Megan's eyes wandered over the charred pile of meat that only a few moments before had been a changeling princess. The only things that now identified it as such were the unburned hooves and its unique body shape. Nothing, however, could indicate that this was not a normal horse that the humans were familiarized with. A sigh escaped the lips of the Avatar of Fire, so hot that the sight blurred before her eyes. She could not remember ever having reached such temperatures as today.

Still, she was satisfied with the result. It was very therapeutic to release the pent-up hatred on someone who had brought themselves in this situation in the first place.

It was by far not the first life that she had ever taken, and would certainly not be the last. She would remember this death longer than most, however. Maybe there would be some regret mixed in, because that anger had been meant for Chrysalis, but mostly with satisfaction. Perhaps she would feel the loss of one of her children.

With one last look to make sure she had not left any identifiable trace, she turned away. As she now walked through the destroyed shop and looked out at the chaos on the street, that seemed a rather insignificant thing to concern herself with. What was really important now was Blue Light.

The stallion she had known and loved was dead, of that there was no doubt. She had seen his remains and had been to his funeral in Canterlot. Back then she had been in the form of a golden mare, which Mothma chose to use in her works in this world. She would never again feel his touch, and whoever believed to lure her with that whiff of hope would experience what it meant to suffer pain.

With a large leap, Megan stepped through the window and into the street. Sirens could be heard in the distance. It would not be long for the military and anti-terror units to arrive. By the time the camouflaged soldiers appeared, she would be long gone. Not that they posed a threat to Megan, but very much so for her friend Mothma and her offspring. One just needed enough bullets, or something that was large enough to overpower the natural regeneration of the changelings.

There was still one thing she had to do. Her steps took her to an abandoned shop a few doors down that offered clothing at discount prices. Nothing she would normally wear, but for the moment it would have to do. She had no desire to fly naked when her flames extinguished.

She had no eyes, but she could see. She had no ears, but no sound remained hidden. She had no body, but felt the world around her: the wooden floor beneath, the cold stone walls, the dust in the air, and even the water surface a few kilometres that the smallest creatures called home. All these impressions and more simultaneously slammed into Amaryllis. It was like an explosion of colours that beat down on her incessantly. She tried to rush to escape, but no matter which way she directed her attention, it only got worse. Finally it felt as if she would break apart, but nothing happened.

Another wave of impressions surged onto her being, unrelenting in their assault. She felt the emotions of thousands, nay millions of people. The love they shared with their neighbours, the envy and hatred that lingered in hearts and minds, and also the panic of those around her. Panic—this was what attacked her. The fear of the humans around her had an effect on her, and caused her in turn to be affected by the emotion. For the first time, Amaryllis understood what it meant to be the Avatar of Emotion. The same way she ruled over them, they in turn held considerable power over her.

Knowing that it was not her own panic she felt, she urged back the sensations and looked around. She was still had in the small shop Megan had thrown her in. At the thought of her name, she felt unspeakable grief and anger. As before, however, these emotions did not originate from within her. This source was moving rapidly from its current location, heading back into the direction that Amaryllis knew led to the hotel.

Amaryllis wanted to take up pursuit, but something kept her at this location. A look behind her stole her voice, if she had one. If she had not known that she had lain at that spot, she would not believe it. These charred remains, the singed flesh, and the ashes were all that remained of her body. For a moment she was so stunned that the world came out of focus. That was her body, the body in which she was born. The body that Chrysalis and her father had come together to create. The body she had learned to love, her connection to the physical world.

However, she was not simply a physical being, right? She was still here and felt alive as ever. "Alicorns cannot easily be killed," Amaryllis murmured, remembering what she had been taught. “Magical weapons, which can do more than just cut the body, are needed to get rid of us.”

Blue Light had died when Nightmare Moon's magical blade severed his head from his neck, this also cutting his soul. Megan was one of the four aspects of nature. While she might be a magical creature, her flames were not. They were as natural as anything else. Amaryllis, therefore, was not dead, just that she lacked a body and could not return as she currently was. All the emotions, not only those around her but all in reality, were now her body. All that moved within this formless body was her consciousness. It was all what she saw, heard, and felt.

Amaryllis reached out once again, and this time she found Thiemo. As she done with Megan, she felt rage and grief swirling around within him. He must have felt the separation between them and had assumed the worse. She needed a vessel, a bond to again interact with the physical world. Strangely enough, she had an inkling of what she needed to do. Amaryllis looked down upon her burnt remains that had been callously left for nature to claim, and began to work her magic. The ash and other residues rose briefly in the air before disappearing in Amaryllis’ usual purple magical aura. However, she still needed more natural material. Too much had fallen victim to the flames.

The wood in the shop was next to be added, along with some plants that had served for decoration. Dead insects and rats came from the walls and the cellar under the shop, and finally everything that she could filter from the air. Certainly, it was not enough to reform her old body, but that was not what she had in mind. In the ages gone by, ponies had once been prey, living in herds to protect against the hunters of the day. Even with several thousands of years in evolution, they had not gotten rid of their biggest weakness: bodies which were unsuited for combat. Amaryllis had planned to try it anyway, now that she knew Chrysalis had lied to her, but this way would work as well. With confidence, she began to work.

Evelyn was afraid. Her mother was gone, and people jostled her from all sides. Nobody seemed to mind that they hurt her as they all ran away from the large explosions. However, that was exactly the place where her mother had been. Finally, the six year old girl reached the alley where she had been shopping with her ​​mother. Everywhere looked as though someone had passed and thrown large stones through the windows, carving a path of destruction. Dark spots were splattered on the walls, and destroyed goods lay scattered on the ground.

"Mama!" cried the girl, the voices of the other people in the background still clearly audible. "Mama, where are you?!"

The girl stopped and listened, but no one answered her. Her hand clutched the glowing stone she had received from the nice boy and aimed with her wand at the dark shops she passed.

A creaking sound surrounded her. A shop sign had come loose from its mount and crashed onto the ground. Sparks flew around, and Evelyn did what their parents told her and kept her distance.

"Mama?" she tried again, retreating as fast as she could. However, her tiny legs came to a halt as she spotted something nearby. Colourful lights danced in one of the shops. Well, there were no sparks, so the young girl dared to take a look. What she saw left her gaping in awe. It looked like thousands of fireflies dancing around the room. They flew around the overturned shelves, lit up the room in all colours of the rainbow, before some swarmed over to her. Evelyn giggled as the gaudy lights hovered around her head, some buzzing through her arms, before they began to circle the stone in her enclosed hand.

"You want the stone?" she asked, with amazement still in her voice. Of course the lights gave her no answer, but she held out her hand that held the stone. Immediately, more of the otherworldly wisps came over, and to her great surprise, the stone began to dissolve into more balls of light. When the last bit of stone was completely gone, all the gathered glowing balls kept still for a moment before they moved further back into the store.

"Wait!" Evelyn called after them and tried to follow. The light now resembled a swarm of angry locusts, buzzing around erratically and wildly, before they moved behind a shelf in the back of the store. Immediately, as Evelyn reached the place, the stench of burning meat reached her nose, including hair. However, the strong smell was forgotten when once again her eyes fell on the fireflies. They circled a burnt spot on the floor and began to encircle it faster and faster.

With a bang, Evelyn fell to ground, just like the remaining shelves in the shop which had not done so up to that moment. A wave of purple light flew away above her head, and something seemed to inhale within the room.

Amaryllis blinked, once again with physical eyes. Muscles stretched for the first time, and she took a deep breath with her ​​new lungs. The world seemed darker, as though colour was missing. The difference in human’s eyes to what she was accustomed to was another sensation she hadn’t considered as well. However, she would get used to it. It was just like her legs since they felt unusual, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she could feel the ground. They felt so fragile, and had she not seen them in action with Thiemo, she would not dare even to take just a single step.

Amaryllis slowly lifted one of her new legs and was immediately overcome by the feeling of falling. However, before this could happen, she placed her foot on the ground again. She had just taken a step, she realized. It was unusual, but not what should be an impossibility. Amaryllis repeated the game, this time with the other leg, and stepped out of the charred indentation in the ground. Arms outstretched, she tried to move every part of her body, wiggling her toes, fingers, arms, and wings. Probably because she was familiar with the latter, they obeyed her and spread themselves out.

"A fairy!" a voice suddenly shrieked. Amaryllis looked around for the source. What she spotted was a little girl with blonde hair, dressed in a black robe and looking up at her.

“What?" asked the princess in amazement. She blinked again and brought a cautious hand to her throat. Her voice had also changed. It was higher than before and had lost some of its volume. New vocal cords in a smaller skull had undoubtedly been the cause.

"You look just like Tinker Bell! Only she was much, much smaller.” The girl ran around her. "But your dress is missing." Now that she mentioned it, it was quite possible the lack of clothing was why she now started to shiver. "And your hair is purple."

Amaryllis focused for a moment before green flames flickered over her body. She had no expertise when it came to clothing fashion, at least by humanity’s standards, but she had seen enough versions on Danielle to know what female humans wore. A bright blue jeans appeared, not unlike what Thiemo wore, just a lot more figure-hugging. There was also a black tank top that left a large part of her back open for her wings, and with the inscription ‘Got Milk?’. She had never understood why his sister wore more clothes under her clothes, but now that she wore these items themselves, the effect on her back in terms of comfort was immediately apparent. The same was true of her feet, which were now stuck with socks in boots, which had chosen because she had learned their value in the fight first-hand.

"Better?" she asked the girl with a smile.

Megan jumped down as she saw a black, lifeless figure plummet from the higher floors of the hotel. Changelings were able to endure a great deal of punishment, but a fall from that height would prove considerable for the toughest of the lot. She had remembered a parachuting incident involving two of Mothma’s children, having been there because her friend had asked her to accompany them. The stupefied face of the instructor would stay with her for life as they had both jumped out of the plane without a parachute. All she had done was shrug her shoulders, roll her eyes, and jump after them. It had been a good thing she had done so as well, seeing as Kevin had collided mid air with a duck.

From this experience, she also knew that she could not simply stop the falling changeling in the air. It would kill him. She had to ease into him and then brake it slowly. Maybe not so slowly, as he just sped past the thirtieth floor. Her arms wrapped around the hard body, and with powerful strokes of her wings, she began to break his fall. "Are you alright?" she asked the changeling as he brought his legs under him, visibly relieved to be back on solid ground.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Mark, whom she recognized by his voice. However, the words from his mouth in no way corresponded to reality. His wings were singed and had certainly caused pain to him, and his chitin was broken in several places. "But Mom needs help. She's trying to protect Kevin and Bob from the shaman."

A Shaman? Chrysalis had one of those herb-smoking magicians from the savanna on her side? That probably also meant that humanity had finally fled their island, because Mothma had not said anything of a zebra. The idea appealed to her—it would mean Celestia was losing her crusade against the humans. Not that Megan had ever believed that Celestia had a chance to succeed. Humans were just too stubborn as a species to die easily.

"I’ll deal with him," she assured Mark and looked upward as a magic beam shot out of the building and smashed into the one next to it. Probably not the first by the way it looked. Once again her gaze flitted on Mark, just to make sure he could handle himself alone, before she again rose in the air. In the windows, she could see her reflection. The jeans, which she had stolen from a shop, felt funny, and the red shirt smelled more like chemicals than any laboratory, but for the moment it had to work. She then reached the hole in the wall.

Bob and Kevin hovered in small magical domes behind their mother, who was trying to obscure them from sight as much as possible. Before her, further down the hall, was the shaman. She had expected a bit more than a lanky teenager who seemed to run around in rags, but that was not what made ​​her forget to move her wings. It was the aura that emanated from him.

Her hands began to tremble as she stared reality in its face. She could not deny it any longer. It was the aura of an alicorn, the aura of Blue Light. The Alicorn of Change was here, the alicorn she had once called her lover. She wanted to scream, get something in her hands so that she could vent her frustration. Why here, why now? Why did they have to meet like this? She knew that it had to happen one day. It was one of the reasons why she had went back to Earth.

"Mark?" Mothma’s voice jerked Megan from her thoughts.

She shook her head briefly. "Singed wings, but otherwise fine." Just in time, they both saw the electrical energy which gathered in the hands of the shaman. Megan dropped several meters, and Mothma threw her two children to her friend behind her, certain that Megan would catch them.

"Take them out of here! They’ll only be in danger!" Megan wanted to protest, but with the two changelings on her shoulders already, she was only a flying target that would be easy to strike down. She looked one last time back to Blue Light, or whoever he might be now. She saw the tears in his eyes as he stormed to Mothma, who was ready to go into combat now that her children were safe. She heard and felt as magic fought against magic as the fighters collided. For now, however, it was necessary to find a safe place for her ward.

"Finally!" Lyra sighed as she opened the door and walked onto the roof. Why had Amaryllis thrown her so far away? She would get an earful once they met again. To this end, Lyra only had to find her, which was also the reason why she had to gallop up seemingly hundreds of floors. Previously, she had been waiting for one of those silly moving rooms, but gave up after ten minutes. Could they only be operated by humans?

She would have indeed made notes, but her bag was unfortunately somewhere down there in the streets of this just way too large city. Never had the young professor ever believed that there was something as ‘too many humans’, but a limit was slowly coming into sight. That was something she would never tell her parents, otherwise they would say that she was starting to become reasonable.

Lyra's eyes searched the skies for Amaryllis and Megan, but unfortunately it was just relatively quiet. All the humans had fled the area in panic, and the only noticeable sounds were the sirens which seemed to come closer. Surely this had a meaning, but unfortunately one that Lyra could not understand.

The unicorn winced when suddenly a flash of light sparked from the hotel. However, it served to illuminate a figure floating in the sky clearer. It was human and had wings, so it had to be that Megan. She had never seen her use lightning in the fight against Amaryllis. Something like that was more Thiemo’s area of expertise. Had Megan defeated Amaryllis and now fought with him as well?

Apparently not, as it seemed Megan began to move away from the hotel and came directly toward her. "Wait ..." Lyra's eyes widened in panic. She had no idea how to fight! The highest battle art she knew was to doggy paddle!

With a swoop of her fiery wings, the woman, now with significantly different clothes than before, came down onto the roof in front of Lyra.

"So, you’re also here." She placed the two changelings she had worn on her shoulders onto the ground. "You're here with the guy in the orange coat, right?" Lyra nodded as quickly as possible, an eye on the door, wondering if she could manage to run down all those stairs again in time to escape.

"Tell me what's the deal with him. Why is he here?" The woman came over to her, went to her knees, and put her hand against Lyra's shoulder. The unicorn swallowed.

"Tell me why you're here."

Author's Notes:

Well, here we are again. 2016 is upon us and we finally continue the journey. And with the new year, there is a new release schedule. I will try to have a chapter ready every two weeks. I still have a lot on my mind and often can't concentrate to write, but it's getting better. If there is a delay, it is most likely my fault.

So, happy new year to all of you and to a good 2016!

Special thanks to JBL for translating and editing.