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.