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.’