I hadn’t been trying to be mean when I suggested that Fluttershy should allow herself to be bathed by the maids, but apparently it was an acquired taste. The poor thing shivered and protested for so long that I’m fairly sure she tuned herself out. It wasn’t even sharing a bath that had her worked up, it was being pampered.

That’s the part that perplexed me, as I knew she visited the local spa every Tuesday with Rarity Belle. I chuckled at the thought of her putting up this much of a fuss every week.

“Miss Fluttershy? Would you mind if I asked a personal question?” I requested.

“I’m sorry. No really, I can get that. I’m so sorry, but I’m sure I know how to polish my hooves. Excuse me, you really don’t have to get every feather. Oh gosh, I really don’t mean to be such a bother. You really don’t need to focus on me so much. Please, this really isn’t necessary. Of course Luna, what did you need? I’ll get my mane, I’m pretty good at getting the mud out. Oh, okay, I guess you want to preen me as well,” Fluttershy rambled, though I was somewhat sure I heard a proper response in there somewhere.

“Do you protest this much at the spa every week? What I know of Aloe and Lotus implies that they prefer customers that don’t talk as much,” I mused slyly, quieting Fluttershy for a few seconds.

“Well, no, but I know Aloe and Lotus, they-” Fluttershy began.

“Hold your positions!” I snapped before the maids could act on their instincts. I’d spent more than enough time on the same continent as Catrix to know what their definition of an introduction was.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Fluttershy squeaked as she shuffled as far away from me as the frozen maids would allow.

“I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to them. You need to set rules before saying anything that could have a double meaning, unless you are both into mares and airing your private business in the open. I suspect neither and would rather you not act on them in front of me if you did, thus my intervention. I’ll set the rules for you this time, just repeat them whenever you are in the vicinity of another of their species. The yellow pony is Fluttershy, Fluttershy does not want to play with you right now. Fluttershy will expressly tell you if she does want to play,” I instructed, getting a couple sorrowful looks before the maids relaxed and returned to cleaning the two of us.

“Are you sure that was necessary? It sounded really mean and games are a great way to make new friends,” Fluttershy protested.

“Mop, who would you say is the most compatible with surface life among your kind?” I asked, temporarily deflecting the question.

“Catrix, she has the most experience and isn’t drawn close to insanity by being forced to wear clothes all the time,” the succubus answered instantly.

“Fluttershy, did you hear about the time Rainbow Dash and Catrix were left alone with one another?” I prompted.

“She thought it was funny, but I thought it sounded gross and scary,” Fluttershy responded with yet another shiver.

“That’s what they call a game, but you may introduce them to checkers if you like,” I concluded.

“Oh, wait, do you really hate wearing clothes?” Fluttershy asked, somehow finding the one detail she could be compassionate about.

“We only put them on when we have guests, King Jekyll requires us to. I think it has something to do with us distracting others when he’s trying to do important business, but that was all decided long before we worked here,” Maya replied instantly.

“Humph, hardly surprising that. You talk like we’ve been here for years,” Gretya chided, her harsh words failing to match her slightly amused tone.

“I don’t mind wearing clothes,” Timid added with her usual small voice, I would have suspected Fluttershy of having said that if I hadn’t seen the demon speak. Fluttershy’s full attention was drawn to Timid in an instant, making the demon flinch even though they were clearly kindred spirits.

“You don’t need to be afraid Timid, the two of you might have been sisters if the stars had aligned differently,” I reassured the demon.

“Timid and Shy, I can see it,” Maya agreed.

“Do you like animals?” Fluttershy asked innocently, seemingly trying to follow our implications and make another new friend. This had the opposite effect and made Timid go pale in fear.

“She’s had a few too many negative experiences with animals, but she used to,” Mop answered quickly, coming to her sister’s aid. I leaned back and contented myself with watching Fluttershy strive to remedy the situation while Mop and Gretya tended to my hygiene.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, some animals can be pretty mean,” Fluttershy agreed sympathetically, “But I’m a veterinarian so a lot of my friends are nice animals that I’ve helped, I can’t help but hope that you’d like them too.”

“My que-Luna?” Timid asked, deflecting the question.

“As I understand it, Fluttershy is quite picky about her friends. I sincerely doubt any of her animals would consider harming you unless you directly attacked her,” I consoled, finally drawing a nod of agreement out of the shy maid.

“I’ll need to coordinate it with Harry and my sisters so our duty to maintain the palace doesn’t suffer, but maybe I can secure a few minutes of time off,” Timid allowed.

“A few minutes? Are you all kept that busy?” I asked in surprise.

“Of course, it’s how we pay for the honor of living in the palace,” Maya replied as though this was common knowledge.

“How much leisure time do you get in a day?” I asked more pointedly.

“A day? Maybe three minutes while we walk between tasks, another five if we don’t fall asleep right away,” Gretya answered with a shrug, “Why, did you find something lacking? I keep telling Harry that this much downtime is going to make us lazy.”

“Ponies typically work for eight hours a day, with the rest reserved for meals and leisure,” I stated flatly, causing all of the demons to look at me in surprise, “Perhaps tripling your number is in order, that way you may enjoy the fruits of your labor and potentially earn supervised visits to the surface. Would I be correct in assuming each of you can name at least two others that share your sentiments?”

“Third knows about ten thousand that you’d get along with, she wasn’t very popular with the masters after her main one tossed her away so she got around more than most,” Mop advised, “Good luck narrowing the search though, Third takes things pretty literal so mistakes happen a lot.”

“So be it, I’ll inform Harry of my requirements and let him sort it out,” I allowed, intent on reducing the workload of my most steadfast allies in Tartarus.

“This one heard her name,” Third stated flatly as she seemingly materialized out of the aether.

“I intend to triple your numbers, Harry is going to need names. Specifically succubi that share the attitudes of your peers and hate the incubi as much as the rest of us. Harry will provide more specific details,” I instructed, knowing this particular succubus didn’t care for the finer points of conversation.

“It will be done as you say,” Third replied in her odd way before walking out the door.

“Is she okay?” Fluttershy asked in genuine concern as she followed the demon’s departure.

“No,” Gretya replied simply.

“Her master was cruel even by incubus standards, she’s been like that for millennia. Physically she’s fine, death resets our bodies back to perfect condition, but mentally speaking, there’s very little left of her,” Maya elaborated sadly.

“Last time you mentioned that he liked her eyes, could it be that he placed too many limits on her for her to experience anything?” I guessed.

“He’s dead, permanently. King Jekyll put him down for good. Any charms he placed on her would have died with him, her condition has to be from the trauma,” Mop refuted.

“Doesn’t he try not to do that? Cat gets very cross when he mentions killing demons, it’s odd that you’re so casual about it,” I asked, finding their behavior offputting.

“More like tries to hide it,” Maya chuckled.

“Yeah, he’s probably ripping one apart right now. Murders one every time he drops in, real slow like too. Hey, see? The balance is already adapting,” Mop agreed as she lifted her bangs to reveal nubby horns starting to poke through the skin of her forehead.

“Cat is going to be livid. Stars above, I’m livid. Why would he lie to me about this?” I demanded, my mood instantly flashing to anger as I recognized yet another deception so soon after the last.

“Cat’s more concerned with everyone else and forgetting her past to realize little changes like this are happening, she wouldn’t know unless you told her. I can’t speculate as to why you weren’t told; not my place,” Gretya scowled, obviously more concerned with the change than the others.

“Um, Luna? Are you okay?” Fluttershy squeaked, my anger vanished when I saw her fear and recognized that it was directed towards me. I hadn’t been that angry, more peeved than anything else at the injustice. I hadn’t truly meant it when I said I was livid, but Fluttershy looked ready to bolt at the sight of me anyway.

I found the reason in her wide eyes. The reflection off of those frozen orbs of fear was not of me, and that had me matching her terror in an instant. My fur had turned black.

“Could you, um, could you forget that happened until I find a way to fix it?” I stammered nervously.

“I-I can try, can you promise not to k-kill me?” Fluttershy responded, matching my tone. I nodded before she was even finished speaking, not trusting my voice.

“I think this is good enough for now, I’ll be back on Wednesday for the usual,” I bid as I hustled out of the room. I needed to see what was wrong, how it had happened, and how to keep it from happening. There was only one person I knew that could give me a clinical answer, and I was hoping with everything I had that it was a clinical issue.

I returned to the main hall of our chambers just as a scaly clawed foot disappeared into Jay, but his murder of the incubi was far outside of my priorities at this point. Still, he looked at me in surprise when I caught him in the act.

“Are we going to have another arg...u...ment…. Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?” Jay demanded, surpassing my meager excuse for rage by a hundredfold at the very thought. It took me a moment to realize that I was crying, but I still had to explain what had happened if I was going to find a solution.

“My fur turned black,” I managed, though I doubted I’d be able to get out much more or I’d risk sobbing on the spot. I was immediately whisked off the floor and set on the couch while Jay sat next to me and held me protectively. It occurred to me that in this position he could break my neck in a heartbeat if I really was falling to the Nightmare again. Oddly, that was the thought that gave me some peace and the strength to continue speaking, “I-I found out about the-the incubi and got angry. Not so much as before, mostly because you lied to me. But when I saw my-her reflection in Fluttershy’s eyes, I saw my fur was as black as the void. I don’t want to be her ever again.”

Jay didn’t speak, but I felt something touch my mind as the memory played out as vividly as when it had first happened.

“Your eyes didn’t change, nor did your heart. Didn’t the change happen in the opposite order the first time? Your mind turned before your body? Perhaps this is a holdover from that time, something harmless,” Jay appeased, though I was having none of it.

“It’s too dangerous to bet on maybes, I need to be watched and put down if I start slipping,” I insisted.

“Luna, we both know I’d never let that happen. Either of those. You will not go dark side, no matter how many cookies they offer,” Jay insisted, confusing me for a moment before I shrugged off the comment as him trying to lighten the mood, “Besides, I have it on good authority that the cookies are oatmeal-raisin anyway.”

That actually made me smile, at least some things refused to change.

“Whatever the cause, I can say that it’s magical in nature. The question is whether it’s Tartarus acting on you or a subconscious self affliction. I did notice some odd activity when you got angry, so it might just be a minor transmutation. Hell, it’s probably both but that’s just a guess,” Jay mused, turning analytical now that my emotional needs were met for the moment. I furrowed my brow at the sudden change in his attitude, but it wasn’t as if this was anything new, “As expected, that same neural activity just before you swap personas.”

I froze at that and looked at my hoof in horror, it was as dark as my worst nightmares. I began to hyperventilate, but the color didn’t change back like before. I felt arms wrap around my body to crush me into oblivion, but instead they gently tightened into a hug. By the time I was released a few seconds later, my hoof was blue again.

“Alright then, I think we’ll need to hit this from two directions. One, get you to not be afraid of the change, and two, help you control it. That memory, the way Nightmare changed your body to match her twisted ideal, is still in there. I think you accidentally called on it and now it’s fresh in your mind and continuing to pop up,” Jay advised as gently as he could in teacher mode.

“Absolutely not, I want it stricken from my mind so it never happens again,” I rebuked sternly.

“Can’t and won’t. Too valuable of a lesson and it’s too deep to partition, plus the very public nature of Nightmare’s stunt would just break the barrier anyway,” Jay explained calmly, causing me to take a breath in an effort to follow the example he was trying to set. The simple act reminded me of Father, as it was one of his mannerisms. It would appear to be a constant in all families.

“Cat then?” I guessed.

“Twilight first, she’ll help with identifying the magic in play. Then Cat will get called in if I’m right,” Jay corrected in that same excessively calm tone. I simply nodded, unwilling to think about it too hard lest I risk another shift.

Jay left orders to keep Fluttershy safe until she chose to leave, at which point she would be escorted to the portal we were now walking towards. It felt like we’d been in Tartarus for at least an hour, but the rain was still coming down as hard as it could be expected to get.

“Now that’s not right, it was only supposed to last for another twenty minutes when we left,” Jay commented as Abaddon created an overhang to keep us dry.

I continued trying my best to keep my mind clear as I was led into the bowels of the leviathan, but even the floor inside was much too wet for an autumn rainshower to produce. I remained silent until we reached our room, where I allowed myself to be lifted onto the bed and sedated until help arrived.

“Good night,” I bid gratefully as my eyes grew heavy and I slipped away.

I was a damn idiot to the core, but the damage was done. I’d left Luna emotionally scarred because I had once again failed to hold my temper when some idiot incubus petitioned for the slavery laws under Belial to be reintroduced. I’d killed while Luna was in Tartarus before, but hadn’t expected her to get any of the magic backwash. She’d even changed after I extracted the demonic magic from her system, marking it as a permanent change.

Despite all of that, I hadn’t lied. The memory had only been awoken, it hadn’t been a new development. Perhaps this could be swung in our favor, have her conquer and consume Nightmare Moon once and for all. It was worth a try, it would disturb our enemies even if the public didn’t buy it.

“Well?” a demanding voice asked impatiently, drawing my attention back to the moment. I’d wandered onto the deck, where an irritated bioform stood staring at me like she expected me to step in to help her.

“I thought you wanted me to keep my distance?” I teased, smiling gently at Six. I noticed she was wearing thick rubber boots this time, obviously in an effort to keep her secrets from me.

“Are you going to push this storm back or what? Three pegasi are already in the hospital,” Six snapped, showing sharp teeth in a threat that meant a lot more coming from her than every pony I had ever seen replicate the gesture combined.

“I had no idea, I’ve been helping Lu through a crisis,” I replied easily, maintaining my aloof attitude.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were ignoring us,” Six apologized, her tone changing instantly now that Luna's health was in question. I briefly considered taking offense to her higher regard for Luna, but shrugged it off as a well deserved distinction, “Is she alright?”

“No, but she will be. She needs Twilight Sparkle’s help before anything else,” I replied, getting serious now that Six was acting like a normal person.

“Then our goals are aligned once again, she’s helping with the stormfront. That thunderhead will flood the entire area if we can’t break it up,” Six insisted.

I snapped my fingers and sent every enforcer in Abaddon out to either help with the storm or gather the others. Soon almost one million enforcers would be adding their strength to the job and taking as much of the risk as possible from the locals.

“Any idea how this idiocy came to pass?” I asked casually, looking closely at the storm for the first time.

“The dumbnugget that planned the shower didn’t check on the Everfree first, fool put the clouds right in the path of one doozy of a front coming out of the forest. You can see what happened when they collided,” Six scoffed, “He won’t be a weatherpony anymore, Rainbow Dash made sure of that. She was a sight to see before it hit, bitching up a storm bigger than this over how stupid the placement was and how it would lead to a clusterfuck.”

“So you were in town all day then? Tell me, was it for work, pleasure, or just to see your dear old dad?” I ribbed, getting a scowl in return but no answer. Work then, it was the only thing she’d hide, “So you have a job in town? Good for you, Ponyville always was my favorite town for a reason. Guess I’m not the only one who sees it.”

“I didn’t say I worked here,” Six snapped.

“You did by not answering, a vacation to such a peaceful place is nothing to hide. But knowing that you work here and live in Canterlot narrows your possible identities down to eight mares, which is something you’d hide,” I teased. I really didn’t care who she was now, it didn’t matter in the slightest. She was independent and living well, that was what mattered. But I also wasn’t the one doing the teasing, she wanted me to waste time chasing her down, she wanted to brag about how well she’d done for herself without me. Chipping at that prospect and getting closer to the truth was exactly why she’d come to me herself instead of getting a pegasus to do it.

“Fine, you want to know so badly? Take it or kill me, I don’t care,” Six spat as she shot one hand out in front of her, offering the information freely. I hadn’t expected that, it made me reconsider all of my preconceptions about her motivations. Perhaps I had been unnecessarily pushy towards her, I’d need to show that it hadn’t been my intent. Fortunately she had provided the perfect opportunity, though I doubted it was an accident.

“Abaddon, under no circumstances are you to link with Alpha Six. Her life is her own and none of our business,” I instructed as I gently pushed Six’s hand back towards her without taking any samples or memories from her, “If I were to seek your identity, it would be out of idle curiosity. I’m honestly proud of the way you’ve lived, keep up the good work.”

Six stiffened at the praise, even crying real tears when she got the evidence she’d craved for all these years. I blinked, it had taken me a lot longer to learn how to do that. If Six saw my instant of mild jealousy, she didn’t acknowledge it before she lurched forward into a long overdue hug.

The moment was both made more poetic and ruined at the same time, as the sun finally showed itself and we were able to make out the voices of the townsponies. In particular one mare screaming about the end of the world or some such nonsense.

“THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS A TURTLE! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL! THE RAIN IS ETERNAL!” the mare screeched repeatedly.

“Pinky’s gonna Pinkie,” we commented in unison. I was in no hurry as one of the enforcers would already have the additional task of summoning Twilight, so I gestured for Six to have a seat on the edge while we waited so we could talk more casually.

“How are the bugs in Canterlot? Did the extra enforcers help?” I asked as Six removed her boots and tossed them over the side, she no longer needed them. My eyes caught the craftsponyship before they dropped out of view, only one mare could stitch like that and Six was no friend of the rogues. More information filed away and likely never called upon.

“Some, but they’re mostly irritating the local guards. They keep leaving the bodies and personal effects for them to clean up. I get it, it’s so there’s a record of all the missing ponies, but the guards don’t understand and are getting increasingly agitated,” Six sighed.

“They’re keeping logs though right?” I pressed, wondering if I was going to have to confront Armor over this.

“Yeah, but they’re not happy about it. I can see why though, I was gutting between two and ten a day but your lot are slaughtering them in the hundreds. It’s just too much and they’re collecting evidence around the clock. Gods above, even Vinyl got into a fight with one the day before yesterday!” Six griped, seeming particularly agitated about that part.

“There’s a swear I haven’t heard in a while. Gods above, that saying fell out of favor before Ponyville popped up for the third time,” I commented.

“I happen to like it, it isn’t often I get to use it around anyone that’ll understand. Adds a little more emphasis, wouldn’t you agree?” Six replied, smiling at my attention.

“Yeah, I can see that. I’ll have the enforcers do as much of the work as possible, help cut down on the horsepower requirements. But I’d like to talk more about Vinyl if you don’t mind, is she that marefriend of yours?” I asked, knowing I was prying a little but Six didn’t seem to mind.

“Vinyl Scratch? You think Vinyl Scratch is my marefriend? Don’t be ridiculous, you’d have to pry her off of Octavia to even think about dating her. Heh, it was a funny mental image though. No really though, Vinyl and Octavia are just good people that have helped me out a few times so I look out for them when I can,” Six chuckled.

“Is it safe to assume you are responsible for Vinyl's little quirk?" I guessed.

“Vinyl’s haphephobia is kinda my fault,” Six confessed, “It’s something I’m constantly apologizing for whenever we get to hang out. They were some of the first people I showed myself to, gave her a real fright once Tavi started picking my brain about how I worked.”

“And now she’s terrified that anyone that touches her could eat her alive,” I reasoned, nodding along with the logic.

“Yeah, probably best I didn’t mention the eyes thing. She’s insecure about those as well,” Six continued, on a roll now that I’d gotten her talking about her friends.

“You bypassed my restrictions then?” I confirmed, getting twelve different eye colors from my daughter in response.

They finally settled on the shade of blue I liked to use once upon an age before she continued, “And don’t get me started on the couple months where I crashed on their couch, I may not sleep much but holy cow they never stop with the damn bass and strings. It was like a fucked up concert at all hours of the night, they’re obsessed with music.”

“I think you’re getting into personal territory there kiddo,” I warned.

“That’s not doublespeak, I’m talking about those turntables and that cello. They literally sit up all night and write songs, then play them until they get them just right. Half the time, I catch a wadded up piece of paper to the face at the end of it because it wasn’t something enough and they forgot I was there,” Six replied, openly laughing now.

“So you need sleep then?” I tested, wondering if this was an impostor. I’d have a sample to double check when she left, but a little test didn’t hurt either.

“Nah, it’s a luxury. Helps me sort out stuff, you know? There’s been a lot weighing on me for a really long time and it’s the only time I’m not afraid. Except for now, obviously,” Six confessed, clearing my doubts. I sighed and leaned against the prototype enforcer, feeling an emotion I knew far too well. I should have sought her out and made this right as soon as I heard she was alive, I’d regret that lapse in judgement for the rest of my days.

“I’m sorry...for so many things. I was a cold hearted bastard when you were young, then I just let you be forgotten by the world instead of holding out on the hope that you were still alive like a normal parent would. Now I’ve let you live in fear of me instead of making sure you were okay. I’d understand if you wanted to keep this as business, my resources are yours to defend your friends with as you see fit,” I apologized.

“You weren’t the best, never really were,” Six agreed, sending a lance into my proverbial heart, “You weren’t there for me any any point in my life, you were this looming monster I was constantly paranoid about. Now that I can’t hide anymore, I’m just happy that I don’t have to worry. See me in a week when this elation wears off and I’ll give you my real opinions.”

“That stung a little,” I joked as I made a show of rubbing my shoulder as though injured, “But you have a point, and I’ll always be sorry about that. You deserved better and I wish I could’ve seen it at the time. I wouldn’t forgive me, but I’d still like to start over if you’d let me.”

“Nah, I think I’m immature enough to let you flounder while you try to salvage this relationship. Begging doth not become thee father mine,” Six teased.

“Jay, the drugs didn’t last,” Luna complained as she joined us on the deck, looking particularly queasy. She had misjudged which bioform I was and sat next to Six, though the Alpha just smiled and placed a hand on Luna’s neck to help ease her stomach, “Thanks….Six? I never expected you to be here, has something awful happened?”

“Yeah, something truly dreadful. Jekyll actually apologized,” Six replied with a smirk.

“So that’s it then, you’re all good?” Luna asked, sounding like she was disappointed with the world.

“Absolutely not,” Six and I responded as one.

“There is way too much for me to unpack in one conversation and I might never fully recover from all the fear I’ve lived with,” Six continued.

“But I think I’ve made it perfectly clear that I am not an enemy, at least for the moment,” I added, getting a surprisingly hard punch to my shoulder in return, “Oh come on, you can do better than that.”

“Jay, I’m fairly certain that she was just playing. You don’t have to start a proper brawl,” Luna cautioned.

“I don’t see why a little boxing would hurt, it takes more than some bludgeoning for us to feel any pain,” I countered, “Besides, I think I should see if my prodigal daughter has kept up with her training while she was away.”

“Better than you old man, bring it,” Six challenged as she pulled a backflip out of her seated position and landed in a ready made combat stance.

“Not here, a duel like this needs spectators,” I suggested, making Six grin as she nodded.

“The market, I’ll call some favors and have it cleared,” Six replied as her body broke apart and reformed into a nondescript beige pegasus. The features looked sloppy, signaling that this wasn’t a form she had taken from a real pony.

“Name drop me all you like, it should help a little. Be honest as well, it’ll gather a larger crowd,” I advised, sending Six on her way.

“Now that she’s gone, what are we going to do about this?” Luna asked, sounding more tired than concerned. All it took was a glance to see that her fur had turned black again.

“Your eyes are normal this time, so you aren’t angry about anything. I’d blame Tartarus and say that you got a little crispy,” I joked.

“I’m being serious,” Luna deadpanned.

“Just change back, you’re doing it to yourself anyway,” I replied more seriously, causing Luna to start.

“It’s not that-” Luna began before a pop of teleportation interrupted her.

“Sorry I’m late, some of the books got wet and I needed to dry them before they were ruined forever,” Twilight apologized before even noticing that we were arguing.

“You can identify unconscious spells right? Like the one that’s doing that?” I asked, pointing at Luna. Twilight followed my finger towards Luna and froze when she saw the larger mare.

“It’s purely cosmetic and exclusively annoying,” Luna attempted before Twilight had a chance to panic.

“Oh thank goodness, that makes it so much easier. Are we thinking illusion or transmutation? Or maybe colormorgification?” Twilight proposed curiously as she wandered a lap around Luna.

“You made that last one up just now,” Luna stated flatly.

“Well, I need to have a name ready in case it’s a spell never seen before. It’s only prudent to be prepared for anything,” Twilight replied easily, forcing me to stifle a laugh, “Have you been experimenting with self transmutation lately? That’s probably the best place to start.”

“Yes, but not in the physical world. I limit it to my dreams where it is safe, otherwise there would be little chance of survival,” Luna answered.

“I see… Would I be correct in assuming you believe this to be the spellset Nightmare Moon used to alter Luna’s appearance the first time? My guess is the exact same thing. Nightmare Moon’s spells, or at least the memories of them, are bleeding through and being activated by accident. There is definitely a magical signature consistent with self transmutation, so the answer seems to be gaining control over it to stop it from activating whenever it feels like it,” Twilight rambled, fully engrossed in her study of Luna’s pallet change.

“That is so much easier said than done, I don’t even remember those….days…” Luna trailed off as her eyes unfocused.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, looking at me.

“Her bioforms have detected a problem they can solve, so they’re solving it. Luna is being forced to relive her early days as Nightmare Moon, specifically when she crafted that iconic look. Abaddon, send a Mike to let Six know I’ll be a little late and a Gamma to keep the crowd entertained until Luna’s settled,” I instructed as I finally got up and walked over to my comatose wife, “Thanks for the help Twilight, I owe you one. Also you should get to the market, my long lost kid and I are going to fight in a bit.”

“Do you do anything other than mess with Luna’s mental state and kill things?” Twilight sighed as she pinched her nose with her fetlock in agitation.

“Yes, I also keep demons from murdering you and fuck with Chelly for being a bitch,” I replied sarcastically as I lifted Luna to carry her somewhere more familiar and comfortable, “And I’m not killing anyone today, it’s just for fun.”

“Anyone else,” Luna corrected with a groan as she shuffled around to find a more comfortable position and returned to her normal coloration with a dark flash.

“I see you figured it out,” I commented, looking down to see Luna smile before she switched back. This time she was completely in the guise of Nightmare Moon, complete with the eyes and teeth.

“She mastered this change, and now I know how she did it,” Nightmare replied before my wife returned, “It’s still unnerving to wear her skin, but controlling it does lessen the fear a little. Like I’m taking that part of myself back from her.”

“I’m happy to hear it and glad you aren’t torn up by the memory,” I responded, adding the implied question with my tone of voice.

“Not much to get messed up about, she just sat in a room with a stack of paper and did the math. I never thought I’d get bored by one of those memories,” Luna complained.

“Another mystery solved, great work gang. Now who wants to see me kick Six’s lazy ass?” I asked more enthusiastically, hoping a little sport would liven everyone’s damp spirits.

“Count me out,” Twilight replied instantly.

“I’m pretty sure your brother will be there, he turns up at all of my public sparring matches to jeer at me. Which means Caddy will be there as well,” I predicted.

“How often do you fight in your own skin?” Luna asked, noting that I hadn’t done so in her presence.

“I haven’t since you came back, but before then I’d go pick a fight with some Wardens whenever I got pissy about something or wanted a cult in jail instead of on the right path. It’s a crime to call me a god by the way, fifteen years,” I explained, causing Luna’s jaw to drop.

“That’s horrible,” Twilight insisted.

“That was my idea, Chelly just happened to agree,” I pointed out.

“Damage control and added power over them,” Luna reasoned, “I can see the heartless utility of that law.”

“But-” Twilight protested.

“It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when ponies kill each other in my name,” I countered before she could finish the thought, effectively cutting off any further arguments. It was hard to defend a murderer at the best of times, for a false religion was even harder.

“Jerk,” Twilight griped.

“So will you be attending?” I asked again.

“Yes,” Twilight relented begrudgingly.

“Great, we’ll meet you down there,” I bid, getting an extended tongue in my direction before Twilight teleported away, “So Lu, are you confident enough to handle being in public for a bit?”

“Easily. I’ll spend some time with Cat afterwards just to help clear my head, but I’m fine,” Luna replied, looking as comfortable with the idea as her words suggested.

“Raceyouthere!” I cried before throwing myself off the deck. I found Luna waiting for me in the market when I arrived less than a second later, somehow beating me despite the fact that I’d sprinted the entire way.

“You keep telling me to remember that I can teleport,” Luna teased before walking off to find a seat.

I spotted a few ponies looking at me and commented that, “I did say that a few times.”

I felt Shining Armor’s glare before I saw him, so intense was his hatred for me that he relished any opportunity to see the possibility of me enduring a modicum of pain. As expected, his grumpy attitude was balanced out by the alicorn to his left. Cadence was waving at me and smiling happily, shouting something about meeting up for tea after the fight.

Six stood ready, her focus on me instead of the crowd. Good for her, that was exactly where her attention needed to be. All fell silent when I took my place opposite Six and leaned back drunkenly.

“Misery Hoof? Don’t you think that’s a little basic?” Six mocked as she guaged her first attack.

“Can you still double-counter?” I shot back as I swayed out of the way and brought my arm down on her back, sending her sprawling. The blow caused several in the audience to gasp in surprise at how vicious I had been with the blow, hitting Six so hard that she’d momentarily folded around my arm from the force. I didn’t have to hold back, hits like this wouldn’t hurt her but they would outright kill anything else.

“Apparently not,” Six replied as she picked herself up, “How are we scoring?”

“Fatal blows, most in thirty minutes,” I replied.

“Sounds good,” Six agreed with a grin before launching at me once more. She slipped around my guard with expert skill and tagged me in the neck hard enough for my entire head to fall back as the flesh tore.

“Good shot,” I complimented as I switched to a different style.

Six attempted a variant of the same attack and got a faceful of dirt for her efforts, along with a broken neck when I stomped her further into the ground. She recovered quickly and managed to score another good hit after a solid minute of trading ineffective counters with me. I switched styles every time she got a clean shot in, forcing her to adapt to each one.

At the twenty-nine minute mark, we were still tied and I was left with a decision to make. I could throw the fight and let her win or stop testing her and actually fight, each had their own drawbacks and held the potential for damaging the fragile relationship I’d built with the bioform.

When a bell rang to signal the end of the fight, neither of us had made a move to claim the title.

“One last point, winner take all?” I offered, making the offer as clear as I dared in front of the spectators. I saw the understanding in Six’s eyes, she knew I’d taken it easy to test her skill. What I now offered was the chance to test herself against my full might and weight of experience. I would not be playing any longer if she agreed.

“Yeah, winner take-” Six began before my fist interrupted her and sent her careening down the street. She was slow to pick herself up but did accept my hand once I finished walking over to where she’d landed.

Apparently that hadn’t been fatal enough for her to call the match and used my kindness to try to slip in a punch of her own. I pulled myself closer to her and caused the punch to glance off my back before twisting her around and whipping her into the ground by the hand she had willingly given me.

Without so much as a word of warning, I dropped my knee into her back to pin her and used my free hand to tear her head from her shoulders. I put it back right away, but there was nothing aside from bioforms like us that could survive decapitation.

“You good?” I asked as I helped Six up for the second time.

“Yeah, just surprised at how little time that took,” Six confessed as she regained her footing and we started walking back to the crowd.

“Really? I’ve got a lot more experience to pull from than you do. That surprise attack was unexpected though, good one,” I replied casually.

“It was cheap and we both know it, I was done from that hit. I just wanted to get one last hit in for the pyrrhic victory,” Six admitted.

“And I’d have let you have it, but your swing was blind and went wide. A Hail Mary only works if it connects. Stick to what you can see in the future, a shot to my knee would have grounded me and left me open for a beatdown,” I advised.

“I’ll do that next time we spar,” Six laughed as we re-entered the market, at which point Six dropped to one knee to signal her defeat, though I promptly guided her back to her feet and lifted her arm in victory.

“It was never about the score, it was to see if you were still able to hold your own. You clearly are, so I concede,” I declared just loud enough for everyone to hear before taking a step backwards to declare her the winner. I vanished into the crowd before she could turn to confront me, but all she’d see was a bunch of cheering ponies by then.

I watched Six freeze as she was confronted with a crowd’s approval for what was probably the first time in her life, but she collected herself after a moment and smiled warmly. From my place in the milling masses, I hoped I hadn’t come on too strong and disillusioned her. She was either taking it exactly as I’d hoped or she was humoring me for another reason, either way was fine with me for the moment. She seemed happy and that was enough for now.

I maintained my spot until some of the locals walked out to talk with Six more personally before I slipped even further into the audience to seek out another that I wished to speak to.

There was only one way to talk to Cadence during these kinds of events, Shining Armor needed to be otherwise indisposed. I lacked an aid or his mother this time, so I settled for the tried and true blow to the back of his head. Once he was unconscious and hidden under the makeshift stands, I stole his seat and turned to my friend.

“Hey Caddy, how’s life been?” I asked, getting a slightly irritated and very amused look in response.

“Eh, was better before some plothole stole my coltfriend’s seat,” She replied with false impetuousness.

“Really? What kind of jerk would do something like that?” I asked, continuing the act.

“The kind that rolls into Canterlot a bunch of times and never once stops by to say hello,” Cadence responded, though she was having trouble keeping a straight face by now.

“No kidding? Well I’ll just have to show that guy what for, where’s he live?” I demanded, also struggling to keep the humor out of my voice.

“Right over there,” Cadence answered, pointing at Abaddon.

“Oh hey, that’s my house!” I declared once I’d dramatically followed her directions. When I turned back, her hoof met the side of my face in a hard slap. I looked ready to cry as I touched the spot, but dropped it entirely and joined her mirth once she failed to hold her laughter back and let the tension break.

“Hey Uncle Jay,” Caddy greeted properly as she hugged me. Her grip on my neck carried her off the seat when I shifted back to my normal form to properly return the hug.

“Hey Caddy,” I repeated.

“Rumor has it that you’ve been a king this whole time,” Caddy noted, having never been told this before and seeming eager to know the truth.

“It’s a long story from a long time ago, but the short version is yes,” I allowed, getting a playful punch to my chest for withholding something that dramatic.

“Geez Jay, any other world shattering revelations you want to drop on me?” Caddy laughed. Just to mess with her, I decided to part with another secret. The world at large wasn’t ready for this one, so I sent a tendril into her ear to tell her privately. Caddy knew what I was doing and didn’t flinch, though everyone looking at us did.

“I married Luna months ago, I’m your king too,” I stated before withdrawing the tendril. Caddy choked loudly and fell over, something I found quite amusing.

The pink one was strong and had ties to Him, the hive would never survive taking her if we failed in our immediate goal. That white one though, he was weak enough to be controlled through magic alone. The last test had failed, proving only that ingesting the cure did nothing. The answer would be to use it as the other prey had used it, but we would also need more drones to overwhelm the monsters.

So close to my enemy and yet so far from killing him, just being here myself was a risk. At least I had a direction to move in and my next step in mind, my drones would abduct one of the visitors from Canterlot for draining and harvesting. Perhaps I could snag another while I was here, maybe even leave him alive to avoid suspicion.

“Hey Rainbow, aren’t you usually napping about this time of day?” a yellow male asked.

“You know how it is Mr. Cake, I couldn’t miss anything as awesome as this,” I lied. The blue mare I was impersonating had been a lucky find, fast asleep and well hidden by her own doing. I’d be long gone before she woke up. Then again, the yellow one was a known breeder and might serve the hive with just a little prompting, “But now it’s getting boring, want to sneak off for some new entertainment?”

Something was wrong. I was not accustomed to ponies turning me down, but he was laughing like I’d made a joke. I’d given my hips a little shake and everything, there was no way for him to have missed my intention.

“You sure are a hoot Rainbow,” he chuckled before continuing on his way. I kept my irritation off my face and simply tried again. And again. And again. Eventually I happened across one male from Canterlot who looked ready to agree before an orange female stepped up.

“Sorry partner, ole Rainbow here is just foolin’. She swings the other way if ya get my meanin’,” the orange one warned, eliciting another laugh and some praise for my ‘joke’ before the male wandered off with the rest. I felt a powerful need to hit someone, not one report on these blasted ponies had mentioned homosexuals at all. By my own cursed luck, I had picked one to blend in as.

I came up with an excuse that might get the orange female off my trail, but something hit me across the back of my head before I could utter a single word. The strike didn’t knock me out, as had clearly been the intention, but I did get well acquainted with the dirt of the market square. I looked up at my attacker and prepared to defend myself, but froze when I saw a twisted nightmare rising out of the ground itself. A scream of terror escaped my throat before I could even consider processing what was happening, though a harder hit to the same spot as before silenced my cry. My last thought as everything went dark was of how Equis itself had been bent to His will.

When I came to, the first emotions I felt were that of confusion. I had been discovered and incapacitated, why hadn’t I been killed as well?

“Finally awake I see,” He commented. That explained it, he wanted me alive to gloat over His victory. I spat at Him in defiance, the changeling race would never submit, “So hostile, maybe I’m in a generous mood and want to make you an offer.”

I took stock of my situation before responding. I was in heavy chains and couldn’t move, there was something on my horn to disable my magic, and another chain was wrapped around my barrel to keep my wings pinned to my back. We were also not alone, two female alicorns stood with Him and a number of other horrors waited behind all three.

“Speak then,” I allowed, desperate to maintain some control.

“You are in Tartarus with no way out and bound in chains that cannot be broken, only I can open the door out of here or authorize the removing of those chains. I’m prepared to do both if you accept the terms,” He offered. Lies, I knew a ploy when I saw one.

“My surrender then? Is that what you want?” I growled, more for appearances. There was no way I’d accept anything He offered.

“Exactly. You are to initiate no further hostilities or abduct anyone of any race for the rest of your life, in return I will grant you the Badlands and the right to enter pony society in disguises of your own invention. I believe this will allow you to integrate peacefully and form a mutually beneficial relationship with the ponies,” He proposed. Optics? He allowed me to live for the optics? I could never agree to this, my hive would starve to death before we were able to gather enough love. But refusing to give in would allow Him to persecute me and my entire hive with impunity.

“I choose the fast death over starvation,” I spat, idly curious as to how he would respond.

“Las Pegasus, Dice, Manehattan, Appleloosa, Baltimare,” He listed with a casual tone I had not anticipated.

“What of these cities?” I demanded, not understanding how that was intended to manipulate me.

“They’re all the cities where prostitution is legal,” He replied as though it was the most simple thing in the world. The thought made me hiss in rage and struggle to free myself so I could show this beast what I thought of His proposal. We were not playthings for the ponies, we were destined to dominate this land.

“NEVER, WE SHALL NOT DEBASE OURSELVES FOR YOU!” I shouted, showing my anger as well as I could under the circumstances.

“You were caught while you were soliciting stallions for sex,” the blue alicorn deadpanned.

“She’s just proud, it’s different when you’re the one looking for it,” the pink one from before commented.

“That’s your choice to make: accept what love you can get during an interim period while you integrate peacefully, die from starvation, or die at the end of my claws,” He stated plainly, “Take all the time you need to decide, I’ll be ignoring you until you make your choice.”

They left me there, chained to the floor of some dark room in the underworld while they returned to their lives. My only company became the horrors that had stood behind the party, though they refused to speak when I attempted to coax them into releasing me.

It became clear that they had truly left after an hour of total silence, making the waiting game entirely on my end. He would leave me here to die if I never begged for mercy, but I could never imagine doing so. How could I call myself a queen if I gave in under this little pressure? I was a changeling, and no prison had ever held a changeling before.

If only I could figure out how to slip out of chains that were running through my leg holes.

“So that was Tartarus,” Caddy noted once we were through the portal and aboard Abaddon. She seemed slightly disappointed.

“You have to leave the palace if you want to see the torment and carnage,” I stated simply.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Caddy replied with a nod of understanding before looking critically at Luna.

“Um, have I offended you?” Luna asked, appearing slightly uncomfortable.

“You’re damn right you have, you thieving bitch. I’ve known this guy for fifteen years and he never once gave any indication of being interested in anyone, then you pop up out of nowhere and take him for yourself? I want to know your angle,” Caddy demanded, nearly making me laugh at how hostile she’d gotten in so little time.

“I don’t have one, we were drunk. Neither of us knew until the next day, we didn’t even remember it,” Luna explained defensively.

“Jay?” Caddy requested.

“True story,” I confirmed, causing Caddy to drop her attitude almost instantly. Now she just looked between us with a more somber expression.

“In that case I’m sorry for getting so upset, it must be hard to live with Jay,” Caddy offered sympathetically.

“The lack of love thing? We’re working on that,” Luna replied with a soft smile.

“Eh-hem!” Six called, getting our attention on the enraged bioform, “Finally, was this entire day designed to lure that thing into a trap?”

“No,” I answered simply.

“You expect me to believe that you just got lucky?” Six demanded.

“Believe what you want, Jeff is always watching the town. Having the match in town was so any enemy spies would see you as a new enforcer variant and get scared, that’s all I had for an ulterior motive. Everything aside from where the fight took place was completely natural,” I replied.

“Luna? Do you believe that?” Six asked, sounding disappointed.

“I don’t have to believe, I know it’s true. Chrysalis has been a shadow from the very beginning, no one knew where she was or where she’d be at any point since she made herself known in the Badlands,” Luna stated plainly.

“Oh, well at least tell me next time before you use me like that?” Six retorted, clinging to what little she could be mad about.

“Another mistake to atone for, I’ll keep you informed in the future,” I agreed, getting a derisive scoff before Six launched herself into the air.

“Anyhow, what did you mean by that? How are you getting Jay to feel anything? Family relations are about all he can do, and you don’t seem like the type to accept a sister role,” Caddy rambled, channeling her inner Twilight now that her favorite subject had come up and there were no distractions.

“First we figured out what he didn’t have and why, then we simply worked around it. His species doesn’t find mates, so intimacy was completely off the table. But Cat had an idea about using romance to fill the void and it seems to be working rather well,” Luna explained.

“A cat told you that?” Caddy asked in confusion

“Catrix, she’s a demon,” Luna corrected.

“Heard my name,” Cat stated as she walked out onto the deck and spotted Caddy, “By Oblivion, it’s a little alicorn. You’re so cute!”

Caddy was dumbstruck by the outburst and didn’t have time to get away before Cat had her in her arms. On the flipside, Caddy was now eye-level with us as she was cradled like an infant.

“Caddy, Catrix. Catrix, Caddy,” I introduced pointlessly.

“Um, hi?” Caddy offered weakly as she struggled to keep up with what was happening.

“Caddy? You’re Cadence? The Cadence? Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” Cat confirmed.

“That’s me. I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of you before,” Caddy apologized.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m just glad to finally meet you after hearing so much,” Cat gushed.

“Right… So Luna said that you had the idea of how to help them?” Caddy attempted.

“Which time? Jay keeps me around as a therapist and emotional advisor, since I almost never get to do my real job,” Cat asked.

“With the romantic thing? Also what’s your real job then if Jay keeps you around as a therapist?” Caddy asked. That had been the wrong question to ask.

Cat immediately launched into what she believed Cadence had meant by that and assumed the question’s existence gave her permission to air our dirty laundry. Luna’s embarrassed blush reached all the way to her chest as she stood frozen in place through sheer horror. I was desperately trying to shut Cat up without killing her or hurting Caddy, but she simply stepped aside as she clearly thought I was going to Luna’s side.

When Cat concluded her tale, Cadence just looked at us sympathetically before clarifying, “I meant the intimate versus romantic love bit.”

“Oh,” Catrix replied before setting Caddy down as gently as possible, taking a step back, and breaking her own neck to escape the coming shitstorm. Cadence stared at the spot while Catrix burned away, then looked to me in total shock.

“She does that occasionally, demons don’t really die. She’ll regenerate in Tartarus and come back once she’s forgotten about this,” I explained before she could pose her obvious question, “I’m going to request that you do the same. Cat’s reason for knowing what she does comes from her past and the common use for her species.”

“She’s a hooker, right?” Caddy guessed, sounding disgusted.

“When I met her in the Crystal Kingdom she was, now she’s a concubine. At least that’s her title, it gives her some perks in Tartarus,” I corrected.

“Still disgraceful, that kind of trade was right to be banned,” Caddy spat with an angry look at the rapidly vanishing scorch mark Cat had left.

“I’ve spent plenty of time in Tartarus, one of the first things I learned was to not judge any demons with pony morality. Succubi like Cat are by far the tamest of the bunch and least dangerous. Cat in particular has reigned in her natural attitude to be more like us, though she still struggles from time to time with the concept of social taboos,” Luna offered, recovering quickly now that it seemed like Caddy was willing to forget everything Cat had said.

“Luna, relationships are very much my area of expertise. I love nothing more than to watch them grow into beautiful things. Being… close to one another is part of that, a part I see taken advantage off far too often. Seeing it given away freely or for something as petty as money is anathema to everything I believe in, it’s just wrong,” Caddy insisted.

“I tend to agree, but would you judge a dog the same way?” Luna countered.

“They can’t form relationships, it isn’t a fair comp-”

“It is a fair comparison, Catrix and her kind are incapable of forming relationships. They lack the ability to do anything more than study it as a curiosity found in ponies and the other races,” Luna continued, changing Caddy’s entire outlook on the demons with one statement. She pitied them now, which was arguably worse.

To make matters worse, Cat had just walked through the portal.

“I’m just gonna guess that I did a stupid,” Cat commented when she saw me, though this also got Caddy’s attention and caused her to turn towards Cat and flare her wings in surprise, “By Oblivion, it’s a little alicorn. You’re so cute!”

“Catrix? You’re back already?” Caddy asked, halting Cat before she could scoop up Cadence again.

“I was here before. I was talking to you before I died,” Cat reasoned, “I’m sorry for whatever I did to you.”

“You didn’t do anything to me, you embarrassed Luna and then killed yourself,” Caddy corrected.

“Oh, sorry Luna,” Cat apologized much more casually.

“I’ll take it out of your hide later,” Luna promised darkly, effectively using the common verbiage of Tartarus to inform Catrix that she had messed up much worse than that apology could make up for.

“So Cat, could I try something with you?” Caddy requested, causing me to pinch my nose in preemptive embarrassment. Both for how I knew Cat would interpret that statement and for what Cadence was going to try.

“I, uh, I have a thing against people messing with my head,” Cat protested as she stepped back, surprising me.

“I promise not to change anything, it’s just a theory I have,” Caddy placated as her horn started to glow.

“I still don’t-” Cat began before the spell hit her and she went slack, her jaw falling open mid-sentence.

“Cadence, that is not a cursory look. Casting a deeply rooted love spell could ruin her mind,” Luna warned.

“That’s to shut her up while I dig around,” Caddy responded, falling silent while the rest of us waited impotently to see what she was doing. After nearly three minutes of waiting, Cadence finally shouted that she had ‘found it’ and fired off a second spell.

“Cadence, stop that this instant before you harm my friend,” Luna demanded with a loud stomp of her hoof.

“Sure, I just finished anyway,” Caddy allowed as her horn dimmed and Cat’s faculties returned.

“-like the idea. Oblivion take you, what did you do to me?” Cat demanded angrily, he claws extending as she rounded on Cadence. All three paused to see if I intended to intervene.

“You dug your own graves, I’ll step in before anyone dies,” I allowed.

“Shit,” Caddy commented before she was backhanded across the deck. Luna halted a follow up attack with some telekinesis before Cat had the chance to consider murdering Cadence.

“I saw her spellwork, reversing it should be easy,” Luna offered, calming Catrix enough for her to at least put her claws away. With the risk of serious harm mitigated, Luna released the demon and walked over to stand next to me while they discussed their differences in a most civilized manner.

“Why is everyone always trying to fix us?” Luna asked curiously as Cat flew past us and nearly tumbled off the deck.

“I honestly have no idea, I’m fairly sure that we function much better than most people,” I replied as Cat charged back to reengage.

“In most regards I’m inclined to agree,” Luna responded, ducking her head to dodge a certain alicorn.

The fight only lasted a couple more minutes before both parties gave up and settled for sitting back to back and occasionally throwing an elbow while they actually used their words, though I had stopped paying attention to them as a new situation had seized my attention. There were undisguised changelings in Ponyville.

“SHE’S NOT THERE! I HAVE YOUR WORTHLESS QUEEN!” I shouted, startling my guest and resident while also sending the bugs into a full retreat. As expected, they were spineless without a hand guiding their efforts. That or they were preparing an assault on the town, oh how I hoped they were planning an assault on the town.

“Do you think they’re dumb enough to attack?” Luna asked as she saw the retreating insects and reached the same conclusions.

“LET US HOPE THAT THEY ARE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE TOO MUCH TARGET PRACTICE,” Abaddon rumbled, his voice more than loud enough for them to hear the challenge.

“More changelings?” Caddy guessed as she limped over with Cat, each using the other for stability.

“A scouting party, nothing to worry about,” I declared, “Luna, would you mind cleaning Caddy up before her bodyguard tries to fight me again?”

A hoof struck my back as I finished speaking, along with an overly confident, “Too late for that, monster.”

“Shining?” Caddy protested in surprise.

“Armor,” I warned as I turned to face the unicorn.

“Captain,” Luna greeted passively, sounding almost bored.

Catrix didn’t say anything, instead whistling for his attention as she lifted her shirt and froze his mind long enough for me to casually punch him in the side of his head to knock him back out.

“Woo, teamwork,” Cat cheered lamely as she fixed her clothing, “I hurt and I’m tired, I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow.”

“I really wish he’d drop that, it’s the only thing I don’t like about him,” Caddy complained as she hefted her coltfriend onto her back.

“One thing before you go,” I requested as I sent a command to Abaddon. The leviathan chuckled as he retrieved the item I had sent for, depositing the frozen waffle into my waiting hand.

Cadence just stared at it as I placed the breakfast food into his slack mouth.

“How in Tartarus do you know about that?” she demanded.

“Twilight Sparkle runs the library in town,” I replied.

“She is also my student now, so we see her somewhat regularly,” Luna added.

“Why wasn’t I told? I thought she was avoiding me or something,” Caddy asked, sounding hurt.

“Chelly’s a bitch,” I answered with a shrug.

“Whatever, I’ll just have to stop by more often now to catch up with her,” Caddy responded.

“I’ll be here as well, if you want to chat,” I offered.

“Sure, I’ll just leave Shining with Twilight as his fiance-sitter,” Cadence joked before vanishing with a pop.

“Can I-” I began.

“No,” Luna replied instantly.

“You don’t know what I was going to say,” I pointed out.

“You’re agitated and tired of his shit, to the point that even Cat knows how much he annoys you and seeks to end the confrontation quickly. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you’re imagining stuffing a bioform in his head to condition him into liking you,” Luna concluded.

“I have never done that, it’s terribly uninspired. Mind control is lame, I’d rather have him shut down as soon he touched me. Go for a punch, suddenly fast asleep,” I corrected.

“The answer is still no,” Luna affirmed.

“Damnit,” I griped, not really meaning it.

“That bug thing is gone,” Harry called from the other side of the portal.

“Double damnit!” I repeated more seriously.

Author's Notes:

Funny story, this chapter was fully written a week after chapter 35 was posted. It just took this long for me to move AGAIN and get Eric and Militia to edit the ending. So yeah, enjoy.

Eric's Editor's Note:
I want an Abbadon Plushie
plz

Militia's Editor's Note:
You know me, I can never think of anything.