Luna sits on the throne with a face completely blank. Her eyes remained narrowed and her posture is completely flawless. She looks directly across the room, over the heads of her civilians. Dandy is still confident and happily trots back and forth, despite her bumping him to the ground a few moments before.

“Now Princess Luna, when you called for this trial to dismiss the Taraskans from our palace, did you have a singular reason for doing so?” Luna doesn’t move a muscle.

“That is not what I said.” Dandy does his best to verbally jump on her.

“Well I think you’re misremember-” Luna only moves her eyes to Dandy.

“I said that is not what I said and if you misquote me again, I’ll have you locked up, is that understood?” Dandy recoils timidly.

“I apologize Princess, I was only trying to-”

“Do you understand me?!” Luna’s face is still unmoving, with her fierce teal eyes staring Dandy down. He purses his lips and nods rapidly. Luna’s eyes go back to looking across the room.

“I said we should have everypony meet in the court room and talk about our concerns openly, to clear up any miscommunications and hard feelings. I believe we can all get along, but we must bring to light the differences between our cultures instead of ignoring them. That is what I said, and I will not tolerate any failure of reiteration.” Dandy nods slowly, showing a bit more caution with his actions now.

“Do you not agree that these Taraskans are a danger to our people? We’ve seen them lash out multiple times and all they seem to know is war!” Luna’s face doesn’t even flinch.

“Because all they’ve known is war. Literally. I cannot blame them for not understanding something they’ve never experienced, just as we cannot be expected to comprehend their tactics. They need time to adapt. How do you expect them to learn peace when they are yet again tossed into combat?” Dandy scoffs.

“So, they get to toss down the broken warrior card as an excuse?! They don’t take any responsibility for their actions and constantly put us in danger!” Dandy turns around and lock eyes momentarily with any pony who cheers at his words. Luna snorts condescendingly. Dandy narrows his eyes and slowly turns around to face the princess. Luna looks down at him, still only moving her eyes.

“If anything, we’d be in more danger if they didn’t do anything. I have fought side by side with these Taraskans, and while they may have vast emotional damage, I still believe them to be noble warriors. They have done things to ensure our safety that no being would do who sought control. They have overcome unspeakable atrocities to ensure our safety.” Luna looks over at me.

“And while they will need to answer for their actions, we must also keep in mind where they come from and what they’ve had to endure. Just as they have had to accept that we are not warriors.” The same ponies that had stood and cheered, now look at the floor with guilt. Dandy’s face scrunches ever so slightly, but he does a decent job of hiding the sneer that threatens to stretch across his face.

“And I suppose we’re just going to believe that Cartridge made these Og Nag and not them? How do we know they’re not the real manufacturers of these nightmares?!” Luna’s eyes bulge and she looks down at Dandy.

“I know of Cartridge, but, how do you?” Celestia looks confused, glancing between Dandy and her sister.

“Pardon me, but would you remind me who Cartridge is?” I stand up and move into the aisle.

“Cartridge is a nation full of advanced science. We don’t know how they did it, but one morning they had amassed an army of Og Nag and sent them to crush all the nearest nations. No threat was issued, no quarter was given, no options were offered. They swept across the land in vast numbers. Hundreds of thousands. Each branching off and hitting multiple cities simultaneously. No country had even remotely enough arrows or soldiers to hold them off for more than a week tops. Drakur and Taraska were left due to us being the farthest from Cartridge. We never mentioned them before, so how do you know of them Dandy?” Dandy rolls his eyes.

“Emeris mentioned them in his little speech.” Emeris stands up and narrows his eyes.

“No, I didn’t. I know who you are Dandy. I intentionally left them out, hoping you’d screw up and drop their name. There’s only one creature on this planet who would go this far to get us out of the picture. Isn’t that right, Zaran?” Every being in the room shifts nervously and stares at Dandy. He remains calm and rolls his eyes.

“There we go again, derailing the discussion and throwing your reckless paranoia at me. What’s wrong? Did I get too close to the truth?!” The ponies now shift away from us. Their eyes dart back and forth, unsure of who to trust. If it was Zaran, I wonder if his anger could force him to transform or erupt like I do. So, the next question was, if Zaran is just like me, what would piss him off? I cross my arms and lean my head back condescendingly.

“As if you have any right to judge us. You’ve never suffered like we have.” Dandy grits his teeth and takes a few steps towards me. He lowers his head, but keeps his face locked with him.

“You have no idea what suffering is Raiden!” I roll my eyes and scoff.

“You’re just weak and powerless and now you want a scapegoat. What’s wrong? Was spreading rumors not good enough for you? Have you even seen combat? No, you haven’t. You just sit in your little office all day, most likely passing judgement on random ponies just so part of you feels like you even have the slightest amount of control-” Dandy rears back and his eyes are surrounded with what could only be described as shadows.

“I’m not weak! I’m the most powerful being-” A red flash erupts from his body.

“In creation!” As he lands and his hooves strike the stone floor, he transforms. His mane was long and red. His coat was a dirty white, and his iris’ glow red. He’s still the same height as Dandy, but there was no mistaking the dull, lifeless color scheme of Zaran. He’s different now though. He’s bulked up since I last saw him at the dinner party. Even slightly taller, almost even with Princess Luna. There’s no red energy surrounding him this time. Celestia and Luna both leap off their thrones and their horns ignite. Zaran addresses them without even turning around.

“Make one move towards me and I’ll create a blast large enough to kill everypony in this room. Alright Raiden, you wanna have it out? Let’s have it out.” His face is sinister and just a bit too confident. The rest of his eyes are black, with just those creepy red iris’ watching me. What the hell has he done since we last fought? Was he somehow even stronger than before? Could he even cast spells now? He starts slowly walking back and forth across the front of the room. Both princesses retreat to their thrones. He doesn’t take his menacing stare off me.

“Everypony I give you one option and I suggest you take it. I am here in your land for one reason and one alone: Taraska. I came here to stop them from doing to my world what they’re doing to yours.” Emeris marches up next to me.

“Oh, come on! That’s not even a good lie!” A green blast of magic erupts from Zaran and sends Emeris tumbling across the room. He collides the double doors and two Taraskan guards run over to him.

“Enough!” Yells Zaran. I look back at Emeris, then glare at Zaran.

“You attacked first, and you know it!” Zaran leans his head back a few inches then narrows his eyes.

“I give you all a choice: either kill Raiden, or die with him. I will not tolerate delays.” I needed an opening, just one single opening. Luna sees my frantic face and steps forward.

“I don’t understand, why do we have to kill him? Why don’t you just do it yourself?” He turns his head to face her.

“I said en-” His eyes bulge open. As he turns around so we’re face to face, he swallows then glances down at the dagger I rammed into his ribcage. I twist the blade to make it hurt. He puts his right hoof on my shoulder, as if trying to wrestle me off him. I reach up, grab a handful of his mane, and reinsert the dagger two more times. He sparks green a few times and turns into a changeling with golden eyes. His voice is deep and raspy.

“Sorry Raiden, you’ll have to try again.” He coughs a few times and shakes in my grasp with a disturbing grin.

“Don’t worry though...Zaran will be here real soon...with enough Og Nag to turn this palace...into rock...” He chuckles and coughs up green blood. I firmly grasp one of his wings, turn him around, wrap my arm around his neck and give it a powerful sudden snap. I let his lifeless body drop to the ground. His blank, golden eyes stare across the room. Silence blankets the audience as everypony gawks at his corpse. Lucretia’s clicking heels brings me out of my trance. She walks to the front of the room and turns around, facing the crowd with her hands on her hips. Her face has a serious scowl on it.

“And now you know what we’re up against. I’m not asking you to like it, I’m asking you to accept it. I know it’s scary, I know you have no idea what’s going on, but you have to trust us.” Celestia blinks a few times then slowly shakes her head in shock. The room slowly clears out and I'm left unable to stop staring at this changeling. Everything he just did, the dark eyes, the glowing iris', turning into a mirror image of Zaran, it was all part of the plan. Just how far will these changelings go for him? Even as the royalty clears out and the Taraskans as well, we say nothing to each other.

I look across the war-torn lands of Equestria while leaning against a banister. Distance smoke pillars still touched the clouds in the distance, but no new ones have sprung up. Was the war really almost over? We were fools if we thought Zaran was done. His goal was to spread misery and feed off it. Even if we did destroy every last Og Nag, I’m sure he’d find some other way to ruin everything. Given his mysterious magical powers, predicting his next move would be almost impossible.

I rest my hands on the banister as I enjoy the gradual breeze that swims inside my helmet. The roof of the palace was often devoid of everything except a few patrols. It takes all my restraint not to turn around like some giddy pup at the light clicking of hooves behind me. I already know how to recognize her by the weight and pace of her hooves. Luna stands on her hindlegs to my left and leans against the balcony, joining in my sight-seeing. I glance over at her and give an uncomfortable smile.

“I’m...sorry for everything that’s happened to your land. Part of me wishes we never would have came here. I can’t help but feel responsible for-” I’m cut off as Luna gradually turns her head to face me.

“Raiden...while it’s true that your nation coming here did spark everything that happened, it wasn’t your fault. You had no idea that any of this would happen. From what I hear, Taraskans don’t give up and dump their problems on others. If you had known...about all of this...would you have still done it?”

The idea takes me completely by surprise.

“If we hadn’t come here and instead died in the hall, fighting as many Og Nag as we could...I never would have met.... we never would have known peace. We would have died; just more souls caught up in that damn war. I don’t honestly know. I want to say we would have done the noble thing but...you have no idea what your land has done for us. All the wonderful things we’ve seen, the new experiences we’ve had...the horses we’ve met…”

“Ponies!” Luna shouts with amusement before reaching up with a hoof and smacking the back of my head jokingly. We share a small laugh together.

“Hypothetically, if you knew what was going to happen back then, would you have let us come here if you were able to stop us?” Now it’s Luna’s turn to stare dumbfoundedly across the land.

“As you said Raiden, I’d like to think my answer would be to have stopped you but...I honestly don’t know. I’m...I’m sorry but I’d have to say yes, I would have stopped you. I don’t like to say it, but the sheer destruction and death that has plagued our land cancels out everything else. But...I don’t regret meeting you...all of you. I think this war has brought me the internal peace I’ve always been after. I fought for my people and even almost died doing it. That being said...my heart aches for my citizens.”

The topic is left at that. Deep down, we both want to be selfish and admit that this war had things we both needed. Perhaps it wasn’t gratitude towards the war, but merely looking at the positive. I can’t help but hear Luna tense up a bit.

“So...your people and...mine. How um...how do you feel about it?” I curl my lips inward.

“Well...at first it was extremely weird but...I mean you act just like us but all we saw were animals. As time went on...it was as if you were humans in different bodies. I stopped thinking of it as wrong and more like you’re...aliens from another world.” I drum my fingers on the stone railing.

“What um...what about you?” I feel my jaw tremble slightly, but do my best to play it off by looking around and hoping she won’t notice.

“I feel the same way. Although for us, I was more worried about my equestrians getting involved with...how do I phrase this…” she says while putting a hoof to her mouth.

“Um...blood thirsty individuals? No wait that sounds...your people were...very different. I was concerned for our safety. But as you said, over time I knew that you were what you had to be to survive and I learned that deep down, all your people are...wonderful. Some more than others…” Her eyes dart towards me for a second, before returning to the landscape. Her cheeks glow a faint red and she adjusts her hindlegs a few times.

“One of the biggest difficulties I’ve had is with...well these pronouns. I mean do we have a term for...all sentient creatures? I mean you say people but there are times where you’re referring to both Taraska and Equestria, and I’ve done likewise with equestrians. I mean we have so many different species here you’d think someone would have come up with a broad term for all living things, but no.” We share another tiny laugh together, more out of tension I assume though.

“Back to the topic at hoof though, does...CY and Stormchaser getting married bother you?”

I let out a small sigh.

“It was a tactical thing. I was worried my soldiers would get jealous then I’d have a full-scale mutiny on my hands. I didn’t mind them dating locals, but I also didn’t want them forgetting that we have a duty to protect this place.” Luna flutters her wings a bit.

“I um...always wanted to say thank you. I know that you put your entire nation at risk by helping us. I can’t imagine having to make that kind of call. I would have understood if your people tried to escape the same war that you’ve been fighting for so long. I would have also been furious, but I would have understood. I’m...sorry for the people you’ve lost. Your nation has quite the astounding warriors.” She pauses briefly to let out some nervous laughter.

“In fact, I wouldn’t blame you for...perhaps wanting one as your wife? I highly doubt you’d be interested in...anypony else.” She adds, quietly tapping her hooves on the stone. My blood turns to ice. Was that an opening? That had to be, but how do I respond? I lick my bottom lip then gently bite it. The silence in the air was killing me.

“You know, I’d want someone fierce, but also kind…” Luna turns and raises an eyebrow.

“Like you?” She says with a teasing, amused tone. I shoot her a quick smile then go back to gazing over the landscape.

“A pony wife…that would...take some getting used to. How would they...um...the whole children thing?” Luna’s expression flashes to complete bewilderment. Her cheeks grow red and she completely turns away from me.

“I...um...Starswirl was theorizing that our species actually has a common ancestor. I believe they are called centaurs. I might wonder if...there’s um...common ground there.” She taps her hooves and looks off to the side. The next few minutes are so tense, I could use it as a shield. One last question pops into my head.

“Luna I’m...I know I’m not easy to deal with. I know I get angry easily and I have a tendency to lash out. I can’t tell you how much of a burden it makes me feel like. So, I have to ask...why do you keep...tolerating me?” Luna’s mouth crumbles on itself as she stares painfully at the land before us.

“I...know what it’s like.” She narrows her eyes so much, I can barely see her looking at me.

“I...think it’s time you and I were on the same page. When you have the time...I would like to speak with you...privately.” I give the slowest nod possible as she walks away.