I’m sent forward by a pair of hooves hitting my back. Lucretia whirls around, and instead of drawing her weapon, she pre-emptively jumps back against the wall. She narrowly avoids getting kicked, but gets blasted in the chest by a green beam from the creature's horn. She collides against a table. I get to my feet and almost get a punch in before the creature stops me in my tracks; it’s Luna.

I stare for a second confused. My gut tells me to swing, but my brain can’t help but think of every memory I have of her. The impostor narrows her glowing green eyes, smirks, and in one brief moment, sends me flying against the bed with a kick from her forelegs. I feel a few things pop in my back as I land.
“You idiot!” I think to myself “It’s not her!”

Lucretia runs over to Luna and puts her in a choke hold. She pulls Luna down to the ground, and on her back. I was sure the weight was horrible to bear, but Lucretia holds on tight. Luna gags and her tongue flops around on the side of her mouth.

Her horn glows bright green. I have to shield my face and Lucretia is forced to let go. Lucretia holds her hands over her eyes, screaming in agony. A light amount of steam rises between her fingers and around her hands. Luna pants on the ground, trying to get her breath back. I pull out my sword, stand up and run over to Luna. She looks up at me.
“Raiden, wait!” She holds up a scared hoof. I pause. I’m greeted with a blast from her horn. She roars with laughter. Her voice is a cruel cackle.

Lucretia gets up, smoke is pouring from the slits in her helmet, and she’s clearly pissed. She knees Luna in the ribs, wraps her arm around the back of Luna’s neck, and manages to hurl her against the door with a vicious swing like a lumberjack cutting down a tree.

It cracks as Luna lands against it. Luna quickly recovers. Lucretia grabs a silver platter from off the table, and hurls it at Luna, just in time to intercept another beam. Before Luna can get off another shot, Lucretia shoulder rams her, sending her flying out into the hall. Luna hits the wall and lies on the ground. Lucretia falls to her knees, and covers her eyes again with her hands miserably.

Luna gets up on wobbly legs, and starts rapidly making her way down the corridor. I run over to Lucretia and kneel next to her. Through her random cries of agony, she hollers at me.
"Just get Zaran!" I rush out the door and head down after the fake Luna. She’s talking to Cadence and Celestia in the throne room. As I enter, Zaran cries out in Luna’s voice.

“Raiden is being possessed!”

Cadence doesn’t take her eyes off Zaran. Her horn glows pink. Zaran is surrounded by the same color aura, but his wounds don’t heal. He panics for a second, but is interrupted by a beam from Celestia, making him slam into the wall about thirty feet back. Zaran struggles to get up. Celestia charges up her horn again. In a horrible green flash that stings my eyes, we’re all blinded. My sight returns after a few seconds, and a strange black pony is lying on the floor unconscious. It has solid teal eyes, and strange holes randomly through its legs and bug-like wings. Tiny fangs hang over its bottom lip.

The window behind it is broken. Celestia calls out to the guards.
“Follow Zaran immediately! He cannot be allowed to escape!” Lucretia stumbles through the hallway, into the room, and leans against a wall.
“No! Cadence, heal your guards! He’s bound to be in one of them!” There’s six guards, and they all begin looking each other over suspiciously. Cadence does a mass heal, and from what we could observe, they all responded normally. Typically when Zaran's magic was involved, the pink aura swirls around the target, instead of going inside and healing.

Lucretia sighs in relief.
“Sorry, had to be sure! Also we need Zaran to escape.” she pants a bit. I stare at her confused.
“What do you mean we need Zaran to escape?!” She catches her breath.
“The hole in our plan, is if Zaran can’t control the Og Nag, we’ll learn almost nothing about his powers. Now that he’s gone, he’ll most certainly go take command of them. We need to know his limits. I don’t like letting him go either but - Cadence will you please heal my eyes already?!” Lucretia almost shrieks.
Cadence looks shocked.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” A pink glow comes over Lucretia, as her eyes shine pink.

She sighs happily, and throws her arms around Cadence.
“Oh thank you so so much! Is there any way I can repay you!?” I can see Cadence’s annoyed face over Lucretia’s shoulder.
“I really hate this…” she mutters. Cadence stares at me, then rolls her eyes.
“Do you need a lift as well Raiden? I guess I need to regardless, just to check.” My body glows pink, and I can feel my bruised ribs recovering. I keep my head lowered.
“Thank you Princess Cadence. I’m going to go ch-check on the real Luna.” I walk out of the room, knowing I’ll just become a babbling idiot if I look that gorgeous pink pony in the eyes.

Lucretia picks up the black creature and carries it off to the dungeon. I walk down the hallway, and those old familiar thoughts start creeping into my skull. I wasn’t dumb, but having to fight Zaran on two fronts was beginning to wear on me. Lucretia was my saving grace, with Emeris handling things outside. So what happens if Zaran gets a hold of Lucretia? The thought sends shivers down my spine. There was no way I’d be able to match Lucretia’s wit, especially with something like Zaran’s powers inside her. If we were going to survive, I’ll need to find more methods of detecting him.

I stop outside of Luna’s room and peer in. She lays there, still completely motionless, except for her sides gently rising with every breath. I drum my fingers on the wall. Did Zaran possess her first, hide her, then bring in the shapeshifter? Or was he never inside Luna and snuck in? Also if he wasn’t in Luna, then where was she all this time? Surely someone would have had to stumble across the wounded Luna...unless the shapeshifter simply took another form for a while. I sigh heavily, stressed at the game I was being beaten at.

I walk over, and sit next to Luna on the bed. I lean over, admiring that wonderful face. I stroke her shoulder, but she doesn’t move.
I sigh and plant my hands on my knees.
”Luna...I’m so sorry. I never should have sent you by yourself. I promise you, your sacrifice will not be in vain. We have learned much about Zaran. If you had not gone through what you did, he could have infiltrated us easier, and we would all be at his cruel mercy.” I rub her shoulder a few more times, feeling destroyed at the fate she had suffered under my command.

I hear a pair of hooves walk in. I glance over my shoulder and see Cadence.
I turn back to Luna.
“Hello princess.”
She walks over to my side.
“Has she spoken yet?”
“No, she's still out.” I murmur. My eyes gaze over the horrible slashes along her spine. I cradle my head in my hands in guilt.
“You really do care about her don’t you?” Cadence says sympathetically.
“What makes you say that?” I reply with a hint of sarcasm.
“Because you haven't looked at me once and you’re still under my spell’s after-effects.”
I can’t help but change the subject.
“Can you still not heal her?”
Luna’s body glows pink. Her marks begin to close. Cadence gasps.
“I…how...I’ve tried many times before! She isn't completely healed...it may take time for her to recover fully, but she'll be alright."
I rub the chin of my helmet.
“Cadence, what was that creature on the floor?”
“The black thing? That was a changeling. Their species can shapeshift, why?”
I ball my hands into fists, still hunched over on the bed.
“Because that’s a huge resource to Zaran. I’m thinking that Zaran is a type of magic that is resistant to your healing power of love. You couldn’t heal Luna before because it was a changeling impersonating Luna. So chances are, the changeling wasn’t hurt, but kept imitating the wounds. From what I know of Zaran, he would have made the changeling pretend to heal. Which means...that changeling was working for Zaran without being possessed.”
Cadence grits her teeth.
“We have had issues with them before, but are they unaware of what Zaran is?!”
I stand up.
“Do these changelings have a ruler?”
Cadence nods.
“Queen Chrysalis.”
I punch my right hand into my left, catching it.
“Then Zaran and Chrysalis have an arrangement. Seeing as how this entire Zaran thing has happened in Canterlot, I doubt she knows who she’s dealing with. I’ll need to speak with her soon…”
Luna groans and rolls over to face us. She begins to climb out of bed, but wobbles a bit. I stick out my arms and catch her right as she is about to fall over. She tries to speak but she’s clearly exhausted. I guide her back into the middle of the bed.
She pants, but manages to speak.
“Raiden...it’s...it’s a trap...all of it…”
I nod sadly.
“I know Luna, we’ve learned about Zaran and his power. You’re safe for now.”
She shakes her head, fear shines in her eyes.
“Zaran...his power...I’ve...I’ve felt it...before...Nightmare Moon.”
I look over at Cadence.
“Can we speak with this Nightmare Moon? Would they know about any of this?!”
Cadence stares at me.
“Um...I’m afraid not. We defeated Nightmare Moon a long time ago.”
Luna swallows and closes her eyes.
“No...Zaran’s power...he...he draws power…”
Luna goes back to panting. I hold both forelegs in my hands.
“It’s fine Luna, just rest alright?”
She vigorously shakes her head.
“He draws power...on misery...the entire war...it’s a trap…”
I look back at Cadence. We both have looks of horror on our faces. That was another piece of the puzzle. That’s why Zaran is attacking. He doesn’t care about Canterlot, he just wants suffering. The changeling we fought wasn't even Zaran. If we had that much trouble, how bad is fighting the real Zaran? And how do we defeat something that gets stronger the more we fight it?

Luna starts snoring quietly and I get to my feet.
"If you'll excuse me Cadence, I need to talk to Celestia." Cadence nods then sits on the bed, stroking Luna's back with her hoof. The hallway has several guards running up and down it now, most likely securing the rest of the castle. Celestia talks with one of the guards, but stops when I approach.
"So I need a little clarification. That was a changeling, not Zaran correct?" Celestia thinks for a second and looks up at the ceiling.
"Well it was certainly a changeling's body. I must confess I'm not an expert in possession magic. That is considered dark magic and not something anypony publicly practices." I let out a loud growl of frustration.
"So a few things then. First, is there someone who is knowledgable on possession or even dark magic? Secondly, Luna said the power Zaran wields is like what she experienced with Nightmare Moon. It feeds off negative energy. Is there no way at all we can speak with this Nightmare Moon? Lastly, and I hate to say this, we are horrifically out-gunned. We need a way to level the playing field. Since I know nothing of magic, we need to assign one of your people to it. Do you have any suggestions?" Celestia purses her lips uncomfortably and looks away with just her eyes.
"That's the problem, most of this could be answered by our...ally discord. We still have no contact with him. He knows plenty about chaos and dark magic. I had him investigate a strange magical spike I picked up and he never returned. I sent a few guards, but they never came back. I was about to go myself, but then the war broke out. Also Nightmare Moon was vanquished, with no hope of return. I'll look through our books and see if there is some kind of shield we can erect, but even if we find something, the amount of power Zaran has seems to dwarf anything we might be able to make, but I'll look into it." I nod and thank her, being careful not to show how infuriating her response was. Lucretia walks around the corner and joins me as we stare out the shattered mural. I reiterate Celestia's responses, finished by a loud sigh.
"Zaran definitely had a hand in Discord's absence. It was most likely a calculated move. He either knew of Discord, or intentionally let out a large amount of magic, just to test his enemies detection abilities." Lucretia folds her arms and nods.
"It could have been when he made all the Og Nag leave. He probably knew the Equestrians would immediately detain them and he wouldn't have an army. Raiden...what the hell are we going to do?" All I can do is shake my head and stare quietly across the land that looked more like Nova every day.