at all.”

The male rose his head up to address the mares, “How’s the coat coming along?”

“Nearly done, doctor”

“Excellent”

The process continued until I was given a damp wipe over and the ‘doctor’ moved to my flank.

“Strange…never seen one like this. The dye doesn’t seem to affect it much, what about alteration magic?”

“We tried that first, doctor, it’s resistant.”

He shook his head, “Very strange. We can’t burn it off or we could maim him permanently.”

The doctor tapped his chin with a hoof, “Shave him”

“Doctor?”

“Do it. Shave the cutie mark off and we’ll apply fake fur, spray on a new cutie mark et voilà.”

“Yes doctor”

He tutted at me, but supervised the work that was going on down my flank. I could feel the buzz of the razor and cold air as my bare skin was exposed. The artificial fur was applied and some even to my face for some reason. After all this though, I was itching to see what I looked like. I could only hope my mistress would be pleased, but there was more to come yet.

My mane and tail were worked on next and clipped shorter than I’d have liked. My mane was normally mid-length, and this made me look like…I wasn’t sure, what did I look like?

Time dragged on and eventually there was a knock at the door. The doctor opened it to a worried white unicorn,

“Mistress!” I said excitedly looking to see if she approved of my new look. She didn’t.

“Is…is that him? My god, he looks completely different”

“As requested ma’am, we’ve done our best. No magic, just cosmetics and ingenuity, he wont get picked up by any magic detectors now.”

She didn’t look happy at all. Her eyes were puffy from tears and her ears drooped slightly,

“Mistress?”

She shook her head, “Come along, Captain. We need to go and see somepony, so let me see those hooves lift neatly now, no slacking!”

The mistress tried to sound upbeat, but her voice was cracking and as much as I tried to obey her, I was more interested in her and spoke out of turn,

“Mistress, you seem unhappy. Aren’t you pleased with me? Have I been a bad pony?”

It didn’t do to question the mistress and she stopped suddenly, turning to me, her eyes flashing, “Captain! Don’t…don’t…” her voice fell to a murmur, “No…no you haven’t done anything wrong, Captain, nothing at all.”

She pulled my reins and clucked her tongue. Like a dutiful pony, I followed my mistress into the lift, along a corridor and into a well lit office.

Inside, three ponies stood watching me. One was a dumpy, ginger unicorn mare with a greying black mane and a thin pair of spectacles behind which a pair of slate grey eyes peered out. Beside her, a white earth pony, more cream coloured than my mistress, wearing a wide brimmed red hat and coat. His eyes were a maroon colour which stood out against his pale colour. His mane and tail, strawberry coloured, were quite long for a male and flowed from under his hat.

The third occupant of the office was a cloaked and veiled pony. A female judging by the body shape, her yellow legs peeked out from under the hem of her cloak, shod in what appeared to be green jade.

I took it all in, every last detail, eyes, hair, colouring…this was, unusual for me wasn’t it? Why was I so interested? I’d never met them and yet here I was examining every detail.

The mistress shook my reins and I stood still, standing tall and looking straight ahead. I’d show them what a real pony looked like, even if my colour was different. Actually, not having seen a mirror, I still didn’t have much of a clue as to what they’d done to me. My coat was a darker shade from before, that much I could see, but I was still a uniform grey. ‘Bland’ I thought, bitterly. My tail was now blue apparently, two shades too which I wasn’t overly keen on to say the least.

The dumpy female, spoke first, readjusting her spectacles and staring at me with her mean looking eyes, “Are you sure he’s safe Annabelle? He’s a killer this one, I can smell death on him from here.”

The male nodded, “I agree, he’s already taken out two of my best ponies. Bringing him here was lunacy, we should have just had him put to sleep when we had the chance. I warned you Annie, I don’t like this at all.”

My mistress stomped a hoof in irritation, “I understand your concerns, but if there’s one thing I know, its horseflesh.” The three of them quailed visibly at her words as she continued, “This pony is everything you wanted and more, look at him. He’s quiet, obedient and will do anything I ask him, won’t you Captain?”

“Yes mistress”

The cloaked mare took a step forward, the hoof shoes clinking slightly on the hard floor. Her voice sounded off, a strange inflection to her words, “He has caused us many problems…I don’t like it. I agree with my stallion friend, I think he should be…disposed of.”

The mistress stomped her hoof again before taking a step forward, baring her teeth, “And where did that get you? Your last effort nearly unravelled everything, thanks to your lack of planning and bungling! They’ve got magical detectors everywhere now, they’re popping up in every damned town and city in Equestria like a rash. They know something’s going on.” She flicked her golden mane with a forehoof, “You’ve got one chance at this, and the solution is standing here before you. Mess this up, and you could be on the scaffold before you know it.”

The three ponies looked to one another and spoke in low voices, I couldn’t make out the words but I could smell the fear in the air. The older mare stared at me before addressing the mistress, “Bending his will is one thing Annabelle, making him perform the task at hoof is quite another. How do we know he won;t panic and run, or worse still, break out of his training at the last moment?”

The white unicorn mare shook her mane, the light catching it and making my heart soar, “I’ve left enough of him in there to do what needs to be done, but as for loyalty…Let me give you a little demonstration.”

She levitated over to me a long knife which she held up to my muzzle.

“Take the knife, Captain”

I reached out and took the hilt in my mouth.

“Kill me”

What?! I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t disobey her and I couldn’t hurt her…not her!

I stood there motionless.

“What does this prove?” the male asked, “He won’t stab you, so what? Lots of ponies would refuse to do that”

“After what we’ve done to him? Are you so sure? If he had his own mind still, you’d be a puddle of blood and entrails on the floor already. You’ve seen what he’s capable of.”

The male snorted, “I have that! He’s cost me money! Damned near burned down my best establishment and frightened off most of my clientele. I say again Annie, get rid of him before this comes back to bite us.”

“You really think so?”

“I do”

“Captain?”

“Yes, mistress?”

“Kill him”

“Yes, mistress”

I advanced on the male, keeping low and ready to manoeuvre against any counterattack or defence. Mistress had ordered and I obeyed, he was a bad pony and I would remove him from her sight. The male shrieked and backed up against the wall, fumbling for something from under his coat.

“Captain! Stop! Come back here and give me the knife”

Obediently, I backed away from the male and gave the mistress the knife which she levitated from me, “Do you have any doubts still, Velvet?”

“Damn it Annie! I just fucking pissed myself!”

True enough, a wet patch was pooling around the males hooves, making the others step hurriedly away from him with looks of disgust. The mistress laughed out loud, turning to the sand coated mare in triumph, “Convinced Palm? Or do you have a better plan?”

The mare nodded and levitated over a file, “All you need is in here Annabelle, we leave the rest to you. Once the task is complete, our ‘friends’ will take care of the rest and the promise will finally be fulfilled.”

My mistress smiled, “Good. Palm, when all this is over, I’ll hold you to your word”

“Of course, you can trust me Annabelle, we are friends after all aren’t we?”

She smiled, but if anypony ever needed a visual definition of the word ‘insincere’, it was stood before me now. The mistress nodded and smiled back with a grin that held nothing of the warmth she’d shown me,

“Friends…”

Back in the mistress’ rooms, she took off my head collar and bit before letting me sit beside her. She seemed a little sad,

“Mistress?”

“Hmmm?”

“Are you sad? Can I do something to make you happy?”

“No…” she shook her head, “Actually…yes, yes you can. Bring the brush over here and brush my mane.”

“Yes mistress”, now here was a treat indeed! Happily I trotted over to the dresser and brought the brush back held in my teeth. She lay down on the rug before the heater and poured herself a drink whilst I went to work on her luxurious mane. The warming heady scent of lavender in her hair made me feel as light as a feather.

“Captain…” she began, “I have a job for you. It’s difficult, dangerous too, but I know you can do it. I believe in you.”

I couldn’t stop smiling, she believed in me!

“Thank you mistress”

“Yes…Captain, I know you can do this, but I need to know, will you do what I ask? Even if you don’t want to do it?”

“Of course mistress”

“’Of course’, she murmured looking away for a moment before looking back over her shoulder, “Captain, I want you to kill somepony, a bad pony…very bad. Will you do it? For me?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Good boy, Captain. You’re a very good boy.”

She took the brush from me and passed me some photographs, “This is who you are going to ‘put down’, Captain, and…” she tapped a hoof on another picture, “…this building is where she lives”.

I looked at the photograph of a mare who looked very much like winged version of the mistress, but with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. A cutie mark of a sunburst was prominent on her flank. She was beautiful, elegant and even in a photograph, exuded a noble bearing. But something inside me felt a cold anger towards her, something deeper and more bitter than I’d ever felt before and it surprised me. The mistress had ordered me to kill her, and kill her I would. My mistress was saddened of late; whatever this mare had done to her, she had to be removed.

“We’ll talk more in the morning, there’s maps to study, times and schedules. The carriage will be here to take you to your target when you’re ready and then you’re on your own.”

“My own, mistress?”

“Yes”, she looked away, wiping her face with a foreleg, “But, I want you to come home Captain…” the mistress turned to me, her lip quivering and her eyes shining, “Come home…please?”

“Of course, mistress”

She leaned over and put her forelegs around me and hugged me, shaking as tears leaked from her eyes and soaked into my coat. I didn’t know what to say, so instead sat there and stroked her mane as gently as I could. She was my mistress, and I her stallion, for her I would enter the jaws of death if she so ordered. This other mare was a bad pony, she was making my mistress cry and for that…she had to die.

I spent the next day studying maps, photographs of places, ponies and the targets schedules. Somepony had provided my mistress with a lot of information on the palace and my target…Celestia. I didn’t know who she was but I knew the anger inside me, it felt calming, almost like an old friend. It made me feel strong, powerful, to be able to bring down the entire world if I so desired, and all for my beloved mistress.

That evening, a strange pony appeared who was covered in a cloak and veil like the jade shoe wearing one, only this one was male. He spoke with a disturbing clicking and hissing sound and was a lot smaller than the other ponies I’d seen so far. The mistress looked at the visitor with distaste, clearly unhappy with his presence,

“He’s not ready yet, he needs at least another day or two.”

“There isss no time, pony”, he rattled, “the wedding isss sssooon”

“I don’t give a damn. If he’s not ready, he’s not ready! I am the mistress here and my decision is final”

“My missstresss will not wait any longerrr”, the stallion said, a slight buzzing noise coming from under its cloak.

The white unicorn looked back at me and gave me a strange look, one I hadn’t seen before. What did it mean?

“Fine!” she snapped back at the figure, “Give me two days”

“Onnnne dayyyy”

“Damn you…fine. One day. Tell your mistress, we’ll have him in place in one day.”

The male nodded and backed out of the room, a green glow from beneath its cloak enveloping the door and pulling it shut as it left.

The mistress turned to me and surprised me by giving me a tight hug, “Are you ready, Captain? You’ve got a big day ahead of you. Can you do it?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Good boy”, she was definitely off from her normal self. She was a self confident and supremely self assured mare who I’d rarely noticed have any doubts or uncertainties. It was…unsettling. The mistress trotted over to the book shelf and retrieved a bottle and a glass, pouring herself a large measure and downing it in one gulp. She spat,

“Fuck them! Those vile fucking damned…THINGS!” she stamped around the room, “I’d wipe them off the face of this cursed shit hole of a planet if I had my way. I don’t trust them, not at all! What the bloody hell was that dumb bitch playing at when she agreed to use them?! Christ all fucking mighty!”

“Mistress, is there something I can do?” I didn’t know who she was talking about, but she was angry and upset. That was the issue at hoof now, that was my focus.

The alabaster mare shook her flowing golden mane and threw herself onto the bed, “Yes, there is something you can do…get up here…now!”

I trotted up to the bed and she levitated over the riding crop, “Take it”, she said angrily.

Instinctively, I flinched away from the thing and she angrily thrust the handle into my mouth, “I said take it!”

I stood there waiting for her to instruct me, when she placed her front half across the bed and presented her rear to me. I wasn’t certain about what she wanted, but surely she didn’t…?

“Hit me…” she whispered.

“Mistress?”

“Don’t damned well question me, Captain! Hold it in your hooves and hit me as hard as you can. DO IT!”

I spat the crop into my forehooves and stood on my hind legs. I didn’t like this position, but I could certainly get a better swing at her. Still, I didn’t want to do this…to hurt my mistress? My mind reeled, my brain screaming at me to stop, but I had to follow orders. What should I do?!

“Captain…your mistress wants you to do this, you won’t hurt me, you’ll be making me happy, do you understand?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Now…please…”

I dutifully obeyed and brought the crop across her pristine white backside with a sharp ‘thwack’. She shrieked and shoved her head into the quilt, “Again”, she murmured “Don’t stop until I say”.

I brought the crop around, this time across the other buttock making her whimper and bite down on the bed covers, her eyes shut tight. Despite her quivering and moaning, she didn’t order me to stop what I was doing, so I continued. Swing after swing, the noise filling the room, red stripes appearing across the pure white of her coat. This was what she wanted, but it hurt me to do it even so…to mark that beautiful creatures coat…this was so wrong.

“Harder!” she commanded, staring straight ahead, drooling on the bed, “God damn it Captain, harder!”

I obeyed, putting my full strength into the swing and with a resounding ‘crack’, brought it across her behind. The mistress shrieked, spittle flying across the bed and her knees began to shake, “Yes! Again!”

Once more, the crop slashed down, creating a streak of red across her that made her cry out. Again and again, I swung, my muscles beginning to ache and my heart pound until finally, her knees gave way and she sank to the floor in a sweating, crying and drool covered heap. The white mare gave me a look which melted my heart, “You’re a good pony, Captain…so good”

I trotted over to the cupboard where she kept her first aid and began to moisten a flannel with warm water to apply to her injuries. Without instruction, I went to work, gently cleaning her up the best I could and applying a healing lotion to the angry red welts. I could feel my eyes sting as tears formed. How could I have hurt her like this? My heart felt like it was breaking.

The mistress looked back at me, taking a mouthful of wine straight from the bottle, “That’s enough, Captain. You’ve been a very good pony, now…now its time for your treat.”

A treat? After I’d done that to her?

I helped her to her hooves, the white unicorn’s knees still trembling slightly. She returned to the bed and lay across it as she had before, “Mount me”.

It took a moment for me to realise what she wanted, but I did as she asked and pulled myself onto her. She gasped as I pushed into her, my underside rubbing up against her wounds. I tried to be gentle, but I could sense the pain she felt as we made love. She didn’t tell me to stop, just lay there, whimpering and groaning, pushing herself back up onto me, until at last, I released inside her.

The mistress lay on the bed, panting and crying, drool and snot covering her muzzle, a damp patch visible on the covers where she’d been biting them. She was exhausted. I helped her up onto the bed properly and she lay there whilst I pulled the covers over her tired body and went to lie on the rug,

“No…” she whispered, “sleep with me tonight, Captain”

Obediently, I climbed up next to her and snuggled in. “Hold me…” she murmured, looking back at me with a large azure eye, “please”

I nodded and wrapped my legs around her protectively, “Yes, mistress”

She smiled, “Do you love your mistress, Captain?”

“Yes, mistress”, I whispered into her ear, “I love you”.

I awoke early, yawning and stretching my legs before trotting over to the table and arranging some breakfast for us both. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught my reflection in the mirror, the long white sheet covering it had fallen off allowing me a full view of the stranger looking back at me. I lifted a hoof to my face and stared at myself; a new me, a different me. Checking myself over, I couldn’t believe the change. My tail and mane were that two tone blue, as I knew, but my coat…a dark uniform grey, almost black. My scar too, had disappeared, cover in the artificial fur blending it in seamlessly.

Slightly alarmingly, my cutie mark was gone, replaced with a pair of cherries. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, I had no idea. But strangest of all were my eyes; the bronze colour was quite interesting, but I looked somehow…nondescript. I liked how I normally looked, the mistress did too, I didn’t like this new me. Hopefully, it was only temporary and I’d be able to return to the real me when my task was complete.

A voice murmured behind me, “Captain?”

I turned to the mistress whose golden mane had stuck to her face during the night. Walking over to her, I brushed away the stray strands of gold with a smile, “Your breakfast is ready when you are mistress.”

We washed, brushed up and ate breakfast in silence. The mistress was unusually quiet this morning. Her eyes looked dull, her mane limp. I didn’t like this; whatever was going on was weighing on her heavily and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. A knock on the door brought her round and she moved over to it, magicking open the heavy thing. Outside a cloaked and veiled figure waited,

“My mistresss hasss ordered me to collect the pony”, it hissed.

The white unicorn looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes suddenly wide. My heart leaped in my chest at her reaction before, with a shake of her mane, she walked over to me and whispered in my ear,

“Captain, are you ready?”

“Yes, mistress”

“I…I don’t want you to go…”

“Mistress?”

She hugged me suddenly, and then stepped back rubbing a tear away from her eye, “Just…just do what you have to do and come back” she tried a shaky smile, “Make sure you come back, yes?”

“Yes, mistress, I’ll be back”

The mistress addressed the cloaked pony, her voice lowering, “If anything happens to him…”

The pony said nothing, just stood there in silence with the occasional buzzing noise emanating from its back. The beautiful white unicorn spanked me on the flank making me jump, “Go on then, Captain. Be a good boy…get going!”

I trotted out after the pony who was already setting off down the corridor. Behind me, the sound of something soft hitting the floor and stifled sobbing followed me out.

I followed the mysterious pony down several darkened corridors lit only with the occasional strip light until we reached a set of steel doors opening to the outside and the blindingly bright sky. Having been locked up for as long as I could remember, surrounded by walls and artificial magical light, I stopped dead in shock.

Two large ponies, the ones I remembered that had helped the mistress, walked out from behind a large carriage and hauled me out. There was no ceiling! No walls, what was going on? I was…scared…terrified out of my wits. One of the big louts swiped me across the muzzle,

“Get a fucking grip will you? The mistress has given you a job, are you going to let her down now?”

Let her down? No! I had to pull myself together and be strong. I was strong, I would do my job and come back. She would be waiting for me as she’d promised.

I shook my mane and stepped forward, the big brown stallion nodding his begrudging approval and guided me up the ramp into the back of the large carriage. Inside, lights hi-lighted a set of gold burnished armour and spear which glinted along its razor sharp edge.

I knew what was expected of me. The stallion helped me into the armour while the other took station in the drivers’ compartment and we lumbered into the air. My companion was as quiet as ever, sitting down and glowering under his heavy brows. I didn’t bother speaking to him, I knew my mission and I would carry it out calmly and efficiently.

Time dragged by and I used that to run over the plan in my mind, again and again until I could recite it perfectly. There was always a chance it could go wrong of course, but if it did, I was to press the device in my pannier and help would come to get me out of there. I doubted I’d need it though. Motivated and driven, I knew I would succeed. Celestia was a bad pony, she had hurt the mistress and she would have to be removed so the mistress could be happy once more. I hated to see her cry and I would protect that smile as long as I drew breath.

I examined the long weapon beside the armour. The spears point was lethal and reflected the bronze of my eyes. I smiled to myself, it was a good weapon. I wasn’t used to spears though, preferring swords and something…something curved…what was it? Had I ever used swords before? I shook my mane as a headache threatened to overwhelm me again. Damn it all, why did it happen every time I tried to think about things too much?

I reached up and touched my horn, the ring on it was cold and hard against my hoof. I couldn’t use magic, didn’t know anything about it either. The mistress was all the magic I needed.

We descended. A cacophony of sounds penetrated the carriage; horns, metallic ringing and the background buzz of many ponies talking. Wherever we were was a veritable hive of activity. Slowly, we moved forward, almost inching along until we lurched to a halt. Voices, muffled yet still distinct penetrated the thin skin of our carriage,

“Papers…”

“State your destination and cargo, sir”

“Catering supplies for the wedding, officer.

“Scans complete sir, no anomalies detected”

“Very well, go on through.”

The carriage lurched forward and we clattered over the cobbled road into, judging by the echo of hooves and wheels, some sort of courtyard. My mind ran over my instructions and the layout of the palace, noting the locations of the kitchens, the service corridors, stairs and so on. Parked up with all the other carriages, nopony would give us a second glance. The staff were all in a busy world of their own preparing for the upcoming wedding without wasting time noticing one of the palace guards walking through the kitchen.

It was dark. The other princess would be in control of the night sky now, whilst Celestia rested in her chambers. The palace by contrast to the peaceful night outside, was still in full swing. The sound of crockery, pans and cutlery banging and rattling was deafening. Beyond that, pots bubbled and simmered adding their own chorus to the din, but to me though it was all just background noise. Unerringly, I headed for my target, heading down one corridor then the next, taking the back passageways and stairs used by staff. This way, there was less chance of being detected and, hopefully, a quick escape route for me to return to my mistress with the good news.

I kept my head up and ears alert, quickly noting the two guards walking towards me. I nodded to them solemnly and they returned the gesture, passing me by without batting an eyelid. The disguise was working perfectly.

The next corridor opened out into a grand hallway of richly coloured tapestries and luxurious carpets; only the best for the royalty of the palace. If nothing else, they helped muffle my hoofsteps as I approached the large door to Celestia’s bedchamber. The pony who had provided me with the map of the vast building had done their job well, but the rest was still up to me. In fact, my first major test was before me now; two guards stood outside the door, alert and well armed. I’d been prepared for this and slipped on the respirator before rolling the small canister along the carpet, ducking behind a pillar as the silver coloured object came to a rest before the guards’ hooves. One of them glanced down, just in time to catch a whiff of the gas and collapse to the ground in a heap. The second noticed me and took a step forward, opening his mouth to shout something, a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head and he too collapsed next to his comrade, motionless.

Quickly, I dragged the bodies into the nearby cleaners room and shut the door. They wouldn’t wake up for at least an hour and that was much more than I needed. The door itself was enormous, gold inlaid with gorgeous filigree work and even some gemstones tastefully depicting some scene form Equestria’s past. Despite its size however, the monstrous door was perfectly balanced and opened effortlessly to reveal the room beyond. Moonlight shone in through the arched stained glass windows adding a pale light to the dying glow of the fire in the hearth. The smell of books pervaded the room, tickling my nostrils, reminding me of…something, somepony…

My head suddenly throbbed, the agonising sensation of burning lancing through my brain. Damn it, I had to concentrate, I must be quick, decisive and do my job correctly. The mistress was depending on me this night.

I heard a soft sigh from the next room. The carpet was soft and gave beneath my hooves, allowing me to silently enter the bedroom itself like an avenging ghost. Before me on the bed, not even under the covers, was the princess of the sun…the ruler of Equestria, Celestia herself.

I readied my spear, one quick thrust would be all it required and the mistress would happy. I had to see her smile again, hear her say how pleased she was with me. But…why did I hesitate? Part of me held back, silently stopping my movements. Pain threatened to overwhelm me again and I took a deep breath, muscles tensing, aiming right at that pristine, elegant white throat. Celestia’s mane rippled in some unseen, unfelt breeze. Rainbow colours, muted in the moonlight through the window added to the serenity of this majestic creature. She really did look so much like the mistress, it would be like killing…

No! This wasn’t the mistress! This was Celestia, a bad pony, the one who had hurt my mistress, the bitch who had killed my family, who had…

The headache smashed through my skull, sending me to my knees and making my stomach retch. Sweat broke out on my face while I squirmed, trying to clear my mind of thought, of memory…I just needed to think of my mission, to do what had to be done. Slowly, shakily, I stood up and shook the tears from my eyes before lifting the spear to her throat.

“So, you’ve shown your true nature at last…wendigo”

The soft yet powerful voice rose from the figure on the bed.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You came to murder me didn’t you? Come to avenge yourself for a war over a thousand years ago?”

“I…” my mind exploded in pain and I dropped the spear, the thing clattering to the ground and rolling under the bed. My stomach emptied itself, pain roaring through me in a tidal wave of agony that made me cry out.

Celestia rose from the bed, her horn glowing with the light of the midday sun, “I should have had you executed when I had you before me last time, wendigo, your kind never change”.

Gasping for breath and clawing at my head to get the damned helmet off, I was utterly helpless. The alabaster alicorn stood over me, her magic lifting me up and pinning me against the wall allowing her to examine me closely.

“This…this is not your doing, you look different, but I can sense your kind…the smell of blood and frost, it…”

She sniffed me and peered into my eyes, then at my horn, “Something else is at play here. All is not as it would seem…interesting.”

Celestia stared into my eyes with those huge purple orbs that reminded me so much of, “Mistress”

“Mistress? No…not I.” She held me there above the ground and turned to the door, “GUARDS!”

There was no response. Celestia eyed me coldly, “What have you done with my ponies?”

I croaked out a reply, “Sleeping”

“Lucky for them, and for you”, she said coldly before lifting a large blue crystal sphere from her bedside table, “Luna…one of your ‘things’ is here.”

A voice emanated from the orb, “Tia? What ‘thing’, who or what are you talking about?”

Celestia glowered at me, “I think you know. I await you, sister…’Mistress’.”