Ever since I’d tried healing Angela I’d been obsessing over it. Did I actually even heal anything? She said it felt better, but I hadn’t really seen much of a difference. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I wondered about what would happen if I healed something improperly. Could I have just given her cancer? Was that really what the mark on my hips were? Thinking back to the incident in the hospital I had felt almost possessed, but I hadn’t felt any of the same sensations I had when I’d tried the thing with Angela. All I had really done was push the magic into the little girl. I hadn’t done any real focusing or dare I say channeling with it.

I sit on my bed, staring at the mark that had embedded itself on my hips. A heart, and a cartoonish one at that. Does that mean love? Healing? Compassion? Affection? Do these symbols even mean the same thing in the other world, Equestria was it? The name was rather absurd though, it’d be like calling earth ‘Terria’ or ‘Humanria.’

I stare at the knife I’d brought in with me. Disinfected with alcohol and boiled in water as well for good measure. Even so it wasn’t purely sanitary to proper medical standards to my knowledge. Though cross contamination I guess was inevitable. Just had to be careful about infections. I swab my forearm with an alcohol pad, clearing it out. Even so, I can’t bring myself to do it. It’s not like I was wanting to do anything serious with it either. Just a tiny little cut on the backside of my forearm. Completely minor and away from anything vital or bloody, at least, as far as I knew.

I position the knife over my skin. Just get it over with already! This whole thing is ridiculous! “Gah!” I clench my teeth and stare at the sharpened blade for the thousandth time. Then before I can reconsider it, I place it on my skin and give it a small, but quick push.

Immediately I regret it, cursing with every filthy word I knew and then some. It was a bit more than I’d intended, but still just over the measure of a few papercuts in magnitude. But damn did it sting! I apply pressure with a little bit of gauze, the blood coming out in a steady trickle moments later. To imagine the idiocracy of all the idiots who would cut their hands. Like honestly, cutting up your most delicate appendage with a rusty and often pre-used knife just for blood rituals in movies? Completely unrealistic. If you wanted safe blood you should’ve just given yourself a bloody nose or something else as benign.

I try to steady my breathing as my heart races, pounding in my ears with my own anxiety. Looking at my ‘thigh marks’ shows no sign of further glowing, and I don’t feel any compulsion to do anything in particular...that is, besides calling myself an idiot.

“So...it doesn’t care about my own wounds.” I huff. “Wow aren’t you useful?” I stare at the sliver in my skin a bit longer, then the knife that has just a trace amount of blood on it which I carefully clean off. Definitely not going to put that back into the cutlery, even with sanitation you don’t mess with blood. I pull up my pants to cover the mark and at least appear to look fully dressed. Then I sit down on the floor, leaning against my bed as I try to meditate on the same feeling I’d felt with Angela. This time though, I didn’t feel a compulsion or a sensation to guide myself into that same state. As the minutes go by I seem to be wasting my time, so I fall back on my other studies about meditation. ‘Start with your heartbeat, trace the pulsing in your chest through your shoulder, arms, then hands.’

I pause, slowing my breathing until I can feel the pounding in my chest, tracing the feeling slowly up my arm, going back when I lose it. I trace it to my upper arm, feeling the twitch of my wound with each pulse, the bleeding barely recognizable now from the outside. I concentrate on that error, trying to expand my sensation of the wound. I feel my forehead start to tingle with a soft buzzing from my markings, my vision blurring away as it had before as I become disembodied, flowing down my arm as I see my own anatomy. I laugh with exhilaration, the feel of using actual magic!

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I blink, then groan. Just like that it was gone, my concentration and the whole experience disappearing fast enough to make me think for a moment that it hadn’t even happened. I pound my mattress in frustration holding in a scream. I swear to bucking Faust...whoever knocked on that door is going to--

“Arty! Lindsay says you need to get ready for your daaaaate!” My sister sing-songs through the door, before just shoving it open and staring at me. “Is she cute…? Can I meet her? What’s her name!?” She assaults me with a barrage of questions that I have to resist the urge to laugh at. I was so glad Angela got me out of that rough spot earlier even if she had literally destroyed my little ‘magic study’ session.

“Was your head glowing?”

Wait what? I quickly press a hand to my head, but it feels fairly normal. There is a small bump, but it had faded enough that you wouldn’t know it was there unless you actually felt for it. The marks on the other hand though...and not to mention a bit of hair growing around my marks that were the same color as the pony I changed into had not gone away at all. Not to mention the slight change in my pupil color. A few people had said I looked different, but none of them could really explain why when asked.

“I think you’ve had a few too many sweets Sis.” I chastise her in response, Halloween was coming up and she was already getting more sweets than she should. “I’m getting ready, just hold your hors--you know what, nevermind. Just tell her I’ll be out in a few, okay?”

“Should dress up better than that.” Amanda scowls. To be fair I hadn’t been trying that hard to dress up, and despite it being more of a casual dress I’d more or less been cornered into wearing some unbearably uncomfortable clothing just to try to look nice for a gal I very much just viewed as a friend.

“Well, when you get a boyfriend you can dress him yourself.”

She thinks for a moment, what I’d said sinking in as I realize what I’d just said and blush a little. Then she runs out of the room as she finally gets it. “Liiiiinnnnndddssaaaaaay! Arty is being gross again!”

I allow myself a few breaths to calm myself, that could’ve gone bad fast. I look at the cut on my arm again, thinking back to how it had happened. Even if it’s just a little bit of magic, it's still something. A lot of medicine happened at the small scale too, the larger stuff people would just operate on anyways. My mind fills with the thoughts of all the people I could help with this ability. No need to turn into a miniature horse just for that, right? Of course, the fact that I hadn’t been able to replicate the incident and treating Angela hardly seemed to have done anything for her recovery wasn’t very good for my self confidence.

I’m distracted from my thoughts as I see a slight glow in the room, tracing it back knowingly to my ‘cutie marks,’ glowing under my pants and sigh. Here I thought getting a boner in the men’s room was weird. If I started glowing whenever I thought of people being sick...that is just wrong on so many levels.

Maybe...being a pony wouldn’t be so bad if it meant I could help heal people. I didn’t fully understand what the mark was, but it just felt so good to act on it. No one could ever know, I couldn’t stand people’s attention in the first place, and I get stage fright from my mere name being said in a group of strangers. Magic was real, something tangible and powerful, and undoubtedly dangerous, at least in Angela’s case. It would be anyone’s dream, countless people through the centuries having sought after such abilities that I’m terrified of. It’d be wrong of me to try to ignore something that could make such a huge difference for people. With that thought in mind I head out and go outside to pick Angela up.

The rest of this week passes quickly. Sleep had grown increasingly difficult for me to manage. I increasingly felt myself start to fall into more of a nocturnal rhythm, my dad said it was natural, though it was something that didn’t fit very well with keeping up my human life. I’d increasingly started to fall asleep in school, much to the dissatisfaction of my teachers. I could still do the homework and studying during the night though, my father was well versed in most everything but history, computers, and human biology. As a whole, ponies have a lifespan of a few hundred years instead of just over half a decade, and so he had quite the education. Though I have to admit that when he told me his real age it definitely changed my view of him. He wasn’t just a middle-aged man anymore, he was going on his hundred-fifties.

For the dance I just had to stay out of moonlight...on the full moon. My father wanted me back as soon as possible though for more training and experience with spirits. I myself was looking forward to seeing what my mom really looked like tonight. My clothes were nothing really fancy, just a simple dress shirt and pants, I just hoped it was enough to at least match my date’s.

Heading out to the car I take note of the setting sun, mentally reviewing the hours until sunset. The fear of turning into a little fluffy bat in front of my date would be a sure way to not only scare her out of her mind, but also reveal our existence to the rest of the world, or worse, the changelings.

The drive over is quick enough. I grab the flowers I’d arranged for the date, another tip from my dad. In his world they were actually arranged as one might a box of chocolates here. With ponies and bats alike able to eat them, or use them as seasonings. I knock on the door, straightening my bow-tie one more time. I hear the scuttle of feet and her younger brother before an older man answers the door.

“Mike?” He asks. His heavyset form makes the doorway look small with his broad shoulders and bristling muscles. Across his left arm was an army tattoo, that left little question as to where he had gotten got his bulk.

“Y-yessir!” I chirp in reply, slowly offering my hand which he then proceeds to crush within his grip. “I-I’m uh...you must be Britney’s dad?” I try to offer a small smile in return, trying to appear at least a little confident as he sizes me up, like a bear deciding whether or not I was big enough to eat.

“I sure hope so! I’m quite glad to see her starting to branch out a little. Don’t want her going after a rough guy like her father. From what I’ve heard you’re one of the strong silent types?” He looks behind him as Britney comes down the hall texting, only waving a little with one hand before going back to her text. “Back before 10 alright?”

“Will do sir, my old man wants me back even earlier than that. I’ll uh...try to do you both proud.” I look behind him with a small smile as I finally catch her expression as she returns a brief one of her own. The most beautiful gal in the 12th grade, and she decided to go out with me of all people.

I hold out the flowers I’d gotten, dropping onto one knee as I offer them to her. “My fairest lady, it would be my greatest pleasure if you wouldst accompany me this night for a time of splendor and entertainment.” I recite with an honest smile. With hers though, there isn’t nearly as much enthusiasm.

“Thaaaaaanks…” She says taking them, giving her dad a long look. I watch with anticipation as she takes them over to the table and puts them into a vase. She smiles a little more warmly when she returns. “I’m all ready. Let’s get going then.”

I blush as she returns her smile, giving one more nod to her dad as we head out together. He gives me a smile and a wink as we leave, seemingly more excited about her daughter dating me than she was. I try not to let that bother me, she’d given me a chance after all. I just hoped to live up to her expectations.

We head out to the car together, holding the door for her to enter before going over to my own. The trip to the school is in itself rather uneventful. I drive slowly and carefully to not jostle her as we go. My few attempts at light conversation seem to fall a little flat, then we arrive.

The school auditorium had been given a fresh coat of streamers and fall cutouts. Along one wall was an assortment of treats and drinks, while on the opposite side was a pair of old speakers blaring the latest pop music, though it tended to clip a lot in distortion, clearly not made for the volume of music being pushed through it. Even though it was a dance, next to no one was actually dancing. Most individuals choosing instead to wander around and just hangout, though many others had sat at the far tables and started playing the card games that had been laid out for the night.

“So uh...would you like to get something to eat?” I ask as she puts away her cellphone, searching over the crowd. She shrugs a little, looking around a little more before speaking.

“Sure.” She says, then after a few moments speaks again. “Thanks for taking me. You...wouldn’t mind if we hang out with a few friends of mine tonight, would you?”

“O-of course!” I answer enthusiastically, though how she says it sends off a few warning bells in my head. “I would love to get to meet them. Maybe we could all have some fun together? Maybe play some apples to apples?”

“Sure.” Came her reply again, she had started texting again as we waited in line next to the refreshments table. We’re joined moments later by a group of the popular kids and a few of the SBO’s. Cole, an intellectual jock that I’d heard about from a few other friends we had in common and a few players of the football team I didn’t recognize. I immediately feel a bit overwhelmed looking at all the guys around that make my self-doubt dial up to 11.

I try to chip into the conversations as we wait, but most of them are about what happened at cheerleading practice or one of the games. When I do chip in it also seems like I was straining their hospitality, like they were putting on a nice smile while politely asking me to stop. As we get our things and sit down though we hear a thudding against the windows, which in itself was saying something from how loud the music was.

Pounding against the windows are dozens of small sphere-ish looking colorful blobs with buzzing wings, things I’m pretty sure weren’t natural here. I quickly snatch a photo along with a few of the others at my table that had taken notice. I spot Artemis and Angela just chilling in the crowd and head over, excusing myself in a bit of a rush.

Artemis over the past week had started to get a better hold on his magic with a little instruction from my father. He still admitted that he’d had to flee class a couple times, but at least it was something he was starting to get better at. The shifting itself was still hard for him to endure, still fighting the change that we all knew was a part of him.

Angela, in contrast, had been obsessively searching for ways to induce her change. From dumping water buckets on her head, to getting sprayed, and more. She kept wanting to try jumping off a building, though thankfully we had managed to talk her out of that option. I still had a strong feeling she was trying to setup a skydiving session though.

“Hey guys? I think we’ve got an issue.” By now several people had started to take notice of the colorful blobs pounding at the windows. “You’re the smart one here Artemis, do these things look familiar to you?” I hold my phone out to show them the picture, though he shakes his head, moving away from the windows.

“No, I’ve never seen anything like it. Send it to your dad, it's probably something from his world.”

“You think critters from his world are coming here?” Angela asks.

“I thought he said the portal was closed?” Artemis responds.

I do try to ignore the conversation, instead putting it in a text to my dad, I hear a scream though before I can send it as the glass shatters and the gathered crowd starts trying to run away, tripping over each other in their haste. “Whatever they are, they aren’t friendly!”

“Yes!” Angela shouts and runs over to her backpack before putting a concealing mask over her face. “Time to put our skills to use!” Before either of us can even move she has sprinted over, grabbing a lunch tray that she swings like a club at the little critters.

“That….is a terrible idea.” Artemis deadpans as we watch her futilely trying to smack the critters. They seem rather resilient to it though, the horde mostly ignoring her and everyone else as they head over to the refreshments table devouring everything on it (and everyone else’s plates) in a matter of moments in a frenzy that sends people screaming. After that they seem to oddly move over towards the blaring music which has switched from ambient club music to a song.

My phone buzzes as my dad responds to the message.

“Parasprites, like music, quite tasty. OMW!”

“We need to get to the audio. They’re called parasprites and apparently are attracted to music.” He nods in response as we quickly make our way through the crowd. The DJ appears to be packing up their stuff, seeing the panic and destruction making its way through the room and the lurking alien creatures swarming around her stuff.

“Hey, you gotta keep playing the music! They’re attracted to it!” I say, while they just ignore me continuing to pack up their old speakers. To be fair I couldn’t really blame them.

“Yeah, I’m sure they’d just love to tear everything apart! I’m getting out of here and you should too!” She scowls but finishes putting her old speakers rather sloppily back into their cases and starts wheeling the whole thing out. A few of the students that had been filming the whole thing now seem to be fleeing the scene. The creatures devouring anything even remotely edible in the room. Occasionally they’ll pounce at a gal, swarming through their clothing before retreating unhappily. Maybe their fruity perfume smells like food?

“The hell do we do now?” I ask Artemis, watching Angela grow more and more frustrated as her smacking has very little effect on the swarm itself. He looks over the destroyed room, appearing torn between fleeing and doing something.

“Do...you think it has something to do with us? I want to run, and we should run. Yet this whole town will be under scrutiny if we can’t make this go away.” I nod, then my eyes widen as Angela starts running around them in a circle, trying to herd them all into one place using a plastic tablecloth she had grabbed. An idea comes to mind but it seems a bit sickening as we both respond at the same time.

“I can eat them”

“We could sing?”

We stare at each other for a moment, then gag at the others proposal. “Yeah, neither of those sounds really good. I’ve never been a singer, and I reckon you aren’t either?” Yet even saying that I feel a tingle in my throat and down my spine. Looking at him I can tell he just felt the same thing.

“Nope! Not gonna do it!”

WHOOSH!

We’re both distracted as the air suddenly yanks us both forward, then gape at the middle of the auditorium where a tornado had formed, seemingly out of nowhere. We both cling at the pillars, only just resisting the pull as we see the entire room start to get pulled into the cyclone. Tables, chairs, lunch trays, even loose patches of carpet. Moments later we see Angela rocket out of the flurry with a few bruises evident on her face and arms, she clings to the wall next to us.

“I...I just made a tornado!” She cheers, apparently thrilled at the prospect as we both cling to the pillars holding on for dear life.

“This is the worst idea and incredibly illogical!” Artemis yells as he clings onto his own, clearly struggling. “Why isn’t it dissipating!? The air currents and temperature--”

“Magic!” I yell back, interrupting his tirade of physics. We all yelp collectively as a few panes of glass shatter, being brought into the storm. That seems to snap Angela out of her excitement as shards of glass whizz past our heads. Luckily though that appears to be the worst of it. The tornado swirls a little around the middle of the room before it starts to slow. The parasprites now laying in a heap on the floor tangled in all sorts of debris, more than a few looking to have been pierced a bit gruesomely by the glass.

I laugh with relief as the storm dissipates, moving towards the pile of trash wanting to make sure they stayed down. Angela and Artemis are not far behind me as they carefully grab the tablecloths, starting to wrap up the dizzy or unconscious critters.

“Mike! Your face!” I hear Angela call from behind me. Looking back I can see the moonlight streaming across the floor I had just walked over. A quick brush over my teeth confirms that I’ve got a familiar pair of fangs. I hadn’t even noticed but even with half the lights blown out it looks brighter than before. A quick flex of my back also confirms the presence of partially formed wings.

“You’re one to talk, you’ve changed to!” I reply to her. She had grown her own fully developed pair of wings and ears. Artemis looking worriedly at the both of us backs up a little, clearly hesitant about even being near us. However I can tell his ears have migrated a bit and his horn has grown. Then I realize it wasn’t us he was looking at. Behind us I see a small kid that had been making his way over towards our group, yet a closer look sends a chill down my spine as the moonlight reveals what they truly are.

“RUN! IT’S A CHANGELING!” I yell to the others as they quickly start to retreat, even Angela having both heard my father’s story about them. I however growl at them, looking around for a possible weapon, grabbing a metal chunk of a broken chair as an improvised club I charge at the beast. In return the creature turns around and sprints for the backdoor.

“We aren’t going to just let you face them alone!” Angela shouts and starts to run after me, but the doors slam open revealing a woman with a glowing fist while holding an odd cylinder device

“Stop! I just want to talk!” She yells. I see a greenish aura form around Angela’s leg tripping her into the floor. Angie drags Arty out the broken window while I exit the door right on the heels of the changeling, their run being rather slow, frequently tripping over themselves or leaning against the wall for balance, in the spur of the moment it doesn’t seem odd.

For a moment I reconsider my decision. Our group is split, I’m going in solo while in human form no less. Then I remember that if I let them get away they’ll tell more of them and all of our lives would be in jeopardy. I open the door to run after him, ripping off my shirt as the moonlight tingles over my skin, rapidly shrinking into my pony self. The change is over in moments as I leap into the sky, gliding through the night air with ease, the refreshing chill of the air abuzz with power.

Picked the wrong night to strike I think internally as I stroke ahead of them, their own human form melting away in a green flame as they scramble like a newborn foal to escape. “Thought you could attack my friends and get away with it!” The simple fool clearly not expecting a bat to be waiting. I frown though as my voice is heavily distorted into angry squeaks and other horse noises that they probably wouldn’t understand anyways.

I dive forward, landing firmly in front of them to cut off their path. I fumble the landing a little, but the result is the same. I watch their eyes widen with terror before striking out with a hoof and smacking them across their maw, making them reel backwards from the blow. I grin in victory, moving to follow up but a buzzing of wings behind me gives me pause.

“Now this we don’t see very often.” A masculine voice says.

“That we don’t indeed.” Another voice replies.

Turning around I can see two much larger changelings prowling closer. One has a thicker carapace while the other is thinner, but with larger antennae with eyes that seem to be analyzing my every move.

I’ve been ambushed. It was all a trick and I fell for it, hard. I pound a hoof against the ground, drawing in the strength of the spirits as I see the world come alive with the walkings of the dead. My mother’s spirit, stronger than ever is fully corporeal yet I barely get a glimpse before I feel her enter my body and we merge. Just in time too, my hoof reacting faster than I could have as the armored one strikes with a club shaped limb that I block on their upper leg, stepping forward, spreading my wings, then kicking off their chest followed by a downstroke launching me into a tight twist that gets me airborne.

“Remember, we are the best in the sky and dark.” My father’s words of training come back to me as I gain altitude seeing all but the smaller one launch into the sky after me. I use my wingspan to my advantage as I gain height rapidly, then, with my mother to guide me I dive forward, with the moon to my back and with them lined up so the bigger one blocks the view of the other. Predictably he dodges out of the way, but the other sees my approach too late as I flip my body around and slam my rear hooves forward in a vicious buck that yields a satisfying CRACK!

“That’s for my dad!” I chitter in victory...albeit too soon. The slender one in my grip lashes forward with their teeth and bites into my leg lighting it aflame with agony as it burrows into my flesh. Not to be outdone I quickly return the favor, lashing at their exposed neck in turn and tearing at their weaker carapace. This close to the ground though I am forced to disengage, kicking off with only a partially successive buck.

“Child lookout!” I hear my mother’s voice grace my ears, but as I turn to look at what is behind me I feel a firm strike knock the wind out of me in the same maneuver I had just performed earlier. I feel my own ribs crack as I struggle to stay connected to my mother, the pain making it difficult to focus. I’m unable to recover in time before we both strike the ground splitting us apart. I feel more spirits surge into my form, my blood spilling onto the ground of what I now recognized as a graveyard. The smaller ling from before hanging back...having not participated in the battle in any significant way.

I recover faster than the bigger ling, but my vision blurs as the bite wound aches. I look at the wound on my leg, its bleeding freely, but the blood is tinged. I’ve been poisoned, I realize with dread. I don’t even see his next blow coming, one moment I was moving forward and the next I was up against a gravestone, stars dancing across my vision.

“You do your ancestors proud” The bigger one says, my vision making me see double. I watch them trot over to me. They vomit a blob of slime that binds my hoof to the grave I’d been standing on.

“Oh how the tides have turned...tell me, where are the rest of your kin?” The slender one circling around me, brushing their tail over my chest seductively. “You’ve fought with honor, but you’ve lost. Do you want to go out with your pride, or your life?” She asks, at least I think it was a she.

“Rot in hell!” I squeak in return, weakly yanking at my stuck hoof but it just won’t come free. Why didn’t I just run?! I chastise myself. The slender one just rolls her eyes before trotting off behind me.

“Very well, Let’s start with a leg.”

I see the bigger one hack up another blob of slime that sticks to my neck, pinning that down as well. They raise their thickened hoof, silhouetted against the moon as it forms into an axe. They hesitate for a moment, as if waiting for me to say something. Yet I keep my mouth stubbornly closed, not saying a word.

“I’m sorry dad...I’m sorry mom. I wish I could have made you proud.” I whimper into the night sky as I see them raise their hoof, standing up on their rear legs as much for intimidation as force.

“Oh, there we are Jake...knew you couldn’t stay aw--”

SCHLICK!

The bigger ling screams with agony before swaying to the side allowing me to see a large kitchen knife embedded into their upper chest and its steaming. Behind them I see the small ling I had chased out here in the first place just frozen, staring at the knife they had just stabbed into their comrade, apparently horrified at their action.

“Traitor!” the slender one yells launching forward, a bladed hoof outstretched as the smaller one turns to flee. The armored one though, grits their teeth before yanking out the blade with a savage motion and tossing it to the ground, covered in seared green blood. Not to be outdone he launches himself at the smaller ling, catching them in his grip as they both go down.

Seeing the ‘traitor’ apprehended the slender one turns back towards me. I tug at the slime, trying to get back in sync with my mother. With all the other spirits flowing through my form it is hard to focus, but seeing their hoof-blade swinging towards me our wills collide into one thought we all mutually shared.

Desperation.

My body bends with unnatural strength as the slime rips off of my neck, but my hoof remains stuck to the weathered marble surface. I raise my other hoof up to try to block the strike, but before they can complete the motion I feel a rush of air as something launches itself at the poised changeling, slamming them into another gravestone. Standing over their prone form is another Thestral, one that seems familiar, especially when I see their missing leg.

“DAD!” I shriek at the sight of him, a batpony with over a head of height on me. More importantly though I see their extended hoofblade glistening in the moonlight as it slashes brutally at the bugs chest, cutting their carapace like paper. Seeing him renews my vigor as I yank at my hoof with all my might, my eyes tearing up from the pain of fur being yanked out of my skin as I pull free.

The armored ling has pummeled the traitor under him, the smaller one covered in small cracks and at least one broken leg from their scuffle. They hack up the rest of their slime to pin the smaller one to the ground like he had to me before roaring as he turns to face my dad.

My dad is unsteady on his limbs, favoring his balance on his undamaged side. As I see the ling swipe at him he ducks low and swipes at their leg, cutting off a few inches of them as they lose their balance as blood pours out of their wound. Dodging a half-hazard swing he takes to the air flying rather slowly into the moonlight. The ling in a frenzy charges at him, quickly overtaking him.

“Behind you!” I shriek, before remembering he can’t understand me, only able to watch in horror as I see a well aimed swing move to his back...then disappear into a dark mist. I watch with bated breath, where did he go? Then I see a flicker of moonlight condense as he emerges from behind, striking his blade through the big lings back. Their movements spasming as they fall to the earth making a sound like a dozen cracking eggshells. Looking around the slender ling seems to have vanished.

I stagger over towards the little ling that had led me into the ambush. They don’t resist as I pin them down, shoving their muzzle into the ground as my father lands on the ground beside me. “Damn infiltrator got away...they know we’re here, but not where.” He looks to my captive before removing his blade and sliding it over my right hoof.

“P-please! I-I’m not with them!” I hear them shriek beneath me while I look to my father who is scowling at them.

“Tonight you make your first kill, not of rage, but of necessity. Remember they are tricksters, they live to deceive. Remember.” He indicates his missing leg, staring at them with barely concealed fury.

“This one saved my life though!”

“And you all of a sudden trust them? They’ve never been above killing their own to gain trust. They’ve impersonated bats then turned around and killed one of their own just to prove their supposed loyalty!” He spits with venom, lurking closely. “Hours later their entire party was led into an ambush to be slaughtered. Tell me, does that sound familiar!? Do it! Before you lose the spine!”

I stare down at my captive, what could I do? It’s not like we had a prison, if they lived they’d tell even more about where we were. One day they’d strike back harder than before, taking what I loved most dear as they had taken my mother. I think of my little brother, of him laying dead in his very bed. The thought of my adoptive mother, throat slit and bleeding into the street.

But its murder.

They aren’t even human!

Do you want their death on your consciousness?

Better theirs than the rest of my family’s!

They’ve surrendered!

They led you into an ambush to die.

You really want to do this?

I’ve made my decision.

I yank on a strap to tighten the blade on my hoof, then with one fluid motion I aim it at their neck, my heart thudding like a drum in my chest. Several of the spirits coming to the forefront, filling my mind with memories and feelings not my own.

Vengeance, Revenge, Honor.

I close my eyes, take a breath, then let it out. I draw my leg back a little further, then swing. I feel resistance as it reaches its apex, but can’t move it any further.

I open my eyes to behold my actions only to see my leg glowing with golden light aching with a familiar tingle.

Mother?

Looking down I see my blade hovering a millimeter above their throat, having just barely nicked them as they stare up at me terrified. My leg shaking as the haze clears and I realize what I had almost done.

“This isn’t the way child.” I hear her voice ring through my body as I see her leave my body to stand in front of me. “We aren’t the killers your father remembers us as.” Her voice is so soothing, but I can’t take my eyes off her form, my eyes tearing at the sight of her. My order forgotten I step over the ling and into her embrace, feeling her touch as real as my own softly rub over my back. Her soft golden glow warming my sore body, and I weep.

“I-its really you.”

She wipes away my tears with a hoof. “I’m here for you, now and always my little moonbeam.” She feels so real, so close. Over her shoulder I can see my father staring at us, expressions flowing over his face like a waterfall.

“They killed you.” He finally says, taking a few steps forward but keeping some distance. “They forced us here, they overran our capitol, enslaved our entire race! Do you not remember the siege?” He fumes, spittle dripping from his mouth with his rage. “They took my leg!” He cries out, tears streaming across his face. “Why, Why?”

“You can blame them for whatever you want. I died of my own choice and killing them won’t bring me back. I’m not asking you to forgive them, that’s not something they deserve.” She turns to me, her gold eyes staring into my own. “They took me away from my home, but they could not take us from each other. I’ve watched for years as you’ve grown, as you’ve found another life.” She looks back to my father. “And I am disappointed in you Eclipse. You’ve spent years wasting your life away on a hatred you can never avenge. Not with a thousand corpses could you be happy. No, that is not the worst of it. You have sat on your hatred and done nothing!”

“Moonsong--”

“I’m not finished! You have ignored our traditions, desecrated our honor. Paralyzed by guilt and rage you let it stop you from even telling our son the basic fact of our legacy! You gave up! You gave up on us, on each other! I’ve spent 18 years watching our child grow up in a world we don’t belong! You heard rumors of magic, and you did nothing. You gained a human life, a good one with a mare who is twice the woman I could ever be, and I am proud of it. The portal is out there, and there are ponies that need you more than anything. The cries of their mothers and fathers echo through the world in agony.”

“Be the stallion I married.” She pleads, moments later a cloud crosses over the moon and she dissipates back into nothingness. I grasp at the falling sparks of her body as they disappear into the ground. My father just stands there, silent as the graves we’re standing on. A moment later he is in tears, in an instant I’m by his side, hugging each other closely as I nuzzle under his wing. The ‘traitor’ changeling lying a ways in front of us seems to have passed out for some reason or another, though she doesn’t look too good.

I stare at the spot where they lay, then at the blade strapped to my wrist before staring up at the moon.

“Dammit it Artemis! You’re going to get us both caught!” I yell as I drag the nerd around. To be fair I was dragging him faster than most cars, but we had to get away from the fuzz. I yelp as his legs trip and kick me again. “Artemis! It’s like you’re trying to get us killed!”

“I-I’m changing again!” He shrieks as I take a fraction of a second to look over his form, a muzzle already starting to form over his face and his horn had emerged a few inches. I grit my teeth with envy at him, how come he got to change so easily? “For the last time, why are you being such a pussy about it? Do you just not care about getting supernatural magic powers? Always whining and complaining about how bad it is to be able to change so frequently into a creature straight out of legend. Grow some b--well...grow something and stop complaining!”

We round another corner and I take a second to regain my breath. Trying to speak while heading at 60 miles per hour is not exactly the easiest thing in the world. I peek back trying to spot our pursuers, but what I see sends a chill down my back. The younger gal is flying in a aquamarine colored aura as she is chasing after us.

“Oh buck me sideways!”

Instead of responding I just shove his or is it her? head out from behind the wall before I let him pull it back. “We are so bucked.” He replies in horror, shivering like a leaf. Me though? I don’t have time for this shit, and he wouldn’t last a minute under interrogation.

SLAP!

“Snap out of it!” I yell at them while applying a strong dose of palm to the face. “We’re going to get out of this if it's the last thing we do.” I stare at their terrified face, meeting their oversized eyes as I stuff their shedded clothes into my bag for later.

“Wasn’t necessary.” He scowls in return as his voice ascends a few octaves. “They have magic, what if they are on our side?” I roll my eyes and groan at his naive nature, so trusting against the people that are probably quite literally going to kill us. They know we’re out here, we could only hope that they hadn’t gotten a good look.

“I know you’re out here!” We hear the younger woman call, probably in her late 20s if my brief glance was anything to go by. “We just want to talk! We know about the changelings that are attacking--we can protect you!”

Just how stupid does she think we are? I hear her voice coming from a block over, her night vision probably a pale comparison to ours.

“What if we…?”

“Artemis...can it. If we’re talking, it's on our terms, not theirs. Damn are you so naive ....” I mutter.

“Well excuuse me princess, but I don’t exactly want to be in trouble with the cops!”

“For fucks sake Arty, they aren’t COPS!”

“There you are…”

Buck me sideways.

She emerges from behind the corner, her device spitting sparks like a flare. I grab Arty like a football and charge down the road dodging levitating trash cans and flying debris that glow in her unworldly aura. My wings greatly aiding my dexterity as I sprint down the road, the wind stinging my eyes as I stagger away from our attacker.

“Please! If we could just talk for one moment!” She calls from behind us. “I’m trying to help you both here!” She yells breathlessly, clearly not a competent runner.

A short while later I’m heaving for breath gasping from a run that I should’ve been able to do easily if I wasn’t sprinting at impossible speed and carrying an oversized cat. “I...I think we lost them.” I pant and gasp, dropping Arty perhaps a little too far above the ground as I hear them whimper at the impact and curse. He stares up at me with a scowl, but it only lasts a moment. “What? I’m sorry I saved your sorry flank!”

“I realized something. You...can understand me.” He states tilting his feminine head. “I’m not speaking english either.” I don’t hear anything different as he speaks, but I just shrug looking around. The moonlight flickers over my face as I lookup and see what seems like two large birds fighting in the sky, but I know better.

“Come on!” I yell, unable to do that super sprint anymore I take off at a jog as the road leads us towards the graveyard, the steady clopping or Artemis’s sloppy gallop behind me testing my ability not to laugh as I hear his feminine voice cursing about the hard ground, tripping, or stepping on a rock wrong.

A raccoon barks at us as we move forward before scampering off down the road, making me flinch at its sudden appearance making me curse. “Damn critters.” I mutter, then enter the graveyard to see what I assumed was Mike pinning down one of the buggers while another bat pony creature watched close by.

“Mike...I swear to god if you run off like that again I’m going to shave every inch of fur off your little body until you’re a bald little rat!” He exchanges a series of looks with the other bat, evidently having finished a conversation of sorts before looking over at us. Upon seeing us his eyes widen further than I would’ve thought possible and his mouth drops open. The other one is giving us a firm stare too.

“What? What are you staring at?” Arty asks, taking the words right from my mouth.

“Arty...you uh...wouldn’t happen to have a twin, would you?”

He thinks for only a short moment before shaking his head. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret answering this, but no, I don’t. Not that I know of anyways.”

I look between the both of them, but Arty doesn’t speak further and Mike doesn’t seem keen on spitting out whatever is on his mind either. “Well come on now, spit it out! What is it?” I command.

“I’ve told you before that thestrals deal with spirits right?”

“Yeah” I reply.

“And that its strongest on the full moon?”

“....Yes” I reply, my mind getting an inkling of what he might mean. "Why?"

He looks at me solemnly, his throat visibly swallowing as he looks between us before slowly nodding his head, not breaking eye contact. “Because according to what I’m seeing...both of you are dead.”

Author's Notes:

First off. Sorry this took so long! real life stuff And a couple re-writes of various parts delayed things a bit. A shoutout to Arcane for doing a bit of proofreading, and all of you readers for taking the time to read my story. Hope you've enjoyed the read!

(Obligatory request for comments, I like to hear feedback!)