~Summer~

I sighed happily as I stepped off the train, glad that I’d taken at least the first steps towards saving Chrysalis. The rest of it lied on her. However, as I entered town proper, I noticed something felt different about the atmosphere. At first I tried looking for a difference in the nature around me. But there wasn’t really that much of a difference. Birds were still going peacefully about their day, flowers still stood in full bloom under the bright and cheerful light of the sun, and a pleasant breeze blew by. Yet, no matter how appealing it all was, I just couldn’t really sit down and appreciate it. I could feel something… else, and it sent a very bad feeling down my spine. A feeling that… for some reason brought to mind the deal I made and almost failed out of pure cocky attitude. I decided maybe I should go see Twilight. Maybe she knows what I’m feeling…

Walking through the streets though, the feeling only got worse. Was it just me, or was everypony looking at me with… disappointment? When I noticed that emotion in the air, thick with anger as well, I also noticed there were no changelings in sight. Not in the least. Even Shin and Bonbon didn’t seem to be in town if the emptiness of the Local Hivemind was anything to go by.

When I got to the library, I had to stop at the front door to fight against the dread filling my mind. I was pretty sure I knew what this feeling was now, and knowing nearly crippled me with apprehension. I felt like I was about to have a bad time.

As I reached for the door to knock, there were enough chills in my spine to make it feel like it’d been frozen stiff. And the memory of my deal pounded in my skull for attention, further filling me with dread. I felt my sins crawling on my back.

… You know what’ll happen when you open that door. You know it’s inevitable. So why haven’t you gone in already? Nightmare spoke up. I sighed.

It’s Judgement. Noone’s ever eager to face it… I’m far from an exception. I just… I need to be prepared, emotionally. I replied. Admitting I wasn’t really ready for this at least took some of the weight off of my mind, but didn’t entirely stop the apprehension I felt. Nightmare stayed quiet as I drew in a deep breath, steadying my heart before just opening the door. Inside, the sound of voices suddenly cut off. From where I was, with the door open, I could sense Soul’s magic again. I guess he got here before me and told them about what I’d done. I didn’t waste time going in, knowing what I was about to face was unavoidable, and stalling would only make the apprehension worse.

All six of the Mane 6 were there, and I could sense a variety of negative emotions from them. Reasonably, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the angry ones in the group. Both of them were glaring holes into me as I entered, and judging from the twist in my gut, that was almost a literal interpretation. Twilight and Rarity were feeling… betrayed, and more than a little disappointed. Fluttershy and Pinkie though… it really, physically hurt to see them like this. Both of them were crying, ridden with fear, and the pain of betrayal. Seeing all of this, I wanted to hate myself. I was the one to blame for their current state, even if I wasn’t the one that told them and it tore me apart knowing this. But I forced it down, and looked at the one responsible for telling them.

“Hello again, Summer. Celestia’s orders, I just delivered a scroll to Twilight.” Soul said, slightly frowning in my direction. I sighed.

“I guess I should have seen this coming. Just when I decide I have a secret I need to share… someone else comes along and blows it in the worst possible way.” I said, staring at Soul with barely withheld anger.

“Don’t look at me like that. I only informed Celestia, just as was my duty. It was her decision to inform others as soon as possible, I did bring up the choice to let you explain, she didn’t chose it.” Soul said with closed eyes and air of professionality, but his emotions, however poorly I could sense them, told me he wasn’t all that happy with that decision either.

“I know… I know… I’m still angry though, likely because of Rainbow and AJ to some degree, but I’m not exactly keen to hate myself again.” I said. I paused for a minute, trying to think without my hate clouding my thoughts, but it didn’t work too well. “When you get back to Canterlot, could you do me a favor? Tell that little control freak of a Princess not to deal with my problems for me. If she wanted the girls to know my secret, she should have come to me and encouraged me to tell them myself.”

“You weren’t there when she found out, you should count yourself lucky it’s just this. In a way, you present a global danger to this world, bigger then Nightmare Moon was. If she told the nobles, you wouldn’t be able to set a hoof in Ponyville, because droves of Royal Guard would drag you out of the train mid-travel. You understand that this is you getting off lightly?” Soul said, being quite clear on how it could have been worse.

“I’m sure I’m only getting off easy because the Deal requires me to participate…” I said, looking away.

“You could have been locked up and brought out to participate when related… problems cropped up.” Soul calmly informed. I sighed, just feeling more depressed. I don’t deserve that mercy.

“Why did you do it, Summer?” Pinkie asked, sniffling.

“Because I was desperate and stupid…” I sighed, thinking back to my parents. “Mom and dad always did say I don’t have the common sense or judgement to get out of the rain… Guess I’ve proven them right… again…”

Twilight sighed, stepping forth. “Summer… I’m going to ask you what you asked me the day before we faced Nightmare Moon. Do you think even the worst person can change?” I raised my eyebrow, wondering what she was getting at. She already knew I believed they can.

“Yeah. Anyone can be a better person if they just try.” I replied, finishing the quote. She put her hoof on my shoulder as she continued, looking straight into my eyes.

“It’s often said that the first step to changing is admitting what’s wrong. But you seem to forget what the second step is.” Twilight prompted. Pinkie perked up then, getting at what Twilight was saying, as did I.

“Trying…” Pinkie muttered.

“You’re right… I was never very good at committing myself to anything. I guess I just saw Equestria as my ticket to commitment, and I was desperate to find something worth committing to.” I said with a sad sigh. “Then again, I was never very good at figuring out my own motivations either.”

“At least you are able to admit your own faults. Seeing as you aren’t actively seeking to bring about the end of the world, and whatever agreement you made was not even done in this dimension, there can't be any charges made against you. But, you have a responsibility now, I hope you are up to it.” Soul said, looking at me. “I made my own mistakes, don't think I didn’t, but I learned from them. I know you can too.”

“I certainly hope so… I made one mistake many times in the past. I always kept assuming, to the point where my parents told me not to trust my gut.” I said, giving a hollow chuckle.

“Then why not ask for a second opinion? Don't you have another mind inside that head of yours? What does your gut tell you about me?” Soul asked with a small smile.

“Heh… good point. Another fault of mine is communication. Now that I think about it… maybe I’m wrong about you being…” I struggled to think of the concept.

A dark twist on changelings that isn’t actually a changeling? Nightmare supplied.

Nah, something else… I replied, still thinking. ...Actually, that might be the closest thing to what I was thinking of.

“Well, some dark twist on changelings that isn’t actually a changeling, and really sucks at picking which secrets aren’t really worth keeping.” I finished. He looked about ready to retort, probably to outright dismiss that claim, but then he stopped himself and actually started thinking about it.

“You know, I don’t hide my fascination with changelings, and I readily admit my attempts to emulate their abilities. But I don't spread my secrets around, especially with those I barely know.” Soul said with a frown, but then he smiled as an idea came to him. “Who knows, maybe we'll get to know each other better over the course of my stay in Ponyville.”

“Wait, what?” I stepped back a bit in shock. “You’re… you’re staying here now?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia has posted him here, to watch over you.” Twilight replied.

"Well… not really, more like watch over the whole town. What, with how disaster prone it is, it already made me question why there isn’t a permanent guard patrol yet.” Soul brought up his own perspective of the situation.

“Oh, that… well, there’s a group of Mercenaries here that just enjoy beating the crap out of anything that tries to attack.” Rainbow replied.

“Oh yeah, those guys.” Soul said, slightly embarrassed that he apparently forgot about them.

“Still, those guys aren’t gonna be able to stop anything possessed by a Nightmare Fragment. Especially if they’re anything like the Animatronic.” I said, glad the mood had lightened, now that I’d noticed it. That “bad time” feeling was gone too. Rarity winced at that reference, but the atmosphere had gotten at least good enough that the sadness wasn’t as palpable.The others though seemed to be reminded of the depression I’d gone through after facing it, and their emotions cleared up a bit.

“Well, now that this was all cleared up, onto some better and hopefully less apocalyptic news. Though, considering who it's about I'm not getting my hopes up. Your brother, Derek, finally showed up.” Soul informed. I blinked. Then I deadpanned.

“The fucking ninja’s right behind me, isn’t he?” I asked. Sure enough, when I focused my senses, I caught a shitstorm of various emotions, the most prominent being amusement. That “bad time” feeling came back in full force, and I subtly primed my Dead Ringer.

“Yep. Now get dunked on.” a very unfamiliar voice said before me. A fist hit me in the back of my head, and I saw my body collapse in front of me. Of course it was just an illusion, but it was pretty convincing, and I got to see the girls react to that.

“What the fuck, dude?!” Rainbow shouted, pointing at my fake body, obviously outraged. Derek just laughed and shrugged it off as I made my way to AJ, taking her rope.

“Oh come on. The bastard deserved it for dragging my happy ass to this world. Especially for dooming it like he did.” he said.

“Ah’m not gonna argue that point, but it was still uncalled for.” AJ said, glaring at him.

“You don’t have to be such a jerk to her!” Fluttershy said at truly normal volume, much to my pride. Her lessons are going well. I quickly snuck off to get behind my brother.

“You feelin’ lucky, punk? Nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it!.” Pinkie said, suddenly wearing a Wolverine mask as she glared intensely at my brother.

“Wait a second, Summer’s not breathing!” Rarity suddenly screeched. As she made that observation though, my Dead Ringer ran out of charge. The loud sound of me decloaking rang out through the library and everyone froze as I appeared, wearing a smirk on my face and AJ’s rope ready to tie him up with about the strongest knot a well experienced Western pony can make.

“Got anything smart to say now?” I asked smugly, using Fleet’s voice before yanking on the rope, tightening it and pulling Derek onto his ass.

“I did not see that coming… You know, Spy’s not gonna be happy about you taking that thing…” he said.

“News flash, bro. I am the spy. And you’re about to get Dominated.” I said, turning his head to face the girls who each were giving him dangerous looks… except Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane to avoid seeing the mass punching about to commence. Soul was meanwhile shaking his head.

“Children…” I heard him mutter.

“Oh, don’t mind us. Just a couple teenagers having a silly sibling riv-AAAAAA FUCKFUCKFUCK CUT THAT SHIT OUT!” I screamed as Derek managed to somehow slip his arms out of the rope and struck out at a pressure point on my neck I didn’t even know I had. It had no effect but discomfort, but I was overwhelmed anyway.

“...She squealing like a foal.” Rainbow muttered as she stared. I grit my teeth and turned into Heavy to get my brother’s hand off of me, and it worked… for about two seconds. Then my brother was hitting another one at the base of my tail, and I was squealing again. Rainbow burst out laughing as a tiny, panicky voice came from my new body.

“Dude, I’ve studied the pressure points of every species on this planet. Nothing you change into can save you.” Derek taunted. Deciding to prove him wrong, I turned into Catt. This form, he was stuck on, but then he decided to go for the most familiar point. I breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t work.

“You were saying?” I taunted back. He stuck his tongue out in focus.

“Hang on, let me just…” He reached again and I instinctively flinched… and then he met his mark, hitting a spot just under the center of my belly, and I collapsed as a strange feeling overtook me... Whatever it was, it felt goooood….

“...Okay then, that happened.” Rainbow said. For some reason, I could sense Rainbow was both weirded out, and… turned on?

“...I am never touching there again.” Derek said, feeling disturbed. Whatever… I just sat there, staring at the ceiling and purring in bliss.

~Catt~

“Farewell, and remember, Catt. It’s okay if you make a mistake at your age. Just get some practice, and you’ll fit in well enough before you know it.” Fancy Pants - the real one this time - said as I left his house. Or rather, abode, as I apparently should start adding to my vocabulary. I nearly gagged as I thought of it. I just felt too silly to talk the way he’s been telling me I should. Maybe it’d grow on me eventually, but for now… Just, bleh. But Fancy says I’m doing pretty well. I’ll trust he knows what he’s talking about, because nothing about what I said felt legit.

“Listen, Prince Bluebitch! Pleasuring you is not in my job description! So why don’t you just FUCK OFF, before I report you for abusing your position, AGAIN!!” A very angry mare’s voice screamed. I stopped just as she came storming out of a room I almost passed. A grey mare with dark blue hair and neon yellow eyes passed, her bat like wings flared for what I’d learned was an intimidation instinct. Looking into the room she’d left, I found Blueblood stunned.

“Wow… a mare in Heat… denied me… Well, I suppose not everything you hear is true. Even the city bicycle has her limits.” he muttered to himself.

“You obviously don’t know how Heat works.” I commented dryly. I was only put off slightly by that, but considering all of the ‘That’s not me saying that’ moments I’ve had since I met Sonya, I wasn’t all that surprised.

“...Oh, Shizno. It’s you.” Blueblood whimpered, clearly afraid that I’d found out about his attempt to take advantage of a mare. But I was confused about his curse.

“Shisno, what?” I asked.

“...Soul shared that celebrities in his world said that.” he explained, taking the chance to change the subject, likely wanting to take advantage of my cat-like attention span. It worked… kind of.

“Yeah, that’s a commoner’s word.” I deadpanned. “By the way…” I said, revving up my magic. Reaching out toward the cowering jerk, I messed with his perception a bit, leaving him with the illusion of him being a mare.

“Wh-what? What did you do to me?!” He squealed. I just saluted.

“Have a nice day. Don’t worry, it’ll be gone by dusk.” I said, before teleporting away, in the direction of where that maid went. As I went to find her, I found a trail of her discarded maid outfit which actually looked more for kinks than utility, Catrina spoke up in alarm.

“Shit, Catt, you gotta find that mare quick! I’m sensing a spike in Dark Magic in the area! It could be a Nightmare!” Catrina warned. I steeled myself as I started running.

“Send a message to Soul. I’ll try and keep it here.” I said before coming up on the kitchen. Heading through there, I snatched up a few Pop Tarts so I could refill on nutrients if I had to. “No time to explain, we got an emergency!” I shouted as I ran off with the food. When I finally caught up with the mare, I saw it wasn’t really a pony… but the Scarlet changeling I did find was already surging with shadows. I tried to reach out with my magic to tear the Nightmare out, but I was already too late.

~Derek~

I poked my… well, sister passed out on the ground and crotch soaked with her own emotions which were glowing pink. I was hoping I could find another pressure point to wake her up, but no such luck.

“...Welp. Guess we’ll just have to wait for her to wear it off.” I said, before turning to the girls, who each looked disturbed and aroused to various degrees. The Pink One seemed to like it the most. However, before I could really do anything else, Soul’s head shot up and he shoved a hoof into his hair, deep into his hair. It went in so much it must have been inside of his head or something. After about a second of rummaging around in there he pulled out a futuristic looking tablet.

“Whoa, cool! What is that?” Pinkie said, looking close at it. The others leaned in with similar interest, though some of them I noticed were looking at Soul strangely, probably wondering how he got to be like Pinkie with that mane thing. However, I noticed a red warning symbol flashing on it and discarded my own questions.

“No time for games, Pinkie. Catt just sent a Code Red.” I interrupted, pointing at the red symbol.

“Right.” Soul said as he tapped the symbol, to see what it was about.

"Guys, we have a Nightmare at Canterlot! Haul ass, or we're gonna end up blowing something up!" Catrina shouted on the other end of the line. After a few minutes, it showed a changeling mare wreathed in shadows.

“Oh no… we can’t get there in time!” Twilight said in clear fear. Suddenly, Summer’s eyes snapped open, showing cerulean slitted eyes. She shifted into Nightmare Moon’s form as she got up.

“Relax, our little friend here knows a shortcut.” Nightmare said, cleaning the glowing liquid off herself as she spoke.

“Wait, what the hell? Nightmare?!” Rainbow shouted.

“I’m bound by Summer’s will. You don’t have to worry about me stabbing you in the back anytime soon, as much as I want to.” Nightmare assured. Rainbow grumbled a bit, clearly not trusting her, but Twilight held her back.

“She’s right about the shortcut, but I need space to take us all. Clear up some space!” Soul instructed as he stashed the tablet back into his hair and started shoving whatever furniture was near him to the walls. The girls hardly had any room to question things what with how that tablet emitted the sound of a loud explosion before it was put away, and soon, everypony was moving things. Spike came in in the middle of it and started to question things, but I interrupted.

“Just help move things. There’s an emergency and we need to teleport.” I told him. He stared at me for a second in something like awe or whatever, before nodding and joining in. It was done before we knew it, and the girls looked to Soul for instruction.

“Alright, now just don’t freak out.” Soul said and scrunched his eyes. When he opened them a second later they were still the same neon blue, but this time they were slitted, just like Nightmare’s. He then lit his horn and stomped with his right forehoof and five lines made from shadows flew across the floor, splitting and merging before finally forming two concentric circles, with the larger one only just fitting into the cleared space. Next he stomped his left forehoof and the space between the two circles was filled with various magical runes and glyphs.

“Ooooh!” Twilight seemed to gush over all the magic going on. I guess she was an enthusiast. The others though hardly flinched, most likely wanting to help deal with the Nightmare.

“Everyone who is coming, into the inner circle!” Soul commanded, standing in the exact middle of it. I joined him without hesitation, though I noticed the butter yellow one, Fluttershy I think, glancing nervously at the edge of the circles, but it was only for a moment. Then she joined the rest in stepping forth. When we were all inside, Soul’s horn started glowing brighter and colour in his eyes grew so vibrant it started emitting light. All the runes and both circles erupted in neon blue fire, the flames from the inner circle went above us all and closed up above us like a cocoon, the same happening below. Soul grit his teeth as his coat turned several shades darker and then suddenly, gravity gave out. The girls yelped a bit, though Fluttershy curled up into a scared little ball, breathing deeply to keep as calm as she possibly could. Nightmare seemed to have no trouble with it all, just using her wings to “swim” around a bit.

“Hey, this is kinda fun. I’ll have to tell Summer when she recovers.” she said. After what I guess was about ten seconds of weightlessness, the fire-cocoon burst outwards and gravity reasserted itself, depositing us in the palace gardens.

“We are… using a… train to … get… back.” Soul wheezed from his spot on the floor.

“Agreed.” I said, understanding why. “Now, where the hell is that-” BOOOOM I was answered in the middle of my question by an explosion tearing a small hole in the castle roof nearby, and I saw Catt’s body flying out of it, as well as a large number of very bright, glowing, blood red bolts of magic.

“I’ll take Soul. You guys get up there and fight.” Nightmare said, picking up Soul. “Just remember what Summer told you about those Elements.”

“You got it, Nightmare. I’ll head up and see if I can’t get its attention.” I said, spreading my wings. Without waiting for any reactions, I took off. I was a pretty skilled flier, good enough to move through the air as easily as if I was running. And being a parkourist in training, that meant pretty well. I caught Catt on her way down, noting that she was a little injured. Rage filled me at the sight of it.

“Wh-Oh, it’s you! Good, now maybe we can stand a chance…” Catt said, glaring ahead at the Nightmare. The possessed changeling hovered in the air on crystalline wings ahead, smiling psychotically at us with crimson eyes. However, rather than continue attacking, she started fleeing towards some place.

“Shit, she’s headed to the Royal Vault!” Catt said in alarm. “We can’t let her get there, there’s tons of weapons there the Princesses have collected over the ages!”

“She’s not going anywhere…” I growled, bringing Catt up to hang onto my back. I pushed my wings to their limits, chasing the enemy as fast as I could. Unfortunately, the Nightmare was faster. Another hole was punched in the castle roof as it crashed through the roof to get at whatever it was after. I followed suit, smashing in where I thought she’d be. I missed, and the Nightmare punished with a fairly strong shot to my torso, which threw me and Catt across the room, smashing a few glass displays on my way. I twisted in mid air and flared my wings to recover, saving my sister from slamming into a wall again. Spotting a black blade in the case in front to me, I grabbed it, not giving a damn about the Dark Magic warning on the display’s sign. I smirked darkly as I saw the blade was a scythe. I frowned however, as I felt magic entering me.

“Oh, don’t mind me. Just protecting your soul from that thing’s corruption.” Catt said from my back.

Ahead, I saw the Nightmare grab one of the staffs in a smashed display. Seeing her holding it the way she was, I was struck with a sense of familiarity.

“Huh. So you’ve become the Scarlet Devil, have you? Well… guess it’s time to play Bullet Hell.” I said with a smirk, pointing the scythe at her. Dark Crystals started sprouting from the ground around her, but she dodged nearly effortlessly.

“Scarlet Devil? I like it… though I’ll be the one playing games with you.” she said with an even wider grin than before. She aimed the staff at me, and I just barely dodged to the side as a massive beam fired, and she swung it like a lightsaber. Seeing the beam cleave one of the walls completely out, I knew I should probably not get hit by that thing. Of course it didn’t help that the beam left little particles of plasma-magic-bullet things in its wake that I could tell would seriously hurt me if I touched. Hearing her shout of exertion, I looked to find her swinging again, and dodged to the side again, this time twirling my scythe in front of me and sending a constant barrage of crystals at her. Eventually, I had to grab a sun-decorated shield from another display case to block her own barrage of bullets. I had to toss it aside afterwards though, as the surface had melted slightly. It couldn’t withstand any more shit.

Next massive ball of magic she sent my way though, I tried to cut in half with my scythe. It did not work. Instead, I was sent flying again, smashing through a wall this time. What I saw when I recovered though made me grin. Those were a lot of swords.

“...Nice…” I said as I grabbed a pair of Katanas. Seeing the interest I had in all the swords here, Catt grabbed a Claymore and set it on her back, where it promptly disappeared. I blinked.

“Any other weapons you want to use?” She asked. Seeing what she had in mind, I grabbed a Buster sword, more Katanas, a few shields, a Rapier and a Zweihander. Each one, plus the Crystal Scythe, went to Catt, and I wielded two of the Katanas. Once it was all gathered though, the Scarlet Devil barged in with a curious face.

“Say hello to my little friends.” I said tauntingly, crossing them in an X as I lunged at her. She used the Staff to defend, trying to disarm me with a quick swipe at my claws, but I met that attack head on, making an attempt to cut the staff in half. It didn’t work, but she grit her teeth as she leapt away, settling for ranged combat again.

“Catt, Scythe!” I demanded, holding out my hand. She took my katanas and handed the scythe back, which I used to send another barrage of crystals at the Scarlet Devil. This time, my attacks struck true, and while she tried to raise a defense, it was a losing effort. I was surprised though as a pulse of magic from her wiped out every magic projectile either of us had generated, and my scythe stopped working for a moment, allowing her to escape out the roof. I followed, busting another hole in the castle.

However, I was surprised yet again when I saw not just one, but four of her. I stared, stunned for a second, before smirking. “Heh… pulling out all the old tricks, huh? Well then, let’s get on with it!” I said challengingly as I began firing yet again. I noticed none of the clones were defending themselves, but the main one kept dodging or shielding herself with the staff whenever I targeted her. If that wasn’t crazy enough, all four clones were shooting different patterns of magic at me, forcing me to be very careful about where I was, not to mention the chaos the Element Bearers had to deal with from the ground below. I had Catt use a Katana to try and bat away a few of the bullets that got too close, and she got lucky enough to hit some of the smaller red ones back at them. Though that one got turned into a tennis game between the two, it at least distracted that one enough to not be spewing out bullets every time it stopped swerving around.

“Surprise, motherfucker!” Nightmare screamed as she tackled one of them out of the air, driving a butterfly knife into its back. It exploded into magical residue right then, and I saw her body go flying off. Knowing it should have been vaporized instead, I was reassured she was still alive, thanks to a certain cloak. With the number of bullets flying at my face reduced, I could actually move around better, and Catt had more room to swing. With that freedom, Cat was able to Tennis yet another clone, sending back its own yellow bullets until it too was destroyed. I focused on the main one, tearing away at her defenses. Eventually, one crystal got a bit too close for comfort, and she hit another anti-magic pulse. She hissed at me in anger, clearly not enjoying that she was losing so badly now. Rather than taunt her this time, I asked Catt for another blade.

“Catt, Zweihander.” I said, handing over my scythe. She readily obliged, giving me the long and heavy blade. I flew at the Scarlet Devil for a direct assault, swinging hard and strong when I was close enough. Once again, she defended with her staff, fighting back with both hoof and staff. I gleefully traded blows, taking the occasional hit to either the chest or arm, but then she kicked me back and started charging something. When she unleashed it, I could see her breathing hard as she started pulsing a massive wall of blue bullets, though strangely, it didn’t have any bullets in the center row. Seeing that I could avoid it simply by staying in the middle, she decided to do something about that and used a hoof to start generating a green wall of bullets with just a single column missing from it. That missing column was moving with each pulse though, and I was forced to follow it to avoid being hit.

“Buster sword!” I called out, handing Catt the Zweihander. The switch came just in time, as I was caught by an unexpected rotation reversal, and had to block some of the bullets with the massive blade as I tried to catch up.

“NEIGHROY WINGKINS!” I suddenly heard a shout from above. In the next second, a lance of pure golden magic lanced down and hit the Scarlet Devil. It automatically triggered another magic pulse, destroying every projectile again. This time, I gave Catt the Buster Sword without asking for anything in return. I saw Celestia drop down to hover on the other side of her, and Nightmare rising up from below to the side. Nightmare’s eyes had changed again, one of them cerulean and the other neon blue. I could only guess what that meant, but as of right now, I just assumed it meant she was in Bad Time mode.

“...Now I’m suddenly wishing we brought along Shinkiro. That would make this little moment that much better if we had four ponies here.” Nightmare said.

“I don’t think now’s a good time to be thinking about that, Nightmare.” I replied, aiming the scythe at the Scarlet Devil. Celestia gaped at the weapon.

“Sombra’s scythe?! How the hell are you wielding it without becoming an Ultimate Edgelord?!” Celestia asked. I just pointed a thumb at Catt. “Oh. Seems legit.”

With that out of the way, Each of us began charging our strongest attacks yet. Shadows gathered around my scythe, moonlight pulsed in Nightmare’s horn, and Celestia’s magic glowed with magnificent radiance, but there was also a blood red aura growing around the Scarlet Devil as she charged an attack of her own.As each of us finished charging, we all fired at once, shadows arcing out of my scytch, a helix of lunar magic waving forth, and golden rays of powerful sunlight shot forth… and the Scarlet Devil dodged it all, still holding onto her attack and still charging it.

She weaved tauntingly around Celestia and Nightmare beams, as I went on to attack her. As soon as I started firing though, she unleashed her attack, and a chaotic series of firework-like explosions started blazing through the air. Celestia and Nightmare both stopped their beams and started chasing the Scarlet Devil through the chaotic minefield of bullets, with me following, though I had trouble weaving and dodging so many at once and from so many different directions. Nightmare though seemed less focused on dodging and more reliant on shields, though I couldn’t help but think how draining it must be on her… wait a second, her file never said anything about knowing a shield spell that powerful. On and on the chase went, simply turning into a blind game of shoot the fuck out of her as we dodged. Nightmare was using more spells I knew Summer didn’t know, like bolts of cold fire, which thankfully slowed Scarlet down.

Finally, another Magic Pulse cleared away the insane bullet hell, but it did nothing about the ice coating her, and I took advantage of that. I dived down from high in the sky where I was, and swiftly delivered a powerful punch to her head, knocking her clean out of the sky, along with her consciousness. She landed with a heavy thud on the ground, near the Element Bearers. That group took their turn, forming a circle around her and activating the Elements. I came down and landed nearby with Nightmare and Celestia, watching the Elements do their thing.

“So… are you not gonna help, Nighty?” Celly asked. Nightmare blinked for a second, questioning how Celestia addressed her, most likely.

“I can do many things for Summer. Using her Element is not one of them.” Nightmare explained.

“Makes sense.” Celestia allowed. Then the rainbows united, and started drawing the Nightmare out of the changeling, moving it towards Nightmare… Okay, that’s gonna get confusing.

“Hey Nightmare? Ever considered getting a new name?” I asked casually.

“No I haven’t… but I get the oddest feeling that I’ve already been given a new name… multiple times…” she trailed off with an annoyed look. “I suppose I’ll go with Eclipse. Better than Nightmare.”

“Cool.” I replied. And then the fragment merged with her, and her mane got all ethereal.

“Oh hey, Summer’s waking u-” she suddenly dropped her disguise and fell over snoring.

~Summer~

Oh god, I was having such a great dream… so many lovely little tentacles… But alas, it seems reality’s caught up with me and I have to leave the idea of me getting stuffed silly behind.

When I yawned and opened my eyes, I was surprised to find a Level Up menu staring me in the face.

“...Whoa, what have I been doing in my sleep?” I asked in surprise as I checked out what I unlocked.

Nightmare at 17%

Level Up!

Soldier Form Unlocked!

Enhanced Healing (lvl2/10) Upgraded!

Shadow Clone (lvl1/5) Unlocked! Only 4 clones at a time.

Magic Capacity Increased!

Emotional Resistance Increased!

Dark Magic Vulnerability Eliminated!

Shapeshifting: Advanced Unlocked! Large Non-pony Forms Available!

Looking at my magic to see how much I had now, I nearly shit myself… well, had I any excrement in the first place, I would have emptied myself of it right then. My magic capacity was… insane. If I could compare it to anything, I’d think it’s maybe around Alicorn level.

“Like what you see?” I heard a familiar voice call from inside of my mind. I almost freaked out for a second, but I already had one there that wasn’t incapable of changing her voice. Nothing could convince me Nightmare was doing this though.

“Yesssssss Me gusta.” I hissed, Gollum style in my head.

“Well, then too bad it's only temporary, right?” Soul’s voice called out. I blinked at that.

“Say what?” I asked, confused. “Hey wait, this isn’t where I passed out… You went around piloting my body, didn’t you!” I accused. I sensed Nightmare’s amusement.

“Hey! Stop the baseless accusations, I didn't touch the pilot seat, I was on defence duty. Isn't that right Eclipse?” Soul argued. I sighed.

“I’m sorry. But I can’t help it that you’re a suspicious little devil.” I replied, dropping the accusation on the basis of Nightmare’s emotions.

I was the one piloting. You just came so much, you didn’t have much of a will to bypass. So I decided to take your place for the crisis that popped up at a bad time.

“Well that explains a lot. But how the fuck did I cum?” I asked, confused still by that statement.

“Pressure point?” Soul pointed out. I paused for a minute to register that. I did remember a struggle with my brother… I’d gone Kineptic and was about to taunt the bastard for not knowing my pressure points there, but then… nothing. But, knowing my brother made me cum gave me epic teasing material, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Oh he is so getting teased for that.” I said to my two brain-mates.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I kinda want to get going, if you don't have anything against it, not that you could stop me mind you.” Soul said and his mind came right next to mine, hooking an arm around it like a friend showing another his vision. At first I wondered how that feeling was possible, but then I freaked the fuck out.

“Wait, what the fuck?!” I screamed a bit, wondering what the hell he was doing. Seriously, the first though I had was that he was taking over my body or something.

“Yesh, do you always scream when someone wants to show you the way?” He said as his mind slid an arrow in front of my vision. I just sat there staring for a second.

“Uh… s-sorry. I’m kinda freaked out by this whole… you’re in my head, thing.” I apologise as I got up and started heading towards… wherever he was pointing me to. The girls seemed a bit concerned when I didn’t react to them at first, so I assured them I was there by waving to them.

“Don’t worry, I just gotta take care of something.” I said, staying subtle for Soul. I figured he probably didn’t want me spilling anything for him. I knew I didn’t like Celly spilling my secret for me. Still kinda pissed about that by the way, so as I passed Celestia, I slapped her. “That’s for telling the girls instead of even trying to get me to talk.” I said, leaving a stunned princess behind.

Up next, came the very weird experience of finding Soul’s non-neonified body sitting with eyes wide open, staring soullessly at me in the doorway to his room.

“...That’s not creepy at all.” I muttered as I stared back at it.

Actually, it’s really not. It’s a pretty good way to defend himself from the unwary. That stare is rather effective.

“It’s also gonna leave his eyeballs stinging for hours. I’m surprised they aren’t crusted over and disgusting looking yet.” I deadpanned.

“That… well… maybe. I left my recounts of the adventure in the pile over there.” Soul said, pointing to a pile of things behind Nightmare, that I swear wasn’t there a second ago.

“Okay. Do uh… do I need to do anything to help you go back?” I asked, kind of uncertain since I’d never experienced something like this before.

“Nah, I'll just…” And with that his mind was gone from my head, and majority of the magic went with him. The magic draining out of me that quickly felt sickening, and I dry heaved as the last of it left, leaving me with just three times as much as I started in Equestria with. I managed to add a “hidden potential” tag to Soul’s profile in my menu while I was dealing with feeling sick. Licking about my mouth to make sure nothing was wrong after that experience though, I accidentally stabbed my tongue with my fangs. Which were way tougher and pointier I might add.

Over the next few seconds, Soul’s body returned to it’s normal coloration. When he was done returning to it, he started rapidly blinking. “Sorry about that Summer, but there is no other way to do it safely… you weren't kidding about the eyes, stings like no tomorrow.”

“Ow, mah thung…” I muttered, quickly attempting to get my tongue unstabbed. When it was free, I felt the hole close up pretty quickly. “Wow, the healing factor upgrade’s doing wonders already.” Looking toward the pile though, I wondered about that adventure recording thing. Sifting through it, I quickly grabbed and stored the log in my tail.

So, back to the battlefield? That scarlet changeling should be waking up soon. Nightmare prompted.

Right, let’s go. I replied. “Hey, Nighty and I are headed back to the battlefield.”

“Wait for me, I'll come with you and Eclipse, but my body is still not up to regulation standards.” Soul said as he started limping slightly behind us. I raised my eyebrow at what he said for a moment.

Eclipse, huh? Nice. I complimented.

Thanks. Soul suggested it. She replied casually. When we got back, I was hit by another wave of worry. I reacted accordingly.

“Relax, Soul’s fine. Eclipse got him to his room to rest up.” I explained.

“Yeah, transporting all of us here really messed me up, not doing it again anytime soon” Soul added.

“Understandable.” Derek said, gathering together a bunch of weapons.

“How about a nice nap on the train back to Ponyville?” Catt suggested. Derek stared at her for a few seconds.

“Just… holy shit. It amazes me how mature you’re being.” he said.

“Yeah, well I’ve still got a fraction of the original soul in this body helping me.” Catt said, folding her arms.

“Makes sense.” he nodded. After a moment, we heard the scarlet changeling groan.

“Ow, my head… That’s the last time I listen to a voice in my head claiming to be a good Queen… Where the hell...” she groaned, before noticing who surrounded her. She stared right at Princess Celestia and the Mane 6 in fear and shock. Though Celly was giving me an apologetic look, the Scarlet didn’t interpret it right.

“OH SWEET HIVE, SOLDIER SAVE ME!” she screamed, diving behind me. I felt the tingle of her connecting to my mind like a safety net, and her mutters of fear and pleas for safety whispered about in my head. Well, that answers whether or not changelings can determine each other’s class. I just gotta find out how to myself.

“I uh… already did. These ponies won’t hurt you, not now that I have the thing that possessed you.” I said with a chuckle. She stared at me for a second.

“R-really? You mean Princess Celestia isn’t here to banish me to the moon?” she asked.

“Pffft, oh please… I’d only do that if we couldn’t save you from that Nightmare Fragment. I came to help fight your possessed self. It was one hell of a thrill…” Celly replied. “I should really do that more often.”

Connected to me as she was, I could sense memories returning to her. “Oh… Oh shit, what the fuck have I done…?” she started tearing up. But I reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Nothing. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. So don’t shed a tear, because you had no control over it.” I said, before leaning in and hugging her.

“Glad this is over so quick, that fight sure was mentally exhausting.” Soul half groaned from his spot in the circle. Everyone turned to him in confusion.

“Dude, you weren’t even here.” Rainbow shot out. Soul smirked.

“You sure about that?” He said as he closed one eye and shot a bolt of cold fire to the side, coating a bit of the ground near the impact with some ice. Derek’s eyes widened immediately.

“That explains why Eclipse was using spells that weren’t on Summer’s file…” he muttered.The others slowly came to the realization as well.

“Wait, you mean you shared Summer’s body with Night- er… Eclipse?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, for a bit. We delegated tasks to fight better. Just because my body is of the verge of collapse from exhaustion doesn’t mean I can’t fight with my mind.” Soul nodded and answered.

“Amazing… did you know about that when we met? I mean, I thought I asked you to share with me everything you could do.” Celly asked.

“Partially, I told you the limits of these things, and I knew that it was possible for me to do this, but I never predicted that I would be actually using it this way. Too many risks when used with a pony, and I didn’t know changelings were that different back then.” Soul explained to Celestia, using vague terms and possibly referencing things only the two of them know.

“Eh, alright, I’ll let it pass. To be fair though, Summer’s pretty special. So how’d you split things in there?” Celly asked, pointing at my head.

“I took care of shields, danger awareness and aiming, Eclipse was focusing on movement, planning and actually attacking. She had access to my magic and spells to use if requested.” Soul answered.

“That’s pretty cool. Heh… and you said Fang had crazy abilities…” Derek said with a slight scoff.

“Oh, please. I never knew half of what Fang could truly do, and I didn’t know how he did what I know about.” Soul retorted. Derek just rolled his eyes. I guess he wasn’t really in the argumentative sciencey bullshit mood.

“Heh… Guess I’m pretty lucky…” the Scarlet muttered.

“Could be luckier. How about joining our merry band of friends, miss…?” I trailed off as I didn’t know her name.

“Crescent Rose.” she replied, offering a hoof for a shake. I deadpanned a little as I shook it.

“Summer Dash.” I gave my name in return. She smiled as we shook.

“And yes, I would love to be friends.” she said when we finished.

“Auntie Tia, please help me!” I suddenly heard Blueblood screaming. Turning, I saw him running to us with a look of humiliation. I heard Catt snickering as he drew close, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Please, I am so confused right now. I’ve become a mare, but nopony can see it. Please, just… help me..” he said, sounding pretty defeated. It was almost depressing… but it was Prince Blueblood, so I got a kick out of it.

“I… I’m sorry, but you look just fine to me.” Celly said, though I could see just the faintest sign of a smirk.

“That’s what I’m saying. Somehow, despite what I can see, hear and… feel,” Blueblood shuddered. “Nopony else can. And it… I’m just so confused…”

“Well, I don’t detect any illusion spells. So, you really are still a dick. But… maybe if you learn your lesson from this, I can find out who’s responsible and get them to fix this.” Celly promised.Though the way her eyes flicked to Catt, I figured she already knew who was responsible, and enjoyed it.

“Th-thank you, auntie.” Blueblood said, hugging her.