Changeling

by Yukito

First published 25th of July, 2012

Changeling fugutive hiding in Equestria

NOTE: This is a HD remaster of the original story that I posted over two years ago. Better grammar, better spelling, and more scenes :D If you want to check out the original, untouched story, click here.

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Princess Aura is the kindest changeling you will ever meet. She's caring, compassionate, and wishes for a world of peace betweeen all races. Her kindess proves to be her downfall, when it is used against her in a plot to incite war between Equestria and the changeling kingdom.

Abandoned as a fily, and forced to live on her own and raise herself, Trixie knows the pain of being on your own, and the hardships faced when taking on the whole world by yourself. And when she sees these qaulities in a young filly she happens to meet one night, she is determined not to let the young filly experience the same pains that Trixie was forced to endure when growing up.

But when it seems associating with this filly will only endanger her life, will Trixie's resolve last?

Chapter 1

“Good morning, Princess.”

“Good morning,” Princess Aura responded in a cheerful tone as she walked past two of her maids.

“Good morning,” Knight Wind said as he bowed politely to the two maids. They only responded by bowing, sparing no words for the white pegasus but allowing their glares to speak volumes. He let out a sigh. It was only to be expected; in the Changeling Kingdom, Equestrians were despised.

The rest of the trek through the castle’s west wing was an exact repeat of every day; the princess was greeted by her servants and by nobles, whilst Knight would be glared at as he followed behind her. Only two changelings actually greeted him verbally. Two changelings who, like Knight, were Princess Aura’s knights – her personal champions – named Neon and Iris.

“Princess, I hope that you slept well last night,” Knight said in an attempt to break the silence.

“Yes. There’s no need to worry,” the princess responded, her gaze staying true with a determined look covering her face.

Knight smiled at the youngling, but also felt somewhat uneasy. “I don’t know what you are planning, but please don’t stress over it too much. Remember, you are young. You are not expected to take part in these discussions, only to show up.”

The princess shook her head. “No. I don’t care that I’m young, or that my brother is much smarter than me, or that my sister is more fit to rule than I am. Momma needs me to do my best and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Such fine determination.” The two stopped in their tracks as they were approached by two changelings. One was the second prince, Odysseus. He was the elder brother of Aura and the most favoured to succeed the throne from Queen Chrysalis, due to his great intellect and political skills. It was Odysseus who had spoke out to them.

The one accompanying the prince one of his knights, General Razor Tooth. Like Knight Wind, he wore the customary military attire given to those who had achieved the rank of general, although Knight’s was a little more dirty, was missing a few pieces here and there, and didn’t come with the fancy title. Even though he had been allowed to live in the Changeling Kingdom, they weren’t about to make life luxurious for him.

“As expected of one with royal blood,” Odysseus said, smiling at his younger sister. “You’ll make a fine queen one day, I’m sure of it.” He turned his head up to face Knight, keeping his warm smile on his face. “Knight, a pleasant morning to you. I hope that you slept well last night.”

Knight lowered down to kneel on one hind leg, his two forehooves planted firmly on the ground as he kept his head low. “Yes, Your Highness. Though I am unworthy, thank you for your concern.”

“That’s good to hear, though I would hardly consider you unworthy. You are, after all, one of the few soldiers who devote everything to protect my sister. Regardless of how others may see you, for that characteristic alone, I value you as much as I do my own knights.” Odysseus and Razor Tooth continued walking on. Odysseus paused for a moment as he passed Knight to add: “Please continue to protect my sister as you have been.”

“Of course, my lord,” Knight responded, still not looking up. Once Odysseus and Razor Tooth had walked some distance away, Knight rose to his hooves continued to follow Aura through the castle.

Odysseus took a moment to look back at his younger sister and her knight before continuing his own walk through the corridor. “Razor Tooth, I trust that everything is prepared?”

“Yes, Prince Odysseus,” Razor Tooth responded.

“Good. Knowing my sister, tonight’s meeting shall be just what I need…”

Later that day, the meeting that Princess Aura had been both dreading and eagerly awaiting had started. It was a meeting held once every three months. These meetings involved two representatives from every noble family, one representative from each political party and all members of royalty plus one of each of their knights.

These meetings were where the less popular and less influential parties and households could finally have a say in the important political issues that ran the Changeling Kingdom. For everyone else, who attended the other meetings throughout the year, they were more a formality than an important event that they absolutely had to attend.

But for Aura, this was finally her chance to prove herself in front of her family and to announce her feelings on how she felt the kingdom should function. Previously, she had been too scared to voice her opinions too openly, but now she was ready. She was determined to finally break out of her shell and assert herself as a Princess of the Royal Crown, and what better place to make her big debut than right then and there, in front of all those changeling eyes, watching her, surely judging her every move…

“Oh no…” Aura said, sinking into her seat. “I don’t think I can do this…”

Knight looked down at his princess with a concerned look and put a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up at him to see his big, warming smile, filled with confidence in his princess. “Good luck,” he whispered.

Suddenly, all of the princess’ anxiety was washed away. She sat up straight and nodded to her knight, who removed his hoof as the meeting started.

Aura took a look to her right and saw her entire family gathered in a line, sat at the very front of the meeting room so that they could face everyone else and they could face them. Her mother began the meeting with an opening statement. The current issue that was brought up first was about the distribution of finances. She wasn’t very good with discussing finances, so she decided to stay out of it.

To Aura’s immediate right was her older brother and the second prince, Odysseus. He was the fourth offspring of the five royal siblings and by far the most intelligent, as proven many times in school and in strategy meetings. He was even given his very own research and development laboratory in recognition of his intellect. She looked up to him the most. He was kind and gentle, but also knew how to be stern when the situation called for it. What he lacked in brawn, he made up for in brain.

To her brother’s right was her older sister, Elizabeth. She was the middle child of the five royal siblings and the second princess. She was smart, an excellent athlete and an equally-skilled combatant, but cared little for politics or for positions of power, and was well aware of her inability to lead others. As such, she held no interest in claiming the throne; she was instead content with simply assisting her older sister Victoria in her quest to the top.

Aura’s mother, Queen Chrysalis, sat to Elizabeth’s right, in a much higher seat than her five children.

To the queen’s right sat the first princess, Victoria. While not quite as intelligent or cunning as Odysseus, she was undoubtedly the better athlete and warrior, although with Odysseus’ ingenuity and quick thinking, there was no telling who would come out on top in a match between the two of them.

Victoria has gained much popularity on the battlefield, especially after a famous incident where she had managed to devise a strategy to save thousands a changeling troops from what seemed to be an impossible demise and even take it a step beyond, turning the tables completely to win said battle and saving many changeling prisoners in the process. Victoria was the second offspring of the five royal siblings and was respected by many. Despite her cold and harsh personality to her soldiers, Victoria had a soft side at heart, especially when it came to doting on her two younger sisters.

Finally, to Victoria’s right was the eldest sibling and the first prince, Alexander. He, much like Elizabeth, was more of a fighter than a strategist. His intellect was nowhere near that of any of his siblings – except for Aura, who wasn’t incredibly smart herself – but his combat abilities far exceeded any of theirs and his ability to command an army during battle was unrivalled.

Out of all of her siblings, the only one who Aura didn’t want to succeed the throne was Alexander, because his vision of a perfect world was to destroy everything that isn’t changeling. In his eyes, if it wasn’t changeling, it wasn’t worthy of even sharing the same world. Whenever the issue of foreign relations came up, his answer was always the same: war.

After many topics had passed, the issue that Aura had been waiting for had finally popped up. It was the issue of the kingdom’s next move in regards to Equestria. Ever since the queen’s failed attempt to overtake it, the changelings had decided to continue monitoring it using their scouts and to plan their next move carefully. However, many changelings were beginning to question if the effort was worth it.

“Um,” Aura said as soon as there was an opening. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the young princess and she started to clam up. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked to her right to see her brother, smiling reassuringly at her. She turned back to the room and rose out of her seat. “I would like to propose something in regards to the current issue.”

Chrysalis smiled at her daughter for a second before quickly returning to her neutral expression. “Very well. Speak, daughter.”

Aura hesitated for a second, taking a moment to look around the room at all of the eyes currently on her. After a moment to steady her nerves, she spoke. “I think… that the time has come to make peace with the Equestrians.”

The entire room was suddenly drowned in the sounds of changelings murmuring to each other. Aura could tell that many were hoping it was some kind of bad joke and turned to her knight for some reassurance. Knight was just as surprised as everyone else in the room, but when he saw Aura looking his way with pleading eyes, he shot her a smile to encourage her to keep going.

“Perhaps you should explain,” Chrysalis said, breaking the silence. “I assume you did prepare an argument for your proposition?”

Aura nodded to her mother and turned back to face the room, trying to put on the best confident face that she could. “I’m aware that the Equestrians betrayed us many, many years ago, and I’m not claiming to have an understanding of the situation back then, not having been born yet.

“However, the past is the past. The ones at fault were the Equestrians of back then, not their descendents.” Aura levitated a few of her documents up and scanned them with her eyes. “As has been reported by our scouts posted there, Equestria has grown much more civil over the years. Some time ago, ‘filly foolers’ and ‘colt cuddlers’ were just as shunned as we were, and ponies of different races were forbidden to marry each other.

“But now, equal rights and understanding are becoming commonplace in the country of Equestria. They have even started to reach out to other nations.” Aura paused to let her information sink in to her audience before she continued. “The time has come to put aside our differences. War and hatred will only bring about pain, but with peace, we can move towards the future. A bright, shining future.”

Aura turned to face her knight, who was doing his best not to look like a nervous wreck. “As you’re aware, my knight, Knight Wind, is an Equestrian, and yet what he is does not change who he is. He is kind and gentle, and has helped raise me for many years. At the same time, he has protected me on many occasions.”

Aura turned back to the audience. She was no longer shaking. She was completely in the zone now. “To me, Knight is not a changeling, or an Equestrian, or my bodyguard. He is my friend, and being with him brings me much joy and happiness, and I wish to extend these feelings to all of you.”

Knight blushed as he looked at his princess with wide-eyed surprise. She decided to sum up her proposition quickly. “I believe that if we sit down and simply talk to the princesses of Equestria, we can reach some sort of understanding. Our two countries can become friends and we can work together to improve both of our countries, leading both changelings and Equestrians to a bright new era.”

Aura bowed to the audience as she finished her report and took her seat. What followed was a long, deadly silence which sent chills down Aura’s spine. She was starting to wonder if she should have just stayed silent.

Finally, Queen Chrysalis rose from her seat, her gaze fixed on Aura, who was shifting her eyes between her mother and the floor. “A very well thought out proposal, my daughter,” she said, bringing a little bit of confidence back to the young princess. “However, peace with Equestria is simply not an option. An exception was made for your knight, but nothing beyond that.” Chrysalis sat back down, her eyes still fixed on her daughter. “I appreciate you trying to contribute to our meetings, but please try to put more consideration into what you say.”

Aura’s smile fell and she resumed staring at the floor, not paying much attention to the rest of the meeting as she thought desperately for a way to make her mother reconsider. But she knew that there was nothing more that she could do and eventually gave up.

That night, the royal siblings had arranged a tea party in Alexander’s royal chambers. Aura was excited to go initially, but after the meeting earlier that day, she was too upset to attend and simply retired to her room for the rest of the day.

“Can you believe the nerve of her?!” Alexander shouted. “After what the Equestrians did, she dares to talk about peace with them?!”

“Now now, Brother,” Odysseus said, levitating his teacup to take a sip. “I’m sure she had the best of intentions for us.”

“Indeed,” Victoria agreed, pouring some tea for herself and Elizabeth. “She simply doesn’t wish for anymore conflict between us and other nations. She’s such a kind dear.”

“Too kind!” Alexander shouted. “Seriously, she’ll never become queen at this rate!”

“Well, it’s not like she can help it,” Elizabeth said, grinning as she lowered her teacup from her mouth. “After all, she’s smitten with that pony, isn’t she?”

Odysseus shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know about that, but I do agree with Alexander.” Odysseus raised a napkin to his lips, wiping away a few crumbs from the shortbread he had just eaten. “Her kindness is her strongest point and her desire to make others happy is what I believe will make her a great ruler. However, she needs to learn not to rush into things, or she shall never succeed the throne.”

Victoria nodded her head in agreement. “Indeed. No matter who it is, one cannot create a peace between two nations with pretty words alone. What she needs is allies. She needs to build a reputation, gather those who she knows she can trust, and work her way up from there, and then make her move. The Changeling Kingdom wasn’t built in a day, after all.”

Elizabeth leaned over and rested her head on her sister’s shoulder, causing her sister discomfort for a moment, but as Elizabeth expected, Victoria couldn’t bring herself to push her away. “Hey, maybe you should tutor her for a bit, Sis,” Elizabeth suggested.

Victoria sighed and shook her head. “Unfortunately, I’m far too busy.”

“That’s right,” Alexander said, facing his sister, “You’ve been assigned to oversee the construction of the new research facility, haven’t you?”

Victoria nodded. “Yes. Elizabeth and I are going to be away for the next few days.”

“A shame. I was looking forward to catching up with you,” Odysseus said, a frown on his face. “It seems you’re always away these days, Sister.”

Victoria smiled and leaned over to pat her younger brother on the head. “Don’t worry. After this assignment, I’ll have some time off. At that point, let’s all gather for another tea party. Hopefully, Aura will be feeling better by then.”

“Maybe I should go apologise…” Alexander muttered, his head sinking slightly. “I think I was a little too hard on her.”

“No, I think we should give her some space for now,” Odysseus suggested.

Elizabeth giggled, drawing the attention of her three siblings to her. “Besides, she has her knight in shining armour with her. She’d probably get even more upset if we interrupted her.”

Victoria gently lowered her hoof onto her sister’s head. Although the action wasn’t the least bit painful, Elizabeth played along by acting as if it was. “Stop saying weird things. She’s only a child. I highly doubt she’s thinking about guys at her age.”

Knight watched as his princess slept peacefully on her bed. After the meeting, she made her way back to her room, completely ignored her dinner and just plopped herself down onto her bed. Knight didn’t know what to say or do, so he simply remained by her side in case she needed anything.

“Knight… do you think what I did was wrong?”

“That’s up to you to decide, Princess. Right and wrong are different for each one of us.”

“… I don’t think I was wrong.”

“But I do think you were a little rash. The idea of making peace with Equestrians is practically taboo in this kingdom. There were even changelings there that were alive during that time.”

“But you’re an Equestrian and I have so much fun with you… I just wanted to share what I have with others.”

“… Thank you, Princess. You words make me happy, nd in an ideal world, maybe everyone can see the happiness you hold and understand where you’re coming from. But sadly, such a world doesn’t exist.”

“… Then I’ll make it.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll make a world without war. A world without hatred. Where all nations can live together in peace and where race doesn’t matter… Do you think I’m being childish?”

“… Yes, I do… However, for thousands of years, disasters have happened under the rule of strong, mature rulers, such as your mother. Maybe your childish naivety is exactly what this country needs.”

“… Thanks, Knight. You’re always able to help when I’m feeling down.”

“That’s because you saved my life, Princess. It’s the least I can do.”

“…”

“Princess, ‘follow whatever path your heart decides’. While I agree fully with this teaching, might I also point out that ‘slow and steady wins the race’. In other words, you shouldn’t rush things. You should take things slowly and work towards peace as a distant goal, not one to be achieved overnight.”

“… But I-”

“If you rush peace, it will surely fail. And the more times peace fails, the harder it will be to achieve in the future.”

“…”

Shortly after that, the princess fell asleep, but not before asking Knight if he would always stick by her. His answer, of course, was yes. He vowed to always stick by the princess, no matter what. After all, when he washed up on a shore in the Changeling Kingdom a few years ago, it was the princess who had saved his life.

Just as he was about to be killed as an ‘enemy spy’, the princess demanded he be released and, despite her mother’s wishes, insisted that he become her knight. When asked by Knight why she did this, the princess responded: “I simply didn’t want to see you die.” That was all.

She had no idea whether Knight was a spy or not, but the kind young princess, who couldn’t stand to see others in pain regardless of who they were, saved this Equestrian and gave him a home in their kingdom. True, he had had to ward off several assassination attempts against him, but over the years he had gained the trust of the princess’ other knights and, through their help, he was able to live a happy life, serving the one who had saved him out of sheer kindness.

A knock came at the door. Knight walked over and opened it up. He saw General Iris, another one of the princess’ knights. “How is she?” she asked.

Knight gestured for her to enter, which she did. “She’s fine. She fell asleep not too long ago,” Knight answered, keeping his voice quiet so as not to risk waking his princess from her slumber.

“Not that,” Iris said. “I mean… has anything happened yet?”

Knight shook his head. “No. I doubt anyone’d do anything drastic. It was an outrageous proposition to many changelings, sure, but… she’s still their princess.”

“The corrupt are everywhere,” Iris reminded him. “There are those who would stoop to great lows to hinder her rise to the throne, or to assist their favourite prince or princess. Not to mention those who were alive during that time.”

Knight closed his eyes for a moment to think and then opened them again as he turned towards the princess. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect her, always.”

Iris smiled and also turned to face the princess. “I’m sure you will,” she said. “Well, to be on the safe side, we’ve decided to double security around her.”

“‘We’?” Knight asked, turning back to Iris.

“Me, Nitros, and Neon,” she responded, her eyes still on the sleeping princess. “I’ll stand watch over her with you, and we’ve requested some guards to follow us around in the shadows, keeping an eye out for enemies.”

“I see… I hope it’ll be enough.”

“We’re also going to release a statement to the public: ‘The Princess will undergo strict re-education regarding the Equestrian betrayal three hundred years ago. We apologize for any offence caused by her words, and ask you to forgive the young Princess.’ A lie, of course, but it should at least calm down most of the offended subjects.”

Knight turned his eyes back towards the princess and felt a chill run down his spine. “I hope that’ll be enough…”

Odysseus raised his head from his book as he heard a knock at his door. “Yes?” he called out.

“It’s me, Prince Odysseus,” a voice answered from the other side of the door. Odysseus recognised the voice and told him to enter. Razor Tooth entered the prince’s study and, after confirming that he hadn’t been followed, closed the door behind himself. He then turned and bowed to his prince. “Preparations are complete,” he reported.

A smile crossed Odysseus’ face. “Very good. As expected, Aura’s proposal today was exactly what I needed to bring them over to our side.”

“So tomorrow…”

“Yes,” Odysseus answered, knowing Razor Tooth’s question before he could finish asking it. “Aura has sealed her own fate and, with her sacrifice, I will finally be able to make my move.”

A grinned appeared on Razor Tooth’s face as he kept his gaze pointed at the floor. “Yes, my lord.”

The next morning, Aura woke up with much enthusiasm, despite how down she was feeling the previous day. After her talk with Knight Wind the previous night, she was determined to keep trying her best, but this time, to try and approach things from a different angle.

The trouble was that Aura wasn’t particularly good at planning more than two steps ahead, and she was too afraid of hurting what allies she had to use them effectively. During breakfast, Iris suggested that Aura ask her older brother Odysseus for advice.

Aura thought about it and it indeed seemed to be the best course of action. She would be attending a meeting with Odysseus after dinner anyway.

Knight watched over the princess as her maids brushed her hair and applied her makeup. When she was done, she turned around to Knight with a smile on her face and asked, “How do I look?”

Knight blushed, unsure of how to answer. He wanted to compliment her, but he didn’t want to say something out of line. There were limits, after all. But he didn’t want to seem like he was insincere or unsure. “You look good,” he eventually managed to say.

“Indeed,” Iris said, trying not to laugh at Knight’s flustering. “You look like a younger version of your mother.”

Knight took another look at the princess and he had to agree. Even though he had never seen a picture of the changeling queen as a youngling, he imagined that it would be the spitting image of Aura.

Aura lowered her head and, for the first time since waking up that morning, allowed her smile to fall. “Momma… she probably hates me now…”

“Of course she doesn’t m’lady,” one of the maids said.

“Indeed. Your mother is the most caring changeling ever. She would never hate you,” the other maid added.

“But…” Aura began.

“Princess,” Iris interrupted as she approached Aura, “Trust me, no matter what you say or do, your mother will always love you. So don’t worry about it so much, ‘kay?”

Aura turned to Knight, who nodded in agreement. He knew how much Chrysalis loved Aura. After all, when she pleaded with her to let Knight be her knight, no matter how much the queen protested, Aura wouldn’t give up and, eventually, the queen gave in after seeing how much it meant to her daughter.

A smile returned to Aura’s face and she turned back to Iris. “Do you think I could speak to her before the meeting?”

“I’m afraid not,” Iris answered. “She’s away on business right now. She won’t be back for a few days.”

“Oh…” Aura felt her smile starting to fade again, but quickly stopped it. “Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll just talk to her when she returns.”

There was a strange presence in the room when Aura, Knight and Iris entered the room that was to hold that day’s meeting. It was a tense atmosphere and, even though everyone in the room tried to pretend otherwise, it was clear that all eyes were on Aura. Knight and Iris were on full alert. Although it was unlikely, they had to prepare for every possibility.

“Oh, Sister, you’re here,” Odysseus said as he turned to face Aura. “That’s good. Now we can get this meeting started.”

“Actually, Brother,” Aura started, “I was wondering if you could help me with some-”

She was cut off by a hoof being placed to her mouth. Odysseus looked at Aura with a warm smile. “After the meeting, Sister. But we really should start things off swiftly.”

Aura reluctantly nodded and then made her way to her seat in the back of the room, her two knights flanking both of her sides.

Once she was seated, the entire room feel silent for a full minute, with Odysseus closing his eyes and holding his hooves together, as if he were praying. Finally, he opened his eyes and Aura shivered as she felt something from her brother that she had never felt before. A sense of unease and uncertainty.

His eyes were cold and showed no sign of emotion. He gave off a strange sensation that the young princess knew all too well: fear. She had always respected and looked up to her older brother, but right now, for reasons completely unknown to her, she was completely afraid of him.

“Now then,” he started, “The first order of business today: the execution of Princess Aura.”

“What?!” Knight and Iris shouted in unison. The doors to the room opened slowly, allowing Odysseus’ four knights to enter.

Iris drew her spear and stood on full guard, whilst Knight placed his forehooves on the shaking princess’ shoulders. “What’s going on?! Is this some kind of sick joke?!” he demanded.

Odysseus sighed and rose from his seat. “Surely you foresaw this eventual outcome, Knight Wind,” he said and, for a split moment, Knight could swear that a smile had crossed Odysseus’ face before returning to the frown he was currently wearing. “What my sister did yesterday was unforgiveable. With those simple words of making peace with Equestria, she dishonoured the entire Changeling Kingdom and spat in the faces of all who fell during, or indeed those who lived through, the changeling purging.

“It’s no surprise that many will never forgive her and the simple truth is that mother doesn’t forgive her, either.”

Aura, Knight and Iris all gasped in shock. “What are you saying?! That Queen Chrysalis ordered her daughter be killed?!” Iris shouted, keeping her eyes on the four knights.

“That is correct,” Odysseus said. “With Aura’s words yesterday, it is inevitable that riots will break out, and parties already against our queen will grow in power. Unless we act now, by showing that we do not agree one bit with Aura’s claims, things will only grow worse.”

“Lies!” Aura shouted, standing up and slamming her front hooves on the desk in front of her. “Mother would never do anything like that! She… She said she loves me! That she’ll always protect me!”

“Mother says a lot of things,” Odysseus said.

Knight grinded his teeth together and extended his wings. “Hey,” he whispered to Iris, “This looks bad. What now?”

“I don’t know,” Iris admitted. “I never expected an attack on this scale…” Iris stepped forward, not dropping her guard as she walked. “Show us proof! If the queen gave such an order, I demand to see proof of it, right now!”

Odysseus sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “If you wish,” he said as he levitated a piece of paper out from a stack on his desk.

Iris’ eyes widened at what she saw. It was indeed the royal signature used by Queen Chrysalis, and it was for a document ordering Aura’s execution. She turned back to Knight, who was in just as much shock as she was. She then turned back to the four knights, a cold sweat running down her body as she tried to find a path of escape.

“Now, I trust you will step down whilst we escort these traitors to the gallows, Miss Iris?” Odysseus asked.

Suddenly, a crash sounded through the meeting room. Everyone’s attention turned to the door, where they saw a changeling stumble into the meeting room, panting heavily as blood poured from his body. It was one of Princess Aura’s knights, Neon.

“Princess! Run!” he shouted as his horn lit up. Within seconds, a bright flash passed through the room, blinding everyone in it with the exception of the princess and her knights, whose eyes had been protected by a separate spell cast by Neon at a previous time.

When Odysseus could see again, the fugitives had all escaped the room. He slammed a hoof onto his table and turned to Razor Tooth. “Well?! Don’t just stand there! Find and execute them!”

“Yes, my lord!” Razor Tooth shouted as he and his comrades exited the room.

“What’s going on?!” Neon asked as the four fugitives ran down the castle corridor, passing many confused and startled servants on the way. “We were suddenly attacked while planning the princess’ birthday party! What’s the deal?!”

“It seems the queen has ordered Aura’s execution!” Iris explained.

“What?! Impossible! I know the queen! She would never do something like that!”

“I saw her signature with my own eyes! There’s no mistaking it!”

“A fake! It has to be a fake!”

“The royal signature isn’t something you can just simply forge! Only the queen’s magic can create it!”

Behind Iris and Neon, Knight was running just a little bit slower, since he had the princess on his back. The princess was understandably in a state of shock, her eyes staring off into nothing as she simply repeated: “Mother… Why?”. Knight could feel her tears dropping onto his coat and wanted to stop to comfort the princess, but there was no time for that; they had to escape fast.

Rounding a corner, Iris and Neon suddenly halted as they saw a group of guards blocking their path. They tried to turn back, but saw Odysseus’ knights catching up to them. Knight caught up to his two comrades and the four of them were now trapped, with enemies on both sides.

Neon turned around and gathered energy into her horn. Without warning, he fired a blast at the giant window behind them, shattering it into pieces and delaying the incoming troops with a shockwave. “Hurry!” he shouted to Knight and Iris. “Get her out of here! I’ll hold these guys off!”

“But-”

“No buts! Now go!”

Iris and Knight turned to each other and nodded before heading towards the window and jumping out of it. They spread their wings and began flying through the air. Taking one last look back, the two of them saw Neon fending off the enemies all around him, fighting valiantly… until he stopped moving and was thrown out of the window.

“NEON!” Iris shouted as she watched her comrade plummet to the ground. Tears were welling in her eyes, her blood boiling with anger.

“Don’t,” Knight said, forcing himself to keep his gaze straight ahead. “If you go back now, Neon’s sacrifice will be in vain. We must press on… for her sake.”

Iris reluctantly nodded and continued flying forward with Knight. Soon enough, though, the group was intercepted by a pursuing group of changeling guards. Iris told Knight to continue moving whilst she held them off.

“Princess, hold on tight!” Knight shouted as he increased his speed. Iris did a decent job of slowing down the pursuers, but two managed to slip by and quickly caught up to Knight. “Damnit! I won’t let you harm her!”

The two pursuers gathered energy into their horns and pointed them at Knight. As fast as he was, Knight was unable to avoid the incoming barrage of magical energy and was soon sent plummeting to the ground.

“Oh no you don’t!” Iris shouted as she charged towards the two pursuers. She got within range of them and used what was left of her energy to paralyze them with a powerful spell, the result of which left her too weak to continue flying.

The changeling guards that were still flying watched as Knight and Iris fell down into the dark forest below. “Search the forest! Find the princess and kill her on sight!”

“Roger!”

The guards descended slowly into the forest and soon came across the bodies of Knight and Iris. However, the princess was nowhere to be found. Only a trail of hoofprints that led them to a nearby cliff.

“She must have started flying through the forest,” one of the guards reasoned. “She couldn’t have gotten far! Search the whole area!”

“Yes, sir!”

It was a nice, peaceful night. The kind of night that the Great and Powerful Trixie liked to enjoy whenever she was travelling between towns. There were no ponies nearby to bother her and the night sky was nice and clear. Trixie enjoyed just sitting back and looking at the stars. It was a nice way to forget about all of her troubles.

The wind also carried a nice, gentle breeze, which felt nice against Trixie’s coat. She hummed a tune to herself as she washed her cloak in the nearby stream. The water was crystal clear and even clean enough to drink from. Best of all, it was free. Maybe not quite as good as using a washing machine, but it got the job done and left her with bits to spend on food in the next town.

Soon, her humming became full on singing. “Sooo… giggle at the ghosties…” Trixie stopped for a moment, raising her eyebrow at the song she was singing. “Strange… Where does Trixie know this song from, anyway?” When she couldn’t recall the song’s origins, she simply shrugged and continued washing her cloak.

The campfire behind her was heating up some marshmallows, which Trixie was looking forward to enjoying under her favourite constellations. Indeed, it was a great night. She told herself that she would have to thank Princess Luna if she ever saw her. Not that that was likely to happen, of course.

Once her cloak was washed thoroughly, Trixie hung it on a nearby clothesline that she had set up. She walked over to her campfire, but just as she was about to sit down, she heard a rustling in the nearby bushes.

Trixie turned towards the bushes on full alert. What could be there? A wild animal? A monster? A stalker? A hyperactive fan who simply wanted to spend time with Trixie? The last thought scared her most. At least the other things she could deal with, but attacking a fan would not only ruin her reputation, but she also wouldn’t be able to claim that it was in self-defence.

The bushes stopped rustling, but Trixie could hear heavy breathing coming from them. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” Nothing. “Trixie demands you reveal yourself, right now!”

After a few seconds of silence, the bushes started rustling again and Trixie watched curiously as a white unicorn filly emerged from behind the bushes, with green hair and golden eyes. Trixie noticed that the filly was injured all over her body. There were cuts and scratches all over the young filly’s body and, although Trixie couldn’t see it in the dark of the night, she could pick up the scent of blood on the filly.

The filly’s entire body shook as she stared in wide-eyed horror at the blue mare before her. Trixie began to move towards the filly, causing her to flinch and try to run away. However, something was holding the filly in place. She looked down to see that she was no longer on the ground, and that she was moving towards the blue mare.

Trixie pulled the filly closer to her with her magic. “You’re injured,” she said, examining her wounds more closely in the light of the campfire. She then heard a growl come from the filly, but it wasn’t from her mouth. She looked into the filly’s eyes as she begged Trixie to let her go. There was something in those eyes that made Trixie’s own widen.

Trixie levitated the marshmallows that she was planning on eating and brought them over to the filly. “Eat,” she said. The filly looked at her with a confused look as her stomach let out another hungry growl. “Trixie’s not having anypony’s death on her conscious. Now eat.”

The filly looked at the marshmallows, then back at Trixie, then back at the marshmallows. After one final growl from her stomach, she seemed to give in to the pressure and reached out towards the marshmallows.

Trixie lowered the unicorn to the ground but watched her carefully, in case she tried to run away. As the unicorn ate the marshmallows, Trixie realised that she wouldn’t be going anywhere and went into her trailer to bring out a first aid kit and some shampoo.

Once the filly was finished eating, not even leaving a single morsel of food behind for Trixie, she was once again pulled up into Trixie’s magical field. This time, she struggled with a little more energy. Already the effects of having a proper meal after three days of starvation were beginning to show on the filly. Even so, in her current state, she was powerless to fend off Trixie’s magic and, before she knew it, she was lowered into the nearby stream.

“Hold still,” Trixie ordered, levitating the shampoo and squirting some into the filly’s mane. “You’re covered in blood. Trixie hates the smell of it, so she’s going to fix it.” The filly resisted at first, but soon calmed down when she realised that Trixie wasn’t going to hurt her. Or rather, that it would hurt if she kept moving whilst Trixie tried to wash her mane.

“… Why are you helping me? I’m a stranger to you.”

Trixie levitated a bucket that she had brought outside, gathered some water into it and dumped it onto the filly’s head. “I don’t know,” Trixie admitted, grabbing a bar of soap and offering it to the filly, deciding that cleaning the rest of her body might be too awkward for the filly. “Trixie does what she wants. She doesn’t need to give a reason.”

The filly looked at the bar of soap quizzically, and then back up at Trixie. “What do I do?” she asked.

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the filly. “You’ve never washed yourself before?”

The filly shook her head at the question. “Vanilla and Raspberry usually wash me.” She lowered her head as she thought about her maids. Were they killed, too? Was everyone associated with the princess killed, or just her knights? They did offer Iris a chance to step aside, so maybe the others were still safe… That was the hope running through the young filly’s mind.

Trixie sighed and lifted the soap with her magic. There was no choice; she had to clean the filly and they were too far away from the nearest town. “So, where are you from?” Trixie asked. The filly winced and turned her head away. “Look, Trixie has no intention of leaving you out here. Trixie knows what the world is like on your own and you’re clearly not prepared to face it.”

The filly remained silent for a moment, before saying, “I can’t go home…” Trixie was about to ask why not, but the filly continued on her own. “If I go back, Momma will… She’ll try to… again…”

Parts of the filly’s sentence were too quiet for Trixie to hear, but she saw the tears running down the filly’s face and the fear running through her body. Trixie could only guess at what happened. ‘Could it be she was abused by her mother? That would explain why she’s so afraid of me right now… I should hand her over to the police. They’ll be able to get her the help she needs…’

Once Trixie finished washing the filly and drying her off, she started to apply some first aid to the filly’s wounds. The filly winced in pain the entire time and Trixie eventually had to use her magic to keep her still. Once she was finished, Trixie offered to let the filly sleep inside her trailer.

The filly declined initially, but when Trixie warned her that dangerous animals and deadly monsters – the latter being something she made up simply to scare the filly – wandered the roads between towns at night, the filly reluctantly accepted Trixie’s offer.

Despite all that had happened over the past few days, the filly was happy to finally be sleeping in a nice, warm bed and drifted off to sleep fairly easily, her entire body exhausted from walking all day.

Trixie watched as the filly slept, preparing a sandwich since her original meal had been taken by the filly. Trixie wondered why she was going so far to help the filly. Yes, leaving her all alone would be cruel and would weigh heavily on her conscience, but there was no need to share her food with her, or was her up. She could have just made her way to town and dumped her off at the police station. Then she would be free to travel without needing to think back on the filly.

A thought passed through Trixie’s mind and she levitated the map lying on the floor of her trailer, opening it up. The nearest town was Manehatten. ‘That’s no good,’ Trixie thought. ‘Their police department is so incompetent, and they already have their hooves full with petty thefts and robberies. They wouldn’t be able to give this filly the proper care she needs.’

Trixie sat in silence for a bit, before wondering why she cared what kind of treatment the filly got. She looked back at the filly and remembered the first time she looked directly into her eyes. Something about those eyes stuck out to Trixie, but she couldn’t place her hoof on it.

“Momma… please don’t hate me… I’m sorry…”

The filly was apparently having a nightmare. Trixie could see tears rolling down the filly’s cheeks, and then it hit her. This filly, she reminded Trixie of herself. Those eyes were the same eyes Trixie wore when her family had died and she was forced to live out on the streets. They were the eyes of somepony who had lost everything, including the ability to trust others. The eyes of somepony who was scared and alone.

The difference between Trixie and this filly was that Trixie was never picked up by anypony. She had to strengthen herself in order to survive and, before she discovered her talent for showmareship, had to steal in order to get by. It was a dark time in Trixie’s past. One that she’d rather forget altogether.

Trixie could tell that this filly was in the same place that Trixie was in back when she was just a filly, and if the filly wasn’t given to a warm, caring family, then Trixie wasn’t sure if she would survive or not. Her eyes were too soft, too gentle. ‘But then, so were mine, before I had to toughen myself up… I had to trade my innocence in order to survive…’

Trixie wiped her tail against the filly’s face to wipe the tears away and then made up her mind. She returned to the map, scanning it to find a nearby town that would be able to properly care for this filly. Somewhere nice, where one could find a healthy education and a nice family. Somewhere quiet, with a low crime rate. Somewhere out of the way, where the filly could easily adjust.

Only one town fit the bill: Ponyville.

Chapter 2

Aura stared in horror at the body of Knight Wind in front of her. She slowly reached out her hooves and started to shake him. “Knight? Knight?” No matter how many times she called out, he wouldn’t get up, or turn towards her, or even make any kind of noise. He just lay there, perfectly still, his eyes shut tightly and his breathing… gone.

“No… Neon, Iris, and now…” Aura raised her hooves and buried her face in them. “Why? Why is this happening? Is it… Is it all my fault? All I wanted was… I just wanted to make everyone happy… Why did it turn out like this?”

Aura sat there for what felt like hours, in truth only a minute or two, before she heard the sounds of changeling guards approaching.

“We found Iris!”

“Knight must be nearby! Keep searching!”

“Remember, kill Aura on sight!”

Aura gasped and rose to her hooves. She looked off into the distance with a frightened look on her face, breathing heavily as fear ran through her body. Finally, she heard hoofsteps closing in on her and her flight instincts kicked in, causing her to turn tail and run as fast as her little body would allow her to.

“Sir! Over here!”

Razor Tooth approached the guard that called out to him and grinned widely as he saw Knight’s corpse lying on the ground. “Excellent. Thought it’s too bad we couldn’t take him alive, but it’ll have to do. Now, what about the princess?”

“She seems to have escaped, sir,” the guard reported, pointing a hoof at a trail of small hoofprints that led into the forest. “Our forces followed the tracks, but they stopped at a cliff top. Most likely, she took to the sky.”

Razor sighed and shook his head. “Such a pity. But no matter. Her knights are dead. I doubt she’ll last much longer.”

“Don’t underestimate my sister.” Razor and the guard next to him immediately jumped to attention as they turned around to face their Prince. “At ease.”

“Sir,” Razor started, returning to his casual stance, “With respect, this forest is riddled with all kinds of dangers, and in that direction… Well, if she keeps moving that way, she’ll wind up in Equestria. There’s no way she’ll survive for long.”

“Yet, there’s still a chance,” Odysseus said. “I don’t deal in chance. If she’s found to be alive and well, then our entire plan will be foiled… and we will suffer the ultimate penalty for our crimes.” Razor gulped as Odysseus reminded him of the consequences of failure. “Don’t worry, Razor. I’ve already taken this eventuality into account and have prepared a suitable assassin to track down and kill her. The purpose of the staged execution order was to ensure she would not return anytime soon, should she manage to escape, so we at least have some time.”

“An assassin? May I ask who, sir?”

“You’ll find out, soon enough.”

Aura poked her head out of her hiding spot under a rather large tree, holding out her hoof to check if it was still raining. It hadn’t stopped completely, but it slowed down to a very light drizzle and, since she was sure her pursuers were still chasing her, she decided to keep moving.

She couldn’t tell how many days had passed for sure, but she was certain that it had been at least one full day since she had fled from the castle. She only stopped a few times to take a rest, or to hide when she thought the guards had caught up to her. Aura hadn’t eaten anything since leaving the castle and she was finding it hard not to focus on her increasing hunger.

She had reached the edge of the forest and found herself at the entrance to the Border Desert, the desert that was split down the middle. Half of it belonged to the Changeling Kingdom and the other half belonged to Equestria.

She gulped as she faced the vast desert in front of her and, for a moment, contemplated simply giving up. Her mother wanted her dead. Her knights were dead. There was nowhere left for the young changeling to go. No reason left for her to keep moving forward.

“Princess, please… live…”

Knight’s final words rang in Aura’s ears and her survival instincts flared up once again. She slowly raised a hoof and lowered it in front of her, taking her first step into the desert. “Knight… I don’t know what to do…” She took another step and then started to gradually pick up her pace, making her way through the desert.

Razor Tooth saluted Queen Chrysalis as she entered the castle’s throne room. It had been three days since Aura had fled the castle and their queen had just returned from her business in the Dragon Kingdom.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow quizzically at the general’s presence in her throne room. Next to Chrysalis her advisor, Metamorphose – or ‘Meta’ as she was otherwise known – tagged along closely to her queen, also confused by Razor Tooth’s presence.

“My queen, welcome back,” Razor Tooth said, lowering his salute as she waved her hoof. “I trust you had a good trip?”

“Cut the formalities,” Chrysalis ordered, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I’m tired, and wish to rest before meeting with griffon ambassador. So make whatever business you have here short.”

“Very well, my queen…”

Razor Tooth made his report to his queen, her eyes growing wide with horror and disbelief.

“Razor Tooth… if this is a joke, I’m going to have you court-martialled…” Razor Tooth shook his head, his head hanging low as he remained silent. “My daughter… is dead?”

“It can’t be…” Meta said, dropping the notepad she was carrying in her magic as the news sunk into her skin. “Princess Aura… H-How did it happen?”

“It was that Equestrian, Knight Wind,” Razor Tooth answered. Chrysalis’ look of horror turned to one of anger, and despair. “It turns out he was a spy, and his aim was to assassinate the queen. He slipped up and we caught him, but in an attempt to flee, he…”

Chrysalis stomped her forehooves on the ground, starling Meta and Razor. “Bring him to me!” she shouted, her eyes burning with rage. “Bring him to me RIGHT NOW!”

“Your Highness, please calm down,” Razor asked, fear running through his body as she shot him a deadly glare. “Knight and his accomplices are already dead.”

“Accomplices?” Meta asked.

Razor nodded his head. “Iris and Neon. Both of them have been in league with him for the past few years.” Chrysalis’ anger rose higher at this news. “They made a deal with Equestria. Apparently, Equestria promised them safety in their country if they helped him. Unfortunately, Sir General Nitros was killed trying to protect the princess…”

The room remained silent for a few minutes. Chrysalis stared ahead into space, her emotions a mixture of anger, hatred and despair. Eventually, her rage died down and tears started to fall down her face. Razor Tooth turned around as the queen allowed herself a moment of weakness, bringing her hooves to her face as she sobbed into them as silently as she could.

After a few minutes of crying, Chrysalis lowered her hooves and called out to Razor Tooth, who turned to face her. “How long until we can prepare our forces?” Chrysalis asked.

“Three days, my queen.” She looked at him with a curious look, while he simply looked back with a frown. “Prince Odysseus and Prince Alexander are already aware of Princess Aura’s death. We have already started to make arrangements, my queen.”

Chrysalis nodded and then turned to her advisor. “Meta, I want you to make an announcement to the entire kingdom.” Meta nodded and picked up her notepad with her magic. She picked up the quill resting on her ear and pressed it against the pad. “In three days time, we shall hold a memorial service for Aura… and then, we shall have our revenge.”

Meta looked up from the notepad and to her Queen with a worried look on her face. “My queen, does that mean-”

“Yes,” Chrysalis interrupted. “Three days from now, we declare war on Equestria.”

Inwardly, Odysseus rejoiced at the announcement that was being spread throughout the kingdom. Outwardly, he maintained a calm, neutral expression, casually greeting his servants as he passed them by in the corridor.

When he reached his bed chamber he requested that his servants leave him be. Razor followed him inside and, once the door was closed, Odysseus finally let out the laughter that he was forced to hold back.

“Everything’s going as planned, huh?” Razor asked, taking out a bottle of wine from a nearby cabinet. “Well, except for Aura still being alive, that is.”

“A minor mishap,” Odysseus said. “No plan is perfect, and this won’t change things too much. All that matters is that she doesn’t make contact with the Changeling Kingdom.”

“Given that she thinks the queen ordered her death, I doubt she’d return.”

“Precisely. The only danger is if the queen finds her on her own, which could only happen now when she attacks Equestria. Granted it’s not very likely, but it wouldn’t hurt to lower the chances to zero.”

Razor poured the wine into two glasses and levitated one over to Odysseus, who took it into his magic. “Is that why you enlisted Shark to hunt her down? What if someone notices him missing?”

Odysseus chuckled softly and then took a sip of his wine. “Everyone will be too focused on the upcoming memorial service and the war. Even if they do somehow notice, we can just feign ignorance and pretend to open an investigation.” A sly grin crossed Odysseus’ face. “Perhaps send a few more of our potential enemies to the gallows with our ‘findings’.”

“I see… As expected, Odysseus, you are truly the only one worthy of being our ruler.”

Odysseus shot Razor a sharp glare, causing him to flinch and almost drop his glass in terror. “My mother is a great leader,” he said. He then turned back to his glass and took another sip. “It’s unfortunate, but for the good of the kingdom, I will have to use her… and sacrifice her.”

Razor didn’t dare to open his mouth this time and instead simply nodded his head silently as he drank his from his own wine glass.

“Three days, mother… Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.” A dark grin crossed Odysseus’ face, which sent another wave of fear throughout Razor’s body. Odysseus turned to his knight and, once their eyes met, Razor felt his entire body freeze up. “Summon Alexander. I wish to speak with him.”

Razor remained silent and completely frozen, until Odysseus turned away. As if being released from some kind of bondage, Razor felt his body suddenly relax and fall limp and was able to find his voice once more. He quickly straightened up and saluted to his prince. “Y-Yes, my lord.”

If Aura hadn’t been tired and starving from three days of continuous walking, she would have rejoiced at the sight of a stream in front of her. It had been a full day since she had last passed by a fresh water source and she was starting to feel the effects of walking many miles without anything to drink.

She examined the water closely. She couldn’t tell for sure, since her vision was blurry, but the water seemed clean enough to drink. Even if it wasn’t, by this point, she was desperate. She lowered her head into the stream and began drinking.

To the princess who had just passed through a forest of death, a barren wasteland desert, and was now walking through open fields in enemy territory, that one moment right then and there felt like heaven to her. The water felt so refreshing and, after she had collapsed to the ground on her stomach, she found it hard to get up again. She wanted to lay there and go to sleep and, hopefully, this would all turn out to be one long nightmare.

“Mommy, are we there yet?”

Aura quickly raised her head and look around. In the distance, she could make out two blurry shapes up ahead of her. As she narrowed her eyes and focused on them, she could just about see two ponies walking down the nearby dirt road. Two unicorns, both with green hair, walking side-by-side. One was a mare with a blue coat, the other a filly with a white coat.

She could see the filly’s golden eyes as she passed by a lantern on the road and flinched when she noticed the mare looking in Aura’s direction. Afraid that she might have been seen, Aura quickly rushed off into the bush sitting next to her.

Daring to poke her head out of the bush, she could see the two ponies continuing their walk along the road. Apparently they hadn’t noticed Aura, who let out a relieved sigh and walked out of the bush. Aura sat down on her haunches as she started to think of her next move.

Although she had continued moving because of Knight’s words, the further she walked, the more she realised how hopeless it all was. If she stayed in Equestria, she would be arrested as an enemy spy. If she returned home, she would be killed. If she fled to another country, assuming she even made it there alive, if they were an ally with the Changeling Kingdom or held neutrality towards them, they would likely hand Aura over if she were found out, to maintain good standing with the changelings.

Aura once again started to lose hope. Tears would have been rolling down her face, if she had enough water in her body to spare. She felt the cold wing against her skin and decided that she’d rather think about her next move somewhere warm. Rising to her hooves, Aura scanned the area and then began moving against the flow of the stream, not having any better plans in mind.

After a few minutes of walking, Aura began to hear someone singing nearby. Out of curiosity, Aura moved closer to the sound, keeping herself hidden behind a nearby bush. She poked her head out from the bush and saw a blue unicorn mare washing what appeared to be a purple cloak. Aura’s ears dropped as she listened to the mare’s singing. It was so horrible that she began to cringe and was thankful when the mare finally stopped.

However, Aura panicked when the mare walked over to her campfire and she was afraid she would be caught, quickly jumping back into the bush, which caused it to shake. Aura froze and just hoped that she hadn’t been noticed.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Aura didn’t move. She held her breath tight. ‘Maybe if I don’t move, she’ll think it was just her imagination…’

“Trixie demands your reveal yourself, right now!”

Aura decided that it was hopeless. This mare was adamant that someone was hiding and probably would have investigated if Aura remained silent. On the other hoof, if Aura had tried to run away, she wouldn’t have gotten far in her current state.

Aura decided there was only one course of action left for her to take. Closing her eyes, she concentrated her powers of shapeshifting and began to take the form of the filly that she saw earlier. Taking a deep breath, Aura stood up once again and stepped out of the bushes, revealing herself to the blue mare.

“Brother! You can’t be serious!”

Odysseus raised his head from his book and looked over at his older sister, who had just burst into his room, clearly angry about something.

“Sister, it’s rude to enter someone’s room without knocking first.”

Victoria stomped closer to Odysseus, grinding her teeth together as she glared at him. “Why?! Why is Aura’s memorial service on the same day we declare war?!”

Odysseus appeared to be confused by his sister’s concerns. “Because mother ordered it and, personally, I agree with her. It will be a nice way to show our departed sister that we care deeply for her.”

“That’s bullshit!” she shouted as she stomped her forehooves onto the ground, shaking the entire room. “I’d have thought that you of all changelings would have protested to this as much as me! You know our sister never wished for war with anyone! Why in Tartarus would you think declaring war on her funeral day would make her happy?!”

Odysseus sighed and lowered his book, making sure to place a bookmark on the page he was currently at first. He turned to his sister with a frown. “You’re right. I did consider that, but the fact is, if we wait for too long, the Equestrians might attack us first. I don’t want our sister’s death to be the cause of our kingdom’s downfall. I don’t think anyone would want that.”

“But-”

“Furthermore,” Odysseus interrupted, “Our sister may have wanted peace, but she also wanted to keep living. To grow up with us and share her happiness with our kingdom. We don’t always get what we want.” Odysseus rose to his hooves and approached his sister. “It’s sad, I know. But nothing we do now will change the fact that Aura is dead and that an international conflict will surely erupt from this.”

Odysseus placed a hoof on his sister’s shoulder and smiled warmly at her. “For now, all we can do is try to be strong. We must see her off with a smile and bravely push through this terrible chapter in our lives.

“For that reason, Sister, I requested the two of us oversee arrangements for her memorial service. Alexander and the queen will handle the military preparations.”

Victoria lowered her head, grinding her teeth again as she stared at the floor. Finally, she rose her head and looked at her brother, and then shook her head. “No, Brother. I insist on working on military preparations alongside mother. I want to avenge Aura, no matter what.”

“Victoria,” Odysseus said, a stern look on his face, “You were by far the closest to our sister. I think it would mean a lot to her if you were in charge of her send off.” He paused for a moment and then continued. “Besides, I can’t handle this without you.” She raised her head in surprise and Odysseus turned away to hide the redness forming on his face. “I’m… no good at things like this… I need you by my side.”

“But… you’ve arranged memorial services before, haven’t you?”

“… I mean death.” Silence passed between them and Odysseus’ body started shaking. “The truth is, I’m trying to act strong so that I can maintain an air of superiority around my subjects… but… I don’t know how much longer I can last…” Odysseus turned to his sister with wide, pleading eyes. “Please, Sister… I need you by my side…”

Victoria’s face fell and she pulled her younger brother into a warm hug. “Okay, Brother. I’ll stay by your side and help you prepare our sister’s funeral.”

“Thank you, Sister.” A knock at the door caused the two to separate. Odysseus turned to the still-open door to find Alexander grinning at the two siblings. “Big Brother…”

“So, you do have a weak point,” he said, walking towards the two. “No wonder you avoid the battlefield so much. Ya big softie.”

Odysseus turned his head away in embarrassment and Victoria narrowed her eyes at Alexander. “Well, I guess he has to be soft, to rival your hard head.”

“Ouch. Low blow, Sis,” Alexander laughed. “Anyway, you wanted ta see me, Bro?”

Odysseus nodded and asked his sister to leave them be. She obeyed and, just as she left, Odysseus called out to her once more. “Sister, meet me tomorrow morning at oh seven hundred hours. We’ll begin planning then.”

Victoria nodded and then closed the door, leaving the two brothers alone. “So?” Alexander asked. “What do ya want? It better be important. I was the middle of preparing battle strategies.”

Odysseus smiled at his older brother. “Yes, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about… Well, that, and I also wanted to ask you to write a few things for our sister’s memorial service.”

“Huh? I’ll be there myself, y’know? Why do I need ta write things down?”

“No, it’s for the public memorial service,” Odysseus answered, walking over to a nearby cabinet. “The one we’ll be attending will be a quick one, to send her off as we march towards the battlefield. The public one will be held afterwards and will be much longer. Since you won’t be attending that one, I wanted to get some words from you to share with everyone.”

“And ya had ta ask me now?”

“I’ll be busy over the next few days. As will you. Now is really the best time.” Odysseus looked through his collection of wine bottles but couldn’t find the one he wanted. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to fetch a special wine I had been saving for Aura’s coming-of-age ceremony… Guess there’s not much point in saving it now…”

Alexander nodded as he watched Odysseus walk towards the door and leave the room. Alexander, never one to just stand around doing nothing, decided to explore his younger brother’s room whilst Odysseus was gone. He found his brother’s work desk and noticed that the top drawer was the only one that was locked, and that the key wasn’t anywhere on the table.

A smirk passed Alexander’s face. “Heh, I used ta hide pornos in the top drawer. I wonder if Odysseus is doin’ the same?” Alexander examined the desk and noticed a framed picture of himself and his siblings, all together in a group, smiling at the camera. It was taken three years ago, about the same time that Knight Wind was found. Anger boiled inside of Alexander as he remembered how Knight was the one who had killed his sister, but he pushed it to one side. For the moment, he was more curious to see how similar he and his brother were.

He lifted the picture and looked behind it. One wouldn’t notice it unless they were looking for it, but there was a small piece of card on the back the picture. “Heh, seems we’re not so different after all, Brother.” Alexander removed the card and found a small key behind it.

Alexander checked behind him and then turned back to the desk, grinning as he opened the top drawer. Inside was a stack of papers, the top one seemingly blank. “Eh? Just work stuff? How boring…” Alexander lifted the top paper and examined both sides, finding that it was indeed blank. However, before putting it back, he felt something strange.

It was a familiar feeling to Alexander. He called it his ‘sixth sense’ and, although it didn’t make much sense, whenever something strange was about to happen, or was already happening, he would get these strange signals throughout his body. It was different depending on what was going to happen. For example, if something was about to fall, it would be a different signal than if a fire was about to break out.

No one understood how it worked, but after encountering it for themselves, no one would keep questioning it for long. They just sort of accepted that he had some supernatural ability or something that, for the time being at least, exceeded all scientific reasoning.

This signal that Alexander was getting told him to take the paper. To take it and to not let Odysseus know. Basically, that the paper was very, very important, and that Odysseus was hiding something.

Alexander swallowed hard, turned back towards the door, and then back to the desk again. He stowed the paper away into his armour, closed and locked the draw and hid the key back where he had found it. Just as he had finished putting the picture back, the door behind him opened, startling Alexander and causing him to spin around quickly.

“… Brother? What are you doing?”

“Oh, uh, I was just…” Alexander looked back at the desk and then back to Odysseus. “T-This picture. It’s a nice picture, isn’t it? It made me feel a little… nostalgic. That’s all.”

Odysseus narrowed his eyes, examining Alexander closely. ‘Strange…’ Odysseus walked closer to his sibling, cautiously, and placed the wine bottle he had brought with him down onto the table in the centre of the room. “And that’s all you were doing?”

“O-Of course!” Alexander shouted. He quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. ‘Shit, that won’t work on him. He’s too good at seeing through lies… Gotta try somethin’ else.’

Odysseus didn’t take his eyes off of Alexander as he opened the bottle of wine and began pouring some of the contents into Alexander’s glass.

“Ah, what the hell?!” Odysseus jumped slightly and almost spilled the wine onto the table. He placed the bottle down as his brother approached him, wrapping a foreleg around his shoulder. “We’re both guys here! C’mon, admit it, you got some dirty mags in that drawer there, haven’t ya?”

Odysseus’ eyes widened and his face reddened as he struggled against his older brother’s headlock. “W-What are you talking about?! There’re only work documents in there! I’m not you!”

“Really?” Alexander asked in an unconvinced tone. “Well, just give it a few more years…” He released his younger brother and sat down in Odysseus’ favourite chair with a hearty laugh. “Anyway, let’s get this over with! Like I said, I was in the middle of battle preparations!”

Odysseus stared at his brother with a strange look on his face. ‘That’s what he was doing? Trying to find dirty magazines?… Well, I shouldn’t expect anything more from an oaf like him. And to think I was feeling threatened for a moment.’ Odysseus continued filling the glasses and then took the seat opposite of Alexander. ‘The only two who I should worry about are Victoria and Aura… and I’ve already made arrangements to keep Victoria from causing any trouble.’

Aura woke up with a start. She hadn’t slept for three whole days, since the fear of being caught by pursuers was forcing her to stay awake, and the first dream that she had had after returning to the realm of sleep after such a long time was, of course, a nightmare.

In it, she was enjoying a nice game of volleyball with her siblings. It was the sisters versus the brothers and, as always, everyone did their best to make sure Aura was involved, practically passing the ball to her intentionally. She knew this and was happy that they cared about her so much, but couldn’t help feeling like they were looking down on her by going so easy on her.

After receiving a pass from Odysseus, she felt a sharp pain from behind. Looking back, she saw her four siblings and her mother, all looking at her with hate-filled eyes and swords at the ready as they closed in on the youngling, attempting to cut her down. The rest of the nightmare consisted of her running away from them, being told by each of her siblings how much she was despised, and that she would never be welcome in their land again.

Remembering the terrible dream brought tears to her eyes and she spent the next few minutes holding her face in her hooves, letting out a waterfall of tears.

When she was finished crying, she remembered where she was. It was the trailer of the blue mare who had found her, although said blue mare didn’t seem to be around at that point. Aura looked to her right and saw a mirror on a dresser. She realised that she was still disguised as a filly and undid the magic for a moment, revealing her true form as she stared into the eyes of her own reflection in the mirror.

“Mother… do you truly hate me now? Am I forced to remain here, living as one of the ponies you also despise?”

She heard a creak outside and realised that someone was coming. Most likely the blue mare from before. Aura quickly reapplied her disguise, and not a moment too soon, as the door opened shortly after she had finished. It was indeed the blue mare at the door, and she was carrying in her magic a small bag, which she opened up and threw onto the bed.

Two apples and a small bottle of water fell out of the bag. The mare turned to the filly. “Here’s your dinner,” she said, walking over to the dresser and levitating a brush. “It’s not much, since Trixie’s short on supplies, but it will have to do.”

Aura looked over at the apples, not sure if she should accept them or not. A growl in her stomach made up her mind for her and she used her magic to levitate one of the two pieces of fruit to her mouth.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Trixie asked as she brushed her mane. “Trixie doesn’t want to just call you ‘little one’. Surely you must have a proper name.”

Aura turned to Trixie and bowed politely. “Princess Aura, the third pri-” Aura slammed her hooves to her mouth. She had acted out of habit and almost gave herself away. “Uh, I mean, just Aura…”

Trixie didn’t turned around, but instead simply continued brushing her mane. “I see… Don’t worry, Aura. Trixie used to get swept up in games of pretend, too.”

Aura tilted her head in confusion and then realised that Trixie must have thought that the filly was just playing pretend when she referred to herself as ‘Princess Aura’. Aura breathed a sigh of relief and went back to eating her apples. She didn’t notice the grin plastered on Trixie’s face, which could be seen through her reflection on the mirror.

Chapter 3

Trixie awoke with a loud yawn. She didn’t feel as comfortable as she usually did whenever she woke up in the morning and, after surveying her surroundings, she understood why: she was sleeping on the floor. Because her bed was occupied by a little unicorn filly, who was breathing heavily as she slept away, squirming under the covers and begging for ‘it’ to ‘stop’.

Trixie recalled finding the injured, starving filly the previous night and remembered spending all night reworking her schedule to fit ‘drop off little filly in Ponyville’ into it. She groaned as she felt her head aching, rose to her hooves and made her way to the kitchen area. “Some coffee should help,” she said to herself.

She noticed how few supplies she had left and decided to stop by Manehatten – which was on the way to Ponyville – to do some shopping. Luckily, she had plenty of coffee and prepared a nice, hot drink for herself.

“Momma… please don’t hate me…”

Trixie had heard those words plenty of times the previous night and she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of them. On one hoof, she sympathised with the little filly, who had apparently been abandoned by somepony she loved so dearly. On the other hoof, Trixie was somewhat jealous of the little filly who actually had a chance to know her mother in the first place.

Trixie finished preparing her cup of coffee and drank it slowly as she allowed herself to wake up. Trixie noted the lack of food left and realised that they would have to get moving soon, and hoped that they would come across some food on the way to Manehatten.

After finishing her wakeup drink, Trixie checked the filly’s temperature to make sure she hadn’t fallen ill from infection. She seemed fine, although she was still squirming in the bed, with sweat running down her body as the nightmare seemed to get worse and worse with each passing second.

Since it seemed the filly wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, Trixie moved to the front of the trailer and began moving it with her magic, pressing on down the dirt road that would eventually take them to Manehatten.

Victoria opened her door cautiously. Ever since she had heard of her sister’s death at the hooves of Equestrian spies, she had been extra cautious, even in the castle. She lowered her guard, however, when she saw her older brother standing at the door, smiling cheerfully at his disgruntled sister. The reason for her being disgruntled being that Alexander had interrupted her at five in the morning, a whole hour earlier than she would have liked to have woken up.

“Hello, dear Sister,” he greeted, with an unusual level of politeness that his sister wasn’t used to seeing in him. “May I come in for a moment? I wish to talk to you about something important.”

“It’ll have to wait,” Victoria spat. “I have an early appointment today and I’d like to get as much rest as possible before I have to leave.”

Alexander placed a hoof into the doorway to prevent his sister from shutting him out. “Yes, but this is something you need to hear before meeting with Odysseus.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes, examining her older brother closely, and then opened the door to let him in. “Make it quick.”

Alexander waited for the door to close before turning to his sister and producing a piece of paper from his bag. “It’s this, Sister. I need you to examine this for me.”

It was nearing afternoon, and Trixie’s trailer was nearing Manehatten. However, she was hungry and thirsty, and when she noticed an apple tree on the side of the road, she decided to stop for a quick snack.

Trixie parked her trailer in the shade beneath the apple tree and used her magic to pick the four biggest, most delicious-looking apples she could find. Two for her and two for the filly, when she woke up. There was also a stream nearby, which Trixie used to fill up two empty water bottles.

She set aside two apples and one water bottle in a small bag and sat down in the shade as she enjoyed her own meal. She spotted a few other travelling ponies passing her by, some of which stopped to greet her, though she simply ignored them. It was far too hot for pleasantries that day, especially after spending three straight hours moving a trailer with her magic.

After finishing her meal and laying back lazily in the shade for about ten minutes, Trixie decided that she should start moving again if she wanted to stick to her new schedule. After putting some effort into getting back up, Trixie made her way back to her trailer, carrying the bag with the filly’s dinner inside.

She opened the door gently, but stopped when she looked inside and saw something that almost made her shriek in surprise. Inside, lying on her bed, the little filly from earlier was sitting up, looking sleepily towards the mirror and, just as Trixie was about to enter, the filly was engulfed in green flames. When they died down, she had changed into a small black creature, her green hair now a dark blue. What shocked Trixie most was that the little filly – if that was even what she was – now had a pair of wings growing out of her back.

Trixie quickly moved back, her body trembling as she realised what was currently sitting in her trailer. A changeling. Though she hadn’t encountered one personally, she had read many stories about them and had heard the stories told of the changeling attack on Canterlot.

‘What’s going on? Is she a spy? Are the changelings plotting to take over Equestria again?’ Trixie considered the horrible state that she had found the filly in last night but quickly dismissed the thought. ‘Changelings are creatures that live by deceiving others and then striking when your guard is down. That’s what all those books said about them, and it certainly worked on me!

‘This is bad! I’ve got a changeling in my trailer right now! What do I do?’ A thought crossed Trixie’s mind, followed by a grin on her face. ‘What am I thinking? It’s obvious what I have to do! I have to take her to Canterlot and hand her over to the Royal Guard! They’ll know what to do with her, and they’ll probably reward me, too!’

Trixie thought about the many possible rewards she could be given for handing over such a dangerous enemy and potentially saving Equestria. ‘Will they give me enough bits to retire? My own spot in the Canterlot Royal Theatre? Maybe they’ll make me nobility!’

With her new plan in mind, Trixie took a few seconds to remove the grin from her face and entered her trailer, making some noise before entering to alert the changeling to her presence. She had to make the changeling think that she hadn’t been caught yet, or else she would just try to flee.

After giving the changeling plenty of time to change back, Trixie opened the door to her trailer and, sure enough, sitting up on her bed was the small, white filly from before.

Preparations for Princess Aura’s memorial service were running smoothly. Odysseus and Victoria were hard at work planning the perfect funeral for their little sister and relaying their orders to the subjects that were working under them.

Odysseus kept his eyes on Victoria closely, but made sure not to draw attention to himself. ‘That paper’s gone missing. I know I had it before Victoria dropped by yesterday… Alexander was the only one who could have taken it.’

“Brother, our sister loved iris flowers the most, didn’t she?” Victoria asked.

“Hm? Ah, yes,” Odysseus replied. ‘Well, he probably took it without even realizing it. Chances are he was looking for dirt on me and took it in a hurry after I returned to the room. Whatever the case, he’ll never find out what it is. The only ones who could identify the properties of that paper are mother, and…’

“Where do irises bloom? I would like to go and collect some fresh iris flowers for her.”

Odysseus turned to his sister, his face even as he held back a big, toothy grin. “I’ve already sent some of my maids to collect irises from the most beautiful garden in the kingdom,” he said. Victoria nodded and then moved onto the next item on the list. ‘Too bad, Sister. Mother is busy elsewhere in the kingdom, and you will remain here, under my constant gaze.’

“Brother, I shall be right back. I need to visit the restroom.”

‘Nice try,’ he thought as he turned his gaze back to the checklist. “Very well. Just remember that my knight will be protecting you from the shadows, so make sure not to attack her by mistake.”

The warning held a deeper meaning, of course. It was a subtle warning not to stray too far, in case she had grown suspicious of him. Of all the changelings in the kingdom, Victoria was the only one who Odysseus actually feared. But with this arrangement, she couldn’t make any movements against him.

He had already requested to lead the preparations for the memorial service, which his mother had agreed to, meaning that all he had to do was give the order and Victoria would have to stay by his side during the preparations for the funeral. Assigning his knight to watch over her made it impossible to make use of whatever small break she might have got from him. She couldn’t argue against it, either; if an enemy were to target her, they would expect her own knights to defend her, not her brother’s, so it was an effective countermeasure to the non-existent enemy threats.

‘But if Alexander has that paper… He does have that annoying sixth sense of his. Maybe I should assign one of my knights to watch over him, just in case.’

During the rest of the trip to Manehatten, Trixie kept herself on full alert, ready to defend herself if the changeling in the back – who was apparently a princess – suddenly attacked her. ‘She’s just a kid… but if she’s a princess, she probably has some skill. I should be careful.’

“Um, Miss Lulamoon?” Aura asked, making Trixie jump as she was snapped out of her thoughts. “Are you sure it’ll be ok in Ponyville?”

Trixie didn’t turn her head as she answered the changeling. “Oh yes, of course!” Trixie shouted, using her showmare talents to hide any nervousness in her voice. “Trixie has been there many times! It is a lovely town, very small, and the ponies there are kind and very considerate! They understand that Trixie needs her space and so they barely speak to her, but when they do, they’re very, very kind!”

Aura smiled at the news, though it was a weak smile. “I see…”

‘As I thought, telling her that the ponies will leave her alone if she asks them to is what she wanted to hear. She must be a spy, so a town where she barely has to interact with others would be perfect.’ She turned back to see the little filly looking curiously at a bunch of photos pinned to the trailer wall.

“Miss Lulamoon, what are all of these photos?” she asked, stopping at one particular photo of a filly resembling Trixie on a cardboard box, bowing to the camera.

“Photos of Trixie’s life as a showmare. The one you’re currently looking at was from Trixie’s earlier days. Back when her cutie mark was still new.” She saw the little filly looking quite awed and, for a moment, almost let her guard down. “By the way, you don’t have to address Trixie so formally. Just Trixie will be fine.”

“Oh, um, ok… Miss Trixie…”

Trixie sighed and returned her gaze to the road. ‘Well, changeling or not, she certainly has more manners than most ponies I’ve come across.’

“AH!”

Trixie stopped the trailer suddenly and spun around quickly. “What’s wrong?!” she asked. She saw the little filly sitting on the bed, her head under her hooves as her body trembled. “What’s wrong?” Trixie repeated.

The little filly slowly raised a hoof and pointed it towards Trixie’s wardrobe. Trixie turned her head towards her wardrobe and saw something sticking out. It was one of her props. A fake pony head that looked freshly decapitated.

Trixie facehooved and then began moving the trailer again, turning her attention back to the road. “It’s just a prop for Nightmare Night performances,” she explained.

“N-Nightmare Night?” Aura asked, her trembling slowing down as she turned to Trixie. Trixie turned her head and saw that tears were running down the filly’s face. “W-What’s that?”

Trixie wasn’t sure what to think. Was this just the changeling trying to deceive her, or was this young child actually afraid of that prop? In any case, Trixie began to explain Nightmare Night to the filly. How it was a holiday where ponies dressed up in costumes and tried to scare each other.

The filly listened intently as Trixie told the story of Nightmare Moon, both her one thousand year old legend and her more recent return, when she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Every now and then, Aura would interrupt Trixie with a question and, although she found this annoying, Trixie was more than happy to answer any and all questions that Aura threw her way.

When Aura asked when the next Nightmare Night was and Trixie answered, Aura began thinking out loud a list of costumes that she would like to wear. Trixie noticed that none of them were particularly scary and guessed that it was because Aura wasn’t good with scary things.

‘The exact opposite of me,’ Trixie thought. ‘I was just as enthusiastic as her during my first Nightmare Night, but I only had interest in costumes that would scare other ponies witless… Not that they ever turned out very well…’

“Miss Trixie,” Aura called out. Trixie noticed that the filly was sounding a lot more cheerful than earlier and felt somewhat happy, before reminding herself that Aura was a changeling, not a pony. “Will you be staying with me in Ponyville?”

Trixie stared into the filly’s pleading eyes for a moment before shaking her head and turning back to the road. “Sorry, but Trixie’s a travelling showmare. She has no intention of tying herself down to one town like that.”

Trixie heard the filly behind her mutter, “Oh.” She could tell that Aura was disappointed in this.

‘Why would that upset her? Surely her plans for Equestria don’t involve me… do they? And… And why do I feel kind of disap-’ Trixie held that thought and stopped the trailer momentarily as she felt a chill run down her spine. After a few seconds, she started it back up again, moving it slightly faster than before. ‘Something’s heading this way… Something big…’

Chapter 4

The streets of Manehattan hadn’t changed at all since Trixie’s last visit to the large city; they were still overcrowded with ponies rushing from place-to-place, pushing and shoving to get to their destinations, not even sparing a word to any to any passerbys.

If Aura hadn’t insisted on tagging along, Trixie would have been much further along in her shopping by now. But the little filly was terrified at the thought of being left alone and Trixie, for reasons beyond her, couldn’t bring herself to leave Aura all by herself after she started begging to tag along.

Trixie told Aura to stay close to her, to make sure they didn’t get lost in the crowds that they had to pass through. Every now and then, Aura would stop walking to admire the sights of the large city, something which annoyed Trixie as it meant she would have to backtrack to find the little filly again. It eventually reached the point where Trixie had started wondering if all this effort was even worth it.

At their first stop, which was the Manehattan library’s second branch, Aura had become curious about the books about magic that Trixie was looking at and began reading some of them on her own. She became so engrossed in the book she was reading that she didn’t even hear Trixie calling out to her until the third time.

“Aura,” Trixie called out once more.

Aura snapped back to reality and turned her head towards Trixie. “Y-Yes?”

“We’re leaving.”

Aura nodded, marked the page in the book that she was reading and prepared to follow Trixie. However, when Trixie didn’t move and instead just stared down at Aura, the filly began to wonder if something was wrong.

“You can’t take that book with you,” Trixie said. “It belongs to the library.”

Aura gasped and looked down at the book, her smile falling as she appeared to be disheartened by the news. “B-But…”

“No buts,” Trixie said. “Put it back where you found it.”

Aura nodded slowly and, for a moment, Trixie could see tears beginning to form in her eyes. Trixie let out a heavy sigh. “Fine then. You can borrow this one book and read it on the way to Ponyville.”

Aura’s face lit up. She immediately rushed over to Trixie and jumped up to hug the blue showmare. “Thank you, Miss Trixie!”

Trixie scratched the back of her head nervously, not sure whether to feel happy to see the changeling cheered up or not. ‘Well, Celestia only knows what’ll happen to her when I turn her in… I guess I can let her have this as a parting gift…’

After leaving the library, the two moved on to a nearby bakery. Trixie was in the mood for some cake after the tiring day she had been having so far and Manehattan cakes had a great reputation for being delicious.

“Ok, ma’am. That’ll be 12 bits,” the baker said as he handed Trixie her picked-out cake. The price was a bit high for just one cake, but Trixie wasn’t in any mood to start haggling. She just wanted to get her supplies and get moving. “Have a good day,” the baker said as Trixie left the store.

Trixie realised that Aura wasn’t following her and turned back to see her still in the store, eyeing the cakes behind the glass counter. Letting out yet another sigh that day, Trixie moved back into the store.

“Aura?” Aura didn’t respond, so Trixie tried again. “Aura.” This time, Aura turned around to face Trixie. “What are you doing?”

“Um… I kind of… wanna try that cake…” Trixie looked over at the chocolate sponge cake that Aura was pointing at. “It’s my favourite kind, and…”

Trixie saw drool starting to pour down Aura’s mouth and quickly took out her hoofkerchief to wipe it up. “Watch it. You’re drooling, y’know?” ‘Not very princess-like… Although she is a changeling. Their princesses may behave differently than ours…’

Aura blushed as she backed away from Trixie and rubbed her mouth with her hoof. “S-Sorry, Miss Trixie.”

Trixie smiled and looked up at the cake. “Well, Trixie can certainly understand… Trixie also has quite the sweet tooth, you see.” Trixie turned around to leave the store once again. “Now let’s go, and maybe, if you keep out of trouble, Trixie will share her cake with you later.”

Aura’s face it up. “Really?”

Trixie thought about it for a second and then nodded her head. “Sure. Trixie needs to watch her figure anyway…”

The two made their way out of the store and continued to walk through the streets of Manehattan. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ Trixie thought to herself. ‘She’s a changeling. Why am I being so friendly to her?’

Trixie felt a pang of guilt pass through her as her thoughts brought back memories of her past, of ponies who had judged her before getting to know her. They would assume things about Trixie and say horrible things about her, without knowing a thing about her, simply because they didn’t like her shows for whatever reason. ‘But she’s a changeling! This is different! She’s…’

“Miss Trixie?”

‘Oh Celestia, what now?’ Trixie turned around to find Aura standing nervously in the middle of the street, looking down as she shuffled her hooves on the ground. “What is it?” she asked, trying not to let her annoyance slip out in her voice.

“Um…” Aura’s face turned red and she hung her head even lower. “I need to use the restroom…”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. ‘So changelings need to use the restroom, too? You learn something new every day…’ Trixie looked around and spotted a nearby public restroom. “Ok, then go. I’ll wait out here,” she said, pointing her hoof towards the restroom.

Trixie watched as Aura ran off quickly to the restroom, apparently in too much of a hurry to notice that she had entered the stallion side. She sighed and gave a soft chuckle, and then decided to pass the time by buying some fruit at a nearby stall. ‘What’s going on here? Even though she’s a changeling… she just seems like an innocent little filly to me. Is she just going to extremes to lower my guard? Or…’

“That’ll be 5 bits, ma’am,” the stall owner said as Trixie levitated a few oranges into the air.

Trixie handed over the bits and placed the oranges into her saddlebag. Suddenly, a chill passed down her back and she quickly turned around to examine the area. She knew this feeling. It was the feeling she got when she was being followed. Trixie examined each and every single pony in the area closely, attempting to pinpoint whoever was following her.

“I’m done, Miss Trixie.” Trixie was snapped out of her thoughts by Aura’s sudden return and quickly turned around to face the little filly, who was looking up at her with a tilted head. “Is something wrong, Miss Trixie?”

Trixie stared down at the worried-looking filly and shook her head. “No, nothing,” she said, before leading Aura down the street to their next stop. “We’re almost done here, and then we’ll move on to Ponyville.”

“Ok, Miss-” Aura stopped when she felt a chill pass down her back and simply stood there in one spot, trembling in fear.

Trixie turned around and noticed the frightened look on Aura’s face and the shaking of her body. “Let’s go,” Trixie called out to Aura, snapping the filly out of her state. “Come on.”

Aura nodded slowly, before turning around to face the crowd of ponies behind her. She then turned back to Trixie and slowly walked up to her, following her once more. The two continued their walk through the streets of Manehattan, the chill down Aura’s spine getting colder with each step that she took.

Trixie could also feel their pursuer drawing closer and quickly pulled Aura into a side alley in an attempt to throw off whoever was following them. As they entered the alleyway, Trixie’s horn lit up, she turned to the little filly and she whispered, “Run.”

“And that concludes my report, sir,” Alexander’s knight, Morgan, finished with a bow.

Alexander nodded and offered his knight a glass of wine, which he accepted happily. “Thank you, Morgan. You’ve been a great help.”

“Always happy to assist, sir,” Morgan said, bringing his glass to his lips. “Speaking of which, I’ve made preparations for our ‘walk’ tonight.”

Alexander smiled at the news and brought his own glass to his lips, not to drink, but simply to cover his mouth. “Excellent. And Jeffery?”

Morgan nodded his head in confirmation. “He’s in position, sir. So far, we’ve confirmed that one being has been following you. Whether it’s changeling or pony, we don’t know.”

Alexander thought for a moment, shifting his eyes to the picture of him and Aura on his desk. Ever since her reported death, he had kept that particular photograph on display. In it, Aura was sitting on his back, her forehooves resting on his head as she smiled cheerfully into the camera.

‘It’s undeniable at this point. Odysseus is plotting something. He’s not only keeping secrets, but he’s keeping me and my sister under observation… I have to get to the bottom of this. We can’t afford to wait for Victoria to make her move.’

“Sir, shall we get going?” Morgan asked.

Alexander nodded and rose to his hooves, placing his glass down onto his desk. “Morgan, understand what we’re about to do. We’ll be investigating my brother, under suspicion of treason. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Morgan smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir. I trust you with my life and will follow you everywhere. Whatever you decide to do, I will back you up.”

Alexander thanked his knight silently and moved towards the door leading outside of the room, picking up his sword on the way. “Don’t you dare regret this later.”

“Yes, sir!”

Shark, the changeling assassin assigned to hunt down and kill Princess Aura, cursed Celestia’s sun as he made his way down the dirt road, sweat pouring from his body. He stopped for a second to drink from the nearby stream and to catch his breath, before continuing on towards the city of Manehattan.

“She’s there,” he said to himself, grinning as he neared the edge of the city. “I can smell your blood, Aura. There’s no escaping me.” Shark levitated a bloodstained rag to his nose, took a long whiff of it, and then placed it back into his bag. Shark’s unique ability was the ability to smell and track down the scent of blood up to 2 miles away, and it was the sole reason he had been given this task.

Since Aura had been bleeding through most of her journey to Equestria, Shark was able to follow her scent very easily and had finally managed to catch up to her. The hunt was on.

Shark levitated a pair of steel claws out from his bag, attached them to his forehooves and assumed his disguise before taking off into the city of Manehatten.

His disguise was simple enough. He took the form of a grey, bulky-figured earth pony stallion with a long, silver mane and tail and a pair of crimson-red eyes.

He pushed his way through the crowds of ponies clogging the streets, keeping his eyes closed so that his nose could work more efficiently. He picked up the scent of Aura’s blood and followed it through the streets. He was stopped by a group of foals who were curious as to why he had no Cutie Mark, but a brief moment of eye contact and a quick growl made them freeze in fear before fleeing. He then simply continued, pushing forward through the crowds.

He finally closed in on his target; opening his eyes, Shark grinned as he spied a white unicorn filly rushing out of a public restroom and stopping behind a blue mare wearing a purple hat and cape. ‘That’s her. No idea if that mare’s changeling or pony, but nopony’s gettin’ in the way of my freedom.’

Shark began closing in on the changeling princess and her escort, staying close so that he could kill them the moment the chance arose. ‘If I make a fuss now, the guards will be on my tail. Gotta find somewhere more quiet.’

Finally, a chance presented itself when the two ponies turned and walked into a side alley. “Gotcha now,” he said as he picked up his pace. However, when he turned into the alleyway to corner the two, he was stopped by a large brick wall that blocked the way. “Huh? The hell?”

“Why are you following us?”

Shark turned around to see the blue mare approaching him with a glare. “What’s it to ya?”

“Is it because she’s a changeling?” the unicorn asked.

Shark’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘She knows. Is she a changeling then? If she’s a pony, why would she be going out of her way to protect her? But then, Odysseus mentioned nothing about another changeling having escaped with her.’ Shark simply grinned and shrugged his shoulder. “Maybe. Like I said, what’s it to ya?”

The unicorn lowered her head and her horn started to glow. However, before she had the chance to do anything, Shark undid his disguise, revealing his true self to the unicorn. He swung his steel claws forward, cutting the unicorn’s throat with one clean swipe.

“Hm?” Shark noticed the lack of blood pouring from the unicorn’s neck and soon, she started to fade away, until eventually disappearing entirely. “I see… An illusion.” Shark turned his attention to the brick wall, which also started to fade away. “They’re moving away quite quickly. But I can smell you, Aura. You won’t get away from me.”

Trixie and Aura had rushed back to the trailer quickly, Trixie using her magic to move it down the dirt road leading away from Manehattan with haste. When they had gained some distance from the city, Trixie walked into her trailer and confronted the young changeling – still in disguise – who was sitting on the bed with her head in her forehooves.

“Alright, Trixie wants an explanation. Now,” she said in a threatening tone. Aura looked up at Trixie with tears in her eyes. “Why was that changeling trying to kill you? Trixie could have died trying to protect you, so she deserves to know.”

Aura lowered her head, staring at the bed in silence for a few moments, before undoing her disguise and revealing her true form to Trixie. Aura looked back up at Trixie and was surprised to see that her expression had not changed at all. “You… knew that I was a changeling?”

Trixie nodded her head. “That’s right.”

“You knew… and you were still trying to help me?”

“…” Trixie turned her head to the side. “Trixie was… going to sell you out to the Royal Guard…”

Aura’s gasped and looked back down. “… I see… I don’t blame you. I’m the enemy, after all.” Aura choked back a few sobs, which caught Trixie’s attention. “I’m sorry…”

Trixie wasn’t sure if the tears were fake to gain her sympathy, or genuine tears from a frightened child. Trixie leaned closer to the changeling and spoke in a quieter, softer tone of voice. “Tell Trixie what happened. Why was that changeling trying to kill you?”

Aura sniffed and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “Yeah, I guess you deserve to know the truth… I’ll tell you everything.”

Aura explained everything to Trixie about how her mother had ordered her execution, about how she was forced to flee from her country, about how her knights had died trying to protect her, and finally, about the assassin that was now after her.

“I expected them to try to track me down, but I never thought they would send him. I thought I would be ok if I could just find somewhere in Equestria to lay low for a while… I’m sorry, Miss Trixie. I never wanted to endanger you… I’m sorry…”

Trixie listened intently to Aura’s story, not once interrupting her as she spoke. Upon hearing Aura’s story in its entirety, Trixie and Aura sat in a long, long silence.

Trixie couldn’t help but turn her head away, hiding a look of guilt after hearing Aura’s story. ‘She was abandoned by everyone she ever knew and Trixie was planning on turning her over to the Royal Guard.’ Trixie bared her teeth and held back a growl. ‘There wasn’t even any evidence that she was a threat, yet Trixie was planning to sell her out for personal profit, where she would then be locked in a dungeon somewhere or banished to the badlands, all by herself.’

Trixie looked at Aura, who was sobbing into her forelegs. Something inside of Trixie wanted her to reach out and comfort the young changeling, to tell her that everything would be ok. But that part of her was conflicted with the part that wanted nothing to do with another’s personal problems, especially if that meant possibly being killed by that assassin.

A cold chill passed through Aura’s spine and her sobbing stopped immediately, replaced with fear as her body started to tremble once more. She shivered as the cold grew more intense. Aura turned to Trixie, who was deep in thought, and rose to her hooves. “Miss Trixie…” Trixie turned to face Aura and found the youngling making her way towards the trailer door. “I’m sorry… I’ll be leaving now… I don’t want to put you in unnecessary danger.”

Trixie’s eyes widened. She started to get up, but her body froze. ‘I can’t let her go out there alone! She’ll die!’ Trixie’s left forehoof reached forward and hung in the air, shaking as she reached towards the closing door. ‘B-But this has nothing to do with me. I could wind up being killed over another country’s affairs!’ Trixie slowly brought her hoof back, her eyes narrowing until they shut completely.

‘I was going to sell that changeling out… What should it matter if she goes and gets herself killed? As long as I’m safe… As long as I’m safe, it’s alright… right?’ Trixie fell down onto her bed, holding her head in her hooves as she lay there for a few minutes.

She thought back to when she first found Aura. To when Aura was sleeping in her trailer, and when Trixie fed Aura that previous night… ‘She was so weak and helpless. I only helped her because she reminded me of myself. Nopony ever helped me because they were too busy thinking of themselves, but this is different. My life would be in danger and she’s not even a pony!’ Trixie recalled Aura’s eyes every time she spoke to the youngling. ‘Fear. That’s what it was. Fear that she’d been abandoned, and would never be picked up again. Just like…’

Trixie opened her eyes slowly. “She has no one left to turn to. No one. She’s all alone. No friends, no family. Alone.

“Just like Trixie…” Trixie slowly sat up on her bed, memories of her early days of living on the streets returning to her. “Back then, I couldn’t trust anypony. I had to steal in order to survive and fight off those who would try to steal from me. The only pony Trixie could ever turn to for help was herself…” A tear rolled down Trixie’s cheek and her forehooves began to shake. “It wasn’t easy. This youngling probably wouldn’t last as long as Trixie has. I… I won’t let her suffer the same way!”

Trixie jumped off of her bed with fire in her eyes and opened her wardrobe, grabbing something from within with her magic. It was a prop from one of her plays – a wooden halberd, which probably wouldn’t be of much use in a real fight. Not without a little enchantment spell, first. Trixie also picked up a bottle from one of her kitchen cabinets, along with a few firework props on her way out of the trailer.

“Damnit, I don’t care how dangerous it is!” Trixie told herself when she felt her legs shaking as she ran, and her body telling her to stop. “Without me, she has no one to turn to!”

With that, Trixie’s determination steeled and she cast her magic to pick up Aura’s freshly-made trail of hoofprints and sweat. Once she had managed to deduce where Aura had run off to, Trixie chased after her, hoping she wouldn’t be too late.

Alexander carefully crept through the empty corridor, keeping his guard up whilst trying not to look too suspicious. He was on his way to his brother’s study, after his knights confirmed that Odysseus would be busy for the next few hours, so that he could investigate and, hopefully, find that his and his sister’s suspicions could be put to rest.

However, the fact that he was being followed by some shadowy figure was unsettling. He had assigned one of his knights, Jeffery, to distract the stalker whilst Alexander and Morgan searched Odysseus’ study.

Alexander and Morgan reached the study and walked inside after confirming that there was no one else around.

“Alright, let’s see what we can find,” Alexander said as his knight closed the door behind them.

“Yes, sir,” Morgan responded. The two divided their efforts and searched the room thoroughly. Morgan searched through Odysseus’ bookshelves, desk drawers and filing cabinets, whilst Alexander searched through the wine cabinet, the refrigerator, the snack drawer… “Sir, are you actually taking this seriously?”

“‘Course I am!” Alexander responded, before shoving a hoofful of sweets into his mouth. After swallowing, he continued his search, moving on to Odysseus’ video collection. However, on his way, something in the room caught his eye. He turned to face Odysseus’ bed and narrowed his eyes as he approached it. “Hey, Morgan, come over here.”

Morgan dropped what he was doing and moved over to Alexander’s side. “Yes, sir?”

“Does something seem off about this bed to you?”

Morgan examined the bed closely. “Sorry, sir, I don’t see anything strange.”

“Exactly,” Alexander said. “Odysseus is very dedicated to his work. And when he pulls an all-nighter, he sleeps at his desk… So why is there a bed in his study?”

Morgan thought about it and realised that that was odd. But what was even odder was that he hadn’t even considered it at first. “Anyone who knows Prince Odysseus even a little bit knows that he doesn’t care about where he sleep, so it’s odd for this bed to be here. Why didn’t I-”

“The only logical answer is magic.” Alexander looked around and spotted a vase that, for some reason, stood out to him. “Let’s see…” Alexander placed a hoof on the vase and started to examine it through both sight and touch. He felt a small part on the side sticking out and found that he could push it in. Immediately after doing so, the bed started to move aside, revealing a trapdoor hidden underneath it that began to open.

“Well, I’d say if Prince Odysseus is hiding any secrets, they’d be down there,” Morgan said. Alexander nodded his agreement and the two prepared their weapons as they descended down the stairs.

Alexander and Morgan were in disbelief at what they saw. In the secret room beneath Odysseus’ study, there were machines at work printing out campaign posters for the ‘changeling kingdom’s new ruler’, as well as other machines producing strange items that Alexander had never seen before. Some machines were labelled ‘weapons’, whilst others were labelled ‘defences’.

Morgan found a filing cabinet filled with many documents and gasped at what he saw. “T-These show evidence of Odysseus making deals with various mafia groups throughout the kingdom, as well as groups opposed to each other member of the royal family, and even dealing with enemy nations!”

Morgan was in absolute shock as he read over the documents. “What’s going on? Just what the hell has Prince Odysseus been up to?”

“It looks like he’s preparing for a war… Or maybe even multiple wars…”

“Speaking of which, we’re about to go to war with Equestria…” Morgan placed down the document he was reading and turned to Alexander. “Sir, do you think…”

Alexander slammed his hooves on a nearby table as he leaned over it and examined document lying on top. “… Morgan… come look at this…”

Morgan quickly made his way to his prince’s side and lifted up the document that had Alexander so worked up. “WHAT?!” he shouted as he read over it. The document was an order from Queen Chrysalis. An order to execute Princess Aura and her knight, Knight Wind.

“Odysseus…” Alexander grinded his teeth together, his whole body shaking. “I had suspected some foul play on his end whilst trying to succeed the throne, but… nothing of this level… This is-”

“Treason,” a voice behind them finished off. Alexander and Morgan quickly turned around, swords at the ready, as they saw Prince Odysseus making his way down the stairs. “Indeed, brother. It would seem your sixth sense has led you to something that you were never meant to see.”

“Odysseus… you killed our sister?” Alexander asked, narrowing his eyes and getting into an offensive stance.

“Tried to,” Odysseus replied. “She got away. Though, if Shark has done his job correctly, she’s probably dead by now.”

“Shark?! What are you saying?!”

“Ah, I needed someone who could track her down from such a long distance. That’s Shark’s speciality, so I decided to use him for just that. It’s the only reason he was kept alive, after all.” Odysseus pulled out his own sword, slightly shorter than the ones wielded by Alexander and Morgan, and sighed as he faced the two in front of him. “It’s a shame. But now, I’ve got to kill another beloved sibling. Please don’t hold it against me, dear brother.”

“What the hell is going on here?!” Morgan demanded, stomping a hoof on the ground. “What are you planning?! Are you working with an enemy nation?!”

“Of course not,” Odysseus replied. “You must understand, it’s for the sake of guiding our kingdom into a glorious new age. Mother’s rule is good, but democracy is too slow… Too inefficient…”

Alexander gave a confused look, but didn’t lower his guard one bit. “Explain.”

Odysseus nodded and continued. “It’s fairly simple, really. If the Changeling Kingdom falls to nothing, and is left to rot for a few months, eventually, our subjects will become quite miserable and desperate, don’t you think?”

“I’d imagine so,” Alexander responded. “But I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“In other words,” Odysseus continued, “If mother is defeated on the battlefield and the Changeling Kingdom suddenly falls into a dark age of organised crime and threats of war from all sides, ascending the throne from there is simple child’s play. Even easier if I avenge my mother by killing the ones who defeated her.”

Morgan’s eyes widened in shock as the realisation hit him. “I see… So that’s what those documents were. You’ve been stirring up crime syndicates and enemy nations, and then, when our kingdom is thrown into a state of complete chaos, you’re going to arise as our ‘hero’ and take the throne with the promise to ‘save our nation’, right?”

“… But, it won’t be as simple as that,” Alexander said. “You won’t just become our king, you’ll become our sole ruler. In other words, your goal is a dictatorship over our entire kingdom.” Alexander glared daggers at his brother. “Are you insane, Odysseus? Do you not remember how things went for our great-grandfather, who also sought a dictatorship?”

“The fool simply went about it the wrong way,” Odysseus replied. “When your subjects are content with the way things are, they’d never support the idea of one leader being in charge of their entire lives. However, when desperate… when pushed to the point where they’d rather be in hell, the population don’t care who it is. They just want a messiah, who will rise forth and make all of the bad things go away.

“Yes, it will lead to much death, and much suffering. I will even have to destroy the current kingdom that we have right now. But with the destruction of the old world, a new one will be created in its place.”

Alexander narrowed his eyes and took one step forward. “What’s with that? You got some sort of god complex?”

Odysseus laughed his brother’s question off. “It’s such a shame, brother… that you won’t get to live to see the day when I attain that level.”

“What level?”

A wide grin crossed Odysseus’ face and, for a moment, Morgan felt his body fall limp. “God.”

Alexander snapped and charged at his brother, swinging his sword down with heavy force. Odysseus blocked his brother’s attack and attempted to kick him away, but Alexander jumped back to avoid being hit. “You… How the hell have you kept your insanity hidden from us for so long?!”

Odysseus sighed and moved towards a nearby cabinet. “‘Insanity’? No, that’s not it brother… I prefer to think of it as being more evolved than the rest of you.” Odysseus opened the cabinet and reached inside to pull something out. “After all, it’s those who have superior traits that lead the race forward into the new world… Well, it would be wrong to say my evolution is complete just yet. But soon enough, I will achieve that level. I will become like a god, and I will lead this kingdom, nay, this whole world, into a new age. A golden age. Where peace and prosperity reign supreme.

“If I have to destroy a few thousand changelings to make it happen, maybe even wipe out an entire race or two, then so be it. The price for peace can never be too steep.”

Morgan felt his own rage come to a boil, but he managed to hold himself back. “…Well, it seems even gods can make mistakes.” Odysseus took his head out from the cabinet and turned to Morgan with a quizzical look on his face. “You left Princess Victoria on her own. Even if we fall, she will-”

“Oh, that,” Odysseus interrupted before laughing. “Don’t worry about that. I had my knight watch over her. You know, the one that’s been following you this whole time.”

It took a while for the full meaning behind those words to hit Alexander, but when they did, his rage started rising again. “You… What the hell did you do to Jeffery?” A grin from Odysseus answered Alexander’s question for him. “YOU BASTARD!”

Before Alexander could charge forward again, Odysseus threw the object he had retrieved from the cabinet towards Alexander and Morgan. It was a small spherical object, which exploded into a cloud of green smoke. Odysseus had also retrieved a gasmask from the cabinet, which he quickly placed onto his face, whilst Alexander and Morgan placed their forelegs to their mouth, trying not to breath in whatever had just been thrown at them.

“This is the end, dear Brother.”

Chapter 5

Odysseus examined the scene before him closely. A dead changeling, Morgan, lay on the floor, blood pouring out of a wound caused by Odysseus’ sword. Around him lay many documents, most of which were stained by blood.

“My lord!” a voice called out from behind. Odysseus turned to face the soldier addressing him. “Forgive me, my lord! He got away!”

Odysseus brought a hoof to his forehead and closed his eyes tight. “Alexander… you truly are a beast among changelings…”

Odysseus still couldn’t believe what had happened.

“Odysseus! What the hell is this?!” Alexander shouted out through his choking.

“Relax, dear brother. It’s not poisonous. Those kinds of gasses are far too dangerous to leave just lying around.” Odysseus flapped his wings to disperse the gas and laid his eyes on his brother. “I’ll kill you myself,” he said, “And then I can blame your death on Equestria, too. What better motive for war than revenge?”

Alexander, much to Odysseus’ surprise, charged towards his brother, swinging his sword upwards and then bringing it back down. Odysseus tried to block the attack with his own sword, but was knocked aside by the force of his older brother’s attack. Alexander dashed out of the room as quickly as his hoofs would allow him, Odysseus attempting to give chase but being preventing by something pulling at his back leg.

“What?!” Odysseus exclaimed upon turning around to see Morgan latching onto his leg as he lay on his stomach and gasped for air.

“I still can’t believe it,” Odysseus grumbled, pulling his sword out of Morgan’s and proceeding to wipe it clean with a hoofkerchief. “That nerve gas would have rendered even mother immobile… yet Alexander was not only able to overpower me, but also able to escape?”

“He was injured as he tried to escape, my lord,” Odysseus’ soldier reported. “We had him cornered, but he then fell into the Styx River. With that fast current, it was impossible to chase him, but chances are that he’s dead by now.”

Odysseus put a hoof to his chin and then looked back over at the documents scattered across the floor. He pondered the situation for some time. ‘It doesn’t seem as though he managed to get away with any evidence… and it’s unlikely that he still lives…’

“But if he is still alive,” Cutthroat interrupted as he walked into the room and greeted his prince with a bow, “It could be trouble. After all, that river links to Equestria and, as you’ve just witnessed, Prince Alexander is a lot stronger than we ever thought.”

Odysseus considered Cutthroat’s reasoning for a moment and then nodded his head in agreement. Cutthroat was one of Odysseus’ top – and most trusted – soldiers. His insight often proved helpful, and would often help Odysseus reach a decision whenever he was uncertain. “Aura is one thing, but Alexander is…” Odysseus’ eyes lit up as an idea presented itself to him. He let out a small laugh and turned to his soldier. “Cutthroat,” he addressed, “Could I ask you to keep an eye on Victoria in my stead?”

Cutthroat raised an eyebrow at his prince’s request. “My lord,” he began, “With respect, without you, keeping Princess Victoria in check might be… impossible.”

“Not to worry. Victoria is easier to control than you’d think.” Seeing the quizzical looks on his soldiers’ faces, Odysseus decided to explain. “Victoria dotes on her two sisters, Elizabeth and Aura. With Aura gone…”

“I see!” Cutthroat shouted as he jumped to attention. “If Elizabeth is in danger, Victoria won’t be able to lift a hoof!”

“Exactly,” Odysseus said with a nod.

“But my lord,” one of the other soldiers said, “Our troops are spread thing preparing for the war and the coup. We can’t-”

“Of course, we can’t actually afford to assign any soldiers to Elizabeth,” Odysseus admitted, “But for Victoria, a simple bluff should suffice. She wouldn’t gamble on her sister’s life, and Elizabeth by herself is nothing to be concerned about. Without Victoria, she’s like a sword with no master.”

Cutthroat nodded. “So, what will you be doing, my lord?”

“I’m moving the plan up a bit,” Odysseus said as he sheathed his sword and began moving out of the small room, his two soldiers following after him. “I’m going to Equestria to set the stage. I’ll take a small tracking party with me to seek out Alexander and, if he’s still alive, to kill him.”

Aura stood atop a hill, looking towards the towering metropolis of Manehatten in the distance. She could see many ponies entering and exiting the grand city, all of which looked like ants from how high up she was. Luckily, there were none around to see her in her natural state.

She shifted her gaze to an open field below her, where two young fillies were playing with an older mare, presumably their sister or mother. The scene reminded her of when she once played in the Royal Gardens with her mother. The day was so much fun, even if it was cut short by an emergency summons for the queen.

“Don’t worry, my daughter. I have to go for now, but you will always be number one to me.”

“Mother…” Aura whispered into the wind, “Were your words back then just lies? Or did something change? You were so kind once… How could you cast me aside, as though our years together meant nothing? Why-”

“The queen? Kind?” a voice from behind said with a bitter laugh. Aura didn’t react to it. She had already felt Shark approaching her from behind, so his voice didn’t surprise her at all. “That’s a load. It was thanks to your mother that I was locked in that hellish prison for so long.”

Aura slowly turned around, staring into Shark’s eyes with fear barely concealed by a veil of courage. Her entire body was shaking. “Shark Raptos, from the Changeling Assassin Squad. You held the rank of captain and were well on your way to attaining the rank of general, but you continually threw your chances away by acting violent towards your superiors. One day, you got bored of only being allowed to kill assigned targets, and you went on a murderous rampage to satisfy your insatiable bloodlust.” Aura gulped and narrowed her eyes. The changeling before her only stared back with a menacing grin as she continued.

“After finally being subdued, you were locked away in the dungeons as a Class A criminal,” Aura recited. “You brought that upon yourself,” she told the laughing assassin. “My mother was only doing her job to protect her subjects.”

Shark’s laughter echoed through the air and continued for a few seconds before slowly dying down into silence. “Oh, is that the story you were told? Man, your mum must really take you for such an idiot or something!”

Aura’s shaking stopped. She glared daggers at Shark and said, in a sharp tone, “Just what is that supposed to mean?” As Shark took a step closer, Aura gasped and her horn lit up.

“C’mon! Isn’t there an obvious contradiction in that story?” After no response, Shark explained. “When a captain class soldier or higher goes on a murderous rampage, what’s the penalty for such a crime?”

Aura thought for a second and then answered, “Execution.” After a couple of seconds, Aura gasped as it hit her. “Immediate execution,” she said, sweat dripping down her body as she considered what this could mean. “But then… why are you still alive?”

“Because I’ve committed no crimes warranting execution,” Shark answered matter-of-factly. “In fact, I’ve committed no crimes period. Well, none warranting more than a night in the slammer, at least.” He took another step towards the princess, who backed up gradually until her back hooves were against the edge of the cliff behind her. “You wanna know why I was really locked up?” he asked her.

Aura didn’t answer. She was too focussed on trying to stop her legs from shaking as Shark approached her. ‘Mother… locked up somebody who was innocent, and then lied to me about it?’

“I’ll tell you,” Shark said, tired of waiting for a response from the youngling. “I was locked up so that I could become a weapon that your mother could control.”

Aura’s eyes widened and she gasped. “That’s not true,” she whispered in a cold breath. Her weak response only ignited Shark’s laughter once more.

“That’s right! Your mother, the so-called ‘kind-hearted Queen of the Changelings’, locked away an innocent changeling… simply because she was afraid of him!”

“That’s a lie! My mother would never do something so horrible, and what reason would she have had to fear you to begin with?!”

“Well, as you said, I could have become a general if I had only behaved myself just once. Or rather, the real reason I was never promoted was because they were afraid to give me that kind of authority. So they made up some bull stories ‘bout how I have a short fuse. Didn’t bother me, just as long as I got to kill.

“But then, they saw that just keeping me as a captain wasn’t enough. Y’see, I’m not like other assassins. I don’t consider killing a job, or a necessity, or even a pastime.” A toothy grin appeared on Shark’s face that stopped Aura cold in her tracks, gripping her with some invisible force all around her body. “Killing is what makes me me! If I were a pony, my cutie mark would be a dead pony!

“That’s why I became an assassin! The thrill of battle, the excitement of knowing you’re putting your life on the line with each new mission, and that amazing feeling you get when you end a life… The exhilaration, the mad rush… It’s wonderful. To me, killing is a sport, and I’m the defending champion!”

“So… you were locked away because-”

“You’re really insistent on casting your mother in a good light, aren’t ya?” Shark asked, his expression shifting from excited to annoyed in an instant. “No, I’m not insane. I just like killing, that’s all. But, unfortunately, your mother and her four children… that is, the four who were born before you, were afraid of my power.

“They feared that one day, I would turn against them. At the time, the rebellious group RE was still active, and my loyalty was being called into question. Afraid of the possibility that I would be enlisted by the enemy to assassinate the royal family, they locked me away in that dungeon, sealing my powers away. They kept me alive in case a time ever arose where my power could be of use.”

“Which would be now?” Aura asked, running Shark’s story through her head. If she had heard it one week ago, she wouldn’t have believed it. But now, she wasn’t sure what to believe. Only one thought was running through her mind though, which was: ‘If I die here, no one else will have to be put in harm’s way.’ Soon, all of the pain she was enduring would be washed away.

“I guess so,” Shark replied, raising a forehoof. A steel claw was attached to it, glinting as it reflected the light of the moon. He took one step forward, but then stopped. He felt something behind him – it was an incoming attack. He spun around and slashed his claws at the incoming projectile swiftly. His claw collided with a glass bottle, causing it to shatter and pour the liquid contents all over his body. “The hell?” Shark took a whiff of the liquid that he was covered in. “This is…”

“Vodka,” Trixie finished as she made her way slowly towards the two changelings. She stopped once she was close enough that she didn’t have to raise her voice for them to hear her, but not so close that she was in danger. “Aura, come here. Now!”

Aura looked at Trixie in confusion, but Shark spoke up first. “Hey now, if ya get in the way, I’ll have ta kill you, too!”

Trixie smirked at the changeling’s threat and summoned her magic. Two sets of fireworks, one on either side of herself, ignited and sparked for a good few seconds. Shark and Aura watched the display, though Shark was visibly bored whilst Aura was both confused and enchanted.

“Try it, and you’ll burn,” Trixie said as soon as the fireworks died down. “Just so you know, those weren’t illusions, and Trixie can easily set them off where you are right now… whilst you’re covered in that vodka that is eighty percent proof.”

Shark grinned at the showmare, seemingly unafraid of her threat. “Yeah, I’m sure ya can… but ya won’t.” He raised a forehoof and pointed it straight at Trixie. “Maybe if I wasn’t covered in alcohol. But I can see it in yer eyes… you’re no murderer. You don’t have what it takes.”

Trixie narrowed her eyes at the confident changeling. “Try me,” she said, before lighting her horn up. Before Shark could react, fireworks shot up around his body, taking him by surprise momentarily.

“I told ya, they aren’t real,” he said, though this time a bead of sweat dripped down his head as he told her that.

“It’s part of a showmare’s job to hide the truth in a shroud of lies, and to always wear the perfect poker face.” Trixie flicked her mane and brought out a file, running it against her hoof as she said, “Trixie assures you: she can take life without a second thought.”

Shark thought about her words for just a moment, before shaking them off and focusing on the fireworks display in front of him. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation on his flank and, as he turned to examine it, noticed that he had caught fire. Slowly, the fire spread to his wings, and then to more parts of his body. It didn’t take long until he was entirely engulfed in flames. Shark let out a loud, ear-piercing scream that echoed through the night and dropped suddenly to the floor, rolling around in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames.

Aura watched the scene in horror, trying her hardest to keep what little food she had in her stomach to stay there. “Aura, come here, now!” Trixie shouted once more, snapping Aura to attention. “Hurry!” she added with a stern look on her face.

Aura quickly rose to her hooves and hurried over to Trixie, taking care to avoid the flames in front of her. “Y-You killed him!” she shouted as she reached Trixie’s position.

“It was a trick,” Trixie said quietly. “Trixie assured him that she could do it, so he believed her. Illusions will feel real the moment your mind loses to that of the illusionist.”

“But why?” Aura asked. “Why are you trying to save me?”

“Because Trixie wants to!” Trixie shouted, using her magic to dispel the flames surrounding Shark. When they were gone, Aura noticed that Shark was completely unburned, yet was still lying on the floor whilst shivering and twitching his legs. “Trixie didn’t waste her food and medical supplies on you so that you could just die. Now let’s go, before he recovers.”

Aura turned to Trixie, who had turned around and started to walk away. Aura herself remained still, keeping her eyes fixed on Trixie as she tried to figure out what she should do. Trixie noticed that Aura wasn’t following and stopped to turn to the youngling. “What? Are you afraid Trixie will hand you over to the Royal Guard? Don’t worry… Trixie has no intention of doing that anymore.”

“But I’m a changeling, and you’re a pony… Even if I can trust your words, why would you go so far to help me, knowing that it’ll put your life at risk?”

“… Trixie does not need to give a reason for her actions. She will save who she wants to save, and fight who she wants to fight.”

Aura’s eyes widened and her stomach began to churn. Suddenly, it felt as though the entire world was spinning around her. She whispered, “Knight…” A single teardrop rolled down her face.

“Knight! Are you ok?! What happened?!”

“An accident, that’s all. There’s no need to concern yourself over me, Princess. Now, go back to your dinner, before it gets cold.”

Aura nodded slowly before making her way back to the dining table, or at least pretending to. She hid around the corner so that she could listen to her two knights.

“Knight, why did you help me? I’m a changeling. You’re a pony. We’re supposed to be mortal enemies, and yet… you risked your life to save mine. Why?”

“… Iris, I helped you because I wanted to. That’s all. I don’t need to give a reason to save who I want to save… and frankly, I’ve yet to see any reason why we should be enemies. After all, we both have the same goal of protecting the princess, right?”

Aura gulped and wiped the tears from her eyes, before staring up into Trixie’s eyes with a strong gaze. “It won’t end with Shark, you know? They’ll keep coming after me… They’ll keep sending more assassins to kill me, until I’m confirmed dead…”

“… Trixie knows this,” Trixie replied in a calm and collected voice. “But that is a risk that the Great and Powerful Trixie is willing to take. And she is not going to let you say no, Aura. Because Trixie… Because Trixie knows what it is like to be alone. To have nopony but yourself to rely on.”

“How touching,” a voice called out from behind Aura. Trixie and Aura quickly turned towards the source of the voice to find Shark approaching them, his grin back as he laughed over their stunned expressions. “Damnit, I thought I’d gotten better at dealing with illusions… Well, I won’t fall for it again, I can assure you.”

Trixie used her magic to levitate Aura behind herself, and the two slowly started to back away, keeping their eyes on Shark and watching his every movement closely. “Aura,” Trixie whispered to the youngling. “When Trixie gives the signal, run past Shark and jump off the cliff’s edge.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine… as will I,” Trixie said. ‘Well, that’s half-true, at least. I’ve made arrangements for Aura, but I never expected him to recover his quickly’. “Trust the Great and Powerful Trixie. It will all work out.”

“You done saying your farewells to each other?” Shark asked as he closed the distance between himself and Trixie. However, instead of lunging forward and striking, he stopped in his tracks, surprising the two targets. ‘That smell… What’s he doing here?’

Shark narrowed his eyes as he continued staring into the direction of Trixie, but he wasn’t staring at her; he was staring into the trees behind her. After a few seconds of silence, something caught his eyes. A projectile was fired towards him, aimed in-between his eyes, but he was just about able to dodge it before it could hit him.

Trixie and Aura quickly spun around and watched the trees cautiously, until a voice came out from behind them. “Huh? Strange. Am I losing my edge or something?”

A black creature with large blue eyes emerged from behind the trees, hovering a crossbow in the air with a green magical aura. It was another changeling, and one that Aura recognised immediately. “Razor?!” Aura shouted in both surprise and fear, before running around Trixie and taking cover behind the blue unicorn.

“Shark, how did you know I was there? I have to say, it’s quite unsettling to think I’m losing my stealthiness.”

“… I could smell you, Razor,” Shark said, scowling at the new changeling on the scene. “What the hell d’you think you’re doing? I thought we had a deal!”

Razor examined his body for a second and noticed a small cut on one of his forelegs. “Oh my. I must have cut myself on a rock or a tree or something back there. Still, to think you could detect me from just that small amount of blood… Very impressive. And it’s for that exact reason that we’re going to kill you, before you can use that ability against us.”

Shark’s brow furrowed and he stomped a hoof forward as he roared, “WHAT?! What about our deal?! I kill the princess, I get my freedom!”

“Yes, about that… you’re simply too dangerous to be allowed to live,” Razor said, grinning with delight as he levitated a new bolt from his holster and loaded it into the crossbow. “Besides, you know how it works, Shark. Leave no witnesses… No loose ends… Which, of course, includes you, unicorn,” Razor finished as he turned to face Trixie, who winced upon meeting his gaze.

“You were planning on killing me from the start?” Shark asked, though he didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “Damnit! That’s just like that bitch of a queen! I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming!”

Razor laughed maniacally. “Yes, you should take that anger with you to the afterlife,” he said. ‘Then when you meet the queen there, you can put on a good show for Aura and Alexander. Too bad I won’t be able to see it…’

Shark remained still as he kept his eyes fixed on Razor, or rather, on Razor’s crossbow. “Hey,” he said quietly to Trixie, “You’re an illusionist, right?”

“What of it?” she asked, not taking her eyes off of Razor, her entire body shaking more than when she confronted Shark moments earlier. This was a development that she really wasn’t expecting.

“His eyes are more sensitive to light than most changelings,” Shark told her. “You got any flash bang spells or anything?”

“That’s not illusionary magic,” Trixie corrected. “But Trixie does know a ‘Burst of Light’ spell. The trouble is that it’s not strong enough to blind somepony… Not unless Trixie has enough time to conjure up a few of them and release them together.”

“That’s fine. I’ll distract him for a few minutes. You charge that spell, and then use it to blind him for a bit, and in return, I’ll help you get away from here alive.”

“And why should Trixie trust you?”

“You heard him. He’ll target me regardless of what I do.” Razor sighed as he felt her sceptical gaze falling upon him. “Look, you don’t have any reason to trust me, but at the same time, you won’t last a minute against him. Pick your poison, unicorn.”

“Well then, Shark,” Razor started, “Do go on ahead and reserve a spot for me in Tartarus, won’t you?” Razor fired the bolt from his crossbow, this one aimed at Shark’s neck.

Shark jumped into the air to dodge the projectile and charged forward towards Razor upon landing, attempting to strike him whilst his crossbow was empty. However, when he saw Razor throw his crossbow aside and pull out a bolt with his magic, Shark quickly halted and jumped back a few steps, assuming a defensive stance. ‘The bolts have poison tips! One hit and I’m dead!’

“I’ll deal with you later, Shark,” Razor said, turning towards Trixie, whose horn was glowing as she gathered magic into it. “But first, the unicorn, whose power is unknown to me, is more of a threat, so I’ll kill her first.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Shark shouted as he got between Razor and Trixie as quickly as he could. “If you want her, you’ll have to get through me first!”

Razor laughed as he levitated a few more bolts out of his bag. “Well, that confirms it then. She’s your trump card, right?” Shark grunted and lowered his head, taking up a charging position. “Which means…” ‘Shark was never good at protecting others. He prefers to just fight without the extra baggage. Which means that, if I simply target both him and this unicorn, then I’ll win.’

Razor threw the many bolts into the air and then used his magic to send them flying towards both Trixie and Shark from various directions. Shark used his magic to stop the bolts flying his way, but when he turned around to face Trixie, he saw that he wouldn’t make it in time to save her.

Trixie proved to be in good shape, though, as she used was able to nimbly dodge all of the bolts that were fired towards her. “Oh please! I dodge flaming daggers all the time!” Trixie shouted with a proud look on her face. A scream drew her attention towards Aura, who was on the ground with a bolt protruding from her foreleg, which was slowly turning green.

“I have you now,” Razor said as he fired a second volley of bolts towards his two targets.

Shark was once again able to deflect the bolts heading his way with ease, but this time, Trixie was too distracted and too flustered to deflect her own. “Damnit!”

Trixie felt her heart stop as the bolts drew near. She took a step back but tripped onto her backside, leaving herself completely open and vulnerable.

Razor grinned as he levitated out a few more bolts, ready to attack Shark once more. However, he froze when he felt a powerful surge of energy nearby. “What? Who’s that?” he asked as he looked towards the source. His eyes widened as he saw Aura, her eyes glowing green as magical energy leaked out from them. She was floating in the air, her forelegs stretched out as magic shot out of her horn, piercing the sky above her. ‘She’s awakening at a time like this? Damnit… Although, this might be interesting to watch…’

“We still have a chance,” Shark muttered under his breath as he saw Aura’s body levitating in the air, magical tendrils shooting out of her horn and stopping the bolts aimed at Trixie dead in their tracks by disintegrating them. ‘Yeah, that’s about right for changeling royalty,’ Shark thought to himself with a grin as he admired the princess’ impressive display of magical prowess. Wasting no time, Shark turned around and started charging towards Razor.

Razor noticed Shark approaching however and quickly responded by throwing his bolts towards the incoming changeling. Shark dodged the bolts by jumping out of their way, but Razor quickly levitated out more bolts, making it impossible for Shark to close the distance.

Not that it mattered to Shark, since he was now close enough to reach what he wanted. He used his magic to grab the crossbow that was discarded earlier and quickly loaded one of the bolts that was lying on the ground nearby into it. Razor’s eyes widened as Shark pointed the crossbow his way, but he quickly calmed down when he noticed Shark’s flimsy control over the contraption.

“That’s right,” Razor started with a sigh of relief. “Ranged weapons aren’t your forté.”

Shark smirked as he fired the bolt, which was easily dodged by Razor. “No, but I’ve bought enough time, at least.” Shark covered his eyes with his left foreleg, just in time to shield them from a sudden burst of light that surrounded the area. He could hear a scream, and a second later, Shark opened his eyes to see Razor retreating, using his magic to guide his way through the trees whilst covering his eyes with a foreleg.

Trixie turned to Aura, who was still floating the air, and used a gentle application of magic to try to calm her down. “With ponies, foals often undergo bursts of magic, either when they build up an excess of it without releasing it, or when they become emotionally unstable.” Trixie slowly brought Aura down with her magic. “I’m assuming that this is something similar, correct?”

“More or less,” Shark replied. “She’s royalty, though. Her bloodline means that she has higher powers than even some adults when she becomes unstable.”

Trixie nodded. “There’s a spell that we use for moments like these. It was used on me once, too. I should be able to copy it…”

“Copy a spell that was used on you when you were a foal?”

Trixie grinned. The light covering Aura began to die down and the little youngling landed softly onto the ground. “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

Aura stirred. Her eyes opened and she looked up at Trixie. After seeing Shark standing behind her, she gasped and rose to her hooves quickly. “W-What-”

“Calm down,” Trixie instructed, checking Aura’s leg, only to find that the wound had closed up, and that the green from earlier was gone. “But how? That’s-” Trixie shook her head quickly. “Never mind, we have to get out of here!”

Trixie led Aura by hoof towards the cliff’s edge and then levitated the youngling onto her back. “Hold on tight,” she said. Aura simply nodded. Trixie jumped over the edge of the cliff, causing Aura to scream loudly as they fell down quickly towards the ground. Trixie used her magic to unsheathe the halberd strapped to her side and struck it into the side of the cliff, stopping her descent suddenly and hanging onto the prop with one hoof. “It may be useless for battle, but it’s still a tool, and every tool has a purpose!”

Just as Trixie had planned, she had landed near the exit of a cave system, and quickly used her magic to levitate Aura up onto the ledge. Once Aura was safe, Trixie reached over, trying to grab the ledge with her free hoof. She may have miscalculated, since she was unable to reach over to the ledge. To make matters worse, the halberd she was holding onto was starting to fall out of place.

“Miss Trixie, grab my hoof, quick!” Aura shouted, extending her hoof towards Trixie. Trixie was just about able to reach it and was quite surprised by Aura’s strength, since the youngling was able to pull Trixie up onto the ledge with only minor difficulty. Although Trixie noticed soon afterwards that the youngling was using both hooves, her wings for support, and her magic.

Suddenly, Trixie felt envious of changelings, but that thought was quickly pushed aside as she made her way inside the cave, Aura staying close to the showmare as she led the way.

After navigating their way through the cavernous system and making their way cautiously through the forest outside, Trixie and Aura eventually reached the showmare’s trailer. The two felt uneasy as the neared it, though.

Trixie told Aura to stay close to her and slowly opened the door. As expected, there was no one inside. How could there be, when she had locked it with her magic? Still, she couldn’t shake the uneasiness that she was feeling. She could tell from Aura’s shivering body that the youngling was feeling the same way.

“‘Bout time you two got here,” a voice called out to them. The two immediately turned around to see a changeling enter the trailer. From the steel claws attached to its hooves, Trixie could tell that it was Shark. “You morons just had ta take the long way, didn’t ya?”

Aura quickly retreated to the back of the trailer, whilst Trixie stood between the two changelings, staring Shark down with a deathly glare. “Get out. Now.”

“Hey now, is that really ok?” Shark asked, letting out a quiet laugh. “After all, now that Razor’s seen your face, there’s no doubt he’s gonna come after ya, and you won’t get lucky a second time with him… and to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I can defeat him on my own, either.”

“What’s your point?”

“Man, you’re dumb,” Shark said bluntly, aggravating Trixie even more. “Basically, I’m suggesting we stick together. You watch my back, I watch yours. That simple enough for ya?”

Trixie didn’t lower her guard for even a single second, and gathered some magical energy into her horn. “And how does Trixie know you won’t stab her in the back?”

“Oh come on, think about it. If I kill you, I’ll still be killed by Chrysalis’ assassin. And to kill said assassin…” Shark turned his head to hide his embarrassment as he spat out the rest of his sentence. “… I need your help.”

“Trixie’s not interested,” Trixie said sternly as her horn continued to glow. “Go away.”

“Wait, Miss Trixie,” Aura called out from behind Trixie. Trixie didn’t take her eyes off of Shark, but saw Aura walk up next to her from the corner of her eye. “Shark knows the enemy better than either of us. I think it would be wise to accept his offer.”

“But-”

“Maybe we should continue this conversation on the road,” Shark suggested, opening the door slightly to look outside. “Razor’s probably gone back to looking for us again. We need ta keep moving if we don’t wanna wind up dead.”

Trixie looked at Aura, who was staring right back at Trixie, her eyes filled with a fire that wasn’t present mere minutes ago despite still trembling in the same fear that seemed to dominate them. She then looked back at Shark, who had taken a seat on Trixie’s bed, apparently determined to stick with them for the time being. Trixie let out a loud groan and then made her way towards the door of her trailer. “Fine! You can stay for now! But, Trixie wants a proper talk with you later, to determine whether or not she can really trust you!”

“Fair enough,” Shark said, falling onto his back and placing his forehooves under his head as a makeshift pillow. “But for now, sleep.”

Aura turned to Shark, still wanting to continue her conversation with him. However, when the sounds of snoring started to escape from his mouth, Aura sighed and climbed onto the other side of the bed, curling up into a small black ball. “Fine, we’ll talk tomorrow…”

Shining Armor opened the doors to the throne room with his magic and led his captive forward, stopping a short distance away from the throne where Princess Luna was seated, looking down at the captain. Shining Armor saluted his princess before moving aside to reveal a changeling tagging along behind him. The changeling’s forehooves and hind hooves had been shackled, his wings had been covered by a saddle that locked onto his by a chain, and a ring had been placed over his horn.

“Report, Captain,” Luna ordered.

Shining Armor nodded and turned to face the changeling. “This changeling was caught sneaking into Canterlot-”

“Entering casually,” the changeling corrected.

“… Entering Canterlot earlier today. He requested an audience with Princess Celestia, claiming to be here to negotiate peace with Equestria.” Shining Armor turned back to the princess. “As a safety precaution, we bound his wings, magic, and hooves before bringing him here.”

Luna nodded and then turned to face the changeling. “Speak, Changeling. What is thy name?”

The changeling smiled kindly at the princess and bowed respectfully, or as best as he could mange whilst in his shackles. “My name is Prince Odysseus, Your Majesty. I am the fourth offspring and second Prince of Her Royal Highness, Queen Chrysalis.” Odysseus rose up again, his smile still plastered on his face. “It is an honour, Princess Luna.”

Chapter 6

Trixie let out a frustrated sigh as she splashed water from the stream into her face. It was enough to cool her down for a moment before her frustration rose again and she let out another sigh. Looking down the road ahead of her, Trixie could see that Ponyville was within sight and that they would reach it before noon.

Trixie thought about the drastic changes her life had taken in just one day. She had found out that she was harbouring a changeling, had decided to protect said changeling from two assassins, had almost lost her life to those same assassins and was also harbouring one of those assassins inside her trailer.

After drying her face with a towel, Trixie approached her trailer and entered it, looking around to see if the freeloaders had woken up yet. Shark was up and helping himself to some of Trixie’s food, but Aura was still fast asleep… and breathing rather heavily. This concerned Trixie for a moment, but she remembered that Aura had already had plenty of nightmares in just the short amount of time that she had known the youngling. ‘Can’t really blame her, after what she’s been through.’

“Trixie,” Shark started, “Before we enter this town, we need to talk about our situation.”

Trixie glanced at Shark, before turning her attention to his breakfast. It figures he would take all of her favourite foods just a day after she had bought them. Trixie sighed again. This was becoming a habit, she realised. “Trixie believes she suggested that we talk last night?”

“I was tired,” Shark said. Trixie groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Anyway, it’s about Razor Tooth, the guy chasing us. I don’t think we’ve given him the slip.” Trixie stopped preparing her own breakfast for a moment, before continuing as she listened. “Just in case, I don’t think we should stick around for too long in this town. We need to keep moving, at least until we’ve recovered.”

“No,” Aura said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, “We can’t do that… We need to capture him, before he has a chance to regroup with my mother.”

Trixie and Shark exchanged surprised looks before turning to Aura in unison. “What do you mean, ‘capture him’?” Trixie asked.

Aura let out a loud yawn before answering. “I… made up my… my mind, yesterday…” Aura’s voice was weak and dreary, but she continued nonetheless. “I… I don’t wanna…”

“Are you ok?” Trixie asked, immediately stopping what she was doing and walking over to Aura. Aura nodded slowly, before falling onto her back. “AURA!”

“Relax, she’s fine,” Shark said. “She’s just a little low on energy, that’s all.”

“But she ate so much yesterday…” It suddenly hit Trixie. “Changelings consume love,” she mumbled to herself. “How exactly does it work?”

“I don’t really get it myself,” Shark admitted. “I only did basic Biology in school. Basically, there’s a type of energy that exists in all living creatures, but for the most part it’s a reserve energy. The kind used in ‘fight-or-flight’ situations that gives you that extra boost you need to survive. For a changeling, though, it’s essential.

“We use love as a gateway to access that energy. It’s not really consuming love itself, but it does leave the ‘victim’ feeling drained for a short time. As you can imagine, the strain causes the target to suffer mood swings and tantrums. That’s how the stories about changelings eating love started.”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin. “So you’re simply draining energy from your target? Is it lethal?”

Shark shook his head. “Like I said, for most creatures, this is a backup energy source. It’s only dangerous if a changeling drains that source dry and begins to drain the primary energy sources of the same target.”

Trixie watched Aura breathing in-and-out at irregular intervals for a few seconds. She then made her way to the back of the trailer. Aura slowly sat up and faced Trixie. “Miss… Trixie?”

“You need some energy to survive, right?” Trixie asked. Aura nodded. “Then… you can take some of Trixie’s.”

Aura gasped and quickly shook her head. “N-No, I couldn’t… I…”

“No arguing,” Trixie said sternly. “You need this to survive, Aura. Trixie will be just fine, so don’t worry. Just take what you need.” Aura was about to protest again, before Trixie stomped her hoof to silence her. “Now, Aura!”

Aura flinched slightly at Trixie’s raised voice. She wanted to protest some more, but then Trixie took out a photograph from her wardrobe and looked at it… and suddenly, Aura could feel herself being drawn towards the showmare. Or rather, to the love coming from Trixie’s body. She could feel it… the gateway into Trixie’s soul, opened up by Trixie’s love for someone.

It was becoming increasingly harder for Aura to resist feasting on Trixie’s energy. Part of her felt guilty for constantly being helped by Trixie, but another part of her was telling her to just do whatever she could to survive. She chose to listen to that part and leaned her head towards Trixie, who moved closer to Aura.

‘It’s fine… It’s like Shark said; Miss Trixie will not be permanently harmed by this, and her love will not fade… And she’s offering it willingly, so it’s not like I’m robbing her of her energy or anything… So then, why do I still feel so guilty?’

Aura was about to pull back, but Trixie’s voice stopped her. “Don’t just take the bare minimum,” she said. “Take as much as you need and then some. After all, we don’t know when we’ll be attacked next and if you pass out on Trixie, it will be an inconvenience.”

“B-But-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trixie said, this time with a smile. “If there’s one thing that Trixie has lots of, besides beauty and natural talent, it’s energy.”

“And ego,” Shark added.

Trixie ignored Shark’s comment. Aura reluctantly nodded and, as soon as she felt she felt that she had enough to last her another two to three days, she pulled her head back, the green energy connecting her horn to Trixie’s disappearing. Trixie stumbled backwards a bit and fell onto her haunches, muttering something unintelligible.

“Um… s-sorry,” Aura said, looking at Trixie nervously. “It won’t last long… You’ll be fine soon, just… don’t do any heavy lifting or complex magic for a while.”

Shark finished the last bite of his breakfast and turned to Aura, intent on getting straight down to business. “So,” he started, “You were saying something about capturing Razor?”

Aura turned to Shark and nodded, a serious look on her face. “This concerns you, too, Shark.” Aura took in a deep breath, braced herself, and then extended her hoof towards Shark. “I want you to join me in my quest.”

Shark titled his head to the side. “Eh?”

“Basically…” Aura shuffled her forehooves on Trixie’s bed nervously, trying to find the courage that she had worked up not too long ago. She cast a glance towards Trixie and found her courage again. “I want to bring peace between the ponies and the changelings!”

Shark’s confused look didn’t fade, and Trixie joined him. “You okay, kid?” Shark asked, poking her forehead with his hoof. “You get hit on the head or something?”

Aura batted away his hoof and glared at him. “I’m serious,” she said, turning to face Trixie. “I was willing to die yesterday, because I had given up on my dream, and because I had lost everything… but then Miss Trixie saved me. She risked her life to save mine, and even before then, she had spared her food and supplies to help me out.

“And then there’s Knight, and Iris, and Neon, and anyone else who might have died trying to protect me… If I had died yesterday, I would surely be apologizing to all of them right now, for wasting their noble sacrifices. And, once again, Miss Trixie has saved me, by giving me her energy.” Trixie blushed slightly, but still gave a proud grin at the praise she was receiving.

“Well, it’s not like Trixie could just leave you to die. Especially not after going through so much trouble to save you.”

“Exactly,” Aura said, turning back to Shark. “Miss Trixie has done so much for me, and I am not going to let it go to waste!” Shark seemed surprised by Aura’s sudden enthusiasm and silently let her continue. “I still have a dream! I want a world where ponies, changelings, and all other races live together in peace!”

Shark smirked at the youngling. “But how’re ya gonna accomplish that? You’re dead to the changelings, and your loyalists were surely killed, or at least have been dwindled down to nothing right now.” Aura’s determined look didn’t fade and Shark gave her an admiring stare. “Heh. Well, if that’s what you wanna do, go for it. Hell, if it brings down the queen then I wish you luck.

“You can count me out, though,” Shark finished, turning away and falling down onto his back whilst using his forehooves as makeshift pillows. “I just want my freedom. I don’t have any intention of getting involved in a full-on war.”

“But if there’s peace between our two races, you’ll have your freedom.”

“Will I? Even if such a thing were possible, it wouldn’t be in my lifetime, so why should I care?” Shark sat up and faced Aura once more, this time glaring at her with a scowl that broke the courage she had built up inside of her. “And that means I won’t go along with some ridiculous plan to capture Razor alive. I know the guy, and the best course of action is to challenge him on a battlefield set up by us beforehoof.”

The trailer was silent for a few moments, before Trixie broke the silence by clearing her throat. “Aura, how exactly do you plan on bringing peace between our two races? As Shark said, you can’t return to the Changeling Kingdom, you have no army… and although Trixie has agreed to look after you, she certainly does not intend to get washed up in political affairs.”

Aura concentrated her magic and took the form of the white filly that she had used when she had first met Trixie. “If I can’t change the world as a changeling… then I’ll change it as a pony.”

Trixie frowned at Aura’s response. “It’s not like you have much political influence here, though… Unless you take the form of somepony who does. But that’d be an incredibly risky move.”

“I’ll find a way,” Aura said, surprising both Trixie and Shark with just how sure she sounded of herself. “This dream of mine is all I have left. I will not let go of it.”

Trixie stared at Aura in wide-eyed amazement for a few seconds, before smiling and roughing up Aura’s mane playfully. “That’s the spirit!” she said. “Never let go of your dreams. They’re what make you you.” Trixie stared at her cutie mark, thinking about how, unlike changelings, a pony’s destiny was on full display to the whole world. “And your dream is never dead until you say it is.”

Aura smiled and slowly wrapped her forelegs around Trixie’s waist. Trixie wasn’t sure how to react, so she simply allowed to youngling to hug her for a moment. It didn’t exactly feel bad, at least.

When Aura was finished, Trixie cleared her throat and made her way to the front of her trailer. “W-Well then, shall we get going?” Shark was about to interject something, but Trixie anticipated this and cut him off. “Shark, we’ll discuss a battle plan later. But first, we’ll need to actually check out the area.”

Shark watched Trixie as she left the trailer. “You intend to fight him here?”

Trixie shook her head. “No. Trixie intends to trap him here.” She turned back to shark with a confident grin on her face. “After all, deceit and trickery are what Trixie does best. And the best way to defeat somepony…”

Shark grinned and finished Trixie’s train of thought. “Is with one swift strike while their guard is down, right? Interesting… but how do you intend to do that?”

“A magician does not reveal their secrets… You’ll just have to wait and marvel at Trixie’s grand performance.”

Luna closed her eyes and focused her magic. It was time for the sun to rise, which meant that the moon had to be lowered. As she was lowering the moon, she heard hoofsteps approaching her from behind, but their owner remained silent whilst the princess performed her task. Once she was finished, she turned around to find Shining Armor saluting her.

“At ease, Captain,” she said, and he obeyed. “Your report?”

Shining Armor levitated an item from his saddlebag into the air. It was the strange pair of goggles given to the princess by the changeling who had come to negotiate peace with them. “All tests show that there are no traps or bugging spells on these goggles or their owner, and they seem to do exactly what Odysseus said they would.”

“How sure are you that they are safe?” Luna asked, reaching out and grabbing hold of the goggles with her own magic.

“We used our finest resources, sir,” Shining Armor responded, “Though naturally, we are still suspicious… but as Odysseus has yet to make a single malicious move against us, we are treating him as a guest rather than a prisoner… Under strict surveillance, of course.”

Luna nodded and handed the goggles back to Shining Armor. “We see… Well, it is time for us to retire for the day. Please make sure to update our sister on the current situation.”

Shining Armor saluted as Luna trotted past him. He then turned his attention to the goggles.

“What are these?” Luna asked, holding the goggles in her magic.

“These, Princess, are a new invention of mine. Something that I have personally been working on for many years now… With these, you can see through a changeling’s disguise as if it weren’t even there.”

Shining Armor gave Odysseus a flat, unbelieving stare. “And you’re giving us such a useful thing, why?”

Odysseus smiled, but didn’t turn his gaze away from Princess Luna. “As I said, I wish for peace between our nations. These goggles serve two purposes.”

“The first being that, this way, we don’t have to feel threatened by your abilities to shapeshift, correct?” Luna asked, placing the goggles to one side.

“Indeed. And the other purpose is to prevent a catastrophe.” Odysseus predicted their next question and answered pre-emptively. “The day after tomorrow, at around mid-to-late evening Equestrian time, my mother, Queen Chrysalis, will lead her forces to this country with the intention of invading and conquering your land… followed by a widespread purging of all of ponykind.”

“WHAT?!” Shining Armor and Luna yelled in unison.

Odysseus nodded and looked down at the floor, a frown forming on his face. “It saddens me really… that Mother has become so corrupted, so maddened by her own thirst for power…” Odysseus let out a deep sigh and gave the princess before him a pleading look. “This is the last thing that I wanted to do, but after all of the crimes that she has committed, I have no choice… Just, please understand that not all changelings agree with her methods. Many are simply acting under duress or ignorance of her true goal.”

Luna glared at Odysseus, being careful not to trust him too easily. “So, you came to us to give us this item, so that we could battle your mother on equal grounds?”

Odysseus nodded. “Yes. The goggles are rather easy to make, you just need a certain ingredient that can only be found in our kingdom.” Odysseus turned to Shining Armor. “I brought an abundance of it. Your captain over there took it away from me.”

Luna nodded to Shining Armor, who saluted and ran off to fetch the changeling’s possessions. Upon returning, Shining Armor opened the bag that he had brought back to reveal a large supply of small green spheres.

“I’ve tried to reason with my mother, but it is hopeless now; she is beyond redemption.” Odysseus swallowed before continuing. “Please, take this gift, and with it, stop my mother’s injustices. Do not allow her to commit another catastrophe between our races!”

Shining Armor made his way down the castle, towards Princess Celestia’s room, ready to report to her about both Odysseus’ arrival in Equestria, and about the upcoming war. On the way, he stopped to get a progress report on the goggles. He was told that almost one thousand pairs had been manufactured. Shining Armor was surprised, but then remembered that the palace’s engineering department was famous for its fast and hard working ponies.

Upon reaching Princess Celestia’s bedchamber, Shining Armor braced himself, raised a hoof, and knocked.

Trixie ignored the looks pointed her way as her trailer passed through the streets of Ponyville. She was used to drawing attention as she entered towns with her showy trailer. It was kind of the point, really; she made sure her trailer drew the attention of the town’s inhabitants, so that she would have a huge crowd when she began her show. However, right now, she was resisting the urge to stop her trailer right there and put on a show for everypony around them.

“You might want to change now, Shark,” Trixie called into the trailer, “Unless you intend on staying in there all day?”

“You have this whole thing planned out, right?” Shark asked. “I think I’ll leave it to you.”

“Trixie will need some assistance setting the stage,” she said, “And it’s only natural that you pay Trixie back for the food you ate this morning.”

“Can I help?” Aura asked, sticking her head outside of the trailer’s door.

“Of course. It’s best if you stay with Trixie, anyway.”

Aura nodded and looked around the town as they passed through it. She saw many ponies looking at her. In truth, their eyes were drawn to the large trailer she was inside of, but to Aura, it felt as if they were staring at her alone. This made the young changeling very nervous, and it didn’t help that, unlike Manehatten, there didn’t seem to be any form of official guard in this town. Vigilante justice was a possibility that Aura dared to conceive.

‘Maybe I’m just thinking too hard. That kind of thing only happens in books, I’m certain. They surely won’t form an angry mob, armed with torches and pitchforks and-’

Aura’s thoughts descended into darker and darker places that caused her to shudder. Trixie noticed the youngling shivering next to her and looked down to find Aura’s eyes once again consumed by fear. ‘I should definitely keep her close to me… The bearers of the Elements of Harmony live in this town. At all costs, we must avoid running into any of them.’

“HI!” shouted a pink blur that appeared in front of Trixie the moment her trailer came to a stop in the town square. “You’re new in town, aren’t you? You met anypony yet? You need someone to show you around? You wanna be friends?”

Trixie and Aura retreated backwards a bit, startled by the sudden appearance of a pink earth pony who was standing on the ledge of Trixie’s trailer, her face mere inches away from the blue showmare’s. “W-Who?” Aura asked, too startled to say anything else.

“Oh, sorry! My name’s Pinkie Pie, and I’m friends with everypony in Ponyville! And even if you’re just passing through, if you’re in Ponyville, then I wanna be friends with you, too! Wanna come meet my other friends? They’re super nice ponies and I’m sure you’ll get along great with them! Or…”

‘Great… One of the Spirits of Harmony already… But this one seems like the least problematic. I should be able to get us out of this mess.’ Trixie pushed forward a bit, raising her head to look down at the pink pony. “Listen, Miss Pie-”

“Oh, you can just call me Pinkie!”

“… Pinkie, we are in a hurry, and do not have time for such nonsense. So if you understand, could you please get out of Trixie’s way?”

Pinkie Pie frowned and backed up a little bit, to allow Trixie and Aura to leave, followed by Shark, now in his pony form. Pinkie Pie’s face lit up again and she quickly resumed blocking Trixie’s path, startling the group once more. “Then how about later? We can have a party and you can meet all the ponies of Ponyville and we can all become the best of friends together!”

Trixie rubbed her forehead with a hoof. She could tell that the pink pony wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer… ‘So be it,’ she thought, bringing a hoof up to her hat and tilting it to the side. She mustered up the best fake smile she could and changed her tone to sound more friendly. “Why of course! We’d be happy to attend such an event!”

“We would?” Shark asked, looking at Trixie as if she had lost her mind.

“Of course! We just need some time to ourselves… Family stuff. I’m sure you understand.”

Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically before jumping into the air and… just floating there… It took all of Trixie’s energy not to break character and demand an explanation. “No problem! Just come by Sugar Cube Corner at six tonight! It’s that building over there!” she said, pointing a hoof at a nearby building decorated with cake, chocolate, and other assorted baked goods. She then took off in the opposite direction, leaving behind a cloud of smoke in the air.

Trixie gaped at the vanishing trail of smoke left by Pinkie Pie for a few seconds before she was snapped out of her daze by Shark. “Hey, we’re not really going, are we? I mean, I’m not goin’, that’s for sure.”

“Neither is Trixie,” Trixie replied, bringing her hat back down again and returning to her serious expression. “But we really do have matters to attend to and are in a hurry, and we needed to shut that pony up somehow.”

“Lying isn’t very nice,” Aura said with a frown.

“This coming from a creature who survives on deception,” Trixie retorted with a smirk.

“I can’t help my genes, and that’s not the point. Now that mare’s going to put together a party for nothing and she might even be hurt by it when you don’t show up.”

“She should’ve accepted Trixie’s first answer,” Trixie said with a shrug. “Besides, when your life is on the line, being nice is the absolute worst thing to do.”

“… Is that from experience?” Aura asked, to which Trixie simply nodded. “I see… I guess I can’t really argue against that, since I’ve never been in that situation before… but surely there must be some ponies out there who would help out those in a dire situation, and if you lose their trust, you’ll only make things harder for yourself.”

Trixie sighed and turned her back to Aura. “Lying has been Trixie’s means of surviving all these years and it has worked just fine.” She heard the sounds of a hoof scraping against the ground and turned to see Aura looking at the ground sadly, shuffling her forehoof against it. Aura looked up at Trixie for a brief moment and Trixie flinched when she saw the hurt look in the youngling’s eyes.

“I… kind of wanted to go…” Aura said, turning her head to the side and pouting.

“Then go,” Trixie said, trying to turn her attention away from Aura but failing for whatever reason. “Trixie will be done before the party starts so you can go if you want to… Just be careful, okay?” Trixie thought that that would have cheered Aura up, but the youngling was still pouting and shuffling her hoof against the ground. Shark had lost interest much earlier and was already wandering away on his own. Trixie realised what Aura wanted and let out a defeated groan. “Fine. Trixie will make an appearance. Happy?”

A smile and a nodfrom Aura answered Trixie’s question. “Yep!” she answered, any hint of sadness in her voice moments earlier now gone.

Trixie realised what was happening and quickly decided to save face. “But only long enough to sample their snacks! Trixie has heard good things about this bakery, after all!” Another lie. She hadn’t ever heard of Sugar Cube Corner before, but in a way, that was an incentive to go and check it out, too.

Aura agreed to Trixie’s condition and the two moved quickly to catch up to Shark.

“Ok, so we set this up here… and there! The entire farm becomes one big trap!” Trixie held her head up high and beamed in pride at her work. She was standing in the midst of the town’s apple orchard with Shark and Aura, where she had just finished preparing the last of her traps for Razor Tooth.

“I don’t get it,” Shark said, looking around with a confused look on his face. “Where exactly is the trap?”

Trixie chuckled and motioned to the ground beneath her. “Why, all over the place! Trixie has prepared a sensory barrier all around the farm, which will automatically react the moment Razor sets one hoof in it. After that, we will be able to catch him by surprise.”

“But how does that work? How do you get it to react to only Razor?”

“Simple. Trixie just needs some changeling DNA.” Before Shark could respond, Trixie levitated a small syringe with her magic and jabbed it into Shark’s forehoof, who yelped out in pain at the sudden stabbing. “Thank you for volunteering! This will only take but a second!”

Shark grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, but otherwise managed to keep his composure. After Trixie removed the syringe, she got to work mixing Shark’s blood into the barrier spell.

“Um… Miss Trixie?” Aura asked. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin as she thought. “This is quite thirsty work. Why don’t you go fetch Trixie a drink to cool herself down?”

“A… drink?” Aura asked, somewhat annoyed that she was being reduced to the role of a waiter. “But I want to do something more, Miss Trixie. Please?”

“Aura, truth-be-told, Trixie doesn’t need that much assistance, and Shark is more dependable than he first appeared.” Shark scoffed at the comment, but Trixie ignored it. “Besides, Trixie isn’t kidding. Magic of this level is tough, and you’d be surprised how far a nice, refreshing beverage can go towards performing such complex spells.”

“R-Really?” Aura asked, obviously sceptical of Trixie’s claim. She had never heard of anything like that before, but then she was still in school before she left the kingdom… “Well… okay then. What kind of drink should I get?”

“Hay smoothie, extra hay,” Trixie said, levitating a bag of bits to Aura. “Get something for yourself, too, if you want.”

“I’ll have a-” Shark began to say, but was interrupted by Trixie.

“You can buy your own drink, freeloader!” she shouted to Shark, earning a scowl from the disguised changeling. Aura ran off back towards the town to buy the drink for Trixie whilst the latter continued her work with the barrier.

“That was total bull, wasn’t it?” Shark asked, leaning against a nearby tree whilst Trixie worked.

“Indeed. She wanted to help, but Trixie doesn’t have any other jobs for her… At least with that story she won’t feel so bad about doing such a menial task.”

“Makes sense, but tell me, are we supposed to just wait here for her to return?” Shark asked, to which Trixie answered with silence. “‘Cause you said that we need to hurry this along, and we don’t know how long she’ll take.”

“…” Trixie mentally facehooved herself as she realised her mistake and thought about how to correct it. “… Ah, Trixie knows what to do.”

Before Shark could say anything, Trixie fired a beam of magic at the tree that he was leaning against, causing him to jump back and watch as she engraved a message into the trunk.

Aura, gone over to the southern bridge

“Well, I guess that could work,” Shark said, turning from the tree trunk to Trixie. “So, is this all we’re setting up? Just the detection barrier?”

“Trixie will not tell you. It will ruin the surprise.”

Shark sighed and was about to lean against the tree again, when Trixie suddenly rose to her hooves and told him that they were moving on. Hesitantly, Shark followed Trixie to their next location.

Aura walked through the streets of Ponyville, nervously looking around as she passed the various ponies in the street. Unlike earlier, nopony was paying attention to her, likely because she was no longer inside Trixie’s trailer. That helped a little bit, since it meant that nopony was suspicious of her and that she didn’t have to worry so much about blowing her cover.

It took her a few minutes to realise that she had no idea where was going and that she would have to ask somepony for directions. She looked around at the various ponies surrounding her. There was a green unicorn sitting oddly on a nearby bench… She looked strange. There was a blue pegasus sitting on a cloud up in the sky, but Aura couldn’t fly in the form that she was in. There was a baby dragon carrying some scrolls through town…

‘Wait, what?! A dragon?! Why is there a dragon here?! Oh no… If he found me, it would be even worse than if the ponies found me!’

Aura noticed the dragon looking her way and quickly sped off in a random direction, not caring where she wound up, just as long as she got away from the dragon before it could find out what she was. She stopped when she crashed into something in the middle of the street, causing her to fall down onto her stomach.

“Ow! Watch where you’re going!”

Aura rubbed her head and groaned as she tried to recover from her collision. When she heard a voice yelling at her, she realised that she must have crashed into somepony. She looked down to see an orange pegasus filly underneath her, glaring back at her and rubbing her own head.

“Could ya get off of me already?!”

Aura jumped up off the filly almost immediately and began apologizing. “I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going and… uh…” Aura bowed her head low. “Please forgive me!”

“Uh… sure…” the pegasus responded. “It’s not that big of a deal. Just pay more attention to where you’re going next time.”

“Like you have any right ta say that,” a voice called out. Both Aura and the pegasus turned to the source of the voice to find a yellow earth pony approaching the two of them. “Ye’re always crashin’ into things, Scootaloo.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Um…” Aura interrupted the two fillies’ argument,and they both turned to face her.

“Oh, sorry! We haven’t introduced ourselves,” the earth pony said. “Ah’m Apple Bloom, and this here’s Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo extended a hoof forward. “Hey there. Sorry for yelling at you, but that did kind of hurt…”

Aura extended her own hoof and shook it with Scootaloo’s. “Ah’ve never seen y’all around here before. You from outta town?” Apple Bloom asked, to which Aura nodded.

“Yes. I’m Aura, and I, um…” Aura tried to think of some kind of story to tell the two fillies. ‘What would Miss Trixie say? … And then maybe tone it down a bit…’ She smiled and pulled back her hoof, before reaching out and shaking Apple Bloom’s. “I’m here with my family on vacation. And I’m kind of lost…”

“Hey girls!” The three ponies turned to see a fourth filly approaching them. A white unicorn filly, who stopped in front of Aura and let out an excited gasp. “Oh boy! Is this a new member? That’s great! Now we have four crusaders!”

“New member?” Aura asked, looking between the three fillies with a confused look on her face.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo then noticed that Aura’s flank was blank and joined their friend in her excitement. “Hey, Sweetie Belle’s right! She has no cutie mark, like us!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Apple Bloom nodded and, noticing Aura’s confusion, decided to explain things to her. “Y’see, Aura, like you, we haven’t found our special talents yet, either!”

‘Well, changelings don’t have cutie marks… Though it’s not like I can tell them that.'

“So we travel all over Equestria to find them!” Scootaloo added.

‘On their own? Wow… Younglings would never be allowed to leave their hometowns on their own… Maybe they have adults that travel with them?’

“And that’s why we’re called-” Sweetie Belle chimed in, before all three of them lined up together.

“-THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they shouted in unison, causing Aura to take a few steps back and press her forehooves to her ears.

“So, you said you were lost?” Scootaloo asked, and Aura simply nodded, still trying to recover from their recent attack on her eardrums. “Hey, maybe we can help! We can get our cutie marks in being tour guides!”

“Hey, yeah!” Sweetie Belle agreed. “We can show her all around Ponyville and teach her our history! … Or, y’know, just make it up as we go!”

“Then it’s settled,” Apple Bloom said, “Today, we’re going to be-”

“-CUTIE MARK CRUSDER TOUR GUIDES! YAY!”

“Um… but I-”

“Come on, let’s go!” Apple Bloom shouted, pushing Aura forward as her two friends led the way. “Maybe you can find yer cutie mark in… um… being guided?”

Aura tried to say something, but the three fillies had already started talking about the wondrous history of their fair town, most of which seemed questionable at best. She tried many times to sneak away, but somehow, they would always catch her and bring her back.

‘All I wanted was to know where I can buy a hay smoothie…’ Aura thought about her situation and couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. ‘Wow. One of Mother’s top generals failed to capture me, and yet these three fillies have managed to take me prisoner with ease.’

Chapter 7

In school, Aura was taught that it was rude to interrupt someone when they were talking, and that, as a lady and as a princess, she should always show great manners and courtesy, even to simple commoners. In short, image is everything and she should aim to maintain her own image as a member of the royal family at all times.

As the Crusaders continued to drag her further and further into town, she was searching her mind to see if there was some kind of loophole she could have taken advantage of. The Crusaders were all ponies, so they were technically her enemy. Did that mean she didn’t have to show them any respect or mind her manners around them? Did that mean she could just tell them to shut up and then simply walk away?

Even if it did mean that, Aura couldn’t bring herself to do such a thing. They were just fillies, and they were just trying to help Aura out… Or so they claimed.

“Um, excuse me,” Aura interjected as soon as the three fillies were done explaining the history of their school… or their version thereof. To her surprise, they were actually allowing her to speak. “I know you all mean well and I appreciate your help, but I really am in a hurry and must insist that I be on my way.”

The three fillies exchanged strange looks, before turning back to Aura. “But you said you were lost, right?” Scootaloo asked.

Aura nodded. “Yes. I am trying to find somewhere that sells drinks. More specifically, a hay smoothie. Do you know any places like that?”

Apple Bloom stepped forth with a smile. “Well why didn’t ya say somethin’ eariler?”

‘I did,’ Aura thought, still keeping up her smile whilst facing the three fillies. “It must have slipped my mind,” she said, not wanting to start an argument. “So, would you be so kind as to direct me to such a shop?”

“Why are ya talkin’ like that?” Scootaloo asked, causing Aura to tilt her head in confusion. “You kinda sound like…”

“Like my sister!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. Her two friends agreed with her instantly.

“Is there something wrong with the way I speak?” Aura asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head slowly. “Not really, it’s just… ya don’t have ta be so prim an’ proper ‘round us, y’know? We’re fillies, like you! It’s fine to relax a lil’ bit!”

‘… It’s not like I can help the way I speak. It’s how I was raised.’ Aura thought about it for a moment and decided that, if she was going to fit in with ponies from now on, it might be a good idea to change her way of speaking to match theirs. “My apologies, I-” She noticed the three starting at her and realised her slipup. She nodded her head and put some thought into how to respond. ‘Like Miss Trixie? No, too showy. Like Shark? No, too vulgar. Apple Bloom? That accent would be kind of hard to mimic… Scootaloo might be easier to copy.’

“S-Sorry, I’ll keep that in mind,” she finally said, altering her voice so that it no longer carried her royal tone, although in her opinion it made her sound… silly.

The three crusaders nodded and prepared to take off once more. “Right,” Apple Bloom started, “Let’s get goin’! Cutie Mark Crusaders, full speed ahead to the market square!”

“YEAH!” her two friends shouted in unison. The three fillies began speeding off down the street, followed by Aura.

“I wonder how much blood a changeling can lose before they pass out?” Shark asked as he lay down on the ground, after once again having a blood sample taken by Trixie.

“Don’t worry. If necessary, Trixie will speed up your heart with her magic to make up the lost blood more quickly.”

“Can you really do that?” Shark asked, sounding impressed. “And is it safe?”

“Well, Trixie can do it,” Trixie said, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she concentrated her magic on the ground. “Whether it’s safe or not… who knows? Trixie’s never really tried it before.”

“Ah, never mind then,” Shark said. “How many more samples are ya gonna take, exactly?”

“One more should do it,” Trixie said, grabbing a nearby rock and carving a message into a nearby tree for Aura. “Let’s go. We still have three more locations to safeguard.”

“Hey!” Trixie and Shark turned their attentions skywards, looking around for whoever had just called out to them.

“I think I lost too much blood. I’m hearing voices,” Shark said, slowly rising up to his hooves.

“No, Trixie heard something too…” Trixie lowered her head and came face-to-face with a rainbow-maned, blue pegasus. “AH!” she shouted as she jumped back, getting into a defensive stance.

Shark immediately altered his disguised form so that a horn was visible, releasing the restriction placed on his magic. He levitated a pair of steel claws from his bag and eyed the blue pony carefully, waiting for her to make a move.

Rainbow Dash didn’t take any notice of Shark, though, more interested on the mare in front of her, instead. “You got a lot of nerve showing your face around here! After what you pulled, I’m surprised any town will let you in!”

“‘After what you pulled’?” Shark asked, turning to Trixie. Trixie simply shrugged, and Shark turned his attention back to the rainbow-maned pony.

“Don’t play dumb! Does ‘ursa minor’ ring a bell?”

Trixie sighed and facehooved. ‘Right, that. Of course.’ Trixie cleared her throat and dropped her guard slightly. “That incident was the fault of those two colts, not the Great and Powerful Trixie. It is them who were at fault,” Trixie argued, “And quite frankly, they should be grateful that Trixie didn’t sue their parents for every last bit that they own.”

Trixie had no doubt that she could win a court case against those two colts’ families, even if the town sided with them. But she could tell the two colts didn’t exactly come from rich upbringings, and any money that she would have won would have been an insignificant gesture. Heck, the cost of hiring a lawyer would probably have overshadowed her earnings.

“Yeah, and who was it that bragged about being able to defeat an ursa major?”

Trixie didn’t have time for this pony. She also didn’t want Rainbow Dash around in case Aura showed up. “Shark, let’s go,” Trixie said, completely ignoring Rainbow Dash. She walked past the floating pegasus and began to walk back into the town with Shark following behind her.

“Hey! Don’t just ignore me like that!” Rainbow Dash shouted, chasing after the two and stopping right in front of them. It was then that she noticed Shark equipping his steel claws onto his forehooves and she backed up a little bit. “Y-You wanna start something? Go ahead! I’ll just make sure you never step a hoof into this town again.”

“Trixie didn’t realise that you were the mayor of this town,” Trixie said, brining a confused look to Rainbow Dash’s face. “Oh, you’re not? Well then, in that case, you have no right to decide if we can be here or not.”

Shark stepped forward, his patience having reached its limits. “Stand down, and we won’t have to resort to violence,” he said, in a tone that sent shivers down both mares’ spines.

“H-Hey,” Trixie whispered to him, “We don’t want to cause a conflict, y’know?”

“Razor could get here any second now,” Shark whispered back. “We can’t waste any time here. If necessary, I’ll distract her, while you go finish your traps.”

“Now look here!” Trixie shouted, getting in-between Shark and Rainbow Dash, “Yes, she’s annoying-” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “-But there’s no reason to go that far!” She pointed to Shark’s steel claws whilst glaring at him.

“How about I just kill you, too?!” Shark shouted, taking a threatening step towards Trixie, who flinched and backed away. “I’m going to survive, Trixie! I don’t care what it takes! If anypony gets in my way, I’ll cut them down!”

“You think you stand a chance against the Great and Powerful Trixie?!”

“Great and powerful my flank! You’re just a loudmouth with no talent! Just a little luck on yer side that helped you survive this long, that’s all!”

Trixie’s eye twitched and her horn flared as she shot out a beam of magic at the changeling in front of her, knocking her unsuspecting target to the ground. “NO TALENT?! I’LL SHOW YOU NO TALENT!”

“You bitch!” Shark shouted as he jumped to his hooves before charging towards Trixie. Before his attack could connect, however, a shadowy figure jumped between the two of them, keeping Trixie at bay with one forehoof, and Shark at bay with its other.

“Hey, now,” the grey earth pony with a blonde, zigzagged mane said. “No fightin’, you guys! You’re disturbing the peace.”

Trixie and Shark both glared at the interloper in unison, wondering who he was and, more importantly, how he had stopped their attacks so easily. “Who are you?!”

The earth pony turned to Trixie and bowed politely. “Forgive me. My name is Shock. I’m new around here.” Trixie noticed the lightning bolt cutie mark on Shock’s flank and wondered if it represented his speed. “I saw you and your friend here-”

“He’s not my friend!” Trixie shouted, turning her back on Shock and Shark.

Shock sighed and turned to Shark. “I’m sorry. I just saw the two of you fighting and thought that it’d be best to stop you both before things got out of hoof…” He then turned his attention to Rainbow Dash, who was standing off to the side and watching the scene unfold, along with a few other ponies who had started to gather. “And you,” he said, pointing an accusing hoof at Rainbow Dash. “I saw the way you were bothering this young mare.”

“But that was-”

“Now, now,” Shock began, cutting off Rainbow Dash, “I’m not playing the blame game here. I just think that, maybe you three should stay away from each other for a little bit. To cool down.” The two ponies and one changeling glared at Shock, making him swallow and take an uncomfortable step backwards. “You know… for the town’s sake?”

Trixie and Rainbow Dash sighed, and in unison, they both said, “Fine”. They exchanged a quick glance, before turning their heads away and walking off in opposite directions.

Shock turned to Shark and gave a warm smile as he watch Shark begin to walk off in a different direction than the two mares. “You know,” Shock started, “I could have sworn you were an earth pony before.” Shark stopped and looked over his shoulder at Shock. “Nah, must’ve been my imagination. Pay it no mind.”

Shark stared at Shock for a few seconds, before continuing to walk off back towards Trixie’s trailer. He stopped suddenly and looked down at his hoof. ‘…Damnit,’ he thought to himself, ‘She still needs another blood sample, doesn’t she?’ Shark considered for a moment whether he should put his anger aside for the time being and meet back up with Trixie, or simply ditch the town and continue on his own.

Ultimately, his survival instincts told him that his best shot was with Trixie and Aura and, begrudgingly, he turned back around and began to follow the direction that Trixie had walked off in.

Aura ducked behind a nearby lamppost, poking her head around for only a moment, before drawing it back in when she caught sight of the baby dragon across the street.

“Uh… are you ok?” Apple Bloom, looking at Aura as if she was doing something crazy.

“There’s a dragon over there,” Aura said, pointing her hoof around the lamppost. The three fillies nodded, still not seeing what the big deal is. “I’m… not good with dragons…” That was the understatement of the year. Changelings and dragons had never got along. For longer than the changeling race’s history books go back, dragons have always held the upmost prejudice towards changelings.

Because of this, the Changeling Kingdom had devoted an entire special squad to look out for and fend off dragons. Thanks to the technology that the changelings had invented, they had been safe from invading dragons for the past five hundred years, without having to move locations or rebuild and repopulate frequently. But there was talk in the kingdom of how long the safety would last and, although Aura had never seen a real dragon before, the stories had been enough to develop a strong fear of them.

“Oh, but he’s a baby dragon,” Sweetie Belle pointed out, smiling reassuringly at Aura. “He’s not dangerous at all, and he’s really friendly, too!”

“Yeah, maybe you should just go an’ say hi to him,” Apple Bloom suggested. Aura responded by quickly shaking her head. “Why not? C’mon, we’ll help ya out!”

“We will?” Scootaloo asked, receiving a glare from Apple Bloom. “Uh, I mean, we will!”

Aura dared a peek at the baby dragon across the street and then looked at the ground nervously. ‘Well… I suppose if I’m going to be a pony… then having a dragon on my side might actually help in the long run.’

Aura nodded her head and stepped out from behind the lamppost. As per her request, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo led the way whilst Aura followed them, staying close to Sweetie Belle. Once they were close enough to talk to the baby dragon, Apple Bloom called out to him, drawing his attention. Aura felt her body freeze as he looked their way and suddenly found herself having second thoughts.

“Hey girls. What’re you up to today?” he asked. “Tennis? Diving? … Blowing up libraries?”

Aura raised her eyebrow and looked at the three crusaders. Sweetie Belle still had her innocent smile on her face, Scootaloo looked annoyed, and Apple Bloom looked a little guilty.

“No, not today, Spike!” Sweetie Belle answered before turning to Aura. “We’re showing our new friend here around Ponyville! Her name’s Aura, and she’s here on vacation with her family!”

Spike looked at Aura, who tried to hide behind one of the other fillies, but the three crusaders moved to the side to prevent her from doing so. Aura slowly smiled at Spike, and lifted up a hoof to wave at him. “Um… hi…”

“Hi!” Spike said back, extending a paw to her. She flinched at first, before realising that he just wanted to shake her hoof. She slowly extended her hoof and connected it with Spike’s paw. As she shook it, he added, “Nice to meet ya!”

“Y-Yeah…”

“See?” Apple Bloom asked, hopping up to Aura alongside Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Ah told ya he wasn’t dangerous, didn’t Ah?”

“She thought I was dangerous?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow at the four fillies, who nodded in unison. A smug grin formed on Spike’s face and he flexed his arms as if to show off some muscles. “Well, dragons are pretty bad, and I’m no exception!”

The four fillies stared blankly at him for a second, before each breaking into a fit of giggles, causing Spike to blush and glare at them. “S-Sorry, Spike,” Sweetie Belle said, wiping a tear from her eyes as she recovered from her laughing fit. “Hey, you don’t seem so scared now,” she pointed out to Aura, who was also just recovering from her own fit of laughter.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right,” Aura said, turning to Spike and finding herself able to smile at him quite easily. “I guess you were right… He doesn’t seem like a bad dragon.”

“Nicest dragon Ah know!” Apple Bloom shouted, before putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Actually, he’s the only dragon Ah know… but Ah’m sure that if Ah knew other dragons, he’d be the nicest one Ah know!”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s-” Aura froze up suddenly as she felt a cold chill run down her spin. Her smile faded, and she slowly turned her head around, feeling that something bad was behind her. ‘W-What? What was that?’

Aura looked around at the various ponies in the town surrounding her. None of them stood out in particular, and she recognised most of them from when she had entered earlier, so she was sure that none of them were Razor. Otherwise, she definitely would have been attacked by now. Regardless, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was nearby.

“Aura?” Scootaloo asked, snapping Aura out of her trance and causing her to face the group of fillies and the baby dragon once more. “You okay?”

Aura swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly nodded her head. She was about to speak up when, suddenly, a voice called out to them from behind her. “Excuse me.” The four fillies turned around to see a grey earth pony with a blonde zigzagged mane and tail. “I was wondering if you could direct me to this town’s library?”

Spike raised a paw to gain his attention. “I was actually on my way there just now. You can follow me if you like.”

The pony nodded at the baby dragon. “I see. Thank you, Mr.…”

“Spike, and you don’t need the ‘Mr.’,” he said, though he actually kind of liked being addressed formally.

“And my name is Shock.”

Aura looked over at the newspaper at Shock’s side and gasped at the article on the front page. “Excuse me,” she said, drawing Shock’s attention… which caused her to flinch for a moment. ‘What the?’ She shook off the feeling quickly, more interested in what she had just seen on the newspaper. “Could I have a look at that newspaper you’re carrying, please?”

Shock turned to the newspaper at his side and leaned his head down to pick it up in his mouth. He handed it over to Aura, who grabbed it in her magic and stared at the article on the front page. Her eyes and mouth were wide open and she remained silent for a few moments, until Sweetie Belle tried to speak to her.

“Aura?”

“I have to go,” she said, suddenly taking off down the street, still holding the paper in her magic.

“H-Hey! Aura?” The three crusaders tried to follow Aura down the street, but were stopped when a green flame appeared before them, blazing for just a few short seconds, but by the time it was gone, Aura was nowhere in sight.

Spike watched the scene with a confused look on his face, as did many of the ponies around him. He shrugged and looked back up at Shock. “Well, let’s-” He stopped when he realised that Shock was no longer there and looked around to try to find him, to no avail. “… Man, this town just keeps getting weirder and weirder…”

Aura rushed towards the trailer as fast as she could, carrying the newspaper behind herself in her magic. She ran the article that she had read through her mind over and over again. She ignored the strange looks aimed her way by the ponies on the street as she passed by them in her hurry.

‘What’s going on? Why is he here? I have to get to Canterlot immediately!’

Aura jumped up and tried to open Trixie’s trailer, but was pushed back by some kind of invisible force. She stared at the trailer in shock, before remembering that Trixie had locked it with her magic as they had left. She dropped the newspaper to the ground and tried to find another way in, but stopped when she felt something approaching her from behind.

Aura summoned her magic to create a small barrier, blocking a bolt that was soaring towards the back of her head. She turned around to see a green unicorn in a brown cloak approaching her, carrying a crossbow in her magic. “Found ya, little princess.”

Aura glared at the approaching unicorn… No, at the approaching changeling, disguised as a unicorn. She gathered some magic into her horn and stood her ground. “Razor Tooth, how did you-” Aura stopped herself before she gave away too much information. ‘He must have used one of Ponyville’s entrances before Miss Trixie could set up her traps there… Either that, or the traps simply don’t work. I really hope it isn’t the latter.’

“How did I what?” Razor asked, preparing another bolt into his crossbow. “Go ahead, ask your question. I’ll answer. I’d be happy to grant you this final courtesy, before you die.”

“… Actually, Razor, I had other plans in mind.” A light shot out from Aura’s horn, shooting straight towards Razor, who dodged it with little effort… only for it to turn around and follow after him. Whilst Razor was distracted trying to avoid the green sphere of light chasing him around the town square, Aura turned tail and fled, heading in the direction of the apple orchard, hiding herself amongst the other ponies that were fleeing the scene.

Razor fired his own magical energy at the green light to shatter it, allowing himself to safely chase after the young changeling princess. ‘Well that was embarrassing… Thankfully no one was around to see-’ Razor noticed one of the ponies on the streets as he chased Aura through Ponyville and stopped for a brief second, before continuing his pursuit of Aura. ‘Why’s he here? Did something happen on Odysseus’ end?’

Razor shook off the thought, deciding to simply focus on catching Aura for the time being. “Whatever. Right now, my main priority is to ensure the deaths of Aura, Shark, and that pony.”

Trixie posed triumphantly as she finished setting up the last of her traps around Ponyville. “Ah-hah! The Great and Powerful Trixie is finally finished!” she declared, receiving a slow, sarcastic clap from Shark. “Now, we can finally relax a little bit. The moment Razor enters Ponyville, we will know about it immediately, and then-”

“Provided he isn’t already in Ponyville,” Shark pointed out.

Trixie cleared her throat and turned to Shark. “Yes, well, sadly, even Trixie’s plans can’t account for everything. Furthermore…” Trixie looked around for a few seconds. “Where’s Aura?” she asked. “She should have caught up to us by now. Trixie can’t imagine it takes that long to buy a drink or two.”

“Maybe she got caught,” Shark suggested with a shrug.

Trixie considered that possibility for a moment, before her horn started to light up. “Ah! A changeling has entered one of the trapping areas!” she shouted. She and Shark both jumped to attention immediately. “It’s at… Sweet Apple Acres! Let’s waste no time!”

Shark nodded. The two took off through the town towards the apple orchard. Trixie’s horn lit up again, distracting her as she ran into somepony on the street.

Shark stopped for a moment to help Trixie to her hooves. Trixie looked back at the pony she ran into – an orange earth pony mare with blonde hair – and offered a quick apology, before continuing to run down the streets of Ponyville alongside Shark. “Trixie just felt another changeling presence at Sweet Apple Acres. That must mean that Aura and Razor are there together!”

“That’s good!” Shark shouted, earning a sharp glare from Trixie. “What? It means that Razor will be busy and will stay in one place, which gives us the perfect chance to catch him off-guard!”

“… Trixie doesn’t like to admit it… but you are right…” Trixie turned her head forwards again, just in time to see a white unicorn mare in her path. She jumped to avoid crashing into her and continued on. ‘Just hang on, Aura. I’ll be there soon.’

Aura hid herself behind one of the trees in the town’s apple orchard, trying to keep her breathing quiet as she cautiously looked around for Razor. ‘Alright, I can do this… I just have to hold on long enough for Shark and Miss Trixie to arrive.’

“Excuse me?” a voice called out from in front of her. Aura turned her head to the source. Before her stood a large red earth pony stallion looking her way. “Can Ah help ya with somethin’? Are ya lost?”

Aura’s eyes widened and she immediately raised her hoof to her mouth, signalling for him to stay quiet. ‘Not good! I can’t let any more innocents get involved in this!’

The red pony raised an eyebrow and approached the filly, concern clear on his face. “If ye’re in trouble, Ah’d be happy ta lend a hoof.”

‘No! Don’t come near me!’ Aura turned her head around the tree once more and saw something shining in the distance. She quickly snapped her head back to the earth pony and galloped towards him. “RUN!” she shouted, summoning five green tendrils that wrapped around his legs and pulled at them, causing the stallion to fall to the floor just in time for the incoming bolt to fly over him.

She used her tendrils to pull him across the ground as she ran across the orchard, taking cover behind a large tree where she threw the stallion into a nearby bush, making sure to wrap up his legs with her magic tendrils. “I’m sorry, but you’ll be safe here!” she shouted, before running back out into the open and towards another large tree.

On the way to her next hiding spot, she had to dodge two more bolts fired at her, but only managed to avoid one. The second scraped past her right back hoof, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. ‘Well, at least these bolts don’t seem to be poisoned!’ she thought to herself, noting that the poison he used last time was quick to take effect.

She managed to take cover behind the nearby tree and opened up her saddlebag with her magic. Inside was a gunpowder pistol that she had taken from Trixie’s trailer, that she could only assume was used for her shows. Shark suggested she take it as a precaution, and right now, she was glad that she did.

The gun was already loaded, but could only fire one shot, so she had to make it count. ‘Let’s hope those lessons pay off,’ Aura thought to herself, closing her eyes and concentrating all of her attention on the sounds of the hoofsteps moving her way. Closer… Closer… Aura’s eyes shot open, and she quickly rolled out of her hiding spot, gun held up by her magic and pointed towards her target. “NOW!” she shouted to herself, calling on every last bit of her marksmanship training and pulling the trigger to fire at the startled Razor Tooth.

A loud BANG! rang throughout the area, scaring away many birds that were perched in the nearby trees and startling Aura more than she thought it would have. She had never fired a gun without some form of ear protection before, and the ringing that it caused made her feel nauseas. Not only that, but the fact that she had just fired on a living target. Her stomach began to churn. That is, until she saw that she had missed.

“Nice try, Princess,” Razor shouted, charging towards Aura, “But not nice enough!”

Aura tried to retreat, but she was still feeling the effects of shellshock and was completely at Razor’s mercy as he grasped her throat with his magic, lifted her into the air and loaded another bolt into his crossbow. “Razor… why… why are you… going along with… with Mother’s… injustices?” Aura had to struggle for breath as she said each word. She could already feel her body growing cold. She knew that she didn’t have much time left… ‘Miss Trixie… please, hurry…’

“I don’t care about things like ‘justice’ or ‘right and wrong’,” Razor explained, pointing his crossbow up at Aura. “I’m like Shark; I follow only one path. Whilst he follows the path of freedom, ‘self-loyalty’, you may say, my path is of loyalty to another.” Aura struggled to try to free herself from his magical grasp, but it was no use. “All hail Lord Odysseus!”

The bolt fired from his crossbow and, for a brief moment, Aura could see her life flashing before her eyes… but when she realised that she hadn’t yet died, she looked down at Razor with a questioning look, only to find Razor returning the exact same look back towards her.

“What happened? Where did my bolt go?” he asked, looking around for the bolt that he had just fired, finding not even a single trace of it anywhere.

“You mean this bolt?” Razor turned around to see the familiar blue unicorn standing behind him in some kind of magical circle, which was glowing all around her. The glowing soon faded, and when it did, he could see the bolt that he had previously fired being held in her magical grasp. “You want it back? Here,” she said as she fired the bolt back with her magic.

Razor grabbed it with his own. It wasn’t fired particularly fast, so it was no problem for him at all. However, as he took the time to load it back into his crossbow, he felt his magical hold on Aura disappear and turned around just in time to see Shark charging towards him, ready to tear him to pieces with his steel claws.

Razor backed away as quickly as he could, raising his crossbow as a makeshift shield. The weapon was shattered into many pieces by Shark’s attack, and it was all Razor could do to set up a quick barrier to buy him just enough time to fall back to a safe distance.

He looked behind himself and saw Trixie smirking at him, her horn glowing. He then turned back to Shark and saw him sharing that smirk, a clawed hoof raised as he approached Razor slowly. Even with Razor’s weapon gone, Shark clearly wasn’t about to take any chances.

Behind Shark, Aura was coughing and struggling to stand up on her four hooves. Trixie looked past Razor and Shark and straight at Aura, feeling relieved as she saw that the youngling was still alive. “Aura! Head back to the trailer!” Trixie shouted. Aura looked at her and was about to say something, before her coughing continued. “Trixie’s unlocked it! Go back there and hide! We’ll take care of this!”

Aura looked at the scene – looked at the two changelings and Trixie – and then looked down at herself. She didn’t want to admit it, but in her current state, there was nothing that she could do. She was useless… Even though Trixie was trying her best to protect her, all that Aura could do was run away and hide…

‘… No, wait! There is something that I can do… No, something that I have to do!’

Aura turned her attention towards Trixie and nodded before running off through the orchard, leaving the three to their fight.

“Now then, Razor,” Shark said, pointing a hoof at him, “How shall this end?”

Shock lowered a few bits down to the young colt selling newspapers in the town square. Shock realised that the colt must have remembered him buying the same paper earlier, but decided not to bother explaining that a young filly had stolen the paper from him.

He smiled and gave a polite bow, before heading off down the street. He looked down at the article on the front page, smiling as he read the headline.

CHANGELINGS CAPTURED! – AN ACT OF INVASION?

Shock stopped at a fork in the road and looked down one of the paths. It led towards the apple orchard just outside of town. ‘Now then, Princess Aura… what will you do?’

Chapter 8

Razor started with the more threatening target – the unicorn whose powers were still a mystery to him. If he was going to defeat both Shark and this ‘Trixie’ pony, then he would have to know the extent of her abilities. That’s why, whilst still keeping his guard up for incoming attacks from both sides, he charged towards Trixie, using only mild attacks to provoke reactions from her.

Trixie activated the magic circle beneath her hooves, triggering a dozen spears to shoot out of the ground in Razor’s path. The changeling slowed to a stop for only a moment before continuing his assault through the illusionary spears.

Trixie’s next act of magic triggered a frost spell that summoned icicles from the ground, though only long enough to shatter them and freeze the ground over with their remains.

Razor’s horn lit up a dark-green colour as he focused his magic around his hooves, allowing him to cross the icy path without any problem. Trixie smirked and activated the second stage of this particular trap – melting the ice and gathering the water around Razor, followed by heating it quickly to surround her foe in a ring of scalding water.

Upon seeing the signal, Shark undid his disguise and sprang into action, flying above the ring where he encountered Razor in the air. He dove towards Razor and swung one of his claws, just barely missing his target. He swung again, but this time Razor caught the attack with his magic.

Trixie gritted her teeth together and quickly worked her magic to help Shark out. She lifted one of the nearby apple trees from the ground, grunting and planting her hooves down firmly to avoid slipping. The tree was cut into many logs, which were thrown at Razor and, as he was still in the fray, at Shark, too.

Razor saw the attack coming and quickly released Shark so that he could fly out of the way. Despite this, Razor was still hit by something. It was so sudden, and it took him a while to regain his thoughts before turning his head in time to see a log hitting him in the stomach. “What?” he spat out, before turning to face the blue mare below him, smiling victoriously. ‘An illusionist… Damnit…’

“My turn!” Shark shouted as he released one of his claws and threw it at Razor. Razor roared and fired a blast of magic at the incoming claw, blowing it away just as it was about to hit him. Using so much energy at once caused Razor’s wings to suddenly stop working, resulting in the changeling crashing down towards the ground.

“You bastards,” Razor said as he straightened himself up. Shark landed next to him on one side, and Trixie approached from the other. Razor used his magic to create a wall of fire that shot towards Trixie and then used the distraction to ran towards a nearby tree.

Trixie used her magic to create a small barrier in front of herself and charged up her magic into her horn. “Go after him!” she shouted to Shark, who was already way ahead of her. ‘I’ve gotta put this fire out!’ Trixie leaned her head forward and unleashed a spell to create a small raincloud above the fire. Thankfully the fire wasn’t that big, having been created in a hurry.

Razor clutched his chest and steadied his breathing as he kept his back against a tree, looking around for something that he could use. He saw Shark running towards him and levitated some of his bolts into the air, but rather than loading them into his crossbow he threw them at his pursuer.

“Heh! With no poison, those things are useless!” Shark shouted, charging straight through the barrage, only dodging enough to avoid blows to vital areas. He took a series of small cuts, but they did nothing to slow him down. He was close enough to Razor to strike. He raised his clawed hoof and prepared to strike…

“Stop!” Razor shouted, pulling something out from the bush behind him. Shark stopped and eyed Razor cautiously, but then laughed when all he saw Razor pull out was a red earth pony, bound by changeling magic. “Make a single move towards me and he dies!”

Shark continued laughing for a moment as he continued approaching Razor Tooth. “You think I care if somepony has to die for me to bring you down?” Shark released the claw from his hoof and fired his claw forward with his magic. He watched with excitement as it closed in on his target… until it suddenly disappeared.

“What!?” Shark shouted in shock, staring in disbelief at the sight. Razor, however, wasn’t so surprised, and was barely containing his laughter. “What did you do!?”

Razor shook his head and turned to face something behind Shark. Shark turned around to find Trixie standing behind him, holding the steel claw in her magic with a strong glare.

“You… You MORON! What hell d’you think you’re doing!? We had him!”

“Trixie will not allow you to sacrifice an innocent life!” Trixie shouted before turning to Razor. “We’ll let you go, but under the condition that you release that stallion!”

“Are you out of you mind!?”

Razor could barely contain his laughter as he levitated a bolt up to the stallion’s neck. “You’re not in any position to be making demands, little filly.”

Trixie’s eye twitched at that comment, but she decided to let it slide given the circumstances. “… Then what do you want?”

“I want you… to kill that changeling right there.”

Shark shot a glare at Razor, before returning his gaze to Trixie. “Hey, now. Don’t screw with me!”

Trixie looked conflicted as her gaze drifted between the two changelings. “W-What!? Are you insane!? Trixie could never-”

“Don’t think of him as innocent,” Razor said. “After all, he’s killed many ponies… and changelings, and griffons, and… well, let’s just say that Tartarus has been waiting for him for many years now.” Trixie still looked conflicted, so Razor decided to give her one final push. “Take that murderer’s life, and this innocent pony will be spared. You have my word.” ‘And then whichever of them dies first, I can finish the other one off myself.’ Razor chuckled as he looked at the red stallion in his grasp. ‘Never underestimate the power of taking a hostage.’

Trixie fixed her gaze on Shark for a while, who was staring back at her with an angry look on his face. “Oi, don’t do something you’ll regret,” he warned as Trixie took a step towards him. “One more step, and you’re dead!” Trixie’s horn flared up and, before Shark could react, she had performed a teleportation spell to get right next to him.

Trixie charged her magic, lifting up a chunk of the ground and shaping it into a spear. She aimed it at Shark and prepared to thrust the spear into him… but she felt something pierce her stomach before she had the chance to. Her hold over the makeshift spear faded tried to retreat, but Shark moved swiftly, pulling out his claw from Trixie’s stomach and slashing her throat.

Trixie’s body fell limp. She dropped down to the floor, no longer breathing, her face showing the utter shock that she felt as she saw Shark about to kill her. Shark turned to Razor, who had thrown the red stallion to the side and was already charging towards Shark. “One down, one to go!” Razor shouted, levitating Shark’s other steel claw with his magic and throwing it back at its owner.

Shark dodged the claw, but was now wide open for an attack from Razor. Razor didn’t let this chance slip by; he levitated whatever bolts he had left and fired them all at Shark. Shark let out a pained yell as the many sharp projectiles pierced and cut his body, tearing it to shreds.

His eyes widened as she saw Razor snatch his remaining claw and lift it into the air. “You… bastard…”

Applejack and Twilight Sparkle galloped as fast as they could towards Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight could feel high levels of magic being used there, and Applejack had had a bad feeling running through her body ever since she had bumped into Trixie earlier. It was urging her to return to the farm immediately.

They stopped when they saw a blue mare dragging a red earth pony stallion behind a tree. “Macintosh!” Applejack shouted out as she neared them. Twilight followed, keeping her eyes fixed on the blue mare who had turned to face them. “What happened?” Applejack asked as she stopped in front of the two ponies.

Twilight was finally close enough to see the blue mare clearly and recognised her immediately, despite the blood running down her face from a large wound on her forehead. “Trixie?” she asked, approaching her slowly, before stopping when another pony appeared behind her. It was a white unicorn stallion, wearing the armour of the Royal Guard of Equestria.

“Stand back,” he said to the two mares, though only Twilight obeyed. Applejack stayed by Big Mac’s side, demanding an explanation on what had happened. “A changeling spy has bound him with magic. Don’t worry, it will wear off, in time. But for now, he won’t be able to move or speak.” The guard knelt down and whispered into Trixie’s ear, “I’m going to chase after him. You coming?”

Trixie panted heavily as she turned to face Shark. “As much as Trixie hates to admit it,” she whispered back, “That last stunt of mine took a lot out of me…” She thought for a second and remembered that Shark was just as badly injured as she was, perhaps even more so. She reconsidered her answer. “Actually, Trixie will follow you,” she said, slowly getting up to her hooves.

Shark nodded and turned to face Twilight and Applejack. “Stay here and look after him. I’ll escort our witness here to Canterlot, where she’ll be safe.”

Twilight nodded. “Maybe I should contact Princess Celestia.”

“No!” Shark shouted quickly, startling Twilight. He cleared his throat and regained his composure. “N-No. You see, uh… s-she’s currently engaged in battle elsewhere!” he said. Twilight’s eyes widened with concern. “There are changeling spies all over this country and she’s personally involved in taking care of them. So, sending her a letter now would be a bad idea…”

“I see,” Twilight said, looking down at the ground with a worried look on her face.

“Don’t worry,” Shark said. “The Princess will be just fine. She has reigned over this country for over one thousand years, y’know?” Twilight smiled and nodded again. With a final farewell, Shark and Trixie took off towards the Everfree Forest. Shark noticed an odd look from Trixie directed at him. “What? I just didn’t want her getting the princess involved, that’s all.”

Back at where Big Macintosh was, Twilight and Applejack turned around when they heard hoofsteps approaching. “Shock?” Twilight asked, seeing the earth pony approaching them.

“Hey there. Wow, what a mess…” Shock said, looking at the small part of the orchard that had been completely destroyed by Shark and Trixie’s battle against Razor. Applejack hadn’t noticed before, being so concerned for her brother’s safety, but when she took a look around and saw the damage, she was furious. Shock walked up to Twilight, ignoring Applejack’s tantrum that she had started to throw, and then looked off into the direction that Shark and Trixie had run off in. “That’s odd… If he’s going to take her to safety, then why are they heading towards the Everfree Forest?”

Twilight and Applejack both turned their heads to see the two of them disappear off into the distance, indeed having headed towards the Everfree Forest. Suddenly, Twilight realised something. “No way!” she shouted. “How did I not see it before!?”

“What?” Shock asked.

“That guard!” she started, “His Royal Guard insignia, the one on his armour… It was outdated!”

Applejack looked confused at that. “So… what does that mean?”

Twilight thought about it for a second and a chill ran down her spine. “It could mean… that he’s be the changeling, in disguise!”

Shock and Applejack both gasped in horror at the thought. “Let’s go! Quick!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Yeah! Trixie may be in danger!” Twilight agreed.

“Then,” Shock said, drawing the attention of both mares, “May I suggest I go with Twilight, whilst you stay here to look after your brother?”

Applejack looked down at Big Macintosh, who was looking right back at her. She smiled. Even without him saying anything, she could understand what he was thinking just fine. “Nah,” she said, rising to her hooves. “He’ll be fine. Changeling’s gone, right?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Shock said, “And it may have backup.”

Twilight looked around and found a nearby bush. She turned to Big Macintosh, who was now sweating nervously as he realised what Twilight was going to do. “Sorry, Big Mac, but it’s for your own safety.”

He nodded reluctantly and felt Twilight’s magic lift him up, with some effort, and move him over to the bush, dropping him gently into it.

The three ponies, now satisfied that Big Macintosh was safe-and-sound, nodded to each other and took off together towards the Everfree Forest.

Razor stumbled through the Everfree forest, breathing heavily as he extended his wings to keep his balance. “Damn… Can’t believe… I fell for that…”

Razor laughed manically as he watched Shark fall to the ground, his life hanging by a thread. “Now I just have to take care of that princess, and then Lord Odysseus will-”

“‘Odysseus’?” Razor jumped and turned around quickly, to find Shark standing behind him, firing both of his claws with his magic. One of them missed, but the other hit Razor in the stomach, breaking his concentration before he could finish conjuring up a spell. “‘Lord Odysseus’? Why, that almost sound treasonous, Razor Tooth.” Shark smirked, and pulled back his two claws, which were attached to his hooves by strings of magic. “Well, not like I care.”

Razor stared at Shark in shock, wondering how he had managed to not only fake his death like that, but had also managed to sneak up on him. “… Damnit, that’s right. That brat’s an illusionist, isn’t she?”

Shark charged forward towards Razor, who reacted almost instinctively by reaching into his satchel and pulling out a small flash bomb, throwing it at Shark.

Razor grinded his teeth together as he crouched down behind a large rock, breathing heavily and clutching onto the wound that his stomach had sustained. ‘Damn, now I can’t see very well… I have to find somewhere to rest up, and then return to Lord Odysseus. These two together are too much for just me alone to… Wait, him! The one I saw in town! He should be coming to my aid soon! I just have to stay alive long enough for him to-’

“I found him!” Razor flinched when he heard Shark’s voice behind him and scrambled to his hooves in order to flee deeper into the forest. “You’re not gettin’ away, Razor!”

Razor used his magic to knock down the trees around him, hoping to slow down his pursuers. He reached a fork in the road, and stopped for a second to pick a direction. He noticed that the right path offered a lot more coverage for him to escape and quickly took off down it. He was about to reach the point where the forest became much denser, but then a sudden blur passed in front of him, followed by a sparkle as a steel claw approached him quickly.

Razor extended his wings and flapped them quickly as he jumped back, avoiding the sudden attack from Shark. Shark ran towards Razor and attacked again, but Razor managed to dodge it despite his injured state. ‘Wait, his attacks are kinda slow, and inaccurate… He must be exhausted! I might still have a chance!’

Shark’s horn lit up as he tried to cast a spell to trip Razor up, but a sudden counterattack knocked him onto his back, his claws slipping from his grasp and flying off to either side. Before he could get up, Razor had pinned him down and threw a hoof towards his face. Shark raised his own hoof to block and tried to push Razor off of himself, but couldn’t find the strength to do so.

Razor pulled his hoof back and charged his magic into his horn. Shark charged his own magic, ready to defend against the incoming attack. Razor pointed his horn down, but his magic faded when a powerful shock passed through his body. He gasped in shock, before falling face-first onto the ground.

Shark released his magic and examined Razor’s body. There was a burn mark on his back with smoke rising up from it, and he could sense residual magic from the attack. He turned his attention to Trixie, who was panting as she pointed her horn at the two changelings. “You… idiot…” Trixie panted, raising her head up and glaring at Shark. She took a moment to catch her breath. “Why did you… go off on your own?”

“Well, you were kinda slow,” Shark said, getting up off of the ground. “I didn’t want him to get away.”

“… In any… case… we should g-go. Trixie will u-use a binding spell to-”

Before Trixie could finish, Shark threw one of his claws at Razor, impaling it into the downed changeling’s head. Trixie gaped at the scene, watching in horror as blood poured from Razor’s head and almost throwing up when the claw was removed. Blood shot up out of the wound and Trixie’s face turned pale, her hooves feeling very cold.

“W… Why did you do that?” she asked quietly, shaking on the spot as she stared at Razor’s motionless body. “He was down… You didn’t have to kill him!”

“Better safe than sorry,” Shark said, adjusting the claw on his hoof. “Now that he’s dead, I’m free from Chrysalis’ grasp.” Shark pointed a hoof to the ground, which Trixie followed to see a small device by Razor’s hoof. “Besides, he wasn’t unconscious. If I hadn’t killed him, we’d have both died just now.”

“… An explosive?” Trixie muttered as she levitated the device to her face and examined it closely. “But even so, you killed him! Surely there was another way!”

“Maybe, but this was the most effective, and by far the most appealing.” Shark’s ears twitched and he quickly picked up Razor’s body. “I’ll be taking this. Gotta destroy it before the Royal Guard finds it. If they uncover the secrets behind changeling magic, they can dispel our disguises, and then I’d be back to running for my life again.”

Trixie heard the sounds of approaching hoofsteps and ponies shouting closing in on them. The sounds were drawing closer and, whilst she was distracted, Shark took Razor’s body and fled deeper into the Everfree Forest.

Trixie glared down the path in front of her, before groaning and turning around, preparing to leave the forest. Before she could, though, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her body. She suddenly remembered all of the energy that she had used that day and realised that it was starting to take its toll on her. She fell down onto her front and failed to pick herself back up again.

“Trixie!? Are you there!?”

Trixie panted as she felt her body grow more tired by the second. She tried again to get up but her body was suddenly heavier than it was moments ago, and was growing moreso with each passing second. Ultimately, her attempts only resulted in Trixie falling onto her stomach again.

“Trixie!”

“Hang in there, Trixie! Twi, go’n warn everypony in town ta stay away from the Everfree Forest! Shock, help me get Trixie outta here!”

Trixie looked up at the blurs of the three ponies above her. “Trixie does not require any help…” she whispered, before her eyes closed and the voices invading her ears slowly faded away into silence.

Trixie awoke in an unfamiliar room. Its walls and ceiling were white, and to her right was a small window, where Trixie could see the night sky outside. Beneath her, Trixie could feel a very comfortable mattress and when she looked down at her body, she could see a clean bed sheet covering her body.

It didn’t take her long to realise that she was in hospital, and that her wounds must have been tended to by the ponies that worked there. Trixie sat up in the bed and heard someone next to her mumbling. She looked to her left to see an orange earth pony sitting next to her, resting her head on Trixie’s bed as she snored away.

“… She must be the pony that brought Trixie here,” Trixie reasoned, before lying back down on the comfortable bed. “How did Trixie get here, anyway?” Trixie thought about it for a bit and then shot back up again as she remembered Aura. ‘I have to check on Aura! I left her all alone!’

Trixie slid out of her bed carefully, both to make sure that she didn’t wake up her guest and also because her wounds were still hurting her. Trixie looked around for her belongings and found them stashed away underneath the bed. She put on her hat and cape and strapped on her saddlebags. ‘I hope Aura stayed inside the trailer.’

Trixie quietly exited the hospital room and made her way through the silent hospital. It was surprisingly empty; she had expected to see at least one doctor or nurse walking around somewhere, but there was no sign of anypony at all. ‘Maybe things work differently in this town?’

“Leaving so soon?” Shock asked as Trixie walked through the hospital’s front doors. Trixie turned around with a jump, narrowing her eyes at the pony who had, again, managed to creep up on her. “Y’know, that farmer, Applejack, sacrificed her entire day to look after you. She wanted to make sure you had somepony there when you woke up. Maybe you oughta thank her before leaving?”

Trixie scoffed and turned her head away. “Trixie didn’t ask to be looked after by anypony! And besides, it would be rude of Trixie to wake her up, would it not?”

Shock sighed and shook his head. “… I’ll tell her you said ‘thanks’.”

“Don’t bother. Trixie won’t do you any favours.”

“Still, are you sure you’re ok? Those wounds looked pretty bad, but the main problem was how much magic you used. You were almost completely drained, y’know?”

Trixie’s glare turned into a suspicious gaze. How was an earth pony like Shock able to tell how much magic she had used? Trixie shook the thought away. “Trixie will be leaving this town soon. Don’t worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will not die from something like this.”

“Die?” Shock asked before laughing. “Wow, what’s with that? I was only saying you might pass out on your way home.”

A tinge of red crossed Trixie’s cheeks, but thankfully, with her back to Shock and under the cover of darkness, she was able to keep that hidden. “A-Anyway, the Great and Powerful Trixie will now be taking her leave. Good day.”

“Good night,” Shock said with a wave of his hoof. Once Trixie was out of sight, Shock sighed and began to walk away in the opposite direction. ‘Razor’s dead, Shark managed to get away, and Aura’s on her way to Canterlot… Man, this is quite a mess. But it’s none of my concern. I have my own job to do, and I can’t afford to be distracted right now.’

Trixie approached her trailer with a series of tired pants, her legs feeling like lead and her back threatening to snap at any given moment. Her head wasn’t doing much better, either, and she didn’t know what the ringing in her ears was, but she was sure that it wasn’t a good sign.

“I should probably remove those traps around town, especially the ones Sweet Apple Acres that I’ve already activated…” Trixie’s neck cracked as she looked up at her trailer’s door and she took in a sharp breath of air before rubbing the sore spot. “… Tomorrow… They can wait a few hours.”

She cautiously peeked inside the trailer, making sure that Aura wasn’t in her true form before opening the door, but she couldn’t see the youngling anywhere. She pushed the door open and walked inside. “Aura?” she asked as she used her magic to close the door – an action that she would regret moments afterward, as the very act of using magic made her headache much worse.

“Aura?” she called out again after not receiving a reply. She found a newspaper on her bed and leaned down to examine it, not wanting to use her magic again in her current state. The article on the front page made her eyes widen in surprise.

Three changelings arrested today – after a fight between three changelings disrupted the peace in Hoofington, the Royal Guard were called in to arrest the three possible terrorists. Currently, the three changelings are being held in Canterlot Castle’s dungeons, where they will be questioned and…

The article went on, but Trixie didn’t care about the rest. When she searched her entire trailer and found that not only had Aura disappeared, but that some of her supplies had been taken, she began to worry. She came across a note attached to her wall that read: ‘I’m sorry.’. Trixie immediately rushed out of her trailer with some supplies and galloped as fast as her aching body would allow her to towards the train station. ‘Oh Celestia, please tell me Aura didn’t go to Canterlot!’

Chrysalis looked over the report delivered to her by one of Alexander’s soldiers. She handed it back to him and dismissed the young soldier. “Things are moving along well. Tomorrow, Alexander, Odysseus and Aura will be avenged… Equestria will feel my full wrath for what it’s done to my children!”

“My queen,” Meta started, “With respect, we do not yet know if Odysseus is dead or not. We should arrange a small rescue party, just in case he’s still alive and fighting for his life.”

Chrysalis nodded and called in one of her guards. She told him to go to the general who had taken over for Alexander and arrange a small squad of the kingdom’s finest tracking and medical soldiers to search for and find Odysseus.

The guard saluted and walked off to complete his order. “With any luck,” Chrysalis began, “Odysseus is still alive out there. I just hope he doesn’t do anything rash.”

“He ran off to Equestria to avenge his brother… I wasn’t aware that the two of them were so close. To make Odysseus lose his cool and do something so illogical…”

Chrysalis chuckled lightly and turned to face her advisor. “I recall you said something similar, back when we still younglings, about me and my sister.”

Meta nodded and held back the smile that was trying to form itself on her face. “That’s right. The two of you were always arguing, and your ideals were so different to each other’s… I was shocked when she sacrificed her life for you like that.”

Chrysalis took a drink of her wine. “Well, despite our differences, we were still family. And I imagine it is much the same for Alexander and Odysseus… Besides, losing two siblings in such a short timeframe is enough to make anybody go mad with rage.”

“My queen…”

Chrysalis held up her wine glass and waited for Meta to pour her own glass join her in her toast. “I was a fool to even consider Aura’s proposal. Equestria will never accept us, just as my sister and I proclaimed. We must crush Equestria, before they can crush us!

“To the destruction of Equestria, and to the glory of the Changeling Kingdom! Tomorrow, we go to war!”

“Tomorrow,” Odysseus began, bringing his wine glass to his lips and taking a sip, “I want to fight alongside you. If you’ll let me.”

“I can’t do that,” Celestia said. “But if what you’ve told me is the truth… then, after this war is over, you and any other changelings that lay down their arms will be granted full protection by our country. After that, we can begin proper peace talks.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Odysseus said, taking another drink from his glass. ‘Tomorrow, Mother will fall… and with any luck, Celestia too. But regardless of the outcome, the moment that Mother is defeated, I can make my move.’ A laugh almost escaped Odysseus’ lips, but he restrained himself in front of the princess. ‘Tomorrow, I will declare checkmate on both countries’ rulers.’

Chapter 9

Aura smiled as she walked into her room. Nothing beat that feeling one got when returning home after spending a long day at school, having their head crammed with all sorts of knowledge that likely would never come into play later on in life.

As she entered, she was greeted by a series of loud bangs and sprays of confetti flying towards her. She stood frozen as she looked around at all of the changelings in the room. Her maids and butlers were there, most of her tutors were there, her knights were there, and even some students from her class were there, too. Her two brothers were also there, but there was no sign of either of her sisters or of her mother.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” everybody all cheered in unison. Alexander and Odysseus stepped forward and the latter offered her a slice of chocolate cake.

“Happy birthday, Sis,” Alexander said, roughing up the youngling’s mane a little bit. “Another year, but you’re still a runt. Hurry up and grow a bit so I can teach ya how ta fight.”

Odysseus rolled his eyes and levitated a fork to his younger sister. “Don’t listen to him. The last thing we need is another brute walking these halls.”

Aura giggled as her two brothers began bickering. She saw Knight approaching her from the side and turned to address him. “Who came up with all this?” she asked.

“All of us did,” Knight answered, stopping just short of Aura and bowing to her. “That’s why I didn’t accompany you today, Princess.”

“I see,” she said, motioning for him to rise. She took another look around the room and then turned back to her siblings. “Where are Mother, and our sisters?”

The two brothers’ argument and they faced Aura together. “Victoria caught ill this morning, and Elizabeth is looking after her,” Odysseus explained.

Aura looked concerned at this news. “It’s not… serious, is it?” she asked, her voice shaking.

Alexander laughed at Aura’s question, resulting in a deadpan stare from the youngling. “Nah, she’s just got a cold. Liz’s just overreacting is all. As for Mother, she’s a little busy right now, but-”

“But for her daughter, she’ll make some adjustments to her schedule.” The three siblings turned to see their mother, Queen Chrysalis, approaching from the room’s entrance. Everyone in the room, including the three siblings, bowed to their queen upon her arrival. She ordered everybody to rise and then looked down and smiled at her daughter. “Happy Birthday, Aura. It seems like only yesterday that Odysseus was celebrating his sixth birthday.”

Alexander grinned at his mother. “What’s the matter? Ya feeling old, Ma?”

“Brother!” Odysseus scolded before bowing again to his mother. “Apologies, Mother. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

Chrysalis simply laughed it off. “No, he’s right. The years just seem to fly by… and I’m constantly reminded that I’m not as young as I once was.”

“Nonsense, Mother. You still have many, many years before it’s time for you to pass on the throne.” Odysseus turned to Aura, who was smiling brightly as she hugged their mother. “But anyway, perhaps we should move things along? I believe there are a pile of presents over there for you, Aura.”

Aura’s eyes lit up and she looked around the room excitedly. “Really? Where?” She stopped when she realised her behaviour and cleared her throat, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red. “I mean… I would like that, Brother.”

Odysseus and Alexander couldn’t help but chuckle at Aura’s actions, although Odysseus at least tried to hide his laughter. Alexander stepped forward after he was finish. “This way, Sis.”

Aura handed her used fork and plate to one of her maids, who took it away to the kitchen connected to the room. Alexander led Aura to a table with a pile of presents on it and smiled when he saw his sister’s excitement grow tenfold.

“Well?” Odysseus said, stepping next to his sister. “Go ahead, Sister. Open your presents.”

Aura nodded and ran forward to open her presents one-by-one. The first one she opened was from Odysseus. It was a first edition copy of the newest story in a series of youngling books that Aura liked, something that caused Aura to jump up in joy and hug her brother tightly. “Thank you, Brother! I love it! Thank you so much!”

“I’m glad you like it,” Odysseus said, patting his sister’s head lightly.

“Yeah, a book’s alright,” Alexander said, “But really, she could’ve gotten that anywhere.”

“It’s the thought that counts, Brother,” Odysseus said, narrowing his eyes at Alexander. “So, what did you get her?”

Alexander grinned at Odysseus’ question. “Well, it’s her sixth birthday today. That means she’s finally old enough.”

Odysseus sighed and facehooved. “Really? You got her that?”

“What? What? What did you get me?” Aura asked, practically jumping up-and-down.

“Why don’t ya find out?” Alexander asked, pointing to the presents behind her.

Aura turned around and examined each present, eventually finding the one that was from Alexander. She opened it, revealing a bottle of wine.

“You’re finally old enough ta drink wine, so I thought I’d get you a really good bottle for your first time,” Alexander said, grinning as he called over a maid. The maid was carrying a tray of wine glasses. “So, shall we have a toast?”

Aura looked at Alexander worriedly. “Um… I don’t know…”

“C’mon, don’t be shy!”

Odysseus sighed and stepped between his two siblings. “Well, he does have a point. You’re old enough to drink now, and as it is tradition to drink wine during important ceremonies and certain events, so it might be a good idea to get used to the taste and the feeling as soon as possible.”

“Aura’s gonna drink?” a male youngling asked as he cautiously walked past the two princes. “Can we join? We’re old enough, too!”

“That’s Princess Aura,” another youngling scolded as she approached her friend and nudged his side.

Alexander levitated three wine glasses to the three younglings. “Sure! The more the merrier, right?” He gave another glass to his brother and another to his mother, before taking one for himself. “Well, Aura? Would you care to do the honours?”

Aura’s looked at her brothers, and then to her friends. She smiled nervously and concentrated her magic on the bottle in order to open it, pouring wine into each glass once the cork was removed, saving her own glass for last.

Once she was done, Aura’s friends and family watched as they waited for her to take the first drink. She looked at her glass and swirled the liquid inside, and then slowly brought it to her lips. She had to admit that it wasn’t as bad as she had feared and relaxed a little as she continued to drink the wine. Soon, she was being joined by the others.

“Congrats, Aura!” Alexander shouted when he was finished. “Two more years and you can wield a weapon! Then I’ll teach you everythin’ I know!”

Aura smiled at her brother. “Thank you.”

Aura rubbed her eyes as she awoke. She found Odysseus tucking her into her bed and shifted about slightly to sit up straight. “Brother?”

“Ah, sorry Aura. Did I wake you?” Odysseus sat down onto the edge of the bed and looked into his sister’s eyes. “You fell asleep near the end of the party. Perhaps we overdid it with the festivities…”

Aura shook her head and looked over at her clock. It was nearly midnight. She recalled that her mother had to leave halfway through the party and turned to her Odysseus. “Brother?”

“Yes?”

“Mother… she does love us, right?”

Odysseus frowned, but didn’t take his eyes away from Aura’s. “Of course she does. She’s just busy, that’s all.” Aura didn’t look so sure. “It’s the fate we must suffer with our royal blood. But rest assured that we all love you, Aura. Your mother especially.”

“Are you sure?”

Odysseus smiled warmly at his sister. “Let me tell you a story, Sister. When I turned six years old, Mother was unable to attend my birthday party. It had been two whole weeks since I had last seen her, and I was… feeling rather lonely. So I did something drastic and broke my hind leg, to try to get her attention.”

“And what happened?”

“She scolded me, of course,” Odysseus said with a little laughter. “And she punished me by ordering my knights not to read me any bedtime stories for a full month. But then afterwards, she held me close and assured me that she loved me, and all of her children, very much, with tears in her eyes.

“So you see, Aura, you should never assume, for even one second, that Mother does not love you. Because that could not be any further from the truth.”

Aura smiled and gave a soft yawn, before she felt her eyes growing heavy. “I see… Thank you, Brother…”

“Sweet dreams, Aura.”

“Next stop: Canterlot. Canterlot is the next stop.”

Aura woke up to the sound of the train’s intercom, and she stretched her hooves as she yawned.

“Next stop: Canterlot. Canterlot is the next stop. Please have your tickets ready for inspection.”

Aura flinched at the warning and looked down towards the end of the train car, where she saw a train attendant moving down, requesting to see everypony’s tickets.

‘Well, this is where I get off, I guess,’ Aura thought as she focused her magic on the window next to her. As a youngling, she could only disguise herself as a foal, which made it impossible to buy a ticket on her own. Instead, she had to sneak onboard and just hope that she didn’t get caught.

She unlocked the window and opened it. She then jumped off her seat and levitated the saddlebag that she had borrowed from Trixie onto her back. She looked around to make sure that nopony was watching and then climbed up to the window and jumped out.

She quickly altered her disguise to expose a pair of wings and started to flap them as fast as she could to slow herself down, using her magic to shield her body as she made contact with the hard ground. She rolled around for a bit, but was spared much pain thanks to her magic.

When she had finally stopped rolling, Aura got up and dusted herself off before turning around to face the grand city of Canterlot, not too far from where she had landed. She hid her wings once more and began walking towards the city. “Well, I guess I’m hoofing it from this point on.”

‘It’s strange,’ Aura thought to herself. ‘Why would they send Shark to kill me, when at best I’m only a D-rank ‘criminal’? No matter where I go, allied country or enemy country, I’m no threat at all to them. It was unnecessary to go so far.

‘And then they send Razor to kill Shark, to silence him… But Odysseus said that Mother ordered my death to appease those I offended, so why keep it silent? If they really were just trying to kill Shark because they feared him, then why not send in more soldiers to do the job? Unless there was a reason that they couldn’t.

‘And now, Alexander has come here, and was fighting with two other changelings. That settles it. Something is going on, and I have no intention of being left in the dark.’

Trixie handed the train attendant her ticket and waited whilst he examined it. He handed it back to her and she continued her peaceful viewing of the scenery outside of her window. Although her thoughts were anything but peaceful.

‘That idiot. Just wait ‘til I find her. I did not almost suffer a magical meltdown just so that fill- youngling, could get herself locked away and… maybe even executed? … Is that what they do to changelings? Maybe she’ll just be banished. But she’s a fugitive, so she has nowhere else to go. Argh! This is so frustrating. Why did I have to meet her in the first place?!’

“Excuse me. Miss?” Trixie looked up to see the train attendant looking at her. “We’re here. You’ll have to get off the train now.”

“Oh, right,” Trixie said, rising to her hooves and levitating her saddlebags onto her back.

Trixie had no idea where to even start looking for Aura, but assumed that the guards near the castle might know something. Of course, she couldn’t just expect them to divulge sensitive information simply by asking them…

She noticed two guards by the southern entrance to the castle’s courtyard, both of them wearing strange, bulky goggles that gathered much attention from passing crowds. “What’s with that? Some kind of new fashion statement?”

She approached the guards and donned the face of a nervous tourist as she entered ‘stage mode’. “Excuse me!” The guards turned to face the blue mare approaching them. “Could you help me, please? I’m lost and am having trouble finding Fifth Street.”

One of the guards turned his attention back to the streets, whilst the other guard pointed a hoof down the street behind Trixie. “Just go straight down here and take a left at the statue of Clover the Clever. You can cut through the park to enter Fifth Street.”

“Oh, thank you, sir!” Trixie said, leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on the guard’s cheek, causing him to blush a little bit. She heard his partner snicker when his wings popped out and took the opportunity to hover a small listening device from her mane and place it behind the guard’s ear. It was only a simple gadget, used to time her tricks during shows, but it also worked sufficiently for eavesdropping from a safe distance.

In an attempt to shift the conversation between them to what she wanted, she used her magic to ‘accidentally’ knock the page of a newspaper from a nearby stand as she walked down the street, causing it to blow through the wind towards them. The page in question contained an article about the captured changelings.

Once she was a safe distance away, she tuned into the device and began listening.

“Hey, wasn’t there another changeling caught this morning?”

‘Wow. That worked great!’ Trixie thought to herself with delight.

“Yeah, a rather young one, this time. Well, small at least. Celestia only knows how old they really are.

“What d’you think they’ll do with ‘em?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’ll be treated as prisoners of war? I only hope for their sakes that Princess Luna isn’t placed in charge of them.”

“It’s funny. For somepony who’s able to so easily get with the times, her royal and political attitudes are still, like, ancient. Did ya see how shocked she was when she heard stealing fruit was no longer punishable by beheading?”

“I know. Kinda scary to think ponies used to do stuff like that.”

The conversation quickly derailed, leading towards talk about pony history, and then somehow leading on towards a debate on whether bowling is better than ice-skating. The Royal Guard were clearly focused on their duties.

She turned back around to face the castle behind her, gulping as she slowly started to walk forwards. If the youngling they caught this morning was Aura – which it most likely was – then that meant that she was probably being held in the castle’s dungeon with the other changelings… Which meant that, in order to save her, Trixie would need to go up against the Royal Guard.

‘What am I doing? I’m strong, sure, but to go against the Royal Guard? That’s just… stupid! Insane! And for what? That youngling? That youngling who clearly doesn’t appreciate everything I’ve done to help her? That youngling who…’

Trixie stopped Aura’s face appeared through her mind and Trixie stomped a hoof on the ground as she felt her heart swaying again. Aura’s frightened eyes, pleading for help, caused Trixie to swallow the lump in her throat and sigh as her heart made her decision for her. “Trixie must be mad to even consider this!”

Trixie braced herself and began to move towards the castle’s entrance. ‘Well, guess that’ll be my defence in court…’

Aura awoke in what appeared to be a very cliché dungeon from a typical children’s fairytale. Dark stone walls, stone floor, stone ceiling, a cold chill in the air, a nasty stench all around her, and even a wooden bucket in the corner beneath a slab that was presumably her bed.

“Finally awake, huh?”

Aura raised her head to the voice that had called out to her and gasped. In the cell opposite to hers, another changeling was shackled to the wall. “W-Who are you?” she asked, before realising that her disguise was gone. “What happened?”

“You got caught, that’s what,” the changeling said. “Odysseus’ gadget, that allows one to see through a changeling’s disguise. Worked like a charm.” The changeling laughed for a bit, unsettling the youngling. “Oh, sorry. My name is Blaze Stockford. Nice to meet you, Princess Aura.”

“She’s a traitor,” another voice said, this one to Aura’s side. Aura looked to her right – realising as she did so that she was also shackled to the wall – and saw another changeling. This one she recognised. “B… Brother?”

“Nice ta see ya again, Aura,” Alexander said, although his voice was weak, and he was panting very heavily. “I’d like ta say I’m glad you’re still alive, but I guess, now that you’ve been caught, it won’t last for long.”

“Too true,” a third voice said. Aura turned to the cell next to Blaze’s and saw another changeling that she didn’t recognise. “Soon, Lord Odysseus will be here to see to it personally that you two die. And, of course, to free his loyal subjects.”

“How can you be sure, Chill?” Alexander asked in a spiteful tone.

“Please. Lord Odysseus isn’t the kind who would abandon his own comrades,” Chill answered confidently.

“Funny. I never pictured him the kind to betray his siblings, either, but I guess ya can never really be sure about some changelings these days.”

“Um,” Aura interrupted, getting her brother’s attention, “What’s going on? What’s this about… Odysseus… betraying us?” Alexander didn’t answer quickly enough, so Aura pressed further. “Alexander, please… No, I need answers!” she shouted, trying to sound intimidating and assertive. “Did Mother really sign that document ordering my execution?! Why go to such lengths to ensure my death?! Why-”

“Sheesh, calm down, would ya?” Blaze said, cutting Aura off. “It doesn’t matter anyway, since you’ll be dead soon enough.”

Aura turned from her brother to the female changeling in front of her, and then to the male one who started laughing shortly afterwards. “Yep! Ain’t no one comin’ ta save you, Princess! No one!”

Trixie knocked out the last guard in front of the armoury and propped them up to make it seem as though they were conscious… if looked at from a distance, that is.

“This is almost too easy. It’s like they have no fear of being invaded so long as their princess is here to protect them,” Trixie said to herself as she entered the armoury. “Now that Trixie thinks about it, various text books do mention that Canterlot, whenever attacked, get damaged pretty badly before Celestia repels the invading forces… They should really do something about their security detail.”

Trixie found the locker of one ‘Shining Armor’, who was seemingly ranked captain. She used her magic to pick the lock, which was actually a more challenging task than knocking out the three guards outside of the armoury, and smiled when she saw the armour inside.

She took off her hat and cape, put them into her saddlebag, and donned the armour. She then looked over to the weapons cabinet and used her magic to force it open. She looked through the choice of weapons – which were mostly polearms with the occasional throwing knife or dagger – and picked up a halberd with her magic.

She slid the halberd into a slot on the side of her armour and looked herself over in a nearby mirror. “Okay, time to go,” she said to herself, leaving the armoury and making her way through the castle. She would later realise that she had no idea where she was going… and also that the members of the Royal Guard were taught to memorise each captain and general’s name and face almost religiously.

Celestia boarded her chariot and turned to face her sister one final time, before heading off towards the battlefield. “Luna, are you sure that you’ll be okay running a full day by yourself?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “We told you not to worry, dear Sister. We will be just fine. Isn’t it about time you stop treating us like such a child?”

Celestia smiled and nodded. “Right, sorry. I guess I just like to worry… See you, Luna. Hopefully, this war will be over quickly, and without too many casualties.”

“Fare thee well, Sister!” Luna shouted as she waved her sister goodbye. As soon as Celestia was out of sight, a grin crossed Luna’s face and her horn glowed green as she gathered energy into it. The two guards beside her were surrounded by green flames, and their muffled screams filled the air as the flames drew closer, burning both of them alive slowly. “Now then, first my siblings, and then the Elements.”

Chapter 10

Trixie casually strolled down the hallway, doing her best to act like she belonged there. It would have helped if she knew more about how the Royal Guard acted, but as it was, she had to really largely on her improvisational skills.

“You there!” she shouted to a random guard as she passed her by. “Are you free right now?”

“Er, yes, sir, Captain… Uh…”

“Trixie!” Trixie could have slapped herself for using her real name so stupidly, but she realised that it was too late to reverse the damage by that point. She decided to simply roll with it. “I’ve been on leave for some time and returned only recently.”

“Ooh! I see… Forgive me for not recognising you, sir!”

“It’s fine. Just escort me to where the changeling prisoners are being held.”

“Escort, sir?”

“Like I said, I have been away for some time. I’m ashamed to admit that I am still not used to the layout of the castle and so I need some assistance finding my way around.”

The guard nodded and then saluted. “Yes, sir! I’ll lead the way for you, sir!” She turned around and began to walk down the corridor with Trixie following behind her.

‘Well, this is going well,’ Trixie thought to herself.

“There isn’t any Captain Trixie!” the guard shouted as he pointed an accusing hoof at Trixie.

Trixie looked between the three guards as she took a step back, smiling at them nervously. “W-Wait… There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this…”

“And that would be?” the female guard who had escorted Trixie asked.

“This!” Trixie drew her halberd with her magic and lunged it towards the middle guard, who seemed to be the most muscular of the three. She managed to knock him down and then turned her attention to the female guard. Trixie swung her weapon, knocking the guard against a wall.

“Halt!” the final guard shouted, drawing his spear and thrusting it at Trixie.

Trixie parried the spear with her magic and took off down the corridor, in the direction she was being led down before running into those two guards.

“After her!”

Trixie lifted her helmet off and threw it behind her, hoping that it would hit her pursuer. “Damnit! This isn’t as easy as Trixie hoped it would be!”

Aura trembled in her cell, a mix of emotions coursing through her as she simply stared at the hard, cold ground beneath her. Shock, sadness, fear, confusion… and anger. She had been frustrated in the past, but never angry. The news of her brother’s betrayal was too much for her. The news that her mother was being set up, and that the only purpose her execution served was to incite a war between nations. It all made the youngling’s blood boil for the first time in her life.

“That can’t be… Odysseus… Odysseus is one of the kindest changelings I know. He’s always been there for me whenever I was upset! He would never do something like that!”

“Really?” Alexander asked, turning his gaze to Blaze and casting a sharp glare. “Well, believe it or not, but it’s true. Odysseus had all of us fooled.”

“Fooled?” Blaze laughed. “That’s not quite right. You just never understood your brother as you as you’d like to think you did.”

“What do you mean?” Aura asked, lifting her head as she addressed Blaze.

“Lord Odysseus cares for each of you deeply. Heck, he even carries photos of you around with him at all times and talks about you a lot during his free time with us.”

“Yeah, the guy’s just crazy is all,” Chill said, earning a scowl from Aura and a confused look from Alexander. “A complete workaholic, too. He likes you guys, sure, but he cares for his ‘goal’ more. He wouldn’t let something stand in his way of it, not even family.”

Alexander remembered how Odysseus referred to himself. “That crap about him being ‘evolved’?”

“Ah, that,” Blaze said, her face turning into a frown as she solemnly shook her head. “Yeah, that’s what my brother means when he says that Lord Odysseus is crazy.”

“So why d’you follow him if you know that?” Alexander asked.

“Because we’re wanted criminals,” Blaze answered, surprising the two royal siblings. “Locked away by Queen Chrysalis for no reason whatsoever.”

“You were?” Alexander asked. “That’s odd. I’ve never come across your names before in our criminal database…”

Blaze and Chill exchanged surprised glances. “It was about five years ago when the three of us were arrested,” Blaze said. “My two younger brothers, Chill and Shock, and myself. We were never told why, it just… happened. Lord Odysseus saved us, and so, we now dedicate our lives to serving him.”

Alexander would have put a hoof to his chin, had his hooves not been shackled up against the wall behind him. “How strange… But it doesn’t change the fact that Odysseus is just using you. Once he’s done with you, he’ll kill you for sure.”

“Lord Odysseus would never do that!” Chill shouted. “He’s crazy, but he’s also loyal!”

“He’ll do it to silence you,” Aura said, her head hanging low as tears rolled down her face and dripped onto the already-damp floor. “Just like he tried to kill Shark. That’s also why he went to such great lengths to kill me,” she gasped as everything suddenly started to add up to her.

Alexander nodded his head. “Odysseus is smart. Very smart, and very cautious. His strategies are brilliant because he eliminates all risk as soon as possible. He can come up with plans that no one else could ever predict.” Alexander’s eyes narrowed. “From what I saw in his hidden documents, he’s been able to hide his illegal activities for all of these years by silencing all witnesses.”

A silence passed in the dungeon, and was only broken by the sounds of a struggle in the corridor outside.

“The hell is that?” Alexander asked.

Trixie slammed a few guards against the wall with her magic and knocked them out with some bucks to their faces.

“Captain Precision Perfect! The intruder went that way!”

“Stop right there, criminal-”

Trixie cut off the advancing captain’s warning by slamming a door into his face. She then rushed into the dungeon’s reception and locked the door tight with a magical spell. The captain on the other side began to bang against the door, but considering that it was reinforced, Trixie was sure that it would hold.

She turned around just in time to see two guards advancing on her. Trixie used her halberd to block their spears. Whilst their weapons were locked, she used her magic to teleport behind the two guards and unleashed a cloud of smoke to obscure their visions.

She struck the backs of the guards’ necks – which were unguarded by their armour – with her hooves, knocking the two guards out swiftly. “Okay, now to find Aura… Thank Celestia running randomly through the castle resulted in Trixie finding the castle’s dungeon. Of course, getting out might be a problem now.”

Trixie searched the reception’s filing cabinets until she had found the folder that she was looking for. After taking out the appropriate document, she then descended down deeper into the dungeon. On her way she passed by a storage area, where the belongings of the various prisoners locked away in the dungeon were being held. She used a locator spell to see if she could find the saddlebag that Aura had taken from her.

“Ah-hah!” she shouted as she followed her spell’s pull. She eventually came across her saddlebag and picked it up, after checking and confirming that her stolen belongings were all still inside. “Now to find the cell where Aura is beings held.”

“Halt!”

Trixie looked up and saw two guards charging towards her. ‘Do they not think of trying to taking me by surprise?’ she wondered as she rolled her eyes. She charged up some magic into her horn and blasted them with a dazing spell that caused them to fumble and trip over each other into an undignified pile. She jumped over the pile and charged through the dungeon, lifting the document that she had stolen to her face. “The ‘Special Block’, huh? At least she’s getting the royal treatment,” Trixie joked as she rounded a corner.

“STOP! INTRUDER!”

Trixie was met with more guards as she passed through the corridor, causing her to stop occasionally to parry their attacks with her halberd and make use of her magic to stun them.

At long last, Trixie reached the deepest section of the dungeon. Also known as the ‘Special Block’, where, as the name suggested, criminals of a special nature were locked inside. Criminals too powerful to be restrained by normal means, criminals that were banished but then returned, and prisoners of war.

After spending some time fumbling about with the lock, Trixie was finally able to make her way inside the Special Block, slamming the door shut just before a group of five guards could follow her inside. Using her magic, Trixie welded the door shut to buy herself some time. “Aura, just hang on a little longer.”

“What is the cause of this disturbance?!” Princess Luna shouted as she approached the crowd of guards gathered outside of the dungeon’s reception area, driving a battering ram into the reinforced door. “Explain thyself!” she commanded to the captain leading the troops.

“Princess Luna, sir!” Captain Precision Perfect shouted, saluting alongside his comrades. “Terribly sorry for this disturbance, but an intruder has made their way into the castle’s dungeon, sir!”

Luna raised an eyebrow and then motioned for the captain to stand aside. Her horn glowed green and, a second later, the door was blasted open by her magic. “We shall go in alone. You are ordered to guard this entrance in case the intruder tries to escape!”

“B-But Princess Luna-”

“No buts! This intruder could be the changeling prince, Odysseus! I will need to be able to fight him at my full strength, which will be impossible with my troops in harm’s way.”

The captain nodded in understanding and saluted his princess. “Yes, sir! As you command, sir!”

Luna descended down into the dungeon and came across a few injured guards lying unconscious on the floor. She heard shouting and banging ahead and quickened her pace, eventually reaching a crowd of guards banging on the door to the Special Block.

“At ease, soldiers!” The guards quickly halted and turned to their princess, saluting her arrival. “We shall take over from here! We order each and every one of you to stay outside and guard the exit!”

“Yes, sir! But the door…”

Luna walked past the guards and focused her magic on the door. She felt that the door had been welded shut and grinned. “Amateur’s work,” she said as she used her own magic to unweld it. ‘Who is this, I wonder? Shark?’

Once the door was open, Luna walked inside and then closed it again, using her magic to lock it. She walked through the corridor until she reached the cellblock with the captured changelings inside. As she opened the door and looked inside, Princess Luna was taken aback by what she saw. Two changelings and a blue mare wearing a pointed hat and a cape were standing over two changeling corpses.

“You didn’t have to kill them!” the pony shouted.

“Trixie’s right; that was going too far, Brother!” the youngling added.

“Shut up, both of you!” the taller changeling replied in a threatening tone. “They were the enemy! It had to be done! This is war!”

Luna smirked and approached the group. They took notice and turned to face her, each one taking a cautious step back as they raised their guards. The pony, ‘Trixie’, stepped forward and stood in front of Aura.

“Well, well. It seems you’ve saved me a job…” Green flames surrounded Luna and, when they faded, a grinning changeling wearing a brown cloak stood where the princess had been standing previously. “… Brother.”

Alexander moved forward, gritting his teeth together and baring his fangs at his younger brother. “You bastard… How dare you show your face to me after what you did?!”

“Yes, well, in your state, I don’t really need to worry about you anymore. And Aura is hardly what I’d call a threat. But the pony, on the other hoof… I must say, I wasn’t expecting this.”

“You were on your way down to kill us, weren’t you?” Aura asked, sticking her head out from behind Trixie’s leg. “So it’s true? You betrayed us all? Your family… and your kingdom?”

“… My family, yes. My kingdom? Not at all. After all, once I’m finished with my plans, our kingdom will become more glorious than it ever has been in our history.”

“So this is Odysseus?” Trixie asked Alexander. Alexander simply nodded and Trixie’s eyes narrowed as she continued glaring at Odysseus. “Aura, stay behind me.”

Odysseus raised an eyebrow at the blue unicorn in front of him. “How strange… A pony. protecting a changeling?” Odysseus shrugged his shoulders and then took a few steps forward, before stopping when Alexander’s horn lit up threateningly. “Well, no matter. Soon, all of you will be dead. Actually, you made it easier. This way, I won’t have to collapse the whole dungeon just to cover my tacks.”

Aura gasped and turned away from her brother, tears welling up in her eyes. Alexander’s glare intensified and he took a step forward. ‘Maybe I should’ve knocked her out after all… No. She needs to know the truth.’ “So you were going to kill us all. Even you comrades.”

“Comrades?” Odysseus asked, before turning to face the corpses next to the group. “Oh, you mean them. I prefer to think of them as… tools.”

“Damnit!” Alexander shouted, shooting a blast of magic at Odysseus. Odysseus simply deflected the blast and allowed Alexander to continue his outrage. “How dare you?! Those are changelings, not ‘tools’! You don’t get to play around with lives like that! Like they’re only there for you own convenience!”

“And how is that any different from what you do? You’ve killed countless numbers on the battlefield-”

“Those are enemy soldiers who had the chance to surrender! You’re manipulating your allies and killing them just to keep them silent! You’re a menace, Odysseus!”

Odysseus sighed as he shook his head. “Well, of course I would want to keep them silent. After all, if they reveal my plans to the wrong changelings, then it will all be over for me. How is that so hard to understand?”

“And what about loyalty, huh?! Those two looked up to you for saving them! They gave their lives to you, and you-”

“Misplaced loyalty is not the same as true loyalty,” Odysseus said, silencing his brother. “You see, true loyalty is when one unconditionally gives their lives to serve you, of their own free will. But misplaced loyalty is much different. It is when one thinks that they’re serving you of their own will, when their strings are truly being pulled behind the scenes. Such ‘loyalty’ is dangerous, as it can a betrayal if they were ever to discover the truth.”

“What ‘truth’?”

Odysseus shrugged. “You say that they ‘looked up to me’ because I saved them. Well, what do you suppose would happen if they ever discovered that I had set the whole thing up from the very beginning?”

Alexander said nothing more. Aura’s tears continued to flow strong as she closed her eyes to the truth and she was wishing aloud to ‘wake up’.

“… I see now,” Alexander said after a moment of silence. “You arrested them back then. Unofficially, too. That’s why there was no record of it.”

“Ah, so you do some brains behind that muscle, then,” Odysseus said, provoking his brother even further. “Any more questions? I’m on a busy schedule, so I would appreciate it if-” Odysseus stopped as he sensed something behind him. He spun around quickly on the spot, gasping as he saw female changeling charging towards him with several flames burning strongly around her. “What?!” Odysseus shouted as he jumped back and drew a knife from within his cloak. He threw it at the changeling and the knife pierced her chest, causing her to collapse to the floor in front of him.

“BLAZE!”

Odysseus spun around and saw Chill standing next to Alexander, trying to charge forward but being stopped by Alexander’s hoof. Odysseus turned his head slightly, making sure to keep an eye on Alexander and Chill, and found that the corpses were gone. He quickly pieced everything together and turned to face the unicorn.

“… I see. An illusionist.” Odysseus released the breath that he was holding and his grin returned to his face. “But unfortunately for you, it seems that you had been holding that illusion longer than you were capable of. And that one split-second where you had slipped up was all that I needed.”

Trixie growled at the changeling, angry that her illusion had failed to catch him off-guard. “Damnit… Now what?”

Chill stopped struggling against Alexander’s hoof and summoned seven butterflies around him, all of which became frozen in ice.

“We can’t fight him in this state,” Alexander said. “We have ta get out of here somehow!”

“Trixie has an idea, but…” Trixie levitated the saddlebag that Aura had taken from her and began searching through it. “Please be here, please be here…”

“Hurry up!” Alexander shouted, stepping in front of Trixie as Odysseus approached.

Odysseus stopped when he felt something approaching him from behind. He turned around and summoned his magic to shield himself from Blaze’s fiery attack.

“Hurry!” Blaze shouted, firing blast after blast at Odysseus as she lay on her front on the floor. “I’ll keep him at bay! You all need to flee!”

“But Sister-”

“Go!” she shouted, firing one more blast, before being struck in the forehead by a flying knife. Her face froze in its state of shock and she fell flat on the floor, blood pouring from her wound.

Chill was unable to move, speak, or do anything. He simply stood there, his face frozen in horror as he stared at his sister’s unmoving body. Aura gasped and turned her head away, her entire body shaking and her forehooves covering her ears. Alexander continued to stand guard in front of Trixie as his muscles tensed. ‘Damnit! We’re all still weak from our fight and being locked in here for so long!’ Alexander’s horn lit up as Odysseus turned to face him once more.

“Yes!” Trixie shouted with excitement, having missed the horrific scene that the others had just beared witness to. “It’s here! We can still get out of this mess!”

Odysseus’ ear twitched and he looked past Alexander to find Trixie holding some kind of orb. “Well hurry it up already!” he demanded.

Trixie charged magic into the sphere in front of her, prompting Odysseus to draw more knives from his cloak and throw them at the showmare. Alexander blocked each one with his left foreleg as he continued to guard Trixie.

After a sudden flash of light, which prompted Odysseus to erect a barrier around himself, the prince waited for his eyesight to return to normal before making a move. When he could see once more, he simply stared in front of him in surprise. “… What the hell?” he asked no one in particular as he stared at the empty space before him. “Long-range teleportation? No, that’s not it…”

His ears twitched and he spun around quickly as he heard the sound of the door behind him opening. ‘An invisibility spell! Of course!’

For a moment, Odysseus considered going after them, but ultimately concluded that it would no good. They had gotten away… for the time being.

With a defeated sigh, Odysseus reapplied his disguise of Princess Luna and proceeded out into the corridor outside. As he walked, a grin crossed his face. ‘Well, at least this way, I can justify going to Ponyville, meaning I won’t have to sneak around. Also, I can have security here tightened without it looking suspicious.’

Trixie had remained silent for what had felt like hours. She wasn’t used to being so silent around others, but in the situation that she had found herself in, she wasn’t sure what to say. She wanted to yell at Aura for all that she had put the showmare through, but Aura was too busy curling herself up into a ball, staring at the campfire in front of her. Her sobbing had stopped forty minutes ago, but the youngling still remained as silent as Trixie had been.

Alexander and Chill returned to the campsite after spending twenty-five minutes making sure that the perimeter was safe. The four sat awkwardly around the campfire for several minutes before Alexander took a break from bandaging his wounds to speak up. “Um… thanks, pony,” he said, with venom in his voice, as if the very act of thanking Trixie was completely repugnant to him.

Trixie held her head up high into the air. “No need to thank the Great and Powerful Trixie. She only saved you because she thought that you could be of help to her… That, and Aura would most definitely not leave without you.”

Alexander glared at Trixie for a few moments before continuing to apply bandages to cover his wounds. “So, what’s your relationship with my sister, anyway?”

“… Trixie has sworn to protect her,” Trixie said, causing Aura’s to react by lifting her head up to face the showmare. “That is all.”

Chill kicked a stone in front of him as stared at the ground with gritted teeth and shaking eyes. “I can’t believe it… That bastard, he set us up this whole time.”

Alexander let out a deep sigh and put whatever bandages were remaining back into Trixie’s bag, next to the sphere that they had used to escape earlier. “How the hell did you do that earlier?”

Trixie looked down into her bag and at the sphere that she had stashed away during their escape. “These spheres are like spell flatpacks. They are precast spells that need only be charged by magic in order to be cast. The invisibility spell is especially important to Trixie as the spell itself is so complex it would ordinarily take five minutes to conjure up.”

“What d’ya use it for?”

“Trixie is a magician. Beyond that, she will leave for you to figure out on your own.”

Alexander harrumphed and turned his head to Chill. “So, what now?” he asked. “There’s no doubt that Odysseus is gonna do whatever it takes to stop Aura and me from meeting up with our mother, and in our conditions, we can’t risk being spotted on the way back to the Changeling Kingdom.”

Chill suddenly jumped up to his hooves with a gasp as he realised something. “Shock… Shock is still in Ponyville! He’s completely unaware of Odysseus’ betrayal!”

Trixie rested her chin on her forehoof. “Calm down,” Trixie said. “Trixie believes she met this ‘Shock’ whilst she was in Ponyville before. She can simply take Aura back there and-”

“NO!” Chill shouted, startling Trixie. “Don’t you get it?! Odysseus’ next move is to go to Ponyville… To use the Elements of Harmony! That’s why Shock is there in the first place, to watch them until Odysseus gets there!”

Trixie flinched and turned her gaze to Aura, who still hadn’t seemed to react at all to any of this conversation.

“… Well, that’s not good,” Trixie said, slouching down as she ran several ideas through her head. “Now what? Trixie has to take Aura somewhere safe, but…”

“That won’t work,” Alexander said. “Now that Odysseus has seen you, he’ll make sure you don’t get in his way. And besides, if Odysseus’ plans succeed, Equestria will be screwed, y’know?”

Trixie scoffed at Alexander’s remark. “Please. Equestria has stopped the changeling invasions of the past, they can surely-”

“The changeling invasions of the past were all orchestrated by Mother, or her mother,” Alexander pointed out. “They were soft. Even if they were fighting ponies, they tried not to kill unless it was absolutely necessary… To be honest, I’ll never understand what those two were thinking all those times. Why hold back against scum like you?”

Trixie glared at Alexander. “You… really hate ponies, don’t you?”

Alexander nodded his head and shot Trixie a deathly stare that caused her to flinch. “Of course I do! After what you did, you monsters deserve to-” Alexander stopped to compose himself and took deep, calming breaths. He had to remind himself of the current situation, and that he couldn’t be picky with his allies.

Trixie knew that something must have happened between ponies and changelings in the past, to incite that kind of reaction from him, but decided not to ask him about it. It seemed like a touchy subject and frankly, she didn’t even care that much. She just wanted to be back in her trailer, preparing for her magic shows.

“So, what do we do?” Chill asked, echoing Alexander’s earlier question. “Shock will definitely be…”

“… There may be a way to save Shock,” Aura said, gaining the group’s attention. “Odysseus can’t kill Shock in front of the Element bearers, right?”

Alexander clapped his forehooves together. “Of course! That means he can’t kill him until after he’s used them! Which is after the war is over!”

Chill let out a deep, relieved sigh. “Okay, so Shock is safe, for now. But… what about us?”

“We need to reach Mother,” Aura said, “But we’re too few in number. We need more allies.”

Alexander couldn’t help but grin at his little sister. “Heh, spoken like a true princess,” he said. His eyes lit up as an idea hit him. “He was disguised as Princess Luna, right? What d’you think the chances are that he was able to kill her? Odysseus isn’t very strong in combat, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Princess of the Night still lives.”

“She does,” Chill confirmed. “The original plan required the war to go on for a few days. But because of you, Odysseus had to step up his plans. However, thanks to his original plan, and Princess Celestia being away on the battlefield…”

“It would be necessary to keep Princess Luna alive,” Trixie said, finishing Chill’s train of thought for him and receiving a nod from the changeling in response. “And that means that she’s being forced to perform her spell to control the sun and the moon.”

“Now that I think about it,” Alexander started, “I recall sensing Odysseus pass by our cellblock before, sometime before he caught Aura. He was carrying something along. My sixth sense picked it up.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at that. “‘Sixth sense?’”

Alexander nodded, but didn’t bother explaining. “That could have been Princess Luna. Remember when we were moving through the dungeon? The further in we went, the tighter the security was and the more safety precautions there were in each section.”

“So, wait,” Trixie said, putting a hoof to her forehead as she felt a migraine coming on. “Are you suggesting… that we go back to Canterlot, after having just attacked it, and go into the dungeon – the most secure part of the dungeon, no less – for a chance that Princess Luna may be there?”

Alexander and Chill both nodded in unison. “Yeah, pretty much,” Alexander said.

Trixie stared in disbelief at this and then fell down onto her back. “Oh Celestia… Why did this have to happen to the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Chill also fell down onto his back and let out a loud yawn. “I suggest we some time to rest. The war isn’t scheduled to start for another few hours and Odysseus won’t make his move until it does.”

“How can you be sure?” Aura asked.

“He can only justify sending the Elements in when things start looking bad for Equestria. In other words, once your princess starts to fight your mother,” Chill explained.

“Why is he sending the Elements in, anyway?” Trixie asked.

“Insurance,” Alexander answered. “In case our mother does win, he’ll have the Elements seal her in stone. And then, regardless of the outcome, once our mother is out of the way, he’ll kill the Element bearers to render them useless. Well, at least one of them. If there’s one thing he fears more than Princess Celestia, it’s the Seeds of Destruction.”

“The ‘Seeds of Destruction’?”

Alexander nodded. “That’s how we refer to the Elements of Harmony in the Changeling Kingdom.”

“Why?” Trixie asked.

Aura closed her eyes and recited, “Generosity – Give all and nothing remains. Honesty – Reveal all and you reveal weakness. Loyalty – Support all of your friends and you’ll backstab some. Laughter – Laugh at all and you forget despair. Kindness – Treat all fairly; reward all when only one is right and punish all when only one is wrong. Magic – Rely too much on magic and you lose your grip on reality.”

Trixie was staring at Aura in complete surprise.

“That’s an ancient teaching where we’re from,” Alexander said. “Its lesson is that too much of anything can lead to destruction. We use the Elements to teach it because each one is the pure representation of an aspect of harmony. It also reminds us that anything with such power could be saving grace, or a weapon, and should be respected as a result. Your race seems to have forgotten that lesson, though.”

Chill sat up straight and added, “Long ago, our seers prophesised that the Elements of Harmony will one day cause Equestria’s downfall, when they finally fall into the wrong hooves.”

Trixie gulped and rubbed the sweat from her brow. “A-And how long… until this ‘downfall’ happens?”

“About ten thousand years from now,” Chill said, causing Trixie to let out a huge sigh of relief. “Well, nowadays it’s pretty much just used as a bedtime story for younglings. Many changelings speculate that our seers of old made many mistakes in their prophecies, since many of them never came true. Heck, I’ve lost track of how many ‘doomsday’s never actually happened.”

The three were interrupted by the sounds of someone snoring. They all turned to Aura to find that she had fallen asleep. Alexander smiled and lay down on his back. “Well, enough storytelling! We’ve gotta recover our energy if we’re gonna storm that castle again!”

Chill also lay back down and shut his eyes. Trixie stared at Aura’s sleeping body for a moment, before getting up and walking over to her. She used her magic to undo the clasp on her cape, and covered Aura’s shivering body with it, before laying down next to the youngling. ‘I swear, next time I see someone in trouble, I’m feigning blindness!’

Mystic ordered her troops to halt. She concentrated some magic into her horn for a few moments, and then continued to lead her troops forward, towards the forest that lay ahead of them.

“I’m sensing four presences. One of them is unmistakably the prince. There are two changelings with him, but I cannot identify them. The fourth presence belongs to…” She furrowed her brow and ordered her squad to wait outside of the forest whilst she investigated. “I’ll go in alone. I don’t want to kill any of you by accident.”

Chapter 11

“Sister, why does Father hate Equestrians so much?” Chrysalis asked her older sibling with a pitying look in her eyes. “What is the point of it all? What did the ponies do to deserve such animosity towards them?”

“You want to know?”

…

“That’s fine. It’s about time you heard this story. You’re old enough now… that you should know of our tragic history.

“That you should know of how our race was nearly wiped out by them.”

Chrysalis stopped her troops’ advancements and ordered her scouts to check the area ahead of them. ‘It was three hundred and seventy-six years ago. That was when everything changed… When the changelings were brought to the brink of extinction, at the hooves of those ponies.’

“All is clear, my queen,” the leader of the scouting party informed.

Chrysalis nodded and ordered her troops to continued advancing. She led them forward, entering the desert that acted as the border between Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom. ‘For our ancestors, as well as my children, who were mercilessly slaughtered by them… we will end Equestria’s tyranny once and for all!’

“Incoming!” one of the scouts walking ahead of Chrysalis shouted.

Chrysalis halted and ordered her troops to do the same. Standing before the advancing army, Chrysalis could see another army, standing in their path in the distance, bearing the flag of Equestria. “So, they anticipated our arrival?”

“What should we do, my queen?” the scout asked.

“We’ll hold our ground here! First to third battalions, follow me! Everyone else, prepare the catapults and wait for orders!” Her soldiers obeyed. Three squads joined their queen in advancing towards the awaiting army ahead of them. As expected, Princess Celestia herself was leading the other side. ‘If we can kill her, the rest will falter. This whole battle… is riding on us killing Celestia.’

Once they were close enough to talk, the changelings stopped their advance and stared coldly at the army of ponies staring right back at them. Chrysalis, in particular, was glaring into Celestia’s eyes, and the regal alicorn returned the sentiment in kind.

“So, Princess Celestia… you decided to meet us here, in this dying wasteland. I’m surprised you even knew that we were coming.”

“Your son was very informative.”

Chrysalis’ anger rose and she felt her heart burning as though it was on fire. ‘You dare to torture my children and then boast it right in my face?! Your death will be painful…’

“Please, Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia pleaded. “You don’t have to do this. Please turn back, before it’s too late.”

Chrysalis simply stared at the alicorn in shock and disgust taking over her face. “… Is that a joke?” she asked with venom in her voice. “After all that you’ve done, after all the sins that you have committed, you think you can avoid punishment just like that?”

“What are you-”

“I know,” Chrysalis said, cutting off the Princess. “I know what your country did… and what you did, too. You were so afraid of us, so fuelled by your anger and prejudice… that you purged our entire race, and then erased all mention of us from history. You even decreed it illegal to speak of us in schools, so that future generations would forget that we even existed!

“You commit genocide on our race and then you have the gall to declare us to be monsters, all while you bask in the love and adoration of your subjects as their ‘virtuous saviour’?!”

Celestia maintained her calm demeanour, but Chrysalis’ words hit her hard, like daggers to the heart. “I’m sorry… I-”

“SORRY WON’T BRING BACK THOSE YOU KILLED!” Chrysalis roared, her magic flaring up. Celestia’s army readied themselves, as did Chrysalis’ troops. “Now, Celestia… you have escaped justice for far too long! Today, you and your kingdom will fall at our hooves!”

Alexander awoke with a loud yawn, stretching his hooves and his back before sitting up straight and looking around his immediate surroundings. The campfire was dead and the remains had been covered by a blanket to prevent smoke from rising. Chill was already awake and drinking water from one of the bottles that Trixie had brought along, and Aura…

“What?!” Alexander shouted, rising to his hooves and glaring at Trixie, who was lying next to his sister as they both slept. At some point during their sleep, Aura had rolled into Trixie’s hooves and now Trixie was holding Aura close to her, almost resembling a couple of sisters if not for the clearly differing races.

“HEY! LET GO OF MY SISTER, PONY!”

“Prince, please,” Chill pleaded, rushing up to Alexander to hold him back. “Trixie needs her rest! She’s our ace in the hole!”

“THE HELL SHE IS! SHE’S A PONY! SHE’S-”

“An illusionist,” Chill said, struggling to hold back the raging prince. “Which is what we need if we’re going to infiltrate Canterlot.” Alexander continued trying to get past Chill, so he tried a different approach. “Aura will be upset if you kill her!”

Alexander calmed down a little bit, but still gritted his teeth as he glared daggers at the sleeping pony. “Damnit.”

“Also, if we can’t rescue Princess Luna, then we have little-to-no hope of reaching your mother, and that means that Lor-That Odysseus will win!”

Alexander stopped trying to push past Chill and took a step back with a grunt. “Fine… But I swear to Mother, she’d better pull her weight!”

Alexander turned around and marched off into the trees to check out the surrounding area. Trixie shivered as she held Aura tightly, part of her entertaining the idea of using the youngling as a shield. ‘Perhaps I’ll pretend to be asleep for just a little longer…’

“Guys, bad news!” Alexander shouted as he ran back towards the group. “Chill, wake ‘em up, quick! We got an enemy approaching!”

Trixie and Alexander hid in a bush, eyeing the pony that was checking the clearing before them. “You’re sure that’s a changeling?” Trixie asked quietly.

Alexander nodded. “No doubt. My sixth sense is reacting in a way that only happens around General Mystic.”

“General Mystic? Oh, great,” Trixie deadpanned with a frown.

“Did you say ‘General Mystic’?” Chill asked, surprising the two as he snuck up behind them along with Aura.

“W-What are you doing here?!” Alexander asked in a hushed tone. “We told you to wait at the campsite!”

“You want me to guard the princess by myself? Nothing doing.”

“That’s an order from your prince!”

“Guys!” Trixie snapped. “We have a bigger issue right now!”

Aura nodded. “She could be one of Odysseus’ troops,” she said, furrowing her brow. “Which means there may be more.”

“Doubt it,” Chill said. “Mystic likes to fight alone. Even if there are more, they wouldn’t be nearby.”

“Which means that this is our golden chance!” Alexander stated with a wicked grin. “We capture her and then make her talk! We’ll take whatever info we can about Odysseus’ plans! If we’re lucky, we won’t have to rescue that moon princess after all.

The others nodded in agreement, though Trixie’s nod was a little more hesitant. ‘I’m so gonna be brought to trial after all of this, aren’t I?’

“Well, you’re up, Trixie,” Chill said, patting her shoulder with a hoof.

She looked at him with a puzzled look and then turned to Alexander, who simply nodded in agreement. “Yeah, as much as I hate ta admit it, you’re the best choice for this fight.”

“Why?” she asked, suddenly feeling very anxious.

“Mystic’s an illusionist,” Chill told her. “To combat her, we need another illusionist. One who can cancel out her illusions.”

“Of course, the biggest problem is that,” Alexander said. Both Chill and Aura nodded their heads in agreement, whilst Trixie frowned and narrowed her eyes at the three changelings.

“‘That’? That what?”

Alexander leaned over to whisper into Trixie’s ear. “Alright, listen up. Here’s what we need you to do…”

Mystic moved cautiously through the woods, checking behind every bush and tree that she passed. She was certain that Prince Alexander was nearby and, with any luck, Prince Odysseus was one of the remaining two changelings that she could also feel. What concerned her was the pony presence with them, but she was confident that the prince wouldn’t fall so easily to just one pony.

‘Unless that pony is just watching them, whilst waiting for backup to arrive… in which case, I must make haste!’

Before Mystic could proceed any further, she felt something approaching behind her and slowed down to concentrate her magic. ‘… A pony! They’re stalking me… They might know what I am!’

Mystic wasted no time in turning around and throwing a dagger into the bushes behind her. She heard the sound of her dagger hitting its target and, seconds later, saw a blue unicorn mare fall out of the bushes, blood pouring from her forehead where the dagger had struck her.

“Can’t afford to take chances,” she said to herself, approaching the body to recover her dagger. She stopped when she felt a strange vibration through the air and immediately cast a spell designed to cancel out illusions.

Mystic turned around and dodged the incoming blast of magic, being pushed back by the force that it caused. Once she had regained her balance, she saw the same blue pony that she thought she had just killed standing before her, gathering magic into her horn.

“You felt the Great and Powerful Trixie’s presence, even through her illusion? You may just be an opponent worthy of Trixie’s full power!”

Mystic undid her disguise and flared her wings. “Let me guess… Royal Guard, right?”

Trixie scoffed and fired another blast of magic, which Mystic dodged nimbly. “Oh, please! The Great and Powerful Trixie’s talents would be wasted serving the likes of them!”

“Then who are you?” Mystic asked. “No, it doesn’t matter. In fact, that makes things easier. It means I can just kill you and be on my way.”

“Try it,” Trixie challenged. Her horn lit up and eight pillars of lava shot up from the ground, surrounding Mystic.

Mystic was unfazed and focused her own magic, sending out a green shockwave that turned the pillars of lava into smoke and caused ice to form on the ground.

Trixie shivered as she felt the temperature suddenly drop, but then closed her eyes and focused her mind. ‘It’s just an illusion… I just have to cancel it out… Focus, Trixie. Focus!’ Trixie’s eyes shot open and she cast a spell to form illusionary fire on several patches of ground, heating up the area and melting the ice around her.

“Impressive,” Mystic said, grinning at the blue mare. “Illusions are powerful tools. They attack your mind, rather than your body, and even if you know that they’re fake they will still feel real if your mind is not strong enough.

“But you, even after falling victim to an illusion, managed to compose yourself and break free of it. That takes talent.”

“You too,” Trixie returned. “You didn’t even so much as flinch at Trixie’s illusion, and even now, it seems that these flames have no effect on your mind.”

Mystic’s horn glowed green. “What is your name, Pony?”

“… Trixie doesn’t know it works for changelings, but in Equestria, it is considered rude to ask one’s name before introducing yourself first.”

“That so? I’m General Mystic, knight of Princess Elizabeth and head of the Royal Court Magi.”

“Impressive. My name is Trixie Lulamoon, the most powerful, and most graceful unicorn ever to grace this world!” Trixie’s lowered her head and charged magic into her horn. “You should realise by now… that you have no chance of winning this battle.”

“We’ll see!” Mystic shouted as she cast a spell, winking out of existence and reappearing just inches away from Trixie’s face. Vines shot out of the ground, grabbing Trixie and throwing her up into the air. The vines wrapped around Trixie’s legs and body, suspending her in the air as they started to constrict tightly.

“Is that all you have?” Trixie asked as she unleashed the spell she had charged up. The vines holding her disappeared, and Trixie found herself back down to the ground towards Mystic, who was standing on her guard. Trixie righted herself in the air and threw a kick at the changeling below her.

Mystic blocked the kick with a forehoof, but was knocked down to the ground by a second one. Trixie turned to face the bushes behind her, instead of to the downed changeling, and conjured up an illusion of several large swords, all of which flew through the air and stabbed through the bushes.

Mystic jumped out just in time to avoid the swords so that they wouldn’t skewer her, but when she landed on the ground, Trixie was already in her face, ready to deliver another set of kicks. This time, Mystic dodged and blocked each one. Each kick became slightly harder to block than the last, until eventually, Mystic had to cast a flash bang spell to make Trixie back off.

“An illusionist who knows physical combat? A nice combination.”

Trixie smirked proudly and flicked her mane. “Yes, well, the Great and Powerful Trixie was destined for greatness, after all.”

“… I never thought there’d be another one out there,” Mystic said to Trixie’s surprise.

“You mean-”

“Yeah.” Mystic chuckled as she cast a spell to reveal a bag sitting by a nearby tree. She noticed Trixie eyeing it with some scrutiny and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not an illusion. It was merely an invisibility spell. What you should be afraid of is what’s inside. I don’t like using this, but for you, I’ll make an exception.”

“Gee, Trixie feels honoured,” Trixie replied sarcastically.

“It’s a shame. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re a pony, I think we could have learned a lot from each other. Perhaps even have been friends. But alas, I shall have to cut you down now, in order to save my Prince.”

Trixie’s ear twitched and she raised an eyebrow at Mystic’s last comment. ‘‘Save’?’

Mystic drew a sabre out of her bag and pointed it at Trixie. “I also know how to fight without illusions. And unlike you, I was actually trained to fight, for militaristic purposes. That gives me the edge in this battle!”

Trixie quickly jumped back when she saw Mystic charging towards her and leaned her head down, as if ready to cast a spell… “NOW!” she shouted, and not even a second afterwards, two blurs jumped out in front of her.

Mystic didn’t have time to stop before one of the figures stopped her attack with its hoof… Its hoof! ‘H-How?! They stopped my blade with just a hoof?! But, only the Prince can…’ Mystic gasped when she could finally see who it was that stood before her. Prince Alexander.

Beside him was another changeling, one that she didn’t recognise. He summoned several icicles at her hooves that slowly made their ways up her body, encasing her in ice.

By the time that Mystic had realised what was going on, her entire body – save for her head – was frozen in ice. “W-What?!”

“Trixie, her horn!” Alexander shouted. Trixie nodded and took action immediately, reaching into her cape and pulling out a magic restrainer. She teleported up to the frozen changeling and placed the ring onto her horn, rendering her magic useless.

“We did it!” Chill shouted, before an idea crossed his mind. He turned to Trixie for confirmation. “Right?”

Trixie nodded. “She casted no illusions. Of that, Trixie is certain.”

“Like I said,” Alexander started as he moved away from Mystic, “Once she pulls out her sabre, it means that she’s abandoned her illusions and is relying purely on her physical strength to cut down her opponent.”

“Seems a bit self-destructive,” Trixie commented.

“To date, I’m the only one whose ever beat her in a physical confrontation,” Alexander informed her.

“… Prince?” Mystic asked, still in shock by the events that had just transpired. “What’s going on? Why are you… working together with this pony?”

Alexander glared at Mystic and summoned some magic into his horn. “We’re the ones asking the questions here! Now, how about you start by telling us Odysseus’ battle plans? How many squads does he have, and how are they to be arranged on the battlefield?”

Mystic tilted her head as far as she could in her icy prison. “Prince Odysseus? But… Prince, your brother came to Equestria alone. He came to avenge you…”

Alexander and Chill exchanged quick glances before turning back to Mystic. “What d’ya mean he came to avenge me? How stupid d’ya think I am?!”

Mystic flinched at Alexander’s sudden rage and started to shake, both from the cold of the ice, and from fear. “T-That’s why I’m here! To rescue him on orders from Her Majesty!” Alexander’s eyes widened. “It was good fortune that I found you, alive and well! We had all thought that you had been killed, just as the princess had!”

“… You came here on Mother’s orders?”

Mystic nodded, and Chill stomped the ground in frustration. “Damnit!” he shouted. “I thought we finally had a lucky break! I should’ve known! Odysseus wouldn’t rely on someone who works alone, or whose strengths and weakness you already know well!”

Trixie sighed and placed a hoof in-between her eyes. “You mean… after all that, we gained nothing?”

“That’s not true,” a voice called out. Aura approached the group, causing Mystic to gasp loudly. “We’ve got a new ally, right?” Aura asked, smiling as she looked up at Mystic.

Alexander thought about it and then grinned. “Yeah… If she came here on Mother’s orders, to find Odysseus… Eheheh. He always has things planned so well, but when things don’t go as predicted…”

“Like with Trixie,” Chill said, glancing at said unicorn. “He never anticipated her, so she was able to save Aura from his assassins, and even break all of us out of that dungeon below Canterlot and escape with our lives… Well, most of us…” He shook his head to clear the thought and turned back to Mystic. “Well, that really all depends on where her loyalties lie.”

Mystic wasn’t sure what to make of the situation and thus remained silent as all eyes turned towards her. Alexander took a step towards their prisoner and said, “Alright, General Mystic. We’ll explain the situation to you. Listen closely, ‘cause we don’t have much time.” Mystic nodded. “But first, who else did ya bring? I don’t wanna have ta repeat this story more than once.”

“Just a few medical and scouting troops. They’re waiting at the forest’s entrance.”

Alexander nodded to Chill, who went off to find and bring said troops back to the group.

Mystic and her party could only stare at the prince in shock as Alexander finished his story, their mouths agape and their eyes wide. His story of Odysseus, who was favoured by many to succeed the throne, plotting a coup d'état against their queen, and had even used the ‘death’ of his own sister to incite a war with an enemy nation… A war that only served to pave the way for Odysseus to claim dictatorship over the kingdom.

“Well, now that you know the situation, what will you do now?” Alexander asked.

Mystic looked down at the ground, her teeth grinding together as several thoughts raced through her mind. “My whole life… Ever since I first laid eyes on Princess Elizabeth, I swore that I would one day serve and protect the royal family.” Many of the changelings behind her nodded their heads in agreement. “Now I find that one of the princes, whom I’d admired and revered so much, has turned his back on his family, and his entire country!

“How can I… What am I to do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Trixie asked, flinching as all eyes fell on her. ‘Suddenly I regret being born a pony.’ After clearing her throat, she said, “You became a soldier for the sake of this ‘Princess Elizabeth’, right? Well then, that’s where your first loyalty should lie.”

Chill nodded. “She’s right.” Alexander let out a huff, but Chill ignored it. “Odysseus’ actions have cast him outside of the royal family. He is no longer deserving of the title of ‘prince’. He is now a high traitor, and must be dealt with accordingly. He deserves no loyalty from any of you, who would lay down your lives for our country.”

Trixie turned to Aura. “‘Back all of your friends, and you’ll backstab some’, was it?” Aura nodded.

“What about you?” Chill asked Trixie. “If your two princesses were to fight each other, which would you support?”

Trixie flicked her mane and pointed her nose into the air. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is loyal to only one pony: herself. As long as the result doesn’t endanger Trixie personally, she could care less which princess wins.”

“I see…” Chill looked at Mystic, whose eyes took on a new light as her face showed determination and resolve. “Well?”

“… I can’t believe that this is happening,” Mystic said with a solemn shake of her head, “But it is as you say, Trixie. For Princess Elizabeth, and for my country, I will fight Prince Odysseus, and bring him to justice for this treason!”

The rest of her squad cheered in agreement. Alexander and Chill exchanged quick grins before the former rose to his hooves. “Well, then,” Alexander said, turning to Trixie with a menacing grin. “It seems we no longer have any use for you, Pony.”

Trixie flinched. Once more the thought arose of using Aura as a shield. Unfortunately, her ego wouldn’t allow her to flee or hide, but instead screamed at her to firmly stand her ground. “W-What are you saying? Of course you do… You need Trixie to lead you through the castle, r-right?”

Alexander’s horn lit up and he let out a soft chuckle… before stopping when Aura suddenly stood in his way.

“Brother, no!” she shouted, causing him to back down. “Trixie saved my life, and yours, too! You can’t just kill her! It would be rude!”

‘‘Rude’?’ Trixie thought to herself incredulously.

“Hey, now,” Chill said, trying to calm down the prince. “For now, perhaps it would be in our best interests to keep her alive… Princess Luna might not be so happy when we meet her, and we may need this pony’s assistance to get through to her.”

“If we meet her,” Alexander scoffed, turning towards Mystic and beginning to undo the magic-restrainer.

Chill got to work on thawing her out. “I was trying to think positively… Chrysalis knows we need to right now.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Mystic asked as she felt her body warming back up again.

Alexander looked to the side and Chill blushed as he silently continued working on the ice. Aura scratched the back of her head as she nervously admitted the truth. “We… don’t have one…”

Mystic raised her eyebrow and Trixie quickly added: “Other than simply storming Canterlot… which Trixie is personally against, just FYI.”

Changelings and ponies were quickly turning the once desolate wasteland into an even more desolate wasteland, the ground being scorched by blasts of magic and bodies littering the ground as troops from both sides dropped.

The two leaders, Queen Chrysalis and Princess Celestia, were fighting their own battle away from their troops. During the first few minutes of the battle, both sides quickly realised that they would die if they got too close, and so they made sure to not approach the two powerful beings as their energies collided.

“Celestia, it’s no use! You remember how our last battle ended, right?!” Chrysalis asked as she summoned green flames around Celestia. Celestia’s horn glowed and a golden shockwave neutralised the flames. “Here’s a fun fact you may or may not know!” Chrysalis shouted as she fired a blast of green magic at the princess, which was met by her Celestia’s own golden blast. The two energies met and exploded, causing the two rulers to distance themselves apart from each other. “A changeling feeds off of love as a food source, but when the love they devour is of the purest nature, the changeling’s power increases greatly! And that new power doesn’t simply fade away over time.

“In other words, that power I had back then is still with me, even now! And I have only improved since then!” The queen demonstrated her statement by summoning several walls of green flames around Celestia, who once again dispelled them, but this time, she was suddenly greeted by a hoof flying towards her as the flames dissipated. The hoof was enveloped in a green aura that serves to increase the sting that it would cause if it collided with Celestia’s face.

The princess backed away in time to avoid a lethal blow, but still sustained a rather nasty injury as the magical energy surrounding the hoof reached out and clawed at her face. Blood dripped down her forehead and she panted heavily. Looking around at the battlefield, Celestia noticed that her troops weren’t doing too well. She knew that she would have to end her battle with the changeling queen soon.

“Now do you get it?” Chrysalis asked. “I’m greater than you, Celestia. Your reign is over!”

“… Tell me, Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia said, her breathing steadying as she regained her composure. “What is the difference between our battle last time, and our battle now?”

“You mean besides me being more powerful? Well, I guess that this time, I’ll finish you off!”

Celestia shook her head and used her magic to undo her horseshoes and necklace. Once they were off, she removed her tiara and then narrowed her eyes at the queen. “No. Last time, we were in that cramped room, with so many of my little ponies there.” Celestia’s horn lit up, and her eyes began to glow a bright white colour.

Chrysalis looked at her in confusion. “Are you… going berserk?” ‘No… It looks similar, but it feels different… It feels more controlled…’

“Last time,” Celestia continued, “If I had used my full power in that situation, my subjects would have died… But this time, there is nothing to stop me.”

“Princess Luna,” one of the guards pulling the chariot called out. Odysseus, disguised as Luna, opened his eyes. “We have arrived, Princess.”

Odysseus smiled down at the guard and stepped off of the chariot. “Thank you. Please wait here. We shall be but a moment.”

The guards nodded and saluted. Odysseus used his magic to levitate the box that was in the chariot into the air behind. He spotted a certain pony in the street who was looking at him with a confused expression. ‘Shock…’ He nodded to Shock and the disguised changeling nodded back before running off into the town.

Turning around, Odysseus had to hold back his laughter as he made his way towards the building in front of him. A giant tree which held inside the most dangerous weapon that Equestria had at its disposal. ‘And now, that weapon shall work for me.’

Chapter 12

“What are you doing?” Trixie asked as she approached Aura in a small clearing in the forest. The youngling had disappeared from the group during the strategy meeting and only Trixie seemed to notice. Now that she was closer, Trixie could see that Aura examining some plants of the ground. “… Picking flowers? Now of all times?”

Aura shook her head. “I’m not good at things like this… My brother’s much better, and General Mystic’s a veteran.” She let out a depressed sigh and lowered her head. “I’d be better off just staying out of their way…”

Trixie turned around to look at the group of changelings, who now seemed to be arguing over something. She turned back to Aura and said, “Well with that attitude, you really would be better off staying out of everyone’s way.” Aura’s head lowered even more. “Instead of thinking about what you can’t do, why don’t you think about what you can do?”

Aura’s ears perked up and she looked up at Trixie with a questioning look on her face. “What I can do? … I don’t know if I-”

“Well, Trixie could use a helping hoof,” Trixie said, cutting Aura off. “We don’t have enough food, and Trixie wagers we would fall quickly if we went into battle on empty stomachs. You can help Trixie search for something edible to eat in this forest.”

Aura jumped up and a faint smile formed on her face. “Well… I do know quite a bit about plants and berries and such… Enough to identify which ones are safe to eat, at least.”

Trixie grinned and patted the youngling on the head. “Well that’s good… Don’t tell anypony this, but botany isn’t one of Trixie many talents.”

Aura giggled and winked at the blue pony. “Don’t worry, Miss Trixie. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Twilight was humming to herself as she read her copy of ‘Surprise Visits, and How to React’ when a sudden knock at the door startled her, causing her to look around for her assistant. “Spike! Can you get that for me?”

“I’m a little busy right no-Whoa!” Spike shouted as he fell from his spot atop a rather flimsy stepladder, being buried in the many books that he was carrying at the time.

Twilight sighed and begrudgingly made her way to the door. “Never mind, I’ll get it… You just focus on cleaning that up.”

Spike rubbed his head and groaned as he emerged from the pile of books. “Sure thing, Mum,” he muttered, before getting to work on cleaning up the mess.

Twilight opened the door to see who it was that had interrupted her precious reading time, but was stunned completely into silence as she laid her eyes on the tall figure of the dark-blue alicorn at her door.

“Good evening, Twilight Sparkle,” the visitor said. “We hope this isn’t a bad time.”

Twilight quickly shook her head and moved aside to allow her visitor entry into her library. “No, no, no! Of course not, Princess! I’m just… surprised, that’s all. Please, come in!”

Luna nodded and walked into the library. She saw Spike sluggishly sorting out a pile of books by one of the bookshelves and then turned back to Twilight. “We apologize for this sudden intrusion, Twilight Sparkle. We have no time for small talk, so we shall be brief: Equestria is in danger, and We need your help.”

“Ah, darn it! She’s not in again?!” Applejack shouted in frustration after she once again received no response after knocking on Trixie’s trailer’s door. “Where does she go all the time?”

“Applejack, darling, is it really necessary to keep coming back here every day?” Rarity asked, trying to get the agitated farmer away before she tried breaking and entering into the trailer.

“You bet it is! Have ya seen the damage to our farm? The repairs ain’t gonna pay for themselves, y’know?”

“Wasn’t she attacked by a changeling?” Fluttershy asked, before ducking behind her mane when Applejack turned to face her.

“She still used the farm as a weapon! Twilight confirmed that it was Trixie’s magic that set all them traps, and there were more all ‘round Ponyville! Why, Ah don’t know, but she damaged our farm an’ we need compensation!”

“Hey, did you hear?” a random pony in the background asked.

“About Princess Luna coming to Ponyville?”

“Why would she come here? And in the daytime, no less.”

The girls turned around and tuned into the conversation taking place behind them. There they saw Shock, Lyra and Bon Bon.

“I heard a rumour that she’s seeking the power of the Elements of Harmony,” Shock said.

“Is that true?” Lyra asked.

Shock shrugged and shot Applejack a quick glance. “Don’t know. That’s just what I’ve heard. Maybe Equestria’s in danger?”

“She did go into the library,” Bon Bon pointed out.

Shock nodded his head. “If I were the other bearers, I’d rush over there, right away.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Shock and almost spoke out when she caught him sending a quick smile her way, but she was cut off by Pinkie Pie, who had appeared suddenly from underneath her hat.

“Did you hear that, guys?!”

Rarity, a little taken aback by Pinkie’s sudden and strange appearance, nodded slowly. “Y-Yes… I think we should make our way to the library, to make sure that everything’s okay.”

“But… what about Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack reached a hoof up to push Pinkie Pie off of her head and then turned to face Fluttershy. “Ah’ll go find Dash. You three head on over to the library and find out what’s goin’ on.”

The other three mares nodded and ran off down the street together, towards the library. Once they were out of sight, Applejack casually walked past Shock, stopping for a second to say, “Ah don’t know what ye’re up to, but Ah’m on to ya…”

Shock raised an eyebrow at Applejack. “I’m sorry?”

“Ye’re the one that knew about the changeling attackin’ our farm, an’ you were sendin’ me signals just now.” Before Shock could respond, Applejack galloped down the street, heading towards the area of Ponyville that was covered by cloud.

Shock grinned and slowly followed after the mares that were heading towards the library. ‘She’s good, for a simple farmer… But Lord Odysseus is better. Even if she figures everything out, by that time, it will be too late.’

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not approve of this plan!” Trixie shouted out as she levitated a few berries to her mouth.

“Well then you should have said something earlier!” Alexander shouted.

“Trixie was gathering food! Food which you are eating right now, you ungrateful oaf!”

Alexander stomped his hooves on the ground, slightly intimidating Trixie, before being calmed down once again by his sister’s pleas.

“I agree. I don’t approve of this plan, either,” Aura said.

“Okay, then we’ll take a vote. All in favour?” Everyone besides Trixie and Aura raised a forehoof. “All opposed?” Trixie and Aura were the only two who raised their forehooves this time. “Looks like it’s decided, then.”

“You said you needed Trixie to win Princess Luna’s favour!” Trixie protested.

“Ah, yeah… Well, that was just to calm the prince down,” Chill said. “Truth is, as long as we free her, there shouldn’t really be much of a problem… After all, one thousand years ago, it was Princess Luna who first proposed peace with the changelings.”

“But still… why does Trixie have to play decoy?!”

“We need someone who can use illusions,” Chill told her.

“Mystic can use illusions, right?!”

“They’ll go easier on you, because you’re a pony.”

“… You think?”

There was a lengthy silence before Chill nodded. “Probably.”

“That doesn’t inspire much confidence!”

Aura cleared her throat to gain the group’s attention. “I cannot say that I approve of this plan! Trixie has done so much to help me. I can’t let her put herself in harm’s way like that!”

Trixie almost felt like hugging the youngling, but she restrained herself, both to save face, and to keep Alexander from tearing her legs off.

“Truth-be-told, she won’t be in that much danger at all,” Mystic assured the two. “She’s a talented illusionist, and not too shabby in physical combat. Just so long as no captains or generals show up, she’ll be fine.”

“And if any do show up?” Aura asked.

“Then it means she’s doing a good job,” Chill answered with a laugh. “And in that case, she just fights for as long as she can and then surrenders. That way her life won’t be in any danger, and all we really need is enough time to reach the castle dungeon. Once we’re in, we can rescue Princess Luna, and then she can appeal for Trixie’s release.”

Trixie thought about it for a second before shaking her head. “That’s all well and good, but what if they have no problem with killing Trixie?”

“You scared?” Alexander asked with a mocking grin. “Well too bad! In case you haven’t realised, we’re out of options! If we don’t rescue Luna, then Odysseus will kill you anyway! And not just you, but the rest of us, too!”

Trixie winced at the harsh reminder of their current situation and turned to face Aura for a moment. “… Fine,” she sighed. “It seems that Trixie has no choice in the matter… This may be her only chance to get out of this alive.”

“But Miss Trixie-”

Trixie cut off Aura’s protests with a hoof. “Don’t worry, Aura. The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow herself to die at the hooves of mere guardsponies,” she said with a reassuring smile.

“… Are you sure?” Trixie nodded. Aura paused for a moment before saying, “… Okay then… If you’re okay with it, then… I guess I am, too.”

Chill clapped his forehooves together to bring Trixie and Aura’s attentions back to the group. “Right! Now that that’s sorted, let’s go over the plan once more.”

Chrysalis dodged yet another magical attack by Celestia with a sharp glare directed at the pony princess.

“Queen Chrysalis, isn’t it about time that you surrendered?” Celestia asked as her horn glowed gold again, ready to unleash another spell. “Your troops aren’t doing so well, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

In actuality, Chrysalis had noticed… but she was so focused on her own battle that it was difficult to give them any proper orders. Celestia’s mistake was giving her that moment to catch her breath, and the changeling queen decided not to waste the opportunity.

Her horn lit up and, almost immediately, a blast was fired into the air. Celestia watched in confusion as the magic took on a strange pattern, and then grew even more confused when the changeling troops started to fall back. She ordered her own troops to hold their ground. “So, you’re ready to talk this out civilly?”

Chrysalis scoffed at the question and stood tall before the princess. “I didn’t want to use this new technology,” she said. “It’s so temperamental and hasn’t been tested much… but you’ve forced my hoof, Celestia!”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Be alert, everypony! She’s up to something!”

Moments later, the changeling troops began to move back to the battlefield, only this time, they were all carrying something… Something that the ponies had never seen before.

“What are those?” Celestia asked.

“Those are the OMLR-02 model ‘matchlock rifles’,” Chrysalis answered. “A new weapon that recently entered the testing phase. They are based off of the ‘gunpowder pistol’ that was invented nearly one hundred years ago by an Equestrian scientist.”

“The gunpowder pistol? You would make a weapon out of a tool used for sport and festivities?”

“Oh, sure. Because your subjects don’t do that all the time,” Chrysalis said as her troops arranged themselves into rows. The front row raised their rifles up, ignited the attached fuses with their magic, and took aim. “Our scouts are more efficient than you seem to give them credit for.”

Celestia ordered her troops to continue advancing, but carefully. “So, you still refuse to give up, then?”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth together and shouted just one word: “FIRE!”

A series of loud bangs echoed throughout the air. Celestia’s eyes widened as she witnessed many of the ponies advancing forward fall to the ground. The rest of them all stopped, some looking on with mixtures of horror and surprise, and some dropping to the ground and shielding their ears.

“First battalion, back!” a changeling standing behind all of the rows shouted. “Second battalion, forward!” The first row of changelings all moved back, although some of them were more sluggish than others, and one seemed to need help from a comrade. Once at the back of the row, the battalion started readying their rifles for another round. The next battalion moved forward and took aim.

“Well, well,” Chrysalis said, more impressed than she thought she would be. “It seems a few didn’t quite fire right, and the aim could do with a little work… but overall, a successful first run in the field, don’t you think?” Celestia didn’t respond. She instead intensified her glare at the changeling queen. “It’s fitting, really… After what your ponies did, it will almost be as if my sons are taking their revenge from beyond their graves.”

Celestia turned to face her troops, which were awaiting new orders whilst getting ready to defend themselves against another attack from the changelings. “Pull back the wounded! Have them seen to immediately and then continue advancing… but prioritise defence!” Her troops obeyed her orders immediately and she turned back to the queen. “What you just said, about your sons taking their revenge… what did you mean by that?”

“Well you see, it was my son Odysseus who developed this new weapon. The ‘Odysseus Matchlock Rifle Mark One, or OMLR-01, was his attempt at providing us a means of standing up against those fast-flying griffons. He’s quite the genius, you see. Always thinking up great ideas and finding new ways to help our kingdom grow stronger.

“And it was my other son, Alexander, who devised this formation and developed the ‘slow match’ to make the weapon much more efficient in combat. Though not quite as smart, when it comes to militaristic issues, he is a genius in his own rights, and together, my children invented the Odysseus Matchlock Rifle Mark Two. The OMLR-02 that you just witnessed being demonstrated on your troops.”

“You must be very proud,” Celestia said. “But what I want to know is why would they be taking their revenge. For what reason?”

“Oh, please,” Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t even dare think that you can pull the innocent act on me! I already know full well what you did, and I will never forgive you for it!”

Before Celestia could ask what she meant, she was distracted the sounds of the second wave of rifles being fired. By letting her guard down for just that split-second, Chrysalis was able to blast her with a powerful magical attack directly to the chest.

“Don’t aim for the heads!” Chrysalis shouted as she kept her eyes focussed on the heaving princess. “The aim is off, so aim for the less protected areas! If possible, go for the legs!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Celestia teleported a short distance away and gave herself a moment to recover. As she once again settled her gaze on Queen Chrysalis, her eyes were once again emitting a blindingly white light. Only this time, her eyes were also burning with anger. “You are trying my patience…” she said as magic began to spark furiously out of her horn. “I’ve given you enough chances… I will not allow my little ponies to fall!”

“We’re nearly there,” Alexander said as the group neared the grand city of Canterlot. “Get ready to sneak in as soon as Trixie starts her distraction.”

“How d’you think she’s gonna do it?” Chill asked, donning a pony form together with Alexander and Aura. Mystic’s group were to sneak in from the back, to increase the chances of at least one group successfully reaching Princess Luna.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Alexander said. “Just as long as it helps us get by unnoticed.”

“From what I’ve seen of Miss Trixie so far,” Aura began, “It will probably be something flashy. I’m sure we’ll know when she’s begun.”

The three changelings stopped just a short distance away from the main gate, hiding behind a large boulder as they waited for their signal to enter.

“Ooh, maybe I should have stayed with Miss Trixie after all,” Aura said, starting to get cold hooves as the time to start the operation drew near.

“Relax,” Chill said. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, and it’s not like you’ll be able to do much anyway, even if you were there.” Aura’s face fell and Chill bit his own lip. “Uh, n-no offence, of course!”

“But I-”

“Sis,” Alexander said, “I’m not gonna risk losing you. Not after I finally got you back, after thinking you were dead.”

Aura looked up at her brother, who was doing his best to avoid any eye contact, and smiled. Her words of thanks went unheard through the sounds of explosions. The group looked up as bright, multicoloured lights filled the air in the distance.

“Ah, looks like she’s started,” Chill said.

Alexander got up, followed by Aura and Chill. “Man, she sure doesn’t hold anything back, does she?”

Chill nodded. “Despite being so against this plan earlier.”

The three waited for the guards at the gate to leave their post and then made their way towards the city.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” a guard shouted as he fired a blast of magic at Trixie, who was storming through one of the streets of Canterlot, her face hidden behind a plastic mask of Princess Celestia. She had found it in a costume store in the city and swiped it when nopony was looking. Even if she could have used Luna as a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’, she still wanted to make sure that her reputation was safe…

‘In hindsight, Trixie should probably have removed her signature hat and cape before starting all of this…’

“Cut ‘em off, stallions!”

Trixie scoffed at the poor attempts to capture her and unleashed a flurry of flashy spells to elude the pursuing guards just long enough to evade them, but not long enough so as to lose them completely.

“After them! Hurry!” a guard shouted after the group spotted Trixie up on the rooftop of a nearby house.

Trixie jumped down into an alleyway and continued running from the pursuing guards… right into a dead end. “Oops.”

“We’ve got you now!”

Trixie turned around and fired a blast of magic at the guards. It was deflected by a barrier spell by one guard and the other two charged towards her. She dodged an attack, delivering a kick into the stomach of one of the guards. The other guard managed to scratch her foreleg, prompting Trixie to retaliate with a kick to the face. “… Oops. Again.”

The other guard soon charged forward, along with three more that had arrived to back him up. Trixie found herself outnumbered… but not at all outmatched. Once she was done with the guards, Trixie ran back out of the alleyway, only to find even more guards waiting for her outside.

“Oh, horseapples,” she said as she released a smoke bomb, allowing her to turn the tables on her ambushers and push past them. “Catch me if you can!” she shouted, provoking each of them into chasing after her.

In another part of the city, Alexander was leading Chill and Aura through dark alleyways, making sure to stay low and out of sight of public sight.

“Alright, if I remember correctly, the entrance should be around here,” Alexander said as the group exited an alleyway and found themselves standing outside of several large warehouses.

“You sure about that?” Chill asked as he began looking around.

Alexander shrugged and joined him in their search. “Dunno. Mother and Odysseus are the ones who know the layout of Canterlot’s crystal mines. But if my memory serves me correctly, I vaguely recall that there was an entrance in this warehouse area.”

Aura found something strange and called out to her brother, “Doesn’t this ponyhole seem out of place?” She motioned to the ponyhole at her hooves as her brother and Chill approached her.

“Not… really,” Chill said, leaning down to examine it. “Why d’you think that?”

“The rest of the ponyholes were all spaced well apart from each other. In Manehatten, Ponyville, and here in Canterlot, too. But this one…” Aura pointed a hoof down towards a ponyhole just one meter away, “… Is right beside another one.”

Alexander whistled and walked over to the other ponyhole. “It’s just like you to notice small things like that,” he said, causing Aura’s face to brighten up. “Still, you’re slightly off… It’s this one that seems odd, considering there are no holes to open it.”

Chill and Aura approached the ponyhole and worked together to force it open with their combined magic. They found a passage leading down, one which wasn’t very well constructed, and didn’t smell much like sewage.

“Looks like one of those old mineshafts from black-and-white movies,” Chill commented.

Alexander nodded and used his horn to summon some light. “Let’s go. We can get into the castle through here.”

Mystic lead her party through the palace’s gardens cautiously, using her illusions to hide them from the occasional guard or two that they would come across and making use of the large garden ornaments and hedges remain unseen.

Another explosion drew the two guards guarding the drawbridge away for a moment and so she took the chance to make things easier in the long run.

“Everyone wait here,” she ordered, running alone towards the control hut for the drawbridge. She knocked on the door and stood back as it opened. The guard inside was wearing the same goggles that she had seen the other guards around Canterlot wearing and he had tried to shout something before Mystic knocked him out with a roundhouse kick to the head.

She quickly ducked inside and pulled the guard back inside, tying him up and applying some tape over his mouth. “Best to leave no causalities. Don’t want to start another war after this one is over…” Once she was down, Mystic turned around and faced the controls for the drawbridge. “Okay, now to commit a little sabotage.”

After taking just a quick moment to acquaint herself with the controls, Mystic pulled the lever to raise the bridge, causing the few ponies that were crossing it to fall into the moat below. She watched as they swam back to the city-side, unable to access the castle-side from the moat due to the steep slope guarding it. She then used her magic to bust up the controls, rendering them unusable for the time being. She chuckled and then left the hut. “Well, that was certainly fun.”

“HALT!”

Mystic’s eyes shot wide open as she was confronted by several guards.

“We know what you are, Changeling! Surrender now, or we shall take you down!”

Each of the guards started to collapse one-by-one, and before any of them could realise what was happening, they were all down for the count. Mystic looked at her troops with surprise as they stood over the bodies of the unconscious guards.

“I told you to wait over there,” she said.

The troops all saluted. One of them stepped forward and said, “We apologize, sir! We will accept any punishment that you offer us!”

Mystic laughed to herself again, unnerving her party a little bit, before letting out a sigh. “We’ll discuss that later. For now, we have a job to do.”

“Sir!”

“Target is now running through Mane Street. Eight more guards injured, zero casualties.”

Precision Perfect slammed his hooves down onto the table in front of him. “What are those buffoons doing?! Why are they having so much trouble with just one pony?!”

“Isn’t it about time we head out?”

Precision turned around and growled at the pony behind him. “Shut up, rookie! Us captains need to remain here at the castle! In case you didn’t hear the first time, we’re at war, and the enemy could attack at any second!”

“But we can’t just let this civil unrest go on! We’re more than just personal protection to the princesses; we’re guardians of this city, of all cities, and of all of the ponies in Equestria! We preserve the peace and we’re there to aid those who have nowhere else to turn!”

“We’re nothing of the sort!” Precision shouted. “We’re soldiers! We’re willing slaves who have sold our lives to the crown! Now stop your pointless babbling and be ready to repel enemy attacks!”

The other captain ignored his comrade’s tirade and made his way towards the door. “Sorry, Precision Perfect, but I can’t just sit by and do nothing while the citizens of Canterlot are in need of us, and definitely not when my own troops are falling at the hooves of this villain!”

Precision scowled as the other captain left and then slammed his hooves onto the table once more. “I know what that rookie’s up to… He’s trying to upstage me, and win the princesses’ favour! It’s not enough he’s married to royalty; he still wants more!”

“Captain, sir, if you feel that way, shouldn’t you go after him?” one of the guards beside the captain asked.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” Precision shouted, causing the guard to flinch. “I have to be here to protect the castle, and the royal family!”

“Sir, two more injured! Still zero causalities!”

Precision gritted his teeth together before stopping as a thought crossed his mind. “How many injured in total so far?”

The guard took a moment to tally up the total. “Fifteen.”

“… And what has the target done, besides disrupting the peace and resisting arrest?”

“Well… property damage, but only minor things, like windows and random things that happened to lie in their path.”

“So that’s it?” he asked. “No thievery, no assaults, no kidnappings… nothing?” the guard confirmed this, and Precision put a hoof to his chin. “The target has proven that they can easily lose our guards whenever they want to… so why aren’t they? And why are so few of our guards sustaining injuries?”

“You think it could be a distraction, sir?” one of the guards asked, earning a scowl from his captain. “Eep! Uh, sorry, sir! Just thinking out loud, sir!”

“… A distraction…” Precision mumbled to himself. “A distraction! That’s it!” He lifted his helmet up off of the table and placed it onto his head, and then picked up his bow and quiver that were lying beside it.

“Sir, where are you going?!”

“There was a pony who could use illusions who came to break the changeling prisoners out of the dungeon! This must be that same pony! I have to go and protect Princess Cadance!” He was about to head out of the door, but stopped for a moment to say, “I need you to alert every captain in the castle! Tell them that the enemy is here, and that they must protect the royal family at all costs!”

The guard saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!” he shouted before running off through the castle.

Precision also left the room, running down a different path to his subordinate.

“STOP ALREADY!” one of the guards shouted, clearly growing impatient with Trixie’s messing around.

“Gah! Leg cramp!”

“Suck it up! We have to capture this criminal before they cause more disturbances in our fair city!”

Trixie almost felt sorry for the guards chasing after her. She actually had to slow down so that they could keep up… ‘And I thought I was bad at physical activities. Well, that heavy armour couldn’t be making it any easier, I suppose.’

“That’s far enough!”

Trixie noticed a stallion ahead of her and slowed to a stop when she noticed the armour that he was wearing. “A captain…”

“That’s correct,” the white unicorn before her said. “Captain Shining Armor, to be exact. And you are?”

The guards behind Trixie stopped and rejoiced when they saw that their beloved captain was standing ahead of them.

“It’s Captain Armor!”

“Yes! It’s over now!”

“No way she’s getting out of this!”

Trixie scoffed and tilted her head up. “Can’t you see this mask? Tri-Er, I’m wearing it for a reason, you know?” ‘Nice one, Trixie. Just go ahead and almost blow your cover, why don’t you?’

Shining Armor’s horn lit up, and a pink barrier started to form itself around the two of them. Trixie, assuming that it was merely designed to keep her from escaping, didn’t bother moving. The guards behind, though, did. They moved back, telling each other to stay out of the captain’s way.

“You are under arrest!” Shining Armor declared. “Turn yourself in now and we will be much more lenient on you!”

Trixie yawned and then lit her horn up… “What?!” she shouted when her illusion didn’t form.

“You’ve been using illusions around the city, haven’t you?” Shining Armor asked. “This barrier is designed to cancel out illusionary magic. I think you’ll find that they won’t work so well in here.”

Trixie glared at the captain before turning her attention to her side.

“Don’t bother. There’s another barrier on the outside that will prevent you from leaving without my permission.”

Trixie stomped a hoof on the ground, frustrated at how easily she had been trapped. ‘Darn it! Things were going so well! I guess I let my guard down big time…’

Shining Armor took a step forward. “Last chance… Will you surrender peacefully?”

Trixie turned her attention to the castle in the distance behind her, and then back to Shining Armor. ‘I have to delay the Royal Guard as long as possible! Guess I have no choice…’

Trixie ran forward, horn flaring and head lowered. Shining Armor immediately took up a defensive stance and nimbly dodged the first magical attack fired his way.

“Very well then! You asked for this!” he shouted as he drew his spear. He lunged the tail end towards her, not wanting to kill his target. She dodged the first two attacks, but was hit square between the eyes by the third.

Trixie teleported back a little bit to gain some distance, surprising Shining Armor. He didn’t think she’d have had that kind of magical ability, with how little damage she had actually done to the city.

Behind him, Shining Armor could hear the cheers and praise sent his way, and would have blushed from them had he not been entirely focused on the battle he was in.

“Amazing!”

“Two barriers, and still able to fight!”

“He’s not a captain for nothing, y’know?!”

Trixie felt blood trickle down her face from where she had been hit, though it was obscured by her cracking mask. Her glare towards Shining Armor intensified. “Oh, it. Is.” For a split-second, Shining could have sworn that his opponent’s horn glowed black. “ON!”

Alexander poked his head up from the hole he had made above himself. He surveyed the area around him and confirmed that they were indeed inside the castle.

“Well?” Chill asked. “Did we make it inside?”

“… A slight miscalculation,” Alexander admitted, causing Chill to sigh. “We’re inside, but I have no idea where abouts. Certainly not the dungeon, that’s for sure.”

He climbed out of the hole and pulled Chill and Aura up with him. “Well, at least there are no ponies around,” Chill said.

“Indeed,” Alexander agreed. “Now we just have to be careful, and find that dungeon…”

The three heard hoofsteps moving towards them and quickly ducked out of sight behind a very large plant pot.

They didn’t poke their heads out to see who was there, but they could hear the conversation between the two ponies.

“Sir! No unusual sightings so far, sir!”

“… Private?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Why is there a hole in the floor here?”

“… WHAT?! W-When did that happen?! A-Apologies, sir! I-I’ll have somepony take care of it right away!”

“You fool! It’s too late for that now! The enemy is already inside the castle! And even worse, I’ve lost the princess!” A loud sigh could be heard from one of the two ponies. “Princess Celestia will have my head on a plate if anything happens to her beloved niece!”

“Sir, should I help you look for her?”

“No! Alert the other guards to this break-in! I’ll look for the princess by myself!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

…

“Oh! Sir, I forgot to report: Captain Shining Armor has engaged the pony causing civil unrest in combat, and-”

“You fool! Now’s not the time for that! Just do the job I have assigned to you!”

“Sir! Apologies, sir! I’ll get right on it!”

Once the two ponies had trotted away in separate directions, the three changelings came out of their hiding place and exchanged nervous glances.

“So? Which way?” Chill asked.

“Hmmm… beats me,” Alexander said.

“What about that ‘sixth sense’ you told me about?”

“That’s very specific. It doesn’t work for everything,” Alexander said with a shrug. “Otherwise it would be OP.”

“… It would be what now?”

“Guys,” Aura said, drawing their attentions. “I’m worried about Miss Trixie. Didn’t you hear what they said?”

Alexander groaned. “Look, we’ve been over this! She’ll be fine!” ‘Probably.’

“But she’s engaged in combat with the stallion that beat out mother!” she pointed out. “Ooh! I never should have agreed to this! Letting her go all alone like that…”

Chill looked down at Aura sympathetically. “Princess, with respect, she’s a pony… We can’t afford to worry about her right now, when our own race’s future is under threat.”

Aura looked down at the ground with a saddened look. “Miss Trixie… Miss Trixie never abandoned me, even after she found out that I was a changeling.”

“Princess-”

“No!” she shouted, startling the two older changelings. “I can’t do it! I can’t abandon Miss Trixie, no matter what! I have to help her! If no one else will, then I have to!” With that, she stormed off through the castle, looking around for an open window to fly out of. Unfortunately, all of the windows that she passed by were sealed shut.

“Princess, wait!” Chill shouted as he and Alexander gave chase.

“Aura!” Alexander called out.

Aura ran around a corner and bumped into something. She lifted herself off of the ground, rubbing her sore nose. “Owww…”

“Oh my. Are you okay?”

Aura opened her eyes and flinched at what she saw. Before her stood a pink pony with a striped mane of three different colours, purple eyes, a pair of pegasus wings… and a unicorn horn…

“P-Princess… Cadance…”

Chapter 13

Mystic led her forces through the dank, dark tunnels beneath Canterlot Castle, using her illusions to sneak by unnoticed and incapacitate guards along the way. It was when she and her team had entered the Special Block that security to ease up somewhat. There were fewer guards there, although many of the cellblocks were sealed by powerful spells to keep their prisoners in and intruders out.

Thankfully, the prisoner that they were looking for was there unofficially, meaning that no such lock should exist for her cell. “Still though, to have so few guards stationed this deep into the dungeon…”

“They must feel safe enough with just the spells and enchantments casted throughout,” one of Mystic’s soldiers, Felt, suggested. “Their confidence will work to our advantage.”

Mystic nodded her head in agreement. “Luna’s cell should be just a bit further ahead. I can feel a strong presence there.” Mystic stopped suddenly and turned around, looking past her soldiers and down the path that they had just come from.

“What is it?” Silk asked, following the general’s gaze only to find nothing but the dark corridor ahead of her. “General, there’s nothing-”

“Get back!” Mystic’s cry came late. An series of arrows flew by, one striking Silk’s neck and causing her to fall to the ground. Felt and Glass had managed to raise their shields in time to block the attacks and Gravel dodged to the side. Mystic simply disintegrated the arrow heading for her as it came near. “Silk!”

“She’s fine,” Felt reported after he crouched down to check the fallen changeling’s neck. “The arrows’ tips were blunt. She’s out, but she’ll live.”

“Only one?” a voice down the corridor called out. “How infuriating. I was hoping to take you all down in one fell swoop.”

Mystic used her magic to light the corridor. From the shadows emerged a pony dressed in the Royal Guard armour assigned to a captain, with just one minor difference: the material was leather, not steel. In his left hoof was a bow, and to his sides were two quivers filled with arrows. The captain’s wings wrapped around his front and stretched out faster than Mystic’s eyes could follow. There were five arrows in each wing.

“I cannot believe that you would be foolish enough to come back after having narrowly escaped before,” Precision Perfect said as he raised his bow, using his right wing to load one arrow against the bowstring and pull it back. “I have no idea what you’re after, but you shouldn’t have left your hoofprints behind if you intended to be sneaky about it.”

“Hoofprints?” Mystic asked. “We didn’t leave any hoofprints! What kind of amateur do you take me for?!”

“Every action leaves behind a trace,” Precision Perfect said. “While anypony else may have missed it, my eyes did not. I am Precision Perfect, Captain of the Royal Guard and the Right Eye of Celestia.”

“Precision Perfect?” Mystic asked. “I see. So you’re the captain said to be the greatest archer in all of Equestria, second only to your father, the ‘Left Eye of Celestia’.”

“What’s that?” Gravel asked, using his magic to pull Silk back behind the general.

“The ‘Left Eye of Celestia’ was once a general in the Royal Guard feared by many who met him on the battlefield. His original title was simply the ‘Eye of Celestia’, but ever since his son also claimed that title, it was split into two.”

“That’s correct,” Precision perfect said, firing his arrow and striking Felt before he could react. “And you must be a captain yourself, seeing as you are clearly in charge here.”

“Sorry, but you’re a bit off the mark there,” Mystic replied. “I am General Mystic, Knight to Princess Elizabeth.”

“A general?” Precision Perfect chuckled. “Oh, I see. I had assumed you were a captain, but if you’re a general, then I pity your country’s military prowess.”

Mystic gritted her teeth as the captain loaded another arrow onto his bow. “General,” Glass said, “That was a sharp one.” Glass held up Felt’s leg, which was bleeding from the impact.

“Take him aside and treat his wound,” Mystic ordered as she stepped forward to shield her comrades. “Gravel, you continue to the end of this corridor and secure our target.”

“Yes, sir!” Gravel answered with a salute, springing off down the corridor without any hesitation.

“Now just where do you think you’re going?” An arrow fired from Precision Perfect’s bow and struck the fleeing changeling… or so he thought. The changeling turned into gravel and crumbled before the startled captain’s eyes.

“Before you go bullying those weaker than you, perhaps you’d like to try taking on an opponent who can actually fight back?” Mystic’s horn lit up. The room began to shake around her and soon rotated until everything was upside-down, including its occupants.

“An illusionist!” Precision shouted as sweat began to trickle down his face. He narrowed his eyes and loaded the remaining three arrows on his right wing onto his bow.

“Go ahead. Pick a target,” the fifty Mystics standing before him taunted in unison.

Precision Perfect responded by grinning as he fired the three arrows towards a single target. All of the Mystics moved to the side, his target dodging the attack. “Did I hit my mark?”

‘H-How did he-’ “Who knows? Maybe you’ll want to try again? I’ll stand still this time, honest.”

“If you insist…” Precision Perfect loaded one arrow onto his bow and fired it, this time towards a different Mystic. This one teleported out of the way, causing the other Mystics to disperse as she reappeared, staring speechless at the captain. “I thought you weren’t going to move.”

“General…” Glass looked between the two combatants in awe. “He’s seeing through the general’s illusions…”

“I told you, I am Precision Perfect! My sharp eye catches onto anything, including those illusions of yours!” Precision Perfect fired his remaining four arrows towards Mystic. She jumped to avoid them and charged up a magical counterattack, only to stop and gasp as she caught the captain firing another arrow her way. “Too slow.”

Mystic used the energy that she had gathered to create a quick barrier. The arrow pierced the shell, but it slowed down enough that it only hit her foreleg. “GAH!”

“I have you now,” Precision said, firing two more arrows to pin both of Mystic’s hind legs as she fell down towards the floor. “For Princess Celestia, I will execute you here and now, General Mystic. Rest assured that your comrades will be spared… for now.”

Mystic slowly rose to her hooves, huffing as she looked at her opponent. He was already prepared to fire with four arrows on his bow and two more on each wing. “… Glass, how’s Felt’s condition?”

Glass looked over Felt’s body. “He’s stabilised. So long as we don’t remove the arrow, he’ll be fi-” A hoof to the back of Glass’ head knocked the medical changeling out.

Precision Perfect’s eyes widened as he watched the general attacking her own subordinate. “What game are you playing here, Changeling? Are you taking your anger out on your own soldier?”

“I don’t like working with others,” Mystic said, her breathing now calm and steady as she took a few steps towards Precision Perfect. “I can’t go all-out without risking killing them. But with Glass’ condition stabilised, and now that I know the extent of your power, I can end this now.” Mystic’s horn sparked to life and she disappeared in an instant.

Precision Perfect pointed his bow up and fired his arrows, striking Mystic in the neck and causing her to fall to the ground. “I told you, I can see-”

“Me?”

Precision Perfect gasped and turned around, loading two arrows onto his bow, but found nothing there. He felt a sharp pain in his side and slowly turned his head. Mystic was standing behind him, three arrows in her neck, and one more in her hoof, penetrating the side of his body.

“H-How did you-”

“You can see through illusions, but your mind can still be tricked,” Mystic said. “Illusions aren’t the only means of deceiving. As well as creating fake images, we illusionists can also mask reality.”

“You took those arrows to the neck and then projected your voice behind me?” Precision spat. “That’s insane! What if my shots had hit any vital spots?!”

“I made sure that they didn’t,” Mystic said. “I guided them. Just a small nudge, so that you wouldn’t notice, but enough to spare me so long as I cast a silent protection spell.”

“… You… You dare to throw off my aim? My aim?! My aim is true! My aim is perfect!” Precision Perfect loaded his final two arrows and spun around, aiming his shot at Mystic. “Every shot hits its mark! I am Precision Perfect, the Right Eye of Celestia!”

Mystic simply grinned as the two arrows passed through her, striking the floor behind the ephemeral mare. “By the way, when you lose you cool against an illusionist, you lose the battle.”

Lava shot forth from the ground beneath Precision Perfect’s chin. The stallion screamed as his head became buried in the burning lava, soon leading to his entire body catching fire. The tortured screams continued until the lava vanished, leaving the captain stumbling backwards, completely fine save for the paleness of his face and the shaking of his hooves.

“Wow, you came out of that better than I would’ve thought,” Mystic said. “I’d have killed you, but I’m sure she wouldn’t approve of it.”

“And who might that be?” Mystic’s head shot up and she looked past the captain. Hoofsteps slowly made their way through the darkness. Precision Perfect’s breathing started to steady, and he too became curious as to the identity of the new creature joining them. “Captain Precision Perfect, it seems that you still have a long way to go. You let your guard down, but against an enemy of equal or greater rank, that is unacceptable.”

“T-That voice…” Precision Perfect stood tall as the stallion revealed himself. He was a large stallion, and his size wasn’t due to muscle. The brown-coated stallion appeared to be somepony who might place first in a pie-eating contest, though his armour suggested that he held the rank of ‘general’.

“And you, Changeling, were too soft. You could have ended this battle much swifter if you had simply aimed for the neck, as opposed to the side. Or better yet, you could have used the dusty ground to your advantage and obscured your opponent’s vision. As an illusionist, I would have expected such a tactic from you.”

“… Who are you?” Mystic asked, moving her hoof towards her sabre.

“General Ironhoof, I thought that you went to the battlefield with Princess Celestia,” Precision Perfect said, quickly righting himself and saluting to the general. “Uh, sir!”

“At ease, Captain,” the general said. “I felt uneasy. As I was leaving Canterlot, I felt an ominous presence over Canterlot Castle, and so I came to check it out… I’m curious as to why this changeling is willingly entering our dungeon, and also, as to the current whereabouts of Princess Luna.”

“Princess Luna?” Precision Perfect asked. “S-She travelled to Ponyville, to gather the Element bearers.”

“Oh? Has the situation become that dire?” Ironhoof raised a hoof to his chin and stroked a beard that wasn’t there. “The war has only just begun, after all.”

“Well, sir, there was a break-in. A pony had infiltrated our dungeon and freed the changeling prisoners being held here.”

“… And for this, she made the journey to Ponyville, to recruit the princess’ student and her friends, as opposed to recruiting the very seers and soldiers we have stationed at the castle?” Ironhoof hummed in thought. “I would expect such an action from her sister, but I always felt that Princess Luna held much higher regard for our troops.

“There is also the matter of the two guards tasked with watching her. I hear that they have vanished and been replaced.”

“We’re looking into that matter, sir,” Precision Perfect assured. “General Ironhoof, sir, if I may ask, what is it that you’re suggesting?”

“I was hoping that maybe General Mystic might be able to answer that very question,” Ironhoof said, causing the captain to face the changeling. “Tell me, General: why did you come here?”

“…”

“General Mystic!” Gravel’s voice called out. “I got it! The chamber’s open!”

Mystic grinned and withdrew her hoof from her weapon. “… Why don’t you come and see, General Ironhoof? Of course, you too, Captain.”

Ironhoof nodded and allowed the other general to lead the way. They left the unconscious changelings behind as the three traversed through the long, dark corridor, eventually reaching a chamber at the end.

“The Chamber of Sealing,” Precision Perfect said. “It’s not currently in use.”

“Then why was it sealed?” Gravel asked, stepping aside to allow the three inside. “She’s waiting, General. I’m afraid my power isn’t enough to-”

“It’s fine. Thank you, Gravel,” Mystic said as she entered the chamber. Ironhoof and Precision Perfect followed her inside, both stopping and gaping at what they saw.

Inside the chamber, in the middle of a large, glowing circle and shackled in chains, with a strange device fixed to her horn, was Princess Luna of Equestria.

Trixie fired a beam of magic past Shining Armor that pierced the barrier behind him. She fired a few more, gritting her teeth in anger when they all passed through harmlessly.

“Sorry,” Shining said. “This barrier prevents you from escaping. Your magic will just pass right through it. The barrier’s weak points are all centred around me, which means that if you want to escape-”

“Silence!” Trixie commanded, using her magic to teleport close to Shining Armor. She delivered a kick towards his face, which he easily blocked with a forehoof. She then summoned some magic into her horn and fired it at his body.

It was a direct hit, but the stallion was able to use his own magic to soften the blow. At the same time, he delivered a kick of his own, knocking Trixie back. She fell down hard onto the floor and let out a few pained coughs as she tried to stand back up again.

“Will you just surrender already?” Shining Armor asked. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will if you don’t stop all this.”

“Don’t you dare look down on me!” Trixie shouted, magic flaring back into her horn as she wobbled a bit, struggling to keep her balance. “I’m far from finished!”

Shining Armor sighed and then entered a defensive stance, ready for whatever attack she threw his way next.

‘Okay, so now I have an idea of how he fights,’ Trixie thought to herself, examining both her opponent and the area around them. ‘He doesn’t like to initiate combat but has no problem going through with it. He aims for places that will immobilise his opponent, but not cause lasting damage.

‘In other words, he’s a softie. He’s too strong for me to take on by regular means… I wonder if I should risk it?’

Trixie ran forward, her horn alight. When she got close enough to Shining Armor, she pulled something out of her cape with her magic. “Try this!” she shouted as she threw the object in her magic onto the ground.

Shining Armor jumped back with a start as a cloud of red smoke appeared and a familiar scent wafted through his nose. “P-POISON?!” He quickly used his magic to dispel the cloud of smoke. His eyes widened as he saw the blue mare lying on her back on the ground, breathing heavily. “NO WAY! A suicide attack?!”

He rushed to the pony’s aid immediately. Even if she was the enemy, he wasn’t going to let her die. “I’ve gotta get her to the hospital… No, first, I have to get the poison out of her system!” He focused his magic, straining himself as he thought back to his training. “Darn it! Why didn’t I practice that spell more? For now, all I can do is slow down the spread of the… What?” He scanned the mare’s body over with his magic, searching for any trace of poison inside of her. There was none.

“Surprised?” Trixie asked as she fired a blast of magic directly at Shining Armor’s horn, causing him to yelp and fall backwards. She quickly got up and stood over her opponent with a victorious grin on her face. “I’m glad I was right. You’re so worried about the safety of others that you take no chances when something strange happens.

“That smoke? Just harmless coloured smoke, with an artificial scent similar to a common poison that I’d wager the Royal Guard has been trained to detect.”

Shining Armor shook his head to clear away the pain and rose to his hooves. As he did, he noticed that his spear was now being held by his opponent. “You… That’s a dirty trick.”

“I’m an illusionist,” Trixie said. “Tricking ponies is what I do! And a true illusionist can do so even without their magic!” She gave a theatrical bow, before charging forward towards Shining Armor, delivering kicks and swinging his spear at him. Each attack was easily blocked by the stallion, but he refused to fight back.

“Darn it…” he mumbled angrily to himself.

“Indeed,” Trixie said, noting his anger. “You can’t hurt me because I’m deliberately leaving my most vital points open to your attacks. If you strike, you could cause serious damage, and I now know how much you’d hate to-”

Trixie was cut off by a blow to her abdomen. It took her a few seconds to realise that she had been hit before she staggered backwards in pain, staring in shock at the pony that had hit her.

“That’s not why I’m angry,” Shining said, his horn and hooves surrounded by pink auras. “I’m angry that the citizens of Equestria seem to take the Royal Guard for fools… Not to mention that that spear is a family heirloom.”

Trixie glared at her opponent, upset that she had underestimated him. “Is that so? My apologies. I’ll give it back when I’ve beaten you.”

Shining entered an attacking stance this time. “No thanks. I’ll just take it back right now, if that’s all the same to you.”

Aura looked in horror at the pink princess standing before her. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza – or ‘Cadance’, as she liked to be called – was a legend in the Changeling Kingdom. After all, together with Shining Armor, she was the one who had defeated the changelings’ queen and thwarted her attempts to takeover Equestria some months ago.

Cadance looked down at the shivering filly with a concerned look. “Are you okay? Are you lost, by any chance?”

Aura flinched and took a step back when Cadance extended her hoof, but calmed down a bit when she saw that Cadance wasn’t wearing the same goggles that the Royal Guard were wearing. “I-I’m fine,” she said, taking another step back cautiously.

“PRINCESS!”

Cadance’s wings snapped open and she quickly picked Aura up with her magic, taking the filly into a nearby storage closet. The room was cramped and housed only a single mop and a bucket. Aura struggled against the princess’ magical hold and was about to scream for help before Cadance raised a hoof to her mouth and asked her to be quiet.

Aura did so, but not out of fear. There was something in the princess’ voice that calmed her. It was gentle, and soothing. ‘Almost like Mother’s…’

Hoofsteps could be heard outside, along with two male voices.

“Darn it! Princess Aura, where are you?!”

“Chill, you go on ahead to the dungeon! I’ll search for Aura!”

“… Alright, if you say so.”

The hoofsteps outside split off into two directions and, once they could no longer be heard, Cadance let out a sigh of relief and released the filly in her grasp. “Sorry about that,” she said, opening the closet’s door so that they could both leave. “I thought they were after me… The Royal Guard has insisted that they escort me everywhere I go, but it’s so troublesome. Honestly, I can’t even go to the bathroom in peace anymore…”

Aura watched Cadance cautiously. “I-It’s fine. Uh, Princess,” she added with a courteous bow.

“Oh, please. Just call me Cadance,” the princess said, smiling at the little filly. “But… I wonder what they were talking about? I’ve never heard of a ‘Princess Aura’ before…” Aura gulped and took a cautious step back, ready to run like the wind. “I certainly hope Blueblood hasn’t been fooling around with mares again! I’ve told him repeatedly to act more like a proper prince and that he’d only land himself into some deep trouble someday!”

Aura eased up a bit but was still preparing herself for a long sprint. “W-Well, I should probably get going now…” she said, deciding to walk down the path that Cadance had just come from. “It was nice meeting you, Pr-Er, Cadance.”

“Aww, do you have to go so soon?” Cadance asked. “I was just on my way into the city, to visit this bakery that I like. They make the best cakes you’ll have ever tasted! It would be nice to have somepony to chat to.”

Aura shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have somewhere else I need to be.”

“Would that be the dungeon?” Cadance’s question made Aura freeze as the filly looked up at the princess in shock. She focused her magic to subtly open one of her saddlebags. “Please, there’s no need to be alarmed.”

Aura wrapped her magic around the pistol inside her bag. “How did you know?”

“Well, a young filly comes running around the corner and then a few seconds later, two stallions come by whilst calling out for somepony?” Cadance winked at the filly. “I’ve been through that before. It was easy to figure out that you’re the ‘Aura’ they’re after.” Cadance casually took a step closer to Aura. “I never knew that Blueblood had such a cute daughter. I’ll have to offer him my congratulations later!”

Aura stared blankly at the clueless princess, unsure of what exactly she should say. “Y-Yeah,” she managed to let out before releasing her magic. “D-Daddy… wanted it to be a surprise!”

Cadance giggled. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

‘In what kind of family would such a thing be considered normal?!’ Aura thought to herself as she giggled along with Cadance.

“But why are you on your way to the dungeon?” Cadance asked.

“O-Oh, it’s, um… research?” Cadance gave her a strange look, telling Aura that that wouldn’t do. “On the, uh… history of Canterlot?”

Cadance smiled and raised a hoof. Aura flinched, but calmed down when she felt a gentle touch on top of her head. She looked up to see Cadance patting her on the head. “My, doing research at such a young age. Your father must be proud of you.”

“Yeah,” Aura said, feeling a little embarrassed from the way that Cadance was praising her. At least she wasn’t roughing up her mane like Alexander would do, though. “Anyway, I really should be on my way now.”

“I’ll come with you,” Cadance said.

“Why?” Aura asked, sweat trickling down her forehead. “D-Didn’t you say you were on your way into the city?”

Cadance thought about it as she tapped a hoof to her chin. She then shook her head and replied, “I’ve changed my mind! I want to get to know my niece a little bit!”

Seeing that there was no way out of it, Aura resigned to her fate and allowed Princess Cadance to go along with her. ‘Well, it’s only one of them… I may be able to lose her and then go and help Miss Trixie.’

Twilight Sparkle and her friends sat around the table in the library’s lower room with Princess Luna, who had been waiting patiently for the six friends to gather before her. Spike came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with seven cups of tea on it and started to set them down for everypony.

“Well, now that we’re all here, We shall be brief,” the princess said, ignoring the tea placed before her. “We have little time, so please pay careful attention to what We are about to tell you.” The six friends exchanged worried glances before nodding. “… Equestria is once more in need of your help.”

“Another enemy?” Twilight asked.

Luna nodded and levitated the box that she had brought along onto the table. She opened it up to reveal the Elements of Harmony inside. “Earlier today, the Changeling Kingdom declared war on Equestria.”

“They what?!” Rainbow asked, her eyes wide and her face twisted in a frown. “Didn’t they learn their lesson after last time? No one messes with Equestria without feeling the consequences! Also, there’s a ‘Changeling Kingdom’?”

Luna offered the pegasus a smile and gestured for her to calm down. “Quite right. Unfortunately, they chose a bad time.”

“What d’ya mean?” Applejack asked.

Luna brought the tea up to her lips and took a sip before answering. “Our sister… she isn’t feeling so well.” The group shared a look of concern, but Luna smiled reassuringly at them. “It is nothing to fear, she is just feeling a little overworked at the moment. Unfortunately, this means that she may not be able to defeat the approaching army of changelings all on her own.”

“Then… shouldn’t you be helping her?” Rainbow Dash asked, but Luna shook her head.

“Even if We were there to assist her, We doubt it would do any good. Our powers are such that we must fight on our own, lest we run the risk of harming each other, as well as the enemy.”

Twilight turned her hardened gaze towards the Elements. “So… that’s where we come in?”

Luna nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately, We must ask that you accompany us to the battlefield, and use the Elements of Harmony in order to defeat the changelings’ queen.”

“B-B-Battlefield?” Fluttershy asked, shaking as she scooted backwards away from the table.

“We understand that this is a difficult task We ask of you,” Luna said, sighing as she looked down at her hooves. “Before you answer, you must be aware that, unlike your previous ventures, you will be wandering into an area filled with blood… and death.”

A cold chill descended down the spines of everypony in the room and the six friends asked for some time to discuss it amongst themselves.

“We understand,” Luna said, getting up and turning towards the door.

Twilight nodded and watched as Luna left the room. “By the way, you’re still using the royal we,” she noticed, stopping the princess in her tracks. “Moreso than before, in fact.”

Luna gritted her teeth together. ‘Am I overdoing it?’ After clearing her throat, she said, “Old habits are… hard to break.”

“Hey, Princess?” Applejack asked. “It might be nothin’, but there’s a pony in town that’s been actin’ mighty suspicious.”

“Oh?” Luna asked, turning around with a look of intrigue.

“This new pony that showed up recently. Name’s Shock.” Applejack’s face turned sour as the stallion’s face flashed into her mind. “Ah haven’t got any proof, but ah got a bad feelin’… Y’think he might be a changelin’ in disguise?”

“That would explain how an earth pony could keep up with me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, grinning as she nodded her head with a look of content. She then noticed Applejack glaring at her. “Eheh… No offence.”

“There is no need to worry,” Luna said. “If there is a changeling spy here, he will not escape our sight.” Luna turned back towards the door and continued to walk. “We shall give you some time. Please be quick, though. We fear that Princess Celestia may not last for long on her own.”

After Princess Luna had left, Twilight turned to her friends to begin discussing the situation at hoof. “Personally, I feel that-” She turned her head to the door as something hit her and stared at it with a questioning gaze. “D-Did she just say ‘Princess Celestia’?”

Outside of the library, Odysseus walked over to the chariot where the Royal Guards escorting him were standing guard. They saluted as he approached, their eyes glowing green as they simply stared off into space.

“Shock, I have a task for you,” Odysseus said whilst still disguised as Princess Luna.

Shock walked out from behind the chariot and bowed to his prince. “Yes, my lord?”

“It doesn’t look like some of them are up to the task. We’ll need to ‘motivate’ them.”

A grin appeared on Shock’s face and sparks started to form in the air around him. “How many?”

“Just one should do. All we need is one casualty. That should be enough to provoke them into action.”

Shock nodded and rose to his hooves. “Very well then. And anypony will do, right?”

“Yes. I’ll leave the target up to you, just make sure that you’re noticed.”

Shock released his pony disguise and took to the air with his wings. Odysseus turned his attention back to the library as he let out a soft chuckle. “Soft and naïve, but strong-willed. Both ponies and changelings are so easily manipulated, but sometimes surprisingly smart.” Odysseus spied on Applejack through the library’s window. “With this, I can trick them into action and erase Shock all at once. Two birds with one stone. Thank you, Applejack.”

Aura and Cadance walked together through the castle’s hallways, occasionally stopping to hide whenever somepony passed by, most of which were either looking for Cadance or for the intruders. Whilst Cadance skipped forward with a cheerful smile on her face, Aura was clearly quite anxious, looking around herself every few seconds and waiting for a chance to Cadance to let her guard down so that she could run away.

After roughly thirty minutes, Aura was beginning to grow impatient. She had to reach Trixie and she had to reach her soon.

“The castle is rather big, isn’t it?” Cadance asked, receiving a nod from Aura. “I wonder if anypony’s ever gotten lost in this place?”

“I would imagine so,” Aura replied. “For one who doesn’t know the layout, this place just seems to the same endless hallway repeated over and over again. Even the decorations are arranged in exactly the same way in each hallway.”

Cadance made a note of her surroundings and gasped at the new revelation. “You’re right,” she said, noticing that the busts standing in front of the walls were all exactly the same and were spaced the exact same distance apart each time, with a painting of the same size in-between each one. “The only thing to let you know you’re not caught in an infinite loop is the contents of each painting.”

Aura nodded. ‘Darn it! I have to lose her! Miss Trixie could be in danger right now and I’m just walking through this castle, making friends with one of the two ponies that defeated Mother!’

“Aura?” Aura snapped to attention. She turned to her side, only to find that Cadance was gone. “You’re going the wrong way.” Aura turned around to find Cadance giggling at her, standing at a three-way intersection that the youngling had just right by.

“S-Sorry,” she said before rejoining the Princess.

“Do you have something on your mind, little one?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Come on, you can tell me,” Cadance said in a reassuring tone. “You may not know this, but I was once a foalsitter, you know?”

“Is that right?” Aura asked, looking around for anything that she could use to escape. By that point she was even considering the possibility of knocking the other princess out with one of the busts, but then started to wonder if she even had enough strength to do a thing like that.

“Yes. A lovely young filly name Twilight Sparkle.” Aura flinched at the name. “She was a lot like you, always spacing out whenever she had something on her mind. And she would always try to hide it, too.

“That’s why I can tell that’s something’s bothering you, and that you’re trying to handle it on your own.”

Aura’s mouth hung open but no words came out. A gentle smile from Cadance spread to the youngling and she replied, “Well… it’s not really something you can help me with.” Aura’s eyes shifted to the floor as Cadance leaned down and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Try me.”

Hesitantly, Aura nodded and began thinking about where to start. ‘As long as I don’t mention the changelings, I should be fine… right?’

After a deep breath, Aura began. “You see, there’s somepony out there who’s done so much for me. They saved me and helped me out, when I thought that everypony else had abandoned me… They’ve gone through so much pain because of me, and I’ve totally messed up their life… but she still sticks by me and helps me out, no matter what.

“And now she’s in trouble, and I can’t do anything to help her. I want to, I really do, but even if I got to her, will I just be getting in the way? Will I… just become a nuisance to her? I don’t want her to hate me… but at the same time, I can’t just leave her… It’s so confusing and I don’t know what to do anymore!”

The two were silent for a moment save for the ragged breathing coming from Aura. Cadance extended her wings and wrapped them around the filly, startling her. “Aura…”

Aura looked up and into Cadance’s eyes. They were calm, gentle, and full of kindness… Just looking into them filled the youngling with hope. They were the eyes of her mother.

“Yes, Momma?”

Aura hadn’t realised her slip up until Cadance had started giggling. She immediately blushed a deep crimson as soon as she did. “Aura, tell me,” Cadance said as she stopped her giggling to give the filly a serious look. “You’re not really Blueblood’s daughter, are you?”

Aura’s breath caught in her throat. Her eyes trembled as she stared back into Cadances’, unable to produce any intelligible response.

“Princess!” The two turned around to see two Royal Guards approaching them quickly. One was a pegasus, whose wings were flared, and the other was a unicorn, whose spear was being held in her magic. “Get back! She’s a changeling!”

Cadance gasped turned to the filly, who quickly jumped back and pulled out a pistol from her bag with her magic. “Aura?”

“You’re under arrest!” the unicorn guard shouted, charging towards Aura. However, before he could reach her, a blast of green magic hit him from behind, lifting him up into the air before dropping him back down onto the floor.

“Aura! You okay?!” Alexander shouted as he rushed past the two guards and took up a defensive stance in-between Aura and Cadance. “What were you thinking, runnin’ off like that?!”

“But… Miss Trixie is-”

“Trixie will be just fine!” Alexander said, not taking his eyes off of Cadance, who was staring back at him with a blank look on her face.

“That’s… That’s a lie, isn’t it?!” Aura accused, dropping her disguise and running down the hallway.

“WAIT!” Alexander tried to give chase, but he was stopped by an attack from the pegasus guard behind him. He dealt with the guard swiftly by throwing her to the side and then turned his attention back to the retreating form of his sister. “Aura, stop!”

Aura did indeed stop, before using her pistol to blast a hole through one of the large windows to her side and then spreading her wings to soar through the opening. “I’m sorry, brother!” she shouted as she looked back over her shoulder. “I have to go! Miss Trixie needs my help!”

“Damnit!” Alexander shouted as he followed Aura outside of the castle, through the hole in the glass window.

Meanwhile, Cadance watched as the two changelings became smaller in the distance. “That youngling…” Cadance thought back to Aura’s eyes the moment before she had run away from the older changeling. She hadn’t seen that kind of resolve since a time in her past when she was walking through the city with Twilight. It was when a lone filly was being bullied by a group of colts.

“But Cadance, I can’t just let this continue… Somepony has to stand up for them!”

“I agree, Twilight, but what if you get hurt?”

“I don’t care! I’d rather take the risk, than do nothing at all and regret it later!”

Cadance smiled. The two guards behind her groaned as they rose to their hooves.

“Princess, please forgive our incompetence,” the unicorn guard said with a deep bow.

Cadance shook her head. “No, it wasn’t you fault…”

“Please allow us to escort you safely to your room.”

Cadance giggled before spreading her wings and turning away from the two surprised guards. “Sorry, but I can’t let you do that,” she said.

“P-Princess! Surely you aren’t thinking of going after them?!”

“Sure am!” Cadance replied, running down the hallway and taking flight through the hole in the window. The two guards had chased her and were pleading for her to stop from the other side of the window. “Don’t worry! I’ll be just fine!” she shouted back, not entirely sure if they were even able to hear her or not.

Trixie was knocked backwards by the force of Shining Armor’s blow. This had been the fifth time in a row now and she was starting to grow tired of it, letting out a frustrated cry. “Damn… Stop that! You’re not supposed to be able to knock me down so easily!”

“If you give up, I’ll stop,” Shining Armor said sternly.

“Never!” Trixie shouted, getting back up to her hooves despite still feeling dizzy from all the punishment that her body had taken during her battle. ‘Even though I deliberately throw my vital spots in the way of his attacks, he doesn’t hesitate like I thought he would… Somehow he’s still able to hit with the precision to avoid my vitals despite the openings I leave.

‘I hate to admit it, but he’s good… A better fighter than me, that’s for sure, and without my illusions, I may not be able to… No! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t lose, not even to a Captain of the Royal Guard!’

Shining Armor sighed when Trixie charged forward again and dodged the two blast of magic that she had fired his way. As he expected, she tried an attack that put her in dangerous position. He was aware of her strategy: she wanted to take advantage of his soft nature. But it wasn’t going to work.

“You’re under arrest!” he shouted as he fired a binding spell, sensing that she was too weak and exhausted by that point to fight it. Chains shot forth from the ground, surrounded by a pink aura, and wrapped themselves around his opponent, binding her legs close to her body and preventing her from moving whilst she was suspended in the air. She struggled for a bit but was unable to break free. “Sorry to do this, but it is for the sake of peace.”

“Damnit!” Trixie shouted, summoning her magic to try to break free, but failing each time. ‘I have to delay, just a little longer!’

“Now, are you going to calm down, or do I need to use a sedation spell on you?”

Trixie glared at the stallion with a furious gaze. ‘How dare you?! How dare you look down on me like that?! The Great and Powerful Trixie, beaten by some nopony?! Never! I will not be humiliated like this! I will not go down so easily!’

“I won’t surrender,” Trixie said as she tried once more to break free. Magic gathered into her horn. Shining wasn’t worried, at least not until he saw that the magic aura was no longer purple… It was black. “You have only witnessed a small fragment of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s true magical abilities!”

A black light exploded from Trixie’s horn, knocking Shining Armor backwards and destroying the binding spell that had been holding her in place. She fell gracefully down to the floor and directed her horn at Shining Armor, the tip of it gathering more of that black aura. Her target cast a barrier spell, ready to deflect any incoming attacks.

“NO! I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

Trixie flinched and shook her head as a memory entered her mind. A memory of herself, walking down a dark alleyway, the buildings much taller than they usually were…

“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, just… please let me live!”

She gasped as she remembered walking towards a cowering stallion and lowering her horn towards him… Her small, blackened horn, which flared to life before being coated in red, along with her surroundings. She could hear the tortured screams of the stallion running through her mind and she screamed in unison.

‘I… I can’t…’ Trixie’s magic began to die down. ‘I can’t use this magic! Not again!’

Shining Armor saw his chance and fired a concentrated blast of magic at Trixie’s horn as he dropped his barrier. His attacked knocked the showmare down onto her back, and the black energy dissipated completely from Trixie’s horn.

As Shining Armor slowly approached his downed foe, she had managed to slowly get up. Her mask had cracked and suddenly broke into two pieces, each one falling off her face as she looked up at him. Her eyes trembled as she saw the towering stallion above her. Her blood was hot with rage, but at the same, it also ran cold.

“MISS TRIXIE!” a voiced called out from the air. Both Trixie and Shining Armor turned their attentions skywards to find a small changeling hovering above, just outside of the barriers. Or rather, the barrier.

“What the?!” Shining exclaimed as he noticed that one of his barriers was gone. Thankfully, it wasn’t the one that had prevented illusions, but he was still stunned by this revelation. “It must have happened when she knocked me down…”

“Get away from Miss Trixie!” Aura shouted as she flew through the lone barrier and crashed down to the ground in front of Trixie. She used her magic to pull her two gunpowder pistols out of her bag and aimed them both at Shining Armor.

“You… you’re working with the changelings?!” Shining Armor asked Trixie, but she didn’t seem to acknowledge his question at all. Her attention was entirely focused on the youngling before her.

“You idiot!” she shouted. “What are you doing here?! You’re supposed to be at the castle!”

“You’re in trouble,” Aura said. “I’m here to help you! I’ll distract him, and you get away from here.”

“Are you insane?!” Trixie tried to summon some magic into her horn, but found it impossible in her current state. “If I was arrested, I could have gotten out with bail… or heck, just breaking out! But you… you’re a changeling! They won’t be so lenient with you!”

“Oh, so it’s okay for you to risk your life for me, but the other way around is completely out of the question?!” Aura shouted, surprising both Trixie, and herself, too. “Um, I mean… you’re my friend, Miss Trixie. You helped me out so much, so I wanted to return the favour…”

Trixie groaned and struggled as she rose to her hooves. She turned to face Shining Armor, who was now once again holding his spear in his magic. “Well, it’s too late now… If we’re lucky, we might be able to reach a sewer entrance and lose the guards, but Trixie wouldn’t place money on those odds.”

“If you two are quite done,” Shining Armor said, his tone of voice much harsher than when he was fighting only Trixie earlier, “You are both under arrest. You, for high treason,” he added, looking at Trixie, before turning his attention to Aura, “And you as a prisoner of war.”

“I’d like ta see you try it!” another new voice shouted. Another changeling dropped down in-between Shining Armor and Aura. “Lay one hoof on my sister, and I’ll make you experience our highest level of torture!”

“Alexander!” Aura called out, smiling at the sight of her brother, yet slightly worried at the same time.

“And you!” he shouted, not turning his attention away from Shining Armor. “I’ll have a word with you when all this is over!”

Aura frowned and gave a small whine. She then put her pistols away and turned to Trixie. “Let’s go! My brother can hold his own against an opponent like this!”

“I don’t think so!” Shining Armor shouted. “Guards! Capture them at once! Dead or alive!”

Trixie and Aura both immediately started running, but stopped quickly enough when they had found themselves surrounded on all sides by guards. There was no possible path of escape other than to fight through them.

“Guards, stand down!”

Everyone present turned their attentions to the sky, where they saw the majestic figure of a pink alicorn slowly descending down onto the battlefield. All of the guards immediately found themselves saluting and backing away, save for one Captain Armor.

“Cadie, what are you doing here?!” Shining asked as Cadance approached, only to earn a slap in the face from his wife. “C-Cadie?”

“Captain Shining Armor!” she shouted in an strict tone, putting emphasis on his title to let him know she was speaking to him not as his wife, but as a princess… and a very cross one, at that. “Could you please repeat your last order to me?”

Shining looked at his wife in bewilderment for a moment, but a stern glare from her quickly whipped him into shape and he snapped to attention, saluting and answering in a formal tone of voice, “Princess Cadance, sir! I believe my last order was: ‘guards, capture them, dead or alive’, sir!”

“And tell me, what crimes warrant the death penalty for these tree individuals?” Cadance asked.

“Sir, two of them are changeling troops, who we are currently at war with! The other is working with the changelings. She has committed high treason, sir!”

“Do you have any evidence that they are soldiers?” Cadance asked. “Because from what I see, one is only a youngling, who seemed more afraid of you than you did of her, and the other is her older brother.” She noticed the older changeling glaring at her as she looked them over and prayed silently that he wouldn’t start anything, before turning her attention back to Shining Armor. “As far as I’m aware, the only crimes any of these three have committed are minor property damage, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

“The two changelings are simply accomplices to the pony who committed those three crimes. Hardly what I would call crimes deserving the death penalty, wouldn’t you agree?”

“B-But they-”

“Furthermore,” she continued, silencing her husband, “The older changeling aside, one of your targets is too exhausted to even fight back a few of your lower-ranked soldiers, and another is but a youngling, who probably has insufficient experience in combat to fend off your guards for long.”

Aura regarded Cadance with awe, but made sure not to let her guard down. Not with the Royal Guard still surrounding her.

Cadance turned back to Shining Armor, this time frowning. “Shining, I had no idea that you could be so ruthless… Do you even realise that you gave the order to take the lives of these three, without any clear evidence that they are dangerous threats?”

Shining looked at the three fugitives to the side and then cast his gaze down to the ground. “Well, I guess… ordering the mare’s death was a little overboard, but the changelings-”

“Not all changelings are our enemy, Shining,” Cadance said. “And even if they were, a Captain of the Royal Guard, one who gives the orders for the lower-ranks to follow, must know where to draw the line. Two of your opponents can hardly fight back, and the third, you know nothing about. He might not even prove to be a threat at all.”

“Hey! I’m standin’ right here, y’know?!” Alexander shouted. “You think I’ll lose ta that-”

Aura quickly jumped onto her brother’s back and placed her hooves over his mouth to shut him up. “Please don’t make this worse,” she pleaded. “That’s Mi Amore! Those two together defeated our mother, remember?!”

“AURA!” Trixie shouted, but it was too late. Aura quickly slammed her hooves over her own mouth, whilst Trixie facehooved so hard that she was sure it would leave a mark.

“T-There!” Shining Armor shouted, pointing a hoof at the changelings. “They’re changeling royalty! They must be here as enemy spies!”

“Even so,” Cadance started, “I think you’re missing my point… I’m telling you that there is no need to use such excessive force to subdue them. Even if they are our enemies, what would we gain from needlessly killing them? As a captain, you need to set an example for your subordinates to follow, but the example you’re setting right now is ‘violence solves everything’. Is that really the teaching that you want to pass on, Shining?”

“Well spoken!” a voice boomed overhead. Shining Armor was beginning to grow annoyed by these constant interruptions, but he recognised this new voice very clearly… He was confused, though, because the voice in question belonged to somepony who shouldn’t have even been there at that time. “As expected of our niece! You show compassion, even to our enemies! But for now, the time for fighting has passed!”

Princess Luna teleported into the area, startling many of the guards ponies. The Royal Guard and Princess Cadance all bowed immediately. Trixie’s eyes focussed on Mystic, who was standing beside the Princess of the Moon, whilst Aura and Alexander looked anxious. “Something’s not right,” Aura whispered.

“Yeah,” Alexander agreed. “Where’s the rest of Mystic’s group?”

“You don’t need to worry,” Chill said, emerging from the other side of Princess Luna. “They were injured, but not killed. They’re currently being treated by an Equestrian General.”

“He has good ears,” Aura said in a surprised tone, receiving a nod from Alexander. She smiled and added, “I’m glad they’re okay.”

“I’m glad they made it here in time,” Trixie said. “Though I wouldn’t have minded if they had come a little sooner.” Trixie winced and brought a hoof to her aching side, grunting as she crouched down in pain.

“P-Princess Luna?” Shining Armor asked, concerned about the two changelings that she had brought with her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were-”

“There is little time, so We shall be brief,” Luna said, commanding Cadance and Shining Armor to rise with her hoof. “Our two countries are in danger, so we must hurry. Our real enemy is not the changeling queen.”

Shining Armor was about to ask what she meant, but she continued before he could, using her magic to conjure up an image of the changeling prince that had arrived in Canterlot not long ago. Shining Armor recognised him instantly.

“Prince Odysseus, fourth offspring of the current changeling queen… He is on his way to the battlefield to assassinate Queen Chrysalis, using the Elements of Harmony as his weapon of choice, as we speak.

“He is our true enemy.”

Chapter 14

Chrysalis used her magic to conjure a shield around herself, deflecting the barrage of magical attacks thrown at her by Celestia. She kept the barrier up for a while in order to catch her breath and survey her surroundings.

“That barrier looks rather weak,” Celestia said, taking a few steps towards it. “Could it be that you’re getting tired?”

“Silence!” Chrysalis shouted, glaring daggers at the princess mocking her.

“Your troops are starting to fall into disarray,” Celestia pointed out. “It seems those weapons aren’t quite as effective in close-quarters combat, not to mention that they seem rather temperamental.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Princess! My troops will make a comeback just as soon as I’m finished with you!”

“It’s too bad. As long as you’re preoccupied with me, you can’t relay orders to your troops, and if you fall to the backlines, your troops will surely fall at my hooves.”

“That’s why I’ll finish you quickly, you damned Equestrian!”

Celestia sighed and fired a blast of magic at Chrysalis’ barrier, shattering it with an explosion. Chrysalis screamed as the light from the impact blinded her and quickly worked her magic to prepare herself for a sudden attack.

Celestia took flight and glared down at her opponent as she built up magic into her horn. Before she could release her spell, however, her eyes were blinded by the intense light of her sun and she had to dispel her built-up magic and land back onto the ground.

“That’s strange,” Celestia muttered to herself. “By my calculations, the sun should be in a lower position by now. The moon hasn’t arisen yet, either. Luna, what are you doing?”

“Damnit!” Chrysalis shouted. She stomped a hoof and became engulfed in green flames. “You’ll regret not finishing me off when you had the chance, Celestia!”

Celestia quickly readied herself for whatever the changeling queen had planned next. The flames roared for a while before slowly settling down. A soft chuckle filled the air.

“My, my… I’ve heard the stories, but I never thought it would actually be so painful…” Chrysalis stepped forward with light hoofsteps and looked up at Celestia, who lowered her head with a look of surprise as the changeling queen grinned. “What do you think? Cute, no?”

Celestia was at a complete loss for words. Before her stood not the tall, majestic figure of the queen that she was fighting earlier, but instead a small youngling with blood pouring down its forehead from the base of its horn.

“I know I’m cute, but there’s no need to stare,” Chrysalis teased. Her horn lit up and a fraction of a second later, she was behind Princess Celestia, firing her spell into the back of the princess’ neck. Princess Celestia screamed and teleported away quickly, panting as she tried to regain her composure.

Celestia glared at the youngling in front of her, who was laughing at the sight of the Princess’ out-of-breath state. “You… What kind of magic is that?” she asked, bringing a hoof up to pull back a part of her mane that was dangling in front of her eye.

“A forbidden one,” Chrysalis said. “If my subjects were to figure out I used this, I’d be dethroned, so let’s keep this between us, shall we?” Chrysalis chuckled and her horn lit up again. “Well, not that it’ll matter, so long as I kill you, right?”

Celestia hated the sight of her opponent saying such things with such an innocent-looking face. Furthermore, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something really bad was right around the corner. That something far worse than the changeling queen demanded her immediate attention at that time.

Deciding to end things before they could drag on any longer, Celestia began to cast a spell… but was interrupted by Chrysalis suddenly appearing before her.

“Too slow,” Chrysalis said as she delivered a kick to Princess Celestia’s abdomen. Celestia attempted to kick back, but Chrysalis was already back where she was moments ago.

“How is she doing that?” Celestia asked herself, panting heavily as she clutched her stomach. “She moves so quickly… Is this a result of the spell?”

“It is,” Chrysalis said, suddenly behind Celestia. The princess quickly turned around, startled by another sudden appearance from the queen. “This spell is one that was discovered by the first changeling king, many thousands of years ago. It has been forbidden since then, but it is the duty of our kings and queens to know such spells in the event that the knowledge ever reaches the wrong hooves.

“This spell… is a peculiar one, to say the least. It shrinks to the body to this tiny state and draws energy from ground. With the user’s body so compressed, it is easier to distribute my energy throughout it, and the body itself consumes less energy through generating heat and moving about.

“This allows me to move at much higher speeds and to attack with much greater force.” Chrysalis grinned as her horn started to glow a very bright green. “Naturally, I can also focus more energy into my magic, too.”

Chrysalis proved her point by unleashing a torrent of green flames towards Celestia, who quickly took to the sky to avoid them. A green beam shot past her, forcing her to stop her ascent and teleport a short distance away. “Where did she go?” she thought aloud as she looked for her opponent.

“Looking for someone?” Celestia turned to be greeted by a hoof to her face, the powerful blow enough to send her flying and falling down onto her back. “Well, it seems even the great Princess Celestia has her limits. So you are mortal, after all.”

“Of course I’m mortal,” Celestia said, shakily raising to her hooves. Her horn lit up and her wounds started to disappear. “That’s interesting. I do believe I’ve seen this fighting style before.”

“So you noticed? My late sister taught me how to fight. My sister who you betrayed.”

“Your sister? … Could you possibly mean-”

“Don’t you dare say her name!” Chrysalis shouted, her grin turning to a sneer. “You have no right! My sister loved you. She once called you ‘friend’, but then you…”

“Chrysalis, I-”

“I will drag your corpse to my sister’s grave!” Chrysalis charged forward, preparing to unleash a fatal blow on her enemy,

“… It’s a good thing we’re in this barren wasteland,” Celestia said, closing her eyes and focusing. “I would hate to destroy any beautiful scenery.”

Chrysalis jumped up and delivered a kick towards Celestia’s throat. Celestia snapped her eyes open and dodged to her left, surprising the queen. She didn’t stop, though; she delivered another kick to the side of Celestia’s head, but this was also dodged.

“How are you dodging?!” Chrysalis demanded.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Celestia asked, teleporting behind Chrysalis and quickly blasting her with magic. “You said that you didn’t want your subjects to see this technique of yours… but there’s more to it than that.”

“What are you saying?!” Chrysalis teleported a short distance away and fired a beam of magic at Celestia. The princess fired her own and the two energies collided in midair.

“This technique comes at a horrible cost to your own health, doesn’t it?” Celestia’s eyes glowed white and her beam grew bigger. It started to overpower the queen’s. “I know, because I too fear using my full power. Because if I did, it would burn me along with my opponent.”

“DAMN! I WON’T FALL!” Chrysalis shouted, putting more energy into her attack. It was no use, though, as Celestia’s magic completely overpowered Chrysalis’. Chrysalis, seeing her doom approaching, quickly used her increased speed to move aside, narrowly avoiding a huge explosion as Celestia’s attack impacted the ground.

“You may be powerful,” Celestia said, startling Chrysalis as she suddenly stood over her, “But you’re still three thousand years too young to face me. And just so you know, this is only fifty percent of my full power.”

“Damn… BITCH!” Chrysalis jumped up, her body now a little taller than it was moments ago, and attempted to kick Celestia with a roundhouse kick. Celestia pushed the queen back with a shockwave of magic. “Damn… Damn damn DAMN DAAAAAMN!”

“You’re coughing up blood,” Celestia noted. “You should stop, before your body burns up.”

“To hell with that!” Chrysalis jumped up to her hooves and charged forward, her body now half the size of what it normally was. There was a crazed look in her bloodshot eyes and steam was coming from her nostrils. “I’ll never surrender to you! You killed my ancestors! You banished us from your land and left us for dead in this cold world! And then, you killed my children, who had done nothing to you!

“I’ll die before I give in to you!”

“Then so be it!” Celestia answered, her horn glowing and sparkling and she charged up a fearsome spell. Chrysalis took to the air and charged her own magic into her horn. They both fired simultaneously, but Chrysalis’ power was no match for Celestia’s and she was once more completely overwhelmed by the princess’ magic.

“NOOOOOO!”

Celestia used her wings to fly up into the air, the flapping of her wings also clearing the dust away at the same time. She looked down into the huge crater that resulted from her final magical clash with Chrysalis, and at the body of the changeling that lay within.

“So you still live,” Celestia whispered. “You are indeed powerful. But for the sake of my subjects, I cannot lose to you.” A tear rolled down Celestia’s face and she spared a moment to wipe it away with her wing. “I’m so sorry. Really, I am. I wish there was more that I could do, but I-”

“Save it,” Chrysalis said, taking Celestia by surprise as she saw the queen flying before her. The queen’s body was back to its normal size, but it was worse for wear to say the least; her wings were tattered, her body was leaking blood from many wounds and she was clearly struggling to stay afloat. “No excuses…” Chrysalis spat through ragged, uneven breathing. “You can’t wipe away the past with a simple apology.”

“… What now?” Celestia asked, descending to the flat ground just outside of the crater with Chrysalis following her. “You know that you can no longer fight in that body, and your subjects can’t last much longer.”

“…” Chrysalis glared at Celestia in silence, not sure how she should proceed next. She had to kill the princess. She had to, not just for her ancestors, but for her children that she had lost. But if she continued to fight in the state that she was in, she would die for certain. If she retreated, would she have a chance in the future? What would her subjects think if she had returned to her kingdom with only news of failure? Her entire reign would be threatened, and if news of their defeat reached enemy nations…

“Chrysalis, just now, you said that I ‘killed your children’.” Chrysalis gritted her teeth together and growled. “What did you mean by that?”

“What do you think?” Chrysalis spat. “My daughter, Princess Aura, and my sons, Princes Alexander and Odysseus… you murdered them in cold blood!” Celestia’s gasped. “Aura was only a youngling! She had nothing but peace on her mind at all times! Your spy should have known of her intentions of uniting our two countries, but you still ordered her death! You don’t care about peace at all! You’re nothing but a cold, heartless tyrant!”

“Chrysalis, what are you talking about?” Celestia asked, her shock clear on her face. “I haven’t ordered the deaths of any changelings since that decree was signed all of those years ago! And as for Odysseus, he’s not dead!”

“What?!” Chrysalis gave her a disbelieving look. “Oh, that’s right… You mentioned that earlier, didn’t you? You’re torturing him for information.”

“Chrysalis, I have not tortured your son! He came to me and supplied us information, all of his own free will!”

“Do you honestly think that such a pathetic lie would work on-”

“NOW!”

The queen and princess both turned their heads to the side in unison, finding seven new faces standing nearby on the edge of the crater. Six of them were faces that Chrysalis had seen personally before. Two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. The seventh was one that she had only seen in photographs: Princess Luna.

“Elements of Harmony: take aim, and fire!”

Two hours earlier:

A fleet of chariots soared through the sky, led by Princess Luna’s personal chariot. Two other chariots flanked Luna’s on both sides. Princess Cadance, Princess Luna and Prince Alexander rode the lead chariot, with Trixie, Princess Aura and Shining Armor in the chariot to Luna’s right, and Chill and Mystic in the chariot to Luna’s left.

“Really?” Trixie asked Luna after the princess had finished explaining the story of how changelings first started living in Equestria. “That’s strange. All the history books said that the changelings tried to invade Equestria about three hundred years ago.”

“Yes,” Luna answered. “That is the false history that our sister set up. I was quite curious about it upon my return, so I asked her myself about what had happened during my absence. I did not form an alliance with the changelings one thousand years ago just to come back to a mockery of my efforts being taught in our schools.”

“So? What did she say?”

“… About three hundred years ago, the changelings had a king who wished to take over Equestria. He defected, taking with him many important figureheads within the changeling community, and retreated to a far away land, which today is known as the Changeling Kingdom.

“His daughter, the current queen’s sister, became queen at that point, though she was still young and inexperienced. Ponies were afraid of the changelings already and there were many laws in place regarding the changelings’ ability to shape shift, but there were still those who abused their powers. And misunderstandings of how exactly they ‘feed off of love’ did nothing to sway the ponies’ fears.”

“That’s when Celestia decided ta purge all of the changelings,” Alexander said.

“Princess Celestia would never-” Shining started, but was cut off by Princess Luna.

“He speaks the truth,” she said, causing Shining Armor to stare at her with his mouth agape. Cadance remained silent as she listened, sensing that there was more to say. “My sister was left with little choice… After all, the majority of Equestria had decided that the changelings couldn’t be trusted, and were demanding that she either banish or kill them, the latter being the more popular option.”

“So she just went along with it?” Trixie asked, tightening her hold on Aura as she felt the youngling shaking in her forelegs. “Seems even the ‘great Princess Celestia’ succumbs to pressure, huh?”

“Of course,” Luna said, glaring at Trixie out of the corner of her eye. “After all, she is a mere mortal. Just as you are, Miss Trixie Lulamoon.”

“But even so,” Cadance started, “To order the death of an entire race…”

“Back then,” Luna continued, “Equestria was in a rather sensitive state. The Griffon Empire was on my sister’s back all the time, and the economy was suffering from the effects of a recent dragon raid on many farms and villages throughout the land. My sister had to do all that she could to keep her subjects happy… and there were many in the government that were just waiting for the opportunity to take her crown.

“And whilst some may not have been such bad rulers, many were clearly not up to the task of leading an entire country. Worse yet, many more were at risk of becoming corrupt or abusing any power that they could get. She couldn’t afford to hand over her crown at that time.”

“So it was side with the changelings and hand her crown to somepony who may not have been worthy, or sacrifice the changelings in order to keep her crown, and save Equestria from the state it was in,” Trixie summarised. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Luna sighed. “I cannot say that I am entirely pleased with her decision… but it was the more logical one, and she still did whatever she could to ensure that at least some of the changelings had managed to escape.” Luna turned back to face Alexander. “If it is any consolation, she was not happy with her decision, either. At the end of every week, she takes an hour of her time to mourn the loss of her friend – your aunt – and begs your fallen ancestors for forgiveness.”

Alexander scoffed and turned his face away from Luna. “You think you can just wash away the past like that? I don’t care what her reasons were! She killed my ancestors, so I’ll never forgive her! It’s as simple as that!”

“But,” Trixie cut in, “That doesn’t explain why she lied about the history of the changelings.”

Luna turned to Trixie and acknowledged her question with a nod. “It’s quite simple, if you think about it.” Trixie looked annoyed at that, but allowed the princess to continue. “Whilst back then her actions would have made her out to be a hero, how do you think such actions would be seen by ponies in this modern age, where open-mindedness and acceptance of others are quickly becoming commonplace?”

Trixie didn’t have to think about it for long. “Trixie would imagine that many would be quite disgusted, and support for Princess Celestia would quickly decline.”

“Exactly. My sister anticipated – or rather, she wished for – an age such as the one we have today. One where ponies would become more accepting of others and not be so judgemental based off of first appearances. If such a thing were to occur, she would have to hide her shameful past.”

“So in other words,” Chill said, “She was protecting her crown for future years. Very clever of her…”

“There are still those who seek to take her rule,” Luna added. “And they would use it for immoral purposes.” She turned to Alexander. “We are sorry for what happened in the past. But, we are ponies first and foremost. If the situation arose again, we would have no choice. Our first duties are to our subjects, and if we must play the villains in order to protect our little ponies, then so be it.”

Luna and Alexander shared hard glares with each other for a tense few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to Cadance, who had the misfortune of sitting in-between them. Finally, Alexander smirked. “I see,” he said, grinning at the Princess of the Night. “No wonder our great grandfather liked you so much… For a pony, you aren’t half-bad.”

The three groups sat in a very awkward silence for a few minutes, before Trixie finally couldn’t take it any longer. “So…” she started, gaining the attention of everyone else in the three chariots. “What exactly happened after Celestia signed that decree?”

“That’s Princess Celestia,” Luna corrected, but Trixie took no notice of it.

“Our aunt led whatever survivors she found to the small hideout set up by our grandfather,” Alexander explained. “It was there that the Changeling Kingdom was founded. Our grandfather was appointed king. After all, after Equestria betrayed them all the way they did, his views of overthrowing Celestia were suddenly a lot more popular.”

“He was a great ruler,” Aura said, reciting what she had learned in school. “A little mad with power, which ultimately led to his downfall, but he revived our race and protected it from enemy nations.”

“Yeah. A brilliant mind,” Alexander agreed. “If it was anyone else, I don’t think our race would have been able to make the comeback that it did.”

“You said ‘grandfather’, right?” Trixie asked, receiving a nod from both royal siblings. “Three hundred years ago…” she mumbled to herself. She then looked down at the youngling that she was holding in her forelegs. “… Aura, just how old are you, exactly?”

Aura tilted her head to the side. “Two hundred years old. Why?” Trixie’s eyes widened and all was silent for a few seconds… before the sounds of laughter from Aura, Chill and Mystic rang through the air. Trixie found herself turning red and her ears folded down as she glared at the two older changelings across Luna’s chariot. “W-What?! Trixie is just curious, that’s all!”

“Actually,” Alexander said, “There’s an interesting story there… These days, a changeling’s lifespan is roughly the same as a pony’s; about eighty years.”

“‘These days’?” Shining Armor asked.

“Back then,” Aura started as her laughter calmed down, “Changelings lived for about eight hundred years.”

“Really?” Cadance asked, leaning over to listen more carefully.

“No one knows for sure what happened,” Aura said. “Many scholars theorise that there’s something in Equestria that gave our ancestors their longer lifespans. The same thing that gives alicorns, like you and your aunts, their long lifespans.”

“That is correct,” Luna confirmed. “Any alicorn born in Equestria has a lifespan of about ten times that of any other type of pony, but I had not even considered that it was the same for changelings… How interesting…”

Cadance clapped her hooves together and smiled. “I always did wonder about that! Of course, I still seem to age the same as before, so I guess that’s because I wasn’t born a-” Shining Armor’s hoof quickly found its way over Cadance’s mouth, muffling her final words.

“Cadance! We can’t let them know you’re not a pureblood alicorn!” Shining’s eyes shifted to Alexander and then to Mystic.

Cadance rolled her eyes, but then saw Princess Luna giving her a nod with a stern look. With a sigh, she nodded her head, and Shining Armor removed his hoof. “Er… I-I guess that would make an interesting research paper for Twilight. I’ll have to mention it to her upon our return.”

“Naturally, it came as quite a shock to our ancestors,” Aura continued. “In the past, changelings would breed at two points in their lives: once in the final one hundred years of their lifespan and once the moment that they reached maturity. But thanks to our new, much shorter lifespans, it’s changed a lot.”

“Most changelings these days just have kids when they feel they’re ready,” Alexander explained. “Except for kings and queens. For them, it’s still the law to have at least one child during the first year of their reign. After all, ya never know when ya might die, and choosing an heir is easier if it follows the bloodline.”

“Momma and Uncle were both affected by the shortened lifespans,” Aura said. “They were born near the end of Grandfather’s reign, fifty-one years ago. Ten years later, Grandfather, who sought a dictatorship, was overthrown by our aunt.”

“He was executed, and our aunt became queen,” Alexander continued. “Fifteen years later, she fell victim to an illness, and then our mother took the crown.”

Trixie tilted her head to the side. “Wait. Didn’t you aunt have a child? You know, as per your laws?”

Alexander nodded. “Gem, our aunt’s son, fell victim to the same illness that took his mother, one year before she did. She bore another child, but died while she was still pregnant.”

“Wow,” was all that Shining Armor could say. “That must have been a scary time for your race.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Alexander said. “I wasn’t alive at the time.”

“Be alert, everyone,” Luna said suddenly. “We’re nearing the battlefield. We shall land here and walk the rest of the way.” She turned around, looking over everyone present in the three chariots. “Prince Alexander, Captain Armor, you shall lead our two groups.”

“Yes, sir!” Shining Armor said with a salute. Alexander simply waved a hoof in acknowledgment.

“Trixie, Mystic, you two will be in charge of infiltration. Trixie, how are you wounds?”

“Perfectly fine,” Trixie answered, wincing when Luna reached over and poked her experimentally. “… Does it matter? There’s no going back now.”

Luna stared at her for a second before nodding. “Very well. Chill, Mystic, Prince Alexander and I shall make up for the first group. We shall attempt to reach our sister before Odysseus does and stop the battle before it is too late.

“Trixie, Shining Armor and Princess Aura will form the second group. You will try to find Odysseus and the Spirits of Harmony before they reach the battlefield. Shining Armor should be able to track his sister using the scroll we have given him.”

Shining looked down at the scroll in his hooves, which detailed an advanced tracking spell, designed for finding a particular pony by using their DNA. The spell itself wasn’t too difficult for a unicorn of Shining Armor’s level, and since his DNA was similar to Twilight Sparkle’s, he could theoretically use it to find her. Theoretically.

“We shall distribute the troops we have brought with us upon landing. Princess Cadance, you will stay behind with our medical units and remain on standby.”

“Understood,” Cadance acknowledged, giving a worried look to her husband.

“I’ll be just fine, Cadie,” Shining assured his wife. “We’ll only be a small group and we won’t even be approaching the battlefield itself, so it’s likely that we won’t even engage the enemy at all until we reach Odysseus.”

Luna gave the order and the chariots started to descend. “Alexander, once this battle is over, do you think that your mother would be willing to speak with us?”

“… Who knows?” Alexander answered. “I wouldn’t hold my breath though.”

Luna nodded. The chariots slowed down as they touched the ground and soon came to a stop. Everyone exited the chariots and assembled into their groups. “Now then, we shall assign our troops evenly…” Luna stopped when she saw a figure standing in the distance. “Who goes there?!”

Everyone else turned and stood on their guards at the grinning figure in the distance, which began to approach them.

“What took ya so long?” It asked as it stopped a short distance away from the group. It was a changeling. A male changeling, with what appeared to be dried blood running down the left side of his face. His forehooves were equipped with steel claws, which also seemed to be stained with blood, the right one moreso than the left.

Trixie’s eyes widened as she recognised the changeling and she channelled magic into her horn, prompting Shining Armor to do the same. “… Why are you here, Shark?” she asked.

The changeling continued to grin as he came to a stop before the assembled group. “You’re here ta kill Odysseus, right? Ya think I’m gonna miss that?”

Chapter 15

“What are you doing here, Shark?” Trixie asked as the changeling approached her, shooting him an untrusting glare. “And who said we’re going to kill Odysseus?”

“What, ya don’t know?” Shark asked as her stopped just short of the showmare. “Odysseus is a high-traitor. Even if he’s caught alive, there’s only one sentence he’ll receive: execution.”

Trixie looked down at Aura for confirmation and the youngling nodded her head solemnly. “… I guess that makes sense,” Trixie said. She began to feel uneasy about the whole mission all of a sudden.

“Hey,” Alexander called out, cautiously approaching the new changeling. “You’re Shark, aren’t ya?” Shark nodded, and Alexander gave him a hard glare. Aura wanted to interject, but she was afraid to get too close to both her brother and Shark. “… You protected Aura, from what I hear… You have my gratitude.”

Shark seemed taken aback by that. Clearly, it wasn’t what he was expecting to hear, and he let out a loud laugh in response. Trixie, on the other hoof, rolled her eyes and scoffed at Alexander’s kind words. ‘Quite a noticeable difference from how he thanked me.’

“So, is he an ally?” Shining Armor asked, still standing in front of Cadance and Luna with his guard at its maximum.

Alexander hesitated before nodding. “For now, at least,” he answered. “At the very least, he isn’t anything you ponies need to worry about.”

Shining Armor nodded and dispelled his built-up magic, but still kept his focus on the new visitor for the time being. “How did you know we would be here?” he asked Shark.

“I didn’t,” Shark said, surprising the captain. “I just happened to see the princess flying this way in her chariot, so I followed ya. That’s all.”

“You followed a chariot… on hoof?” Shining asked, not quite believing the changeling’s story.

“‘Course not,” Shark responded. “That’d be impossible. Nah, I just rented a chariot myself.”

“Well, ‘rented’ is an interesting way of putting it,” a new voice called out, and from behind Shark, another new changeling appeared.

“I’ll give it back to ‘em… maybe.”

The new changeling laughed and then addressed Trixie. “You’re still alive? I’m impressed… By the way, Applejack is looking for you. She’s not too happy about the damage you did to her farm.”

Trixie looked at the changeling in confusion for a second, before remembering the traps that she had laid at Applejack’s farm… and then a realisation hit her. “Ah,” she said, biting her lower lip. “Trixie didn’t remove those traps, did she?”

“Is that bad?” Aura enquired with a worrying look.

“Most of them will be fine,” Trixie said, “But the ones at the farm – unless they’re deactivated soon – run the risk of going off accidentally, as part of a chain reaction from activating the first set of traps.”

“They already have,” the new changeling told her. “A good portion of their farm is in pretty bad shape. She’s not gonna let you off so easily.”

Trixie scratched the back of her head. ‘Great,’ she thought, ‘Now I have two problems on my hooves.’

Luna cleared her throat to interrupt the conversation between Trixie and the changeling. “And what is your story? What is your name, and what information, if any, can you give us on our enemy?”

Shark and his partner exchanged quick glances, giving each other toothy grins, and then looked back at the group.

“Well,” Shark began, “Basically, I was an assassin, sent by Odysseus ta kill Aura. However, Odysseus sent one of his generals after me, so I turned on him.” The group nodded, minus those who already knew what Shark had just told them. “And then, after killing General Razor Tooth, I spent some time hidin’ out in the Everfree Forest ta let my injuries heal.

“When I saw Princess Luna flying over it in her chariot, I went ta investigate. Just ta be on the safe side.”

Shark watched from the shadows of the trees at the border of the Everfree Forest as Princess Luna disembarked from her chariot. Accompanying her were but two Royal Guards, following her as she neared a large tree-shaped house. “What’s she doin’ here? Could she be after me?”

Shark used his powers to disguise himself as a pink unicorn mare with a curly yellow mane and tail. “My last disguise might be recognisable. This one too, if I just suddenly show up in Ponyville out of the blue. But for now, it should be good enough to get me closer to the town without raisin’ any alarms.”

Slowly, Shark left the protection of the Everfree forest and casually walked towards the town. On the way, he encountered a couple of ponies walking by, but they didn’t stop him or ask any questions; they simply waved at him and then moved on when he didn’t respond.

Once he was close to the town’s entrance, Shark looked around to make sure that nopony could see him and then ducked into a nearby alleyway. He watched from around a corner as Princess Luna began talking to some stallion.

‘Don’t I know him?’ Shark thought to himself, searching his memory for the stallions face. ‘Wait, he’s the one who interrupted my fight with Trixie! And he appeared at the farm, too.’

Luna walked back towards the library and the stallion ran off down the street. The two guards remained behind, and Shark began moving down the alleyway cautiously. He sneaked around the backs of the houses and shops that he passed by and stopped at a house that had its back window open.

He peeked up through the window and smiled when he saw that there was only one pony present inside: a white unicorn mare with a spiky blue mane. She was wearing some headphones that blasted out music so loud that Shark could hear from a distance as she washed some dishes with her magic, and Shark used the distraction to slip in unnoticed.

“Oh Octy you so fine, you so fine you blow my mind, hey Octy!” the mare sang to herself, blissfully unaware of the danger approaching her. The moment she put the plate she was washing down on the rack beside her, she was pulled back by some unknown force, and she could only struggle and attempt to scream out as her mouth was covered by her assailant’s hoof.

Shark considered simply killing the mare, but reasoned that complications could arise if her body was found later, and so instead he used his magic to make her lose consciousness. When he was sure that she was out, he used some nearby cloth to bind and gag her.

“I’ll just put her in here for now,” Shark muttered to himself as he placed the unicorn into a wardrobe at the side of the room. Afterwards, he used his powers to take her form. He grabbed her shades and put them on, then looked himself over in the mirror before moving out. ‘There we go. Now I should be able to move about with much less of a problem.’

Upon heading outside of the front door, Shark was immediately barraged with friendly greetings from various ponies around him. He simply waved and mumbled back as he headed down the street, attempting to catch up with the stallion from earlier.

It didn’t take long before Shark found his target standing outside of Trixie’s trailer, talking with two mares and with two more mares nearby. Shark quickly rushed over to a nearby orange stand, pretending that he was browsing through their wares whilst he listened in on the conversations behind him.

“Ah, darn it! She’s not in again?!”

“Applejack, darling, is it really necessary to keep coming back here every day?”

“You bet it is! Have ya seen the damage to our farm?! The repairs ain’t gonna pay for themselves, y’know?”

“Wasn’t she attacked by a changeling?”

“She still used the farm as a weapon! Twilight confirmed that it was Trixie’s magic that set all them traps, and there were more all ‘round Ponyville! Why, Ah don’t know, but she damaged our farm an’ we need compensation!”

“Hey, did you hear?”

“About Princess Luna coming to Ponyville?”

“Why would she come here? And in the daytime, no less.”

“I heard a rumour that she’s seeking the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

Shark grinned and put down the orange that he was holding in his magic. He turned around to see the orange mare walking by the stallion that Shark was tailing, stopping for a moment before running off down the street…

The stallion also began moving and Shark followed after him, making sure not to get too close as he did so. Whenever the stallion turned around, Shark would duck behind some kind of cover, drawing strange looks from the ponies around him.

Eventually, the stallion arrived at the library and stopped. Shark ducked behind some bushes and peered out from behind the leaves. Sometime later, Luna came out of the library and approached the stallion.

“Shock, I have a task for you.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“It doesn’t look like some of them are up to the task. We’ll need to ‘motivate’ them.”

“How many?”

“Just one should do. All we need is one casualty. That should be enough to provoke them into action.”

“Very well then. And anypony will do, right?”

“Yes. I’ll leave the target up to you, just make sure that you’re noticed.”

Shark grinned as he witnessed ‘Shock’ release his disguise and fly away. ‘So that’s their game, huh?’ he thought to himself before he began to consider his next move. ‘They’re not after me, so there’s no reason why I should get involved… Well, I can’t say it isn’t temptin’ ta try and off Odysseus for what he did to me, but then, the chance of seeing that queen fall is pretty tempting, too.’

Shock looked down from the Ponyville Clock Tower through his binoculars, at all of the happy ponies wandering through their town, blissfully unaware of the changeling threat right under their noses. All he needed to do was to pick one of them. One that just screamed weak, kind-hearted, and was the very picture of purity. One that would never harm even a fly, and was completely defenceless to an attack.

Then he would simply have to kill that one pony, making sure that he was caught whilst doing so. Changelings would be seen cold, blood-thirsty monsters, and the Spirits of Harmony would undoubtedly take whatever action was necessary to stop them, without asking even one question.

“Let’s see… that one with the lyre cutie mark seemed pretty close to Twilight… or maybe a family member might be a better choice. Would a foal be going too far? If it’s for Lord Odysseus, I’d do anything… No, there’s no reason why it has to be a child. A grown pony will do the job just fine.”

Shock noticed a purple earth pony leading a group of foals near to the clock tower. He ducked down and tried to hear what she was saying. From what little he could gather, she was a school teacher leading her students on some kind of educational tour around Ponyville. Shock considered this new mare for a moment and grinned wickedly as he rose to his hooves.

‘Killing a teacher? That sounds like a good plan… and she seems to really care for her students, too. She’s speaking to them with the most gentle voice, the most reassuring smile on her face. And they’re looking back at her with looks of adoration and admiration.’ Shock’s body started to release sparks of electricity and he climbed up onto the window, looking down at the teacher and her students below him.

‘And if I attack a few of the students, making it seem like I was after them, too… the Spirits of Harmony will definitely react from this.’

Shock jumped down and extended his wings, charging down at the teacher from above with electricity surging through his hooves. A few of the students noticed the incoming attack and pointed it out, telling their teacher to watch out. But it was too late; there was no time for the mare to move out of the way of the attack.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Shock crashed into the ground, creating a big hole as his charged hooves collided with the hard path beneath him. Upon realising that he had missed his target, Shock raised his head and checked his surroundings.

“Lookin’ for someone?” Shock gasped. Behind him was a white unicorn mare, holding the teacher in an aura of green magic.

“M-Ms. Scratch?” the teacher asked, before turning her attention to the changeling and suddenly flailing about in the magical field. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!”

“Stop that already!” the white mare shouted before throwing the teacher into the tower. Behind Shock, all of the students had fled to the safety of ‘Ms. Scratch’, who was kicking her hooves to drive the foals away. “Damn brats… GET INSIDE ALREADY!”

The terrified foals quickly began fleeing into the tower, leaving the mare outside with the changeling.

“You’re the one who was following me earlier, aren’t you?” Shock asked, charging electricity into his hooves again. “So, did you know that I was a changeling? Or did that come as a surprise to you?”

“I thought you were an undercover guard,” the pony said, using her magic to levitate a pair of steel claws onto her hooves. “Didn’t think Odysseus would disguise himself as Princess Luna, though I gotta give the guy credit… he really has this whole thing planned out well, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, now I recognise you,” Shock said, focusing on the claws that the pony was now wearing. “You’re Shark. You were the changeling sent by Odysseus to make sure that Aura was dead, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah. D’ya think he knows that she’s still alive?”

Shock shrugged his shoulders. “If he hasn’t heard back from Razor, he won’t mark her off as dead just yet. He wants evidence of her death, after all.”

“He probably shouldn’t have sent Razor after me, then,” Shark said, undoing his disguise and flaring out his wings. “That fool always has to one-up me. There’s no way he would let me kill the target. But as it turned out, that showmare and that little princess made pretty good allies. For a couple of inexperienced greenhorns, that is.”

“Miss Trixie, I believe her name was,” Shock said, taking a step towards Shark. “Well, I made sure that Aura saw that newspaper article, and I witnessed that pony boarding an early train to Canterlot. I wouldn’t hold too much faith in them still being alive.”

“Why would I care if they were alive or not?” Shark charged magic into his horn and unleashed it at Shock, forcing him to jump back a bit to avoid the attack. “I just wanna screw Odysseus over a little bit. That’s all. After you and him are dead, there’ll be no one left who might come after me. Those two being dead just means that all witnesses are gone, which would really be a bonus.”

Shock pointed his horn towards Shark and unleashed a spell of his own. A whirlpool of green magic surrounded Shark and closed in on him quickly. Shark blasted a hole through the whirlpool and charged towards Shock, who was already waiting with his hooves extended outwards.

A bolt of lightning shot out of Shock’s hooves and hit Shark directly. Shark let out a cry of pain as he felt electricity coursing throughout his body and fell to the ground when it was over, smoke rising from his body as a few final jolts worked their ways through his system.

Shark looked up at Shock with a furious look and saw the other changeling preparing to send another wave of electricity through his body. ‘Not giving ya the chance!’ Shark quickly rolled to the side as Shock let loose another blast of lightning, and then took the air. He used his magic to deflect Shock’s next electrical barrage and then threw one of his claws down towards his opponent.

Shock jumped back to avoid being hit by the sharp weapon but the claw stopped in mid-air and honed in on the retreating changeling. ‘He’s controlling it with his magic! I’ve got to strike him to make it stop!’

As Shock continued to jump back, he tripped over a rock behind him and just narrowly managed to avoid being skewered by the incoming claw by using his magic to knock it slightly off course. The claw slashed the side of his face, causing him to yelp and fall to his back onto the ground.

Shark landed on the ground in front of Shock and pulled his steel claw black, wielding it once more on his left forehoof. “Gotcha!” he shouted as he pounced towards the downed changeling, aiming at his throat…

What Shark instead hit, though, was the familiar white body of a unicorn with a spiky blue mane, which was slowly dyed red as blood poured out through the wound and began to soak into the unicorn’s fur.

“The hell?” Shark tossed the unicorn to the ground beside him and looked over at Shock, who seemed just as confused about the unicorn’s presence as he was.

“It’s a good thing you’re so careless, Shark.” Shark’s expression hardened and he looked up to find Princess Luna approaching him… Or rather, Prince Odysseus, disguised as Princess Luna. “But then, you didn’t know about these things, now did you?” Odysseus pointed to a pair of goggles that he was wearing on his head, letting out a soft chuckle. “After those two guards saw you sneaking about, I asked Twilight about the mare that you were disguised as. I checked her home, and sure enough, there she was.

“It’s a nice little present you gave me… because now, we have a pony on the verge of dying, by the hooves of a changeling, and an attempted massacre of a group of foals. Very well done, Shock.”

Shock rose to his hooves slowly and saluted his prince. “Thank you, my lor-” His thanks were cut short by the feel of steel pressing against his neck all of a sudden. Behind him, Shark had pinned his claws against Shock’s neck and was inhibiting Shock’s magic by enveloping his horn with a green aura.

“Well then, it seems you got what you wanted,” Shark said, slowly backing away. “Now how about you just summon the Spirits of Harmony, and I’ll be on my way? Unless you don’t care about losing another one of your precious troops.”

Shock looked at Odysseus with big, pleading eyes that were filled with fear. Odysseus looked back and simply shrugged. Shock stared at his prince with his mouth agape, wishing that he was just seeing things.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Odysseus said, his expression not changing. “He’s not one of my ‘precious troops’. From the beginning, his rank has been the same as yours: a disposable pawn, who is only a liability if kept alive. After all, his loyalty to me is false. So naturally, the best approach is to kill him, before he finds that out for himself.

“Kill him if you want. You’ll be saving me a job… Though it doesn’t matter, since both of you will die right here, right now.” Odysseus raised an eyebrow when he suddenly heard laughter coming from the direction of the two changelings. “You find something amusing, Shark? Or have you truly lost your mind?”

Shark couldn’t help but give Odysseus the biggest grin he could offer, his face beaming with self-satisfaction. “‘Soft and naïve, but strong-willed. Both ponies and changelings are so easily manipulated’.” Odysseus’ expression remained unchanged. “I know your type well, Odysseus… To you, everyone is either a ‘Shark’ or a ‘Razor Tooth’.

“If Shock here was a ‘Razor Tooth’, I could simply kill him now and flee. But if he’s a ‘Shark’…”

“I see,” Odysseus said. “If he’s a ‘Shark’, the two of you could team up on me, is that it? While that is good logic, it seems that it has failed you this time… You’ve injured Shock too much for him to be an effective ally. Not to mention, Shock was always the most sensitive of his three siblings. Right now, I don’t think he has the mental drive to fight me.”

“Who said we’d be taking you out right now?” Shark asked, still grinning from ear-to-ear. Suddenly, smoke of various colours began to fill the area, catching Odysseus off-guard.

“W-What?!”

“D’ya like it?! That showmare had a whole bunch of useful crap just lying in her trailer!” Fireworks began to shoot into the air, along with firecrackers going off on the ground. Loud noises started to erupt from speakers hidden behind various trees and rocks, water began to shoot up from strange mechanism hidden in the grass, and flash bangs thrown into the fray by Shark blinded Odysseus for a few seconds.

Odysseus, gritting his teeth together in anger, used his magic to break every last strange gadget and gizmo that was planted around him. By the time everything had calmed down, Shark and Shock were nowhere to be seen. He heard voices behind him and quickly ran over to the body of the white unicorn mare. She was still alive. Odysseus began to use a healing spell on her, just in time for Twilight to teleport in behind him.

Meanwhile, a good distance away from Ponyville, Shark – now disguised as an elderly grey pegasus stallion – was carrying the body of a still shell-shocked Shock, who was mumbling pleas of mercy to ‘Lord Odysseus’.

‘Man, for a just a bunch of random stage props, those things sure came in handy.’

About half-an-hour later, after travelling nonstop through vast, empty fields, making sure to take cover whenever travellers seemed to be passing by, Shark decided to rest at a vacant spot next to a big lake and lay Shock down by a tree beside it.

Shark grunted as he began using magic to fix up the wound on Shock’s face. “Damnit, snap out of it already!” he shouted, seeing Shock’s face completely void of any and all emotions. “You’re a soldier, aren’t ya?! Stop being so damn pathetic already! He betrayed you, I get it… Doesn’t that just piss you off?! Make you wanna seek revenge?!”

Shock didn’t respond verbally, but did look up at Shark, who was done treating Shock’s wounds as best he could and was now looking out for any ponies that could have been nearby. Up in the sky, Shock noticed a series of chariots flying past. In one of them, he identified Princess Luna. Most likely, the real one. And in the one to its left, he saw… “Chill?”

Shark looked down at Shock. “What’s that?” Shock pointed up at the chariots flying by and Shark grinned when he saw Princess Luna in one of them.

“If the real one is there… Wait, isn’t that Alexander riding with her? Well, I don’t think Odysseus would impersonate her with the real one running free. They’ve got to be workin’ against him.”

“Chill is there,” Shock said, raising his binoculars to see better. “And Trixie and Aura, too… Why are they together? Chill and Blaze should be working for Lord Odysseus…”

Shark kicked the tree behind Shock hard, his hooves just inches away from the changeling’s head. “Why the hell’re you still callin’ him ‘Lord Odysseus’?! And who the hell are Chill and Blaze?!”

“… My older brother and sister,” Shock said. “We’re triplets, but I came out last, so I’m the youngest…”

“I didn’t ask for yer life story… So basically, you three are all on the same side, right?” Shock nodded slowly. “Well then, if they’re hangin’ with that showmare and the princess, what does that suggest to you?” Shock didn’t answer, because he didn’t need to. “They certainly don’t seem to trust Odysseus anymore.”

“…” Shock got up to his hooves and used his changeling powers to don a new disguise. This one was the form of the teacher that he had attempted to kill earlier. “That would be the logical conclusion,” he said, “But regardless of what is truly going on… if Odysseus intended to kill me, then he must have also intended to kill Chill and Blaze… and I will not allow that. No matter what.”

“So?” Shark asked.

“Therefore,” Shock responded, a strong look of determination on his face, “I will do whatever it takes… to stop Odysseus.” The two exchanged grins before looking back up at the sky, where the chariots had just finished passing by. “It seems joining up with them would be our best course of action.”

“Seems so,” Shark agreed. “I can see a small village in the distance. We might be able to find a wagon or something there.”

“And as luck would have it, a noble family just happened to be vacationing nearby, so we actually found a rather nice chariot!” Shock said, finishing up the story. Trixie looked behind the two changelings noticed a nice-looking chariot, with jewels embedded into the sides. Shock turned his attention to Chill. “That’s our story. What about you? And where’s Blaze?”

Chill looked down to the ground and simply shook his head. Shock’s expression turned to horror, and then to rage. His entire body began to shake as he resisted the urge to run off and find Odysseus by himself.

“She died trying to kill Odysseus,” Chill said. “She was trying to protect the two of us…”

“Damnit!” Shock shouted, stomping a hoof onto the ground.

Luna stepped towards Shark. “Well then, we suggest we all start forming our battle plan,” she said, ignoring Shock’s mourning. “We don’t suppose you know where Odysseus will lead the Spirits of Harmony, do you?”

Shock shook his head, but didn’t speak up. “Even if he did,” Alexander started, “It would do little good. Since Odysseus failed to confirm his death, he will alter his plans slightly. Instead, we’d do best sticking to our original plan.”

Luna nodded and turned to Shining Armor. “Captain, you know your troops better than us. We shall leave the task of sorting them into squads to you.”

“Yes, sir!” Shining Armor responded, walking away to organize the troops that they had brought along with them.

Whilst Shining Armor did that, Luna, Alexander, Mystic and Cadance began running Shark through their battle strategies, with Shark offering his own insight every now-and-then. To the side, Aura and Chill told Shock about what had happened on their end since Aura left Ponyville, with Trixie watching over the youngling attentively. Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed her mind.

‘Shark! That bastard went through my things! No, moreso than that, he somehow broke through the magical lock on my trailer!’ She remembered how she had nearly got into a fight with him – twice – and then considered this new evidence of his strength. She shuddered whilst thinking about how lucky she was that those fights didn’t last long.

Twilight and her friends walked together in silence through the thick forest. None of them had the energy to say anything, considering the circumstances. Their one consolation was that Vinyl Scratch’s injuries were just short of being fatal, and that Princess Luna had managed to save her just in time. But if they had been even a moment later…

The changelings had proven themselves to be a menacing threat to Equestria and they had to be stopped, at any cost.

That was why the six friends had all agreed to travel with Princess Luna to the battlefield, where Princess Celestia was battling Queen Chrysalis. However, despite knowing how important the mission was, there was still something else on Twilight Sparkle’s mind. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the princess leading them through the forest.

When Fluttershy began to fall behind, Luna sighed and decided to give the six ponies some time to rest in a nearby clearing. She herself went on ahead to scout out the area.

Twilight excused herself from the group minutes later, claiming that she needed to ‘answer nature’s call’. She used her magic to track Luna down, using a strand of hair that she had secretly plucked from the princess earlier that day.

“Continue your surveillance and make sure that not a single pony or changeling gets close to the battlefield without my permission.”

Twilight gasped when she saw Princess Luna ahead of her and quickly ducked behind a nearby tree. What she had just seen… Princess Luna wasn’t alone. She was talking to someone. A changeling.

‘I didn’t want to believe it,’ Twilight thought to herself, before attempting to poke her head around the tree… and stepping on a twig on the ground.

CRACK!

Luna turned around and stared in the direction that Twilight Sparkle was in. Twilight quickly ducked her head behind the tree and held her breath as well as she could. Hopefully, Luna would think it was just a rabbit or something and leave it alone. Maybe-

Twilight heard hoofsteps moving her way, and her blood froze. Not knowing what else to do, she acted pure instinct; she ran, as quickly as she could, away from the approaching princess.

Chapter 16

It had been a full hour since the group had departed from Ponyville. Everypony was beginning to feel tired, even Rainbow Dash, despite her insistence that she could continue flying for hours without rest. When the seven had reached a clearing, Odysseus – still masking his true identity as Princess Luna – decided that they would take a break and offered to scout the area ahead of them for signs of danger.

Odysseus’ true reason for leaving the group on his own was in fact to meet up with one of his scouts, whom he had sensed nearby during their journey. Once he was sure that he was a safe distance away from the Spirits of Harmony, he ordered his scout to come out of hiding and report to him.

“My lord, we have finished safeguarding this forest against enemy attacks. Traps and ambushes have been set all around the forest. However, we have sighted many chariots heading our way and we are not sure if we are prepared enough for the numbers that they are carrying.”

“‘Many’, you say?” Odysseus asked. “How strange… One or two would be understandable, but there have been no signs that Celestia’s forces have called for backup. How many chariots have you spotted, exactly?”

“Enough to carry a small army.”

“Hmmm… Could I have underestimated the Royal Guard? Perhaps that unicorn somehow managed to convince them of who I was?” Odysseus shook the thought from his mind. “No. It is more likely that one of Celestia’s troops managed to flee the battlefield unnoticed. Could it be that Mother is truly winning? … Please go and confirm this for me right away.”

“Yes, my lord.” The changeling left Odysseus’ sight, only to be replaced by another one moments later.

“My lord, our assassins are in position, ready to kill the Spirits of Harmony as soon as they have fulfilled their purpose.”

“Very good, but remember to focus the bulk of your attention on the yellow one, Fluttershy. If any manage to escape, they’ll be powerless so long as even one of their friends cannot use their Element.

“Continue your surveillance and make sure that not a single pony or changeling gets close to the battlefield without my permission.” The changeling left the area and Odysseus began to wonder how Alexander would go about trying to stop him. ‘Perhaps he’s blended in with the Royal Guard that arrived in those chariots? I’ll have to be careful with him. While he’s easy enough to manipulate at home, on the battlefield, he is a formidable oppon-’

CRACK!

Odysseus turned around to examine the source of the sudden sound. He stared for a good few moments at a nearby tree, where he could detect a slight magical presence when he concentrated. He noticed a snapped twig on the ground next to the tree and began to move towards it. As he did so, he saw a purple unicorn emerge from behind the tree and run off into the distance.

Odysseus wouldn’t give her the chance to flee, though, and used his magic to summon a green wall of flames in her path, halting the mare in her tracks. “Twilight Sparkle,” he said, still using Luna’s voice.”It is rude to eavesdrop. Have you no respect for your Princess of the Night?”

“I do,” Twilight said, shaking as she slowly turned around to face ‘Luna’ whilst forcing a strong, brave look on her face, “But… you’re not Princess Luna.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, to start with, I just saw you speaking with a changeling!”

“Not all changelings are our enemies,” ‘Luna’ reasoned. “Some have come over to our side. Either for safety, or because they disapprove of their ruler’s actions.”

“Secondly, you referred to your sister as ‘Princess’ Celestia. Something which the real Luna never does!”

“We have referred to our sister as such many times, when stressed and in times of crises.”

“And finally… Princess Luna doesn’t know any healing spells!” Twilight received no response this time, short of ‘Luna’ eventually grinning and becoming absorbed in green flames.

“Oh? I never knew that… It seems I made a mistake in my assumptions there,” Odysseus said as he undid the transformation.

“I lied,” Twilight said, a proud smile on her face when she saw the angry look coming from the changeling before her. “She knows some, but even then, most of the medicinal magic she knows of are outdated and thus are no longer applicable in our modern era.”

Odysseus stared at Twilight with a look of amusement and almost felt the urge to applaud her for uncovering him the way that she did. “So, when did you figure out? Just now?”

“Just now was the final straw,” Twilight explained. “I didn’t want to believe it… I attributed your odd behaviour to the stress of knowing that your sister was in danger, but the more I kept my eye on you, the bigger the feeling became… The same feeling I got when your queen masqueraded as Cadance.”

“Just as Mother said,” Odysseus began, “You certainly are an observant one.”

“M-Mother?!” Twilight exclaimed in shock. “So… that makes you…”

“Prince Odysseus, fourth offspring and second son of Queen Chrysalis,” he said with a polite bow. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight’s horn glowed a furious purple, but Odysseus simply let out an amused laugh at the sight. “I won’t let you harm the princess, or my friends!”

“Well technically, I won’t be harming your friends. The princess, though… unless mother kills her first, I will have to dirty my hooves with her blood.”

“I won’t let you!” Twilight repeated, firing a blast of purple energy at Odysseus. The prince dodged it easily and then charged forwards, dodging two more shots as he closed the gap between himself and his target. Green flames enveloped his body as he stopped just short of Twilight Sparkle and she gasped as the magic she had built-up vanished in an instant. “… No,” she whispered, sweat running down her head as she gazed upon the sight of her older brother, smiling down at her reassuringly.

“Twilie, it’s okay!” he said, placing a gentle off on her shoulder. Before Twilight could respond, a green beam of energy shot out of his horn and connected with Twilight’s. “Thank you,” he said, grinning maniacally at the now-frozen mare. “Just lowering you guard for even a single second was all that I needed to enter your mind. I won’t waste you like Mother did. I’m not afraid… I will make you my slave.”

Twilight awoke in a strange place, the likes of which she had never seen before. It was a dark, cold clearing in a forest, with just a few structures around her that she couldn’t make out very clearly. “Hello?” she asked, her voice echoing around her. “Where am I?”

“Twilie,” a familiar voice called out.

“Shining Armor? Is that you?”

“Yes! Hurry! Open your eyes, Twilie!”

“But… my eyes are open!”

“Not the ones inside your mind! You need to open those, to see this place for what it truly is!”

“Open… my mind’s eyes?” Twilight asked, wondering what her brother was talking about. She closed her eyes and concentrated, searching her brain for some kind of answer. The more she thought, the more she felt a strange, tingling sensation passing through her body.

Eventually, an image popped into her mind. An image of a vast, endless library, filled with running water all around it and beautiful foliage. It was a bright, happy place that gave Twilight a warm feeling just thinking about all of the various tomes filling its shelves.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open and found that the dark, cold forest that she was just in had been replaced by that same library from her imagination. “What the?”

“Twilie!” Twilight turned around to see Shining Armor sitting on a nearby beanbag chair, holding an open book in his left forehoof and waving to her with his right one, a big smile on his face. “Welcome home!”

“‘Home’?” Twilight asked, feeling more confused with each passing second.

“That’s right,” Shining Armor replied with a nod of his head. He closed the book and placed it down gently on a nearby table. “This is your home… The place where you belong. With me, forever by your side.”

Twilight felt her eyes growing heavy, but quickly shook the feeling away. “But… how did I get here? And what about my friends? Where are they?”

Shining Armor placed his forehooves on Twilight’s shoulders, calming her down as she gazed deeply into his eyes. “Twilie, don’t think about those ponies. They can’t bring you the happiness that I can. This is where you belong. Here… with me.”

Twilight felt her eyes growing heavy once again and her head began to tilt forwards.

“Ah promise, what ah’m saying to you is the honest truth.”

Twilight shook her head and continued leaning forwards.

“Sometimes, we all need to be shown a little kindess.”

“I love to see my friends smile!”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she let out a quiet gasp as she started to pull back.

“Twilight Sparkle! I insist on making you a new dress!”

“I’d never leave Ponyville hanging!”

“Sunshine, sunshine…”

“None of this would have been possible without you, Little Sis.”

“Ladybugs awake!”

“Love you, Twilie.”

Twilight’s horn started to glow brightly and she shot out a beam at ‘Shining Armor’, causing him to back off and stare at the furious mare with his mouth agape.

“You… you’re not my brother! You’re… Odysseus!”

Odysseus, still disguised as Shining Armor, grinned and slowly clapped his hooves at Twilight. “Very good,” he said. “Well, it’s to be expected really… The mind-subduing spell only works well if the target is both drained, and completely unaware that their loved one is really a changeling in disguise.”

“Too bad,” Twilight retorted. “It seems you took a risk with me, but I promise you, I won’t go down that easily! After all, I’m not fighting alone! All of my friends…” She placed a hoof to her chest, “Are right her with me!”

Odysseus’ grin didn’t fade, even when Twilight’s horn continued to glow brighter and brighter, the magic reaching such intensity that it began to heat up the surrounding area.

“You know,” Odysseus started, “There is another way to subdue someone using this spell.” Twilight lowered her head, ready to fire her spell at the intruder in her mind. “To break them. From the inside.”

Twilight unleashed her spell, hitting Odysseus and causing him to let out a tortured scream of pain. She pushed harder, trying to force the changeling out of her mind. She could feel him slipping, little-by-little. Just a little bit more…

A sudden green light caught her attention, but she didn’t stop… Not until she saw two wings flap out before here and then weekly fold back against their owner’s body. She then noticed a golden crown flying up into the air, followed by a bright, multi-coloured mane flowing to her right.

Her magic retreated back into her horn and she stared in horror at the sight of Princess Celestia before her, limping slowly towards Twilight Sparkle with tears streaming down her face and blood pouring from wounds on her body. She let out a few chocked coughs, spitting out more blood as she did so.

“P-Princess…” she whispered, gasping as the princess kneeled onto the ground in front of her.

“Twilight… Sparkle… my most… faithful student…”

She examined the princess’ body… She could barely move. Her injuries looked so severe and it was clear – just from hearing her strained voice – that she was in so much pain. The princess’ body was also much shorter than it usually was – around Luna’s size. “Did… Did my magic do this?”

“Twilight…” The princess coughed out a little more blood, falling face-first onto the ground with one final groan.

“N-No!” Twilight shouted suddenly, her magic flaring back up as she realised that it was nothing more than the changeling in disguise. “I-I won’t let you-” She was interrupted by the ‘princess’ extending a gentle wing towards her, holding the smaller mare closely. Like the many times the princess had done for her when she was a filly.

Twilight desperately tried to remind herself that it wasn’t really Celestia, but the more that the pained visage of Princess Celestia continued to hold and nuzzle her in the safety of her embrace… the more that Twilight began to feel her eyes growing heavier once again.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, gaining Twilight’s attention. “I forgive you.”

That was the last straw. That kind, soothing voice that had always reached Twilight whenever she was in trouble had washed away all of the pain and fear inside of her.

“It’s okay, Twilight. It’s all okay. I will never abandon you. I love you, more than you could ever know.”

It was too much for Twilight to bear. Twilight smiled as her eyelids closed and she nestled into the warm chest of her mentor, the sounds of Princess Celestia’s heartbeat lulling her into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Odysseus grinned as his spell faded and he returned to reality outside of Twilight Sparkle’s mind. He had done it. He had broken her mind and made her a slave for him to bend to his will. A risky maneuver, but one that had certainly paid off well.

Odysseus extinguished the wall of green flames and reapplied his disguise of Princess Luna. “Twilight Sparkle?” he asked in Luna’s voice. Twilight simply looked up at him with wide, vacant eyes, her face devoid of any and all emotions. “Shall we head back?” Twilight simply nodded. “Oh, and make sure you act around me as you would around the real Princess Luna. Do you understand?”

“Alrighty, Princess!” Twilight answered with a smile.

“My lord!” Odysseus turned around to see a changeling scout appear behind him. It was the same one that he had sent away earlier to investigate the current condition of the battlefield.

“Yes? What have you to report?”

“My lord, it seems that the queen’s forces are on their last legs!” he reported. “The matchlock rifles were deployed earlier, but they have proven to still be too temperamental for the battlefield. Furthermore, Princess Celestia has managed to force our queen away from her troops, preventing her from relaying further orders to them, and appears to be overpowering her. The queen is lasting for now, but we don’t know how much longer she can keep this up…”

“I see… Then, what of the chariots?”

“I investigated that matter, too, my lord, and it appears that the chariots were being led by Princess Luna.”

“WHAT?!” Odysseus shouted, startling the scout and causing him to back up a little bit. Odysseus quickly regained himself and cleared his throat. “… What is she doing here?” he mumbled to himself. “Any other noticeable figures among our new guests?” he asked the scout, who nodded in response.

“Among the chariots, only the three leading ones had any noteworthy ponies or changelings aboard.”

“‘Changelings’, you say?”

“Yes, my lord. We have identified Chill, General Mystic, Prince Alexander and Princess Aura among the groups riding the chariots. Additionally, it seems that they have made contact with Shark and Shock.”

“How are they moving in on us?”

“It seems that they have split their forces into two groups. One is making its way straight to the battlefield, and the other is heading deeper into the forest, presumably to cut you off, my lord.”

“And their arrangements?”

“It seems that the Royal Guard escort, with estimated numbers of around one hundred and fifty, are being split evenly among the two groups. The group being lead by Shining Armor and Princess Aura are heading towards you, along with Shock, Chill, and an unidentified blue unicorn who does not appear to be a part of the Royal Guard…”

“Must be that same one that broke Aura and Alexander out of the dungeons,” Odysseus said, putting a hoof to his chin.

“… And as for the group heading straight towards the battlefield, they are being lead by Princess Luna, Shark, General Mystic and Prince Alexander.”

“What is Mystic doing here? I was not informed of her presence in Equestria.”

“Unknown, my lord.”

Odysseus glared at the changeling, who flinched and began to shake nervously as he tried to maintain eye contact with his prince. “… There are too many variables… Too many unexpected events are occurring…” Odysseus closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose.

“… My lord?” the scout asked after a few minutes of silence.

Odysseus opened his eyes suddenly and said, “Aura’s group consists of two who can barely fight, a Captain of the Royal Guard and two others whose strengths I know quite well… None of them are necessarily dangerous, but just in case, I want General Leo to take care of them.”

“B-But my lord, General Leo is in command of-”

“That was an order!” Odysseus shouted, frightening the scout once again. “There is virtually no chance of an attack from our own kingdom at this point, and even if there is, it would only be a small rebel group. No one would dare believe that I have committed treason without sufficient evidence.”

“V-Very well, my lord,” the scout replied.

“… As for the other group… Alexander and Luna are with them… Shark must have killed General Razor Tooth, so he is not to be underestimated, it seems. As for Mystic…” Odysseus started to sweat and panic began to sweep over him. He calculated how far he was from the battlefield. There was no choice. “I don’t think stopping them will be possible, so we shall just have to delay them for as long as possible. I want you to assign Generals Gemini and Scorpio to them. Their orders are not necessarily to defeat their enemies, but simply to slow them down. Make sure that that is understood.”

“Yes, my lord!” the scout responded before taking off with his orders from the prince.

Odysseus looked back at Twilight, who had been simply staring into space the entire time. With a wicked grin, he walked past her and began to make his way back towards the rest of the group. “Let’s go, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded and followed Odysseus back to where her friends were surely still waiting for them to return.

Shining Armor cut through the dense foliage of the forest with his spear, revealing yet another trap that was set up for them. He quickly disarmed it with his magic and motioned for those following him to continue. As they did, another changeling ambush jumped from the bushes, surrounding three members of the Royal Guards who urged the rest to continue without them.

This had been going on for at least thirty minutes, slowing the groups’ progress down tremendously and dwindling their numbers to a single digit. “They’re trying to stall us until Odysseus reaches the battlefield,” Trixie said, looking over her shoulder and finding only four guards left with them.

“It’s not just that,” Shining Armor returned. “Not only are they slowing us down, but they’re weeding out our forces until only a few of us remain. That way, when we do finally reach him, it won’t be such an easy fight.”

Aura was sitting on Trixie’s back. Despite her protests that she was fully able to walk, Trixie had ‘insisted’ that she ride on her back… by lifting up with her magic, and practically forcing her to sit on the showmare’s back.

Shock and Chill were walking behind Trixie, using their own magical powers to detect ambushes and traps ahead of them. They noticed that the ambushes were getting less and less as they moved on, but they still didn’t lower their guards just yet.

“This is looking…” Shock started.

“Very suspicious. Almost like…” Chill continued. The two remained silent for a moment, before both sighing simultaneously in depression. “… Almost like, a bigger enemy is waiting for us.”

“I miss Blaze,” Shock said with a pout.

Trixie rolled her eyes at the display and picked up her pace a little bit, in the hopes of getting away from it. “Honestly, must you talk like that? It’s driving Trixie insane.”

“… Like you’re one to talk…”

“With that third pony. You sound like…”

Another silence, followed by another pair of depressed sighs from the two triplets.

“UGH!” Trixie groaned, raising a forehoof to rub her temple. “Why are these two with us again?!”

“Well, it was either them, or Shark. And you picked them,” Aura deadpanned. Trixie flinched and then remained silent as she continued walking. “Personally, I like that they’re so close to each other. It makes me happy when I see such a beautiful family connection like that.”

Trixie looked over her shoulder to see Shock looking down at the ground with a depressed look on his face, and then Chill reaching over to pat his younger sibling on the back. “Somehow they seem much less threatening like this.”

“Guys, we have to stop,” Shining Armor suddenly announced as he stopped, causing everyone behind him to stop too. “We’ve got company. Just as they said, it’s a big shot.”

“How can you tell?” Trixie asked.

“The same way you can tell when an illusion is being used,” Shining responded. “Years of experience have built up my intuition as a soldier.”

“Captain Shining Armor… a blue unicorn, Princess Aura, and the two surviving triplets of the Stockford family.” A circle of green flames appeared before the group. As it died down, the figure of a large changeling wearing dark-purple armour appeared, armed with a lance in his left forehoof and a kite shield attached to his right. “Just as Lord Odysseus said. I shall take great pleasure in taking each of you down.”

The changeling’s horn glowed a bright green and a barrier began to form around them, trapping the six ponies and three changelings inside of the enclosed space with their enemy. The changeling jumped forward, startling the group.

“GWAH!”

“ARGH!”

“UGH!”

“A-AAHH!”

“This battlefield is not for the weak,” the changeling said as he stood over the corpses of the four Royal Guards, turning back to face the startled looks of his enemies. “I had sent my troops to pull your grunts away from you so that I would not have to kill them myself. Now then, three of you I know well, but the two ponies are still new to me.”

“Y-You bastard!” Shining Armor shouted, his eyes shaking as he watched the blood of his comrades pouring out onto the ground. “Why did you do that?! They were defenceless against you!”

“Then they should not have come to this forest,” the changeling replied simply. Outside of the barrier, several guards had arrived and were banging against the glowing magical dome, but were ultimately incapable of breaking through. “Those who dare challenge me should be prepared to die. It is the rule of my battlefield.”

Shining Armor growled as his horn glowed pink and he shot a beam upwards… but it had no effect on the barrier. “I see,” he said, lowering his gaze towards the changeling before him. “A fellow practitioner of barrier magic, are you?”

“That I am,” the changeling said with a bow. “My name is Leo. I am a general in Her Majesty’s army, and one of Lord Odysseus’ noble knights.” He rose back up and pointed his lance towards his foes. “Now then, will you all come at me together, or shall I show you my power one-at-a-time.”

Shining Armor didn’t take his eyes off of Leo, but backed up a little bit to whisper to Trixie, “Hey, how’s your magic doing?”

“Still not quite there yet. Trixie’s sure it will be recovered by the time we face Odysseus, but if she uses it all up now…”

“Then I’ll take care of this guy.”

“Allow us, Captain Armor,” Shock said, walking past Shining Armor and lowering himself into an attacking stance, his body surging with electricity.

“We’ve got this guy,” Chill added, also walking to the front of the group and standing next to his brother, a small collection of icicles forming around him and floating in the air.

“H-Hey! Are you two sure you’ll be okay? He’s a general!” Shining Armor reminded them. “At the very least, I should be backing you up!”

“That would be a bad idea,” Shock said. “Chill and I work well together. If you interfere, you’ll mess up our combination attacks… Not to mention that you might die.”

Shining was about to protest, but Chill spoke up first. “Your specialty is barrier magic, right? We’ll keep him busy, so you work on a way ta break this barrier!”

“Oh!” Shining Armor said, upon realising that that plan was available to them. “Uh… right. Then, you two keep him busy! Just make sure you don’t die, okay?!”

“Heh! You realise we’re changelings, right?” Chill asked in a mocking tone.

“… We’ll do our best,” Shock said, “But no promises.”

“If you’re quite done,” Leo interrupted, walking towards the group. “You two will be my first opponents, I presume?”

“That’s right!” Chill shouted, firing a barrage of icicles at Leo, who simply deflected them with his shield. The shattered ice melted into water on the ground beneath Leo’s hooves and Shock released a sudden discharge of electricity towards the puddle.

Leo, seeing through their combination attack, quickly jumped to avoid the shock, but then noticed some slightly bigger icicles flying his way again. This time, he slashed them into pieces with his spear. Suddenly, Shock was to Leo’s immediate right, catching the general off-guard as he delivered an electrified kick his way. Leo received the full force of the kick to his face but had managed to swing his lance at Shock’s neck in retaliation.

A wall of ice trapped Leo’s lance mid-swing and Shock quickly bolted back to his brother’s side. “Thanks for the save!” he said as he began charging up his electricity once again.

“Heh, that’s nothing! Watch this!” Chill threw multiple icicles at Leo and made them melt long before reaching their target, much to the general’s bewilderment… until he saw the icicle stalagmites shooting out of the newly formed puddles, quickly making their way towards him.

Unable to free his lance from the wall of ice, Leo abandoned it in favour of avoiding the incoming attack. He grunted as he landed gracefully next to a small puddle of water, which quickly froze over and started to rise towards him. He used his magic to shatter the icicle just before it reached his face and then raised his shielded hoof.

“So this is the power of the Stockford family?” he asked, earning proud grins from both triplets. “… Pathetic,” he said, causing Chill and Shock to change their grins to frowns as he lowered his hoof. “Maybe if the third one was still with you, you’d be able to put up a good fight…”

Leo’s horn glowed and Shock quickly retaliated by charging towards him. A beam of green light shot out of Leo’s horn and moved straight past Shock, hitting the ground next to Chill.

“Too fast for you?” Shock asked as her neared Leo, getting ready to deliver another electrified kick. He swung his hoof towards Leo’s face… but it was stopped, mid-swing, by Leo’s shield. “What?!”

“No… Too slow!” Leo shouted as his horn lit up again. A green sphere began to envelope the ground next to Chill, causing him to jump backwards as he examined the strange magic closely. “My lance is merely a tool I use to assess my opponent’s abilities. My shield is my true weapon.”

Before Shock could react, a sharp pain passed through his entire body and he fell down onto the ground. He coughed a little as he tried to make sense of what had just happened and then slowly stumbled up onto his hooves. “W-What the… What the hell was that?”

“My shield’s power,” Leo answered. “My shield, like any other, absorbs the power of attacks sent my way. However, it also releases that power into whatever target I choose. What you just felt was the combined powers of Chill’s icicle attack, and your kick.”

Shock panted as he tried to regain his composure. He charged some electricity into his hooves, preparing to move back into the fray.

“Incidentally,” Leo said, startling Shock as he suddenly appeared before him, “I always have my troops ‘charge up’ my shield for me before I enter battle.” Leo touched the shield to Shock’s head. Shock was too frightened to retaliate and could only watch in horror as Leo glared down at him, a fierce look in his eyes. “And I can also chose where that power is released. I can either spread it throughout your entire body… or I could concentrate it to one specific area.”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Shock screamed as a powerful shockwave passed through his head. He couldn’t even think straight anymore; his mind and body were being completely overwhelmed by the pain that Leo was delivering to him and he saw his vision slowly fading away before his very eyes. It felt like his head was being split open by the force of the attack… Like his brain was expanding inside his head and pushing against the walls of his skull, threatening to burst it open.

“STOP IT!” Chill shouted as he fired several icicles at Leo.

“I haven’t forgotten about you,” the general responded as his horn lit up, creating a small barrier in front of himself and Shock, similar to the one that was fired beside Chill moments earlier. The icicles passed through the barrier and then seemed to disappear…

“UGH!” Chill felt a sharp pain in his side and spat out some blood as he slowly lowered his head to find his own icicles piercing the side of his body. He wondered how they had got there, but then looked up and noticed the barrier that was also to his side. “D-Damn… bastard…”

Leo turned his attention back to Shock, who was now lying on the ground, clutching his head and shivering in a ball. “You should have just gone into hiding. At least then, you may have been able to keep on living a little while longer.”

BANG!

Leo snapped to attention and quickly used his shield to block the incoming shot fired at him. He turned to his left, where he spotted Aura standing some distance away, holding a pistol in the air and pointing it towards him. He grinned and shook his head. “So now the princess would like to try her hoof at defeating me? Very well then. I will enjoy killing a member of royalty.”

“Except that Trixie won’t let you.” Leo turned around to see Trixie standing directly behind him, her horn glowing a very bright purple. She fired two beams of magical energy, which both coiled around each other and moved quickly towards her enemy. He quickly raised his shield to block the supposed attack, much to Trixie’s delight. The Trixie in front of him began to fade away, along with the magic that she had fired from her horn, and before Leo could make any sense of the situation, another Trixie teleported in behind the changeling and delivered a magically-enhanced kick to the side of his head.

Leo was sent soaring through the air and crashed down on the ground some distance away. Before he could get up, Trixie immediately used her magic to take his shield away from him and tossed it aside, before firing one final spell to bind the changeling general to the ground.

“That won’t work!” Leo roared as he summoned his own magic into horn, cancelling out Trixie’s spell and releasing a shockwave that knocked her down onto her back. “Well, I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting that. Haven’t seen illusions of that calibre since I last trained with General Mystic.” Leo began walking towards Trixie, who was scrambling to get back onto her hooves quickly. “Still, you should’ve stayed back. After all, the barrier’s almost broken. Isn’t that right, Captain Armor?”

Shining Armor, who was sweating and panting heavily from his work on Leo’s barrier, could only grunt in response. “You should’ve saved your magic so that you could escape with your life when the barrier goes down. Instead, you wasted it in a futile attempt to save these two changelings’ lives.”

“Hmph! How dare you insinuate that the Great and Powerful Trixie would run away from any challenge with her tail between her legs!” Trixie spat, charging magic into her horn. “Also, Trixie won’t have anyone’s death on her conscience!”

“… Even though you’ve killed before?”

Trixie’s magic faded and she let out a startled gasp as she backed up a bit. Aura turned her attention to Trixie with a questioning gaze, and Trixie slowly shook her head. “I… I don’t know what you mean…”

“I mean,” Leo began, “That, as a veteran who has killed many myself, I know how to identify those who have taken lives before… You most certainly have.”

Trixie backed up further as Leo continued to approach her slowly, shaking her head repeatedly as voices from the past echoed through her mind. Tortured screams followed by silence, with the dripping sounds of blood in the background. “I… That was… T-Trixie had no ch-choice. If she didn’t, I would’ve…”

“Whatever your excuse, it does not change the fact that you are a murderer!” Leo shouted, raising his right forehoof that was enveloped in a green aura. ‘Your own conscience will be my weapon!’

Trixie froze completely as Leo’s words struck her core, forcing images of the past to accompany the sounds that she was already hearing. She wanted to scream. To tell him that he was wrong, and that she only did what she had to do to survive… She also wanted to cry, because he was right. ‘No matter my reasons, I took a life… I…’

“TRIXIE! RUN!” Aura shouted as she fired a shot from her other pistol at Leo, forcing him to jump back to avoid it.

Leo was surprised at just how good her aim was. He watched as Aura ran over to the shell-shocked Trixie and started pleading her to break out of her trance. Leo let out a soft chuckle and lowered his head to point his horn at Aura. “First the changeling princess. She takes priority over the pony.” Magic began to build up into Leo’s horn.

Aura noticed the coming attack and began to shake Trixie furiously, the blue showmare staring blankly at the youngling with tears streaming down her face. “Trixie, he’s going to attack! You have to come back to your senses! He’s wrong about you; you’re not a murderer! There were many chances where you could have killed someone to save yourself! Me, Shark, Razor… but you didn’t! You never let any of us die to save yourself!

“And even when you knew I was a changeling, you still treated me with so much kindness! You gave me food, and water, and you told me lots of fun stories!” Aura thought she saw some life returning to Trixie’s eye for a split-second, and she continued. “You’ve saved my life, so many times! You’re not a murderer, Trixie… You’re my saviour!”

Trixie gasped and lifted her head up suddenly. She stared across the battlefield at Leo, whose horn was glowing brighter by the second. “… But I-”

“Damnit Trixie!” Chill shouted, causing her to look over her shoulder at him. The injured changeling was barely standing, and blood was dripping out of his mouth as he spoke. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why did you come all this way if you’re just gonna break down and die here?! Didn’t you risk you life to save Aura?!” Trixie looked back at Aura, who was staring up at Trixie with a fear and sadness. “Get your act together, now! Otherwise, she’s gonna die!”

Trixie snapped her attention back to Leo, who had just unleashed his attack. “No… She won’t!” she shouted as she placed herself in front of Aura, lowering her head and casting a quick barrier spell to deflect the attack.

Leo’s attack hit the barrier, but continued drilling its way into it, attempting to break through and hit Trixie. Trixie closed her eyes and grit her teeth together, focussing on her barrier spell and forcing more power into it in order to deflect the attack.

With one final push, Leo’s attack was deflected away from the barrier, where it soared through the air and eventually hit a nearby tree, turning it into dust before everyone’s eyes. Trixie released the barrier and fell to her haunches as she tried to catch her breath.

“Trixie…” Aura said, happy that Trixie had come back to her senses, but also concerned about her health after that last attack.

“Trixie! Aura!” Shining Armor shouted. “The barrier’s down! Get going, now! That goes for any troops that can follow them!”

“Do you think it will be that easy?” Leo asked, charging his horn for another attack. Before he could finish it, though, three Royal Guard ponies charged towards the changeling general, their spears at the ready as they prepared to attack him.

“Go!” one of them shouted as his friend was blasted away by the attack. “We’ll distract him! Go while you still can!”

“Miss Trixie!” Aura shouted. Trixie nodded and slowly rose to her hooves. She stumbled a bit at first, but once she had regained her balance, the two quickly ran past Leo – who was busy with the remaining two guards – and further into the forest behind him, followed by five more members of the Royal Guard that were waiting for them.

“Miss Trixie,” Aura repeated as the two continued to run through the forest, “About earlier… you’re not a murderer, Miss Trixie. No matter what you may have done in the past, you aren’t the type who can take another’s life… So please, don’t be so hard on yourself…”

Trixie levitated Aura, startling the youngling as she was running, and dropped her onto her back. “Thank you,” Trixie said silently, smiling as she continued to run through the forest. “The Great and-… I am grateful for your concern, Aura. Thank you, so much…”

Aura smiled as she leaned forward and nuzzled the back of Trixie’s neck. “Don’t mention it. It’s what friends do, after all.”

Back on the battlefield, Shining Armor and Leo stood opposite to each other, glaring into each other’s eyes at a distance and carefully observing the other for the first sign of any movement.

Shining Armor’s blood began to boil as he took note of the five new bodies in-between them. Two heavily injured changelings, who needed immediate medical treatment… and three more of his Royal Guard ponies, whose white coats were stained with blood.

“This is your first time on a real battlefield, isn’t it?” Leo asked, seeing the trembling in Shining’s legs and the look of shaking of his eyes.

“… I have been to riots and small uprisings before, but… I’ve never been to anything on this scale. But if you think I’ll lose my cool because of a few casualties, then think again!” Shining shouted as he drew his spear, levitating it in his magic with the tip pointing towards Leo.

Leo laughed as he looked around for his shield. He was disturbed, however, to find that it was nowhere to be found.

“Looking for these?!” a voice shouted, causing Leo to look past Shining Armor and find a Royal Guard pony holding up a shield and a lance in his hooves. His shield and lance.

“Don’t underestimate my troops,” Shining Armor said, taking a threatening step forwards as he gathered magic into his horn. Leo did the same. “We’re both practitioners of barrier magic, but I wonder who’s better at it?”

“Let’s find out,” Leo challenged, firing a beam of magic upwards and causing a new barrier to start forming around the two of them. Shining Armor quickly fired at his own beam at the same spot and the barrier halted. It began shaking for a bit and the two let out a series of grunts and groans as they desperately focused their spells.

Finally, the barrier that was forming shattered, and the two beams disappeared. Shining Armor grinned at his opponent, a sense of pride filling him as he said, “That’s one to me, zero to you.”

Leo gave Shining Armor a slow clap, before returning his forehooves to the ground and then charging towards the stallion. Shining Armor quickly readied his spear for the incoming attack and used it to block a swift kick delivered by his opponent, before attempting to counter with a quick blast of magic.

Leo jumped up to avoid the magical attack and then fired his own beam of magic down at Shining Armor, causing a green barrier to form around the captain. “This barrier won’t be so easy to break, and it increases the gravity inside of it by a factor of three.”

Shining Armor grunted as he felt himself becoming heavier by the second. He quickly charged as much magic into his horn as he possibly could. Leo smirked, confident that his barrier couldn’t be broken by Shining Armor’s power… However, he wasn’t expecting to be caught in a barrier himself, cast by Shining Armor.

Leo felt himself becoming tried and dizzy, and quickly realised that it was a magic-draining barrier that he was in. Leo attempted to cast a spell but stopped as soon as he felt the barrier becoming stronger as he channelled magic into his horn. Desperate, Leo cancelled his barrier around Shining Armor so that he could focus a great deal of magic into a counterspell, shattering Shining Armor’s barrier before it could drain him completely.

Leo lowered himself down to the ground and clutched his chest as he breathed a series of heavy pants. Shining Armor fared no better; the effects of Leo’s last attack were still taking their toll on him.

“Looks like I’m going to have to end this now,” Shining said, raising his spear and charging towards Leo, who quickly raised a magically-enchanted hoof in defence.

“Fool! Don’t think that barrier magic is the only thing I’m good at! I’m also a master of close quarters combat!”

“But are you better than me?” Shining asked in a mocking tone as he swung his spear down. The spear was blocked by Leo’s hoof and Shining quickly used it to pole-vault over the changeling. He delivered another attack from behind.

Leo quickly spun around and leaned back, narrowly avoiding the tip of Shining Armor’s spear as it scraped past the side of his face. Whilst stumbling backwards, Leo attempted to conjure up a spell to knock Shining Armor away, but he was startled by a sudden pink light. Leo gasped as he noticed the barrier that was forming around himself.

“You fool!” Leo shouted as he fired his own magic at the barrier’s focal point, attempting to destroy it as Shining had done with his earlier. Once again, the two were locked in a battle of magic as they both pushed themselves to their limits, neither one refusing to give in.

However, the magic-draining barrier that Shining had used on Leo earlier proved to have been most effective, and Leo found his magical energy reserves running dry before Shining Armor’s did. Unable to keep it up any longer, Leo abandoned his attack on the barrier in favour of casting a quick protective spell on himself instead.

The barrier formed completely around Leo, and Shining Armor quickly jumped backwards as the area inside of the barrier was filled with an intense pink light. The scene blinded the many ponies in the area and the brightness lasted for a good few minutes, before the light finally began to die down enough for everypony to see clearly once again.

The barrier faded, and lying on the ground, breathing in-and-out in pained gasps, was the body of General Leo, his armour shattered and many burn marks running down his body.

Shining Armor let out a relieved sigh, before falling face-first onto the ground himself. “CAPTAIN!” one of his troops called out, quickly running over to Shining Armor.

“Form a perimeter!” another guard shouted. “More changeling soldiers may still show up to rescue their general! We must protect the captain!”

“Captain, are you alright, sir?!” the guard beside Shining Armor asked.

“I’m fine,” Shining Armor said weakly, lifting his head up to look over at where Leo was laying down. “… Take… the three changelings… back to Cadance… See to it that they get em-emergency medical treatment. And… And use class-B binding wards… on General Leo… He is to be arrested… as a prisoner of war…”

Shining Armor grinned as he watched the changeling breathing in-and-out, a clear sign that he was still alive. ‘Cadie wouldn’t be happy… if I left him here to die… even if he is the enemy…’ “We don’t know when the e-enemy… might show up again… so we h-have to be… quick…”

“Yes, sir!” the guard shouted, nodding to his nearby comrade, who quickly ran off to relay the orders to the other soldiers around them. “Captain, we need to get you some treatment, too,” the guard said to Shining Armor, offering the captain his shoulder for support.

Shining Armor shook his head and tried to force himself to stand on his own four hooves. “No… I have to… go after T-Trix…” Before Shining Armor could finish his sentence, the effects of his own spell hit him hard. He spat out a large quantity of blood in one cough, before passing out onto the ground.

Chapter 17

Princess Luna stopped her party’s advances in order to scan the area ahead of them. Closing her eyes, she focused her magic to create a mental image of the forest in front of her. She could sense life ahead of her, lying in wait in various areas, and magical readings from what she assumed to be changeling traps.

“The enemy is here,” she announced, cancelling the spell and opening her eyes again. “Be on your guards, everypony.”

“Not ponies,” Shark reminded.

“Uh, right. Everybody,” Luna corrected. “Anyway, there may also be traps ahead of us. We must tread carefully, but we are still running against the clock.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Alexander said, charging up his magic. “Odysseus doesn’t want either me or Aura getting through. But since he never planned for us to have gotten this far in the first place, they probably won’t be so difficult to defeat.”

“Unless he knows that the princess is free,” Mystic pointed out.

“If that’s the case, then we can probably expect to see two generals as we move ahead.”

“Just two?” Shark asked. “For the Princess of the Night? I thought Odysseus was supposed ta be some kinda genius or something.”

“Odysseus is a genius, but he has trouble adjusting when things don’t go his way,” Alexander explained. “His sense of pride also makes him reluctant to deviate too much from his original plans. He put so much effort into assigning each and every soldier to their roles that he won’t rearrange them lightly. He’ll send two or three to try to slow us down, as opposed to sending them all to try to kill us.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Trust me. When it comes to battle strategies, although he may not have noticed it himself, Odysseus actually learned from me. Therefore, I at least know how he thinks on the battlefield.”

“Perhaps we should continue moving?” Mystic suggested. “We must find the queen before Odysseus does, after all.”

The group pressed on through the forest. Not even a minute after they had resumed their walking, a group of changelings jumped out of hiding and surrounded them. “Princess Luna, please allow us to handle this!” one of the Royal Guard ponies accompanying the group shouted.

The changelings attacked, and the Royal Guard fought back, allowing Luna, Mystic, Shark and Alexander to pass through. As they ran, more and more changelings came out of hiding, slowly dwindling the numbers of their Royal Guard escort until only three remained.

Luna grit her teeth and had to resist the urge to stop her advancement so that she could turn back to help her soldiers. “Why?” she asked herself. “After I worked so hard to unite our two races… why did it have to turn out like this?”

“I guess we’re just destined to always be enemies,” Alexander replied. “We’re just too different… But, right now, we’re fighting together to take out an even greater threat. A common enemy, who is attempting to take down both of our lands’ rulers.”

“So in a sense, we are united, right now.”

“… In a sense.”

A loud bang echoed from behind the group, startling them all for a moment. “Those guys were wielding weapons I’ve never seen before,” Shark noted.

“That was the weapon Odysseus and I developed. Those were Odysseus’ personal troops,” Alexander revealed. “So don’t hold back. They’re knowingly committing high treason. The only penalty for that is death, so there’s no escape for them even should they surrender.”

“That’s rather harsh,” Luna interjected. “What if they have simply been played, like Shark, Shock and Chill were?”

“Those three will also suffer the same fate,” Alexander said, eliciting a grunt from Shark. “The laws were made to protect us after Equestria’s betrayal. They were made to be strict because we were in a highly vulnerable state, and because they worked so well, no one ever felt it necessary to change them. The only way they can be changed is if Mother herself appeals for a revision of our laws.”

“… Well, while we don’t agree with capital punishment being used so loosely, now is hardly the time for us to debate such things.” Luna stopped suddenly, as did the others running alongside her. “It seems you were right. We sense two powerful foes heading towards us.”

“If it’s just two, that means two of us can run past them whilst the other two stay to keep them busy,” Mystic said, gathering magic into her horn. “As an illusionist, I should be able to sneak by fairly easily, provided they aren’t illusionists, too.”

“Yeah, and we’ll need your powers to catch Odysseus off-guard,” Alexander added. “Remember, that’s the key to defeating such a foe: catch him off-guard and he really isn’t that big of a threat. But the soldiers that he brought with him might be, so I’ll go on ahead with you. That leaves you two to handle these guys.”

Shark, more than happy to finally see some real action, grinned and stepped forward in front of the group, lifting up a clawed hoof. “That’s fine with me. Just remember, I get the stronger one of the two.”

“You enjoy fighting that much?” Luna asked, walking to Shark’s side and glaring down at the ecstatic changeling. “Even at the risk of your own life?”

“Hell yeah! It’s the ultimate test of one’s character! Putting your life on the line only makes you draw out your full power!”

“… You almost sound like somepony I knew, a long time ago. He met an untimely fate.”

“I’m not afraid of death.”

“Clearly. And that’s a good thing right now… because they’re here.”

Two changelings stepped forth from the trees ahead of the group, both dressed in dark-purple armour and both complete opposites of each other in terms of physical characteristics. One was a large, bulky changeling, who suddenly started flexing his muscles in front of his enemies and who seemed to be wearing armour two sizes too small for him, and the other was a short, slim changeling, who practically hid his entire body in bandages and a black cloak. Even his face was completely covered, save for his eyes.

“General Gemini and General Scorpio,” Alexander said, pointing to the larger changeling and then the shorter changeling respectively as he announced their names. “The stronger of the two would definitely be Scorpio, but-”

“Then he’s mine!” Shark interrupted, cackling as he stared at the shorter general, who simply stared back with two big, bloodshot eyes. With the rest of his face hidden behind his bandages, it was impossible for Shark to gauge his reaction.

“These are the threats that Lord Odysseus told us about?” Scorpio asked, looking over the rest of the group. “… They don’t even seem worth my time.”

“Now, now,” Gemini responded, staring at Princess Luna with a large grin on his face before shifting his gaze to Mystic and giving an appreciative whistle. “They’re obviously dangerous enough that Lord Odysseus wanted us to slow ‘em down. Anyway, I’ve got dibs on these two, y’hear?”

“Always after the pretty ones,” Scorpio sighed as he reached into his cloak. “Just remember to stay out of my way.”

“Oi!” Shark shouted to get their attentions. “You two! We’re gonna be your opponents, so stop yammering and draw your weapons already!”

“… So impatient,” Scorpio said, glaring at Shark. “I’ll be more than happy to take you on. But first, let’s find a vacant area.”

“Heh! You don’t want others butting in, eh? I like your style!”

“No, I just don’t want to risk killing my comrade,” Scorpio corrected. “Anyway, there’s a clearing just past those trees.” Scorpio pointed to his left and Shark followed his hoof.

“Sounds good.” Shark turned to Luna, who was staring at him with an uncertain look in her eyes. “I’ll kill him quickly and then make a break for the battlefield. If he’s trying to stay away from his comrades, that means I’ll have a clear path ahead of me,” he said quietly to the princess.

“Then I’ll try to finish off this one quickly, too, so that I can join you.”

“I can handle myself, so take yer time.”

“But there’s safety in numbers.”

“… Tch, fine. Do what ya want.” Shark turned back to Scorpio, who was patiently waiting for his opponent to make up his mind. “Okay, lead the way!”

As Scorpio led Shark away to another area to do battle, Gemini reached for something behind him, prompting Luna to raise her guard. “What? It’s just my bag,” he said, pulling out a large rucksack that he was carrying on his back. He opened it up with his magic and pulled out a gourd from inside. “Hope ya don’t mind. I like ta have a drink before every battle. You wanna join me, lass?”

“… Neigh,” Luna said, her wings flared as she watched the changeling general cautiously. “We make it a point not to drink on duty.”

“‘We’?” Gemini asked, raising an eyebrow. “What, you and your sister?”

“The royal we,” Luna explained.

“Oooh! … Didn’t know ponies still used that these days.” Gemini lifted the gourd up to his mouth and tilted his head back as he took a huge drink of whatever was inside of it.

Luna turned to the two changelings standing behind her. “Go, now, whilst he’s distracted. We’ll keep him busy here.”

Alexander nodded and led Mystic further into the forest, running past the drinking changeling, the Royal Guard ponies with them following his lead. “Catch up to us as soon as you can!” Alexander shouted as he looked over his shoulder.

Gemini pulled the gourd from his lips and let out a huge sigh. “Man, that’s good! You sure you don’t wanna taste?”

“… You have no problem letting them through?”

Gemini shrugged and lowered his gourd back into his bag. “Don’t bother me. If I went after ‘em, you’d just stop me, right? I’d be giving you a clear shot at my flank, an’ that’s a mistake that can cost a warrior his life. Besides…”

“… Besides?”

Gemini grinned at Luna, but this time, it was a big, goofy grin. One that looked like the kind Discord once gave her whenever he pulled one of his pranks. It made her stomach churn. “I always prefer fightin’ the pretty ones any day! And you, lass, are just about the prettiest darn thing I’ve ever met!”

Luna wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Was he serious, or was he simply mocking her? She examined him closely. He looked a little dazed, and his face was a slight shade of red. ‘Perhaps he’s just drunk,’ Luna thought to herself, grinning as she charged magic into her horn. ‘In that case, I have the advantage.’

“Hey, lass!” Gemini shouted, snapping Luna out of her thoughts. “Just ta make sure, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to betray your sister and join us, would ya?”

“… If that is a joke, then We suggest you make that perfectly clear, right now.”

“No joke. If you swear your loyalty to us, that’d make things easier for me!”

“Well, we have no intention of betraying our sister, or our country, for that matter.”

Gemini looked depressed as he let out a deep sigh, and lit up his horn as he reached with his magic for something in his bag. “Ah well. Guess I’ll just have ta kill you, then.” Luna tensed when she saw a large tomahawk being levitated out of Gemini’s bag, surrounded by a green aura. “Don’t hold it against me, lass. I just gotta stop you from reachin’ Lord Odysseus. Since yer friends ran off, it means I gotta kill ya so I can catch up.”

“I warn you,” Luna began as her eyes started to glow white and she began to hover into the air, her wings flapping hard enough to create a strong gust of wind, “While I may not be as powerful as my sister, I am still well-versed in the art of combat! Furthermore, We shall show thee no quarter, General Scorpio!”

Gemini’s face hardened and he took a threatening step forward. “GEMINI!” he shouted, startling Luna. “Scorpio’s the other one! My name’s Gemini!”

“Oh,” Luna said with a slight blush. “Our apologies, General Gemini.”

“Honestly, I know you’re old, but c’mon now!” Gemini charged towards the floating Princess Luna, brining his tomahawk up as he unleashed a furious battle cry.

In a clearing far from Luna’s battle against Gemini, the sounds of explosions could be heard. If the trees weren’t obscuring their views, the two changelings would have been able to see the flashes of light from the distant battle.

“Looks like they’ve already started,” Shark said, grinning with excitement as he faced his opponent. “Who d’ya think’ll win? The general, or the thousand-year-old princess?”

“… I really don’t care,” Scorpio replied in a monotone, narrowing his eyes as he stared ahead at Shark. “Will only you be fighting me? How easily they send their own comrades to their deaths.”

“Reachin’ Odysseus and makin’ him pay is more important. I can take care of you on my own.”

Scorpio sighed. “I knew that it was a mistake to only send the two of us, but Lord Odysseus is difficult to reason with…” he mumbled.

“Sheesh, you’re quite the gloomy guy, aren’t ya? What, did Odysseus cut yer pay cheque or something?”

“You wouldn’t know from looking at me, but I’m actually pretty lazy,” Scorpio explained, pulling something out of his cloak. Shark examined it closely and saw that it seemed to be a small needle. “Add onto that that now I have to track your friends and kill them before they reach the battlefield, and I think you’ll understand how I’m not in a comfortable position right now. So let’s finish this quickly, okay?” Scorpio quickly swung his hoof through the air, throwing the sharp needle towards Shark, who nimbly dodged it with little effort.

“What was that? You think a small thing like that will be enough to take me down?”

Scorpio pulled out a few more needles and threw them all at Shark simultaneously. He dodged all of them and then charged towards Scorpio. He felt a sharp pain on his cheek, but it wasn’t enough to make him stop his attack.

Scorpio pulled out a small purple ball from his cloak and threw it at Shark, who retaliated quickly by swiping at the thrown object with one of his claws. The ball exploded into a cloud of gas, prompting Shark to quickly hold his breath and jump back. Another sharp pain made itself known on his cheek, and once he was some distance away from the gas, he raised a hoof his cheek to find out what was going on.

“Blood?” Shark thought aloud, feeling the wet substance on the side of his face. He breathed in through his nose and could indeed catch the scent of his own blood in the air. “But from what?”

“You should pay more attention to your opponent,” Scorpio advised as he threw a few more needles towards Shark. Shark dodged them all again, but as he did so, he felt a stinging sensation on his left foreleg. He examined it to find yet another cut that seemed to have been caused by nothing.

“What the hell’s causing this?” Scorpio threw some more needles at Shark, but this time, Shark used his claw to slash them all out of the air. Once they were on the ground, he lifted one up with his magic and examined it closely. “… I see,” he said, a grin forming on his face. “You’ve attached wires to these. Very thin, so they can’t be seen very easily.”

Shark quickly slashed the area around him several times, and then turned his attention back to Scorpio. “Is that all ya’ve got?! I thought you were a general!” Scorpio threw five more needles at Shark, but just like last time, the changeling had no problem knocking them all out of the air with his claw. “Stop screwing around! Otherwise, I’ll just kill you right now!”

Shark began charging towards Scorpio, who quickly reached into his cloak once more. ‘Well, that didn’t work, so I guess I’ll have to use…’ Shark stopped his advance and jumped back a few steps when he saw two more balls being thrown in his direction, and just like last time, they both unleashed clouds of gas upon impacting with the ground.

“What’s that?! Poison gas?!”

“That’s right,” Scorpio answered. “I am General Scorpio, one of Princess Victoria’s knights, and my weapon of choice… is anything coated in poison.”

“Wait, Victoria’s knight?” Scorpio nodded in confirmation. “So you betrayed the princess you serve, eh?”

“Not at all. The only reason I became her knight was at my master’s orders.”

“Your ‘master’… Odysseus?”

“Neigh. My master is the one who taught me the art of fighting with poisoned weapons. He’s the one who ordered me to serve Lord Odysseus, and to infiltrate Princess Victoria’s ranks in order to gain information about her.

“Unfortunately, the princess was more perceptive than we feared. I was originally to become a mere hoof soldier to her, but that accursed princess offered me to become her knight, so that she could keep a close eye on me. Naturally, I couldn’t refuse. Otherwise, I would have drawn unwanted attention to myself. But Lord Odysseus somehow made it work to his advantage.”

“Cool story,” Shark said, not at all interested in hearing about the other changeling’s past. “So you’re a poison expert, huh? I’ve faced enemies like that before, and I’ve learned a thing or two about how to best take your kind on.”

“I am nothing like those other changelings you have defeated!” Scorpio shouted with malice in his voice. “I am on a much higher level than any other poison master in the world!” As he said that, he pulled out small throwing knife from his cloak and threw it at Shark, who dodged it with ease, before noticing a shuriken following behind the knife very closely.

Shark used his magic to deflect the shuriken, sending it flying back towards Scorpio, who stepped aside to dodge it.

“You amateur!” Shark shouted. “Lemme show you how to really use a throwing weapon!” Shark detached the claw on his left forehoof and threw it at Scorpio with his magic. The sharp weapon was flying at a high speed towards the other changeling, who quickly ducked and rolled under the claw to avoid being hit. “Nice try, but how ‘bout this?!”

Scorpio turned around to see the claw flying back towards him and quickly enveloped it with his magic. Both he and Shark began fighting for control over the weapon. Shark’s magical aura dissipated, and Scorpio quickly attached the claw to his own hoof before turning around in time to block Shark’s incoming lunge.

Shark slashed at Scorpio a few times, each of his attacks by deflected by the claw on the general’s left forehoof. He pulled back and readied himself for a powerful thrust, when Scorpio quickly fired a beam of magic at him. Shark dodged by jumping over his opponent and attempted to slash him from behind.

As he swung, though, Scorpio swiftly spun around and ducked to avoid the incoming attack. He countered by delivering a powerful kick to Shark’s stomach, sending him flying backwards a few feet through the air.

Shark finally stopped when he made contact with a tree behind him and groaned as he rubbed his head. But that wasn’t all… A sharp pain passed through his back, and when he tried to get up, he felt his back stinging badly.

“It seems to be my win,” Scorpio said, his horn glowing green as something was forcefully pulled out of Shark’s back. Shark watched as a small shuriken levitated past him and over to Scorpio. “You remember this, don’t you? I coated all points with my poison… Soon, you will find it rather hard to move. And within half-an-hour, you’ll be dead.”

Shark’s eyes widened and he clutched his chest tightly as he felt his breathing becoming heavier, and his temperature increasing. “… Half-an-hour?” he asked, receiving a nod from Scorpio. After a few moments, his grin returned to his face. “So, I’ve gotta kill you before then, in other words.”

“… I’d recommend not moving. Otherwise, the poison will spread faster throughout your system, and you may not even last ten minutes.”

“Don’t underestimate me!” Shark shouted, pointing his clawed hoof at Scorpio. “I ain’t no ordinary changeling! Stupid stuff like this poison won’t slow me down! You say I won’t last ten minutes? That’s fine… ‘cause it’ll only take five minutes for me to wipe the floor with you!”

Gemini yelled as he charged towards Luna, his tomahawk raised high above his head, only to once again be knocked back by a devastating blow from Luna’s hoof.

Gemini fell down onto his back, dropping his tomahawk to the ground and clutched his nose tightly. “OWWW! Geez, lass… you sure have one heckuva kick.”

“Wouldst thou please refrain from calling me that? It is disrespectful. My name is Luna.”

“I once had a cat named Luna,” Gemini said as he jumped up to his hooves. “It don’t quite feel right, naming you after my pet cat. You’re far too pretty for that.”

“Luna is my name,” Luna said firmly, staring at the changeling with an unamused look on her face. “I recommend that you start taking this fight more seriously.”

“And what about you?” Gemini asked, stretching his forehooves into the air. “You say I’ve been messing around-”

“We never said that.”

“-But you have don’t try to take me out despite the openings I give ya. Quite the honourable lass, aren’tcha?”

“Honour has nothing do with it,” Luna said. “I am merely being cautious. I considered the possibility of this being a ploy, whilst you wait for me to lower my guard so that you could spring your trap… However, now, I am convinced that you are simply an idiot.”

Gemini let out a loud belch, bringing a look of disgust on the princess’ face, and then grabbed his tomahawk with his magic once more. “Well, my Gym teacher always told me to warm up before you do some kinda physical activity. Trouble is, I fell asleep on the way to the battlefield, so I never got a chance to stretch my hooves on the chariot ride here.”

“… So, you were simply warming yourself up?”

“That’s right. If ya want, I’ll let you do some stretches with me before we begin.”

Luna watched in shock as the changeling before her actually began to do squats, right before her very eyes. She wasn’t sure if he was an idiot, or a complete moron, but he was definitely one of those two things. “C-Cease this foolishness at once!” she ordered, employing the ‘royal Canterlot voice’ as she did so. “This is war! And this… this is a battlefield! It is no place for your silly little games!”

Gemini, a little shaken up from being on the receiving end of the royal Canterlot voice, stopped doing his squats and took a few steps back from Luna. “Sheesh, alright then, lass. No need ta bust an artery about it. If ya want me to stop, I’ll stop… Just don’t blame me if one of us gets a leg cramp in the middle of the fight.”

“We shall be quite fine, thank you,” Luna said in a strong tone. She watched as he levitated his bag over to himself and gasped when he pulled out a second tomahawk.

“Alright then… Both my babies are here together. That means I’m ready.” Gemini’s face suddenly hardened, and became much more serious, as he narrowed his eyes in Princess Luna’s direction. “Also, they won’t rest until they’ve tasted blood.”

In a flash, the changeling was gone, startling the princess, who quickly began scanning the area for his presence. She saw caught something moving in the corner of her eye and quickly shot lightning from her horn in that direction.

“Well that’s a neat trick,” Gemini said, sitting on top of a rock to Luna’s right. She quickly turned around to face him and erected a barrier to block the two incoming tomahawks. “Tell me, how d’you shoot lightning – real lightning – without a storm cloud?”

“… A trick I learned from an old friend. One whom I wish never to see again.”

“That so? I’ve had plenty of them. I usually try to avoid ‘em, but for the most part, they always come to me, seeking trouble. Lord Odysseus plans to create a world of peace. A world of unity.”

“A world of forced togetherness, using fear as a means to achieve a false sense of peace.”

“Call it what ya will, lass, but personally, if it means I no longer have ta kill someone ‘cause of their petty grudges against me, then I’m all for it. Tell me, have you ever had to visit the family of a fallen comrade and tell them that their loved one had died, and the only thing you could bring back was something they wouldn’t even get to hold on to?”

“… We have,” Luna said, lowering her barrier and firing multiple balls of energy at Gemini. The changeling jumped up into the air to avoid each one and then landed on the ground in front of Luna. “Such is the life of one who wishes to protect their country… Their loved ones. They risk their lives, knowing fully well that they may die any day. Their families know of this too, but even so, it is never easy to deliver such grim news to my subjects.”

“If there were no conflicts in the first place, there’d be no need for soldiers, and no need for you to take on such a heavy responsibility.”

“But that’s just a foalish fantasy. No matter how much we may want it, peace can never truly be obtained.” Luna closed her eyes, and used her magic to form an image of Equestria’s insignia: two alicorns, one white and one black, chasing each other around in a circle, with the sun above the moon in the centre.

“The thing about us mortals, Gemini, is that we are all different to each other. All unique. Not one living thing in this world, neigh, in this universe, is the same as any other living thing. We all have our own ideals. Our own beliefs, our own personalities, and our own minds. It is because of this that society can progress. We can work together. If we all thought the same way, we would simply stop at the first problem that arose. But together… together, there’s no problem that can’t be overcome.

“Unfortunately, because we all think differently, conflicts arise. It is the nature of all living things to defend their beliefs, sometimes even violently. Sometimes, ideals may contradict each other, or cause misunderstandings. And, sometimes, one form of life may be afraid of another, because they do not understand it.”

“Right, hence the changeling genocide all those years ago.”

“… Exactly. So you see, the only way to truly achieve peace and harmony, between all living things, is to make everyone think in the same way. But then, if we do that, then society will simply… stop.”

“Yin-yang, right? There are stories of how too much evil will rot the land, but too much good will also destroy it. You need to find the right balance, but even then, the scale will always tilt to one side.”

“That is an adequate way to put it.”

“That’s why you an’ your sister lock the Elements of Harmony away. Save ‘em only fer the most dire of circumstances.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “If you understand, then why do you still follow this foalish plan?”

“It’s as you said,” Gemini began, his tomahawks levitating up to either side of his head. “Everyone has different beliefs, and I believe that you’re wrong! I believe that, given enough time, false peace can become real!”

Gemini’s tomahawks thrust through the air, racing towards Luna.

Scorpio growled as he was once again on the run from Shark’s relentless pursuit. For the past two minutes, Shark had been moving at speeds unlike anything the poison expert had ever seen before.

It made no sense to him; Shark should have been getting slower, not faster. How was his opponent able to move at such speeds, when the poison should have been quickly spreading throughout his entire system, causing it to shut down?

“GAH!” Scorpio shouted as he felt a sharp string in his abdomen. He tasted iron in his mouth and spat the blood out onto the ground. “W-What?!”

“Burns, doesn’t it?!” Shark asked, grinning as he towered over his opponent. “Out of curiosity, those needles earlier… they were coated in that poison too, right?”

“O-Of course they were! What abo-” It suddenly hit Scorpio, and he let out a panicked gasp as he recalled how Shark had dealt with the two waves of needles thrown his way. He deflected them, with his claw. “D-Don’t tell me… the reason you’ve been getting faster rather than slower is-”

“That’s right. I’ve slowed down, alright, but so have you.” Shark cackled as he saw his opponent’s face turning pale. “That poison got on my claw, and you’ve been wearing it for quite a while now.”

“I-Idiot! Even if that’s the case, it was only a trace amount, and it was on the outside of the claw!”

“So what if it’s only a trace amount? As long as it makes contact with your open wounds, that’s all it takes, right?”

“What open wounds?”

“You didn’t notice? That claw’s a little big for you. When you were deflecting my attacks earlier, a good deal of them got to your hoof. I made sure the injuries were light enough that you wouldn’t notice them, while you were distracted by trying to follow me.” Shark laughed as he saw the look of fear on Scorpio’s face. “Also, I made sure that some of those needles got under my claw, too.”

“You… You planned this?”

“Well, this was one of my plans,” Shark said. “I told ya, I’ve had experience fighting poison users. And, in case you hadn’t heard, I’m the one who defeated Razor Tooth.”

Scorpio took a huge step back, only to be followed by Shark, who seemed to be towering over Scorpio as the latter’s legs started to shake. “Y-You defeated… General Razor Tooth?”

“That’s right. I know a thing or two about reading the flow of the battle, meaning that I can come up with many strategies on the spo-” Shark stopped suddenly, and his confident look of assured victory suddenly became a look of horror. He let out a loud scream and clutched his chest tightly. “D-Damnit! The poison’s… got this far already?!”

Shark quickly fell down onto the floor and started to flail as he screamed in agony. Scorpio simply watched in bewilderment for a while, until Shark’s movements stopped, and then, after a few stunned moments of silence, he let out a low, quiet laugh.

The laughter built up slowly, eventually filling the clearing with laughter that echoed through the air as he looked down on Shark’s body. “Too bad, Shark! You had me scared stiff for a moment there, but it seems you were just too sure of your own abilities! And now, I can go and chase down your two friends! Just as soon as I take the antidote…”

Scorpio reached into his cloak and pulled out a small green bottle with his magic. He started to unscrew the cap, when a sudden sharp pain in his chest caused him to stop. He stood still for a few seconds, simply staring at the bottle as he felt his body growing cold, and then lost his magical hold over the small green bottle.

Shark picked it up with his own magic and slowly rose to his hooves, his sure grin now back on his face. “I told you, I’m the one who defeated Razor Tooth. I can read ahead many steps into the battle, and I’m damn good at analysing my opponent, too.” Shark finished unscrewing the cap, and Scorpio could only watch in horror and Shark drank all of the liquid inside. “You’re the type who’s concerned about the safety of his comrades. That’s why you drew me all the way out here and told your partner not to interrupt your battle.

“Also, Alexander says that Odysseus isn’t the type to take risks. That’s why I figured it was a safe bet you’d be carrying some antidotes to your poison around with you. Even if not willingly, Odysseus would make you carry some around as a precaution. The trouble is, I have no clue what that antidote would look like. Hence, that little act just now.”

“P-Please…” Scorpio pleaded weakly, stretching out his hoof as far as he could. “T-The antid-dote… Please… give it to me…”

Shark threw the emptied bottle behind him and used his magic to remove his claw from Scorpio’s hoof. He ripped off a portion of Scorpio’s cloak and used the cloth to thoroughly wipe the claw down, making sure to remove the poison that was on it.

“Too bad. If you were fighting one of those ponies, you’d probably have been allowed to live.” Shark pulled his other claw out of Scorpio’s chest, and the poison master could only let out a gargled yelp as he slowly fell to the floor, blood pouring out from his wound and from his mouth at a fast rate. “But as for me… when I fight, it’s to the death.”

Shark turned away from Scorpio’s body and looked in the direction that would take him to the battlefield. However, before he could take off, he sensed something moving towards him. He turned around, but was not fast enough to deflect the incoming smoke bomb moving his way.

Shark quickly held his breath and backed away as soon as smoke started to fill the area, but he had already inhaled some of it before he could get clear. Once the smoke had cleared, he could see Scorpio’s body, laying stiff on the ground with one of his hooves outstretched.

“D-Damnit… The bastard… used the last of his strength to…” Before Shark could finish his thought, he fell down face-first onto the ground, his eyes growing heavy as he felt himself losing consciousness.

Luna yelped as one of Gemini’s tomahawks pierced her right foreleg, and then again when it was pulled out just as quickly as it was brought down in the first place, leaving a trail of blood in its path. Gemini swung again, but this time, Luna used her magic to shield herself, blocking the attack. She then spun around and delivered a powerful buck to the changeling’s abdomen.

The changeling flew backwards a bit but managed to right himself in the air. He took flight and was soon followed by Luna, who was charging magic into her horn.

“Lass, I gotta say,” Gemini started, panting as he spoke, “You are one tough mare. If ya don’t stop, I might really fall for ya.”

“We are flattered,” Luna said, firing her spell at the changeling, who used one of his tomahawks to shield himself against the attack, “But We have previously wed a changeling in our past. If you wish to woo me, you would have to one-up him, and believe me when I tell you that he was quite the charmer.”

“Eh? Really?” Gemini asked as quickly performed a barrel roll to his left to avoid Luna’s next attack. “Never heard of a pony marrying a changeling before. Except, y’know, those changelings that took ponies’ places.”

“The act of a changeling taking the place of a pony without their permission was strictly illegal. We were disgusted to hear how many of your ancestors violated that taboo.”

“Well, can’t really blame most of them,” Gemini said with a shrug. “For the most part, ponies refused to give their love to the changelings. They had to do something. Granted, some of ‘em took it a bit far…” Gemini’s face suddenly became grim. “But then, at least they didn’t commit genocide.”

Luna gritted her teeth and prepared another spell. “True. Both ponies and changelings have committed terrible crimes. We can see that, yet we still fight. ‘Tis foolishness, don’t you think? The only way to resolve these matters, is at a table-”

“You tried that, Princess Luna,” Gemini said in a tone far harsher than Luna was expecting from the ridiculous changeling. “You even married a changeling yourself, as a show of unity between our two races. And just look at how it all ended.”

“… Allow me to make one thing perfectly clear,” Luna responded, glaring daggers at Gemini. “I did not marry Starswirl the Bearded as a political affair. I loved him, with all of my heart.” Luan fired her spell directly at the changeling, who once again blocked it with his tomahawk… Only this time, he couldn’t keep the spell at bay with just one. He quickly used his other tomahawk for support, but was still pushed slightly backwards by Luna’s attack before he could push it away.

“Starswirl the Bearded… You married that guy? And yet, you’re still okay with what Celestia did to his legacy?!”

“You mean writing him down in history as a pony, and even giving him a false life story?”

“She completely rewrote everything about him, from his birth to his death! She covered his six hundred and seventy or whatever years of life with a whole family tree that never existed! All because, despite the fact that she ordered the changelings dead, she still wanted to keep the knowledge that he gave your country! Knowledge he shared because he believed a unity with you was possible!”

“That’s why our sister did it,” Luna said, focusing more magic into her attack. “Starswirl honestly believed, as much as we did, that peace between ponies and changelings could be achieved. He shared that knowledge with us, because he wanted us to use it. To unite our two races! He wanted us to use his spells for good! To bring peace and prosperity to our land!

“Destroying those note, along with his lineage, is something that even my sister could not do! It would be spitting in the face of all that he sacrificed to help us create our peaceful country!”

“You’re the same as her!” Gemini shouted, using his magic to push Luna back against a tree. “In the end, no matter how much you say you want peace, when it comes down to it, you’d sooner forsake us all, in order to save your precious little ponies!”

Luna’s eyes started to glow white, and then her body began to glow with the same dark-blue aura as her magic. “That is correct,” she said, surprising Gemini. “That is because I am a pony. I was born a pony, and I shall always be a pony. And as such, I will do whatever it takes, make any sacrifices, and carry whatever burdens… to protect my little ponies!”

Luna’s aura exploded from her body, blasting towards Gemini who let out a loud cry as he tried to hold it back. However, it didn’t take long before his tomahawks shattered to pieces under the pressure and he received the full force of the magical attack.

An intense dark-blue light filled the area, and only began to die down a few minutes later. Luna descended slowly towards the ground, carrying the unmoving body of the changeling general on her back. As soon as she made a clear landing, she lowered the changeling to the ground and examined him with her magic.

“You shall live,” she said to the still-breathing changeling, before looking down to the severed forelegs sitting below his shoulders. The sealed wounds sizzled as the last of Luna’s magic around the changeling’s body dissipated. “You shall live, but your days of fighting are over.” She cast one final spell, summoning large roots from the ground that wrapped around the changeling’s body. “We shall come back for you. Until then, you are to remain here.”

And with that, Luna turned around and began galloping as fast as she could into the forest.

Luna finally found the clearing where Shark and Scorpio had taken their battle after searching for just a few minutes. Although she could no longer feel Shark’s presence, she had detected a familiar scent in the air that led her to them. After landing, Luna quickly trotted over to Shark’s body. She scanned him with her magic and let out a relieved sigh. “As I thought, you have indeed been poisoned… but luckily, the poison is a weak one, and can easily be removed from your system.”

She cast a spell to summon roots from the ground, holding Shark down firmly as she lowered her horn towards him. “Now, this will hurt. A lot. But it will remove the poison from your body.”

Luna’s horn lit up, and a few seconds later, Shark began to let out a series of murmurs. The murmurs grew to groans, and then to screams as he tried to flail about, ultimately failing to move at all under the large roots that pinned him to the ground.

“Just a little longer. We shall not allow you to die.” After a few more minutes of Shark screaming and ordering her to stop, using a few words that she had recalled were outlawed one thousand years ago, she finally pulled her horn away and released her magic. Shark slowly settled down and went back to sleeping peacefully as Luna released the roots that held him down.

She cast a quick barrier around him and then took off once more into the forest, galloping as fast as her legs would allow her to. ‘That barrier will protect him for now. We must hurry now and reach the battlefield, with all haste!’

Odysseus had to repress his excitement as he watched the battle unfold. The battle between two of the world’s most powerful fighters: Princess Celestia of Equestria, and Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Kingdom.

It was clear who was in the lead. At least, for a while, it was. But when Chrysalis suddenly used that forbidden spell of hers, he actually considered that she may win.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said, not taking her eyes off of the battle, “Shouldn’t we like, y’know, go out and there and help her?”

“We shall wait for now,” Odysseus told her. “We are here as a last resort. If it appears that our sister is about to be defeated, then we shall jump in. But if we rush in too early, then we risk the chance of getting caught up in their battle. And trust us when We say that you’ll need more than the Elements of Harmony to survive our sister’s magic.”

‘That, and Celestia still isn’t weak enough yet. I want to see how much Mother can injure her. If I can kill both the Elements and Celestia in this fight, then the war will be over before I can even start it.’

“I-I’m just g-glad we’re f-f-far away from the b-battlefield,” Fluttershy said, trembling as she lay down on the ground behind the other ponies, her head held in her hooves. Rarity was sitting beside her, stroking her friend’s mane to try to calm her down.

“What do y’all reckon they’re sayin’?” Applejack asked after the two rulers had lowered to the ground and simply stood face-to-face for a while. Their mouths were moving, but the group was too far away for them to hear anything.

“We shall use a scrying spell to listen in on them,” Odysseus said, his horn lighting up as he closed his eyes.

“Chrysalis, what are you talking about? I haven’t ordered the deaths of any changelings since that decree was signed all of those years ago! And as for Odysseus, he’s not dead!”

‘Not good!’ Odysseus thought as he suddenly shot up.

“Sister is losing power. She’s desperately trying to bluff her way out of this, but the changeling queen isn’t buying it.”

“You serious?!” Rainbow Dash asked, suddenly jumping up into the air.

“Quite,” Odysseus answered. “We must move in and use the Elements of Harmony. Now!”

The six mares all nodded, though Fluttershy more reluctantly than the others.

“Follow our lead. And quietly. We can’t alert her to our presence until we’re in position…”

The six mares followed Odysseus closer to where the two rulers were stood facing each other. Once they were in position, they aligned themselves in a similar manner to when they had defeated Discord.

“Do you honestly think that such a pathetic lie would work on-”

“NOW!” Odysseus shouted. The two rulers turned to face them and stared with their mouths agape as they witnessed the six Spirits of Harmony, each adorned with their respective Element, floating up into the air. “Elements of Harmony: take aim, and fire!”

A mere second after Odysseus gave the order, a bright rainbow shot forth from the six gathered mares and reached high into the air.

Celestia and Chrysalis could only watch in shock as the beautiful yet fearsome force suddenly curved down, making its way quickly towards the changeling queen.

Chrysalis was powerless to stop it, and fear had completely halted her movement. There was no out, it seemed…

“MOTHER!”

The rainbow collided with a changeling, but not the one that it was meant to. Chrysalis watched in horror as a male changeling resembling her late son floated in the air before her, crying out in agony as the rainbow drove itself into him. The base of the changeling’s hooves began to turn to stone, and it quickly worked its way up his body, reaching his thighs, his abdomen, his neck, and finally, it began to cover his head.

As the rainbow disappeared and six mares lowered gently to the ground, none of them were quite sure as to what had just happened. The now-petrified changeling in front of Chrysalis fell down onto the ground, creating a loud thud that resounded through the air as it did so.

Chrysalis examined the face of the petrified changeling, which was frozen in what appeared to be a look of pain and fear. She could even see tears running down his face that had also been turned to stone.

“My son…” she whispered, her breathing increasing as she felt her emotions rising up once again. “Alexander… No…”

Odysseus was taken aback by the sudden intrusion, but quickly recovered from it. “Elements of Harmony, once more!” Before he could finish the order, he sensed movement to his right and quickly turned around to find a changeling charging towards him, wielding a sabre in her magic. “G-General Mystic?!”

“PRINCESS LUNA!” Rarity shouted as she watched the changeling slashing repeatedly at the Princess of the Night, forcing her to move backwards.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash shouted, but was stopped by a sudden wall of green flames. The changeling stopped her attacks and stood perfectly still as she glared at ‘Luna’. Rainbow Dash attempted to soar higher but was stopped by something pulling on her left hind leg. She turned around to find three Royal Guard ponies pulling a chain.

“Sister!” Odysseus shouted, turning to face Celestia. “We have come to assist yo-”

“Knock it off!” a voice called out. Before anyone could make any attempt to locate the source of the voice, a blade was pressed against Odysseus’ throat. Another changeling had suddenly appeared on the battlefield, and this one was now holding Odysseus down, pressing her longsword against his neck. “Not one move. Otherwise, you’ll lose your head.”

Odysseus shook on the spot and gritted his teeth in anger as he tried to make sense of the situation. Of all the things, all of the ridiculous scenarios that could have bewildered him… this one just made no sense at all!

“Victoria…”

Around them, everyone watched in shock as more changelings began to fill the area, each one focusing on the captured ‘Princess Luna’ and her captor.

Among them, one stood out to Odysseus. “And Elizabeth is here, too?”

“That’s right,” Elizabeth said, using her magic to draw out her spear. “Prince Odysseus, you are under arrest for high treason!”

Chapter 18

Sweat ran down Odysseus’ brow as he surveyed his surroundings, trying to make sense of the situation despite how impossible it all seemed to be. He looked over at the Element bearers, who were staring back afraid and confused. All except for Twilight, whose face was blank whilst she awaited orders from Odysseus.

Odysseus then looked over at Celestia, who was approaching Elizabeth cautiously as the changelings around stepped aside for the Equestrian princess.

Chrysalis was kneeling down on the ground, holding the stone figure of Alexander close to her chest and staring at the scene in shock. He had never seen his mother so vulnerable.

“Princess!” The Royal Guard ponies that were pulling Rainbow Dash back released the chain that they were holding and rushed over to their princess, saluting as they neared.

“Princess!” A small group of Royal Guard ponies rushed onto the scene from the direction of the battlefield, stopping for a moment when they found Luna being held hostage by a changeling. “Damn you! Release the princess at once!” one of the guards threatened, pointing his spear forward with his comrades.

The changelings before them retaliated by quickly forming a blockade between the guardsponies and Victoria and pointing their own spears forward.

“Do not be fooled!” Mystic shouted, rushing over to the small group of Equestrian soldiers. “That is not your princess! It is a changeling in disguise!”

“That’s impossible!” one of the guards protested, pointing to the goggles that he was wearing. “These goggles are supposed to allow us to see through a changeling’s disguise!”

“And who was it that gave you those goggles?” The guards remained silent. Mystic turned around to face Queen Chrysalis. “… For now, just stay back and let us handle this.” Mystic rushed over to her queen and bowed as soon as she was by her side. “My queen, I have returned to your side.”

“General Mystic?” Chrysalis asked in a whisper. “What is going on? Why is Alexander…”

“Allow me to explain, Mother!” Victoria shouted, gathering magic into her horn and firing it at Odysseus’s horn. Rainbow Dash growled and ordered her to stop, until she, along with everyone else present, saw the disguise fading away, revealing Prince Odysseus in his true form.

“Odysseus?” Chrysalis asked in disbelief. “W-What is this? I demand that you explain what is going on, right now!” she shouted as she rose to her hooves, still carrying the petrified Alexander in her forelegs. A few tears rolled down her face, but she kept her expression fierce as she addressed her children.

“As it turns out, Mother,” Elizabeth started, turning to face Chrysalis with a saddened look on her face, “Odysseus had plotted to have you die, here on the battlefield, so that he could win favour in our kingdom by ‘avenging’ you.

“Not only that, but he sought to throw our kingdom into chaos later so that he could turn it into a dictatorship with the support of his subjects.” Elizabeth lowered her head and closed her eyes. “He betrayed us all, and what’s more, he killed our Aura to start this whole war in the first place.”

Chrysalis took in everything that Elizabeth told her with a calm expression, but inside, her mind was tearing itself apart. Her hold on Alexander’s petrified body tightened, and her gaze on Odysseus grew colder with every word that she was hearing.

“Is this true, Odysseus?” she asked, turning her attention to her son.

“Of course it isn’t, Mother,” Odysseus said, his voice shaking and cracking as he stared back at her with shaking eyes and unsteady breathing. “T-This is all a misunderstanding, or a setup! In the first place, they have no evidence-”

“We have all the evidence that we need,” Victoria said, interrupting Odysseus’ defence. One of the changelings around them walked towards the queen and presented a single piece of paper. “That paper, although it appears blank, has a strange magical property to it. I doubt that anyone besides Mother or myself could see it for what it truly is…”

“What is it?” Chrysalis asked, grabbing the paper in her magic and looking at it closely.

“It’s something Odysseus created in the research laboratory that you entrusted him to. We ransacked that lab and found a whole number of interesting things there that he never presented to you… most of which was the product of illegal research. All of the scientists working there have also been arrested for taking part in this research and many have confessed that you were the one who ordered every single research product there to be developed.”

“But what does this paper do?!” Chrysalis asked, this time her voice taking on a threatening tone as she glared at her son and daughter.

“It is used for forging your royal signature, Mother.”

“Impossible! The royal signature is created using magic, and magic is as unique to each individual as their hoofprints! It’s not something that one can reproduce!”

“Nonetheless, he found a way. I made sure to test it, many times, and compared the product to your signature from past documents. They matched completely.”

“That’s how you ordered Aura’s death, isn’t it?” Elizabeth asked with a furious look. “Once we had this paper figured out, we had sufficient evidence to warrant searching your room. That’s when we found your hidden study, filled with all the evidence that we needed to prove your guilt. We then formed an army and came after you.”

“It’s over, Odysseus!” Victoria added. “We found your hidden battle plans and have already arrested most of the troops that you assigned to guard the battlefield! Those on the run will be caught and tried for their crimes! As will you…”

Odysseus looked around once more, stealing a glance off of everyone in the vicinity. His mother appeared to be strong, but he could tell that her mind was a storm of chaos inside. Princess Celestia simply stared down with a hardened frown at the captured changeling. The surrounding changeling troops were all standing ready to strike, and the Element bearers were fuming, save for the depressed Fluttershy and the vacant Twilight Sparkle.

‘Mother’s distracted, so I still have a chance,’ Odysseus thought as she turned his attention to Twilight, looking directly into her eyes. “Tell me, Sister… how did you find the time to analyse that paper? I’ve had you under constant watch since we began working together on the battle strategy, and there’s no way you could have done all that you claimed to do, and put this army together, in just one day.”

“… Alexander dropped that paper off to me while I was in my room, the night before we began working together.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. But like I said, I’ve had you under constant watch since the following morning, so how did you-”

“Back then, I wasn’t the only one in my room,” Victoria interrupted, looking over to her sister, Elizabeth. “Although she always puts up a strong front, Elizabeth was in deep pain when Aura was killed. Ever since she was a youngling, I was always the one she came to whenever she was hurt or upset.”

“She was in your room that night?” Odysseus asked.

“She was. You never saw Elizabeth on her own as a threat, because she never takes the initiative to do anything on her own. She prefers to follow me and only acts on my or Mother’s orders.”

“That’s right,” Odysseus confirmed. “That’s why I never assigned any of my troops to watch over her. It seemed to be a waste of effort. What, are you saying that you asked her to analyse that paper? Even if you did, there’s no way she could have-”

“You would know a lot more about us, if you actually took the time to get to know us,” Elizabeth said, walking closer to Alexander. “… For example, I bet you never knew that Victoria and I, when we were both younglings, looked so much like each other that many changelings mistook us for twins.”

Odysseus gave her a confused look and titled his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that, even with our disguise abilities repressed inside the kingdom’s barrier, we were still able to masquerade as each other with just a bit of makeup and a little wardrobe change.” Elizabeth grinned and looked over her shoulder at her mother. “We used to drive Mother crazy, constantly acting like each other to get out of our royal duties. If she had a hard time telling us apart, I imagine the rest of the kingdom would have no chance at all.”

Odysseus gasped and looked up at Victoria with a disbelieving look on his face. “You two… You swapped places?!”

“We did,” Victoria confirmed with a proud grin. “All that time you thought you had me under surveillance, it was actually our dear sister Elizabeth. That, of course, left me plenty of freedom to do all the investigating that I wanted.”

“But… But how?! Even if your looks were the same, your personalities are just…”

“You’re not the only one who’s been developing new toys, Odysseus.” Victoria used her magic to levitate a small, black piece of plastic from her ear and held it in front of Odysseus’ face. “With you and Alexander winning favour with that ‘matchlock rifle’ thing, I had to come up with something of my own to get back in the race.”

“So what is it?” Odysseus asked, curiosity overriding the fear that had previously been filling his body.

“Hasn’t got a name yet. I was going to reveal it to Mother next month. It’s essentially a miniature radio communications device.”

“That thing?” Odysseus asked incredulously. “That is a radio? That tiny, little thing?”

“Well, it’s not quite as powerful as a proper radio,” Victoria admitted. “It can only communicate with one frequency, and its range isn’t anywhere near as far as actual radio devices. Still, using this, I was able to maintain constant communication with Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth pulled out her own earpiece, and also pulled out another small piece of plastic attached to her armour. “It’s amazing, don’t you think? With these microphones, she could hear whatever went on around me and then relay orders to me.”

“If you weren’t so overconfident, you may have noticed ‘Victoria’ acting a little odd,” Victoria said, placing her earpiece back into her ear. “Her reactions were slower, and she was, for the most part, ordered to remain silent. But you were so certain that you had me trapped that you paid it no mind. And now, it’s cost you dearly.”

For a few moments, Odysseus remained completely silent. Then, he let out a soft chuckle and lowered his head, resting it against the ground. He continued to laugh quietly to himself for a while, before lifting his head back up again and looking over at Elizabeth with a defeated look on his face.

“… Yes. You’ve won,” he said, earning a confused look from his sister. “I must admit, you’ve outdone me. And I have nothing up my sleeves to get me out of this situation. There’s no way I can possibly win. Not-” Odysseus cast a quick glance over at Twilight. “-NOW!”

Twilight quickly cast a teleportation spell to reach Odysseus, startling everyone in the area, and then jumped up and grabbed Victoria’s blade in her mouth. Odysseus used the distraction to worm his way out of Victoria’s hold and quickly made a break for the forest to his right.

“After him!” Elizabeth ordered, leading her troops after the fleeing changeling. However, they were stopped by the sudden appearance of the purple unicorn, who fired several blasts of purple energy at the pursuing troops. “Damnit!”

“I’ve got this!” Victoria shouted, charging towards Twilight with her sword raised. She swung it down at the unicorn, cutting her side and knocking her down onto her back. “Go, now!”

“Why you!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she immediately soared through the air towards Victoria, a furious look on her face. She saw a puddle of red forming beneath Twilight and her speed increased with her rage.

“STOP!”

A bright flash of white stopped both Rainbow Dash’s advance, and Victoria’s prepared counterattack. Princess Celestia appeared in-between the two of them, keeping Rainbow Dash at bay and casting a quick glare to Victoria. “You should hurry up and go after him. But I warn you: hurt one more of my subjects, and I will not take kindly to it.”

“… Alright troops,” Victoria said as she faced her small army. “Odysseus is hiding somewhere in the forest! Find and arrest him, but if he resists, you have permission to kill him!”

“Yes, sir!” the changeling soldiers shouted, before following their princess into the forest.

Elizabeth stayed behind and approached Twilight’s body alongside Celestia. “Sorry about that,” she said, leaning down to examine the wound. “But it seems that Sister made sure the cut was shallow, so we can save her if we treat her fast enough.” Elizabeth’s horn began to glow green, but stopped when Celestia’s hoof came into view.

“Thank you, but I think I can handle this myself,” Celestia said, smiling as her own horn lit up.

“But-”

“Besides, I think your mother could use you right now.” Elizabeth gasped and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, her mother was back on the ground, staring blankly into space as her mouth moved up-and-down, her forehooves wrapped tightly around Alexander.

“Can our brother be saved?” Elizabeth asked.

“… I think your mother could use you right now,” Celestia repeated, not taking her eyes off of Twilight as she tended to the unicorn’s wound.

That was all that Elizabeth needed to deduce the answer on her own. Slowly, she rose to her hooves and made her way over to Chrysalis, remaining silent as moved close enough to wrap her hooves around her mother.

Odysseus ran through the forest as fast as his legs would allow him, not stopping for any reason, despite how much his lungs felt like they were on fire and how much it felt like his legs would fall off.

‘How could this have happened?!’ he asked himself. ‘I planned so carefully! I ran through the scenarios so many times in my head! It wasn’t supposed to end like this! They weren’t supposed to trap me! I can’t believe I overlooked such vital information! I need to get out of here. I need to find somewhere to lay low. Those goggles won’t work on me, so I can still hide out in Equestri-’

Odysseus’ thoughts were interrupted when he entered a small clearing in the forest and caught sight of something blue moving his way. He stopped and snapped his attention to his left, to find two figures breathing heavily a short distance away from him, both staring at him with shocked looks on their faces.

“O-Odysseus!” the small youngling shouted, quickly taking a step back.

The blue unicorn to the youngling’s left quickly lowered her head and pointed her horn at the changeling prince, a purple glow surrounding the magical appendage.

Odysseus, however, simply grinned and let out a chuckle at the sight of his younger sister. “… Aura… It seems you can still be useful to me, after all.”

Chapter 19

Trixie and Aura stopped in their tracks as they entered the small clearing and came face-to-face with Odysseus. After the hit their party had taken, added to the fact that Trixie’s energy was taking longer to recover than she had hoped, the two had decided to head straight to the battlefield, instead of attempting to cut Odysseus off entirely.

Neither of them were expecting Odysseus to find them, though. Trixie pointed her horn towards Odysseus and prepared a spell.

“… Aura… It seems you can still be useful to me, after all.”

Trixie quickly fired a spell towards Odysseus as he charged towards them, forming several large fireballs around him that forced him to a stop. With a flick of her horn, the fireballs quickly closed in on Odysseus, but he managed to avoid them by taking flight swiftly.

“Aura, stay behind me!” Trixie ordered, using her magic to summon several icicles around herself before firing them at Odysseus.

“That’s Chill’s attack, isn’t it?” Odysseus asked as he used his own magic to fire a trail of green flames towards Trixie. “Although it seems that the best you can do is an illusion of it.”

Trixie quickly dispelled her illusion, causing the icicles to vanish, and erected a quick barrier to block Odysseus’ attack. ‘He could see through it? If his mind is as sharp as Alexander said it is, I could be in trouble!’

Aura fired a beam of green magic at the barrier, strengthening it just as Odysseus’ attack made contact. She let out a loud cry and held her head in her hooves as she tried desperately to keep her magic going.

“Aura, stop! You’re going to tire yourself out!”

“But you’re still weakened, and my brother’s trained in the art of combative magic!” Aura shouted, her eyes clenched shut as she focused even more magic into the barrier. “Besides, we’re in this together! I won’t just stand back and let you defend me! I can at least do this much!”

“Stubborn little brat!” Trixie responded. She remembered herself when she was Aura’s age and furrowed her brow. ‘Yeah, I was like that too. And look where it got me.’ “Fine, do what you want! But remember, the finale is saved for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Go for it!” Aura shouted as Odysseus’ attack faded, allowing her a moment to release her magic and rest. “I’ll try to distract him by firing with my pistol.”

“My pistol,” Trixie corrected, erasing her barrier and firing a beam of purple energy up at Odysseus. Her target swiftly dodged her attack and landed gracefully on the ground not too far from her. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, each one monitoring the other’s movements closely.

“Did you think,” Odysseus started when he saw Trixie’s horn light up, “That I would fall for that?” Odysseus quickly jumped into the air and fired a blast of magic directly down into the ground, causing a tremor beneath him that knocked Trixie and Aura down onto their flanks. As they fell, the air began to shimmer in various locations, and the shapes of five Royal Guard ponies appeared, each one looking up at Odysseus as they tried to keep their balance.

“He broke Miss Lulamoon’s illusion!” one of them shouted, aiming his spear up and preparing to throw it at the changeling.

Odysseus simply smirked and fired a magical attack at the pony, knocking him down onto his back and rendering him unconscious. As he landed on the now-calm ground, the remaining four guards encircled and attempted to capture Odysseus. They all charged forwards as one unit, raising their spears into the air and preparing to bring them down onto their target.

“Burn,” he said as his horn sparked to life, and a moment later, a wall of green flames surrounded him. Each of the four guards stopped their assault and screamed in agony as the flames devoured them, unable to flee due to some mysterious force.

“I have not given you permission to leave,” Odysseus said with a grin on his face, laughing as he watched one of the guards collapse amidst the flames. Another guard followed, and then the other two. With all four taken care of, Odysseus extinguished his flames and turned his attention back to Trixie, who was charging towards him with a furious look in her eyes.

“Aura, now!” she shouted as she jumped into the air and attempted to deliver a kick to Odysseus’ head.

Odysseus turned around to see his sister pointing a pistol towards his head. She pulled the trigger, and Odysseus simply turned his attention back to Trixie and grabbed her with his magic, allowing the bullet from Aura’s pistol to pass by in front of his face. “Too bad. Aura doesn’t have it in her to kill anyone. Not even a murderer like me. And as for you…”

He threw Trixie aside and quickly ducked to avoid an incoming kick from his right. Another Trixie missed her target and let out a loud yelp as Odysseus rose up and pierced her stomach with his horn.

“Your illusions won’t fool me, pony.” He gasped when he sensed something approaching him from behind, and turned around to see yet another Trixie, this one holding Aura’s pistol in her magic and aiming it at Odysseus’ back.

“You sure?” she asked with a confident grin on her face before firing the pistol at the changeling prince.

Odysseus quickly pulled his horn out of Trixie’s stomach and turned around to erect a barrier between himself and the incoming bullet… “WHAT?!” he shouted when he felt two forelegs wrap around his chest, holding him in place. He looked over his shoulder to see the second Trixie smirking down at him, and when the bullet from the third Trixie passed right through him, he realised what was going on.

“Ah-ah-ah!” Trixie said as she lowered her horn to Odysseus’, zapping it with her magic. He let out a cry of pain, and the magic that he had started building up disappeared. “No magic, Odysseus! Just stay still while Aura takes aim.”

Odysseus looked over to where the third Trixie was and saw her evaporate into mist. In her place, his sister was just finishing up reloading her pistol. She raised it into the air when it was ready and pointed it at her brother. “This is an enchanted bullet that will put you to sleep,” she said, steadying her aim at her brother’s stomach. “Keep him still, Miss Trixie.”

“You put your own life in harm’s way, pretending to be an illusion, just to throw me off-guard?!” Odysseus asked, struggling as he tried to free himself from Trixie’s hold.

“No biggie,” Trixie said with a voice full of pride. “It’s just one of the many amazing things that the Great and Powerful Trixie is capable of.”

“You don’t say…” Odysseus continued to struggle, but it was useless. Trixie’s hold over him was too much, and it was only a matter of time until…

BANG!

Aura’s eyes widened, and the pistol in her magical aura began to shake as she did. Eventually, the aura dissipated, causing the pistol to drop down onto the ground. Aura fell down not long afterwards as she coughed up a few droplets of blood.

“AURA!” Trixie screamed as she saw the youngling collapse. She used her magic to throw Odysseus to the side before rushing over to her. “AURA! What happened?! Speak to me!” She saw a wound on the right side of Aura’s body, with blood quickly pouring out of it. “Oh no you don’t!” Trixie shouted as she quickly fired her magic at the wound, creating a small fire to temporarily close it up. Aura screamed as the wound was slowly sealed shut, only quieting down after it was over.

“You needn’t worry about her,” Odysseus said as he approached Trixie with another changeling at his side, who was carrying what appeared to be an elongated pistol in his magic. “You’ll be joining her soon enough.”

The changeling raised his weapon up and pointed it at Trixie, who glared back at the changeling and growled as her horn lit up. “Our troops are slowing down the pursuing forces, but they can’t keep it up for long,” the changeling told Odysseus. “You’d best get out of here, my lord.”

“Thank you for your help,” Odysseus said, turning around and walking away from the clearing. “Don’t forget, the matchlock rifle needs to be reloaded.”

The changeling lowered his weapon and examined it. “Darn, I forgot about that.” He tossed the weapon to the side and pulled out a small knife from a holster on his left foreleg. “Oh well, this’ll just have ta do.”

As the changeling charged forwards, Trixie used her magic to try to subdue him. However, in the state that she was in, and with her emotions running high, Trixie couldn’t find the proper focus to read her opponent’s moves, and the effectiveness of her spells also suffered, too.

“Damn… I have to protect Aura,” Trixie muttered to herself as she tried to think of what to do next. Aura was still conscious, so Trixie’s illusions would affect her, too. The same went for any powerful spells that Trixie could think of to use against her opponent. ‘I’ve gotta lure him away!’

Trixie immediately began running to her left and looked back over her shoulder to make sure that she was being followed. To her shock, she was not. The changeling had instead opted to go after the weakened changeling princess on the ground, forcing Trixie to stop and use her magic to teleport back, intercepting the changeling before he could reach Aura.

The changeling jumped back with a start upon Trixie’s sudden teleportation, but quickly recovered and raised a forehoof to block the unicorn’s incoming kick. He countered by swinging his knife towards Trixie, which she was just able to dodge.

“Gotcha!” the changeling shouted as he released his knife, allowing it to drop to the ground and confusing Trixie. The changeling then jumped back and before Trixie could make any sense of the situation, a quick flick of the changeling’s horn triggered the small explosive on the knife’s blade.

Trixie screamed as she felt herself being propelled backwards by the force of the explosion and fell face-first onto the ground in front of her. She felt dizzy as she tried to rise to her hooves, and her vision was blurry for a time, preventing her from seeing the knife heading her way until it was just about to hit her. She tried to dodge it by jumping to her right, but the thrown weapon was already too close and pierced the side of her chest as she moved.

Trixie let out a few choking sounds as she struggled to turn to face her opponent, and soon found herself unable to continue standing any longer. She felt her body becoming cold and fell down to her knees as she stretched a hoof out towards the changeling moving towards Aura.

“Trixie…” Aura whispered as she watched from her position on the floor, her body trembling as she tried to get up. Her wound opened up again as a result and she let out a loud, pained cry. Tears fell down her face as the changeling assassin approached her, and she could only look up in horror as he brandished another knife and grinned as he looked down on the youngling at his hooves.

“Aura!” Trixie shouted, slowly and painfully rising to her hooves. “AH!” Trixie fell down to her knees again, biting her tongue along the way.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the changeling warned, looking over at Trixie. “I missed your one of your vital organs by the slightest bit, but your wound is still pretty deep. There’s no way you’ll survive now. You might as well just spare yourself the pain.”

“Damnit!” Trixie slammed a hoof on the ground, her mind ordering her body to get up. She felt her chest burning up from the knife still penetrating her and the rest of her body growing colder with each passing second. “I have to do something! I have to protect Aura! If I don’t, she’ll…”

“She’ll what? Die?”

Trixie gasped as she felt a familiar feeling pass through her body. “No…” she whispered, her body trembling as she felt energy flowing into her horn.

“You want to protect that youngling? You have the power to, you know?”

Trixie shook her head and bit her lower lip as she saw the world around her becoming darker. She tried to fight the familiar energy trying to force its way into her horn, clenching her eyes shut as the pain in her body grew more intense.

“You keep fighting me, despite always trying to become more powerful. Such a contradiction. Why is that? Are you afraid of me?

“Of course I am,” Trixie said. “You made me k-kill that pony. You t-tried to take over my mind. I’ll… I’ll never let you into my mind, ever again!”

“… Never let me in? But Trixie, I’m already in. And, if you want to save Aura, then I’m the only one who can do it. I’m the only one… who has the power to save that youngling.”

“… Who are you?”

“My birth name is Trixie Lulamoon, but you may call me whatever you wish.”

Trixie felt the knife in her chest shaking as it was enveloped in a black aura and groaned. “T-That name… It can’t be…”

“Make up your mind, fast. Otherwise, you’ll lose that which you’re trying to protect.”

An image flashed in Trixie’s mind. An image of Aura, lying on the ground before her, covered in blood. Her body was completely still, and standing above her was the changeling assassin, laughing over her corpse.

Trixie’s shaking stopped, and she used her magic as a crutch to force herself up to her hooves. “Don’t touch her!” she shouted, gaining the changeling’s attention. She pulled the knife out from her chest and then proceeded to seal the wound with her magic. A black aura surrounded the wound, startling her enemy.

“Whoa! Now that’s certainly an interesting trick!” the changeling said as he threw his knife towards the blue mare. Trixie didn’t move, but instead used her magic to catch the knife before it could reach her. Before the assassin could react, the weapon was thrown back towards him and struck his left forehoof, causing him to jump backwards with a yelp.

“Aura! Hang on! I’ll be there soon!” Trixie shouted as the black aura enveloped her whole body, removing the various cuts, scratches, and burn marks covering it. The aura around her horn turned purple for a second as she teleported next to her opponent. The aura changed back to black and concentrated around her right forehoof. “Take this!”

The changeling was suddenly shot into the air as Trixie delivered a powerful uppercut with her enhanced forehoof. When he crashed back down to the ground, he only let out a few moans before he lost consciousness.

With her opponent defeated, Trixie quickly ran to Aura, who was staring at Trixie in awe. “T-Trixie…”

“Don’t talk,” Trixie said, lowering her horn towards the youngling. “I’ve got this. You’re going to be okay.” Trixie’s black aura covered Aura’s wound and she let out a loud, tortured scream as she felt it healing. “It will sting for a bit, but just bear with it.”

Aura continued to cry out in pain and would have been thrashing about, had Trixie’s magic not been holding her down. After what seemed to be an eternity to the youngling, the wound was completely gone, and Trixie had pulled her head back to examine the rest of Aura’s body.

“Okay, just stay here and rest,” Trixie ordered, getting up and facing deeper into the forest. “I’m going to go capture Odysseus.” ‘And kill him.’

“T-Trixie?” Aura asked, stretching out her foreleg to grab Trixie’s cape. Trixie looked down at her, but the look she gave was not what the youngling was expecting. Instead of the calm, serious face that Aura was expecting to see, she instead saw cold, merciless eyes, completely devoid of any feelings or emotions. Aura wanted to ask Trixie not to go, but she was frozen into silence simply by looking into Trixie’s eyes.

“… Don’t worry,” Trixie said, though it did little to calm Aura down when she looked like a predator about to chase down its prey. “I will take care of Odysseus, and then come straight back to you.”

Unable to form any response, Aura simply watched as Trixie ran past her and listened as the sounds of her hoofsteps faded away into the distance behind her. Aura unfroze and fell onto her side, releasing a breath that she hadn’t even realised she was holding.

Odysseus stopped to catch his breath after running some distance through the forest. “I… seem to have… gained some distance…” he said in-between pants, looking back over the path he had just run down. “Just a little farther… and then I’ll transform…”

“I’ve found you.” Odysseus’ eyes widened and he quickly took a defensive stance as he looked for the source of the voice. “I won’t let you get away from me this time.”

“How did you catch up to me?!” Odysseus asked as he saw the familiar blue unicorn approaching. “Even if you defeated my soldier, you shouldn’t have been able to-”

“You didn’t run very far,” Trixie said, stopping a short distance away from Odysseus. “You must have already been pretty injured, since this was all the ground that you could cover.”

“…” ‘Actually, I’m just tired from escaping from my sister earlier, but that’s not the point. Even with that, I’m still sure I covered enough ground to escape this mare.’

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Trixie said, her eyes glowing black for a second. “I’m going to make sure you never harm Aura again.”

“You are, are you?” Odysseus asked, smirking at the showmare. “And how do you intend to do that? For that matter, why does it even matter to you? You’ve known her for, what, a few days? Why go so far to keep her safe?”

“… I don’t need to give a reason for my actions to the likes of you,” Trixie said. Her hooves became coated by a black aura and she began walking towards Odysseus. “I simply won’t let any harm befall her. That is all.”

Odysseus’ horn flared as he stood his ground firmly, picking up a nearby boulder with his magic and throwing it at Trixie. The blue showmare simply continued walking towards Odysseus, paying the giant rock no heed as it made contact. Odysseus readied himself to get moving again, but was halted by a flash of black light shattering the boulder into pieces.

“This magic… Are you a Nightmare?” Trixie didn’t respond, but instead simply continued to walk towards the changeling. Odysseus used his magic to summon a wall of green flames in front of Trixie, but she simply parted it with another spell coated in that black aura.

‘I don’t get it. It feels like the magic that a Nightmare uses, but she still looks the same.

Odysseus’ horn lit up again, and this time, a couple of trees around Trixie began to topple over towards her. Without even batting an eye, Trixie’s magic shot out in all direction, pushing the trees back to prevent them from landing on her.

“Wait, I get it now,” Odysseus said as he took a step backwards. “You’re not a Nightmare, you’re simply using the same dark magic that they use! But you know, that magic comes at a price.” His horn alight, Odysseus began charging towards Trixie, who was still calmly advancing on him. “It seems that you never learned how to control this power, though! It’s just raw, unfocused power right now! Against that, I won’t lose!”

“You will,” Trixie said with an air of confidence. As Odysseus reached Trixie, he swung a back leg towards her. She blocked it with her magic and he delivered another kick with his other back leg. She blocked once again, and he then fired a blast of magic at her horn.

The attack struck, and Trixie stumbled backwards a little bit as a crack formed down the shaft of her horn.

“Those who are unable to properly control their magic stand no chance against a changeling of royal blood!” Odysseus yelled, running forwards and striking Trixie’s chest with a forehoof, before delivering an uppercut with his other one. Trixie fell down onto her back, and Odysseus quickly fired a binding spell at her.

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Trixie said, using her magic to teleport behind Odysseus before his spell could hit her. “I will protect Aura… and I will kill you. That’s all that there is to it.”

“Don’t underestimate me!” Trixie spun around and kicked her hind legs towards Odysseus, who jumped back to avoid them. Suddenly, he felt something beneath his hooves and looked down to see what it was. “A tripwire?” he asked when he saw a thin wire on the ground. Alarmed, he quickly scanned the area to see what he had just triggered.

“A distraction,” Trixie said as she ran up to the prince and thrust her forehoof into his face, sending him flying backwards a few feet. As he righted himself, Odysseus put a hoof to his muzzle in pain, silently cursing the showmare. Trixie wasted no time and teleported towards him, close enough to deliver another powerful kick to his face.

Odysseus cried out in pain as he clutched his jaw, which was stinging and felt dislocated. He could taste blood in his mouth and realised that he had bitten down on his tongue from Trixie’s last kick. The vision is his left eye was blurry, and he wobbled a bit as he tried to stand upright.

“Now then,” Trixie said as she walked closer to him, her entire body enveloped in a black aura, save for her cutie marks. “You tried to kill Aura not just once, or twice. You’ve tried to kill her multiple times.” A blast of magic shot out of her horn and struck Odysseus’ chest, sending a shockwave of pain throughout his entire body and causing him to cough up blood. “You treat lives like they’re expendable.” Another blast of magic, and Odysseus had to use all of his strength just to stay upright.

‘N-No! This can’t be! She’s… overpowering me?!’

“You use changelings and ponies like they’re merely tools for you to achieve your goal.” A third blast of magic, and Odysseus screamed as he was forced onto his back. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t even feel his legs by that point. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here and now.”

Odysseus looked up at the unicorn towering above him and found himself unable to respond. This pony was looking down on the changeling prince, and he was powerless to stop her. Moreso than that, he was terrified of her. The colour in her eyes had almost completely faded and her expression revealed no feelings or emotions behind her gaze. Not hatred for his crimes, nor joy in his defeat, nor sadness for Aura’s condition. All that was reflected in her deep, soulless eyes, was death.

“You can’t,” Trixie said as she stood above him, “Because there is no reason. For all that you’ve done, you should just die, right here and now!”

“STOP!”

Trixie looked up and past Odysseus, into the trees ahead of her. She raised her guard as she waited for this new interloper to reveal themself, but softened up when she saw Aura limping towards her.

“Aura?” she asked, finally showing some emotion for the first time since she had found Odysseus: rage. “Why are you here? I told you to stay where it was safe!”

“You can’t kill him!” Aura shouted as she stood in-between Trixie and Odysseus. “Please, you’ve done enough! He can’t run away anymore! Just… don’t kill him… Please…”

Trixie noticed the tears running down Aura’s eyes and felt her chest tightening up at the sight of them. Another emotion presented itself on her face: sadness. “Why?” Trixie asked, trembling as she looked down at Odysseus. “He tried to kill you, so why shouldn’t I kill him?!”

“How would that solve anything?! He’s already going to die for his crimes, but there’s no reason his blood should be on your hooves!” Aura limped closer towards Trixie, her wound opening up as she did so.

“Stop, you fool!” Trixie shouted, panic spreading across her face. “You’re going to tear yourself apart!”

“If that’s what it takes to bring you to your senses, then so be it! I told you before, you’re not a murder, Trixie!” Aura stopped just short of Trixie and slowly raised her head up to look the showmare in the eyes. “You’re a kind pony… You saved my life, after all. And you refused to abandon me, even after knowing how dangerous the situation was.”

“… Only because I felt sorry for you,” Trixie said, turning her head away. “You were abandoned, or so we both thought. I saw myself in you and I couldn’t bear the thought of tossing you aside the same way the world had done so to me.”

“But even after learning the truth, you still tried to help me.”

“…”

“Trixie, please.” The tears streamed down Aura’s face faster and she fell to her knees as the pain from her wound increased. “I’ve had enough of seeing those I care about dying before my eyes. The last thing I need is to see someone I care about being killed by someone else I care about.”

Trixie groaned and clutched her chest tightly as the black aura around her began to shrink. “Aura… I… What have I become?” Trixie knelt down before the crying youngling. “I just… wanted to protect you…”

“And you’ve done that, Trixie,” Aura said, gently nuzzling Trixie’s foreleg. “But there’s no need to take a life to do that. If you do… then how can you ever protect anyone, using the same hooves that are stained with blood?”

The black aura around Trixie’s body retreated back into her horn and slowly began to fade away. She closed her eyes, and waited for a few moments as the power left her system. Once it had done so, she ran a hoof along Aura’s mane and lowered her head down to the youngling’s ear.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, her own tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Aura… I made you worry, and… I made you strain yourself trying to stop me. I tried to protect you, and this is what happened.”

Aura looked up at Trixie with a reassuring smile and shook her head. “It’s fine, Trixie…” Aura let out a few choked coughs, startling Trixie and prompting the unicorn to use her magic to apply pressure on Aura’s wound quickly. “Welcome back…”

“No… I can’t fix this wound! I’m not a doctor! I have no idea where to even begin!” Trixie stomped a hoof on the ground in frustration, tears running down her face as her mind raced to think of something fast. She felt something warm stroke across her face and saw Aura wiping away her tears with a hoof.

“… Sorry… for dragging you… into this…”

Trixie shook her head quickly and placed a hoof to the youngling’s mouth. “Not another word! Just… stay alive, Aura! I’ll think of something, so just save your strength! And don’t apologise, either! I’m the one who swore to protect you, and I have no regrets with making that decision!”

Aura’s eyes slowly fluttered shut, and her hoof dropped down to the ground. Trixie’s eyes widened at the sight and, for a few seconds, she could only stare at Aura’s body in stunned silence. “No… Aura… AURAAAAAAAAAA!”

Meanwhile, Odysseus took this chance to get away before the bawling Trixie snapped again and decided to continue her pursuit of revenge. After rising to his hooves, he quickly began running away from the crying pony, and was relieved to see that she hadn’t even seemed to notice.

“Prince Odysseus!” a voice boomed above him. Odysseus looked up and stopped when he saw the tall figure of a dark-blue alicorn descending down towards him. “We have you surrounded! There is no means of escape!”

Odysseus gritted his teeth and turned around to attempt a different escape path. Unfortunately, this one led him to an encounter with an even taller alicorn whose coat was white. Turning to his final available escape path, the prince was cut off by three figures this time: his mother, and his two older sisters.

All around them, changelings and ponies dressed in Royal Guard attire began to swarm in, making sure that there was no opening for the prince to use as a means of escape.

“How did they find me?” Odysseus asked as he backed away from his mother, horror filling his voice and taking shape on his face. “Damnit. They must have sensed that pony’s magic running out of control…”

“Odysseus,” Victoria said as she took a step forward, her mother leaning on her for support, “There is nowhere for you to run this time. It’s over.”

Odysseus stared at his sister for a few seconds, and then let out a deep sigh. Exhausted, Odysseus allowed himself to drop down to his haunches and brought his forehooves to his face. “… I planned so well… Everything was supposed to go as I had calculated… I was outmanoeuvred by a group of lesser beings and my soft, naïve sister?! I was overpowered, by some random street rat who had just happened to get involved in this fight?!”

Odysseus slammed a forehoof against the ground. “DON’T SCREW WITH ME! THAT ISN’T HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO! Where’s the logic, huh?! Let me see your strategies, your calculations, your contingency plans for every possible scenario that you accounted for! How could you have possibly won?! I planned this for years! YEARS! I shouldn’t have lost, damnit!”

Odysseus huffed and panted after his rant was over, and silence filled the air, soon filled by the sounds of hoofsteps as Chrysalis approached her son. He looked up at her, anxious and afraid of what she would do to him.

“… Odysseus, my son,” Chrysalis said, lowering herself down with Victoria’s help. “… I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” A few tears joined her apology, and then she slowly pushed herself back up.

Odysseus stared at her in complete bewilderment. “… What are you saying?” he asked as he stared into her eyes. “I’m the one who betrayed you. It was me who tried to turn you into stone using the Elements of Harmony! I tried to take your throne and plunge the world into chaos, so that I could stand as its one true ruler! IT WAS ME WHO DID ALL OF THAT, SO WHY ARE YOU APOLOGISING?!”

“Idiot,” Elizabeth said, gaining Odysseus’ attention. “Don’t you get it? She’s apologising… because, as a mother, it’s her job to raise her children. To get them ready for the future, so that they can move into the next generation and do just fine on their own. Even though the sentiment is wasted on the likes of you, she feels that she has failed in her job. That it’s her fault that you wound up this way.

“That’s why she’s wasting her words of apology on you.”

Odysseus turned his attention back to his mother, who simply stared back down at him with a stern look on her face, tears continuing to fall down her face. He turned his attention to the ground and let out a soft, sad laughter. “You idiot… That’s why I had to do all of this. Can’t you see? You’re too soft for this world, Mother. If you continue being so soft like this, the world will swallow you up… I had to take the throne, because you are too weak to do what needs to be done to save this world…”

“And look where it has gotten you,” Victoria said, glaring at her younger brother. “You traded your precious loved ones for power, and this is the end result, Odysseus.”

“… You will never understand. One day, this world will be destroyed. Consumed and ravaged by war.”

“… Take him away. Alive,” Chrysalis ordered. A few of her troops stepped forward to complete the order.

“Aura!” Elizabeth shouted, turning Chrysalis and Victoria’s attentions to the blue unicorn now kneeling to their left, holding the body of Princess Aura in her forehooves.

“She’s still breathing,” Trixie said, holding out the body towards the changeling queen. “You can save her, can’t you? You have to save her! Please!”

Chrysalis stared at her daughter’s limp body, her breathing slow and irregular and blood pouring out of a wound on her side. “Aura… you’re still alive…”

“Who are you?” Victoria asked Trixie.

“You are the one General Mystic spoke of, correct? The illusionist who saved Aura?” Chrysalis asked, earning a nod from Trixie. Chrysalis ordered her medical units to tend to Aura’s wounds immediately and a few changelings around them carried off the youngling to the side as they began to treat her wounds. “You saved my daughter’s life. You have my gratitude.”

Trixie shook her head. “I failed. It was my fault that she became like this, because I let that power control me again.”

“… Regardless, from what I have been told, if it wasn’t for you, my daughter would have died before she could have ever made it this far. And, it was also you that freed my son, Alexander, from his prison.” Chrysalis removed her leg from around Victoria’s neck and, with some effort, bowed to the unicorn. “Thank you.”

Trixie was taken aback by this and wasn’t sure how to respond. It only worsened when the two princesses by the queen’s sides also bowed and voiced their gratitudes. In normal circumstances, Trixie would have been elated that royalty of any kind was bowing its head down to her, but given the circumstances, she couldn’t enjoy the moment. There was only one thing that she was concerning herself with.

“So… Aura will be okay now, right?”

Chrysalis and her two daughters rose to their hooves and the queen nodded her head. “Yes. I have already lost two children today, before my very eyes… I have no intention of losing any more.” She turned her head to face Celestia. “Princess Celestia, I have ordered my troops to retreat. What will you do now?”

Celestia stared back with a solid stare. “Well, I have no hostile intentions towards your kingdom… I will let you go.”

Chrysalis stared at her for a while, attempting to see if there was any hint of a lie in the princess’ voice. “… Very well then,” she finally said, before clearing her throat and preparing herself. Victoria and Elizabeth covered their ears, bringing a confused look to Trixie’s face. “ATTENTION, ALL UNITS! WE ARE RETRUNING TO THE CHANGELING KINGDOM! I HEREBY ORDER YOU TO CEASE ALL HOSTILITIES TOWARDS EQUESTRIAN FORCES! FAILURE TO FOLLOW ORDERS WILL BE DEALT WITH HARSHLY!”

As soon as her voice had died down, Trixie shook her head to clear the dizziness that it had caused. A bad move, as that just increased her headache even more. Chrysalis began to move out and Trixie quickly rose to her hooves. “Wait!” she called out. The changeling queen turned her attention to the showmare. “C-Can I… go with you?”

“… You are concerned for Aura’s well-being?” Chrysalis asked, receiving another nod from Trixie. She shook her head and turned away. “Unfortunately, ponies are not welcome in our kingdom… But rest assured, Aura will not die.”

Trixie wanted to protest further, but a hoof on her shoulder prevented her from doing so. Looking up, Trixie found the majestic figure of Princess Celestia standing beside her.

“Queen Chrysalis, I am terribly sorry for your loss,” she said. “Unfortunately, in my one thousand years as ruler, I have yet to find anything that can rival the power of the Elements of Harmony. However, rest assured, I will do whatever I can, to find a way to reverse your son’s condition.”

“… Do what you want,” Chrysalis said, before continuing her march through the forest, her troops accompanying her.

Celestia smiled down at Trixie and leaned down to speak quietly into her ear. “Now then, I think we should get you some medical treatment, too,” she said, earning a confused look from Trixie. Celestia lightly tapped a hoof against Trixie’s horn, sending a shockwave of pain throughout the unicorn’s head. “That changeling general, Mystic, mentioned that you were injured in a fight against Captain Armor, and it seems that you have been injured further here.”

Trixie scoffed and turned her head away. “A mere cut to the Great and Powerfu-Uh…” Trixie felt her head becoming light as she tried to complete her thought and suddenly fell down to her haunches.

Celestia let out a light giggle, and then looked over at Luna. “Sister, would you mind escorting her to Cadance for me?”

“Not at all,” Luna said, using her magic to lift Trixie onto her back. “What of Twilight Sparkle and her friends?”

“Twilight is already on her way to Canterlot for emergency treatment at the castle. Her friends went with her, and left the Elements in Cadance’s care.”

“I see.” Luna looked around as Royal Guard ponies ran around frantically, relaying orders to each other and delivering status reports. “It’s really all over, isn’t it?”

“So it would seem,” Celestia said as she turned around to leave. “Queen Chrysalis has requested that any changeling troops we have imprisoned be returned to her.”

“… You realise what she plans to do with them, don’t you?”

“I do,” Celestia said sadly. “But in return, she has agreed to a non-aggression pact with Equestria… I leave the matter of gathering the injured to you. I will tend to delivering the prisoners.”

“… Yes, Sister,” Luna said as she began walking through the forest, a sleeping Trixie snoring away peacefully on her back. On her way through, she encountered many ponies in Royal Guard attire carrying unconscious changelings through the forest and let out a sad sigh. ‘… Hopefully, this will be a first step towards peace with their kind.’

Chapter 20

Doctor General Diagnosis trotted through the halls of Canterlot Public Hospital, his eyes hovering over the clipboard in his hoof which held the details of his next patient written across a few pages.

Upon reaching the right room, the doctor knocked on the door two times and announced that he was entering. From inside, he heard the sounds of objects clattering onto the floor and hoofsteps clambering about and he opened the door to see what the noise was.

Inside, he saw many books scattered across the floor haphazardly. He could tell that they belonged to the hospital from the orange stickers attached to each of their spines. His eyes moved across the room to the bed against the wall, where he found his patient lying under the covers, panting as she tried to pretend that she had just woken up.

“Oh, good morning, Doctor,” the mare said as she sat up and began rubbing her eyes. “Here for Trixie’s daily check-up?”

“… Miss Lulamoon,” the doctor began in a stern tone, “How many times have I told you not to use your magic whilst your horn is still recovering? It’s too much of a strain on your body.”

“Hmph, shows what you know,” Trixie said with a cocky smirk on her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s magic has already made a full recovery! She has no problem using it and feels no pain from it whatsoever.”

“We don’t know that,” General Diagnosis responded. “All we know is that your magic has stabilised for now, but until we can be absolutely sure that your horn has healed, you shouldn’t attempt to use it.”

Trixie harrumphed and turned her head away, and the doctor sighed as he moved closer to her to begin his examination. This wasn’t the first case of a patient straining themselves because they are too impatient to wait until they have properly recovered, so he knew that there was little point in telling her to take it easy, but he still did so in the slim hope that she would actually listen.

“Well, your wounds are recovering nicely,” he said before reaching up to Trixie’s horn to undo her bandage. “Your horn is still cracked, but that should recover in about a week or so. Until then-”

“No magic, correct?” Trixie interrupted, receiving a nod from the doctor.

“… Anyway, there’s not really anything else that we can do for you here. In other words: congratulations, Miss Lulamoon! As soon as I’m finished with this final check-up, you’ll be discharged from this hospital and will be free to go back to your home.”

“Home?” Trixie asked. She put a hoof to her chin and tried to remember where exactly her home was. “… Ah, that’s right. Ponyville,” she said to herself, her body shivering at the thought of having to go back there. She felt like there was something else that she was forgetting, but since she couldn’t quite place her hoof on it, she simply shrugged it off and turned her attention back to General Diagnosis. “And that’s it? No charge for the treatment?”

“Your medical bill has already been paid by the Royal Guard.” The doctor finished applying a fresh bandage to Trixie’s horn and placed a key onto her bedside table. “Hand that key over to the receptionist and she’ll return all of your belongings, along with a complimentary bag with supplies and instructions to help you treat your horn.”

“Trixie thought she just had to wait for it to heal.”

“You do, but there’s still a chance of infection or a magical leak. And don’t forget, a damaged horn is fragile, so take care not to hit it against anything until that crack has completely vanished.”

“Trixie is well aware of unicorn anatomy, Doctor,” Trixie said in an annoyed tone.

“That’s good! Then, since we’re all done here, allow me to escort you to the front desk. I realise it’s a bit sudden, but we need this room for another patient, so-”

“That’s fine.” Trixie climbed out of her bed and used her magic to remove the hospital gown that she had been given for her stay there, much to the doctor’s dismay. Seeing this, she frowned and opted to pick the key up using her hoof rather than magic, and then followed the doctor outside of the room. “Thank you for all of your help, but the Great and Powerful Trixie will be fine from here.”

“It’s no trouble,” the doctor insisted. “I’m heading that way anyway.”

“… If that’s the case, then you may tag along. But only tag along! Don’t think of Trixie as some damsel in distress, clear?”

“Crystal,” the doctor said with a sigh. He was used to this, too: patients insisting that they didn’t need anypony to lean on. That they could move about and perform just fine on their own. But while it was good for recovery purposes to let the patients be as independent as possible, it was sometimes hard to watch as they limped through the hospital’s hallways, their faces cringing and tearing up as they tried to suppress the pain it caused them.

After reaching the hospital’s front desk, Trixie waited in line for just a little over fifteen before finally being able to collect her things and then leave the building.

Once outside, Trixie took a deep breath of the fresh air that she had been deprived from for three full days. Of course the room that she was assigned to was the one room where the window wouldn’t open, and they had to board it up when her attempts to open it with magic shattered the glass. It felt good to be outside again, and to know that she would soon be able to start performing her shows all across Equestria once more. ‘I’ve got a lot to catch up on, huh?’

Trixie’s first stop was a small doughnut shop not terribly far from the hospital. Hospital food was fine, if you liked slimy green goo with barely any flavour at all and orange juice that tasted like it had been prepared with rainwater. Clearly, fine cuisine wasn’t a priority in the medical profession. ‘Evidently, science hasn’t advanced to the point where food can be healthy and edible.’

“Excuse me, Miss?” Trixie turned around when she felt a hoof on her shoulder and came face-to-face with two unicorn ponies. Both were mares that appeared to be just a little older than Trixie, and they were both wearing black cloaks that covered their entire bodies, with their hoods up so that their faces couldn’t be seen. They were lugging a caravan with a sign that read: ‘Travelling Fortune Teller Duo: Cosmos and Galaxy!’

So they were fortune tellers, which sort of explained the odd attire that they were wearing, Trixie surmised. Fortune tellers seemed to have a thing for being mysterious and wearing clothes that hid most of their bodies from view.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has no desire to have her fortune read,” Trixie said before turning around to walk away. Why would she need to have her fortune read? After all, she already knew her future: to become the greatest unicorn in all of existence, surpassing even Starswirl the Bearded and be adored and revered for generations.

“Actually, Miss Lulamoon,” one of the cloaked figures said, causing Trixie to stop and turn back to eye them cautiously, “We’re here to ask a favour of you.” It was the one on the right who had spoke, and as she did so, her horn lit up. Its faint green glow was followed by a green flame surrounding the mare, turning her into a changeling.

Trixie’s eyes widened and she quickly pointed a hoof towards the changeling. “M-Mystic?!” she shouted, quickly covering her mouth and looking around at the many ponies who had stopped to give her strange looks. “… What?!” she barked with a fierce look, startling many of the passerbys and prompting them to move along.

As soon as Trixie was sure that nopony was paying any attention to her anymore, she quickly turned back to Mystic and walked over to her. “Are you insane?!” she whispered, looking around cautiously. “What if the Royal Guard sees you?! They have those goggles that see through changeling disguises, right?!”

“Nice to see you again, too,” Mystic replied sarcastically. “Don’t worry. We got these cloaks, so just as long as we don’t remove our hoods, they won’t be able to properly see us.”

“Even so, why are you here?” Trixie asked, turning her attention to the other cloaked figure. “And who’s this? Another changeling?”

“Correct!” the other figure answered cheerfully, a wide smile on her face. “Princess Elizabeth, third offspring and second Princess of Her Royal Highness, Queen Chrysalis. Nice to meet you, though we have met before.”

“P-Princess!” Mystic scolded in a hushed tone, facehooving at the princess’ reckless and carefree attitude.

“A princess?!” Trixie asked in a shocked tone, trying to keep her voice down so as to not alert anypony around her again. “A-Are you mad?! What are you doing here in Equestria?!”

“Well, if you’d just calm down and take a breath,” Elizabeth started, placing a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder, “Then I’ll explain that to you.”

“… Trixie’s listening.”

“Great! It’s simple, really. After the incident with Odysseus, word quickly spread about how you, a pony, saved the life of Princess Aura and helped us in taking down the high traitor.”

A proud grin found its way to Trixie’s face, and she flicked her mane with a forehoof. “So, the Great and Powerful Trixie is making a name for herself in foreign lands now, huh?” ‘Take that, Sparkle!’

“Oh yes, very much so! And, it’s also got many changelings thinking… that maybe the citizens of Equestria have changed over the years. And maybe peace is possible with your kind. Unfortunately, Mother has no intention of making peace with Equestria, no matter what the circumstances are.”

“Trixie’s following so far.”

“However, peace has been Aura’s passion ever since she first started taking an interest in politics. It’s the path she’s always spent her time researching and discussing with me and Victoria. That’s why, if she continues to follow that path when she’s older, then Mother will allow Aura to become the ambassador for peace from our kingdom.”

Trixie let out a quiet whistle. “That’s quite a big responsibility. Can she handle it?”

“Don’t underestimate our sister,” Elizabeth said with a toothy grin. “She’s still a youngling now, but she’s shown that she has potential. And once she sets her mind to something… well, just try to stop her.”

“Trixie knows what you mean,” Trixie said, shaking her head with a sigh as she recalled the time that Aura had gone to Canterlot on her own, regardless of the dangers. “Honestly, that youngling needs to calm down and stop staking such risks.”

“You’re the last one who should be saying that,” Mystic said, earning a scowl from Trixie.

“… And? Why are you telling Trixie all of this?”

“Well, as part of Aura’s training and preparation, Mother wants her to spend some time here in Equestria,” Elizabeth said. “She wants her to live in your country, to learn your ways, research your culture and your laws, and most importantly, to build up friendships within your towns and villages.”

“Don’t you already have scouts in Equestria?” Trixie asked. “Why can’t they do the research?”

“Firsthoof experience is always better than simply hearing things from another’s perspective,” Mystic explained. “That way, there’ll be no bias or missing details in her reports, and she’ll actually get a feel for Equestrian culture, as opposed to just picturing it in her mind.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Basically, it’s kind of like an exchange program thing. Aura will spend some time here, and when she returns, she will apply what she has learned to her peacemaking methods. If she proves herself to our mother, then she will be given the title of ‘Head of Foreign Affairs’, and will have full authority over how relationships with other nations are handled outside of wartime.”

“Sounds impressive,” Trixie said. “But where does Trixie fall into all of this?”

“The queen wants you to look after her,” Mystic said, surprising the showmare. “Why is that so surprising? After all, you are the one who looked after her before, and it was clear to the queen that you cared deeply for Aura’s safety. Besides, Aura was going on about seeing you again, so it all works out.”

“She was?” Trixie asked, a slight smile forming on her face.

“She was,” Elizabeth confirmed with a nod and a small giggle. “Even though her own health was more important, she was practically demanding to see proof that you were alright. She even tried to pull rank on the doctors at one point, and we had to forge a photograph of you alive and healthy to make her calm down.”

Trixie couldn’t help but turn red and feel embarrassed at what she was hearing, but then she also felt happy that someone actually cared for her so much that they would go to such lengths to confirm that she were okay.

“But, is that alright?” Trixie asked, earning confused looks from the two changelings. “Trixie isn’t a parent, you know? She doesn’t know how to raise kids, and her income is barely enough to feed herself.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Elizabeth said in a reassuring tone. “You’ll be fine! You tried to protect Aura with your life, right? In my eyes, that means you’re ready to look after her!”

“But-”

“And as for the money, it’s all taken care of!”

“How so?” Trixie asked. Mystic pulled a piece of paper from her cloak and handed it over to Trixie. “A cheque?” she asked as she got a clear view of the paper, and as she read the number written on it, her eyes almost leaped out of their sockets. “… W-WHAT?!” she shouted, once again attracting the attentions of those around her. Blushing, she lowered her volume and looked back up at the two changelings. “P-Please tell Trixie that you missed a decimal point somewhere on here!”

Mystic laughed and shook her head. “It’s money for looking after both yourself and Princess Aura,” she explained. “Food, water, rent, refurbishing, and any other expenses you might meet.”

“Trixie lives in her trailer and travels across Equestria,” Trixie said. “She doesn’t pay rent.”

“Well then, keep it,” Mystic returned. “The money’s meant to last you the year. Any leftover money is yours to keep, as a show of gratitude from our queen.”

“… That’s some gratitude,” Trixie said, still in disbelief about the number she was seeing on the cheque. “How do you even have this much money? Trixie wasn’t aware that there was an exchange rate between bits and… whatever you use.”

“Our changeling scouts,” Elizabeth explained. “They work hard and send any disposable income back to us. Well, there may have also been a few heists here-and-there, too.”

“You what?”

Elizabeth simple shrugged in response. “Money’s a powerful tool. You can buy workers, and more importantly, information. But enough about that! So, you’re in, right?”

“… Well,” Trixie said, stashing the cheque inside of her cape. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t exactly mind Aura’s company… and it would be nice to have an assistant to help her occasionally, and someone to train in the ways of magic…

“Very well then! The Great and Powerful Trixie will take on this task of yours!”

“Great!” Elizabeth said ecstatically.

“By the way, where is Aura?” Trixie asked, looking behind the two changelings at the caravan that they were pulling. “In there?”

“Oh, no,” Mystic said. “She needed to use a public restroom. She said she’d catch up to us.”

Trixie’s eyes widened and she almost leapt forward to grab Mystic by her cloak’s collar, but had managed to restrain herself… barely. “What?! You let her wander off alone?!”

“It’s fine,” Elizabeth said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “She can look after herself, and it’s only round the corner.”

“But what if she-”

BANG!

Trixie yelped as a sudden bang sounded behind her and then she quickly span around to find the cause of it.

Standing before her, giggling loudly and holding a brown paper bag in one forehoof with a large hole in the bottom of it, was a small white filly with a green mane, hidden away beneath a black cloak.

Trixie stared at the filly in bewilderment for a bit, before she managed to piece together what had happened. “… You…”

The filly stopped giggling and looked up at Trixie with a big smile on her face. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Miss Trixie.”

Trixie, now calmed down and breathing regularly again, let out a low, soft chuckle, before looking down at the filly with a menacing grin on her face. “You little brat… You’re going to regret that.”

“Uh-oh!” Aura said playfully as she turned on the spot and began running.

“Oh no you don’t!” Trixie shouted as she chased after her, resisting the urge to laugh as she chased the filly into the nearby park.

Elizabeth and Mystic watched as the two began to play a little game of ‘chase’ throughout the park, earning odd looks from many of the posh-looking ponies passing by them.

“Seems they’ll do just fine,” Mystic said.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement and turned to face Mystic. “Well then, General,” she said in a serious tone, “I’ll leave their surveillance up to you.”

Mystic bowed down to Elizabeth. “Yes, Princess! I won’t let you down!”

Elizabeth smiled and leaned down to plant a kiss on Mystic’s forehead, an action which both shocked and confused the general. “An early reward,” she explained with a wink. “Do a good job, and you’ll get more.”

“P-P-P-Princess! T-That’s…” Mystic trailed off, flustered by the princess’ sudden action and unable to form any further coherent sentences.

With one final giggle, Elizabeth looked over at her sister still playing merrily with the blue showmare in the park, and then began to move down the street. “Remember, stay hidden.”

“… Yes, Princess. And you are sure that we shouldn’t tell Trixie about-”

“It’s best that she doesn’t know. Aura’s hidden, and her best chance of staying hidden is for everybody around her to be clueless, even her friends.” Elizabeth glanced at Trixie and grinned. “As an illusionist, she should understand that very well.”

“Princess Celestia,” Captain Precision Perfect started with a salute, “Miss Trixie Lulamoon has just left Canterlot. She boarded the train to Ponyville and, as you predicted, there was a filly there with her. She was hidden beneath a cloak, so we couldn’t confirm that, however…”

“Thank you, Captain,” Celestia said, using her magic to bring her teacup to her face. She took a sip of her tea as she looked outside of her window and down onto the ponies conversion in the courtyard below.

“Princess, with all due respect, are you certain that you do not with the Royal Guard to keep an eye on them? If something were to happen to them one Equestrian soil-”

“Then we will feign ignorance, and take zero responsibility,” Celestia cut in, placing her teacup down and facing her soldier. “On the other hoof, if it is discovered that we are watching her without her knowing, then the queen can declare it an invasion of privacy, which it would be. To avoid conflict, we would have to give her a show of faith.”

“In other words, we’d be obliged to carry out whatever wish she has?” Celestia nodded, and Precision Perfect cast his eyes down for a moment. “But Princess, what if this is a trap? The queen has made it very clear how much she despises-”

“This isn’t like you, Captain.” Celestia rose from her seat and approached the silenced Precision Perfect. “Why do you fear the changelings so much?”

“… I saw what they could do. What power they posses. When General Ironhoof saved me whilst I was battling that changeling, I sensed no fear from her. On the contrary; General Ironhoof was shaking on the spot.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took in a deep, steady breath, before exhaling. “… Yes. And that is why we must be ready for any eventuality. I sense a storm coming, and I would like to know that you are by my side no matter what may befall our kingdom, Captain.”

The captain saluted. “Of course, Princess!”

The door behind Precision Perfect opened, and Captain Shining Armor stepped inside. “Princess, the ambassadors from the Griffon Empire are here.”

“Thank you, Captain Armor. Please let them know that I will be there momentarily,” Celestia replied, to which Shining Armor saluted and left the room. “Well then, Captain Precision Perfect, I will let you return to your duties.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Celestia walked past the captain and towards the door, she couldn’t stop the sour look forming on her face as her mind raced to dark, uncertain places. ‘The Changeling Kingdom is in disarray. There is no doubt that their enemies will seek to take advantage of this opportunity.’

‘A storm is indeed approaching, and now the question is: for the sake of all of my subjects, whom should I side with when the time comes?’

“I’m ready, my queen.”

Chrysalis looked firmly into the youngling’s eyes, checking for any sign that her resolve had wavered. “… Lily, you are aware of the risks and dangers involved with the comatose spell, are you not?”

“I am, my queen.”

“And you are aware that you may be killed at any moment during your sleep?”

“Yes, my queen.”

Chrysalis nodded, and her advisor, Metamorphose, levitated some documents to the youngling. “Then please sign these to state that you volunteer for the comatose spell to be performed on you, and that you accept all risks of your own accord.”

Lily nodded and picked up a pen with her hoof to sign the papers. As soon as she was finished, she lay down on the hospital bed and closed her eyes as Queen Chrysalis lowered her horn towards her.

“Thank you, child,” Chrysalis said as she performed the spell. Once it was over, the queen sat up straight and turned her attention to her advisor. “When this is all over, I want this child knighted. Is that understood?”

“Yes, my queen,” Meta responded, shuffling through some documents before levitating a few up towards Chrysalis. “The next order of business is to attend to Chill and Shock’s probation arrangements.”

“Very well. Let us be off.”

“I still say it’s a bad idea,” Chameo said as he rose from his seat beside Chrysalis. “It’s one thing to put Shark into the new probationary program, but to assign him to guard Aura?”

“Chameo, please,” Meta pleaded.

“You disagree with my decision?” Chrysalis asked in a cold tone. “You think I would have made such a choice if I thought it would put my daughter in danger?”

“What if he turns on us?! You know he’s got a grudge against us, so…”

“Shark is easy to manipulate,” Chrysalis said. “As long as we offer his freedom to him as a reward, he will cooperate. Furthermore, his job has him dealing with only one changeling: General Mystic. If the alternatives are working directly under me or being executed, it’s clear which he’ll pick.”

“…”

“Chameo, I know that you’re concerned,” Meta said with sympathy in her voice. “We all share that concern for Princess Aura, but this is a difficult situation. We’re shorthooved, and until we can confirm with absolute certainty that RE has been destroyed, we must take drastic action to assure the princess’ safety. Hence… this,” she added, looking over at the comatose Lily.

“… Even with all the information we had recovered from Odysseus’ workrooms, RE remains at large,” Chrysalis said, gritting her teeth in anger at the memory of her son’s betrayal. “And to make matters worse, a lot of its members were high-ranking government officials and military officers!”

“Princess Victoria has already stormed most of their hideouts, hasn’t she?” Chameo asked, receiving a nod from Meta. “But most of their leaders they managed to get away before we could capture them… I just can’t believe that RE was still active.”

“Well, it was Odysseus who reportedly wiped them out,” Meta pointed out. “The fact that they had infiltrated all the way to the royal family just proves how dangerous they are. We can’t take a single risk against them.”

“And that’s why you haven’t told Aura a thing?” Chameo asked.

“She doesn’t need to know,” Chrysalis said firmly, making her way towards the hospital room’s door. “Guard her. If the enemy shows up, you know what to do.”

“Yes, my queen!” the two guards standing behind them replied as they saluted.

Once they were outside and began walking down the hallway to their next destination, Chameo spoke up again. “With respect, she will find out, my queen.”

“Yes, but by that point, the battle will hopefully be over,” Chrysalis responded. “Aura is not a fighter, Chameo. Her place is not on the battlefield, yet she is determined to do whatever she can for the good of our kingdom. That’s why she must be kept in the dark for now.”

“… You know she won’t like it, when she learns that that youngling is acting as her double, and that we’ve made arrangements for her to die should she be captured.”

“That was Lily’s decision,” Chrysalis responded. “Aura won’t like it, you’re right. But then, children also don’t like it when you make them visit the dentist to have a cavity filled in, or force them to eat medicine that tastes revolting.

“Aura is too valuable a target. If she is captured, I would be forced to either forsake her, or my subjects. This way, Aura remains in a safe location, and if RE attempts to abduct her double, we can fake her death. That was Lily’s idea, and with such devotion to her princess, how could I refuse her?”

“… Yes, my queen. I understand,” Chameo said, turning his head away. “By the way, what are we going to do about Chill and Shock?”

“A good question,” Chrysalis responded. “In Shark’s case, he worked for Odysseus because we unjustly imprisoned him, so it was easy to appeal on his behalf. Everyone else who worked for Odysseus will have their cases examined, since there are many soldiers that the Royal Court would prefer to keep alive. Chill and Shock are among the easiest cases to deal with, as they were tricked into working for Odysseus, and also assisted in his defeat.

“I was thinking of having them enlisted into the Changeling Royal Army as captains. We have lost quite a number from this rebellion and we need replacements, but the issue is whether the lower-ranks would be okay with that.” Chrysalis stopped and turned around to face her two followers. “In any case, we have a lot of work ahead of us. I trust you two will stick with me, come what may?”

Both changelings saluted immediately, and answered in unison, “Yes, my queen!”

Twilight limped as she made her way through the streets of Ponyville, using the crutch provided to her by Doctor Stable and with Spike walking beside her cautiously, getting ready to help her should she lose her balance. Applejack walked along Twilight’s other side, pulling a cartload of apples behind her.

“Feelin’ any better, Twi?” Applejack asked, addressing her with a look of concern. She tried no to, but couldn’t help shifting her attention to the noticeable scar of Twilight’s side.

“Yeah… I just still can’t believe I let that changeling get to me,” Twilight said with venom in her voice. “I swear, he’d better hope he never runs into me again. How dare he impersonate the princesses like that!”

Twilight cringed, and stopped suddenly to hold her side. “Whoa, settle down there, Twilight,” Applejack said, moving over to help the unicorn maintain her balance. “The doctor said y’all will make a full recovery by this time next week, so jus’ take it easy until then, y’hear?”

Twilight smiled at her friend’s kindness and nodded her head. “I will. Thank you, Applejack.”

“Hey, Applejack!” a voice called out from down the street. The three turned their attentions to Rainbow Dash, who was charging towards them through the air before slowing down to stop just short of crashing into them. “You’ll never guess who’s back in town!”

“… Who?” Applejack asked.

“Trixie, that’s who!” Rainbow Dash said in an angry tone. “I was about to go over to her trailer, when I remembered you wanted to talk to her about your farm!”

Applejack’s face hardened and she took a step closer to Rainbow Dash. “Ye’re darn right Ah do! ‘Bout time she finally showed up again! The nerve of her, showin’ her face here after what she did!”

Twilight limped towards the two angry ponies and tried to calm them down. “Applejack, maybe you should calm down.”

“Calm down? D’ya know how much money it’ll take ta repair the damages to the farm?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t. But at least tell me you’ll simply talk to Trixie, instead of just breaking into her home and going all Rainbow Dash on her.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, not happy with her name being used in such a way.

“That all depends on her, Twilight,” Applejack said. “In any case, Ah’m marchin’ over there right now ta talk about our payment.”

“Yeah! You show her, AJ!” Rainbow Dash cheered. Twilight groaned, and decided that she had better accompany the two of them to make sure they didn’t take things too far.

At the town square, the three ponies and one dragon closed in on Trixie’s trailer, which had been moved into a dark alleyway since the previous day.

Applejack raised a hoof to knock on the door, but noticed that it was already slightly open. “… Trixie? You in there?” she called out, but received no response. Impatient, Applejack reached out and opened the door further, despite Twilight telling her that she should really knock first.

“Hey Trixie, Ah need ta have a word with…” she stopped as she made her way inside the trailer, and looked at the mess inside. There were books littered all over the floor, most of which seemed to be children’s story books. There was also a magic kit lying open on the floor, with all of the props inside scattered everywhere.

Applejack turned her attention to the bed, where she saw the blue unicorn known as Trixie curled up on top of the sheets, her muzzle buried in the green mane of a small white unicorn filly, who was also curled up next to the showmare. There was a book in Trixie’s hooves, suggesting that the two were reading together when they had fallen asleep.

The scene reminded Applejack of a certain stormy night at the farm a couple of years back, where Apple Bloom, scared stiff from the thunder and lightning outside, sought safety in her big sister’s room for the night.

Applejack calmed her sister down by reading her her favourite story, and the little filly was soon sleeping peacefully in her older sister’s comforting embrace.

Sighing, Applejack turned around and left the trailer, quietly shutting the door on her way out.

“So?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in the air above Applejack. “How’d it go?”

Applejack shook her head and began walking away from the trailer. “I’ll come back ta talk to her tomorrow,” she said, before turning back to face Rainbow Dash, who was just about to bang on the trailer door. “Tomorrow.”

Rainbow Dash pulled her hoof away and groaned. “Ugh, fine.”

Rainbow Dash flew off, whilst Twilight and Spike continued to accompany Applejack to the marketplace. ‘Tomorrow mornin’, that is. You’d better be ready, Trixie.’

Back inside the trailer, Trixie giggled as she sat up, Aura joining her moments later. “And that is how you skip payments, my young protégé.”

“But she’ll be back later, right?”

Trixie chuckled and gave the filly a sly wink. “Tomorrow’s a big day, getting you enrolled in school. Then Trixie will be busy preparing for her comeback show, then a ‘complication’ could call her away from town. The real test is how far she’s willing to pursue the issue of payment.”

“I don’t know if this is the kind of learning my mother had in mind,” Aura said with a smile. “Besides, I don’t think she’s the kind to give up that easily.”

Trixie leaned down and said, “Well then, the Great and Powerful Trixie will just have to make it difficult for her, now won’t she?”