The captain had been gracious enough to leave them with their supplies after having let them off. Of course that might have had something to do with the fact that his crew started rowing away from the beach so fast they nearly took off into the air after Karon fell unconscious. To the human, the whole ordeal had felt like months, years of nearly endless suffering. In reality not even a full day had passed.

The sun was about to set when he was returned to the land of the living, instead of a past so horrible the memories were carved into the very earth. The appearance of the ghosts and the revealing of their identities had struck Karon harder than everything else he had experienced in those memories.

For thousands, actually thousands of years, Celestia and Luna had been carrying the wounds left from those events. And during all that time, the ghosts had been waiting for them to return home and heal those wounds, and in doing so, heal the land they had left behind.

Karon had told Trixie and Lyra about what he'd been allowed to see, and they had listened in silence as the youth of their beloved rulers was revealed. The silence they had held during the story lasted even after Karon was finished, and the three companions had waited for the night to fall without saying a word, all of them deep in their own thoughts.

Somewhere far to the south and east, Luna was using her magic to raise the moon that Karon's eyes followed across the sky. Hours passed in quiet contemplation for all three of them, but it would have been a fair thing to say that Karon's time had been the most troubling.

“You know...”

“What?”

“Their situation isn't entirely unlike our own.”

“Yeah I'm pretty sure it is.”

“No, it isn't. Sure the exact details are, but the results are the same. Celestia made a mistake … a single mistake in her naive youth, and it had terrible consequences. She and Luna has been carrying that pain with them for all this time, refusing to face the destruction that haunts them … and after thousands of years running, they still haven't managed to escape, and they never will.”

“What's your point?”

“My point is that there is a lesson to be learned from that, one we could stand to learn ourselves.”

“...Do you think they will ever return? And that even if they did they could heal all of this?”

“They have little choice. This empty wasteland, this graveyard we're sitting on … they carry it inside them, wherever they go. They might shut it away from their consciousness or they might distract themselves with something else to lessen the presence of it, but it is always there, festering like hungry maggots. It will never go away … unless they return here, for better or worse.”

“How are they supposed to do that?”

“I have no idea. The only way I can see is to change it. If they don't want to carry the wound, then turn it into something else. You can't heal a wound if you can't imagine yourself whole or if you stick with the idea that this is how it is supposed to be.”

“What if it can't be healed?”

“That's my point idiot. That's the mindset that traps you. You would rather avoid it or accept it as a burden you just have to bear, despite the fact that it is too heavy and will break you and chain you down … with chains you yourself put there.”

“Are we still talking about Celestia and Luna, or us?”

“Both. You can't heal the wound unless you acknowledge you are wounded. You must take the wound, embrace it in its entirety, then change it, heal it. If you can't remember or see yourself as happy then how are you supposed to mend that wound? What is worse is that as long as it stays with you, it will eat at you. The pain will edge the rest of your being away piece by piece until it devours you.”

“You think that's what's happening to us? And the princesses?”

“I know it. Can you imagine a body being able to heal a cut if it can't even remember what healthy skin feels like, and it starts believing that the injury is a normal part of itself? Slowly, it will start changing the healthy skin it can no longer understand, or maybe even deny it ever existed because the knowledge of what it could be like should it heal itself and make itself whole, is too painful. There are pains that will threaten to make you weak, but that's because you don't rise above it, master it. It will make you strong, strong enough to shape yourself, to choose if you want to be a whole or damaged being. And once you have that strength, suffered through that trial, you can always heal such wounds … no matter where you find them.”

Karon's eyes narrowed in suspicion. The voice wasn't normally this ... sober. And it had a note of something different in it, something that both terrified and made him ache with longing.

“I'm not some outside spirit trying to manipulate you, dumbass. Did it ever occur to you that we could be, ARE, far wiser than you pretend to be?”

“Uhm ... no.”

“No, because you have shut away so much of yourself out of fear. Fear will kill you if you allow it to rule you. You're a mage. You're educated in the arts and mysteries, even if that education was cut short. You know that kind of control demands you to know both sides of a force to control the its energy. You must master the polarities before you can use the whole. You must carry the knowledge of both the pain and the joy. You must know what it is to be hurt and what it is to be healed, before you can take control and decide which one of those you want to express.”

“Yeah, yeah magic 101, but it is different outside of a classroom, and lessons taught only in words ring hollow.”

“You're right, they do. Then again, what we are experiencing aren't just words but the actual thing.”

“Are you saying all of this is just a lesson?”

“I'm saying we really need to start actually learning, for real, and not to just remember the words, but to understand their meaning if we want to have any chance to] survive and … do whatever the hell we're supposed to do. What you choose to think is up to you, but that isn't really the important bit is it?”

“So what, you think all of this is just a trial for the real thing that lies ahead? Do you even realize how fucked up that sounds? That all this shit we've been through is just a taste, a test, to prepare us for the real shit we're going to get thrown into?”

“The thought has crossed my mind, so it has also crossed yours.”

“That doesn't make me feel better....”

“If you want to feel better, start doing good stuff and you will feel good.”

“Brilliant, you should totally get your own talk show and leave me alone.”

“I AM you. Everything I say is something you're trying to tell yourself. The fact that you perceive me as something different or external to yourself only shows how fractured you've become. You only do this so you can hide from the bad things inside yourself , as well as the good. After all, if you are going to acknowledge and reach out for the good, you also have to do so for the bad.”

“The bad is bigger than the good in this case.”

“No ... it isn't. I want you to stop for a moment and just imagine what we could have been if... the incident had never happened. I mean look at us. We've saved an empire and helped save a kingdom, rescued a child from an infamous and incredibly dangerous forest, and so much more. All that while running around as an incomplete, wounded and self-loathing person. Imagine who we could have been had we done all of that whole, strong and happy, if we were an inspiration instead of an example of what can happen should you do wrong...”

“I...”

“Good, now that isn't possible since it has already happened. And no, we're not going to mess with time travel. We'll turn off the universe or something if we try that. Instead, imagine who we could become. All we have done, we have done handicapped. Imagine who we could become, what we could do...”

Karon's mind fell silent, and the moment hung suspended in time. There was such a temptation to the thought, the potential of it all. To be free, truly free. No longer following a path directed by what you ran from, but rather by what roads you chose to walk.

The possibilities...

But to get there, he had to grow. He had to be strong enough to make those kind of decisions, to become more than he was now … and he couldn't do that. Not as long as he was incomplete and weighed down by black chains.

“Imagine what Celestia and Luna could have been if they had they faced their past.”

Shivers ran down Karon's spine. Thousands of years of torment, every day and night suffering, or thousands of years of true harmony. Carrying the potential for both hurt and healing within, and choosing which one to express.

“A person knowing nothing but hurt can only cause hurt ... and you're losing everything else.”

Celestia and Luna had endured for so long, and all that time, it seem impossible that they could have done it at all. They seemed to have found some kind of way to counter the pain by ruling the ponies with benevolence, but even that wouldn't be enough in time. And it was a fragile way, easily broken, as was shown with Nightmare Moon.

A creature that nearly turned the world into a frozen ball of ice, all because the sliver of hope and love she had left seemed to have deserted her, and what was left was the memories … and the pain they bore with them.

“Luna isn't stupid. She must have known eternal night would mean the end. And we have spent a lot of time with her. She can be aggressive at times, but she is not sadistic. She is kind, compassionate, and wants to be loved and love others in turn. Even so, she nearly killed everything...”

“I know.”

“What if she didn't try to bring about eternal night just as part of an asinine plan to force others to love her? Maybe she did it hoping it would kill everything, including herself. Because the only thing she thought that was left for her was something so awful that she would rather see everything dead.”

“I...”

“How do you think we will be in a thousand years? Hell, Luna is just plain nicer than us. I doubt it would take even that long for us to snap. Imagine Twilight, Trixie, Rarity, Lyra and everyone else … dead, because the only thing left in us was the desire to hurt others as we hurt.”

“It won't happen. We don't even possess that kind of power.”

“Oh really? Are you saying we couldn't lock them in eternal nightmares? Visions so terrible, so sickening it would kill them through fear?”

Karon felt sick to his core. The voice wasn't lying. He could do it, but he never would...

“Because you still care about them, because you can still love. If the pain moves past the point of being bearable, and it will, you will forget what it is to love. What then?”

He clutched his stomach. He thought he might actually throw up. The idea was so horrible it … and it was true. The potential was there, it could happen.

“It will happen.”

“No … no … no.”

He repeated the words again and again, shutting it out, pushing it away.

“Like you have tried to silence something else? Like you tried to lock another horrible truth away? Because it didn't work, it's still there.”

“Please stop,” he whispered out loud, clutching at his chest.

“And the absolute worst part about it … is that you chose that path, knowing where it would lead.”

“No!” he cried, hot tears streaming down his face.

“Karon what is it!?” Trixie ran to him and asked, Lyra just one step behind.

“I … I ... I...”

“Shhh, Karon what is it?” Trixie asked again carefully, placing her hooves around him in an embrace.

Lyra joined her and placed one hoof on his shoulder, unsure of what to make of his terrified expression.

“I...I...”

“Yes?” Trixie coached him tentatively, stroking his back slowly, almost cradling him.

“I ... I'm going to kill you....” he blubbered and clung to her hooves.

“What?” they both asked in unison.

“I can't help it ... I'm going to kill … you all,” he whispered, his voice nearly failing him.

“No, you're not,” Lyra said, her voice both soothing and demanding.

She sat down opposite Trixie and put her hooves around him, and together the ponies held him while he shook with sobs, begging their forgiveness. Stuttering words tumbled out of him in an incoherent mess, and half the time the unicorns had no idea what he was trying to say. Eventually he exhausted himself, and fell asleep as they held him.

They lowered his head down to the ground. His face was slick with tears and they were careful to make sure his head didn't fall on its side, least he wake up with his face covered in the caked dust of crumbled buildings and desiccated bones.

After moving away from the sleeping human, the two unicorns looked on each other with uncertainty in their eyes. Lyra was the first to speak.

“What do you think he meant by that?”

“I don't know, but master would never do anything to intentionally hurt us … right?”

“I can't believe you're even asking that question!” Lyra hissed angrily.

“I didn't mean it like that. I was just thinking about … those ghosts, and what they made him see. What if they did something else with him?”

“No, I don't think they could have. Karon wouldn't let them do anything that would make him hurt us.”

“Then what did he mean when he said he would kill us, and that he didn't have a choice?”

“I don't know. Maybe just a nightmare?” Lyra suggested.

“He wasn't even sleeping,” Trixie said, a little scorn slipping into her voice.

“I don't know if you have to be asleep in this place for nightmares to find you,” Lyra said, and they both looked around with a shiver.

“Whatever it was about … Karon will need us, and I'm not leaving him,” she continued and gave Trixie a hard stare.

“And I'm not leaving him either,” Trixie said and shot her an equally hard look.

A begrudging respect passed between the two ponies, and they nodded at one another in understanding. It didn't matter what Karon was going through, he would not have to face it alone no matter what he'd have to say about the subject. The two unicorns tried to go to sleep after that, but it was not an easy thing to do in the wasteland of the alicorns, and once they finally did, their dreams turned out to be just as empty as the land they slept upon.

When morning came, it came slowly, as if the sun itself hesitated to show its face in such a place. None of the travelers had slept well, and they awoke with a sense of unease pressing down on them. They had overstayed their welcome, and it was made clear in no uncertain terms that they should leave with as much haste as was possible.

Even so, after the ponies had both opened their eyes and shaken off the last remnants of their sleep, they ate slowly and took their time, waiting for Karon to wake up.

In truth, he had woken up before either of the unicorns, and listened to them as they moved around while eating breakfast. He remained still, feigning sleep for a long time. Too long, if someone had a say about it.

“Just get up. We can't stay here for much longer.”

“What the hell am I supposed to say after I get up then? 'Morning ladies, remember that thing last night about me killing you? Well don't you worry, that should be at least a few years off.'”

“You're awful at sarcasm. Leave that to me.”

“My point still stands.”

“Maybe you should, you know, confide in them?”

“Are you really that stupid?”

“How have you still not gotten this 'I'm you and you are me' deal? You know what I mean. Yeah, maybe there is a bit of sense in not revealing our dark side to total strangers, but Lyra and Trixie have both proven to be our friends. They won't abandon you, they have already accepted you. What remains is for you to accept that they have accepted you.”

“I liked you better when you were just making sarcastic remarks and spouting innuendo instead of being all wise.”

“That was me being all wise. Wise doesn't mean celibate.”

“Sigh, I guess you won't shut up until I get up, is that it?”

“See, we ARE smart.”

He stirred a little, moving his limbs slowly and stretching them. The sounds of Trixie and Lyra eating went silent when he did, and they sat still as they waited for him to get up. After a few cracks from his joints, there was little reason to postpone it further. He turned around and got up from the ground, facing the patiently waiting unicorns.

“Morning,” he said and rubbed his face.

Despite the ponies' attempt, his face had brushed against the ground many times during the course of the night, and his face was smeared with dried tears and thick dust.

The ponies didn't say anything, just observed him as he moved to his pack and got out one of the bottles of water they had brought with them. He opened it and carefully washed his face, making sure it was completely clean before drinking the rest of the bottle's contents. The water made him feel slightly better, and when he faced the two unicorns' gazes, he didn't falter as much as he had thought he would.

“Karon … about what you said last night...” Lyra began, but Karon held up a hand to stop her.

“Lyra, Trixie … I'm not sure where to even begin. I'm … torn on this matter, way more so than you would believe...”

“Well, you got that right.”

“Still, I would like to think that we have grown close enough that I can share things about myself I wouldn't share with others.”

Trixie looked surprised and curious at what he'd said, however Lyra was leaning forward with hunger and hope burning in her eyes. She had been waiting for this, for a long time now, and finally it was about to happen.

“I just ... give me a little more time. To sort it out, to ... figure out a way I can actually put it in words.”

Lyra's shoulders slumped with bitter disappointment. But she still nodded in understanding, as did Trixie, even though she didn't quite understand if her confused expression was any indication.

“We will have time later, because you're not getting rid of us Karon,” Lyra said, just to clear things up.

“Good, because I don't want to,” he said and smiled a crooked, but honest, smile.

Lyra answered the smile with her own, and she gave him a tiny nod just to make sure he knew that she understood. When they broke eye contact, Karon cleared his throat and patted his stomach.

“Well, I'm starving. Let's eat then get going. I don't want to stay here any longer than we've already been.”

The suggestion was meet with approval from both ponies, and so they ate their breakfast with spirits a little higher, the thought of leaving the wasteland behind beckoning. After they finished, Karon pulled out his map and they spent a few minutes orienting themselves. And unless they read the map wrong, they were three to four days north of the border between the wasteland and the otter river lands, where they had founded a kingdom.

The food supply was more than enough to reach one of the larger towns near the border, and the water would too. Not that it was any problem with Trixie's ability to summon rain anyway. And so they set out, following a path straight south. They were careful to make sure they didn't deviate, as the empty wasteland provided no landmarks for them to guide themselves with. However, after their time spent in the desert, it wasn't as difficult as it would have been otherwise, and they encountered no further problems on their route.

The days and nights passed by with unremarkable ease. The sun was warmer than was perhaps desirable, but yet again, their time in the desert had made them accustomed to such. The monotone landscape left nothing worth observing, and they had learned to keep conversations to a minimum in hot areas, least the moisture be stolen right from their mouths.

On the third day, the trio saw something in the distance. Far to the east sat an enormous structure of weathered marble, gleaming in the sun's light. All three of them knew what it must be, and for as long as it remained within view, they walked a little quicker and a little more tensely.

Eventually though, it fell from view, and only hours after, the landscape began changing. The ground became a little less bleak, and in the distance ahead, they could see what was probably a forest. As they came closer, the assumption was confirmed, and they hurried their pace, eager to leave the sorrowful wastes behind for a place where life didn't feel unwelcome.

The gradual shift from bleached yellow to vibrant green came as a relief to the travelers, and they walked with lighter steps as the ground softened beneath their feet and hooves. The air was almost sweet in comparison to the wasteland, filled with the many tastes of growing things. The trio breathed in deep and felt the troubles of the last few months wash away. It was an incredible thing, how wonderful something taken for granted could prove to be once another perspective had been experienced.

After a few hours of walking in what they thought of as paradise, the trio stopped and consulted the map. On it there was a large river that led to the city of Poffington, and they all agreed that it seemed the surest way to reach the city without getting lost. It would take time before they were used to moving through thick forests instead of open plains.

They managed to find the river and followed it down, leading south-west. It took them the rest of the day, wandering at a leisure pace to reach the city, and when it first came into view, they halted and stared, unsure what to make of what they saw.

The city was huge. The grand manors and buildings rose tall over the surrounding forest, and a grand wall circled it entirely. However, it was all made out of wood. Lyra and Trixie looked on it all with eyes filled with wonder, like they couldn't quite fathom just how much wood was needed to build anything like it. Karon on the other hand, was regretting coming to the city with all his heart. Absolutely everything about it screamed fire hazard.

And he hated fire.

His concerns were not shared however, and both the unicorns headed towards the impressive city's gate with a spring in their steps while Karon trailed behind nervously. When they arrived at the gates, they found them open, but just barely, the small crack guarded by four otters wearing colorful clothes with small sabers strapped to their waists.

“Hold!” one of them commanded and held out a paw.

Karon forgot his worry for a moment at the sight and nearly started giggling. The creature was tiny, even smaller than the ponies though not by much, and if Karon wanted to, he could just have kicked the little thing away without difficulty. That, in addition to the outfits they wore, left the impression the guards gave off as comical rather than intimidating.

“Yeah?” Karon asked in an amused tone, leaning on his spear.

The otter's eyes were inevitably drawn to the dark tip, a blackness the sunlight enhanced rather than dispelled. They tensed notably, and the one that had spoken took a step backwards towards the safety of the group. It seemed to give him a little of his confidence back, and he spoke in a harsh voice.

“What's your business in Poffington?”

“Kill, loot, pillage, plunder and rape,” Karon responded jovially.

The guards' eyes nearly boggled out of their sockets, and all four of them backed up against the narrow opening in the gate, prepared to run through and close it in a moment's notice. Trixie turned around and looked at him questionably, like she wanted him to confirm if that was what they were really going to do. Lyra on the other hoof was shaking her head and groaning repeatedly.

“He's joking,” she told the terrified otter guards.

“Are you sure?” came the hesitant response.

She sighed deeply and glared at Karon, who smiled back and shrugged his shoulders.

“Yes, I'm sure. He just has a terrible sense of humor. He hit his head a lot and can't understand how to behave properly,” Lyra told them.

“Ah, I have a cousin like that. You can go inside, just keep him from urinating on anything expensive.”

“Sure,” she said and tried to stifle her laughter.

The otters moved aside and allowed them to pass, their eyes following Karon all the way until he was out of sight.

“Why do we always manage to piss of the guards of a city no matter what nation or species is involved?”

“I don't know, maybe something about us seems sketchy?”

The trio took their time following the street into the city. The city's perhaps most notable feature – with the exception of everything being built out of wood – was that there were rivers flowing wherever you looked. And what was more, the city looked to be divided into two sections. Down in the rivers, unclothed otters swam and walked on the walkways that ran alongside them, and there were doors that seemed to lead into homes easily accessible from the walkways.

In addition, there were clothed otters wearing fancy outfits ranging from elegant dresses for the females and costumes for the males, and nearly all of the latter were wearing top hats.

“Great, I'm stuck in an anglophile's fable.”

The more fancifully dressed otters were walking along the stone roads Karon and the unicorns were following, and after passing through a few blocks, it became clear that the lower class made their homes close to the riverbeds, while the high class otters lived in the huge wooden mansions rising above the trees.

Karon's finger began to itch at the thought. The otters they passed by gave them curious, albeit aloof stares. It would have been fun taking them down a notch, but the threat of the whole city catching on fire was still present in his mind, and he couldn't help feeling that was how it would end should he decide to have a little fun.

All in all, it looked like their stay in the city would be terribly boring.

That was until they heard a twittery voice call out in the most horrible British accent Karon ever had the misfortune to hear.

“Can it be? Why yes it can! The great host and party thrower himself! My, just the other day I was telling Lady Scruggyposh about our marvelous evening. And now you're here in Poffington? Capital I say, just capital!”

Karon turned his head to the source, as did the ponies, and saw the most pompously dressed otter they had seen so far. He was wearing a yellow and blue frock with white frilly laces. On his head sat a stark green top hat, and in its little right paw he held a walking cane. Karon wasn't sure what to say to the creature as it walked up to him and waited for him to respond.

“Uhh...I...”

“Why surely you can't have forgotten me? Sir Bottomsworth, remember? I was invited to that glorious gathering you threw in … what was it called? Ponyville? Yes I think so, that's it. I must say, I have never before seen such a creative use of library books. Why that pink one sure had a good aim. And I see you brought the singer with a fetish for humans if I remember correctly, hmm yes?”

Karon's stunned mind slowly dragged up the memory of an otter attending the party he had once thrown for the express purpose of getting Pinkie drunk. Twilight had started teleporting out invitations to random locations, and one of them must have reached this ...Sir  Bottomsworth.

“Ah yes, of course, Sir Bottomsworth. I was just surprised seeing you here,” Karon quickly said, gaining a satisfied nod from the otter.

“Why yes. This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you … and … is everything alright with you dear?” the otter asked carefully and looked at Lyra.

Karon turned his gaze down to the unicorn, who was staring at the otter with the most horrified expression he had ever seen on her face.

“You've told others … about me singing that?” she asked, ashen gray in the face.

“Why, of course! I have a ear for music and I still remember the lyrics. Why, it has turned out rather popular in the seedier parts of the city. You can count on it being sung at least once every night in some dank pub somewhere, or in an olium den.”

“Bu-… wha- … and I don't have a human fetish!” she shouted angrily.

“You totally do,” Karon said.

Lyra turned her head up towards him to protest, but Karon held up his hands and began wriggling his fingers. Her face twisted as anger and fascination warred for dominance, but no sound escaped her.

“Well, good show regardless. Say, where are you staying during your visit?” the otter continued, taking it all in good stride.

“We arrived less than an hour ago and haven't made any arrangements yet,” Karon admitted.

“Well what glorious news! You simply must come and stay at my estate for as long as you remain here. Come, come, it is not far from here, and I assure you it is all you could ever ask for.”

“Well...” Karon looked at his two companions for help, but he gained no support from Trixie, and Lyra was not in a mood to even look him in the eyes.

“...Of course, how could I refuse,” he finished for lack of anything better.

“The smooth talking, socially manipulating trickster strikes again!”

“I have a lot on my mind, okay.”

The otter led them through the streets of Poffington, happily divulging what he considered to be the incredibly fascinating history behind the buildings that they passed. Both Trixie and Lyra appeared to pay attention to his ramblings, but Karon wasn't. He was busy considering what he was supposed to tell Trixie and Lyra about what he had said about killing them now that he didn't need to think about where they were going or finding a place to sleep.

However, by the time they had arrived at their destination, a large manor – one that was not very distinct from every other manor around it but still obviously belonging to someone with wealth – he had reached no conclusion. The otter was wearing a huge grin on his furry face, no doubt delighted to show off his home to what he considered to be esteemed guests.

They were met at the door by another otter, wearing a stylish suit of a less garish nature. Karon guessed it was a servant from the looks of it, and the guess was proven right when Bottomsworth gave him orders to prepare a feast for the evening, to celebrate the trio's stay with him.

The tour around the house lasted for hours where they were shown every single nook and cranny of the manor, and made to listen to whatever story about the place Bottomsworth could think of. If any one of them were actually true or not was beyond Karon. His attention had been lost very quickly after the first tale of which ancestor had once had an affair with whom in that very spot.

Once the tour was over, dinner was almost done, and Bottomsworth directed another servant to show the trio to their rooms to refresh themselves. Karon was given a relatively small room, though by otter standards he guessed it would be considered quite big. It was extremely colorful – perhaps to offset the monotone colors of the wooden structures – and had been painted in every conceivable color.

There was a bed there, but it was so small that Karon would never be able to fit. He would have to ask Bottomsworth about maybe getting an extra two so he could put them together.

“Well, we're here. What now?”

“I don't know. A bit of food and whatever conversation the otter wants to make. After that … I don't know. There are a lot of things to think about, so I don't think making plans is the best thing to occupy our mind with at the moment.”

“So, you are finally going to confide in them, for real?”

“Yeah....”

“Interesting. And what are you going to do about … the door?”

“I … one thing at a time.”

“Fine, just don't postpone it for too long. Get going with the confiding tonight so we can finally have some progress.”

“Who are you? Really?”

“I told you, I am you.”

“You're not like me.”

“You don't know yourself.”

The voice fell silent after that, pleased with itself, which aggravated Karon since it meant he was pleased with the internal conversation. A man could go mad for less.

He left the spear, map and rucksack in the room. There was a small washroom next to his room, and , using the sink therein, he splashed his face with water several times before he felt calmer. There was a small mirror next to the sink, and when he looked into it, he expected something, maybe an explosion of emotion or some deep revelation rising to the surface of his mind.

Instead, there was nothing, only his reflection.

He left the washroom behind and headed towards the grand dining hall he'd been shown earlier. Trixie, Lyra and Bottomsworth were waiting around a table for him. The otter was seated on a chair, while pillows had been brought for the ponies. At the side stood several servants, one of them with a chair ready and another with a pillow, no doubt waiting to see which one Karon preferred.

He considered the chair for a moment, but it was so small that it was more akin to a stool, so he pointed to the servant with a pillow and nodded. The servant hurried forward to the first seat at Bottomworth's right and placed the cushion there, where a plate of hot food waited.

Karon sat down on the pillow and looked down on the plate. On it were steamed vegetables neatly piled up and next to them were several clams and oysters. Karon looked down on them doubtfully, and Bottomsworth caught his glance.

“Ah, yes. You are a human, yes? Like in the ponytales? Your kind don't eat delicious clams?”

“Uh, no,” Karon lied for convenience sake.

“Such a shame, they are quite delicious,” he said and picked one of them up, placed it on his stomach, and bashed it open with a small rock placed next to his plate.

The trio stared at the otter for a few seconds before returning to their own food. They ate mostly in silence, which came as a surprise to Karon. He had expected Bottomsworth to make conversation for as long as he was physically able. Instead, there was a silence only broken by the sounds of them eating.

And it was only when they were all done eating and reclining in their seats as best they could that the otter spoke.

“Ah, delicious as always. Bring in the desert,” he said and clapped his furry little paws.

The servants hurried away and soon returned with trays upon which stood bowls of … ice cream? It looked like that, and some kind of sauce next to them.

“Excellent, you may leave us now,” he said after the servants placed the trays before them.

Dutifully, the servants scurried away, and the otter breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Karon noticed and asked in the most diplomatic tone he could muster.

“Is something wrong?”

The otter looked at him with a slightly apologetic face and shook his head.

“No, it is merely customary to save all conversation until desert, when the servants are no longer needed and can be dismissed.”

“You don't trust your servants?” Karon asked, a little curious.

“Of course I do, but you never really know if it is really your faithful servant since years back standing next to you or not,” he finished darkly and poured the sauce over his ice cream, before passing it over to Karon.

He smelled the contents of the bottle and nearly jumped backwards to get away from it.

“Ugh, what is this kind of sauce?” he asked and tried not to sound all too disgusted.

“Fish liver sauce. Delicious with ice cream and a personal favorite,” the otter explained in a lighter tone.

Karon didn't comment on that, instead he silently passed it on to Lyra on the other side of the table, who looked on it like it was a poisonous snake. He then turned back to the otter and tried to continue the discussion.

“What do you mean you can never really know?”

The otter looked surprised by the question, then his face fell into the same look he had worn when he told them of the city's history.

“Ah yes, you are all new to the otter kingdom? Well, allow me to give you a little history lesson about the darker part of our beautiful land,” the otter cleared his throat before continuing.

“You see, the otter kingdom has stood for many centuries. We used to be a collection of small tribes and states, but we were united about 600 years ago. During those centuries, it was only for the first two hundred years that the king actually helped rule the land. The practice fell out of style though since they just couldn't keep check of all the scheming. And so, for the past four centuries we have all been ruled by queens, who take mates only in order to produce children.”

He sighed when he finished, and took a bite out of his ice cream before going on.

“Unfortunately, we aren't the only ones who call this land our home. And ours is not the only queen that claims to rule the river lands.”

“Ohh, who would this other queen be the queen of then?” Karon asked and ate absentmindedly.

“The changelings,” Bottomsworth said with a disgusted face.

“The changelings?” Karon repeated.

“Yes, foul creatures. They appear similar to ponies in their real forms I've heard, but I've never seen one like that, so I can't say for sure.”

“You mean they're shapeshifters?” Karon asked, now more than a little curious.

After all, technically he now belonged to a species of shapeshifters.

“Yes, that's what they are. And worse, they use their abilities to change into otters, family members and the like, and feed on the love they receive in their stolen forms. The real otter … often disappears and is never seen again. Sometimes they straggle out of the dark part of the forest, but even in those rare times, they never fully recover anyway.”

“Is this a serious problem?” Lyra asked.

“The issue has risen and fallen in severity through the centuries, but lately it has grown far worse than it has in a very long time, maybe worse than ever before. The poorer otters are the ones struck the most, but even the nobles are taken nowadays.

“Are you doing anything about it?” Karon asked and finished his desert.

“Me, personally? No. I wouldn't know what to do or how to handle something like this. And the guards are terrified of sending anyone out to investigate what the changeling queen is up to. After all … who knows if those that return are even the real guards?”

“Gentlemen, we have a dilemma it seems.”

“In all honesty, it does sound serious.”

“So offer your assistance then.”

“I didn't mean it like that.”

“Why not? We've handled worse.”

“Remember what I said about taking it calm and trying to sort things out with Trixie and Lyra?”

“Remember what I said about doing good things and we will start to feel good?”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts. Do you also remember that part of it being kinda important, that we don't lose the ability to experience and understand those feelings?”

“You suck, you know that?”

“You are me, I am you, how can this still be so hard to understand? Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you should do this without having a hidden agenda, without doing it for a selfish reason you hide behind a veil of altruism. Do it, just because it is a good thing to do. Who knows, maybe it'll actually lead to something.”

“Sigh...”

“Well, Sir Bottomsworth … it so happens that me and my companions are experienced in helping to solve difficult situations.”

“Whatever do you mean?” the otter replied.

“Well, we three have helped solve a lot of problems before,” Karon said, hoping he wouldn't have to go into details.

“I'm not sure I understand,” the otter continued with a confused expression.

Karon sighed, and tried not to sound too boastful. He was trying to do something good after all.

“We have, among other things, saved the zebra empire from being invaded by jackals – well technically they were invaded, but they didn't manage to take over the entire empire, in large parts thanks to us. I was also Equestria's first court wizard and helped avoid a coup from an insane consortium member, and a few other things.” he finished.

The otter stared at the human in a completely new way, but there was a look of calculation within it.

“So … you're saying that you think you, the three of you, could solve our troubles with the changelings? Would this be … permanently?”

The last part was asked in an extremely careful tone of voice that could not be interpreted as either approving or disapproving.

“Yes, though I don't know if killing the queen is the best solution. But, I will do whatever it takes to fix it,” Karon said firmly, though evenly to avoid revealing his own feelings on the matter of killing.

Which, in truth, basically boiled down to 'shit happens'.

“Well, that sounds just terrific. But I'm not sure exactly how such a dangerous task should be rewarded. I might be of fine breeding, but such a fortune is simply outside of my reach … maybe if I contacted a few other nobles and we pooled our resources...” the otter trailed off and looked at Karon, waiting to hear what he'd have to say about it.

“No charge, we'll do it for free,” Karon said and tried to hide his grinding teeth with a smile.

Across the table, Lyra spat out the ice cream she was busy swallowing in a fit of coughing that lasted for several minutes. She ignored the mess in front of her completely and stared at Karon like she couldn't believe what she had just heard. Beside her, Trixie had a similar look, but one also tinted with a vague sense of disappointment.

“You can take the mare out of the show business....”

“Well, I don't know quite what to say. That is incredibly generous of you, all three of you. I shall speak very highly of you to the queen herself! Surely she will reward you with a title should you succeed!”

The rest of the evening was of a more jovial nature. Karon's offer had certainly lightened the otter lord's mood, and he was quick to share a bottle of what he swore was the same brandy the queen herself drank in the evenings. True or not, Karon found it to be of high quality, and the alcohol helped to block out the glares he received from the unicorns.

Eventually, evening shifted into deep night, and the otter declared it was time for bed. He bade them all a healthy sleep and retired to his own quarters, leaving Karon alone with the two mares.

“Karon … is there something you wanna tell us?” Lyra asked and tapped one hoof to the floor.

“What is there to say? You heard how they have it here. Centuries of not being sure if the person you love the most in the world is really who you think it is, instead of a changeling who has taken that person's place.”

“Yeah, I know it sounds terrible. I understand that and I do agree we should try and help … but why for free?”

“Yes, I want to know that as well,” Trixie added with a huff.

“Don't be greedy you two,” Karon joked.

“We're not … I'm not,” Lyra corrected when she spotted Trixie's expression.

“Then what's this about?” he demanded.

“You, what else. This isn't like you at all, and if you do something like this, it means you're up to something, making plans,” she claimed and pointed a hoof towards him.

“Not always. Is it really impossible for me to decide to do something simply because it is a good deed?”

“No, but it is unlike you. And you don't make a switch like that without a reason … and you haven't been yourself recently...” she trailed off, and all three of them looked away awkwardly.

“Look … I am still planning on telling you everything … well as much as I can. But could we save that for after checking this changeling stuff out? When this is over and we can enjoy being celebrated as heroes and whatever?”

“I thought you said before that you weren't a hero,” Lyra said with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, people seem to have a problem believing that,” he muttered in return.

“Maybe they're not entirely wrong,” she said and smiled.

Karon's eyes turned to slits as he tried to discern if she had said that as an encouragement or merely to tease him.

“Anyway, if you want us all to go searching for changelings tomorrow, we should probably go to sleep now. Just because we've survived worse doesn't mean it will be easy,” Lyra reasoned.

Trixie yawned in agreement – though she still looked peeved that they wouldn't get paid for their troubles – and the three said good night to one another and went to their rooms. When he reached his own, Karon realized that he had forgotten to ask for more beds, and, not feeling up to waking Bottomsworth or trying to find a servant, he simply piled as many pillows as he could find on the floor and laid down.

It was surprisingly comfortable, and he fell asleep quickly.

                                          ****************************************************

The town guards had been thrilled beyond belief when they were told the trio would set out in an attempt to rid them of the changelings. They helped in every way they could, sharing experiences, stories and plain rumors, offering local maps and telling them of weaknesses they had discovered over the years.

It had taken a few hours, but eventually the trio felt that they had gathered all that could help them in their … quest. And so, they left the city behind them, following the rivers and pathways according to the guards' descriptions. It took an additional few hours before they reached the part of the forest the guards had mentioned, where no otter went willingly.

It was darker, the trees blocking out most of the sunlight. Between the large tree trunks, there clung some kind of slimy webs, not those of spiders but … something different.

They traveled more cautiously within this shadowy domain, and the unicorn mares looked around themselves nervously. Karon blended in more easily, despite wearing a robe of deep red. He was more accustomed to dark forests, and after experiencing the Everfree first hand for days, the changeling woods didn't impress him much.

The slimy strings increased in numbers, and large chunks of them came together to form entire platforms high above the ground. Karon stretched out his senses to guard from enemies, and although he couldn't detect anything dangerous nearby, there was a sort of distant humming that picked at his attention.

The woods got slimier and slimier, and soon it covered much of the ground as well as the trees. The fact that they had gone so far without being spotted as intruders was making Karon suspicious, and apparently Trixie as well, for she commented nervously after she stepped in the slime.

“This isn't right. If anything lived here we should have been seen, or heard, or something. I think we might be heading towards a trap.”

Karon was about to respond, but someone beat him to it.

“Oh clever pony, but I am afraid the trap has already been sprung.”

From above, the distant buzzing exploding into a chorus, and from the canopy shadows there descended a horde of pony like creatures. They were insect like, covered in dark chitin and with blue bug like eyes. However among them was a bigger creature, and where the other changelings were similar to ponies, this one was similar to an alicorn.

She was beautiful, in a defiled, twisted sort of way. A kind of savage marking that told him the world had broken her, many times, and in her broken form she had found strength. She landed on the ground before the trio, surrounded by a swarm of her kind, a paragon of corruption and hunger.

“I was wondering when you'd show up,” Karon said mockingly and leaned on his spear.

“You were?” Trixie, Lyra and the alicorn changeling all asked in unison.

“Nope.”

“I'm not stupid, that buzzing your wings make is kinda noisy after all,” he said, chancing that it had been them all along, following them from above and somehow veiled from his senses.

“So, you did sense our presence after all,” the queen said, her voice melodic and hypnotizing.

“I did,” he lied.

“And you still dared proceed into my home, the home of my children?”

“Yeah, I thought to give talking a try before I stick my spear into your heart,” he answered casually.

“Oh, you think you have the power to challenge the queen of the changelings? Foolish little mortal, you stand before a being your superior in every way.”

“Yeah, I have opposable thumbs, so I win,” he responded with a smile.

“You think yourself humorous? Perhaps you are a creature that inspires joy in others, and they love you for it? One of my children will take your place, and feed on the love others feel for you.”

“I think you might be disappointed,” Karon responded, but his tone became serious.

The changelings didn't sense it, but he was slowly starting to weave his magic around him, and while the queen was busy delivering the most classic of villain's exposition, he got to work.

“Is that so? It doesn't matter. I know who you are. I have many of my children out in the world as spies, and they have heard of you, Karon. You are well known for what happened in the city of Las Pegasus, and even though it amused me to hear you caused the princesses of Equestria such difficulty, it will not be enough to spare you from me. Your form will be useful, and with it and your friends' we will be able to do much. I have a plan for my children you see, to take them to a place where love flows beyond what I have seen in a long time.”

“You won't get away with whatever you're planning!” Trixie shouted, and Karon nearly aborted his magic just so he could facepalm.

“Oh, but I will little pony. But first, you will reveal everything about yourself. With my magic, I will access all of your memories, all of them, and I shall use them to make my children indistinguishable from you.”

Karon panicked when he heard what she'd just said.

“Accessing my memories...”

“That would mean that...”

“What the hell are you waiting for! Take her down!”

“No you won't!” Karon shouted and held out his right palm, directing the energies he had shaped into a ball of mental energy. It was so focused it took nearly his entire will to keep it from exploding and affecting everyone gathered. It wouldn't kill anything, but anyone hit with the energy would fall deeply asleep, and remain asleep as long as the magic remained powered by him.

The energy shone with a deep blue vibrancy, but before he could unleash it towards the changelings, the queen struck first.

She had held the spell prepared in her mind after all, and it took little mental effort for her to power it with her magic. It lashed out towards Karon, a green jet of energy that slammed into him, but it did not bring him under her control as it was meant to.

It was supposed to bring him under her control, to enable her to extract his memories and ask him questions he could only answer truthfully. Instead, the green energy intermingled with Karon's blue, and for a second nothing happened.

Then it all exploded out in a miasma of colors, and every single living thing nearby fell to the ground, deep asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 43: A song, a kiss, a birth and a way home Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 32 Minutes