Early morning found Celestia once more dining with her sister. Once more she watched as servants prioritized the sun princess over her sister, and once more she watched as her sister entered alone and sat down without a word. Once more, her failing was thrown in the face of the white alicorn.

"Tia, something must be done about this. We tried having the creature brought before our court, and the sergeant said it would require both of our approvals. We know this is not so," Luna said, buttering some pancakes.

Under normal circumstances, Celestia would have not paid attention to the comment, or waved it off as inconsequential. But now? Now it was a buck in the jaw, a painful reminder that all was not well in her world. Even more painful though was the fact that Luna seemed to not expect an answer, or at least not one that would solve the problem.

'Thus I would have damned my sister to madness and a millennium of isolation on the moon. Would she have been aware of the passage of time, cursed to watch each day and long for what she could not have?'

Not even a decade after she'd been told by Starswirl the Bearded, had sworn on the Stallion's deathbed that the two of them would remain loyal to each other until the end of their lives. Not even half of that, and she'd already abandoned her sister to play princess to their subjects. Already she'd put her mortal subjects ahead of the one companion Starswirl had said would stand beside her through the centuries.

"Leave us," Celestia said to the serving ponies. A few looked confused, but they left without question. The fact that when they all left through the nearest door, only one exited through the door closest to her sister was yet another strike against her already damaged conscience.

"I, I'm sorry Luna. I had no idea it was this bad."

"Tia?"

"The creature, he spoke of a possible future, one that...one in which I lost you for a long time. I will not assume everything he says is truth, but I took it into consideration. Lo, I see our servants doing just as he said, tending to me and leaving you to yourself. I am ashamed it took me this long, and a creature like that to point out your pain. Will you forgive me, Luna?"

Luna stared at her older sister for a breath, before shaking her head in sorrow.

"I need more, sister. I have been asking for your aid for nearly a year now, and just now you notice? Not only that but was it my pain that you fear, or your own discomfort? Was it your fear of loneliness that drives you to speak with me now?"

Celestia flinched at the venom in the words and the Lunar alicorn raised her voice in frustration.

"Our subjects have always spoken highly of you, Tia. Of your ability to empathize so easily with any of them, regardless of their background or status. Why was it you could do so much for our subjects, while I was left alone?"

"I will speak to the creature before retiring. I hope you deliberate long and hard on this question, sister. I can not accept a simple apology for this grievous insult to my station and honor you have allowed to fester."

Celestia watched her sister leave through the door beside her, not wanting to use the door closer to the solar alicorn's chair even if it was a faster route to the dungeon. The white mare sighed, pushing back her plate and rising from her seat. She had a statue to pace around.

It was so obvious now that she watched. So many beaming smiles directed at her, so many ponies stopping to offer help, asking her what had happened to upset her. Yet having looked at the records for the Lunar court, there were just so few petitioners. What did she do wrong? How could she fix this? Would the creature help, or was it just playing her?

Celestia shook her head. No, it was not playing her, at least not in this case. There had been a problem, one she had not seen and the creature had brought it to her attention. Luna's reaction, the actions of the serving ponies, even the records of the solar and lunar courts testified that there was a problem. One that she had been horribly blind to.

Walking before the statue of Discord, Celestia sat down. The draconequus was once more in his strange pose, a top hat and monocle as he tried to put on the air of-

As the mare's eyes widened in shock, a voice to her left caused her to whip around so fast she blurred.

"I think you need more statues, Tia. Would really help break up the garden, add some things of interest," Discord said nonchalantly, sitting on a nearby bench with his nose in another book. Pulling off her glowing horn and using it to pick at his teeth, he then tapped it against her forehead.

"You also need to watch where you point that thing, you'll put somebody's eye out."

"How? You were...it couldn't have been the shape shifter, he has not left the dungeons since we found him!"

"Oh but it was, you see by talking to you and bringing up Lulu's issue, you now know something's wrong. Even if things proceed apace, the timeline's been changed," Discord explained, not looking up at her. "When you decided to listen to his story, the entire world shuddered at the change; the tapestry of fate was torn asunder!

"I thought you were going to ignore him, you know. Keep things going the way they were supposed to be. You always struck me as a stickler for fate and destiny in that story. Luna would be willing to put that on the line for you, but in reverse? Maybe Luna's madness is what made you that way..."

"I, I don't understand..." Celestia muttered. Discord had been free all night? Why had she received no reports? Surely he would have gone right back to his old habits.

"That's the thing about chaos, Tia. The thing I was missing. Chaos is change. I wasn't changing, I was doing the same silly thing over and over again! Yes I was causing mayhem but when everything is in chaos, when chaos is the norm, what is order? Order becomes chaos, and chaos, order. I was falling into the very thing I'm supposed to oppose!"

Giggling mischievously, he looked up at her from his book.

"Or is it the lack of floating buildings, screaming ponies, and candied clouds that bothers you? Perhaps I've gone the subtle route for once? Those clouds are going against the wind, the leaves on a few trees fell up, I even threw a few purple dandelions into a field of the flowers to see if anyone noticed. You know what? They did! They didn't panic, either, they were intrigued. Changes or differences aren't to be feared, they're to be celebrated. 'Change is the spice of life,' you know. Quote from several of the dimensions I've been to, four of them were human-worlds. The fact that the same species keeps a few of the same quotes like that is telling, don't you think? Change keeps things from getting dull, but too much change and we become jaded about it. In those cases, it's the order that catches our eyes. On a piece of paper with hundreds of lines, our eyes are drawn to the blank spot in the corner."

The mismatched creature put the alicorn's horn back on upside down, stretching out with the pops of several firecrackers.

"Well, I'm off. Things to see, places to do, all that jazz. Keep the statue, Celery, and I suggest getting a few more. Maybe statues that aren't creatures that have been petrified if you're up for something different. Oh! And do remind Max that he has about 48 hours left. Might want to get to work soon. Once that's over, his loan is due. Anything he hasn't used will be given back to me, so he better have his own source by then."

With that the draconequus snapped his talon, opening a green rift in reality. He stepped through while still reading, leaving a dumbfounded alicorn in his wake.

Celestia stared in abject confusion as the rift slowly faded, taking any last traces of the lord of chaos with it. The moment Discord was gone, she rubbed at her temple with a hoof.

"I find myself in need of a drink...the words he spoke made sense."

Max paced the cell, finally figuring out the basics of movement and which muscles had been shifted where. His tongue was finally cooperating as well, allowing him to speak clearly for the first time since this fiasco started. He felt much better about the situation, but he doubted he could manage a run, much less flight at the moment.

'At the very least, Celestia listened to what I had to say. She may be on the lookout now for the signs of depression, though if she knows how to respond to them properly is anyone's guess,' he thought to himself.

'I'm going to beat that ass-hat into a fine gravel next chance I get. What did he say I had? 72 hours of energy? When did it start, and is it affected by how active I am? Or is it considered loaned energy, and the second that time's up it all disappears? In that case, I need to find out how this works, as well as find a target or two. What was it he said, the best source would be obvious? Obvious would be...Luna? She might be in a bad place right now, depending on how far along this is, but how do you go about seducing a centuries old-wait, Discord happened recently, so maybe they just ascended? In that case, how old are they?'

'Luna might be facing a lot of loneliness and depression at the moment, meaning that she may be willing to jump at any chance to have a friend that won't try to use her for their own political gain. Technically I need her to survive, so I can't say I won't use her, but it's not with the intention of leaving her bleeding in a ditch somewhere.'

'Celestia would be another option I suppose, but she's pretty solid except for her connection with Luna. Start bringing that up and she gets kind of shaky. Could use that to force her into working with me, but I don't know if platonic affection is enough to keep me going. Celestia's just waiting for me to turn around and attack somebody at this point. Even if I can get her to accept helping me as a sacrifice instead of me needing to use Luna, I'd be dealing with someone who would rather stab me in the face than look at me.

'The only other creatures I've seen since arriving are the guards, and I technically didn't see them. As for their use, no way no how. I'm not feeding off a guy. Just thinking about that is...no. I'm not nearly close enough to dying to try that.'

Max stopped, looking at himself once more. He'd done a cursory exploration of his form earlier, finding it to be a weird variation of the changelings from the wedding assault he'd read jokes about. Transformative abilities were likely part of the package, but would he need training in that, or was it instinctive? Was the suppressor stopping him from feeding? There were just so many questions, and time was ticking.

'No fingers, no magic, no flight, no food, at least I'm still...wait, I'm still a guy, right?'

Panic was just around the corner for him as he looked at his lower barrel, seeing nothing between his legs.

'No, I feel like a guy, I sound like a guy. Some animals have...maybe it's hidden? Open sesame? Think sexy thoughts?'

He decided on the latter and after short while managed to coax 'little Max' out of his shell, to his immediate relief. The rod expanded to about the length he'd guess a creature of his size would be equipped with, but it was sectioned with several strange rings down the length.

'Okay, we're in business. Looks really weird, but it's still a penis. Definitely still male.'

A cough from the front of the cell made him look up. He covered himself a second later, seeing Luna staring at him from outside the cell. It wasn't embarrassment he felt though.

"You're fucking kidding me. I've been in this cell for what had to have been ten hours or so and the second I decide to check my equipment to make sure I'm still a guy you show up? I'm not apologizing for this."

Max glared at the blue alicorn for a moment before noticing a light tint to her cheeks.

'She's blushing?'

"How long were you standing there."

"Since thy exercises with thine wings," she answered, shifting uncomfortably.

"And you saw no reason to say anything?" he responded in irritation. "I mean, I know you're royalty and likely used to preferential treatment, but I'm a bit distracted at the moment. I'd rather get as many surprises this body has for me out of the way as possible while I'm stuck in a cell. Right when I have to pee is a bad time to find out how the plumbing works."

'Fuck it, while I've got her off-balance...'

Max stood up and approached the bars, sitting down in front of her in such a way as to be pointing right at the alicorn. It made him uncomfortable, but judging from the mare's squirming, it was mutual. Luckily for Max, he was used to being in awkward social situations. Luna seemed to have no such luck.

"So what brings you to my cheery room today, your highness?" he asked her, acting as if he wasn't saluting her in full view.

"I- I mean, we we're coming to question you regarding the words you shared with our sister. She said you knew of our, plight. That we felt alone, that we were jealous that our subjects showered our sister with affection while we were but an afterthought. Yet you also spoke of being from another, another world. How is it possible for both to be true?" she asked, her eyes darting downward at the distraction.

Max suppressed a chuckle. He'd flexed his stomach muscles, causing himself to bob slightly to try and distract her and it seemed to have worked. Even more entertaining, both of them were maintaining straight faces. He'd hate to play poker with her.

"Where I'm from there's a story. A fictitious story about a mare who tried to blanket the world in eternal night. I don't know about how this world works but where I'm from, that would lead to the death of all life on the planet. Without the sun, the planet would slowly freeze over. Normally I would toss the fact that Celestia and yourself are named similarly to those characters to chance as things like controlling the sun and moon manually is impossible. What makes it more likely to be truthful is the fact that pegasi and unicorns are creatures of myth back home, and I'm staring at a species that should not exist; I am a species that should not exist.. There's been no proven use of magic, so seeing creatures that are supposed to be fictitious has given me a bit of healthy skepticism about what else could be true.

"Could the two of you have worked it out? It's possible. It was a single ending among many and as Discord and I talked about, for each world there's another where a single decision was made differently. Maybe the two of you would have been fine? Maybe it would have been your sister who went mad? There's just no telling."

The human-turned changeling cocked his head in thought.

"Do you know how long it's been since I was found? I'd like to know how much longer I have."

"It was just over a day ago, why?" the mare asked, curiosity in her voice. "What do you mean how much longer you have. Are you ill?"

"It was part of this, thing Discord wanted to do. I have 72 hours worth of energy. If I don't find out how to increase my energy, to feed, I'll starve. I don't know how it works; there were many theories on how it worked but nothing was actually shown or explained. The enemy in one of the stories about the ponies said changelings feed on love. How? How do I feed on something that I can't see or feel? I suppose it would be like eating magic, but even there I'm out of luck. I've never touched magic before. Is it just love, or could other emotions sustain a changeling?"

"Why would you reveal this to us?" the alicorn asked suspiciously. "You have been...strangely forthcoming in all of our questioning. Why?"

"Because it's not Discord I need to swing to my side. I'm alone here, princess. My home, my family, everything I know is out of my reach. I have no backup coming, I have no friends to turn to right now. I need someone who trusts me, someone I can trust in return. I need allies, friends, people willing to help me."

"What about Discord? Did he not name you as a friend?"

"I think friend and pawn mean the same thing to Discord. His game has already played out successfully. He managed to cause chaos without forcing it; in fact he caused chaos while absolutely immobile. Now my part's been played. I doubt he'll do anything to help me. I'm not putting my life on the hope he actually does care about what happens to me. The chances of me dying that way are too high, so I'm going to try other routes. I'd be happy to discuss anything of interest to you, or even swear to refrain from harming those under your rule. I really don't want to die of starvation in a jail cell. I'm low on options, Luna. What do you want from me?"

The mare shifted a bit, thinking on the offer. Would she help, or was his play to her desire for companionship and their similar situations not strong enough? He clenched his teeth inside his muzzle, trying to keep his face calm. No, it had to work. He didn't want to die here, he needed her to work with him, needed Luna's help in the coming days.

"Why did you tell our sister about this, and not us?" Luna finally asked, looking almost...hurt?

"How do you tell someone that they're going to lose their minds to loneliness and depression? Besides, I wasn't going to mention anything with those guards there. If there really is an issue, the last thing you want is those who don't understand the situation getting ahold of information they don't understand. Once it starts circulating, everyone will know. I don't want to put you through that."

Not exactly true, he just wasn't certain who he was speaking with until Celestia had threatened his life. Still, it would likely pass inspection and-

He felt himself being pushed back into the cell as the door was thrown open. Luna stepped inside, staring intently at him from inches away as if daring him to try something. So he did.

He licked her nose.

Even as the mare's eyes crossed, trying to look at her own face and comprehend what he'd done his own eyes went blank. Sensations exploded across his mind. Curiosity, loneliness, jealousy, anger, excitement, happiness, they all forced their way into his mind in a blast that left him staring blankly ahead.

A few pokes caused him to blink, finally shaking off the intense sensation and noticing the mare looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Are you well? You uh, kissed us and you blanked out. Why did you do that?"

"I...I think I just tasted emotions," he explained weakly. He shook his head and blinked furiously, trying to clear his vision of the myriad of colors.

"That was honestly something to ease the tension. I, I usually do something off the wall if I feel awkward. It distracts people, gives a topic of conversation even if it's just talking about how strange I acted. I hate uncomfortable silences. With a burning passion"

Luna's expression turned to one of curiosity.

"And what do we taste of?"

"A bit of curiosity, though I can see that in your eyes. A bit of excitement, my guess would be with the possibilities a strange creature brings, or maybe the technology or advancements I may be able to direct you to? I don't know a lot of specifics, and I'm going to warn you against advancing too quickly, but I would be willing to help you in that manner if you wished it. Finally...how long have you felt alone?"

The mare's ears splayed in irritation, and her wings ruffled.

"You can taste that?"

"It's disgusting, frankly," he told her with a snort. "Something I'd likely avoid if I didn't know what it was."

A bit of sorrow filled her eyes at the answer before she frowned. He'd worded that correctly, it seemed.

"And since you are aware of what it is?"

"I'd like to cure it, to lessen the feeling," he said with a soft smile. "Loneliness isn't something you can fight alone, right? It's caused by being alone. If I can help, even if it's just by lending an ear while you vent about the idiots you deal with every day, would you allow me to?"

Luna stared at Max for a moment, judging his words carefully. Finally she sighed, using her magic to stand him straight before her.

"First you will swear to never bring harm upon our subjects. We shall allow self-defense, as some of our ponies are foolish enough to ignore our warnings and decrees. We will also endeavor to find a solution to your...diet."

"I think I can agree to that," he said with a nod. "I'm Max, by the way. Max Logrun. A pleasure to meet you."

"Luna. I mean Princess Luna, Sovereign of the Night," the alicorn offered with a smile.

Luna removed the magic suppressor from his horn and the world lit up around him with a buzzing energy he'd never felt before. He gasped, looking about and feeling the energy radiating from every object in the room. Finally able to focus through the haze, he turned to the mare.

Blinding was the first thought that came to him. Where before he could only taste emotion when he'd licked her muzzle as a joke, now she radiated strange colors that he assumed were attributable to her emotions, the brightest of which was excitement despite her cool demeanor.

"With this Oath, you will be magically bound to us. Will you accept this binding?" the blue alicorn asked, her voice resonating with authority.

Max just smiled. This was what he needed, a link to another, a connection that placed him under the authority, and therefore protection, of a local group. In this case, he would be under the alicorn's rule, beholden to her requests and orders. Perhaps he could sweeten the deal for both of them just a bit more though?

"Only if you promise me that you'll take my words into consideration when I offer them, and that you assume that if I act in a strange manner, it is with your best interest in mind. If I find myself able to feed easily on our relationship, the bond two individuals share, I will be even more inclined to help you.

"No amount of gold or power would turn me from your side, Luna. Your happiness will be my lifeblood," he finished, bowing theatrically and placing a hoof over his barrel.

The mare's happiness and excitement sparked further, and she lit her horn to power the binding. Max stepped forward, a happy smile on his face. There was no reason to hide it at this point anyway. He moved his horn closer to hers at the mare's request, moving to touch his own horn to the spell when everything went pear-shaped.

"Luna! What are you doing?" Celestia shouted, blasting Max to the back of the cell and pulling her sister through the still-open door.

"We were binding him to an oath to serve us. An oath which you interrupted!" the blue alicorn accused.

Celestia shook her head.

"You do not even know if he can be bound by such oaths, Luna. He is not of our world, there's no guarantee it would work!"

"I'm not going to just leave him in this cell till he passes on from starvation, Tia." the smaller mare argued. "He explained to us that his time is short, that he needs help learning about his form. He has promised to follow our orders, to answer any and all questions we may direct at him. Betrayal would lead to his death and he is aware of this."

"Luna..." Max said softly, finally pulling himself off the floor and shaking his head. In response the smaller mare looked at him strangely for a moment, a blend of anger and sorrow flooding back into her. Worst of all, the loneliness was back, and her anger was now focused solely on her sister. Without another word, the blue alicorn left the dungeon.

"I'm watching you, creature. I know you see Luna as being weak right now, but I won't let you hurt her. Do you understand? If you did anything to upset her-"

"Oh for the love of Pete; you just stabbed yourself in the foot, you dumbass!" Max shouted back, throwing the Celestia off her rhythm.

"We're not playing the same game right now, Celestia. This isn't a 'you win, I lose' situation. We both want her to recover, and right now you just pissed her off. She was about to do something she felt was important and you stopped her. How do you think she's going to feel about that?"

Celestia sputtered in rage for a few seconds, not catching the actual words but preparing to strike her prisoner for speaking back in anger. Then the words reached her. She stopped, wings slouching and ears drooping as she tried to think of reasons the creature, Max as Discord had called him, was wrong. None came to her.

"I want her happy, Celestia. She's similar to me in a lot of ways, making it easier for me to make this connection to her. In all honesty, she doesn't even need to actually use the binding oath, I'll follow it anyway. Her trust is too important to me.

"I get it, you're scared for her, you're scared that you could have lost her and now you're overcompensating. The problem is that now you're smothering her, and you're preventing her from filling a gap she asked you to fill already. You didn't when she asked you to, and now that she's trying to do it herself you've stopped her. Your cutting her off at every attempt, Princess. I'll talk to her again and when I do I'll try to keep her calm, but I need you to try to help me help her. Her happiness is a victory for both of us."

"I'm beginning to think we should have had you destroyed. It would have saved me the trouble of-" the mare began, only to be cut off again.

"So you could keep on being oblivious to her distress? Or do you mean after you learned, so that you could use me before you disposed of me? It's too late now, princess. You destroy me and Luna will see it as you attacking the first being in too long to offer her companionship. Eternity is a long time to be alone, you know. I don't know how long I'll live, seeing as I know next to nothing about this species, but I don't abandon those who help me.

"Your sister may have not managed to actually bind me, but I'm smart enough to know how to reinforce what trust I've gained. I know to hold to that oath even if it isn't magically reinforced. We don't have magic back home, as I've told you before. Our words are all we have. Now I'm likely going to see her again, so I'd appreciate it if you-"

"You will never again be in the same room as my sister. I will not allow it," the white alicorn said threateningly, stomping a hoof and cracking the stone floor.

"What are you going to do, send her to her room for the rest of the week?" Max said with a chuckle. "She's supposed to be a diarch, your equal, so why does she have to listen to you? I've yet to see the outside of this cell, Princess. How would I have any effect on whether I see her again or not?"

Walking up to the bars, he closed the cell himself. Celestia didn't seem to notice it wasn't locked at this point, but that wasn't the point. He was probably safer in the cell than out there with the white alicorn anyway.

"Personally, I'd send her a note apologizing and promising to stay out of her way. She's not going to talk to you right now...well, I wouldn't. Would you want to talk to her if the situations were reversed?"

Celestia growled, a low rumbling sound as she stared daggers at the stallion. Her wings were raised slightly as well, but that wasn't what concerned him. What he was focused on was the mare's absolute devotion radiating from her, directed at the mare who only felt anger in return.

"I can literally feel your love for her right now, Princess. Once that ring was pulled off, I could sense it, I've even tasted a few emotions from your sister when she was close enough. Loneliness was one of the deepest she was feeling. I'm willing to help both of you, whether you believe me or not. But to do that, I need you to stop seeing me as the issue. I'm not the problem here, it's Luna's solitude. That's what's going to destroy her. Now that you know about it, there's a good chance you'll take it worse as well. Do you think you would be able to wait one thousand years for her to come back to you, when you knew it was you that destroyed the last chance she had to avoid that fate?"

As the white mare slumped slightly, blowing out a breath and attempting to mentally evaluate the situation, Max's stomach gurgled. Celestia scowled at him, remembering Discord's words from earlier.

"Discord is free again because of the changes you have wrought. He also said you had about forty eight hours left, then he's taking any remaining loaned energy back. If I find you harmed my sister to ensure your own survival, I will see you destroyed."

With that she left him, slamming the outer door behind her. Her anger had left a bad taste in his mouth, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't feel as hungry. Had he eaten some of that anger? If so, how? The alicorn certainly hadn't seemed any less angry.

Max shook his head in frustration. He'd need to wait for Luna to sleep through the day as she seemed to be doing, so he'd likely take a nap himself. He'd spent most of the previous night figuring out his new form, and the exhaustion was catching up to him.

'Nothing to do about it now...wait, doesn't Luna have power over dreams? Maybe she'll contact me there?'

With that thought, he made himself as comfortable as possible in the cell. A difficult task to be sure, considering the lack of anything to lie on but a stone floor.

'Luna's definitely the way to go right now. Celestia's way too cold to me. I really don't think she'd be too upset if I up and died right now. At least not until her sister went batty. Would Luna try to resurrect me? That would be weird, though it may be possible in this world. Where there's magic, there's likely necromancers.'

'I know I have her attention and I know she's curious about me, but how to turn that into something more?' he pondered. 'I don't know how much energy each emotion would grant, but Chrysalis was dead certain Love was the most powerful. Even if I can't get a lot, just a blooming relationship would help. I want to thrive though. It's not enough to just wiggle by. This is food we're talking here, energy that keeps me going. The more I can grab, the more I can do. The stronger Luna feels about me, the better off I'll be.'

Max shifted a bit, finding a more comfortable position to sleep in.

'It was odd though. She looked...beautiful. More so than I thought an alien could. Maybe it's the new body talking, but when she was walking away earlier, hell even when her sister was walking away, those butts. I felt like I could just...'

With that the changeling drifted off to sleep, the idea of nuzzling flanks locked solidly in his mind. An unfortunate thing to be certain, when the target of such thoughts is capable of dream-walking.