Dust covered the moon, in a number of senses. There was the literal dust, dark and scratchy and somehow managing to infiltrate her armor and irritate her where it rubbed against her coat. Behind her, Lightning Dust’s hoofprints stretched to the horizon, covering it in another sense, though the airless surface and strange light made it hard to tell how far that was.

Really, she was just glad she’d woken up in a crater instead of spread out as a fine pate all over the rocks.
Dust looked up at the world she’d come from. From here she couldn't see the war. No borders between the Empire and Equestria. It all just blurred together, one tiny world that had everypony that she'd ever known or loved or heard about. Looking down on it, it seemed so fragile.

“This is total horseapples,” she muttered. Not that anypony could hear her even if she'd screamed.

“So I suppose this is the Royalty’s way of sending me help in my time of need, slipping me a folder and a stallion without even being asked,” Doctor Sparkle said, looking over the file. It didn’t take her long. It wouldn’t have taken anypony long to read blank sheets and unfilled forms stuffed into a folder.

“Veil Vestige,” Moondancer said, glancing at her own copy. “Apparently high aptitude and magical strength, no loyalty issues. No military record. No police record. No intelligence reports mention him. All we have is a birth certificate, a medical examination that shows no problems aside from the one obvious issue, and a letter of recommendation.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad sign,” Sparkle admitted. “We do need the help. It’s been three days and Sunset hasn’t come out of her coma yet.”

“If she ever will. The cranial trauma alone…”

“She’ll wake up,” Sparkle assured her. “I know it in my bones. Until then, though, we could use some help. Send him in. I want to at least speak with the stallion, no matter what the Seelie Court thinks of him.”

Doctor Sparkle’s first impression of Veil Vestige was that she was looking at a ghost. The unicorn was stark white, the white of something that would never see the sun, with eyes the color of rubies. His mane was braided carefully, an odd affectation.

“You’re an albino,” she said. It was one of the very few facts from the files she’d been given. It was nice that at least that one thing was correct.

“An unfortunate condition,” Veil said, smiling. “On the other hoof, it means you and I share a common bond.”

“Hm?” Sparkle frowned.

Veil turned to the side so she could see his flank, which was bare and white, totally blank.

“Neither of us was able to get a cutie mark,” Veil said. “Though for different reasons. In my case, it’s a result of my albinism. It’s possible I have one, but…”

“With your condition, it would be invisible,” Sparkle noted. “I’m aware. I did a lot of research into adult blank-flanked ponies. Albinism presents in roughly 0.0005 percent of the population. One in two million, a rate significantly lower than in other mammals by orders of magnitude. I can quote statistics all day if needed.”

“I assure you it isn’t,” Veil laughed. “Though you are likely better informed than most of the doctors I have spoken to.”

“That’s a near certainty,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I’m the smartest pony in Equestria.”

“Certainly the most confident,” Veil smiled.

“Only because Sunset Shimmer is unconscious.” She gave a grim smile. “Do you know the risks of what you’re signing up for?”

“I’ve been briefed, but may I go over my understanding of the situation?” He waited a moment until Sparkle nodded for him to continue. “The procedure will involve experimental surgery, which could kill me. The device implanted could malfunction and kill me. Even if it works properly, only a small portion of the population can handle the strain of having additional leylines in their body. And then, assuming everything works properly, you’d like me to go into battle against the most dangerous monsters ever assembled in history, and if my sources are correct, that might include Princess Celestia herself.”

“That would be it in a nutshell, yes,” Sparkle admitted.

“Let me ask you something, Doctor -- do you know what sunlight does to an albino?”

“Terrible sunburn,” Sparkle said, shrugging. “Increased chance of skin cancer. Eventual blindness, I believe, because the body isn’t able to protect itself properly.”

“All true. My whole life, I had to hide from the sun. I don’t have any particular love of Celestia. There’s something I want -- I want the power to decide my own fate. Maybe that’s what it means, to not have a cutie mark. My fate is only what I make.”

“The Court apparently vouches for you,” Doctor Sparkle said. “I assume you’ve done them some favors that they’re repaying.”

“I can’t talk about most of it,” Veil admitted. “I’m relying on a good first impression.”

“Hmph,” Sparkle looked away. “All I care about is talent.”

“Then I think we will be good friends,” Veil said, with a smile.

“You’re sure?” Sparkle asked, watching through the armored glass as Veil sat in a magical circle, meditating, his horn glowing with an aura that flickered white and black, somehow both at once, like each eye was seeing something the other wasn’t. It made it painful to stare at for long.

“The readings are showing a thaumatic output of fifty thousand, and holding steady,” Moondancer said. “And when I say steady, I mean perfectly steady. The augur isn’t even twitching.”

“Sunset Shimmer had a peak output in the eighty thousand range,” Doctor Sparkle muttered. “So it’s not impossible. Even so, that much power and to have never even heard of him… where did Chrysalis dig him up from?”

“We also ran bloodwork to check for the usual,” Moondancer reported. “He’s not a changeling, if you were curious.”

“I already knew he wasn’t,” Doctor Sparkle admitted. “One of the earliest experiments involved a changeling. They don’t react well to the way the Engine Hearts work. It short-circuits something in their physiology. They end up, well, melting. Volunteering him for that would be suicide.”

“So what is he, then?” Moondancer asked.

“If I had to guess?” Sparkle tapped her chin. “The changelings keep ponies captive to drain them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Court had a few ponies that were born and raised in the hive. It would be nice if the Court was willing to contact me directly about this, but Kevin hasn't been around to arrange a meeting. Definitely not one of Celestia's, though.”

“It would explain the lack of documentation,” Moondancer admitted. “He wouldn’t even be an Equestrian citizen.”

“Maybe,” Sparkle sighed. “Get him prepped for surgery.”

“We’re going to use him, then?” Moondancer seemed surprised.

“We don’t have much of a choice.”

On the moon, time passed slowly. Dust made her way to the rim of a crater, and looked down, expecting another bowl full of ice and dust.

Instead, she found the castle.

Marble shuddered. It felt like somepony was walking over her grave.

“Are you okay?” Sunburst asked. She looked up and gave him a small smile, nodding. Whatever that had been, she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She was having lunch with somepony that liked her, and the nagging doubt in the back of her mind wasn’t going to ruin things.

“Thank you for... “ She looked at the food. Sunburst wasn’t much of a cook, but he had gone out of his way to get some fresh food, which was becoming scarce. With the war, most ponies were having to make do with factory seconds and processed, canned food, with the best of everything going to the front lines. He’d somehow managed to get some real, fresh apples.

“It’s nothing,” Sunburst smiled. “Kevin did the hard work. Last I heard from him he was at an apple farm looking into something for Doctor Sparkle.”

“Why an apple farm?” Marble tilted her head.

“I’m not sure. Probably looking into a new recruit. I doubt Doctor Sparkle cares much about the details involved with growing fruit.”

“Mm.” Marble nodded. She bit into the apple, closing her eyes as she savored the taste, the juice running down her chin. It had been so long since she’d eaten, a thousand years of--

She blinked and shoved the stray thought away.

“Are you sure this is-” Veil grunted under the strain. “Safe?” He finished, once he’d caught his breath.

Sparkle looked up at him. Veil was on his back, and a machine press was trying to crush him, and he was doing his best to keep it away while the pressure slowly increased. He was already holding enough weight up that it was like bench-pressing a small house.

“If the press slips more than a certain amount, it powers down automatically,” Sparkle assured him.

“I’m more worried about my spine!” Veil admitted. “How long do I have to keep this up?”

“Just a little longer. I want to make sure your heart won’t explode or tear out of your body.” Sparkle tapped a button, and the illusory display changed to show the leylines in Veil’s chest and legs.

“It can do that?” Veil’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“In theory. Your magic is far stronger than your flesh. Imagine an iron girder anchored in jelly. The iron is strong enough for a bridge, but if you put any real weight onto it, the jelly won’t support it and it tears free.”

“That doesn’t sound good for the jelly.”

“Not good at all.” Sparkle pulled a lever, and the press shut down, steam venting from the pneumatics as the pressure was released. Veil slumped and panted, sweat running down his face.

“Are you satisfied yet that it was a success?” Veil asked. “More tests like this and I might not make it all the way to the battlefield.”

“Good enough for now,” Sparkle said. “I’m not worried about the mechanism, just you. The Engine Heart in your chest previously belonged to Lightning Dust, and it’s a proven success.”

“Er…” Veil looked down at the healing scar on his sternum. “If it’s a success, why isn’t it in her?”

“It was damaged in combat and I took the time to give her some upgrades. Don’t worry.” Sparkle tapped his chest. “It’s been completely refurbished, better than brand new.”

“I have total confidence in you,” Veil Vestige said, smiling a little.

“Easier to say after the surgery than before,” Sparkle snorted.

“If I can ask, though…” Veil nodded to some papers on her desk. “What’s this?”

“Ah, a little side project.” Sparkle pushed the blueprints towards him. “I pulled the design specifications of current prosthetic limbs from the Canterlot Patent Office quite a while ago. I’ve been trying to come up with something for Sunset Shimmer.”

“The sleeping princess,” Veil smiled.

“Don’t let her hear you say that or she’ll wake up just to set you on fire,” Sparkle muttered. “The problem I’ve been running into is that most are too fragile, even the ones designed for the military. And the ones that aren’t fragile, I have concerns about anchoring it to Sunset’s body.”

Veil’s eyes twinkled, and he laughed a little. “Like an iron girder in jelly?”

“Just so.” Sparkle shrugged. “I’ve got a few ideas, though I might have to start thinking outside the box.” She smiled and tapped her hooves together. “Now, get on the treadmill. I want to get readings on long-term endurance.”

Alarms blared, giving Doctor Sparkle a terrible headache before she managed to get to the lab’s command room, carrying a packet of papers in her mouth that she tossed onto a desk as she glared at the red lights flashing on the consoles.

“What happened?” She demanded. “And shut off those alarms! I’m already getting a migraine. If this isn’t a life or death situation, I’ll tear the alarm bells out myself!”

“It was triggered by the Canterlot Royal Guard,” Moondancer said, levitating a strip of paper where Sparkle could see it. “They spotted a Linnorm within the Canterlot Defense Area.”

“It’s been two weeks since the last attack. I suppose this is right on time.” Sparkle sighed. “What forces do they have in the area?”

“None,” Moondancer said. Sparkle looked up at her for confirmation, as if she’d misspoken. “They don’t have anything, Twilight. There’s nothing left after the attack on Canterlot. A few dozen new recruits at best, and they’re better served doing crowd control and making ponies feel safe.”

“Of course.” Sparkle shook her head. “Get a fix on the location and we’ll send…” She hesitated. “Hm. We’ll send Marble out as the primary, and Veil as secondary. But neither of them can manage a fast attack…”

She considered the terrain for a moment.

“We’ll have it come to us. With a proper ambush maybe we can avoid a drawn-out battle.”

Marble Pie sat on the ridge, watching the monster below her limp in circles. The monster inside of her was starting to grow bored just observing the thing. It was a patchwork thing, like somepony had found a bin of leftover parts and stitched them together. No two legs were the same, and it seemed like the only thing keeping it in one piece was magic, pulsing out of the crystal core embedded in one shoulder that seemed to have once been a torso, if the ribs breaking through the skin were any indication.

“It’s not going to come any closer,” Marble muttered.

“What an interesting creature,” Veil said, sounding somewhere between excited and serene. “It doesn’t seem quite as impressive as I was expecting from the stories.”

Marble frowned and glanced at the white unicorn. He was watching her, like he wanted her approval.

“You know, we’re a lot alike,” Veil said. “I’m a unicorn using earth pony magic, and you’re an earth pony with unicorn magic.”

She stared silently, only one eye visible behind her mane.

“We’re nothing alike,” she said, after a few seconds, cutting Veil off before he could say anything else.

“What’s the target doing?” Doctor Sparkle asked. “From here it looks like it’s just milling around.”

“Interestingly, that’s also what it looks like from here,” Veil said. “Though…”

“What is it?” Sparkle asked.

“I think there’s something wrong with it.”

Marble nodded silently, agreeing with the assessment. The linnorm was moving like clockwork. Badly made, damaged clockwork. It was going in a circle mostly because one leg was longer than the others and it didn’t seem entirely aware of what was going on around it. The linnorm wandered into a tree and stopped for a moment, one leg lagging behind and taking a few extra steps before it got the signal to halt.

“This is ridiculous,” Marble said, starting down the trail along the ridge.

“Where are you going?” Veil asked. “Doctor Sparkle’s plan-”

Marble shot him a look, and his mouth snapped shut, her glare catching him cleanly on the chin.

“Okay, I see your point,” Veil admitted, trailing along behind her, cowed.

The linnorm managed to rub together enough brain cells to get frustrated at the tree in front of it, slamming its skull into it like a battering ram, knocking it over and continuing on its way, stumbling on the trunk as it walked over the fallen tree.

Marble knew she should be afraid. It was a monster, after all. She felt more frustrated than anything, though. With Lightning Dust and Sunset Shimmer out of action all the responsibility had fallen onto her shoulders, a burden she’d never really wanted in the first place. She wasn’t even supposed to be here today.

Marble stomped, and a boulder almost as big as she was leapt out of the ground like a salmon from a stream, the flickering green aura of her magic around it. She turned on her hooves and bucked the hovering stone, sending it flying like a shot from a catapult.

The rock slammed into the linnorm’s back legs, the right limb snapping like timber made out of glass what was especially fragile in many structurally significant ways.

It took a moment for the monster to react to the pain, roaring through its mismatched teeth and trying to turn to see what was happening, a combination of three uneven legs and one broken one turning the maneuver into a tumbling fall.

Marble narrowed her eyes, unamused.

The linnorm started to stand, and the entire clearing dimmed like a cloud was passing in front of the sun. A spot of light appeared in the monster’s eyes, and it backed away, trying to escape the illumination.

“It’s a spell I developed to help with my sunburn problems,” Veil said, his horn glowing with its flickering black and white glow. “It’s a lensing effect. It’s very hard to make darkness, but moving light around isn’t too hard. You just take some from all around and focus it…”

The glow around his horn grew, and the darkness strengthened, like a patch of Equestria had fallen into endless night. Marble looked up at the blue sky. It was oddly out of place, far brighter than the ground now.

At the same time, the spotlight in the monster’s eyes grew brighter and tighter, smoke rising as it grew hot enough to burn even dragonflesh.

Veil smiled with amusement, like a foal with an anthill, a magnifying glass, and enough cruelty to turn suffering into a show.

“If you’re not going to follow the plan at least make it quick,” Doctor Sparkle said, radio crackling. “The core is exposed, so stop playing around and take it out.”

“I’m not sure if I can do much damage like this,” Veil admitted.

“Just keep it distracted,” Marble muttered, mentally considering her options. As awkward and fragile as the monster was, getting close would be foalish -- it was strong enough to knock down a tree. She hadn’t had much of a chance to actually learn spells, either. Her horn wasn’t good for much more than telekinesis and the shields Sunset had gone out of her way to make sure she knew.

Marble knew she should be able to do more. Otherwise what was the point? What was the point of having all this power when she didn’t even know how to use it?!

A lash of magical energy tore free of her horn, crackling and hissing as it struck the linnorm.

The corners of Marble’s mouth twisted into a smile. It wasn’t really a spell. She could barely control it. It was perfect.

“At least she’s having fun,” Sunburst offered.

Doctor Sparkle sighed as she watched through the scrying sensor as Marble chased the linnorm around in a spiral, the blind monster harried by lashes and burning light.

“This is a good thing,” Moondancer put in. “Morale has been terrible, and an easy win is good for us and especially for Marble. Giving Veil a chance to run that armor through its paces means if we have a real fight, there won’t be any surprises.”

“I don’t disagree,” Doctor Sparkle admitted. “We’ll let her play a little longer.”

Marble dropped the corpse on the lab table, the steel creaking and protesting at the weight.

“Thank you,” Sparkle said. She walked around the linnorm, noting its injuries. The shattered limb, the minor burns, the flayed scales. No serious injuries, aside from the cracked and broken core.

Marble nodded silently, looking pleased.

“You managed to bring this in relatively intact,” Sparkle noted. “We might learn something from it.”

“Like what?” Veil asked, from the doorway. Sparkle flinched. She hadn’t heard him come in.

“Mostly I’d like to know why Sombra sent such a pathetic effort at us,” she said, recovering quickly.

“Maybe it was just a distraction to get Celestia away from the field again?” Veil suggested. “I’ve heard that she’s nearly tracked him down.”

“...That would make sense,” Sparkle said, nodding. “Look here.” She grabbed a long metal probe and used it to prod the joint at its shoulder. The flesh there was bare, scaleless, and barely holding together.

“You can see a partly formed spine where the bones of the upper leg should be,” Sparkle said. “Partly fused together. Ribs with uneven length growing from it… this linnorm is a factory reject. Probably a failed experiment, and thrown into service because it could walk, if nothing else.”

“What will you do with the body?” Veil leaned over her shoulder.

“I’ll dissect it later,” Doctor Sparkle said. “For now, let’s check the data from your armor’s wardings.”

“...More tests?” Veil said, his expression falling.

“More tests!” Sparkle said, happily.

Sunset groaned.

Everything hurt.

Everything was heavy.

She tried to open her eyes, and it seemed to take days.

“She’s starting to come around,” somepony said, a million miles away. They kept talking, but it was impossible to focus on the words.

An eternity passed between heartbeats.

“...the dosage again.”

“Again? It could do real damage.”

“She’s practically immortal. After what she did do you really think anything can kill her?”

Something warm flooded her body, like she’d put on a sweater and had a nice warm cup of coffee, pulling her out of the comfortable, dark pit she was lying in.

She opened her left eye, her right side staying stubbornly dark, and looked up at the blurry form of Doctor Twilight Sparkle. She blinked a few times and the blur went away, but the Doctor didn’t.

Sunset spent a few moments trying to think of something sarcastic to say.

“You’re not an angel,” she said, not having found a better line to use.

“And you’re not dead,” Sparkle noted. “Living patients should be happy they’re seeing a physician and not the Elysian Fields.”

“...Isn’t your doctorate in biology, not medicine?”

“If you can criticize my credentials you’re doing better than I expected,” Doctor Sparkle said. “You’ve been in a coma for two weeks. I’d tell you to rest, but you’ve been in bed the whole time and I want you on your hooves as soon as possible.”

“You’re a real taskmaster,” Sunset said, smiling a little. She was definitely on the good drugs.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Sparkle asked.

“Better start with the bad news before this stuff wears off,” Sunset admitted. “Are these drugs legal?”

“They’re legal in Zebrica where I bought them,” Sparkle said. “Fine, bad news first. You were injured in a linnorm attack. We found a hundred and eight foreign bodies from your body, mostly crystal shards, but also dragon bone, glass, and metal. We were able to remove most of them. The worst should work their way out in time.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Sunset said.

“Mm. The truth is I’m not good at giving bad news to ponies.”

“Yes you are. You’re blunt and don’t care about their feelings.”

“Most of them can’t kill me with their mind.” She paused. “Or at least won’t.”

“Better hurry before the drugs wear off,” Sunset advised.

Sparkle took a deep breath. “You’d better look down. It’s better to get it over with quickly and… get used to your situation.”

Sunset tried to sit up. It was difficult with no depth perception. And then the memories started to come back. Her head exploding with pain. Her hoof…

She looked down. Her left foreleg ended at the elbow.

Sunset touched her face. “I can’t--”

“Brace yourself,” Sparkle said. She picked up a small mirror. Sunset yanked it out of her hoof, her magic snatching it and almost knocking Doctor Sparkle over.

Bandages were wrapped around her head, scars running across her snout and cheeks, one line going all the way from a new notch in her ear down her cheek and ending under her jaw.

“Your eye is…” Sparkle hesitated.

“I guess I should just be thankful I’m not dead,” Sunset said, starting to shake.

“The scarring will go down,” Sparkle said. “And before you ask, no, I didn’t do the work myself. I brought in a specialist in reconstructive work. She said your coat will cover the worst of the damage. For most ponies it would take a few months, but for you… another week, at this rate.”

Sunset tossed the mirror aside. She didn’t want to look at herself.

“The good news is, we got a lot of data you might be interested in. For a little while we were able to get readings--”

“From the aethereal plane,” Sunset whispered.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Some of it. Like a fading dream.” Sunset closed her eye. “I could feel it, Sparkle. I was turning into pure energy.”

“You were ascending. I wish I could have seen it all with my own eyes, but I’ll have to satisfy myself by going through the data.” She smiled grimly. “You’ll be getting new armor, by the way. I had to disassemble your old suit to get at all the black boxes.”

“It was so beautiful…” Sunset said, a tear dripping down her cheek, the scars on her muzzle giving it a crooked path. “What went wrong?”

“It might be better to wait until you’re feeling better,” Sparkle said. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Tell me now,” Sunset said, opening her eye and sitting up. She was fighting off the drugs, endless willpower and anger dragging her out of the haze.

“Princess Celestia,” Sparkle said, stepping over. “She… almost killed you doing it. I don’t know if she was trying to finish you off or not, but it was a near thing.” She pulled the sheet down and pointed at a new scar on Sunset’s chest. “Through and through. Missed both your hearts.”

“Her mistake, then,” Sunset spat. “I’m going to go up there and tear her horn off and--”

“Don’t be stupid,” Sparkle said.

“Are you going to stop me?” Sunset asked. Her horn started to glow. “You think you can?”

“I think you need to finish healing if you want a fair fight,” Sparkle said, before tapping one of the machines attached to Sunset. There was a pneumatic hiss as something was released into her IV, a chill flooding her veins and making it hard to focus.

“Did you just sedate me?” Sunset asked.

“It doesn’t seem to have worked as well as I’d like,” Doctor Sparkle muttered.

“Sunset!” The door slammed open and a pink whirlwind flashed into the room. Sparkle was pushed out of the way as Cadance practically jumped onto the bed, pulling Sunset into a hug.

“Mmmgphmph--” Sunset said, muffled by Cadance’s chest.

“I see you got word she was waking up,” Doctor Sparkle sighed, picking herself off the ground. “Try not to put her back into a coma. It was hard enough getting her up the first time.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever wake up,” Cadance sniffled, letting Sunset go. “I thought I lost you too. I couldn’t handle it. Not again.”

“I’m pretty hard to kill,” Sunset said, putting on a brave smile. “That thing did its best but even with Celestia coming in at the end it only got partway there.”

“Is our sleeping beauty finally awake?” Veil asked.

“When did you get here?” Doctor Sparkle demanded.

“I walked in after Miss Cadance,” Veil said. “I admit she does attract attention, but I didn’t think it would make me invisible.”

Doctor Sparkle took off her glasses to rub at her temples, continuing as she tried to massage the stress out of her sinuses. “Princess Cadance, Sunset, this is Veil Vestige. I don’t think you’ve had the chance to meet. He’s our newest recruit.”

Cadance stood up, puffing out her chest and spreading her wings, blocking Veil’s view of Sunset.

“You can come back later,” Cadance said, firmly. “This is private.”

“I didn’t realize,” Veil said. “I’m glad you were able to find somepony so quickly after what happened to your husband, Miss Cadance.”

“Princess Cadance,” she said, emphasizing the title.

“I apologize,” Veil said, bowing politely without any apparent hint of sarcasm. “Things are rather informal here and I let it become a bad habit.”

“Thank you,” Cadance said, sighing. “Just please leave us alone for now.”

“Of course.” Veil stood. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know.” He bowed again and left, his hoofsteps silent on the hard tile.

“Creepy,” Sunset muttered. “You couldn’t find anypony better?”

“He was recommended to me,” Doctor Sparkle said. “And he’s been doing quite well. Odd habits, but I suspect he didn’t have a normal foalhood.”

“Who here did have a normal foalhood?” Sunset asked.

“Exceptional ponies come from exceptional beginnings,” Sparkle said. “I’ll leave you two alone and make sure Veil keeps out of trouble. Cadance, try not to break her. I already had to put her back together once.”

“It’s surprisingly intact,” Sparkle said, poking a probe into the deep crack in the linnorm’s core. “We’ve never been able to study one that hasn’t been completely destroyed.”

“Look at this,” Sunburst said. He carefully lifted away a section of cracked crystal to reveal the underlayer. “It’s pure adamant. No breaks in it. Or at least there weren’t any until Marble started hitting it with that rock.”

“The structure is somewhere between a geode and a machine,” Sparkle said. “In fact, I bet that layer of adamant acts as a thaumatic distortion blanket, just like the lunar titanium shielding in an Engine Heart.”

“You think this is an artificial wellspring?”

“It would explain why they’re so powerful. A wellspring would give orders of magnitude more thaumatic load than a simple enchantment.” She motioned to the crack and Sunburst helped her pull it open.

“You’re right,” Sunburst said, shining a light inside. Rainbow-colored dust drifted in the revealed cavity. “Look at the residuum.”

“Mm. A byproduct of an active wellspring. Definitely closed shut now, but maybe we can learn something from the technique. It seems significantly different from mine.”

Sunburst stopped, and Sparkle frowned as the light moved away.

“I need to see what I’m doing,” she said.

“Twilight, I think…” Sunburst gasped and grabbed her, pulling her away. The linnorm twitched, shivering and shaking, making hissing sounds like a boiler about to explode.

“That’s impossible,” Doctor Sparkle said. “The core is ruptured! We just verified it ourselves! It can’t be moving!”

Impossible or not, she backed away, deciding she’d rather put a wall between herself and whatever was happening than face it on her own. The linnorm jerked and started to stand, rolling over and landing heavily on its mismatched claws.

Sparkle swore and hit the alarm.

“You can’t be serious,” Cadance said, even as she helped Sunset. As it turned out, trying to get a prosthetic leg attached was best done with a second pony.

“It’s a red alert,” Sunset retorted. “And I’m the best pony they’ve got. Is that thing attached yet?”

“I’ve never had to do this before,” Cadance protested. “I think it’s on right.”

Sunset took an experimental step, and started to slip, barely catching herself. It didn’t help that she was having problems telling how far away the ground was.

“Piece of junk,” she muttered.

“It’s the same kind the military uses,” Cadance noted.

“That explains why it’s a piece of junk. I think it’s shorter than my leg used to be.”

“Sunset, you’re practically as tall as I am.” Cadance paused at that. “Actually, you’re a little taller. When did you get so big?”

“Magical growth spurt,” Sunset shrugged. She lifted the leg and tried flexing it, the enchantment on the limb responding to her will and moving. It was stiff and awkward, but at least she could walk. “How do I look?” She struck a pose, more bandages visible than fur, one leg shorter than the others, and ready to get into trouble.

Cadance looked her over.

“Beautiful,” she said honestly. “And also brave, hurt, and a little overconfident. If you decide to really go and fight you’ll get upgraded all the way to foolhardy and stupid.”

“I stopped listening after beautiful.”

“I know,” Cadance sighed.

“I killed it,” Marble said, firmly.

“You did,” Veil agreed. “Doctor Sparkle warned us that they’re particularly hard to keep down.”

Marble kicked the door open as a reply, the heavy steel door crumpling under the blow. The linnorm had been kept in the secure section of the labs, which was increasingly proving to be worthless at keeping anything safe. Maybe it would keep out a foal.

“I hope Doctor Sparkle is alive,” Veil continued. “Maybe she knows what happened.”

“Of course she does,” Marble muttered. “She probably caused it.”

The corridor was torn apart, less like it had been methodically destroyed and more like a train had run through it.

“...I can’t remember…” Marble whispered.

“Remember what?” Veil asked, lighting up his horn to shine a beam onto the walls, looking at long scratches through the wallboard and plaster.

“There was… another attack,” Marble said, hesitantly. “It got into the labs and did a lot of damage. Some of this damage is from then.”

“You didn’t even have a chance to clean up before something else happened,” Veil sighed, shaking his head and sending the beam of light scything wildly through the darkness. It stopped on something terrifying.

Veil screamed at a surprisingly high pitch, and Marble threw a wild bolt of magic at it, the jittering beam blocked by a ruby-red shield.

“Wow, a little wound up, are you?” Sunset asked, limping out of the dark.

“Why are you here?” Veil asked. He sounded concerned. “You’re injured. You should be resting.”

“I was in a coma. If that’s not enough rest I don’t know what is.” Sunset smirked. “Besides, you clearly need a hoof actually killing this one.”

Marble frowned at that.

“You don’t have armor,” Veil pointed out.

“Congratulations. You get to see me kill a monster while I’m practically naked.” Sunset blinked. Then she paused. “I was trying to wink there. It, uh, you know. One eye. Didn’t work out.”

“Well, I certainly feel better having some backup,” Veil said. He was clearly trying to put a good spin on things. “For safety’s sake, though, Marble and I should go first. Doctor Sparkle would be cross if we let you get hurt while you’re supposed to be in the infirmary.”

“Lead the way,” Sunset said, waving a hoof.

Veil looked at Marble. She snorted and waved for him to take point.

“I suppose I did literally ask for it,” Veil sighed, walking ahead of the two mares.

Sunset let him get ahead of them a bit.

“How are you?” Sunset asked, looking over Marble. “Heard you took out a monster on your own. Nice work!”

“Are you trying to… bond with me?” Marble asked, confused.

“A smart pony once told me I wouldn’t get far if I only made enemies,” Sunset said. “I’m starting to think she was right.”

Marble nodded.

“Anyway, you’re doing better than I expected,” Sunset continued. “I’m proud of you.”

“...You’re still on a lot of painkillers, aren’t you?” Marble asked, slowly.

“Oh stars, yes. Enough to kill a normal pony!”

“That explains a lot.”

“Girls?” Veil hissed. “I think I found it.” He pointed into the next room.

Sunset and Marble crept up on the door, looking into what had been a storage room for the bits and pieces of linnorms that had managed to survive whatever horrible trauma was needed to finish them off.

The only one still intact, for a very liberal definition of intact, was clumsily trying to pull open containers and crates. It was moving even more awkwardly than before, like a puppet with half its strings cut.

“How is it still alive?” Sunset asked. “You cracked the core open!”

“Look at the flesh,” Veil said. “It’s starting to rot right on the bone. I don’t think it is alive.”

“Oh!” Sunset said, “I get it! That’s clever. There must have been some necromancy in that old silk hat they found~”

Marble gave her a confused look.

“It’s a reference from--” Sunset sighed. “Never mind. All we need to do is use Holy magic.”

“Um…” Veil hesitated.

“You know. Magic drawn from the Elysian Fields.” Sunset looked at Marble and Veil.

“It’s somewhat out of my field of expertise,” Veil said.

“I never learned anything about…” Marble shrugged.

“Why can’t you do it?” Veil asked. “You seem to know about it.”

“Ah, well, you know…” Sunset coughed. “There was this thing with Tartarus and- look, I can’t do Holy magic.”

“Why did you even suggest it, then?” Marble muttered.

“I’ve got a great plan B.”

Lightning Dust looked up at the looming statue, cut crudely out of the charcoal-black rock of the regolith, not that she knew what a regolith was, nor would she use the proper term even if she did know it.

The twisted alicorn looked familiar, like something she’d seen in a dream.

Marble glared at Sunset through her dripping mane.

Sunset said something. Marble shook her head and pointed to her ears.

“I SAID AT LEAST THE FIRE ALARMS WORK!” Sunset shouted over the blaring siren.

Marble’s eye twitched and she considered trying to strangle the unicorn. It probably wouldn’t be that hard. She was sort of tall and gangly and already injured.

The alarm cut off, and Veil trotted down the corridor, his once-braided mane hanging loose and plastered to his head and neck by the water.

“I found the switch,” he sighed. “Now we can hear ourselves think.”

“Not that some of us do much thinking,” Marble said quietly.

“We’ve already established that I’m very heavily drugged right now,” Sunset pointed out. “Besides, it’s got to be dead now.” She gestured to the room, the walls and floor blackened by the fireballs she’d thrown indiscriminately into it, the linnorm lying prone, crispy, and unmoving.

The deep-fried monster started moving, forcing itself to its mismatched claws.

“That’s just not right,” Sunset frowned. “It should be cooked through!”

“It’s mostly a dragon, right?” Veil asked. “Maybe fire doesn’t work.”

“Fire always works,” Sunset retorted. “I’ll just have to use more!”

Marble winced as a wave of heat washed over her, Sunset filling the storage room with flame. Sunset paused, narrowed her eye as something blackened twitched among the ashes, and let loose with another wash of searing heat.

“I think you got it,” Veil said, trying to gently push her back. “Let’s take a look before you end up destroying the building, okay?”

Sunset snorted and stepped away.

Veil looked inside. “Well, all that’s left is bone and ash. Whatever was keeping it going, we’ll never--”

He’d spoken too soon. Impossibly, the charcoal and carbon, all that was left of the linnorm, stirred, cracking and breaking as frozen joints and shattered limbs tried to move.

“I’m not an expert,” Veil admitted. “But I don’t think even zombies do that.”

“Then what is it?” Sunset demanded.

As if it had been waiting for somepony to ask, tendrils of light tore themselves free of the crematorium, solid streams that moved and waved in the air like tentacles, surrounding a floating sphere of crystal and magic that revealed itself as it ripped free of the linnorm’s charred ribs.

“This is new,” Sunset said.

“Doctor Sparkle wants to know why we’re setting her lab on fire,” Marble chimed in. “And she says we should hurry up and kill the monster.” Her expression twisted. “Again.”

“She’s on the radio?” Sunset asked. “Give me your earpiece.”

“I--” Marble hesitated, then shrugged and gave Sunset the twist of wire and gems. “I don’t like listening to her anyway,” Marble muttered.

“--ble?” Sparkle said, in Sunset’s ear. “Marble? Stop ignoring me and tell me what’s going on!”

“Hey Doc,” Sunset said. “So I’m looking at a monster that’s all wiggly lights and, if the buzzing in my horn is right, it’s basically pure magic.”

“Sunset?” Sparkle asked. “Why are you on Marble’s radio?”

“I asked nicely and she let me borrow it.”

“You didn’t seriously injure her, did you?”

“What? No! I just said, I asked nicely--”

“Those drugs must have finally kicked in,” Sparkle said to herself. “I need a better description than wiggly lights.”

“Well, it’s like an octopus made of magic, and it’s got a core in the middle.” Sunset shrugged, looking at Veil for support. “It’s just kind of floating there and spinning.”

“Just a core?” Sparkle asked. “I suppose that’s possible. Where did it come from? I know the linnorm’s core was inactive. We even got partway through disassembly before it came back to life.”

“It was inside the chest,” Veil supplied. “The one we broke was on the shoulder.”

“Clever. Two cores. I wonder if this was the plan all along, to give us a weak, easily beaten enemy just to get a Trojan Horse into my lab…”

“You know, that’s rather rude to the Trojans. They’re not all spies,” Veil said.

The line was silent for a moment. Sunset could picture Sparkle’s expression of annoyance.

“Just kill it,” Sparkle said. “Be careful. If I’m correct, those tendrils are loose leylines. They shouldn’t even be stable without a body, so that linnorm is putting out an astronomical amount of energy just to move around.”

“Hah! You know who else puts out astronomical amounts of energy?” Sunset smirked, puffing out her chest.

“Princess Celestia,” Marble said, immediately.

Sunset deflated and glared at Marble. It took her a few extra moments to come up with a suitable response, and before she could fight through the drug-induced haze to find her reserves of spite and sarcasm, the linnorm made its move.

The tendrils of light stabbed through Marble and Sunset, Veil managing to dodge the first attack by virtue of being the only pony paying attention. His backflip, while graceful and an impressive feat that combined strength and a small amount of magical self-levitation for attitude control, did not get him out of the way of the second attack, catching his back leg.

It was like ants crawling under his skin, invading his body, trying to find something.

“What’s going on?!” Sparkle demanded. “I’m getting bizarre readings!”

“It’s got Marble and Veil pretty good,” Sunset said. “Made a mistake with me, though!” She formed a blade and slashed, severing her prosthetic leg, the limb impaled on the questing tentacle of light. She had to hop back on her rear legs, getting some distance.

“The readings I’m seeing are indicating backflow in their leylines,” Sparkle said. “Can you confirm?”

“I think it’s trying to get into them, like how it was controlling that corpse like a puppet!” Sunset said. “I can see…” She struggled for words. Marble and Veil were glowing, lines running across their bodies with the color of their magic, slowly being pushed back along where the linnorm had penetrated them, like an infection crawling along their veins.

“You need to take out the core,” Sparkle said. “The rest isn’t even real, it’s just a projection.”

“Not as easy as you make it sound,” Sunset muttered, parrying a strike from the creature. “It won’t cut!”

“Of course not,” Sparkle said. “It’s like trying to cut through a stream of water. Just attack the core! It’s only vulnerable where it’s solid!”

“Stop butting in!” Sunset spat. Then a metal hoof slapped her. She blinked, and it struck her other cheek. The thing still had her leg, and was hitting her with it. “Oh that’s it. No mercy!”

“Ma’am?” Sunburst asked. “We don’t have any way of getting readings on Sunset Shimmer, but what we’ve got for Marble and Veil aren’t good. The suits are reporting significant encroachment. I think it’s going for their hearts.”

“It might be able to assume control, like with the heart they put in Spitfire,” Sparkle said. “Try using the override and flooding their leylines. Keep it out for as long as possible!”

Veil jerked as magic flooded through his body like heartburn, acidic and hot.

“That is incredibly unpleasant!” He hissed, though the feeling of invasion was slowly being pushed away.

Sunset jumped into the air, an impressive feat considering she was doing it with two hooves, trying to get to the floating core. She nearly made it, and might have made short work of the monster, but she was fighting a new and even more dangerous foe, depth perception. She came up short, and nearly got impaled for her efforts.

“Crap!” Sunset ducked away, knocking a few questing tendrils aside with her star sabre. “Give me a hoof, you two!”

The metal leg smacked into her face.

“I hate this monster,” Sunset muttered.

Veil fired a barrage of magical bolts at the linnorm, but with the intense magical field around it, they never got close to the target before dissipating.

“It’s shielded,” Veil said. “Should have expected that.” He winced at the pain in his leg and fired a bolt at the impaling tendril, the leyline just flowing around the attack spell. “Sunset, think more quickly, if you could! This is getting very painful, and Marble isn’t looking too good!”

Sunset glanced at the mare. She was trying to keep the leyline from burrowing into her chest, holding it with both forehooves, the armor degrading rapidly, eroding away like a sugarcube in hot tea.

“Sunset!” Marble hissed. “Use that…” she grunted in pain. “That stupid spell you used when I was protecting you!”

“When you were…” Sunset hesitated. “Oh! The one I used to attack beyond visual range!”

“So that’s how you did it…” Veil muttered.

“It’ll go through the shield, right?” Marble asked, between gritted teeth.

“Yeah! But I’ll need a minute to charge, and the thing has to stay still! It’s not easy to aim!”

“I can… hold out that long.” Marble closed her eyes, and her horn lit up, a barrier appearing around her and the linnorm.

“What’s she doing?” Sparkle demanded. “She’s casting an inverted repulsion barrier! She’s--”

“She’s drawing the creature to her instead of pushing it away!” Veil finished for her. “That’s practically suicide!”

Sunset spread her back legs, balancing carefully on her forehoof. Runes appeared in a circle around her, burning into the floor, a magic circle holding her in place. “Stabilization circle locked. Thaumatic pressure rising normally…” She winced. “This isn’t gonna be easy with all these sedatives.”

“Just don’t hit me!” Marble yelled, biting back a scream as another tendril hit her shoulder, burrowing in.

“I’ll be fine! I still have my left eye!”

“I’m gonna die, aren’t I?” Marble whispered.

“Trust me!” Sunset blinked. “I was trying to wink again there!” She focused, the light from her horn burning through crimson to white, too bright for the naked eye to even see a color beyond the glare.

“Just give me some warning before you--”

Sunset fired the moment the energy started circulating. It was smaller than the blast she’d used to attack before at the very limit of spellcasting physics, a pencil-thin beam surrounded by a spiral of ionized gas, hitting the floating core dead-on while Marble was holding it, passing through like a bastilla bolt through a watermelon and with much the same effect.

The core exploded in a blast of released magical power and a shower of rainbow sparks a fraction of a second before the wall beyond it, Sunset’s attack blasting through the lab walls.

Marble wobbled and collapsed.

“I said give me warning!” She moaned, before passing out.

“I feel awful,” Marble whispered. Sunburst replaced the towel on her head with a fresh one, damp and cold to help with her fever.

“Doctor Sparkle says you had critical infiltration of your leylines,” Sunburst said. “What you did was incredibly dangerous. A few more seconds and you would have… I don’t even want to think about what it would have done.”

“That’s not why I feel awful,” Marble said, looking across the room at the other hospital bed.

“Hah! We kicked its ass!” Sunset crowed. “Well, I did, anyway. And that was without armor! Hey, has anyone seen Cadance? I need to tell her about this one.”

“I see what you mean,” Sunburst sighed.

“The lab really looks wrecked from here,” Moondancer said, looking up the mountain to where it was nestled.

“Of course it does,” Sparkle shrugged. “After the earthquake from the fall of Canterlot, it suffered serious structural damage. We might have to think about moving to another location sooner rather than later.”

“Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you,” she said, leading Sparkle off the path. The Doctor glanced at the flags to either side of them.

“The Royal Combat Engineers found something?” She asked.

“They solved a little mystery,” Moondancer said. “Too late to help, but it concerns me somewhat.” She helped Twilight over a stream to a clearing that had recently been cut back, caution tape and tools marking the area out.

A sinkhole the size of a small home had opened in the forest, leading down to tunnels that had already collapsed. A half-dozen bodies were strewn around the site, each of them marked and numbered like a crime scene.

“Diamond Dogs,” Moondancer said, nodding to the corpses. “They’ve been enslaved by Sombra.”

Doctor Sparkle got closer, not quite touching the nearest body as she looked it over.

“Severe malnutrition,” she noted. “As thin as a rail and with ribs showing. He hasn’t been eating.”

“According to preliminary reports, they weren’t eating, sleeping, or resting. They were enslaved and worked to death digging tunnels. We think this group died before they could cover up the sinkhole.”

“It’s how he got the linnorm into Equestria,” Sparkle said, with sudden insight. “Pegasi patrols would have seen them otherwise.”

“Exactly,” Moondancer said. “But what worries me is that if they’re digging, they might be able to approach… you know… without going through any security checkpoints. Sombra could get in there without us even knowing.”

“It would be difficult,” Sparkle said. “The caverns under Canterlot are a maze, and we sealed them as much as possible. He would have to know almost exactly where she is before he could get the dogs beyond our defenses. It’s not a matter of finding a tunnel and walking in the right direction.”

“It’s still a possibility we can’t ignore,” Moondancer said.

“You’re right,” Sparkle sighed. “Get some proposals on my desk on how to secure ourselves against this. At least we know what we’re up against.”

Kevin tapped his chitinous hoof against the edge of the magical barrier. Maybe, eventually, he’d be able to break free, but right now he couldn’t change shape, cast a spell, or walk away. It was a very well-crafted spell.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you want?” Kevin asked. He waited, the only sound in the room the dripping of water from a leaking pipe.

His captor told him what they wanted.

“Oh, I see,” Kevin said. “I didn’t think you’d be the one to remove me from the board. I’m a little honored you came in person. I don’t suppose I get any last requests?”

Lightning Dust knocked on the door. To her great surprise, it opened.

A black-sheathed horror looked out at her.

“You must be Lightning Dust,” the changeling said. “Come on in! We’ve been expecting you. My name’s Thorax!”

"What do you mean?" the elder asked.

Something to inspire them. They have all the glories of the world when you rule, and when it is my time, they have to hide away from the terrors of the night. I want to give them a gift, something where they can see things that don't exist but could.

"All you will do is confuse them. They don't need change. Do you remember the chaos?"

Of course I remember it. But without some change, things will be like this, forever. They'll just be foals looking to us as the only adults. With my gift they can imagine ways to improve themselves. They can see the world as it could be instead of as it is.

"They're not foals. They'll grow up and live happy lives. If they don't know something can exist, they won't suffer when they can't have it. Your new gift will only make great false hopes full of horror when they fail, disappointment and jealousy and anger. What ponies have now is enough for them."

No, I said. It isn't enough.

"They can rest safely. They fear the monsters in the dark only enough to praise us for saving them from the shadows. They don't know what it means to be truly terrified. Do not introduce some great knot of uncertainty into the world. Things are good. They are what they must be."

Please, sister, I begged. You give them everything good. I rule only over darkness. Let me give them at least one thing they can be happy for.

"You need to grow up, sister. You'll learn that our purpose is to keep things in harmony, not to cause our own chaos."

She turned away from me. She didn't see the expression that crossed my face. The decision that was made between moments.

The day passed.

I raised the moon.

I created the first dream.