~Summer~

“Summer! I got a letter from the Princess!” Twilight shouted as she ran to me. I stopped, waiting for her to catch up. “It’s your sister, she’s been kidnapped!”

“Thanks for telling me, but I already knew. Queen Chrysalis is holding her for ransom. She wants what I know.” I told her. Twilight was stunned.

“Queen Chrysalis? Is that why you didn’t tell anyone when you found out?” she asked, put off by the fact that I hadn’t told anyone about something this important.

“I’m sticking to the plan. Just let me handle this. I’ve got it covered.” I said confidently, reassuring her with a smile. She hesitated, but she didn’t look all that convinced. “Look, regardless of what happens, this is still my problem. I have to get my sister back. I’m sure you’d be just as determined if it was your brother on the line.”

“I…” Twilight hesitated again. I put my hoof on her shoulder.

“Trust me Twilight. Unlike when we faced Nightmare Moon, I know exactly what I’m doing. Queen Chrysalis is the one villain I have many plans for. Everything from Mercy to a Bad Time.” I assured her. “Just tell Celly Chryssie has her, and I’m headed out to deal with it.”

“A...Alright. Where are you even going though? Do you know where her hive is?” Twilight asked.

“We’re meeting at Dodge Junction. She’s taking Catt with her.” I replied. “I shouldn’t take too long. If I’m not back by the end of the day, it might be safe to assume things got more complicated than I planned for.”

“That’s a pretty big if…” Twilight muttered.

“Just relax. I’ve got this.” I assured. “I’ll see ya when I get back.” I said, before hugging her goodbye. Then I turned and headed for the train station once again. The wait for the right train wasn’t that long, thankfully. About two hours of just sitting around in the train later, and I heard a thud on the roof of the car I was in. Curious, I used my wall crawling power to take a peek at what was on the roof, climbing out of a window to get there.

“What the buck? How the hell is she…?!” I heard one of the other ponies shouting inside, as I stuck to the wall. I also heard a few facehoofs from what I assumed to be changelings.

“Oh, don’t mind me. Just your friendly neighborhood Spider Mare.” I called back inside jokingly before climbing up. I heard a few colts burst into laughter at that as I spotted a familiar cloaked figure on top of the train.

“Oh hi there, Batman. Stalking me again? You know if ya wanted to date or rape me, all you have to do is ask.” I greeted, laying it a bit heavy on the jokes. He looked at me for a few moments before shaking his head and sighing.

“Are you always like this?” He said in a VERY un-Batman-like voice, before lowering the hood. His fur was light grey, very big difference from the almost black I saw on Batman, both his mane and eyes were bright, almost glowing neon blue, with the exception of a single streak of pure black in his mane. A horn poking out of his mane made it clear he is a unicorn, and his unamused expression made it clear he didn’t like the joke.

“Holy shit… If you aged Spec up and gender flipped her, you’d have what I see before me…” I muttered. The wind probably swept my words away, but my lips weren’t exactly hard to read. The whole image prompted him to smirk.

“Oh, yes, my little sister told me about you, and how she almost died when helping to fix your mistake.” His face suddenly hardened. I sighed.

“Yeah, then I spent about half a week killing myself with depression. She probably missed that part, considering I shut myself in to keep anyone from seeing how shitty I looked.” I shot back.

“Oh, she told me. I just wanted to gauge your reaction for myself. I also know that she did what she did of her own choice while knowing the risks, so I’m not holding it against you.” He said with a faint smile, probably because I apparently said the right thing.

“That’s good. I’d rather not face the wrath of an Alicorn.” I said, referencing Rainbow’s brief freakout back in the Ruins. But he got strangely confused by that.

“What are you talking about?” He then flipped up his cloak on one side to reveal his completely normal, wingless body. I also noticed his Cutie Mark, a blue flame, similar to the classic artistic visualisation of a soul, with what looked like either wings, or horns on the top.

“...Oh, so those bat wings you whipped out in the Nightmare fight were some kind of spell or something?” I asked, jumping to assumptions. He look at me for a few more seconds before he snorted in laughter.

“You think that was me? I came down with food poisoning the day before Summer Sun Celebration. Seriously, never eat anything my little sister cooks, it all looks just fine at first, but once you are about halfway through, everything suddenly comes alive and tries to run away. Including what you already ate.” He said while still chuckling a little.

“Questionable cooking aside, what makes you think I believe you just teleported on top of this train? It’s been moving for the past two hours, there are no mountains or high places to jump on from, so the only way you could have accurately gotten on top of this specific car is by flying. Plus, it’s not hard to identify you as that guy if you’re still wearing the exact same cloak. Seriously, I can still smell the faint scent of shadows from it.” I argued, believing I’d backed him into a corner with that. He just stared at me with his mouth hanging slightly open for a few seconds, before gesturing to the cloak.

“Are you serious? That is your argument? This is Shadow-weave, every cloak made from it looks exactly the same, that’s the point. Everypony working for the agency can take one when they want.” He said while flapping the side of the cloak up and down. I deadpanned at myself.

“Alright, admittedly I’m not good at arguing based on intuition… but you still didn’t address how you got here. Oh yeah, and I recognise your Almost Nightmare magic signature. There’s that against you too, since not every Natural Dark feels the same, in terms of Dark magic.” His left eye started twitching at my continued accusations.

“I don’t know what are you trying to prove here, but if you are that curious, then fine. I did fly here, are you curious how? Then watch!” He was clearly irritated by my continued accusations. His horn lit up with a bright neon blue aura, and his eyes started shivering, as if there was a fire burning behind them. A faint mist gathering by his side attracted my attention. It looked as if it was flowing inside of him, but after a second of observation I saw that it was compressing and mixing with threads of magic connected there. After me staring intently at that for a few seconds, he apparently showed what he wanted with that and sped up the process. Before I could so much as blink twice, there were definite shapes of two long gossamer wings growing from his either side. “Like what you see?” He added with a smirk. I deadpanned at him.

“Fine, keep your damned secrets.” I said, too frustrated to continue. “But when it comes to me, pointless secrets like that are overrated. They’ll go up in smoke sooner or later whether you want them to or not, so why bother?”

“I’ll tell you something, Summer.” He said as his wings buzzed and he floated in front of me. “I met the guy, he has lost more than you can imagine because his secrets got out, so don’t try to find anything on him. Also, how many Darks did you meet? Two, Three? You have no idea how their signatures work, me and my family have hereditary magical talents, Spec and I test on almost exactly the same signature, the only difference is the power we have. Think about that a little bit.” He said as he landed and with a flick disintegrated the wings back into mist, before teleporting inside the train. I rolled my eyes and climbed back in with him. Ponies were still staring at me, and changelings were still banging their heads against the table at my nonexistent subtlety.

“Whatever you say, dude… but if that’s the case then the guy that got his ass handed to him by Nightmare Moon must have been your dad or something. Must be embarrassing.” I shot at him. Suddenly, ponies were staring at him too, more out of acknowledging a Burn than out of him doing something strange.

“You should be happy he did, otherwise you would be dead and the world would be shrouded in the Eternal Night.” He shot back, clearly not caring about the stares.

“Oh believe me I am. But you’re wrong about the Eternal Night and me being dead thing…” I said, thinking back to the deal I made to get here. I’ve been remembering more and more details about it as each day passed. And I knew he wouldn’t like what would really happen if I died here. I was an idiot to accept, but I can’t go back on it now. I care too much about this world.

Wait, WHAT?! You agreed to THAT?! FUCKING HELL, WHY! Nightmare screamed in my head as I brought the memory up in detail. I winced at the pointed reminder of my stupidity.

I was desperate and stupid. Let’s leave it at that. I insisted heavily. Nightmare thankfully shut up, but I still felt her seething in rage and hatred at me.

“Oh? How so?” He just had to ask, what even is his name? He didn’t tell me! I sighed as I cast the sound proofing spell, and answered.

“If I die, I get sent back home to my own body. Alone. My brother and sister will be sent to the void, eternally lost there, and… this world will burn away into Fallout, with the gates of Tartarus thrown wide open.” The look on his face said it all.

“You idiot! Gambling with the fate of an entire world?! Just who do you think you are!” I think the soundproofing bubble actually wobbled from his shout. I said nothing, just letting him shout his grievances away. I’m sure my eyes were hidden in the shadow of my mane, with how low I let my head hang. He calmed down after about a minute and was just shaking his head. “I’m SO reporting this, just how selfish can you get? Dooming an entire world AND your siblings while you will be safe and sound back home? Well?” I had to stop him there.

“No, not safe or sound… my parents are gonna be gone if I go back too. So I’ll essentially be living on the streets with nothing but me and my despair. You’re right, I was an idiot… but I’m not about to turn back on my deal. And by the way, you can forget about locking me up to keep me safe. I have to get involved, or that deal…”

“That’s not my decision to make. I just hope you will be happy with how your siblings will react to those news.” His eyes have changed into a cat-like slits at this point, and he was writing something down on two separate scrolls. The movements his pen was doing on one of them though… I couldn’t see just what he was doing, but the movements looked as if he was drawing pictures in there.

“I doubt either of them will react well, but I never planned on telling them. Or anyone for that matter.” I said. “If he still can, my brother is going to kick my ass.”

The train came to a stop soon after, and I was glad to get off. Dodge Junction really wasn’t that big of a trip to get to. “Alright then, Mr. Bodyguard. This is my stop. Celly did send you to keep an eye on me, didn’t she?” I said, not looking at him as I started heading off the train.

“My name is Soulfire, and she sent me to ensure Catt get’s safely back to Canterlot.” He said as he was following me. “But… she did tell me to make sure you get back too… so you better not screw your schemes up.”

“Like I told Twilight, I know exactly what I’m doing here.” I told him, not saying anything beyond that.

“Didn’t look that way when you almost got killed.” He shot at me. I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not talking about that. Each threat to Equestria is their own unique case. I’ve got the most on Chrysalis. Really, she’s the only one I know exactly how to handle.” I explained.

“Oh... well if that is the case, then I probably should have brought some popcorn to watch the show.” He said with a hint of humor, his rage probably fizzled out by now.

Once we were out to the station, I looked for anyone holding my name on a sign, since that’s the best way to get the attention of those who don’t know who’s looking for them. Y’know, since Chrysalis would no doubt be wearing a disguise here. Seeing no one, I just sent out a ping for the Local Hivemind. I heard a few ponies gasp, staring at me.

“Lady, I don’t know if you’re trying to get yourself killed or what, but doing that… isn’t the most advisable thing around here.” One pony whispered to me.

“I’m trying to get the Queen’s attention. She and I have a deal to strike.” I replied coldly to him. I smirked as his shocked and horrified look.

“W-well… good luck…” he said, slinking away. I felt another ping in reply from the far side of the village, and followed it right away. Soon enough, after following more pings, I found her. She was sitting in an outdoor cafe, wearing the disguise of… well, basically herself as a pony. I knew she wasn’t really all that creative, but just switching black for white, and removing wings and holes really seemed to work for her.

“Hello, Chrysalis.” I greeted as I took a seat in front of her across the table. Her eyes twitched a bit at me not using her title, but she let it pass to keep up her disguise.

“Hello, Summer. So, why exactly did you demand to be spoken to in person?” Chrysalis asked. Before I answered, Soulfire came to the table and took a seat on one side, his cloak nowhere in sight.

“Greetings.” Was the only thing he said. She only glanced at him.

“I wanted to discuss the future. I know your… family is falling on hard times. I want to help, but I can’t if even one pony gets hurt.” I said. She raised an eyebrow in interest.

“So you know a way we can get more food?” she asked with clear interest.

“Yeah, but we have to wait for it. The Crystal Empire’s coming back sometime in the next couple of years. But so is King Sombra.” I responded. She froze at the mention of the Empire, and I could sense a wave of rage, sorrow, grief, and a small bit of hope from her.

“H-how do you know this? How do you even know such a place exists?” she asked, her voice low and quivering.

“Let’s just say I’ve seen certain events in another timeline. Chalk it up to a strange version of time travel, if you will.” I explained.

“How soon?” she demanded.

“I can’t be certain, but I know it’s at least a month or so after the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Royal Guard Captain, Shining Armor. Until then however, you may want to consider not hiding anymore. I already revealed that changelings exist, however unintentionally, and have built a rather positive first impression.You have a chance to be accepted, if you’re willing.” I advised.

“Why should I? The Royal Guard has attacked my kind thoughtlessly on numerous occasions… what guarantee do I have that any of my children will be safe?” she demanded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She kept from shaking rather well though.

“I’m an Element Bearer. I’m a known changeling. A simple message to the Princess, and one announcement later, you’ve got free reign… as long as you don’t hurt anypony. I can convince them to pardon you for taking my sister, but it won’t be easy.”

“Actually…” Soulfire decided to make himself known. “... I have something that might interest you on that exact topic.” He then proceeded to reach into his own shadow and pull out an official looking scroll and gave it to Chrysalis. Chrysalis looked a bit weirded out that he’d reached into his own shadow, but opened it and read it.

“Dear Queen Chrysalis, you have been charged with the abduction of a person of Noble status, and have reasonably given cause for war. However, you, nor any pony in Equestria could have known, so an alternate proposal will be presented. Return Dutchess Catt unharmed within a week, and all shall be forgotten, no records of the incident will be kept and there will be no consequences because of this mistake.” Chrysalis read out, though I threw up a Sound Proofing bubble once I heard the word Charged.

“Well shit…” Chrysalis muttered. I however had dropped my jaw.

“Wait a fucking second, Catt’s a Noble?!” I said with reasonably widened eyes.

“Yes, she is. Celestia elevated her to a Noble status in recognition of her selflessness during the recent incident in Ponyville, despite having no obligation to help in the first place. The official paperwork went through the day before her kidnapping, before any announcements could be made. I hope this clears up the situation to the both of you.” Soulfire recited as if he was reading from a note of some kind, the fact I noticed there were lines of text scrolling down one of his eyes further cemented this belief.

Suddenly, I heard a ruckus from an empty table nearby. It sounded like a bunch of changelings complaining about losing, as well as my sister cheering in victory.

“What the…?!” Chrysalis exclaimed, as I saw her eyes glow for a second. I quickly used my Mimic ability to copy whatever spell that was, and used it. Turns out, it was a special variation of a Light Bending spell that allowed one to see or alter certain spectrums of light. Copying Chrysalis’s frequency in a heartbeat, I spotted my sister playing three other changelings at a game of Poker. And winning.

“Unbelievable.” I muttered as Catt scooped in a bunch of bits.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing either. They should be making sure she isn’t going anywhere.” Chrysalis agreed, twitching in anger.

“Hey, give us a break. You can’t honestly expect us to stand against the Pupydog Face on this one, can you?” One of them pleaded. As they said that, Catt made the face mentioned. I felt my heart melt.

Oh god help me, I’m melting! Nightmare squealed. I could feel her smiling in diabeetus though, so I didn’t bother. I could also feel Chrysalis’s emotions being worked into a flurry. However, all of us were distracted by Soulfire, whose already pretty weak emotional output suddenly faded away to nothing.

“Dafuq?” the changelings with Catt suddenly said, staring at him.

“What in the…” Chrysalis muttered in surprise and confusion.

“Okay, that’s weird.. His soul’s not in his body anymore, but it’s still connected somehow.” Catt said, getting up and inspecting Soulfire closer.

“That face… it was too much.” Soulfire suddenly said in a dull monotone befitting a certain rock farmer, his eyes grey and empty looking. That was just too creepy.

“The face is gone, okay?” Catt said, a little worried. A second later his emotions came back, and with them his eyes colour.

“I see... ” He said with a small smile.

“How’d you do that? I thought I was the only one that could mess with souls.” Catt asked.

“Oh, you are the only one who can mess with souls… of others. Wouldn’t exactly be the expert in the field if I didn’t have at least some experience with it, would I?” Soulfire said, his smile turning into a small grin.

“... Wait, SPEC?!” she said in shocked recognition. I stared at him at that.

“WHAT?! NO! I’m her brother! She told me she mentioned me when you asked about her notes. I thought she said my name or something…” Soulfire said after being thoroughly shocked by her exclamation. Though I narrowed my eyes at him, Catt believed it.

“Oh right… heh, sorry.” Catt apologised. I just sighed, rolling my eyes again. “Queen Chrysalis, may I have my gloves back please?” Chrysalis blinked, but looked at me for a second.

“Fine. I got what I wanted. I no longer have any reason to hold onto you.” Chrysalis agreed, levitating the pair of gloves from her side over to Catt.

“Right, now that that is over, is there anything else either of you want to discuss?” Soulfire asked looking from me to Chrysalis.

“I think I need time to consider what I’ll do. Many things have changed…” Chrysalis said, getting up. She broke the light bending enchantment over Catt as she left, taking her changeling posse with her… and chewing them out for losing all their bits to a 10 year old cat in a game of Poker. I had to laugh at that, especially when she smacked one of them upside the head for suggesting the game.

“Well, now that we are all done here, I think it’s time to get back. Don’t want to accidentally start a war just because you don’t show up on time, right Catt?” Soulfire said as he also got up from his chair. Catt happily joined his side.

“Right. Hey, what’s your name, anyway?” she asked.

“Soulfire, but you can call me Soul… not you!” He replied, that last part aimed at me. I rolled my eyes. Then I froze as I realized something.

“Hey wait, if my sister’s a Noble, doesn’t that make me one as well?” I asked.

“Yes, you get it by association...” Soul sighed. “... but because of how she got the title your’s is in name only.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll stick with the Element Bearer title. It’s far more powerful.” I said almost in a deadpan.

“Sure, Catt was only granted the title for her own protection anyway, makes it easier to guard her and harder for other to make moves against her. Celestia probably didn’t tell you that, did she?” Soul asked with a shake of his head and a knowing smile.

“So… basically it’s Celestia’s glorified way of saying ‘Hi! I’m your mom now! I shall protect you!’” Catt accused, using an exaggerated imitation of Celestia’s voice. I almost choked on my laughter.

“No, it's her way of saying ‘You are under Equestria's protection, so you don't have to be looking over your shoulder all the time ‘. In her own trollish way.” Soul said, using the exact imitation of Celestia’s voice.

“Wow, impressive voice acting. You might as well be a changeling.” I complimented.

“I’m not, but I did study their abilities and managed to create some convincing imitations. But the voice think is one of the few that actually work perfectly.” Soul explained.

“Still, pretty cool. I’m guessing you got most of it from Bonbon. Well, I guess I’ll see you guys around. I’m going home.” I said, before turning around and headed back to the train. I nabbed a few of the bits Catt won on my way away though, sneaking them into my mane.

“You are going back on the train? I was going to take a shortcut to Canterlot.” Soul said before I could go more than a few steps. I chuckled.

“I’m good. Besides, shortcuts seriously disorient me. Pinkie already showed me how weird it can feel.” I denied.

“Suit yourself, my work differently though. I have no idea how she does hers.” Soul said before standing next to Catt and both of them were obstructed from view by a tall pillar of blue flames. Few seconds later the flames died down without even leaving scorch marks and the two of them were nowhere in sight. Shrugging at the, frankly, unimpressive sight, I just turned around and went on my merry way.

~Sweetie Belle~

“Hey Rarity? I need to talk with you about something…” I started when I came down for breakfast. Rarity was already making pancakes, but it was something I needed to talk about. I owed it to Spec.

“Is it about your nightmare?” Rarity asked, looking clearly concerned. I paused at that. She knew?

“Uh… yeah.” I said. I paused to wait and see if Rarity would explain how she knew. She did give an explanation thankfully enough.

“I heard you screaming in your sleep. I was just so worried, and I couldn’t calm you… I have no idea what happened, but eventually you calmed down.” Rarity said.

“Oh. Well, my friend Spec jumped into my dream and helped me out. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about… I wanted to talk about the reason for the nightmare.” I said.

“Oh? What is it?” Rarity asked, finishing a pancake.

“I just… I’m worried about how mom and dad will react to what happened to me.” I admitted. Rarity sighed.

“I’ll admit, I’m worried as well. But I have faith it won’t be too terrible.” Rarity said. “The only way to know for certain is to face them.”

“I thought as much…” I muttered. I almost jumped out of my hooves when I heard a knock on the door.

“I have an idea… head up to your room while I talk to them. I’ll let them know before they see you so they can be prepared, alright?” Rarity said.

“Alright. I’ll wait.” I said, heading up to my room. Once in, I stood by the closed door to listen for what Mom and Dad would say. I heard Rarity letting them in, greeting them with a carefully controlled tone.

“Good morning Hondo, Cookie.” Rarity began. “Please, come in. We have something to talk about.”

“What, no nickname?” Dad said jokingly. Then his tone turned serious after a moment of silence. “What happened? ...Where is Sweetie Belle?”

“There’s something you should know before you see her. About five days ago, a dark spirit attacked Ponyville… Sweetie Belle was horribly mangled during the brief attack, and she…” Rarity paused, and I heard her sniffle a bit. She was crying, I could tell.

“No… please tell me she didn’t…” Mom begged.

“She didn’t die, no… but almost. Through the efforts of the town’s top medical and engineering experts, she survived.” Rarity said.

“She… survived? How badly was she hurt?” Dad asked, surprised.

“Nearly half her body was gone. She’s had it all replaced with working mechanical prosthetics and enhancements though, which should allow her to live normally.” Rarity replied. Silence reigned for a while, before I heard mom speak up.

“C-can we see her?” she asked. There was only silence, and I guessed that Rarity had nodded. Sighing, I opened the door and started heading down. Every click of my metal hooves sounded like thunder to me due to the deafening silence from downstairs, and I could barely keep my breathing steady. When they came into view, I had to fight the desire to run for it and hide somewhere they couldn’t find me. Brushing my hoof against the scarf Spec gave me though, I found the courage to stay and stand tall.

“H-hi mom and dad. I… I hope it’s not too depressing…” I muttered to them, my half-robotic voice just driving home the point that I was beyond different. I winced at it, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too much.

“Amazing… I wish they had this kind of technology back when I was injured in a game.” Dad said, awestruck. Surprised, I looked up at him. He was smiling at me, though I could still see the pain in his eyes. “You’re lucky, Sweetie. I’m glad you’re still alive.”

“Oh Sweetie!” Mom bawled as she tackled me into a hug, crying a river of tears. I was still shocked, but I still returned the hug. After a while of hugging it out, both Rarity and Dad joining during it, they broke off and started talking again.

“So, what all can you do now? Rarity said you got enhancements.” dad asked.

“Uh… I don’t really know yet. I’d have to ask Tinker.” I replied sheepishly.

“That scarf is wonderful, darling. It suits you, and Rarity truly did a good job making it.” mom gushed. I blinked.

“Uh… actually, Rarity didn’t make it. A filly that helped save me did. Her name is Spec.” I said, setting her straight. They both blinked in confusion.

“Another filly? What did she do to help?” dad asked.

“She switched souls with me so I wouldn’t die while Tinker was working on my body.” I said.

“You mean… somepony sacrificed themselves for you?” mom started to cry again.

“No. She was a Natural Dark, and actually held up pretty well against the touch of death. I deleted the memory of the whole experience when I could, so I don’t remember how bad it felt, but she willingly took the suffering for me.” I explained. “She’s at Canterlot castle right now, spending time with her brother.” Mom cried more, but now with thankful happiness.

“I… must admit, when they were going to switch back, I almost wanted to keep Sweetie Belle in Spec’s body to guarantee that she wouldn’t die, even if it meant Spec wouldn’t live.” Rarity said. I was shocked to hear that, but… I could understand why at least.

“We understand, Rarity. We would have felt the same way.” Dad assured Rarity. “Oh hey, pancakes! Did you two not finish them yet?” he suddenly said, changing the topic.

“Why ye-”

“Mine.” dad said, grabbing Rarity’s plate with his magic and floating it over to him with a playful grin. Rarity pouted a bit, but her smile gave away how she really felt. Giggling, I hopped up into my seat and started eating my own.

“Hey Sweetie, do you think maybe we could meet Spec? She sounds like a nice filly.” Mom asked.

“Yeah, I think we could.” I confirmed with a smile.

~Catt~

“OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MY SCANS?!” Catrina screamed as we were shortcutted to Canterlot. I just sat there in the little anti gravity bubble of fire, trying my best to ignore it. Of course, the annoyed face I was making was rather amusing to Soul, but I was in no mood to acknowledge it. When it was finally over, Catrina started to calm down, but her freak out didn’t just stop. My gloves beeped, signalling Catrina wanting to speak out loud. I held one up to oblige.

“Please… please never do that again… It reminded me way too much of Sonya’s fight with a corrupted demigod.” Catrina begged, grumbling to herself about something regarding pocket dimensions.

“Wow, I did not expect that anyone would take it that badly. Sorry, I’ll warn you next time.” Soul… sort of apologised, cracking a smile. “Still… what was that about a demigod? Sounds interesting.”
“Sonya had to fight a demigod once. Couldn’t really hurt it herself, since she was nowhere near his power at the time, but she survived long enough for him to get back to his senses and kick the possessing demon out of his body.” Catrina explained.

“Well damn, she really knew how to keep herself entertained, but how exactly does that relate?” Soul questioned.

“The Demigod could create pocket dimensions, and send people there. Sonya and I were unlucky enough to get trapped in one, and while there, my sensors were either disabled or scrambled.”

“That explains it, it feels like the reality just ends at the border of the pocket dimension, doesn’t it?” Soul asked with a knowing smirk. Catrina nodded, a dark look on her face.

“Yeah… How did you know? As far as I knew, the Demon, the Demigod, and Sonya are the only ones outside of AI’s that know that about Pocket Dimensions.” Catrina asked.

“Easy, I pulled us through one to get us here. It’s not that hard to maintain a small one if you know how. Getting one in the first place is the hard part.” Soul informed. Catrina arched an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything further. She closed her hologram and just went back to cursing the existence of pocket dimensions in my head. Shaking my head, I looked around at the Gardens where we had appeared. I recognised it was the last place I saw before I was knocked out before, and happily started heading towards the throne room, where I no doubt would find Celestia running Court. Soul was trailing not that far behind.

When we came near the doors, a guard standing watch gasped upon seeing us and dashed into the doors. I just waited for him to come back and explain, rather than barge in potentially in the middle of a hearing. The guard eventually came back and held the doors open, and I heard Celly making an announcement.

“Alright then, before we go on to the next hearing, there’s someone I’d like to introduce you all to. Someone get the Broadcasting camera please, this is something I’d like more than just Canterlot to know.” she said.

“Oh wow. You must be very special to get that treatment.” The guard said in awe, smiling. I was a bit hung up on one fact though.

“Wait a second, ‘broadcasting?’ You guys have television here?” I asked in shock. I hadn’t seen a single TV set since I got here.

“Yeah, obviously we do. What did you think, that we are in the Stone Age?” Soul said with humour. I deadpanned at him.

“First off, this planet doesn’t have weapons more advanced than magic and spears as far as I’ve seen, and second off, I haven’t seen any TVs. So of course I’d reason there might not be tvs.” I said.

“Ok, what do weapons have to do with this? How exactly do they relate to a society's technological level? But good point about not seeing any, there’s only a few in the whole castle. Not like you got out much to explore either.” Soul said.

“Well...normally technology level balances out between every department of a society.” I added.

“Really? And you are making that observation based off of what? One example?” Soul jabbed.

“Florans. They’re about as primitive as cavemen.” I answered confidently. “Catrina told me the only reason they’re even capable of space travel is because they stole technology.”

“And that proves what you said how exactly?” Soul said, getting slightly annoyed.

“Well… okay, fine… I was wrong.” I gave up.

“Don’t feel bad about it, it happens to me too.” Soul assured me. “Hey, the crew looks about done setting up, you better put on your best smile when you go out there.”

“Good thing I kept my dress on.” I muttered as I readied myself, dusting my dress off a bit.

“Ladies and gentlecolts of Equestria, I have a rather important announcement to make today. Over the past week, we here at Canterlot have been helping to acclimate a new resident to this world they’ve awakened in. It’s been a chaotic ride for the most part, but lately they’ve proven they are of sound judgement and mentality. I’d like to introduce you to Catt, a Kineptic whom I’ve personally witnessed go well above and beyond of what is expected of any Equestria's citizens. Not only was she critical in helping to defeat a vicious monster threatening Equestria, but also helped save an innocent life, all white disregarding her own personal comfort or even safety. It is for these reasons that I have decided to grant her the title of Dutchess.” She held out a hoof, gesturing in my direction with a smile. With a proud, but subdued smile, I walked in, smiling and waving at the cameras and nobles attending. Many of the Nobles just stared, still finding it hard to believe that I was among them, let alone what I did to earn my title.

“So that’s why she’s a Noble now… well then, I commend you, young Catt.” Prince Blueblood spoke up, applauding. I smiled a bit wider at that and bowed as more applause rang out in the throne room.

“As well, as a member of an alien race, should she ever regain contact with other Kineptic, she will be named an ambassador for them, helping us to forge positive relations.” Celly declared. Blueblood’s eyes lit up at that idea, catching the implication of space travel. Somehow, I get the feeling he was going to desperately try to be a friend or something to me. My gloves beeped, signalling Catrina again. I brought one up to let her talk, putting it on for her.

“You shouldn’t put your hopes too high. Not all of every race is peaceful. Some, sure… but you’ll need to watch out for raiders and the like if you ever decide to start exploring space.” Catrina warned Celestia.

“Alright. Well, that’s all for now.” Celestia said, facing the cameras. “Until next time. And sorry for interrupting your shows, I know there were some good ones on.” With that, the cameras turned off, and they wheeled them out of there. Just as the last camera was out of the room, Soul came in and headed straight for Celestia.

“Celestia.” He said with a small, but respectful nod.

“Soul.” Celestia said, mimicking the gesture. “I’m surprised you got her back so quickly. I knew there was a reason I hired you.”

“Thanks, but I didn’t really do that much, mainly just cut down on travel time.” He said with a smile, before his expression morphed into the one of seriousness. He levitated a small scroll to her and continued talking. “Here is my report, you should read it as soon as you can.” Her casual attitude vanished when she heard how serious he sounded. Even I could tell it was something big. She opened it right then and there, reading through it. As she read it, her face slowly fell, until her mane hid her eyes.

“Is… is this true? You’re sure she isn’t just making it up for attention?” She asked, keeping her voice low so no one else could hear.

“I’m not a mind reader, so I can’t be completely certain, but if her reactions to when I was shouting at her in rage when she told me are anything to go by… I think it is true. But there is one thing that confuses me, if she knew the consequences, why was she so intent on killing herself by facing Nightmare Moon?” Soul said, also keeping his voice low.

“I looked into her mind when I first saw her. She knew nothing of how she arrived then… it’s possible the deal was blocked from her memory when she made it, and she’s subconsciously been fighting that block each day.” Celestia suggested.

“Possible, blocks like that are made to be undetectable and usually tailored only to one mind. Summer taking in Nightmare, and therefore a second mind, must be overpowering the block. But details aren’t all that important right now, how we act on this information is what matters the most right now.” Soul responded.

“What’s going on?” I asked, curious beyond patience now. Soul glanced at me with a sad look in his eyes.

“Should we tell her, or should Summer?” He said.

“Tell me what?” I asked, getting a bit worried. Celly looked away, making me seriously worried.

“She needs to know.”

~???~

“She needs to know.” Celestia muttered sadly. I almost leaned in from my position high up above her throne. After pretty much wasting my time in the science labs for information, I gave up and decided to spy on the leader herself for answers… but then this interesting tidbit came up.

“Catt… Summer made a very dangerous deal to get here. One that involves you and your other brother’s very souls, and the fate of Equestria. If Summer dies and gets sent back to her world, the gates of Tartarus will be opened, Twilight and her friends will die, every alicorn will be sealed away, and you and your brother will… will…” she couldn’t finish, too emotional at the moment to say what will happen to us.

“Will be sent to the Void for eternity, stranded in nothingness.” Soul finished with a somber tone.

“WHAT?!” I couldn’t stop myself from shouting. When their eyes shot up in shock, I scrambled to hide again, but lost my grip and fell like a clumsy idiot between them all. The ground cracked under the force of my face slamming into it.

“Fang? How are… wait a moment, Fang got soul-blasted… Let me guess, you are the missing brother?” Soul asked after a momentary shock. I groaned, letting my head fall back to the floor.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag…” I muttered. As soon as I said that though, my sister tackled my face, hugging me for all she was worth.

“Nyan!” she mewled adorably. And I am not ashamed to say it was adorable, because it fucking was. When I felt her quivering though, and something wet dropping onto my scales, I subtly hugged her back, but it looked more like shame covering to the outside observer.

“Care to explain why you were hiding around, sir?” Celestia demanded. I groaned. Yep. Today’s gonna be another one of those long ones...

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbHY7vBAp4o