Your Majesty,

First the good news, agent Prominence has managed to capture subject AAA34 in the ruins of Las Pegasus and he is currently being held in a temporary facility set up there. Reinforcements from the paladins and Royal Guards from Vanhoover have already arrived alongside your Hex Guard barrier magic specialist and several EIS agents.

Subject is in no state for transport to Canterlot, having been severely wounded during the battle but he is recovering quickly. The same cannot be said for agent Prominence. If I may be blunt, I have no idea how she is still alive. From the testimony of the only other remaining agent who was still alive when we arrived it seems that AAA34 killed everyone else in a rather visceral fashion to fuel his blood magic. Unfortunately, said agent passed two hours later from severe blood loss despite our efforts. All clues point to agent Prominence having to suppress the subject on her own in the end and paying the price for it. We have used as much power as we could spare for a stasis spell but even if we somehow can get her to Canterlot or Ponyville I’m not sure she can be saved.

However, she’s still holding on, whatever is left of her, so we’re sending her along with an escort before the stasis runs out. If you could send somepony to meet us halfway with rested unicorns able to reinforce the stasis as well as a proper medical personnel it might increase her chances.

That said, we are going to need reinforcements. The subject is beating against the barriers we’ve set up and I’m not sure how long we can last with this much magic attracting wild Corrupted.

Agent Starshine, EIS.

As Thirteen stands over the limp and lifeless body of Three, One emerges from the surrounding darkness.

“How dare you fall asleep while he’s in danger?!” she bares her fangs, venom dripping down One’s chin and sizzling against the invisible floor, mirroring the queen’s barely contained fury.

“What? I- I-” Thirteen shuffles backwards, her eyes jumping in pure horror from Three to her mother, “We- We just went to sleep on a train. Everything was okay-”

“Until you stopped watching over him, until you gave up, until your lazy ass decided that you just were too tired to go on,” One says in a mocking tone, “And that’s when they struck. All they had to do was wait until you just couldn’t go on, my ass.”

“But I- we didn’t have time to get any love since Canterlot,” protests Thirteen weakly, her knees buckling under her, making her sit down by Three’s corpse, “We had to rest-”

“ALWAYS QUICK WITH THE EXCUSES, YOU PATHETIC WHELP!” screams One, “Boss believed in you and you let Three die!” One grows claws in a flash of green light, grabs Thirteen’s mane, and violently twists it to force her to look into Three’s glassy, blue eyes.

“No, no, no, no-” Thirteen keeps repeating, tears pooling in her own.

“DON’T YOU DARE CLOSE YOUR EYES! DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM YOUR MISTAKES AGAIN!” One pushes Thirteen’s head closer, “They all died while you were asleep, your worthless larva!”

“No, no, no, no, no-”

“Why couldn’t it be you instead of them?!”

“I WISH IT WAS ME!” Thirteen turns her head despite One’s hold, feeling the sting as her mane gets ripped off, and faces One, “EVERY DAY I WISH IT WAS ME! I’M JUST TOO WEAK TO DO IT MYSELF! I DON’T HAVE THE COURAGE TO END IT!”

“I do!” growls One and her jaws close around Thirteen’s throat with a stab of pain and a crunch that resonates through Thirteen’s entire body.

“Haah!” Thirteen sits up, gasping for breath and looking around the interior of the train car dim even to her eyes. Gradually, her panicked breathing slows down as she catches the sight of Three whose foreleg twitches for no apparent reason. She wipes her forehead.

Looks like neither of us is having a peaceful rest. Geez, we don’t even have sweat glands, and yet I’m drenched…

Next to Three, Magpie is glaring at her with one eye open.

“Sorry,” Thirteen whispers, “Just a bad dream, that’s all.”

The griffon nods and closes his eye again.

Too sleepy to even get mad at me. Small victories.

Harriet is nowhere to be seen, though, and Thirteen doesn’t feel like going to sleep anytime soon. She knows she’s scraping the bottom of her love reserves but the echo of pain of her mother’s jaws snapping her neck is still too raw in her memory despite the rest of the nightmare quickly fading beyond recall.

Thirteen looks upwards, eyes widening. Someone is on the roof of the train car, she’s sure of it. She looks at Magpie and Three who has rolled over and now has his face pressed against the griffon’s back.

Should I wake them up? Nah, I can always just call out. It’s clear that Magpie sleeps lightly.

Maybe her changeling ears are the only way to catch the faint noise of something creeping above them over the noise of the train. She can’t be certain how long it’s been since they boarded the train, hibernation is a problem like that. Changelings normally have perfect sense of time, mostly due to the hive mind processing the information of others on some deep level. Even solitary changelings possess excellent internal clocks but hibernation throws all that off.

The freight car has five access paths - a large, sliding metal door on each of the long sides, a smaller door serving as access from the front and the back during the ride, and a hatch on the top big enough for an adult male griffon.

The roof creaks again.

After a quick examination, Thirteen puts two and two together, namely Harriet being missing and several of the cargo crates everywhere stacked into stairs leading up to the roof hatch. Unused to walking inside a quickly moving object, Thirteen carefully opens the hatch and peeks out, immediately deafened by the roaring wind.

Yep, it’s Harriet.

The Corrupted is slowly walking across the roof, occasionally stopping for a moment and staring into the distance. It doesn’t look as if she is busy patrolling or looking out for any danger.

Oh, shoot!

Suddenly realizing how loud the howling wind really is, Thirteen pulls herself up onto the roof and closes the hatch behind her. Unfortunately, the second she lets go of the handle and takes a step towards Harriet, the train shakes.

She loses her footing, immediately flung to the side, and manages only a brief yelp before a blur shoots towards her and yanks her forward. Thirteen lands on her belly in front of Harriet, whimpering and focusing on stabilizing her breathing for now as the mare sits down by her head.

“Are you okay?” she asks. Normally, her voice would be barely audible in this situation but changeling ears are adaptive.

“Y-Yes...” says Thirteen, “T-Thank y-you.”

She remains lying on the roof, all four legs spread for support.

“Do you need help getting back inside? Is there any trouble?”

“N-No...” Thirteen shakes her head as little as she can, “And no. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep any time soon.”

“How come?”

“I had a nightmare about mom,” sighs Thirteen.

“From what I heard Gem say about your mother, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“She will,” Thirteen looks up at Harriet with a dejected expression, “It’s me who has no idea what I’m doing here. Dad said I was to keep an eye on Three so that he wouldn’t get into trouble and look where we are. I think the real reason was so that I’d have some time away from mom to clear my head but the further we get the more lost I feel. I feel… I feel… as if she was right all along. More and more. Even if we get to Windy and stay there until Gem thinks it’s a good idea to come for us, I’m not sure whether I should return home. I’m just staying quiet and hoping things will work out somehow because I have no idea how to be of any help.”

“I know how you feel,” Harriet pats her head.

“Do you, really?” Thirteen looks at her as skeptically as she can while lying spread-eagle on her belly and desperately trying not to slide away, “You’re big, you’re pretty, you’re strong as hole-”

“I’m a Corrupted, the sky is gone in part because of my involvement, and I left my home despite my dad telling me to stay put as he flew away to the Dragon Lands to give my mom a dragon burial. I had no plan other than to find professional dragonslayers and make them answer for their crime using a frying pan, Thirteen. That’s why I’m up here,” Harriet sighs, “I couldn’t sleep either and I didn’t want to wake any of you up with my pacing. Dragons aren’t the best parents. I have no idea how my dad will react or if he’s still even in Windy. For all I know, he might have left the village for good when he didn’t find me after his return. He might even consider me just a dangerous monster now, especially if the corrupted territory near Windy spread far enough over the past year. Same goes for all the other residents who have been part of my life since I was little. I’m coming home...” Harriet pauses, “And I don’t know if I even still have a home.”

“Oh...” Thirteen blinks, “Kinda puts my problems into a perspective. At least I know dad will be happy to see me again. Maybe Eleven too. And the Hundreds...”

“I think I heard about Eleven? Another changeling, right?”

“Mhm,” Thirteen nods, “Eleven’s this weird hive mind anomaly, a mind that not only can but has to control multiple bodies at once. Guess how many!”

“Three and a quarter,” Harriet smirks at Thirteen.

“Exaaactly!” Thirteen chuckles, Harriet’s aura of peaceful warmth calming her down despite the situation, “You wanna hear about my home?”

“Sure, but only if you sit up at least. Don’t worry, I won’t let you get blown away,” one of Harriet’s back tentacles wraps around Thirteen’s barrel as the changeling very slowly pulls herself into a sitting position next to the Corrupted, “See? It’s not so bad. The train shakes from time to time but once you get used to it it’s not much different from walking around during a storm.”

“I disagree...” mutters Thirteen, sitting but painfully aware of every tremor of the metal roof underneath her, “Storm, earthquake, and a tornado at the same time more like.”

“Now, how about those changelings back home?” Harriet gently nudges her, “Gem never told us too much because the details about your hive and the dwarf city were secret but, you know, it’s a little too late for that.”

“Heh, that’s true,” Thirteen nods, finally steadying herself by leaning against Harriet, “Well, if we go by ranks, then dad’s at the top. He’s the best-”

“I heard,” laughs Harriet, “Mostly from Three but even Gem always speaks highly of him.”

“Yep! He used to be a drone like Three but-”

Harriet smiles to herself as Thirteen’s voice gradually calms down during the description of her hive and the changeling looks genuinely happy for the first time since they met.

Three wakes up in the pitch blackness of the hive mind, alone but unafraid. He sits up, rubs his eyes, lets out a squeaky yawn, and looks around.

“Mister Wistful?” he calls out, “Anyone else?” he adds when there’s no answer.

That’s unusual. He’d spent some time as just an incorporeal hive mind personality and even then there always was some kind of turmoil, distant echoes of experiences of others, or other shadows. No this time, though. Everything is deathly silent.

At least for a few moments until something like a perfectly vertical rolling disc of a nebula appears hanging in the air and slowly spinning.

“Ooh, neat!” like the scientifically curious drone that he is, Three immediately pokes it. It feels wibbly, is the best description he comes up with. Kinda cold as well.

For some strange reason, there’s the faintest stream of love coming out of it. Nothing strong enough to feed him, though. As soon as it clicks in his head, however, he concentrates on the taste and his mouth opens into possibly the widest smile he’s ever done.

In response, the nebula cloud shifts, tendrils of darkness shoot out of it, and twist in the air until they form…

...a changeling. And not just any changeling.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSS!” Three lunges at the materializing familiar figure, flies straight through, and rolls on the floor on the other side like the happiest little black ball ever.

Confused little black ball.

“Huh?” Three gets back on all fours, shakes his head, and gives the figure slowly turning towards him a puzzled look, “Boss?”

“Hi, Three,” says the boss.

“BOOOOSSS!” Three gives lunging another shot with the same lack of effect.

“I hope Seven managed to do this, it must be some incredibly complex spell to find you despite the corrupted landscape,” says the boss.

“What did Seven do? What do we do now? Where are you?” Three speaks over him, “How are things at home?”

“Well, here goes,” boss takes a deep breath, ignoring Three completely, “I want to start by saying that we’re all okay and I hope you and Thirteen are as well. Uhh, that’s not entirely correct, part of the reason why I tasked Seven with doing this is exactly so that he doesn’t keep torturing himself for what he did in Zebrica. If there’s anyone who can figure out how to use magic despite corruption all around then it’s him with his, you know, divine gift.”

“Awww,” Three frowns, coming to the correct realization, “It’s just a message...”

“Anyway, considering we have no way of contacting you directly or even finding you, I just want you to know that I’m thinking about you and Thirteen every day. I hope you’re staying put wherever it’s the safest. Now, if you’re around Ponyville or Pine Hills I have good news for you. Two’s expedition discovered a Silversmith city in mostly working order southeast of Chrysalis’ old hive. They’re going to re-settle it with the majority of the dwarves from Brauheim. Right now, my own expedition consists only of the most adventurous dwarves who want to explore tunnels under Zebrica and see if there are any other abandoned cities. It looks like the Living End project that made the old dwarves transfer their minds into machines really hit the entire population because even Five’s expedition found an outpost empty of life, only with mechanical guards,” boss shakes his head, “And before you ask, I haven’t gotten any news about more friends like Stompy but I’d be surprised if there weren’t any other mechs with their memories at least partially intact.”

As the boss keeps talking, Three realizes that the message must be weeks old. The thing is, while news and recap of the state of the dwarven migration are interesting, and hearing boss’ voice again is the best thing ever, there has never been a time when Three needed his personal guidance more.

“I’m scared, boss,” says Three, “I don’t know if you heard but I helped get us out of princess Candy’s prison. They weren’t mean to us there or anything but I just thought that there was no reason to stay after we finished the farming machines with the crystal ponies. I just… I wanted to go back home as soon as possible but… but we had to escape and it turned into all this huge mess and so many ponies died and I don’t know what to do now because it’s my fault and ponies are now looking for us and hate us even more and I don’t trust myself to know what the right thing is anymore. We even got to Tartarus and spoke to Flow and I thought he could help us fix everything but he can’t and the universe is gone for good and it’s all getting cold, griffons are all sad and hungry, ponies are all sad and hungry, and everyone is terrified of the future. I don’t know how to help anymore… we’re just hiding and hoping for the best, that someone smarter will figure things out. You were in this position all those years ago and you took charge and knew what to do. I wish you were here so much...”

“-and that’s how we found out that Hundreds were fixing bowling matches by pretending to be the balls,” finishes the boss.

“Whuh?” that derails even Three’s train of worries.

“And one final thing,” adds the boss, “I don’t know if Seven will be able to do that but I’m sending you something special. Hard Reset didn’t allow me to send you the BFG in case the spell would send it somewhere unsafe but I did talk him into a hoof-mounted energy field generator. It’s super complex and I don’t have Six here to explain it but in short it can absorb energy and emit it again. The dwarves said they set up two things on it - one is a small, directional shield and two is… well, you’ll see. Don’t worry, it won’t blow up or anything and I’m sure both you and Thirteen are going to like it. On a personal note, when I sent you to the Crystal Empire, everyone thought it was only because Cadance knew you, because you were harmless or, in One’s words, too adorable to chop into pieces on sight,” he shakes his head, “They were all wrong. I sent you, Three, because you were the one who genuinely only wanted to help, no strings attached, no duplicitous thoughts. You can see into ponies and you know right from wrong better than me, definitely better than One or Comfort, better than anyone really. Your only fault but also your greatest strength is that you believe in the good inside everyone. Of course, some creatures might be good deep down but the effort of bringing it out can do much more harm along the way. But, the biggest BUT, you were the only one right about Star Trail all those years ago. What I’m trying to say and turning it into incoherent rambling is that I didn’t send you out because you were the least one to get hurt but because I know you were the best suited for this. I believe in you and you should believe in yourself wherever you are. You can come to a better judgement than anyone as long as you don’t rush into anything blindly. ”

Boss looks down straight ahead and smiles. Three rushes over to face it. It just feels so much better.

“And that’s all. I bundled this message so that only you would be able to hear it in full. See you when it’s safe again, Three, and tell Thirteen that both I and One love her. We really do, even if One’s a stubborn idiot sometimes. She just can’t remember how much it took for any of us to get where we are now.”

“Boss, I miss you so much,” Three lunges at the boss one final time.

“Nnnngh!” Three’s aggressive jab right into Magpie’s throat wakes the griffon up.

“What the- freaking- stupid bughorse!” hisses Magpie, rolling away and constantly cursing. As the changeling’s forelegs twitch again, seemingly reaching for something, the griffon shoots him a dirty glare before freezing.

Someone’s on the roof. And where and when did the idiot get a damn FAKE BEARD?! I’m pretty sure he didn’t have it with him.

A quick glance around reveals Harriet’s and Thirteen’s unattended backpacks. Magpie lets out a sigh of relief which turns into a choked gasp as he hears a lock click. How can he hear it inside a moving freight train? He doesn’t know. It’s an instinct honed by at this point at least a thousand of nights sleeping in a completely hostile territory.

Harriet and Thirteen might or might not be on the roof but they sure don’t have the keys to the back and front doors.

He quickly tosses a blanket over Three, jumps to the side doors aided by a mighty flap of his wings, slides it open just enough to slip outside and grab the ladder leading to the roof right next to it. After a second of getting used to the rushing wind, he jumps into the air, completely disappearing into the darkness.

Three griffons wearing military-style camouflage suits quietly enter the train car from the car in front of it, sneaking ahead, each one wearing a headlamp and an earpiece. Around their belts, they have a combat dagger, a telescopic blackjack, and a pistol holster each as well as something of heavier caliber on their back next to their backpack.

Their triangle formation reaches the cleared out space with three backpacks and a blanket on the floor. The one in the front immediately pulls the blanket off of Three and takes a step backwards. When the changeling doesn’t move, one from the two in the back removes the shotgun from his back, nudges Three with the barrel, and backs off again, aiming at him.

“Mhmm?” Three rolls over, blinks as the bright light of the headlamp reflects in his eyes, “Who- oof!” his words get muffled as the leading griffon grabs and squeezes his muzzle.

“Where’s the Redtalon?!” he asks and carefully lets Three’s muzzle go, “Don’t even think of shouting, bug.”

“What’s a red talon?” Three furrows his brows, looks down at his forelegs, and notices he’s wearing the good old beard, “Yay! When did I get it back?”

“Alright, it won’t talk,” says one of the duo in the back, carefully watching the area, “Kill it. Quietly.”

The point guard griffon raises his armored fist and brings it right against Three’s temple at full force.