Author's Notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lnlacOPaqRIsICm9_2gvRo8XGLcs-3KEG4vROjEdF8M/edit

“Man, life sucks,” I sighed.

“As your guide, I feel obligated to point out that such a life-view is unhealthy,” Flo-lite replied. “Would a glass of lemonade be welcome?”

“It would be.” I stared at her for a few seconds, just waiting. She stared right back. “Let me guess: You were just asking, you don’t actually have any way of giving me lemonade.”

“I assumed being reminded of a comfort would put your mind at ease.”

I sighed again, running a hand down my face. “Do I have any messages?”

“Yes, from Doppel.”

“Wait, Doppel? How did she get in here?” My guide shrugged. “Well, whatever. Play.”

“It’s good to see you again, my lady,” Doppel said. “After Luna told us all that you could hear what we say, we worked out a system so that we can all talk to you at least once. That way, we can finally drill the fact that you’re the best lady ever into your skull. And if you get out and you still aren’t sure, we can take turns drilling you in other ways until it clicks!”

“That’s Doppel for you.”

“We all know you feel worthless, my lady. It took us a long time to understand it, but we finally do. That’s why we try so much to help you see how much you truly mean to us all. For so long, my entire life was dedicated to the hive, to Queen Chrysalis. I see now how… mindless I was. I’ve done so much to destabilize so many places, and all for what? So a queen who barely knows my name can throw me aside on a whim? Being a maid is safer, more fun, much easier, and more filling than being a spy ever was. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been hungry, my lady!”

“I really hate how everyone conspires against me behind my back,” I said.

“That said, we also know you got into this coma to help you change, so we decided the best way we could help you is to give you suggestions. We all love serving you, but there are certain things that… Well, let’s just say we both know you need to make some changes, my lady.”

“Oh boy, here we go,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I think the most obvious thing is… well, how openly slutty you are. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing with you as much as I can, but making jokes about it at a party is… unwise.”

“Says the one who put a vibrator inside of me at a party…” Although I had let her, so whatever I guess.

“I think that’s the biggest issue I had,” Doppel said. “If you ever want to act slutty at all, Twilight knows a spell that can turn you into a changeling. Just pretend to be me and let all the guards run a train on you. Which brings me to the next biggest issue… Taya. Spike told me what happened with Aqua and your poor filly. It’s disgusting and horrific, but we’ll help both of you get through this. With luck, she’ll actually be happy, but… you need to talk to her. Seriously and in-depth. She’s completely terrified now that she knows she didn’t actually have your permission.”

“Yeah, so am I!” Which is exactly why I had been avoiding the talk. I was also hoping the coma would give me some insight on what to actually say.

“Everyone knows you never asked for Taya, Nav. And everyone knows you consider yourself to be a bad parent. But we also all know that you love each other. You’ll find a way to make this work, even if it seems scary and daunting now. The best part is, you can force Aqua to help you!”

“If Aqua was in any way a good parent or guardian, I wouldn’t have been so eager to escape her so-called loving grasp. More to the point, she wouldn’t have done this to Taya in the first place.”

“On the upside, what happened with Taya got us thinking… If it’s as easy as a potion, there’s nothing stopping us from being with you forever, too!”

“Oh fuck no,” I said. “No no no, I’m cutting this one off right now. Flo, you track all of them down and you tell them fuck no right now!”

“And since we knew you might try to stop us, all of us who wanted to do it already have! Now we finally get to serve our wonderful lady forever!” She waited a few more seconds before giggling. “Oh man, I really wish I could see your face right now. No, we talked about it, but we decided to wait and see what you think.”

“Flo, I would like you to give Doppel the tentacle monster treatment next time you see her, please.”

“Another thing you definitely need to work on is formality. I know you’re not one for stuffy affairs and all that nonsense, but you’re no longer in a position where you have a choice. If you want to keep your platform, you need to maintain it. Part of that will be attending events, which requires being on your best behavior. Well, not your best behavior. Let’s say… Fluttershy’s best behavior. Polite, reserved, quiet. And when you can actually get her to talk, animated and vocal. You shouldn’t be volunteering inappropriate information all the time, even if it’s funny sometimes.”

“...I remember that Taya got mad at me for it, too. So did the others. I guess that makes it something I should work on.”

“Is changing yourself to make others happy truly wise?” my guide asked.

“It is when it involves something you know they’re right about. I usually say inappropriate stuff to distract away from something else.”

Doppel sighed and seemed to get louder. “They said you couldn’t feel anything, so I just wanted to let you know that I took a second to cuddle up against you. Now, as much as I want to tell you to work on your femininity and to practice being a better lady, I… won’t. I can’t. It’s not right. As much as you like putting on a show, I… know this is killing you. I know it’s something you despise. By now, I know that deep inside, you’re still very much my master, no matter what everyone else is trying to tell you. And let me tell you, I know from experience that ignoring the shrieking voice inside of you is a terrible idea.”

“Well I mean… Shit.”

“Which raises the question of what exactly to do,” Doppel said. “You are our lady. There is no fighting that fact, I’m afraid. And unfortunately, I don’t think I have an answer for you. Everyone else seems so gung-ho about you being the perfect lady, but I know it’s wearing on you. It’s getting worse and worse and driving you further and further down, to the point where you felt like this was your only option. I just know that pretending there isn’t a problem solves nothing and I owe you so much that I can’t just sit here and act like nothing is wrong. You were born a man. You still want to be one. You hate acting girly and dressing like a lady. You hate this act. We have to find a solution for this, my lady. You’ll just end up right back in another coma if we don’t.”

“Unless the coma can explain to me how being a lady is a good thing,” I said with a shrug. “Which is entirely possible, I suppose. I mean, it has a few upsides, but most of those involve being a massive slut. If I’m working on changing that, most of the upsides go right out the window.”

“I guess that should be our little secret, though,” she said. “It seems like many of your other followers think making you act more and more ladylike is a good idea. There are a few different philosophies of thought, but whatever. Hm… I don’t really have any more things to change. I do have some updates, though. I spoke to the two mares who were considering working for you. They are apparently sisters and quite intrigued at the thought of working for the mysterious Lady Navarone. They grew up in a noble’s house with their parents, so they have plenty of experience. Their current contract will be finishing up in a week and they’ve already agreed to the terms in the new one Silver wrote up. We won’t actually formalize it until you meet them, but they’ll begin working probationally as soon as they can.”

“That’s interesting, I guess.”

“You have had multiple letters and visits from mage’s guild representatives. Apparently some of them have approached Taya in school, too. Luna has taken temporary possession of the book, to ensure we can visit you whenever we want and to make sure those creeps don’t get their withered old hooves on it. I’m relatively confident that they aren’t happy you had a hand in eradicating three-sevenths of their council. One of the visitors was the de-horned mare, who desperately wants to talk.”

“That sounds like a huge side quest that I really don’t want to get involved in,” I said. “I really had a feeling I shouldn’t have let those guys into the book. Talking to those assholes is gonna be a huge waste of time.”

“You’ve had a few other visitors as well, including a large griffin noble from Gryphus. He was asking after a… Rosie, I think? I’m not sure. He thought you would know her.”

“Nope, never heard of her,” I replied with a shrug.

“I think that’s a lie,” my guide said.

“I know I’ve never heard of a Rosie,” Doppel said. “But maybe you have. Who knows? He said he’ll be in Canterlot until he finds her, so I’m sure he’ll stop by again.”

“That sounds like a perfect thing for Twilight to deal with,” I said. “She was the one who was all gung-ho about turning me into a slutty maid. She can deal with the consequences.”

“As the guide in charge of helping you grow, I feel it’s my duty to point out that’s not really how consequences work. You were the one who seduced him. Should it not be you who deals with him?”

“I dunno, probably. But I don’t wanna, so making Twilight do it is easier.”

“I don’t really have any more updates,” Doppel said. “But I think I’m gonna stay here a bit to cuddle you some more. I won’t keep bothering you. Have fun in there, my lady!”

And with that, my maid’s voice left my mind. “Well, that was interesting. Doppel noticed I’m having a hard time being a lady. I’m glad she told me. I’m surprised she told me I needed to stop pretending. I hope the coma will make that easier to decide.”

“Are you prepared to continue onward?” my guide asked.

Hearing from Doppel helped put the awful shit from the party out of my mind, but it all came crashing back on me when she asked if I was ready. “I’m prepared, alright,” I said. “Prepared to die a quick and painless death. Aqua, I really need you to pull through for me. I know this is what you always really wanted, deep down. Don’t let Flo stop you. This is an order. Make it happen.”

“She’s letting Flo stop her,” my guide uselessly pointed out.

“You’re useless, Aqua!” I shouted into the air.

“In her mind, there is no problem that can’t be solved with mind control. Misbehaving princess? Mind control. Misbehaving human? Mind control! Misbehaving filly?” On that last one, she leaned in expectantly.

“Mind control?” I sighed.

“Bingo. Most of your problems stem from those around you who act in ways you would prefer they not. Why not just… you know… deal with that?” I lifted an eyebrow. “In her perspective, of course.”

“Of course,” I drily replied. “It’s strange how you, a water elemental lookalike, can so easily see her perspective.”

“I only know what you know. She took over Celestia. She took over you. She’s talked about taking over Taya and others.”

“Uh huh. Are there any other messages?”

“No. It seems they mean to keep their word not to bother you too much.”

“Well. Thankfully, Flo is a useful elemental. She can play the memories of the coma back whenever I want so I can revisit these awful things to take more from them. So far, all I seem to be getting is that I’ve almost completely surrounded myself with psychopaths and/or crybabies.”

“I think Aqua could do the same thing, actually.”

“Probably, but inspiring competition by giving praise and scorn where they’re due gives me a better experience as a user. With the two of them competing to pamper me the most, I can’t lose!”

“I don’t have a reply to that. Are you prepared to move on?”

“I really don’t want to, but this coma is the endurance run to end all endurance runs. Let’s do it.” Her eyes flashed and we departed the glade.

This time, we ended up in Spike’s room at the treebrary in Ponyville. I assume there wasn’t any extra plant stuff around because we were already inside of a tree. Spike was in bed, staring at the ceiling.

How long did I spend trying to get close to Rarity? How many years was it? How long was I the perfect little gentlecolt for that spoiled rotten mare? And for what?

“Not a whole lot,” I said.

I know I can’t expect Rarity to just fall for me. Everyone has different interests. But… all those years… and she never noticed? Not even once? And in the end, to think I would be better off with stallions? If the mare I spent so much time with knows so little about me… There really is no chance of a future for me in Equestria. I’m too different. He finally turned to lay on his side, staring out the window.

“Alas, to be a dragon in a pony’s world… If it’s anywhere near as hard as being a human in a pony’s world, I’d say it’s all kinds of shitty.”

At that dragon migration… They told me I was a hostage. It sounded so true at the time, but when I got back and started thinking, I started doubting. Celestia has always been so nice, the perfect mother. She did send me to Egypt, but it was with Nav! She knew he’d keep me safe! And he did… at the cost of himself…

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

“Bitterness is unbecoming of a hero,” Reason said. I honestly hadn’t realized any of them were there. “Is there truth to it, or do you merely jest?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I’m mad that I had to suffer to keep Spike safe, but I objectively know it wasn’t his fault. On the same vein, if he hadn’t been there, I probably would have been fine. Then there’s the later case in Iceland where trying to help him got me tortured, but that’s a whole other thing. I know I shouldn’t be bitter, but…”

“But pain and suffering make it easy,” Pain said. “Spike is worthless. All he ever does is hold you back.”

“That’s objectively false,” I said. “He has his uses. That said, there are many things he’s bad at. All things told, I know I’m better for his company. I just have to remind myself every now and then.”

So maybe I’m not a hostage. And maybe I am. Reginald implied it. He talked about a treaty and eggs. It doesn’t take much to assume I’m one of them. But assuming and knowing… I could ask Nav, but there’s no telling how he’d react. I could see him pushing Celestia a little too far and getting us both in trouble. He rolled onto his back again and sighed.

“You see this shit?” I asked. “This motherfucker right here is holding back knowledge that I really fucking needed, making us both suffer an unnecessarily bad fate. This is some Reginald-tier shit!”

“Spike sought to protect you,” Reason said. “Is that not a just cause?”

“Just because I understand why he didn’t tell me doesn’t mean I can’t be pissed about it.”

“Um. Are you sure?” Reason slowly asked. I wasn’t, actually, but whatever.

Although if I try to leave and we both get in trouble anyway, it would be a moot point. It’ll be the perfect hostage test. If Celestia actually lets me leave, I’ll know it was a lie. If she tries to stop us, it’ll mean I have a reason to run!

“And just, you know, completely leave me out of your plans. You know, the guy who stuck his neck out for you at every turn, including a chance to leave this pastel hellhole behind. Just the best and only true friend you’ve had in this horrible place!”

“Why is this making you so angry?” Reason asked. “He’s but a child. Can he not be forgiven for his thoughts?”

“This is what I’ve been thinking all along,” I said. “This… toxicity. So often, I look at relationships as… transactional. As though the effort I put into them should be directly reciprocated.”

“That’s because they should,” Reason said. “That’s literally the sole purpose for relationships. If you are giving more than someone else, then you are being taken advantage of. Do you feel that is the case with Spike?”

“I feel like that’s the case with a whole lot of people. I’m trying to look at it through another lens, but all this coma is showing me is that trying to do the right thing was, generally speaking, wasted effort. So far, pretty much everyone I’ve dealt with has either been using me, lying to me, or withholding incredibly valuable information. I’ve had a lot of positive interactions with a lot of people, but all I’ve seen so far is that I would have been better off as a fucking stillbirth!”

It’s not like Celestia would ever hurt us anyway. She likes Nav too much for that. And if I do get to go free… I’ve always wanted to see the world. Well, there’s no better place to do it than at Nav’s side. Learning to fight is tough, but my blood finally feels like it’s flowing properly! My first time eating meat was wonderful, but fighting is on an entirely new level. Is this how a predator is supposed to feel?

“It is,” I sighed. “Spike is… frustrating.”

“Why?” Pain asked.

“Because I didn’t want to raise him, but I kinda fucking had to. I never felt it was my place to guide him, but I realize now, at the end of the road, not only was it my place, but I should have started sooner. Twilight trying to turn an apex predator into a house servant was not going to end well for anybody. As the adult in the room, I should have stepped in sooner.”

“You weren’t the adult in the room at the time,” Reason said.

“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see what was going on! I just thought, you know, this is Ponyland, this is normal, right? This little boy seems depressed and down all the time, but surely everything’s all peachy, right? I mean, Twilight makes him sleep in a basket which is weird and she treats him like a pet which is weird, but it’s Ponyland, right? He doesn’t get to go to school like the other kids because he’s too busy doing Twilight’s chores. What time he doesn’t spend with her, he’s spending doting after a mare who obviously doesn’t care and it seems like he’s the butt of all her jokes, but it’s Ponyland. Who cares if you’re treating a child like a pariah if it’s just a dragon, right?”

“...I guess it made perfect sense, to a pony,” Reason slowly said.

“I guess it fucking did. I’m sorry for not stepping in sooner, Spike.”

“If you had stepped in sooner, what would you have done?” Reason asked. “What would have been different?”

“I would have taken him hunting with me from the start. I would have explained what it means to be a predator. I would have just… done so much more. I did… eventually. I just wish I had taken the responsibility on sooner.”

“It is difficult to right a wrong,” Reason said. “Especially in a world where you are the stranger.”

The silence that ensued allowed Spike to continue thinking. I actually figured he was done, so it spooked me and made me jump. And if Celestia doesn’t let me leave… What will I do then? If I am a hostage… does that mean someone will come to rescue me? Was there a war between dragons and ponies? Could it still be happening? There’s no information in any of the books in Ponyville. Nav’s helped me search them all. I checked all the ones I could find in Canterlot, but nothing!

“...I remember Celestia finding Spike and I in the library in Ramla,” I slowly said. “The two of us were hunting for books about dragons. She watched us looking. I bet she was laughing on the inside the whole fucking time.”

“I doubt that,” Pain said. “It’s much more likely that she didn’t even give it a thought.”

Things aren’t adding up to me. There has to be something. Ponies and dragons have been living in the same world since… since ponies and dragons have existed! But there’s no information anywhere! The dragons told me I was a hostage. They told me Celestia likes censorship. Nav told me censorship means hiding knowledge. That would mean Celestia is hiding the fact that there was a war and that I’m a hostage. But that makes no sense. If there was a war, surely at least a single pony would know about it!

“Hearing this is painful,” I sighed, shaking my head. “How long did he spin those words over and over in his head? How many nights do you think he struggled with their meaning? How long do you think he agonized over who he really was?”

“And thus, the takeaway,” Reason said. “Without you, who would Spike be?”

I’m done looking to ponies for answers. Equestria doesn’t have any of those. Just more and more questions. Nav has a knack for finding answers, though. If anypony will be able to help me, it’ll be him. One day, I will know. One day, I will be… whole. Until then… Before he could continue thinking, his alarm clock started going off. Just like that, everything around me froze.

“I helped him find as many answers as I could. I hope they brought him peace.” It certainly didn’t seem like it, though.

“That is all a friend can do,” my guide said. “Are you prepared to move on?”

“I need to find a way to ensure that what happened with Spike doesn’t happen to anyone else,” I said. “Everyone saw what was happening with Spike, but nobody stepped in because he wasn’t a pony.”

“None of them would have seen anything wrong with their behavior before you showed up,” my guide said. “What do you really expect?”

“This is the part where I’d say a little bit of common fucking humanity, but…”

“But you realized you’re talking about an incredibly nationalistic, ignorant, racist species that are dealing with what they conceive to be a lesser species?”

“Yeah. That. I guess asking for some common humanity is difficult when they don’t actually have a common humanity. So I guess I need to find a way to change pony society, on the whole, to ensure potential cases of abuse don’t go unnoticed because the person being abused isn’t a fucking pony. Which, again, shouldn’t be rocket science.”

“It might not be rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Undoing six thousand years of brainwashing will take time.”

“Yeah… I guess let’s move on.” My guide’s eyes pulsed and we jumped again.

We both ended up on top of the wall of my old house, overlooking the Everfree Forest. Eva was sitting on the wall, her legs dangling over the side toward the forest. She was just watching the trees sway in the wind.

Navarone had no intention of saving us, what sounded like Mimeo thought. Taya and Spike both were quick to confirm that he originally wanted nothing to do with us.

“That’s correct,” I said. “And I regret what I felt. But when I first met Mirror, she honestly scared me.”

Do you blame him? Poly thought. After meeting Mirror and seeing inside our head, I’m surprised he decided to give us a chance at all!

Do his original intentions even matter? Ganger internally asked. He did help us. Not only did he and Flo help cure our mind, but he gave us a stable place to stay!

At what cost? Mimeo thought. He said he would ask things of us later. From the rumors we heard in the hive and from what we’ve been able to learn here, he lives a dangerous life. Did we trade a life of obvious danger for a life of greater peril?

He also said we’d be free to leave as soon as we want, Poly thought. I’ve seen no reason to doubt his word. He may not have intended to come help us when he first agreed, but he did it anyway. If he says he’ll let us leave his side whenever we want, I say we stay with him for as long as we’re able. If nothing else, he’s earned my loyalty by his actions. Besides, where would we go if we tried to leave? You heard Doppel and Bonnie. Any changeling loyal to the hives would attack us on sight. Being on Nav’s side will protect us from that, at the very least.

And we have absolutely no money, so we wouldn’t have anywhere to stay, Ganger added. We could pretend to be a pony for a while to try to get enough love to sustain us, but… why? We’re capable of feeding off Nav and it doesn’t seem to bother him much. Give me a month or two in town and I can see about finding a few mares to feed on, too.

Bon-Bon said no feeding on random townsponies, Poly thought. We’re guests here. We can’t offend our hosts and we certainly don’t want to get Nav in trouble. Maybe if you ask first, but even then, I suggest caution.

Doppel has no such hesitation, Mimeo thought. She talks about the stallions and mares she feeds on all the time. I imagine Ganger’s method of feeding would be similar. Still, I also advise caution. If we are going to stay here, we must do nothing to bring undo attention on us. There is safety in inaction.

Inaction is a waste, Poly thought. Flo told us what a wonderful gift we have. I’m sure you all recognize it for what it is, now that she helped us declutter. What we have is something nobody else on the planet has, as far as she’s aware. Nav is giving us the opportunity to learn. We have to take it so we can discover more about the mind. If we can help others the way Flo helped us, we could save the lives of all the changelings who feed on anger!

That seems like an unrealistic goal, Ganger thought. There’s no way for us to replicate what Flo does. The magic that powers her is way beyond anything we could ever accomplish.

According to Nav, the humans found a way to do this, Mimeo thought. Flo learned how to do it from them. Also according to Nav, the humans did not have magic. That means the solution is non-magic. Flo was able to use her powers to hasten the process, but it’s likely doable without it. I’m not sure I would support such a goal, however.

It seems we’re all in agreement to stay now, at the very least, Poly thought. As for what comes next… Well, we have time to think about it. For the first time in our entire lives, it seems we’re… safe. Free, essentially. And it seems we have as much time as we need to think about our plans.

Are we all in agreement? Ganger asked. Eva, what are your thoughts?

“Look at that cool bird!” she said, pointing one out. Sure enough, it was actually a pretty impressive looking toucowl. There wasn’t actually any information for them in any bestiary I found, so I got to write the entry myself. They appeared to be a fairly even mix of a toucan and an owl. Oddly enough, they tasted closer to alligator than any bird, but that’s what you get for an Everfree animal. “I wonder what it does with that huge beak?”

Were you even paying attention? Mimeo asked.

“Tch, no. Of course we’re staying here. It’s where Nav is! Why would we want to be anywhere else?”

Because he’s dangerous? Mimeo thought. And I’m not sure if it matters much, but there are rumors in town that he’s well known for sleeping around.

So is Doppel, Ganger thought. I mean, who wouldn’t, if they had the chance and weren’t in a relationship?

I think he might have been concerned for me and Eva, Poly thought. Not that I think it would matter. Nav may go from mare to mare, but I’m sure he recognizes that Eva is young and wouldn’t bother her. As for me… Well, I’ll accede to Ganger’s opinion: Who doesn’t like the thought of a little fun? If the rumors are true, he’s experienced. I wouldn’t be opposed to my first time being with our savior.

That… does raise an interesting question, Mimeo thought. Should we… Well, should we try to stop Eva from… You know… watching?

“Whoa, it just ate a giant bug!” The toucowl was gulping down a squirming beetle about the size of my fist. The joke’s on the toucowl, because the bestiary entry for the beetle mentioned something about them being able to blow a hole in the side of anything that eats them with some kind of ‘magical’ reaction.

I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem, Ganger thought. There will always be two of us around to distract her at any given moment.

We’ve gotten a little far afield, Poly thought. Are we all in agreement about staying here?

I agree that we should stay, Ganger thought.

It’s an idea that we will need to revisit as things change, but for now, I agree.

“Why are we even still talking about—WHOA!” She shot straight to her hooves as the toucowl burst open. “WHAT THE BUCK?!” The beetle shot out of the bird’s corpse, flying away with its oversized wings. “DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

I am now considerably more enthusiastic about living here, Mimeo slowly thought.

So who wants to go see what everyone in the house is up to? Ganger asked. You know… far away from that thing.

He didn’t have to tell Eva twice. Her wings twitched and she jumped off the wall to gallop inside, making the memory freeze.

“You must always remember that you did help her,” Reason said from under me. I looked down and saw her standing with Fear and Hope. There wasn’t really room for all of us on top of the wall, I guess. I jumped down with them to make it easier for them to poke me in case there were other memories. “You originally had no intention to actually help them, but you did.”

“That’s right,” I said with a nod. “Flo and Spike convinced me that it was the right thing to do. Generally, I’d give Flo shit for forcing my mind to change or making me actually do something, but in this one particular instance, I’d forgive her if she did make me go save Eva.” Not that I’m accusing you, of course.

“What was it about Mirror that scared you so?” Fear asked.

“I dunno, maybe the fact that she was out in the scariest forest in the region pretending to be an animal to get sex? There’s also the fact that her personality was really grating. Oh, and when she showed up later, she had a different name and personality. Then her mask cracked a little before she finally left. All things told, it was more than enough red flags for me to write her off as a lost cause.”

“What was it that changed your mind?” Hope asked.

“Again, Flo and Spike. Flo helped me see that we could help her. Spike helped me see that we should help her. And so we did.”

“The only one that seemed bothered by your original intentions is Mimeo,” Reason said. “Does that surprise you?”

“No. Even then, I’m not entirely sure Mimeo actually cared. They understand that their first impression wasn’t the best. Eva asked me to adopt her. That told me everything I needed to know.”

“Do you have any thoughts on Poly wanting you to be her first?” Fear asked.

“No. What’s the takeaway from this one?”

“There is no need for your guilt,” my guide said. “They do not blame you. Forgive yourself for your original plan to abandon them.”

“Easier said than done, but… it’s good to hear it confirmed. I’m ready to move on.”

“Don’t you wanna hug me again?” Hope asked with a perfectly-practiced grin.

“No, that’s gay. Let’s go.” Her face instantly fell and tears welled in her eyes. That’s all I had time to see before we moved on.

We actually didn’t get very far, only ending up inside the house. Specifically, Taya’s bedroom. She was currently staring out the window. I was next to her, so I followed her gaze. At the moment, she was staring at my shirtless past-self, who was sparring with the naga.

Daddy doesn’t love me enough.

“Bullshit,” I immediately said.

Not like he loves other mares. He’s always so happy to give them all the time of day… and night. But not his precious little filly. Oh no, he refuses to even touch her! She isn’t good enough!

“That literally had nothing at all to do with what I told her. Was she just not even listening?”

This heat is awful! What Doppel showed me helped, but I know daddy could quench the fire I feel. He could make me feel amazing if he just loved me right! What do the other mares have that I don’t? I’m his filly! I’d do whatever he wanted me to!

“I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to see any of this,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Why are you so thirsty for my human dick?”

I just want to feel your touch, daddy… I know it feels good when it’s done right. I know you could make me feel like the best filly in the world, if you only loved me enough… What will it take? I’ve already dedicated myself to you! I’ve already killed for you! Why won’t you even give me a chance?!

She finally started crying, presumably in frustration. I sighed and hugged her. “Because what we want isn’t always what’s best for us. If I had ever done it, I never could have forgiven myself for the damage it would have done to you.”

“Were you ever tempted?” Reason asked.

“Not even for a second,” I immediately answered. It was absolutely true, too. No part of me ever wanted to touch Taya inappropriately.

I’ll find a way, daddy. It will happen! You will love me just as much as those other mares! I’ll become the best destruction mage in the world. I’ll hunt down all your enemies until it’s just you and me. And in the end, you’ll realize you don’t need those other mares anyway! All you ever needed was a loving filly raised from the beginning to be the perfect bride for daddy, if you’d only just get over yourself!

“Wow.” I decided to let her go, because it looked like one of her hooves was about to do something very inappropriate. Thankfully, the memory stopped before she could start. “Well, I’m honestly happy she never mentioned the bride thing. That would have been pretty awkward.”

“Compared to what, exactly?” Reason asked.

“I mean… Fuck. What’s the lesson here? I need some way to fix this!”

“There might not be a way to fix it,” Reason said. “At least, not while Taya is still affected by your pull.”

“I’ve already told her that it’ll never happen,” I said. “It’s more important for her to understand it now than ever, since she’s immortal.”

“Have you considered the potential upsides?” Reason asked.

“No, and I’m not going to. I don’t care if potential upsides might include regrowing my penis, I’m not molesting my filly.”

“Oh. Then I guess I’m not really needed here.” I hadn’t actually looked around, so I glanced back just in time for Reason to disappear.

That left me with Fear and Love. “Was she seriously just here to try to talk me into that?” I asked.

“Reason cares little for emotion or sentiment,” Love said. “If she suspected there were positives to sleeping with your filly, she would be quick to point them out.”

“Well, there aren’t any. So how can I fix this? Can I just love her enough or something?”

“Loving her more is exactly what she wants,” Fear said.

“I refuse to believe that’s love.”

“Which is, of course, correct,” Love replied. “Obviously giving in to your filly’s desires would only make the issue worse. Step one will be getting rid of the pull she feels. That has likely done the most to make her feel this way.”

“How sure are you that’s true?” I asked. “We don’t really see any kind of root for that desire here. I’d like to think it’s just my pull and not how badly I fucked up as a parent, but…”

“Step two will be cutting off the belly rubs and ear scritches,” Love said. “There is nothing wrong with holding your filly, but rubbing her is… unusual. And since it’s very likely she enjoys your touch a lot more than she should, minimizing contact would help.”

“It’ll hurt to deny her, but if I must…”

“It’s a shame that scaring her straight didn’t work,” Fear sighed. “All it did was make her hide it better.”

“For a while, until Aqua let her become immortal. Then the mask started slipping. I didn’t want to spank her, but I couldn’t let her just give me an ultimatum.”

“Parenting is never an easy endeavor,” Love said. “Mistakes are common.”

“Both of those are true statements, but I honestly don’t think they apply to me,” I said. “I spent too long looking for every excuse I could find to avoid spending time with her. I never wanted to be a parent and when it was forced on me, instead of stepping up to the plate and actually putting in the effort, I scorned the entire thing. She was broken when I got her and I did nothing to help put her back together. Now I’m facing the consequences of all my terrible decisions. Taya is effectively immortal. She is incredibly powerful. She has been touched by Discord. She wants to sleep with me. She is a complete and total manipulative brat who I have taught to use adorableness and lies to get her way. Every memory involving Taya so far has told me that I deserve every bit of misery that she is going to bring me in the coming years. But all the same, she doesn’t deserve this fate and she never did. Is this fixable?”

“One person cannot fix another,” Love said, reaching over to place a hoof on my shoulder. My guide snatched the hoof away before it could touch me. Love snorted and rolled her eyes, placing the hoof back down. “Taya’s behavior is being rewarded. Why would she ever bother changing?”

“That… is true.” I sighed and fell onto Taya’s bed. “I’m done hiding from it. I’m done kicking the can down the road. When I get out of this coma, I’m telling Taya everything I just told you. And then we’re going to iron out rules going forward, rules that we are both going to follow. This toxicity between us is… unsustainable. I’m sure she knows it just as much as I do, by now.”

“Right now, she’s terrified,” Fear said. “She knows that you would have stopped her, if Aqua hadn’t slithered in. Instead of addressing it with her, you just… brushed it aside.”

“I’ve spent so much time moving and doing that I haven’t really had time to think,” I said. “Although I feel if I had… Well, we can talk about the present when we get there. What’s the takeaway here?”

“You spelled it out better than we could,” my guide replied with a shrug. “You’re getting good at figuring it out.”

“...I’ve known all along. You’re just forcing me to confront it.” I finally groaned and stood back up. “Shall we continue?” The guide’s eyes flashed and off we went.

Once again, we didn’t go that far. The only difference is that the green grass had been replaced by trodden down snow, and now we were in the front yard. Celestia was there, along with a few guard squads and the Elements of Harmony.

“This is after Luna’s rave,” I said. “When she found out about Flo and had the overreaction to end all overreactions.”

“And tried to rape you,” Fear said.

“Yeah, that too. This is also when I told Celestia about Flo and showed her the laptop. I honestly forgot the girls were here. The only one who bothered to talk to me afterwards was Dash.”

“Why are we here, Princess?” past-Twilight asked. “What did Nav do this time? If Shiny’s here and you’re taking his axe, it had to be really bad…”

“Be at ease, Twilight,” Celestia said with a grin. “Nav is not in trouble. Luna uncovered a secret of his that he thought quite safe. They had a… disagreement about how to move forward. It almost devolved into blows at the party, but Nav left before it could get ugly and asked me to mediate. The guards are solely here as a matter of protocol.”

“Why were both guard captains here?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Captain Midnight was inside!”

“Because both guard captains happen to be friends of his,” Celestia replied. “Captain Midnight wanted to ensure he did not do anything rash. Captain Shining wanted to see what all the fuss was about and to see his sister before returning.”

“What secret did Luna discover?” Fluttershy asked. “And why did it upset Nav so much?”

“Navarone’s secrets are for Navarone to discuss,” Celestia replied. “Though two of you already know the answer, I believe.”

“Wait… did it involve time?” Twilight asked.

“Make that three of you,” Celestia said, her smile taking a hit. “I assumed you, of anypony, would have come to me as soon as you learned.”

“Navarone’s secrets are for Navarone to discuss,” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“BURN!” I shouted, shooting my hands in the air.

“Not when it involves him lying to my face,” Celestia said. “He told me there was nothing I need to be concerned about. What he showed me concerns me greatly.”

“Now I’m even more curious!” Pinkie groaned. “Three of you need to fess up! Nav’s journals are hidden better now, so I can’t keep up!”

“I’m siding with Twilight,” Applejack said. “Nav’s secrets are his own. Though I’m gonna wonder where those seeds of his came from forever!”

“Nav has good reasons not to trust anypony,” Fluttershy quietly said. “It’s no wonder he remains as tight-lipped as possible…”

“As it happens, I’m afraid I brought all of you out here for nothing,” Celestia said. “I thought I might need you all to help calm Nav down, but Luna has conceded the issue.”

“So… why are you taking his axe?” Twilight asked.

Celestia’s horn lit up brighter and the thing vanished. “He has a magic sword, Twilight. Why would he need an axe? Now, I’m afraid I must return to Canterlot. I have a few more things to discuss with Luna before she retires for the day.”

“Can we speak to Nav?” Dash asked.

“I believe he plans to go to bed soon, but I’m sure he would be happy to talk.”

Dash immediately started trotting to the door, but Twilight grabbed her tail with magic. “Just a moment, Rainbow Dash. Why would Luna finding out about this lead them to almost coming to blows? Nav is her knight!”

“That is exactly what I need to discuss with Luna. Nav may prefer violence as his primary solutions in some situations, but not against ponies. That means she instigated it. I intend to find out why.”

“Is she… okay?” Rarity asked. “Some of what Nav has said… worries me.”

“No. No she is not. Farewell for now, girls.” Celestia finally started walking to the gates. I’m sure the others probably had plenty more questions, but she was quite obviously not in the mood to answer them.

Twilight sighed, released Dash, and started following Celestia out. Dash grabbed the closest one to her, which happened to be Fluttershy, and started dragging her inside. Applejack rolled her eyes and joined Twilight. Rarity seemed conflicted before magicking a watch out. When she read the time, her eyes widened and she made it vanish before joining the exodus to the gate.

Pinkie grinned and skipped over next to Twilight. “So what kind of time secrets does Navi have, hm?” That grayed everything out, finally pausing the dream.

“It’s amazing how well Celestia was able to word that,” I said. “She’s a straight up professional.”

“A professional cunt,” Fear replied. I finally turned around to look. It was actually just her. “You didn’t really feel much but fear during this whole thing.”

“That’s because it was fucking terrifying. So aside from the fact that only a single one of my ‘friends’ cared to verify what Celestia said with me, what’s the takeaway here?”

“Oh, we aren’t quite done yet,” Fear said. She reached up to caress my face and we jumped to another vision, this time in Luna’s room. It was just her and Celestia. Celestia was pissed. Luna’s face was strangely blank and she wasn’t meeting her sister’s eyes.

“Do you understand what you have done?” Celestia coldly asked.

“You drove it in quite clearly this morning,” Luna quietly replied.

Celestia’s horn lit up and my axe appeared. She didn’t bother to hold it, so it fell to the floor with a clatter. “Navarone is finished with you, Luna. Completely and utterly. This is what comes from pretending to be me just to get in his pants!”

Luna’s eyes finally met her sister’s. “I was pretending to be you to show him that I could be something other than the monster he sees. And yet it was for naught…”

“You didn’t learn your lesson after he almost stood you up? That’s literally exactly why he did it! You will never win the affections of anypony… anything with lies, Luna!”

“It seems to work pretty well for the two of us, dearest sister. Or did you learn how to actually move the sun in my absence?”

“I’m loving these sick burns!” I said.

“Do not give voice to such things!”

“It’s only a matter of time before Nav tells everypony. We both know it, sister.”

“Navarone prefers his skin attached to his body. He has published a few books I told him were not allowed, but none of the more egregious ones. There is one redeeming thing we discovered from your latest debacle, at least.”

“And what is that?” Luna bitterly asked.

“That Navarone is willing to go on a date with me. If I can manage to wrap him around my hoof before his date of departure, perhaps I can convince him to stay.”

“You expect me to recoil from the blow. I know you well enough for that, at least. Yet all I feel is… numb. I do not think I have ever seen Nav… angry with me. Yet the look on his face when he saw me for who I was… After the shock passed, it was pure rage, sister. I have accomplished that which we once thought impossible and in doing so, I have ruined any chance of reconciliation.”

“Nav said you knew about this… Flo, the fake intelligence in his head. Why did you not tell me?”

“I suspected he had become corrupt, as I was. As I… am, it seems. I was hoping to help him before banishment became necessary, but I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject with him.”

“Which is why you should have come to me. What did I tell you about these things, Luna?”

“That I could do as I pleased as long as I let you know to clean up after me.”

“That was over six thousand years ago, Luna! You are no longer a little filly! Truly, it amazes me that you tried leading a coup. What were you expecting to do if you won, Luna? Try to rule this empire all by yourself? The entire thing would go belly-up overnight! You have to think these things through!”

Luna’s horn lit up and three massive books appeared, each seemingly ancient. “I actually wrote up all the plans for my new government well in advance. Navarone found them while scouring the castle in the Everfree for the dream machine. It would have been a strong military dictatorship with emphasis on public service, community, and aggressive expansion. I had timelines drawn up for multiple wars that would have eradicated several problem species that still plague us to this day, like the changelings, dogs, and griffins. My projection is that by now, there would only be three factions left: Ponies, dragons, and all those who swore to obey us as vassal races. Instead, you destroyed about seventy percent of Equestria’s entire military force with a comet.”

“They were not Equestria’s military force. They were traitors who died in rebellion and obscurity. Count yourself lucky that I waited until I knew you were gone.”

“I would have rather died with my soldiers in Ponero than live imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years under the heel of a tyrant.”

Celestia took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “We cannot allow Nav to come between us, Luna.”

“Then stop using his affections like a weapon against me. Have I not suffered enough for my transgressions?”

“What?” Celestia blurted out. “Luna… how have you suffered since you returned? You raped Navarone at least once. Probably more times than that, if I had to guess. You’ve mistreated him, lied to him, hurt him, and brought all kinds of misery upon him. And your only punishment for any of it was a requirement that you stay in Canterlot. A requirement that you have repeatedly broken, I might add. How many times did you ferry Nav to the moon? Or secretly visit him in Ponyville? You have ruined a relationship with an extremely capable ally with your actions, Luna. He is no longer a knight and I couldn’t even convince him to become an Umbral! So tell me exactly how you’re suffering, Luna. Because to me, it looks like all you’ve done is cause it!”

“I have to go without his touch while you lord it over me!”

“So your reply to the list of all the horrible things you’ve done to Nav is that because you no longer get to hold him, you’re the victim?”

“What did you expect to happen to him when you forced me to befriend him at all costs?!”

“Uh. I expected you to… befriend him? Not rape him. Not torture him! What were you even thinking?!”

“That I had finally found one strong enough to withstand my love…”

“That’s psychotic!” Celestia and I both yelled at the same time. I actually wanted to high-hoof her, but I couldn’t reach across time.

“All throughout my life, that is what loving you has felt like, Celestia. I loved Nav exactly the way you showed me how to!”

Celestia sighed and reached up to rub her temple. “I’m afraid I’ll have to delve into Nav’s sub-speak for this one.” She set her hoof back down and glared her sister down. “Luna, you are a grown-ass mare. Act like it. Let your obsession for Nav go. He is forever lost to you now.”

“Not forever,” Luna coldly said. “He left me one out! I was watching, sister. I knew you would twist his words! He said he’ll forgive me if I confess!”

“He said he might. And from the look on his face when he said it, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

“It is a chance. It is the only chance!”

“It is suicide and I won’t allow it.”

“If I cannot hold him in my hooves, then life isn’t worth living!”

Celestia blinked a few times before sighing and shaking her head. “This has gone on long enough. I forbid it. I forbid any mention of Nav. He is dead to you, as you are to him. That is the end of it, Luna.”

Luna smirked and her horn lit up. “You have no power in my room, Celestia.” Hundreds of hidden runes carved into the walls suddenly lit up and Celestia completely froze. Luna trotted forward and pressed her horn against her sister’s head. “Everything I am, I am thanks to you, dearest sister.” After what I assumed was some memory modification, Luna stepped back and the light around her horn vanished. Just like that, all the runes vanished.

A few seconds later, Celestia blinked. “Luna, are you… sure? If you tell everypony… you can still recover from Nightmare Moon. You can still be my little sister, Princess of the Night. But if you tell everypony what happened with Nav, it will be forever lost to you.”

“I am positive,” Luna said with a nod.

“Well then. I hope Navarone appreciates your determination. Many stallions would kill for a mare who would stop at nothing for their heart.”

“Everything will fall into place, Celestia,” Luna said with a smile. “You’ll see! Soon, my precious human will forgive me and all will be well again!”

That memory finally vanished, putting us back in my courtyard. “It was not all well again,” I said, crossing my arms.

“So, Luna was told that Celestia would clean up her messes six thousand years ago,” Fear said. “And she tried trotting that excuse out twice.”

“We’re dealing with someone who has some very serious mental illnesses. I know what happened to me when Flo cured my depression, so I’m hesitant to suggest having an elemental just fix her, but… All the evidence I’ve seen is damning. She has way too much power and knowledge to be running around with this kind of mental damage.”

“You have been adamant about not using the elementals to force anything on your followers,” my guide said. “Are you changing your mind?”

“No. I can’t force anything on Luna. I’m going to talk to Blaze and Char and see if either would be willing to take her as a host. I believe I can talk her into it. A fire wouldn’t be able to completely change her overnight, but he would be able to keep her in check so she can’t hurt anyone or do anything stupid.”

“You can’t just keep assigning your incredibly powerful, useful servants as babysitters,” Fear said.

“I can when the baby they’re sitting is considerably more powerful and useful, with the wonderful addition of a lifetime of emotional abuse and horrors. Especially when combined, they’d make an even more formidable team. I saw how well Blaze and Luna worked together in the ship at the bunker. I’d like to see how they’d do given an army. And Flo isn’t babysitting Taya, she’s just making sure Taya doesn’t do something absolutely fucktarded when given direct access to my brain. Which, given what I’ve seen in the coma so far, was actually pretty likely.”

“So what do you take away from this?” my guide asked.

“That I don’t want to trust myself alone with Luna. She is everything Celestia was. The only difference is that she feels the pull so strongly that she chose to obey rather than doing everything in her power to control. The thing is, if this is how she chose to obey Celestia, I’m curious when or if she’ll ever try it on me.”

“Celestia hurt her again and again,” Fear said. “And Luna struck out. Unfortunately, you were her target.”

“Nobody is debating that Luna is a victim. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s probably the most dangerous person on the continent right now. Between sheer magical strength, combat potency, and her mental instability, she could crack in a heartbeat and go on an unstoppable rampage.”

“Flo will put a bug in Char’s ear about approaching Luna,” my guide said.

“I’ll do it when I get out. I want to talk to everyone first. I doubt Luna will go for it until I do. So what’s the real takeaway here?”

“That you don’t want to trust yourself alone with Luna,” Fear said. “She is everything Celestia was.”

“Of course.”

“Also, all of your friends in Ponyville knew something bad happened between you and Luna, but only Rainbow Dash thought to push you for more information, or check to see if you were okay.”

“That’s to be expected. It’s what comes from being a depressed asshole for most of my time here.”

“Are you prepared to move on?” my guide asked.

“Sure, why not.” Her eyes flashed and we jumped further forward.

We appeared in a heavily junglified version of Rarity’s boutique. Twilight and all five of her favorite friends were there. Rarity looked concerned. Twilight looked… at peace. Pinkie seemed depressed. The others were confused.

“Why did you bring us all here?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking over at Rarity.

“Have you read today’s paper?” Rarity quietly asked.

“Who ever bothers with that?” Dashie flippantly asked.

Rarity’s horn lit up and the paper appeared on the ground between them all, facing Dash. On the front cover was a picture of Luna during the speech, alongside a picture of my horrified face right before I fled. The title was “Historic Confession of Vile Misdeeds!”. Dash immediately snatched it and started reading. Her eyes immediately shot wide open.

“It’s awful!” Rarity moaned, actually bursting into tears. “Luna’s a monster! She did such terrible things to him!”

“That explains things,” Twilight said. “I was wondering why they left early.”

The paper fell from Dash’s hooves and she shot forward, getting all up in Twilight’s face. “What do you mean, left?! And what do you mean, early?!”

Twilight’s horn lit up and Dash got forced away. “I’ve been privy to… some of what’s been going on with Nav. He told me he was leaving and that if I told anypony else, he’d be gone the next day without a word. He was planning to leave when it came time for the party, but I guess he wanted to get out ahead of the news…”

“He did leave a note for you, though,” Pinkie said, pulling it out of her hair.

Dash got all up in Pinkie’s personal bubble just long enough to snatch the note. “How did you know?!” Dash demanded. “And why did he leave it with you but not tell me?!”

“I saw the airship coming while on the way to watch Taya sleep,” Pinkie said with a shrug. “Then I saw Nav packing up. He gave me the note right before leaving.”

“Why were you going to watch a little filly sleep?” Applejack asked. I hadn’t noticed, but at some point, she had grabbed the paper. Fluttershy was reading it over her shoulder and silently crying.

“I watch everypony sleep. It would be weird if I didn’t include Taya, too!”

“This note is worthless!” Dash yelled, throwing it to the ground. “It doesn’t say where he’s going, when he’ll be back, or if he’ll bring me any cool souvenirs!”

“So, Nav is gone,” Twilight said. “Where is anypony’s guess. He refused to tell me. Spike went with him.”

“Spikey-wikey is gone?!” Rarity shrieked, lunging at Twilight. Thankfully, Twilight shut that shit down hard and tossed Rarity onto one of her ridiculous lounge chair things so she could sob dramatically somewhere else.

“He felt he didn’t have any reason to stay,” Twilight said. “He told me a few months ago, after Nav got hurt. I had a lot of talks with him about it and I honestly can’t disagree with him. He is a dear friend and always will be, but his place isn’t in Equestria. He’ll outgrow us all in time. It’s better that he meet dragons that he can start a family with.”

“And what about Nav?” Applejack asked, finally just hoofing the paper to Fluttershy. “Why did he leave?”

“Are you seriously asking that?” Dash asked. “You read that paper!”

“Alright, let me rephrase that, then. Where could he even go? There ain’t nothing out there!”

“That’s observably false,” Twilight said. “Nav has done a very good job of teaching me that there is more outside of Equestria than I ever knew. The griffin kingdom is massive and powerful. The changeling hives are scary and exotic. The kingdom of cats is brutal and hedonistic. And right now, Nav is welcome in all of them. Given his treatment here… I’m surprised he didn’t leave sooner.”

“So… what do we do now?” Dash slowly asked.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Twilight said. “I mean, theoretically, I could teleport him back. But if I did, he would probably be… extremely upset.”

“Do it!” Dash yelled.

“Oh no, I don’t think you understand. By extremely upset, I mean the first thing he would do is draw his sword. He made it very clear that he was leaving, period, and that any attempts to stop it would end extremely poorly.”

“So I have a slightly better question,” Applejack said. “What are we supposed to do about this?” She reached around and pointed to the newspaper, still held in Fluttershy’s trembling hooves. “Something’s rotten in Canterlot. We’re the Elements of Harmony. Ain’t it our duty to do something about this?”

“I’m down for ruining Luna’s day!” Dash yelled. “After everything she’s done, she deserves it!”

“There… might be a slight problem,” Fluttershy quietly said.

“What’s that?” Dash asked. “We can take her!”

“It… it says here… Princess Celestia knew the whole time…”

Twilight’s horn lit up and the paper flew over in front of her. She quickly skimmed past all the fun stuff about Luna to read the tiny little footnote at the bottom. “Oh. Oh no…”

“...I’ll never wonder why he lies again,” Applejack said. “And I forgive him of almost all of them. If you can’t trust Princess Celestia, you can’t trust anypony.”

“That… doesn’t make sense,” Dash said. “How could Celestia have known? She would have summoned us to deal with her!”

Twilight looked over to Rarity, who had mostly recovered from the fact that her personal dragon slave had departed. “Rarity, would you like to tell the others about our trip to Detrot?”

“I would, but… I wasn’t there…”

“What does this have to do with… Wait, yes you were!”

“I was not,” Rarity said. “Though my body was… with Navarone inside of it.”

“Wait, what?” Applejack said.

“I know a fun little spell that allows two ponies… or a pony and a human to trade bodies,” Rarity said. “Nav and I made a bet and swapped to see if anypony would notice. While the mayor was attempting to rape him in my body, I was actually being raped by Celestia.”

“Wait, the mayor tried to rape Nav?” Twilight asked. “You didn’t mention that part!”

“I didn’t know that part!” she said. “Not until recently. Nav told me after… I received a letter. It’s a moot point, because the mayor is dead. Nav killed him and got a changeling to temporarily replace him. The real point is, Celestia is… is… she’s a horny old cougar who uses us as cheap labor! She made you go to Detrot so she could let Nav buck her for two days straight!”

“That’s kinda hot,” Pinkie said.

“Closer to disgusting,” Applejack said. “So yeah, ain’t it our duty to deal with this?”

“It… is,” Twilight slowly said. “I’m just not sure… how. I mean… This is obviously too far. But we can’t go to the princess and… Well, she’s the only one who knows how to get to the Elements. Nav’s key could probably do it, but that’s no longer an option.”

“We have to do something!” Fluttershy yelled. “Nav is our friend!”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s our friend or not,” Applejack said. “Nothing deserves any of what happened to him and if the two rulers of our country are doing those kinds of things… Then maybe it’s time for new rulers.”

“Whoa, hold on there,” Twilight said, eyes going wide. “You can’t mean… Not Celestia!”

“Celestia hid what Luna did to Nav,” Applejack said. “You think she’d hide what Luna did to anypony else? Me, I’d wager yes. That’s pure corruption!”

“And evil,” Dash added with a nod. “We have to form a resistance!”

“I bet the naga would help!” Pinkie said, jumping in place. “Nav’s a member of their clan! They’d love to tangle with the princess!”

Before they could continue ineptly planning a coup, someone banged on the door, making everyone squeak. Moments later, it slammed open and a full squad of day guards entered, followed by an extremely irate Midnight Blossom. “You are all under arrest,” she called out. “For suspicion to hide multiple high crimes and to aid and abet a criminal.”

“You can’t be serious!” Dash yelled. “Look at the newspaper! Why are you arresting us and not the princesses?!”

“Luna is already behind bars and the only thing stopping Celestia from joining her is that she is Celestia. I suggest you come quietly. Shining Armor is currently at the library looking for Twilight, but he’ll be heading here as soon as he discovers she’s gone.”

“So why are you arresting us?” Twilight asked.

“Navarone told me that several of you knew some of what happened to him. I intend to discover how much each of you knew.”

“Then you’re wasting your time with Applejack and Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Nav hasn’t told them anything.”

“I’m not going to call that a coincidence,” Blossom said. “He didn’t name either. Very well, then. Applejack and Fluttershy, leave now and escape arrest.”

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Applejack said, plopping right down.

“If you’re going to Canterlot, I’m going with you!” Fluttershy said. “I need to yell at Celestia before I lose my will!”

“Fine, whatever, then you’re all under arrest!”

“Did Nav seriously send you to arrest us?!” Dash demanded.

“No, he asked me not to,” Blossom replied. “All I promised him is that I would wait until he departed. Watcher is gone, along with all his ponies. The scout we sent to Nav’s house reports that it’s silent. So that means it’s time for you all to come with me.”

“We won’t resist,” Twilight said. “And we’ll tell you everything we know, which isn’t as much as you’d think. We knew that Nav had trouble with the princesses, but this is… this is horrific.”

“The very fiber of Equestria is being challenged,” Blossom sighed. “The choices ponies like Captain Armor and I make in the coming days will shape the fate of the entire country going forward. Your cooperation is welcome. Guards, detain them.” Several more redshirts started filing in and that’s when the memory finally froze.

“They aren’t really redshirts,” Reason said. “More like gold.”

“Man, whatever,” I said. “So, it’s nice to see the girls actually ready to go after the princesses for me. You know, until the usual tyranny kicked in and they got busted by the woman. I’m willing to bet Celestia did a little snip-snip with them too, huh?”

“There’s only so much memory modification can do,” my guide said.

“Comforting. So what’s the takeaway here?”

“Despite what they may have thought of you as a person, all of the girls were prepared to do what was right,” Reason said. “Though some of them may have had hesitations about going after Celestia herself.”

“Then they weren’t prepared to do what was right,” I said. “Applejack was correct. Something was rotten in Equestria. That something was Princess Celestia. Get rid of her and Luna becomes putty in the hands of whoever happens to own her loyalty.”

“Should that not be all the more reason to maintain your pull?” Reason asked.

“No, that’s retarded. I need to get rid of that thing as quickly as possible. It has brought me almost nothing but misery and agony my entire time here. I’m not sure I’ll necessarily need the pull to keep everyone close.”

“The central thing keeping your incredibly diverse crew of psychotic killers together is their intense fascination with you,” Reason said. “Get rid of that and all you’re left with is a group of psychotic killers. Given enough time, they’ll do what all psychotic killers do.”

“If none of the people in my crew have formed any stronger bonds with anyone else in this crew at this point, then I’ve failed hard enough as a leader that I deserve those consequences. I’m confident that I’ll maintain the crew that I have even without this bullshit pull. Minus maybe Luna, who’s probably been the most affected by it.”

“And if Luna refuses to see sense and murders you because it ruined her life?”

“Now you’re just being dramatic. I’m kinda surprised Rarity was so open with that information about what happened with her and Celestia. I figured Celestia would have done some snipping there, too.”

“Again, it has limitations,” my guide said. “Things have to be recent. With Rarity, it had been almost a week. And besides, she had been in Celestia’s room for two days. Trying to get two days after that long would be difficult and might result in other memory losses.”

“To be honest, I’m surprised Celestia didn’t just rip the entire month away. I can’t imagine how awkward that conversation must have been. Did Rarity call her a horny old cougar to her face?”

“Rarity is still alive, so I would assume no,” Reason said.

“Good, then I’m gonna steal that line. So, friends do sometimes pull through, even if it is several years too late after several of them mistreated me too. So if Celestia didn’t snip their memories, how did that meeting go?”

“Individually,” my guide said. “Over the course of several long hours, answering quite a lot of questions until finally, she did what she does best.”

“Oh. That manipulative cunt.”

“Says the one who talks about manipulating her own filly,” my guide said, reaching over to boop me.

“Which is, again, my job as a parent. Get over yourself, Flo-lite.”

“Oh, would you rather I be Aqua-lite?”

“No. I’d rather you be my guide.”

“Then shall we carry on, oh wayward one?” she sarcastically replied.

“Yeah.” Her eyes flashed and on we went.

This time, we were in a huge field of rolling hills with a few huge trees here and there. It looked like things were moving around the trees, but they were all too far away to see clearly. Twilight and her brother were sitting across from each other, a wooden stump between them. “Interrogation room?” I asked.

“That would be correct,” my guide said.

“So you read some of Nav’s journals?” Shiny asked. “Why didn’t you tell anypony what was in them?”

“Because he added in so much nonsense that it was impossible to tell what was real and what wasn’t. For reasons that are now pretty obvious, he was paranoid. There was an entry where he says he paraded as a masked pony at his first Gala here to seduce me. There was another entry where he stayed with Luna the whole night. It was impossible to figure out the things I didn’t have direct knowledge of.”

“That is… so like him,” Shiny sighed, shaking his head. “You know, he told me about some of this once. At the Europe party, when he told me he was leaving…”

“He told you, too?!”

“He did,” Shiny said. “And that if I told anypony at all, that he was gone. He said the same to Cadance. Now that I know more, I understand why.”

“Well, it’s been a while, but I can tell you what little I do remember from what he wrote. I can also add in some of the other things I know. But I want to know how you’re planning on taking down Celestia.”

“Luna’s the weak link,” Shiny said. “We can’t hit them both at once. If we can convict Luna properly, then we’ll begin building the case against Celestia. But you know it won’t be easy, Twilight.”

“The right thing rarely is. The girls… they were talking about trying to fight! We can’t just sit back and wait for you to conduct an investigation. There has to be something for us to do!”

Shiny sighed and leaned back. “Who would have thought Nav would ever cause this?”

“Nav didn’t cause a thing,” Twilight said. “He’s the victim, Shiny. Luna caused this. And Celestia hid it.”

“And we’re going to try to convict her, but… she’s Princess Celestia. Despite an actual confession in front of several witnesses… And given that the victim wasn’t a pony—”

“That doesn’t make a bit of difference!” Twilight shouted, slamming both her hooves on the table. “Nav’s every bit as intelligent as any pony, and moreso than most!”

“It shouldn’t make a difference,” Shiny said. “But as Nav himself taught me, many things that should be, aren’t and many things that are, shouldn’t be. Luna is a princess. She abused something that was not a pony. Any court will take those facts heavily into consideration.”

“If they’ve done such horrible things to Nav, I refuse to believe they haven’t done worse.”

“Oh, they have,” Shiny said. “Nav told me that Celestia has modified my mind. I apparently discovered something she wanted hidden. And if he knows about a single instance, I can’t help but wonder how many might have slipped my notice entirely.”

“...I have missing time around Celestia, too,” Twilight slowly said. “I never thought about it in that way, but… Would she really…?”

“What crimes could they have hidden? What monstrous deeds have the princesses done? I fear nopony will ever know the depth of their evil. It’s… insidious.”

“What can we do to help you?” Twilight asked.

“Let’s start with your missing time,” Shiny said. “Tell me about that.” The memory finally froze as Twilight started yammering on.

“This obviously didn’t go very far,” I said. “Twilight was right back up Celestia’s ass the next time I saw her, a few months later.”

“Not entirely,” my guide said. “Not enough. This event shook Twilight and all of her friends. It is part of why she is now your little Twiggles.”

“So what’s the takeaway here?”

“Twilight spelled it out quite clearly. You are not, nor were you ever, at fault for what happened. In all of this, you are just a victim.”

“Duh. Even with the pull, every person who did horrible things to me had a choice to make. Mind, I’ve done some pretty fucked up things myself, but not raping someone is a lot easier than actually raping them.”

“When Luna confessed the way she did, she made you a victim yet again,” my guide said. “That was not your fault.”

“How is that not my fault?” I asked. “That was my ultimatum. My mistake was thinking she wouldn’t be dumb enough to actually do it.”

“Luna had a choice to make,” my guide said. “She knew she hurt you. You offered her a chance at forgiveness. She took it.”

“...I will never forget the look in her eyes,” I said. “The memory haunts me.”

“Why did you run?” my guide asked. “When she confessed in front of all of those reporters, why did you flee?”

“Because I never intended to forgive her. That was a lie. I just wanted to watch the two of them burn. And I ran because I saw the hope in her eyes. She honestly, legitimately believed I would forgive her.”

“So why did you run? Why not just tell her? Why not just tell all the world that what she did was unforgiveable?”

“Because I am a single human against two giants. Two literal goddesses who have been using me as a plaything from day fucking one. One of those giants just confessed to all the world that she had been doing whatever she pleased to me while the other just watched. Why wouldn’t I run?”

“You’re a coward.”

“I’m not an idiot. What was I supposed to do? Should I have told her that I wouldn’t forgive her and that she should go fuck herself?”

“In that moment, you stood a titan. You had the power of the entire crowd at your fingertips, Nav. All the reporters, all the knights, all the guards, everything. Luna gave you all the cards. And you threw them away.”

“I will admit that I could have handled things better.”

“You ran, tail between your legs, the instant you had the chance. Victory in your hands for the first time in a long time and you ran.”

“I have a survival instinct. From the moment Fancy told me we weren’t going to the castle exit, it started going haywire. By the time we got to where Luna was having the meeting, so many signals were going off in my head. Little alarm bells, things telling me that I needed to be somewhere else. Watching Luna confess is probably the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life.”

“You’ve literally seen into hell,” my guide said.

“It meant any chance I ever had of being a nobody again was gone. I wanted to go about the world, free the elementals, and find a place to settle down where I could live in peace. After Luna’s confession, I would always be known as the victim.”

“You are not at fault for what others do.”

“I knew Luna was insane. I knew she would stop at nothing to get me. When I gave her that ultimatum, I knew she would do it. I knew she would be crazy enough to actually fucking do it. I took advantage of Luna’s mental illness to score a hit against them both and I didn’t even realize what I had done until it was too late.”

“You. Are not. Luna.”

“I knew—” She actually covered my mouth with water.

“You suspected. She made the choice.”

“...And I don’t know if I can ever forgive her for it.”

“There is nothing that says you have to forgive anything. You just have to stop blaming yourself. That is for victims.”

“Will I ever be able to forget her eyes in that moment?”

“No. Are you ready to move on?”

“I’m starting to see why this coma spell has such a bad reputation. It seems so easy to get lost in memories…”

“Generally speaking, those who turn inward for answers would be much better off searching outward instead.”

“Let’s move on.” Her eyes pulsed and we finally went onward.

I appeared alone in a maze of boxes. My rifle was slung around my shoulder and my sword was in my belt. As soon as I looked around, I heard Miguel’s laughter. “Oh, I’m in Stalliongrad,” I said, drawing my sword. “When Miguel stabbed me in the back with a cursed vampiric dagger while Taya was freaking out.”

“And Flo panicked,” Miguel replied, his voice echoing all around me. “Leaving you almost entirely helpless…”

“And yet my filly and I were the ones who walked away.” I finally started walking, since I figured I wasn’t going to get any useful directions. At this point, I was much better skilled and could hopefully wipe the floor with him.

“Why did you come here?” Miguel asked.

“Discord tricked my filly, getting her to bring me here.”

“The coma, Navi. Why did you enter it?”

“Because I felt helpless. Because my body and mind were not my own. Because I needed a change and didn’t know how else to enact it. Why were you here, Miguel? What hold over you did Discord have?”

“He saved me in the revolution. He called it a favor for a favor, something to be cashed in later. While I was in Stalliongrad, he came to me and told me what I had to do.”

“He’s not here, now. We don’t have to fight.”

“He is everywhere you are, is he not?” Just like that, one of his paws reached around from behind me to slice one of my cheeks. I tried snatching it, but he was too quick. When I whirled around, he was already jumping backward. Before I could charge, he vanished in midair with a grin.

“…According to him,” I said, continuing to walk. The blood trickling down my cheek didn’t particularly bother me.

“Do you really think driving you to this coma wasn’t his plan?”

“Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. I’m here now.” I finally came to a four way intersection of boxes. The path leading right quickly veered off. The path straight ahead was narrow but clear for a while. The path leading left was wider, but had several more offshoots.

The unknown was slightly better than two options I knew were shitty, so I turned right and walked straight into the nicest jail cell I’ve ever seen. Luna was behind the bars. Celestia stood on the other side.

“Why are you here?” Luna asked.

“It isn’t often I have the opportunity to visit family in their time of need,” Celestia smugly replied. “Aren’t you happy your dear older sister came to visit you in prison?”

“You laugh now, but I know Shining Armor and Midnight Blossom are both still working on a way of taking you down.”

“Shining Armor need no longer concern either of us.”

“Oh? Did you finally take my advice and put that worthless stallion down?”

Celestia finally smiled. “The Crystal Empire returned. I sent Cadance to collect her birthright. Her husband, of course, went with her. Their lovely little alicorn foal has been left here in Canterlot, where it’s safe.”

“So you mean to let Sombra deal with them both and try again with Skyla.”

“Once they’ve both almost certainly perished, I’ll send in a trusted group to deal with him. With Skyla in my hooves, it will be easy to enforce governorship over their so-called empire. She will be much more grateful than her mother, I assure you.”

“So how do you intend to deal with Captain Midnight?”

“Any case she can build against me hinges on there being a case against you. If you aren’t convicted of anything, by definition, I can’t be either.”

“I confessed, sister. In front of enough witnesses that there can be no denial of my guilt. If I go to the gallows, it is with a heart finally unburdened.”

“Well, we’re in a fairly ideal position at the moment. Shining Armor is the only one with a shield powerful enough to keep you in. He is no longer here. Of course, he isn’t officially gone yet. I ordered that no word of it be spread, so that you would have no way of finding out.”

“I chose to enter these bars, Celestia. If Navarone cannot forgive me for what I have done, then I will accept whatever may come.”

“So here is the plan,” Celestia said. “You are going to escape. When you escape, you are going to your room and grabbing whatever you may need for an extended vacation.”

“I am going nowhere until it is ordered by the Courts of Equestria.”

Celestia grinned and reached through the bars to cup her sisters cheek. “My dear, sweet little Luna… I am Equestria. I am the courts. I am the law. I am everything to these ponies. I am Princess bucking Celestia. And you are done disobeying me, Luna.” She finally pulled her hoof back and stood up straight to stare Luna down. “Every choice you made led you to where you are right now. Your life is your fault, Luna. No more. I tried giving you fewer restrictions. I tried letting you live in peace and in luxury. But you couldn’t handle it. So if it’s war you want, it is war you shall have. An eternity of it, as much as you can possibly want. So when I leave this disgusting prison, you are going to be one step behind me. You are going to get whatever you require. And then you are going to Tartarus.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I will have Navarone hunted down and executed in front of you. I’ll be in touch.” Celestia’s horn lit up and she teleported away without another word. That ended the memory, putting me back in the maze. I had gotten further ahead while in the memory, but didn’t have any new injuries.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?” Miguel asked. “All of these paths lead to one place, you know…”

I finally sheathed my sword, lifted up my rifle, and turned on the thermal vision. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t anywhere in the building. So as soon as I lowered the rifle, I slammed it behind me, catching him in the chest with the butt of the gun. He staggered back and disappeared before I could try to finish him.

Since the rifle obviously wasn’t going to be useful, I slung it again, drew my sword, and continued to walk. Miguel finally stayed silent, so I had time to think about the last memory. Celestia was going to let Shiny and Cadance die, then send Twilight to avenge him. With Skyla’s parents dead, she would be putty in Celestia’s evil hooves. And instead of allowing Luna to do the right thing, she forced her to run.

“Is it any surprise that Celestia is evil?” Miguel asked.

“No. I’m just… tired of seeing it. The ponies deserved better.”

“And so you decided it was your place to give it to them.” This time, he appeared in front of me. My sword swung up to block the cursed knife he was thrusting at me. His other paw reached in and tried to scratch my other cheek, but I lunged forward and headbutted him, knocking him to the ground and sending the cursed dagger sliding across the floor. Right as I tried kicking him, he vanished, putting me off balance and almost knocking me to the floor.

Thankfully, he left the dagger behind when he vanished. I picked the evil thing up and stabbed it into a wooden box. Once I was sure it was stuck in place, I slammed my sword down on it, slicing the handle straight off the blade. The dagger screeched as it was sundered. When the handle finally hit the floor, I continued walking without a word.

“That was a gift, you know,” Miguel said, almost sounding personally affronted.

“Then it sounds like you should have chosen your allies better. My friends give much nicer gifts.”

It took me about another minute to get to an intersection. This time, there were only two paths forward. The path on the right led to a fairly wide walkway. The path on the left led to a box that I could easily use to get onto the other boxes. That’s obviously the path I chose.

I appeared in the throne room of the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor and Cadance. The lack of guards meant this was before I arrived. “Celestia sent us here to die,” Shining Armor said.

“The evidence seems to point that way,” Cadance sighed.

“...Twilight was right.”

“It’s more rare when she’s wrong, honey. What did she say this time?”

“She and the Elements of Harmony wanted to fight. What Celestia did was monstrous. Captain Midnight and I wanted to take her down legally. We thought the only way we could legitimately try removing her was with the courts, but…”

“But she is the court,” Cadance sighed, hanging her head. “And she sent us here, probably to die to this cloud of dark magic. All for trying to investigate her crimes.”

“...What are we going to do, Cadance? How are we going to survive this?”

“We have to hold on, Shiny. Celestia has been grooming me for this role for a very long time. I can see it all quite clearly, now that Nav has ripped the blinders of innocence from our eyes. She wants this city.”

“It’ll be hard to take it if a haze of black magic takes it and digs in deep.”

“Which means that she does not intend to let that happen. Celestia will send somepony else after she thinks we’re dead, somepony who will be able to help us.”

“Or who might be ordered to make sure we don’t come back.”

“So what are we going to do, Shiny?” Cadance asked. “There is no running. The train left us here. With that black magic, we can’t teleport out. We are… trapped. All we can do is wait and hope.”

“I… feel like I might be going mad, honey.”

“I’ve felt the same way for a long time, dear.”

“I actually… wish Nav was here. Some part of me feels like he would know what to do.”

“Nav is far from here,” Cadance said. “Retired, living a life of love and peace. Don’t wish him into this dark place. He has had his unfair share of trials and tribulations. This one is ours to face and beat, Shiny. We just have to… hold on long enough to do it.”

“I can defend you for a thousand lifetimes, my love,” Shiny said. “We will live to bring justice back to Equestria.”

“It will be a joyous day. We just have to figure out how to get there…”

The memory ended, putting me on a stairway of boxes leading straight up into the sky, as far as my eyes could see. I was surrounded on all other sides by an impenetrable wall of them. Since I didn’t really have any other choices, I started climbing the crates.

“You enjoyed stealing their victory,” Miguel whispered.

“No, that’s not true,” I said. “I enjoyed stealing Twilight’s victory. I didn’t give their victory any thought.”

“Your friend. The one who sheltered and helped you from the very beginning. And you wanted to steal her victory.”

“She was acting all kinds of selfish, saying it was for a personal test from Celestia and shit. As soon as I heard that, my goal became to make sure she failed it.”

“Some friend you are…”

“Some friend she is. Some sister, for that matter. She wasn’t there to help Shiny or Cadance. She just wanted to—”

I heard clothes flapping above me, so I jumped back a box as he landed where I had been standing. My sword sliced out to try and take out his legs, but he jumped over it and tossed a powder on the ground before disappearing. The powder spread out and got in my eyes, stinging them like crazy.

“A guide sure would be nice right about now,” I said, forcing myself to get back on the next box.

“It’s just you and me,” Miguel replied with a mean little chuckle.

I could barely see, so it was kinda surprising when the staircase of boxes ended. Unfortunately, it was only another level of the maze. Once again, I had three directions to choose from. My eyes weren’t working well enough to distinguish any of them, so I just continued going straight into another memory.

For some reason, my eyes were working properly now. It allowed me to see Celestia in Blossom’s office. Blossom looked very reasonably upset. Celestia seemed calm.

“So Luna chose to flee?” Celestia asked. “That’s troubling.”

“Every time I spoke to Luna, she said she had no regrets about her fate. She honestly answered every question we asked. She honestly said that she was happy to finally be brought to justice.”

“Hm, strange. Well, she could be anywhere by now.”

“I even asked her if she planned to escape. She told me no! We had the truth spell cast on her, so there’s no way she could have lied!”

“She must have changed her mind,” Celestia replied with a shrug. “It’s obvious she’s in no right state of mind.”

“...Why did you send Shining Armor away?” Blossom slowly asked.

“The Crystal Empire way up north has returned,” Celestia said. “He and his wife are uniquely skilled to take and hold the kingdom. They had to go before their opponent could claim it.”

“And you weren’t available to help keep a shield over Luna in his stead?”

“I’m afraid I’ve been at the party in Europe,” Celestia said. I happened to know that was a lie. All the information I got at the party said she was staying in Canterlot the whole time. “I’ve only just returned. I went to visit Luna only to find she wasn’t there!”

“I don’t like this. It all stinks.”

Celestia grinned and walked closer to the desk. Blossom leaned back in her seat. “I’m glad I have at least some good news for you, Midnight. Now that Prince Shining Armor has his own kingdom, we are due for a new guard captain. Despite Luna’s many issues, she knows soldiers and she knows loyalty. And she recommended you for the job every chance she could get. It is now within your reach.”

“I wasn’t aware Captain Armor had already been removed from the roster.”

“It won’t be official until he returns to muster out, but his replacement will need to begin working sooner rather than later if they are to catch Luna.”

“...Most guard captains before have been nobles.”

“Name your title and I’ll make it happen.” That actually made Blossom blink in surprise. “You give and obey orders well, Midnight. Nav told me all about your part in the war games. If you have the respect of both Nav and Luna, you are well worth whatever reward you might request. If a title is what you wish to become my new captain, then you shall have one.”

“That… that won’t be necessary, Princess,” Blossom slowly said. “I just… didn’t know if a commoner would be welcome in the highest position in the army.”

Celestia reached a wing over to poke her new captain on the nose. “This is Equestria, Captain Midnight Blossom. You will be welcome wherever I tell everypony you are welcome. Should you ever change your mind about a title, just let me know.” With that, Celestia started walking out.

“I’ll keep you up to date with the hunt for your sister,” Blossom said.

“Oh, please do. I’ll find it simply riveting.” And the memory finally ended with Miguel standing directly in front of me. I tried kicking him between the legs, but he jumped aside. He wasn’t able to dodge the punch to the side of the face, which knocked his head against the boxes.

Before he could hit the ground, he disappeared. I grinned and continued walking. “I’ve gotten a little better since last we met.”

“And I remain stagnantly dead in your memories. You can’t kill me, you know.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Taya killed me, not you.”

That… might be a setback. Well, depending on how this bullshit place works. Do I just need to survive or does he need to die?

My eyes were finally starting to hurt less, so I could tell now that the walls around me were lower than they had been, and it looked like I was coming up on another two-way intersection. As soon as I stepped into it, I caught a throwing knife in my left arm. I spun around, ripping the knife out and hunting for a target. I could see him on top of one of the walls. Before I could throw his own knife at him, he vanished.

Poisons didn’t really bother me, so I pocketed the knife and started walking left. This time I appeared on the deck of the ship. It was the far back of it, behind the wheel. Kumani and Kat were standing next to the rails. The pony at the wheel was grey.

“Nav is mine,” Kumani said.

“I understand. I have no intention of going after him while he’s with you.”

“He hasn’t told me much about you since we got on the ship.”

“That’s… somewhat surprising,” Kat said.

Kumani reached out and grabbed Kat by the throat, lifting her up over the back railing. “Spike and Doppel did, though.” Kat was trying to claw at Kumani’s scales, which wasn’t doing much. “And that’s when I remembered that we had actually met, at last year’s party. And while we were there, Nav told me exactly what you had done. So I kinda have to ask myself why I don’t just let go.”

Kat probably wanted to give a few reasons, but her throat was a little busy being crushed. The few noises she could make were unintelligible.

“You’re pretty lucky, though. If Nav invited you here, he had a reason. So I won’t kill you. I think I’ll hold you here for a little longer, though. A spanking wasn’t anywhere near enough punishment for a rapist. Maybe I’ll get lucky and my claws will get tired.” She finally loosened her grip just enough that Kat could only barely breathe.

Judging by the landscape, I’d say we had a pretty large time jump of about fifteen minutes. Kat was now crying and frantically trying to escape. Kumani was giggling at her useless attempts. I’m not really sure how nobody noticed this happening for so long, but we were finally getting into where it was really cold.

“If you keep jerking around like that, I might drop you,” Kumani finally said. “It’s almost like you want to die! Although… Hm, you know, going splat might not be the worst way for a rapist to go out. I told Nav I was going to talk to you. I can just tell him your temper got the better of you and I had to defend myself.”

Kat’s eyes widened and she tried shaking her head.

“Oh, so you don’t like that idea? Hm… Oops.” She actually let go. Kat probably would have screamed, but her throat was too fucked up. Kumani giggled and waited a few seconds before jumping off the side, ending the memory.

I didn’t know people were bullying Kat. She never said a word.

“Of course she never said a word,” Miguel replied. “Who would stand up for her?”

“Me. She did something wrong, but two wrongs don’t make a right.

“Three lefts do, though. And what matters is that she believes you wouldn’t stand up for her. After all, you picked Kumani, not her.”

“Who I picked has nothing to do with what behavior is or isn’t acceptable. Nonconsensually choking people is mean and if I had known about it, I would have stopped it.”

“You always did act like the great leader,” Miguel said with a chuckle. “And yet you’re so broken inside that you resorted to this. How can you ever lead anyone if your own life is in shambles?”

“I can’t. That’s why I’m working on getting my shit together. Again, the point of the coma.”

“And do you really believe these spirits are here to help you?”

“I sure fucking hope so. Not really worth thinking about at this stage, though. I’m in too deep and there’s no going back.”

“Have you ever considered that you spend too much time acting and too little time thinking?”

“No, I never stopped to consider it.” He actually snorted a laugh. “Thinking is really painful, all things told. No matter what I do, all my thoughts tend to go back to… certain things. Places like this stupid maze. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked it in my mind, going over what happened and what could have gone wrong.”

I felt a blade enter my bat wing, stabbing straight into it. As much as I wanted to spin around, that would be bad for my wing. Instead, I kicked backwards, pushing him back and knocking the knife out. I whirled around, wildly slashing out. Thankfully, my blade just barely nicked one of his legs, making him hiss and disappear.

“Run run run, fast as you can,” I said, continuing to move forward. “But you won’t escape me, I promise.”

“I am the hunter, not you!”

“Keep telling yourself that, kitty. I’m glad Taya put you down. I still remember those faces you had in your drawer.”

“And I still remember playing with Jocasta’s panties with you…” It didn’t sound like the sword affected him, but he fell silent.

It didn’t take much longer to find another three-way intersection. Since all roads led to the same place, I just kept going straight. I appeared in Doppel’s room. She was cuddling a mopey Taya. “You know he loves you,” Doppel said.

“Does he?” Taya bitterly asked. “It’s his birthday and he’s… he’s drinking again! He still isn’t happy here! He… he still doesn’t… love me enough…”

“Nav’s been through a lot,” Doppel quietly said. “I managed to snag a newspaper before we left, so I saw the articles. It was horrific…”

“...What articles?” Taya slowly asked. “He said Luna did some things to him, but he didn’t really say what!”

“W-well, maybe you should ask your father.”

“He won’t tell me anything! He doesn’t trust me!”

“Now I know that’s not true,” Doppel said, leaning in to nuzzle my filly. “Your father loves and trusts you, Taya. He just doesn’t want you to worry about him. And the news is… Well, it’s worrying.”

“I’m his filly! I need to know everything about him so I can be a better daughter! How can I cheer him up if I don’t even know what’s making him sad? Or if he locks me out so he can drink alone…”

“It’s difficult to be there for him when he locks you out, that’s for sure. I can’t believe he’s not even letting Kumani give him any special gifts!”

“Where’s the newspaper, Doppel? I wanna read it.”

“...I threw it away.” Taya’s horn lit up. They both looked at it. Doppel slowly gulped and they looked back at each other. “Your father would be really unhappy if I gave it to you, Taya.”

“He never talks to me anyway. It’s not like he’ll ever find out.”

“You know what you should do, Taya? You should start spending as much time as you can with him. Now that we’re on this ship, you can sit in his room with him all day long. And wherever he goes, you can go!”

“...You’re right! He can only escape me by flying away, and I can still make wings to stalk him even then!”

“Uh… stalk?”

“So how about bringing me that newspaper, hm? Your master’s filly commands it!”

Doppel sighed and rolled off the bed. “It’s only a matter of time before you find out anyway…” She reached into a drawer and pulled out the awful newspaper of doom. Taya snatched it away with magic and started reading. One of her hooves almost immediately shot to her mouth and tears started leaking from her cheeks. Doppel sighed and walked back to cuddle her again. “There’s a reason he didn’t want you to know.”

“This… this is awful!”

“And I’m sure he’s been through more, things that didn’t make the papers.” Taya tried pushing away from Doppel, but the changeling didn’t let go. “Let him have tonight, Taya. This is a tradition of his. Use the rest of today to formulate your plan for how to spend as much time with him as possible.”

“...What if he tries to avoid me?”

“Then use cuteness on him. And if push comes to shove, use magic on him. If he can’t see that you need a few minutes for a hug, then maybe you should make him see.”

“I don’t wanna make him mad…”

“And he doesn’t want to neglect you. He just doesn’t understand ponies that well. All the little things you do for him go right over his head, Taya. You need to force him to see that you love him, even if it requires hugging him all day and night.”

“...I won’t tell him I read this article. But I won’t forget any of it, either. Those monsters hurt daddy. One way or another, they’re gonna pay.”

“I… don’t think Nav wants you hurting anypony.”

Taya looked back at her cutie mark. “But my destiny is combat magic!”

“Then it’s time you put it to use,” Miguel said, breaking the memory. Doppel disappeared and Taya fell to the floor.

“Taya?” I said, gently poking her with a foot.

“Where are we?” she asked, looking around.

“In a maze, fighting Miguel. If you see him, toast him.”

“‘Kay.” She hopped to her hooves and we started walking again. “How did I get here?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Uh… Your birthday party? Why are we fighting Miguel again?”

“Because life is suffering, honey.” That answer seemed to satisfy her.

As tempting as it was to rub my filly’s ears as we walked, I didn’t want to distract her. I also wanted to start training myself away from touching her as much. It didn’t stop her from bumping up against me every few steps anyway.

“You’re so casual about putting your filly in harm’s way,” Miguel sighed, almost sounding disappointed. “What kind of parent are you?”

“You’re the one who brought her here. You’re also the one who said she had to kill you.”

“Who are you talking to?” Taya asked.

“Miguel. He’s doing this thing where he talks into my head. I thought it was out loud, but apparently not.”

“Huh. Are you sure you aren’t just going crazy?”

“One doesn’t preclude the other. Let’s just call it magic and leave it at that.”

“I thought you didn’t like using magic as an explanation,” Taya said.

“I do when it’s con—”

Miguel appeared in front of us, stabbing a dagger straight toward Taya. I grabbed his paw by the wrist and pulled him in for another headbutt. Taya grabbed his other arm and slammed him against the wall. The knife fell from his hand and he disappeared before she could do more.

“Since when could he teleport?!” Taya asked.

“Remember what I said about life being suffering? Kill on sight. Don’t throw him around or whatever, just tear out his organs.”

“Which ones?”

“I’m not picky. Just pick a few and go nuts.”

“I can’t believe you’re openly plotting my death,” Miguel said, feigning shock. “That really hurts…” I didn’t want to confuse Taya with more nonsense and there was no real reason to reply, so I didn’t.

The next intersection was another two-way. The left side slowly seemed to turn more to the left as it went. The straight option was another staircase. “Any preferences?” I asked.

“Those boxes look too high for me to climb…”

“Left it is.” We started going that way. Sure enough, I ended up inside another memory.

This time, it was in the meeting room on the ship. Kat and Watcher were sitting at the table across from each other. The walls were decked out with all kinds of hanging plants which I knew weren’t actually there.

“Nav says you were an assassin,” Watcher said.

“I was,” Kat replied with a nod. “For many, many years. I decided I didn’t much care for it, in the end.”

“Have you had any notable targets?”

“Yes. I was just recently hired to assassinate Princess Gilda. I betrayed my mark by warning King Bloodbeak, who I knew was a friend of Nav's.”

“I hear you have a history with Nav.” Kat didn’t reply. “Nav was at the center of all kinds of rumors and I had access to records most don’t. You know, there’s even a picture of the tattoo he had when he got back, in one record.”

“...Nav and I have come to an understanding.”

“I’m aware. That’s why I’m talking to you instead of throwing you off the side. I understand that the actions we take in the past don’t always have to define us. There is room for forgiveness in this world, and there are always chances for repentance.”

“That is why I am here, Watcher. I made a mistake that I want to make up for. Navarone was kind enough to offer me the chance.”

“Do you know why we’re on this journey?”

“No, and it doesn’t matter. I’m here to follow Nav’s orders. And just to… be with him.”

“Be careful who you say that to. I think Taya and Kumani might also have an idea of what you did.”

“I knew I would face repercussions for my actions. I am not afraid. Time with Nav will soothe whatever may come.”

That made Watcher lift an eyebrow. “This seems a little beyond wanting to fix a mistake. You wouldn’t happen to love him, would you?”

“With all my heart.”

“I honestly didn’t expect you to just admit it. Does Nav know?”

“Probably not. His heart is lost to me. I can see it in his eyes. He can barely tolerate my presence. The thought that I might care for him could drive him away entirely…”

“For some strange reason, Nav trusts you. I have my doubts, but I do know that you’ve been honest this entire conversation. That’s… promising.”

“Nav offered me a place here. I intend to do nothing to make him regret it. Perhaps, in time, he will… forgive me.”

“Do you have any miscellaneous skills? Cooking or alchemy, maybe?”

“I know basic poison making, though I doubt I’d recognize any ingredients you’d have on paw. I can also cook, though most of what I’d make would probably be too spicy for ponies.”

“Talk to Sunny and see if she has a place for you on the kitchen rotation. Zecora is our resident alchemist, if you think you can help her. And if you’re interested in learning more about poisons, one of the mares in my team, Nightshade, could assist.”

“Knowledge is power, or so I’ve heard. And I’d be happy to talk to Sunny. Cooking is a good way to earn friends quickly, after all!”

“Do you have any issues with other races? I’m not sure who all you’ve met, but we have two dragons, a naga, a changeling, a zebra, and a minotaur.”

“The only race who might attack me on sight are the elephants. I don’t know too much about changelings, dragons, or minotaurs, though.”

“Doppel would be happy to talk as much as you want. She also feeds off lust, so she would be happy to help you relieve stress as well. Jak is the blacksmith and can help you maintain any equipment. He can likely also help forge new things, given enough time.”

“I’ve already spoken to Doppel,” Kat said with a slight blush. “She was just as curious about cats as I was about changelings. It was… enlightening.” Why can’t I see that memory? “I’m in need of a few weapons, so I’ll introduce myself to Jak soon.”

“The last thing I have for you is a warning.” That made Kat roll her eyes. “No, I’m not going to threaten you or anything cliche like that. Watch yourself around Taya. She’s… protective of Nav. And he’s even more protective of her. She also happens to be strangely powerful for a filly, and skilled in the types of magic that turn ponies inside out. Add in that she’s impatient and quick to jump to violence and you have a very unpleasant little combination. If she knows what you did, she might be out for blood.”

“...Nav said he would speak to her. I assume he handled it, because she’s been nothing but sweet to me.”

“You’ve been warned. Go introduce yourself to Sunny.”

“Very well.” She got up and that ended the memory. Taya didn’t seem upset in the slightest, so I assumed she hadn’t heard it.

“This place seems bigger than the last warehouse,” Taya said. “How did we get here, again?”

“It’s a very long story. The short version is that you don’t actually exist, you’re just a construct brought to me by a magical coma to help me defeat a visual representation of a piece of mental trauma. The reason you don’t know how you got here is because you literally didn’t exist until you were created to help me.”

“Oh. You coulda just said it’s a dream, daddy.”

“Eh.”

“I can’t believe you just told your filly she doesn’t exist,” Miguel said. “You’re the worst parent ever!”

This way I don’t have to keep lying to her. I also don’t have to keep answering question after question.

A loud chime went off behind us. We whirled around to find Miguel stuck in a magical trap. Taya’s horn lit up and his spleen, appendix, and brain all tore out and fell to the ground with squelches. She immolated the body moments later.

“That’s my filly!” I said. While she was toasting him, I impaled his brain with the sword. With it stuck, I lifted it up and held it over the fire to let it burn, too. When enough of the body was gone that I was confident we were good, I nodded. “That was much easier than I thought it would be, to be honest.”

“Were you underestimating me, daddy?” Taya sweetly asked.

“No, I just expected you to try throwing him around a few more times until actually getting lethal in an attempt to prolong this section of the coma to make me see more visions.”

“No, there aren’t any more,” she replied. “I was trying to roleplay it better, but you ruined it by telling me.”

“...Taya?”

“No, it’s Hope. She hasn’t joined you yet.”

“Oh. I was going to give you a hug and scritch your ears, but I’m not supposed to touch you guys.” Of course, that made her pout. “So, does that mean we’re done here?”

“We are,” my guide said, finally appearing before me. She reached out some watery goodness to heal the cuts and stabs on me. It felt much better, that’s for sure. “You have a new message. Are you ready to return to the grove?”

“I am.” Her eyes flashed and we returned to the place of resting.