Trixie slowly came to her senses as somepony pulled on her tail. She saw the destroyed house in front of her and started to feel the pain in her side. Slowly turning around, she noticed Fluttershy pulling her towards a tent at the town square. “Hey…” she whispered, causing the pegasus to quickly release her tail.

“Oh… thank Celestia you’re fine,” Fluttershy said with a gentle smile.

“What happened?” Fluttershy suddenly seemed to find the ground more interesting, even digging a bit into it with a hoof. Trixie was about to order the pegasus to spill the beans, but her injury and Equestria’s fastest flier prevented her from doing so. Rainbow Dash, who had been nearby, came over to answer instead.

“Chrysalis blew Shining Armor’s shield in our faces. If I ever got her in my hooves…” She slammed her forehooves together while hovering close to the ground.

“Where is she?” Trixie asked curtly. Rainbow finished her air kicking show and turned back to the other two.

“Celestia banished her to Tartarus. I already asked Twilight if I could bribe Cerberus to give me five minutes with her…” A bright blue aura forced her mouth shut. Rarity left the medical tent and had apparently heard enough of Rainbows muttering. Internally, Trixie was very grateful for that.

“Pardon me, Rainbow Dash, but there are more important things to attend do.” She immediately recognised Rarity’s expression that something wasn’t right. It was the same the nurse in Manehatten had worn when she had told her about Changer.

“No?!” she yelled, and despite her injuries, she slowly rose up and trotted over to the large tent. She didn’t even look at the other beds except the one that contained a large dark alicorn that breathed heavily. She felt its dark presence, and there were no traces of the young stallion he had once been. Nothing of the compassion he had offered her, nothing of the warmth with that he hosted her. There was only the dark, cold, even malicious aura emanating from the alicorn. She could still make out some of the facial features that had been Blue Light’s at one point. Again she was alone; again she had lost her family. Not to death but the monster that was now lying on the bed and breathing. She levitated a pair of scissors from a nearby bed stand behind her and placed them at the throat of the beast. There was no presence of Changer anymore, none of Blue Light, only darkness.

“Trixie…” Startled, she fell out of her stupor and let go of the scissors. Princess Celestia was standing behind her. “I know how you feel, for I too feel the same.” She collapsed on the spot, unable to keep the tears at bay.

“Aaand done!” Albia called just a few seconds after closing her eyes. “You’re probably wondering why it went so fast, eh?”

Let’s go with ‘yes’.

“Simple, all I need to do is to simply imagine it.” She held a hoof up to her head and lowered it slowly. It was as though she was trying to mimic The Thinker. “To give it form, just like that.” She raised said hoof in the air. I had actually expected a more complicated magical explanation, but even I could understand this.

“Before you go, I’d like to ask you a few things.” This time, she had a worried expression.

Sure.

“Send my best wishes to my daughters. I haven’t seen them in a long time. And please take care of yourself… Remember, body, mind, and soul should also be in unity and never be split.” Albia’s image was getting blurry. “Always eat your hay and send me pictures of your foal… Oh, and tell Pinkie not to break the fourth…” I couldn’t catch the last part as everything turned dark for a moment before I found myself outside of Ponyville.

“What the?” I looked around, puzzled. It was the same spot where Trent had dropped Twilight and me off the first time I came to Equestria. The next thing I noted was that my voice had stayed the same. There was time later for a more thorough examination.

I immediately galloped towards the town and surprisingly remembered the way. Orientation must have been something that the body and soul were responsible for. I passed Fluttershy’s cottage and went over a small bridge that led to the marketplace. There were no traces of Chrysalis or her minions to be seen, but I made out a large tent with a red cross on it that had been erected in the middle of the square. Apart from it, I could hear ponies who had started with the repair works.

“One moment an invasion, repairs in the next. Life goes on I guess,” I said and had to laugh about my own situation. In that moment, I saw Fluttershy and Hawk leaving the tent, but they flew off before I could talk to them. I could barely make out the makeshift bandages Hawk was wearing on her hind legs. Sighing, I continued towards the tent and pulled back the tarp that covered the entrance with a hoof.

I saw Celestia and an unknown pink alicorn in the room, together with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Trixie. They were all fixated on one particular bed. Slowly, I passed the other beds, one of them occupied by Pinkie Pie who was curled up in a ball. She was kicking out in her sleep and was murmuring something about cupcakes, which caused an instant shiver to run down my spine.

Opposite of her was Applejack, wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping peacefully. I decided that the others could wait. Quietly, I stepped over to her bed and picked up her Stetson. It must have fallen to the ground at some point, so I placed it back on one of the bedposts. As I looked around the secluded area, divided by those medical curtains, I found the picture of me and my brothers on the nightstand. With a smile on my face, I stepped back out and closed to curtain behind me to ensure AJ’s privacy.

After that, I walked over to the group that I considered both friends and family. I pushed my way past Rarity and finally saw what the others were looking at: Nightmare. I almost didn’t recognize my old body anymore. It was larger now and the black coat didn’t match my original one. The armor and the white cutie mark were the only clues. The rest of my body was covered with wounds.

“You know, Nightmare, deserves you right,” I remarked.

“Exactly! That’s what you get for what you did to Light!” Dash added.

“The poor colt was such a kind soul….” Rarity said bitterly.

“Wait!” I called. “Was?” Six surprised faces turned towards me. Rarity fell onto her haunches, her mouth agape. Rainbow Dash did the same, just from a higher altitude. Twilight started to stutter something, but it was Celestia who finally asked the first serious question after she released me from her hug.

“Light… We thought we had lost you. What happened?” I looked down upon the lifeless Nightmare.

“Well, it tried to kill me,” I replied shortly. “However, according to somepony named Albia, my time has yet to come.” Celestia and the pink alicorn seemed astounded by my answer. The rest had question marks written on their faces.

“You met my mother? Please tell me!” Celestia was practically begging, and so I didn’t escape telling them about my meeting with the Creator. Besides the two alicorn, all the others except Rainbow Dash were hanging on my words. She was lying on an empty bed, yawning every now and then.

“...and then I was standing outside of Ponyville.” I finished my meeting with Albia.

“It’s nice to hear that she is doing well, you as well.” The Solar Princess seemed happy.

“If I got what Albia said right...This is not Light’s old body but a new one built after the model of Celestia. This means that you are the living son of the princess now.” Twilight summarized the situation.

“That reminds me, I haven’t looked at myself.” Rarity immediately reacted, and a mirror appeared out of nowhere.

“What?” she asked indignantly to all the stares she got. “A lady should always have a mirror at hoof.” With the feeling of everything being the same as it should, I stepped in front of the mirror and was astonished.

“I look like just before!” I said to my reflection. “Well, maybe a bit slimmer and an inch or two higher...But everything else is the same.” No wonder the others had recognised me so easily.

“Your horn, darling,” Rarity said and I took a glance at the protrusion on my forehead. It was somewhat longer now and quite sharp.

“So?” I asked with a frown.

“You know what they say about unicorns and their horns or…?” She probably wanted me to finish the sentence but that wouldn’t happen. I could hear Celestia and Twilight snickering, just like the pink alicorn. She probably realised that I was staring at her and came over.

“Pleasure to meet you, Light. I am Cadance.” Once more, everything in my mind made sense. Both Luna and Armor had mentioned that name numerous times.

“The pleasure is all mine, Cadance,” I answered with a formal bow. I never got the chance to look up again as a hoof hit me in the jaw.

“Never leave me again ever!” Trixie yelled, and I could see that she must have been crying. I pulled her into a hug.

“Wasn’t planned. I’m sorry.” She seemed satisfied with the answer and instantly collapsed. “What’s the matter?”

“She hasn’t seen a doctor yet, but from what I can tell, she probably has a few broken ribs,” Cadance answered and lifted poor Trixie over to a free bed. I looked around in hopes of finding others whom I recognised. Much to my shock, I did. One of the beds was occupied by Scootaloo.

“How is she doing?” I asked everyone around.

“The little one only was shocked,” Celestia said and stepped to my side. “Most got away without injuries. The few that didn’t are all here. A few ponies are now without homes, but that will change shortly.” The repairs outside were a good sign.

“Where are her mother and father?” Cadance asked, looking worried.

“She doesn’t have a dad,” Rainbow Dash chipped in. “She lives with her mother at the edge of the town. She’s still in the hospital though.” Dash had risen from her bed and flew over to us. “She got injured during the recent storm.” Together we stared at the sleeping foal until a thought crossed my mind. Slowly I went along the rows of beds until I found both Shining Armor and Shooting Star.

“What happened to Glimmer?” No answer. Some hissing became noticeable and suddenly the tarp at the exit was pushed aside by a blow of wind.

“We found her! And something else. Please, your Majesty, Glimmer needs help…” Hawk had rushed into tent, a strain in her breathing, and was looking at everypony present.

“Twilight!” Celestia called and her student obeyed. One flash of light and both were gone. The tarp was pushed aside again and a unicorn in scrubs entered the tent. His coat was cream-colored and his mane was brown. As I saw his cutie mark, a heart monitor, I recalled him being one Doctor Stable from the local hospital.

“Night Hawk, I thought I told you to stay in bed?” The eyes of the half dragon widened like saucer plates, and she instantly tried to make a run for it, only to be caught by the good doctor’s magic. Not wanting to further witness her attempted escape any longer, I left the tent with the others.

“Rainbow, would you mind flying ahead. I still have something to discuss with Trixie.” I knew that she was the only one who needed to be reminded about privacy. Rarity and Cadance were already standing apart from us.

“Oh… Okay!” And with that, she was off towards the railroad station. I started walking down the way with Trixie, and after we left the square, I began voicing my thoughts.

“How are you feeling?” I saw that something was weighing on her, like for the most time I had known her. She was thinking about a lot of things, just like me.

“I’m thinking about this situation.” She was pointing at me, but I knew what she was aiming at.

“Me too. And I think this is the right moment to put Changer to rest.” She looked at me, startled. “It was never really my body; it has always been Changer’s. His spirit might have not been there anymore, but in some ways it was. I cannot imagine how it must have been for you, looking into my face and seeing Changer.” She fell silent. Neither of us said a word until we were at the town’s edge from where we could see the remains of the crashed train.

“But you aren’t Changer. You are Blue Light,” she finally said.

“Yes… I don’t want to sound ungrateful. Changer saved my life, but I’m happy to have a body that is fully my own.” Trixie nodded.

“And we just bury Nightmare with him?” I liked the thought but I still needed it.

“Nightmare is part of the solution for my world. Albia told me what I could do but not how we could defend ourselves until it’s ready. No, it’s too early to dispose of Nightmare. Also, I don’t want to do this to Changer’s legacy.” After all he had done for me, I didn’t want to bury him as a Nightmare.

“What do you want to do?” I had thought of a few things.

“I’ll ask the Bearers to pull Nightmare out of Changer’s body.” Trixie pushed herself right in front of me.

“You want to absorb it again? Are you crazy?” Maybe a little.

“I don’t think that’s possible anymore, even if I wanted to… I have a theory for that. You see, my soul was taken out of my body and put into Changer’s and vice versa.” Trixie nodded. “But then how could I have absorbed his essence, the soul without the spirit, again? One soul per body, right?” It was a rhetorical question. “My soul was never really bound to Changer’s body. Probably a side effect of the unfinished spell.” Just as he had written in his letter. “I feel different in this body. I can say that my soul is now bound to it. If I were to assimilate Nightmare, I would be under his total control,” I finished my explanation.

“So what do we do with him?” she asked as we continued our trip.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about with Twilight and Celestia.” As I mentioned them, I could make out their outlines at the train. They were standing with other Royal Guards at one of the overturned wagons, seemingly discussing something. Trixie and I picked up our pace and tried to look past everyone to see what all the commotion was about.

“On three!” I heard and saw Glimmer. Her rear legs were splinted and an IV bag had been attached as well. Multiple unicorns lifted her onto a stretcher and two pegasi flew off with her in tow back to town. I gasped in relief. Once they were out of sight, I turned my attention back to the wagon.

“But she is still a child!” I could hear Fluttershy cry. She was standing inside the wagon in front of a closed cocoon. Standing opposite to her were Celestia and Twilight.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but you saw what happened to the changelings once Chrysalis was gone…” Twilight said while pointing at a grey thing on the ground. I stepped past her into the wagon and examined the thing. It must have been a changeling once; that much I could tell. However, its leathery skin had completely greyed and it was missing its eyes. It was a weird sight.

“Isn’t there anything we could do? She is still a victim!” I turned to Fluttershy and took a good look at the cocoon. Wedged between two leaf-like fabrics, I could make out a shape. Lying there in the green goo was a foal, a changeling foal. It looked halfway into its metamorphosis. Her mane was still there, much like most parts of her physiology. Only her coat had turned black and would probably start to shed soon. Fluttershy, her usual calm behaviour gone, had tears in her eyes and made no move to leave the cocoon. She was too kind hearted to be on a battlefield.

“Why is she here anyway?” I asked Twilight.

“The doctor wasn’t here and she was the best we could find.” Twilight seemed to share my sentiment.

“Fluttershy, my dear.” Celestia turned to her. “There are many cruelties in the world, and sadly this is one of them. Her end is inevitable. All we can do is to ease her pain…” A loud sob drowned her out. I felt compassion for the foal. No child was supposed to die like that.

I suppose I was marked by my past. A close friend of my mom had lost her months’ old baby. Crib death was the cause. My young mind couldn’t fathom this, however, and it haunted me for years to come. How could the baby that you were wheeling around in a stroller one day be dead the next? Strange how death always pushed itself into my life yet spared me all the time.

“Out!” I called to Twilight and Fluttershy. Both stared at me in surprise. “Out, now!” I picked up Fluttershy with my magic and pushed her outside. Twilight helped herself. Even Celestia looked at me in bemusement. “No one comes in until I open the door myself,” I ordered the guards outside. “Please trust me…” I said to my mother and my two friends. As the door fell into the lock, I performed a blocking spell so no one could see and listen what was going inside. I would not let that arse have his fun with this world.

“Time to keep your promise,” I said as a small card appeared in front of me. “So, come out. I know you were waiting for this.” It paid off to have the outside cut off. A storm of lightning, smoke, and charm circles appeared in the small wagon. I hid my eyes with a hoof, and as soon as I could see again, there was a human standing right in front of me.

“Tada!” Toby shouted, his hands splayed out flambouyantly. He stayed like that for a second before he flicked a finger. A joint appeared in his right hand, a lighter in his left. He lit it and took a long drag out of it before looking down at me. “Hey, Blue, long time no see.”

“Were all the pyrotechnics necessary?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The charm circles…” he said and pondered on it a bit. “Well, half of it.” He continued and took another puff of his special smoke. “But I have a question as well. What’s up with the different look?” He examined his joint and sniffed on it before looking back at me.

“Long story short, new body.” He nodded in understanding and looked around in the room.

“Why are we hanging around in a dark wagon with a changeling cocoon?” Another deep inhalation blew the fume into the room, with a satisfied grin on his face.

“You said that I had one free wish, and that changeling is part of it.” I pointed at the foal within. “I want you to sever the binding with Chrysalis so she won’t suffer the same fate as the others.” He exchanged looks between the cocoon and me.

“No superpowers? No immortality or anything? I expected more…” He took one last puff before snipping the rest away. “Give me… an hour.” I rolled my eyes.

“Really? How long does it take?” He was like the chief engineer of the old Star Trek show. Always double the time you would take to fix something so that everyone is happy when you finish sooner.

“And done.” He rubbed his hands. “Wanna show me this Equestria of yours?”

“Toby, honestly, I’m thankful for you sending me back and helping the foal.” My hoof landed on the cocoon. “But you are a reckless and careless prick and I hope we will never meet again.”

“Hold your horses…” He raised his hands in defence. “I have enough things going on as it is. So long, Blue!” He snapped with his fingers and a small charm circle appeared. Some lightning later and he was gone. The card that had been hovering beside me the entire time fell to the ground and dissipated.

For a short moment I thought about what I had missed out. Yes, I could have asked for a weapon against the Nightmares, or maybe immortality, but did I really want that? Seeing my friends go one after the other? Honestly, I wasn’t afraid of death. It was part of life. It was more of what comes after, the unknown, that caused fear. I had jumped into the unknown once when I came here with Twilight. Just like a believer, I thought I knew everything about this place. Boy was I wrong. I knew nothing and learned that the hard way. I lowered the spell around the wagon and opened the door. Fluttershy shot past me in that instant. Twilight and Celestia were standing outside, both looking at me with forced smiles. The Royal Guards were all occupied with cleaning the tracks from the wreckage.

“What did you do?” Fluttershy called behind me as she examined the cocoon.

“I cut her connection to Chrysalis. She should be alright if we get her out of that thing.” She didn’t hesitate but despite pulling with her teeth on its leaf-like surface, it was not going to give in. Twilight went past me and tried to help her friend.

“Who was your friend?” my mother asked from my side so only I could hear her. Startled, I looked over to her. “I felt the magic when he arrived.” I had forgotten to block magic as well.

“He was the one who sent me back after the expedition to my old world.” Celestia snuggled up against me, and I just enjoyed the moment. The crisis was finally over. I still had a big mission ahead of me, but for the moment, I had my peace.

A crumbling noise came from the cocoon, and in the next moment, a slimy green fluid washed over the ground. The foal fell out and stumbled a bit over the ground. Fluttershy immediately jumped into action and picked the little thing up with her hooves. The little one spluttered a few times but it soon turned into calm breathing. Fluttershy looked up and her smile was brighter than the rising sun.

Author's Notes:

Whoops, looks like we forgot something.

I feel the need to share something here. I not easy to anger. But hurt a child and I going to rip you apart.

Thanks to LtcWest for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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