According to Sunset’s words, my presence wasn’t really necessary and I could skip the meeting – nopony would drag me there, nor was I expected to bring anything to the table but a fresh perspective on some things. The same applied to Luna and Trixie, the latter possessing a lot of valuable information about the Deep Tunnels.

However, the rest of the council’s members caught me off guard: the TCE. Sunset promptly explained that contrary to its name, the Transcontinental Company of Equestria wasn’t a company, but in fact an enormous conglomerate of over a few hundred subsidiaries. Some of those were directly controlled by the High Committee of Directors, like the Hydroponic Gardens. Others, like Kashmare Industries seemed to be unimportant enough to give them relative autonomy. It was those companies, driven by the abnormally cold winters, who decided to seek help from the Crown, who didn’t only care about profit. The fact that most of the heads of those companies weren’t ponies helped the situation a lot. There would also be another Former One present, to whom Sunset referred, with unhidden distaste, as an ‘unwelcome troublesome punk with birdshit for brains’.

We were walking down a corridor on the upper levels when Sunset asked me to wait at a set of inconspicuous doors – an unexpected turn of events, considering how hastily we had moved before. She vanished into the room, but in her hurry forgot to close the door, allowing me to take full view of what lay beyond it.

It was a room with walls painted in bright colors, filled with small furniture and… toys. In the middle of it, Queen Chrysalis sat on a cushion, surrounded by a dozen changeling foals (nymphs?). In her hooves she was holding a colorful book from which she was reading a story. The young ones’ eyes, wide from fascination, were glued to their… she wasn’t a queen in that moment, but their Mother.

Sunset whispered something into the queen’s ear, and for a brief, almost unnoticeable, moment her face darkened but then dissolved into a smile. She said something to the children, and they rushed to embrace her with their little hooves, filling the room with melodious laughter. Our eyes met, and for some reason, I couldn’t hold the gaze.

Maybe it was the endless tenderness I saw in them. Maybe it was the pang of remorse I felt pierce my proverbial heart.

Queen Chrysalis joined us without a single word, and we began to walk through the passages of the Sky Palace, Sunset navigating the path, while the queen and I followed her.

Every step of the changeling queen was accompanied by the soft tinkling of her second, artificial exoskeleton. She moved slowly, not able to match Sunset’s speed from before, but her long legs meant I didn’t need to decelerate to walk beside her. Her steps were heavy and breathing ragged, and more than once we had to stop to let the elder changeling battle with her lungs.

I was thankful for that, though not in an ill-meaning way. More than once I could feel the queen’s eyes on me, waiting for me to talk, but I could find no words. I still couldn’t decide how I should feel towards my former archenemy – I was sure we couldn’t be such anymore, but I hesitated to call us allies.

Finally we reached a pair of ornate doors, obviously leading to an important room.

The chamber we entered was another balcony, its windows offering a view of the vast sea of clouds. It was considerably larger than the one where Queen Chrysalis met us, but with most of the space filled by a large table with almost all its seats taken.

The company at the table was even more mixed than I expected, barely having any ponies in it, most of them being the ones I already knew – Luna, Trixie and Rainbow were already present here.

The changeling queen trotted to the head of the table, accompanied by Sunset, while I was left to take my place by Luna on the opposite side of the obsidian tabletop. It was that table, I realized, the relic from ancient times, a huge piece of basalt so old that it outlived any who knew its tale. Luna and Trixie, who was sitting by her right hoof, had two empty seats dividing them from the rest. The latter was ‘wearing’ her body, which looked almost the same, save for a few patches.

While Queen Chrysalis was having another coughing bout, I used that time to take a better look at those who comprised the council.

A zebra stallion in a business suit who was so tall that his mohawk reached higher than Luna’s horn. On his side, a smaller zebra stallion of either the Mlima or Mabonde tribe, wearing a suit as well. Twin Kirin mares with deeply displeased expressions directed towards a female goat who looked like she had rammed a jewellery shop before coming here with all the gold covering her body. A neighponese unicorn stallion chatting with an elderly earth pony mare in a hushed whisper. Finally, there was a creature I struggled to identify.

She was the size of a young filly, almost a foal and… That was the only definitive thing I could say about her. I would say she was a pegasus if her black feathers were confined to only her wings, but they covered most of her body, forming a magnificent plumage where her mane should be, revealing only a little of her white coat. The filly’s muzzle was long and strange in its form, becoming narrow and sharp to the end. Like Luna and Trixie, she was given empty space around her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was caused by another peculiar thing about her appearance: each and every one of her black feathers appeared to be smoldering, glowing with an orangish pink like coals.

Finally, the queen’s respiratory system abided to her will and silence reigned in the room, disturbed only by a faint clop of hooves as Rainbow took her place on Queen Chrysalis’ left, opposed to Sunset on the other side of the queen’s chair.

“Every creature present, welcome our guests at today's gathering,” the elder changeling proclaimed, making every pair of eyes stare at the three of us sitting together, though some paid the feathered filly cautious glances as well.

“Trixie Lulamoon. Some of you may know her…”

“I wish I didn’t,” grumbled that strange filly in an unexpectedly mature (and somewhat familiar) voice.

Queen Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the comment and continued, “Twilight Sparkle…” Her jaw worked for a brief moment as she struggled finding the best way to introduce me, “The former student of Princess Celestia herself,” she decided, drawing all attention solely to me. The looks I received varied from incredulous to even respectful, the last coming from the feathered filly along with a gasp.

Saving me from the amount of spotlight I wasn’t comfortable with, the queen motioned with her hoof at the last member of our trio, who was gloomily towering above us, “Finally, Luna… the former Princess.”

Every creature diverted their glances at Luna, all of them wary to a degree, though somewhat curious as well. Before the Council members’ attention left Luna’s stoic figure, Queen Chrysalis spoke again, “Luna’s presence here is one of the reasons why I called all of you, because you know what it means.”

“Right on time,” barked the elder pony mare and pulled a monocle to put it to her eye, “the Edge’s about to explode.”

Her words became some kind of a signal, because the three of us were instantly forgotten, the others visibly relaxed and all turned to Queen Chrysalis, looking at her expectantly.

“I think it can be used as an advantage, let the TCE and the Edge workers kill each other,” the goat commented in haughty tone, countless gold accessories jingling as she leaned onto the hoofrest of her chair. I had a very strong suspicion that she was the owner of Kashmare Industries.

“And lose all the workforce,” one of the Kirin twins snapped at the goat, but she ignored her words, choosing to study her polished hoof instead.

“So, the southern lands are now available,” the huge Jangwa zebra spoke, his voice like a thunderpeal. “I’m still not sure if it is a smart idea to evacuate there. It is nothing but a barren rock,” -he shot a cold glance towards Luna- ”no thanks to one of our guests.”

I looked at Luna as well to see her reaction, but my mind caught up with me and I paid no attention to her expression in the end.

“Evacuate?” I asked. I must have misheard that.

My question killed all the conversations and ten pairs of eyes focused on me, the Kashmare goat rolling hers with an exasperated dramatic sigh. The elder earth pony shook her head in disappointment and started wiping her monocle. Queen Chrysalis slowly turned to Sunset Shimmer who stood with her eyes closed, a tired expression on her mechanical face.

“Sunny, you haven’t filled them in, have you?” the queen asked. Silence was her answer and she addressed me over the table. “Anyhow, specially for our newcomers. After a lengthy consideration it was decided two years ago that the only sensible option is to attempt to evacuate the population of Canterlot,” she explained in her lived-in voice, “The only undecided part was the relocation area, which, thanks to you” -she gave me a nod full of gratitude- “we now have.”

“But there are millions of ponies!” I objected, and was instantly met with more than half a dozen angry glares. Hastily, I added in an apologetic tone, “And other creatures.” Meeting the queen’s eyes, I clearly stated, “It will be impossible to relocate that many.”

I might not be aware of all the technologies and fine details of the world to which I was returned, but I didn’t need that to predict the outcome of such an endeavour: catastrophic casualties. And that was if it was successful, which I highly doubted.

Queen Chrysalis let out a deep sigh and leaned back in her chair looking at me with an expression that I could only translate as: “I regret calling you here so much.”

Sunset Shimmer came to help her queen (and friend). “If we forget for a moment that right now Canterlot is on the brink of war, there are three major issues that cannot be resolved by any means: the magic deterioration, the Windigos and the depletion of resources.”

What? Were they crazy or something?

“Two of those reasons aren’t real,” I retorted. I was yet to hear a reasonable explanation to the impossible – magic was without end, no matter what everypony was claiming. And while the city populace was confirming the Windigo theory with their stories, it couldn’t be true, because it was all the Windigos were – just a story.

“I bet those who died during the winter five years ago have a different opinion, but what would they know…” the neighponese stallion jeered in a mocking tone.

“The Windigos are myth, a tale for foals,” I snapped back at him.

“I once was a tale, too,” Luna suddenly murmured, taking me by surprise, “I am afraid they are real.”

But… but…

An icy grip of terror clutched my mind. None of those tales explicitly said that the Windigos were gone, and there never was proof it was only a tale. The same was true of Nightmare Moon. I considered her an ‘old pony tale’ indeed, and the mare sitting by my side was proof of how wrong I was.

It changed the situation drastically, giving me an entirely new perspective on the city’s future. In fact, it was amazing it was still standing with that much strife around.

“If they are real then there is a way to deal with them.” Admittedly, it would be as easy to disband the tribalists and make Canterlot full of friendship as to evacuate it. Scrap that, I had already begun to regret making that comment – it would be even less possible to make happen.

“That part is unfortunately a myth,” Queen Chrysalis bitterly chuckled, “no amount of heartfelt songs can help the situation.”

“Nothing?” I asked in desperation. My gaze fell at Trixie and then moved to Sunset, “Your magic? Weapons?”

“Twilight, you need to understand what the Windigos are,” Luna spoke from my side once again. “They are ancient beings who sought power greater than that which the core of this world could grant, so they reached into the night, into the void between the stars, and it consumed them.”

There was a haunted expression in Luna’s eyes which made me wonder what else she could know and how she knew what she did. There was also an unpleasant thought: wasn’t Luna reaching into the night as well? A lot of her power wasn’t coming from Harmony; it couldn’t turn a pony into Nightmare Moon.

“Their existence is their torment making them yearn for death,” Luna continued, “so they seek any major conflict in the vain hope of finding their demise in it, but it has yet to happen.” Giving me a sympathetic look, she finished, “Unless you know how to rip the void apart, there is nothing that can be done.”

My projected face became contorted with a grimace of deep discontent. It was one thing to be running out of time because of the climate change making Equestria uninhabitable. But knowing that behind those winters were insane primordial magic apparitions made things truly dire.

“It is your fault they are here,” I threw at the changeling queen along with a hard glare, “All the suffering in Canterlot must have attracted them.”

“Not quite,” Queen Chrysalis calmly retorted, “they didn’t come all the way from the Frozen North for Canterlot only.”

“And what about the magic deterioration?” I asked nopony in particular, hoping to get an explanation for that issue as well while we were at it.

“Twilight,” the feathered filly unexpectedly spoke, “I don’t want to show disrespect, but could you kindly shut up?” Frankly, I was taken aback by her response. “I didn’t come here for the ‘fundamentals of magic with the bug queen and her friends’,” she sassed from her place – a wild sight considering that she was barely rising above the tabletop.

“Fotia,” Sunset scolded the filly, “I don’t think you can demand anything after you melted a hole in the Sky Palace’s walls.”

Her name was Fotia! Fotia Koraki, ‘fire crow’ in one of the old languages. Raven Inkwell, the Former One who was an amalgam of a pony and a phoenix. It all made sense now.

Wait… she did what?

“It is not my problem you refused to let me in,” Fotia barked back at Sunset, but for some reason she gave Trixie the stink-eye.

“Anyhow,” Sunset said, her voice impatient, “you have a point, we don’t have time for a presentation with pictures.” She then turned to me, “Twilight, have you noticed how many arcane devices there are in Canterlot?”

“Yes.” I hadn’t seen a single pony in Canterlot (with the exception of the Edge, though they had prosthetics) without at least one device.

“Most of them are powered by ambient magic, as are some older models of equinoids,” Sunset explained, speaking sharply and quickly. “It overloads Harmony’s limited output.”

Millions upon millions of crystals with active enchantments, perpetually feeding on the thaumagical field. I didn’t take that into consideration. The ponies themselves had nothing to do with it. I felt acute embarrassment for missing such a crucial detail; the fact that the answer was so simple made it much worse.

“Then Canterlot’s population needs to stop using that many arcane devices,” I grumbled in my defense, the obvious solution from the top of my head.

I began to regret my words the moment they left my mouth, and Sunset wasn’t going to give me reprieve. “I hope you realize that it only sounds simple.” She started to sound irritated. “Not with the Tunnels which can’t be subjected to the law even with the help of the Royal Guard, and certainly not with the TCE’s revenue relying on selling such devices.” Now I was the one scolded.

I stared at the table as the unbearably awkward silence pressed on me from every side. I was carried away by my curiosity, turning the council into a lecture. Finally, Sunset decided to bring my punishment to an end. “Are you done?”

I timidly nodded, deciding to keep my mouth shut for a while, unless I had something to contribute.

“Rainbow Dash, if you please,” Queen Chrysalis called the pegasus on her side who had stood the entire duration of the gathering with a stone face, resembling a statue.

“Surveillance of the Light and Heavy Industry sectors shows that the workers have taken full control of the according Edge territory, with only the Wall remaining under the TCE’s control,” Rainbow loudly declared, thanks to the voice amplifying enchantment in her helmet (yes, she was still in full armor, which I found a bit strange).

Another feature of her helmet’s equipment, a projector, created a translucent simplified plan of the Edge territory, a glowing image hovering above the table’s surface for all to see. About a quarter of the territory circling the city on the northwest was marked with a red color.

“A stallion of unknown origins who calls himself ‘Prophet’ somehow managed to unite all the factories of both sectors in addition to providing them with blueprints for an advanced anti-materiel weapon,” Rainbow said with clear displeasure in her voice. “For now, the TCE holds the perimeter, but only until the workers start running out of food. We have no information regarding their food stocks, but it won’t last more than a month even in the most ideal conditions.”

“What about the rest of the Edge?” one of the Kirin twins asked grouchily.

“The Organic Waste Processing had a few riots but they were subdued. The unrest continues, however,” Rainbow replied and a sector of the map south of the Industry flared with pale red, “We suspect they are getting support from the ‘Prophet’ via the Tunnels.”

Almost half of the map on the east went grey from the initial pale blue, and Rainbow commented, “The eastern Edge has practically stopped existing. The Junkyard suffered heavy losses in the recent gang war, and the TCE cut off all support.”

The territory on the map that had kept its original color was laughable. I didn’t know the exact size of the sectors, but I could guess that the southern part of the Edge was comprised of the Everfree Forest and, slightly to the west, the Gardens, both not counted as the Edge per se. The patch between the OWP and the Industry sectors had to be the TCE Police Headquarters and prisons.

“So we have lost most of the qualified workforce,” the other Kirin concluded in the same deeply displeased tone as her sister.

“I’m afraid so, but we still have the main population,” the unsure answer came from Sunset, sounding almost pleading.

“We need industry, we need builders,” the first Kirin mare exclaimed, accompanying her words with the bang of her hoof against the table.

“Without them the main population won’t last. We’re already taking a huge risk relying on your biomass farms,” the elderly earth pony suddenly croaked addressing the changeling queen.

“They will be sufficient, I’m risking my children's lives as much as yours,” Queen Chrysalis snapped back, obviously irritated, though it was apparent the state of the Edge’s territory and it dwellers was making her nervous as well.

A sonorous ringing of excessive jewellery signified that the Kashmare goat had something to say as well. With a conspiratory smile she leaned forward and rejoined the discussion with the same suggestion she had before, “That returns us to the question: why not let the conflict escalate and then just finish the side that wins?”

“If the Edge wins that war then we will lose the next,” Rainbow angrily barked at the goat, “We have no information regarding that yet, but the weapons they use may be capable of piercing Royal Guard armor. Furthermore,” she continued glancing in our direction, “we very recently discovered that the TCE possesses such firepower as well. Whoever wins that war will be capable of fighting the Crown right after and take control of the city.”

A heavy silence settled over the table as Rainbow’s grim gaze wandered from one face to the next, allowing that information to sink in before she concluded, “If the city isn’t evacuated in the next month, then it never will be evacuated.”

“Such a shame that the western Edge is completely out of the question, without them it will be incredibly hard to settle on the new site,” the neighponese stallion lamented.

The elder on his side spoke again, “Who else will join the evacuation at the moment?”

“Do the Arcana Noxiae still have their heads neck deep in their asses?” The Kirin mare supplemented the question with one of her own, her equally (and just as perpetually) displeased twin nodding in approval of the inquiry.

Queen Chrysalis grimaced, but it was Sunset who answered, “It is even worse, they tracked down our contact and now we have no idea what they are planning.”

“Sheesh, your Highness,” Fotia jeered from her place, her beak-like muzzle aimed at the ceiling as the filly leaned back in a display of utter boredom, “I thought you were the queen of spies.”

“Speaking of spies, Fotia Koraki,” the queen was quick to come with a retort. “I believe you have something to tell us? Or have you perforated my palace for fun?” she quipped.

“I like perforating things for fun almost as much as I like burning them.” Fotia nonchalantly shrugged off the accusation, then pointed her hoof at Trixie and ranted, “I wouldn’t have done it if this lazy arcanium shit here had brought her shiny ass to me like I asked, instead of taking a vacation out of the city!”

Trixie instantly exploded in indignitation, “I helped to bring Luna here if you didn’t notice!”

But the sassy filly didn’t back down, her anger only becoming stronger, “You could have ditched her somewhere on the way, no one wants to have her here anyway!”

I winced at those words and quickly glanced at Luna, but the midnight alicorn seemed to take it stoically. Except for her slowly blinking and forced exhaling, not a single muscle on her gaunt face twitched. Anyhow, it wasn't a nice thing to say, but it wasn’t me who came to Luna’s defense.

“How dare you!?” Trixie yelled, standing up from her chair so fast it fell on the floor, “You worked with her sister, you ungra–”

“Enough!” Sunset roared, almost making me jump. It was very loud and fierce, though I was sure, no magic amplification was in play. “Fotia, we tolerated your actions only because you claim to be in possession of some crucial data regarding the Pink Butterflies.”

“Right,” the filly grumbled. She took a few moments to think, scratching her feathers with her hoof, causing ash and soot rain on the tabletop. Loudly inhaling she began speaking, “The Pinks have gotten a lot of rookies as of late. Not only is it strange by itself, it opens up a few opportunities, because the green asses often carry maps with them not to get lost–”

She was interrupted by Rainbow, who with a deep frown commented, “We thought maps don’t work in the Everfree, similar to the Deep Tunnels.”

“They learned to enchant them,” Fotia shrugged, “probably made a deal with Noxiae’s magi, those whores sell out to every dog–”

“Fotia,” Sunset called.

The former assistant of Princess Celestia glowered at the other Former One, but said nothing. A few moments later, she continued, “I used the map to sneak into an outpost with civilians and made one of them talk,” her beak-muzzle dissolved into a crooked malevolent smile, making me shudder. Then her expression darkened. “You are not going to like what that poor griffin chick said, however.

“A year after the Winter, the TCE got two guys with at least one brain cell each. The first one came up with an invisibility enchantment, the second used his grey matter to keep things extra hush-hush. So hush-hush that a whole army circled the Everfree, approached the Castle of Two Sisters without being noticed, and none ever learned of it.”

Everyone present frowned in concern as Fotia predicted, but Queen Chrysalis and Sunset Shimmer more than the others. With the Swarm’s affinity for covert tactics and apparently the vast spy network it was running, missing such a large event had to be a considerable fiasco.

“You see, the thing is that with the hole in the shield right above them,” Fotia twirled her hoof in the air, imitating the mentioned break in the magical dome, “the Pinks got it really hard. So when the TCE materialized from thin air, half of the griffins put two and two together and turned on their buddies.”

“I knew it,” Rainbow spat, sounding not even remotely triumphant.

I remembered the breastplate of the griffin who attacked us. Now it was apparent where it came from.

“That is exceptionally bad,” the short zebra stallion echoed my thoughts in a singsong voice, speaking for the first time, then added, “The greedy guiding the mad.”

The exotic quality of his voice combined with the rhymed speech betrayed that zebra’s origin – the Mlima tribe. That both explained his silence and raised the question of what a mountain shaman was doing in the TCE.

“Not as bad as you think,” Fotia chuckled, making most of the council attendees shoot confused glances in her direction.

“The TCE now has an army of terrorists experienced at guerrilla warfare, what part of it is not bad?” the neighponese stallion sneered.

“The part where the Pinks hate everyone in this fucking city,” the half-phoenix filly snorted, “When the Edge starts fucking the TCE in their mouth, the griffins will put it up their ass, I guarantee you that.”

I wasn’t the only one to grimace at Fotia’s choice of words, but I had to admit she had a point. If there was anything to learn from history, it was that loyalty wasn’t in the nature of griffins, not to agreements with other nations, at least. Apparently nopony at the TCE was aware of that, because it was obvious even to me that the TCE had literally given the Pink Butterflies the knife with which they would be stabbed in the back the moment they turn it to the griffins.

Queen Chrysalis broke the uneasy silence, “Thank you for that intel, Fotia.” Then, rubbing her chin, quietly added, “Though, I’m not sure if there is any use for it…”

The remark didn’t go unnoticed by Fotia, “Hey, I literally died for that, so make it worth it!”

My eyes grew wide for a moment, but then I remembered that Fotia was able to rise from the dead, thanks to her body being shared with a phoenix. Also, Trixie mentioned Fotia being old the last time she saw her.

Though Fotia’s behaviour was aggravating at best, I couldn’t help but respect her heroism. She had sneaked into the Everfree Forest full of terrorists of her own volition and then fought her way into the Sky Palace to deliver that information, not expecting any reward.

“Let me summarize,” the earth pony mare spoke, squinting at Queen Chrysalis though her monocle, her voice like sandpaper, “We have the remains of the eastern Edge to evacuate, the main population and the pegasi purist communes?”

“Are you sure they are going to join?” one of the Kirin asked, a sentiment I shared. The pegasi had a tendency to keep to themselves even in better times. In some sense they were always tribalists.

The answer came from Rainbow. “They have been secretly trying to flee the city each summer for three years, they are more than ready.”

Yup, I was right about the pegasi even more than I wanted to be.

Something was missing. Apparently, ‘the main population’ not only included ponies, since most of the attendees were from other races. Strictly speaking, that elder mare was the only pony here, unless the neighponese refugees swore their loyalty to Equestria. So, ponies, zebras, kirin. Even goats. But I could feel the list wasn’t complete. Then it struck me.

“What about the equinoids?” I asked, not sure if it was the right thing to do. Most likely they counted as part of the population, but I had to be sure.

“What about the equinoids?” the goat echoed in a mocking voice, as if the question was ridiculous.

The Kashmare representative was joined by one of the Kirin. “You mean the organic-life hating fanatics, eh… living above the Deep Tunnels?” I couldn’t help but scowl at the unhidden disdain with which she spoke.

“They are citizens of Canterlot and should be evacuated as well,” I hissed, knowing that I wasn’t exactly correct. The equinoids were property at best, but I refused to acknowledge that.

“Mixing them with the pony populace would result in an immediate bloodbath,” the neighponese stallion huffed. “That is out of the question.”

He was right: there was no way it would be a good idea to try and unite the equinoids and ponies as long as the Church held the reins. Except… there was a seat empty in the Church's hierarchy. The seat belonging to the Machine Goddess.

Every creature had already lost their interest in me, instead whispering to each other, discussing the situation. I calmed myself. Their disrespect towards equinoids was expected, there was a lot of blood and oil spilled between the organic and artificial life. If I were to change that, I couldn’t allow emotions to distract me. Not again.

“But what if they change?” I loudly asked over the growing clamor. “What if there were somepony to lead them?”

Every pair of eyes, even those of Luna and Trixie focused on me.

“Who?” the goat sneered in condescending tone, then laughed, “You?”

A few others joined her, their chuckles not so boisterous, but no less malicious.

“Yes.”

All laughter died and the room became a tomb, so deafening the silence was. No one looked at me with mirth, good-hearted or not. Apprehension was dominating the overall mood. The goat was now scowling in deep concern. Even Luna was giving me a strange, bewildered look. Only Trixie was somewhat approving; Queen Chrysalis and Sunset had doubtful expressions plastered across their muzzles. It was the queen who spoke:

“Do you realize what you are talking about? The only one who can control those fanatics is a Goddess.”

My stalwart gaze was my answer. I didn’t need their approval, it was decided already. I was only informing them.

However, I shifted uncomfortably as Luna’s look turned disapproving. It seemed we were going to have a talk later that neither of us was going to enjoy.

As soon as Queen Chrysalis broke the silence, the TCE representatives began to chat among themselves in low murmuring voices, stealing glances at me.

“I support the idea, we need the equinoids,” Sunset suddenly proclaimed, successfully diverting all the attention to her, mine included.

“What are you talking about?” the Jangwa zebra asked incredulously.

“A lot of them were part of old building crews,” Sunset calmly explained, “With the Edge numbers being severely cut down, there is an acute need of workforce.”

I could feel that there was more to her support than just a practical side, and I was very grateful for that.

Another round of murmurs, loud arguing started at the table. Finally, it seemed that some kind of agreement was reached, though no one looked particularly pleased with it.

“Perhaps it can work,” the Kirin mare stated, then lifted her hoof and continued in a warning tone, holding it in the air, “But only if you manage to control their violence.”

I wanted to retort that the equinoids wouldn’t have turned to violence if they hadn’t been enslaved and had their memories erased over and over, amongst many other disrespects. But instead I calmly replied with a reassuring nod, “I will.”

“Then it is decided!” the queen’s voice cut the the clamor which took over once again after my words. The volume Queen Chrysalis used made her double in a coughing fit, but she quickly recovered. “Every creature knows their part already, so let's get to work. We don’t have much time.”

The sound of chairs scraping filled the room, but before anyone could stand up, Luna suddenly spoke, “I can fully understand why each of you are doing this: to help your brethren.”

I furrowed by brows. With the exception of joining the topic of the Windigos, Luna was silent and showing surprising indifference towards both the direness of the situation and the risky way it was supposed to be resolved. However, there was a strange quality to her speech. It sounded like she was about to disagree.

“Your help is more than appreciated,” -the alicorn bowed her head- “but don’t you think that the evacuation and the following resettlement should be led by ponydom, as it will certainly make up the bulk of the population?”

Luna tried her best to sound polite and calm, but it didn’t stop every attendee from frowning at her words. The only ones who didn’t bristle were Fotia and the earth pony elder, though for some reason they looked sad, with almost-pained grimaces on their muzzles.

“And who do you think should be in charge instead of me?” Queen Chrysalis chuckled, but there was no mirth in that hollow laugh and the next held venomous notes in it, “You?”

“No,” Luna uttered looking at her hooves and letting out a deep sigh. A moment later she regained her composure and added, “But with all respect, it should be a pony, it would be only fair.”

Luna had a point. The Swarm and the other races helping Equestria to start anew were more than welcome, but so far it seemed like the ponies weren’t going to be in charge of that new life. The Crown already wasn’t very popular amongst Canterlot’s populace; there was no way to predict how that stance would change with both the Swarm’s reveal of themselves and the help they were going to provide. However, with the current sentiments prevailing in the council room, it was apparent that many would push for their sovereignty, ponies not being the last of those. We would be lucky if it didn’t escalate into an open conflict. Meanwhile, I was going to have my own struggle for the freedom of equinoids. All those conflicts happening at once wasn't a good-looking prospect. Perhaps the Crown should step down for the sake of everyone.

“Fair, huh?” the queen laughed that hearty malevolent laugh I remembered too well, making me tense up. Though Luna managed to keep her expression neutral, her mane betrayed her anger, flaring up and making a few of the TCE representatives take a couple of steps back.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Queen Chrysalis suddenly addressed me, her voice laden with fake sweetness. Strangely, her tired face, sorrowful even, didn’t match the taunting tone. “You are a smart mare, you are friends with the Edge dwellers, from the Junkyard itself, no less, so you must know the depth of the problem concerning the depletion of resources.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I had no intention of playing the queen’s games, nor did her implied question make any sense.

“Please, do tell me, what else should be in shortage?” she pressed on with a wry smile, moving to the next question as if I had answered the first correctly (which wouldn’t have been hard).

I barely suppressed a growl – unless I made a scene there would be no way to get the answers.

The whole city hinged on excessive use of advanced technology, it seemed. It wasn’t hard to guess what the second most common material needed to quench Canterlot’s hunger for production was. “Crystals,” I snapped.

“But they are not in deficit,” the queen retorted. ”So, where do you think they come from?”

Only now did I notice that Queen Chrysalis wasn’t the only one who bore that weird expression. Everyone seemed to be finding the discussion unpleasant, though it seemed none was going to stop it from continuing. A shadow of concern began to creep into the edges of my mind. I knew that feeling – I was missing something very important, and I wasn’t going to like the answer when I learned it. Nonetheless, there was a question to answer.

“Rock farms.” Obviously. Growing gemstones was easier than mining them, not to mention that resource being nearly infinite.

“The technology was lost shortly after the war. I’ll give you a hint: the last crystal mine in Canterlot was depleted four hundred years ago,” Queen Chrysalis said, shaking her head in apparent regret.

Then it hit me. With all my focus on Canterlot and equinoids I forgot about the place where most of those problems began. There was even a hint its new name I heard once or twice: the ‘Crystal Mines’.

“They come from the Crystal Empire,” I replied, refusing to refer it as a facility. But the feeling was still there. If it were that easy, Queen Chrysalis wouldn’t have taken a long route to bring me to the answer.

“Now tell me, by your approximation, how long will it take for a city with an exponentially growing demand to leave not a single crystal there?” the queen said, leaning in my direction, looking me in the eyes intently. A grin, both grim and triumphant was plastered across her face.

The question wasn’t entirely fair. If she knew what memories I had, then she would also know that I didn’t see when the Crystal Empire was liberated. Before that took place, I had no chance to learn about the area’s natural reserves. The Great War wasn’t about that, after all. But it wasn’t going to stop me from trying. With my brows furrowed, I stared at the table.

If Equestria ran out of its reserves four centuries ago and had no other way but to turn its eye to those of the Crystal Empire... But even if I were to assume that the crystal ponies were sitting on one solid crystal block the size of the Empire itself… that still wouldn’t be enough to cover four hundred years of consumption, considering the rate at which it was happening. Even if every building in the Empire was turned into components.

Apparently, my expression was a clear answer in itself.

“It took them four decades,” the queen answered quietly, making my eyes grow in bewilderment. That fast! Then she whispered, “But the crystals still keep coming.”

I raised my eyes to look at her and was met with that strange gaze: grieving and full of blame with anger at the same time. It was also… sympathetic? Why was she pitying me?

Without breaking eye contact, she spoke slowly, as if it was hard for her to say it. “There was a researcher, a really brilliant mind. He came up with a genius technology: microcrystal clusters. He committed suicide shortly after.” Her face twitched. “Because another researcher from the TCE very soon found out that the body cells of crystal ponies can serve as microcrystals.”

It took me a horrifyingly short time to link those two facts together. Part of my mind refused to acknowledge that connection. That couldn’t possibly be true, doing such a thing was beyond heinous, it was too unreal even for the worst nightmare.

I just want you to understand that we’re all on the same page. Sadly, you will learn that there are many others like us.

My world was falling apart, my vision swaying. Queen Chrysalis had to be lying. That all had to be a lie.

Her voice reached me like through cotton. “Ah, I can taste it in the air, that horror you feel.” If she was glad to see my suffering, it didn’t sound so. “You have every right to be terrified of your own kind. The so-called Crystal Mines have nothing to do with mining. It is a place where crystal ponies are imprisoned in a virtual reality from their very birth until they grow ripe to harvest their flesh and turn it into components.”

No! Shut up!

I clutched my ears, hoping to cut that insufferable torrent of information, but as my hooves scraped against my ears, I learned that they were but an aesthetic feature, the microphones were installed somewhere else. I seriously considered smashing my head to smithereens so I wouldn’t hear more, so I wouldn’t know the truth.

Indifferent to my torture, Queen Chrysalis continued, “Not long after the facility was established, a group of crystal ponies with the help of a dragon attempted a liberation mission, but failed, in the process corrupting the Crystal Heart used to create the virtual reality, turning it into an endless nightmare. And that was what lured the Windigos.”

“Such an atrocity can’t be tolerated!” Luna roared from my side. The chair she was sitting on slammed into a wall, exploding in a shower of wood splitters, as she bolted up.

I had forgotten about her completely; the shock made me unaware of my surroundings. For her it must have been just as hard, if not more. She had to be blaming herself for letting that happen in her absence. I barely suppressed the urge to agree with that thought and lash out at Luna. The horror in my mind was abating, and blinding fury was beginning to take its place, demanding for a release.

“The crystal ponies must be freed!” the alicorn continued to boom, her voice shifting into the Canterlot Royal, her wings spread and mane billowing, convulsing with the spirits of soldiers trapped in it. Only Luna, I and Queen Chrysalis with Sunset remained near the table, the rest fled to the opposite side of the room.

All, except for Rainbow Dash, who seemed to just materialize from the queen’s shoulder, coldly cutting Luna’s wrath with her amplified voice. “Negative.”

“What!?” Luna shrieked in rage. Her mane was going out of control, the shadowy figures detaching from it to take their place by her side.

As Luna began to move towards the pegasus, I rushed to her side, though I had no idea what I was going to do if they started to fight. However, Rainbow appeared to be neither afraid nor ready to open fire – at least her shoulder-mounted cannons weren’t. She calmly came to stand nose to nose with the infuriated Goddess of the Night.

“Alright. Let’s do as you want,” she began in an icy tone. “To liberate the Crystal Empire, we need an army we don’t have, weapons and provisions we can’t afford from the TCE. And then we are going to march across the permafrost to a city constantly surrounded by Windigos and controlled by the company from which we procured those weapons and lay siege to a city it took Equestria five years to conquer the last time.”

As Rainbow spoke, her words clear and resounding like gunshots, Luna’s anger started to recede, cooled by undeniable reason. I didn’t miss the logic either, and it was making me sick. There was nothing that could be done.

Finally, Rainbow made a step closer to Luna, so her helmet almost pressed against the former Princess’ nose, and hissed, her voice pure venom, “But you wouldn’t know that, Luna, would you?”

It was like Luna had been slapped, backing away from the accusation, which we all knew was fair. Her rage was gone, all the energy to fuel it was redirected to keep herself from crying, though she couldn’t hide the glimmering wetness in her eyes.

I couldn’t decide what to feel towards her – pity or anger. On second thought, I was just mad and didn’t know where to direct my boiling rage, especially with how hopeless the situation was.

Amidst the deafening silence, the queen’s voice rang, “The thing is that I could have done the same. I could have filled the hollow space inside the Sky Palace with pods to have ponies imprisoned in them, and feed my children with their love as my victims spent their lifetimes in sweet hallucinations. But you don’t see that.”

I knew Queen Chrysalis was right. I knew the cursed Swarm acted more noble than ponies! And she was rubbing it in. My mind snapped and I lashed at her, “You are the Crown, you allowed the TCE to do that!” It was true as well. She didn’t use ponies as livestock, but she was there. She could have prevented it from happening, if she was so appalled by it.

The changeling queen grimaced, “For once I’m not going to deny, I gave ponies a bit too much freedom.” She paused for a few moments, again giving me that pitying look. “However, you should ask yourself who that smart pony was who allowed the TCE to come into existence, to be created by… what were their names? Flim and Flam?”

“But Flim and Flam, Twilight! Why them!?”

There was nothing in my mind but the searing realization of what I had done. Sheer panic paralyzed me and a moment and I began to fall, unable to stay straight on my hooves. My leg shot out on reflex and hit the table, its porcelain shattering as I failed to grab the ancient obsidian, but at least stopping my fall. I didn’t notice that, nor did I hear the sonorous peal of ceramic shards raining on the floor. All I could hear was Applejack's desperate pleas, all I could see was her face marred with tears.

“Twilight, you…You’ve doomed us all!”

In the torrent of turmoil raging in my mind I grasped at a straw – it wasn’t entirely my fault, Queen Chrysalis admitted it herself. But it still didn’t absolve me of the blame. If only I had listened to Applejack, if only I cared enough for everything, instead of focusing only on my research, that world of runes and numbers into which I escaped from reality.

“I’m sorry to break it to you, Twilight Sparkle, but I was never to blame for what happened to your country. If anything I tried to save it, and I’m still trying,” Queen Chrysalis said softly.

There was no blame in her voice, we both knew that I wasn’t directly responsible for every crystal pony butchered, nor for every equinoid enslaved. I could have prevented that but didn’t, and she had failed to do as much after me. She wasn’t the monster I always envisioned, but she had done things she regretted. Just like Luna and me, both of us finally facing the consequences of our actions, witnessing the things we allowed to happen when we were blinded by the grief of love lost.

The changeling queen came closer to me, her horn lighting up to help me to stand upright, but only so she could look me in the face. In her eyes I saw the reflections of five long centuries spent in the gilded cage the Sky Palace was, watching ponydom fall lower and lower with each day. The grim realization how she had imprisoned herself and her children amongst the monsters who brought the most horrific fate upon themselves and that she had to save them if she didn’t want the Swarm to share it.

Queen Chrysalis turned away, slightly dragging her hooves across the floor – both the council and the unpleasant memories were starting to take their toll on her ancient frame. Midway back to her chair, she turned to look at Luna then back at me, both of us answering her with pained shell-shocked expressions. The queen’s face showed sympathy and disappointment at the same time as she spoke:

“It has always been ponies who were destroying Equestria and killing each other, for it is their nature.”

I noticed that everyone was gone only when the dark presence near me, a shadow somehow taking up all the room, vanished out the doors. It appeared that Luna was the last to abandon the council, only the changeling queen and I remaining in the empty chamber. I had no idea where Luna was about to go, though I saw Sunset catching up with the somber alicorn. And, to be honest, nor could I imagine where I wanted to be at that moment. I would have preferred to be alone. However, returning to my children was the only option available – I needed my hoof to be repaired, after all.

I began to skulk towards the exit when Queen Chrysalis’ voice caught me midway. “Twilight Sparkle, I’d like you to remain, if you will.”

Letting out a sigh, I turned back to the table. I didn’t really want to, but I owed something to the queen.

“I am sorry,” I muttered as I came close enough, “I… misjudged you.”

Queen Chrysalis, chuckled, risking a war with her lungs,“What an unexp–”

“But that doesn’t mean I forgive you for murdering Princess Celestia.” She might not be the heartless, vile creature I always saw her as… “And my brother. And my friends.” She might have done it all for fair reasons, but she still was a murderer. “I will never forget that.”

The changeling queen gave me a long unreadable look, but then her expression softened.

“I…” she hesitated, “can understand.”

An uneasy silence settled between us again, as if Queen Chrysalis had something to say but couldn’t make up her mind.

Chrysalis would never admit that to you...

I waited patiently, studying the elder changeling’s muzzle. Ironically, with how discolored it now was, the alabaster chitin looked not much different from my porcelain mask. The more I learned about the changeling queen, the more I appeared to have in common with her. And frighteningly, the less it seemed to be something bad.

Finally, Queen Chrysalis spoke. “However, I didn’t call you for that. I’d like to talk.” She gulped, betraying nervousness, something looking extremely foreign on the queen’s face. “As mother to mother,” she added in a hard voice, composing herself.

That certainly wasn’t what I needed right now. I imagined she was about to address my decision to take care of the equinoids, or, worse, my much earlier decision regarding artificial life.

“I don’t think I’m ready for such a conversation right now,” I dryly commented. “I’ve learned enough for today.”

How long had ‘today’ lasted? The last time I fully rested was in Flower’s shack, the time I spent unconscious after warping from Dodge City not really counting. And though my body knew no fatigue, I desperately needed rest for my mind.

However, the queen didn’t give up. With a bitter laugh, she said in a conspiratorial tone, “I’m sure you are going to like what I am about to say.”

I let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t have much choice, do I?”

Queen Chrysalis only smiled in answer, and getting up from her chair to slowly trot to one of the windows taking up the entire wall, inviting me to follow her. The cloud curtain was gone, revealing Canterlot’s streets far below glowing with neon.

My eyes, however, were glued to our reflections. My small, doll-like form, mirroring the shining of the city outside. The tall, cracked ivory statue on my right, gleaming with arcanium stitches holding it together.

There was something familiar with that picture as well as very wrong. A twisted irony I couldn’t grasp, but I tried not to dwell on that thought. I had enough to think about already.

“You might have noticed,” Queen Chrysalis rasped, “but I’m… not really in my prime anymore.” She paused to both clear her throat and choose the next words. “In fact, I am dying.”

Her words didn’t really take me by surprise. It was quite obvious with the way she looked and acted. I guess my fears about a changeling queen’s longevity being comparable to that of an alicorn were for nought.

What took me by surprise, however, were my emotions. There was definitely a dark satisfaction born from knowing that the mare who killed those who were dear to me was about to die and I was likely to witness it. There was an even darker thought: too bad she was dying from old age, she deserved worse. But on the other hoof, I could feel disappointment – Queen Chrysalis revealed herself to be a formidable ally, capable of showing nobleness (well, when she wasn’t killing my friends and replacing them) and compassion the ponies didn’t have. Even a smidge of sympathy was on the edge of my mind – her children needed her now more than ever, and she must have known that as well.

Nonchalantly, Queen Chrysalis continued, “And since you already are willing to help take one species under your wing, I–”

“No!” I shouted as soon as I understood what she wanted from me.

“It is rude to interrupt–”

“I am not going to become a new queen!” I snapped, still shocked by what she was asking of me.

I was taking care of equinoids because I was responsible for their creation and suffering. I had nothing to do with changelings; I barely knew anything about them. Not to mention that trying to rule two completely different species, neither of them having any connection to the other and both unfavored by Equestria’s actual population, would be impossible.

“If you didn’t talk over me, you would know that I wasn’t asking you to do that,” Queen Chrysalis scolded me. “You, how do I put it…” -I was given a critical look- “don’t meet the requirements.”

“Then talk to somepony who does,” I barked at her. If I wasn’t the one she needed, then why mention that to me? And what requirements was she talking about?

“I believe it would be easier for you to do that,” she camly commented with a raised eyebrow.

“To who? Luna?” I asked in a mocking tone. It was the only reasonable option I could suggest, and it was ridiculous. On second thought… “And why can’t Sunset do it? She is your friend after all.” She was the perfect successor – she was likely nearly immortal and had a lot of experience with the Swarm as well as their approval, and she could also forge a connection between the changelings and the ponies, since she was one of the latter.

“I’m not going to leave my children to be taken care of by someone who tried to kill them, even if she willed, which she doesn’t,” Queen Chrysalis huffed, clearly not content with my suggestion. “Sunset can’t do it for the same reason you can’t. The Queen of the Swarm isn’t just a title, there is a ritual that will transform the candidate, and Sunset has already filled her quota on transformations.”

Ah, no equinoids or those who didn’t have their own body. I was only dimly aware of what exactly Queen Chrysalis did as a queen. She was referred to as a mother, but she clearly wasn’t giving birth to hundreds of changelings.

“Then why didn’t you bother preparing a candidate in advance?” I inquired, trying to sound polite. “I'm sure you didn’t start dying last week.” To me it appeared that Queen Chrysalis wasn’t prepared for the situation. “And why does it have to be somepony I know?” I added with concern. If it wasn’t Luna or Sunset, then who else did I know that she could want as a new queen?

“I had a candidate, but she didn’t survive the Winter,” Queen Chrysalis sadly whispered, making me feel a pang of regret for verbally attacking her. Of course she was prepared, she would do anything for her children, but life could always have other plans.

“The first Queen of the Swarm, Princess Platinum’s sister Quicksilver, was a pony, and the ritual she created can only be used on ponies.” I gaped at her, as she shared knowledge with me that probably nopony ever knew. If I wasn’t so tired and the conversation was different, I would have asked her many questions. As if reading my mind, she explained the part that bothered me the most. “There was a community of ponies living with the Swarm, in case you’re wondering, but they all died during a disease outbreak not long after I became queen.”

It didn’t take me long to connect two and two.

I wasn’t the only one who was young and stupid, you know. And Chrysalis was desperate on top of that.

I tried to imagine how it was for her, a pony who had just become responsible for an entire Swarm of hungry children only to have those who provided them with sustenance be gone. Nopony, no changeling to explain to her what to do, leaving her to forge a new path for her nation while running out of time.

Then it struck me. She needed a pony, neither a Former One nor an equinoid, or whatever I counted as. Luna wasn’t an option, which left only three ponies I knew...

“If you touch either Wire or Flower, I will kill you,” I hissed menacingly. Those filles already had their childhood stolen from them, and they still were only fillies. “I won’t let–”

I was abruptly cut off by Queen Chrysalis. “I am not talking about them.” Giving me a meaningful look, she added, “They don't meet the requirements either.”

The requirement was a body devoid of any augmentations.

It wasn’t hard to deduce who Queen Chrysalis meant, and from the very beginning of this talk, no less. Her habit of leading me to the answer instead of directly giving it reminded me of my youth and the way a certain alabaster mare taught me. It was making me feel… conflicted. However, that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“No,” my answer was like a stomp of a hoof, hard and resounding. “Delight will never agree.”

“You don’t know that,” Queen Chrysalis grouchily retorted. “Before you object, let me tell you something.”

I doubted there was anything that could sway my conviction, but I decided to give her a chance to explain herself out of respect.

“I will last the next month, and I may even survive part of the trip to the Badlands, but I will be dead on arrival.” There was no sadness in the queen’s voice, only a serene resignation to her fate. I remembered how Trixie mentioned some of the Former Ones choosing to pass away – the long life was as much a curse as it was a blessing. “Soon after, my changelings will die, too, every single one of them.” I furrowed my brow in deep thought: I was still in the dark about the queen’s role, but it was somehow crucial to their existence.

Apparently, Queen Chrysalis took my silence as a sign of indifference, so she commented, “If the prospect of an entire sapient species becoming extinct doesn’t bother you, there is a more practical side to it.” Before I could answer to the accusation, she continued, “My old Hive is still hidden in the Badlands, a very powerful glamour conceals it, and only a changeling queen can remove it. The Hive can house many changelings and many ponies. It is a city, after all. But more importantly, there is a relic inside: Quicksilver’s throne made of pure arcanium. It has many functions, one of which will create a shield strong enough to hold back the winter storms.”

So that was why Luna couldn’t find anything. Regardless, I couldn’t deny that Queen Chrysalis’ reasoning was solid, and it made me wonder why she didn’t mention the issue to the Council. Maybe because resettlement was possible even without the old Hive. And in the end, it would always be changelings who depended on ponies, not the opposite. The Council wasn’t aimed at saving the Swarm.

“Why Delight? You could have picked anypony without prosthetics.” Besides that crucial requirement, the choice of successor to Quicksilver’s legacy seemed to be random, at least from Queen Chrysalis’ point of view. I, myself, didn’t doubt Del’s ability to handle such a task were it to fall on her shoulders.

“Indeed I could,” the changeling queen replied to me, smiling mischievously. “But your impromptu journey to the Badlands let me take a look at your companions. Clandestine Delight isn’t an arbitrary choice, I know exactly what I am doing.”

So, Rainbow Dash was transmitting everything that happened around her to the Sky Palace since she met me at the Edge. Though I suspected that, it still wasn’t a pleasant revelation. And for some reason she wasn’t eager to reveal to me, Queen Chrysalis was convinced that Del should become the next in line.

It made no difference to me. Delight was my friend, the closest in this world, in fact. Maybe Queen Chrysalis was right and she wouldn’t mind becoming a new queen. But I didn’t want her to be pressed into the decision by the guilt of what would happen if she refused.

“There is nothing you can offer that will make me force my friend to do something she doesn’t want,” came my reply. “I will talk to her, but I won’t mention any of that. It should be her own decision.”

Queen Chrysalis grimaced, thought for a few moments and then nodded. It was better than nothing after all.

Friends in this city… Children… There was someone who still needed my help. I hadn’t forgotten my promise and now was the perfect time to work on making it come true.

“For that, I want to ask something in return,” I said, making the queen’s brows shoot up. She clearly didn’t expect the conversation to take that turn. Looking her in the eyes with a smile, I added, “As mother to mother.”

“Oh?”

In a tone devoid of any mirth, I explained, “There is a certain dragon in the Deep Tunnels, my foster son. Help me save him, and I will talk to Delight.”

“I can barely recognize you, Twilight Sparkle,” the changeling queen chuckled.

Seven was already waiting for me at the door when I exited the council chamber, ready to guide me back to the Twelve’s workshop. But before returning there, I had one more place to visit: the infirmary. I wanted to check on how the girls were doing, though there was a risk of running into Delight (I hoped that either she was still asleep or I could just ask the medics without directly interacting with her). It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the changeling queen – I was sure she would keep her side of the agreement as well as I would mine. It just wasn’t a conversation I was ready for, especially right now.

It didn’t take us long to reach the Hive’s hospital, a surprisingly small place by the looks of it. Seven explained to me that there was a bit of difference between the Sky Palace’s medical center and that of the Hive. The actual Hive was built in the tunnels inside of Mount Diamond Point, and the center located there was much better equipped for treating changelings with their species-specific conditions. Since the majority of the Sky Palace was constructed by ponies, the clinic raised along with it was more suited for ponies, though changelings could be treated here as well. But there wasn’t much need for that, so its size was reduced to a bare minimum.

We were met by a changeling nurse, a petite mare in a white uniform which starkly contrasted with her black chitinous coat. It was the first time I had a chance to interact with a changeling (outside of a fight) and it was… a strange experience.

Her appearance was unnerving at best. It seemed that the scenes of the Swarm wreaking havoc on the streets of Canterlot were burned in my mind, though technically, for me that attack took place only a few years ago. I had trouble avoiding staring at her fangs, or the jagged holes in her limbs, or the wicked horn. At the same time, it was incredibly hard and weird to look her in the eyes, since they had no easily discernible irises.

Fortunately, our talk was short and I didn’t have time to fully show how uncomfortable I was (at least I liked to believe I didn’t). Unfortunately, our chat didn’t last long because Delight was awake, and the nurse hurried away to tell her about me visiting before I could stop her.

The changeling promptly returned, informing me that Del was ready to receive visitors, leaving me no choice but to face my pegasus friend. Of course, I could simply not mention the queen’s request this time, but with how much it bothered me and with how uncannily perceptive Delight was, it could have been written on my face in large print. It was inevitable.

Steeling myself, I followed the nurse, using those few moments I had to desperately find a way to present the situation to Delight. Though I doubted it wouldn’t come as a shock, no matter how I put it.

Delight was given a moderately sized room with a window opening into the hollow of the palace. The reflected sunset was painting its white interior a blood-red, casting deep shadows from the bed and a few other pieces of simple furniture. Delight herself, her left side covered in bandages, was sitting on the mattress’ edge, chatting lively with a changeling colt – another worker of the facility, judging by the uniform and the tray with empty dishes he was holding.

“Twilight!” Del joyously exclaimed as soon as she noticed me.

“Hi, Del.” I put as much effort as I could into not showing that the last twenty-four hours had been as stressful for me as the trip to the Badlands and back. “How are you feeling?”

The changeling colt gave us a glance I failed to interpret and left the room, the tray balanced on his back precariously. Seven followed him as well, giving Delight and me privacy. It wasn’t really needed, but on second thought, the conversation we were going to have could use some.

“Very good, all things considered,” Del replied, carefully extending her wing, paying no mind that we were now alone. “The doctor says I’ll be able to fly again in a week.” She flapped her feathery limb lightly and winced. “And how are you? You’ve got another upgrade, I see. Looks amazing, holographic bodies are some of the best.”

“Holographic?” I asked with a tilted head, though I had a very good idea of the answer before it was given.

“Those magic projections are called holograms,” Del said, pointing at my legs and body glowing with an artificial lavender coat.

My guess was right, and now I had a shorter word to describe them. “Huh, nice to know.” So far the conversation was coming along nicely; maybe Chrysalis’ offer wouldn’t come up this time. Still, there was a reason I came here in the first place. “How are Flower and Wire?”

“Still sleeping. Wire is going to have a new prosthetic installed as soon as her eye socket heals enough, otherwise she is very happy – her family is with her, after all. Flower is fine, but needs a lot of rest and to catch up on a few meals,” -Del’s look suddenly turned from happy to a hard stare- “and an apology. She cried herself to sleep.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, hanging down my head in shame.

“Tell it to her, not me,” Del sighed, “I don’t wanna press you into anything – it is your choice to make, but what were you thinking?”

It was a hard decision to make, but it was something that had to be done. “I didn’t want to show Queen Chrysalis that I cared for her.”

“Why?” Del huffed with a frown, “The Swarm means us no harm.” Though now I knew the truth, it seemed very different not so long ago. “And do you really think the queen didn’t notice how much you mean to Flower?”

My proverbial heart felt faint within me. I could have guessed it before, and the council only provided more proof towards Queen Chrysalis being capable of reading emotions like a Moth on steroids. An uncanny parallel, though I suspected the changeling queen didn’t rely only on reading facial expressions, body language or voice intonations – fundamental changeling magic was at play.

Anyhow, I not only made myself a fool in the queen’s eyes, more importantly, I hurt Flower’s feelings for nothing. “I will apologize to her as soon as I can, I promise.”

It felt like a perfect opportunity to leave, ending that conversation with the expectation of my eventual return when Flower was awake.

However, that wasn’t going to happen. Delight noted, in a tone not accusing but concerned, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Hm?” I feigned ignorance, though I felt like I was a filly caught with my hoof in a cookie jar. It was likely Delight knew something was wrong the moment I entered her room.

“Are you alright, Twi?” Delight asked me again, and I thought there was the faintest hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I curtly replied, still hoping to prevent the conversation taking a dire turn. “Just tired.”

“You’re lying.” Del was the one who actually sounded tired. In a less disappointed tone she added, “I'm not backing out on my promise – I’ll always lend you an ear.”

There was no way to get out of that situation without tarnishing our friendship – rejecting her offer again would distance us. Actually… maybe I should take her help. I didn’t tell her about my virus-induced hallucinations the last time, and though I dodged that bullet in Dodge City, it could have turned out pretty bad.

But where was I to begin? The last day had been full of revelations I wished didn’t happen. Though on the other hoof, the fewer horrible secrets remained in the dark, the better it was. With a shudder, I wondered how many there still were and what they were – the deeper I went, the more massive in scale and atrociousness those echoes of the past became.

Still, it didn’t answer my question of what to tell Delight, who was patiently waiting for me to speak up. I wanted to talk about Chrysalis; I was torn with how I should be feeling about her. Then there was my grave… and my grave mistakes, with one of them condemning artificial life to slavery, the other organic, bringing a nightmarish fate on the crystal ponies.

I came closer to Del’s bed and sat, turning my gaze to the window and the numerous changelings filling the terraces. Their work day was over, it seemed, and now the chitinous inhabitants of the Sky Palace spilled into its lounging areas, presumably before heading into the mountain’s depths.

“I’ve learned… terrible things,” I finally said, failing to choose one issue and letting the conversation decide that for me, “and that I did some of them.”

“What do you mean?” Del tilted her head, earning a brief glance from me.

So, she didn’t know yet. And when and where could she learn such things? The most I could expect from her was to talk with one of the Twelve and ask about me, which would bring a lot of other questions depending on the way they would have referred to me.

“Remember the body we found in the Archives?” I asked with a sigh. My other tombstone. “Turns out, ‘I’ lived for some time after I thought I died. During that time ‘I’ did something horrible.”

I didn’t mention that it was actually me who gave Flim and Flam the green light before the fateful trial took place and split my life into two branches.

Del frowned, clearly trying to wrap her mind around the concept of one pony living two separate lives. Looking at me skeptically, she commented, “That doesn’t make any sense, there can’t be two ‘yous’. You are not responsible for the things, ugh, ‘other’ Twilight did.”

“But I am, because that was me,” I calmly pressed on. It wasn’t an easy concept to understand, but it wasn’t overly complicated either.

“How?” Del shook her head in confusion and frustration. “If you were to return back in time, you wouldn’t do the same, right?”

“But I already did that. Yes, right now I know the consequences and I see things differently. But that Twilight Sparkle lived the life I would have lived, because she is I,” came my explanation. “It is not about going back in time, it is about me, right now, who travelled in the future.”

Delight fell silent again and scrunched her muzzle, deep in thought. Finally, she gave up. “I don’t understand…”

Now it was my turn to take some time to think. In less than a minute I came up with a perfect example: “Imagine you travel back in time to the moment when you became a Moth, when you were about to receive your mark.” I pointed at the burn on her cheek, and she touched it absentmindedly. “You would choose differently, right?”

“No,” Del frowned and gave me an incredulous look, “If I didn’t become a Moth, I would never end up in the Tunnels and meet you.”

I chided myself internally. Del appreciated me a lot, if not as a friend (which I wasn’t really the best) then as a pony who gave her a chance to live another life, one she could only dream of. Though, the fact that she found being caught in the explosion that took half of her face worth it to know me was as pleasant as it felt undeserved. Especially considering the offer I had to pass to her.

“Fine, that wasn’t the best example,” I grumbled and began to think again.

A whole minute, if not more, passed before I formulated my answer for Del.

“I’ve got it,” I nodded to myself and began to explain. “I’m a copy of Twilight Sparkle. Original Twilight survived the trial of the cybersuit and went on with her life. I was brought to life about two weeks ago. But at the moment of the trial we were one and the same pony, and if I were to take the place of the original, I would have done the same things, and she would have followed the same path I did from Flower’s shack.”

Delight answer came quick and was accompanied by a grimace, “Twilight, I’m not going to lie, I don’t entirely understand what you are saying, though I’m trying my hardest.” She let out a deep sigh, “After all, I'm just an ex-whore…”

“Del, please, don’t belittle yourself, you are a great mare, your profession doesn’t define you,” I reached out for her shoulder. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who needed to be heard out. I remembered Del being positive about her last job, but now I wasn’t sure, especially after our conversation before we reached the Badlands.

“Thanks, I…” Delight began to speak, strengthening my theory, but then trailed off and cut herself off. ”Never mind.”

Clearing her throat, she began again, “What I want to tell you is that I don’t think you understand what you are saying as well. Original… copy…” -she shook her head- “that is not how ponies work. You are overcomplicating things.”

Del’s words made me frown. There was a point to them, I could feel that. But just like it was near my grave, I felt like I was missing something, a simple concept within my grasp, but evading me over and over.

“Maybe you are right, that isn’t the first time I’ve heard that,” I joked.

However, Del didn’t smile, instead asking me a question, “What horrible things have you done?”

It made me cringe. So far, the conversation had a vague character, not delving into the details of my misdoings. Speaking of them, admitting my crimes, wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

“I…” I had to pause and compose myself. It was one thing to realize my past sins or touch the subject with Sunset and during the council, but completely another to voice it aloud. “I gave the AI enchantments to the public without thinking. If I didn’t do that, the equinoids wouldn’t have suffered the fate they did. They probably wouldn’t exist at all.”

I was glad Seven left the room. The Twelve seemed to be well aware about my mishandling of their ‘non-Prime’ brethren and forgave me, but I still felt uneasy about that around them.

“I can understand why you hear a lot that you are overcomplicating things,” Del commented, echoing my joke, though without a hint of mirth. “You couldn’t have known how it would turn out, could you?”

For a moment, I was ready to agree with her. The ponies I remembered would have never turned a new species into slaves. I still wasn’t sure what the exact reason the ponies changed was, but they did, and it happened very long ago.

“I think I could have. I lost somepony very important to me, and I just didn’t care about anything back then,” I admitted. It was the first time I had said the truth aloud. “Now I care, and I have to fix what I did, Del.”

I paused and looked at Delight intently. At first, a confused expression dominated her face, but then her eyes began to widen in comprehension as the realization dawned on her. There was only one who could do that, everypony (and every creature as well) in Canterlot knew it.

“I’m going to become the Machine Goddess,” I said, giving a quiet but stalwart voice to her thoughts. I didn’t know how or if that was even possible, but as Trixie said, I was the closest to ever being her.

“It’s…” Del stammered, staring at her hooves and slowly shaking her head, “I don’t know what to say…”

It wasn’t easy to suppress a chuckle. Over a month Del’s life changed drastically: she met a Former One, then a former Princess, shortly followed by Queen Chrysalis and her Swarm. Now she was talking with the creator of equinoids and their future sovereign.

However, it seemed that the initial shock had passed and Del had something to say. “I never hated equinoids just for what they are. It’s just the things they do,” she mused, still looking at her hooves, then raised her eyes at me. “I still don’t understand that thing about you and that ‘other’ Twilight, but I think, with you being the way you are, there is no better pony to try making things better for equinoids. And maybe if they have a better life, if they are treated differently, they will start acting differently too. I have no idea how you are going to become a goddess, though, but I wish you luck.” Her words mirrored my own concerns, but her voice and expression were nothing but encouraging.

Smiling, Del finished, “The fact that I am talking with you right now means that you can find a way.” With a chuckle, she added, “I hope you won’t forget boring old me…”

“Thanks, and no…” my words trailed off, because I had to pay at least one more visit to Del, and soon. “I… won’t.”

How would she react if she was offered a chance to join that circle of ‘great’ ponies: those who mastered the tides of time, who held the celestial bodies in their grasp… those who were mothers to thousands?

“Twi, I know that face,” Del snorted, sounding amused. “You look like my matron from the Silken Flute when she was about to ask me to take an extra shift.”

The leftover mirth from her jokes began to evaporate, replaced by concern as I was grimacing trying to find something nonexistent: a proper way to convey the changeling queen’s offer.

“Del...“ I fumbled with the words, “...The Swarm…” No, that wouldn’t do. “The queen is… Queen Chrysalis talked with me. She is dying and she thinks that you can become a new Queen of the Swarm... ”

Her first reaction wasn’t what I expected: she snickered.

“Twi, the Moths aren’t changelings, I had no idea I was feeding the Swarm.” She pointed at the burn in the place of her Moth mark. “I’m just a pony with a regular tattoo.”

“There is a magic ritual,” I explained in a hollow voice, “It is supposed to turn a pony into a changeling like her. That is how the changeling queens are born.” I avoided mentioning that currently she was the only pony in the entire Sky Palace suitable for that.

I watched as Del’s expression fell, something beyond shock taking place on her face. For a moment I was afraid she was going to faint.

She was silent for quite a while, overall taking it much better than I expected.

“Why me?”

“Maybe she saw something in you,” I vaguely answered, refusing to disclose any other facts since that would reveal the consequences of rejecting the offer.

That wasn’t going to work with Delight, as she inquired, squinting at me, “You are not telling me something, aren’t you?” Her tone wasn’t accusing, but a bit offended – not that I couldn’t understand her.

I took a deep breath before replying, “I’m telling you everything you should know to make your own decision.” At least that was the truth. I didn’t want guilt or anything else to push her into becoming a new queen against her will. I believed that in those circumstances, only Delight’s preference should be deciding. She had no obligations and shouldn’t have any.

Delight gulped and, looking at me nervously, stammered, “A-am I expected to give an answer right now?”

“Absolutely not,” I calmed her. “You don’t have to answer at all if you want. It wasn’t an order.”

Delight turned away from me to look into the window, where the changelings milled around the Sky Palace terraces.

I wish I could say that I knew Delight well enough to predict what she would choose, but at that moment I gave an equal chance to any option she was presented with. On one hoof, she wanted more of her life. On the other, she wasn’t a mare jaded by life; even though she had more than once shown her anger towards certain parts of Canterlot’s society, she was giving me the impression of a pony who didn’t hate her own. She reminded me of Fluttershy with how she had faith in society even with all its faults. She didn’t hate ponies, and becoming a changeling queen would be leaving that life behind.

It wasn’t there the arguments ended, I could have come up with more – I knew her that much. But in the end it didn’t matter, since it was her decision to make.

“I…” Del finally spoke, her voice barely louder than a whisper, but surprisingly neutral, “I’ll think about it. But I can’t promise anything. It is too much to take at once.”

I left the infirmary with a heavy heart. Delight deserved better than that. She seemed so happy when I came to visit her, but so distraught when I left. Though, that could be said about almost anypony in Canterlot; happiness was a rare occurrence in the city, where the worst nightmares became reality. At least Wire was happy, something that couldn’t be said about Flower.

Seven wordlessly guided me through the palace to its depths, where the Twelve’s workshop was located. My mind was becoming numb from everything that had transpired over the last day, or rather, days. My thoughts were jumbled and moving like molasses in a chaotic whirlwind of worries and regrets. The conversation with Del was the last straw that broke my back.

Ironically, it was much simpler in the first few days after I woke up in Flower’s shack. I started my life anew as not-Twilight-Sparkle; saving Spike and getting to Stalliongrad were my only goals. In a sense, I was still living that new life right now, different from what Twilight had; I was about to find and help Spike very soon. Evacuating all of Canterlot wasn’t the same as getting out of it, but it was close to my initial goal.

The Sky Palace’s bowels bustled with activity, I noticed that even through the fog of my mental exhaustion. Changelings were carrying crates and bundles all around, filling the passages with their chittering voices. It was mere hours after the council had finished, but preparations for the evacuation were fully underway already.

Nearly the same picture met me when I finally reached the workshop. The Twelve, or actually, only three of them, were hurrying around, packing tools and spare parts into boxes, though I didn’t miss that there was a set of ceramic plates for my shattered leg waiting for me on the table. However, I politely declined the offer to have my limb repaired right away, asking instead for a place where I could have some rest.

I was led into a tiny room with an entrance I easily missed before – it was hidden behind the rows of artificial limbs hanging from the wall and ceiling.

My eyes instantly fell on an object that had no sense being in a corner of the palace occupied by equinoids – a bed. Confused, I looked around, taking in more of that mysterious dwelling.

I couldn’t make out the walls, because every free space was covered in blueprints and sketches of various mechanisms. Multiple shelves laden with books, both ancient tomes and more modern-looking covers. I instantly recognized a full collected edition of ‘Applied Arcane Theory’, a set of books I once owned and cherished. A tea set, looking as if ready to use, but probably hadn’t been touched in centuries. A massive wooden table, too big for the room… it looked vaguely familiar. On it an ornate vase resided with an antique doll leaning on it.

I was in Moonie’s room. Moondancer’s mausoleum.

Slowly I approached the table and sat in front of it, gingerly taking the doll in my hooves – I didn’t trust my magic with it. And I didn’t trust either my magic or my hooves with touching the cinerary urn.

The doll’s name was Kismet, I could remember now. Moondancer read that word in some book once and thought it sounded funny: ‘kiss-me-t’. The doll already had a name before it was given to Moonie, but she changed it, to the chagrin of her parents. She was like that, stubborn and doing what she thought was right for her friends. She went even further – she changed the old joints of the family doll. It was a miracle she didn’t get a cutie mark related to mechanics or progress.

There was some cosmic cruel irony in the name Moonie chose for her doll. She spent her last days in captivity, creating the doll-like equinoids for an enemy, just because she was stubborn as a mule, refusing to let her friend’s name to be tarnished. A kismet indeed.

I put the doll back on the table, to rest near the ashes of her owner, and turned away.

Carefully and slowly I climbed onto Moondancer’s bed. It felt strange, both as if I shouldn’t be here and awaking some very old memories of having sleepovers at her place. Lying on my side, I closed my eyes and let my mind drift into slumber.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter to go, closer and closer to the end. Those are not just words – I'm going to finish the drafts for the final chapters and the epilogue during the next week. With that, only the editing process will stand between them and you, my faithful readers.

Aftersound Project Discord server - it's a little community dedicated to discussion of the story and whatnot. Everyone is welcome to join.
Pony Tales, a quite welcoming place dedicated to disscussing and working on many great stories (now including Aftersound). I think you may also find it interesting.

If you notice any mistakes sneaked in through the editing, let me know.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story so far.
Stay awesome.