“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
-Buddha

“From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.”
-H.P. Lovecraft

Lyra slowly opened her eyes, the pre-dawn air filtering through the open window. Groggily she rolled out from under the blankets and sighed at the first tang of the morning chill.

‘I miss Bonnie… already.’

The creamy confectionist had in fact come storming into Canterlot only yesterday, having bullied her whereabouts from Spike, took the train to Canterlot, stormed past the guards, and (surprisingly), Princess Luna and Major Bauer.

She’d come to take her home. Bon-Bon had been in a panic, angry enough that not even the humans Lyra had so fondly researched could keep her down...

"Come on Bonnie, I have to do this," Lyra pressed.

Bon Bon groaned with exasperation, glancing out of the window to see groups of ponies trying on the odd-looking battle saddles, assisted by several human farriers. "But why? Why do you have to do this, Lyra?”

She stomped a hoof on the floor.

“Is it because of the humans? Is it because of me? I'm sorry I never believed you about them before, but you don't have to go to WAR to prove the depth of your convictions..."

"It's... something I have to make right," Lyra answered, unable to make eye contact with her marefriend.

The unicorn’s ears and mane drooped despondently. Seeing them, Bon Bon scrunched up her mouth and stepped forward.

"Ugh... Lyra, if this is some crazy attempt to bring a human in for a little experimental fun... then fine, I'll do it."

Lyra’s jaw dropped. In the back of her mind she thought she heard the whispered words, ‘Oh my!’

"You don’t-” she stammered. “Wait what?!"

"Did you hear something?" Bon Bon muttered, glancing around as if searching for some unseen speaker.

"No, don't change the subject!” Lyra replied, clenching her jaw. “Do you honestly think that I’m doing this to get frisky in bed with a human?!"

"Well what else am I to think? You have all those drawings... of positions in your study. Like that one of a human carrying a pony by the flank and... thrusting."

"You were not supposed to see those!" Lyra squeaked. Oh my, indeed. “Bonnie, you weren't supposed to look at those! It was... just a thing."

"So that image of a pony in a collar sucking away was just a thing? It was really detailed... in fact I think it was supposed to be me!"

"OOOOOOOH MY!"

This time the words were neither imagined nor subtle, and with a burst of purple flame the speaker himself flared into view, a fencing rapier in one hand.

"Gah! Discord!" Bon Bon shrieked, staggering back against the wall. Lyra, for her part, just pressed a hoof to her face and groaned.

"Naughty little pony," the arch-trickster chided sardonically, before pulling out from thin air a pair of ly explicit sketches, which he then skewered together with the tip of the sword. “Is this what you’ve been hiding under the bed from me? For shame young mare, for shame.”

The pictures were, indeed, rather shameful. One involved Lyra herself… and the other a male human. She tried to ignore how the slender rapier had pierced and connected certain parts of either subject’s… anatomy.

"No! Put that away!"

"Hmm. I believe your marefriend is right, when it comes to your dirty little fantasies…” he teased, holding up the two pictures as if they were a pinup, overlapping them so that…

“Ah ha! So that’s how you put those parts together. The Swedes always make ‘Tab A into Slot B’ always look so simple...and why yes, I do believe that is your shapely rump. And from the look on your face there it seems you’re certainly enjoying this bit of home-improvement. In fact it looks as if you’ve been nailed, hammered, covered in a coat of glossy and then left out to dry!”

Lyra had never been so embarrassed before in her whole life, and was by now reduced to terrified squeaks. The flush on her face was so deep that her head looked like a tomato with a little tuft of minty leaves sprouting out of the top.

“And now that I have achieved maximum innuendo, I think its time the two of you got a little time-out… do whatever it is sparring lovers do… so off you go to hammerspace!”

Looking back on that exchange, Lyra found herself torn between shame and satisfaction. Discord had dropped Bon Bon and herself into a self-contained little pocket-dimension where they could sort out their troubles in condensed time…

For some reason, it had also been full of hammers.

And there had been a sign across one non-existent ‘wall’, with the following words emblazoned on it in a rather lurid green:

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” But if Ambassador Heartstrings was anything like her, I just know she was more interested in the yellow cross-gartered stockings.

Twelfth Night, Act II Scene 5.
William Shakespeare – with improvements by John Q. Discord.

It was strange, admittedly ludicrous.

But it gave time to explain everything. Explain… and understand.

Over the course of hours hidden within minutes, Lyra had poured out everything, everything that Marcus ever told her about their counterparts, everything there was to know about a Lyra who had died a hero, and a Bon Bon who still endured a living death. Their histories, their roles in the war, and their fate...nothing was hidden, and everything laid out on the table.

‘I couldn’t have lied anyway… not to her..’

She trusted Bon Bon with everything, even the things she’d admittedly wanted to keep secret. Internally, she guessed that was what it meant to be in a relationship...and that thought gave her a warm feeling in her chest.

And, speaking of relationships, they had then come to the subject of the pictures...

Bon Bon herself had been caught between being both aroused and frightened at some of the ideas Lyra had dreamt up, not limited to...

Lyra as a human, ‘riding’ her little pony.

Bon Bon as a human… armed with rope, saddle and whip.

And then… most lewd of all… a mythic ‘threesome’.

‘And all this started because Cadance and I used to play ‘horsies’ when she foalsat me…’

Freud would have been proud.

Stephan found out later about Bon Bon, but had allowed her to stay the night on the condition that she had to leave in the morning unless she was willing to train.

“Stuff it up your cloaca!” had been Bonnie’s parting words to the biped who only scratched his head in confusion. She still hadn’t quite grasped the particulars of human anatomy...

Lyra sniffed as she hugged the blanket, taking in the lingering scent of her 'Bonnie'. She cast her mind back further, and sighed in grim frustration, remembering what had transpired before Bon Bon’s unexpected arrival.

“What happened, to the other Equestria… Celestia’s madness, the war the newfoals. It was all my counterpart’s fault.”

Twilight and Rarity had been utterly shocked, almost thinking Lyra was making up the account of her doppelganger’s witless role in dooming two worlds.

‘But their curiosity won over in the end… just like it did for me… no, for her...’

Billions of lives, all hanging on the thread of a single, innocent decision…

‘Blow off some musical rehearsals, go diving with friends, condemn all of Earth and Equus to war and doom the multiverse. Yup, just another day in my life...’

Yet what hurt most was the thing left unsaid. Some humans and those ponies from the other Equestria had recognized Bon Bon, making odd comments about how nice it was to see her ‘like this’ again. Trying to hug her before realizing, just as Bon-Bon shook them off, that she was not their Bon Bon. They made comments about her mind, her sanity. Lyra distinctly remembered one human fema… no, one human woman saying “It’s so wonderful to see her just focusing on the here and now!”

Lyra would later ask Major Bauer just what happened to Bon Bon, her sweet, delicious, ever-so-loving marefriend. He had replied with five simple words:

“You don’t want to know.” Then ten more. “I think you feel enough guilt weighing on your barrel.”

Her alarm would go off in a few minutes. Sighing, Lyra decided to get out of bed early and take her shower.

Evening

It had taken some time, but Discord had successfully convinced Stephan to let the Element Bearers take a break from their training so they could be informed on the fate of their counterparts. His argument was simple, yet effective.

“They have a right to know what happened. To know that above all, their participation in this is ridiculous, because they’re fundamentally good mares. Pinkie Pie’s just… she’s been so wrecked, thinking that deep down, she’s a terrible pony because she has the capacity for this somewhere in her. She thinks she’s on a slippery slope, and I don’t know if she’s holding together…. I won’t lie, I’m worried.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it Discord. We’ve all got a darkness in ourselves. What if those… things were cultivated out of the darker patches of the original element-bearers’ souls?”

“What if they were? When you want a garden to bloom, you let in the light. Cast a shadow, and all that will grow are toadstools… don’t let their fears take root. Just give them the truth, and let them be enlightened.”

Now, the small circle of ponies were all gathered on a large sofa, accompanied by Marcus, whom Discord had dragged from some perch, where he had been brooding over the city like some version of Bruce Wayne badly in need of antidepressants. A fire was burning cheerfully in the grate, keeping out the evening chill.

Lyra took the centre stage.

“Before we begin, you all remember Twilight and myself discussing the KV-62 Archeological Party, right?”

It had only been a few weeks since that chaotic tete-la-tete in the Golden Oaks Library… and yet those last shards of innocence felt like they were years in the past.

“Yes,” the purple unicorn answered, and for the benefit of memory repeated a condensed version of events. “Doctor Waggoner was one of the earlier proponents of Anthropology, and led an expedition to the Valley of Dreams to search for evidence of humanity. His findings, during the transit back to Equestria, were caught in a freak storm and lost when the ship chartered to convey them capsized. Doctor Waggoner never gave up in trying to fund a second expedition, but with his premature death, human xeno-studies have been reduced to quackpot…”

“Ahem!”

“Sorry… let’s just say that Anthropology was removed to the scientific ‘fringe’... the realm of scholars like Laconic, and Shriek… and Catseye. Who will be visiting soon, won’t they?”

“Right,” Lyra said, nodding in agreement. There was a haunted age in her eyes. “Though I wouldn’t say Catseye’s a real scholar....”

“I agree completely!” Twilight said. “I received a letter from Shriek earlier, he says he’s happier than a pig in the mud, and Laconic’s never written faster than he is now, and... and they’d love to become a part of … Lyra? What’s wrong?”

Lyra turned away from where she had been gazing out of a window over a city mobilizing for war.

“Anyway, the one event, the point of divergence between that other Equestria and our own, was all down to my choice. Or rather, my counterpart’s. At some point, she and I both faced a decision… and where I trod the path I know, she favored the road less travelled by.”

“What exactly?!” Rainbow Dash demanded, her dwindling patience made clear for all to see. “Just get to the point already!”

Lyra groaned and rubbed at her forehead. “It’s not so easy to just put in words, Dash, I’ve got feelings riding on this, and it’s really hard to say! Just… let me get it out in my own time.”

She paused, and took a few slow breaths, trying to suppress the screaming guilt that was pooling in her gullet.

“I had a choice, not that long ago. Some of my friends had invited Bon Bon and myself to go on a seaside vacation with them. Swimming, diving, sunbathing on the beach, and a nighttime fireworks display. A perfect summer weekend of fun… but at the same time, I was preparing for that year’s tryouts for the Canterlot Royal Orchestra.”

With one hoof she self-consciously rubbed at her cutie-mark, and the golden lyre seemed to gleam for a second as if buffed with a rag.

“I chose to stay home and use that spare time to practice for the tryouts. My counterpart… Ambassador Heartstrings, walked the other road, and went frolicking in the sea… where she found a shipwreck.”

Those few words rippled around the room like waves washing up in a bay. Even Rainbow Dash simmered down.

“You, or she... she found the wreck of the Bucephalus…” Twilight gasped, not in question, but in realization. “She just happened to be the one mare who discovered Doctor Waggoner’s lost artifacts.”

“Yeah,” Lyra muttered, trying to inject a laugh into her words, and coming out instead with what sounded like a joyless hiccup. “Imagine how she must have felt… she was now the pony who had proof of human existence in her very hooves. She must’ve been so thrilled, so glad that she chose to go play in the sea, rather than shut herself at home with a dusty old lyre…”

The bitterness in her voice could almost be tasted on the air.

“And... I’m betting you know how the humans look at me sometimes,” Lyra continued. “She was a hero to them!” she exclaimed with mock cheer. “When Celestia started the delegation to visit Earth, she was one of the ponies selected, right over that imbecile Catseye. She was a hero to all of them, a celebrity, living her dream thanks to her discovery. But there was something else on that ship…” she continued. “The reason why the other Celestia went mad, why the other Equestria is at war with the humans.”

“And…?” Rarity pressed. “Lyra dear, don’t keep us in the dark.”

“I theenk my leeetle grey cells shall present themselves to zat that question!” Discord proclaimed, strutting forward into the centre of the room, dressed in an austere grey suit with a fussy little Homburg hat perched between his horn and antler. “The answer to this mystery, I shall now reveal, mit my Belgian elan!”

As he passed Lyra, he briefly tousled her mane and gave her a wink.

“Le voilà!” he snapped his fingers and produced an image of a plain fabric bag on a length of hemp. “Ze cheifest and grandest catastrophe of our age.”

“A bag?” Rarity muttered. “You dragged us in here to show us a bag?!”

“Right,” Applejack agreed. “What’s a little ol’ burlap sack got to do with this?”

“Zut allors, non. Not just any sack, mademoiselles!” Discord preened, stroking a thin black moustache. “For this is an artifact of evil both cold in temperament and fiery in wrath. It is the heart of all darkness, an implacable foe that mine family has battled down countless eons…”

He snapped back to his usual appearance, and now his words and tones were deathly serious.

“It’s called the Bag of Tirek.”

“Tirek?” Twilight’s ears flicked at the name. It felt like something she vaguely remembered from her studies, and yet she could not place where she’d read or heard it…

And she was not alone.

“T-T-Tirek?” Fluttershy stuttered, shivering. She did not seem to like where this was going.

“OH NO! NOT TIREK! OF ALL THE UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TIREK!?!” Pinkie Pie screamed in horror, jumping off from the seat before abruptly braking in mid-air, hovering for a moment before gravity noticed what she was up to and demanded she come back down. She fell in a heap. “Um... Who is Tirek? And why does that name make me feel all… sick and wrong?”

“It’s a name all ponies have feared, from the cradle to the grave, even if they were unaware of it…” Discord explained. He was setting up a small projector and screen, and even though he had summoned both of them into being, the fact that he was completing the task by hand suggested a level of reverence that struck at Twilight deeply.

Reverence, and sadness.

“This… is Tirek,” he said, and brought up a slide.

All of the gathered ponies seemed to tense at the reveal of a truly massive creature…

“A centaur,” Lyra said, as if cutting off Twilight’s first question before she could even vocalise it. “Half human, half horse.”

Indeed, the terrible figure onscreen had a somewhat human build to the upper part of his body. Beneath the waist however, his torso expanded into a muscular quadrupedal form. Humanoid and equine rolled into the same form, neither and both at the same time.

That aesthetic was expressed elsewhere in the image, fur and fingers and other traits of both species blurred together in some fusion of genetics.

‘Just like the minotaurs or griffons… is this some form of speciesism? I mean we shouldn’t judge him badly just for being a…’

But then Twilight looked into the figure’s face, and could not repress a shudder.

‘..a monster.’

She had faced down her share of evil and tyranny. Everything from Nightmare Moon’s coldly autocratic malice to Chrysalis’ utter disdain for anything not of her hive.

But this, this creature embodied a loathing, a visceral hatred that transcended the image and resonated in Twilight’s heart.

She feared this Tirek on sight… and hated him in turn.

It was not his appearance which so shocked her, nor the cruel horns that grew from his brow. In fact, there was even something arrogantly noble about the rough composition of his features, much like Marcus’ own battle-hardened demeanor.

No, it was the expression on his face, a mess of proportions stretched out, the jaw too huge, the face too thin, the eyebrows too thick to look truly natural. His face looked like it belonged to a human as drawn by an angry caricaturist, and he wore a sneeringly cruel set of the jaw and lips that spoke of a hatred for everything that lived, breathed, swam, flew and crawled upon the face of a world, and the same for the sun and the moon and the stars scattered across the face of heaven.

And then there were the eyes.. They were simply wrong, downright hideous in fact. The pupils were yellow, with jet-black sclera, and seemed to blaze out of the centaur’s blood-red face. The casual malice of his expression was one thing, but those awful eyes defined Tirek, and anchored him forever in her mind under a single word. You wouldn’t be able to see the reflection of anything in those eyes… somehow, that unnerved her more than anything else.

“Evil...” Twilight heard Fluttershy, Pinkie and herself speak in unison. She looked towards her friends and exchanged a knowing glance, before bobbing her head and adding a rider to that sentiment.

“Pure, unadulterated evil.”

“Never toss a phrase like that around lightly,” Discord said softly. “Evil is as evil does, and just when you think you’ve got a clear idea of just how low its practitioners can sink, it’ll pull the trapdoor out from under your feet and drop you straight into some new atrocity…”

Then he smiled, sadly but genuinely.

“But well done to the three of you for being such excellent judges of character. Gold stars all round!”

A sticker cut in the shape of a five-pointed star materialised on each of their barrels. Pinkie immediately began to bounce around, while Fluttershy sunk into embarrassed squeaks, trying to pry her ‘prize’ off before it drew any more attention to herself.

Across the room, Twilight could see Marcus rolling his eyes, and instead of touching her own star, she turned her attention towards the draconequus.

“Discord,” she said firmly. “You don’t have to put on a show of good cheer. If this is troubling you, just act naturally.”

The lanky spirit of chaos bent himself in her direction, and arched a single eyebrow. Then he nodded, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.

"Well, getting back on subject. Our boy Tirek here was once one of the alicorns… the precursor race to current ponies, but he became entranced with the dark arts after a fall from grace. He vowed revenge, and came up with an idea. The alicorn race was already attempting to purge themselves of their inner darkness, to separate their angels and demons as it were.”

“Because that worked so well for Doctor Jekyll, didn’t it?” Marcus butted in.

“Bingo to the literary nerd in seat #3! Tirek applied that research to sunder the “inner darkness” out of the souls of the alicorn race, and roided’ himself up on all that bad mojo. By the time anypony realized what he was doing, he had absorbed enough dark emotional power to become nearly unstoppable.”

He paused, and for a second Twilight thought she saw tears in his eyes.

“Only one alicorn was up to the task of stopping him…” he continued. “Her name was Faust.”

Again Discord changed slides, and the vision of Tirek in all his wrathful glory switched to an image of a white alicorn with a vibrant scarlet mane.

“Oh my…” breathed Rarity. “Such elegance and grace…”

She was not the only one looking on in awe. The creature on screen was the very vision of compassion and gentility, with a faint and motherly smile on her lips.

‘It's as if Fluttershy was reincarnated as a Princess!’ Twilight realized.

“That’s my mom you’re gawking over,” Discord tutted, flashing them all a bright smile before he continued. “She valiantly fought against Tirek, and was able to defeat him… at the cost of her own life. But the arch killjoy had a contingency plan. All of his power, drawn and nurtured from the rage and hate of an entire race of demigods, was transferred into an eldritch construct… the bag, where it was nurtured and incubated… festering into a black spectrum of magic, an inversion of the harmony all you ponies hold so near and dear. A ‘Rainbow of Darkness’ as he called it.”

Rainbow nearly snickered at the name, only for Applejack to lightly smack her behind the head, earning an indignant “ouch” from her.

“This ain’t no laughin’ matter, Dash,” the farm-pony hissed.

As if to underscore the point, Discord dropped a ‘Dunce’ cap on Rainbow’s head, ‘tut-tutting’ as he did.

“So disappointing…”

Twilight shook her head and rolled her eyes at their antics. Instead of allyowing herself to be drawn in, she focused on the subject at hoof.

“So now this Tirek is back, that much I can understand. But there’s more to the story, right?”

“Good deduction skills, Miss Sparkle!” Discord clapped, giving Twilight another golden star sticker. “Indeed, there is more. For this isn’t the first time that Tirek has made a return. After his battle with my mother, he was laid low, weakened and banished to Tartarus itself, but still biding his time until he was strong enough to return. That opportunity came at the close of the marvellously-named ‘Discordian Era’... while Sunbutt and Woona were finishing up their squabble with me and getting around to building their ‘perfect pony society’, Tirek managed to free himself and broke out of Tartarus.”

The projector changed slides, this time to several depictions of a large group of ponies, first disembarking from a number of ships, and then establishing a community in what Twilight presumed was Dream Valley.

“At the same time, a number of ponies had fled Equestria during my *ahem* ‘reign’ and emigrated overseas to establish new colonies, safely away from the battle.”

“So you guys had your own Mayflower?” Marcus commented. “Your own Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock?”

“Oh yes,” Discord answered smoothly. “Just without the genocide. And the religious fundamentalism… and the sexism… and racism… and slavery… and monumentally terrible Dinesh D’Souza and Kirk Cameron documentaries that try to whitewash that all away… with extra emphasis on ‘white’.”

Undaunted, Marcus just folded his arms, sat back, and cocked an eyebrow. “Cute. But given no-one besides yourself seems aware of this historical spin-off franchise, I’m guessing things didn’t pan out. Did your Pilgrims even survive the first winter?”

“Oh yes…” Discord replied, a dark rip-tide curling under his words. “Fate gave that First Generation plenty of time to establish themselves before it brought the ban-hammer down on their innocent little dream.”

Shivering, Twilight studied the images of Dream Valley closer. Despite the bright colours and happily frolicking ponies, there was a sense that something was wrong with the picture. There was something in the background, where stormclouds and dark mountains seemed to overshadow the jewel-like community like the hovering blade of a guillotine.

It screamed ‘Impending Doom’.

“Tirek…” she heard somepony else speak aloud before she could open her mouth. Surprisingly, it was Rainbow Dash.

“This was it, wasn’t it?” the cyan speedster continued. “This is where that jerk returned to power, right?”

“Got it in one,” the draconequus confirmed. “It was just a turn of the wheel to go straight from paradise to the realm of the Spooky Mormon Hell Dream…”

The slide twisted, like an optical effect, revealing that the shadow looming over Dream Valley was indeed the demonic minotaur, Bag uplifted in his arms.

“He wished to have a new dominion; a foothold from where he could begin another dark crusade, with an army marching upon the back of the Rainbow of Darkness. And Dream Valley gave him everything he needed to build this empire, this castle of midnight… and the ‘raw materials’.”

The slide turned into a film, and the observers could only watch in morbid fascination as a trio of frightened ponies were consumed by a beam of darkness that burst out from the bag. Faces were twisted in pain as their bodies contorted, changing form…

And their surroundings were transforming as well. Flora and fauna, stone and wood… everything was bending under the onslaught of wickedness.

“Raw materials?” Rarity whispered in disgust. “Those are living beings!”

Within moments, the hideous metamorphosis was done, and in the place of the equines arose three large dragon-like creatures, howling in pained rage, their surroundings transformed into a nightmare realm.

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “I’m seeing a connection - is that how it works!? Is this the same magic that makes the Ponification Potion work? They’re baked from the same ingredients - the power of that Bag!”

It was gold stars all around as Discord shared out a few more stickers. Twilight however was running her mind at maximum rpms.

“Why?” she asked in a whisper. “Why would Celestia turn to something so… twisted?”

“We'll never know everything from those days, so it's hard to say. But I’m assuming it preyed on her insecurities,” Discord said. “Imagine how she felt when Minty’s counterpart presented her with that Bag, or... Or however it got here. Her sister was due to return from the moon, the latent magic of the Crystal Empire was stirring, indicating an imminent end to Sombra’s curse…”

‘She must have been in a panic,’ Twilight realised. ‘And she was alone. Nightmare Moon and Sombra stalking her dreams, the Elements gone… and all her hopes would have been riding on… me.’

A horrible idea shot through her in that instant, and she hugged herself tight.

‘Could… could she have dabbled with these dark arts… to try and protect me!? Could all of this has happened, because Celestia was willing to risk her own soul for my sake… because she loved me...’

And she suddenly realised how Lyra had felt upon realising that her counterpart had been the one to discover the Bag in the first place…

“Uh-uh, don’t go there Miss Sparkle!” Discord interrupted her internal dialogue, wagging a claw. “Celly’s mistakes and motivations are not your burden… and it’s exactly those doubts and fears you’re feeling right now that the Bag would have acted upon. Take it from an experienced sinner, that these kind of temptations work beside when it turns your noblest attributes back on yourself.”

“Eyup,” Applejack agreed. “Hay, that’s a lesson all of us’ve learned since we became friends.”

She wrapped a hoof around Twilight and gave her a hug, before flashing a glare at Discord, who grudgingly placed a final gold star on her hat.

“Well said. And that is Tirek for you - a master deceiver and prince of lies, a monster through and through. He manipulates minds and twists bodies to do his bidding, pulls out the worst in a soul and gives it free reign. And if he’s feeling sadistic enough, he sometimes even leaves a remnant of the original personality in question enslaved within their own bodies.”

“Why? What good would that do!?”

“To bask in their screams… to rejoice in their pain and horror. You think the buzz you get off watching innocent fillies play is nice, that’s nothing compared to the high Tirek would ride while making those fillies rip each other to pieces.”

Applejack made a quiet retching sound, and Discord shrugged.

“Get this clear, girls, Sombra would have forced children to work themselves to death as chattel slaves, and Nightmare Moon would have had them live out their lives under an eternal night… but they had their own perverse philosophies at work. Tirek doesn’t - he would have made those hypothetical fillies kill one another simply because it amused him… all of this, the corruption of Equestria, the newfoals and war, all the suffering and hate, is the most colossal act of self-gratification ever seen. He doesn’t care at all about anything other than himself. I don’t even think he can see anything besides himself as worth anything. No empathy or remorse, just this colossal wank-fest of torture and blood. And I think he likes seeing all of Celestia's or ponykind’s ideas of ‘perfection’ broken and run into the ground till there’s nothing left.”

“I hope I never see the other Equestria,” Pinkie Pie shivered. “No smiles, no laughter… anything ruled by someone like Tirek can’t be even remotely happy.”

“That’s the one memory that I’m glad my counterpart didn’t pass on to me,” Discord agreed. “I suppose I could try and find out, but-”

“Wait! Do we have our own bag?!” Pinkie Pie interrupted, eyes wide, panicking. Nobody present was sure whether or not she was deliberately trying to interrupt Discord’s train of thought, or just speaking out of horror. “Are we going to have all this happen to us too?!”

“Don’t you worry your cotton candy over that! I sent it into space where nobody can ever find it!” Discord reassured her. “We’re safe from that at least.”

“Oh thank the maker for that!” Pinkie sighed with relief.

“We have a lot of loose ends lying around,” Discord agreed. “I figure we should have them all out of the way if we don’t want to get crippled at the worst possible time. Such as… the Crystal Empire? Or a certain annoying unicorn that I vaguely remember talking to Twilight about...”

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“Catseye,” Discord answered.

Twilight just groaned.

“Agreed. Sounds like the Marquis De Sade’s wet-dream...” Marcus quipped with a grunt. “Pain for pain’s sake alone… yeah Twily, you’re not to blame for this messed-up mofo’s fuckwittery.”

Twilight sniffed and rubbed at her watering eyes. “Thanks guys.”

She straightened up and blinked away the last tears. “But then, if this is Tirek’s character, his nature... why humanity? Why is his he going after the humans first? There’s no reason to go after one particular species…”

“Oh, for a mind like that, there’s the greatest reason of all - wounded pride.”

“Yeah, you’d sure know about that, wouldn’t ya, Discord?” Applejack glowered. “Come back after a thousand years in stone, and yer first act was to target your kid sister’s most beloved student…”

“Self-confessed old sinner… so guilty as charged. And here’s the speck of light in Tirek’s eye… and Marky-Mark, you might wanna pay attention.”

The screen changed again, showing a picture of a young blond human girl riding on the back of a pink and blue pegasus.

“General Firefly?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “It can’t be…”

“Some offshoot of genetics… or a cosmic in-joke. Mom alone would know the logic behind it, I guess,” Discord coughed, before redirecting his attention back at Marcus.

“And speaking of genetics, do you recognise little miss moppet there?”

“Dunno,” the ex-marine shrugged. “Cute enough kid, though she kinda reminds me of…”

His words trailed off, and with everypony's attention turned upon him, Marcus’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“My mother!”

He watched on in stunned silence, witnessing a tiny recollection of his mother landing in Dream Valley, surrounded by numerous welcoming ponies.

“And… the Eagle has landed,” Discord said, in a surprisingly sober tone. “Megan Williams, first human to ever set foot on Equus. I don’t think the poor kid ever realized the magnitude of that small step she just took… but then, her talents always lay elsewhere. Guys with laser guns, giant transforming robots… there’ve been multiple iterations of your Mom across the multiverse, and wherever they went, they seemed to make the most remarkable of friendships.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at that observation. Marcus however, for his part, simply sat in stunned silence, witnessing his mother defying a fire-breathing dragon.

“And suddenly,” Applejack chuckled. “A lot of this fella’s antics make sense. Gotta be something in the blood an’ bone.”

And the narrative continued, showing not just how a single child befriended an alien race, but stood up to Tirek himself, a physical incarnation of evil.

“Wow Marcus! Your mom is awesome!” Rainbow praised as the little girl turned the Rainbow of Darkness back upon its master. “Uh… Marcus? What’s wrong?”

Numbly, Marcus reached into one of his uniform’s pouches and drew out a delicate, heart-shaped locket. He handled it as if it were made of glass.

“This… this belonged to her. Spykoran called it the Rainbow of Light.”

Twilight cautiously approached him to take a closer look at the charm. After a moment’s intense magical scrying, she whetted her suddenly-dry lips and nodded meekly.

“Yes, I can feel the touch of magic in it. It’s really faint, but definitely there. And it feels almost like...”

She swallowed and visibly steeled herself before continuing. “It’s on a familiar wavelength. This tiny piece of jewelry was once kissed by the most powerful force of magic known to ponydom - just like the Elements of Harmony.”

Marcus jerked in surprise, holding the locket out at arm’s length as if it were radioactive. The sudden motion caused Twilight herself to jump back, knocking herself and Rarity, who had the misfortune to be craning curiously over her shoulder, to the floor. After a momentary confusion of limbs the lavender mare laughed, holding up a hoof to her mouth at the sight of Marcus still locked in the same position.

“Relax, it probably doesn’t bite.”

*

The fire in the hearth had been banked up, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy providing a forced draught to coax the flames with their wings. As the heat and glow increased, so did the level of cheer in the room,

Except for around Marcus, who was sitting off to one side in his own little fatalistic flunk.

“Is this destiny?” he asked Twilight and Lyra, who had scrambled onto the couch either side of him. “If my mother really was the first human to visit this world, if she really fought Tirek before...”

He shook his head. “It just makes me feel like something’s pulling the strings, like all this crap is part of some sick master plan. It’s predestination at work, and I hate it.”

The two unicorns shared a concerned glanced as he buried his face in his hands.

“Hell, can you even be sure?” he asked at length. “My mom, my Aunt Molly and Uncle Danny never spoke a single word about going off on excellent adventures through a magical fantasy world. I mean, I understand not outright saying it in a casual conversation, but think about it. That kind of tale would be a perfect bedtime story to tell your kids, so is it really possible that you’ve gotten the wrong family in your sights?”

“Well, to be fair,” Lyra suggested, “if I told everyone I’d been teleported to another universe full of strange otherworldly creatures to help defeat some ancient evil, I’m sure everyone would think I either had an overactive imagination at best, or I belonged in the insane asylum at worst.”

“Most ponies do already,” Twilight added with deadpan flatness. “Trust me, Mayor Mare showed me the survey results.”

She looked up at Marcus. “Why would she - nevermind. The locket proves it Marcus… and I don’t think this is you being puppeteered by some malign power.”

She hopped down off of the couch and joined her friends by the fireplace, nuzzling them in affection, before turning her shining eyes back upon him.

“I’ve seen destiny magic at work, and it tends to be subtle, and more heartfelt.”

“Yeah, this is more like… cause and effect!” Lyra said, throwing her hooves up in revelatory glee. “Oh, I know… what if Megan’s first contact with Dream Valley’s like, synched our realities? And then, her locket’s residual magic kept you safe and drew you back to Equestria when the time was right? See, no evil plan, just random monkey-wrenches climbing into the cosmic clockwork!”

Marcus chuckled softly and tousled her mane with one index finger, lightly scratching her behind the ear. His control for light touch was much better than before.

“You should have written penny dreadfuls Lyra, you’re a hack writer through and through,” he said with a gruff laugh.

“Actually, she’s not entirely wrong, Marcus,” interjected Discord.

Everyone turned towards the draconequus, several pairs of eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean?” asked Rarity incredulously. Much to everyone’s surprise, Fluttershy backed her up.

“Have you been hiding something from us, young draconequus?” the buttery pegasus demanded in tones that brooked no argument.

Wilting under her gaze, Discord wordlessly summoned another dimensional pocket. Several oversized hammers tumbled out, along with several small notebooks.

“The private and personal diaries of Megan Williams, late of Dream Valley,” he declared with a flourish, before handing it over to Twilight. In the background, Pinkie was frolicking amongst the hammers and muttering something about getting them ‘back to Moperville’.

Marcus yanked his attention away from the pink pony’s cryptic antics (who in the hay was ‘Susan Pompoms’ anyway?) and glared up at Discord.

“Wait, you went to my storage locker and rummaged through my family’s private possessions!?” he demanded through clenched teeth.

“I was investigating something, and I followed the best paper-trail available, He-Man!” Discord replied in his own defense, taking a step away from the irated human.

“Uh, your lordship?” Lyra snarked from beside the seething soldier. “You already took several shots from ‘He-Man’ here when he was freshly juiced with Sombra’s abilities. Do you really want to go another round in the ring with him now that he’s had time to grow into his fabulous secret powers?”

Discord ‘hmphed’ and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I thought so, now say you’re sorry,” she said gravely, before bursting into an eager grin. “…and then we’ll get to the good stuff. Find anything juicy yet, Twi?”

That was directed to the Elements Bearers, who were gathered around Twilight and pouring over the books, mingled looks of concern and abject curiosity on their faces… except for Applejack, who was holding one volume up and blushing at a scrap of paper that had been taped inside.

“Hey!” Marcus shouted in sudden panic, jumping up to seize the diaries back. “Those aren’t yours to read!”

“Sorry Marcus, but I think you need to read this one,” Twilight said, telekinetically plucking one of the books out of his hands and flipping it open. “I understand you don’t like your family’s private stuff being touched, Discord had a good reason in sourcing these, because they’ve certainly proved something…”

Hesitant, Marcus scoured over the page.

“Okay… urm… Moonchick was kind enough to provide my friends with a new home, but even better he offered us a solution to the Smooze…”

He glanced over the top of the page. “Are you sure this is my mother’s diary or her old writing assignments?”

“Just read on,” Twilight urged.

“Alright,” he shrugged. “He told us all about a race of sprites whose magic could conquer the Smooze, the Flutter Ponies… oh shit...”

He trembled and swallowed, before scanning back and forth through the volumes.

“Lickety Split… dear little Spike… she’s such a silly pony that... Applejack!?”

He slumped back down beside Lyra, a horrific realization coming to his features.

“Okay, so there’s no denying it now… my family does have a history with this place.”

“Bingo!” Discord nodded. “And after I scanned through the diary, I went back to your mother’s old ranch and cross-referenced her accounts with the local thaumic field. And there was something there: an old tear between realities, scarred over through time, but still detectable.”

“Were you able to trace its other end?” Twilight asked.

“I was…”

Marcus gave a dry little laugh. “And I’m betting it didn’t even link up to the Tyrant’s little hellhole.”

“No,” Discord said solemnly. “Your mother came to ours.”

“Wait a gosh-darned minute!” Applejack exclaimed. “You mean, Marcus’ ma didn’t even defeat that Tirek then?!” A look of horror spread over her face as she realized what this could imply.

“Oh she did,” Discord waved a claw airily. “But evil never dies - it just lingers and bides its time.”

“Is that ‘the old sinner’ speaking again?” Dash queried.

“Indeed. And now, for what the good Colonel’s mother did years ago, Tirek appears to have declared open season on mankind, all for revenge on a wee slip of a girl who once slighted him.”

Silence reigned for a little while, broken only by the fizz and pop of logs in the hearth.

“Tirek is powerful, Marcus,” Discord said at length. “My mother defeated him, and he’s never forgiven the pony race. And then your mother did the same, so why should he have ever forgiven the human race? Honestly, I think all of this is his Grand Unified Revenge Spree - a way of getting back at both Equus and Earth at the same time.”

The gathered ponies shared a few silent conversations, thoughts and feelings communicated without words. Twilight herself felt like she had gotten punched right in the snout; judging from the looks on her friends’ faces, they were similarly shocked.

She finally found her voice. “So… let me get this straight. Tirek, an ancient evil that existed even before the princesses, is trying to outright destroy or corrupt ponykind and humanity all at once, as revenge against one human, who happens to be Marcus’ late mother, all because she defeated him in the past. And he’s corrupted the other Celestia and our counterparts to do his bidding and be his little catspaw. And after that, he will probably come after us, and any other life-bearing dimension, because the only way he can validate his own existence is by negating or enslaving anyone else who had the audacity to be born into the same multiverse as him?"

"That seems to be the gist of it," Marcus replied, managing a grim nod. In truth he was still trying to get over the fact that his mother, aunt and uncle had indeed visited Equus when they were children.

Twilight, on the other hoof (hand?), groaned as she tried to process this glut of information.

‘Yes,’ she processed to herself. ‘There’s been legends and myths of Dream Valley, but I’ve never really given it much thought… that kind of thing is more for fringe lunatics like, well, Lyra. Though given how everyone thought I was crazy over the whole Nightmare Moon thing, perhaps I was being more than a tad hypocritical...’

"So the only reason we haven’t gone down a similar road to our counterparts is because of Lyra’s decision to practice for the Canterlot Royal Orchestra tryouts?!” she concluded, earning a teary-eyed nod from the green unicorn.

“Yeah,” the mare on whose actions the fate of entire worlds had twisted. “So it was always my fault.”

“Umm, well…” Fluttershy interjected, "In Lyra’s defense, ah, the other Lyra that is. If that Bag was so powerful as to corrupt even Celestia, couldn’t it have also influenced her while it was in her possession?"

"Mademoiselle Fluttershy brings up a good point," Discord said thoughtfully, once again stroking a pencil-thin moustache. “Ze bag’s power is immense. I myself could not so much as put even a leeetle dent in it, even when under the guidance of my sainted mother. Naturellement, I was much younger and not quite aware of my powers full extent at the time. I would not be surprised if it merely nudged Lyra’s mind towards getting it into Celestia’s possession and then blanked itself from her mind.”

“Ha!” Marcus managed to chuckle. “It probably thought a ‘mere’ mortal unicorn was not worth its time.”

Lyra turned in anger, only to feel his hand once again resting on her mane.

“And for that short-sightedness, I am truly grateful,” he added quickly.

Rarity then asked, "But… if it did not think Lyra was worth its time, what about us? What about our counterparts?”

“Yeah!” concurred Dash. “How’d they end up getting corrupted by Tirek?”

“Because they never were,” Discord answered bluntly. “It’s actually… even worse than that. They have been effectively replaced.”

“Are they dead?” Fluttershy asked in terror.

“No…” Discord sighed. “Do you remember when we first met… how I brought out the worst parts of you all? Turned you against your best qualities by encouraging all those repressed bits of Id and Ego that you wish were not a part of you?“

The admission of wrongdoing seemed to pain him more than the mixture of glares and nods he got in response.

“And do you remember how much some of you enjoyed it, in the moment… to let that darkness out, to revel in a bit of cruelty, deception, selfishness…”

More nods, and some shuffled hooves and downcast eyes.

“Alright, well imagine that, but worse. Imagine every dark, twisted desire or impulse you’ve ever felt magnified and amplified...but unlike with me, there’s a voice in the back of your head screaming out that this is wrong. You’ve become a monster, and part of you loves it, and the rest of you is terrified, powerless, and forced to watch on…”

Despite the roaring fire, the room seemed to darken as Discord continued.

“The mares that you, sorry, they were, are alive, but they haven’t been in control of their own bodies for a long time. Queenie imprisoned each of them in their own minds, their bodies driven by puppets akin to mental homunculi, built from the dregs of the hosts’ soul to commit atrocities in Tirek’s name...”

He paused as if to deliver the punchline.

“And because of how this works, your counterparts are experiencing those horrors firsthand, and sharing in their possessors’ feelings. Visualise it - your hooves are doing something terrible against your will, and you can feel equal parts horror and glee.”

There was no gasp of shock or cry of anguish. Just a slow spread of terror and revulsion.

“So the real Elements are still alive in there?” Marcus asked, seeking clarification.

“Yes. They’re still conscious, still watching,” Discord said. “Believe me when I say this: you really do NOT want to know what they’ve seen. I only have memories from inside the other Twilight’s mind, and it was...”

For the first time in awhile, Discord actually looked sickened.

“It was almost too much. Please, never ask me what happened. All I will say is that now, the other Twilight wants nothing more than for someone to kill her; to end her suffering and that of everyone else in the same situation, including her mentor.”

“Too much information!” Pinkie gasped. “TMI! TMI!”

“Oh no, you don’t ever want to know what too much information would be,” Discord said.

“You just brought up that other Celestia, bub!” Applejack cut in, before rolling on into a question. “Well, wait here, Ah gotta ask this - why didn’t she do something about this bag then? It’s kinda… much, to blame everythin’ on the bag when she still used it. Why didn’t she recognize the darkness in it and get help?”

The look on Discord’s face slid into utterly grim seriousness, his eyes narrowed.

“Do not underestimate its powers, Applejack,” he growled. “That bag is the very essence of Tirek’s being, and I hope by now you’ve gotten some measure of his character. It likely latched itself onto her like a parasite as soon as it was within a foreleg’s reach of her… but the effect was probably more subtle, more tempting. It would have made it so that nopony would ever notice, or if she did it would help her convince herself she was imagining things, but it would have played on her doubts and insecurities, brought her darker qualities to the surface through promises of everything she wanted… a safe structured world, a paradise for her little ponies, and her little sister.”

He shook his head.

“Evil is at its worst when it plays love to its own end. By the time Celly would’ve otherwise sensed something was not right, it would have already been too late. She would have been enthralled. And possession magic like this erodes the victim’s identity away over time. Your counterparts might be able to distinguish between themselves and their tormentors despite their connections, but as for Celestia… well, I’m willing to bet there’s nothing left of her original self anymore. It’s whittled her best traits to nothing - a need for order without empathy and motherly love, commanding without concern for morality, desire to better her realm with no concern for what she has to do.”

“... Like with the totem-proles,” Marcus breathed. “I heard about the truth of those ‘things’ when I went back to Earth… and I still feel dirty.”

“Exactly!” Discord nodded, cutting off the confused expressions on the ponies before him with a quick, “Don’t ask. It would take too long to explain and you don’t want to know about those either.”

He sighed.

“And when Celestia is used up, or goes insane from the anguish and guilt and impales herself on the nearest convenient unicorn or blows herself up,” Discord continued soberly, “the bag will probably move on to another host. Some other ruler, some other victim. Quite possibly one of you here, but I suspect it’ll go for your Celestia. And it will never stop unless we stop it.”

“Alright, so he’s terrifying, evil, and a dang serpent o’ temptation,” Applejack said. She was shaking subtly, her fear evident. Then she straightened up, still unsteady on her hooves, but determined.

“But he ain’t invincible… your Mom beat him once, hero-boy here’s Momma whupped him twice, and hay, if my ol Ma’ was still around she’d take the brat across her knee for the third innin’. But since she and Pa’ ain’t here, Celestia rest their souls, then me and my loved ones will take him on!”

It was a glorious declaration, made with absolute honesty and conviction.

Then the farm-pony visibly wilted.

“I just ain’t rightly sure how though… how do we beat this worm?”

“I… I’m really not sure,” Lyra sighed sadly, her ears drooping down.

"Even if we fail, we’ll die knowing that we did everything we could to stop him," Marcus said stepping forward with a look determination.

A somber silence took hold of them before Pinkie Pie jumped in with a look of equal determination.

“No way, you negative ne-e-e-ighsayers!” she declared. “We will not fail or die! We’ll find something! Where there’s a will, there’s a way! We can’t let that meanie Tirek win!”

“She’s right!” Rainbow Dash agreed, rising to her own hooves, wings flared. “We can’t let this guy win! I don’t want me or anypony else to wind up brainwashed into a stupid tool. That’s worse than death, it’s failure… and from what I’ve been hearing about the other Equestria, it means the finish line for everyone, everywhere.”

“It won’t be easy,” Marcus said quietly, breaking Dash’s proclamation, drawing concerned attention to him. “Understand that a lot of people have died already, and a lot more are going to join them, even if we can stop this. Right now, at this very moment… someone’s probably dead from suicide, starvation, or worse, they’ve been ponified. Saving Earth doesn’t just mean stopping the Barrier, it demands that we go all-out D-Day, cross the borders and liberate Equus… and everyone in it. Zebras, ponies, griffons, whoever’s left, we’ll be going in for everyone’s sake, not just our own.”

“Everyone?” Twilight asked softly, stepping up and resting a hoof on his hand. There were unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “Does that include…”

“Everyone,” he said again. “Even her, if we can find a way… if there’s enough pieces left of her to be put back together again.”

“If… we could free them from the control of the bag…” Rarity mused, before turning towards Discord. “Answer me this, what would happen? What would happen if they all suddenly, woke up?”

“If possible, it’s quite likely that some of the most ‘indoctrinated’ might just try and kill themselves, be it from guilt, or an inability to accept what’s happened. According to a… rather disreputable soldier under Stephan’s command, your counterpart has already tried…”

Rarity winced at that, ears flicking back and tail hitching up like a startled cat’s.

"I think we should focus more on killing them, not saving these evil jerks," Rainbow Dash interjected, slamming her hooves together. "Don’t get me wrong, I would like to save them. But, I don’t think it’s very likely that we could calmly talk down monsters, which happily kill human foals."

“We could just blast them with the Elements and see if that does something,” Fluttershy said.

“We can’t rely on that,” Rarity disagreed. “Fabulous as the Elements are, they tend to work on their own inscrutable logic… hence why Marcus ended up here in the first place, need I remind you. Plus, they work best on individuals caught up in a moment of gloating - I’d rather not try and face down an army waiting for my necklace to charge up!”

“Well, barring Sailor Moon transformational time dilation, it’s easy to get her forces to gloat, but I don’t think it could work on that many,” Discord mused, twirling a lengthy pair of blonde pigtails he had suddenly sprouted. “As for how inscrutable their logic is, I agree completely! So much happened behind the scenes with Marcus getting here. Why, NONE of you have guessed yet how the glam-pals balanced the mass exchange! Ha!”

“... What was that?” Marcus began, before Pinkie cut him off and shunted that last train of thought straight into oblivion.

“Rarity and Discord are right! And I have literally no idea how the Elements work! Mine could shoot laughing gas for all I know! BEHOLD MY NOVOCAINE CANNON! BLAH!”

“Pinkie, the Element of Laughter does not shoot novocaine!”

“Then what does it do?” tossed back Lyra. “And how?”

“Well, it’s…” Twilight started.

“... You don’t know, do you?”

“... Actually, no. But either way, we can help!” Twilight said, jumping in, lifting her head up high with resolve. “I won’t lie, I still hate the idea of fighting and killing, but we have to do everything it takes to defeat Tirek.”

She flashed her friends a smile before turned to Marcus, continuing, “You’ve been fighting for years, and had little to show for it… besides nightmares and deaths. Whatever it takes, we’ll do it. We’re not going to sit this out. We promise to give it our all.”

“Right!” the rest of the Elements and Lyra all said in unison.

Marcus couldn’t help but crack a smile as he sat back in the couch.

“Hell’s gate arrested,” he murmured. “Shine Heaven now… thanks Twily. I don’t know how good you ponies are in a fight yet, but I don’t doubt you’ll give it your all. You’re truehearts down to the marrow, and I’m beginning to feel some faith in you.”

“Just some?” smirked Lyra, and he teasingly held his thumb and index finger slightly apart in response.

“Ah, a little.”

“Well that won’t stand!” Rarity, declaring, rising to a stand and magically tying her hair back into a functionally elegant bun. “Let’s get back to training, ladies. If Tirek really is as powerful as everyone says he is, then we need to match him, hoof for hoof, thread for thread! We have to make sure he pays for his crimes.”

“You heard the mare!” Pinkie Pie bounded up with equal determination. “Let’s go win one for the Gipper!”

As the seven mares left the room, Marcus turned to Discord, his relief replaced with a fresh glare.

“Another Lyra… the reality of that will be a lot harder for people on Earth to swallow.”

“Will you tell them?” Discord asked, his eyes trailing the seven mares as they practically rushed to the training field.

“I don’t know…” Marcus sighed, looking to the sky. “How can anyone, let alone myself, tell them that the mare around which Earth rallied is also the one indirectly to blame for everything that’s befallen us? There’s… there’s some people and ponies with that man from Crowe. Acevedo, I think his name is, and he says he wants to find where history changes between worlds. How do I handle that?”

“Ah, just dress it up with Tolkien's words,” Discord shrugged. “Even the smallest of beings can change the course of history. Lyra’s just unfortunate enough to have dug up the One Ring… and now she’s gonna go chuck it into Sauron’s flaming sphincter!”

“Is she?” Marcus rebutted, fresh concern etched into his face. “Should I even let her set foot on Earth?”

He leaned against the window frame, watching the ponies drilling under the last glow of the twilight sky.

“Earth’s old magic is waking up, Discord… it was enough to stop the Barrier’s advance, enough to feed the magic of every mare, foal and stallion who set foot on our soil, whatever side they fought for… billions of lives are tapped into that stirring magic field, and even if they can’t wield it directly, their emotions still affect it.”

Discord’s reflection loomed in the glass, hovering over his shoulder. Both of their mirror-images seemed to loom larger over the drilling mares, particularly the unicorn with the golden lyre on her flanks.

“She’s a martyr over there Discord; people sing songs about her, use her legacy as a call for resistance… there’s ponies now who swear in her name, and the Pope is facing a mass petition to canonize her as a saint! I’ve seen people praying to her already, asking the benevolent Lady Heartstrings to intercede with the Almighty on their behalf…”

“You’re worried about what will happen if she’s ever revealed to the public, aren’t you?”

“Yeah… I mean, Look at her as she is now. She’s lost, she’s confused… she might be Lyra, but she’s not my Lyra. She hasn’t negotiated with the royals and potentates of earth, she didn’t stop the Three Weeks of Blood, she hasn’t been a warrior or a diplomat or a scientist, she hasn’t saved starving children or become immersed in human culture, she hasn’t… she hasn’t been the Ambassador,” Marcus sighed.

“Do you think she can step up?”

“I think that if she tried, she’d fail,” Marcus said. “If I put even a tenth of the things our Lyra had to deal with on her, she’d crack. I’m sure of it.”

“Oh, get over yourself!” Discord replied, nutting Marcus between the eyes. Momentarily stunned, the PHL commander staggered back, tripped on a rollerskate that had not been there seconds earlier, and dropped onto a padded psychiatrist’s couch.

“I know how you feel, Marcus...” Discord said, sitting upright on a high-backed chair, scratching out notes on a pad, a neat pair of pince-nez glasses resting on the tip of his snout. “But if your concern is with how Lyra will be affected when she sets hoof on Earth, then you already know the solution.”

Marcus sighed and clenched his fists, unclenched them. He took a breath and held it for a long while, and then slowly exhaled.

“Yeah… the only way to protect this Lyra would be to destroy her counterpart’s reputation. Collapse that powerbase before it can ground itself in her.”

“Now is a horrible time…” Discord nodded sagely, wiping the lenses of the glasses with the tip of his goatee. “What’s one more sacrifice?”

“Luna will be upset by this,” Marcus pointed out as he rolled his neck, popping several annoying crinks. “She’s seen Earth’s dreamscape… she’s seen firsthand how humanity has adopted the memory of Lyra, and empowered it… they’ve turned her into a damn angel, a guardian demi-goddess, and now we’ve got to rip that away...”

“What’s the lesser of two evils? Rampant rumors and disorder around about your innocent friend, or possibly forcing her to take on the metaphysical burdens of an entire planet? And that’s assuming anything will happen when she sets hoof on Earth.”

Discord extended a hand to help Marcus up, and dissipated the couch with a snap of his fingers.

“Either way, the decision is yours. Break the truth, or hide it under a bushel. And then you’ll just have to hope everyone understands the choice you make.”

“Yeah… great. Because humans are such understanding creatures,” Marcus scowled as he stormed away.

Baltimare

Under the cover of darkness, one pegasus with a blue-grey coat and a deep brown mane and tail neatly trimmed for his position, and a bat-winged thestral stared down at 91C Bockscar Ave from the roof of a brownstone across the street. The residence of a mare named Catseye. One of the two leaned against a chimney flue as they waited in silence, a rather bored expression on her face.

“Well, that’s troublesome,” the male pegasus muttered as he watched a lone stallion approach the apartment’s door.

“What is it, Gale?” his partner asked, yawning as she stretched her wings open. “Catseye added the wrong dye to her coat again?”

“No, Serene,” he muttered, and stepped aside so that she could join him on the edge. “Take a look.”

Her slitted eyes glimmering like gimlets in the moonlight, the sleek batpony trotted up alongside him and cast her attention on a familiar figure who was now rapping on Catseye’s door. A familiar ex-guardspony.

“Well great, Icewind is back,” Serene said, with the tone one normally reserved for day-old chewing gum that somepony couldn’t get off their forehooves.

“Yes… yes he is…” Gale nodded, making a mark in his log as the door was opened to admit Icewind into the apartment. “That makes it five evenings in a row… so either those two have either established a tryst, or they’re plotting something.”

“Not sure what disgusts me more…”

“What do your ears tell you?”

Serene’s large, slightly tufted ears waggled subtly in the still evening air, and she frowned.

“Well, they’re definitely not slapping flanks in there… if you’d let me go down to the window over the basement I’d be able to get a better bead… I can hear them descending the stairs down under street level, but then it gets too hazy to make out.”

“No go,” Gale said, shaking his head. “Some of our little mare’s new friends went through the guards’ advanced espionage and cryptology training course. Even if they’ve not muffled their conversations, there’s no telling what kind of protective wards they’ve set up immediately around the basement.”

Serene exhaled. The release of air eased into a long, drawn-out sigh as she rubbed at her forehead with one hoof. “Seriously, why can’t we just arrest this speciesist nutcase? I’ve seen her tracts against hybrids, the little hypocrite, and she lumps thestrals in there with all the other...”

She trailed off, seeing her commanding officer shooting a stern glare in her direction.

“You know why,” Gale replied, “We are under direct orders to–”

“Yes! I know,” Serene replied, flaring her wings for emphasis. “But we’ve now got clear evidence of her associating with Icewind, a damn swordmaster and all-around sly bastard, who need I remind you is also on P. Luna’s watch-list!”

“I know–” Gale replied, growing annoyance showing as he gritted his teeth.

“That’s the main criteria set in our brief,” she continued, talking right over him. “She said to take action if they showed signs of collusion or sedition. Well, know we’ve got proof that the two are in cahoots, and it’s even more damning if you factor in the speeches Icewind’s been making in the local tavern-cellars. He’s training himself up, Gale… honing his rhetoric and fear-mongering, getting more support for this crazy crusade from one thing Equestria’s never been short on: the gullible and easily frightened!”

“Serene, calm down,” Gale hissed. “We can’t just go around abusing our power out of paranoia. If we did that, we’d be one step closer towards becoming the Empire we’re meant to be fighting. So far these two have not broken any laws… swoop in now before we have just cause and we just give them a platform and a spot in the limelight. What we need is the public’s genuine support when we make an arrest. Act now, and we just give their little circle a pair of martyrs”

“So you’re just going to wait? The Princess is just going to wait until these guys actually go and do something dumb… oh that’s just genius! Never mind the damage they could do to the war effort! What if they get somepony or somehuman killed?!”

As she worked up, her words became a little more sibilant, the ‘esses’ elongating into hisses. Her eyes flared gold subtly, and she began to trot back and forth across the roof to burn off visible frustration.

“As I said, that would bring us one step closer to becoming our enemy.”

"But we won’t become them! We’d be stopping that transformation DEAD!"

“Calm yourself Serene!” he ordered softly, putting more than a little steel in his words. With some effort, the thestral mare stopped her pacing and stilled herself.

"Yes, I get it, Gale, I understand that we must not become the enemy,” she admitted, words drawn down almost into a subsonic whisper. “But I’m worried, and I know you are too. I’ve read Catseye’s published works, I’ve seen her demand the death of an entire species just for existing… denouncing multiculturalism, calling it ‘pollution’ and the ‘dilution’ of Equestria… and the both of us have seen how closely she practices what she preaches. She hates herself, and channels that into a slew of one-sided ‘drivel’... reading it is like watching a trainwreck in slow motion. I can see her coming off the rails and taking out an entire crowd of innocents as she does.”

“Yes, Serene, I’ve read them too - the tracts against interspecies marriage and how all humans - and by extension, the griffons, minotaurs and zebras - are savages, and ponies are perfect… I don’t think there’s anyone she doesn’t offend.”

She gave a short cackle of laughter.

“Yet, we had ponies like King Sombra galloping around and enslaving everypony. And Nightmare Moon, who wanted to freeze everyone to death, or starve them under sunless skies. And we can all safely say we know at least one jerk in our everyday lives. Hey, I could name three dozen stupid fillies who thought my eyes, my ears, and my wings gave them the right to bully me!”

She bit himself off and pawed at the surface of the roof, waiting for his reply. When Gale did speak again, his previous growl had disappeared into almost inequine calm.

“Trust me, I’d love to just cut this off at the hoof - love to save everypony and everyhuman a whole lot of trouble! And I’d especially love to rip that Tyrant a new one for how she broke up my family!”

“... What?” Serene asked.

“I found out some stuff about my counterpart and his family. The first time I heard it, I… I cried. Took a leave to visit my family,” Gale began to explain.

He wiped at his eyes for a second, and to Gale’s surprise she realised he was holding back tears. He suppressed a shiver, and forced himself to carry on talking in that terrifyingly calm voice.

“Captain Armor took me aside one day. He said that there some of us had received… letters, from friends and family of our counterparts, relayed through the Barrier…”

“Were you one of them?”

“Yeah. It seems that my… no, the other Gale’s family had fled Equestria when that… bitch of a Tyrant put the entire Guard under that geis.”

A tiny sob burst through his forced veil of composure, and Serene did not hesitate to come to his side and rest a comforting wing over his shoulders as he continued to choke up.

“It’s been hard, you know? Not just hearing about what happened to my Aquamarine and Comet’s counterparts… but trying to imagine it, imagine how my counterpart could have possibly tried to hurt them when they doubted the Empire… they made him into a machine, Serene… and then ordered him to kill humanity’s children and push his family away…”

“She’ll pay for it, Gale,” she consoled. “I promise we’ll make all those killers pay.”

“All the killers?” he laughed brokenly. “My own wife and daughter have been forced to fight and kill! Aqua is one of the nicest mares you’d ever meet, and my adorable little Comet wouldn’t hurt a fly, and now, in the other world, she’s a soldier! Her and her old school friends are out there, fighting for their lives, maybe even against each other, and I can’t do anything about it!”

He waved a hoof out into the night, and seemed to crumple.

“I don’t care how well she may do on the battlefield… she’s just a child, and that is just wrong. You don’t know what I’d give, to travel to this Earth, or that other Equestria, give them both a hug, and beat this ‘Tyrant’ to smears on the floor for what she put them through, Serene. I want to end her with my own hooves, to dance on her corpse and spit on her grave!”

To Serene’s credit, she did not flinch. Instead she just hugged him tighter with her wing, one old friend to another. He smiled in gratitude.

“But I’ll be damned, Serene… I’d rather be damned to Tartarus than turn those two idiots into martyrs! I’d rather die than give their bigoted little group of xenophobes even an inch of credibility!”

To say Gale was furious would have been a grave understatement. Sighing, Selene withdraw her wing and lightly bumped him, jolting him back to an upright posture.

“Alright, Gale,” she conded. “We’ll keep watch and report. But if they do anything, like hurt anypo-anybody, then we don’t hesitate to strike, and strike hard.”

Wiping away the last of his tears, the pegasus stallion went back to keeping watch.

“Trust me Serene, if these jokers act up, we’ll take them down hard. I’m just concerned… I’d rather let them have enough rope to hang themselves with. And the longer we monitor them, the more of their circle we can identify…”

He paused as the apartment door suddenly opened, and Icewind emerged, shielded against the chill by an overcoat.

“But what concerns me most is Icewind. I know that colt… he was on the fast track to the academy… officer material. A potential leader of ponies, and with more than a few friends in high places… follow him, see where he goes.”

Serene nodded, and with a leathery flap of her wings she disappeared into the night, whisper-quiet.

Alone with his thoughts, Gale mused to himself as he watched Icewind trot obliviously away.

‘Serene’s a hothead...’ he admitted. ‘And yet she’s right. I’ve no more desire to wait anymore than she does, but orders are orders. She and all the other officers on this assignment will follow the Moon Princess’s instructions to the letter, and the moment Catseye, Icewind, or any of their ilk steps out of line, we’ll jump on them all.’

Darkly, he hoped they would resist arrest. And then, true to the father and husband he was, he would show no quarter to this enemy.

He’d make sure that his family would not suffer the same fate as their side-slipped counterparts.

And yet, even as that vow to himself simmered in his mind, his eyes and thoughts turned back towards Icewind, who was just about out of his line of sight. There as a disturbingly jaunty bounce to his gait, a cockiness that hinted at worrisome possibilities.

‘He’s smart, sure of himself, and charismatic… what if he convinces some reactionary, pompous twit in the aristocracy to fund this little charade?’

More worryingly, what if he already had?

Oh Celestia, Gale pleaded, Please don’t let this get too far out of hoof for us to stop it!

Two weeks later

"Marcus!" Stephan called out as the man walked out of the castle, a frown on his face. They had just finished discussing the idea of opening up a gallery for the rest of Equus to see the truth of Earth, and all the facets of mankind’s character and struggles. "Wait up."

"What’s up?" Marcus asked as the other soldier jogged up.

"I should be asking you that." Stephan walked up to him, his eyes roaming over him like a mother hen concerned for her chick.

"Sorry, Mom." Marcus rolled his eyes, but grinned all the same.

"How are things on your end?" Stephan asked, getting a dry laugh in response.

"Going great, and at the same time shitty as all fuck."

Marcus reached down and picked up a brick, casually tossing it up and down, before with a quick heave he fired it into the air. It shot off like a rocket and vanished from sight.

“Don’t worry,” he said before Stephan could protest. “It won’t hit anyone. Luna says the last object I threw hit escape velocity and went into orbit. If it ever falls back to Earth, sorry - Equus, then it’ll burn up on the way down...”

He looked down and flexed his arms.

“I’m superhuman now, Stephan, but… I just feel like I’m gonna break something every time I even take a step. I leave footprints in rocks, I splinter trees when I run at them…”

Stephan frowned. While being a walking tank in a world of cardboard sounded cool, he knew two things from experience about Marcus’ power. First of all, it had no off switch. Second, he wasn’t able to restrain those powers… yet. In time, he would, and beat Queen Celestia to the point that he was just pounding wet bone into the blood-soaked earth, but for now…

For now, he was still getting used to said powers.

“It’s just… I can’t explain it, but it terrifies me that I’ll break anything I touch,” Marcus sighed with bitterness. “I’ve gone through so many sets of clothes, I’ve crushed the handguard of my favorite 1911, and there’s no weird, arbitrary rule that keeps me from breaking people by accident either.”

Stephan looked at him solemnly. Many was the one that had wanted superpowers, to become strong enough to beat the shit out of Celestia. It was probably why PHL R&D and soldiers were so eager to enhance weaponry or take up exotic weaponry, come to think of it.

Ex-HLF, especially Kraber, had certainly gone for the biggest guns, and so the 'wunderwaffen' or 'woo-wah' departments had flourished, Sebastian Irving seemed to try and make a WMD every other week, while every Equestrian expat in the PHL trained relentlessly in obscure disciplines of the magic of their races or other races.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve noticed noticed plenty of earth ponies trying to learn zebra magic. Hrm...has Trixie ever attempted a zebra morph? New skills to learn, new abilities to master...and those stripes would look amazing on her...and imagine how flexible she’d be!’

His inner fantasies aside, it all reflected the same desperate hope. A wish for something, anything new that could be used to defeat the Empire. The hunt for that ‘magic bullet’ had left no stone unturned, every possible resource imaginable exploited to turn the tides of war in Earth’s favor.

And Marcus had gotten those wishes. And he was, well… he was Superman. Or more accurately, the Plutonian.

“Look on the bright side,” Stephan said, the bright side of his own brushes with magic tingling in the back of his mind. “Actually… there’s a couple. First, you get to use this against Queen Celestia.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow. A thoughtful smile crept across his face. “Noted.”

“Secondly,” Stephan pointed out, a slight curve on his lips. “Cheerilee has runic tattoos too. Who’s to say the same won’t happen to her? Then you’d have a counterpart, an equal to train against and learn with...”

Marcus open his mouth, before falling silent. "Ascension..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Marcus waved him off. "I’ve got more training to do, so that I don't accidentally destroy a whole city everytime I sneeze."

"Wait," Stephan gripped the other man’s shoulder, only to feel like his arm was about to be yanked out of its socket as Marcus turned to face him. “Ah!”

"What?"

"Half of the PHL troops belong to the EU, but the other half falls under you." Stephan explained, rubbing his shoulder to numb the sharp pain. "You walking out on them-"

"I didn't walk out on them." Marcus said sharply, his eyes filled with anger at the thought of such a thing.

"Tell that to them. They look up to you to lead them, not me. You’ve been with them through thick and thin, they spent fourteen agonising hours not knowing whether you were dead or ponified, only to see you back from the dead… and then you go on a mysterious mission with the alicorns, and come back rather distant. Even if you are superhuman... If I were them, I’d be a bit tetchy. If we’re not careful, we’ll have a few Icewinds of our own...”

“I told them the reason why; I can’t be around people…” Marcus whispered, his hand tightening in frustration. “You know how I am; hand shaking, back slapping, a big whooping idiot. If I did that now… Hell, I slapped a tree and I cut it in half.”

Stephan remained silent, watching as the Marine beat himself up for a long moment. At last Marcus finally sighed and looked towards him.

“Tell them I will be back on Saturday, maybe we’ll have a game of football at the MetLife stadium.”

“How about you tell them yourself?” Stephan suggested. “Let them see you punt a ball at the moon from centerfield?”

“No… Not yet. I think I’m on to something, but I want to be sure…” Marcus said with a smile, not quite reaching his eyes.

Stephan shook his head, but smiled anyways, “I’ll be sure to set up carbon-fiber goalie nets.”

“I said football.” Marcus gave him a deadpan stare. “Not soccer.”

“That is football,” Stephan said, walking away with a smile on his face. “Besides, ponies like football.”

“Bullshit! Their main pastime is Hoofball!” Marcus cried out, mockingly waving his arm in defiance.

“It’s pretty much the same thing!”

And with that they’d parted ways. Stephan back off to the training grounds, and Marcus back into his thoughts, brooding over the nature of his transformation...and one question in particular.

“Am I now immortal?”

Scribe monitored the area around the bed, watching as the crystal machines worked over the sleeping Celestia.

“Heart monitor displays no change, vitals display no change, soul mending is proceeding at an acceptable pace,” she said aloud, to no one in particular, face passive as she watched on…

~crackle~

...only to quickly to turn to look at something else, an unseen presence that lurked near Celestia’s headrest and pillows.

“Harmonic convergence detected! Establishing IFF procee-”

“Zero Protocol.”

Scribe froze, her image flickering as she spoke. “Voice recognition established. Code accepted, how may I help you today Miss Faust?”

“Stand by for update of software suite.”

“Standing by.” Scribe answered, a solid golden light filtering into the crystal computer, “New software downloading, establishing routine, executing, installing, modifying existing hardware as platform for new programs.”

“Execute Program 1.”

“Executing…complete. Newly recalculated time for soul mending: 2 months, 17 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes, 22 seconds, 21 seconds, 20 seconds.” Scribe monotoned.

“Execute Program 2.”

“Executing…” An image popped up, showing Celestia as she slept, two large crystals slowly floated beside her. “Marking redemptor on sol púerum. Start.”

Celestia twitched as the large crystals broke apart, small particles of gemdust drifting down and embedded themselves across her body in a similar pattern found on Marcus. Despite a gritting of the teeth and subtle skein of sweat on her brow, Celestia continued to sleep, for the spells keeping her under were powerful enough to mute almost all pain short of agony.

“I’m sorry Celestia. But I can’t take the chance of Tirek succeeding. Scribe, purge the last twenty minutes from your logbanks, accept program three to your logbanks.”

“Yes Miss Faust. Deletion will begin in five minutes. Anything else Miss Faust?” For a long moment, she didn’t say anything until finally she asked.

“Show me the Elements.”

Scribe complied, projecting a visual of the Element Bearers (plus one) running around the track. Warlord Darkhoof and Stephan were visible, quietly conversing in the distance. All of the Bearers, plus Lyra, were clearly working hard in improving themselves.

““Show me Marcus Renee.”

The image shifted, showing the human male’s growing frustration as he punched into the side of a cliff, powdered stone and rubble falling around before he finally leapt away, only to plow straight through several trees as he botched the landing.

“Show me… Discord.”

The image of the draconequus appeared, wadding heavy dough in claw before throwing it up high in the air. Many humans and ponies, including Luna herself, watched in awe as Discord, singing in full voice, caught the spinning pizza dough and tossed it up once more. Then he faltered and looked straight into frame, as if seeing through to the other side, only for the formerly airborne yeast to splat on his head, triggering laughter throughout the pizzeria.

"I know Tirek, he will have something ready for them. He will cheat his way to victory if force won’t work. I will not let that happen. Besides... If Tirek can cheat... why can't I?"

“Deletion complete in ten second, Miss Faust.”

“Take care of your sisters, Discord. It is up to all of you to stop him. If we fail… nothing will stop him in his quest of destruction.”

“Deletion in ten, nine, eight.”

“Thank you Scribe. As always, you’re a wonderful caretaker to my children.”

“I love them dearly Ms. Faust, as much as I can.”

”And I treasure you for it.”

Two, one, zero.

Scribe flashed into monochrome for a second, before her image flickered and returned to normal. Out of sudden concern, she gently reached towards Celestia, and then caught herself.

“Chrono desync…”

She tilted her head, something akin to confusion on her face as she looked at the timer.

“Reviewing log… Correction noted and proceeding as planned.”

Everything was as it should be.

Catseye walked beside Icewind as they made their way to the tavern outside of Baltimare, her thoughts plagued with the dreams she has been receiving…

No. Not dreams, visions.

A call from ‘Queen’ Celestia herself, pleading to Catseye about stopping ‘her’ Equestria from aiding the humans.

It had been quite the surprise. She’d been stunned, terrified, even.

“My dear Catseye…”

“Princess? What are you–” Catseye blushed brightly as the stallion of her dreams vanished in a puff of smoke.

“I am not ‘your’ Princess. I am Queen Celestia, rightful ruler of Equus and sadly, the poorly misunderstood savior of humanity,” the familiar figure said.

“Why not ‘Princess’?” Catseye asked.

“Simply put, it is more proper. I am the ruler of a united Equus now, after all.”

“...This dream got really weird.”

“This is no dream, my dear Catseye. Well, I suppose that it is a dream, but framed by a rather complex spell that I created to contact you via the dreamscape,” the Queen said, putting a hoof to her chin before giving her a warm smile. “I have information of the other world that even you can not even dream of. Those machines you have seen pale in comparison to what they have made.”

A city, bigger than anything she had ever seen, flashed into view.

“See for yourself the truth of humankind…”

It was night, and yet the nightmarish place she was standing in shone as if it was midday, lights from windows and street lamps blazing in defiance of the night sky. What she could see looked like the darkest, foulest pits of every Hoofington factory rolled into one, black smoke pouring into the air. Ugly contraptions sped by. The few trees within view were stunted and sickly, everything leaked brown muck, there was dirt everywhere.

Queen Celestia led her down an alleyway, cluttered with so much litter that Catseye could barely walk without touching something. Wrappers, styrofoam, bits of paper…

Until they came to a small courtyard, choked with weeds, cans littered all about…

“Please stop!” somepony screamed.

“W-what is this?!” Catseye asked, eyes widening with horror at the sight of some humans laughing as they stomped on an earth pony mare’s legs, taking perverse pleasure in her cries of pain. One carried had what looked like a hand held camera of some kind, recording their awful deeds as they tortured this poor mare. There were no words to describe this depravity.

The poor mare had a yellow coat, and a red bob haircut. Her cutie mark was of a blue medical kit with a green cross in the center.

She was crying, screaming for mercy, and yet, no-one came.

“Wait till we get to Defiance, you whore!” a male snarled at her. “We’re gonna show those horsefucking traitors an example. It’s not gonna be so comfortable there… just wait till Kraber gets his fingers in you.”

“Say, where the hell is Kraber?” a female asked.

“He’s been missing since the raid on the Sorghum. Either way, I know that right now, he’s making plans to rip you apart bit by bit….”

“NO! PLEASE! SOMEBODY, ANYONE! HELP! ”

“They don’t care about you!” the male yelled at her. “Right now, as you are… you’re useless. The PHL don’t care about you, as long as they can use you! No human… no true human… could ever collaborate with you goddamn invaders like that!”

“You are a clever mare, Catseye. You knew the truth about the humans before everyone else. You have seen what they truly were, and what they represent; stripped away tales of their evil deeds and machines, passed down through the generations of your world, and exposed the truth. You rightly despised them for being brutes, that were too different from any other beings of Equus, incapable of Harmony. So… monstrous.”

The Queen stood up straight, adopting a noble bearing.

“I wanted to save them, but they refused my call. So now they guide your world against my own, calling upon enemies of Equestria to aid the humans. But I want you to stop them.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Well, you do have a talented soldier by your side?” Queen Celestia smiled, nuzzling her head. “Use him to his fullest. Do this, and once I cast away the weakling that dares to share my name, and my traitorous sister, I will give you what you always wanted…”

“What… I always wanted?” Catseye asked, her heart beating so fast it felt like it would burst. In the alley’s filthy puddles her reflection was replaced with her ‘true’ self, a change which then imposed itself upon her actual form.

‘Don’t look at me!’ she wanted to scream, standing there naked In all her mongrel glory. But instead she curled into a small ball, frozen in fear and begin to whimper. But then, the image was replaced with how she looked when she had dyed her coat, but more natural, without any roots showing through...

“To be perfect. To be a pure and perfect pony. Not this half existence you suffer now, stained by the blood of those savage primitives,” Queen Celestia replied, gently helped her back onto her feet. “All you need to do is open your nation’s eyes and show them the truth. Do not waste time, my little pony. The fate of your world hangs in the balance, for the brutes will turn against your fellow equines. The ponies might refuse to see reason initially, but they will be grateful to you in the long run.”

Catseye felt like she was walking on air; she was so excited now! Bowing low before the Queen, she whispered “I swear to you, my glorious Queen, I shall not fail you! Just… I have one question.”

“Yes, my little pony?”

“What was I like in your world?”

“You were beautiful,” Queen Celestia said, nuzzling her. Her fur felt strangely cold, however. The first thought, oddly enough, that came to Catseye’s mind was that of a bright sun on a day with below-zero temperatures. “You led the Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth, founding it alongside a wise and compassionate human that also saw the light. You… you accomplished so much for an ordinary pony, that it amazed even me. Your influence is felt in the world to this day, and millions, perhaps even a billion were ponified thanks to you.”

“I went from a fringe historian to… a hero?” Catseye gasped.

“Yes. And you have the seeds of that destiny within you still. You can be brave and beautiful like that once more, I know it.”

“Miss Catseye, we’re here,” Icewind’s voice shook her out of her contemplations, causing her to blush when she noticed how close he was standing to her. She looked up to his face, and the warm smile on his face, a simple expression of care directed at her and her alone, caused her heart to race.

“Oh… thank you...” she stammered out, thoughts racing through her mind.

None of it good.

‘Oh! I… he is very handsome, and best of all... he believes me! He trusts me! No! Wait! Bad Cat! You can’t get close to anypony. If he ever finds out… if he finds out that I am not a true pony, but a mongrel… just… keep him at a distance.’

“Come on, then, Mr. Icewind. Forward!” Catseye proclaimed, holding her head up high, like all the Canterlot snobs on campus did on.

Icewind smirked as he followed, only to pause a moment to look behind them. His eyes narrowed as he watched the road, looking for any ponies that could have trailed after them.

“Icewind?” she called, noticing his hesitation.

“Just making sure we’re not being tailed, Miss Catseye,” he replied with another beaming smile, before quickly trotting back to her side as they entered the agreed-upon meeting spot, a Baltimare tavern.

The interior was like that of any decently-sized bar, just far enough out of town to draw in the dockworkers and factory hooves rather than the socialites and desk-jockeys – a raised ceiling with a cheap wooden chandelier suspended from it, beneath which tables and chairs drew as close as possible to a stone hearth on which a kettle was merrily boiling away. To one side was a counter, the barmare’s own private kingdom from where she watched over the precious barrels of liquid refreshment brought up from the storage cellar.

What the common room was oddly devoid of though, were any ponies other than the barmare. Glancing to the counter, Catseye saw her inspecting a large ruby gem. An empty mug of cider sat abandoned on the bartop.

“Miss Catseye,” Icewind said softly, “before we head to the cellar, I’d like you to meet somepony upstairs. A friend from my days at the Palace, who has, let’s say, made a valuable contribution to our cause.”

‘A friend from the Palace?’ Catseye wondered with sudden unease as she followed him up the red oak staircase. He stopped to knock at the door of one of the guestrooms, which creaked open as if by magic. A unicorn, then.

Stepping inside, she saw it was a cosy enough room, yet small and poorly-lit The bed was occupied by a unicorn filly with a carnation-colored coat and a thulian mane, tucked in and sleeping soundly.

“Please, keep your voices down. Don’t disturb the child.”

Both of the adults looked up to see who’d spoken. To Catseye’s surprise, the pony in question, seated on a chair between the bed and the window, wore a cloak. She hadn’t worried about conspicuousness when Icewind and his friends had turned up on her doorstep dressed in such a fashion. While wearing cloaks was uncommon in Equestria, the practice did enjoy a certain popularity amongst respectable figures such as philosophers, entertainers and travelling pedagogues.

But a lone pony hiding under a cloak was either an exotic herbalist, a wicked sorcerer or a drunk college student.

“Dr. Catseye,” the hooded mare said, sitting up to greet them and extending a white forehoof, “I have looked forward to this encounter. Master Icewind speaks highly of you.”

Although quietly pleased by the comment, Catseye felt somewhat wary as she shook hooves with the stranger. The mare’s tone was polite enough, but there was something about her – aside from how she kept her face and cutie mark concealed – which instantly put the mis-anthropologist on edge. She had a youthful voice, certainly not the rasp of a stooped olden crone, but it sounded weary and careworn. Was the deliberate, slightly formal way she pronounced her words that rubbed her the wrong way. Was this mare from Canterlot?

“And you are–” she asked.

“Call me Weaver.”

Yes, there was no mistaking the accent of the Canterlot elite. And while the capital’s politics weren’t of great interest to Catseye, she knew there was no aristocratic family that went by the oh-so-common name of ‘Weaver’.

“Icewind,” she said, “May I talk to you for a second?”

Without bothering to excuse herself to the hooded mare, she pulled him aside to a corner of the room.

“What is this? You never told me there’d be a noble meeting with us.”

“Miss,” he said calmly, “we’re all nothing but ponies at this meeting. Class doesn’t come into it. Besides, Weaver herself won’t be attending.”

“Why won’t she show her face? Does she think she’s too good for the rest of us?”

“She has her reasons. But you have my word, just as I have hers, that she’ll show it to you before the evening’s out. Everypony that will be attending has already been introduced to her. You’re the only one left, the last to make her acquaintance.”

I don’t like this one cotton-picking bit, Catseye thought. But Icewind seemed to think this stranger was on the level, and he hadn’t let her down so far. As long as ‘Weaver’ stayed upstairs, out of sight and out of mind, her involvement would be tolerable.

“Alright, I’ll trust your word on this.”

“I’d hope so, Miss Cat. We couldn’t accomplish half of what we’ve got planned without her help.”

‘I owe you a lot, my grey stallion, but it’s foolish to place our fate in the hooves of a noble’, she thought as they walked back to Weaver. ’Nobles never give without expecting something back in return.

“M’lady,” Icewind said, bowing slightly. “Doctor Catseye has requested that I officially welcome you into our circle.”

“I thank you, doctor. I am glad that you’ll have me.”

‘So he’s acting as my footstallion now? Hm, smart move, actually. Lends me a sense of status and keeps me at a formal distance from the stuck-up toff… I’ll show her that just because I’m not of ‘high’ blood doesn’t mean I’m worthless. Aristocrats, bah. another benighted stain on the canvas of ponykind…’

Weaver levitated a silver hot-water jug out from the folds of her cloak, held within a convection-nullifying aura. A fancy unicorn trick for instant hot coffee. Catseye noted that the noblemare’s magical aura was rose-pink in coloration. Idly, she wondered if ‘Weaver’ wore a hood and cloak to sneak her own drinks in under the barmare’s nose.

The mare seemed to read her thoughts, for she turned to Icewind and said, “Quite a pleasant establishment to which you’ve invited me, my friend, but I fear they do not serve beverages as suit my needs…”

“Different people got different needs. A working pony wants lots of rest and refreshment after a long day’s work, m’la– Weaver.”

“Physical labor and earning one’s daily crust are not concepts I am intimately familiar with, I fear,” sighed Weaver, pouring a generous amount of steaming liquid into a silver cup. Catseye was surprised to hear sadness in her voice. “May I offer you some coffee, doctor?”

’No give without take. Always demanding something in return.’

“No, thank you,” she answered, struggling to not let her hostility creep into her words.

“As you wish,” Weaver nodded. “But there is something else I can offer you. Take this, please”

She levitated out a small marble on a loop of string. Peering closer as she took the gift, the historian saw it was a cat’s eye marble.

“This charm is imbibed with a series of clever little spells, which I advise you to use if tonight’s meeting gets out of hoof. Just apply a little of your magic, and it will emit a soothing glow that should calm any excited spirits.”

“Thanks,” Catseye said stiffly, slipping the marble around her neck, Icewind accepting one of his own with a quiet nod. “I think.”

The historian’s mind whirled as they headed back downstairs. What was this unknown noblemare, what was in this for her? Had Icewind invited other ponies that she knew nothing about?

Yet there was no time to reflect. Before she knew it, they’d reached the tavern’s drinking cellar.

Crammed into the yellow-lit, low-ceilinged underground space was an eclectic crowd of ponies, numbering three score or more, sitting in groups of roughly six around each of the neatly-aligned square tables. Casting her eyes over the gathering, Catseye understood half to be the former mares and stallions of the Guard who quit alongside Icewind, but the rest were less easy to categorise. They were a mix of what she assumed to be student revolutionaries (always eager to transform the world), working ponies concerned by the recent upheavals, and a few elders who remembered a ‘simpler, happier Equestria’. Young and old, excited and brooding, the impulsive youths and the parents who wanted their own children to have a secure future – those were the ponies gathered here.

And all of them, she saw, wore an identical cats-eye marble as the one now resting around her neck.

Everypony glanced in her and Icewind’s direction as the two of them entered, but nopony moved to greet them. Never socially adept, Catseye had asked Icewind to ensure she could get onstage without any hassle. Sure enough, a few particularly intimidating ex-guardsponies had been positioned around the stage, demarking a cordon that the crowd should not cross, for which she was grateful. She needed a clear head now, not the strain of being forced into contact with ponies who did not understand her, who's judging eyes would see past her dyes and disguises…

‘No!’ she scolded herself. ‘You’re not that thing anymore, you’re a perfect pony in all but appearance, and blessed by the Highest Herself. Be brave girl, you can do this...’

It was an auspicious beginning that her wishes had been respected thus far, and she took strength from that. Another warm grin from Icewind lent her further courage.

Icewind himself moved to sit at a vacant seat next to a worried-looking Earth mare with a bunch of grapes and berries for a cutie mark. Interestingly, she was nervously sipping from a mere thimble of berry juice, and casting tense glances at various ponies slugging back tankards of hard cider. Ascending the steps to the stage, Catseye saw him frown across the table at the plum-coloured mare.

“Miss Punch, I saw ‘little Pinch’ asleep upstairs…” he hissed. “You know how we feel about bringing your daughter to a tavern after hours, especially with your arrest record…”

“I know, Sergeant,” ‘Miss Punch’ replied, her eyes darting around nervously. “I felt like a vessel was going to burst in my brains, just setting hoof in a place like this again.”

She clutched the thimble to herself as if it was a warding totem.

“Normally I’d leave Ruby at my sister’s, but… Ponyville doesn’t feel safe anymore, y’know? Like, not safe at all. M’lady was so kind to step in…”

‘That there is an anxious mother,’ thought Catseye. ‘And yet she leaves her daughter in the care of a hooded baroness?’

She immediately decided she didn’t like this pony very much, but before she could carry that train of thought any further, she realised that the room had fallen silent...

...and that everypony was looking at her. Judging her. Like they always did.

‘No, Cat,’ she told herself again. ‘Relax… Imagine you’re back at Canterlot University, and this is a lecture hall… the same halls that rarely held more than a dozen students. Only now, you’re speaking in Celestia’s name. And you’re on her evil sister’s hitlist. And one slip could doom these ponies, not to mention your chance to be a beautiful unicorn. But hey, no pressure, right?’

“Ahem. Good evening, everypony.”

That was a start. Now, time to play by ear.

“You all know why you’re here, but I’ll say it again, in my own words, just so we’re clear about what’s at stake. A few weeks ago, the town of Ponyville came under attack. Well… that isn’t anything new, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Ponyville attracts trouble like a zebra attracts flies…”

A few laughs. Good, that was very good.

“But this time, was different” she continued. “The aggressor wasn’t from Equus, or this realm at all. It was a being we all told ourselves didn’t exist, except in myth and our darkest nightmares. A creature known as a ‘human’.”

‘Still good, still good… Not sure it quite gets the depth of my feelings across, though. Then again, keep it simple, keep it short, I guess.’

“Princess Celestia and the Guards eventually arrived to subdue this menace, but within minutes she she was seen to flee– fly away from the scene. Once again, Equestria faced a threat so great, not even our beloved monarch could stand against it alone…”

A few rumbling mutters rolled around the cider-cellar, and she stomped a hoof, not only to call for silence, but to lend emphasis to her words.

“THAT was when the Element Bearers, the six ponies who adorn the stained-glass windows of Canterlot, should have saved the day. They were all present and armed, Equestria’s Harmony arrayed in full against a clear and present foe. But did they destroy this danger? Did they cast the beast down into Tartarus? NO!”

A touch of a scream had crept into her voice, and with a thrill she saw rapt faces and wide eyes fixated on them. She was winning them over, yes, she could do this!

“Within days of that encounter, Canterlot’s halls began to fill with outsiders, first the lesser races and the mongrels, the griffons and zebras and other animals. Then the monsters, the dragons and changelings… and finally, more humans.”

‘Should I tell them all about the Queen? Argh, can’t decide… Oh, dash it all. Got their full attention. Need to strike the iron while it’s hot. Go for it!’

“My little ponies, we have been BETRAYED! Stabbed in the back by the mares entrusted with our defence, traitors who now collude with those who hate and covet our perfect Harmony! A entire army of our enemies now invest our sacred capital! And Celestia herself, is nowhere to be seen. Her fallen sister Nightmare Moon now sits atop the throne, the Lord of Chaos at her side. They claim that we are at war with another Equestria, a ‘fallen’ Equestria.”

She paused to take a breath, and straightened her mane.

‘Alright, go for it.’

“This you already know, or most of it. But it isn’t the full truth. The good Sergeant Icewind came to me because he knew that I had previously tried to warn Celestia against these demons from our ancient past, to no avail. But then, either by chance or, more likely, fate, I received a message from somepony who holds all the answers. Celestia herself.”

That perked the ears of everypony present. Emboldened, Catseye decided now was time to let loose.

“I have seen that there is indeed more than one of everything,” she pressed on, feeling more articulate and self-assured. “Not just other realms, but other histories. Whole new Equestrias are born every second from a tweak in time. And one of these Equestrias, the one against which were a traitor’s cabal seeks to lead us into war, grew to become the undisputed master of the world. A unified Equus, with a wise Queen Celestia as its sole, rightful ruler. I know this, because I have spoken to her…”

She was smiled now. It was exhilarating, feeling the ebb and flow of the crowd’s emotions run wherever she pointed.

“Her Majesty told me that in her mercy, she sought out the humans, our race’s old enemy, to offer them the gift of ponykind, the gift of purity. They refused, and fought. And some ponies, seduced and corrupted by mankind’s dark science, betrayed Equestria. Now their counterparts do the same on our own plane. Yes my friends, it is not that ‘other’ Equestria, that Solar Empire, that is the fallen realm, but OURS! But we won’t let this stand, will we? We won’t turn our motherland over into their hooves, Will We? We won’t obey the usurpers and backstabbers, WILL WE!?””

“NO!” came the roared reply. Some ponies began to pound on the tables, a trooping beat for her impassioned words to soar upon.

“Our ‘leaders’ and their acolytes tell us that they are in the right. You may even know some of these humanistic cowards! They’ll scream out that the cleansing of humankind is wrong. They tell you it is not Harmony! Well, in return, I ask them now: how bright must the Sun shine on the Solar Empire, how united must all true ponies be, for the windigoes not to come and devour their hearts? Ponies, in the name of Equestria and Harmony as only we know it, let us all now pledge allegiance to Queen Celestia, and cast out the beast-demon Man! That is the truth!”

Cheers and applause met her speech as it reached its crescendo.

“Ponies of this fallen Equestria, rise up! Rise up and transform our home, restore her glory, her pride, and her purity! RISE UP! RISE UP!”

They took up the cry in chorus, stomping and beating with hooves and wings. The chanted words almost had a life of their own, a passionate fury that swept up all within earshot.

Relieved, Catseye allowed the noise to cover the sound of her exhalation. It was growing quite warm and stuffy in this confined room, and the noise bouncing off the walls, ringing in her head, only increased the sense of pressure. And yet it was so oddly gratifying.

This must be what popularity felt like. What acceptance felt like.

“Thank you all,” she smiled as the wave of noise broke, furtively wiping a bead of sweat off her brow and rubbing at her sore throat. “If any of you wish to say their piece, you’re welcome to it. In the meantime, Sergeant Icewind and I are open to questions. I suggest you ask him about the finer practical details, though. I’m more the ideas mare in our, our partnership.”

As Icewind got up to join her onstage, one young stallion seated at the front raised a hoof. A loam-colored Earth pony with a tangled mane of black curls, wearing square glasses and, unusually, a maroon tweed jacket. She thought he looked familiar.

“I wanted to ask you something, Doctor Catseye. Erm, dunno if you remember, I’m Blackberry. I used to attend your courses.”

‘Ah, yes. I remember him. The strange one who always sits at the back. Hm, looks like he’s moved up in the world. Fairly bright, though. He’ll do nicely.’

“Well, good to see you again, Blackberry. It seems fitting for a student to ask the first question. Ask away.”

“Um, I was wondering what we were called.”

Catseye blinked. “I’m sorry, come again?”

“What our name was,” he explained. “Every good protest group neems a catchy name, right? Stays in the people’s minds that way. I was thinking something with ‘adamant’ in it, to demonstrate our, y’know, firmness against…”

‘Oh Celestia, this is gonna turn into a farce,’ Catseye groaned mentally, ‘Why, oh why’d I expect a student to have something of substance to say about politics?’

Fortunately, Icewind stepped in for damage control. “Thank you, Mr. Blackberry,” he said curtly. “You raise an interesting point. Any other questions? Yes, you.”

This last phrase was directed at a large brick-red Earth stallion with a brown crew-cut mane, holding a huge yet still very full tankard of cider.

“Fuse is the name. Short Fuse. And let me just tell ya, right here, right now, that I’ve not read any of yer books, Doc, but I’m with ya one hundred-percent! However, I’s a family stallion. Got a wife and two kids to fink about. Mini’s a good mare, but – and I hope the missus forgives me for sayin’ so – she’s all heart and no strength. Can’t keep the farm on her lonesome. But she stands by me and I don’t deserve her. Keeps me grounded. Now, I’ve done time in the castle’s, ahem, guest rooms, and that’s given me healthy respect for the law. You realise that, technically speakin’, this ‘ere makes us traitors to the Crown.”

‘So, the working-class hero is the one to ask the smart question. And a ruffian to boot,’ thought Catseye. She mulled it over. ‘But he says he’s seen the light. And it is a smart question. There’s still hope for this meeting after all.’

Once again, Icewind spoke up for her. “I can answer that,” he said, and his tone was unusually careful. Of course. The former Guard must have met stallions like this Short Fuse before, only now, they were on the same side of the fence. It had to feel strange for both of them.

“When I swore my oath of loyalty,” Icewind continued, climbing up onto the stage beside Casteye. “The Guard’s track record as Canterlot’s protectors was proudly unbroken for years, but then we started giving way to Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and the other undesirables. A rot has been allowed to fester in Equestria’s high establishments, and it is no coincidence that it began at the time when ‘Princess Luna’ returned. But I’ve seen how she and her puppets, the so-called ‘Bearers of Harmony’ have perverted our state, and I refuse to not take action. I pledged my loyalty to Princess Celestia, not her delinquent little sister, Nightmare Moon! And I’m proud I didn’t hesitate to say it to her face.”

Fuse grunted. “Well, guv, let me tell ya straight, yer a darn fool for doin’ so.”

“What did you just say,” Icewind hissed, “you lout?”

“Ya heard me. I’da funk a lawstallion would know better’n show lip to the big bosses. Sure it gives you a kick, but then ya wake up next mornin’ on a bed o’ hay in a cell and yer head achin’ like Tartarus. Oh wait, that’s just fer drinkin! For verbly’ buckin’ a darn Alicorn in the face, yer be glad to have hay to sleep on the buckin’ Moon!”

The crowd shivered, like trees in a storm. The frisson of righteous wrath, the spell that Catseye’s words had cast, seemed about to break. More dissenting voices arose, and to her panic, the anthropologist saw a few ponies edging their way towards the stairs.

“Gentlecolts, please,” she cried out, and without thinking she reached for the marble around her neck.

‘That mare, that ‘Weaver’ said a touch of magic would help calm those around me...do I trust her?’

But it didn’t matter. For a few glorious moment she had been in command, with all eyes on her and all hearts attuned to her words. She couldn’t lose that bliss, not now!

‘Oh, buck it!’

She felt her horn flare, and the marble glowed for a second with her aura…

...and she suddenly felt better. Stronger, smarter, braver. The glow of her magic seemed amplified as it cradled the marble, and that soft, enticing glow seemed to draw many eyes…

...she barely noticed how every other one of the talismans, worn around the neck of each pony in the bar, was softly glowing in sync with her own…

“Friends,” she called out, feeling a wondrous resonance in her voice as she stepped towards the front of the stage. “Let’s not waste time on bygones. What’s done is done.”

It worked. As she continued to speak, the words coming to her with ease, she saw the crowd still itself, saw their doubts fade and her convictions blossoming within them.

“No doubt Luna remembers Sergeant Icewind’s rather dramatic departure, but she is doubtless engaged colluding with the humans in preparation to attack the Solar Empire.”

She waved a hoof, dismissively.

“No, if anything it’s Discord I would worry about, but fortune is with us, as it seems he has temporarily exhausted himself from building that giant monstrosity outside Canterlot. And besides, that old fraud is powerless before true ponies, united in Harmony. We’re stronger than him!”

As she finished speaking, she took a step back, suddenly feeling drained, but struggling to hide it. The glow around the marble faded, and she blinked, suddenly feeling her usual fears and ill ease return.

But her interruption seemed to have worked, on the crowd at least. They were silent, almost compliant. Had the felt that magic at work?

Icewind and Short Fuse still continued to glare at one another however, but even they seemed to have been reminded of where the true enemy lay.

Fuse was the one to break eye contact first.

“Well then, tin boy,” he said, raising his tankard, “Welcome to how the other half lives. Down here, bein’ true to yerself don’t mean lettin’ folks read ya like an open book.”

Knocking back another slug of his drink, he looked thoughtfully at Catseye. “But I guess that’s kinda what yer sayin’, right, Miss? ‘Spirit of the law, not the letter’ sorta thing, aye? We be doin’ right by Equestria, removin’ a tyrant from power?”

“Quite,” said Catseye. “Celestia herself said that nopony, not even her, is above the Law. It’s what is called a nomocracy.” She turned to face Blackberry. “You wanted to know our name, Mr. Blackberry. Well, here it is. We are the Loyalists.”

“I still think ‘adamant’ belongs in there somewhere,” muttered Blackberry.

“Think what you want, kid,” Icewind said placidly, “The only name that matters on this room is humanity’s true name. I’m sure you know the one. Monsters. But that’s an easy word to throw around, so I believe now’s the time for you all to know exactly what it is we’re up against. Corporal Strategy, please give us your report.”

The next pony to speak was a serious-looking unicorn mare of the richest shade of blue, from coat to cropped mane. “I’m Exit Strategy, Doctor,” she introduced herself to Catseye. “Officially still a Royal Guard. I… chose not to quit publically. Figured Sergeant Icewind would need somepony on the inside. Went and told him soon as I could. Not long after, he asked me to take a message to Dame M– Weaver.”

‘There’s that name again,’ thought Catseye. ‘So, our mysterious benefactor is a Knight of the Realm.’ It was nonetheless a slight relief to know the hooded noblemare wasn’t one of the highest of the high in Canterlot.

“M’lady looked all thoughtful-like for a long, long time. Finally, she turned to me, and said she’d help. She told me what to do. I was to visit the synecdoche… y’know, that huge copy of a human city Discord built outside Canterlot, find the biggest library I could, and check the history books. ‘Know the enemy’, that’s how she put it…”

Silently, Catseye, still recovering from her use of the marble, cursed herself for not hitting on such a simple, and yet brilliant ploy.

“...if any of the outsiders squatting there spotted me,” Exit continued explaining. “I was to say I was on sightseeing duty, though Weaver said I best lie low. Anyway. Took me a while, but I found a big library… You’d never believe how many of their history books have the word ‘war’ in their title.”

At his table, Catseye could see Blackberry whispering something to the green pegasus sitting next to him. Thinking back on his conduct at her lectures, she could almost imagine what he was saying:

“Wait, why’ve they got the same alphabet? How’d she know the word she thought was ‘war’, starting with a ‘w’, wasn’t in fact ‘ear’, cos’ the way they write the letter ‘w’ is like an ‘e’? Or is it the other way round?”

Strategy however paid no notice to background whispers, continuing on with her briefing.

“Now, sad to say, I ain’t got any of the books with me – they all dissolved after I left the city boundaries. Luckily, M’lady saw that coming, so I played it safe and noted down a few things. It… wasn’t easy stuff to read.”

Corporal Strategy rubbed her eyes.

“Sure, it ain’t just war I looked up. Weaver also told me I should check out the story behind their science and knowledge, social progress and all that. And yeah, to tell the truth, they’ve earned bragging rights for tech we can only dream of. But when you read between the lines, it ain’t such a pretty picture.”

She levitated out some notes and a pair of reading glasses from a satchel next to her bench. Glasses safely donned, the military unicorn began to read out her report.

“Here’s what I found,” she began in a detached, clinical tone. “They are self-duplicitous, rewriting their history to suit their needs and shield themselves from their own monstrosity.”

Icewind and Catseye were by now listening with enraptured attention, as was the rest of the crowd.

“As an example, take their world’s most famous explorer, popularly regarded as having proven their world was round and opening up new lands for development in the process.”

She snorted derisively.

“Lies. In truth, the nature of their planet was knowledge already tacitly accepted by the elite of the time. This man was in truth seeking to exploit that wisdom, seeking to profit from a faster trade route to their East. In the process, he discovered a continent no-one had even suspected existed. No scientific curiosity or ethos of discovery at work, just greed. He wanted to get rich, and when he landed on that ‘new world’, that same greed wiped out the native inhabitants, a people called the Taino. The other ‘pioneers’ who followed continued in the same vein, building multiple nations by exterminating and evicting the ‘primitives’ who had the misfortune to live there already.”

Low murmurs. Would this be the fate of an Equestria allied with these monsters?

“And yes, they flew to their moon and travel the stars. But it was not altruism that carried them aloft. It was the competition of two powerful, brutal and arrogant nations, whose petty squabbles nearly drove mankind to extinction. The prime incentive for their technological progress is the struggle to survive in a world where they are their own worst enemy. War and boundless ambition is built into their very cultures. In the last hundred years alone, their history has seen the industrialized slaughter of millions. Some of their kind even built factories designed for the sole purpose of mass-murdering an ethnic minority, and the same principles are applied to the charnels where they process living creatures into food stocks.”

The horror continued...

“Even those they see as paragons of altruism lack true compassion. One fem– one woman known for feeding the poor, Bojaxhiu, claimed the world was helped by the suffering of the destitute and oppressed. Another man, who they have martyred for his espousal of non-violence, denigrated women who get forced upon as ‘impure’. Yes ponies, their own moral champion, ‘the father of a nation’, engaged in blaming rape upon its victims!”

Finished, Strategy laid down the papers.

“I believe that sums up the character of mankind succinctly,” she said softly, removing her glasses to wipe the lenses clean. Her eyes were misty with barely-suppressed tears..

“Well,” said Catseye. “Anypony want to add something to that?”

Slowly, tentatively, the plum-colored Earth mare with a tiny cup of berry juice raised her hoof.

Catseye sighed. “Okay, Miss Berry Punch, what’ve you got?”

“Well, um…” mumbled Punch, eyes darting back and forth. “It’s just… all this talk about how evil the humans are… You’re kind of scaring me.”

“Of course you’re scared,” replied Catseye. (‘Idiot,’ she added mentally.) “These are terrifying creatures. That’s why we are here.”

“Y-yeah, I know, but… Look, I love Equestria. Best place in the world, and, uh, I think it’d be great to go out‘n teach the other species to live in Harmony, don’t get me wrong. But, um, it doesn’t make sense, if they’re, the humans I mean, if they’re so nasty and horrid…well, they CAN’T all be like that. How’d they last so long without all dying out?”

“They’re meat eaters, like griffons and dragons,” Icewind said darkly, almost casually. “Most of the time, they’re too busy sinking their claws into hapless prey and gorging on the entrails to finish each other off.”

Even Catseye knew that was a sweeping generalisation, but it seemed sufficient to win back ponies who had been nodding along with Berry Punch.

“Exactly,” Exit Strategy humphed in acknowledgement. “Their day-to-day life is a struggle in which everypony else is disposable. And many animal species on Earth have gone extinct cos’ of that. And those that remain, including ponies, innocent ponies not so different to us, are slaves, bred as labor, as transportation, as meat...”

There was another shudder throughout the crowd. The implication was clear: ponification and absorption into an expanding Equestria would be a blessing, not just for the human creatures, but for their entire world.

And yet the mare called Berry Punch persisted in her dissent.

“Uh… griffons and dragons don’t eat just m-meat... even if that is pretty disgusting... and most of ‘em try not to eat other people – and aren’t animals on this Earth meant to be...mindless.”

“Semantics,” Strategy said dismissively. “Y’know, I was once assigned as escort detail for our ambassador to the zebra tribe of Punda Miliashariki. Sweet Celestia, never again! The weather in Zebrica is madder’n a square circle, you can’t reason with the wildlife, and I was never sure of what I ate...”

The thought of the zebra lands caused Catseye to involuntarily clench as the guardsmare continued to elucidate.

“But I learned a couple things on that trip. See, the plains zebras have this concept they call the ‘Circle of Life’, sort of like Harmony. Only, their idea is, like, everything dies and is reborn, right? Now, zebras aren’t meat eaters. But when an animal dies, its body feeds the grass and the plants, and zebras eat plants. So, in a way, they eat meat too. They do burn their dead so’s not to be cannibals, though. The plains zebras believe the ashes feed the wind, and the wind carries the souls into new bodies. Breathing new life, as it were.”

‘Why did she bother learning those savages’ customs?’ Catseye demanded internally, narrowing her eyes a little. ‘Knowing the enemy is one thing, but this sounded almost like sympathy...’

She didn’t speak though, so as to keep a united front for the punters, but marked down Strategy as being a mare worthy of closer investigation in the future.

Blackberry however, showed no such restraint.

“Hah, I know a nerd when I see one…” the student stage-whispered slyly to his pegasus friend, just loud enough to be heard.

“You can hold your mouth, pupil!” Catseye said, putting a hoof forward and feeling another trill of exhilaration at how he visibly quailed. “Please continue, Corporal.”

“Thankyou Milady,” Exit Strategy said, bowing subtly, before turning back to the argumentative Earth Pony mare.

“What I’m getting at is this, Miss Punch, is that there’s kind of a balance in the Zebrican view of things. It ain’t nice, but it’s fair. Humans… haven’t got any such balance. They are apex predators, and if you don’t know what that is, look it up, I am not… I ain’t explaining it.”

As her growing tic of switching from casual speech to lecture mode could attest, the well-read corporal was barely keeping a lid on her anxiety.

“...and that means they’re upsetting a fragile ecosystem. I’m a pony. The idea of meat-eating makes me sick. Yet some people need it to survive. And if humans were half as smart as their books say they are, they’d at least have found a way to keep it sustainable. Even the griffons and dragons manage somehow.”

“Not for much longer…” Icewind contributed darkly. “Princess Celestia personally held back those beasts for a millenium, and more.With her gone, well…I’m sure the Nightmare Night stories with which we scare our children must come from somewhere. Harmony help Equestria once our ‘benevolent Lunar Diarch’ starts feeding her subjects to these… these jackals.”

That really put the cat among the pigeons. The crowd began to bubble and froth again, much to Catseye’s panic. But as Icewind turned away, he winked at her, and she realised that he had intentionally given her another opening.

“It won’t get to that, I promise,” she interposed, clutching at the marble again and wondering if she was strong enough to invoke its power again. “Not if we here stand together, united. Nothing’s going to eat your daughter, Berry Punch. Soon it’ll be safe again for ponies to play in Equestria’s green fields. We Loyalists will make sure of that.”

Despite her feelings towards the irritating earth mare, the historian said this as a display of magnanimity. It was what a good leader should do, after all.

And she was becoming a leader, she could feel it. It was just as the Queen had promised...and soon all her other promises would be fulfilled.

“Does anyone else have any questions?” she asked.

Blackberry raised his hoof again, and when Catseye pointed to him, he sounded slightly more timid than before. Excellent.

“Um, Doctor, that’s a lovely vision, for sure, but I have my own question. How, exactly, do we ‘Loyalists’ plan to defy Princess Luna? The few known ways to hurt one of the royal alicorns are these ‘new’ runic enhancements, orichalcum blades, or an artifact such as the Heavenstone. None of which we have.”

That was a true worry. Catseye felt a pit open in her stomach as the words hit home. Yet when she turned to look at Icewind, she saw he was beaming at the young stallion.

“I believe,” she said, “that Sergeant Icewind can field that question.”

“Thankyou, Doctor. I’m glad you asked that, young buck,” he smiled, “We can’t attack Luna directly, but we can stall for time, create an oppurtunity for the Empire’s forces to come in and liberate Equestria. And thanks to the help of… certain parties within the nobility, simple politics will help delay the usurper’s plans. You see, here’s an interesting fact not many ponies know, but a good friend of mine brought to my attention. Since her return, Luna has never been added to the Civil List.”

The ears on Blackberry’s pegasus friend, Max, perked up at that. “Wait, seriously? You mean, for the last two years, she’s been living on her big sister’s dime, and the Parliament never signed any agreement to release funds for her royal business every year?”

“Precisely, Corporal Velocity,” replied Icewind. “And that, in turn, means all the gold in the Royal Household is officially under Celestia’s name. Of course, a little thing like theft won’t stop Nightmare Moon. But the Treasury alone can’t support a military operation on the scale that mare is planning for, and she won’t want to waste what she stole from her sister’s private coffers. So she’s really got only two options. Either pass an act in Parliament to add her to the List, or raise taxes for everypony.”

“She’ll try all for the first,” grinned Fuse, “Taxes ain’t popular on the best o’ days, and now…”

“Now’s far from the best of times,” Icewind finished for him. “I’ve reason to believe that in the next few days, Luna will try for just such an act. But it’s been a while since she’s played Canterlot politics, and ponies in key places will be ready for her. These aren’t the days where royals can just throw their weight around, even with an army of monsters to back them up. If Luna tries to force her hoof now, she’ll be facing open rebellion.”

“And she won’t want that. Not when the Solar Empire is coming,” said Catseye, like her compatriots, revealing the full plan in dribs and drabs. “So she’ll have to play nice with Parliament. That gives us opportunity.”

“And what do we get out of this?” asked Max languidly. “We who actually have to exploit that ‘opportunity’?”

Icewind slammed a hoof on the stage.

“Our reward will be the name that we will bear when this is done, ‘heroes’, and that should be enough. Equestria is the true prize, and we belong to it.”

Many of the gathered ponies smiled at that proclamation, grinning at one another at the thought of being hailed as heroes.

“Where the Elements have failed to stop the monster, where Princess Celestia failed to see the danger he represented,” Icewind flapped his wings and set himself on a table in the center of the crowd, smiling down on all the ponies. “We will stop them ourselves.”

He extended a hoof to Catseye, and jumping easily forward from the stage, she joined him atop the table, head held high.

“We will win!” she reiterated. “Through cunning, wit, and our undying loyalty to Equestria, we will stop them.”

More rumbles of approval. The earlier speech had been the stick with which to drive the mule, and now this was the golden carrot.

As with Berry Punch before however, there were a few outspoken voices running against the tide.

“Why not take out a few of them monsters,” Fuse grumbled aloud.

“No!” Catseye started, to her surprise shocked at his words. “We are ponies. We are better than them!”

She thought back to the vision she had been shown, of the mare being tortured in that filthy city.

“...resorting to violence will only play us into their filthy hands. It’s a game that they are masters of. Playing that hoof will only get innocent ponies hurt. No, we will stop them from behind the scenes, away from prying eyes and away from the violence.”

That seemed to defuse another sizzling powderkeg. As Catseye basked in the proverbial spotlight, Icewind smiled sideways at her, laying a comfortable wing across her back, causing her to shiver at the touch. Reflexively, she shyly stepped away, which triggered a mild round of ribbing laughter.

“See how strong we are together?” she said, running with the crowd’s attitude. “See the power that binds us as ponies?”

She shared a small smile with Icewind before looking down at the others.

“For now, we bide our time and keep our eyes on what our enemies deem important. We gather intelligence and study their plans. And once we are in a position of strength, we strike.”

The resolution with which she had spoken seemed to have done the trick, everypony stomping their hoof in agreement.

“Okay, let’s keep our ears to the ground and listen,” she said, easing the meeting towards a conclusion. “Everypony, we will meet up again next week, same time.”

“But before we leave, now’s when we play our trump card,” Icewind smiled.

“Blackberry,” he called, nodding towards the student. “You are right, we face a powerful foe. The Nightmare Princess has many powers, and among them is the mastery of dreams, a realm in which our deepest secrets are exposed. How then, do we shield ourselves from such an intrusion.”

He held up his own cats-eye marble. “These charms are ‘secret keepers’, and they are our winning ploy. You all received one when admitted to this meeting, and since that point, all of your experiences: sights, sounds, thoughts, have been recorded upon them, and not in your minds...once you remove them, all memory of this meeting will vanish from your memory, only to return when this powerful totem rests once more around your neck.”

A few ponies stirred in disquiet, Catseye among them. Was that what had happened when she had used her magic on the marble...had her thoughts and convictions been directly imposed upon the other wearers?

That...that was…

“Genius!” Blackberry and Max cried out. “That way, so long as we take them off before we sleep, we can’t give away anything in our dreams.”

“Or let anything slip outside of our meetings,” confirmed Icewind. “Just take them off when in the company of pony ‘outsiders’. The charms do have a few other subtle spells cast upon them, among them Foalkein’s ‘Destiny Ring’...if lost, each ‘secret keeper’ will always find their way back to their owner, yourselves...”

Catseye was taking this all in with some level of surprise. She and Icewind had discussed the grand strategy for undermining Nightmare Moon at length, but this was an entire level of planning that until now, had been hidden from her. This kind of ensorcelling was profound, and rare…

“...each charm will also glow subtly on the morning of a day upon which a meeting is scheduled,” Icewind concluded. “At the same time a modified ‘want it, need it spell’ will activate, compelling you to wear it. This will ensure that none of us accidentally forget our true allegiance, our true Loyalty.”

The meeting broke up soon after that. Catseye had found the strength to stand at the foot of the stairs, personally thanking each departing pony for attending. Most seemed comfortable with how the meeting had resolved, even, it seemed, Berry Punch, though she had been evidently uncomfortable when Icewind had given her a second Secret Keeper, “for little Ruby Pinch…”

She had still accepted it though.

At last, the last of the newly-formed Loyalists had left, eagerly chattering about how they would keep the human monsters from escaping the fate passed upon them, leaving just Catseye and Icewind in the otherwise empty cellar.

The mare hugged herself with one hoof, suddenly feeling very isolated in the empty space.

“So, that went well, right?” smiled Icewind.

“Yes...I suppose it did,” she answered, examining her own Secret Keeper charm. She held it up for him to see.

“The magic cast on these things, is very specialised. Are you saying… that noblemare… our special friend… is a dreamweaver?”

“Yes,” he answered back, “And quite a skilled one, too.”

Walking side-by-side, they ascended the stairs.

“I thought…” she continued. “I thought that the art had died out in the centuries since Nightmare Moon’s banishment…”

“Nopony alive today can do it like they once did, true. But scraps of it still survive among those of the right blood.”

Nodding a farewell to the barmaid, they stepped out into the cool midnight air.

“Alright then…” Icewind said, reaching for the clasp on his charm’s lanyard. “Ready to test the memory spells?”

She hesitated, and then nodded, seeing the same hesitance she felt in his own eyes.

“Alright,” she breathed, firing up her horn. “Let’s get this over with. 3, 2, 1…”

There was a ‘sucking’ sensation as the charm came free, and she momentarily reeled...

“What had...what just…” she stammered, trying to make sense of a huge hole that had suddenly appeared in her memory. “Where did your friend in the cloak go…”

Icewind himself was staring down at something held by one of his wings, a tiny marble on a length of cord. Feeling her magic at work, she saw that she herself was levitating an identical one...hadn’t the myserious noble just been offering it to her…

“I think, it worked…” he said at last. “My specifications were very specific when I commissioned these...and she seems to have delivered.”

Hearing him, Catseye paused and steadied herself. Yes, there was a sense of rightness, of something that had born fruit. She felt light on her hooves, riding the high of some great sucess.

“I’ve, I’ve never felt so alive…” she said at last. And looking at him, she saw him nod in response.

“Yeah, I think we really accomplished something tonight…”

Suddenly, he swept low in a bow, one wing tucked across his chest.

“Doctor Catseye, might I escort you home?”

“Oh! I–” she blushed brightly as Icewind held out his leg to her, causing her to stammer out her next words. “Y-y-you don’t have to–”

Icewind gently wrapped her leg into his own, looking directly into her eyes. “It will be my pleasure, Ma’am.”

Catseye felt her blush deepen, and she managed to catch herself before she swooned.

“Alright, but only if you let me buy you dinner on the way…” she stammered, before feeling an almost alien surge of confidence that brought a small smile to herself. “...I am after all, an employed academic with income to spare, whereas you could do with fattening up, my grey guardian.”

“It’s a date, milady,” he chuckled.

And then, side by side, the two of them joined the other Loyalists dispersing into the night. However, none of them, not even the talented Icewind, saw the shadows that trailed after them...

But one pony, who had not left with the rest of the crowd, did.

“I don’t think so,” whispered ‘Weaver’, peering through the crack in the shutters of her room’s window. She tightened the knot which kept her cloak tied below her chin, concealing her face to the world. “Let’s take a leap of faith, and trust Luna doesn’t recognize my signature all over this scheme.”

Treading lightly past the bed, her delicate white hooves making no noise upon the floorboards, she magically retrieved an oaken box from beneath the bed frame. It screeched across the wooden floor before raising into the air, held safely at her side by her rose-colored aura. A rattling could be heard from within, the kind made by small round objects knocking against one another in an enclosed space.

With a flick of her horn, the noblemare dampened the sound to near-zero. Wraith-like, she silently made her downstairs and across the common room, unnoticed by the barmare, and crossed the threshold into the moonless night outside.

“Time to give these nightmare creatures some nightmares of their own…”

Lyra took a deep breath as as she finished her run. She looked around briefly, before ducking into the tree line to escape Stephan’s eyes. From a position of concealment, she watched as he began to outbark several diamond dogs, who were also the focus of his wrath. She smirked as the canids looked up at him in open fear.

“I swear to fuckng God, if you dig another fucking hole in the track I will fucking stick my boot up your ass!”

Lyra bit back her laughter, feeling her chest muscles clenching with unexpected strength as she did. She examined her barrel with a critical eye.

‘Wow, I really slimmed down after a month of running. Also…’

She ran a hoof across her hips, feeling the powerful muscles bunching under her coat, especially in her flank area. Giggling, she sat down and rubbed her rear end,

“Oh sweet…just wait Boonie, and maybe I can even get Marcus’ attention with this.”

“Wow, I haven’t heard that before from you.” an amused voiced called out from behind her, causing her to yelp. “Though this still feels vaguely familiar.”

“Marcus!” Lyra squeaked out, spinning around and instinctively tucking her tail between her legs, a blush flaming across her face.

“Heh, hey Lyra,” the Marine laughed as he walked up to her, holding out his hand before suddenly hesitating.

Lyra blinked, waiting for that wonderful hand to run through her mane. And then she remembered his ‘problem’. She frowned, and then in a flash of inspiration, walking up and rubbed her head against his frozen palm, before quickly pulling away. Marcus blinked before grinning, pushing forward beyond the hiccup. “So, admiring yourself?”

“Uh… Yeah.” Lyra gave him a shy smile, her bangs covering her eyes before she raised her hoof to brush them out of them way. “S-so, what are you doing here?”

“Uh huh. I’ve seen those kind of cheap moves before.” Marcus chuckled, crossing his arms and flashing her a wry smile “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had an adorable minty unicorn pitch a little...erm ‘rodeo’.”

Lyra couldn’t help but feel her blush heat up, “I… I guess your Lyra did this before.”

“Yup. She cared about me a lot.” Marcus walked up to the nearest tree and carefully sat down. “I suppose the fact that she asked to bring Cheerilee and Bon Bon into it and try to make it a mutual ‘deal’ shows how much she cared. It didn’t work out though.”

“O-oh…” Lyra looked away. “Because Cheerilee told you to turn it down?”

“No, not so much as that... Cher actually wanted me to go for it, she seemed rather excited even...” he admitted, a blush of his own evident. “Don’t take it the wrong way, I was really flattered by the prospect, but I just wasn’t comfortable with it.”

He scratched his chin, looking up to the treetops. “I mean, your counterpart really tried to sell the whole ‘three sexy mares and one handsome human’ plan to us. Then... she started to describe what she planned to do with Cheerilee...I didn’t even know horns could do that!”

Lyra was sure she looked as bright red as some of the apples that Applejack grew in her family orchards as Marcus continued to describe her counterpart’s sexual ambitions, including the ‘private’ affairs that was better left said behind closed doors.

“- I am pretty sure you ended it with you, Cheerilee, and Bon Bon kissing each other while taking it in turns to hold me down and....”

“Stop, please!” Lyra begged, having by this point covered her face with her hooves, “I’m such a pervert!”

“Nah. Just somepony that really likes to love freely with the people she cared for.” Marcus chuckled as he stood up, “Come walk with me, I know you like to skip out on training if given the chance. Stephan would whip that cute little rear of yours if he catches you. At least with me, you have a chance to escape without reprieve.”

“Y-yeah!” Lyra said with a smile, her tail wagging excitedly at the idea as well at what he said.

‘He called my butt cute! Maybe I do have a chance!’

“Hey Stephan!” Marcus called across the training grounds. “I’m taking Lyra for a walk around the castle for her cool down!”

The german soldat’s eyes narrowed, before giving him a nod. Lyra bounced in happiness for several minutes; avoiding Stephan’s legendary ‘cool down’ sessions was something that she and the Elements often tried so hard to avoid.

Sometimes it was harder than the actual exercise itself.

She shook her head, wanting to get her mind off that for now. Now was the time for some real relaxation.

Instead, she took in the scenery, watching on with wonder as Marcus led her through the heart of Discord’s duplicated Central Park. Training was kicking into full gear for everyone and everything, and the Big Apple was the perfect venue. Griffons were learning how to use the humans’ machine guns, zebras were test-firing assault saddles, and Diamond Dogs and Minotaurs were taking control of the heavy MMGs and HMGs that had been refitted for their use.

Marcus watched with interest as Lyra cheerfully greeted everybody that passed them by. He had been thinking about his discussion with Discord for the past month, and found himself drifting further and further away from his plans on how to ‘protect’ Lyra by tearing down her counterpart’s reputation.

Though he was still uncertain...

“Hey! Miss Heartstrings!” a younger human, a girl with blond hair, called out, running up to them. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m doing well, thank you very much,” Lyra responded kindly.

Marcus stood by, watching as one of the assistant for the scientists (his daughter he believed) , gushed over Lyra. She shyly answered as many of her questions as possible.

Admittedly, his concerns about Lyra being overwhelmed (metaphorically and literally) by her counterpart’s status was looking more and more foolish. This girl, no older than 15, was enquiring into Lyra’s youth and childhood, things that had nothing to do with the war itself.

“What got you into studying humans anyway?”

“Well Carly, it’s mostly because of my grandpa.” Lyra tapped her hoof to her chin, smiling faintly at the thought of the eccentric old stallion. “He told me stories of humans, how they taught all the ponies of Dream Valley all they could.”

‘Oh yeah… Mom, Aunt Molly and Uncle Danny probably brought over toys and other stuff during their adventures with them,’ Marcus realized, a frown appearing on his face as he thought about it. ‘It does explain why mom had several volumes of Better Homes & Gardens Handyman’s book...and the veterinary textbooks in the den.’

It was amazing how much some things made sense in retrospect.

“Carly, I have to take Lyra around the city for her cool down. Maybe you can find us at the dining hall for lunch?” Marcus said as he gently as could, pulling Lyra away from the teen.

“Nuuu!” Lyra cried out, her hooves waving frantically at the giggling girl. “She’s a cutiepie! Please! Let her ask me more!”

“Nope. We have a bit to talk about anyway. Classified stuff.”

With that veto cast, Marcus reached down and pulled her away by the tail, the soft grass doing nothing to stop her from being dragged along.

Once they were a fair distance away, Lyra slumped over in mock sadness, causing him to roll his eyes at the over-dramatic gesture. “Come on, now. None of that. So how do you feel?”

“Feel? About what?” Lyra looked up to him in confusion.

“About the girl bothering you.”

“She didn’t bother me,” Lyra responded a little defensively, “I was just glad to talk to her!”

“You didn’t find it… annoying?” Marcus pressed, worried tone in his voice, “She was asking a lot of personal questions.”

“Well, okay… maybe a little bit,” Lyra sighed as she sat down. “I know why she’s fascinated with me, but I’d like to think she knows the difference between me and my counterpart. She didn’t ask any questions about the war, or topics that I wouldn’t have a clue about. Like Runes, or those prosthetics she had on.”

“Noticed that, did you?” Marcus gave her a small smile.

“I can’t believe Sparkler and I could make something like that…” Lyra whispered, thinking back on how the young girl had been waving around her metal-and-ceramic prosthetic hand that, in terms of dexterity, was no different from a flesh-and-bone appendage.

“Well, she is the first human to have one. Your counterpart saved her from the potion, cut her contaminated hand off with a spell and then promised her a normal life.” Marcus whispered.

For a long while he gazed out across the bustling park.

“Did you feel anything when she approached you?” he asked at last, the words hesitant and fearful.

“Was I suppose to?” Lyra blinked at the question. “Like what?”

Marcus frowned, though he tried to hide it. His few talks with Cadence about her ascension to alicorn had made him wary about taking Lyra to Earth, and Discord’s words had left him even twitchier.

Given the almost saintly status 'Ambadassador' Lyra carried on Earth, he was worried that the innocent little mare before him would be changed against her will if she set a hoof on Earth, as if all of the emotions mankind felt for her counterpart might suddenly ground into her like a bolt of lightning galvanising Frankenstein’s monster.

It had gotten so bad that he had directly confronted Celesita herself, during a few days furlough back on Earth. What they had learned and shared about, not just about ascension but ponies in general, had been illuminating, and concerning.

It seemed that many ponies over the years had ‘ascended’ in one way or another, and not always to alicornhood either. Marcus had expressed confusion until Celestia had tried explained it to him, and then things had got even more convoluted...

“Every pony, regardless of their tribe, has within them a certain, ‘potential’. It is profound, transformative, and often very specific to the individual involved,” Celestia had said softly, when Marcus had confronted her over Lyra’s possible fate.

The Solar regent was translucent, and with a hot sunset blazing through the window behind her, almost indistinguishable. Marcus himself was sitting in what had once been his grandmother’s study, on the family ranch in Kentucky.

Two souls in conversation, attempting to share some wisdom. Telepresence conferencing, with actual telepathy. Celestia herself was an entire astral plane away, still recuperating from the Crystal Empire fiasco. Marcus himself was hardly in the best shape, emotionally recovering from another training accident, a fiasco that had extended the Ghastly Gorge’s length by half a mile!.

Despite his pained thoughts however, he had listened with interest, fingers steepled, until able to offer his own observations. He had approached Celestia on the matter, hoping that her years of experience, overseeing Equestria’s greatest period of growth, would allow her to share some insight. Luna had graciously helped set up this connection, guiding Celestia across the dreamscapes of two worlds until leaving them to one another’s privacy.

“One of the things the PHL did was apply mankind’s science to the pony genome…” he said, when Celestia had given him an opening. “We managed to map it, and the results were definitely interesting. It also pointed in the same way you’ve hinted.”

“Oh?” the ghostly alicorn answered, one delicate eyebrow lifting an inch. “And what is that?”

“That you and Luna have been playing eugenics,” Marcus answered, a tone of accusation lacing his voice.

“Not... exactly,” Celestia replied, looking somewhat downcast. “I’ve seen racial supremacists and isolated communities try their hooves at eugenics, and it has, more often than not, ended badly. Oh, those poor foals...”

She sighed, remembering something from Equestria’s past that Marcus could tell she would rather forget. “No sentient being should ever be treated as breeding stock; Luna and I knew that, and it would be immoral to treat them that way. So we decided that it would be rather more of a relaxation of boundaries. And moreover, it would have been impossible to let them continue on as they were at the time of our births, isolated from each other, hating without cause, treating Earth Ponies as serfs...”

“You got a point there. I read that History of Equestria book that Twilight wrote, and the stories of racial division were just... awful. Though I couldn’t understand why Twilight kept insisting Sullamander wasn’t a psychotic lesbian.”

“I think she was just disturbed by it,” Celestia suggested, sinking back onto the couch, appearing to partly sink through it.

“Probably,” Marcus shrugged. “Regardless, one of the long-term goals of yours, Luna’s and your mother Faust’s plan for Equestria, the breaking down of the barriers between the tribes, was always to bring back the alicorns… and it’s not working as fast as either of you expected.”

He let this sink in and then dropped the bomb. “And not as fast as our science predicts.”

“So, you’ve seen it too?” she asked, indicating he should go, and there was a tiny smidgen of fear in her eyes.

“Seen how in fact the Earth Ponies are the closest ‘base’ to the original Alicorns? Yeah, fuck the Unicorn and Pegasus supremacists indeed. Seen how wings and horns are recessive traits? Yeah, we’ve seen that too. And because its possible for those traits to combine, then yes, we’ve also seen that there’s far less Alicorns in Equestria than there should be.”

He’d dug on an old chalkboard on a stand, and wiped off an old livestock count to draw something new. Quickly, he sketched out a rough chart for her, on which the following was written:

MENDELIAN PONY GAMETES

Earth Pureblood (PPUU)
-Earth, Unicorn Recessive (PPUu)
-Earth, Pegasus Recessive (pPUU)
-Earth, Dihybrid (PpuU)

Unicorn Pureblood (PPuu)
-Unicorn, Pegasus Recessive (Ppuu)

Pegasus Pureblood (ppUU)
-Pegasus, Unicorn Recessive (ppUu)

Alicorn (ppuu)

“Each letter represents an allele inherited from a parent. Lower-case ones represent unicorn and pegaus traits. Since these are recessive, you need two of the same kind to develop wings or horns. Long story short, only ‘uu’ or ‘pp’ gametes will produce anything other than an Earth Pony.”

Her eyes had slid to the bottom of the chart.

“And if both of those pairs exist in the same ‘gamate’?” she asked, sounding almost afraid.

“Then you should get an alicorn…” he sighed, before gesturing with the chalk. “I’m not an expert geneticist…Hell, I flunked biology big time back in high school. Ask me to tell you where a fired bullet will land, and I can answer you in a blink. But in explaining fundamental genetics...”

At last he stepped back and gestured.

“But yes” he explained. “There are actually nine ‘basic’ pony genomes. Each represents different combinations of recessive traits. The Earth ponies have the greatest diversity. Some of them, perhaps as many as a quarter of them, carry the recessive traits of both other tribes hidden inside of them. If two of those particular ‘Dihybrid’ ponies had a child, like say the Cakes, then that foal could genetically inherit any number of abilities. It come come out as any of the different genomes.”

He paused.

“Based on the calculations, that kid would have a one-in-sixteen chance of being born an alicorn.”

He scratched out the ‘pureblood options’.

“And it goes further. Yours and Luna’s social policies oversaw a broad move away from ‘pure’ bloodlines and into more mixed marriages. Love between members of different tribes increases the chance of ‘mixed’ bloodlines, which massively skewed the chance in favour of alicorns, so where are they?”

He slapped a hand on the board.

“For Pete’s sake Celestia, some pairings have a one-in-four or even one-in-two chance of the alleles lining up for both wings and horns to fully develop. Hell, you should, hypothetically, have been seeing new Alicorns being born into the population within two generations of Equestria’s founding. And yet, that never happened.”

“And Luna…” Celestia whispered. “What about her attempts to… to become a mother?”

Marcus flinched, and scratched at his neck. “Well, it’s difficult. And I never wanted to ask about Luna’s, erm, romantic history.”

“She took no less than three husbands over the course of her first millenium of life…” Celestia explained gently. “In all cases, the foals were mortal. Cadence is from of one of those bloodlines. Though with the time that has passed, I’m certain at least half of Equestria descends from Luna.”

Marcus did not answer at first, and hearing the weight of his silence, Celestia turned a fiery gaze upon him.

“What does your science say now? What truths have you discovered? Was my sister’s attempts at raising a family to share our long eons doomed from the start?”

“No…” he admitted, easing himself onto the couch, wincing at fresh aches and pains. His runes were itching colossally. “Not biologically, anyway.”

Celestia sat down beside him. Despite her presence in his mind, she had no odour, or shadow, or mass. But the emotion in her eyes, that was real.

The blackboard seemed to stare down at the two of them.

“If Luna courted some of the ‘second tier’ generations,” Marcus explained, “where the various traits had begun to mix, then she should have had a high chance of carrying alicorn foals. But in the early days, when the ‘pureblood’ lines were predominant, then the laws of genetics would have resulted in any of her children being born either an Earth Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn.”

“But why? I don’t question your wisdom, but why are there so few Alicorns in Equestria… so few of this ‘ninth gamete’?”

It was framed as a question, and yet now there was something knowing in her expression, as if she had deduced the answer long ago and was now testing him.

“Because something’s blocking it…” he said at last. “Some external force is inhibiting the development of alicorns, keeping the numbers down.”

“And there you have the answer,” Celestia said softly, nodding knowingly. “After a long while, I came to the conclusion that Harmony itself was the factor. Equestria, with all its petty fears and little tribalist mentalities, is still not ready for alicorns. There are only a scarce few.”

“Have you considered the other possibility?” he asked archly. “That the curse that befell the alicorns, that split them into the three pony subgroups, is still in effect behind the scenes, in every pony’s DNA?”

“Also true. But what about ponies like Lyra, and Cadence - what of the pegacorns?”

“We tested Lyra during our research, trying to understand pony magic. What you called ‘pegacorns’, are actually ponies in whom the recessive traits have partially manifested… Lyra and Cadence were both of the ‘Ppuu’ genome - unicorn with pegasus recessive.”

She nodded along, deeply invested. This was an interesting exchange, with each offering up what they knew and testing the other’s knowledge base.

“So then,” Celestia continued, “I would assume then that somewhere there are pegasi with the traits of unicorns?”

“Rainbow Dash,” he said without pause. “As an example. She’s biologically stronger and faster than most other pegasi, not because of the ‘purity’ of her bloodline, but because some unicorn ancestor passed down a larger-than-average magical reserve to her. Could explain how she made a Sonic Rainboom. May explain Fluttershy as well - I would guess that at some point higher up in her family tree, there was an Earth pony with some interesting recessive traits. Flutters herself also classifies as ‘unicorn recessive’... but that little tweak in her magical development could have woken those dormant abilities up and suppressed her growth as a ‘pegasus’... subtly, all three races in one package. Almost an alicorn, even.”

He laughed at how she blinked in surprise, and then he sighed, winding up for the Hail Marcy pitch.

“Here’s one to really throw you, something that none of our pony researchers even suspected - there’s actually more than a few Earth pony ‘pegacorns’ who got more than a touch of Peg or Uni about them, or sometimes even both...which maybe might explain Pinkie Pie… and her ‘Pinkie sense’.”

“Oh yes!” Celestia laughed. “Oh I knew there was something odd about that lovely mare! Take this research to Twilight, please, I’d love to see her reaction.”

“Oh, just picture the look on Twily’s face should Pinkie throw an ‘almost alicorns party’...” he deadpanned back. “Doctor Whooves’ response to this was frightening enough, before he began dancing around the room and forced the implications down everybody’s throats! I don’t think I’d even understand half of this if it hadn’t been for him showing that there are too few alicorns by half in Equestria.”

“The wonders of life at work…” she smiled. “And therein lies the danger of ascension, of transformation magic, and its unpredictability.”

He pondered for a second, and then started, sitting bolt upright.

“The splitting of the alicorn race! The crystal ponies and the thestrals, and Cadance’s ascension! They’re not genetically predicted. They should not have happened!”

She nodded sagely.

“Magic is fundamentally transformative, I have learnt. Starswirl’s teachings stress that ‘we are who we are’, that we are born into the bodies best suited to our souls, but I’ve come to doubt that… never with proof though.”

“We only recently accepted that on Earth,” he admitted. “Men trapped in the bodies of women, and vice-versa… and a whole raft of other discoveries about our nature, all locked in our genes.”

“Indeed, but with ponies, there is something else at work. I believe that the very fact that today’s ponies were born of a single race being split in three has left something in them that is unstable, and susceptible to transformation under the right conditions. Hence why my Cadance ascended when overloaded by her ‘special talent’ of love, and Sombra’s own metamorphosis under the influence of Dark Magic…”

She trailed off, and visibly wiped away a tear.

“And Nightmare Moon, and the Thestrals, and the Crystal Ponies,” he finished for her. “It’s like pulling a magical lever switch, and scrambling their nature to make something new.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “And that is the potential within every one of my ponies. Your science confirms my hope that alicorns are Equestria’s biological destiny in general, but I’ve also learnt from experience that magic itself will introduce new outliers, new options.”

“That’s like the Pokemon-model of evolution!” he snorted. “Wake up one morning with hooves, and come night time, you’ve grown a pair of bat wings, or flippers.”

“Strange by Earth’s standards, but true. While most will walk the same path, some might find themselves walking another.”

She mimed poking one of his runes, and then pointed back at herself.

“New paths, new ways of life. Transformed lives…”

“Luna...the other Luna, spoke of her and her sister as living ‘cursed lives’, once,” he answered, hunched forward and cuddling a cushion, whose seams were threatening to pop. “Is that the future for me? For Cheerilee? For your Cadance, suddenly thrust into immortality?”

“Is why you are so concerned for our Lyra?” she asked gently. He nodded, and she smiled.

“Luna and I did not ask to be born the way we are, but neither did anyone else. We can’t shape how we enter this world, only how we live as we pass through it. As for Cadance, she is strong, and has a great heart. And she will never be allowed to forget that she is loved and treasured, no matter how long her path may stretch out through time.”

Celestia stomped a hoof, and to her chagrin it passed straight through the carpet.

“Whatever happens, she will not face eternity alone, Marcus.”

“Are we still talking about Cadence, or Lyra?”

“Does it matter?” she smiled. “I would not worry too much. In most cases, transformation has either acted on something that was already there; only rarely is it imposed from outside. From meeting Miss Heartstrings, I would say she is pretty confident with her self identity.”

“Ha! If she did ‘ascend’, she’d probably end up a human!” he laughed. But it felt hollow. “I’m just scared for her.”

He waved at the list of gametes he had drawn out. “I’m from a paradigm where, once something is understood, we can make reliable predictions based upon it. Magic has changed all of that. We might be moving into a world that works less as it ‘should’, and more as we ‘think’ it should, and that scares me. But most of all, I’m scared for Lyra.”

The immortal diarch gently laid a massless wing across his shoulders, mimicking a hug.

“Don’t be. Magic is not some mindless force. It’s shaped by the hearts and souls of those around it. And regardless of what else I can say about your world, it is evident that it loved Lyra Heartstrings deeply. Whatever happens when she arrives on Earth, I can guarantee that it will be an expression of that love.”

“But what we love, we often hurt…” he whispered darkly, clutching a cushion to his chest.

“I know,” she answered. “I know…”

“Marcus?”

‘Huh?’ Marcus blinked, shaking off the memory before giving her a warm smile. “Sorry, just thinking about something. Don’t worry about it too much. It was just me being a bit paranoid.”

“Oh, okay.” Lyra gave him a warm smile before she walked ahead of him, flicking her tail somewhat. Marcus couldn’t help but shake his head at this. Flirting, with either Lyra, was always the same: straight forward and in your face. A small part of Marcus always regretted not letting the minty unicorn have what she wanted, her trust in him was stronger than almost any force he knew.

“Ooh ooh, what’s Earth like?!” she asked suddenly, voice pitching with excitement and hooves pressed against her cheeks. “I can’t wait to see it!“

"Lyra, don’t get too excited. What you see of Earth may be rather… disappointing.”

“Because of the war?” she asked, suddenly sober.

She hadn’t yet seen pictures of earth during the war, but there was word of some kind of exhibition coming in the near future, funded by the thin, lanky human whose name was not Avocado (and wanted to know about the divergence between the two Equestrians), that short, stocky, bald human with the magnificent beard named Grimnebulin, and the side-slipped version of that odd gamer colt (Button Mash! That was his name!) she’d seen around Ponyville.

Marcus sighed, “That’s part of it, but you will need to be very careful when you're on Earth. Not all humans will welcome you with open arms. In fact, it’s very likely the HLF will attempt to kill you on sight."

"Yeah, I know. I’ll be careful," she said in a low voice, ears drooping. "Can’t say I blame them. But... I’m very glad to know most of humanity has not decided to jump on board the insanity train with them."

Marcus nodded his head before kneeling, looking into her golden, amber eyes. “Promise me that you will be as careful as you can. I can’t stand the thought of losing you again. The worlds need a Lyra Heartstrings in them.”

Lyra felt her cheeks burning at the words, and she suddenly reached up and hugged him. Marcus remained still, not wanting to return the hug and possibly hurt with his uncontrolled strength.

“I’ll be fine, Marcus. I have Stephan as my trainer, and I know he won’t send me out into Earth unprepared.”

“I hope it will be enough…” he stressed. “You can never be trained enough for a war of this scale, for what you’ll be pitted against. Even we humans, born into a world where’s there not been a year without some form of war for over a century, were unprepared for it.”

As Marcus rose to look around the park with a critical look in his eyes, Lyra lifted a hoof.

“I don’t know if I can live up to your Lyra, but-

“Don’t,” he cut her off. “Don’t try to be her. Don’t let her define you.”

“What?”

“It’ll be too much pressure. From what I’ve seen, the Lyra of this world...is a perfectly wonderful mare.”

Before he could stop himself, he reached down and ruffled her mane as gently as possible, surprised to find that he hadn’t hurt her.

“Just be you, and that’ll inspire everyone well enough.”

Lyra sniffed a bit, wiping her snout before jumping to her hooves. “Okay! I will be the best Lyra I can be!”

She stood proud and upright for a second, before another shiny thought flashed into her mental sphere of attention, and she began to bounce on the spot again.

“OH! OH! Can you describe to me the full functions of the human hand during intercourse?”

“What?” Marcus raised an eyebrow, looking down at the beaming smile on her face, which suddenly became a shamed frown.

“Wait a minute… Ah! Wait! I mean-”

Marcus’ bellowing laughter echoed out, while Lyra blushingly tried to retract her statement, her mouth running before she could fully form the question.

Meanwhile...
Somewhere north of the Crystal Empire, in an abandoned towns on the outskirts of the capital...

At a prison camp with no name, so deep in the frozen north as to be closer to Sibearia than Equestria, is Twilight Sparkle.

Or rather, her dark counterpart.

She was currently in the ‘medical’ facility of the nightmarish complex, happily humming along to the screaming in her own head, savoring those delicious pleas for death. They were like lullabies to her ears, mingling with a new chart-topper from one of the newfoal musicians that extolled the glory of Equestria...

She felt a momentary surge of loathing - most Equestrian musicians, like Sapphire Shores, Vinyl Scratch, Fiddlesticks, Mixtape and Neon Lights had left for Earth, so the musical broadcasts, like the one coming from the totem-prole she had personally customized and positioned in one corner in her laboratory, were dominated by newfoals.

Listening to both these sweet melodies, she was fixing up a new brew of the potion, mixing in various magical ingredients with foundational magic drawn straight from Great And Powerful Queen Celestia’s thaumic engines. The Salvation Army were apparently running low on some ingredients for the potion, though newfoals colonizing Earth - or New Equestria, and eventually just plain Equestria once they phased out the memory of humans - had shown success in growing them on the new farms.

She was sorely tempted to attempt to recreate the Pretty Private template (That Configuration Daemon had been creative, far too much so), but had been torn. Admittedly, a few more batches of supersoldiers would rapidly wipe out what few humans remained, but working out the kinks would require the full processing power of the Deep Thought Protocols, and they simply did not have those resources to hoof.

‘So frustrating...’

Regardless, she had another task, and as Queen Celestia’s faithful stu - servant, orders were orders. Besides, it was a serious problem…

“The Perfect Pony Paradigm...distilled in liquid form. How wonderful!”

It was a common problem with so many ponies that had been ‘liberated’ from Earth. These ‘repatriates’ appeared to suffer from all kinds of delusions, likely thanks to contaminating human ideologies, and the reintegration centres were proving a drive on the war effort.

But this little miracle, this revised batch of potential, it would fix all that. those human ideas, so this new batch would solve all those delusions.

‘Where Mind Healers have failed to cure the most obstinate Betrayer, I’ll find a solution!’

If things played out true to her predictions, she’d be able to not only prevent any further riots arising from the lower class, but perhaps even bring all those crazy ponies in the PHL to their senses.

“Alright!” she said at last. “Mute, please.”

The totem-prole in the corner chirped. There was a faintly emerald tint to its crystalline structure, and a small dog-collar had been hung around the tip.

“Spike, take a memo…”

Another chirp.

“Alright, this is Twilight Sparkle, documenting the test application of the Revised Formula, iteration 626...admittedly it took a few hundred more ponies than I expected, but this should do the trick. The application of a binding element to the matrix should cancel out the side-effects of iteration 625...”

‘No pony should have that many eyes...but at least we’re not short on donor materials for retinal transplants anymore. Oh well, you win some, you loose some!’

The phial of revised formula cradled in her magic, Twilight turned to a struggling test subject who had been strapped to a spotless workbench.

Well, not entirely spotless. While sterile, there were those spots where blood and grease had stained the surface...and the scratch marks.

The subject in question had been bound down in glowing violet magical chains, which were wrapped painfully tight around each of his hooves. At the work camp he’d been volunteered from, he had a reputation as one of the rowdier inmates… why the guards needed to beat him severely before dragging here was anypony’s guess.

She didn’t particularly care though. what matter was it as to why he was at one of the work camps? Or what he’d been beforehand? He deserved to be put in there, he’d disrupted harmony…. thus he was a perfect test subject. Who would miss him? His family, if he had one? Pfff. This was a public service! They’d probably be glad he served the Empire, and so should he!

Using her Telekinesis, she undid the muzzle to hear a string of disgusting rasps utter from his throat. At first, his screaming had been very annoying, but a few quick cuts with a scalpel had neatly removed his vocal cords, and provided her with a tissue sample at the same time. Ah, blissful silence.

A few flecks of blood burst from his mouth as he tried to scream, whilst struggling in vain against the restraints.

“Well hello to you too,” she trilled him, shaking her head and resting one hoof on his barrel.

‘Lets see if this does the trick…’

She levitated a vial of potion towards his mouth, and neatly poured the contents down his throat. Immediately, his eyes went wide, and his mouth slammed shut...she could hear pathetic, whimpering sounds coming from it, watched his eyes darting from side to side, saw tears welling up in the sides of his eyes.

And then…

“NO! NOOOO! GET OUT OF MY HEADDDD!”

“Hrm, interesting. Spike, another note. The potion’s tissue regenerative qualities had restored his voice.”

“I...don’t! NO! Mommy! Mommy...help me...help meeeeeeee…”

He was begging, pleading, trailing off into gibbering shrieks, and then gurgles. Twilight hummed and made notes as the process ran to completion.

Soon enough the whimpering stopped, and all that was left was silence.

“Initial results seem positive. Subject appears placid and docile. Commencing deep scan.”

She hefted a magical probe and impaled it straight through the stallion’s left eyeball and into the brain cavity. Her magic twinkled as it interfaced with the device, allowing her to delve deep.

Twilight looked into his mind, laying it bare before her intellect, only to find that…

Well.

“How disappointing. He’s been rendered into vegetable. But on the plus side, she’d found another variant of tissue regeneration. That was something at least; and was progress compared to say, how the potion trials went.

Now that had been a nightmare of frustration. She’d still been getting used to the screaming, and she’d been driven near-insane by so much failure, so crazy that sometimes the cries in the back of her head were drowning out her thoughts. Sometimes, when she picked up a scalpel for dissection, attempting to find which organs had not transitioned well, she’d find the scalpel inching ever so closer to own jugular when she wasn’t focusing enough…

‘And there was that time with that fat man...the one whose potion batch had resulted in over-regeneration, literally cramming him full of so many organs his abdomen had burst open, spilling a variety of guts, none of them quite the right shape or connecting with each other. When I found that he was alive, I got so focused on identifying which of the hearts was keeping the blood circulating, that the scalpel had actually poked me just a tenth of an inch away from a major artery.’

Still, such were the hazards of working to save humanity.

“Guards, take this one for storage.” She snapped out, her frustration beginning to show. “Another failure.”

The guards entered and complied soundlessly, moving like clockwork. These were some of Twilight Sparkle’s personal guard - newfoals she had made herself and mentally conditioned to not react to the blood and viscera. She suspected that if she ordered them to, they’d happily go for a swim in the biomass reprocessing vats without even so much as a twitch.

Not that obedience was a problem for most newfoals, but most couldn’t handle seeing dead native ponies. It was as if they worshiped native ponies like gods - something that always brought a smile to Twilight’s face.

To be worshipped, and praised…oh yes.

But she’d never be higher up than her kind, wonderful, loving mentor...her mistress...

Telekinetically, making sure to keep their bodies from touching the test subject to avoid contamination, they dragged him down to the new room that Twilight had installed in the basement. There was certainly a lot of need for it - far too many of Twilight’s experiments had resulted in failure.

The massive cellar below, once dedicated to a noblestallion’s wine collection and now something far more worthy, was packed with corpses. Experimental newfoal variants, older experiments in making more ‘Pretty Privates’ (all failures so far), test subjects for new spells, the results in tweaking the ponification matrix ever so slightly, and so many more.

The majority of test subjects went to reprocessing, to be rendered down into culture fluid for further potion. But some, which demonstrated more interesting ‘abberations’, were kept her for further study. Chrono dilation spells looped a single minute of time ad infinitum, preventing the remains from rotting further.

So many corpses of ponies, packed floor to ceiling. Some of them were former friends, whereas others were captured PHL drones that she could never imagine having befriended. Even though, back before the war, she’d happily trotted alongside them in the streets of ponyville.

All of them had an expression etched into their faces, either mindless stupidity, vapid happiness, or sheer terror forming a permanent death-mask, if they even had faces left. One subject in here was barely recognizable as a pony, covered in huge masses of tumors out from which you could vaguely see a hoof poking out. Blood, both old and new, caked the floor from the more outlandish experiments she had conducted. Some of the corpses even appeared to have either imploded or exploded from whatever forces had been acting on them.

The blood would never wash out of the floor. ‘And,’ Twilight reflected, ‘That was beautiful. Future generations of ponies will visit this place time and time again, see the blood on the floor, and smile at the miracles that had worked here, eradicating the evil of the humans. I think they’ll even be happy about the test subjects - all for the glory of Equestria, after all!’

“Spike, open the shutters.”

Chirp.

Metal blinds clanked, and she stared down through a window at her family of corpses. Some of them were wiggling a little, their mouths open - either post-mortem contractions, or somehow a few of them had managed to survive. The time dilation effect kept them on the threshold, not requiring food nor drink to prolong their suffering.

For them, pain was now the natural state of being, pain without release. How beautiful a notion, like the screams in her mind...

“Hmm...memo. The mares hanging on meathooks 6 and 8 are still showing signs of cognition. Remind me to bring them back up for vivisection if a gap opens up in the schedule.”

She suspected they wanted to leave. So selfish. Oh well. It was far too late to get them out now. Perhaps, some casual observer looking down at her, might assume her expression was one of remorse.

“So sad that it takes so long to get these things right,” she sighed, “It’s such a waste of good test subjects.”

She remained silent for a long while, enjoying the silent screaming in the back of her mindthoughts, before turning to the totem-prole she had named ‘Spike’.

“Next subject!” She cried out gleefully. “Oh, there’s so much I want to try before we try to liberate Boston again!”

Author's Notes:

YAY! Another chapter up. this chapter was massive so we cut it to a month. Also gives us time to add more to the story.

Also, a new side story, Shades of the Unsung, to add more lore to the grow world.

So yeah, we finish this chapter and hope you guys are happy. Expect some blog post from the others about several point in the story, especially the pony genome issue of TB3