The Days of The Eclipse

Chapter Five: Nightmares Revisited

By Star Origin

Raine, Blitz, Dusk and Origin split up in Appleloosa to see if there were any ponies remaining and conscious. Their search weren’t exactly fruitful. They found a grand total of zero inhabitants in the first half of the town. They regrouped after their search efforts were obviously met by total failure. They were about to go explore the other half of Appleloosa but something—or rather somepony—stopped them from taking another step. They were just frozen in place.

“I hope you are enjoying yourselves right now, my little ponies. It’s sad that the town’s inhabitants aren’t here to welcome you to their town of Appleloosa, I wonder where they could be,” said the echoing voice of Nightmare Moon.

“What have you done to them? They are innocent in all of this, Nightmare Moon!” replied Dusk at the top of his lungs.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t done anything serious to them… yet. Let’s just say that I have played my first pawn in this game of chess. You see, you say that they are innocent, I say that they are rightful pawns for me to use against your princesses.”

Her voice showed no shame whatsoever and she was using a condescending tone.

“Let them go!” exclaimed Blitz. “They are not pawns that are replaced over time. Those are lives you are toying with! Do you really want that blood on your hooves, Nightmare Moon?!”

“What, you mean like the way you so easily disposed of Rarity or how you were so readily ready to cast Raine’s life away just to have your thirst for revenge satisfied? I’m sorry but I haven’t killed anypony. You, on the other hoof, can’t really say the same. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant Blitz of the 63rd Squadron?”

Dusk was the first one to react to this, knowing his friend’s time in the royal guard under a different name. “Blitz… how did she know?”

“I don’t know, Dusk. But I well intend on finding out,” Blitz replied. “Hey, Nightmare Moon, how do you know about the time I served in the royal guards?”

“Silly pony, I am Nightmare Moon. I am the Mistress of Dreams. Dreams are mine to control and mine to observe as I see fit!”

“Answer us now and stop changing the subject, mom! Where are the ponies that live in this town?” Raine inquired, not exactly pleased by the way her mother was switching the subject with such ease.

“Hmm, looks like somepony grew a spine in the short time I left you on your own. Don’t worry, we’ll fix that later on. When I’m done with you, you will be nothing more than a sniveling coward!” Nightmare Moon spoke, making a promise out of her statement due to the seriousness of it all.

There was no hiding the fear Raine was feeling but she looked at her companions, who all nodded at her with confident eyes. Yet, all of them were also afraid because they were basically walking straight into the mare’s trap.

“I asked you what you did to the ponies of Appleloosa and I expect an answer! Now answer me, Nightmare Moon!” Raine shouted at her mother, wherever she was.

“Watch the tone, foal! Or do you seem to be forgetting that I can end you with a single thought. Still, if you want answers, you should try checking what time it is.”

And with that, Nightmare Moon ceased to talk. Well, it was Dusk that announced it when he felt her presence withdraw slightly from where they were. Her ominous presence was still present, that he was still sure of, but it was not as strong as it was. If Dusk had to make any assumptions, he would say that she had extended her presence to their location simply to scare them and to taunt them into coming right onto her chess game.

They still did. They knew it was a trap but they still had to see what had happened to the ponies of Appleloosa. However, they knew that carelessly roaming in the town was dangerous because they were in enemy territory so they stayed where they were until they could find out what Nightmare Moon meant in her riddle. She told us to look at the time but what does that mean? Blitz asked himself.

Eventually, both Origin and Dusk came with the answer as they heard the town’s clock tower. It clicked inside their mind that it was what Nightmare Moon had implied with her riddle. Reminding everypony of the danger that awaited them ahead, Dusk took the lead and rushed to the center of the town to see what was there.

They, however, weren’t prepared for what they saw…

From what they could see, every pony that lived in Appleloosa were all collected in the center of the town and all of them were unconscious. There were no exceptions, all of them had already fallen victim to Nightmare Moon’s magic. In a desperate attempt to save the ponies, Blitz told the group that they should try to wake the ponies.

They tried and tried but no matter how much they called the ponies or shook them, they showed no signs of waking up. It was as if they were put to sleep by force and that they were forced to stay in that state. Of course, it didn’t take long for Dusk and Raine to realize that Nightmare Moon was holding them under her magic.

“So, how do you like the show? Gorgeous, is it not? You simple ponies live such mundane lives,” stated Nightmare Moon. “I found that boring so I thought they’d enjoy being my servants instead and what do you know? Here they are, under my total control.”

“Release them! They have nothing to do in all of this and they are not your pawns. Ponies are capable of independent thinking,” Dusk told Nightmare Moon, searching for the alicorn all the while.

“Oh, you ponies are simply hilarious! Capable of independent thinking? Then why in Equestria are you still depending on the Royal Pony Sisters to survive. In fact, you have always depended on us alicorns for everything. When you thought that your unicorns were capable of controlling the sun and the moon, it was all but an act. Alicorns were the ones doing it in a land far away from Equestria!” retorted Nightmare Moon.

“So what?! All the unicorns that attended the Academy for Talented Unicorns know that. It is part of our historical education! What’s your point for bringing that up?” queried Dusk, determined to counter-argument the alicorn with each element she would bring up.

“My point is that you ponies have always known that, deep down, you are meant to be inferior to other ponies. In other words, I am meant to be your master and you will obey me. Otherwise, you shall know death.”

“Is that all you can say, Nightmare Moon?” asked Origin, who was not exactly impressed by the mare’s threats. “With you, it’s either submit or die? Please, that’s an overused trope.”

“Uhh… What’s a ‘trope’ Origin?” Raine asked, giving the changeling a weird look.

“Dunno. First thing that came to my mind. Why?” Origin asked, returning the question.

“Nothing, it’s just the first time I hear of that word. I knew you were making a witty comment but that word was just unknown to my ears,” admitted Raine.

“YOU DARE IGNORE NIGHTMARE MOON?”

“Well, it ain’t my fault you’re not giving us a good show,” replied Origin.

The grin he had put on to provoke Nightmare Moon made the mare lose her temper against his arrogance. “Rise, my minions, and dispose of those who would rebel against me!”

Suddenly, all the ponies that were thought to be unconscious rose one by one. Then, they began to chant something about the greatness of Nightmare Moon as they slowly marched towards the four ponies.

Still, while the entire scene was kind of scary, it was the ponies’ eyes that scared the group the most. At that point, they could barely be called eyes. All there was to look at was an empty abyss of darkness. Whatever Nightmare Moon did to them, it had completely numbed their personalities and all that was left in the end was a hollow shell.

It didn’t take long for the ponies to flee the scene as the possessed ponies were getting closer and closer. But when they began to run away from them, the ponies under Nightmare Moon’s spell also gave chase to the group of ponies.  They tried to outrun them but as they took a turn, more ponies appeared at the end of the path, forcing them to take another route each time.

Eventually, their pursuers cornered them, leaving them with only two choices; fight or surrender. And if Blitz’s pride had anything to say at all, it would be but giving up. He was the first one to bring up the idea of fighting back. Dusk was being hesitant but when he realized that surrendering probably meant that their lives would be forfeit, he felt compelled to fight back as well.

“All right, everypony! We have no other choices but to fight back now. I had hoped it wouldn’t come down to this but at the very least, do your best to leave those ponies unharmed. We are here to save them, not the opposite,” Dusk told the rest of the group.

“Understood!” replied the three other ponies, although Raine knew she didn’t have the abilities required to put up much of a fight.

Blitz stretched his wings and in a matter of seconds, he had disappeared in the sky. Knowing what his friend was planning to do, Dusk immediately charged his horn with magic and as soon as he had enough magical energy, he summoned an energy barrier around a large group of possessed ponies. They tried to break it but they were met by failure, mainly because the ponies of Appleloosa were mainly, if not all, Earth ponies.

Moments later, Blitz was seen coming back from the sky, his body shivering because of all the ice that covered him. Behind him was a trail of snow. Blitz locked his eyes in Dusk’s and the two nodded. Regardless, Blitz wasn’t halting his dive although he did change his trajectory so he wouldn’t break his neck by crashing on the ground head first. He instead kept his speed and when he was above the barrier the aquamarine unicorn had summoned, he spiralled upwards and thus allowed the snow to gather around the magic bubble. Dusk made his magic reach out for the snow and using a few simple spells, he made it so he was able to make an endless supply of snow at his disposal.

Just before he was ready to cast a second spell, Dusk released the magical barrier he had willed and quickly shouted, “Ice Bloom!”

He made his magic reach out for the snow after he had made the barrier disappear and he began to alter the nature of the snow collected around the hostile ponies. Every snowflake reacted violently and they soon began to implode one by one, causing the zone around to freeze. With the amount of snowflakes Dusk had created, ice began to form around a large group of ponies, encasing them in thick walls of ice. On the outside, the form the ice took looked like a pillar fully covered by ice flowers.

“Time for phase two, Blitz!” Dusk shouted so his friend would hear him correctly.

“Are you sure?” Blitz inquired, uncertain if his friend was being serious or not. “Last time I tried to do that, I killed my sparring partner.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m a tough cookie. I just need to set up a barrier around me and use it to absorb the pure energy. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to harness it to my liking,” Dusk replied, trying to reassure his friend and put faith back in him.

“I’ll take your words for it, Dusk, but promise me you’ll stay safe. After losing my sister, I couldn’t stand losing you as my friend.”

“I promise you, Blitz. I promise to not die. You know how I am, right” asked the aquamarine pony, a large grin on his face.

Blitz nodded and once again ascended in the sky. This time, however, he did not rise as much as the last time. No, he just rose high enough to find a cloud charged with lightning. Sure, Pegasi could manipulate clouds to their liking but they were still clouds that only served a few purposes, such as lightning-charged clouds. They weren’t exactly dangerous to Pegasi, except if they bounced on it carelessly, but they could bring about the death of others if they touched those clouds like that without any protection on them. What Blitz and Dusk were about to do was much more riskier than that.

What they intended to do was to use a pure lightning bolt and direct it at Dusk so he could harness the raw energy of the electricity to cast an extremely powerful and dangerous spell. They basically played with Dusk’s life but if they pulled it off successfully, Dusk would have to channel the spell with care otherwise he would just kill the possessed ponies.

Dusk saw Blitz come back a few minutes later, pushing what seemed to be a cumulonimbus cloud. It was dangerously black and it looked like it contained an extremely high level of electricity in it. Still, Dusk flared his horn, summoning a small barrier around himself and nodded, signaling Blitz that he was ready.

Reluctant, Blitz nodded back and kicked the cloud with his hind legs. Right after his hooves connected with the cloud, it sent a large lightning bolt straight at Blitz. It wouldn’t have done that if Dusk hadn’t been using his magic to draw the bolt right at him. The lightning bolt simply cracked through the sky but when it came in contact with Dusk’s force barrier, it just hit the barrier.

The electricity, however, was everywhere on the barrier so if Dusk removed it too soon, it would kill him. After all, that was basically the electric charge contained in the lightning bolt swarming around him. Charging his horn with even more magical energy, Dusk created a small opening in his barrier in the form of a tube that linked directly to his horn.

His plan was to slowly but surely absorb all of the electricity into his horn and then convert in in a spell for him to use afterwards. However, at the speed it was going, the possessed ponies would stop him before he could even finish doing it.

“Origin! I need you to buy Dusk some time. Do whatever you can to help but don’t let those ponies come anywhere near him. And don’t kill those ponies!” Blitz ordered!

“Hmph! Who made you the boss around here?” Origin scoffed, not liking how Blitz was just barking orders at him.

“I’m not the boss but I seem to be the one that has the most experience on the battlefield. Just do it, okay?!”

“Fine, whatever,” scowled Origin.

Never the less, the changeling took an offensive stance but before he did anything, he turned his head to look at Raine and calmly asked, “Think you can spare me a few portions of that hope of yours, Raine?”

“Wh-what do you mean by that? How can I spare an emotion?” Raine queried, slightly confused because of his inquiry.

“Changeling, remember? Don’t worry, I don’t need all that much. Just a little bit to give me enough energy to cast an effective but harmless spell.” Origin really did try to explain the situation as well as he could so he wouldn’t scare Raine, which happened to be something he didn’t want to do.

“Oh, sure. If you put it that way then I guess I don’t mind if you only take a small portion of it.”

Raine didn’t even get an answer before she saw the horn of the changeling flare with a pale green aura. His eyes also started to glow. She began to feel dizzy and started to get headaches when she felt something enter her mind. Fearing it might be Nightmare Moon, she quickly yelled in her mind, telling the presence to get out of her head. However, it did not and before she could protest any more, she heard the voice of Origin telling her that it was alright and that he had to establish a link between to the pony he was feeding from before actually feeding off of any desired emotions.

He also told her that he had chosen her hope as his energy boost because out of every emotions Raine had, hope was the strongest of them all. As strange as it seemed, he explained that she had unconsciously hoped that things would get better; that she could get a life of peace. Those wishes only helped to make her hope grow stronger and stronger.

Enough idle talk now, I think you get the point!

Before she could even say anything, Raine felt Origin’s presence disappear as quickly as it had appeared. Her headaches finally stopped and she opened her eyes to find Origin grinning at her, his horn flaring with magical energy.

“Thanks for the gift, Raine. I’ll be sure to use it well,” he told her before he turned his head again, this time to look at the possessed ponies.

A single flamed appeared on the tip of his horn. It was as green, if not darker, as the green his magical aura possessed. The flame pulsed and the next moment, it was on the ground and right in the middle of a rather large mob of ponies. The flame pulsed several times, growing in size each time. However, although it was a flame, it did not even burn fur or flesh. In fact, it was nearly like immaterial fire. It was just there to be there.

Having engulfed a large number of ponies inside his flame, Origin poured even more magical energy into his horn, making it glow with a darker shade of green and when he hit the bottom of his main well of emotions, he stopped everything and simply cast the spell.

“Freezing Flame!” Origin yelled as he cast his strange spell.

When the spell was cast, the flame that engulfed the opposing ponies inside it began to harden, eventually hardening to crystal state. The ponies stuck inside it were unable to move; they were restricted of any kind of movement whatsoever inside that crystal. On his side, Origin wobbled slightly as he finished casting his spell, the energy he had used had drained him of most of his main well of emotions, which was basically a changeling’s supply of energy.

He was helped by Raine who supported him so he wouldn’t keel over from the exhaustion. Unknown to the pony, Origin was feeding on some of her emotions to at least be able to stand on his own. After that, he told her he was alright and that her help had helped him greatly. Raine asked the changeling to clarify his explanation and he answered by saying that the energy she had given him before casting his spell was more than enough to stay conscious after such a strain.

“Nice one there, Origin. Although that spell of yours is kinda strange. Well, no complaining if it’s effective, right?” Blitz wasn’t all that impressed but Origin was a decent spell caster, if not a pretty good one at that.

“Changeling magic differs greatly from the general magic that ponies use and by the way, has Dusk finished yet with his own spell?” queried Origin.

“Well, he was nearly ready when you used your own so I guess his should be ready by n-”

“Thunder Blade!” shouted the aquamarine pony.

Dusk let all of the amassed electrical energy out and gave the flow of energy a form, namely the shape of a giant blade to contain it all and then sent it straight into the ground at the center of the entire mob of ponies.

The moment the blade struck the ground, the energy in it already started to move into the ground, losing its potency all the while. Dusk, feeling the energy starting to disappear, began to calculate the amount of electrical energy he would need to stun and incapacitate all the ponies surrounding them. Minutes by minutes, he carefully took notice of any kind of fluctuation that took place inside the magical shell he had created for his spell.

Just a bit more. Dusk could practically feel that he was near the exact amount of energy necessary to accomplish his goal but he began thinking that channelling it at the right time to cause the right chain reaction could be harder than he could have originally thought. Come on, just a little bit more! His magic began to wear on him. The sweat soaking his fur was the first sign of that. His legs were shaking and he was having difficulty breathing at a regular pace.

There! Now to release it and detonate it! He shouted in his mind.

Take… this!” exclaimed the aquamarine unicorn as his horn began to glow even more, the aura becoming extremely disproportionate compared the size of his horn.

The magical blade that housed the remaining electrical energy began to glow with a red tint and it became clear that it was becoming unstable by the way it reacted to Dusk’s spell. The unicorn charged more magic into his horn and the aura around it soon grew exponentially. On the distance, the energy blade was glowing so brightly that it blinded those that looked at it.

Eventually, the blade started to pulse uncontrollably and before the knew it, it exploded. The explosion released a shock wave made of the remaining electrical energy stored inside the energy blade. As the shock wave expanded, it made the ponies tense up before sending them into unconsciousness. There seemed to be no ending the shock wave’s advance but right before it reached Dusk and the others, it dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared.

That left the four ponies as the victor of that and two of them were in a weakened state. Still, they set that aside and began to leave the area to return to the clock tower at the center of the town. Once there, they looked around, still trying to figure out where Nightmare Moon was but their efforts were still unfruitful.

However, just when she expected it the least, Raine felt something grab her by the neck and before she knew it, she was pulled back and choked at the same time. Dizzy and confused, she looked up to see a familiar pony holding the same rope that was used to drag Raine away from her companions.

“Whoa there, nelly! What do y’all think yer doin’, knockin’ all those ponies senseless? What did they ever do ta ya?” asked the pony.

“That voice…!” Blitz exclaimed as he recognized the pony’s voice.

“Applejack!” let out Raine and Dusk at the same time.

“In the flesh, but I have ta say that it’s good to see y’all back. My only regret is that I’ve been told not ta let any of y’all leave town,” said Applejack.

The orange appeared in full battle armor and she looked like she meant business. Even her presence was imposing and her stare. That stare could make giants kneel to her. It wasn’t as imposing as The Stare but it was still very imposing. The only one that wasn’t affected by her stare was Origin but that was because he was returning her the same kind of stare.

He felt anger build up inside of him and before he knew it, he had ignited his horn and readied a spell to use on the orange pony. His only issue with that was that at the same time, Applejack charged him and even with the armor that she had, she was still as fast and agile as she was before. Origin would have cast his spell had it not been for Applejack kicking him hard in the chest, sending him hurling against a nearby structure.

“Origin! No!” screamed Raine as she watched the orange pony hurt her friend.

“Hold on, sugarcube. Yer gonna join him real soon.”

While she wasn’t paying attention, Blitz took that time to fly up, close and personal and hit Applejack right on her muzzle with his right hind leg. It was enough to make her lose her balance and knock the wind out of her but she quickly regained her footing. She lost it as quickly as she regained it when she was hit by a ball of energy coming straight from Dusk, sending her flying.

“That’s… for Raine, you wretch!” Dusk told Applejack, panting all the while.

“I heard y’all meant business but I never thought you’d be this tough,” admitted Applejack when she recovered from the blast, almost unscathed save for a few parts of her armor being broken. “You’d honestly do great working on the farm in Ponyville.”

“Thanks but no thanks. I’d rather have those baby drag me wherever I might end up. It’s much more entertaining to test your limits. But that’s beside the point, you’re going do-”

Caught completely off guard, Blitz’s wings were forced close by a rope. Not two seconds later, he was thrown against the cold ground. The impact nearly knocked him out but out of sheer willpower he managed to stay conscious. That didn’t stop Applejack from delivering a strong kick that knocked him down.

“Blitz!” Dusk shouted through gritting teeth. “You…! I don’t care if you look like Applejack or if you’re her, I’ll make you pay for what you’ve just done!”

“Ya can try but I don’t think the result is goin’ ta change all that much, sugarcube.”

“Shut up!”

Dusk quickly charged his horn as fast as he could and quickly summoned a barrier around him to protect himself from Applejack’s assaults. While it did protect him from her ropes, it did not stop the Earth pony to charge him and deliver a powerful kick against the wall of the barrier, shattering it into pieces. That forced Dusk into consuming more of his magical energy to teleport away from Applejack.

Unfortunately, he only managed to teleport a few meters away from his original emplacement, giving Applejack enough time to charge him another time. His reaction time was too slow and before he could do anything with his magic, he received the Earth pony’s rear hooves on his muzzle. The impact and the shock sent him rolling until he hit the back of his head against a wall, knocking him unconscious a few moments later.

“So, are y’all done now? If so, then I’m gonna do what I’ve been told ta do in the first place.”

The only pony left that hadn’t been knocked out was Raine and she had seen everything that happened. Shivers went through her spine as she saw Applejack getting closer and closer to her. She tried to break free of the rope that made it impossible for her to move freely but it was to no avail. She was doomed to suffer at the hooves of Applejack and as well as Nightmare Moon indirectly.

Applejack’s steps were getting clearer and clearer. She could hear them as if she was right next to her, which in turn caused her to turn her head to notice that Applejack was in fact next to her. Raine gulped and then closed her eyes, waiting for her end to come.

“Do y’all have any last words, sugarcube?” queried Applejack.

“No, just get on with it! Make it quick!” Raine replied, venom in her voice.

“All right… It’s been nice meeting ya, Raine.”

At the other side of the scene, Origin had just regained consciousness and the first thing he looked at after he made sure his shell had not been cracked in any way was Applejack standing next to Raine. Scenes began to unfold themselves in his mind. Scenes where he saw Raine die at the hooves of the Earth pony.

Anger began to rise in his blood again but this time, he didn’t charge his horn with fire. He made use of his shape-shifting magic, making a circle of green flames appear around him. It quickly encased him in a dome of flames. Strangely, the dome was larger the changeling’s body and that was something that Applejack found peculiar.

Remember the fear!

Inside the dome, Origin’s body begin to change drastically and it kept on growing larger and larger. The color of his shell changed, going from a black tint to an orange one. His hooves changed shape and began to take the form of paws. His mane  began to cover his entire neck, just like a manticore’s mane, and his tail took the form of a scorpion’s tail.

Remember the pain!

His wings became larger and were no longer filled with holes. His fangs were sharper and deadlier and his mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. His muzzle had grown bigger and his entire head had taken a feline form. Finally, the changeling’s transformation ended as the claws grew at the end of his large paws.

Remember the anger!

The dome of flames disappeared suddenly, revealing a grown manticore standing in the changeling’s stead. Applejack was sort of confused as she was not aware that Origin was a changeling and tried to look for the pony that used to be there. It stayed like this until she realized that the manticore had the same eyes as the pony that used to be standing there.

“What in tarnation are ya?!” Applejack queried, shocked by the realization that she made.

“You don’t know about changelings, pony?”

“Do I look like I know what y’all are?”

“Fair point. However, it would be wasted to tell you about changelings at this point,” spoke Origin through a low-pitched voice.

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“Because there won’t be anything left of you to tell you anything once I’m done wiping the floor with you,” threatened Origin, a few guttural growls escaping his throat.

“Ya can talk big as much as ya like but I’d like to see ya try to take me down.”

“And that’s exactly what I plan to do!”

Without warning, Origin charged at Applejack, claws extended. The orange pony took a stance and just stood there while the changeling swung his clawed paw at her. He was sure he had gotten her but he was surprised to see her unscathed a few meters away from his, another rope in her mouth.

Origin roared at her and charged at her again but this time,  she ducked when he attacked, passing her rope around his legs. Once she was done, she pulled the rope and it made the changeling fall over to his side. Determined to get back at her, he began to flap his wings, gaining altitude slowly but surely. Applejack was caught off guard and she was dragged in the air as Origin took to the sky. Seeing as there was no stopping him, the Earth pony let go of the rope and fell back on her hooves safely but her letting go of the rope made it possible for Origin to break free from the binding rope.

He landed a few meters away from the Earth pony and continued to glare at her in a menacing way. The moment he landed, Applejack charged at him and before he could react, he received a hard blow under his chin. He staggered a bit, taking a few steps back to recover from the hit he had just taken. He roared again, taking a different stance instead of his initial one.

His tail was ready for attack with his new stance and he and Applejack circled around the other while giving each others menacing glares that would scare even the bravest of souls. Unlike the other times, it was Applejack that attacked first for a second time. She tried to deal a heavy blow on Origin’s chest but he managed to evade it despite his large size. He then caught one of her hind legs with his tail and coiled it around the pony’s leg.

Applejack tried to break free but she quickly realized that Origin was not intending on letting her go that easily. Granted, he used his tail to grab her, a tail he could have easily used to poison her with a lethal poison, but he did none of it. He just restricted her movements as much as he could while thinking of a appropriate way to dispose of her.

He tried keeping an eye on her but being deep in thought made him lose the focus he had and eventually, he received a heavy blow under the chin which made him lose hold of Applejack, who backed away from the changeling. He rubbed his right paw under his chin and saw that there was blood there and it seemed to be his because there was no traces of blood on Applejack.

“You! I’m going to end you!” Origin yelled in anger.

“Stop talkin’ big an’ try to do it this time!” replied Applejack tauntingly.

Origin roared at her and charged but this time, he stopped himself a few feet away from the orange pony. Puzzled and anticipating, Applejack tried to see what Origin was up to but when she saw him jump above her, she tried to turn around to counter the changeling’s assault but before she did, she was hit with incredible strength, sending her flying straight into a wall.

When she hit the wall, her armor broke in pieces and some of them even sank in her flesh, drawing blood at several locations on her entire body. Though she was already dead, the pain she felt was real and it hurt like crazy to have shrapnel stuck in her flesh. She tried getting up but it didn’t do anything to help. Her left hind leg failed to obey her and she fell right back to the ground and that was when she saw a terrifying sight.

Origin was charging at her, a bloodlust in his eyes, his rage consuming his every actions. He didn’t care if she was unable to get up or if she was incapacitated! All he wanted was to make her pay for what she did to the others and mainly for what she would have done to Raine had he not interfered. Letting out a last roar, Origin kept his maw open and before Applejack could do anything to defend herself, he closed his gaping maw on her neck. There were no screams or anything. It just ended like that. Applejack’s body fell flat against the ground and a few second later, Origin spat out the Earth pony’s decapitated head only to make it roll in a puddle of the mare’s blood. The body soon began to lose its colors and it became grey before disappearing into simple dust as if it had never existed in the first place.

A few meters away from Origin’s location, Dusk and Blitz had regained consciousness and were looking at a manticore standing right in the middle of Appleloosa. However, they soon saw the manticore disappear in a dome of green flames only to see Origin standing in the creature’s stead. He looked in pain and there was blood covering his hooves.

“Origin? Where’s Applejack?”

No response. Origin just stood there and remained silent.

“Hello? Equestria to Origin!” exclaimed Blitz.

“She’s dead… And I killed her. Still, you guys have a lot to explain to me concerning your enemy, Nightmare Moon,” spoke Origin through a low-pitched voice. “Just let me rest a bi-”

And the changeling collapsed to the ground, fatigued and worn out because of his battle against Applejack. Dusk and Blitz rushed to his side to see if he didn’t have any kind of open wound but he had none. While making sure Origin’s life wasn’t in danger, the two companions became tired extremely quickly and before they knew what was happening, they fell asleep just like Origin did a few moments earlier.

“Hello?” Raine queried after her three companions fell asleep. “Is anypony going to untie me or something like that?”

“Oh… Don’t worry, they’ll untie you all right. Just right after I’m done with you,” echoed the voice of Nightmare Moon through the town.

“What did you do with them, Nightmare Moon?!”

“Nothing major, really. I just put them to sleep so I would have you all for myself. Just like in the days, isn’t it right Rainie?”

“You wretched…” began Raine before she felt drowsiness take over her body.

Eventually, her body gave in to the fatigue that was growing inside of her and her eyes began to close themselves. Before she knew it, she was asleep and a purple mist floated next to her before it took the form of a black alicorn wearing nothing more than a few pieces of armor, including a helmet.

“Yes. Just sleep, Rainie. In the meantime, I’ll take back what was mine to begin with,” Nightmare Moon said with a maniacal grin covering her mouth.

————

Raine woke up to find herself in a place she thought she would never see again: her mother’s castle. The memories that place held were just about enough to give her nightmares for the rest of her life but for some reason, there was something that seemed to be drawing her inside the castle itself. She tried to fight the force that was pulling her but it was to no avail. She was going to be dragged to whatever place it would bring her whether she liked it or not.

The doors leading inside the castle opened themselves but there were no signs of magic being used to open them. No auras had grabbed hold of the doors. They just opened like that as if it was meant to happen. Raine was dragged through several hallways before she was stopped in front of a specific room; one she recognized very quickly.

She saw shadows inside the room so she decided to look at it even though she was telling herself not to do it. When she saw what was inside the room, images flooded her mind. Images she just wanted to forget permanently. She saw a younger version of herself standing in front of an angered Nightmare Moon. She saw their mouths move but she couldn’t hear any of the things that were said inside that room. She didn’t need to anyway.

She flinched when Nightmare Moon raised her left leg high in the air. She knew what was coming and yet she was still as shocked to see it as she did back then. Nightmare Moon’s hoof connected with the filly’s muzzle and it sent her rolling against one of the wall of the room. She remembered Nightmare Moon of accusing her of being a worthless piece of trash. She remembered the pain of her receiving physical punishment via her mother’s hooves. She remembered the voice her mother had. She remembered it all and she hated it.

It was a part that she tried to forget but seeing it all again only made her realize that she would never be able to truly escape her past because history cannot be rewritten. It was something that was there to stay. Raine tried to move but her body was frozen in place. Fear had made it impossible for her body to move at all so all she could do was watch what was happening in the room.

The filly version of Raine got back up on her hooves, a small amount of blood flowing out of her mouth and a twisted leg. Raine remembered that scene as well, being one of the part of her foalhood that marked the beginning of her hell. She was struck once more by her mother, making her roll a few inches away and before she could get up again, Nightmare Moon kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the filly.

The filly remained on the ground and told her daughter that she would never accomplish anything with her life unless she aligned with her and helped her conquer Equestria. There were no answers coming from the little filly. There were only sobs coming from the wounded pony. Nightmare Moon then left the room, passing through the real Raine as if she had never existed to begin with, and the doors closed themselves just as the doors to the castle’s entrance had opened but not before she heard herself burst into tears, bawling like a baby.

“How did things get to this…?” Raine said to herself.

Not long after, the same force that had dragged her to the room took hold of her again and she was once again pulled to some places unknown inside Nightmare Moon’s castle. Well, it wasn’t exactly unknown. Raine had only seen it a few times and even then, she was never really allowed in there. It was the study of her mother but it was a place that managed to strike fear into Raine’s core.

Inside, she saw Nightmare Moon circling around a unicorn. The unicorn in question had a purple coat and a red mane. Her tail had the same color but Raine couldn’t see the other body features of the pony as she had her turned back to Raine. However, since this scene was not one Raine remembered, she was able to hear what Nightmare Moon was saying to the other mare.

“So, you have decided to betray your queen and go against her wishes?” Nightmare Moon asked the unicorn

“…”

“Answer me!” shouted Nightmare Moon before she struck the mare, only to send her flying against a wall. That served to both teach the mare to obey and answer her queen at all times and to relieve Nightmare Moon of her frustration.

“She’s an innocent filly. Leave her out of this, Nightmare Moon. What she needs is not fear but love. If you don’t give her that, she’ll never grow into what you want her to be. You’ll only make her life miserable,” answered the mare.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Since when did you become a mother?!”

Before she knew it, the mare found herself caught by the alicorn’s magic and thrown against the wall on the opposite side of the study. While she thought that she would fall to the ground right after being thrown on the wall, the unicorn was more than surprised when Nightmare Moon impaled four spears into her limbs. Now unable to move, the only the mare could do was scream and shriek in pain. She tried to free herself but it only made it more painful for her as the spears sank in her flesh.

Tears flowed down the mare’s cheek as the begged for Nightmare Moon’s forgiveness but the alicorn was laughing so much that she couldn’t, and didn’t, hear the unicorn’s screams and even when she did hear them, she just looked at the mare and resumed laughing madly. Watching that scene made Raine realize that Nightmare Moon was nothing but an enormous sadist that had a superiority complex.

Nightmare Moon removed the spears from the mare’s body and called her guards. While waiting for her guards, the alicorn toyed with the mare by strangling her then releasing her before she fell unconscious. She repeated the same process again and again and she didn’t even care when she saw all the blood that stained the floor of her study.

Her guards showed up a few minutes afterwards and they were told to take the mare to the dungeons. They were then told to clean up behind them when they would be done with their orders as she didn’t want blood to stain the entire floor of the castle. The atmosphere reigning inside the study was enough to make the guards understand that they were expected to leave as quickly as they entered the study.

The doors to the study closed themselves and once more, Raine was dragged to another part of the castle and stopped in front of another room. It was one she didn’t really remember but when the doors opened, her eyes began to tear up as she saw what was happening in there. A filly version of Raine was laughing and hugging the same mare that had been in the study with Nightmare Moon a few minutes earlier.

She felt such warmth at seeing her old caretaker once more. She had been so kind to her back then and she was so sweet towards Raine and, unlike Nightmare Moon, she cared for the small filly. The two seemed so happy together and there seemed to be nothing that could separate them. At least, that was what she thought… until Nightmare Moon got involved and saw that the caretaker was doing the exact opposite what she was supposed to do.

However, there was none of that happening in that scene Raine witnessed. There was just the filly Raine and the purple mare and they were both having so much fun together. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world and they kept on playing funny games or telling each other funny jokes and other such things.

“You’re so fun, Tender Heart! I wish you could be my mother instead of my current one,” the filly said.

“Now, now, Raine. Don’t be so harsh on your mother. She may have rough ways of doing her things but I’m sure she wants nothing but the best for you,” replied Tender Heart.

“No! She’s mean with me. She calls me names and tell me I won’t ever do anything good with my life if I don’t do as she tells me…”

“Well… how about I cheer you up by… let’s see here. Oh yes! I’m going to tickle you until you beg for mercy!” exclaimed Tender Heart, grabbing a quill with her magic at the same time.

The purple unicorn leapt at Raine and tackled her down and then used the quill she had grabbed with her magic to tickle the filly. There was so much laughter that came from this treatment but at least, both ponies were having a great time. The filly version of Raine laughed so much that she ended up shedding tears of laughter.

When Tender Heart stopped to catch her breath so much she laughed, Raine took this occasion to escape the unicorn. She thought she wouldn’t have noticed immediately but Tender Heart did and gave chase to Raine almost instantly. She cornered the black alicorn into a corner and began to tickle the filly again.

“Mercy! Mercy!” spoke Raine through pants and laughs.

“What’s that? I didn’t hear you right!”

“Mercy! I give up, I give up!”

Tender Heart was about to stop when the door the room burst open and a very angry Nightmare Moon walked into the room to find the two having fun. Her eyes were filled with hate and she just stared at the purple unicorn for a few moments. She noticed their surprised looks but she ignored them and just concentrated on thinking about a fitting punishment.

Before Tender Heart could say or do anything, Nightmare Moon’s magic caught hold of her and she was soon thrown against a wall. It didn’t end there, though. Nightmare Moon threw her against another wall and then another. She wanted nothing more than to beat the unicorn to a bloody pulp. She would have done so if it hadn’t been for Raine. She burst into tears and just begged for her mother to stop hurting her caretaker.

Nightmare Moon complied but not before she let Tender Heart out of her magic’s grasp. Then she looked at Raine with eyes filled with disgust. She grabbed her with her magic and began to strangle her. She needed her to be a cold, strong and powerful pony. Not a weak, caring and kind pony. She was supposed to help her take over Equestria and thus had not time to be playing such games.

Raine continued to beg for mercy but it fell on deaf ears. However, since Nightmare Moon knew that she could still shape Raine into what she wanted, she stopped strangling her and just threw her on a nearby wall. She walked to where the filly was and before she could even get back on her hooves, the large alicorn began to kick her repeatedly. She just ignored the cries of her daughter and only tried to get rid of her anger.

And she did. After she had gravely wounded Raine, she had managed to regain her calm but that didn’t change the fact that she had turned her daughter into a wreck. Raine was covered in bruises and blood. She looked completely miserable and on top of that, she was crying and there seemed to be no stopping her. To stop her from crying even more, Nightmare Moon threw her against the ceiling. Raine fell back to the floor, unconscious.

Satisfied, Nightmare Moon left the room and notified her guards to go fetch a pony in the medical wing of her castle. The real Raine watched the scene, her eyes glistening with tears. The heartache she had experiences when she was younger was all coming back to her. And yet, she also wondered how she managed to live through it. Of course, it had left its mark. She knew she lacked willpower and that she was pretty much a socially awkward pony but that’s how she grew up. It’s how she became accustomed to act.

‘Why did things turn out like this? Could it have been changed somehow? Could I have saved Tender Heart if I had been stronger and if I had been able to fend for myself?’ Raine asked.

As the memories were flooding back into her mind, the unknown force grabbed her again and she was once again dragged through the castle’s halls. This time, however, she was brought to an underground part of the castle. It was probably the only place that she didn’t remember because she had never been there.

Once inside, she saw the one thing she never expected to see. On what seemed to be a metal table lay a dark blue Pegasus with a silvery mane and a few feet away from that table was a black alicorn she recognized all too well. She, however, wondered  who that filly was and what she was doing there. She did until she heard the filly call Nightmare Moon her mother and asking her what was going on.

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself about, Rainie. Now, I need you to dream dear,” said Nightmare Moon before using her magic to force the filly in a deep sleep.

Raine then saw Nightmare Moon collecting magic inside her horn and it shone with a light that was unlike any other. It had a dark shade of blue for an aura and it even managed to blind Raine because of how bright it was. She afraid beyond words and what her mother spoke frightened her even more than they did before. They scared her to her very core.

“If I oversee this child’s education as well as her conditioning, she will be an unstoppable force. She will be my secret weapon. She’ll help me bring about the demise of Celestia and Luna and I shall conquer Equestria with her help!

“With this experimentation of mine, I will prove to those old fools that it is possible to create artificial alicorns. They’ll know better than to underestimate the knowledge and power of Nightmare Moon!” She exclaimed with an evil laughter.

“Still, there is one downfall with this plan. If I want her to be a successful experiment, I’ll need to transfer a portion of my own magic to her and mold it to give her a horn so she can use magic like me. It’ll weaken me for sure so I’ll have to make sure she is made into my own personal weapon. If this is successful, I will be glorified as an innovator. My work will be forever remembered in the history of Equestria!”

Nightmare Moon lowered her head and her horn connected with the Pegasus’ forehead. An even brighter light came into existence and it completely blinded Raine for several minutes. And while she couldn’t see anything, she heard everything that happened. From the filly’s high pitched screams of pain to Nightmare Moon’s mad laughter, she heard it all.

The light lasted for a few minutes in which she heard more than enough. The light finally faded away after a period of time Raine was unsure of and once she was able to see what had happened in the room, her eyes widened almost instantly!

On the metallic table was an alicorn filly, black as the night, with a silvery mane  and turquoise eyes that was crying in pain. Nightmare Moon was already leaving the room, leaving the filly all alone in there. She eventually stopped crying and fell asleep out of tiredness but the whole situation left Raine in a very shocked state.

‘Does this mean I’m not…” Raine began but stopped herself from saying any further. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to accept it.

“Oh, but it is, Rainie. You are an artificial alicorn. You were just a simple Pegasus before, just like your father was. At least, he was willing to help me in my plans unlike you.” Raine turned around to see Nightmare Moon standing right in front of her.

“But if I’m an artificial alicorn, shouldn’t I have died ages ago?”

“No, not exactly. I told you were an artificial alicorn but you became one because I gave you part of my magic, thus giving you my immortality at the same time,” explained the black alicorn.

“What are you planning to do with me, then?” queried Raine, quite suspicious of the mare.

“Planning to? Dear, I won’t even need to try doing it,” replied Nightmare Moon before she ignited her horn.

Raine found herself held in place by her mother magical aura and before she knew it, she was thrown against the nearby wall. She tried to break free of the magic that held her but it proved to be too strong for the alicorn. She just watched in horror as Nightmare Moon got closer and closer to her, eventually arriving right in front of the frightened alicorn. She laughed a little but soon regained her normal mood.

“So, how should I deal with you? Should I go at it the hard way, or the easy way?” Nightmare Moon asked rhetorically.

“Please! The ea-”

“Oh, wait! Don’t answer that. I’m sure you’d prefer the hard way anyway so let’s go along with that one.”

Raine wanted to scream. She didn’t do it because her mouth had been sealed shut. She figured that Nightmare Moon had something to do with it, seeing as she was enjoying all of this. Then suddenly, Raine began to feel some sort of uneasiness inside her. She felt weak but she also felt like a huge pressure had moved from her entire body and into her head. It felt like it was going to explode.

A tightness formed itself in her head and soon, she began to feel some sort of liquid running down her head. She tried to figure what it was but she didn’t find what it was until she saw what it was; blood. She was bleeding… inside a dream! The pain then became unbearable at some point but due to having her mouth sealed, Raine was unable to scream in pain or maybe call for help.

Raine felt like somepony was simply removing her horn from her head and as she saw the blood starting to flow abundantly, that was the conclusion she came to. Of course, she was able to feel it was her horn that was being completely removed but the blood simply indicated that her fears were true. Perhaps she had experiences great pain before but that one was on a whole new level.

She felt the bone being pulled out of her head and it hurt her even more than it did before. The seal prohibiting her from speaking or produce any kind of sounds with her mouth was lifted and she began screaming her lungs out. The pain was beyond unbearable. She had trouble staying conscious.

Then, with a quick pull, Nightmare Moon completely ripped off Raine’s horn from her head. A high-pitched scream was heard throughout the castle and its surroundings but there was no one to save her in the dream world. She was fighting against the master of that realm. Still, the pain was a quick one and soon enough, Raine fell down to the ground, in a puddle of her own blood. Right before she lost consciousness, she caught a glimpse of her appearance and saw that she was a Pegasus with a dark blue coat, a silvery mane and turquoise eyes. She no longer felt her horn and even worse, she saw a large hole right in the middle of her head, right where her horn used to be.

————

“Raine! Raine!” called out a voice. “Raine, wake up!”

Raine slowly began to open her eyes and looked around her. She was still in Appleloosa but it seemed like the town was safe once more. Next to her, on both her right and her left, were her three companions and they all looked at her with concerned looks. She tried to get up just after she came to her senses but she still had problems doing so because she found that her body was lacking the balance it had before.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Raine?” asked Spike. “You seem like you’re not feeling well.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just that my body feels weird all of a sudden. It’s like I’m me but I’m not at the same time,” stated Raine, confused by the whole situation.

“That might be related to the fact that you’re not an alicorn anymore, then,” said Dusk, his horn slightly ignited. The unicorn had used a simple spell, so simple that nopony noticed it.

“Wh-what do you mean by that? How can I be anything other than an alicorn?” Raine started to panic as she heard the news.

“Well, normally, even though you were unable to perform the art of magic, I was still able to sense your flow of magic but now, I feel nothing and since Origin is with us right now, you should appear as an alicorn. You can figure out the rest by yourself,” explained the unicorn.

Dusk was right, though. If she was still an alicorn under disguise, other unicorns should be able to sense her magic but if what Dusk said was real, then she wasn’t an alicorn anymore but that left her with the question of how that happened. She knew Nightmare Moon had done something to her but she was unable to remember what it was no matter how much she tried to remember.

Completely shocked by the truth of the situation, Raine’s eyes began to tear up. If she wasn’t an alicorn anymore, then what was she? She only saw glimpses of her dream and even then, the only thing she did remember clearly was a small Pegasus filly that resembled her. That was the only thing she could find in her mind.

Eventually, a few tears began to roll on her cheeks as she continued to ask who she was or what she was. She wasn’t an alicorn and she even felt the absence of her horn. It was at that moment that everything related to her dream came back to her. It flooded her mind and the recollection of events was painful. Her few tears quickly became a cascade of tears.

“It’s all true… It’s all true… I’m just a big lie, a sham!” Raine shouted, completely taken over by her misery, pain and distress.

“What are you talking about, Raine? And why are you crying?” queried Blitz who was confused by Raine’s strange behavior.

“I’m a fake! I never was a real alicorn!” Raine replied, he voice filled with distress.

“You’re not making any sense, Raine. We’ve known you as an alicorn. How can you not be an alicorn?” Blitz asked her, trying to make sense out of the situation.

“Blitz has a point, Raine. Even when I met you, you were an alicorn and that was twenty years ago. You’ve always been an alicorn,” added Origin who was also concerned with Raine’s current condition.

“You haven’t seen the same things I did. Nightmare Moon invaded my mind and made it so I would remember my foalhood but at the same time, she made it so I would see some scenes I never saw, some scenes that were in her memories and she forced me to watch them!

“I saw it in those memories. I was born a Pegasus but I was turned into an alicorn because Nightmare Moon wanted to use me as one of her war weapon against Celestia and Luna. I’m just one huge lie!” Raine exclaimed, allowing herself to wallow even more in her own pity.

“Alright now. You listen to me very clearly, Raine! It’s not because you’re not an alicorn that we don’t like you less. We like you because your heart is at the right place. You have a valiant soul and you would do anything to make it so no ponies will be harmed. We saw that much back in Ponyville when you took wounds to protect both Sweetie Belle and Trixie, not to mention little Spike here probably owes his life to you as well.” Dusk reprimanded the depressed pony. She needed support but he just didn’t know what to do so he just thought he’d lecture her instead.

“But–”

“No buts. You being an alicorn was never a factor. We knew you couldn’t perform magic but that didn’t change anything at all. We like you for who you are, not for what you are!”

“Exactly. I may not have forgiven you for what happened to my sister just yet, but I know that you didn’t do it on purpose. You just wanted to set things straight. You have an honest soul, Raine. Don’t you even dare forget that!” Blitz told Raine as to give her more self-confidence.

“Listen to them, Raine. They are right. When I first met you, I was charged to bring you back to my hive… I didn’t do it because of who you were. Because of your personality and everything that makes you the pony you are. I didn’t do it because of you being an alicorn. I did it because your personality charmed me. I fell in love with the mare standing in front of me, alicorn or not. You could be a Pegasus, a unicorn or an Earth pony for all I care but that will never change the fact that I loved, and still love, the pony known as Raine Moon for who she was!”

“You… Do you mean all that?” Raine asked the three other ponies.

“Of course. What kind of companions and friends would we be if we weren’t honest with each other? You are an integral part of this group and we intend to make it stay like that. Just don’t forget that what you are is unimportant. It’s who you are that makes us like you. Not the other way around,” Dusk said, giving Raine a warm smile.

“T-thank you, you three,” Raine told the three ponies before shifting her attention towards Spike. “Would you mind helping me send a letter to Princess Celestia, or Luna?”

“I don’t see any problems with that but the only problem with that is that I don’t have any parchment to do so. And without a parchment, I can’t send any letter of any kind.” The baby dragon gesticulated whilst explaining the matter.

“I think I can remediate to this,” Dusk said, igniting his horn at the same time.

His horn began to shine slightly and a few moments later, he had made a piece of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink appear out of thin air. “There you go, Spike.”

“Thanks! So, what was it you wanted to write to the princesses, Raine?” Spike asked the Pegasus.

“Right! Well, here goes!”

She told him the message she wanted to convey to the princesses, making sure to make things as simple as possible considering Spike was still only a baby dragon. She wasn’t exactly taking him for granted, but she was trying to make things simple for both of them. After he finished writing her message, she asked to see it to confirm that everything was in order. The letter read the following:

Dear Princess Celestia and Luna,

I am writing to you today to announce that we arrived safely in Appleloosa. However, there is still the issue that when we arrived there, it was already lost to Nightmare Moon. To escape her, we were forced to incapacitate the villagers of the town that were under her control. It was no easy task but we managed to do it. Still, after we were done with them, we were confronted by Applejack, the Element of Honesty. Well, at least, the dream brought to life by Nightmare Moon. She has done this two times now. First, she had brought back Rarity in a similar manner. There is one strange thing that happens when she makes them come back. Somehow, they have their original personalities but are still under the influence of Nightmare Moon. I think that’s because she makes false promises to them but I can’t be sure. At the very least, it is an interesting phenomenon that we will have to watch out for. Last time, we were able to defeat Rarity without that much trouble but this time, if it hadn’t been for a fourth ally named Origin, we would have never defeated her and escaped with our lives.

On a second point, what I want to share is a bit more personal but it is something that needs to be shared. After we had managed to defeat Applejack, Nightmare Moon put us all in sleep with one of her spells and then she invaded my mind, forcing me to relive my past. I won’t lie, it was painful but not as painful as the secret behind my existence. You see, I was never an alicorn to begin with. I was born a Pegasus. My mother, in a mad attempt at using me to deal with you, made me an alicorn and tried to train me to be a mindless slave at her orders. We can all see how well that turned out but I digress. I know that this isn’t very concerning to a certain extent but there is still the probability that my mother might use her own experiments and turn other ponies into alicorns to fight by her side. At least, that’s what Dusk said

As a last point, since both Dusk and Blitz asked about it, we would like to know our next destination so we may prepare accordingly. I won’t lie to you and Princess Luna but I fear that this situation will only get even worse as of now. By all means, you should remain vigilant at all costs because Nightmare Moon has made her move and she has already planned her next moves in advance.

Sincerely signed,

Raine Moon

“There, you can send it now, Spike. If you would do me that favor, that is,” Raine told the baby dragon.

He nodded and he blew some fire on the rolled piece of parchment, making it disappear into a green dust and went directly towards Canterlot. That then left the group all alone in Appleloosa but this time, however, things were back to normal… for the time being.