"The council was getting nervous. The old farts’ knees were already trembling." The red-haired man laughed heartily, the sound seemingly coming from within the depths of his stomach. "‘What if something happened to him? What if the Sun Tyrant gets him in her claws?’" Aschlant scoffed disdainfully, though to whom it was aimed at, Thiemo had no idea. "But I told them. They simply can’t catch the general. Nice to have you back home." A heavy hand slapped him on the shoulder. "And now, you must introduce me to these the ladies. A man needs a name to go with these beautiful faces."

The boat just slid over the waves, powered by a small unpolished sapphire held by the shaman who undoubtedly guided the vessel along. The man didn't allow the water to move the boat like he would have done. Instead, he sucked in water to spout it out again, like a turbine. They were getting closer to Ti with each passing moment . "My sister Danielle," he said without thinking, and immediately slapped himself mentally. He had completely forgotten about the code names. "And Remy."

"Ma'am and Ma'am." Aschlant nodded to both. "So you've been looking for your sister all the time. Where did you find her?" His eyes flashed across Danielle. "With that belt, I would say in the Empire. Had the Empress captured her along with the others?" Thiemo nodded, though he had no idea what the man meant. "And here I thought my eyes had gone bad. So that was a ship from the Crystal Empire we saw. I’ve never seen a colourful thing like that. Then again, I never did get that far north." The man was not the silent recluse Thiemo had encountered last time. Rather the opposite, it seemed. Something was definitely strange here. The man obviously thought he was someone he was not. Did he so resemble that general he mentioned? Thiemo wiped his wet hair out of his face with a hand and looked past Aschlant to the island. "Man, I’m only noticing it now. You have your hair color again!"

"What?" Thiemo asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. While two people could resemble each other, voices were always different. He hoped Aschlant would not notice anything awry.

"Well," said the man, pointing to Thiemo head, "I always thought white was your natural hair colour. Guess you were bleaching it this whole time, eh?"

His doppelganger bleached his hair? What sort of weirdo pranced about with white hair on their head, especially one that resembled him? However, that was not the main issue here. First Blue Light had a double and now him? That could not be a coincidence.

For Thiemo, it was a struggle to keep his jaw from unhinging itself, and he envied Amy and Danielle, who did not have to fight. They all looked around and upwards, staring at the sights with wide eyes. What they had initially assumed were small hills and towers turned out to be the city itself. The island basically didn’t exist, as the city seemed to envelop the entirety of Ti. The dock where they had landed led directly to a narrow street. The building surrounding them seemed to be oddly constructed, as if someone had taken ship containers made out of wood, stacked them on top each other, and converted them into dwellings. Apartment upon apartment were connected by rope bridges and narrow paths that were really just one porch going to another. Everywhere, metal scrap had been used for stabilization, as a counterweight, or directly for support. All this reminded Thiemo of one of his favourite cities from a post-apocalyptic game that he used to play. The difference was that Ti looked as though some modder had filled the city with hundreds of buildings without increasing the overall area.

If that wasn’t a reason alone to stare, there weren’t only humans milling about. No, there were diamond dogs, griffons, ponies and, of course, zebras. They all squeezed through the narrow street that the trio were currently walking along. At least humans were better dressed here, even if they were only rags held together with leather straps. The other races also wore some type of clothing. Ponies and griffins mostly wore some type of poncho that reached their knees, and the dogs wore trousers. Even the bitches had something like a nierengurt to hide their teats.

The influence of the humans was clearly noticeable and it left a strange feeling in Thiemo’s stomach area. This place so reminded him of home, though his brain kept shouting at him about how delusional that was. "We should go to the Council at once. After that, you can bring your sister home," said Aschlant, who had taken the lead. "It shouldn’t take too long. After all, it’s really only good news. The prisoners in the Empire have rebelled and some have actually managed to escape. Best of all, they have the Crystal Heart. The council was beside itself, I tell you." Thiemo simply nodded. He still thought it best to take everything in silence. Aschlant just threw information at them as they walked on, and who was he to interrupt the man? For example, he had just learned that not everyone here on Ti knew that the humans in the Empire had received help. Besides, it was not a rebellion, rather a targeted attack by sleeper cells. There had never been prisoners in the Empire. His theory that someone was playing Ti against the rest of the world was looking increasingly realistic.

They came to a crossroads where two small streets merged into a broad throughway. Numerous enterprising individuals of each race had taken advantage of the extra space to hawk their goods on the side of the roadway from makeshift stalls, some with old tarps to prevent rain from soaking their goods. Griffons sold fish, diamond dogs flashed gemstones of every variety, and he even saw a zebra shaman selling ready-made talismans. There were also tropical fruits that Thiemo had never seen before, as well as weapons. Swords, lances, or axes, it was obvious to them that they had been fashioned out of scrap metal.

Ti may have been a prison, but that must have been several hundred years in the past. Now it was a flourishing metropolis where beings of all kinds lived together. Somehow, Luna's dream had come true. "Oh shit," Aschlant said suddenly. "She doesn’t look happy at all."

Thiemo stood next to the man, who was a head taller than him, and followed his gaze. It took him a moment to spot what the other man was looking at. Amidst the crowd there was something large trudging towards them, a diamond dog if only in the broadest sense. The bitch, because it could be nothing else since she was dressed only in thin linen held together by chains, more closely resembled a wolf. She was enormous, practically protruding from the crowd. Her fur was dark brown, and unlike other diamond dogs, she had breasts, two thick, fur-covered mammaries covered by a leather bra. Thiemo looked twice to be sure.

"Aschlant!" she growled in a much too normal-sounding voice. "I was just informed by the harbour master that..." She glanced at Thiemo when she finally stood in front of them. He had to look up when he wanted to see something other than breasts. He did that with only a slight delay.

"I was just on my way to bring the General to you, Councillor." Aschlant stiffened and saluted her sharply. "A Crystal Empire airship had thrown them off a few kilometres off the coast. Him and his companions." He pulled Danielle near him and waved at Amaryllis.

The mammoth wolf glanced at the trio, then nodded. "I will accompany them to the council building, Aschlant. You are to report to Officer Jenna—she has a job for you."

Aschlant saluted again. "Understood," he said, then turned to Thiemo. "I think I’m repeating myself, but it’s good to have you back, sir." He saluted to Thiemo, then disappeared into the crowd.

"If you would follow me, General." The councillor did not wait for an answer. She turned around as well and began clearing a path in the crowd.

All three needed a moment, but they also began to move. "What’s going on here?" Amaryllis hissed in Thiemo's ear, now that she had the opportunity to speak. "General?" she added with a dark expression that Thiemo only noticed from his corner of his eye.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" he shot back a little too loudly. Some heads had been staring in their direction, and now there were even more. "I have as much an idea of what’s going on here as you." If they still had their connection, Amy would certainly have noticed his confusion. However, they had continued their cold war in that regard for a good reason. The princess had to learn to perceive the emotions of others, especially his. Perhaps it was a risk to do it during such a delicate mission, but for the moment, it did not make much difference.

"I've never seen a diamond dog like her," Danielle interrupted. "Looks more like a furry’s dream than a dog digging in the earth for gems."

Thiemo shook his head. "Too small breasts for it," his mouth responded before his brain could catch up. The two women's eyes darkened. "Oh, come on. She’s practically running around in a leather bikini." Their conversation was briefly interrupted as a griffin broke through between them. "l bet you looked, too."

"I don’t understand what’s so great about these things." Amaryllis grabbed her own with her hands. "They seemed to get in the way, which is why I kept them small."

"Wait…" Thiemo blinked, taking a moment to ensure he had heard her correctly. "Does that mean you can make them bigger?" Amaryllis nodded and released her hold on her breasts.

Danielle sighed. "Could we focus on the here and now? Thank you." They fell silent when a group of foals barrelled down the road and included them in their obstacle course. "If I didn’t know better, I'd say we have a real mongrel here. Man and dog. She has hands with five fingers instead of paws on her arms, and her secondary sexual features shouldn’t be overlooked either." Thiemo nodded. "Think about what that means. Something on Albion must allow that, because it’s impossible on Earth."

"God knows the Middle East would have been overrun by satyrs long ago," Thiemo interjected, causing Danielle to shoot him a look. What struck him was that Amy did not giggle or smile as usually did when he made a wisecrack she did not really understand. Was it perhaps something in his emotions that usually made her aware that he joking? Had she only laughed because a sign with 'applause' lit up in her head?

"Thanks for the mental image, but yes. If it is possible that different species can crossbreed here, it had huge implications for science. For example, gene therapy. You lost an arm? No problem, we’ll give you some lizard DNA and it just grows back in a few years."

“Would take the fun out of five finger fillet, don't you think? But otherwise, that sounds like you got the idea from a comic. Spider-Man? The lizard?" Thiemo asked.

Danielle nodded. "They re-started the series and I thought I would watch it. Total nonsense actually, but if you can combine the DNA of animals with those of humans... "

"Suddenly it’s no longer nonsense," Thiemo finished the sentence. "You're thinking about Lyra, aren’t you?" He also flexed his left shoulder instinctively. He hadn’t forgotten the pain Ariel had inflicted on him.

Before them, the wolf turned into another street, her gaze always directed forward. Thiemo's gaze wandered upwards as he perceived movement. Above, on one of the sky bridges, stood a man in a uniform, or at least something that resembled one. What caught his attention was the gun in the man's hands. It reminded him roughly of a heavy machine gun, but the barrel was much smaller, more resembling the ones found on the pistols he knew.

As he turned forward again, he saw their leader heading straight for a larger building up ahead. It might have had about four or five floors, and one of the few houses here that had a pointed roof. Even here, some boards had been laid across so that the path above was not interrupted. "Here we are," the wolf-morph said in her weirdly human voice as she opened the door for them.

Thiemo nodded his thanks and stepped inside. He was already through the door and halfway into the hallway when alarm bells began to ring in his mind. Weren’t they supposed to be brought to the Council? Why then was he standing in something that looked like a normal house? He turned around hastily, but the wolf had already closed the door behind them and placed the latch in position with one click. "The room at the far right." She pointed down the hall.

"This isn’t the council building," noted Thiemo.

"No." Thiemo cursed inwardly. "You're welcome. I also had a long day and would like to sit down." This time the wolf grinned, and he immediately understood why she didn’t smile. Unlike changeling or thestrals, who had only four canines, her mouth was filled with sharp teeth. It was terrifying in a primal sort of way. She was two heads taller than all of them. Even if he wanted, he could not fight her in the hallway. It was far too narrow and the exit was completely blocked by their enemy. Danielle shook her head, probably not keen on fighting either. He slowly walked toward the room she'd been looking at. It was a simple living room that contained a couch, a few armchairs, and a table in the middle.

When they were all in the room, the councillor walked past them, took a seat on one of the chairs, and crossed her legs. Thiemo exchanged glances with the others, then took a seat. The walk through the city had dried their clothes somewhat, but they still dripped onto the leather of the furniture. Not that it seemed to disturb their hostess. "So, where are we?" Thiemo asked.

"In your house," came the answer. Thiemo blinked, and the wolf grinned again, this time without showing teeth. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Ianee, Councillor of the City of Ti and Hierophant of the Shamans. If you were the general, you would know that. But you are not the general. That much is certain."

"How do know that?" Thiemo knew the jig had been up a while now. Still, he needed time to think about a plan. It was just one person they had to deal with, and with Danielle and Amaryllis here, she shouldn’t be a problem. They had to act quickly and quietly.

The wolf's ears twitched. "For one thing, I could hear your conversation on the street. Secondly, I can see your magic. Our general is not a shaman." She looked at Danielle. "And yes, my grandfather was a human, Illuminated One." Then she turned to Amaryllis. "And you are a changeling queen, though a very young one. Princess Amaryllis, I suppose?"

"H-How do…?" she stammered.

"The choices are sparse. Besides, you look very similar to your mother. And before you ask, yes, I know your mother. She's here on the island."

"What?" came from Thiemo’s and Amaryllis' mouth simultaneously. "My mother is here?"

Ianee nodded. "She came several months ago, and she was granted asylum. The general took her under his wing." Chrysalis was here? Here on the island? Grimly, Thiemo realized just where the deformed changelings had come from. He turned to Amaryllis, catching the moment she realized it herself. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, stammering something unintelligible to Thiemo’s ears. Immediately he was on his feet and hurrying to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, feeling them tremble.

"Is there another queen here on the island?" Thiemo asked hastily.

In the few seconds before she could answer, he prayed to all the gods who were willing to hear. "Please, please say yes," he pleaded inwardly. Ianee, who did not seem to understand, at least by her slightly puzzled look, shook her head.

A violent heave came from Amaryllis’ throat and her breakfast landed on the wooden floor of the living room. "I guess I'm missing important information. Since I was very open, I would appreciate if you reciprocated, Illuminated One. Please, fill me in as much as you can."

Thiemo and Danielle looked at each other briefly, then the shaman nodded. "Where do I start...?"

Daring Do breathed a sigh of relief when she was nearer to Ti than the Crystal Empire’s airship. To make matters worse, she had to constantly fly over the clouds, as several of the Royal Guard had searched the water for something. At least it had seemed so from up here. She would have liked to follow them, but she could not risk it, not when she was so close to the finish. The cargo in her saddlebags was just too important.

Her tongue covered the talisman that she had prepared, and she brought it skilfully between her teeth. Pegasi got these when they left the island. The guards could somehow discern them over a long distance, even in thick fog or rain. Anyone that approached from the air and had no such talisman would have to try their luck with the guns. Had she lost it, Daring would have swum the rest of the way.

The adventurer turned towards one of the towers near the beach. Although the talisman allowed her access, the guards were always suspicious towards anyone coming to the island. She slowed her pace somewhat and waved to one of the armed guards. The woman did the same, and Daring spotted as she reached and pulled out her communicator. She spat out the talisman and caught it with a hoof. "Maybe I shouldn’t have kept it under my old blanket," she murmured, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

She was finally back home. How long had she been traveling? Eight or nine months? This was by far one of her longest expeditions. She steered around another tower, then paused for a moment. She could not remember that the southern wing of the city had been so high on her last visit. More and more humans seemed to have arrived on the island. Daring could understand why—after all, she had grown up in this city.

She steered up and flew over the new level of apartments. She didn’t have far to go since she could already see her destination. The council building was one of the major landmarks of the city. The ground floor was completely open, consisting of columns that supported the rest of the building. There, between these pillars, the Council held its meetings. Every citizen of Ti was allowed to attend, an ancient law only made possible these days because the market square around the building was cleared during the meetings. Two steel staircases allowed access from the ground floor to the rest of the building: general administration on the two first floors, to the offices of the various departments of the city administration, and finally to the seat of the military and to the general's office.

Ti's military consisted of practically every known sapient creature. Diamond dogs, griffons, zebras, and ponies were included, though humans made up the majority of its armed forces. It was their island, after all. For those with wings, there was a large gate that gave them direct access to the rooms of the military in the council building, at least if one knew one of the combinations. Everyone with authorization got their own code, so you could always track who came and went. Daring also had her own code even though she was not military, having been brought on as a civilian employee.

The keypad was largely constructed out of scrap metal, and the letters and numbers had been slapped on with thick paint. She had to punch in her code several times because the buttons got stuck or didn’t work at all, but she finally heard the familiar sound of the small engine that made the iron gate disappear into the wall. The mare landed and sighed in relief. The flight had been long and she was no longer young, she reluctantly admitted to herself. The gate began to close behind her again, and the room she was in began to plunge into darkness. Only at the last moment did a small lamp near the door ahead of her begin to emit a bright amber light. As far as she knew, it served to detect anyone invisible. The lamp moved its cone up and down before it was extinguished. It clicked and a small grate was opened on the door. Two eyes glanced through the room. "All right," Daring heard someone say. With another click, the door opened. "Welcome home, Miss Do."

Daring knew the young man who had opened the door. "So, you've been demoted to guard duty, James?" The young man, about twenty years old, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Took you long enough. Nobody can get in here if the guard is snoring."

"Come on, let it go. I have to hear it enough from the others," he murmured, closing the door behind her.

"No time to chitchat, I’m afraid. I need to see Councillor Griffwald. I've done what he asked me to do." James nodded and went to the small desk that was the only piece of furniture in the small corridor. On it stood a small data terminal.

The man tapped on the keyboard before he answered without looking at her. "You’re in luck. Council member Griffwald is in his office, but he was about to leave. The general is back in the city and he wanted to see him. I just told him you were here, so he's waiting for you."

Daring blinked in surprise. "The general had left the city?" She did not know the general, nor had he ever met him. However, even she knew that the man led everything concerning security and military in the city.

James nodded. "A few weeks ago. He left a message that he was looking for someone. Arrived in the harbour about five minutes ago, according to the first reports. The commander picked him up on a routine ocean patrol. Supposedly, he was aboard an airship from the Empire." She blinked again. That couldn’t be. She had been on board the ship, and the only human she had seen was the woman with the wings. However, there was another one with her, wasn’t there? Not on the ship, or at least she had not seen him. She thought of the accomplices from the bank, the details resurfacing in her mind. He was Princess Amaryllis’ lover, a human who went by the name Thiemo, a shaman, if the newspapers in the Empire were to be believed. He was supposed to be the general? She could not believe it, even though all evidence seemed to point in that direction.

"I have to go, James. Keep your chin up!" Daring shouted, hurrying down the hall.

"I always do!" the man called after her, though she paid his words scant attention. Daring opened the door to the next corridor, which was wider and better lit. She knew the way to the Griffwald’s office, having galloped down them hundreds of times. She gave way to a woman who was toting a stack of papers in her arms, then turned to the right. She breathed heavily, as she had not yet recovered from her flight, but she had arrived at her destination. Next to the door was a wooden sign that declared: "F.Griffwald, Councillor." Daring knocked and entered without waiting.

Fredrick Griffwald was a man who, like her, had his best years behind him. A thick white beard graced his face and scars refined the image of crow's feet around his eyes. The little hair that remained was a light wreath pattern on his head. "Daring," he said in his familiar baritone. Griffwald rose from the chair behind his desk and came over to her. "My goodness, why in such a hurry, old girl?"

"Let me..." Daring panted, waving a hoof. "I just need a moment..." The man chuckled, causing his distinct belly to jiggle. She remembered when she first saw him, as a young foal at a council meeting. At that time, he had still been in good shape and was part of the military. Now he managed the police force that maintained order in the streets. Occasionally, however, he got an order from above, and there were times when he directed one of them to her. "I have the artefact," Daring finally said. She turned to her saddlebags and pulled out the valuable cargo, still wrapped in her blanket.

Fredrick bent down slightly to her. "Can I?" He held out an open hand under her snout. She placed the package in his hand and he immediately began to unwrap it. "Oh, just like the other piece." He pulled out the strange piece. Daring had no idea what it was supposed to represent. Ancient art of humanity, perhaps?

Then her thoughts froze. "Other piece? What other piece?"

"Oh?" Fredrick turned to her again as he placed the artefact into his desk drawer. "Right. Commander Aschlant was also sent to find such an artefact. He returned successfully a few moons ago. Got it from a pony on the edge of Equestria. Just like that, at least according to his report." The old man stared at her impassively. "You're good, Daring, but we had to be safe. We've sent a few people to look for them."

The mare did not know how to respond. No one had told her that this artefact was so important. No one had told her that she had not been the only one to search for it. She felt somewhat hurt. "I understand," she said dryly. "Who exactly gave the order?"

Fredrick beamed. "The general personally. He will be glad to hear that we’ve found one. If you want, you can come," he offered as he closed the drawer. "I was about to meet him. I’m sure he’ll also thank you for your efforts."

The general was looking for these pieces? That couldn’t be, right? He had held it in his hands in the bank, and his interest in it seemed to have been rather muted. Something was wrong, not just with the two humans, but also here on Ti. "No, I'd rather fly home. Twenty layers of dust to get rid of and so on. Should I send you the bill?”

The man laughed. "You can pick up your payment tomorrow. At home. My wife and my daughter would be happy to see you again. Will you come over for dinner?"

"Sure.” It wouldn’t do to arouse suspicion. "I'll come over tomorrow then." Daring turned away and had her hoof at the door when Griffwald spoke again.

"Hold on. Why are you in such a hurry?" The man came towards her. "It must have been quite an adventure to find that piece. Why don’t I accompany you for a while and you tell me about it?" Daring nodded silently, her brain whirling away to come up with a plausible story.

Ponyville. Lyra took a deep breath as she caught her first sight of the well-known village at the foot of Canterlot. In a few minutes, she would be home again. Bon Bon's homemade sweets. Fresh cakes from Sugarcube Corner. Playing music in the park. Oh, how she had missed all this. Well, that and the guards currently swarming the village.

Lyra blinked and jumped into a bush on the edge of the street. She waited a moment, then carefully exhaled. They couldn’t be looking for her, could they? She fished around in her luggage and pulled out the scroll. It was the royal pardon from Princess Luna. She was no longer a traitor to the country and was allowed to return to her homeland on her own accord. Lyra sighed in relief, for a moment wondering if the letter had been a dream. One could never know with Princess Luna.

After a last glance, while also ensuring nopony saw her emerging from the bush, Lyra stepped back onto the road and continued on her way. She would have gone farther to Stalliongrad via the train, but after all that Princess Cadance had done for her, she did not want to beg, even for money. The unicorn stopped again and looked down at her metal leg. It could move like a real leg. She could even feel the ground under her. However, it wasn’t real. That was gone, in the stomach of a monster. What her parents say? Or her older sister?

However, that would be another heartache for another time. She continued on her way until she reached the outskirts of Ponyville. Some of the guard’s pegasi flew past her, but as expected, they ignored her.

What Lyra hadn’t expected was the emptiness of the town. No one was on the streets. Or almost no one. Her head swivelled around as she spotted Rarity leaving her home, accompanied by several guards. She needed an answer, because this was not the homecoming she had expected.

"Hello! Rarity!" she called to the mare, but before she could approach, the guards were aiming their weapons at her. "Oh, hey! Take it easy, guys. Unarmed young mare here."

"Lyra, darling! What are you doing here?" Rarity ignored the guards as she pushed past them as if they were made of air and nuzzled her. "I thought you were in the Empire because of... certain reasons." Rarity nodded frantically over to the guards.

"I’ve been pardoned. But what's going on, Rarity? Why are all the flashers in Ponyville?" The armoured stallions glared at her at the mention of that particular nickname.

Rarity inhaled sharply. "Sweet Apple Acres was attacked. By an alicorn." Lyra's eyes widened. "Applejack has identified the attacker as Blue Light."

"That can’t be… right? I mean, you know, he’s..."

Rarity nodded. "Princess Celestia is beside herself. Added to this, she hasn’t heard from Twilight for days now. And now this... My goodness, he kidnapped Auralia, and now the Elements are to be brought to safety. They want to keep us in the castle."

Auralia? Kidnapped? Her mouth worked furiously, but no sound escaped her lips. Had the world gone completely bonkers?

Author's Notes:

Another unpleasant secret solved. A lot more will be solved soon.

Special thanks to JBL for translating & editing.