“Just think what this place will look like a hundred years from now. I hope I’m there to see it.”

Family.

My experiences with family were complicated. I had had a difficult relationship with my father, that much was no secret. He hadn’t been the best father in the world, and one could argue he had hardly been a good leader either. He hadn’t given me enough attention and love growing up like a normal father should, which led me to be both underachieving and self deprecating with only the smallest shreds of self worth. It didn’t take a brainiac to figure that out.

And my father had done things too that were simply inexcusable. He had authorized tests on Stable dwellers, used mental conditioning to keep ponies from uprising, turned a blind eye to the cruel actions of security and worst of all, he had failed Brisk when he had needed his help most.

But despite it all, he could have been so much worse. He was a pony, one that had gotten many things wrong, but a pony all the same. He had been afraid, afraid of what security might do, afraid of losing more ponies he loved, and afraid of failing his Stable. He had hurt ponies, but he had also saved them, protected them. He had led one of the only Stables in the wasteland that still could maintain life and had managed to make up for some of what he had done wrong before the end, even if it had only been a fraction of what needed to be fixed.

He had tried, and that was all that could really be asked of him I suppose.

But even after all the wrongs, I still loved him in a way that a daughter loves their parents. Pyre had had it much worse, even Mirra had had it worse than me. At least I had had a father to look up to.

But my mother… that was another story.

I had hardly known her. She had fled the Stable only a few short years after my birth, hoping that she could help the outside world. My memory of her was fuzzy and only a few fragments of the time we had spent together had managed to cling to my mind over the years.

My father had told me my mother was dead. That she had run off into the wastes, only to be torn open by monsters and left to bleed out in the outside worlds filth.

And yet… here she was. Standing before me even after all this time. She was older than she was in my memory of course, but it was still very clearly her. Same mane, same coat, same cutie mark and eyes.

How… how could this even be possible.

I tried to take a step towards her, only to remember I had fallen to the ground. I opened my mouth again to speak, my words seeming so very far away. “M-mom… how can you… how is this…”

The mare in front of us turned to face me, her blue eyes landing on my collapsed form. There was a moment of confusion in her eyes, then recognition, then fear. She took a step back. “A-Amber? Is that you?”

That voice… It… it was her!

I didn’t know what to feel. Shouldn’t I be happy right now? She was alive and well, we could be a family again. But it felt off. Something about this wasn’t right.

Mirra took a shaky step forward, her huge eyes seemingly pleading. “Mom? Is… is it really you?”

My right ear twitched and I cast a glance over at Mirra. She thought this was her mom? But that didn’t make sense, she was a…

My scattered thoughts began clicking into place. This thing before me, was not my mom. It never had been… but why did it look like her? It had known who I was... ? What was happening?

The mare that looked like my mom turned her head and looked at Mirra, her confused and worried expression only becoming more and more confused. “I’m sorry… do- do I know you?”

We didn’t have time to figure out what was going on. The synths and Coursers that had been chasing us finally caught up, rushing around the corner behind us and quickly forming a tight circle around Mirra and myself. In unison, their magical energy weapons rose and pointed towards us.

Mirra and I shrank back, our sides pressing together as we were confronted by the ridiculous amount of firepower. I could feel Mirra’s small form shaking like a leaf against me in fear.

I spun in a slow circle, trying to gage exactly how many synths and coursers we were up against. There had to be a way to get out of this. A weak point in their tactical positions.

My eyes landed on a pair of violet eyes amongst the sea of glowing blue ones. I felt my hope of escape get crushed under Azar’s intense glare. The gaze of the zebra who had killed my Stable.

Azar took a step forwards, his lips twisting into a sickening grin and the violet stripes on his face warping in disturbing ways. “Ah, Amber. You can imagine my surprise when I found out you had survived the MAS tower explosion,” Azar chuckled, taking another bold step towards us. His eyes momentarily darted down to look over Mirra, before returning his attention to me. “But to make it all the way to the Institute. You continue to impress me.”

“AZAR!” A voice rang out, loud and demanding. My mother pushed past the rows of Synths and glowered at the strange zebra. “You are going to explain what is going on, right now!”

For the first time since I had first seen him, Azar took a slightly startled and worried step back. “I… this is Amber Aura. The individual that has been causing all of our troubles on the surface,” He said, his voice filled with grim confusion.

My mother's eyes narrowed. “You had failed to mention that this individual also happens to be my daughter,” her voice was low and seething. “Does Glasswing know of this?”

Forcing myself not to tremble in fear at our current situation, I took a brave step towards Azar and my mother. “Um… Could somepony please tell me what’s going on? Because I’m really confused right now.”

Azar and my mother exchanged a quick glance. “Glasswing is going to want to talk to them, if only to find out how they got here,” Azar growled, his lips refusing to do anything but continue to twist upwards in his vile grin.

My mother sighed. “I know…” She turned back and looked at me, her face sad and distant. “You shouldn’t have come here Amber. I’m sorry.”

I took a step back. I didn’t like that tone. She sounded regretful.

Azar made a motion in the air with his hoof. Immediately, the coursers surged forwards. I reeled back too late as magically charged hoof cuffs were clamped tightly around my hooves and a magic restriction ring was placed over my horn. Beside me, Mirra was placed in a similar situation, her hooves bound together and her horn rendered useless.

Mirra continued to stare at my mother… er… her mother? This was confusing. She stared at Mother, not even bothering to look down at the shackles that clamped down tightly around her.

As a single unit, the coursers began herding us forwards, down one of the ramps and towards the main area of the Institute. Azar led the group, his head occasionally turning to peer back at us with one of his violet eyes. Mother walked behind them, her expression grim.

As we passed, the many scientists of the Institute stopped and stared at us as if we were wild animals caged in a zoo. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable and exposed. I was surprised to see that there was a higher ratio of changelings in the Institute than there were Ponies.

Mirra pressed up against me, her body still shaking. “Amber, I don’t like how they’re all looking at us,” She squeaked, her discomfort clear in her voice. “I want to change shape…”

I tried my best to wrap a hoof around her while being pushed forward at gunpoint and having my forehooves bound. “It’ll be okay. Got it?” I said, my voice sounding more certain than I felt. “I’ll keep you safe.”

My gaze shifted upwards to a large black, metal door inset into the far wall. I hadn’t seen it before as it had been behind the large Crusader Maneframe, but now it stood out like a sore hoof. The door was surrounded by multiple courser guards and seemed to be locked with an incredibly extensive security system.

“What’s behind that?” I asked, leaning in towards one of the Coursers. “Looks important.”

The Courser didn’t even shift it’s gaze to look at me, but rather continued to march forward, it's expression stoic and cold. “You are not designated for that information,” it monotoned, its organic sounding voice clashing terribly with its pre programmed thoughts.

Azar stepped aside as we neared one of the large tunnels leading out of the main area. The Coursers pushed Mirra and I in before directing us to a large side room. A glowing, neon sign that hung above the door read, ‘Synth Retention Center’.

They could call the room we found ourselves in whatever they wanted, but it was a prison. Rows of empty cells lined the sides of the long room and a desk with a synth sitting at it sat at the entrance. Each cell was small, only consisting of a small white bench and a toilet. Like the rest of the Institute, the whole place was sparkling clean and a clinical white.

Mirra and I were quickly shoved into an open cell. I turned around just in time to see one of the Coursers slam the cell door shut and move away. Azar sneered at us through the bars before turning and stalking away.

Once the door had closed, the hoof cuffs around my fore hooves made a loud click and popped open, dropping heavily to the floor. The magical restriction ring that Mirra and I had on our horn’s remained.

I glanced back up from my hooves at the sound of hoofsteps. My mother was slowly approaching us, her mouth pulled back into a tight frown. She stopped a few paces from our cell and took a quick breath. “I’m sorry we couldn’t give you a friendlier welcome,” She said slowly, her eyes refusing to look at us directly.

“This has been a rather shitty reunion,” I agreed grimly, glaring at her through the bars. “Do you want to explain what’s going on? Cause the last time I checked, you had been brutally chopped open and left to bleed to death in some back alley.”

I couldn’t keep the anger and frustration out of my voice. I didn’t even know why I was angry, she hadn’t done anything wrong yet.

Wait, that was a lie. She had done something wrong. A lot of things, actually. She was alive and well, living in the Institute. Furthermore, she was working with Azar, the psychopath responsible for murdering everypony in Stable 25. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she had allowed us to be locked up in a cage.

Mother winced at my hostility. “I will do my best to explain in a moment,” She said coolly. “Glasswing will be here shortly. I’m afraid you will just have to wait until then.”

Slowly she turned and walked out. I wanted to scream, the frustration and confusion inside me threatening to burst.

When my anger started to cool, I began to make out the soft sound of sobbing. I turned and found Mirra huddled in the corner of the cell, her eyes puffy and her face streaked with tears. I mentally slapped myself for focusing more on my own frustration than the plight of my friend.

I sat down next to the small changeling and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey… you, uh… you okay?”

Mirra sniffed and tried to wipe some of the tears away with a hoof. “W-why doesn’t she remember me…” She looked up at me with frightened eyes. Her hooves clutched desperately at the shard of white metal that had represented the existence of her mother her whole life. “Why… Why isn’t my mom my mom? Why is she yours?”

I shook my head. “What makes you think she’s your mother?” I asked skeptically. “Because right now I have no idea what’s going on and honestly, I’m starting to freak out a little myself.”

Mirra tapped the end of her muzzle with a gnarled hoof. “Ch-changelings differentiate each other by smell, it's how we functioned as a society when we all looked exactly the same,” Mirra explained, trying her best to keep her voice even, despite the tears. “She… she smelled like my mom… she was my mom… she…” Mirra broke down again, her words shifting into a wet burble as more tears raced from her eyes.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my heartbeat and get a hold on my thoughts. The idea that it had been a changeling only pretending to be my mother made more sense than my mother resurrected from the dead, but something still wasn’t right. She had recognised me, referred to me as her daughter. Furthermore, she hadn’t recognized Mirra.

Something was going on, and I was missing the pieces. It was like trying to fit together a jigsaw puzzle that consisted of multiple different puzzles.

“We’ll… we’ll let her explain what is going on before we jump to any conclusions,” I said quickly, trying to steal myself. “Clearly there is a lot more going on here than we realise. Let's try and solve all this rationally, okay?”

Mirra gave another sniff and a quick nod of her head. “O-okay... Thanks Amber,” she slowly crawled forwards and wrapped her hooves around me in a tight hug. I held her, no longer overly concerned about her sucking the love from my body. That fear of mine had long since passed.

A few minutes later, the door to the prison area slid open and a changeling walked in. He didn’t look much different from most other changelings, with a dark insectoid body and a pair of blue glass-like wings with matching blue eyes. He was dressed in a white lab coat which he wore above a green sweater.

Behind him trod Azar. The dark grey and Violet zebra sneered at us as he marched into the room. His dark stealth cloak billowed around him slightly as he moved, making his entrance seem both grand and sinister.

Behind them both came Mother, her expression unreliable. She cast me a quick glance through the bars before returning her gaze to the changeling that led them in.

Mirra made a small squeak and pushed herself farther away from the approaching group and closer to the wall. Puffing out my chest, I put on my best brave face and took a step towards them.

“You must be Glasswing,” I said in my best casual voice as I addressed the changeling. “Are you the leader of the Institute?”

The changeling chuckled. “Leader? No, but for our purposes today, you might as well consider me that,” he nodded towards the synth standing by the door, indicating for him to shut it. He returned his gaze to me. “But yes, my name is Glasswing. It is a pleasure to finally meet you Amber Aura. you have been causing quite a lot of unease around here over the past few days.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you aren’t in charge, then who is?” I asked, hoping to talk directly to whomever was behind all of this. I wanted answers, and they were the most likely person to give them to me.

“The director, of course,” Glasswing said in an even tone. “I doubt you will be meeting them. No one has. Perhaps you saw the large black door on your way in? That is the director's office. No one has been inside in years.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Then… wait… how do you know there even is a director?”

Glasswing gave me another smile. “They communicate with us via synthesized messages ever once and awhile. Mostly, the Institute acts independently under my orders,” He flashed Mirra a small smile as well before returning his icy gaze to me. “But I think that is enough about the inner workings of the Institute, no? The two of us have a lot to talk about, starting with how you managed to get in here? It’s not very often that ponies manage to get into the Institute.”

I shook my head firmly. “I’m not answering any of your questions until you’ve answered mine,” I said with a huff. “And I have a lot of questions.”

Glasswing held up a gnarled hoof. “I don’t doubt it. I would be surprised if you came all the way here just for fun, but I’m afraid that isn’t how this is going to work. Perhaps we can come to an acord, hmm? You answer one of mine, I’ll answer one of yours?”

Azar snarled. “We shouldn’t tell her anything. This pony is dangerous. She is the reason our mission with Kamari failed.”

“Our mission with Kamari was successful, you saw to that,” Glasswing cooed, holding up a hoof to silence the zebra. “Amber put a wrinkle in our plans, certainly, but it has been amended and Kamari is no longer a threat to us. If anything, her involvement was an improvement in the long term,” He once again shifted his gaze to me. “Now tell me how you two found yourself in the Institute, if you don’t mind.”

I thought about that for a second. What harm could come from telling him that? So long as I didn’t give too much information away. Finally, I grunted. “We created teleportation devices. We teleported in.”

“No doubt with assistance from the Friendship Express,” Azar hissed, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Glasswing nodded thoughtfully. “Without a doubt.”

I pointed a hoof at all of them accusingly. “Now you are going to answer me,” My hoof shifted to point at Mother. “Why is my mother here and not dead, how is she here, and why does she apparently smell like changeling?”

“That was three questions,” Azar drawled. “Not part of the deal.”

Mother gave him a small slap across the back of the head, giving him a small growl. “Oh shut it, just tell her. She got this far, she deserves to know.”

Glasswing cast a glance towards Mother for a moment, raising one eyebrow before looking back at me. “I must confess, I was unaware of your relation to Shining Aura, though I suppose that with your resemblance and emergence from Stable 25, I should have put it together sooner,” He clicked his forked tongue against the bottom of his mouth as he tried to explain. “Eighteen years ago, your mother left her Stable hoping to find a way to save the wasteland. When she found the Institute, she saw it for what it was, ponykinds last hope of ever becoming whole again. She was so determined to help us and our cause, and we accepted her with open hooves.”

He glanced over at Mother to see if she had any desire to jump in and explain herself, but she just stood behind him silently.

“Okay, so that explains why she’s here…” I said slowly, rolling the information around in my head. “But everything I asked is still in question. How is she alive exactly?”

“I’m not,” Mother finally said, breaking her silence in the story. “I wanted to help the Institute as much as I could, but I was no scientist. At this point in the Institute, the creation of Synths was well under way and both first and second generation synths were in production, but generation three synths still needed work.”

“As I am sure you have observed, generation three synths are designed to look and act like ponies. Despite what you may see here, and the clear technological improvements we have over the rest of the wasteland, the Institute cannot risk sending our own changelings to the surface nor do we have enough to spar even if we could. So instead we had to make our spies, and the best spies are ones that don’t even realise they are one,” Glasswing injected, his face stoic. “We needed to create a synthetic brain that could take on the mind and consciousness of any pony we place in it. The end result involved heavily augmented memory orbs, but the original versions needed to be tested on pony brains to get a true and flawless result.”

“Specifically,” Mother added, her voice raising slightly to be heard. “A pony and a changeling mind combined.”

I was quickly starting to get a picture of what was happening. “So, you took the mind of my mother and put it into the body of a changeling to… to what? Perfect the synth making process?”

Glasswing nodded. “Not just any changeling would have done either. I take no pride in saying this as a changeling myself, but changeling minds tend to be fairly susceptible, as we were once a part of a hive mind species. No, we needed a changeling queen to make the fusion. And Queen Insecta was willing to make the sacrifice.”

“Changeling reproduction had become completely bioengineered at this point to keep from over or under population, so Insecta’s purpose and continuation as the queen of the changelings had become very illogical, especially considering she was ranked below both the Director and Glasswing within the Institute and was neither Scientist or engineer,” Mother explained. “The Experimentation on the two of our minds properly created the layout of the brains for the third generation synth. I... er… your mother is gone on a technical level, but I’m still here. I’m still your mother.”

“But you aren’t mine!” A voice snarled from behind me. I turned to see Mirra standing on the small bench, her face dripping with tears and twisted into a growl. “I… I searched the entire wasteland for you! And now you’re… you’re telling me she’s just gone!” The small changeling hopped off the bench and stalked towards the bars of the cage, her eyes glaring daggers at all of them.

Azar poked at one of the bars of the cage in front of Mirra with a hoof, inciting Mirra to snap at him. He quickly pulled his hoof away, chuckling. “Ah, I had almost forgotten about the little changeling. I had noticed you in the MAS tower. I considered killing you, but I was more preoccupied by your companion at the time.”

Glasswing let his muzzle twitch as he quickly sniffed the air. “Ah, you must be the missing Changeling. An infant changeling went missing from the Institute shortly before Insecta underwent her transformation into Shining Aura,” His face grew sad. “I am sorry to inform you that your search for your mother was in vain. Your mother, despite being alive physically, has not been among us for quite some time now.”

Mirra took a shaky step back. She had already known her mother was gone, but Glasswing’s words made the truth suddenly all too real. She turned her back to the bars of the cage and slumped down against the back wall, her head hanging between her hooves.

I turned and snarled at Glasswing. Did he not realise what he had done!? Finding her mother had been everything to Mirra. To have that suddenly ripped away from her like that…

“I think that about answers all your questions, now if you don’t mind…” Glasswing started, but I cut him off with a low growl.

“You ignored a part of my question,” I snarled, arching my back as if I were preparing to attack him. “I understand why my mother is here, and why she is inhabiting the body of a changeling, but you never told me why my mother was found sliced open and bleeding out in some back alley in the wasteland!”

Glasswing took a nervous step back. His eyes flickered around, as if searching for an appropriate answer to the question. “Well… I…”

“It was my idea,” Mother finally said, taking a step forward. For this first time since putting me in the cage, she let herself look me in the eye. “I knew your father would send ponies from the Stable to find me. I knew he’d keep sending ponies until he did. I couldn’t let him do that… not until the Institute had made the world a safe place for you to grow up in. I instructed the Institute to have my body placed close to the entrance of Stable 25. I told them to make it look like raiders…”

My stomach dropped and a lump formed in my throat. “You… told them to kill you…”

Mother nodded. “To kill my body at least. My mind was kept and preserved within Queen Insecta. What makes us ponies is who we are, not the body we inhabit.”

Glasswing cleared his throat. “Uh, yes. Thank you for summing that up Aura,” he let his eyes look me over nervously before putting back on his fake looking smile. “Now that that is out of the way, I wish to speak with you in private Amber Aura.”

I shook my head. “You’ll have to wait in line. I want to talk to her in private first,” I jabbed a hoof at Mother. She winced as the hoof levelled at her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

Glasswing took a deep breath, trying to keep his composure despite clearly growing frustrated with my constant inability to cooperate with him. He leaned over to Mother and whispered into her ear. His words were quiet, but he seemed to be speaking softly more out of an attempt to comfort her, than to hide his words from us. “Talk with them, perhaps she will be more cooperative with what I need of them if you do.”

Mother raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t want Amber or the small changeling hurt, Glasswing. Understand?”

Glasswing nodded. “Perish the thought. I have something else in mind,” He turned back to face the cage. “You have ten minutes together. Then I expect you to listen,” Quickly, he turned on his hooves and marched out, Azar following closely behind. The zebra cast me one more glance before darting out the door.

I shifted my gaze from the door to Mother. I stared at her for a long moment, not knowing what to say. Finally I sighed. “Surely you must understand that you have put me in a particularly emotionally confusing spot right now.”

Mother grimaced. “I’m sorry Amber. I never thought you would have been able to find me here… how is your father?”

I stared at her, working my jaw as I tried to figure out what to say. “I’m guessing you haven’t heard about Stable 25 then?”

Mother shook her head. “The Institute had nothing to do with the attacks on Stable 25. They considered it, many times, but I always convinced them against it,” Mother said, her head bobbing slightly as she spoke. “We intercepted a teleportation frequency from Fillydelphia about seventeen days ago preceding the first attack on the Stable. Somehow it would seem Red Eye got his hooves on Institute technology. The second attack was reported by Azar as a strike set up by Kamari. When the zebra’s Kamari sent failed, Azar snuck into the Stable and stole the A.A.S.S.”

I had a bad feeling in my gut at her words. “And he never told you what happened afterwards?” I asked in a blunt tone. “About what he did to the Stable and the state Kamari’s zebras left it in?”

Mother shook her head. She was beginning to look nervous, seeming to realise that I was building up to something big. “I have tried to stay detached from it. My personal thoughts on the matter would only be a distraction.”

I gritted my teeth. “Father is dead. He died in the second attack on the Stable,” I said, my hard gaze forcing her to not look away. “Azar effectively killed off the rest shortly after.”

Mother slumped, her whole body going slack for a few moments. “He’s… dead?” she took a deep breath, pulling herself back together. She climbed back into a headstrong position, her face doing its best to look passive and not show the hurt behind it. “I suppose I should have known. I’m sorry, Amber. I wish I could have been there,” her eyes flicked to my cutie mark. A warm smile formed on her lips. “I see you got your cutie mark… not an Overmare one either, good job.”

I snorted. “I’m twenty mom, I’m pretty sure I would’ve gotten my Cutie mark by now. Lot of good it did me… All I wanted was to live up to dad's expectations… this cutie mark just made that impossible.”

Mother shook her head sadly. “Our family's Cutie marks are a curse. A spell created by Stable-Tec as an experiment to see if leadership like Celestia and Luna could continue if their death ever were to come to pass. Your father for instance never wanted to lead the Stable, he always wanted to become a painter. I’m not sure what I wanted, doesn’t really matter anymore I suppose. I’m glad you got the chance to be who you wanted to be, and not the slave of some spell.”

My eyebrows knitted together. “Our hereditary cutie mark… was a spell?” I felt confused just thinking about that. The fact that I had failed to inherit generations worth of the same cutie mark had always confused me, but now knowing there was a magical component to it made it all the more baffling. “Then… why didn’t I get it as well?”

Mother gave a small shrug. “Stable-Tec grossly underestimated how long it would take for the radiation on the surface to clear. Most Stables were only designed to house ponies for twenty or thirty years. It's entirely possible the spell was only designed to last so long, or that its effects slowly diminished over time. It has been two hundred years. That is a rather long time for a spell cast by a dead unicorn to stay in effect.”

My tail dropped. “Why did you even leave the Stable in the first place! I know you wanted to protect the wasteland but…” I felt my anger waver and my voice catch in my throat. “I missed you… I asked dad every day where you had gone for almost a year… I just wanted you to come back.”

Mother gave me a small smile that looked as though she was attempting to be comforting. “We are both here now. Perhaps we can start making up for lost time now that we are together again?”

I shook my head, finally dropping my gaze to look away from her. The idea was nice, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. “No. You set out to help the wasteland, and so did I. but I think we have very different ideas of what helping it means…”

Mother hesitated for a moment, then turned to walk away. ‘Well, I think I will go get Glasswing. See what he wants from you two.”

I stomped my hoof on the ground of the cell hard enough to send a small shockwave shooting up my body. “Not yet! You’ve only talked to one of us! I think you need to say something to Mirra here.”

Mother glanced nervously at the small changeling who was sulking in the corner of the cell. She signed and lay down, bringing her head to Mirra’s height. “Mirra… that is your name, right? You were Queen Insecta’s daughter?”

Mirra gave her a small glance before limping over and resting across from her on the other side of the bars. “You don’t need to do this just because Amber says you do… I know you aren’t my mom anymore.”

I felt a pang of pain for my changeling companion. She was young, but she wasn’t stupid. She understood all too well what was going on, and I could tell it was tearing her apart.

Mother winced at Mirra’s rather blunt proclamation. “I suppose that is true. All the same, I am sorry I had to take your mother away. I would give her back to you in a heartbeat if I could.”

Mirra glanced away from her, before standing back up and sulking back to the corner. “Yeah… whatever.”

I exchanged a worried look with Mother before shaking my head glumbly. “Go get Glasswing. I think we’re done talking here.”

Mother gave a timid nod before turning tail and sprinting out of the room, clearly thankful to be away from the awkward conversation. I felt my whole body go limp as I let out a breath I didn’t realise I had been holding. I sagged against the wall as the emotional strain of the conversation flooded through me.

I looked over at Mirra, worried for her mental state. The small changeling lay with her back to me, her body curled up tightly against itself as she faced the wall.

I heard a small click as the door to the prison slid open for Glasswing. The changeling moved towards us and slowly came to a stop before the cage once more.

“I can only imagine what you have heard about the Institute on the surface,” Glasswing started, straightening the collar of his shirt with a black hoof. “Most of the wasteland doesn't fully understand the extent of what the Institute is trying to achieve. And what they do not understand, they fear. The rumours I am sure you have heard are as far from the truth as it gets…”

“Are you really about to try and convince me the Institute isn’t evil?” I scoffed, pushing myself back up to face him. “Really? What about all the body snatching? The slavery? You're telling me those are good too?”

Glasswings eyes widened slightly in confusion. “Slavery? What on Equis are you talking about?”

I just gave him a blank stare. “You enslave synths! You force them to work against their will, despite them being completely sentient!”

The confusion on Glasswings face melted to grim understanding. “I had forgotten that you had been in communication with the misguided terrorists that call themselves the Friendship Express. It is to my understanding that they have a pretty good way of twisting words to make us out as the bad guys,” The changeling said coldly. “But the Friendship Express is misguided. They meddle with things they do not properly understand. Synths, for all their lifelike abilities, are no more sentient than a toaster.”

I blinked at him. “But… I’ve met generation three synths. They have thoughts and feelings and…”

“Programming,” Glasswing interjected, cutting me off. “It is simply advanced programming, nothing more. Synths are not born from the womb of a mother. They are created in labs. Manufactured for the simple purpose of accomplishing the Institutes needs. These so-called personalities that the Friendship Express foolishly believes to be sentients are little more than glitches and can be shut off with the right combination of vocally spoken words. Something like that is not alive. Something like that doesn't have free will.”

That… sort of made sense. But at the same time, I felt like Glasswings take on synths was somewhat biased and blind to certain elements of what the Institute had created. Rubber Band had been more than just a malfunctioning synth. He had felt fear. Fear for his life, and fear of the Institute. I found it unlikely that the Institute had programmed that part of who he was.

Whether synths truly were sentient or not was arguable, but one couldn’t deny they could, at the very least, learn and adapt on their own.

I leveled my gaze with Glasswing again, my jaw clenching as I tired to think of what to say. “And the body snatching? Stealing ponies in the night and replacing them with doppelgangers? Are you trying to tell me that isn’t evil? Or are you just ignoring the facts?”

Glasswing sighed. “I do not ignore the facts, Amber Aura. I am well aware of what goes on here at the Institute. Replacing ponies on the surface, I’m afraid, is a regrettable, but necessary thing we must do to ensure the success of the Institute. But these so called evils that you accuse us off, are nothing compared to the other horrors that the ponies of the wasteland commit. I have seen raiders, Steel Rangers and Slavers. These ponies do not try to help the wasteland, they greedily take for themselves, rape and torture ponies for their own twisted enjoyment. You will not find this within the Institute.”

I gestured to the pristine walls around me. “If the Institute is so good, then why don’t you just help the surface instead of hiding down here? Clearly you could do some good if you tried!”

“Because the wasteland isn’t ready yet,” Glasswing cooed, silencing me with a hoof. “If we were to try to help the surface world now, then we would only be giving up all we have been trying so hard to achieve here. The ponies of the wasteland would destroy our gifts, ruin our creations. Over the past hundred years we have been able to create advancements beyond your wildest dreams. Imagine what we could do if we had just a few hundred more. Perhaps we can’t see the wasteland returned to the beautiful world of Equestria, but our great grandchildren might be able to see it brought back in its full glory, no strings attached.”

“This whole thing sounds awfully familiar,” I drawled sardonically, tapping my chin with a hoof. “Oh, that’s right. You’re just the Enclave in miniature.”

“Miniature?” Glasswing hissed, his voice rising at the end of the word. “Compared to those flying savages? The Institute is well aware of the movements of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. They would sit up in their clouds forever, with no real intention of swooping down to save the day. But the Institute does. The Institute has full plans to return to the surface. But only when we’re ready.”

“Just get to the point Glasswing,” I snarled. I was getting tired of the conversation. Glasswing clearly wanted something from us, and I’d be damned if I was going to let him convince me to work for him because of his dumb mind games.

“Ah, yes. Very well,” Glasswing huffed, his insectoid wings shifting slightly atop his carapace. He took a moment to regain his composure again before speaking. He held up his hoof, revealing both of our teleportation devices held aloft upon it. “You are unable to escape the Institute without these. In normal situations, I would never allow either of you to leave, our secrets are very important to us. However, this is not a normal situation...”

My ears perked. “You are offering some sort of trade for our teleportation devices?”

Glasswing hesitated. “I suppose that is a way of putting it. I need something done, and I’m afraid it isn’t something I can trust anyone in the Institute with.”

My interest had been officially caught, if only out of harmless curiosity. What in Equestria could Glasswing need that he needed us for? I leaned back a little, taking in his full person. “Alright? Go on?”

“Someone has been meddling with our Crusader Maneframe,” Glasswing started. He began pacing back and forth in front of us, his face filled with concern and thought. “The Maneframe houses one of the Institutes most valuable assets. An asset that will greatly speed up our work down here. Whomever was meddling with the Maneframe attempted to use this asset. I am unsure why or to what purpose, but I need to find out.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “So why ask us to figure this out? Surely there are enough ponies, changelings and synths down here to do that for you?”

Glasswing shook his head. “Only the heads of the Institute have access to the Crusader Maneframe, and even then, their access is limited. Whoever did this is either of incredibly high rank, or is smart enough to bypass hundreds of years worth of the highest level security ponies and changelings have been able to create. In either case, I doubt they were working alone. There is no one here that I can trust with this task. I needed someone who I know doesn’t have exterior motives from my own.”

“We are literally here on exterior motives,” I quipped back. “Aren’t we like… the worst possible candidates for this job?”

Again, Glasswing shook his head. “Aside from myself, you two are the only things in this facility that I am positive could not have accessed the Maneframe. Unless you two have been hiding around here longer than I thought. Though considering your last sighting outside was only half an hour ago, I feel I can rule you both out,” He thought for a second, then added. “Furthermore, all our studies of your travels across the wasteland show that you have a high success rate despite near impossible odds. All of our statistics suggested you had a four hundred in seven billion percent chance of escaping the MAS tower alive.”

I felt my jaw drop open at the numbers. I didn’t know how accurate their estimations were, nor how they got them, but those odds were incredibly low. I forced myself to close my mouth and reassert myself. “Okay, so what do you want us to do about this?”

I could see Glasswing’s smile widen. “I will give you permission to freely roam the Institute, under extensive supervision of course. In exchange, I request you talk to the heads of the Institute, see what you can figure out, and report back to me any findings regarding the tampering of the Crusader Maneframe”

Mirra’s head lifted from the ground so she could look over at us. “You are letting us walk out? As in, outside this cage and anywhere we want in the Institute?” She asked in surprise, breaking her silence.

Glasswing nodded. “As I said, with extensive supervision. You will be monitored closely by our surveillance cameras and I will have a minimum of three synths watching your movements at any given time.”

“And you don’t think the rest of the Institute would be suspicious?” I asked sceptically. “I mean, wouldn’t they have questions about the two of us simply walking around freely?”

“Not at all,” Glasswing replied with an even tone. “The Institute is massive. Most of the scientists here don’t know everyone and for all they know, you two might be a new pair of synths. I’ll give you both a lab coat and very few should question your presence here,” he looked us over for a second before holding up two plastic looking cards with the Institute insignia on it. “If anyone does ask, you can show them these. They are indisputable proof that I have given you permission to be present in the Institute… So, what do you say?”

He held his gnarled, black hoof out through the bars for me to shake. I gave the hoof a quick glare before taking a step back. “Not really much of a choice, is it. Help you or rot in a cell.”

Glasswings irritating smile only grew at that. “I’m afraid there is simply nothing else I could give you in return, not even answers. We like to keep our secrets close to our chest, you must understand.”

I hesitated for a second, glancing back and forth between his outstretched hoof and the curled up form of Mirra on the ground. “Let us think about it,” I finally said, taking one more step away from him. “This is a lot for both of us to take in.”

The changeling's smile faltered for a second, but he quickly put it back on and lowered his hoof. “Of course. I understand that this has all been a bit much. I shall return in a few moments to hear your final decision,” He took a few steps towards the door before casting a quick look back in our direction. “Do make the right decision. Your future, and indeed the rest of Equestria depends on it.”

Then he stalked out of the room, his pleasant mannerisms fading slightly as he ducked out of sight.

Grumbling, I pushed myself away from the bars and sat down next to Mirra. The small changeling didn’t do so much as respond to my presence. I looked down at her. “Well, what do you think we should do?” I asked, knowing we really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Mostly I just wanted to see if she was alright.

Mirra’s shoulder shifted slightly in a motion that looked mostly like a shrug. “I don’t know… I...I just want to get out of here,” She glanced up at me. Her face was still streaked with tears, but I could tell she was doing her best to put the thoughts causing them out of her mind. “B-but we can’t… not yet. We have things we need to accomplish first.”

I rest a hoof on her trembling shoulder, wishing I could appropriately applaud her bravery. “We still need to rescue Rubber Band, learn about the Utopia Program and find that terminal with all the data on synth deployment,” I said factually. “And I don’t think we’ll be able to do any of that behind bars. Glasswing is giving us a shot at doing all of those, so long as we try to do them while he’s watching.”

“Literally the first rule of Infiltration is to not do it while the pony you're infiltrating is watching you directly,” Mirra informed me with a small roll of her eyes. “And now you want to do all that while under the watch of a changeling with the perhaps the single most extensive security and surveillance systems ever?”

I gave a quick nod. “Yup. So how about it? Think you’re up for the challenge?”

Mirra stared at me blankly for a second before a smug smile crossed her face. “It sounds impossible, and that means it’ll probably be hard enough to keep my mind distracted from thinking about other shitty things that happened today. I’m in.”

I wrapped my hooves around her and gave the filly a tight hug. “That’s the spirit. Any plans for how we actually want to go about executing this insane heist?”

Mirra just gave me a crooked look. “I’m twelve… Why would I have a plan for that?”

I shrugged. “I’m an idiot that thought detonating hundreds of balefire bombs around me was a good idea.”

Mirra giggled a little. It was good to hear her laugh considering our situation. “Yup, we’re doomed.”

The door slid open a few minutes later, signalling Glasswing’s approach. I pulled myself away from Mirra and stood to face him. He was not alone. Azar stood beside Glasswing once again, his twisted grin leering at us through the bars.

“Your final decision?” Glasswing asked with fake sweetness.

I puffed my chest out a little and tried to look as imposing as a small, pink filly trapped in a cage could look. “We’ll help you, on the condition that we both walk free after all is done.”

Glasswing smiled. “Wonderful. Perhaps this experience will enlighten you on how valuable what we are trying to do here really is.”

“Don’t get preachy on me,” Azar scowled at the changeling, swiping his hoof over the lock on the door to our cage. The door made a loud clanking sound before sliding open. Azar turned his gaze back to me, his smile growing ever wider. “Are you ready to start working, partner?”

I staggered back slightly. “Wh-what do you mean by…” My voice caught as I realised what he was implying. I glared at Glasswing and pointed a hoof at Azar accusingly. “I refuse to work with this monster.”

“I want to ensure you do not go back on our deal,” Glasswing said simply. “Azar will make sure that you do not harm the Institute or our cause.”

I shook my head. “Then deal off. I will not work alongside this murderer!” I could feel my temper growing. This was the monster that murdered the ponies in Stable 25! He had worked with Kamari to destroy the wasteland! I wasn’t going to let him work with me!

Glasswing sighed and took a step towards me, moving past the bars and into the cage. “Perhaps I need to remind you of exactly what will happen if you refuse.”

I crouched into a battle stance, preparing to lunge myself at the changelings. “I already know. I’d rather rot in here than work with him!”

The grin on Glasswings face didn’t falter. A magic aura glowed brightly around his horn and he raised a small screen up for me to look at. My legs wobbled form beneath me and I stumbled to the floor when I saw what I was looking at.

The image on the screen seemed to be being broadcasted through the eyes of somepony. Whomever this pony was, they were inside the Friendship Express. The brick walls of the hidden bunker rose up around them and a few Friendship Express operatives darted around them quickly, going about their routines.

The pony was staring at Xayah. The zebra was slowly stumbling around the room, clearly trying to get her bearings on her new mechanical legs. She would take a couple steps before stumbling slightly and collapsing to the ground. She would quickly pull herself back up and continue walking. She seemed to be doing better than she had been since the last time I saw her, but she still couldn’t walk perfect yet.

I let my eyes stare in awe and horror at the image. “H-how did… what is…”

“We have many spies,” Glasswing smirked, his magic putting the small screen away. “The Friendship Express has taken us quite a while to locate, but thanks to some of their more recent activity, we have been able to successfully put spies in there as well,” His terrible smirk seemed to grow as the words continued coming from his mouth. “Failure to comply with my demands will result in the deaths of everypony there. Including the zebra and your other friends.”

That settled that, I would help with what Glasswing wanted. But it settled one other thing as well. Until now, my stance on where I stood with the Institute had been up in the air. They had flaws and had done cruel things, but you would have had to be an idiot not to see that they could do and would do a lot of good for the wasteland in the long run as well. But they had crossed a line. They had threatened to kill those that I cared about. Glasswing had officially made himself an enemy in me.

“How do you know you can even trust Azar?” I said, not bothering to stand up from my spot on the floor. “I thought we were the only ones in this facility you could trust?”

Glasswing gave me an understanding look. “Azar is an exception. He is loyal to me completely and fully.”

I narrowed my eyes. “How can you be sure though?”

“Because-”

Glasswing was cut off as Mirra decided to inject her own thoughts into the conversation. “Because he is a changeling general. I smelled him when we first entered the Institute. They have a specific scent, like rotting flesh and sulphur.”

I glanced back at Mirra, trying to remember what she had briefly told me about the different types of changelings. What was it she had said about Changeling generals? They were immensely powerful, designed for combat instead of infiltration, something about being restricted to a specific colour palette…

I let my eyes flicker over to Azar and looked over his dark violet stripes. The creature I had once thought to have been a zebra grinned at us. “Ah, it has been a long while since a wastelander has seen through my disguise. One would think the stripes would give me away, but ponies are so uneducated these days.”

Glasswing nodded. “He is loyal to the leader of the hive, which is me.”

Forcing myself to not look too terrified, I pulled myself up before Azar and glared down the Changeling General. I spotted a bit of twisted amusement in his eye as he looked me over. “Fine. I’ll work with him. But don't think I won’t try and kill you if you try anything.”

Azar’s cruel leer only grew. “You are welcome to try to kill me Amber Aura. You will fail like all those who tried before you, but you may try.”

I turned back to Mirra who was looking just as worried as I felt. Things had gone from nearly impossible levels of bad to straight up impossible levels of bad in a matter of seconds, and we hadn’t even started.

“You ready kid?” I asked, gesturing for her to follow me. Mirra fluttered her wings and landed atop my back, giving both Azar and Glasswing angry stares. My knees buckled slightly under her weight, but I managed to keep from falling with her on my back. How Pyre always carried her around was still a mystery to me.

Glasswing chuckled. “I will be in my office if you need me. Azar will know where that is. Though I will be monitoring you closely over the security systems, so I will most likely know what is happening before you inform me,” He turned and started heading towards the door, leaving us alone with the vile zebra...er… changeling. “I look forward to your contribution to our great cause. The wasteland is in all of our hooves.”

With that, he left. I felt like the whole world was slowly shrinking around me. There was no escape, and our failure ment the death of all of my friends. I dared myself to cast a glance at Azar, who had not yet looked away from me. His eyes locked with mine and his sneer grew to almost reach his ears.

“Well, Amber Aura? Shall we begin?”

I scratched at the lab coat that had been thrown over my body. I had refused to take my Stable barding off out of pure stubbornness, making the extra bit of fabric that now rests atop it feel heavier than I was used to. Mirra trotted beside me, a lab coat of her own pulled tightly around her. Despite the lab coat being a little too big, it seemed to suit her well.

Azar, surprisingly, had been nice enough to remove the magic reduction rings on our horns, not that my horn was capable of any particularly powerful magic at the moment anyway. I supposed if we were attempting to be somewhat discrete about what we were doing, then walking around with the telltale signs of being prisoners probably wouldn't be the best of ideas.

Glasswing had been right. No one questioned us as we walked through the large expanse of the Institute. A few changelings cast a glance in our direction, occasionally sniffing at the air, but they stopped almost immediately upon seeing the grey and violet zebra that walked along beside us.

It felt strange to be walking so freely through a place filled with my enemies. I had been almost certain that this mission would consist of a lot of sneaking. Granted, I would much rather have been sneaking through the institute than be stuck in this confusing situation.

“Well?” Azar drawled as he walked along beside us. “What are you going to do first, partner?”

I grimaced. “Don’t call me that. I’m not your partner,” I paused and thought for a moment. “How exactly does Glasswing know somepony tried to interfere with the Crusader Maneframe? That would probably be a good starting place.”

Azar’s eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement at the question for reasons I couldn’t seem to understand. “Maneframe maintenance,” he said simply, the excitement quickly leaving his eyes. “That terminals there overlook all the activity in and around the Maneframe.”

I glanced over at him sceptically. “Maneframe maintenance? Does the Institute have a whole area dedicated to maintaining the Crusader Maneframe?”

“The Institute has a whole wing dedicated to maintaining and running it, yes,” The Changeling general snipped quickly. “It does contain our most valuable asset.”

“So Glasswing said,” I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze towards the huge white spire of the Crusader Maneframe. Scootaloo had said that this specific maneframe was five hundred times the power of the other three, and I could believe it. I didn’t know much about the other three Crusader Maneframes, but something told me they weren’t nearly as wide as half a hoofball field. “What exactly is this valuable asset?”

Azar’s expression darkened. “That is classified.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is. It’s going to be hard to help you ponies… er… changelings, if I don’t even know what I’m dealing with.”

“Oh? You intend to help us?” Azar scoffed, his voice seeming to drip with sarcasm. “Shall we pretend you do not intend to back out of your side of the deal the first chance you get?”

I stopped and looked over at him, my eyes narrowing. Mirra froze beside me at his words. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Azar rolled his eyes. “Please. Do not try to insult my intelligence, Amber. You two came to the Institute with a purpose. You would be a fool otherwise,” He replied mirthlessly. “I patiently await your sudden betrayal.”

I gritted my teeth. It felt like what we had to accomplish was getting harder with every passing second. How were we supposed to sneak behind some ponies back when they were literally waiting for us to do it?

“We should probably check the Maneframe first and foremost,” Mirra said, looking away from us and toward the large, white spire. “It’s obviously the centre of what is going on.”

Azar raised a single eyebrow into the air at the statement. “You do not wish to go to Maneframe maintenance first?”

I shook my head quickly. “I agree with Mirra, if we are going to learn anything, it's at the maneframe itself. Hopefully,” Azar seemed slightly frustrated by the choice, but he quickly nodded his head. “Does the Maneframe have a terminal attached to it?”

“All the terminals and logs will be found in Maneframe Maintenance,” Azar deadpanned, clearly suggesting we go there first. “But there is a terminal attached that will give you a basic rundown of the Maneframes functions.”

I gave Azar the slyest grin I could. “Alright then, take us there.”

Azar’s eyes narrowed for a second, clearly not enjoying me giving him orders. He grumbled and started marching towards the maneframe, his tail flicking at the air slightly in irritation. Mirra leaned in towards me the second he was out of earshot. “I don’t trust him.”

I nodded grimly, my eyes fixed on Azar’s back as he walked forwards. “You’d have to be an idiot to trust him. I doubt he is going to try and attack us out in the open here, not with Glasswing watching, but be on your guard at all times.”

Azar cast us an annoyed glance, noticing we had failed to follow behind him. Mirra gave me a quick nod before scampering up onto my back as I trotted after the Changeling general.

He led us forwards for a few moments as we moved across the large expanse towards the Maneframe. We wove between the beautiful botanical gardens the Institute had created, moving around trees and hopping over the occasional stream. A bright blue butterfly fluttered over and landed atop Mirra’s muzzle. The small changeling went cross eyed for a second as she looked at the butterfly before the beautiful creature flapped its wings and fluttered back into the trees.

I hated to admit it, but Glasswing was right about one thing. If the Institute had the power to bring a world like this back to the surface, all of this would have been worth it.

As we neared the edge of the garden area, my eyes landed on the large, black door leading to the directors quarters. The large, obsidian-like door loomed overhead, blocked slightly by the majestic foliage.

I gulped. Something told me that I would be going in there sooner rather than later.

Azar came to a stop at the base of the large spire-like Maneframe. He looked up, taking in the large machine before turning to address us directly. “Here it is. Don’t take long,” He grunted, pointing down to a terminal set into one wall of the maneframe. A large door rests beside the terminal, leading within the Crusader Maneframe itself.

Not bothering to thank Azar for his services, I pulled up next to the terminal and turned it on.

<INSTITUTE CRUSADER MANEFRAME 1A>

>Maneframe Overview

>Power Usage and Data

>Open Door [PASSWORD REQUIRED]

I cast a quick glance at Azar. “I don’t suppose I’m allowed to open up the door and take a look inside?” I asked hopefully. I had spent my whole life working with and maintaining machines in Stable 25. The idea of getting to look at this marvel of technology was getting me a little excited, all things considered.

Azar gave me the smallest of arrogant smirks. “Absolutely not.”

Pouting, I turned and opened up the Maneframe overview. I watched for a few seconds as green text scrolled across the screen before I started to read.

<INSTITUTE CRUSADER MANEFRAME 1A>

>Maneframe Overview

>The Crusader Maneframe mark II is perhaps the single most advanced piece of technology ever created by pony hooves. Running with five hundred times the power of the initial three Crusader frames, the Crusader Maneframe mark II is capable of using and harnessing a multitude of Institute projects.

>The Maneframe however, is not without its differences from the original models. Unlike the initial three, the mark II does not come equipped with any form of funcional AI system and is not programmed to make decisions and/or act on its own accord. That said, it is still perfectly capable of holding the imprint of a ponies mind or having an AI if one were so built into it.

>Head Director, Scootaloo.

I read it over again quickly, soaking in all the information. It didn’t seem to tell me anything I didn’t already know or that was overly important to what I was trying to achieve, but the fact that the other three Crusader Maneframes held AI systems was an interesting enough piece of info.

I looked down at the second option and clicked it, pulling up the ‘power usage and data’. Once again, a wall of green text swam before my eyes across the screen, though this time, there were significantly more numbers. I skimmed through the numbers until I found something that made some sense in it all.

<INSTITUTE CRUSADER MANEFRAME 1A>

>Power Usage and Data - All power safely directed

>Institute lighting and day and night system - Active - Stable - 0.26% power usage

>Institute air filters - Active - Stable - 0.31% power usage

>Institute synth creation - Active - Stable - 2% power usage

>Utopia Program - Inactive - Stable - 63.5% power usage - power redirected

I stopped reading further and just continued to reread that last line over and over again. I had known that whatever this Utopia Program was was within the Institute, now I knew for sure.

I glanced up at Azar, who had his eyes fixed on me with a stern expression across his face. I tapped my hoof on the screen, drawing his attention to it. “What Exactly is this, Utopia Program?”

“Classified,” Azar snarled, not bothering to look at exactly what I was pointing at. “It is irrelevant to your purposes here.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back down at the terminal. “It says the power is being redirected to somewhere…” A thought crossed my mind. “I don’t suppose that this Utopia Program is the valuable asset inside of the Maneframe, no?” Azar remained silent, only confirming my beliefs. I sighed. “Alright, take us to Maneframe maintenance. I think we’ve seen about all we’re going to see her if we are restricted from everything.”

Azar let his stoic face twist back into a leering grin. “Of course, Amber Aura. Right this way,” He stepped aside and gestured for Mirra and I to follow.

I gulped and started trotting after him. I could feel Mirra tremble slightly atop my back. “I don’t like how he says your name,” The small changeling grumbled, shifting slightly as she tried to get more comfortable.

“Neither do I. I feel like he’s going to stab me every time he says it,” I agreed, walking back out towards the Institute gardens. “We need to figure out how to escape this guy.”

The Maneframe Maintenance was a lot larger than I had been expecting. I had expected something more akin to the small generator room I had spent most of my life tucked away inside back in Stable 25. Instead, Maneframe maintenance looked more like a giant white dome, filled with pristine terminals and large machines that I could only begin to guess the functions of.

It seemed the area was used for more than just Maneframe maintenance however. To our right stood a massive monitor displaying multiple scenes from across the wasteland. Like the video Glasswing had shown me, these surveillance videos seemed to be being captured through the eyes of ponies all across Manehattan and even beyond.

A small group of scientists rushed past us, almost knocking Mirra and I over as they bolted towards the screens frantically.

“What is going on?” One asked, their voice sounding both confused and fearful.

“Bucklyn Cross just went dark,” Another shouted back, moving over to the controls at the terminal. A bunch of the monitors went dark, each one going out in a small burst of light.

Interested, I trotted over, my gaze fixated on the large screens.

“What is it? Synth malfunction?” A changeling beside me asked, his voice startling me slightly and making me jump.

The scientist that had first spoken shook his head, still trying to get the terminal back on line. “I don’t think so. One second, let me just…”

One of the flickering screens grew, taking up most of the monitor. It showed through the eyes of a pony trying to pull himself up from the ground, both of their forehooves having been violently torn apart. They raised their heads, looking at the bloodshed that was happening around them. Gunfire was filling the air, the thick smoke from weapons fire making the hazy air impossible to see through.

The pony raised a gun in their mouth, I was unable to see what kind of gun, and limped up against the wall, firing off a few shots into the haze. An explosion burst through the thick fog, momentarily silhouetting a group of wastelanders that seemed to be battling against a small group of Steel Ranger scribes.

In the quick moment of the explosion, I was able to make out a small mare in Stable barding at the front of the group. My jaw dropped. Littlepip.

There was another flash, this time a rocket streaking towards the pony from a power armoured pony beside Littlepip I recognised as Steelhooves. Then the screen flared with burning light and went dead.

I sat there, staring up at the screen as the scientist started murmuring with each other. I had just witnessed something big going down, but I wasn’t exactly sure what.

I turned back to Azar, suddenly finding myself facing a few more eyes than I had been expecting. Two Changelings had flown in and landed beside Azar, each one of them giving Mirra and I an equally unsettling expression.

I gulped and tried to move past them. They let me pass, but their eyes never left me.

“Who are your friends?” I asked cautiously, my eyes flickering from the two other changelings to Azar.

Azar shrugged, gesturing for me to once again follow him. “Associate. None of your concern, I assure you.”

I cast Mirra another worried glance. I could feel my gut slowly clenching in on itself. Mirra gave me a nervous shrug before I allowed myself to continue following Azar.

We made our way up a ramp to one of the higher levels of the Institute. To my displeasure, both of the Changelings that had joined up with Azar were following us now. They didn’t follow directly behind us, but rather fluttered a few feet away, keeping us within their sights at all times. If I had had a bad feeling about Azar’s intentions before, I was positive now that he did not have our best intentions in mind.

A few cameras on the walls slowly tracked us as we passed. I had no doubt that Glasswing was up in his office somewhere, keeping close eyes on us.

Finally, we came to a door with a bright blue neon sign above it that read ‘Crusader Maneframe Overview’. Azar trotted over and typed a quick code into a terminal beside the door. There was a large clunking sound as a lock fell away followed shortly by the door sliding open. Azar trotted in, once more gesturing for us to follow.

I glanced up at the two changelings, hovering a few feet away from us. They were still there watching, but they didn’t seem to be planning on joining us inside the room. Grimacing, I turned back to the doorway and trotted in, carrying Mirra in with me. The second we were inside, the door slid closed behind us silently.

The room wasn't overly large. There was a decent amount of space to the back of the room, holding little more than a small sitting area and a terminal. The front of the room however held a large collection of terminals and monitors, most of which displayed images of the Institute. A pony and a changeling with a large scar on his cheek stood in the room, looking over their own terminals.

The scarred changeling looked up as we entered, his eyes lingering on Mirra and I before shifting over to Azar. His brow furrowed slightly. “Azar? What is going on here?”

Azar gave the changeling a quick nod. “Doing some work for Glasswing. We will take the room from here.”

The Changeling gave a quick nod of understanding and quickly fluttered to the entrance. He gestured for the pony to follow him. “Come on Monitor. Let's give them a moment.”

The pony I assumed was Monitor looked up, as if only now noticing our presence in the room. “Hmm? What’s going on?”

“Orders from Glasswing,” Azar said bluntly, his tone dropping slightly.

Monitor glanced over to Mirra and I. “Does this have to do with the security breach to the Maneframe?”

“Do you know anything about it?” I asked, not answering his question directly.

The pony nodded. “Of course, I was the one that found it. If I hadn’t shut it off, the Utopia program would probably have been completely redirected.”

Both Azar and the Changeling froze at Monitor’s words. No doubt he had just let slip something he was not supposed to. Azar growled. “Get out… Now…”

Monitor whimpered and quickly scurried out of the room with the other changeling.

I looked back at Azar. “So this Utopia program is irrelevant, is it?” I snarked, letting the smallest of smiles touch my muzzle. Azar just huffed and continued staring at me, not bothering to acknowledge my snide remark.

Rolling my eyes, I trotted over to the terminal and clicked it on, making sure to keep one eye focused on Azar. Something in his expression was making me uneasy, or at least, more uneasy than normal around him. I didn’t have time to read the terminal.

Mirra tapped my shoulder before shifting her hoof to point up at the ceiling. “A-Amber… There aren’t any security cameras in here,” turning from Azar fully, I let my gaze follow her hoof up to the roof and scanned the ceiling. She was right, there didn’t seem to be any security measures that I could see. Glasswing couldn’t see us in here. We were alone.

A quick burst of air against the back of my neck was all the warning I was given before Azar’s hoof lashed out and struck me in the back of the head. I stumbled, falling face first to the ground. I let out a groan of pain as I hit the smooth surface, the air being knocked completely from my lungs.

Mirra jumped back in surprise, her small, gnarled hooves skidding across the floor as she tried to ready herself into a battle stance. Azar was faster. He bolted across the room with lightning-like speeds, his hoof flashing out and striking Mirra across the neck.

Mirra gagged, her forehooves rushing to her throat as she was sent tumbling backwards. She slumped to the ground, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her breath.

I pulled myself back to my hooves. I let my horn flare with magic, only for the crack in my horn to send a jolt of pain through my body. Azar flashed back towards me, one of his hooves sweeping a memory orb off one of the desks.

He was fast. Too damn fast. Before I could realize what was happening, Azar had slammed the glowing memory orb against my glowing horn, forcing it into my magical aura.

I staggered back, my head spinning and the world fading as I was abruptly forced into a memory orb I hadn’t wanted to enter. I toppled to the ground, landing heavily on my side.

As the world began to swirl away, I saw Azar loom over me, looking down at my limp form with what I could only assume was mock pitty. “I cannot allow you to interfere with what we are planning,” The Changeling general cooed.

Then I was gone, drifting into the memory orb.

I was sitting in a particularly lavish looking office. It was familiar somewhat, despite the fact that I knew I had never seen it before. The walls were a dark oak and were lined with rows upon rows of bookshelves holding a large collection of ancient looking tomes. A few paintings hung on the walls, each one depicting a calming looking scene of Equestria. I spotted one painting of Canterlot, the massive castle looking beyond majestic as it lay atop the snow capped mountain.

Across from my host sat a familiar orange pegasus with small wings and a purple mane. Scootaloo. She fidgeted slightly, her movements reminding me a lot of Rainbow Dash when I had seen her in the meeting with Twilight and Luna. She was dressed in a black suit which in no way suited her messy mane and a pin depicting the Stable-Tec logo rested on her breast. She looked tired.

Scootaloo leaned back in her seat, peering at my host sceptically. I felt my host reach down and tap a talisman that lay on their desk with a silvery hoof.

A golden aura began to glow around a teacup on the table and floated over into the air before Scootaloo. “Tea?” I heard the aged voice of Silver Ace say from my host's mouth. When Scootaloo shook her head, Silver Ace gave a small shrug and placed the teacup back down with the glowing magic before picking up his own cup and taking a small sip. “This is about the Utopia Program, correct?”

Scootaloo nodded. “I think it’s ready. The A.A.S.S. has been properly tested and is ready for full integration into the maneframe. I’m not fully sure if the Maneframe can hold it completely yet, but we’ll have plenty of time to test it. Chrysalis is there now setting in the last few preparations.”

I felt Silver Ace’s lips curl up into a smile. “Perfect,” He said, his voice coming out in a low pur. His hoof swooped down and swiped an old, dogeared book off his desk before flipping it open. Through his eyes I saw him start to read through the first couple of sentences, but he was somehow reading far faster than I could even hope to keep up with. He quickly glanced back up, amazingly having finished the page already. “I truly am happy that you took such an interest in this project Scootaloo. It is unfortunate that your friends were less enthusiastic.”

Scootaloo gave a small shrug. “I have my own reservations, but I think Utopia can be something awesome in the right hooves. I just want this war to be over.”

There was a knock on the door. Silver Ace raised his gaze above Scootaloo and looked towards the noise. With his gaze now focused at the door I was able to make out its large obsidian-like front. The same door that leads to the director's office in the institute. “Come in?”

The door slid open. For a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of the Institute on the other side before the door slid closed again. Twilight Sparkle quickly marched into the room, a determined look across her face.

Silver Ace rose at her approach. “Ah, Ms. Sparkle. To what do I owe the honours of your…”

“You both need to come right now,” Twilight snapped, her voice stern. Silver Ace and Scootaloo exchanged a quick glance at each other. “It’s Chrysalis. She’s doing something with Utopia.”

Twilight couldn’t have said any better words to get the two of them moving. Silver Ace and Scootaloo were on their hooves in an instant. Silver Ace swiped his strange talisman off his desk quickly before rushing towards the door. There was a small pop as Twilight teleported from where she was standing to appear next to Silver Ace as he bolted towards the door.

“When did this happen!?” Silver Ace quipped, activating a terminal by the door and making the large black door lurch open.

“Just now. She’s locked herself within the Maneframe with Pharynx. They seem to have put up some sort of magical shield around it. No pony has been able to get in and the rest of the Changelings seem to be rallying around whatever is going on!” Twilight said, trying her best to keep up with Silver Ace and Scootaloo. Despite how magically talented Twilight seemed to be, she was clearly no athlete.

Across the expanse of the Institute, the looming structure of the Crusader Maneframe stood. A glowing green field of energy rippled around it and a swarm of black dots hoovered above it on all sides. As we drew closer, the swarming dots began to take shape. Changelings, lots and lots of changelings.

A crowd of ponies had formed a large circle around the towering Maneframe, some of them had weapons drawn, but most of them looked to be more scientist than fighter, and fewer had any weapons to bear at all.

Silver Ace and Scootaloo briskly pushed their way to the front of the crowd. “What is happening here?” Silver Ace demanded, striding to a halt before the pulsing green shield.

A beige pony clad in little more than a lab coat stepped forwards. “None of us have been able to get past the shield and all the changelings are ready to attack anypony that tries.”

I could feel Silver Ace gritting his teeth. I saw Scootaloo's worried face in the corner of his vision. “Why would Chrysalis do this? She seemed to be in favour of the alliance?”

Twilight teleported in beside them, slightly out of breath. “I doubt she ever really thought there was an alliance. We should have been more careful.”

Scootaloo’s alarm was continuing to grow. “She was doing something to the Utopia Program… She said she was doing some last minute preparations…”

Twilight glanced over at the orange pegasus in worry. “You mean Utopia is finished?” Her eyes widened as Scootaloo nodded in response. “What! Why wasn’t I informed of this!”

“It only just happened and…”

“That doesn’t matter now,” Silver Ace interjected, cutting Scootaloo off. “What we know is that Chrysalis is doing something in there and she doesn’t want us interfering. Chances are, that means we don't want her to succeed in what she is planning.”

Twilight gave a nod. “I already sent a letter to Princess Luna, but she is all the way in Canterlot. It could be hours before she arrives.”

“We don’t have that kind of time,” Silver Ace agreed. He glanced back up at the glowing shield. “Do you think you would be able to take down that shield?”

Twilight bit her lip for a second as she thought about that. “I… might be able to… It looks similar to the shield that my bbbff used to defend Canterlot when the Changelings first invaded. He taught me a fair bit about those, so I might be able to lower it for just a few moments.”

Silver Ace gave a nod. “A few moments is all we’ll need. Rally the rest of the unicorns and prepare to hit the shield with everything you’ve got,” Twilight nodded and teleported away. Silver Ace quickly turned to face Scootaloo. “Get everyone else ready for an attack. The moment that shield goes down, all those changelings are going to attack.”

“What about you?” Scootaloo asked, her gaze shifting from the Maneframe to Silver Ace.

Silver Ace sighed. “I’ll see if I can end whatever Chrysalis is planning,” Scootaloo gave a quick salute and bolted off. Silvar Ace turned back to face the maneframe, his eyes lingering on one of the many changelings before returning to the towering white spire. He gave another sigh. “Damn it… why cant peace just work for once.”

The ponies in the circle around the Maneframe began diverging, organising themselves into a more organised position under Twilight and Scootaloo’s guidance. A few moments later, Twilight teleported back to Silver Ace’s side. “Alright, everypony is ready.”

Silver Ace visually slumped as he readied himself. He glanced over at Twilight, his eyes weary. “Why did it have to come to this?”

Twilight gave him a sad smile that reflected his tone. “I wish it could have been better as well.”

Silver Ace sighed. “Alright. Drop their shield.”

Twilight's horn glowed. A second later, a powerful beam of magic shot from her horn, lashing against the green shield and sending cracks cobwebbing through the whole surface. A group of unicorns around her ignited their own horns as well, joining Twilight in her attack against the changelings shield. There was a loud pop, and the magical shield exploded.

At once, swarms of changelings descended, their curved horns blazing with green light as they flashed down towards the unicorns below. The earth ponies and pegasi repelled them, their weapons swivelling up and giving the unicorns cover.

Twilight turned to Silver Ace, her horn still glowing and her expression pained as she tried her best to keep the shield down. “Go! Now!”

Silver Ace obayed, darting forwards and rushing for the entrance to the maneframe. A changeling dropped before him, only to be blasted away as an earth pony shot at them. Silver Ace reached the terminal by the door to the maneframe moments before Twilight's spell faltered and the shield popped back into existence around the maneframe. Silver Ace gulped and glanced up at the swarm of changelings. They were averting their attention from the ponies below to the only pony still within the shield. Silver Ace…

Silver Ace spun and began typing into the terminal as fast as he could as the changelings began diving towards him. I focused as I watched Silver Ace type in the password to open the door in the terminal. Had I been in my own body, my heart would have started pounding in my chest.

That password couldn’t be that! Why! How! What did the Maneframe and the Institute have to do with...

I didn’t have time to finish my thoughts as Silver Ace bolted through the large door and slammed it behind him, blocking himself off from the changelings outside.

Now through the door, I was able to take in the massive machine from the inside. Massive pony sized gears lined the sides of the machine and huge wires as thick as my hooves ran up complex looking circuit boards. Rows upon rows of monitors and control panels could be found scattered throughout the Maneframe and a large metal catwalk traveled up the inside of the machine, giving ponies and changelings a way to navigate to the higher parts of the Maneframe.

Silver Ace stood on a small platform, below him lay a large glowing sphere of crackling golden energy. The sphere seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter, pulsing unstably as if it were a massive bomb about to explode.

Silver Ace jumped as the crackling sphere shot a bolt of energy outwards, scorching the catwalk near his hooves. He pushed himself as close to the wall as he could and glanced upwards towards the top of the Maneframe.

There I could see the sinister form of Chrysalis. She had plugged herself into the Maneframe somehow, a large headpiece shockingly similar to the mind control headpieces used by the enclave rested on her head and a bunch of smaller tubes and wires had been attached into her skin.

It was all starting to look scarily familiar. I was beginning to realise that whatever Kamari had been hoping to achieve in the MAS tower had simply been a cruder version of what the Institute had been building here. The large device Kamari had plugged himself into had been his very own makeshift Crusader Maneframe. Though from the size difference, I could assume that his hadn’t been nearly as powerful.

Chrysalis glanced down at Silver Ace from the platform far above him. Her mouth convulsed until it formed a leering sneer. “Ah, one little pony has come to stop me. Honestly Silver Ace, do you really think you can stop what I have put into motion?”

Not bothering to answer her, Silver Ace began racing up the catwalks. Beads of sweat were raced down his brow and I was suddenly made very aware of how boiling hot it was becoming within the Maneframe.

I could hear Chrysalis’ laughter echoing down from above. “Oh, you do?” He laughter continued for a few moments. “Pharynx, kill him.”

Something slammed into Silver Ace hard enough to send the charging earth pony stumbling down the catwalk and land heavily by the door. A bolt of energy once more shot from the glowing sphere below, making Silver Ace wince back.

A changeling dropped from above and landed before him. Since I had entered the Institute, I had seen multiple changelings, all of which looking exactly the same, if not for a few small discrepancies between them. But I had never seen a changeling like this before. Instead of an insidious black shell Pharynx’s shell was a dark grey and what would have normally been glowing blue eyes glowed an evil looking violet.

Silver Ace scuttled back to his hooves and took a step back, his hoof hovering over his talisman in anticipation. He glanced back up at Chrysalis. “You need to stop this! I don’t know what you’re doing, but it doesn’t look like the Maneframe can contain it! You’re going to blow us all up!”

Chrysalis sneered. “Oh? You don’t know what I’m planning? After all that you’ve done? After all that you’ve created?” The Changeling queen gestured at the maneframe around them, her horn glowing brighter with each and every second. “Us Changelings feed on love you know… The war was destroying us, driving us into starvation… and then you came along…”

I could feel Silver Ace’s legs locking up at her words. “M...me? What did I…”

“What did you do?” Chrysalis scoffed, as if the answer was staring him right in the face. “You created the key to our salvation of course!... And the weapon we needed to finally dominate pony kind… You created Utopia!”

Silver Ace took another shaky step back. “You’re going to use it to…”

“Now you catch on,” Chrysalis chuckled. Her horn flared and a blast of powerful energy shot through the maneframe. The shock wave slammed into Silver Ace, knocking him to the floor with a loud thud.

Suddenly the whole machine began to burst with life. Gears turned, sparks shot up the large power cords racing up the sides. Platforms and catwalks began to crumble and break away as the huge machine began to rumble and pulse with power. The huge sphere of glowing energy below seemed to scream with protest as the magic from Chrysalis’ horn mingled with it and made it radiate with uncontrollable magic.

Silver Ace pulled himself back up and once more tried to race towards the crumbling catwalks, only for Pharynx’s horn to glow and slam him backwards. Silver Ace’s head cracked against the metal wall, his vision splintering and a loud ringing filling his ears.

“You have been a valuable asset to me, SIlver Ace,” Chrysalis cooed from above, another powerful blast of magic pulsing from her horn and into the structure. “But I am afraid that you have run out of your usefulness.”

At her words, Pharynx lunged, his razor sharp fangs lashing at the elderly earth ponies throat. Silver Ace Rolled, only narrowly avoiding the Changeling general’s vicious attack. Before Silver Ace could righten himself again, Pharynx’s gnarled hoof lashed out and sent Silver Ace sprawling onto his front.

Silver Ace twisted, trying to reach for his magical talisman, only to find that it had been knocked away from him and now teetered on the edge of the crumbling platform. He dove towards it, his silver hooves reaching for the magical device.

Pharynx was too fast. The changelings forehooves slammed into his side, once more knocking him away. A powerful purple magic wrapped itself around Silver Ace’s throat and began dragging him into the air. Silver Ace squirmed, trying desperately to free himself from the constricting magical grasp.

There was a flash purple magic as Twilight materialized inside the Maneframe beside them. She took one look at what was happening and let her magic flare up, blasting towards Pharynx with a beam of magical energy. Pharynx was sent tumbling to the side, his magic dissipating as his concentration was lost.

Silver Ace dropped back to the ground, one of his hooves rubbing at his neck as he breathed in a large breath of air. He glanced up at Twilight. “How did you get into the…”

Twilight turned from him and glared at Pharynx as the Changeling generals slowly pulled themself back to their hooves. “A managed to drop the shield just long enough to teleport inside. Now go! Stop Chrysalis, I’ll hold Pharynx off!”

Silver Ace nodded and snatched up his talisman before he once again began rushing up the catwalks. Pharynx snarled and lunged at him, only for a blast of Twilight's magic to get in the way. The changeling reared back, evading the unicorns blast by a hair.

A beam of green magic shot down from above lancing towards Silver Ace. The earth pony careened to the side as the blast shot past him, searing off a few hairs on the side of his neck. He snarled and glared up at Chrysalis, who was looking down at him with a smug expression.

“What does one elderly earth pony hope to do against the queen of all changelings?” Chrysalis mocked, her horn once again sending waves of energy surging through the maneframe. Silver Ace grasped onto the catwalks railing as the powerful energy threatened to once more send him sprawling.

Silver Ace looked down as a massive roar echoed up from below. The glowing golden sphere was beginning to vibrate, arcing bolts of energy spewing in every direction. It was getting brighter, almost blindingly so, as if the sun itself was being contained within the Maneframe and was now threatening to burst free.

Trying to keep his resolve, Silver Ace pushed forwards. The catwalks were beginning to grow hot to the touch, the blazing light of the sphere below heating the metal up to a near unbearable degree. One hoof in front of the other, he began to climb.

Up above, Chrysalis raised an eyebrow in surprise as she watched him. Her mouth twisted into a grin and she chuckled softly to herself. “Try not to get yourself killed, old stallion,” The queen mocked, taking a small step forward. “Turn back now and save yourself from this humiliation!”

Silver Ace growled, his hoof tapping his strange talisman. “I cannot let you do this!”

Chrysalis laughed menacingly. “Oh please. Do not think me a fool like the rest of those pathetic ponies. I know of your real plans for Utopia are. You plan to use it as a weapon, just as I do!”

I could feel Silver Ace gritting his teeth, the power from his talisman flowing through his body. “I created utopia so we could finally have peace!” He pushed himself forwards again, fighting against the constant stream of magic that seemed to be pushing him back.

“Peace? Is that what you call it?” Chrysalis mocked, rolling her green eyes. “I think most ponies would have a very different opinion of your work if they knew your real intentions.”

I caught a glimpse of Twilight and Pharynx down below. They had both moved into melee range of each other and were now engaged in a deadly hoof to hoof battle, and Pharynx was winning. The changeling lashed out, knocking Twilight to the ground and sending her skidding across the platform towards the edge.

I didn’t get to see what happened next as Silver Ace finally pulled himself onto the top platform with Chrysalis. The changeling queen gave him an impressed look before letting a beam of green light lash out from her horn towards him. Silver Ace stumbled back, the magical blast burning off the hide on his foreleg.

Silver Ace tapped his talisman again, letting a blast of his own magic shoot towards Chrysalis. The changeling queen only rolled her eyes and tossed up a small green shield to block the blast.

“Please, what hope do you think you have against me?” Chrysalis chidded. The golden light from the sphere below began to glow from Chrysalis’ horn and eyes. “With Utopia, I shall create a world where ponies love us! We will drain the very life from pony and zebra kind! Even the dragons will bow to me! And my rule will continue on for generations!”

I could feel some magical grip grasping at the back of my mind. The world was getting hazy, as if Silver Ace was fighting against the urge to succumb to a memory orb. He rushed forwards, his talisman once again firing a beam of light towards Chrysalis.

Chrysalis sidestepped, easily avoiding the blast, but Silver Ace hadn’t been aiming at her. His magical blast flashed towards the far wall, striking one of the many control panels. There was a spark of blue magic and his shot ricocheted away before sizzling out.

Chrysalis laughed, her eyes following the pitiful blast of magic for a few seconds as it fizzled out. “Seriously? You of all ponies should know you can't destroy the maneframe! There is nothing you can do to stop what is to come!”

Silver Ace’s eyes turned to the glowing sphere below. I could feel his heart rate beating faster and faster inside his chest. The talisman in his hooves began to glow brighter. “You’re wrong… I think… Perhaps…” His talisman began pulsing in time with the flaring orb of light as he wrapped a telekinetic field around it.

Chrysalis took a step back, her eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?” Silver Ace didn’t respond, his focus transfixed on the glowing sphere. Chrysalis’ eyes widened as the glowing magic surging into her began to shine brighter, becoming almost as bright as the orb below. “What is happening!”

Golden light spilled out from below them, blasts of crackling energy slashing into the air and bursting into small explosions of blinding light. The light grew, filling their visions with blazing gold. I heard Chrysalis scream in pain, her cries echoing throughout the massive chamber.

When the light finally died down, Silver Ace opened his eyes and looked over to where the changeling queen had stood. Chrysalis still remanded standing, though much of her body had been burned away. One of her eyes had burst open, oozing yellowish sludge and blood dripped from her mouth. Half of her face had gone slack and her hooves shook as if she were now too weak to stand.

Chrysalis swayed back and forth for a moment, then collapsed to the ground, staring up at Silver Ace in hate with her one remaining eye. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to say something. “You… Serve…” her neck went limp and her head slumped against the floor of the platform. Her remaining eye began rolling up into the back of her head, her expression glassy. “Serve… the… Cae-” her mouth went limp, a stream of blood flowing past her lips and oozing across the platform.

Chrysalis was dead.

Silver Ace stared at her for a moment, his breathing heavy, before he turned back and looked down at the platform far below. A small glittering purple shield slowly dissolved, allowing him to see Twilight Sparkle step out, looking relatively unharmed. Beside her lay the charred skeleton of what had once been Pharynx. He had defended his queen to the end.

Twilight glanced up at him, her expression grim. “Mind warning me before you do something like that?” Her horn glowed for an instant before she teleported up to where Silver Ace was standing. “Do you mind explaining what all that was about?”

Silver Ace shook his head. “I’m not sure. She seemed to think she could use the Maneframe to feed off the love of other ponies.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed. “Could she have?”

Silver Ace gave a shrug, though his shoulders felt incredibly tense and stiff. “I am unsure, though I doubt that Chrysalis would have acted, if she didn’t have a solid plan.”

The door leading back out of the maneframe slid open with a clang below them. Both ponies cast their gaze down to see Scootaloo strolling in. The orange pegasus looked up at them with confusion. “I’m taking it that since the shield fell and the changelings are currently looking for orders that you succeeded in here?”

Silver Ace gave her a quick nod. “Yes, though I’m afraid there has been a fair amount of damage done to the maneframe. I’m afraid we will have a fair amount of work to do before the Utopia Program will be ready again.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes, and what exactly did you do?” She gestured to the large glowing sphere below them that was now glowing with only a moderate amount of light.

Silver Ace just gave her a smug smile before turning back to trot down the now ricketty looking catwalks, not giving her any form of answer. “We’ll need to do our best to get the maneframe functioning again as soon as possible. With it down, the Institute will be running on backup energy, but that will only last for a few days.”

Twilight cleared her throat and quickened her pace to catch up with Silver Ace. “While we are on that, I’m going to add a few more security measures to the Utopia Program. I don’t want something like this happening again. We have been too careless with who we trust.”

Silver Ace seemed to find that statement amusing for some reason. “Of course. We will have a meeting on updating the security in a few hours. I concur that we cannot allow for this to repeat itself.”

Twilight shook her head. “No.”

Silver Ace paused and raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean, no?”

Twilight trotted past Silver Ace, turning and heading towards the door of the maneframe. “Chrysalis came far too close to achieving something terrible with Utopia. If I am to ensure every ponies safety, I need to cover all my bases. Starting by making sure that no single pony can control Utopia without assistance. Not me, and not you.”

Silver Ace’s eyes narrowed. “This is my project! You can't simply lock me out of it! I’m the damned director of the Institute! You can’t just…”

You are the director of the Institute because Luna and I made you the director of the Institute,” Twilight snapped back. “As head of the Ministry of Arcane Science and co director of the Institute of Arcane Science, I am overriding your decision. I heard what Chrysalis said about your intentions for the Utopia Program. I don’t know how much truth was in her words, but until I know for sure, and maybe even then, everypony, including yourself will remain in the dark about what security measures are going to be put in place.”

She turned again, this time walking out of the room completely. Silver Ace snorted and stomped a hoof on the ground in irritation. Scootaloo glanced from the door Twilight had walked through over to Silver Ace. “What did Chrysalis say?”

Silver Ace gave the pegasus a small shrug. “A bunch of nonsense about weapons,” The elderly earth pony staggered past Scootaloo, his whole body feeling heavy. “Come, we have much work to do…”

I jolted out of the memory with a start, my head spinning. The orb I had been forced into contained a plethora of information that was beginning to form a much larger picture of what this elusive Utopia Program was in my mind. I was beginning to finally put together some concrete idea of what it could be, yet at the same time, I still had no clue of what it actually was.

I raised my head to take in my surroundings. Immediately, my eyes met with the large blue ones of Mirra. The small changeling was staring at me deviously from the other side of a cage. A cage that I seemed to be trapped within.

I squinted, my mind still a little hazy from the orb. “Mirra? What’s going on?”

“I’m over here,” a timid voice piped up from behind me. I turned to see Mirra sitting behind me as well, cowering as if the other version of her was the most terrifying thing in the world.

Confused, I turned back to face the things on the other side of the cage. Three figures stood leering at us through the bars. Mirra, myself and Azar. My eyes lingered on my doppelgänger for a moment as I pierced together what I was seeing.

Changelings. They had to be changelings. But… why?

As if reading my mind, Azar stepped forward. “Ah, Amber. I’m glad you are finally up? I think it’s about time the two of us talked, face to face. Not fighting, no lies.”

I pulled myself up and faced the changeling general. “What is going on here? We are working with Glasswing. Why are you-?”

“Why am I doing this?” Azar smirked, gesturing to the cage and our two doppelgängers. “Believe me, if it was as simple as killing you and having my changelings take your place, I would have done so. But alas, Glasswing is keeping a very close eye on you. And while he cannot see what goes on in this room directly, he is no doubt scanning the room for life.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What does that have to do with…”

Azar rolled his eyes and cut me off with a wave of his hoof. “Glasswing has seen five living things enter this chamber. The three of us, and two changelings in the disguise of ponies. What he will see if both of you leave shortly thereafter, and two lifesigns still within the room. But worry not, I will ensure that you both meet a quick death once his gaze is properly averted away from you.”

“But why? I thought you worked for Glasswing? Aren’t you like… the only one in the whole Institute he trusts.”

Azar’s leering grin was unbearable. “Glasswing is a fool. He believes that just because he leads the Institute, that he leads the hive. But he is just a drone, just like any other. He has no idea what is really going on in the Institute.”

I looked back at Mirra, trembling in the corner of the cage behind me. “Then why not just kill Glasswing and get him out of the way? You seem to have a fair amount of changelings on your side,” I asked, the whole ordeal still confusing. Azar’s allegiance was becoming more and more convoluted by the second.

The changeling general’s grin faltered for a moment and formed into a snarl. “Because while Glasswing is a fool, and the changelings outnumber the foolish ponies that follow him, he is still in control of the synths and coursers. So long as he has followers and controls the synths, our victory would come at too great a cost,” Azar stamped one of his striped hooves. “But soon he will fall, and the leader of the hive will take their rightful place!”

I boldly stepped towards the edge of the cage, my eyes locking with Azar’s. “Who leads the hive? The director?”

Azar scoffed and turned from me, ignoring my question and addressing a changeling across the room I hadn’t spotted. It was the changeling with the small scar on his cheek. He must have flown back in while I was inside the orb. “Wait twenty minutes, then kill them,” Azar demanded, trotting towards the door out into the Institute. “Then dispose of the bodies. Drop them down the incinerator if you must. Don’t get caught.”

The changeling gave a quick salute. “Of course my general.”

Azar gestured for our doppelgängers to follow before quickly trotting out of the room. The changelings that had taken on our form gave both of us menacing grins before turning and following the Changeling general out, leaving us alone with the scarred changeling.

The scarred changeling trotted closer to the cage, giving us an annoyed look. “Be grateful Azar is so generous. He has ordered for you a quick death.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh yeah. How thoughtful of him. Remind me to thank him when I see him again.”

The changeling gave me a sly smirk. “I like you. A shame I will need to kill you soon,” I bared my teeth at him, but it only seemed to make the Changeling chuckle. He turned his back and walked back to the terminal, shaking his head in amusement. “You’re adorable.”

I looked back and pulled myself over to Mirra. “Looks like we're trying to break an academy record for the amount of cages one can get stuck in within a day,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Any ideas on how to get out of this one?”

Mirra shook her head. “No more than I did for the first cage we were thrown into.”

I inspected the door to the cage. It seemed to be locked by a terminal. Easy to hack if I could access the keys, but next to useless if I could only reach the back of the terminal through the bars. An idea crossed my mind.

“Alright, I got a plan,” I whispered quickly, making sure the scarred changeling didn’t overhear me. “I’m going to do a trick a pony taught me once, but it might take me a second.”

Mirra nodded in understanding before looking away and pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary.

I slinked up to the terminal and began fiddling with the back. There were three bolts holding the back panel of the terminal in place, but they were large enough that I was able to wiggle them around a bit with my hooves. That said, it would have been really nice to have a screwdriver right about now.

The first two bolts came out quickly. I swiftly placed them on the ground before they could fall and make a noise. The third bolt was stiff. I pulled it out faster than I should have, the small metal bolt falling to the ground with a clang.

The scarred changeling’s ear flicked up at the noise and he quickly turned to face us. His forked tongue darted from his mouth as he hissed at us. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing!”

He took a step forward, his curved horn glowing. I felt a ring of magic envelope around my neck and squeeze.

The door slid open and the pony I remembered as Monitor trotted in. The scientist pony froze as he took in the room. “Tarsus? What’s going on here?”

The scarred changeling I now knew as Tarsus groaned. “Damn it Monitor… I told you not to come back here,” The changeling let his magic drop me before rounding on Monitor. His horn glowed and a beam of energy shot out towards the pony. Monitor leapt to the side, only narrowly avoiding the blast.

Now free, I quickly moved forward and twisted out the last bolt on the terminal, no longer caring about making noise. The back panel of the terminal fell away, revealing the wires and circuits within. I quickly went to work with the method Salt Water had taught me for hacking terminals from the inside.

Tarsus was tossed against the side of the cage. The whole cage rattled as he was slammed into it, knocking me away from the terminal for a moment. Monitor rushed towards him, his hooves flying at the changeling in an attempt to attack him. His movements were rushed and sloppy, clearly a sign of a pony that hadn’t seen very much action.

I pulled myself back to the terminal and began fiddling with it. Tarsus glared at me as I began rewiring the controls. “Oh no you don’t,” I changeling scowled, his horn flaring with light.

Before he could attack, Monitor slammed into him, disrupting his spell and sending him staggering to his right. Tarsus’ horn flared again and a beam of energy lashed out, lancing straight through Monitor’s chest. The pony screamed, his cries muffled by the surging of blood in his throat as he collapsed to the ground.

There was a click from the terminal and the cage door slid open.

Tarsus tried to pull himself up, but before he could, Mirra darted from the cage and spat a large wad of green mucus into his face. The green slime clung to his eyes obscuring his vision. The scarred changeling staggered forwards, trying to swing at Mirra with his hooves blindly, but to no success.

I pulled myself from the cage and swung my own hooves at the changeling. My hooves cracked against the top of Tarsus' head, sending him staggering backwards and crashing into the desk on the far side of the room.

The scarred changeling shook and began to rise to his hooves, only for me to grab onto the back of his head and slam his face against the edge of the desk. There was a crack as the sharp edge bashed against the bug's skull.

But he kept squirming. I reared up and slammed my hooves down on his head hard, ramming his head into the table once more. This time his head didn’t just crack, it split. Blood oozed out from the large gash in his forehead as the changeling slumped to the ground dead.

I sat back panting. I could feel Mirra trot up beside me and cast a gross glance at the dead changeling. “You really scare me sometimes,” She said flatly, daring herself to poke the body with a hoof. She looked up at me curiously. “So, what now?”

I thought about that. We finally had a chance to sneak around the Institute without intensive supervision. I stared at the terminal resting on the desk I had just smashed Tarsus’ head on. “First let's do what we initially came here for,” I said factually, pulling myself over to the terminal and clicking it on. A bunch of files flickered to life before me.

Mirra cocked an eyebrow. “We can probably skip that, Amber. We can just find Rubber Band, the A.A.S.S. and the files the Friendship Express wants and get out of here. We don’t need to do what Glasswing wants anymore.”

I was pulled up short by that for a second. She was right, as my friends usually were. Now that we were somewhat free of Glasswing’s gaze, we had no reason to actively follow his orders. Then why was I feeling the urge to keep investigating?

Actually, I knew exactly why. It was a mix between my curiosity over the Utopia Program and the sinking feeling that something terribly wrong was going on. The memory I had watched wasn’t making sense. Back in the MAS tower, I had watched a memory orb of Twilight having her memory erased of the Institute and the Utopia Program. Chrysalis had been in that memory, or at least I thought it had been Chrysalis. So how could I have watched Chrysalis die before Twilight had been forced to forget?

An encrypted file on the terminal caught my eye. “You’re right,” I finally said to Mirra, my eyes still fixed on the terminal screen. “Just let me look at this one file, then we’ll go see about finding Rubber Band and the rest of those things.”

Mirra nodded. Her body was quickly submerged in a tornado of green fire as she transformed into a small yellow filly. She trotted over to the door and glanced out, keeping an eye out for trouble while I worked.

Returning my attention to the encrypted file, I clicked it open. A wall of near unintelligible text swam before me as I pulled up the data and searched for the password. Unlike most passwords, this one seemed to be less a word, and more a random assortment of letters and numbers. Finally, I found a password that seemed somewhat intentional.

cmc3bff.

The message opened.

>File encoded - Sent.

>This is Scootaloo to Stable 2. Sorry for contacting you through an unknown terminal, but this was the only room in the institute that isn’t heavily monitored. I just wanted to say, Sweetie, you were right. Something is going on here. The Utopia Program was supposed to be used for good. To fix things if they ever got as bad as were all afraid of. But I’m starting to get the impression that things are not as they seem.

>I don't think Chrysalis’ attempt to take over the Crusader Maneframe was a coincidence. Utopia’s purpose lined up far too perfectly with her agenda for that. And ever since I’ve been learning things. Things I thought I already knew. I’m second guessing everything I’ve created over the past few years and I’m starting to realise that all of those things can just as easily be used as a weapon as they could be for good.

>Utopia was a mistake. A very, very dangerous mistake. You and AB were right. I should have listened to you both from the beginning.

>I cant allow what has been put into motion here to continue. I’ve decided to hide away the A.A.S.S. in one of the Manehattan Stables. Stable 25. If anypony suspects anything, or asks you about it, just say it's a test to see if ponies can survive without the need for food or something. I guess that wouldn’t be a lie.

>Hopefully we never need to use Utopia, but if we do- if the war ends as badly as many fear, I want to make sure that Utopia is still a viable option. Sorry-

>Your friend, Scootaloo.

I blinked as I finished the entry. There it was, written out plain and simple. This was the reason for everything that had happened to me over the last few weeks. The catalyst that had led to the death of everypony in my Stable.

I took a deep breath and pulled myself away from the terminal. I looked over at Mirra, who was doing her best to look casual as she peered out the door of the room. “Alright, let's get what we came for and get the fuck out of here.”

We trotted into the synths creation wing, trying out best to look like we belonged. Disguising Mirra was as easy as it always was. She had transformed into a small, blue unicorn filly with a turquoise mane. I didn’t doubt that any changeling that got close enough would be able to smell her disguise, but that was of little concern to them. Changelings shapeshifting was probably as common down here as none shapeshifting changelings.

Disguising me was a little harder. I had pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail and had placed a pair of glasses I found over my eyes. It was far from a good disguise, but hopefully it would be enough to keep away from Glasswings ever watchful eyes while his focus was averted elsewhere.

If I hadn’t realised that the Institute was huge before, I definitely did now. The Synth Creation wing was massive, at least twice the size of the maneframe maintenance wing. Huge claw-like appendages hung from the ceiling, many of them at work as they knitted together synthetic flesh to a multitude of synths suspended in the air above us. The whole mechanism looked like a larger, sleeker version of the augmentation machine I had used to save Xayah’s life the day prior.

Rows upon rows of terminal lined the outer walls, many of them manned by a pony or changeling and a few strange metal chambers that looked like cryopods rest to one side of the room. A set of stairs led up to a large office overlooking the area with a large neon sign above it reading, ‘Overmare’. I got a strange amount of comfort from that fact that even here in the Institute, there was an Overmare or Stallion.

I leaned down to Mirra’s level so I could whisper in her ear. “See if you can find anything about the location of the A.A.S.S. or Rubber Band. I’m going to get into the Overmare’s office and see if I can find the records the Friendship Express is looking for.”

Mirra gave me a quick salute and darted off into the groups of Scientists without a word. I turned my attention back to the stairs and slowly made my way up to the Overmare’s office. The door slid open for me at my approach.

Within the room was a mare, dressed just like any other within the Institute. She had a lab coat over her shoulders and a pair of glasses very similar to the ones I was currently wearing on her muzzle. She looked up as I entered. “Hello? Can I help you?”

I nodded, holding up the card Glasswing had given me. “Yes actually. I’m here on behalf of Glasswing. Do you mind if I take over for a moment?”

The mare looked over the card thoughtfully for a second before giving a surprised nod. “Of… of course. Whatever you need. Do you mind telling me what this is all about?”

I shook my head as I trotted further into the room. “I’m afraid that’s classified. I’m sure you are well aware that we take our secrets very seriously here in the Institute,” I said, trying my best to think of how Glasswing might have phrased it.

The mares eyes went wide as if i had just accused her of murder. “Of course I understand! I’ll take me leave. I’ll be back in twenty.”

I gave her a small smile as she quickly darted out of the room. I might not like Glasswing, but I’d have to thank him for that if I ever saw him again.

I pulled myself up to the terminal and clicked it on. I grinned triumphantly as it let me in without asking for so much as a password. The Overmare had left it on.

I spotted what I was looking for at once. A file labeled as ‘Synth Deployment’ was one of the first things to pop onto the screen. Smiling, I plugged my pipbuck in and began downloading the file. I scrolled through the other Files as I waited for the download to complete. My eye caught on a single file.

>Shining Aura

I stared at the file, reading over my mother's name again and again. Finally I built up the courage to open it. A multitude of different logs popped onto the screen. The first entry however, was not a log, but a video file. Hesitantly, I clicked it open and watched as the screen flickered into that of an overhead image of the Synth Creation wing.

Several ponies walked in, all of which dressed in the classic Institute fashion. A group of five unicorns pulled something forwards with their magic. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to make out what they were dragging.

It was Chrysalis, or at least a changeling queen that looked shockingly similar. Her hooves and wings had been bound and a magic restricting ring had been tightly placed over her horn. She struggled, but her bound hooves and inability to use magic made resistance impossible. The changeling queen staggered and collapsed in the centre of the room, writhing as she tried to free herself from her captors.

Now in the center of the room, I was able to make out her features better. She looked like Chrysalis, yes, but there were differences too. Her mane was a dark algae green as opposed to Chrysalis’ greasy matt of blue and her eyes looked much younger.

Glasswing and Mother strode towards the collapsed changeling queen, a look of sad acceptance on their faces.

“Queen Insecta…” Glasswing started, his voice oozing with false sorrow. “Today, you are making a great sacrifice for the good of all pony and changeling kind.”

Queen Insecta pulled herself from the ground and spat in Glasswing’s general direction. “You can’t do this! I am your queen!” Her voice sounded almost identical to that of Queen Chrysalis, only distinguishable as a different changeling if you know she was one.

Glasswing stepped forwards, careful not to get too close to the raging changeling queen. “I can do this Insecta. You are no longer queen of the hive. Your purpose has long since run its course.”

Insecta scowled. “I have been queen of this hive since long before your time grub! I am Chrysalis’ successor! You cannot take that away from me!”

Glasswing gestured towards a pod resting against the far wall. I had passed it when I had first entered the Synth creation wing, but hadn’t paid it any heed. The unicorns began dragging the changeling queen into the pod and began strapping her in.

“You are going to become the template for the first true synths,” Glasswing declared proudly, thrusting one hoof into the air and giving off a smug looking grin. He turned to Mother who was standing silently beside him. “Are you ready?”

Mother nodded enthusiastically. “I am,” Slowly, she walked towards a pod of her own and began climbing in. A few scientists trotted over to assist her and make sure everything was in order. Mother looked down at Glasswing from the pod. “Once the procedure is done, please do with my body as I instructed. I don’t want my husband or daughter to come looking for me.”

“Of course,” Glasswing replied, his voice for once conveying what seemed to be actual sorrow. He turned to address the rest of the scientists. “Is everything ready?”

“I command you as queen of the changelings to stop this at once!” Insecta roared, thrashing against the confines of the pod. “Azar will have your head when he finds out about this!”

Glasswing gave her a coy smile. “Azar is currently on his way to a little trap I layed out for him. If he somehow survives the Balefire bomb, I shall have you simply inform him that you were complicit in my activities. I’m sure that will satisfy his worries.”

Insecta’s eyes were wide with fear. She thrashed harder against her bonds, trying desperately to free herself. It was no use. “I will have you killed for this traitor!” She shrieked, her screams muffled as the lid of the pod closed in around her.

Glasswing gestured to a scientist standing next to him. “Begin the procedure…”

The video cut out.

I stared at the now blank screen for a few moments, my mind racing a hundred miles and hour.

No… No! They… they couldn’t!

I clicked the file and watched the video again. Once more, the exact same scenario played out. It was horrible.

When Glasswing had told me what happened between my mother and Queen Insecta, I had assumed they had both consented to the mind transfer. No doubt how Glasswing wanted everypony to view the situation. But that’s not what had happened at all.

It was a violation. And evil that left me feeling sick and wrong.

I could feel anger rising up inside of me. How could my mother have done this!? How could she have agreed to something so evil!? I wanted to scream, but I didn’t dare risk drawing attention to myself.

Trying to find something to calm my spinning mind, I opened the first log in the file and began to read.

>Log #1

>Shining Aura has been doing tremendously well since her mind was merged with Insecta’s. Her mental state seems fairly stable, though she does seem to have a fair amount of difficulty sleeping. Falling asleep seems difficult and the little sleep she does get seemed to only make her more tired.

>So far she has been unable to use Insecta’s shapeshifting abilities, those she does show signs of having a changeling's heightened senses. I suppose only time will tell if she will be able to fully take on the abilities of a changeling queen.

>Log #2

>Surprisingly, Aura has been taking on a few of Insecta’s personality traits. She also claims to be experiencing memories that do not belong to her. My best assumption is that a small fragment of Insecta’s consciousness, or at least a small imprint of her existence in the mind, is still playing some role in controlling the body. I look forward to scanning her brain tomorrow for any sign of unnatural activity.

>Log #3

>Her brain seems fine, and I can find no trace of the body's previous inhabitant within. Everything points towards the process being a complete and total success. Most likely, any remaining fragments of Insecta’s mind will be washed away within a few months.

>On a separate note, Shining Aura has taken a particularly large interest in Azar’s recovery. There have been multiple eye witness accounts of her talking with the wounded general, though she denies having spent little more than a few minutes with him. I even bothered myself with giving her a second brain scan to see if she was lying, and she seems to be completely honest.

I was about to read the fourth log when Mirra fluttered into the room. I looked up as she slipped inside. “Any luck?”

She nodded. “Rubber Band is downstairs in the Synth reprogramming centre. Sounds like he’s been there for days. I don't know how much longer we have until they wipe his memories and reprogram him.”

I nodded grimly, glancing down at the terminal. My pipbuck had fully downloaded the file. I quickly unplugged it and looked back to Mirra. “I’ve got the files. Let’s get Rubber Band out of there and then start searching for the A.A.S.S.”

Mirra bit her lip nervously. “Um… I might have found that as well.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to give me some bad news?’

Mirra’s expression looked nervous. “Azar was in this wing a few moments ago. He has it with him now.”

I groaned and rubbed my forehead with a hoof. “Of course he does… Why can't anything ever just be easy for us?”

“Th-that’s not all…” Mirra grimaced, bracing herself for what came next. “Your… er… my… uh… Mother was with him. They seem to be heading towards the Crusader Maneframe.”

I froze, a really bad feeling sinking in my gut. It was all feeling too similar to the memory Azar had shown me.

I looked down at the terminal, the logs about my mother still flickering on the screen. Glasswing had told me that Queen Insecta’s mind had been replaced with my mothers. I suddenly found that hard to believe. Conscious or not, I had the sudden horrible feeling that Queen Insecta was still lurking within that mind.

“Someone has been meddling with our Crusader Maneframe,” Glasswings voice echoed in my head. “Whoever did this is either of incredibly high rank, or is smart enough to bypass hundreds of years worth of the highest level security ponies and changelings have been able to create.”

“I cannot allow you to interfere with what we are planning,” The voice of Azar seemed to say in my ear. I could almost imagine his vile smile as he spoke the words. “The leader of the hive will take their rightful place!”

‘Aura has been taking on a few of Insecta’s personality traits,’ The terminal had read. ‘She also claims to be experiencing memories that do not belong to her.’

I felt my whole body go cold. My mouth opened and closed as I slowly pierced everything together. “She’s not who she says she is…” I finally said, a tremor racing through my whole body. “I don’t think she even knows…”

Mirra gave me a funny look, my words meaning nothing to her. “Amber? What are you talking about?”

I looked down at her, my face filled with worry. “I don’t think your mother is dead Mirra. I think she’s still inside there somewhere, and my mom doesn’t even realize it…”

Mirra’s eyes widened. “What!? Are you sure!?”

I felt my heart start racing faster and faster. “Two hundred years ago Queen Chrysalis tried to do something with the Crusader Maneframe… she tried to use something inside of it called the Utopia Program to dominate the races of Equestria and make her rule eternal…” My breath caught in my throat. I gulped and forced myself to continue. “I think Queen Insecta is trying to finish what Chrysalis started…”

Mirra took a step back, her own breath heavy. “She… but how? Didn’t her mind get erased?”

I shook my head and pointed to the terminal. “I think it was supposed to be, but these logs seem to suggest that some part of her mind survived the procedure…” I thought about my own head and how Crank and Inferno’s minds had been imprinted into them. Glasswing had told me that synth brains involved heavily augmented memory orbs, just like the cyber ponies had.

Mirra awkwardly shuffled her hooves. “There… um… there’s one more thing, Amber,” She said nervously. I glanced up from my hooves and looked at her. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. “There was somepony that wanted to talk to you…”

I stared at her for a second, trying to comprehend what she had just said. “Somepony… sompony in the Institute wants to talk to me? But how… I mean, no pony here even knows that I’m-”

I was cut off as a pony stepped into the doorway. My racing heart stopped dead in its tracks as I took in the pony. I felt some strange feeling in the back of my mind as I looked at them. My heart slowly began to beat again, this time at a slow and uneasy pace.

For the second time since entering the Institute, I stared at somepony who by all accounts should have been long dead.

I took a step forward, the action not done by my own free will, but by the mind of another inhabiting the far reaches of my brain. For just an instant, I felt as if Crank might take over my mind.

The pony before me was a mare that appeared to be only a few years older than me. She had an auburn coat with a beautiful orange mane. Her eyes were Amber.

“You remind me of her… you have her eyes,” I remembered Crank telling me. He was right, they were strikingly similar.

“Hello Amber,” Scarlet Dusk said softly, brushing a strand of her long, orange mane out of her face and looking at me with her sad eyes. “I’m honoured to finally meet you.”

Footnote: Four fifths of the way to next level