Karon opened his eyes slowly, and he knew something was wrong. His memory was … fuzzy. He couldn't remember what had happened. How he'd gotten where he was, which to his eyes was just a gray expanse stretching endlessly in all directions. He turned around, and saw the same thing, nothing but gray skies and gray ground without end.

He looked down and saw that he was still wearing his regular red robe, and atop his head sat the same crooked hat he always wore. But something was different. The real clothes were a deep red that had been worn by the environment. What he wore now was just a reflection of the real thing. The real clothes did not bleed and did not shift with his movements like flowing blood.

He tried to move back his sleeve, but it wouldn't budge, and with growing horror he realized that the blood was a part of him. It wasn't his blood – he knew that as soon as he touched it with his hand – but it had become a part of him no less for that. It had grown to be a part of him.

What was more, he wasn't as big as he was used to being. After looking closely at his own form, he realized his body had changed and that he was once again a child, though not just a child. With a chill, he realized he looked exactly as he had when he was nine.

He ignored the unsettling revelation for a moment, and stretched out his senses. He was inside of a mental dimension, his old training told him that. However, what kind of dimension and whose world this was remained a mystery. He could sense no signature.

Maybe if he changed the energy his mental body was made up of, he would switch frequency and enter another part of the world he was trapped in. He stretched his senses inwards instead out outwards, and tried to connect to his center.

But it was empty.

Shivers ran up his spine, making the bloody robe shiver in waves in turn. He tried to stretch out his senses again, inward, outward, anywhere, as long as he could feel something. Nothing responded, nothing connected to him.

He was empty, standing in an empty land.

Then it was invaded. A presence broke through the emptiness and filled the cold with light and warmth. From behind him came a golden shine, and at first he was afraid to turn around, to face what he knew he was not. But it was too alluring, too beautiful to ignore.

He turned around, and there in a nimbus of gold and white stood a presence.

“Hello sir,” Feather Touch said, a sad smile touching her lips.

Karon stared, it couldn't be real. And before he knew what was happening he was speaking … no not speaking, singing.

“I saw you burn, I saw you die,

Like a fallen angel, you did wither,

And the dark took you before my eye

Like a wounded snake, hope did slither

Fear and rage was all I felt

The gifts destiny have me dealt

Your blood a drop to an ocean

Your end met for misplaced devotion

Another death another weight to drag me down

In deep red dark of blood and tears and memory

I go to drown”

The words left his mouth of their own volition, and when he was done, and the last tone was left quivering in the emptiness around them, he stood staring at her.

Feather's sad smile left room for a happy one for a moment, making the light she spread all the warmer.

“Oh, I didn't think the magic would do that. I'm sorry sir. Had I known, I would have told you,” she said, her nimbus flickering in uncertainty.

Karon kept his mouth closed in fear of another song escaping him, but his eyes spoke plainly of his confusion, and the questions he wanted answers to.

“I understand sir. I should begin with saying I'm not really Feather. I mean the real me. I'm … a part of her. The real Feather didn't want to leave you, and her soul remained behind, slowly draining her spirit so she could stand with you. She saw everything that happened to you. She was with you in your dreams, even if you couldn't see her. But that monkey, Metatron is his real name, saw me, and he said Feather would fade away forever if she didn't leave you. So after you defeated the jackals she wanted to say good bye. She talked to the shaman in a dream and she … left a part of herself with the shaman, a gift for you. So when she left she didn't truly leave you, she left me.”

Karon closed his eyes, his heart ached with something, and the landscape changed. The gray expanse vanished, and he now stood within the chamber of the Talisman of the Stars, in the place where Feather had died.

The blood robe covering him rippled like it was agitated, and all the feelings he had felt in that place, the pain, the regret, the pure anguish, came rushing back. From the blood, thorns began to grow, climbing up his arms and legs like snakes, digging into his skin and latching on. The blood seemed to be feeding the thorns, and as they grew and coiled around his body, they trapped Karon.

He couldn't move, and he stared at Feather with panic shining out of his eyes.

“I'm sorry sir, I can't free you. I'm not allowed to, and I can't break those rules. It would only hurt you more if I did.”

Karon didn't speak, but his shoulders sagged in defeat and he hung his head. He was giving up. He was being trapped and he knew there was a reason for it. She wasn't allowed to help for a single reason. He deserved this fate.

“Sir, I can't free you, but I can help you remember how to free yourself.”

Karon pleaded with his eyes, the thorns digging into his flesh. It hurt, so much. He nodded to Feather and she smiled again, a smile born out of conviction.

“Thank you for letting me help you sir, follow me.”

Karon tried to protest with his gaze. The thorns were binding him too tightly, and he couldn't follow her anywhere. His unspoken protest died when he met her eyes, blue eyes that had looked on him with no accusation, no anger as she died. He looked into her eyes and fell into them, felt himself enveloped by them.

The landscape changed, it was no longer just the chamber. Instead, the crystals began to shine azure and a melody chimed out of them. Another feeling rose, that of hot tears streaming down his face as he held Feather's burned body. Regret, regret for her death. The death of someone he cared about.

Someone he loved.

The thorns binding him grew white and old, and when he flexed his arms, they easily broke. He quickly brushed the rest off his body, and the blood they had grown out of remained still and at peace. For the moment, at least. What was more, he had grown as he freed himself, and his body was now back to his regular adult form, the one he had worn ever since entering Equestria.

Feather's smile grew wider, and pride shone out of her eyes.

Karon smiled back at her, and a war began inside him between anguish and love, waring for what he would feel and what would drive him.

His senses extended, and he could feel different fields within the world they were trapped in. They all had a different note, like the rising and falling pitch of a song. His had been the emptiness before it began, and the ending when it all fell silent. But he was no longer empty. He had found other parts, and now he wasn't confined any longer.

Feather nodded, already knowing what he had just realized. And so Karon stretched out his feelings until he felt another note that was similar, one that could be joined with his own. He reached out for it, and disappeared.

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

He stood within a library, not like Twilight's hollowed out tree, but a larger library in a building of stone. It seemed to be empty with Feather no where to be seen. Karon wondered what had brought him here, and instantly he felt a click, like the joining of two harmonious notes but played by different instruments.

This was love, a place of love. It was different from the one he had found in himself, but it was still love.

He heard a sound coming from behind one of the bookshelves, the sound of a page turning in a book. He went to investigate, and behind it he found Lyra. She was both herself and not. She was smaller, younger, but about her flickered a transparent spirit shaped like her regular self.

She was humming, and when he moved closer she looked up. She saw who it was and recognition passed by her eyes, igniting a longing that burned in her gaze stronger than anything he had ever seen in her before.

Then she opened her mouth, and she sang.

“In a dream I see a face

A life, a thought, a land

Another world, another place

With buildings tall and grand

Crafted not by hoof or horn

But by clever mind and hand

From that dream I was torn

And in faith alone did I stand”

Her words made the whole library shiver with emotion, of a deep longing born into her very soul out of a single dream. One made all the more real by the echoes of the distant place she had glimpsed, and the loneliness she faced when no other shared her belief. Karon didn't know what to say, and he didn't need to. Lyra looked at him, and she started to grow before his eyes, her smaller self slowly changing into her older shape as it flickered around her like a ghostly blanket.

“With fear, and scorn and disbelief

My hopes provided only grief

Tempered my resolve for I knew

The dream I saw had spoken true

A stranger did appear, with hands

A legend, a tale that understands

No more lies, no more doubts

A truth, in my heart does shout

He is real, he is here

Then he turned to disappear

The library shook heavily, books fell out of their places on the shelves, but neither Karon nor Lyra moved. And before his eyes she grew older, stronger and more aware. She rose from her seated position on the floor, her eyes never leaving his.

“I shall not lose my prize

I shall not forget or hide

I will not give in to the lies

I know my place at his side

He is my truth, my dream

He is the raging stream

He will carry me away

He will show the way

To the place I know

To where destiny's winds do blow

At his sides through danger I roam

At his side, all the way to home”

The library fell silent. It no longer shook or moved at all, it was holding its breath. Lyra had grown into her normal self, and she stood watching Karon with uncertainty. What she had sung was a song from her heart, and what it had meant was clear to both of them. She was waiting to see how it would affect him, what he would do know that he had seen what drove her.

He looked into her eyes, then smiled and offered his hand.

She smiled back and placed her right hoof in it, and he hauled her into a hug. They held each other for a long time, and at that moment, their bond deepened into something that could never truly be broken no matter what happened. They remained as such until they were interrupted by an annoyed sigh coming from around the bookshelf.

They looked at each other, then as one moved to investigate. In the center of the library they found Feather Touch, busy with using her magic to place the fallen books back in their rightful places. It did not take long, and when she was done she shifted her eyes to Karon and looked a little disappointed.

“Really sir, must you always make a mess wherever you go? I know it is not my place to judge, but think of all the poor ponies and whatever else that have to tidy up after you've been around.”

Karon started to laugh, and was very irritated when even that came out in a melody. Lyra looked stunned to see Feather Touch standing before them, alive to all appearances, and she looked up at Karon questioningly. He didn't answer since he feared it would come out in a song, so he settled for shrugging his shoulders. Predictably, she rolled her eyes.

“Sir, if I may? I think that you found what you needed to find here, and with lady Lyra's help, I think you are ready to move on.”

Karon motioned with his hands, saying 'moving on to where?'

“The other direction sir. I think this is where your love took you, because this was a place where a love resided.”

The other direction? But there was only two emotions waring within Karon, one was love, the other was anguish. As soon as his focus was directed to his anguish, he felt a resonance with something else, far away. Another place within this world, a place of anguish. Not his, but someone else's.

He closed his eyes and grabbed Lyra's hoof. He didn't want to go there, but he needed to. He sighed and felt the connection grow taut like a string, then they both vanished.

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

Karon and Lyra found themselves standing in a field. Not a field as in a meadow or open grassland, but an actual farmer's field. The environment reminded Karon of Equestria as there was a certain idyllic peace that was unmistakable. The sun was shining bright in the sky, and a little ways away stood a red barn next to a white house.

Feather Touch appeared out of nowhere to stand next to the two, and after looking at one another, they all started to walk towards the house. When they got closer, they heard somepony shouting. It was full of anger and contempt, and when they passed around the house they spotted who it was coming from.

It was a brown earth pony with a yellow mane, on his flank was a cutie mark of a sickle. In front of him stood a small blue unicorn with a white mane. Her flank had no cutie mark, it was blank. Her head was hanging low and she was trying to hide the tears trickling down her cheeks.

“Why can't you ever be useful! Every. Single. Day you try to cheat your chores! Not here, not like that. Here you do the work like hard working, HONEST, earth ponies!” the stallion roared, his eyes boring into the filly.

“But I can't. It's too heavy and I'm not strong enough,” she whimpered, eyes never leaving the ground.

The stallion snorted, “Of course you aren't. You're worthless in every possible way and that's not my fault.”

“But dad-”

“DON'T CALL ME THAT! I am not your father. Your equally worthless mother made sure of that. Eighteen generations of pure earth ponies, and she needs to dirty our family by sleeping with a weak hoofed unicorn,” he spat.

“It's not my fault,” the filly whispered and turned her face away even further from him.

“You were a mistake, a mistake created by your whore mother! I've been gracious and tried to have patience, tried to teach you the values our family has always lived by. But you just refuse to learn, refuse to be taught. You're a unicorn,” he spoke the last word with such loathing it made the little filly flinch like he had struck her.

“I can't, I'm not an earth pony. If you'd let me use magi-”

“NOT in my house! This is not a place for unicorn trickery. You will not sully this home with that filth!”

“It's the only thing I'm good at,” she whimpered, her tears flowing freely.

“Then you're good at nothing,” he said with utter conviction. “You are worth nothing, even the simplest tasks I give you remain undone or done so sloppily that you might as well not even try.”

“But I try so hard, I try to do as you say,” she said, her voice barely audible.

“Doesn't matter, you always fail and you always will. You're useless, weak and the child of betrayal. You shame this entire family with your very existence.”

“I will try harder,” she said and finally looked up, her eyes red.

“No, just ... go. Be gone from here, disappear from our lives and let us forget you ever existed. Go to the unicorns, go anywhere but here. You have your precious magic, so go use it.”

He said the words the same way another would have described a death sentence. He turned away from the crying filly, leaving her behind without another word. Dead to him already, and soon nothing but a distant memory leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

She remained standing where she was, not sure what to do. He had said similar things, and he always shouted when she wasn't strong enough to do the chores like he wanted them done. But he had never told her to go away, never told her to disappear. She didn't know what to do.

She turned around from the house she had grown up in, away from the family she had always been told she didn't belong with. She wandered aimlessly and Karon and the others followed at a respectful distance, none of them sure of the right thing to do.

The little filly continued walking without any sense of direction, her head fixed on the ground and an air of misery around her. Eventually, after following her for what felt to Karon as far too long, he hurried and caught up with her, with Feather and Lyra following on his tail.

When the filly heard him approaching, she turned around and looked up at him, and recognition seemed to flare in her eyes. She stared at him with confusion, like she was having difficulty piercing the cloud of anguish crushing her.

They looked each other in the eyes, and when the filly opened her mouth, she sang with the voice of a child. Smell, helpless and hurt.

“Please break my horn

please take away my shame

make like I was never born

make me the same

I don't want to feel

I don't want to cry

I just want to heal

I just want to die

To be great to be strong

Never hearing I am wrong

Knowing somepony does care

Hold me when I scare

Not scream 'You are flawed.'

Not tell me 'You're a fraud.'”

“Let me feel the magic flow

Make me great, let me grow

Give me a name that is mine

Give me power, let me shine

Please stop and say I'm good

Don't leave me misunderstood

I just want to hear it said

Just once, then I'm fine

Don't say it's better if I'm dead

A single time, this one sign

Please don't turn away

I won't ask your name or who

Just once look at me and say

I love you”

The singing did not leave a shiver in the air like it had before, instead it made it felt emptier like there was something missing. Karon looked down on the little filly, quivering in fear at his judgment. He was deeper within her heart and soul than anyone had ever been before, seeing a part of her she had done everything to block and lock away, deep down out of mind.

Just like he had.

He opened his mouth, and the words flowed all on their own.

“Falling grace and beaten hooves

Quivering heart of breaking soul

Through time our bodies moves

Without a goal, without a whole

Inside there is a hole

A thought of what we stole

Guiltless masks we don

Forgetting the dreams of chance

And twisting what is shown

Hide our pain in a careless glance

A family of outcasts, around a schemer

Trickster, bastard and dreamer

I know the pain you carry

We are bearers of regret

Of a past we wish to bury

But we can't, we owe a debt

To self, to love, to hope, to fate

To go on with this crushing weight

Through enduring we grow strong

This is just another step, this stupid song

To break our chains and free our fire

Heal our wounds and feel the scars

Let it be our hope or funeral pyre

We will not fall, we will walk amongst the stars

Look into a trickster's eyes, full of shame, and hope and lies

I love you, in those words find your strength, and rise”

Nothing happened at first and Trixie looked at him only in fear. But the look on her face changed to one of wonder and when she looked at her flank, a cutie mark had appeared, and she started to grow. Within a few heartbeats she was back to her normal size, but there was a difference in her. A wall had been torn down, and the prison she had built for herself was beginning to crumble. It would take time and a great deal of effort to tear it all down, but it was a start.

Karon felt his anguish harden, shaping itself into something else. It wasn't a weakness anymore, eating away at everything he dared feel for. It didn't erode his will, it strengthened it. It was a source from which he could draw power, a hard lesson and a reminder.

He was not alone, he was not the first to be tormented. He had seen Trixie's own pains, and the chains she had built to keep it away. And what's more, he knew he would not be the last. There would come others like them, like him. What that meant exactly escaped him, but he sensed a truth in that realization, and a whiff of destiny's touch.

“That was sickeningly sweet. I am almost saddened by the thought of what I will do to you,” a voice slowly drawled.

The four of them turned to face the changeling queen, standing unafraid just a few steps away from the group. Around her there sparked a green aura, lashing out with small tendrils like they were seeking something. Without thinking Karon reached for his spear so that he could send it flying into the smug queen's face, forgetting entirely where they were.

And in a way, it worked.

The sky darkened, and from it a jet black shape rushed down and slammed into the earth, sending dirt and small rocks spraying in every direction. From the ground rose a figure, huge and with fur the kind of darkness that one can only find in the deepest cave where light has never been, sucking in light itself. It was shaped like a jackal, but stronger, more powerful and the only word Karon could use to describe it was terrifying.

Its claws were long and sharp, reminiscent more of daggers sticking out of its paws than actual claws. Its eyes were no different in color than the rest of its body, a deep dark that was almost hypnotic in its absolution.

It stood twice as tall as Karon, and at least four times as wide. It was in every respect of the word, a monster, a terrifying beast. And then it spoke.

“Who called to me? Who would claim to wield my hunger! I am Bator's promise!”

Karon and the three ponies around him all backed off. The voice of the beast made the very earth quake in fright, and the queen of the changelings knew better than to stand in the way of such a foe. She gave the human an acidic smile, then disappeared.

The creature's gaze sought out Karon, and when they locked eyes, he felt very, very afraid.  The beast drew in a deep breath, smelling the tiny creatures that stood before him. It did not look impressed.

“You … your tiny paws smell of my touch,” it growled and focused its attention on Karon. It was an unsettling stare, the same kind of predatory gaze you receive when you become the total focus of a tiger.

“I … wait, I'm not singing,” he said out loud, forgetting the monster for a brief second.

The fact he was now able to have a normal conversation did not prove to be very advantageous at that moment, for the beast started to move towards him slowly, claws twitching like it was imagining itself tearing Karon apart.

“You would dare to call on Bator's promise, the great promise of bloody invasion, the birthright of the jackals?” it asked, and there was a terrible malice behind its words.

Karon took in the situation, and reached the only sane conclusion.

“Run!” he shouted.

The beast did not roar or set chase when the four of them scattered, instead it smiled a grim smile in satisfaction. The hunt was on.

Karon's legs were pumping under him furiously. The thing was huge and would not have any problems keeping up with him. Which was why he was stretching out his senses to find another connection, another frequency that he could move over to. However, he could sense nothing new, and when he heard the loud stomping of the jackal beast approaching, he took the easiest way out, and returned to where he had first appeared.

The landscape had changed again. It was not the empty gray and neither was it the cavern chamber where Feather had met her end. Instead, it was his inner library, basked in golden light from the chandelier above and the endless rows of bookshelves. He didn't understand what he was doing there at first, but the reason became plain when the sultry voice of the changeling queen rang out from one of the floors above.

“Finally you have arrived. I was almost worried that the creature had eaten you. How fortunate you are still alive, otherwise I would have had to go to one of the other ones' inner mind, and they didn't appear to be as interesting as you. A human are you?I have heard of your kind, but never met one before. It shall be a real pleasure digging through this place, but first...”

Karon heard the sound of magic being used, right before he fell down to his knees and bit back a scream. Something was pounding on his mind, doing its best to rip something apart. And it became obvious what that was when he looked up and realized just where the queen stood.

At the black door.

Ignoring all the pain and letting panic lend him speed, he practically flew up the stairs, and when he reached the door he found the queen standing before it with her horn aglow with a sickly green light, tearing at the chains safely binding the door from opening.

He didn't bother screaming in denial. He simply lashed out with all the energy he could find and sent a storm of  pure force towards the twisted alicorn.

The savagery of the attack took her by surprise, but the tendrils of energy around her reacted when the new force barreled into her, and it absorbed and twisted the brunt impact. With dread, Karon realized this wasn't just his mind. What they were all within was a collective mind, a small mental pocket world created by the creatures all joining together through their mixed magic.

He was not all powerful here, he was not without limits. And what was more, in the mental world, memories equaled power. The more experienced and the more time spent in the world was reflected in a mind, and made it grow. He felt his own considerable strength, made all the more dangerous through his almost prodigal skill within the finer magics, but it was nothing compared to the raging storm that was the queen. She had lived for thousands upon thousand of years, and next to all of those memories, all these echoes from the world her mind still carried, he was like a fly in a gale.

He knew it, the queen knew it, and with a twisted smile she tore off one of the black chains. It fell to the floor and dissolved into black smoke, and all that remained to block the door was one single chain. All that was left, then it would just be the door, and even though it would be locked it could still be opened.

He could not allow that. Not yet, and not by her.

His power might be nothing to her, but there was another way, a trickster's way. Not the one of brute force, but the one of trickery, using the laws of the world against her. This was a place of all their minds, built around a collective. She had, through that connection, entered into his, but he could also enter hers.

With a devious smile, Karon locked eyes with the queen, and before she realized what he was planning, he stretched out his senses until he felt the queen's frequency. It rang out like a powerful church bell, but one old with rust and covered in slime. Her eyes widened when she understood, but by then it was too late, and they both vanished.

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

Karon knew this place. It was the war room he had seen while trapped in the ghost's visions. It was exactly the same, even the same broken remnants of the alicorns were there. Sick, defeated and forgotten by all, their princesses had left many days ago and they had abandoned all hope of them ever returning.

Their leader Fortitude had died. He had been weak for a long time, and it was only the thought of the princesses returning with news that the horrible creature Discord had been defeated that kept him alive. But they didn't return, and with every hour that passed, he had grown weaker, until eventually he laid down to rest, and never moved again.

There were so few now, more and more were dying, and what few might still be healthy enough to fight the diseases couldn't because their very spirits were broken. It was a slow, agonizing end to the once proud and wise race of the alicorns.

Among the small group of survivors was a young alicorn mare, her coat a beautiful dark gray that had often been compared to the king's own. Her mane was that of ocean blue, and once she had been considered one of the most beautiful of the mares in the capital.

Now she was sick. Small wounds had opened over her entire body, oozing pus and mingling with the cold sweat that left her shivering. Her mother and father were gone. They had left to help some of the lesser species in their time of need, and she hadn't heard from them since. She knew they were dead, as was the rest of her family. Every alicorn was dead, except the few with her in the room, and the princesses out hunting for Discord. And soon, everyone in room would die too. She could see it in their eyes. They didn't even try and fight it, they just waited.

She felt a little anger stir inside her chest. She didn't like the thought of the last alicorns dying like that. Despite her fragile state, the anger gave her enough strength to stand on shaky hooves, and walk out of the room. Outside, the air was fresher, less clouded with sickness and despair. Instead it was … empty. The air felt empty, like it was missing something.

No, it was more than the air. Everything felt empty, like it had been drained of everything worth touching or feeling, leaving only an empty wasteland with ruins. It had been such a short time, but her beautiful home had been so twisted that when she now looked on the remains of the capital, she could see nothing familiar in it.

It held nothing. Her life held nothing. She held nothing.

It had been taken from her. All of it had been taken from her, but for some reason she still lived. A living, breathing shell, just as drained of substance as the ruins she walked through. Chrysalis had been her name, but it had been the name given to a beloved daughter. Was it still hers now that she was no longer anyone's daughter?

Even the wind felt empty as it brushed against her sweat drenched coat, and it offered no answers. The sun was beginning to set, and she wondered who it was that moved it now that the alicorns were dying. Maybe a group of unicorns struggling with magic they were never meant to use.

If so, life still persisted, and the princesses hadn't lied. They had saved the world, brought it back, even if it was maybe for just a moment before Discord plunged it back into an execution by entropy.

But it had been days. Why hadn't the infernal creature already rebelled against something so orderly as the rise and fall of the sun? Had the princesses succeeded in destroying him? And if so, why hadn't they returned to save the few shattered remains of their race, their subjects?

The wind answered her, this once. As did the land, and the broken houses and the hollow warmth the sun offered. Because there was nothing to save. They couldn't be bothered, it was not as it had been. None of them were, they were all empty now, and all that was left was to crumble into dust.

She stopped before a corpse, a pegasus of the lesser ponies. She even remembered the particular pony. She had been the leader of the pegasi in the capital, and she had been there in that last attempt to stop Discord's storm. There had been rumors about her, about her honor and strength, about how she could fly so fast even alicorns would have difficulty capturing her with magic.

And now, she was a rotting corpse, leaving nothing but stink from having basked in the sun. All her honor and strength, it was nothing now, just like she was. Chrysalis halted at the thought. The corpse was just like her, without purpose and the lingering echo of something that would eventually be forgotten.

Maybe she wasn't alone at all, maybe there was purpose to non-purpose, maybe emptiness was not so lonely as she thought. She embraced the thought. She was empty already, what harm could it bring to let it claim her? She stretched herself out into the land around her, and all she could feel was emptiness, a void.

From that moment she was changed. Her wounds grew into scars, and from her pores oozed something new, a sticky liquid that enveloped her, protecting her from the cold and heat around her. Neither would touch her, and she would not be hot or cold, she would be empty.

From her horn a green light began to shine, and she felt the emptiness inside her reach out, and it found a similar emptiness in the corpse at her hooves. She could not bring back the dead, and she did not want to. She did not seek life, only to share her emptiness. She drained the corpse of what it was, the void inside her hungrily devouring all that it had been. And the corpse changed as well, its rotting hide twisted into a chitin of the same color as her coat, and its eyes cracked and grew, changing into the same color as her mane.

From the void of life rose something new, the first of many. She would not be alone, she would share her emptiness with all she could. If she could not be Chrysalis the daughter, she would be Chrysalis the mother.

And from that emptiness rang a song, and with her lips she gave it shape.

“Sunder all broken minds, leave only dust behind

Stop time from turning, moving, pushing, churning

Stop the breath of life, leave behind all strife

Come into my embrace, I will replace your face

In an empty place, there is no grace

No honor, doubt or fear, your fate I will now steer

Crack your skin and bleach your eyes

What you've been, will now die

Give me your love

Meant for another

And become something of

Nothing, void and me,

Your mother”

Karon had been following Chrysalis all the way from the room, keeping out of sight but still close enough to observe whatever hid within her mind. But of all the things he could have been witness to, this was beyond anything he could have suspected.

Chrysalis smiled down at the first of her children, the twisted shell of what had once been the body of a being renowned for her heroism. Now it was only a tool, a small part of a greater emptiness given a body to use. An emptiness born out of Celestia's and Luna's weakness.

They held the power, they could have healed the wasteland. But they choose not to, and so it spread, claiming its first victim, Chrysalis herself.

The queen grew before his eyes, not in size, but in age. Scars of all kinds formed around her body, acid seemed to eat through her hooves and horn, leaving holes and jagged edges behind. Thousand of years of suffering and pain took place in mere seconds before his eyes, twisting her further and further until Chrysalis, the beloved daughter, could not even be remembered.

She was the queen of the changelings now, and she was aware of his presence. She turned her eyes towards him and anger burned within them. She knew he had seen, knew her beginning, and in knowing such things there was power.

She could not allow such a thing, and as she gathered her power, Karon did the only sensible thing he could and fled. He fled to the only place he knew Chrysalis could not follow. He stretched out for his love, and disappeared from Chrysalis' mind.

He looked around, and found himself back in the library inside Lyra's mind. And more than that, Lyra herself was there, together with Trixie and Feather Touch. They looked relieved when they saw Karon standing there and Trixie rushed up to him and put a hoof to his chest. She held it there for a brief moment as she looked deep into his eyes. Then she noticed that her hoof was being stained by the blood that was his robe and backed away.

The other two ponies walked over and stood next to her.

“What happened?” Trixie asked carefully.

“The queen found me, tracked me to my own mind. She was … doing something I could not allow to happen, and so I forced myself into her mind. I saw her beginning, and after she discovered me I had to flee, so I came here.”

Feather nodded with the others, then spoke in her usual calm voice.

“Sir, if I may make a suggestion? I think it would be a good idea to deal with the spirit of the spear as soon as possible. It is quite powerful and could cause considerable damage to miss Trixie's mind.”

“I know Feather, I just don't have any idea what to do. I don't even have any ideas for how to get out of here at all.”

“Well sir, this place seems to be a result of the intermingling energy fields created by your and the changeling queen's magic. Her magic was meant to create a form of hypnosis that would allow her to extract memories directly from your unconscious mind and also communicate with your consciousness in order to interrogate you. Your magic was meant to bypass the conscious flow of will and manipulate the brain into switching to a beta frequency through the electrical field around it. When these two mingled, they caused an overload, but instead of dispersing, the energy you yourself were trying to concentrate was let loose, causing all of you to fall deep asleep while simultaneously linking all your minds through the queen's spell, allowing you to interrogate and access one another's inner mind.”

“When did you learn so much about magic?” Karon asked in surprise.

“I'm a spirit now sir, well only part of one of course. But energy knows energy, and I am nothing but energy now. And I know the spirit of the spear accessed you through the same field of mingled magic that we are all trapped within right now, since I did the same thing. I am, after all, not a part of you sir, I am confined to the feather you carry as a talisman around your chest. I am only able to communicate with you like this because the veils between the different parts of your being are lifted at the moment.”

“Damn. If the field is still emitting power, it's because its being generated by a source,” Karon muttered, already knowing what Feather would say next.

“Yes sir, the source of power the field is drawing from is all of your life forces. If it continues to do so, it will eventually kill all of you.”

“So how do we get out?” Trixie asked.

“Well, two ways I can think of right now,” Karon said. “One is to cut the power, which is to say our lives, which would be stupid even if we could. The other is to break the structure the magic is maintaining. Break it and the power has no directed field to support anymore and we should wake up.”

“So how do we do that?” Trixie asked again. Lyra motioned with her body that she was wondering the same.

“The structure is the collective of our minds. If one of us breaks free, the whole structure will break.”

Before Trixie could ask again, Karon held up a hand and sighed and continued.

“And I have no idea how we'll manage that.”

“Sir, I might.” Feather interjected as politely as was possible.

“How?” Karon asked.

“Well, the queen's spell was shaped to connect to the parts of the mind directly resonating with the memories connected to the heart and soul. If you remove those, the spell can't connect to you, and your mind will break free.”

“You want to remove my heart and soul?” Karon asked in disbelief.

“Only for a short time of course. They can be stored within a suitable receptacle until you can reabsorb them.”

“Feather, if you know half as much magic as you seem to know, then you are aware of how incredibly dangerous that is. Body dying is one thing, but losing your soul...”

“I know sir, which is why I would never think of such an idea if it weren't for the fact that I want to be the caretaker of them, for a short time.”

“Ah I get it. You want to transfer my soul to the talisman you are housed within, the feather.”

“I would love to sir, but it can't be done. The talisman can just barely contain the small essence of the Feather Touch I am. Any more and it will break and … you will lose me and your heart and soul at the same time.”

“That would be bad,” he said and swallowed hard.

“I know sir, which is why I suggest we store it within the spear instead.”

“You mean the spear who's spirit is a huge, super powerful, bloodthirsty representation of the entire jackal race's hope of conquering an entire continent and slaughtering everything in their path?”

“Yes, but don't fear sir, I will help you,” she announced happily, her smile making the entire room shine in a golden light.

“How?” Karon asked and tried not to sound doubtful.

“Well, I don't trust that spirit at all. He seems exceedingly untrustworthy,” she said and twisted her mouth in disapproval.

“Exceedingly untrustworthy indeed,” Karon agreed and tried not to smirk.

“So, I was thinking that he and I shall join and become one entity,” she finished.

Karon stared, thinking hard to interpret just what she'd said. And when what she'd said did sink in, he was close to screaming at her.

“NO! I will not allow you to make another sacrifice. You've given enough already. You died for me, you gave up a part of yourself for me. You will not give more!”

“Yes I will sir. I am always your faithful servant and that will never change. Let me merge with the spirit of the spear, and I will continue to serve you for as long as you carry it with you.”

Karon stood speechless. He couldn't let it happen again, but what if it was the only way out? Right at that moment, all of their lives were slowly being drained. However, it would mean letting Feather merge with that monster, and he wasn't sure how much of her would remain after that. Was this his destiny, always coming back to situations where the only way out was losing friends and followers?

Feather looked at Karon hard. In some things she was not subservient.

“Sir, this is not destiny, this is choice. It is my choice, and I made it once and I have not changed my mind. The reason for why I did it remains true. I will do it, and it will free you all, and then I shall go with you as something new, and serve you as I have always tried to.”

She walked over to him, washed in her light of gold and purest white. She was beautiful. She had always been, but now she was truly beyond belief. Her very spirit was something so amazing it would have made gods fall to their knees in reverence.

And she would give it all up, joining with that damned bloodthirsty creature, staining her perfection.

He lowered himself to her height and embraced her, her light too strong to ever be touched by the blood covering him. It shone into the absolute darkest part of his soul, and despite the fact that it was locked behind a door still chained by the final chain, Karon knew she could see everything. Even the parts that he hide from himself. And when they broke the embrace and he looked into her azure eyes, he saw nothing but a willingness to sacrifice herself for him, despite knowing what memories he had locked away.

There was no more that could be said that had not already passed in that look, but he had to ask anyway.

“Why? Why continue sacrificing yourself for me?”

Her smile didn't falter, but she looked at him thoughtfully before answering.

“I'm afraid I can't answer that sir. It is the kind of thing that would mean more if you discover it later, after you've started moving forwards again. But don't worry sir, I know for a fact that you will get to know why. A talking monkey with a stick reassured me that it would happen.”

It would have to be enough for now, so Karon got up on his feet and looked over at the two unicorns. Both of them were misty eyed and looked at Feather Touch with something approaching admiration for Lyra and sadness for Trixie. They stood silent for a few minutes, basking in the bittersweet moment.

“Let's go,” Karon said eventually.

One by one, they disappeared until he remained alone. And then he took a deep breath and stretched out for the agony in Trixie's mind.

Karon appeared in the same spot he had disappeared from, and when he looked around, he could see the other three approaching from different directions. There was no sign of the jackal monster, which unnerved him. A creature that big and ferocious should have left a trail of destruction when he realized his quarry had fled.

If he had not, then perhaps he wasn't stupid or unfocused. Maybe his temper didn't run uncontrolled, and maybe he was truly the hopes and dreams of what all the jackals could be. A true hunter, not only powerful but also cunning.

If he was such a creature, then he would have know there was a good chance his prey would return. And if that was the case...

“You can come out, I know its a trap!” Karon shouted into the air, taking a wide, confident stance.

He heard a deep rumbling chuckle, amusement born out of seeing the fox do something clever, and live for another few precious moments before the hound finally closed in.

One of the small grassy hills rose from the ground, and the beast shook off the unbroken patch of grass it had removed from the ground and covered itself with. It had been lying in wait scant meters from where Karon had appeared, and it could have surprised him any time and crushed him. It hadn't, for it was a hunter.

And the hunt was to be savored.

The ponies hurried to Karon's side when they saw what was happening, but the beast didn't seem to care. It had eyes only for Karon, the one who had dared to claim ownership of him, of Bator's promise.

“You are the one. By what right do you wield me? You are no jackal, and though I have slept for long, I can taste their blood on my blade. I will not allow it. You will not steal me from my rightful place in the paws of the conqueror.”

It took one step forward and bent down a little, looking Karon closely in the eyes. The human forced himself not to show fear, it would be like dangling a steak before a hungry dog.

“I wield you by right of strength. I was given as a gift from the dragon you were forged to slay, and failed to slay. Many of the jackal kind tried to take it, and when the great Vako invaded the zebra capital in search of it and me, I went to him, and I threw him down to the courtyard ground where he splattered like a batch of rotten fruit. I am Karon the trickster, and you are my tool.”

“I am no tool of yours, weakling. I can smell your pain, your desperation and longing. You are not fit to wield me, and I will take pleasure in proving it to you.”

It took another step, and it was so close it could have stretched out its claws and torn him open. It didn't, it held its stare into Karon's eyes, and Karon's gaze did not flicker either. He could not fight the beast in close combat and win, but his greatest strength was not in that kind of battle, so he didn't try.

“Yes, you are. I have only begun with feeding you the blood of my enemies, and there will be countless more. And now that you are awakened, the body count will double quickly.”

“Your accomplishments are empty. I AM BATOR'S PROMISE! I am the weapon the conqueror will hold when he brings the jackals forward in a tide of rage, and claws and steel and fangs.”

“It will not happen. I broke the jackals before me. I burned my laughing face into their minds and they will never, ever forget me. They will whisper my legend to their children as a warning to never return to the zebra lands or what lies beyond. I killed that dream, I killed the conqueror before he had even been born. You have no purpose now, other than that which I give to you.”

The beast's focused glare cracked, and it blinked in confusion.

“No, I am Bator's promise. There is nothing else, it is what is meant to be.”

“Not anymore. The jackals will never conquer anything.”

“No ... I....”

The beast broke the gaze, and it staggered backwards. Its great strength no longer guided by a clear purpose, and in that wavering of certainty, Karon saw his chance. He looked over at Feather, and she gave him a sure smile, letting him know nothing had changed.

He sighed, and motioned her to step forward.

“We are trapped with magic that is slowly killing all of us. There is a way to break it, but it will require something of you,” Karon said firmly to the huge beast having an existential crisis.

It looked over at Karon, then down to Feather Touch, who was tiny compared to the great monster.

“This is Feather Touch. She is a spirit of a talisman I carry. She will merge with you, and the new being you will form can assist in lifting the magic.”

The beast sized Feather up in one look, then growled.

“It is weak, it knows nothing of blood and death.”

Feather frowned.“You are wrong you foul smelling, shaggy, degenerate! I know plenty of death. Unlike you I have felt it touch me, and I understand it far better than you alone ever will. However, we both know service. And I serve the sir proudly and so shall you, when we become one.”

“I am Bator's Promise! The promise of Murder, of Blood, of-”

“No,” Karon interrupted, his voice low but his tone without compromise.

Everyone's eyes turned to him, and waited in silence to hear what he'd say.

“You are not Bator's promise, Bator's promise is broken. You are a ghost, but you will become more. I will take you further than any jackal conqueror ever could. In my hands, I will carve you through more flesh than you would ever feel touch your cold tip in the hands of any other. I will let you taste the blood of creatures beyond this world. I will walk across stars and worlds and galaxies and I shall walk with you in my hand. You will have your killings, and you will be more than Bator's promise, you will be....”

Karon turned his eyes to Feather's, and he smiled sadly.

“...You will simply be, Promise.”

Feather smiled. She knew there were so many meanings to that simple name. So much depth hid in those few syllables. The beast shivered, it hungered like never before. It looked into Feather's eyes, and she looked into its.

“Promise,” it said with a voice full of hunger for blood and death.

“Promise,” she said with a voice of clarity in willing sacrifice.

Slowly, their forms began to dissolve. Changing into nothing but their essences, black and red energy melted into gold and white. They twisted and broke against one another, like they were battling for supremacy, and Karon feared Feather would lose and the beast would absorb her completely.

It didn't, instead they shifted through colors like they were trying to find themselves. Until finally they stopped, and energy of orange and gray settled into itself, and a new shape was molded.

It formed into a vaguely humanoid shape, with arms and legs and torso, but behind it, large feathered wings stretched themselves out. A gray, fur robe draped itself around the being, and from its head sprang orange hair that grew until it reached its shoulders, and behind it, the wings settled in the same color. Its skin was a similar gray to its robe, and from its hands, terribly long nails of pure black grew until they were as long as daggers. It was barefoot, and its eyes were a deep blue as it opened them. The being was complete in its birth, and it looked down at itself with curiosity.

“Feather?” Karon carefully asked and approached the being.

It looked up at him, then bowed from the waist gracefully and responded.

“No master, I am Promise. And I am ready to serve you in whatever way you wish of me. I am at your command.”

It was androgynous in its appearance, and the voice was light yet still resonated deeply, and it was impossible to tell if it was supposed to be male or female.

“Why … did you take that form?” Karon asked, uncertain how this being could have been born of the strange union.

“I attempted to shape myself after you master, but I am afraid this was as far as my nature allowed me to go,” it said and spread its arms, the nails cutting through the air the same way a sharp sword would.

“Are you feeling well?” he asked. The part of Feather Touch the spirit had been made of didn't exist any more, but this was what she had become together with the beast and he wanted to know she was okay.

“I am complete master. My power far exceeds that of my two predecessors and the union has been favorable. I possess all the memories and power they each possessed as individuals and my mind has adapted itself to exist in a higher state of mind, one far more capable. I am Promise, and I am yours.”

Karon wasn't sure what to think about it all, but the plan had worked so far, and sooner or later the queen would find them. The magic needed to be lifted before that happened or they would be in trouble. More trouble.

“Do you remember the plan to escape this place?” he asked.

“I do master. You will transfer your heart and soul into my home through me as a channel, and there I will serve as their keeper until your mind has been released and is capable of retrieving them.”

Karon nodded, but the spirit wasn't done.

“In the case that the magic is not lifted or if you in your divided state should perish, I will continue to serve as the keeper of your soul and heart until a fitting living creature claims the spear. When that happens, I will tear out the creature's soul and heart and allow you to take over the body and devour the mind. I understand if you feel that would be tragic, as it would mean the loss of most of your current memories and knowledge, but I am certain that if such should happen, that we could find a solution.”

It spoke with the same genderless, light, almost cheerful tone of voice when it said it. Karon wasn't sure if he should be worried that it could be so ruthless or impressed that it had already thought so far ahead. Judging by the fact that Trixie and Lyra had taken a few quick steps backwards, they didn't seem to have any problems deciding.

However, the exact details of Promise's birth was something to save for later, and Karon simply nodded in satisfaction. It was time to get lift the magic and get out. Any place where you broke out into random song wasn't somewhere he wanted to be.

He walked over to Promise until he was close enough to touch her, him, it. But he stopped, squinting when he realized he didn't remember exactly how he was supposed to do the transfer. Removing such vital parts of his being hadn't been something he had paid attention to with Varsif.

Promise looked on him with understanding and reached out its hand. Karon took it while being careful to avoid the sharp claws.

Nothing happened.

“Master, considering the nature of the place, I think it will be necessary to make use of a lyrical component in order to connect your soul and heart to me and allow the transfer.”

Karon groaned and shook his head. Of course he would have to SING his heart and soul out. Never before had something so sinister sounded so lame.

He opened his mouth, and the words flowed by themselves. And with them, flowed his very heart and soul.

“Someone hold me safe and warm

Fight the cold, shield me from the storm

My heart of shattered peace, so hard

From embers, it emerges charred

From youthful innocence and joy I smiled

And a wicked mistake, I was no more a child

All the joy of life, crashed with broken beams

Burning wood and dying screams

No joy is there, without a price

To live with the knowledge it all dies

Leave a truth more cold than ice

Unyielding before a child that cries

So cut my heart out, bleed it dry

And watch me as I die

A child's joy, the only why

Take my soul, its end is nigh

The door is opening for all to see

That inside, I am already rotten

Waiting for the memory to be set free

To burn me from a night

Locked, blocked and forgotten”

Light was sucked out from him as he sang, and with it came all the emotions he had ever felt. His very soul was leaving him, or more truthfully, he was leaving himself. It was all shattered, confusing. He was drowning in his own self and what wasn't there. And then as abruptly it was over, and he was back in the empty gray expanse. But this time, there was no connection he could form. There was no emotion in him, his heart was gone. He looked around, it was all that he was now.

And that meant he could wake up.

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

He opened his eyes and listened to the sound of the magic field fizzling out. Around him the others stirred, and he quickly walked over to spear on the ground close to where he had been sleeping. It was different now, its blade was still midnight black diamond, but the staff it rested upon was gray with swirling orange patterns. He hesitated for a moment before picking it up, and when he did it, everything came rushing back to him. He was physically thrown backwards through the air by the force of his soul and heart returning to him, and he landed heavily on the ground.

He laid still for a while, groaning in self pity and trying to find a stable center in himself. Now that all of him was back, his being was trying to make sense of the memories of being in several places at the same time, and it left him groggy and confused. When he put his hand on his chest he felt that the feather talisman was gone, only the chain remained.

The others were slowly gaining their faculties back and rising from the ground, and so Karon had little choice but to do the same and staggered over to the ponies. They shook their heads in an attempt to clear them, and all three turned when they heard the sound of someone stumbling.

Chrysalis was having trouble staying on her hooves, and she was swaying from side to side, always on brink of toppling over. After a few minutes, all of the waking beings present had managed to clear their heads, and stood staring at one another in silence. The changelings did not know what had happened. They had no minds to speak of, and as such hadn't been dragged into the collective world the others had shared in.

They didn't know why their queen hesitated, why she didn't attack and crush the intruders. She just stood there, looking at Karon with a mixture of hate and fear in her eyes. She knew what he had seen within her, and that meant he had great power over her. He knew she was Chrysalis, and even though Chrysalis the daughter and Chrysalis the mother had the same name, they were not the same Names.

What's more, she could feel the humming of power coming from the spear he held, a power that had not been there before. It was formidable, almost frighteningly so. That combined with the power he already wielded before the sleep made him very dangerous to her, maybe to the point where even her thousands of years of experience could be matched.

Or beaten.

She could lose. She knew if they fought, there would be no certain winner. And changelings did not fight fair fights. She did not fight fair fights, not if it could be avoided. So she avoided it.

“You have proven your abilities human. You are free to leave my home now,” she said with vehemence dripping from her words.

“No,” Karon responded calmly, shifting the spear so it was almost poised to strike against the queen.

She noticed and took a few cautious steps backwards. Her voice low and furious, she responded.

“No? Then what do you want?”

“I want you to leave, you and all the changelings. Go away. Leave the river lands and the otters and never return. I don't care where you go, just disappear and you will not see me again.”

She smiled a wicked smile and laughed.

“I was already planning on leaving, so I am happy to fulfill your request. I have found a place with far more love than these scheming little rodents could ever hope to feed my children with anyway. So enjoy your victory human, as I will enjoy mine.”

“Go,” Karon simply said.

The queen gave him one last, almost sultry, smile. Then she took to the air, and with her, followed the changelings standing around the trio. Soon the whole forest was buzzing loudly with the sound of thousands of changelings flying off to follow their queen.

Karon had considered just lunging forward and trying to kill her, it would have spared the otters' replacements a lot of pain. Yet he couldn't, not after what he had seen inside of her. She was an empty shell, the living example of something that was missing, and he couldn't help but pity her for it.

Promise shivered with disappointment. Karon felt its need to prove itself to him, to unleash its new power and test its limits. He sent a small feeling of reassurance to it, and the spirit calmed down. After all, there were always people in need of killing.

The trio left the dark forest behind them, and when they returned to the otters, they were predictably not welcomed with fanfare at first. The guards who recognized them were highly suspicious when they got the news that the changelings were gone, and all three of them had to undertake several tests to prove they truly were themselves and not changelings in disguise.

Once that was proven, the entire city turned into one massive celebration, and swimmers were sent to the other cities to spread the news that the changelings were gone forever. Despite the atmosphere of total joy, the trio only stayed for a few more days. Sir Bottomsworth claimed to be devastated to hear they were leaving when the time arrived, though Karon suspected that he was eager to start lying his teeth off about how dear friends the trio were to him, and how far back they went, as soon as they had left.

Regardless, the trio left the city behind, ready for the road. They had bought fresh supplies, and Karon had been very happy when he'd found fresh fish for sale, which he'd brought along. The ponies refused to comment on him eating meat, and whenever they were eating together, they forced him to turn away so they wouldn't have to watch him devour a poor fish.

After a week of walking, the rivers and forests they had passed through turned into open glass lands, and according to Karon's map, they were somewhere between the otter kingdom and Equestria's border. During that time, the three of them had grown closer. There was little left to fear or hide now that they had looked so far deep within one another, though Karon was the exception.

Neither Trixie nor Lyra had had the chance to look into Karon's mind and see what rested there, and they had not let him forget about that. He had promised them a confession, after all, of what it was that he was trying to hide behind those glowing eyes. And he told them he would, just not that night or that day, and so it went on.

But he wasn't sure what to tell them, whenever the time would actually come. He couldn't tell them about what was behind the black door. It would be better if they remained ignorant of its very existence. But what else remained? Revealing his own trickster nature? They already knew that, sort of.

What to tell the two once they grew tired of his procrastination was not the only question bothering him. The birth of Promise and what it meant was always picking at his attention. The spirit had not spoken since they escaped the sleeping spell, and it had only communicated with brief flashes of thought as they went, and they were rare. And mostly limited to suggestions on what to skewer. The murderous impressions were softened somewhat when they were also followed by things like concern that he should eat it afterward because he wasn't eating enough meat, or that it would simply be good practice for when he was cornered and needed to slaughter his way out of a situation.

It was giving very mixed signals.

When they reached a small lake that was supposed to be one of the landmarks setting the border between the otters and Equestria, they decided to stop for the night. They were heading towards Hoofington, from where they could either walk or catch a ride south towards the minotaur lands and the gryphon ruled areas. Trixie was sitting down with Lyra, whispering about something and casting glances towards Karon. He assumed they were discussing ways to pressure him into spilling his guts on all his secrets or something similar. Which was why he was taken completely by surprise when another voice spoke from behind him.

“I see you're still alive. Good, it would have been troublesome finding a way to resurrect you without breaking any rules.”

Karon spun around so fast that the muscles around his neck screamed from the whiplash, but he hardly noticed. In the dying light of the setting sun stood Varsif, the real Varsif in flesh and blood and not just him speaking through dreams.

Karon's heart began pounding when he realized what that meant.

“The powers have reached a decision,” he said hoarsely.

“They have, and about time. I've had work needed doing. They've agreed to allow me to reverse Loke's trickery by answering in kind. He took a body, unbound it and shipped it over the dimensional barriers to form a new one at the other side. I have gained the permission to do the same. You're done here now, you can go home.”

Karon stared open mouthed, and he heard the sound of Trixie and Lyra approaching from behind. When they came to stand next to him, they looked equally shocked, both at seeing another human and at what they'd just heard.

“You're … you're leaving us?” Lyra asked in stunned disbelief.

She looked heartbroken at the mere thought, and beside her, Trixie was crying. Her tears had started flowing as soon as the question had been asked.

Karon looked back and forth between Varsif and the two ponies, two paths. One continued in this world, on the road with the ponies towards the unknown places of this land. The other led back home, to Earth.

But, if he took that path back home, what did it mean? Nothing had truly changed. He had not confronted that which festered in the dark corner of his mind, and so he would not return to Varsif as an apprentice. What awaited him on Earth was the lone stone house, with its lonely existence.

With that in mind, it wasn't a difficult question of which path to take, and when he made that decision, he knew it was the right thing to do.

“I don't want you to have come here for nothing,” Karon said to Varsif.

Trixie started sobbing without a hint of restraint when he said it, and Lyra stood dumbfounded, unable to comprehend.

“So I will take this opportunity to deal with a few problems,” he said and smiled down at Lyra.

The unicorn blinked, and looked up at him in confusion.

“What?” she asked, still not understanding.

“You felt humanity calling to you Lyra, and you searched for us within books and rumors. And then you found me, but it isn't enough Lyra, I heard your song,” he said and pointed to Varsif before continuing. “This is your chance to gain what you really want.”

“Wha-”

“You want to be human. That's what I'm offering you Lyra. Take my place. Let Varsif take what you are now, and shape it into a human body, and then live on Earth with the rest of humanity.”

“I ... I....” she couldn't respond. Her mind was running into a wall each time she tried to process what he'd just offered her.

“Erik,” Varsif growled, but Karon only looked at him with a crooked smile.

“Please, the powers gave you a very unambiguous pass to deconstruct one body and shape a new one back on earth for the soul you transport without actually specifying it should be me. They knew this might happen. They might even have been planning for it to happen.”

Varsif grunted in affirmation, like he had suspected something similar.

“Well Lyra, do you want to be human?” he asked the unicorn softly.

She looked up at him with tears flowing freely down her face, but there was such a fierce joy in her eyes that her tears could never have been mistaken as tears of sorrow.

“Yes,” she whispered, and then threw herself at Karon, hugging and kissing every inch of him she could get at.

He fell down on his back with a laugh and hugged her back, holding her close as she wept from joy. Trixie was looking at them with a huge grin on her face, and even Varsif's mouth twitched at the corners from the display of affection.

Lyra managed to let go of him eventually, and she gave Trixie a hug too before turning to face Varsif. She looked afraid, and with good reason. Varsif did not give the impression of being harmless with his bulging muscles, hard eyes and robe made out of a dead bear.

She walked over to him slowly, then looked up and simply said, “Thank you.”

“You're welcome little unicorn, but this is Karon's doing, not mine. Since you've already thanked him, I think it's time to leave, though I am wondering what the boy was thinking when he decided to let loose a complete stranger in our world, without giving her a way to survive.”

Varsif and Lyra looked over at Karon, who sighed and shook his head irritated.

“You can feel her magical talent better than I can. She'll do just fine on Earth because she'll be with you, studying the arts.”

“Hrmph, it takes more than just the potential to make it all the way. You're a prime example of that truth.”

“Yeah, yeah. If she fails miserably, send her to my house and she can live there. Everything that is mine, including all the money, will be free for her use if that happens.”

“I'll take care of that,” the old man said firmly, then put a hand on Lyra's head.

“This might sting a little,” he said.

“What d-” Lyra started to ask, but before she could get any farther, her body exploded into a tiny cloud of matter.

The wizard moved his hands around a little, and the cloud quickly shaped itself into something new, and a light grew around the both of them. In the light, a second human took form next to the grouchy old man, and for a brief second before the light swallowed them, Karon thought he saw a girl with hair so blonde it was almost white wave at him, a happy smile on her face.

And then they were gone.

Karon and Trixie stood in the encroaching darkness for a long time, not moving, not saying anything. The moment didn't need them to add anything for it to be beautiful.

All things end though, and eventually Karon started coughing heavily. With a concerned look on her face Trixie helped led him to where they had laid their packs and they both laid down next to each other. When the coughing was over Karon smiled sheepishly at the unicorn and explained.

“Heavy duty magic can have some funny effects on the body sometimes. Sorry for ruining the moment.”

“You didn't ruin anything. You did something amazing when you let her take your place,” Trixie answered, her voice completely sincere.

“Yeah, well it was the right thing to do,” he simply said.

“But you could have gone home, back to your own world, and you let her do it instead.”

“Well, I didn't want to leave you behind. You'd get in trouble without me,” he joked.

It did not have the effect he expected, which was a half laugh and maybe shaking her head. Instead she looked away uncertain, almost afraid.

“Karon...”

“Yes?” he asked and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you remember when we were trapped in that dream place?”

“Yeah, kinda hard to forget,” Karon said dryly.

“Do you remember the feeling that you needed to know in order to get to that library inside Lyra's mind?”

“Yeah, love,” he said, not sure where this was heading.

“Well, when we were running from that huge jackal, Lyra screamed at me that I needed to use love to escape, that I needed to remember something I loved, and....”

“And?” Karon asked dutifully.

“There was only one thing I could think of, only one thing in the entire world I knew I loved.”

“Yourself?” Karon asked with a chuckle.

Trixie looked him deep in the eyes and shook her head slowly.

“You,” she said and kissed him.

It took him completely by surprise. One moment they were looking into each other's eyes, the next she was pressing her lips against his. Folding her hooves around him just so she could be closer to him, and he responded. It came naturally, his fingers wrapped themselves in her mane and he kissed her as much as she him.

Then the kiss began to heat up in its passion, and more of their bodies started to move against the other's. Soon they forgot everything but one another, and above them the moon rose, bathing the entire world in brilliant silver light.

After they were done, Trixie slept peacefully in his arms, her body pressed against his naked one. He was slowly circling a finger around her flank, and content smiles were spread over both their faces.

“That was … wow.”

“Yeah, wonder where she learned to do that.”

“Did you have any idea that she felt this way?”

“Well, there were clues. Like the looks and so on, and that thing that happened in Las Pegasus.”

“I don't think that counts considering the circumstances.”

“Even so, it's been there under the surface, I think. Growing slowly.”

“Obviously. That was full of suppressed emotions.”

“Seems that way.”

The voice grew quiet for a moment, then it began to laugh.

“What?”

“Woahahahahaha, hoho. I just realized something, thhhahahaha!”

“What?”

“We, ahahaha!”

“What!?”

“We just got seduced! Hahahahaha!”

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