Luna’s Story 4: Traitor Among Us
Part 5: Stallion Down

“I want this area secured, now!” Stalwart Hide was rushing back and forth as groups of Lunar and Solar guards were lining the area with neon tape. “Nopony goes within five paces of the grave without my sayso!” he shouted aggressively while lines were drawn and little flags placed down. The Lunar Stallions may have been soldiers, but they knew all about keeping a crime scene ‘clean.’ Even walking around on it could damage evidence, and there was sure to be some somewhere.

Twilight Sparkle had been escorted to one side, and allowed to stand nearby. She fretted a little, pushing the hanging end of her hat back. The bell tinkled in the moonlight, humming quietly before stilling. A couple of unicorn stallions looked at it briefly, turning their ears forward. How odd it was, having that on the end of a hat. Not a normal bell, either… they let her be, though. They knew she was with Captain Hide.

Princess Luna arrived on the scene at last, accompanied by Aegis Shield and a squadron of Lunar Stallions. “Make way!” she trumpeted, stepping quickly past the tape they’d set up between trees. Igniting her horn, she enchanted her steps to have her a few inches off the ground. Turning, she did the same with her escorts. “There, now we shan’t disturb the ground.” She nodded.

“Stalwart, what did you find?” Aegis asked as they drew near. Luna levitated Stalwart Hide a few inches from the ground as well with a nod.

“Very little.” Stalwart Hide said, his face angry. “There’s nothing much here to look at. Somepony dug her up,” he lowered his voice. “And stole her carbuncle.” He gestured with his eyes, lidding them in a disturbed way. He then quickly filled them in on what had happened since he and Twilight had arrived.

The Princess gasped, going and leaning over the edge of the open grave. She winced at the decayed remains of her fallen Moon Champion… but sure enough there it was. A broad hole had been very, very carefully cut in the center of the skull’s forehead. The horn had been cast aside, not stolen… which was odd, since dark magic sometimes used powdered unicorn horn (though Luna would never tell others she knew this). But, the carbuncle was missing. “Disturbing…” Luna shuddered back, not wishing to look upon the corpse anymore.

“What should we do, Princess?” Stalwart wanted to know. He wasn’t a unicorn, but he understood what a huge evil this was. Not only grave-robbing, but stealing somepony’s very magical essence—sinful! Sinful in the worst ways! He gulped a little, looking over at the lip of the hole. “Shouldn’t we… you know, rebury her? Should we move the remains elsewhere?”

“I'm not sure. Somepony knew she was here.” Luna said warily, looking at her two Captains. “Only the three of us really knew other than the gravediggers, and they knew not who they buried.” She surveyed them briefly. “Did either of you ever tell anypony the Moon Champion was buried here, this past decade or so?” Luna asked critically. Both stallions shook their heads vigorously. Of course not. If anypony had known where the Moon Champion, murderer of seventeen ponies, was buried—the grave would’ve been defaced, vandalized… or dug up. Both males shuddered, and Luna turned to survey the scene again.

Luna tilted her head a little, her eyes narrowing. There in the mud next to the shovel and mound of dirt were some hoof prints. She wandered over to them slowly while the two captains helped organize the other stallions on the scene. The Princess squinted down at the hoof prints, trying to discern something from them. Thankfully it had rained recently, so the fresh mud had made a nice cast. She lit her horn a little, looking at them from several angles. Whoever it had been had dug out the grave with a shovel, leaving all the dirt in one pile, and then had fled off towards the street on hoof. The space between the park and the royal gardens had sidewalks nearby, perhaps he or she had left more? The dark alicorn lit her horn a bit brighter. “Hm, stallion-sized.” She murmured, cocking her head. “Our thief and graverobber is male…” she followed the muddy prints along the path, noting the ones that were Stalwart’s and Twilight’s. They had come from a hidden path. The criminal had come from the underbrush. Hmm. Spreading her wings to push aside a few branches as she walked, she followed the impressions out of the brush and emerged at the edge of the park. Mud was slung across the grass. “He dragged his hooves here, to be rid of the muck. It must’ve been all over him.” She frowned, imagining a dark figure slathered in muck and holding a glittering unicorn’s magic essence in his hoof. “Monster…” she mumbled.

Then, she came to the sidewalk. The stallion had still had mud on him when he’d come to the sideway and tromped away. Leaning eagerly, she found the impressions on the sidewalk. Maybe she could see the serial number or something. A pony’s horseshoes said much about him, after all. What Luna saw, however, sent ice down her withers. No. No that couldn’t be right. She glanced over her shoulder. None of her stallions had come this far yet… no… no it couldn’t be. She stopped, her mouth agape and her wings cautiously closed. She looked over her shoulder again, seeing a Lunar Stallion or two mucking about in the underbrush for clues. One was coming right for her, it was Pen Maker. Quickly, Luna reached and slashed her hoof across the evidence, destroying it.

“Any luck, Princess?” Pen Maker stopped to bow for a moment. “Did you find anything?”

“It seems the criminal fled in this direction.” Luna said, stepping up onto the sidewalk and gesturing to the ever-vanishing trail of muddy hooves. She stood upon the muddiest ones to block Pen Maker’s view so he couldn’t see what she’d done. The stallion turned, following the trail slowly and calling to another stallion to join him. Luna let out a breath, fretfully looking down at the terrifying evidence she’d found.

The hoofprint she’d found on the sidewalk had a serial number on it alright. But not one she was expecting. It was not from a shop in Canterlot, or a make and model that could be traced to somewhere to a barn in the surrounding regions. The serial number on the horseshoe’s imprint made with the mud had read ‘LSC-C1013ANNM.’

Lunar Stallion Core – Circa 1013 After Nightmare Moon

One of her Lunar Stallions had dug up the Moon Champion. Clenching her teeth and trying very hard not to panick, the night time Princess swallowed heavily several times. This could not be. Such a terrible crime, her stallions would NEVER do such a thing! She trusted all of them with her life, why would any of them do such a sick and twisted thing?! She fretted back and forth, lifting and lowering her front hooves in a stressful little dance of discontent.

“Princess!” Stalwart Hide, Twilight Sparkle, and Aegis Shield were approaching. She turned quickly, masking her distress as fast as she could. “What did you find, anything?” Aegis Shield wanted to know, stepping forward.

Luna considered for a long time. No. No she could not reveal this. Paranoia would grip her precious soldiers and send them into a disarray. She would need more evidence. “Nothing yet, Captain.” She bade him officially, turning. “Continue your search.” She nodded.

Twilight Sparkle and Stalwart remained. “Luna, is there anything I can do?” the purple mare asked. “I want to help.”
“Thou art helping, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said with a smile that needed some effort. “Writing to help open the new Lunar Academy.” She turned to Stalwart Hide. “Captain Hide! This is no place for a civilian mare like Twilight. Away with the both of you for the moment. I will give you our full report on the morrow.”

Twilight wilted at being cast aside like that. She could be helpful! She was a national hero, a mage, an element of harmony for goodness sake! “Princess, are you sure?” she asked, cocking her head with a hurt expression.

“You heard the Princess.” Stalwart said, turning and standing sideways between the two mares. “C’mon, we’ll try and relax this evening. Maybe you can prod at me for an hour or so before bed.” He offered something for them to do as insentive. Luna smiled just a little, and Stalwart nodded solemnly. Twilight sighed and slowly turned about. She and Stalwart started down the sidewalk, away from the sceene.

Luna’s expression slowly lowered into a scowl, and she looked at the scuffed hoofprint under herself. This was bad. This was very bad. If she told her stallions, they would be at each other’s throats. If she told Twilight, the poor mare would be frightened out of her wits—walking among her soldiers was supposed to help her feel safe, not paranoid. The moon princess didn’t know what to do. If somepony had come to steal Trixie’s carbuncle, it had been for a reason. The corpse had not been harmed other than the skull damage, and nothing else pointed to malice. It had almost been surgical.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

Luna emerged into the Forge (with a capital “F”) with her wings open and her head tilted regally back. The dirty, sweaty ponies that filled the room made way for her with loud chatter of excitement and shock. The Princesses were never down in this hell hole! The Forge was the place where all of the Canterlot Military’s goods were made. Iron, steel, wood. Arrows, spears, wing-swords. All of it. Even horse shoes.

A rugged stallion with a massive chest and a slick of oil across his face came forth and bowed. “Princess, it’s so good to see you!” he shouted over the hissing of cooling metal and the clanking of hammers to hot metal. “We don’t get a lot of visitors down here! I’m Shining Glory, it’s good to receive you!” His wings flared open excitedly and there was a bounce in his canter as he escorted her majesty towards a more quiet corner where they could speak.

Luna looked around as they walked. Sparks crashed out from under hammers as ponies busily worked on metallic gear and armaments. Though Equestria was a utopian and very peaceful nation, it did maintain an army like any other. That meant gear and weapons. She watched a stocky-looking mare pour liquid metal into a long casting, then make a wide gesture at another mare who was operating a series of chains. She nodded, wiping her brow and pouring another glob of the white-hot liquid into the cast. It looked to be a wingsword, by the shape of it. The lunar alicorn cleared her throat a little as she walked, eyeing a trio of stallions that were arguing over a new spear design posted on a bulletin. The heat looked serrated, and Luna knew that if you ever stuck such a spear into an enemy it would be no easy task to pull it out again. If it wasn’t a killing blow the soldier using it would be unarmed. Hm.

Finally, Luna and Shining Glory came into a side office and shut the door. He shuffled some dirty papers off his desk, yanking a sorry-looking rolling chair out of a corner and shoving a box of nails off of it. “Sorry, sorry.” He said, quickly pushing the chair out for her to sit on and going behind the desk. “So! What can I do for you? I’ve got license to operate with both Solar and Lunar steel, if you’re looking to have something made!” he smiled enthusiastically as Luna eased herself into the chair.

“I am here to speak about horse shoes.” Luna said.

“Horseshoes? Sure, we’ve got thousands of them.” He said, frowning a little.

“Lunar Stallion Horseshoes. Lunar Steel.” Luna corrected, clearing her throat again. The air in the office was heavy and oily like the work going on outside it. “How many do you have in stock?”

“Lunar Steel horseshoes?” Shining Glory scratched at his chin. “Er well, we don’t keep them very much, sorry. Your majesty has never given us much Lunar Steel to work with.” He smiled apologetically, like he was trying not to blame her for something. “I trust the Lunar Steel cage bars turned out okay?”

The Princess nodded quickly. “Yes, of course.”

“I tell ya, Princess. Nothing can get through your Lunar Steel. I wish you’d make more, we could build bridges with the stuff!” he slapped a hoof on the pile of paperwork in front of him. “At least the rivets!”

Luna had no intention of solidifying enough liquid moonlight to make enough bolts to support a bridge. Making even a single bar of the stuff took time and serious effort on her part. She didn’t even want to get started on the Lunar Stallion armors. Those had taken years upon years to make, and there were HUNDREDS of them littering the world. She had recovered seventy, yes, but there was more out there. She shook her head quickly. “I want you to pull your files, please.” She said delicately. The stallion stared at her. “I want to know how many horse shoes were made with Lunar Steel this year only.” Luna said, gesturing to his filing cabinet.

“Sure, of course.” He went, put the key in, and opened it. “Lesse…” Shining Glory reared up on his back hooves to paw through the files. “Luh-Luh-Luh… Luh… Lunar… Lunar! Here it is!” he pulled out a thin little folder and brought it to his desk. Flipping it open, he scanned down the charts and orders that had been made. Luna could see her own signature, as well as a few others including Aegis Shield’s, Stalwart Hide’s, and some other Lunar Stallions’. “You don’t let us have very much Lunar Steel, your Majesty, there’s not much here.” He apologized to her, turning his ears back and flipping a few pages. “Ah yes, here it is. Around new years you commissioned twenty-four sets of horseshoes for your Lunar Stallion Corps, and had them shipped to various outposts across Equestria.” Luna deflated at this news. That meant those horseshoes could’ve fallen into anyhooves.

“Serial number?” Luna was afraid to ask, but needed to hear it.

“Uh?” Shining Glory was briefly confused that she wanted sucha mundane thing. “Oh, sure, its… LSC-C1013ANNM.” He read it off to her rather mechanically, and heard his Princess sigh aloud. “Is something wrong, Princess? Did you misplace a set?” he flipped the folder closed with a concerned look on his sweaty, oil-slicked face. “Do you need us to make more?” he cocked his head attentively.

“No, that’s alright. Thank you, Shining Glory.” Luna rose regally, turning. “I learned all I needed to.” She nodded when he got up to bow, and Luna showed herself out. A cold shiver ran down the dark alicorn’s spine, despite the intense heat of the room. She almost didn’t notice the massive blasts of sparks going back and forth in the Forge around her as she walked slowly out. So it was true then. One of her Lunar Stallions had dug up the Moon Champion and stolen her carbuncle. Why, though? What possible purpose could such a thing serve?

When Luna emerged, Aegis Shield was waiting for her out in the hall. “Everything okay?” he asked, frowning in disapproval that she’d gone into such a dangerous workshop alone. When he was sure her mane was not on fire or anything, he smiled at her a little.

“Not at all, Aegis.” She whispered, dipping her head briefly to nuzzle him. They were alone in the hallway, was the only reason she’d done such a thing. He murred quietly, nuzzling her back under the gentle curve of her jawline. “Who can be at ease when something so terrible has happened?”

“Maybe it was a revenge sort of thing?” Aegis asked, turning on his hooves and starting forward with her. “If somepony knew where she was buried, or stumbled across it in the past ten years… maybe desecrating the corpse was their way of getting revenge?” he looked up at her with a concerned face. “She did kill a lot of ponies, Luna…” he lowered his voice to whisper to her, looking up into her eyes.

“True, yes, but why now?” Luna wondered. “It has been over a decade since her rampage, and suddenly somepony pops up to desecrate her resting place? Why?” she scowled at her ignorance and lack of facts. She kept the horseshoe bit even from Aegis Shield. She felt very guilty for keeping something from her beloved, but if he learned that a Lunar Stallion had done something so vile—he would take it out on his soldiers, no doubt, to find out who it was. She would need to bide her time and see what else turned up. Surely her stallions would uncover something she could use. She had faith in them. Well, most of them. One did not belong anymore.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

“Help! Help-help!” A mare’s voice shrieked from the darkness of an alleyway. “Somepony help meee!” she cried out into the dark night. Her husband lay still on the ground, bruised and bloodied in the muzzle and head. Surrounded by a chain-wielding, sneering bachelor herd of a gang, she shrieked in fear as they closed in around her.

Glitter Star and Panzer Hoof happened to be patrolling nearby, and their ears perked. They nodded at each other, and Glitter took wing. Panzer galloped forward on his massive hooves and they turned a corner into the alleyway. The great earthpony reared, flailing his hooves and stomping the ground so hard the earth shook. The gang stopped, turning as one. “In the name of Princess Luna, I command you all stop!” he shouted.

“P'eh!” one of the bachelor herd stepped forward, paint under his eyes to make him look scary. He had an open wallet with a hoof pulling money for a cutie mark. A thief. “You don’t scare us none! There’s over a dozen of us, and just one of --Y’AHH!?”

Glitter Star dive-bombed out of the sky, landing on his back and driving him face-first into the ground. Taking his chain-weapon from his hoof with her teeth, she literally CHOMPED through it and spat the pieces to one side. More than one of the gang members went pale at the power of her piranha-like teeth. “Boys.” She snickered, lifting a hoof and throwing out her chest impressively. “Last chance, or I’ll hafta arrest every one of you… after Panzer is done with you, that is.” Panzer inflated his chest, scraping at the ground a few times.

The gang members looked back and forth at the two Lunar Stallions, then at each other. Feh! There were still over a dozen of them. A silent command was given, and they gang-rushed at both armored ponies with a group-sized shout.

Panzer gave a shout, rushing headlong and using his chest like a battering ram. He crashed into his group of enemies with a roar and they leapt upon him. He kept going, massive weight on him and all, while they beat at him with their chains and lead pipes. He crashed sideways into a wall and dumpster, launching a couple of them off and bucking wildly. Giving a whinnying shout, he gagged when one lucky gangster got a chain around his neck and across his face like a bridle. Rearing savagely and flailing back onto his back, he crushed the criminal mercilessly with a roar. Flailing about in a rush of bodies, his dinnerplate-sized hooves connected with chests, faces, and legs. He heard a bone or two snap as they crashed wildly back and forth. They beat at him mercilessly with their chains and pipes, but there was no stopping the invulnerable stallion. Panzer Hoof was a living tank! Not even the monstrous solar beast guards could dig their teeth into his hide, what chance did a ragtag group of gangsters have?!

Glitterstar dove back and forth, dodging bolts of magic and flying rocks. Flaring her wings she slammed into one pony and bashed his head against the brick wall. Turning with a wild buck of her back hooves she sent another’s head snapping back as he crumpled into the ground. The ancestors sang their praises. Battle! Glorious, bloody battle! Their new mare companion was excellent at it! Lined up like a choir, the ancestors raised their voices in a battle hymn to urge her forward. Super charged into a frenzy, Glitter grabbed another twirling chain in her teeth, yanking it back and face-planting the stallion that had been using it. She jumped on his back with a punishing crack of her guilded hooves, giving a shout of battle as she leapt upon the next one. They dog-piled on her and she sank her fangs into somepony’s neck. He cried out into the night, bleeding terribly and reeling. Wiggling free of the chaos she turned again and rammed another with the crown of her helm. She yipped when a lead pipe kissed the side of her muzzle, but she returned the favor with a one-two buck to the nose. Blood dripped from her nose, but it hardly mattered. The rush, the glory, the battle hymn of the ancestors drove her on.

The battle continued, and the two Lunar ponies were positively fearsome. Finally, knives started coming out instead of pipes and chains. A gangster rushed for Panzer Hoof and he danced wildly back and forth as they tangled. His earth pony strength was far beyond any of them, he would not be denied. A spray of sparks went off his helm when his enemy tried to jam him in the eye, but suddenly he was caught off guard. The attacking pony stepped forward, not back, in his spinning assault of twin knives. He turned the blade backward, used his momentum and stabbed!
Clang!

All six gangsters stopped, craning their necks. The knife had connected with Panzer’s front right ankle, just above where his gauntlets were. The blade had struck flesh but… not gone through…? Wait, no! Blood! A light drip-drip-drip of blood appeared at Panzer’s ankle, decorating the pavement. They looked down at it, shocked that their opponent could actually be harmed after all that effort. The dancing knife stallion grinned. “See? He can bleed!” he shouted. “And if he can bleed, he can die!” he turned back the other way, his knives dancing once more. Spinning them about, he rushed to attack again. Panzer threw out his massive chest, used his breastplate as a shield and then simply head-butted the enemy to the ground. The crack of skull-on-helm was sickening, and the knife pony fell.

Glitter stood there panting, all of her foes fallen. Slathering about the mouth and craving more battle, she gave a rather haunted bark of laughter. The ancestor’s song of battle roared in her burning ears, and she reared up in magnificent joy. The power! It felt good! H’ohh sweet Faust it felt good! She turned in time to see Panzer fell his last few opponents, snickering. “Well that wasn’t too ba-yeelp!?” she gave a shout as she was pounced on from behind.

Out of the shadows sprang a knife-wielding stallion, painted with oils and gang signs on his fur. Wrapping both front hooves around her neck before she could cry out, he squeezed to choke her and brought his knife to her neck. “Hey you!” he shouted at Panzer. The Lunar Stallion turned, panting with exhaustion from taking on so many foes. “Back off! Right now! Or I’ll cut her throat out!” He almost comically looked as though he’d mounted her from behind, for his whole body was pressed down on hers, gagging her and pressing his weapon hard at her. Glitter grunted and wriggled back and forth. Panzer did not move. “You think I’m kidding, Lunar freak?!” he shouted angrily. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” he jabbed the knife at Glitter’s jugular threateningly. “Now get outta here, out of the alley, or I’ll find out if Lunar Mare’s bleed red too!”

“I don’t need to go anywhere.” Panzer smirked just a little, scratching an itch on the side of his muzzle. Silently, he watched Glitter’s bat-like wings open in their quietest way. The last bachelor herd stallion panted through his clenched teeth, looking back and forth in wild fear and anger. “You seem to have forgotten where you are.” He pointed a little, smiling.

“On a Lunar Mare’s back.” Glitter giggled a little. “A Pegasus, to be exact.” Suddenly her wings gave a hard, and powerful thrust. The frenzy of the ancestors launched her skyward and took the rogue with her. She bucked, grabbed at the knife, turned, and threw him into a dumpster from a five-story height. The shock of the body hitting the container made the lid slam closed, and she landed on it daintily. Throwing her chest out, she crowed her victory and lifted a hoof to show off to all who looked upon her.

“Oh-hoh, very good.” Panzer laughed, shaking his head and limping forward a bit. “Got a little kiss from that knife, though.” He complained, letting his weight off of his ankle.

“I didn’t know you could bleed.” Glitter Star hopped off the dumpster, turning towards the citizens they’d just saved. “Everything’s going to be okay, ma’am. We’re Princess Luna’s Lunar Stallions.” She saluted the mare officially.

“My husband, he’s hurt.” The mare said, kneeling next to her unconscious stallion. “Please, help him?” she said, her eyes big and soft. Panzer nodded slowly, coming forward to help the poor couple—

Until an arrow of pure solar steel struck his shoulder and exploded with the force of a grenade.

Panzer whinnied ferally, flying against the wall like he weighed nothing. A horrifying explosion of armor shards and blood blasted across the brick wall. He slammed into it hard, sending cracks spider-webbing across the surface. Nightmarishly his front left leg went flopping wetly across the pavement, smatters of bone and chunks of muscle going everywhere. Blood waterfall’d out of the muscled stump and he crumpled to the ground with a roar of white-hot pain. He clutched at the blasted-open wound, puddles of blood rushing away from him. “AHHHHH! OH GODS! G'AHHHHHD'S! MY ARM!” he roared, his back arching and his body convulsing. “MY ARRRRM!”

Glitter Star stared in horror, her mouth agape. What had just happened?! She wheeled around as the civilian mare screamed and pointed. A figure was perched atop the building that made up the alleyway’s left wall, poised with a bow and quiver. It was a stallion. Roaring in anger, Glitter made to launch herself skyward but the shadow drew out another arrow and she halted. His first assault had just cripple Panzer Hoof. Could she dodge an arrow? She didn’t know. She spread her wings wide, walking sideways and hunching in front of her screaming, injured fellow soldier. The warning message clear, the shadowy figure retreated. “Damn him,” Glitter looked over her shoulder at the two civilians, then at the bleeding-out Panzer. Reaching quickly into her patrolling belt, she drew out her flare signal. She pointed it high, clenching her teeth over Panzer's writhing agony of hot, screaming pain. She pulled the trigger, sending the blast of light high. No one was going to believe this. Somepony had toppled the indestructible Panzer Hoof.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

Test Theory looked up when the light tap-tap-tap hit his cell door. “Who is iiit?” he called snarkily, though he already knew.

“Just a friend.” A Lunar Stallion’s eyes appeared in the slot of the peeping door. “How goes the spell?” there was some shuffling in the hall while he played with his saddlebag.

“Just fine. Did you test your little toy?” Test Theory pushed his oily mane out of his eyes. He saw the eyes bob up and down a bit. “And?”

“It works really, really well.” There was a black chuckle on the outside of the cell. “Surprisingly well. It cuts through metal like cheese.”

“I would expect so, it’s Solar Steel.” The mad pony shuddered at the image of somepony getting shot with such a thing. A weapon like that could topple the gods with a shot to the heart. He didn’t want to imagine it, and he was into things like the amniomorphic spell. “Did you look for a mare yet, or a power source?” he asked further.

“I already have it for you.” He chuckled. “Keep it well-hidden.” The shadowed stallion lifted a little hoof-sized bundle, pushing it through the little peep-door hole at him.

Test Theory took it with a troubled frown, slowly undoing the fabric. He unrolled the bundle and gaped when a powder-blue gem rolled out into his hoof. It was shining ,glittering, brimming with unicorn magic. “This is a carbuncle!” he gasped, looking up at his ‘friend’. “Did you kill somepony?!”

“…Yeah. “ said the Lunar Stallion. “Yeah I did.” There was a low, angry growl in his voice. “Pretty sure I killed somepony else tonight with my new toy, as well. Now, you’ve got your power source. Get back to work.” The peep-door of the cell door slapped shut, and the mad scientist found himself alone again.

Test Theory lifted the carbuncle gem to his gaze. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he admired the twinkle of the thing. It reflected in his eyes, practically possessing him with its beauty. “Well, ask and you shall receive.” He smiled a little warily at the stone. It was bursting with raw magical material. He would need to make some cloaking runes just to hide it. If somepony scanned his cell and found a raw carbuncle in his straw bedding, he would probably see a chopping block for it (Princess Luna had executed somepony a few years back, so all of Equestria knew the death penalty still existed for the truly evil). Laying it on the floor, he began to make his final calculations on his notepad. The spell was almost ready, and now he had his catalyst. His truly twisted friend wanted to be the monster he’d drawn on the big piece of paper before? Well, he could certainly give him his wish. Then, Test Theory was gonna mold himself a new face with the same spell and disappear into obscurity. Even when they discovered he was gone, his newly molded face would protect him forever. But first, the Lunar Stallion. He could only honor a fellow madpony’s wishes.

End of Part 5

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