The Days of The Eclipse

Chapter Ten: Walking Nightmares

By Star Origin

Dusk Shine sat on a seat in the last wagon of the train that was supposed to lead them to Manehattan. He was looking out the window while he contemplated about the recent events that had taken place in Ponyville. One of their decisions was to leave Spike behind in Ponyville due to the rising dangers that were really endangering the group’s lives over and over again.

But there had been other events that took place in the town, mainly in the hospital, that caused a lot of ruckus over the previous week. Dusk could only contemplate how Raine Moon had acted when she and Origin were brought into the hospital for treatment because of their wounds. Her wounds weren’t as serious as Origin’s but the hospital’s staff wanted to make sure her wounds weren’t worse than they appeared to be.

————

“What do you mean when you say you can’t help him? He’s going to bleed to death if nothing is done!” Raine shouted at the doctor standing right in front of her. Steam streamed out of her nostrils but her intimidating eyes barely fazed the doctor.

“I’m not saying I can’t save his life, per se. I’m only saying that I don’t know anything about his physiology to attempt anything without the risk of aggravating his condition. I don’t want him to die on me but I can’t do much as of n—” Before he could finish his sentence, Raine Moon had tackled him on a nearby wall.

“Now, you listen here. I may not be one for threats but if you piss me off too much and I might start to throw them around. I’m not asking you to save him; I’m telling you to save him because if you don’t, I may or may not harm you in any kind of way I can think of. I don’t care if you hide behind your petty reasons because you know he’s a changeling. All I care about is him getting back on his feet so how about you start doing your job and you stop whining about how my lover’s not like other ponies!

“By the way, you can cut his shell all you want, it will grow back eventually,” Raine Moon whispered venomously in the doctor’s ear. “Now, I’m all done for now so I’ll leave you to yourself, doctor.”

The way she had finished her sentence sent chills down the doctor’s spine. Dusk Shine glanced at her and she just locked her eyes with his and simply grinned. The only thing the unicorn could think about was how Raine Moon resembled her mother in ways she herself ignored.

————

“Heh, that mare’s getting worse by the day. This conflict is really getting to her. Well, it’s getting to all of us but it’s worse with her. Her personality is starting to resemble her mother’s and she’s not even aware of it happening to her,” Dusk Shine muttered to himself.

He then contemplated his conversation with Blitz the day after the battle with Rainbow Dash in Cloudsdale. It hadn’t been an easy one...

————

“How are you holding up, Blitz?” Dusk Shine asked his friend.

“I could be better. I mean, I just killed my own sister, even if she was used by Nightmare Moon. It was still my sister’s flesh and blood that I sent to oblivion.”

“Yeah... I wouldn’t know what I to do if Nightmare Moon did the same thing with Twilight,” Dusk Shine told the white pegasus.

“Dusk...?” Rainbow Blitz inquired hesitantly.

“Yeah Blitz?” Dusk Shine asked back, wondering what was up.

“What are we going to do after all of this is over?” Blitz asked his friend, his lips trembling a bit.

“We’ll live,” Dusk told him, his own lips trembling as well. “We’ll live on for them and we’ll carry on their dreams and hopes. We will be their living legacies.”

Dusk Shine was caught off guard when he glanced over at Rainbow Blitz. The pegasus was crying and tears were streaming down his face. “But how?! How can you just be so calm in this? Your childhood friend is dead and your parents are missing as well. I just killed my own sister and you expect me to be okay with it?”

“No I’m not, Blitz. I’m not asking you to be okay with all of this; I’m simply asking you to remain calm. We mustn’t give in to sorrow and sadness just yet. We have to be strong because we will carry their memories on through us. Just as I told you, we are going to be their living legacies,” Dusk Shine explained calmly.

“Damn you, Dusk. Just... forget about it. Forget I talked to you about this. I should have known you would have acted this way anyway,” Rainbow Blitz said in defeat, walking away moments later.

————

“I really screwed up that time, didn’t I?” Dusk Shine asked himself out loud. “No matter, it wasn’t the time to be stricken by grief back then and neither is it now. We need to be strong, for ourselves and for them!”

His mind moved away from his memories of his conversation with Blitz and shifted to his memories of when he told Spike that he couldn’t follow the group anymore.

————

“Dusk, why are we at the library?” Spike inquired.

“I’ll be honest with you, Spike: Blitz and I have decided that it would be safer for you if you remained here. You’ve seen it yourself, didn’t you? Even the griffon invasion in Las Pegasus was too much for you to handle, in fact you weren’t able to do anything there and even with the last conflict we faced you were helpless. We know that Princess Celestia ordered you to accompany us but if this decision can spare your life, I will do anything in my power to make sure it does.

“So let me translate: I don’t have any uses for you and your group so you’re getting rid of me?” Spike accused the unicorn while glaring at him.

“No, not at all. We just deemed that it would be safer to have you stay here instead. Besides, we’re supposed to go join up with the princesses in Manehattan anyway so it’s become quite clear that you don’t need to follow us around anymore,” Dusk replied, remaining as stoic and calm as ever.

“Bah, you can say it, y’know. You can say that you don’t want me in your way and that you never did to begin with.”

“Baseless accusations will lead you nowhere Spike. You can’t go around saying everything you think out loud. We are doing this because we think that this war has dragged on long enough and that it will become even more dangerous as we progress forth from now on. Our enemy is Nightmare Moon and she is cunning. She will try to hurt us through our friends and we’ve lost enough as it is; we don’t need to lose anypony else!” Dusk told the dragon with a tiny bit of anger but he still remained calm.

"Yeah sure. You can hide behind your excuses but I know why you want me to stay here and if you want to play this game, how about you never come back and make sure to stay out of my sight." Spike was angry and his tone of voice showed that much. Snorting, he slammed the door right in front of Dusk's face and while it wasn't enough to frighten the unicorn, it did a pretty good job at surprising him.

"We're doing this for your own good, Spike!" Dusk Shine exclaimed to be sure his voice would reach the dragon.

"Whatever, just go away. I thought I was a good asset to you but it seems I was mistaken. You don't need me and neither do I so do yourself a favor and go away."

————

Dusk Shine was brought out of his mind when he saw Origin pass by in the train’s hallway with bandages all over his neck and half of his underbelly. Still, his current state had not stopped the changeling from following the group to Manehattan.

While he was eyeing the changeling, Dusk felt something touch his left hind leg and, looking at what it could have been, noticed it was only the scroll Princess Celestia had sent him through Spike. The aquamarine lit his horn and the scroll was softly enveloped in a pearly aura. Dusk Shine gently levitated the scroll to his eye level, rolled it open and read its content once more.

Dear Dusk Shine,

The current situation has worsened and things are now dire; even more so than they were before. I would have hoped for this letter to be longer but as things are right now, it is a luxury I cannot afford. I shall be brief and clear towards what I expect of you. I ask that you come join my sister and I in Manehattan so we can fill you in with the new details. I expect that you will come by the end of the week if you take the train from Ponyville

Following the reception of that letter, Dusk had pressured the hospital staff into putting Origin in their top priority and while it was a decision that was highly against the ethics of the higher ups of the hospital, they bowed to this wishes when he used his influence as Celestia’s former student to order them around.

Much to their displeasure, they agreed and managed to stabilize Origin’s state. Soon after, they had managed to close most of his wounds. Of course, the fact he had somehow gained the necessary energy to transform into his pony form had helped the hospital staff into attending to his wounds a lot easier and the doctors just couldn’t figure out how he had suddenly gained so much energy all at once.

But Dusk Shine knew better than to question that much.

Of course, Raine Moon was thrilled of his recovery. However the news Dusk Shine brought her with Celestia’s letter made her mood a little darker. She was against the idea of putting Origin through a strain that big but she had agreed when he had told her that it was alright and that he would be just fine even in his current condition. Plus, he had told her that he had her anyway.

That, of course, had triggered a scene Dusk Shine didn’t really like. Not liking it could be too much but he disliked cheesy stuff and quite honestly, Origin and Raine Moon put together were the cheesiest ponies he had ever seen in his whole life so far.

Nevertheless, Dusk Shine ignored the distraction Origin happened to be when he passed through the hallway but he couldn’t but wonder what the changeling was doing all alone in the train. Quietly, he got on his hooves when the changeling had disappeared from his sight and went in to follow him.

His plan went well until he stepped into the hallway. He had expected a lot of things to happen and yet, he had not planned for Raine Moon to nearly jump at him in anger. The unicorn yelped in surprise and he lit his horn; surrounding himself in his usual pearly aura. He quickly formed a barrier around himself but even that wasn’t able to protect him from Raine Moon’s rants. Apart from Origin, nothing could.

“And what exactly are you doing there, Dusk?” Raine asked the unicorn in a tone of voice that did not befit her character; her old one at least.

“Well, y-you see,” he began with a stutter. “I was just reminiscing the past when I saw Origin pass by this hallway so I got curious about what he was doing, especially since his injuries haven’t healed completely.”

“Yeah, right!” She eyed Dusk Shine in a threatening way so much he let out a nervous giggle while he looked the other way. “Are you sure you’re not just angry at him for what he said to you the last time the two of you spoke to each other?”

“Of course not!” He responded instantly. “I’m not that vengeful.”

“Oh really?” Raine Moon replied, raising an eyebrow in doubt and making Dusk Shine sweat even more than he already was. “Because that’s what it looks like to me.”

“Now, now. I know you’re still concerned about my condition, dear,” Origin said with a soft tone and an overall cheery facial expression, although it did not reassure Dusk Shine in the slightest, “but you shouldn’t go around scaring other ponies. I’m sure Dusk Shine was just wondering what I was doing wandering all alone through the train and just wanted to make sure I wasn’t up to anything suspicious since, as you all know, I’m a changeling and all. You needn’t be so aggressive, dear. Dusk is just being cautious, and I respect that about him. Isn’t that right, friend?”

“Yes!” He exclaimed nervously. “Yes it is.”

Raine Moon let out a deep sigh and returned her gaze onto Dusk Shine and simply said, “Fine but I better not catch you doing this again or I’ll hurt you next time.”

“Of course you won’t, dear,” Origin said, bursting out in laughter. “Don’t worry, Dusk, she’s only joking.”

“No, I’m not!” She said in a more serious tone while shoving the changeling aside. “I’ll really do it if I see him do that again.”

“No you won’t, dear. You wouldn’t dream of hurting a fly.”

“Right…” Dusk Shine said as he let out a nervous laugh. “So… I guess I’ll be going back now. Enjoy, your day, you two.”

With that, the aquamarine unicorn dissolved the barrier around himself and bid the two other equines a good day, even if his interaction with Raine Moon had left him a bit uncomfortable. Following Raine Moon and Origin’s departure, Dusk Shine went back into his own suite and ignited his horn once he had sat down on his bed.

Summoning his magic, he shattered the space around him and brought forth a notebook, a quill and a bottle of ink from out of nowhere. His horn still lit, Dusk Shine opened the notebook and flipped the pages until he reached a page devoid of any kind of writing whatsoever and proceeded into dipping his quill into the bottle of ink. Once that was done, he put the ink bottle on the desk next to his bed and began writing in his notebook.

Journal Entry #439

I’ve noticed today that Origin has been acting suspiciously. I don’t know what he’s up to but it’s not the first time I’ve seen him pass right in front of my room to go to Celestia knows where and do whatever it is he’s doing. Whatever the case is, it is still strange and I’m even more suspicious of him. I don’t like agreeing with Blitz when he does those first impressions guesses but he had a point all this time along: Origin is most probably a spy and he knows exactly what he’s doing and now that he has Raine Moon on his side, it’s going to be harder to land any kind of accusations on him without having her on our cases.

I’ll keep an eye out on him in the next few days but for now, it would be wise to not attempt anything against our changeling companion. Just like my previous entries, I cannot bring myself to fully trust Origin.

Ergo, I’ll discuss of my findings in my next entry.

Dusk Shine closed his notebook abruptly with the force of his mind and just as he had before, he ripped the space around him; he opened a tear in the surrounding space with his magic. He grabbed the bottle of ink he had put on the night stand and he shoved all three items into the tear before closing it just as fast as he had opened it.

When that was done, Dusk Shine got up and made his way to the dining wagon as his stomach had started rumbling when he was writing his journal entry.

————

Raine Moon was happily humming a soft tune as she followed behind Origin. While the changeling did look to be somewhat cheery, his mood wasn’t as cheery as Raine’s and he knew why. Well, the explanation behind it was simple but the reasoning wasn’t as simple.

Truth be told, Origin was sure that the pegasus mare walking behind was happy because he was healthy and his life wasn’t in danger any longer. However, the methods she had used weren’t exactly ethical or moral, which was contradictory because the changeling was anything but ethical and moral. Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz had seen him shed blood without so much as a second thought and in their last battle against Rainbow Dash, he had no problems fighting a dead pony made flesh once more and he even had less trouble threatening Rainbow Blitz without any hesitation.

The two equines walked through the train’s hallways at a modest pacing, observing the same hues of grey and red on the walls. Had the colors been different through the various wagons, it would have been worth observing a bit more but for the changeling, the colour’s monotony was more of an eyesore than anything. Still, if he had to compare this colour pattern to a changeling hive’s colour pattern, the train’s was much more appraisable than that of any changeling hives throughout the world.

“Say, Origin,” Raine Moon began, drawing the changeling’s attention to her,” did you really mean what you said when I caught Dusk spying on you?”

“What’s with this question all of a sudden?” He asked her back in a jesting voice to which the pegasus responded to with an unamused expression.

“I’m being serious about this, Origin. I want to know if you meant what you said or not!”

“Okay, okay,” Origin replied, letting a deep sigh shortly after. “Yes, I did mean what I said to Dusk Shine. Like I said, he has every reason to distrust me since I’m a changeling but also because I have done some things that may bring suspicion on me, like that one time I threatened Blitz in Cloudsdale or when Dusk and I got into a fight in Blitz’s house. But everything I did, I had a reason to do them.”

For reasons she didn’t understand, Raine was slightly surprised to see Origin smile at her despite the seriousness surrounding them. It was like his smile alone could melt away all of her worries and make her see the good side of things for once. That was the one thing she loved the most in Origin: he had that charisma to cheer others up and keep himself motivated.

“You’re weird, Origin!” Raine Moon told him, giggling all the while.

“And how am I weird, dear?”

“You are completely conscious that everypony around you thinks you’re not trustworthy and yet you trust them in turn, how is that not weird? I mean, I know I would distrust them too if I were in your position,” Raine answered.

“See, that’s where you and I stand on a different point of view; I have too many enemies as of now. I don’t need any more than I already have so instead on getting on everypony’s bad side; I suppose getting on their good side is a much better option, don’t you think?” Origin asked Raine Moon with his usual smile on his face.

“I guess… you’re right,” the pegasus said, a confused expression imprinted on her face.

Just as they were done talking, the train shook a bit and both Origin and Raine Moon heard the brakes of the train. Raine was tossed around a bit by the train, very much like a doll gets thrown by an angry foal, but was eventually stopped by Origin grabbing her in his magical hold. Their gazes met and as soon as the train had stopped moving completely, the pair leaned towards the other for a passionate kiss. The world around them shattered, disappearing completely, and they closed their eyes to fully enjoy the moment they shared together. Raine Moon was the first one to break away from the kiss and just looked at the changeling with a satisfied and charming expression in her eyes.

“I love you,” she told Origin as she moved in closer to kiss him on his right cheek, his chitin taking a sudden shade of dark red mixed with black.

“I love you too, Raine Moon,” Origin replied as he let the pegasus out of his magical grasp and on her hooves once more. “Now come on, let’s not make the others wait.”

The changeling led the way to the door at the end of the hallway and gently opened the rusty door, causing an unnecessary wincing to come from aged steel and hinges of the door. The pair dismissed the noise and got outside of the train and jumped down on the ground with next to no difficulty or effort. When they looked up ahead, their eyes went wide.

They had no expected the sight that was in front of them.

Looking to their left, Raine Moon spotted Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz and both Origin and Raine went to join the two friends further ahead. Several questions were asked between the four companions. The most obvious one was if they were really in Manehattan, to which none of the travelling ponies were able to answer.

Their question was soon answered when Rainbow Blitz noticed a sign near their location that read “Welcome to Baltimare”. Grim expressions overwrote the ones they had previously and they looked around in search of any clues that might explain why they were in Baltimare instead of Manehattan.

And then it happened…

Raine Moon turned around and started walking towards the train station, unaware that the train that they had used had now vanished completely. It was only when she brought her eyes up and away from the ground that she noticed the absence of a train. The pegasus was confused and she tried to locate it elsewhere or farther away in the distance but the result was always the same: nothing. There was nothing worth noting; nothing that managed to get a hold of her attention.

Raine Moon was dumbfounded and opted to go join the others instead of hurting her brain trying to figure out how that train had suddenly vanished from existence. They all had the same expression of utter confusion and even Dusk Shine had yet to figure out what could have possibly moved an object as big and massive as a train, claiming that it was impossible to do it in the first place.

“Considering the usual size and weight of a train, the caster would effectively turn his brain into jelly due to the insane amount of magic energy required. Any unicorn that would attempt so would kill themselves. So then, how can a train that big just disappear without leaving a trace? That makes no sense!” Dusk Shine shouted out loud.

“Plus, the simple fact that this entire city is in shambles makes it impossible for anypony to move it through telekinesis from within the city. Unless it could have been somepony from inside the train; somepony that analyzed the whole structure of the train to have a better grasp of its physical form and make it easier to move it but even with that, the consequences I just listed a few seconds ago would befall that unicorn anyway.”

“Dusk…” Rainbow Blitz began, quite annoyed by his friend’s ramblings.

“But that doesn’t make sense either. There’s not a single unicorn alive that is strong enough to move a train and make it disappear. I don’t even know if the princesses are able of such a feat. Or…” Dusk Shine put a hoof under his chin as he pondered about the other possibilities,” maybe the train itself was an illusion made real to trick us into taking the wrong train and render us unable to rendezvous with the princesses. But then that leaves the question of how our enemies or, specifically, Nightmare Moon could have known of our rendezvous with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in Manehattan since we’re the only ones that know of this plan of ours so that means that somepony here is a spy for Nightmare Moon. That means we’re not searching how they found out about our plan but who told them of our plan.”

“Dusk!” Rainbow Blitz shouted at the top of his lungs, successfully obtaining the unicorn’s attention.

“Oh, what is it, Blitz?” Dusk Shine asked Rainbow Blitz.

“You were rambling… again.”

“Really?” His cheeks took a crimson tint as he gave the pegasus a sheepish smile. “Oh dear, of all the times I had to go into full detail mode it had to be now.”

“Don’t worry. You just earned a few strange looks but nothing bad apart from that. In any case, we should return to the matter at hand; we need to make sure the town isn’t entirely desolate and try to find any survivor if there are any in here. Due to the fact that this is an unknown territory and we don’t know who is lurking in the shadows right now, we should stay together and investigate as a whole rather than being scattered around,” Rainbow Blitz instructed the group with a sense of leadership fit for the Lunar Guard.

The group agreed on Rainbow Blitz’s plan and set off inside the town of Baltimare. The ruined city didn’t look like it was inhabited by anypony and the way the dust and ashes had settled indicated that it had been ravaged a while ago. They looked around themselves and saw nothing but desolation and ruin.

The city that used to be Baltimare had its scenery robbed from it. The many buildings, apartments, houses and local businesses were either completely destroyed or partly destroyed in a way that it could hardly be recognized. The streets were cracked and broken beyond normal repairs on several areas, the sidewalks were completely missing in some places and most signs, those for businesses as well as those for the streets’ names, had been torn off and were nowhere to be found.

As the group continued to search through the town, they saw that even the monuments had been destroyed and that only broken sceneries remained. If that was the doing of Nightmare Moon, then she would pay dearly for the crimes she committed against Equestria and its citizens, Rainbow Blitz thought. The pegasus’ mind was racing, boiling with rage and hatred. He would see to it personally that Nightmare Moon would pay for what she had done.

That only made it harder for the group to investigate as the disturbing silence only served to make them tenser. On top of that, the grim discovery that Rainbow Blitz made after they had been searching through the town for two hours didn’t help them get rid of the growing tension slowly ensnaring them.

No amount of mental training, not even the one he went through hell to pass, could have prepared Rainbow Blitz for what he was about to discover. While they were searching through Baltimare, and entering their second hour of search, Blitz could have sworn he saw something resembling the outlines of a pony’s leg and immediately called Dusk Shine at his side.

“Mind lifting those rocks for me with your magic, friend?” He asked his unicorn friend with an authoritarian voice.

Dusk Shine complied to Rainbow Blitz’s demand and ignited his horn with his signature pearly aura. He concentrated and seemed to stare only at the rocks for a few seconds before the pile of rubble was surrounded by a pearly aura. Dusk Shine grunted and he lifted the rubble his friend had told him to move. As he lifted them, he began to recognize the form as belonging to a pony but what they found out was an entirely different story.

“By the stars…” Raine Moon gasped, her eyes wide open and her pupils the size of peas.

Before them was the decaying corpse of a pony. Just the sight was enough to make anypony want to throw up in front of such a scene and every member of the group, save for Origin, was resisting the urge to do so. While Raine looked away at the gruesome sight of the rotting remains, both Dusk and Blitz found themselves unable to look away from the scene in front on them.

They were petrified when they looked at the pony’s abdomen and saw the gaping hole right in the middle of her, as they had managed to establish the pony was female, abdomen. Her ribcage had been perforated at several places and through that hole they could see the rotting heart of that pony. Not only that but the fact that it was also in decomposition made their nausea even worse than it already was.

Her fur had all but completely fallen off of her body, exposing her skin to the world where some chunk of flesh were missing and they could see her muscles and her various veins and arteries. The stench that radiated from her body filled the two ponies’ nose with an odor so strong they were knocked back a bit. It was so strong Dusk Shine thought he had lost his sense of smell for a moment.

As they examined the pony’s rotten remains, they ended up seeing the condition her head was in. Her mouth was gruesome, to say the least. Her teeth had fallen off and the skin around her jaw had already been eaten by the worms. They could see the inside of her jaw and its bones. They were several patches of skin that were missing from her body, and even more from her face. Her nose’s bones were showing to the entire world that would find her dead body before only her skeleton would remain.

As for her eyes, those had gone through a lot more in the matter of gore. Dusk had his fill when he saw those eyes. One of them had been crushed inside her eye socket, no doubt done by the debris that had buried her, while the other only had a half remaining. Close examination indicated that it had been done by the crows that were preying on the corpses of those dead ponies all around the town’s ruins and even worse, the eye that had been half-eaten had been pulled out of its socket, allowing Rainbow Blitz to see the nerve still attached to her eye while it hung from the side of her face.

Not even her head had been spared. It had been crushed beyond belief, cracked open by the surrounding debris and dried blood showed all over her head. The worst part of it all was the fact that Blitz could see parts of her brain here and there through the many cracks in her skull.

The pegasus looked away and walked to the nearest wall he could find and smashed his hoof in a burning rage. He mumbled some things that the others could not hear but they knew exactly what was going through his mind.

“What the hell happened in here?” Rainbow Blitz, Dusk Shine and Raine Moon said altogether.

“Beats me but it seemed like the citizens went through hell indeed if you ask me,” Origin said with close to no emotions.

“What the fuck did you say?” Rainbow Blitz asked him with a death glare and a tone that was highly unlike him.

“Oops,” Origin began, staring right into the pegasus’ glare, “did I make a funny there?”

“Do you think this is a game?” Blitz was fuming with an unspeakable rage and he resisted the urge to ram Origin into a wall and give him a piece of his mind. “That used to be a living pony and you’re just mocking the fact that she did along with the rest of this town! Don’t you have a heart?”

“Considering I’m a creature that feeds off of the emotions of other living creatures, you could say my heart is metaphorical but seeing as I have blood flowing through those veins of mine, I’ll have to say I do have a literal heart after all.”

“Don’t evade my question! I asked you if you had a heart or not!”

“Well, you have to understand that I have seen a lot more than you have both as a pony and a changeling and so I probably have a higher toler—”

“Answer my bloody question!” Blitz yelled at the top of his lungs with the same glare he gave the changeling a few minutes earlier.

“No, I don’t. I have a higher tolerance to seeing death with my own two eyes. I’ve lost more brothers and sisters altogether in the last twenty years than there have been deaths in this wreck of a town. You can call me a monster if you so wish but I couldn’t care less about what you call me; your opinion of my person has little importance to me.”

“Why you!? I’ll make you pay for this! You have my word.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever, kid.” With that, Origin waved a hoof at Blitz as he walked away from the site.

“Damn, what’s his deal,” Dusk Shine muttered when he was next to Blitz.

“I don’t know but I’ll be glad once this is all over because I won’t have to bother about him anymore.”

“Do you remember what Trixie said when she came to Ponyville?” Raine Moon asked the two ponies.

“I don’t really remember most of what happened in there except for that fight with Rarity,” Blitz answered.

“Wait, I think it had something to do with her vanquishing Nightmare Moon from Baltimare…” It took Dusk a few seconds to align point A to point B. “She was here when Nightmare Moon attacked this place. That’s why she lied about her vanquishing Nightmare Moon; she wanted the glory and attention to forget about what she went through.”

“Come on. We shouldn’t linger in here for too long. Let’s continue to explore the town. Maybe there’s a survivor or two left in here, which I doubt, but we can hope.”

The two other ponies nodded and agreed to Raine’s idea, even if Blitz was still furious about what had transpired between himself and Origin. They took off from their current location and while Blitz and Dusk travelled on foot, Raine took the skies to examine from a bird’s eye view.

Though they didn’t find anything in the first hour of the renewed search, Raine Moon thought she saw something in an alley so she alighted and told the two companions about what she saw and guided them to where she had seen it. All three ponies were puzzled by what was in that alley and all hurried to the location.

Little did they know that what Raine Moon had found was not another corpse but a survivor, although one they could have done without. Before them was the Great and Powerful Trixie asleep on the wall of a collapsed house and she was in a pitiful state. She was not on the verge of death but she wasn’t the healthiest of ponies either.

Her body seemed skinnier than what it looked like back in Ponyville and while it wasn’t that noticeable, some bones could be seen from under her skin. Her mane and tail were a mess and her fur looked a bit less colorful and a bit more ragged than before. Her breathing was irregular and she mumbled some things while asleep. She mostly repeated the same thing over and over again, apologizing to somepony in her dreams, and her voice was a bit hoarse but closely resembled her old voice pitch.

For unexplained reasons, Rainbow Blitz and Dusk Shine felt pity for the mare in front of her.

Countless questions swirled through their heads as they asked themselves if her being in the state she was in now was a result of what had happened in Ponyville. What had happened to her in the last month? Why did she seem skinnier than before? Why was her fur so ragged? How long has she been in that state?

Even if they were still confused as to what to do with the mare in front of them, Dusk Shine told Blitz that they couldn’t just leave her there and let her starve to death. As much as Blitz was opposed to the idea, and even though he angrily opposed Dusk’s idea to take Trixie with them for the time being, he had no other choice but to agree to the idea.

Letting out a few curses under his breath and furiously stomping his hooves on the ground as he walked past Trixie, he told Dusk that he should be the one to carry her since it had been his idea to begin with and fumed ahead of them with a rapid pace whilst paying no heed to the looks that Raine Moon and Dusk shine were shooting at him.

“So…” Popping out of nowhere, Origin broke the silence reigning over the two ponies and said in his signature bored and condescending voice, “What’s up with him?”

“Well, to be brief, the last time we encountered Trixie, she humiliated Blitz by turning him into a snowball. Blitz wanted to impress her and shut her up at the same time but it backfired on him,” Dusk explained.

Origin looked at Dusk Shine, his mouth agape, with an incredulous expression on his face before he burst into laughter. Even if he had promised to not laugh upon hearing that, the simple image of seeing Rainbow Blitz turned into a snowball was just hilarious. It was too hard for the changeling to not laugh at such an image.

While the changeling was busy laughing his flank off, Dusk rolled his eyes as he ignored the annoyance that Origin proved to be. He ignited his horn and let his pearly aura surround Trixie’s body. Levitating various charges was not a hard task for a unicorn such as Dusk Shine but even he was careful in what he was doing.

He poured more magic in his horn and watched as the aura around Trixie intensified, doubling in thickness. It was a surprise she had not woken up, Dusk thought as he began lifting Trixie’s seamlessly weightless body. He had expected her to be heavier than this. No matter, he let his mind skim over that bit of information and concentrated on carefully placing the blue mare on his back.

“Come on, we should catch up to that thickhead before he gets himself lost in here,” Dusk Shine told his two companions as he led the way, carefully trotting as to not wake his passenger.

Origin let out a small snicker but otherwise bowed down to the demands of the unicorn ahead of him. As hard as he tried to, he simply could not take the image of Rainbow Blitz turned into a snowball out of his head. He followed the aquamarine unicorn with a broad smile on his face, a silent laughter echoing through the confines of his mind.

For the moment, the group focused on finding Blitz before something bad happened.

————

Trixie did not know where she was or what was happening to her but the one thing she was able to feel was the sensation of another pony’s fur brushing against her belly. The questions unfurled through her hazy mind but her brain was incapable of processing all of them. Amongst those that had been processed, Trixie was asking herself if she had been taken into custody.

She tried to open her heavy eyes but to no avail. Her senses were numb and just thinking proved to be painful for the blue unicorn. She tried to move her legs as a second attempt but the result was the same, she was not strong enough to move by herself and even through her weakened state, she felt a boiling anger, rage even, rise from deep within her being.

She felt powerless! What if the pony carrying Trixie wanted to molest her? What if he was a cannibal or one of those zombie ponies she had heard of when travelling to Baltimare? What if they were trying to give her a false sense of security before killing her savagely?

The Great and Powerful Trixie shall not stand for this offense to her person! Trixie thought in complete and utter revolt at the treatment that was done to her.

Trixie’s eyes shot open as she regained her senses slowly. She could feel her hooves again and she looked at her surrounding with a quick turn of her head. With that little peek, she was able to establish that she was being carried by a male unicorn.

From her perspective, he had not noticed that she had woken up but even at that point, Trixie was blushing with a deep red on her cheeks. She felt indignation fill her. Of course it was insulting to her! The Great and Powerful Trixie did not require the help of anypony. She was fine by herself and she would prove that group of ponies so.

Unannounced, she began struggling on the back of her captor, kicking her legs in the air, desperately attempting to harm the unicorn that was carrying her. Despite her efforts and her will to do so, the only thing that the Great and Powerful Trixie was able to do was fall off of the back of the unicorn.

She saw the unicorn turn around with a concerned expression on his face, approaching her and asking her if she was alright. Although her mind was still hazy, there was no mistaking that stallion. It was the same stallion she had encountered in Ponyville. The very same one that was acquainted to that arrogant pegasus.

“What do you want now?! Have you come to humiliate Trixie when she is on the ground?” Trixie yelled at Dusk, glaring daggers straight into Dusk Shine’s being. Her glare was so menacing and sharp he could feel his inside turn in anxiety and terror.

Dusk Shine had seldom seen a pony react like that. He had never observed a pony hate another pony so much. Trixie’s hate burned so much he was able to feel it in the air. He took a few steps back in completely silence, only gulping at the unicorn’s glare.

“N-n-no!” Dusk said, finally breaking out of his trance. “We found you asleep in here and you looked in a pitiable condition. I couldn’t leave you behind. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I had left you behind.”

“I assure you, Trixie does not need your pity. She can do just fine on her own. She has managed well enough so far and she will continue to do so in the coming future.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Blitz said, brutally shoving Dusk Shine aside. An act that soon earned him the glare of his unicorn friend even if it was a glare he completely ignored. “That’s why you’re in such a miserable condition. If you can manage on your own, how do you explain the fact that we can nearly see your bones underneath your skin?”

It was all too noticeable. Trixie’s form had become more than skinny; it was all skin and bone. Even her fur had lost its once prideful color and her mane was dirtier than ever. Dirt, specks of sand, rock and earth clung to the mess her mane was.

She shook her head. She was not going to be treated like this by a mere pegasus that did not know his place. She opened her mouth to retort but she found her muzzle sealed tight by the white pegasus now in front of her.

“Now you listen to me, Great and Powerful Trixie. You’re only here with us because Dusk here had to listen to his conscience and had to save you but let me assure you, I don’t like being with you as much as you don’t like being with us so let’s get one thing clear between the two of us: if it had only been for me, I would have left you rotting in that alley, unknown by most and unnoticed by all,” Blitz told the mare coldly, his hoof still on her mouth while he gave her a glare that matched hers. “Are we clear on that because if you’re not, I don’t mind having to drag you back and throw you into that shitty little alley we found you in!”

Trixie merely nodded at the pegasus’ outburst. No words. She had no words to explain how she felt. She felt insulted, attacked, insecure, wary, angry, furious, spiteful and afraid but even if the emotions were there, she could not explain how she felt towards all those feelings.

However, Trixie ended up glaring at the pegasus again and furiously retorted, “How dare you address the Great and Powerful with such an insolent and arrogant tone?! Oh well, I did not expect a mere brute to act any other way. It’s always the same with you stallions; when things don’t go your way, you just start using brute force to make others bow down to your will. You will find that Trixie will not be pushed around like that so easily!”

“Why you little pi—” Rainbow Blitz began as he raised a hoof, ready to strike Trixie if need be. However, he was stopped in his track by the sound of rubble crumbling down and the disturbing footsteps that he was able to hear.

He looked to his right and left and saw nothing but the sounds were still there. They still rung in his ears, making waves of uncertainty, discomfort and uneasiness wash over him. His fur had all but risen on his skin and even his legs were shaking a bit. Even the pegasus wasn’t sure whether if it was from excitement or fear or both as he had not given the matter some thoughts.

The sounds continued to haunt the group for a few minutes, never dying down or going away. Rainbow Blitz had yet to identify what caused those sounds but he didn’t want to risk investigating through the sky in case whatever had caused the sounds was also able to fly. Blitz hated to admit it but he was at the end of his wits. He did not know what to do.

He turned around and stared at Dusk Shine with eyes wide open, looking for an answer or explication from the unicorn but the way he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders gave it away quickly: he did not know what exactly was happening either. Dusk Shine was just as puzzled as Rainbow Blitz was.

The sounds were now more frequent, sending chills down the spine of every member of the group, save for Origin as he was obviously oblivious to what was happening and simply had a look that told the others he could care less about the situation to begin with, and they had yet to identify the source of their fear. No matter how hard they tried to look at the matter objectively, logically and rationally, they were not able to come down with a single conclusion.

Rainbow Blitz was shocked, a gasp escaping his mouth, when he heard the sound of a limping pony dragging his or her leg on the ground coming from behind him. He slowly turned around, beads of sweat rolling down his fur, and lazily brought his eyes over a grim figure.

Before him stood the pony they had seen earlier. Her body was in perfect condition but there were no mistaking it. That pony was the dead pony Blitz had found in the debris before finding Trixie. And yet there was something off about that pony. It was something Dusk Shine had noticed when he had laid eyes on the pony.

There were no flames in her eyes.

“Dusk, do you think she’s—” Blitz began asking the unicorn but the nods the former made said as much.

Damn it! She must not be alone then!” Blitz exclaimed in a loud, booming voice. Dusk Shine merely put a hoof on his forehead and shook his head in complete and utter disapproval of Blitz’s bluntness.

“Mother…” Trixie said slowly, her voice shaking and wavering. “Is that you?”

“Wait, what?!” Rainbow Blitz asked in an outburst. “You mean to tell me that the pony that is standing in front of me is your mother?” Trixie nodded with hesitation, an empty and saddened expression on her face. “Yeah, sorry to break you the news but your mom’s dead, Trixie.”

Trixie simply scoffed at the pegasus and waved a hoof in the air while staring at Blitz with a nonchalant expression. “You are not announcing anything new to Trixie, you simpleton. Trixie’s mother has been dead for years. Trixie is merely puzzled at the scene.”

“When we found you, you were asleep. That must have been then that Nightmare Moon found her way into your dreams and made them real,” Raine Moon said calmly and coldly. She still held a grudge against Trixie for what had happened before in Ponyville.

“Get in Trixie’s dreams?” Trixie repeated while she stared into Raine Moon’s cold and apathetic gaze. Her expression screamed and desperately asked what the dark blue mare meant by that. “Trixie demands that you explain what you mean. After all, being the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria, Trixie has developed strong locks around her mind. It would be hard to breach her mental defense.”

“And that’s where you overlooked one detail,” Raine replied with a bitter tone. “You overlooked the fact that Nightmare Moon can manipulate dreams to her liking. Dreams are her playground and no one is safe from her while they sleep.”

“Oh please!” Trixie simply waved a hoof through the air, brushing aside Raine Moon’s reply and proceeded into shooting a glare at the pegasus mare. “Trixie has faced Nightmare Moon before and managed to vanquish her. She would not be so easily tricked by her mind—”

“Keep lying to yourself and see how long this pile of crap’s gonna stay on the road, Trixie. Now, let me ask you something before we scram because we’re getting outnumbered here. What drove you to invent such an intricate lie about yourself? Was it to boost your ego? To reassure you about your uselessness? Why go to such lengths just to end up lying to yourself?”

“Trixie does not know what you mean, pegasus!” Trixie barked while still glaring at Raine Moon. “Trixie is only telling the truth about herself.”

“Shut it you two! “Blitz said, butting in the two mares’ conversation. “We need to get away from them first.”

Blitz pointed at each side of the alley and both of them housed at least a dozen ponies, if not more, slowly approaching the group. He glared at the two mares and signaled Raine Moon to drop the matter until they were out of the situation. She groaned but nodded nonetheless and was obviously unhappy about the turn of events.

Raine only glared down at Trixie as she spread her wings and took flight. “You grab her, Origin. I feel I might accidentally drop her if I grab her.”

Origin looked at the mare he loved and rolled his eyes. Such a bossy mare, he thought. However, he still yielded to her demand. With a flick of his horn and a quick spell, a green dome of flames appeared around him. The flames around him soon vanished and instead of a white unicorn stood a changeling scout.

“What are you?” Trixie demanded, utterly distraught by the appearance of Origin’s true form.

“You can ask questions later. Right now, we need to get out of this mess so either I grab you and you don’t make things easy for me or you comply and make things easy for both of us,” Origin replied calmly. His voice was neither soft nor bitter. It was void of any emotions and yet it was so calm.

Trixie did not reply so Origin spread his wings and flapped them. Once he was up in the air, he took the unicorn mare by her midsection and then took more altitude, following the others ahead of him. He sighed as he asked himself why he was doing this. He could have easily left Trixie down there at the mercy of those ponies so why didn’t he? That was the question that was roaming in his mind. Of course, it was obvious to anypony else that he did it for Raine Moon’s sake.

Origin soon caught up to the group with Trixie complaining about the way he handled her, whining about how she was not just some piece of furniture he could just pick up however he wanted. When will she ever shut up, Origin thought to himself. He tried his hardest to block her out of his mind but her endless complaining just made it harder for the changeling. He was really considering dropping her at this point.

Not that she’d be missed anyway, Origin thought.

He endured his torture until Blitz found a spot where they could alight and drop Dusk Shine and their guest. Origin was more than happy to let go of the unicorn, glaring daggers at Raine for making him put up with Trixie. The dark blue pegasus looked back at him and just offered a sheepish smile. This won’t work this time, the changeling burst in his mind. She was not going to claim innocence with that little innocent grin.

“Sometimes, Raine, you’re a mischievous little demon,” Origin told her.

“I know. That’s why you like me.”

“Touché,” the changeling replied.

“Can you simpletons explain to Trixie what is going on here?!” Trixie let out at the little act Origin and Raine put together.

“It’s a really long story, Trixie and I’m not sure we have the luxury of time to tell it to you,” Raine told Trixie with an unintentional cold voice.

“Trixie assures you, she has all day and she also guesses that those ponies back there will take a while to find us so why don’t you just sit down and tell Trixie just exactly what is going on around here?”

“I guess you do have a point there,” Raine admitted, bringing a hoof to her forehead, “but I just don’t know where to start if you want me to explain everything.”

“Start at the beginning. Trixie wants to know what she’s in for right now.”

“Okay, but on one condition, Trixie,” Raine told the blue unicorn.

“And what would that be?”

“After I’m done explaining the situation to you, you’ll tell us why you’re here and why you lied to everypony in Ponyville about what happened to Baltimare. Deal?” the pegasus inquired. She was soon answered by a nod from Trixie.

Raine Moon began telling Trixie of everything that had happened while keeping everything that was of little importance, such as herself being the daughter of Nightmare Moon, out of the subject. She told Trixie what happened in the Everfree: how she came to be charged with murder and nearly executed on the public square and how Nightmare Moon had declared war on Equestria and how she had set out on a quest to avenge those that were killed by Nightmare Moon. While that last bit was a bit of a lie, it was not a harmful lie since it was also one of the reasons they were after Nightmare Moon: to avenge the six mares she had killed.

Raine told the unicorn of how they were sent to Ponyville under the warning that a troublemaker would make an appearance there. The dark blue pegasus talked about their various trips across Equestria and how they went from Appleloosa to Las Pegasus. Thankfully for Origin, Raine Moon kept the changelings out of story and to her great surprise, neither Dusk nor Blitz made an intervention about them.

She finished her little story by explaining how they had been required to head to Manehattan but ended up taking the wrong train and ending up in Baltimare.

“And here we are; lost in Baltimare and surrounded by ponies looking to harm us,” Raine Moon said, finally done with her story.

Trixie was largely unimpressed. The group in front of her was indeed a mediocre one at best. From what she had been told by Raine Moon, they were mostly visiting a lot of cities and that seemed to be it. Trixie had obviously overcome a lot more in the last month than they have faced, if they had faced anything to begin with.

“Alright, it’s your turn to tell us your story, Trixie. Why are you here of all places and why did you lie to everypony in Ponyville?” Dusk Shine asked the mare.

“Trixie does not like to discuss of this matter openly,” Trixie replied with her head hung low.

“We had a deal, Trixie. We told you about what is happening in Equestria and now, it’s your turn to tell your own story.”

“Fine but Trixie asks that you keep your pity for yourselves.”

“I promise,” Raine Moon said. She was soon joined by her three other companions although groans could be heard coming from them.

With that done, Trixie cleared her throat and began telling the group about her own life. She was born in Baltimare and had a peaceful foalhood until her parents succumbed to a disease. She was orphaned and soon on the streets with nothing. No food, no water, no beds. She did not possess anything anymore.

During those times, Trixie said that she had nearly succumbed to despair on more than one occasion but that despite that, the citizens of Baltimare had taken it upon themselves to help her out. It wasn’t anything that great or extraordinary. Sometimes, the bakery owner would give her the imperfect products they had made that day and some other brought the filly water. They made sure that she would not die.

“What about adoption? I’m sure there’s more than one couple that might have proposed that, right?” Rainbow Blitz asked Trixie during a pause in her life story.

“Trixie does not like begging for the pity of others. She is a proud pony and as such does not require the help of other ponies. Now, listen to what I have to say without interruption this time!” Trixie replied venomously, much to the white pegasus’ annoyance.

“Now, as Trixie was saying, the citizens of Baltimare quickly became Trixie’s new family and she was quite grateful for their support. However, one day, Trixie left the town in search of her own talent. She already knew she was destined for great things so finding her special talent was not a hard thing at all. Trixie eventually found her cutie mark when she discovered the use of illusionary magic. Not a lot of unicorns use that art but Trixie learned to master it and—what is it this time?” Trixie groaned upon seeing Dusk Shine with his left hoof raised in the air.

“That isn’t exactly correct. It is believed that illusionary magic is rare to master or learn but in truth, every single spell unicorns use is descended from illusionary magic so you’re not a one-of-a-kind unicorn. You’re just any other unicorn that found an innate potential within the base of modern magic as we know it,” Dusk explained calmly and arrogantly, finishing his lecture with a smirk aimed at Trixie.

“Trixie thanks you for this lecture but this is not something new to the Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie knew this but judged it to be unimportant to the other ponies here you’re the only other unicorn in the group at the exception of that thing over there,” Trixie said, her eyes staring straight into Origin’s.

“That thing has name, y’know. And my name is Origin, O’ Arrogant and Disrespectful Trixie!”

“Ha! Cute. Nevertheless, Trixie does not know what you are so she did not consider you as being able to wield magic. Besides, Trixie doubts a creature such as yourself can wield complicated magic or even modern Equestrian magic!”

“Why, you little—” Origin stopped talking when he saw that Raine Moon was doing several signs to tell him to stop talking. He could have easily chosen to shut her up but with a little bit of retrospection, he figured that this was probably what Trixie wanted to achieve.

“I’ll have you know that I am capable of magic far superior than what you’re capable of, you arrogant twat!” Origin replied with a large grin. “But, if you claim you’re better than me at magic then I guess you’re able to split your mind in two? Or summon magical weapons using the surrounding magical energy? Or teleport or even change your appearance at will?”

“Well,” Trixie began, her lips trembling and a befuddled expression over her face, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is exactly what she is. Great and powerful! Everything you can do, she can do better!”

“Trixie...” Raine began. Her eyes showed sadness, compassion, empathy and understanding for the mare in front of her. “What exactly happened to you after Nightmare Moon’s attack on Baltimare?”

“Trixie does not wish to answer such a question. Her personal life has nothing to do with the matter at hand!” Trixie said aggressively, making Raine Moon back off a bit.

“We had a deal, Trixie!” Dusk Shine told the blue unicorn, reminding her of her agreement with the group beforehand. “Tell us what happened back then. Why did you need to invent such a lie around yourself?”

Trixie looked at Dusk and then looked at Raine and eventually her gaze met with the ground. Trixie could not bring herself to tell those ponies about her own personal life so easily. She did not want their pity and neither did she need it. She remained speechless the entire time she pondered on the matter.

Dusk tried to be patient and tolerant of the unicorn but even his patience had a limit and he had reached it. He went into a small outrage and yelled at Trixie for being a coward and a pony that couldn’t keep her promises. He fumed out of earshot for the three remaining ponies while Blitz went after him.

“Trixie, tell us. What happened to you after Nightmare Moon attacked Baltimare?” Raine asked again.

“Trixie isn’t getting out of this one, is she?” Trixie sighed before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. “There is no doubt that Trixie loved the citizens of Baltimare and even when Nightmare Moon attacked, she tried to save as many ponies as she could. Trixie tried her hardest but each one of them… each and every single one of them…”

Raine understood the implications of what Trixie was telling them yet remained respectful enough not to delve deeper than that. She believed that the mare had gone through enough stress as it is and that she didn’t need any more tormenting from other ponies.

But Origin did not share her thoughts on that one.

“What happened to them, Trixie? What happened that is capable of rendering a proud mare like you into a snivelling coward?”

“Origin, don’t you think you’re pushing it a little too far?” Raine asked him with a worried look on her face to which he replied with a scoff and then turned his back on the two mares. “There’s no need to actually make her burst into tears.”

“Trixie is stronger than this, you know. She just doesn’t like to be reminded of what happened here not so long ago. Everypony she cared about and that cared for her died here because of Nightmare Moon attacking Baltimare upon her return.”

“Kinda makes me think of my own situation, in a certain way,” Raine muttered under her breath.

“Why? Did Trixie’s story make you remember something similar to what happened to her?” the blue unicorn inquired with a perplexed expression on her face.

“That… is of no consequence. I told you my part of the story and I wish to keep my personal life out of this matter. I already have enough on my mind as it is, such as finding out what Nightmare Moon is scheming this time around.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie was kind enough to tell you her personal life story. Wouldn’t it be fair for you to tell Trixie your life story in exchange?” Trixie asked Raine Moon. Needless to say, Raine was not interested in sharing her personal life.

“I already told you. My personal life is of no consequence. You knowing it wouldn’t change a lot and I don’t like to go running around telling everypony about my life. Unlike a certain somepony, I’m not an attention wh—”

“We got a problem. Those dream ponies found us. We have two choices: we fight or we run!” Dusk Shine announced. “And to be completely honest, I prefer the fight choice so we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“And I guess that’s my cue. Are you going to be alright guiding Trixie to safety, Raine?” Origin inquired.

“I should be alright, although I don’t really like the idea of staying together with her for a long period of time.”

“Are you going to take all day, Origin? We need you right now!” Rainbow Blitz barked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. No need to get all worked up,” Origin replied. “Besides, it’s not like you’re useless without me.”

“Whatever,” Blitz harshly replied. “Just drag your flank over here.”

The changeling sighed before heading to where Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz were positioned and ignited his horn with a teal aura, summoning a flock of magical weapons to his side. Trixie watched the changeling with her jaw hung wide open while her mind was trying to understand how a creature that was not a pony could use magic like that.

“B-b-but, how did he do that?” Trixie managed to stammer through her current state of mind.

“No time for that!” Raine Moon exclaimed as she spread her wings and grabbed Trixie by her midsection. “Up we go!”

Taken by surprise by the dark blue pegasus taking off, Trixie let out a scream of terror when she felt that her hooves were off of the ground. She tried to break free of the pegasus’s grasp on her but Raine ignored the panicked unicorn and strengthened her hold on Trixie.

Raine Moon continued to ascend in the air until was at the same level as the roof of the building to their left. She moved over to the roof’s surface and dropped the unicorn, earning the mare’s glare in the process. Raine shrugged it off and simply placed herself on the roof so she could see what was happening down there.

————

Dusk Shine tried his best to respect Trixie’s wishes about not killing the ponies that were assaulting them and even if Rainbow Blitz and Origin had completely ignored her demand, he was still trying to do it. He had not injured a single pony with a fatal wound.

All he did was restrain them to the best of his abilities. But, as it should have been expected from his comrades, they would take the occasion of those ponies being restrained to earn a quick kill. The unicorn sighed at his companions’ savagery.

The next ponies that approached him were all caught by the traps he had placed on the ground at key locations and they were instantly bound by magical shackles. Dusk Shine summoned even more magic to his horn and quickly channelled it before unleashing a shockwave to push back the now-bound ponies. He then placed another set of traps around him and waited for the ponies to gather around and repeat that same process over and over again.

The only thing is that he would run out of magical energy before all of those ponies would be vanquished and he knew it all too well. There was not going to be enough surrounding magical energy for him to collect and channel through his horn. Unless he changed location to another suitable location, he would soon become useless to Blitz and Origin.

“Blitz, I’m not going to be able to keep this up for very long,” Dusk shouted at Blitz.

“Damnit! And you couldn’t tell me that earlier? We’re kinda stuck here!”

“Oh, for crying out loud! You guys are hopeless!” Origin exclaimed in anger.

Star, I’m going to need your help! Origin shouted deep in his mind and felt a familiar tingle touch his consciousness.

Again? You’re working me tireless, you know that, Origin? the voice replied in his head.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m not really giving you a choice here, Star. I only split my mind in two when I need you anyway.

Well, I can see you’re handling the situation quite well, although I can’t say the same for your two companions. In any case, what do you need me for? We’re essentially one and the same.

That’s not the matter, Star Blaze. I have to tap into your full potential and you’re the one that’s able to fully mix pony magic with changeling magic and make it work. I need you on this one, Origin told Star Blaze.

Oh-ho! Calling me by my full name, are we? This must be serious then! Starblaze spoke back with a sarcastic tone of voice.

I thought I had already established that basis for you, Star. I need your extended knowledge in pony magic, which I can’t wield without your intervention.

Fine, fine. Make some room for me then! the voice shouted hectically before pushing itself against Origin’s consciousness and separating from it.

“Alright, let’s rock!” Origin exclaimed as he unleashed a wave of magic that knocked all of his assailants away from him.

He continued to pour magic into his spell, widening his stance to accommodate the strain he was going through. Soon enough, a dome of brilliant white flames appeared around him and slowly began to expand around him. It engulfed Dusk Shine and Rainbow Blitz without causing any kind of injuries to both ponies.

When it touched a puppet, it was burned away into dust. The dome caught them in a trap and slowly ate their fake flesh, leaving nothing but ashes behind. Origin’s white dome quickly came to an end after a certain distance with the way his magic was still limited by his changeling limitations. But even then it had still eliminated a considerable amount of puppets.

Origin and Star Blaze’s intervention had given the two other combatants some time to breathe before more puppets would arrive, which let Dusk explore the surrounding a bit more. In general, there wasn’t really anything really important.

Well, that was before Dusk managed to find a clock that was still working in ruins of a house. His eyes widened, not expecting to see the time on the clock. While it was indicating that the sun was supposed to be at its zenith, the moon was up in the sky. That not only surprised Dusk but also confused him.

Countless questions popped in his mind but none of them were answered when he heard a lot of hoofsteps heading his way. He turned his head to see the Equestrian Army coming into the town by the numbers. That in itself was a rare sight. The army rarely deployed in such number.

And the one leading the army was none other than Chancellor Check Mate himself, Equestria’s High Council leader. Not only did he rarely leave the palace of Canterlot, he also rarely associated his name with the Equestrian military. If he was at the head of an armed force, something bad must have had happened.

“C-Chancellor!” Dusk exclaimed in complete astonishment. “To what do we owe such a visit in this town?”

“I have a mandate to bring the traitors Dusk Shine, Rainbow Blitz and Raine Moon back to Canterlot to face justice; dead or alive.”

“What…?” was all that Rainbow Blitz and Dusk Shine were able to say.

End of Chapter Ten